settima

@settima@mograph.social

المومياء [Al-mummia / The Night of Counting the Years / The Mummy] (Chadi Abdel Salam, 1969)

Jan

11

Heritage Treasures Day

Al-mummia (1969)

Men carrying the sarcophagi through the desert in a long, winding procession. Both the porters and the dead are dressed in white cloth. DP: Abdel Aziz Fahmy.

“You who go, you will return You who sleep, you will rise You who walk, you will be resurrected”

The Anniversary (Roy Ward Baker + Alvin Rakoff, 1968)

Jan

10

National Houseplant Appreciation Day

The Anniversary (1968)

Dear Mrs. Taggart (Bette Davis) takes a moment during the anniversary to water her many many houseplants in her winter garden. DP: Harry Waxman.

Someone is watering houseplants for National Houseplant Appreciation Day (USA)

“Shirley my dear, would you mind sitting somewhere else? Body odor offends me.”

– Mrs. Taggart

書を捨てよ町へ出よう [Sho o suteyo machi e deyō / Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets] (Shūji Terayama, 1971)

Jan

9

成人の日

書を捨てよ町へ出よう (1971)

Young adults rally in the streets. DP: Masayoshi Sukita.

Coming of Age Day in Japan.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932)

Jan

8

World Typing Day

Grand Hotel (1932)

Despite Flaemmchen – Joan Crawford in her breakout role – is introduced as a “little stenographess”, that's clearly a typewriter on her desk. DP: William H. Daniels.

“Grand Hotel… always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens.”

– Flaemmchen

Le Pétomane du Moulin Rouge [The Fart Maniac] (1900)

Jan

7

National Pass Gas Day

Le Pétomane du Moulin Rouge (1900)

Flatulist Joseph Pujol blowing out a candle with his derrière.

Witness the world famous pétomane shot on location at the Moulin Rouge (and amazingly not at Edison's Black Maria), as saved for prosperity by Edison Studios. The large trumpet-like contraption that can be seen on the left, the Edison Kinetophone, also present in The Dickson Experimental Sound Film (William Dickson, 1894/95), recorded the sound on a cylinder, that then could be played back in synch with the picture.

 

The original audio recording that accompanied this film is lost; do check your attic.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939)

Jan

6

National Smith Day

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Mr. Jefferson Smith (a squeaky young Jimmy Stewart) holds up a travel-guide of Washington, D.C. to Saunders (Jean Arthur). DP: Joseph Walker.

“The Chair recognizes… Senator Smith!”

– President of Senate

The Spider (Kenneth MacKenna + William Cameron Menzies, 1931)

Jan

4

World Hypnotism Day

The Spider (1931)

A masked Alexander (Howard Phillips) seated on a curule on stage. DP: James Wong Howe.

Le jour se lève [The Day Rises / Daybreak] (Marcel Carné, 1939)

Jan

3

Memento Mori Day

Le jour se lève (1939)

François (Jean Gabin) and Clara (Arletty). DPs: Philippe Agostini, André Bac, Albert Viguier & Curt Courant.

“People in love are said to be more alive than others. Is it true?”

Z ​(Costa-Gavras, 1969)

Jan

1

Z Day

Z (1969)

Hélène (Irene Papas) and Z (Yves Montand). DP: Raoul Coutard.

“A single cannon is fired and a teacher's monthly salary goes up in smoke.”

– Z

Who, why, and what

This film blog, which is part of the fediverse, compliments my Mastodon musings and to a degree my Letterboxd logs. It consists of three parts:

The oldest is the Bales 2023 Film Challenge. This was a 2023 fediverse (and Twitter/X) challenge where the participants had to post about a film based on the daily theme. 2023 wasn't the kindest year, and at one point I had to skip a title. And then more. And more. And in 2024 I'm still catching up. Read about it on Letterboxd. Note that blog posts are timestamped on their corresponding daily challenge; you may have to scroll all the way back a year, or follow the #Bales2023FilmChallenge, #Bales2024FilmChallenge (December only) and #Bales2025FilmChallenge tags.

Then there is the Film du jour. This too once was a Letterboxd list until a blogger, backed by LB, blatantly copied my list and ran off with my gold medal. That list is now private and the titles – auto-posted on Mastodon on the day they take place – can be found here under the tag #FilmDuJour. The titles repeat yearly, with more and more ingredients added. It's like the soup of the day, but in celluloid form. Delicious!

Talking about food. Over time I announced my film-watching-during-dinner on Mastodon with the hashtag #FilmDinner. Initially just with a nice/interesting still, but then I decided to post a screenshot of a food-related moment in said movie.

The most recent addition is #Arcs, journaling those odd moments where I watch two or more films in a row with very similar scenes or setups. That happens, more often than anticipated.