Smart Cinema USA 12+

They have an interesting selection of Asian movies, and the New York Asian Film Festival is streaming this year’s offerings through them (because COVID), but the software has some areas for improvement. The log-on process is often glitchy (missing e-mails, erratic phone log-ins, erratic sign-ups through other means). The app has an airplay function to cast the stream to an Apple TV, but it does not seem to work. This could be a great app filling an important niche, but the software still seems a bit half-baked.

With Covid all film festivals have gone virtual. I have attended other film festivals be a different platform earlier this year with no issues. The NYAFF chose this platform. First problem is you cannot cast from your iPhone to the computer to watch the movies. In order to watch from a TV do you need to meet very specific requirements such as certain smart TVs, Apple TV, certain generation Chromecast. Watching 52 films on my iPhone is not the most enjoyable experience.

There are tons of technical issues. I purchase it all access VIP past. It work for day one and then disappeared on day two wherein all films stated I need to make a purchase. The app freezes a lot so watching a movie means multiple interruptions while the data download. Another problem is the film festival host watch parties. But the watch parties are not available until the day after it actually occurs. That makes no sense. There has to be a better way.

I love Chinese cinema, but as an app that has the purpose of being a bridge for bringing current Chinese cinema to folks in the US, the interface is sorely lacking.

While the top title selections are fairly current, there are no audio or subtitle options available. A majority of the films I’ve looked at so far feature only Chinese subtitles. The app itself is also formatted for phones, but not for tablets.

With ‘tickets’ (aka rentals) costing US$4.99 each, the app, in its current form, is unlikely to appeal to any but a marginal audience in the states who are Mandarin fluent or Chinese literate. And for those same folks options such as YouKu and iQIY currently provide better cinematic bang for the buck. Here’s hoping that the Smart Cinema USA app can implement more options and features in future updates.