Blogging in 2014 will be a lot more random, I might have spells where I don't post anything for weeks. I hope to do a few marathons, such as horror(October), top 50 short films, animation, documentaries, and film noir. Those are areas where I feel I am lacking in terms of watching. I may spread those marathons out to 2015 and beyond.
I've decided to join Ryan McNeil's blindspot blogathon. Many other LAMB bloggers are also participating, so it should be fun. The idea is you select 12 films you've never seen before, and write about a film each month. I've compiled a list of films I definitely want to watch in 2014:
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Grand Illusion (1937) (Jean Renoir)
Hope you are having a nice Christmas! Several people in our family were away, so we were only a small group that celebrated this year. Which also meant less presents. Being less spoilt than usual is tough, how will this affect my sanity I wonder...?
In terms of gifts, I was pleased to receive The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) on dvd, which I have heard a lot about, and have wanted to watch for a while(included above in blind spots). Another movie-related present was the book Ten Bad Dates with De Niro: A Book of Alternative Movie Lists (2007), which my sister stumbled upon in a book store.
In January, I will post a "preliminary" top 20 films of 2013. The final list you can read here in 2018 or so...
Don't forget this is also a music blog. Besides new music, the year 2013 saw me blog about: Fleetwood Mac, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smiths, The National, Burial, Camera Obscura.
I've (secretly) been listening to a few bands, that I haven't gotten around to blogging about yet. Looking ahead, the long-term goal is share my favorite tracks from:
60s:
70s:
80s:
90s:
2000s:
2010s: Blood Orange, Beach House, Mac DeMarco, Tame Impala, School of Seven Bells
Which mini goals, in terms of movie watching, or life in general, do you have for 2014? Receive any great gifts from under the tree? Thoughts on the music? I hope you are enjoying Christmas, and wish my readers a Happy New Year!
That's an exciting list of Blind Spots, and it's great that you're participating. I've seen six of the films, plus about 60% of The Story of Film from TCM on our DVR. Malcolm X is one of my favorites, so it's great that you'll be seeing it. You also can't go wrong with Duck Soup and Hard Boiled, for different reasons obviously.
ReplyDelete@Dan Heaton: Thanks, I’ve never participated in the blind spot series before, I look forward to watching and writing about them. The Story of Film (15 hours) I will review late in 2014 for obvious reasons :)
DeleteWell, you putting the whole 'The Story of Film: An Odyssey' on Blind Spot list certainly has me wondering about your sanity. Is that because of less presents? :D
ReplyDelete@SDG: haha, 15h with Cousins’ voice, yep, I must be mad :D
DeleteAmbitious blind spot list, isn’t it? I’m forcing myself to watch really long films….( Cleopatra, Sátántangó, Hoop Dreams, and Shoah were all considered)
Of that list, I've seen four of these films. Grand Illusion, The Great Dictator, The Player, and Malcolm X. There's 2 films in that list in Birth of a Nation and Duck Soup that are also in my Blind Spot list while I also plan to watch The Story of Film for next year.
ReplyDeleteI got a bunch of Criterion DVDs for Xmas. If..., The Devil's Backbone, The Ballad of Narayama, Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom, Black Narcissus The Qatsi Trilogy, The Tin Drum, Gray's Anatomy Schizopolis, and the Complete Jean Vigo.
@thevoid99: Hope you like Birth of A Nation and Duck Soup. The Story of Film I’m really interested in seeing, although I do feel I want to watch many films on this list first, so the movies aren’t ruined by M Cousins explaining them
Deletehttp://letterboxd.com/joemarsh/list/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/
That’s an interesting batch of films you got for xmas, you have a generous family, or quite a lot of relatives :)
Actually, I had gained some money for the holidays and got most of these DVDs during the Barnes & Noble Criterion sale that November.
Delete@thevoid99: Wise move to take of advantage of the sale
DeleteMalcolm X is on my Blind Spot list too, I've been meaning to see it for ages.
