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Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966)
Nov
7
International Merlot Day
Nora (Salome Jens), seen from the back with her dress half unzipped, holds up a glass of red wine while kissing a reluctant Antiochus (Rock Hudson) during the ecstatic Bacchanal scene. DP: James Wong Howe.
At a bacchanalia, Rock Hudson's Antiochus Wilson finally strips down his hesitancy and realises he has a second chance at life, as a member of the new generation. To the Queen of wine! To Bacchus! To Pan!
“Bacchus gives us his blood so we may be born again.”
Director of photography James Wong Howe's very controlled framing of the (initially censored) pre-Woodstock #Bacchanalian scene beautifully frames this pinnacle moment and proved almost too much for American censors.
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Goshogaoka [御所ケ丘] (Sharon Lockhart, 1998)
Nov
6
Play Basketball Day
Within the boundaries of Sharon Lockhart's static camera, girls from Goshogaoka junior high school practice #basketball. In six uninterrupted 10 minute scenes, we see them warm up and train several typical moves, shots, and blocks. With the camera set in one position, some of the action happens off-screen, resulting in unrehearsed synchronised choreography.
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Jaanipäev [St. John's Day] (Andres Sööt, 1978)
Nov
5
Bonfire Night
The neatly stacked pyre on jaanipäev with Tallinn's dreary socialist Plattenbau on the horizon. DP: Andres Sööt.
As long as they can remember, jaaniõhtu is when Estonians gather to celebrate midsummer. It started, they'll tell you, 4000 years ago when Kaali appeared. Ever since, come rain or shine, come socialism or capitalism, the people gather and light bonfires in its remembrance. Some sing the songs of the elders, memory willing. Others see this as their moment to shine. As a great musician perhaps. A faithful worker. Or a lover, for jaanipäev; #midsummer night.
“Come, this party is for hard-working people!”
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Matinée (Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, 1977)
Nov
4
National Easy Bake Oven Day
Friends Aarón (Rodolfo Chávez Martínez) and Jorge (Armando Martín) have a grownup discussion about the situation. DP: Jorge Stahl Jr..
Two boys skip class to catch a movie – Alexander Mackendrick's thematically similar A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) – and end up as members of a violent gang instead. While Matinée has elements of a typical 70s #ComingOfAge movie, the more fascinating element is the role reversal of the two children and the robbers. As the kids are forced to grow up, fast, the criminals live out their childhood fantasy of never having to listen to anyone ever again. And bicker over comics.
Robert Rodriguez stated that the fearsome criminals in his El Mariachi (1992) never outgrew their childhood nicknames. I start to suspect that once upon a time, a little boy named Robertiño skipped class and went to the matinee.
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O něčem jiném [Something Different] (Věra Chytilová, 1963)
Nov
3
Housewife Day
Věra (Věra Chytilová) looks out of a window. Everything is grey. DP: Jan Čuřík.
In Věra Chytilová's O něčem jiném, parallel storylines, one filmed as a documentary the other as a fictional drama, of two women are shown.
“So where do we go from here?”
– Eva
Olympic gymnast Eva (Eva Bosáková) undergoes a gruelling training regime. Housewife Věra (Věra Uzelacová) feels neglected by her husband. Both ruminate on a different life.
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Fall 2 (Bas Jan Ader, 1970)
Nov
2
Look for Circles Day
“All is falling”
– Bas Jan Ader
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Mondo Hollywood: Hollywood Laid Bare! [Mondo Hollywood] (Robert Carl Cohen, 1967)
Nov
1
World Vegan Day
Lobby card. Proto-hippie Gypsy Boots (Robert Bootzin), here going ape over a banana, outshocks polite society with his vegan (or is this vegetarian?) mindset In the background what appears to be a bed of nails. DP: Robert Carl Cohen.
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瘋癲老人日記 [Fūten rōjin nikki / Diary of a Mad Old Man] (Keigo Kimura, 1962)
Oct
29
World Stroke Day
Utsugi (Sō Yamamura) lusting after his daughter-in-law Sachiko's (Ayako Wakao) feet while she takes a shower. DP: Nobuo Munekawa.
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みな殺しの霊歌 [Minagoroshi no reika / I, the Executioner] (Tai Katō, 1968)
Oct
26
A claustrophobically framed black-and-white shot of a man (Makoto Satō) handling chopsticks close to his face. DP: Keiji Maruyama.
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X the Unknown (Leslie Norman + Joseph Losey, 1956)
Oct
24
scoff
Two soldiers on nightshift ready to eat. One of them hands a mess tin with grub to the other when there's a sound. DP: Gerald Gibbs.