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Street of Dreams – Musical Mirror Maze [Tiny Tim's Street of Dreams] (Martin Sharp, 1988)
Dec
4
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A theme park*, or in this case, amusement park.
“Just take it from me
I'm just as free as any daughter
I do what I like
Just what I like and how I love it
I'm right here to stay when I'm old and gray
I'll be right in my prime
Living in the sunlight, loving in the moonlight
Having a wonderful time”
– Tiny Tim, Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight (Al Sherman & Al Lewis, 1930), from God Bless Tiny Tim (1968)
Tiny Tim is a personal hero of mine. A decade after his mainstream TV debut, Tiny's career had taken a tumble but he still was – God bless him – Tiny Tim, and he performed a two-hour-and-seventeen-minute singing marathon at Luna Park Sydney. Just months after that, tragedy hit the park's Ghost Train ride. A fire, arson as it was determined decades later, killed seven. Fellow Tiny-aficionado and OZ artist Don Lane saw a connection between these two events and spend years cutting and editing the musical marathon, nude drunken interview and disaster footage, and Tiny wandering around a mirror maze into a narrative.
Lane passed in 2013 and, in respect of his family's wishes, Street of Dreams remains unfinished.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.
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L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)
Dec
3
Gabriel (Lewis Furey) and the woman he named Fabienne (Carole Laure). DP: François Protat.
A caregiver*
A woman is brutally murdered and taken home by a young man. This man – this angel – takes away her wounds, returns her to life, and nurses her. They fall in love.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.
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Vulcano [Volcano] (William Dieterle, 1950)
Dec
2
sisters
Sisters Maria (Geraldine Brooks) and Maddalena (Anna Magnani) Natoli. Lobbycard for the US market. DP: Arturo Gallea.
Sisters, for one of the OPs' sister's birthday.
Expelled prostitute Maddalena returns to her home island Vulcano (Salina in disguise) and moves in with her sister Maria. A handsome fisherman becomes first Maria's, then Maddalena's catch.
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Noir et blanc (Claire Devers, 1986)
Dec
1
World AIDS Day
“J’ai mal, mais la douleur me rassure. Son souvenir me donne du plaisir.”
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Surma hinda küsi surnutelt [Ask the Dead About the Price of Death] (Kaljo Kiisk, 1977)
Dec
1
1924
A woman wearing a crochet skull cap and an ominous look on her face. DP: Jüri Sillart.
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宇宙人東京に現わる [Uchūjin Tōkyō ni arawaru / Warning from Space] (Kōji Shima, 1956)
Nov
30
1955
“A scientist is not like a politician who can answer every question.”
– Japanese Bar' Ucyū-ken' Madam Ohana
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Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält [Mark of the Devil] (Michael Armstrong + Adrian Hoven, 1970)
Nov
28
cheese
A young, pretty Udo Kier seated at a dinner table. There are various fruits on a platter and Udo's eating cheese. His outfit suggests the 18th century. DP: Ernst W. Kalinke.
“I accuse you of having trampled on the cross, of having ridden to the Sabbath, of throwing the Holy Cross of our Saviour into manure so that the skies grew dark, and the rain fell upon the earth!”
– Albino
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Belle (André Delvaux, 1973)
Nov
28
Belle (Adriana Bogdan) in front of her cabin on the moors. DPs: Ghislain Cloquet & Charles Van Damme.
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Un comisar acuză [A Police Inspector Calls] (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1974)
Nov
26
1940
DP: Alexandru David.
Takes place on the night of November 26-27, 1940.
“Mister Moldovan, this is not for the first time that a criminal case is entrusted to you. It is precisely your political objectivity that made us choose you.”
– Alexandru Dincă
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La polizia ringrazia [Execution Squad / The Law Enforcers] (Steno, 1972)
Nov
23
Sandra (Mariangela Melato) and Francesco Bettarini (Franco Fabrizi). DP: Riccardo Pallottini.