What did I watch in 2017?

January 1-2, 2020, 1:39 pm

First of all, Happy New Year!

I was so excited when my wife and I watched this Netflix series. We had just bought a smart TV and so we could stream Netflix and I finally watched what everybody was talking about on Facebook. This new upgrade in our personal technology reminded me of the first time we no longer had to wait for dial-up on our computer. I forget what year, but suddenly we could watch Youtube videos like everybody else. Weird.

Second, my apologies for this post because it's kind of a dry, "clerical" post, for lack of a better description. Basically I just transcribed a list of movies, etc. that I watched in 2017.

I like to keep track of what I watch in the margin of my film blog and I've accumulated a few of these lists. So, in an effort to do some housecleaning and de-cluttering, I'm going to delete my "What Have I been Watching in 2017" list and post it here. Eventually I'll do it with my 2018 and 2019 list, too.
Besides keeping track of what I've been watching, this list will also give me a guide (theoretically, hopefully) to write some reviews on these films, etc. But, mostly, my brain is increasingly becoming a sieve and I just forget shit more and more. So, I like to be reminded where I've been, so to speak.
NOTE: I'm notoriously inconsistent with whatever parameters I set up for something because I usually do so impulsively, but for the most part I kept track numerically what feature films and documentaries I watched. I also included seasons of TV series. So, if I watched a whole season of a show, that season was included as a single film.  However, I listed individual episodes of a series if the episodes were feature film length. In 2017 I think there were only two series that I did that with: the Swedish TV series, WALLANDER, and the BBC series, SHERLOCK. I also listed short subjects, but not numerically. I just wanted to keep track of what I've watched in my life... or at least attempt to.
Having said that, while going over this list for the first time in a few years, there are some questions or inconsistencies I see (besides the trivial standard way I list local movie theatres), such as why some films are not listed numerically, TERMINAL ISLAND and PRINCESS O'ROURKE, specifically. When we living at our old house (which is when this list occurred) I sometimes had a habit of watching movies late at night and at the time I didn't have headphones, so I'd watch the film with the sound off and the captions on. I make a point of saying that with NIGHT MOVES, though, and still counted it. Besides, I can't believe that TERMINAL ISLAND and PRINCESS O'ROURKE were the only other ones I did that with, so I don't know why I made this distinction with them. Also, I see that I did count a "short documentary feature" on MYRNA LOY. Oh, who knows!
Other than that, this list is pretty straight-forward.

After looking over this list again, it's cool being reminded of the particular film interests I had over that year, like re-watching a number of the James Bond films and checking out for the first time the comparatively unpopular Timothy Dalton films. I watched these with my wife and she's actually a fan of the Dalton films, making a point of saying that these films were closer to the novels in terms of Bond's character.
It's also cool seeing that I attended at least a half a dozen films at the annual Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival. Traditionally, I try to attend as many films as possible but I was dealing with a new job and limited schedule availability this particular year. Still, I saw some terrific movies, especially Richard Rowntree's excellent DOGGED and the fascinating MICKEY REECE'S ALIEN, an examination of Elvis as an extraterrestrial. Rowntree, who's main job is as a greensman on several big budgeted Hollywood films, (seriously, check out his impressive, jaw-dropping filmography!) attended the festival in person, too, coming all the way from the UK! He also re-visited 2019's Buffalo Dreams with his latest film, NEFARIOUS. Mickey Reece is this independent filmmaker operating out of Oklahoma City, OK, according to IMDB, who none of us heard about before, including friends Greg Lamberson and Chris Scioli, the guys who run Buffalo Dreams. Reece apparently only shows his films at festivals, but there doesn't seem to be any DVD releases? Which is too bad. However, he also had another film at last year's Buffalo Dreams, ARROWS OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, a strange take on Hamlet, supposedly (it was pretty experimental in parts, I thought).
This was also the year that I audited a SUNY at Brockport Intro to Horror Film class taught by my friend (and occasional filmmaker and producer), Professor Carter Soles, that I really enjoyed attending. Among the films that I discovered and loved from the class were CAT PEOPLE (1942) and PEEPING TOM (1960) where I was really struck by the sympathy characters in the film had for the supposed "villains" of the films. I also enjoyed the shit out of discussing the films in class with the other students. The combined academic and group analysis was a real pleasure and I hope that if I ever make any films, short and/or features, that the films invite and stand up to similar audience scrutiny and discussion.

Anyway, here's what I watched in 2017:

108. STRANGER THINGS (2016, TV series, Season 1, 8 Eps, Netflix)

107. KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE (2017, Spectrum On Demand)

106. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (2017, Regal Transit)

105. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017, Netflix)

104. VOYEUR (2017, Documentary, Netflix)

103. SUNRISE (1927, TCM)

102. KUNG FU PANDA (2008, Netflix)

101. MIFUNE: THE LAST SAMURAI (2015, Documentary, Netflix)

Saw this independent film directed and co-produced by Richard Rowntree, who lives in the UK yet made the trip to WNY to accompany his film at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival. Saw DOGGED at the Screening Room the last day of the festival and it was one of my favorite films. Richard was also very accessible and great to talk to. The dude also has a number of credits on IMDb working in the art department on a number of major films and TV series, and then he makes these independent films on the side with his regular collaborators (a few of them also traveled across the pond to attended the festival). Very cool!

100. V/H/S 2 (2013, Netflix)

99. V/H/S (2012, Netflix)

98. SHE MAKES COMICS (2014, Documentary, Netflix)

97. SEX IN THE COMICS (2012, Documentary, Netflix)

96. HIT MAN (1972, TCM Underground)

95. WALLANDER: THE SNIPER (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 8)

94. ATOMIC BLONDE (2017, Spectrum On Demand)

93. DOGGED (2017, Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival (BDFFF), The Screening Room)

92. GUYS AND DOLLS (1955, TCM)

91. GOOD TIMES NEVER COME (2017, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

DVRed this off of TCM Underground. Never heard of it before. Pretty cool film. I mostly remember Casey from the Burt Reynolds' film, SHARKY'S MACHINE, although checking out his IMDb page, I realized I've seen him in other films but I never knew who he was. Also while googling his name, I discovered he was a former pro football player (running back and wide receiver over eight years) before he turned actor. I also remember writer/director George Armitage from his 1990 film, MIAMI BLUES. 

90. MICKEY REECE’S ALIEN (2017, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

89. GET MY GUN (2017, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

- WALK OF SHAME (2017, Short Subject, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

88. OFFENSIVE (2016, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

87. HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS (1988, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

86. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (2016, Spectrum On Demand)

85. DIFFABILITY HOLLYWOOD (2017, BDFFF, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

84. THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE EIGHTH DIMENSION (1984, Spectrum On Demand)

83. DAMNATION ALLEY (1977, Amazon Prime)

82. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954, