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L'oro di Napoli [The Gold of Naples] (Vittorio De Sica, 1954)
Feb
9
National Pizza Day
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Lord of the Flies (Peter Brook, 1963)
Feb
8
Boy Scouts of America
Using Piggy's glasses, the boys light their first signal fire. DP: Tom Hollyman.
Someone prepares something for the founding of the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.
“His specs — use them as burning glasses!”
William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954)
The boys collectively gather firewood to light a beacon, then come up with the idea to light the fire with the help of one of the kid's glasses.
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La notte [The Night] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961)
Feb
7
Falò delle vanità – 1497
Author Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni) pondering next to a full bookcase. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.
“I used to spend afternoons reading in bed. Tommaso would call and find me there. He could have kissed me. I wouldn't have resisted, out of boredom. But he was satisfied to watch me as I read. All those purposeless books.”
– Lidia
A lavish #CocktailParty in celebration of the launch of a novel is bookended by tragedy, in the loss of a befriended writer and the unraveling of another writer and his wife's marriage.
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Тіні забутих предків [Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors] (Sergei Parajanov, 1965)
Feb
6
St. Dorothea of Caesarea
The childhood lovers to be newlyweds. During the wedding ceremony, the bride suddenly breaks out in smile. DPs: Yuri Ilyenko & Viktor Bestayev.
A wedding on the day of Dorothea of Caesarea, patron saint of horticulture, brewers, brides, florists, gardeners, midwives, newlyweds, and love.
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Madam Satan (Cecil B. DeMille, 1930)
Feb
4
Charles Lindbergh's born
You're cordially invited to Mr. James Wade's “Masquerade”, aboard the Zeppelin – CB – P – 55. Do wear a mask. DP: Harold Rosson.
“I don't want your husband. I want a parachute!”
– Trixie
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Homunculus, 4. Teil – Die Rache des Homunculus (Otto Rippert, 1917)
Feb
3
finance
Richard Ortmann, the homunculus (Olaf Fønss). DP: Carl Hoffmann.
A film about finance because “the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issues the first paper money on February 3, 1690”. The oldest surviving paper bill in what is now the United States bears the date February 3, 1690. The first documented paper money was issued during the Tang and Song dynasties in China, starting in the vulgar year 618. Who would have thought those new colonies were not the center of world history… sigh…
In the fourth instalment of the Homunculus saga, the artificial man callously heads the nation's financial powerhouse while secretly goading the workers in revolt against the ruling class. Soulless and unable to love, he aims for the annihilation of mankind.
Some claim that Die Rache des Homunculus, “The Wrath of the Homunculus”, foreshadows Hitler. I say, beware of businessmen enthralling the working classes.
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America America (Elia Kazan, 1963)
Feb
2
New Amsterdam
A film about New York to commemorate the incorporation of New Amsterdam. The official Bales' rule states the year 1624, but that is the year of settlement, and even that is one year off. To cut a long story short, New Amsterdam was incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653.
“My name is Elia Kazan. I am a Greek by blood, a Turk by birth and an American because my uncle made a journey.”
– Elia Kazan, voice-over
America America tells the story of director Kazan's grandfather through the life of the Greek Stavros Topouzoglou (Stathis Giallelis), who was adamant to start anew, in New York.
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Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, 1968)
Feb
1
Filmmaking
Don Fellows – testing as “Freddy” – and Patricia Ree Gilbert – testing as “Alice” –, the director (William Greaves), and a camera assistant holding up a light meter. Everyone is eyeing everyone and it's not clear who is playing what part. DPs: Stevan Larner & Terence Macartney-Filgate.
A film about filmmaking, or Hollywood, to celebrate the opening of Edison's Black Maria in 1893.
“You and I are going to be filming the actors. The two of us, see, are going to be filming the actors – continuously – and you will be filming me and the actors. I'm going to be filming the actors and Terry is going to be in charge of filming the whole thing. You see?”
– William Greaves – Director
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Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant [The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)
Jan
31
freebie: high fashion
Fashion designer Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen) – pouting in her emerald-green dress – is kneeled on a large, sheepskin carpet in front of a huge Baroque painting (Nicolas Poussin's Midas und Bacchus, ca. 1624). In front of her a small bottle of gin and a phone. DP: Michael Ballhaus.
A freebie for someone's birthday, with bonus points for high fashion. Petra von Kant is a fashion designer who, during a particularly icy birthday party, tells the world that her new lover is a woman. Then, one day, said lover returns home to her husband.
– You have a good figure. You could use it to your advantage. Get in touch with me some time.
– I'd love to.
With its exuberant costumes and set design, a Greek chorus of mannequins, and Sirk-ish larger- than-life melodrama, Fassbinder's Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant delves deep into the absurdities of love and fancy.
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Případ pro začínajícího kata [Case for a Rookie Hangman] (Pavel Juráček, 1970)
Jan
30
doors
A man named Gulliver (Lubomír Kostelka) accidentally runs over a rabbit, who is dressed to the nines and carries a pocket watch. Slowly, the man finds himself in a sort of Wonderland.