view
Riot in Cell Block 11 (Don Siegel, 1954)
June
5
1920
Inmate James V. Dunn's (Neville Brand) file. He's born on June 5, 1920 and incarcerated in Willows State Prison on August 4, 1950. Somehow he's 32 year's old. DP: Russell Harlan.
And August 4.
“You're either in or out. OK?”
– James V. Dunn
view
Point de chute [Falling Point] (Robert Hossein, 1970)
Jun
4
Global Running Day
Catherine (Pascale Rivault) running. DP: Daniel Diot.
view
A cavallo della tigre [On the Tiger's Back] (Luigi Comencini, 1961)
Jun
4
Mario (Mario Adorf) rinsing his mouth while eyeing two of the wardens. DP: Aldo Scavarda.
or June 5th?
view
Sombre (Philippe Grandrieux, 1998)
Jun
3
World Bicycle Day
Cycling fans along the route. DPs: Philippe Grandrieux & Sabine Lancelin.
Jean (Marc Barbé) follows the route of the Tour de France. He sees women, picks them up, takes them out. Claire, infatuated with him, is taken in by his darkness. At night, the cyclists continue the course.
view
跑道終點 [Pao dao zhong dian / The End of the Track] (Tun-Fei Mou, 1970)
Jun
2
Dennis Haysbert – 1954
Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen at the track. DP: Chung-Hsin Chen.
A [favourite]* fictional athlete for Dennis Haysbert's birthday (1954).
Close friends Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen spend their time together, wandering about, eating dumplings, and training for athletics. Until one of them pushes too hard, leaving the other alone in his grief.
* this month's Bales' Challenge is marred with “favourites”, something I don't believe in. Instead, I stick to great cinema and will squeeze in a few LGBT-themed films for Pride Month.
view
La maudite galette [Dirty Money] (Denys Arcand, 1972)
Jun
1
Oscar the Grouch Day
Rolland (René Caron) and Berthe (Luce Guilbeault). She's had it with these money troubles. DP: Alain Dostie.
view
吾輩は猫である [Wagahai wa neko de aru / I Am a Cat] (Kon Ichikawa, 1975)
May
30
Hug Your Cat Day
The cat and his master, teacher Sneaze. DP: Kōzō Okazaki.
“Had I the time to keep a diary, I’d use that time to better effect; sleeping on the veranda”
– The cat
* The event falls on June 4
view
Снежная королева [Snezhnaya koroleva / The Snow Queen] (Gennadiy Kazanskiy, 1967)
May
25
National Missing Children's Day
Kai (Vyacheslav Tsyupa) under the Snow Queen's spell. DPs: Vadim Grammatikov & Sergei Ivanov.
Oh boy, how to do this one without a spoiler…
Siblings Gerda and Kai are best friends until one day, the Snow Queen's mirror shatters into a million pieces. One shard pierces Kai's eye, the other his heart, and from that moment on, all he can see is evil and his heart is cold. Now taken in by the Queen, and cold to Gerda's affection, the girl tries all to get Kai, the old Kai, back.
view
Jubilee (Derek Jarman, 1978)
May
24
Tiara Day
Bod (Jenny Runacre), wears a Crown Jewel-ish affair. Amyl Nitrate (Jordan) clutches her pearls. DP: Peter Middleton.
“Rule Britannia, Britannia, Britannia…”
– Amyl Nitrite
Queen Elizabeth I (Jenny Runacre) requests Her court occultist John Dee (Richard O'Brien) to show Her Majesty the future of Her kingdom, baroness Thatcher's rotten England, ruled over by a gang of nihilist women.
view
Angst [Fear] (Gerald Kargl, 1983)
May
23
National Title Track Day
1: K. Out. Out. DP: Zbigniew Rybczynski.
“The fear in her eyes and the knife in the chest. That's my last memory of my mother. That's why I had to go to prison for four years, even though she survived.”
– opening lines
What stabs you harder in the chest than Klaus Schulze's synth-driven killing spree?
