– Do you realise what today's date is, Rex? – April the, er, 29th, why?The Devil Rides Out (Terence Fisher, 1968)
Apr
29
The menacing Mocata (Charles Gray). DP: Arthur Grant.
– Do you realise what today's date is, Rex? – April the, er, 29th, why?The Devil Rides Out (Terence Fisher, 1968)
Apr
29
The menacing Mocata (Charles Gray). DP: Arthur Grant.
Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but to-day by feeding is allay’d,
To-morrow sharpen’d in his former might: So, love, be thou; although to-day thou fill
Thy hungry eyes even till they wink with fullness,
To-morrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love with a perpetual dulness. Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore, where two contracted new
Come daily to the banks, that, when they see
Return of love, more blest may be the view; Or call it winter, which, being full of care,
Makes summer’s welcome thrice more wish’d, more rare.The Angelic Conversation (Derek Jarman, 1985)
Apr
23
William Shakespeare — 1564
Two men in tender embrace. DPs: Derek Jarman & James Mackay.
A Shakespearean play or quote for the Bard's (assumed) birthday (1564).
– William Shakespeare, sonnet 56 (Fair Youth)
Accompanied by Coil's brooding lust and Judi Dench's solemn recital of 14 of Shakespeare's sonnets, men cross dreamlike landscapes and dark desires.
“The walls of the room seemed to hold stories untold, whispering in the quiet.”Memoirs of a Survivor (David Gladwell, 1981)
Apr
20
Easter Sunday
A Victorian family, all dressed in white, marvel at an enormous egg in an ornate room. DP: Walter Lassally.
Eggs for Easter Sunday.
– Doris Lessing, The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)
In a dystopian Britain, D (Julie Christie) survives while taking care of a sullen teenage girl, and visiting a mirage behind the walls.
“Sir Thomas Sheridan, Jacobite military secretary. Suffering advanced debility and loss of memory. Former military engagement, 56 years ago. Sir John MacDonald, Jacobite captain of cavalry. Aged, frequently intoxicated, described as 'a man of the most limited capacities.' John William O'Sullivan, Jacobite quartermaster general. Described as 'an Irishman whose vanity is superseded only by his lack of wisdom.' Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Jacobite commander in chief. Former military experience: 10 days at a siege at the age of 13.”Culloden (Peter Watkins, 1964)
Apr
16
1746
One of the clansman. The look in his eyes foreshadows the Vietnam War this films comments on. DP: Dick Bush.
– narrator
“and in big, spidery writing, he wrote
'In search of unicorns.'
The End”Images (Robert Altman, 1972)
Apr
9
National Unicorn Day
Cathryn's desk. There's a small framed reproduction of one of the six La Dame à la licorne tapestries, a sketch of a galloping unicorn, and a dried seahorse. DP: Vilmos Zsigmond.
A unicorn for National Unicorn Day (UK)
– quote from “In Search of Unicorns”, written by Susannah York
Cathryn (Susannah York), a children's book author, works on a book called “In Search of Unicorns”. Her desk, and mind, are occupied with images from a obscure diegesis.
“The Dust has come to stay. You may stay or pass on through or whatever.”Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
Mar
27
94th Academy Awards
Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) wandering the desert. DP: Robby Müller.
A film that I wish would have won the Academy Award for Best Picture in honour of the 94th Academy Awards (2022).
– gas station sign
“I am the BBC as you can see, and here was the last news.”The Bed Sitting Room (Richard Lester, 1969)
Mar
22
National Goof-off Day
The BBC (Frank Thornton) bringing you the news (still via). DP: David Watkin.
A truly silly film for National Goof-off Day (USA)
– The BBC
“In a short while you'll see that the moon won't be so bright as it is. Clouds will cover it… it'll get broken up there. I hope it won't break us.” The Moon Over the Alley (Joseph Despins, 1976)
Mar
21
End Racism Day
Ronnie Gusset (Patrick Murray), Sherry (Bill Williams), and Belinda (Sharon Forester) at a kitchen table, chatting and laughing. DP: Peter Hannan.
Diversity for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Today marks the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre (1960), when police butchered dozens of people gathered to protest the pass law, one of Apartheid's many cruel segregation measurements.
– Sybil
The multicultural residents of a Notting Hill boarding house go about their day – listening to the radio, humming, singing – with the local council's imminent demolition of their home looming over them.
A kitchen sink drama, yes. But also a catchy musical, written by no other than Galt MacDermot, who brought the world the musical Hair (1967) and the blaxploitation neo-noir Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970).
“Stand by, there's trouble coming soon.”The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934)
Mar
21
Abbott (Peter Lorre). DP: Curt Courant.
– Bob Lawrence
– Burn witch, burn witch, burn! – Dig that crazy beat, man.The City of the Dead (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1960)
Mar
3
Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson), exploring. DP: Desmond Dickinson.