settima

FilmDinner

Who Killed Teddy Bear (Joseph Cates, 1965)

Jun

3

Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)

A square 1960s man – Jan Murray as Lt. Dave Madden – smugly pouring himself a stiff drink. DP: Joseph C. Brun.

“I don't find you the least bit amusing, Lieutenant Whatever-your-problem- is!”

– Norah Dain

আকালের সন্ধানে [Akaler Sandhane / In Search of Famine] (Mrinal Sen, 1981)

May

29

चाय

আকালের সন্ধানে (1981)

The Bollywood stars arrive at the temple. In the foreground one of the actresses, cupping a beaker with her hands. DP: K.K. Mahajan.

Culloden (Peter Watkins, 1964)

May

23

Culloden (1964)

Wigged man at a table, drinking wine with three men lower in rank standing behind them with their arms crossed. DP: Dick Bush.

“Sir John MacDonald, Jacobite captain of cavalry. Aged, frequently intoxicated, described as 'a man of the most limited capacities'.”

– narrator

Ansiktet [The Magician / The Face] (Ingmar Bergman, 1958)

May

22

love potion

Ansiktet (1958)

Coach driver Simson (Lars Ekborg) serving maid Sara (Bibi Andersson) a potion from a flask. DP: Gunnar Fischer.

– We're out of love potion. What now?

– Take this one, for colic and bunions. What matters is how the bottle looks and how the potion tastes.

Doc (Frank Perry, 1971)

May

16

Doc (1971)

A tense scene in a dark saloon, the table littered with empty bottles. DP: Gerald Hirschfeld.

“If it weren't for bad people, what would you do for a living, Marshal?”

– Doc Holliday

Οι Τεμπέληδες της Εύφορης Κοιλάδας [Oi tembelides tis eforis koiladas / The Idlers of the Fertile Valley] (Nikos Panayotopoulos, 1978)

May

15

Οι Τεμπέληδες της Εύφορης Κοιλάδας (1978)

The maid (Olga Karlatos) patiently feeding the father (Vasilis Diamantopoulos) in bed. DP: Andreas Bellis.

Malpertuis (Harry Kümel, 1971)

May

12

meat

Malpertuis (1971)

Cassavius (Orson Welles), looking monstrous on his sickbed, surrounded by peopel who appear to be in mourning. On his bed's foot-end a large silver platter with cooked meat, and a rat on its hind legs. DP: Gerry Fisher.

點指兵兵 [Dian zhi bing bing / Cops and Robbers] (Kwok-Ming Cheung, 1979)

May

6

點指兵兵 (1979)

A table set with one small plate of meat, one small plate of vegetables, three empty bowls, and one pair of chopsticks.

Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera [Lemonade Joe or The Horse Opera] (Oldřich Lipský, 1964)

Apr

27

Kola Loka

Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera (1964)

A tough cowboy takes a bite out off a fiddle. DP: Vladimír Novotný.

“The Kola Loka is the law!”

– Limonádový Joe

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.