So October started with my annual trip to the Pordenone Silent Film Festival and ended with many great 2019 releases (it’s that time of year!). As always, you can find everything I watched (it was a lot!) in October, plus a few favorites after the cut.

1. Le chrysanthème rouge
2. Le homard
3. Les Épingles
4. Un Nuage passe
5. La Demoiselle des P.T.T. (Shooing the Wooer)
6. Et Alvorsod (A Serious Word)
7. The Wanters
8. The Woman Under Oath
9. Max Comes Across (Max in America)
10. Le Petit Café
11. Au Secours!
12. [Train En Marche]
13. Déguisement
14. Max Entre deux feux (Max, the Heartbreaker)
15. Rex Hvad Diogenes Søkte Og Fandt
16. Kal Napoleon Kalssons Dondtur Eller En Vandring I Stockholms Lustgårdar (Kal Napoleon Kalsson’s Stroke of Luck, or, Wandering through the Pleasure Gardens of Stockholm)
17. [Triton Tvättpulver]
18. Høk Over Høk
19. [A Tour of the Thomas H. Ince (Ex Triangle) Studio]
20. [The First National Family of Stars]
21. Cinema Stars, No. 16
22. The Hollywood Dream Factory and How It Grew
23. Sprockets And Splices. A Little Journey to the Source of Film Damage and Poor Presentation
24. The Leather Pushers. “Round Two”
25. The Leather Pushers. “RoundThree: Payment Through the Nose”
26. Vo Celebre Svenske Gjest Gösta Ekman (Our Celebrated Guest Gösta Ekman)
27. Dogs of War
28. Carmen, Jr.
29. La Danse
30. Loïe Fuller
31. La Puce
32. L’éouvante (Terror-Stricken)
33. La Glu
34. Not Guilty
35. The Blunders of Mr. Butterbun: Trips and Tribunals
36. The Missing Link (1917)
37. Der Stolz Der Firma (The Pride of the Firm)
38. [Partie De Cartes à Trois]
39. Photoplay Magazine Screen Supplement, No. 2
40. Tumblweeds (Introduction)
41. The Narrow Trail
42. Retk Läbi Setumaa (Journey Through Setomaa)
43. Kutsu-Juku Seikusi (The Adventures of Juku the Dog)
44. Kire Lained/Wellen Der Liedenschaft (Waves of the Passion)
45. Pose Chez L’Artiste Vénus
46. La Grève Des Bonnes
47. Léotine, Enfant Terrible
48. Zoé et le parapluie miraculeux
49. Rosalie a la maladie du sommeil
50. La Fureur de Mme. Plumette
51. Non! Tu ne sortiras pas sans moi!
52. Cunégonde femme-crampon
53. Wem Gehört Das Kind?
54. La peur des ombres
55. Die Seele der pflanze
56. Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja (The Cloud Phenomenon of Maloja)
57. Polar-Reise 1925 Mit Dem Dempfer “Müchen” Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen (Arctic Journey 1925 on the Steamer “Munich” Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen)
58. Erfinderin Nature (Nature as Inventor)
59. Pulsierende Lebenssäfte (Pulsating Life Fluids)
60. Waaser Und Wogen. Ein Querschnittsfilm (Water and Waves: A Crossection Film)
61. Karujaht Pärnumaal (Bear Hunt in Pänu County)
62. Noored Kotkad (The Young Eagles)
63. L’Histoire du Cinéma par le Cinéma
64. (Prestidigitateur)
65. Fen Dou (Struggling)
66. Laenatud Naene (The Borrowed Woman)
67. El Última Malón (The Last Uprising)
68. L’Amant surpris
69. Leéotine S’envole
70. Bain Forcé
71. Mannekängen
72. Leéotine En Apprentissage
73. Lea Salva La Posizione
74. La femme collante (A Sticky Woman)
75. Cunégonde femme du monde
76. Milling the Militants
77. Kri Kri e Kea Militari
78. La pile électrique de Leéotine
79. Le charme de Maud
80. (Boxeurs)
81. [Combat au sabre]
82. Oh, Doctor!
83. La Morte Che Assolve
84. L’amour e l’argent
85. Duck Soup (1927)
86. Beverly Graustark
87. Mary og Doug eller da Stockholm og Kristiania stod på hodet (Mary and Doug, or, when Stockholm and Kristiania Were Turned Upside-Down)
88. The Moment Before
89. A Wife By Proxy
90. Die Warnung (The Warning)
91. Die Pritzelpuppe (The Pritzel Puppet)
92. Schaffende Hände. Otto Dix (Hands at Work: Otto Dix)
93. Wenn Die Filmkelberin Gebummel Hat. . .
94. Allerei Volksbelustigungen in Java (Various Popular Entertainment in Java)
95. La Nave Dei Leoni
96. Das Letzte Souper (The Last Performance)
97. [Bagarre de Mitrons]
98. La nourrice
99. Au music hall
100. Cocl Als Hausherr
101. [Stirling Brown Family Film – British Legion Fete – Visit by Laurel and Hardy]
102. Wait and See
103. Le Mystère des roches de Kador (The Mystery of the Kador Cliffs)
104. Oblomok Imperii (Fragment of an Empire)
105. De Tre Kongsdøtrene I Berget Det Blå
106. Nuit Agitée
107. Bezoek Watt En Halfwatt (Visit of Pat and Patachon)
108. Die Unzertrennlichen! Ankunft der Beliebten Filmkomiker Pat und Patachon in Berling (The Inseparables! Arrival of the Beloved Film Comedians Pat and Patachon in Berlin)
109. Journaal: Reclame Watt En Halfwatt Films II (Advertisement, Pat & Patachon Films 2)
110. Filmen Helte (The Film Heroes)
111. The Great Gamble
112. Otets Sergii (Father Sergius)
113. Mäusezucht. Ein Lohnender Nebenerwerb Des Keleinen Mannes (Mice Breeding. A Worthwhile Source of Supplemental Income for the Common Man)
114. Polizeiberich Überfall (Police Report: Assault)
115. Markt In Berlin (Market in Berlin)
116. Blutmai 1929 (Blood May 1929)
117. Zeitprobleme. Wei Der Arbeiter Wohnt (Contemporary Problems: How the Worker Lives)
118. 1812 (Retreat from Moscow)
119. Le Duel
120. Le Bâton
121. The City of Stars: A Reporter’s Visit to the Universal Studios
122. What Happened To Jones
123. Kipho
124. Zwischen Mars Und Erde (Between Mars and the Earth)
125. Die Frankfurter Küche
126. Der Rundfunk Auf Dem Lande
127. Unsichtbare Kräfte
128. Lustige Hygiene 2
129. Lustige Hygiene 7
130. Joan The Woman
131. The Inventor of Kinematography
132. The Evolution of Film. Sidelights on Cinema History. Episodes 1-7
133. One Picture is Worth A Thousand Words: The Plant Behind The Pictures
134. [Opening of British Instructional Films Studio]
135. Secrets of a World Industry – The Making of Cinematograph Film
136. Around the Town and Everywhere: British Film Stars and Studios
137. Running a Cinema
138. Meet Jackie Coogan
139. Cut it Out: A Day in the Life of a Censor
140. What’s Wrong With The Cinema?
141. Why Papa Can’t Sleep
142. Mixed Identities
143. Twins (1911)
144. Hello Sailor
145. [Parijsche Revue Attracties No. 1 (Parisian Revue Attractions No. 1)]
146. La Méprise
147. [Le voyeur]
148. Den Stundesløse (The Restless One)
149. Revyens Mester. Bernau Laver Sommerrevy På Det Nye Teater (The Master of the Revue.
150. Bernau Produces the Summer Revue at the Theater)
151. Sally, Irene and Mary
152. Le coucher de la mariée
153. Vasaloppet (The Vasa Race)
154. Tiedemanns Naturfilm Leon-Kjendalen (Tiedemann’s Nature Film: Leon-Kjendalen)
155. Gardiens De Phare (The Lighouse Keepers)
156. Variazioni Di “The Blacksmith” di Buster Keaton e Mal St. Clair
157. The Blacksmith – Version Ballo
158. Ella Cinders
159. [Charlie Rivel as Chaplin]
160. Son Premiere Film
161. Skinner’s Dress Suit
162. Les Deux Baisers
163. Arrivée du train (1896)
164. [Fra Sabina, Italia]
165. The Truth
166. In The Tall Grass
167. Fractured
168. Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory)
169. Parasite
170. The Laundromat
171. Eli
172. Dancing With The Birds
173. Dolemite Is My Name
174. Rattlesnake
175. Western Stars
176. Wolkenbruchs wunderliche Reise in die Arme einer Schickse (Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa)

