settima

FilmDuJour

Bell Book and Candle (Richard Quine, 1958)

Mar

12

Bell Book and Candle (1958)

Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) and her Siamese, Pyewacket. DP: James Wong Howe.

“I sit in the subway sometimes, on buses, or the movies, and I look at the people next to me and I think… 'What would you say if I told you I was a witch?'”

– Queenie

#FilmDuJour #March #RichardQuine #JohnVanDruten #GeorgeDuning #JamesWongHowe #KimNovak #JamesStewart #JackLemmon #ErnieKovacs #HermioneGingold #ElsaLanchester #Pyewacket #witches #witchcraft #cats #theatre #USA #1950s ★★½

Hell Bound (William J. Hole Jr., 1957)

Mar

12

Saturday

Hell Bound (1957)

A man writes a name in the 9:30 a.m. time slot of the calendar page for Saturday March 21. DP: Carl E. Guthrie.

“Three days ago, at exactly 0600 – because that is really not the time – on February 5 – because that is really not the date – this freighter, which shall be nameless, sailed from a certain Far Eastern port. Its destination: The Port of Los Angeles, Wilmington, California. This is fact.”

– narrator

#FilmDuJour #March #WilliamJHoleJr #JohnRussell #JuneBlair #StuartWhitman #DehlBerti #GeorgeEMather #LesBaxter #CarlEGuthrie #crime #drama #romance #FilmNoir #drugs #heist #USA #1950s ★★★☆☆

Fata/Morgana [Left-Handed Fate / Panik 75] (Vicente Aranda, 1966)

Mar

9

Fata/Morgana (1966)

Gim (Teresa Gimpera) modelling in a photo studio. The photographer, another woman in silhouette, has an identical hairstyle and outfit. DP: Aurelio G. Larraya.

#FilmDuJour #March #VicenteAranda #TeresaGimpera #AntonioPérezOlea #AurelioGLarraya #mystery #drama #crime #SciFi #Barcelona #Spain #WestGermany #1960s ★★★★☆

Waiting for Fidel (Michael Rubbo, 1974)

Mar

8

International Women's Day

Waiting for Fidel (1974)

A group of six girls and two boys sing in celebration of International Women's Day. DP: Douglas Kiefer.

Time flies while waiting for Fidel, and before you know it, it's March 8.

 

 

Film du Jour posts does not list holidays on their respective date, unless a film or scene happens to take place on one.

#FilmDuJour #March #MichaelRubbo #FidelCastro #ErichHonecker #BernabeOrdez #JoeySmallwood #GeoffStirling #DouglasKiefer #InternationalWomensDay #politics #documentary #Canada #1970s ★★★½

The City of the Dead (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1960)

Mar

3

The City of the Dead (1960)

Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson), exploring. DP: Desmond Dickinson.

– Burn witch, burn witch, burn!

– Dig that crazy beat, man.

#FilmDuJour #March #JohnLlewellynMoxey #DouglasGamley #DesmondDickinson #VulcanFilms #horror #witches #mystery #ChristopherLee #VenetiaStevenson #UK #1960s ★★★★☆

Dwaj panowie 'N' [Two Gentlemen 'N'] (Tadeusz Chmielewski, 1962)

Feb

29

Dwaj panowie 'N' (1962)

Elzbieta Brylska (Joanna Jedryka) and Sgt. Jan Dziewanowicz (Stanislaw Mikulski). DP: Jerzy Stawicki.

#FilmDuJour #February #TadeuszChmielewski #JoannaJedryka #BoleslawPlotnicki #StanislawMikulski #AdamWalaciński #JerzyStawicki #birthday #LeapDay #LeapYear #Poland #1960s

Private Property (Leslie Stevens, 1959/1960)

Jul

21

Private Property (1959 – 1960)

Duke (Corey Allen) and Boots (Warren Oates) “watching TV”. Ann Carlyle (Kate Manx) stripping for her husband is on. DP: Ted D. McCord.

Date watched, not the date in the movie. The quote was too good to leave it off this blog.

– He's got a calendar in there. – What day is it? – It's a broad in a cowboy hat. – Scooby doo bi doo ba ba.

#FilmDuJour #July #LeslieStevens #KateManx #CoreyAllen #WarrenOates #RobertWark #PeteRugolo #TedDMcCord #HomeInvasion #thriller #crime #USA #1950s #1960s ★★★★½

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.