It’s Cinema Fanatic’s 9th Anniversary!
I can’t believe it’s been nearly a decade of writing on this blog! Earlier this year I hit my ten year anniversaries on Tumblr and Twitter, both of which I started using before longform blogging in ernest. Although this blog is mostly updated monthly now (though I have plans to change that in 2019), I update my YouTube channel with reviews almost daily (that may change in 2019 as well). I thought for this blog anniversary I would do a breakdown of some of my film-going shenanigans from 2018.
Noirvember 2018 (Farewell FilmStruck)
As many of you are aware, at the end of October it was announced that FilmStruck was shuttering on November 29th. Thankfully, I still am at TCM (though there were some layoffs). The end of October saw the beginning of my scramble to watch as many films from my queue as possible. This also led to me discovering things that weren’t on my queue but that I desperately had to watch before it was too late. All and all, in the last few days of October and into November I watched 228 shorts and features on the service before it shuttered (plus a handful of films in theaters in November). After the cut you can see everything I watched last month (most of which was on FilmStruck – including almost all of my Noirvember selections). It was a thrilling few weeks and I discovered a lot of things that I had taken for granted. Criterion will be launching The Criterion Channel (which had previous found its home within the FilmStruck service) next year, which I am very grateful for, but I will forever miss my time working on FilmStruck. I’m honored to have been a part of its legacy.
October 2018 in Films
As you will see I watched A LOT of movies in October. The month began with my third trip to Pordenone in Italy for the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. The festival was again jam-packed with amazing film, mostly rarities from film archives and new restorations. I then watched several 2018 films (in theaters and on Netflix). Lastly, the month ended with the news that FilmStruck will be shutting down on November 29th (no worries, I still have a job!), so I have been binge-watching silent films and Japanese cinema. All of this resulted in a lot of cinema consumed. I discovered some new favorite directors and some truly awe-inspiring cinema. As always, you can see everything I watched plus some favorites after the cut.
It’s Gay! September 2018 in Films
September was quite a month for 2018 films. I saw 2 or 3 new releases in theaters each weekend, plus I screened a bunch of films from this year’s Out On Film LGBTQ film festival here in Atlanta. Several of the new release films I saw this month might just make my end of the year list. There’s just so much good cinema all year round! I also hosted a silent film triple feature here at the Plaza Theatre, which was a dream come true. I’m hoping to do more of that in the next few months so if you live in the area do come out. As always, you can see everything I watched last month after the cut, plus I highlight some favorites.
August 2018 in Film
This monthly recap is a few days late because the month changed during DragonCon here in Atlanta and I was just too damn tired to get it written. This year I was on four panels and attended several more featuring my amazing coworkers at TCM/FilmStruck. I also wore five cosplay outfits. It was a lot. But also so so much fun. As for my watching in August, I had intended to watch a lot more Summer Under The Stars films on TCM in August, but somehow only managed to really tackle Barbra Streisand. I did, however, catch up on a ton of films about to expire on FilmStruck and saw several great new releases (including my favorite movie of the year so far). I also found myself finishing up my Downton Abbey binge that I started in July. More thoughts on that to come. As always, you can see everything I watched, a breakdown by year, and some favorites after the cut.
July 2018 in Film
This summer seems to have really gone by in a flash (and a whole lot of rain here in Atlanta!) I Somehow missed the handful of blockbuster films I actually wanted to see this summer, mostly because I was busy watching all the great documentaries (and I didn’t even get to all of those that I wanted to see). It seems MoviePass may be floundering, but I’ve used it to see sooo many new releases (mostly indie, foreign, docs) so even if it goes under I think I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it. I watched more movies in theaters in July than I did streaming, which I think is probably a good thing. As always, the whole list and a few of my favorites can be found after the cut.
June 2018 in Film
June is both Pride Month and my birthday month (my birthday was yesterday), so I’m always busy busy busy. This June I found myself going to Miami to introduce Some Like It Hot for Flaming Classics, moderating a panel at Turner on LGTBQ representation in cinema, and recorded a video about how movies helped me growing up queer in a small town. These experiences were life-affirming in that I was able to see our community thrive, but also I was able to help allies learn more about the cultural history of the community as well. A real dream come true. Because of the travel and prep work for these events, I watched far less films than I had intended to. That said, I did cross several landmark queer classics off of my list and saw some films that will stay with me for a long time. As always, you can see everything I watched plus my favorites for the month after the cut.
Human Rights Watch Film Festival in NYC Features Mostly Films Directed By Women
Human Rights Watch, independent organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights, screens over 500 films each year through their HRW Film Festival which operates in 20 different cities. The New York City leg of the film festival runs from June 14th to June 21st at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the IFC Center. It opened with Alexandria Bombach’s On Her Shoulders and features mostly films directed by women including:
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- Margarita Cadenas’s Women of the Venezuelan Chaos
- Julia Bacha’s Naila and the Uprising
- Kim Hopkins’s Voices of the Sea
- Sedika Mojadidi’s Facing The Dragon
- Neary Adeline Hay’s Angkar
- Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar’s The Silence of Others
- Sahra Mani’s A Thousand Girls Like Me
- Gabriel Silverman & Fiona Dawson’s TransMilitary
- Marilyn Ness’s Charm City
- Anayansi Prado and Heather Courtney’s The Unafraid
If you’re in New York definitely check out some of these films over the next week and let me know what you think! I love the films from Iram Haq that I’ve seen before, so I’m particularly anxious to see her new film.
May 2018 in Films
So May was very different from April in that I didn’t watch nearly as many films directed by women as I had intended. Mostly this was because there were a bunch of films expiring from FilmStruck that I had to watch. Like, so many films. You’ll see. As always, the whole list of everything I watched in May plus my favorites can be found after the cut.
I Know Catherine, The Log Lady KickStarter Campaign
The documentary I Know Catherine, The Log Lady is still raising funds: http://kck.st/2KwsLQC
This documentary will not only cover Catherine E. Coulson’s time as the Log Lady on Twin Peaks, but it will also cover her work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, her work behind the scenes of films like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Eraserhead, her early life and start as an actress, and more.
There are some really fun perks for donating and some very rare footage, including an extended interview with David Lynch about his decades long friendship with Catherine, that will only see the light of day if the project gets funded.
Director Richard Green was a producer on the 2002 documentary David Lynch Presents: I Don’t Know Jack and can be seen in Mulholland Dr. (in Club Silencio).
Find out more about the production of I Know Catherine, The Log Lady and how you can donate here: http://kck.st/2KwsLQC
the diary of a film history fanatic 