happy new year

well, i was looking back at last year's entry for about this time and i see that things worked out like i thought they might. 2011 felt like a much better year, overall, than 2010, though not necessarily for reasons i expected. the move to cedar park did a lot of things for me. first and foremost, it was a huge relief. the subconscious weight of always worrying about my sister's safety and whether or not my possessions would still be there when i got home was taking a heavy toll on me, as it turns out. it is nice to be free of that burden. it has also provided me with a lot of needed isolation. i haven't been as diligent sometimes about turning that isolation into time to make entries here, but that's the way it goes. there's an entirely different rhythm to my life since august and i am beginning to figure out the best way to fit everything into that. on the plus side, the blog was up and running for its first entire calendar year, averaging better than one post every other day, so i guess i was more diligent than i thought. i would still like to take more time to write about specific individual films, so expect more of that in the year to come, in addition to the ongoing queue de grâce madness. another bright spot this year was our starlite cinema series. we took it all the way to the east coast this summer and here at home we have gotten it down to a science. it's always such a good time. also, i saw more films this year than in any year prior and made some incredible discoveries; some new filmmakers, some just new to me. all in all, a pretty good way to spend 365 days. thanks to all my friends for going to the movies with me, supporting my events, leaving me to my self-imposed exile when necessary and listening to me talk about movies an awful lot and thank you to everyone that comes here. whether you just read or contribute to the discussion, i am grateful that you visit and share.

good luck in 2012 and i hope to see you around. happy new year, gang.

trailer tuesday

the last trailer tuesday of the year offers you one last must-see from 2011, nuri bilge ceylan's once upon a time in anatolia (2011).

yeah, just keep giving this asshole your money

i always get testy this time of year. i don't really like christmas all that much and i detest new year's eve. on top of that, everywhere i look i am surrounded by trailers for event movies that i must be out of my mind for not being appropriately excited about and banal best of 2011 lists, the one from the american goddamned film institute being one of the most egregious. so, what better time to roll out what i am sure will be a recurring feature every time i am sick to death of popular culture? welcome to the inaugural installment of yeah, just keep giving this asshole your money, a rogue's gallery of people who obviously don't give a single shit about cinema that the american public still insists on making rich with their hard-earned moviegoing dollars. ground zero? ashton kutcher.

yeah, just keep giving this asshole your money.

trailer tuesday

this week's entry is the most hotly anticipated clip to come down the digital pike in a while, christopher nolan's the dark knight rises (2012).

season's greetings by starlite

what to our wondering eyes did appear tonight? starlite cinema series' christmas program, that's what!

we had a lot better weather this time around than we did last year. summer can be rough but it certainly is a nice trade off to be able to comfortably do these outdoor shows this late into december. in anticipation of st. nick's arrival, tonight we screened jalmari helander's rare exports: a christmas tale (2010) and the pair of shorts from 2003 and 2005 that spawned the feature. appropriately, lauren made ginger snaps with which to keep an army of homicidal father christmases at bay so we made it out alive and full of cookies. at starlite we keep things merry and bright year-round.

we will be back in late january to redeem a rain check from last year. in the time that we have been doing this we have had to cancel one show and shorten another, leaving us with a short list of films that we had to abandon. last january we had to cancel the program that included, among other things, norman z. mcleod's it's a gift (1934), a problem we are going to happily rectify next month.

what better way to ensure a great year than to begin it with the great man himself, w.c. fields? this is one of - maybe tops on the list - my all-time favorite comedies. it is relentlessly funny, filled with gags and bits of business that fields had honed to a razor's edge over a lifetime on the vaudeville circuit. he paid attention to language in a way that no comedian has done before or since and every aside and oath muttered under his breath is a victory for literate, beleaguered everymen, everywhere. combine that with an unerring instinct for physical comedy and you can't miss. if you like to laugh this is one you shouldn't miss. our program will begin at 7 p.m. on saturday, 1.21.12. here is the facebook event page if you would like to rsvp via that. if facebook is not an option, just let me know and i will get you the details. it would be great to have you there to kick off 2012 with us. upcoming screenings in the new year are going to include a return to france (of course) for valentine's day and spring is going to see our first two part program that spans march and april with one of my favorite cinematic gumshoes. lots of good times ahead. come and see.

a li'l kurosawa

i see your old king cole and three billy goats gruff and raise you a toshirō mifune! these kids have thrown down the gauntlet with their production of akira kurosawa's seven samurai (1954). your elementary school needs to step its game up.

trailer tuesday

a gray film for a gray day. this week's entry is for martin ritt's the spy who came in from the cold (1965).

