John Cassavetes

As a mild sort of film buff, I’d known the name for a long time, with a rather vague sense of rebel, improvised, black and white, sixties…Nothing very precise. But I’m now a lot wiser, having watched four of his films in a fortnight. This is - regular readers will not be surprised to hear - thanks to the glories of mubi.com, the website that encourages you to teach yourself about film.

Those aren’t the only films on offer, and I’m sure there are mubic subscribers who haven’t watched any of these, but by piecing strands together, and regularly feeding new films into the mix, the website encourages you to pursue your own interests and, in the best possible way, educate yourself.

Of course, there’ll be moments in a film from the sixties which date, longueurs that a modern editor might not tolerate, but I’ve been really grateful for the chance to explore this almost forgotten little alleyway - a strange mix of aggressive, male dominance and early feminism, recognising the ways in which these obnoxious blokes are getting it wrong. And I can’t hink of any other way in which I’d have got this chance. So, yet again, thanks, mubi.com.