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The Bat Whispers [The Bat] (Roland West, 1930)

Nov

19

Play Monopoly Day

The Bat Whispers (1930)

Board and planchette at the ready for a little game of Ouija. DPs: Ray June (23mm) & Robert H. Planck (70mm).

It's just a little game. But then you wonder if Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board is actually just that. Two neat little ladies playing that quirky 1891 novelty game in Roland West's The Bat Whispers summon the aforementioned bat, black-clad fiend and Batman predecessor.

– Get the Ouija board. – It's got the Bible on top of it, keeping it quiet.

Who is he? What does he want? And how can he be stopped? Do you know the answer?
YES NO
GOOD BYE

Something's Got to Give (George Cukor, 1962)

Nov

10

Forget-Me-Not Day

Something's Got to Give (1962)

Marilyn on set during the infamous pool scene, four days days after singing Happy Birthday at JFK's birthday gala. DPs: Franz Planer & Leo Tover.

Everyone assumed that Ellen Arden, swept away during a yacht race, was gone. But there she is, years later, and very much alive.

“Fame will go by, and so long, I've had you, fame.”

– Marilyn Monroe, 1962

The story ends on August 4, 1962, almost two months after she was fired from the shoot. Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home. She was 36 years old.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank, 1980)

Nov

8

Cook Something Bold Day

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980)

Herzog prepares his left suede Clarks in Alice Waters' restaurant kitchen. DP: Les Blank.

After boiling for five hours in a concoction of #garlic, herbs, and stock, the shoe was ready to eat and #Herzog could keep his promise to fellow director Errol Morris.

“More shoes, more boots, more garlic.”

– Werner Herzog

Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966)

Nov

7

International Merlot Day

Seconds (1966)

Nora (Salome Jens), seen from the back with her dress half unzipped, holds up a glass of red wine while kissing a reluctant Antiochus (Rock Hudson) during the ecstatic Bacchanal scene. DP: James Wong Howe.

At a bacchanalia, Rock Hudson's Antiochus Wilson finally strips down his hesitancy and realises he has a second chance at life, as a member of the new generation. To the Queen of wine! To Bacchus! To Pan!

“Bacchus gives us his blood so we may be born again.”

Director of photography James Wong Howe's very controlled framing of the (initially censored) pre-Woodstock #Bacchana​lian scene beautifully frames this pinnacle moment and proved almost too much for American censors.

Goshogaoka [御所ケ丘] (Sharon Lockhart, 1998)

Nov

6

Play Basketball Day

Goshogaoka (1998)

Girls from the Moriya City Goshogaoka junior high school girl basketball team practising their blocking technique. Cibachrome print © Sharon Lockhart, 1997 (via).

Within the boundaries of Sharon Lockhart's static camera, girls from Goshogaoka junior high school practice basketball. In six uninterrupted 10 minute scenes, we see them warm up and train several typical moves, shots, and blocks. With the camera set in one position, some of the action happens off-screen, resulting in unrehearsed synchronised choreography.

Mondo Hollywood: Hollywood Laid Bare! [Mondo Hollywood] (Robert Carl Cohen, 1967)

Nov

1

World Vegan Day

Mondo Hollywood: Hollywood Laid Bare! (1967)

Lobby card. Proto-hippie Gypsy Boots (Robert Bootzin), here going ape over a banana, outshocks polite society with his vegan (or is this vegetarian?) mindset. In the background what appears to be a bed of nails. DP: Robert Carl Cohen.

Opens with Nature Boy and #garlic propagandist Gypsy Boots.

X the Unknown (Leslie Norman + Joseph Losey, 1956)

Oct

24

scoff

X the Unknown (1956)

Two soldiers on nightshift ready to eat. One of them hands a mess tin with grub to the other when there's a sound. DP: Gerald Gibbs.

– What's that? – Tea.

Hellzapoppin' (H.C. Potter, 1941)

Oct

24

National Crazy Day

Hellzapoppin' (1941)

Olsen and Johnson break all the walls. DP: Elwood Bredell.

“Any resemblance between HELLZAPOPPIN’ and a motion picture is purely coincidental”

– tagline

The Animal (Walter Ungerer, 1976)

Sep

30

National Ghost Hunting Day

The Animal (1976)

Jo (Jo Moore) in the couple's cabin. She's seen reflected in a mirror, together with what appears to be an older woman in an old photograph. DP: Walter Ungerer.

The Medium (Gian Carlo Menotti, 1951)

Sep

18

The Medium (1951)

Madame Flora (Marie Powers) by herself at a small table in a shady bar. DP: Enzo Serafin.