kill me, kate

one more round of queue de grâce is now history. everyone say so long to kate, our guest programmer for the past week.

kate knows all the best people.

before i began her list, kate intimated that, in keeping with the holiday theme, this week would be a half naughty/half nice proposition. she also hinted that i would win some sort of magnificent prize if i could correctly guess which on her list were which. so, here, for posterity and a shot at everlasting glory, is what i watched this week, the asterisks denoting my choices for the nice list:

brazil (1985)*
edward scissorhands (1990)
giorgio moroder presents metropolis (1984)*
christmas cupid (2010)
emmet otter's jug-band christmas (1977)*
cooper's christmas (2008)
holiday in handcuffs (2007)
the sasquatch gang (2006)*
you again (2010)
dead men don't wear plaid (1982)*
meet pingu (2003)*
ballerina (2006)*
miracle on 34th street (1947)
the bells of st. mary's (1945)
peter and the wolf (2006)*
the last song (2010)
angus (1995)*
santa claus: the movie (1985)
batman returns (1992)
a smoky mountain christmas (1986)*

let me know where to pick up my prize. after this week, i deserve it even if i didn't guess right. i feel like i should explain a few things in the wake of this week's experiment. i know we all tend to project the way we do things onto others so there may be some of you, based upon how you do it, that haven't thought a lot about how i approach movies and, therefore, why weeks like this are so unpleasant for me. i often go all day long, sometimes days at a time, without having a significant, satisfying conversation. when the day is over and i come home, to my own space, i want to be be challenged, engaged. i don't want to just put something on and not think about it. this time i spend with movies is frequently the best time i spend all day. i am in conversation with herzog, fellini, akerman, bergman, countless others. i am getting to think about things, i am being surprised, i am being introduced to new ideas and having my old ones challenged. it is not just mindless entertainment or white noise for me. this is what makes me happy. i have never subscribed to the myth that thinking and fun are mutually exclusive. the thinking is the fun part for me. when i have weeks like this where, instead of the interesting and unconventional, i often have to invite - virtually - unimaginative morons and cretins into my home for hours on end, it is not exactly my idea of a good time. in addition to this, it takes up every spare minute of my time. subtract work and sleep and that leaves no time to do anything except watch, think about and write about these movies. i don't get to read. i don't get to go outside. i don't get to spend time with my friends. ask everyone who has tried to do even a miniature, tailored version of this. practically none of them have been able to even finish, and that's with a fraction of the films and a lot more flexibility on the timeline. it's a chore even if it was twenty films i was dying to see. the degree of difficulty increases geometrically when they're not.

i know that there are some of you that are going to file this under "film snob" but i don't think that is a fair assessment. i think of snobbery as trying to achieve and maintain some level of exclusivity. nothing could be further from what i try to do here. i want to share things that i am excited about and if you're a regular around here i hope that you can clearly see that in my editorial policy. barring queue weeks, i really only spend time talking about the things i love. i don't want to keep this information to myself. i want to share it and i want people to go out and see movies that have something extraordinary to offer them. i don't like to waste time on things that don't merit it. i know blood in the water sure raises the ol' hit count and i exaggerate those bits for comic effect (especially this week, since half of the choices were made explicitly to irritate me) but i would much rather be telling you about something that knocked my world off its axis than something that depresses me just by its very existence. i have seen a fair amount of movies in my life - not that i don't have a long way to go in my film education, i read people all the time that remind me that, in that regard, i am still in my infancy - so there are some things that just don't satisfy anymore. you can call it fluency, competency or just plain familiarity but i feel like it is a waste of time talking about the crude, insulting and elementary when there are so many more deserving things out there, things that aspire to greatness rather than just being a commercial enterprise. i prefer to tell you about something that might add something to your world. i am always digging, searching for new things that give me that feeling of discovery that i can then, in turn, pass along to someone else. i do it for no other reason than i feel it adds immeasurably to my life. it's not like you win cool prizes for sitting in your apartment at three in the morning reading essays about mehboob khan or max ophuls. i do it because i really love it. i write about it in hopes that you will really love it as well. you can call me a snob if you like, and i'm certainly not going to mince words if i think something is garbage, but, because of all these things, i prefer to think of myself as an enthusiast.

the queue will return in january to start a whole new trip around the sun. if you would like to be added to the list of participants just let me know. there's always room for one more. as always, thanks for following along and a special thanks to kate for taking the time to alternately torture and delight me this holiday season. since you split naughty and nice right down the middle, i'll leave your final judgment to santa claus.

oh no he didn't!