December 2013

1. Judex (Georges Franju, 1963/France-Italy) [Rewatch]

2. Serial Experiments Lain (Ryutaro Nakamura,
1998/Japan) [Rewatch]

3. Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966/USA) 

4. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder,
1974/West Germany)

5. Christmas Evil (Lewis Jackson, 1980/USA)[Rewatch]

6. Drowning by Numbers (Peter Greenaway, 1988/Netherlands-UK) 

7. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011/Iran) 

8. The Fury (Brian De Palma, 1978/USA) 

9. Keoma (Enzo G. Castellari, 1976/Italy) 

10. Prata Palomares (André Faria, 1972/Brazil) 

11. Avenge but one of my two eyes
(Avi Mograbi, 2005/France-Israel) [Rewatch]

12. Marwencol (Jeff Malmberg, 2010/USA)  [Rewatch]

13. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992/USA)  [Rewatch]

14. Correspondances (Eugene Green, 2007/France-South Korea)

15. The World’s End (Edgar Wright, 2013/UK) [Rewatch]

16. Les Jeux des anges (Walerian Borowczyk, 1964/France) 

17. Fellini Satyricon (Federico Fellini, 1969/Italy) [Rewatch]

18. Awakening of the Beast (José Mojica Marins,
1970/Brazil) [Rewatch]

19. This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (José Mojica Marins,
1967/Brazil) [Rewatch]

20. Macabre (Lamberto Bava, 1980/Italy) 

Honorable Mentions: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994/USA) [Rewatch]; Voodoo Passion (Jesus Franco, 1977/Switzerland); Devil’s Canyon (Alfred L. Werker, 1953/USA); Poto and Cabengo (Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1980/USA-West Germany); Django, Kill… If You Live, Shoot! (Giulio Questi, 1967/Italy-Spain) [Rewatch]; Crows Zero (Takashi Miike, 2007/Japan); The Brood (David Cronenberg, 1979/Canada); Strange World of Coffin Joe (José Mojica Marins, 1968/Brazil) [Rewatch]; Dom (Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica, 1958/Poland); At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (José Mojica Marins, 1964/Brazil) [Rewatch]

A new Month In Review segment. The last of 2013. There will be a best of 2013 in terms of what I watched, old and new, which will take time to sort out. Best of 2013 in terms of cinema? I admit I saw quite a few things from the year but I feel disappointed in what I missed or left off. Lack of access or put to the side with other things on my mind. I might be controversial and wait for a few months on that one, even longer than other personal film blogs might. It seems ill-advised to hastily assess the last year and cram everything I miss, even if I leave it to February or March. As I'm finding now, the quick opinion is a bad method of judging, and even just a few hours of thought is enough. The other issue is that, as I've confessed to in these segments, my views of cinema as an art form and a hobby are constantly in flux. I need to prioritise my thoughts on it, and clear through the literal mass I've hoarded for many years which is reflected on the numerous rewatches here. It's better to wait on the best of 2013 until much later, even if its near summer, drastically late, so that I can clear through everything. Give me time to breath and assess everything from the year before with all the end of year lists and Oscars a vague memory.

I need to assess the purpose of this blog further. I still want to take my interest in areas like westerns, martial arts films, anime etc. to the level of making the blog an encyclopedia of reviews written by a masochist. The problems here are neglecting work in the rush to make space and time, a fate that once befell Serial Experiments Lain, which upon revisiting it with a new light is something that shines in virtue in an art form that unfortunately can be just tedious. (And sat together on as No.2 and No.3 respectively, how befitting the titular protagonist Lain is next to Rock Hudson of John Frankenheimer's Seconds, two people lost and trying to explain who they are and what meaning there is to their lives.) Then there's the issue of trying to be able to write reviews for things I love that are not vague and poor reviews, and to write reviews of things I hated without boring the reader. I need to actually have a goal now for the blog, develop a philosophy of what I want in this "seventh art", read up on my film history and theory, amateur or not, hone my writing skills, and figure a way to deal with another Nurse Witch Komugi (2002) or Jinki:Extend (2005) in a memorable way. Paradoxically I need to also just leap into covering films by directors or individuals I'm becoming obsessed with, even if I fear the rewatch could have drastic changes in opinion. I've done so with Jess Franco, but it needs to be done for others as well. For the new year I want to dig into directors I've yet to see or have holes in their filmography, dig into anime and cinema that I've neglected, and actually learn what cinema has in it more than I do now. This blog should reflect that more so than it does now. On the plus side I'm learning more about cinema, which will be central to the Best of the Year's Viewing. Until then guess which of the following in the Top Twenty here could get into the All Year List, and reward yourself for every right guess. Although considering Christmas has passed, you'd probably be sick of chocolate and food by now, so make the rewards something else.

61 Works Watched In December
24 Rewatched Works
37 New Works Seen

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1. http://www.c1n3.org/f/franju01g/Images/1963%20Judex%20(foto)%20(Francine%20Berge)%2015.jpg
2. http://www.cineloutres.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Serial-experiments-Lain-5.jpg
3. http://www.factualopinion.com/.a/6a00d83455e40a69e201901f038971970b-500wi
4. http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ali6.jpg
5. http://www.peacheschrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Christmas-Evil-2.jpg
6. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qP9kh5F7E6A/Td9paFtKqI/AAAAAAAABhg/IEmIHQ2P8zw/s1600/936full-drowning-by-numbers-screenshot.jpg
7. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/01/01/arts/01HOLDEN_SPAN/HOLDEN-articleLarge.jpg
8. http://d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/18/7620d0835111e1bcc4123138165f92/file/fury40.jpg
9. http://antifilmschoolsite.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/keoma-crop-2.jpg
10.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qzmdaEhpzqHkgkEeF4GVBesioUMZAx3F5jEotSalduYD8cJdoC9Zwqk-jbjNaDJt15TwdxMJhhNPye-ikIzRqT3j4pvG8dM4o83LAwJGlL1epnNe-6sahjgRx2NBe0dWXwoNuzx9WH4/s1600/PRATA+PALOMARES+25.JPG
11. http://www.lesfilmsdici.fr/106-9081/pour-un-seul-de-mes-deux-yeux.jpg
12. http://smhttp.14409.nexcesscdn.net/806D5E/wordpress-L/images/marwencol-miniature.jpg
13. http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/13200000/Reservoir-Dogs-reservoir-dogs-13232417-1920-1080.jpg
14. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ZUPqNx0k_jds_Rk4vChGQqP1o1rKZfIaZ3DLBbjGnaphlXUtRMNoJrV7wXQBB7NglQlDhYs8r3wlJ6cKCnLnd4oR2xcijSVRfMX4EwKgjl4PSGxvnzj8RfmE53MGUuXK_5Z_8d9Pn_KY/s1600/corr.jpg
15. http://edgecast.metatube-files.buscafs.com/uploads/videos/image/image_190838_2.jpg
16. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrN7qsKBY5YLszF6ZZSIkZHVhpK1vjKVFbik80xuqjXsBhylQN-Qre_5emmD4TrszGZMcUWN8FJtHZBtbiCYSbBsK68p63KshG77MKLPgXOwbzZsCLcmg5hJbpt-R7aIN5hApYroByYVGs/s1600/Les+jeux+des+anges.jpg
17. http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare6/satyricon/us-00.24.39.jpg
18. http://www.sensesofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Awakening-of-the-Beast.jpg
19. http://anartmostvulgar.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/picture-2.png
20. http://bmoviezone.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/vlcsnap-2011-02-05-01h59m56s154.png?w=500&h=271