Category Archives: 2012 in Films
2012 in Films: One Year, 365 Days and 617 New-To-Me Films
In 2010 I watched 517 new-to-me films, last year I watched a whopping 1,117 new-to-me films and this year my new-to-me total comes to 617. I did a pretty great round-up of my year over on my 3rd Anniversary post for the site, so I’m not going to repeat any of that and you can see month-to-month breakdowns of my new-to-me watching here. You can also see my favorite 2012 films here. After the cut, I’ll go through a few highlights of my viewing this year and share with you the one film that topped all of my viewing this year.
It’s the End of the Year As We Know It: December 2012 in Films
Well, here it is – December! I wasn’t able to see as many films as I would have like due to working a lot right after the semester ended, but I did manage to fit in a few really great films before the end of the year. I’ll be posting a little bit later today my end-of-the-year round-up with all of the new-to-me films I watched in 2012, as well as some overall thoughts for me viewing year. That said, I didn’t want to short change December its own post for the month. As always, the list of what I watched as well as five spotlighted films can be found after the cut.
Noirvember 2012 in Films
So this month marked the third-annual Noirvember, and I must say I couldn’t be more pleased with the turnout this year. We had people posting on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Not only did I manage a new-to-me Noir film of the day, I also did a noir movie quote of the day every day this month, which I’m sure y’all noticed. I also read a few noir books: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and Laura by Vera Caspary, as well as reading the screenplays for Sunset Blvd. and The Third Man. Although I did manage to see a few non-noir films on the big screen (mostly new releases), a lot of decades went ignored this month. I will try to make up for that in December. Along with the aforementioned 2012 releases, I also go to see two of my favorite films that evaded me when they were first on the big screen at the Castro this month: David Fincher’s Zodiac (in a double with The Game) and Julian Schnable’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. All and all, it was a great month for cinema. Also, don’t forget to check out our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide!
The Horror, The Horror: October 2012 in Films
The bulk of this month was spent watching B-horror films, some of which I really love, others were okay for what they were and a few were downright awful. I also watched a handful of 2012 releases, one of which I will write a little bit more about after the cut. I added a new feature to the site called: Books on Film this month. Speaking of books, the Lew Ayres biography I wrote the foreword for should be out in bookstores/on Amazon today; if you would like to buy it (you should buy it!) you can do so here. If I ever meet you in real life, I will sign it for you. I wasn’t able to do much film watching outside of my one horror movie a day this month, but I did shoot a short film (once it is fully edited, I will post it for y’all to watch) and wrote 92 pages of a feature screenplay, so I think I am doing pretty well all things considered. Oh! I almost forgot, I also got to see Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, as well as the 1979 sexy Frank Langella Dracula at the Castro theatre (other than the Lugosi one, my favorite Dracula) and Something Wild at the Roxie. Yay! for rep theatres!
Berlin and Beyond, Instant Netflix and Stars in Shorts: September 2012 in Films
September was kind of a lackluster month for me in terms of film watching. The new semester started and that reduced my time. I mostly wound up watching films on Instant Netflix while I was getting ready in the morning and most of them I found kind of underwhelming. I also reviewed a collection of short films called Stars in Shorts, but again I found most of them kind of underwhelming. I got to see my favorite film of the year, Chicken With Plums, a second time which was fantastic. I also saw a few things as repeat viewings at the Castro. I saw Magic Mike for a second time (I liked it even more than I already did) and I saw Pina for the 4th time. I will always see that movie when I get the chance. This last few days I’ve been at the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival (and cough a damn cold!). It’s on-going until Thursday and I will be doing a write-up when it concludes.
Paul Thomas Anderson, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and August 2012 in Film
I worked a lot of hours in August and I also spent a weekend in L.A. (doing non-movie watching things if you can imagine!), so my new-to-me count for August is pretty low. I mean, for me anyways. I did, however, manage to finish Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography. If you’ve been paying attention for the last few months, you’ll’ve noticed that Kristen of SalesOnFilm and I had been watching a Paul Thomas Anderson film a month, working our way through his filmography. August’s movie was supposed to be Hard Eight (which we did watch, and I highly recommend), but then a sneak preview popped up at the Castro Theatre for The Master in 70mm, therefore there were two PTA films. I’ll elaborate more on that after the cut. Speaking of films on the big screen, while I was in L.A. I finally got to go to the Aero Theatre (still haven’t made it to the New Bev!) where I saw two Sam Fuller films (including Shock Corridor, which is even better on the big screen!). Last night I saw Vertigo in 70mm at the Castro. I hadn’t seen that film in a good ten years. Recently it usurped Citizen Kane on Sight & Sounds once-a-decade poll of the greatest films of all time. I gotta say, as great as Vertigo is, I gotta call bullshit on that. Lastly, I’ve been watching may way through all of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s films that are available on DVD. I’ve still got quite a few left to watch. Boy do I love him. Oh, also when I was in L.A., I got to visit the boys at the Warner Archive. They even let me peak into the coveted DVD closet. I nearly passed out. I’m pretty sure that’s what Heaven looks like. Lastly, in case you missed it, I started writing Oscar Vault Monday again! It’s good to be back. As always, all my new-to-me films for the month are listed after the cut.
