2024 In Movies

OK, this time I really did cut back on movies. When I say “cut back” what I mean is I watched only 291 movies, which is only cutting back if you start at a baseline of 508 movies watched. Partially this is because we didn’t do Fantasia in 2024; really, though, I made myself be less obsessive, watched more TV, and so on. Also I had a nasty case of something at the beginning of the year which left me exhausted for most of the rest of the year; I want to say it was COVID but who knows? Either way my workday evenings were less useful than once they were.

I did SIFF again, with a festival pass this time. I only saw 22 movies because of the aforementioned fatigue factor. I didn’t see as many movies I loved but I saw some really good ones, including my second favorite movie of the year. Janet Planet is awesome. After the first three or four the movies kind of tailed off into a tight group of enjoyable but not excellent movies.

I haven’t nailed down my top ten 2024 movies yet because I give myself a month or so to catch up on a few more 2024 movies post-Christmas. For example, I’m gonna see Nosferatu and Nickel Boys in January. I will be hugely surprised if anything surpasses the amazing The People’s Joker, which found new ways to tell a very personal story. Otherwise, though, there’s some room for changes. The current list is here, and I expect to cut it down to a top 20 in February. Top ten was feeling too limited.

I started the year with Sátántangó. Now I know I can sit through a seven hour movie if it’s really, really amazing! I did take the intermissions. It’s a remarkable deliberate construction; every shot in the movie has purpose and adds significance to the whole. It’s about demagogues and the trust they abuse. It doesn’t provide much hope. I decided this should be a tradition — watching a long movie on January 1st — and I saw an incredible Argentinian movie this year, but that’s 2025. Eh, I guess it’s cool to read ahead. I very much hope to have more to say about Laura Citarella and the film collective of which she’s a part next year.

If I had a theme this year, it was Radiance Films. I did not resubscribe this year, because we didn’t finish the 2024 subscription and because I have enough interesting Japanese and Italian crime thrillers in my library right now. I still love their taste and I’m very glad we did one year of subscription, though.

S. and I successfully finished Boofest, our date night challenge. Second year running. Five 5-star movies for me this year, wow. Two of them were from Kurosawa, who I am getting to appreciate more and more.

My most watched actor was Phillip Kwok. Also a lot of Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng… yeah, I spent quality time with the second Arrow Shaw Brothers boxed set, which has a ton of Five Venom movies. Good stuff. Outside the Shaw crowd, I also saw five films starring Tomisaburō Wakayama, courtesy of Radiance. My most watched director was Krzysztof Kieślowski, since I log each Decalogue episode separately (and as a result, Artur Barciś also snuck into the list of most watched actors). New to me directors: Damiano Damiani, whose 60s Italian politically infused crime thrillers are great and Tai Katō, who I don’t love but certainly like.

I also finished up Céline Sciamma’s filmography with great pleasure. Let’s see. Four films from Lukas Moodysson, including those two very experimental ones that are hard watches. I am up for following his vision anywhere even when he misses. Three Mike Leighs — I also got a great book about his work, Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh. Like Sciamma, he is completely dedicated to the human condition and I vastly appreciate his career.

I guess that’s about it. If I had to guess I’d say I’m going to keep digging into Argentinian cinema in 2025; I bumped into impressive Argentinian work from a number of different directions this year and I’m pretty fascinated. S. and I have plans for Fantasia again, which is exciting, and I already have my SIFF pass for 2025. We have also set out our date night challenge for 2025, which looks excellent. I feel like getting back to the canon a bit; perhaps I’ll make more progress on my Great Directors watchlist? Finally, I am not gonna lay any expectations on myself for numbers — I will watch what I watch and be happy with that.

[Crossposted from Population: One; go here for the original post.]

CCC 03: Monster of the Week

That’s a lot of OSR to start the challenge, so I figured I’d do something less trad for day three. If I’d been thinking ahead, which I may do later in the month, I’d have thrown the playbook history section open to my pals on social media to crowdsource answers, but in the interests of efficiency I just made up my own this time around.

I decided I wanted to play a character who’s a little bit out of sync with the modern world but still effective. Playbook: the Initiate, who belongs to some kind of secret sect that thinks it’s the bulwark against evil. I’m going to call her Jeanne, as a reference to Joan of Arc.

She thus has a thin body and wears unfashionable clothes. This doesn’t lessen her charisma:

Charm +1
Cool -1
Sharp +1
Tough =0
Weird +2

Or her weirdness. She’s no mystic but she is subject to prophecy; I want Fortunes and Sacred Oath for my first two move choices, to sort of emphasize the chains of obsession that bind her. For a third move, in order to make sure she plays well with others, I’ll take Helping Hand. Note that Help Out is a Cool move, which with her -1 Cool means she’ll be exposing herself to trouble a lot. If I’m power gaming, I can use Sacred Oath to offset that a bit.

I see her Sect as somewhat antiquated. It’d be fun to do the contrast of a traditionalist who belongs to a high tech bunch, but nah — let’s make her the product of her upbringing. Their good traditions are Ancient Lore and Fighting Arts; their bad tradition is Tradition-bound. I think they are religious in nature, maybe Montanists? I am just skimming Wikipedia here but a Catholic heresy that believes in prophetic gifts seems right for Jeanne. For a real campaign I’d do some more research; Montanism has the benefit of being a dead sect so not a lot of real people to offend there.

I’ll call the sect the Prisca Society, after one of the original sect leaders. They recruit by family ties, although not exclusively — if someone has the gift of prophecy, they’re a candidate for recruitment. Since Jeanne does know prophecy, I think she was recruited at a young age, which may have been traumatic. I’ll let that develop in play.

OK. Those tradition choices mean Jeanne has three old fashioned weapons and one modern one. She prefers the old school stuff: her sword, her really big sword, and a silver knife that’s handy for certain targets. She also owns a shotgun and maybe has a very limited supply of silver-loaded shells.

For my fellow PCs, I’m postulating Marcia, playing Gregori, a Professional who favors direct action; and Hank, playing Feldspar, a Spooky. Hank loves weird characters and Marcia loves being effective.

Jeanne and Gregori fought together when the tide of monsters seemed unstoppable. How did that go? Gregori says they were shoulder to shoulder when the Gates broke open, and both of them were at peace with whatever happened. She was a bit reckless — took a bite for him while he was reloading — and he appreciates that. They have each other’s back.

Feldspar knew Jeanne when she was under her cover identity as Jane, a bank teller. (I like the way there are little implications about character history in these questions.) Feldspar thought Jane was trying too hard because nobody is that boring. Turns out Feldspar was right! I bet Feldspar isn’t always right about that kind of thing, though… anyhow, these days, Feldspar keeps looking for the next shoe to drop, the next layer of weirdness, although they don’t hold the secret against Jeanne.

[Crossposted from Population: One; go here for the original post.]