settima

Bales2023FilmChallenge

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.