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Summer in the City (Wim Wenders, 1970)
Sep
26
Paul Newman – 2006
Hanns and Wenders playing billiards. DP: Robby Müller.
Billiards, or Paul Newman (1925 – 2006).
“There's too much on my mind
There's too much on my mind
And I can't sleep at night thinking about it
I'm thinking all the time
There's too much on my mind
It seems there's more to life than just to live it”
Hanns (Hanns Zischler) plays billiards with Wim Wenders.
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The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
Jul
20
1940
spoiler warning: click to toggle image

The July 21 headline. DP: Elwood Bredell.
“Don't ask a dying man to lie his soul into Hell.”
– Lt. Sam Lubinsky
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Combat de boxe (Charles Dekeukeleire, 1927)
Jun
30
Mike Tyson – 1966
One of the fighters receives a direct hit. The camera is so close that we see abstract shapes, texture and contrast before recognising the scene. DP: Antoine Castille.
A [favourite] athlete in a film role for Mike Tyson's birthday
“But this art of total synthesis that is Cinema, this fabulous newborn of Machine and Sentiment, is beginning to cease its moans and is entering its infancy. Its adolescence will soon arrive, seize its intelligence, and multiply its dreams; we ask that we hasten its development, precipitate the advent of its youth. We need Cinema to create the total art toward which the other arts have always tended.“
– Ricciotto Canudo, Gazette des sept arts, 1923 (via)
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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.
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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.
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Két félidő a pokolban [Two Half-Times in Hell] (Zoltán Fábri, 1961)
Apr
20
A sour looking player with a flood of Nazis coming towards him. DP: Ferenc Szécsényi.
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悲愁物語 [Hishu monogatari / A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness] (Seijun Suzuki, 1977)
Apr
13
1997 Masters Tournament
Reiko, looking fabulous, dropped down next to a sand-filled bunker. DP: Masaru Mori.
Golf (or a tiger) in honour of Tiger Woods' 1997 Masters Tournament victory.
Reiko (Yoko Shiraki), a professional model – is groomed into playing the circuit by the editor of a golfing fashion magazine. The rookie's unexpected success draws in all sorts of fans, including the obsessive.
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女篮五号 [Nü lan wu hao / Woman Basketball Player No. 5] (Jin Xie, 1957)
Apr
7
March Madness
Tense moments during the match. DPs: Shaofen Huang & Xilin Shen.
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Klincz [Clinch] (Piotr Andrejew, 1979)
Apr
5
Chicago
A Polish factory worker hopes to find a better life when he picks up boxing. Initially unsuccessful. he finds himself in Chicago, facing an amateur boxer below his ranking.
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Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner [The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner] (Werner Herzog, 1974)
Mar
13
Walter Steiner, flying. DP: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein.
“Ich sollte eigentlich ganz allein auf der Welt sein, ich, Steiner, und sonst kein anderes lebendes Wesen. Keine Sonne, keine Kultur, ich nackt auf einem hohen Fels, kein Sturm, kein Schnee, keine Straßen, keine Banken, kein Geld, keine Zeit und kein Atem. Ich würde dann jedenfalls keine Angst mehr haben.”
– Walter Steiner