The Crying of Lot 49 (2007)
it appears to be a student short, possibly only made for some school project. It adapts the entire novel in just seven minutes, solely through meaningful images and music — there are no actors, no dialogue, no voiceover. A solid knowledge of the book is essential to understand what’s goingRead more here.
Dreams of a Life (2011)
In 2006, the body of 38-year-old Joyce Vincent was found in her London bedsit, surrounded by Christmas presents and with the TV still on. Sad, but largely unremarkable, were it not for the fact that she’d been dead for three years. Carol Morley’s documentary attempts to uncover the story of Joyce’s life, and how it reached a point where no one noticed she’d been gone for so long.Read more here.
Parabellum (2015)
Alfred Hitchcock once said said that “movies are real life with the boring parts cut out.” Valenta Rinner’s movie is the opposite of this in every respect: it isn’t real life, which is fine, but he only left the boring parts in, which isn’t.Read more here.
Supermen of Malegaon (2008)
It’s an incredible, one-of-a-kind film; more powerful and life-affirming than it perhaps has any right to be. But then the filmmakers of Malegaon don’t really care about such things. They make movies because they want to, whether they ‘should’ or not; they make them better than you might expect; and it enriches their lives. Their story may do the same for you. In my opinion, it’s an essential film; a true must-see.Read more here.
Terror by Night (1946)
For what is the shortest film in the series, screenwriter Frank Gruber and regular director/producer Roy William Neill have constructed a contained, almost claustrophobic version of a Holmes tale. There are definite pros to this: it’s effectively a locked room mystery, with an element of howdunnit closely tied to the whodunnit.Read more here.
Just five archive posts were reposted this week, finishing off 2010. Next week, 2011 begins.
August 2010
At this exact point last year, as we head into the year's final third, I was 22 films behind The Target -- i.e. the rate of film-watching that would get me to exactly 100 films by December 31st at a regular, consistent pace. This year, I'm 23 films ahead. I'm having a little party. By myself. Nibbles?Read more here.
September 2010
And lo, in the 9th month of the 10th year, I didst see 11 new films, and one of them was Number One-Hundred! Excuse me while I do a little victory dance.Read more here.
October 2010
October last year was something of a tipping point, when I finally stopped falling behind and actually began catching up. This year, I’m just forging ahead...Read more here.
November 2010
After doing so well for most of the year — including last month, where I made appropriate headway toward my new goal of 130 films — it’s rather slipped in November. Just four new films (and a couple of others I’ll review, but that don’t count in the slightest). I blame TV.Read more here.
December 2010
So here we are, the final few new films I watched in 2010... And, as you’ll see in just a few lines, I sadly didn’t beat my previous record of 129 films. Hey ho — I made it to 100 (and comfortably over it), and after failing last year and barely scraping through the year before, I’m more than happy with that.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
