jon but not forgotten

well, another installment of queue de grâce rides off into the sunset and there, astride the horizon like a colossus, stands our guest programmer, jon merrill.

ok, not astride it so much as languidly draped across it like he was michelle pfeiffer in the fabulous baker boys (1989).

here's the full list of what jon selected for me this past week:

die hard (1988)
the long kiss goodnight (1996)
speed (1994)
the taking of pelham one two three (1974)
hard to hold (1984)
all that jazz (1979)
moulin rouge! (2001)
soapdish (1991)
safe men (1998)
topkapi (1964)
femme fatale (2002)
blood & wine (1996)
gigli (2003)
the way of the gun (2000)
ransom (1996)
best laid plans (1999)
nighthawks (1981)
cop land (1997)
the thin blue line (1998)
tightrope (1984)
my cousin vinny (1992)
chicago (2002)
the gingerbread man (1998)
time limit (1957)
hopscotch (1980)
conspiracy theory (1997)
charade (1963)
the 39 steps (1935)

man, that is a lot of movies to watch in one week. he was fiendishly clever in promising me a trophy upon completion. his sequencing was diabolical as well, as there was always that carrot dangling out there, leading me forward. on occasion, it was punishing. getting the house ready to move, putting in overtime at work and watching and writing about twenty-eight movies in one week meant there were a couple of days where i was running on about three hours sleep. for future curators, i won't do that again. i don't care what you promise me. it was too hard and i think the posts occasionally suffered for it. gigli deserved to have a lot more scorn heaped upon than i was able to, for instance. it truly is reprehensible and inane.

that is not to say there weren't benefits, though. the work he put into daily themes and making selections from across decades was much appreciated. i know it can't be easy sometimes, considering the limits of what is available to stream. it's also tough depending on what you want to achieve with your list. if you want to introduce me to all new experiences you have to forsake a number of selections you might have preferred, considering the volume of films i have already seen. it's also probably difficult to decide between torture, true enjoyment and edification. i think he struck a pretty healthy balance with that. i learned a few things and made a discovery or two. i also had one or two instances of what has turned out to be one of my more favorite aspects of this experiment - seeing how much i have changed in relation to a film i am revisiting for the first time in many years. it's always good to be made aware of your own evolution. i picked up tips too. you had best believe i will never pull a job i can't do by myself. on the down side, apparently any time you have sex you will most likely get framed for a horrible crime you didn't commit, end up dead or, worst of all, be in bed with joe pesci. the queue doles out some harsh lessons but i love it all the same.

i am taking july off from the queue, as the band is going on tour, but we will pick up our experiment again in early august with shen heaton behind the wheel. it should be a good one. as always, if you would like to be added to the list of guest curators (or have me make a list for you to write about), drop me a line. you will have to be very patient, as the list is fairly long at this point but i hope it doesn't discourage you from participating. thanks for reading and thank you, jon, for a fine time.