Friday, November 30, 2012

The Films That I Saw: November 2012




Another month is coming to an end as the year itself is starting to wind down as well. November was a pretty good month for me despite having the flu less than a week after Thanksgiving which I’m recovering from at the moment. Yet, it had stopped me from watching some films for a bit as I needed a bit of a rest. Still, I a saw a good number of films including new movies that have come out this year which certainly helped things out. Some were great while there were a few that weren’t very good. Yet, I am getting excited for December as it’s kind of my favorite movie month.

In the month of November, I saw a total of 41 films. 28 first-timers and 13 re-watches. Down from last month in terms of re-watches but the same number as last month in term of first-timers. Some of which were short films and a few TV specials helmed by acclaimed filmmakers. A lot of which were devoted to works related to Quentin Tarantino as well as mini-marathon of the films by Samuel Fuller. Plus, there was the end of the James Bond marathon that finally culminated with the new Bond film in Skyfall. Here are the 10 best first-timers I saw this month:

1. Holy Motors



2. Rust and Bone



3. Pickpocket



4. Shock Corridor



5. Skyfall



6. The Naked Kiss



7. M



8. The Trial of Joan of Arc



9. Silver Linings Playbook



10. Simon of the Desert



Monthly Mini-Review:

Brian Eno 1971-1977: The Man Who Fell to Earth



I found this documentary on YouTube and I was always fascinated by the life and works of Brian Eno. I’m a fan of his work with Roxy Music, David Bowie, U2, David Byrne, the Talking Heads, and a few others (not fuckin’ Coldplay) as well as his solo work from his early avant-garde rock stuff to his ambient work. This documentary was certainly fascinating in terms of the kind of work Eno was doing at the time and how he would become such a pioneer in creating what would become ambient music. For me, it was something that I invested myself in watching and I just got sucked into it.

Top 10 Re-Watches:

1. Ghostbusters



2. The Descendants



3. True Romance



4. Scrooged



5. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures



6. Forrest Gump



7. Nowhere Boy



8. Back to the Future Pt. III



9. Alive



10. Oscar



Well, that is it for November. In December, there will be a very busy time to watch lots of new films. Among them will be Life of Pi, Killing Them Softly, Les Miserables, and Django Unchained as well as a few others that will peak my interest. Also slated for December will be a few more related reviews of films by Stanley Kubrick that I will release to coincide with the final Auteurs essay of the year. Other films I will be seeking out are a few Roman Polanski films, two films from the Alien franchise, and whatever I come across to. I will also be announcing some plans for 2013 including my own Blind Spot list and the Most Anticipated Films list for 2013. Until then, finish whatever Thanksgiving leftovers you had left.

© thevoid99 2012

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a pretty good month of movie watching. A lot of the movies I have not seen yet, but quite a few as well. I didn't watch as many movies this month (about 19), but there were a couple I really enjoyed.

Chris said...

Thanks for the info about Brian Eno doc. I'm a fan of Ambient 1: Music for Airports.
Never heard of Simon of the Desert, I'm intrigued.

Holy Motors is polarizing, you and Bonjour Tristesse loved the hell out of it, and others like blogger velvet cafe strongly disliked it. I'm somewhere in between.

December is your favorite movie month? Is that because you love movies related to Christmas, or because of the tv line-up during holidays?
Wishing you a speedy recovery from the flu.

thevoid99 said...

@myfilmviews.com-I had a bit of a slow down in the last week due to the flu I got but I'm glad I was able to see a good number of films.

@Chris-I'm doing better now. The reason I love December isn't just the movies that are coming out at the time but also the movies that you get for Xmas. Today is my B-day and I got 2 Criterion DVDs as presents in Harold & Maude and Being John Malkovich.