So this month I watched far less than in previous months because. . .I watched four whole seasons of The X-Files! It has been years since I rewatched that show (I watched from the day it aired during its original run on TV!) and I feel real hard into a re-watch, which sort of distracted me from my new-to-me goals. That said, I am about forty films shy of 8,000 films watched! I’ll have to make sure #8000 is something really special.

Here’s a look at everything else I did this month! On my podcast Prog Save America I spoke with WilliamScurry about prog rock album art, Rich Bunnell about ELO, and Robert Daniels about Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline”. Over on the Classic Film Collective I contributed a monthly movie rec, wrote a poem about Marilyn Monroe, and joined Jill Blake on the Watch With Jen podcast to talk about Girlfriends. Over at Nerdist I celebrated the 20th (!!!) anniversary of Moulin Rouge! with a look back at the drama of an Ewan McGregor Yahoo! group of which I used to be an active member, for Pride Month I explored the queerness of Venom and looked at 23 of the earliest queer films from the silent and pre-code eras. For my Moviefone column I interviewed Tove director Zaida Bergroth, Skater Girl filmmakers Manjari & Vinati Makijany, Good On Paper director Kimmy Gatewood, I Carry You With Me director Heidi Ewing, and took a look at documentaries about Rita Moreno and Jane Fonda.

As always, after the cut you can find everything I watched in June + some of my favorites from the month.

1. Kevin Beasley’s Raw Materials
2. The Marx Brothers Home Movies Collection
3. Let’s Go Crazy
4. Go West (1940)
5. Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon
6. Tove
7. The Sterile Cuckoo
8. 11’e 10 kala
9. Les saignantes
10. Love Jones
11. The Booksellers
12. Queens at Heart
13. Ouanga
14. Älskande par (Loving Couples)
15. Skater Girl
16. In the Heights
17. Die Höhle des gelben Hundes (The Cave of the Yellow Dog)
18. Le roi des aulnes (The Erl King)
19. Trans
20. Changes (1970)
21. Hats Off to Hollywood
22. At Least You Know You Exist
23. No Ordinary Life
24. Mùi du du xanh (The Scent of Green Papaya)
25. Good On Paper
26. Te Llevo Conmigo (I Carry You with Me)
27. The Female Closet
28. Bad Girls Go To Hell
29. Le peuple migrateur (Winged Migration)
30. Zola

1880s: 0
1890s: 0
1900s: 0
1910s: 0
1920s: 0
1930s: 2
1940s: 1
1950s: 1
1960s: 3
1970s: 3
1980s: 0
1990s: 4
2000s: 6
2010s: 2
2020s: 8

11’e 10 kala, 2009 (dir. Pelin Esmer)

Inspired by the life of the filmmaker’s uncle, who plays the lead role, this film follows an elderly collector (and borderline hoarder) living in an apartment set to be demolished in İstanbul. Mithat Esmer is absolutely charming in the lead role, and anyone who has the collector gene (guilty) will see themselves reflected in this tender drama.

Les saignantes, 2005 (dir. Jean-Pierre Bekolo)

This film is absolutely bonkers. Set in the not too distant future, it follows two sex workers whose clients include more than a few corrupt politicians. When one of the men dies, the two work to cover up the death, and keep control over their own destiny. This is an erotic thriller through an afro-futurist lens, mixed with a pointed and hilarious social satire. I would watch a dozen films about these women!

The Booksellers, 2019 (dir. D.W. Young)

Another film for the collectors, this documentary looks at the world of antiquarian book dealers in New York City. Along with filming inside Argosy Book Store, Christie’s NY Book Department, and Strand Bookstore, the film also features freelance dealers, archivists, and more. Truly a movie for those of use who don’t just have “a” bookshelf.

Hats Off To Hollywood, 1972 (dir. Penelope Spheeris)

I wrote about Spheeris’s earlier film I Don’t Know a few months back, and this film picks up where that one left off. Still following the protagonist alternatively known as Jimmy or Jennifer, this time we follow them as the shack up with someone who goes by the name of Dana. The two of them are equally as loving as they are combative towards each other, as they live through poverty, disease, and bigotry. Heartfelt and hilarious, this is another example of how Penelope Spheeris was just too good for the Hollywood machine.

Bad Girls Go To Hell, 1965 (dir. Doris Wishman)

Like a Cindy Sherman photograph come to life, Doris Wishman’s softcore sexploitation film follows a housewife on the run after she kills the janitor who raped her while her husband was away. Filled with exquisite midcentury decor and costumes, and one particularly wonderful sapphic segment, this is independent filmmaking at its finest.

June seemed to go by in such a flash! Maybe the heat will make July slow down a bit before we head into the dog days of August. Who’s to say!