I watched 51 films in February with 17 of those directed by women. Overall 16 were rewatches. I’m continuing to rewatch Mark Cousins’ Women Make Film a bit at a time too. Its miserable that so many of the films he showcases aren't available.
I visited Greece, Germany, Austria, the US, Denmark, the UK, Finland, Lesotho and Italy on my cinematic journey. Why did I watch these particular films? Letterboxd reviews jogged my memory; Christopher Plummer died; continuing my Jessica Hausner obsession from January; Reading about Boarding Gate in a Nick Pinkerton article started an Olivier Assayas journey; witches; subscriptions to Mubi, BFI Player and Netflix.
Lows? Jeremiah Johnson (!!) & The Goodbye Girl.
Highlights? The films with an asterisk are ones I would urge everyone to watch but honestly I’d recommend 80% of them. And I am LOVING my Olivier Assayas journey...which has now led me to a complete Mia Hansen-Løve rewatch too.
Weird Wednesday Night: Penda’s Fen & Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Feminist Friday: Be Natural & Girlfriends
Alternate Feminist Friday: Sherrybaby & Clean
Horror Night: The Witch & The White Reindeer (and/or A Girl Walk's Home Alone at Night)
Silent Sunday afternoon: Diary of a Lost Girl
With the onset of Spring, and because I’m also managing to read a little – mainly about films and film theory (!) this will now slow down. More quality hopefully in my analysis.
Here is the full list in the order I watched them:
1. Attenburg (2010) (Athina Rachel Tsangari)
2. They Might be Giants (1971) (Anthony Harvey)
3. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) (Ana Lily Amirpour)*
4. Appropriate Behaviour (2014) (Desiree Akhavan)
5. Lovely Rita (2001) (Jessica Hausner)
6. Kajillionaire (2020) (Miranda July)*
7. The Goodbye Girl (1977) (Herbert Ross)
8. Girlfriends (1978) (Claudia Weill)*
9. Beginners (2010) (Mike Mills)
10. The Sound of Music (1965) (Robert Wise)
11. Hotel (2004) (Jessica Hausner)
12. Lourdes (2009) (Jessica Hausner)*
13. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (Carl Theodor Dreyer)*
14. Day of Wrath (1943) (Carl Theodor Dreyer)*
15. Vampyr (1932) (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
16. Ham on Rye (2019) (Tyler Taormina)
17. Splash (1984) (Ron Howard)
18. News of the World (2020) (Paul Greengrass)
19. Minority Report (2002) (Steven Spielberg)
20. The Matrix (1999) (Lilly Wachowski & Lana Wachowski)
21. Penda’s Fen (1974) (Alan Clarke)
22. Near Dark (1987) (Kathryn Bigelow)
23. Valerie and her Week of Wonders (1970) (Jaromil Jireš)
24. The White Reindeer (Erik Blomberg)*
25. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) (G.W. Pabst)*
26. Innocent Blood (1992) (John Landis)
27. Viva Maria! (1965) (Louis Malle)
28. Sherrybaby (2006) (Laurie Collyer)
29. Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) (Pamela B. Green)*
30. Jeremiah Johnson (1972) (Sydney Pollack)
31. Boarding Gate (2007) (Olivier Assayas)
32. Summer Hours (2008) (Olivier Assayas)
33. Wasp Network (2019) (Olivier Assayas)
34. Personal Shopper (2016) (Olivier Assayas)*
35. Demonlover (2002) (Olivier Assayas)*
36. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) (Olivier Assayas)*
37. Charlie’s Angels (2019) (Elizabeth Banks)
38. Something in the Air (2012) (Olivier Assayas)
39. Mona Lisa Smile (2002) (Mike Newell)
40. Non Fiction (2008) (Olivier Assayas)
41. And Breathe Normally (2019) (Ísold Uggadóttir)
42. The Demons (1973) (Jesús Franco)
43. The Devils (1971) (Ken Russell)*
44. The Edge of Seventeen (2016) (Kelly Fremon Craig)
45. The Kids Are Alright (2010) (Lisa Cholodenko)
46. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection (2019) (Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)*
47. Clean (2004) (Olivier Assayas)*
48. Irma Vep (1996) (Olivier Assayas)*
49. Beyond Clueless (2014) (Charlie Shackleton)
50. The Witch (2015) (Robert Eggers)*
51. Goodbye First Love (2012) (Mia Hansen-Løve)
You can read find individual reviews and thoughts here:
My profile on Letterboxd https://letterboxd.com/GarethavonB