1880s: 0
1890s: 22
1900s: 11
1910s: 65
1920s: 75
1930s: 10
1940s: 1
1950s: 0
1960s: 0
1970s: 0
1980s: 0
1990s: 0
2000s: 0
2010s: 14

I saw soooo many great films at Pordenone Silent this year it was hard to narrow it down to just a few, but the five films below (including two starring Reginald Denny!) were my faves from the festival. I also saw a handful of 2019 releases in October that are most likely going to land on my end of the year list. Tis the season!

Fen dou (Struggling), 1932 (dir. Dongshan Shi)

This beautiful Chinese film reminded me a bit of Frank Borzage’s 7th Heaven. It had a similar mixture of sweetness, passion, and dramatic urgency.

Oh, Doctor!, 1925 (dir. Harry A. Pollard)

At Pordenone this year they did a special tribute to actor Reginald Denny and I really dug most of what they played. This comedy where he plays a millionaire hypochondriac opposite Mary Astor’s straight man nurse was absolutely delightful.

Oblomok imperii (Fragment of an Empire), 1929 (dir. Fridrikh Ermler)

This is a great addition to the Soviet cinema canon that follows a amnesiac soldier from the Russian Revolution who awakens in 1928 and has a great shock when he discovers all the changes that await him. Pordenone presented a brand new restoration and the print was absolutely gorgeous.

The Lighthouse Keepers (Gardiens de phare), 1929 (dir. Jean Grémillon)

Absolutely stunning late-era drama from France about a pair of father and son lighthouse keepers, one of whom discovers the other has been bitten by a rabid dog and is on the brink of rabies madness.

What Happened To Jones?, 1926 (dir. William A. Seiter)

Another Reginald Denny gem, this one following a man who finds himself in a heap of trouble the night before his wedding due to some illegal gambling. This has some of the funniest cross-dressing I’ve ever seen.

Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory), 2019 (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)

Which brings us to the contemporary films I watched in October. This film absolutely FLOORED ME. Antonio Banderas gives the best performance of the year, one that is so emotionally complex and tender. Nothing speaks to me as deeply as Almodóvar at the top of his game.

Dolemite Is My Name, 2019 (dir. Craig Brewer)

I’ve actually seen this film many times (disclosure: obviously watched this one for my job). It is so heartwarming and filled with so many great performances. It’s a true crowd-pleaser in every sense of the word.

Western Stars, 2019 (dir. Bruce Springsteen, Thom Zimny)

Springsteen does Malick. I dug ittttttt.

So that was October. We are now in the midst of Noirvember. And not just that, it is the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of Noirvember this year! I can’t even believe it’s been a whole decade of Noirvember. So get your fedora ready, and make your way into the shadows.