Crime Shorts, Silent Cinema and July 2012 in Films
I watched nearly 100 new-to-me films this month! That’s not a lot compared to my numbers last year, but this year that is just crazy talk. Mostly it was because of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and the 50 films in the Warner Archive’s Crime Does Not Pay set. I worked a crazy amount of hours at the two movie theaters that now employ me (the Lumiere and the Clay, two of San Francisco’s greatest!) and worked a lot on my feature screenplay, as well as wrote a short that might actually get filmed. Speaking of which, my friend for whom I wrote the short, has a documentary making its way around the festivals right now that you should check out. It is called Dharavi Diary and it is fantastic. As always, my picks for the month as well as the whole list is after the cut.
June 2012 in Films: Birthdays and Jobs and Movies Galore
So June had a lot of changes. Firstly, I started a new job – well, two new jobs actually. Or, they’re the same job but at two locations. Haha. What I mean is, I’m working at the Clay and Lumiere Theatres in San Francisco. Basically, I get paid to sell people movie tickets and not to burn popcorn. I also get to see movies for free, though so far I haven’t had much time to do that. I also (finally) connected my Blu-ray player to the internet so I can stream Instant Netflix to it, which has aided in my watching of films quickly before heading off to work. Lastly, there were birthdays. Movie Quote of the Day celebrated its 2nd birthday and I celebrated my 26th birthday. I am an old lady now. Due to all this excitement, my film watching time lowered a bit and although I did maintain slightly more than one new-to-me a day, I didn’t quite manage to do two a day. As always, the full list is after the cut.
May 2012 in Films: French Films, Student Films and One Year in San Francisco
Sunday marked the one year anniversary of my return to San Francisco and boy what a year it has been. So much cinema. So many opportunities. I’m glad you all came along for the ride. I have some exciting news! The book that I contributed the foreword to is finally available for pre-order! It is called Lew Ayres: Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector by Lesley L. Coffin and you can pre-order it here. I watched a lot of student films at the Academy of Art University’s Epidemic Film Festival and did a few interviews/went to some Q&As with industry professionals. There’ll be content from that posted at YAM Magazine sometime soon. I also finished the Antoine Doinel cycle by François Turffaut and it was amazing. As always, the full list is after the cut, plus five favorites.
April 2012 in Films: Film Festivals, Interviews and Books on Film
April was a month jam-packed with activities. Technically I had my “spring break” from school, but that happened to coincide with the TCM Classic Film Festival, so it wasn’t really a break. It was AWESOME, but it wasn’t a break. Be sure you check out all of my coverage (including really fantastic interviews with the likes of Tippi Hedren, Rick Baker, Thelma Schoonmaker and more) at YAM Magazine. Almost as soon as I got back from TCMFF, the San Francisco International Film Festival began (it runs through Thursday, May 3rd). You can find all my coverage of that fest (which right now is not much, but after the fest is over there will be more things) also at YAM Magazine. I’ve seen so many foreign films during this festival that I probably would not have seen otherwise. I’ve also seen a few U.S. releases that will be coming out this fall, but I want to tell you I think you should write them down and remember to see them when they do, most notably Robot & Frank and the documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel, both of which are being released by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Also this month I dropped by my favorite bookstore in San Francisco, Aardvarks on Church st., and bought books that I couldn’t really afford, but just had to have. The one I’m reading right now is called François Truffaut: Correspondence, 1945–1984 and it is the best of books. If you are a fan of Truffaut it is a must. Actually, even if you are not a fan (and why aren’t you?!) I think you’d get a kick out of this book. As always, after the cut there is the full list of new-to-me films and I’ve chosen five films from that list that I particularly loved.
the diary of a film history fanatic 