ReplyDelete@Sati: I hope you get to see Malcolm X soon. Alex Withrow has praised in many times on his site, so I just have to see it :)
DeleteThat's a brave move adding the entire Story of Film as a blind spot. :D I have been wanting to watch it as well, but it always feels like a daunting project.
ReplyDeleteHard Boiled and Duck Soup are great. I also just watched Grand Illusion recently, and it did not disappoint.
Funny that you mention Ten Bad Dates with De Niro -- I have that book sitting on my desk. :) Pretty fun read, and it's a good way to discover new films.
Eric @ The Warning Sign: The Story of Film is really a tv-series I suppose, hopefully interesting :)
DeleteThanks for the head-up on Hard Boiled, Duck Soup and Grand Illusion
It's a small world, that we both own that book! Maybe it's popular among cinephiles.
Hi Chris, I'm joining the Blindspot blogathon, too, and my list are all the classic movies I've missed out on :D I don't really have a specific goal for 2014, I guess I want to catch up on more classic movies so this Blindspot project helps cover that :D
ReplyDelete@Ruth: Cool you are doing blindspot series too, very popular apparently. Great way to finally watch classics we missed. Wishing you all the best for the new year!
DeleteI'm thinking I should do this blind spot series too. So many films I feel like I ought to have seen by now. 12 doesn't seem like too hard a number.
ReplyDelete2014, I just want to keep blogging. As much as I can. As long as I have something interesting to share!
If I don't get to say this, Happy New Year! Hope 2013 was good to you and wish a brilliant 2014 to you :)
@Jaina: I like the idea of 12 films, it’s manageable to see only 1 film a month. Hope you keep blogging!
DeleteHappy New Year, and have a great 2014 :)
You know that I custom made the banner B) nice you used them! I also put Castle in The Sky on my list. I feel odd because I claim to like Ghibli films and praised them but never see this one.
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of Das Boot but never get around to watch it.
Hope you have an amazing year ahead, Chris!
@Andina: Thanks for letting me use your banner, nice design, it looks like official logo :)
DeleteYep, I picked Castle of the Sky also, lots of Ghibli I haven’t seen yet, I see it’s in IMDb 250.
Have a wonderful 2014!
I really want to see Malcolm X too! I hope to just get to the cinema much more often this year. I want to try and aim for twice a week most weeks. That's my goal!
ReplyDelete@Pete Turner: I hope you get to see Malcolm X this year! Twice a week, that’s quite a lot of cinema visits. Hopefully you get in free with your job :)
DeleteI watched Malcolm X recently too -- excellent movie. Grand Illusion is wonderful too.
ReplyDelete@Steph: Thanks for the head-up on Malcolm X and Grand Illusion ! We'll see if I agree or not.
DeleteYou've got some good films there. Das Boot is the one that stands out to me as the best among them. I've seen all but the last film on your list. I've actually never even heard of it.
ReplyDelete@Chip Lary: Remember you have praised Das Boot on your site, I look forward to it!
DeleteSurprised you hadn't heard of it before. Since you’ve watched all 1001 movies, The Story of Film could be of interest to you, maybe.
Upon further research I see that it is a TV mini-series, not a movie. It sounds like it's what I thought Godard's Histoire(s) du Cinema was going be instead of the self-indulgent mess it turned out to be. Maybe I'll check it out.
Delete@Chip Lary: Didn't know about Godard's, thanks for the info. I would be curious to read your review of The Story of Film, if you get to see it.
DeleteAn excellent crop of films there. Really looking forward to your Malcolm X review.
ReplyDelete@Alex Withrow Thanks for saying so! Look forward to Malcolm X.
DeleteNice list, Chris. Kudos on selecting The Story of Film: An Odyssey as one of them. I still need to see that one too.
ReplyDeleteThat movie list book looks brilliant. I actually got an Amazon gift card for Christmas that I haven't used yet. Maybe I'll order a copy. :)
@Josh: I look forward to The Story of Film, now that I own it, I don’t have to record the episodes. Still, a daunting 15 hours awaits!
DeleteI haven’t read "Ten Bad Dates with De Niro" yet, so can’t say whether you should order it, love the title :)