Blog News: Blog Plans for 2025

2024 is coming to an end although right now I'm struggling to finish projects for the year as of 12/20/24, I've only watched five parts out of the 14 parts in my final Blind Spot in Berlin Alexanderplatz as it's been difficult to find timing while I am nearly half-done with my Auteurs piece on David Lean as it is now likely that it will be done for January 2025. It's been a difficult year as I haven't had a lot of time watching films as I've been dealing with various illnesses throughout the year as well as family and a growing lack of enthusiasm towards films this year as I think 2024 hasn't been a great year in cinema. Mainly because there hasn't really been a lot of exciting films as I've also grown disillusioned with several aspects of mainstream cinema. There has also been delays on projects as I was able to get a new laptop this past May though getting things started has been quite hard as I am also dealing with writer's block as it relates to my book project for Lost in Translation.

Getting back to the Auteurs series ever since I finally finished my piece on Kelly Reichardt the year before and having completed my two-part Auteurs piece on Michael Mann with David Lean still in the works. I have managed to create several lists relating to the Auteurs including a shortlist of future candidates for the Auteurs series as well as a list on the eventual 100th candidate for the Auteurs series. One of my original plans in the series as it relates to J.C. Chandor has been shelved indefinitely mainly because of the poor reception to Kraven the Hunter as well as a lot of uncertainty in what he will do next as I would rather wait for him to do something great as there's still a lot about him that I don't know about given the lack of major resources so he is offically out of the Auteurs series. With Lean set to be finished likely in January, here are the candidates that I will profile for the Auteurs series in 2025:

Robert Eggers-January/February

Damien Chazelle-March/April

Ryan Coogler-May/June

James Gunn-July/August

Rebecca Miller-September/October

Ari Aster-November/December

With the plans for the Auteurs set for 2025 as well as the films I plan to watch for the 2025 Blind Spot Series. There are still a lot of films that I hope to watching recently purchased several film box sets for the holidays as I have made many watchlists of films that I hope to see while I am taking more control of the streaming services I have including some that I plan to buy for the New Year. I still also plan to take part in the 52 Films by Women pledge though it is likely I will fall short for this year but thankfully two of the box sets I have recently purchased include films by two great women filmmakers that I have yet to watch including several short films. I think that is all that I hope to do for 2025 as I hope it will be a better year. Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off...

© thevoid99 2024

2025 Blind Spot Series Announcement

 

With 2024 coming to an end with Rainer Werner Fassbinder's epic near-15 hour miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz being the last one to watch for the year. The time has come once again to make an announcement for the 2025 edition as I have chosen to do diversify myself again but also avoid doing grand epics as that is something I think I won't do for a while. At the same time, I wanted to avoid doing films by the same director as well as wanting to choose films that I've been wanting to see for a long time. Even based on discoveries I've made this year through the Blind Spot Series has forced me wanting to do more in terms of exploration. There is also the case for availability as not every can be found easily which was the mistake I made for the 2021 series as I nearly got into some legal trouble as that I don't want to do ever again. My choices for next year has me once again going further into the 20th Century as it will be spread around from the 1930s to the 1990s. Unfortunately, there won't be any films by women for the 2025 mainly because I didn't know what to choose as what is available aside from some of the Blu-Rays I've recently acquired as I would rather focus on doing small marathons based on those filmmakers. Most of the films that I have chosen are those that are currently available on Blu-Ray or will be released on Blu-Ray while other films that I don't have on Blu-Ray will be seen either through a streaming service or as a YouTube rental. Here are the 12 films in chronological order that I will watch for the 2025 Blind Spot Series:

The Public Enemy by William A. Wellman

Limite by Mario Peixoto

Notorious by Alfred Hitchcock

A Star is Born by George Cukor

The Misfits by John Huston

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Mike Nichols

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song by Melvin Van Peebles

The Mother and the Whore by Jean Eustache

The Sting by George Roy Hill

Love Streams by John Cassavetes

Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki

Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

© thevoid99 2024