Flic Story [Cop Story] (Jacques Deray, 1975)
Sep
3
1947
A close-up of a man's feet hastily walking along a corridor. Superimposed it reads 3 SEPTEMBRE 1974. DP: Jean-Jacques Tarbès.
Corridor of Mirrors (Terence Young, 1948)
Sep
3
Mifanwy (Edana Romney) anachronistically smoking a cigarette. DP: André Thomas.
Red [The Red Half-Breed / Red the Half Breed] (Gilles Carle, 1970)
Sep
2
A counter at a Québécois branch of the Banque de Montréal – oddly enough using its English-language name. A wall calender reads September 2. DP: Bernard Chentrier.
Человечка нарисовал я [Chelovechka narisoval ya / It Was I Who Drew the Little Man] (Valentin Lalayants, Zinaida Brumberg + Valentina Brumberg, 1960)
Sep
1
День знаний
Mesmerised schoolboy Fedya holds up a huge bubble. DP: Elena Petrova.
On September 1, also known as Knowledge Day (День знаний) in Russia, an enthusiastic schoolboy draws a little man on the classroom wall, and causes a whole lot of trouble.
Happy End (Oldřich Lipský, 1967)
Sep
1
1889
Butcher Bedřich Frydrych (Oldřich Lipský), born September 1, 1889 in Trumberk. DP: Vladimír Novotný.
Dwaj panowie 'N' [Two Gentlemen 'N'] (Tadeusz Chmielewski, 1962)
Feb
29
Elzbieta Brylska (Joanna Jedryka) and Sgt. Jan Dziewanowicz (Stanislaw Mikulski). DP: Jerzy Stawicki.
– 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.
Private Property (Leslie Stevens, 1959/1960)
Jul
21
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.
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.
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