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薄面佬 [Mee Pok Man] (Eric Khoo, 1995)
May
24
National Caterers Appreciation Day
Bunny (Michelle Goh) leaning on a small table littered with empty beer bottles. Mee Pok (Joe Ng) is to her left, holding a stack of dirty dishes. In the background, a large pile of noodle boxes leans against the restaurant wall. DP: Yoke Weng Ho.
At night, a small group of prostitutes frequent a local 面薄 / mee pok #restaurant. One of them, Bunny (Michelle Goh), caught the hawker's eye, but she's not interested in the “mee pok” (the “fish ball”, as they call the vendor) (Joe Ng) and besides she has a boyfriend. Then, a car crash. Bunny is left for dead in front of the eatery. He takes her in, preparing endless meals
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Ansiktet [The Magician / The Face] (Ingmar Bergman, 1958)
May
22
love potion
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.
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Malpertuis (Harry Kümel, 1971)
May
12
meat
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Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Apr
30
Hairstyle Appreciation Day
“It's by Vidal Sassoon. It's very in.”
– Rosemary Woodhouse
Both the lady's movie husband Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) and real-world husband Frank Sinatra were incensed by the bold move. Of course, in Rosemary's Baby the haircut is Rosemary's attempt to make sense of the changing world around her. Moving to a new city, an unexpected pregnancy, all those lovely new neighbours to socialise with… a girl needs to feel in control!
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O Território [The Territory] (Raúl Ruiz, 1981)
Apr
2
Nature Day
A man and woman, plus a little girl perched on the man's shoulders, hike through an illusory landscape. DP: Henri Alekan.
Two American families, adults and their children, go on a #HikingTrip somewhere in the south of France. They find themselves increasingly lost, not only in #nature but also in and among themselves.
Supposedly based on a real troublesome event and riddled with much filmmaking adversity, O Território nearly stranded as much as the hikers did. In support, #WimWenders used the same cast for his Der Stand der Dinge (1982), about a film crew's attempt to remake #RogerCorman's Day the World Ended (1955).
In a wonderful, unscripted circular way, Corman was one of the executive producers of Ruiz's film.
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Red & Rosy (Frank Grow, 1989)
Apr
1
National Handmade Day
Big Red (Rico Martinez) high on adrenaline. DPs: Frank Grow, Ralph Hawkins & Rico Martinez.
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The Damned [These Are the Damned] (Joseph Losey, 1962)
Mar
19
National Automatic Door Day
An 11-year old boy, Henry (Kit Williams), opens a featureless door in a rock surface for a drenched King (Oliver Reed). DP: Arthur Grant.
An American tourist visiting Dorset is tricked by a prostitute, then falls victim to a youth gang controlled by volatile con King – a still very green Oliver Reed at his meanest. The trickster is King's sister, who confides in the American hoping to escape her brother's incestuous advances.
“I'm strange, all right! I'll show you just how strange I am!”
– King
The couple elopes to a nearby island, closely followed by King and his gang, where they find a group of #children, all contently living in an underground lab, with #AutomaticDoors only they can control.
They are the damned.
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Carnival of Souls [Corridors of Evil] (Herk Harvey, 1962)
Mar
13
National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) looking around in wonder. DP: Maurice Prather.
A slice of teenage bravura is just enough for a couple of kids to #dare each other to a drag race. Hours after the car of one of them had plunged from a bridge into the murky waters below, Mary Henry resurfaces.
“It's funny… the world is so different in the daylight. In the dark, your fantasies get so out of hand. But in the daylight everything falls back into place again.”
– Mary Henry
Carnival of Souls was Herk Harvey's sole feature length film. He's much better known – albeit mostly uncredited – for his short PSAs including Halloween Safety, ruining your kids' favourite holiday since 1977, and Shake Hands With Danger (1980).
You don't have to tell Three Finger Joe about taking no risks.
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The Queen of Spades (Thorold Dickinson, 1949)
Feb
22
Play More Cards Day
Someone's playing cards.
“Why, you might end up by gaining a fortune… or losing your precious soul.”
– bookseller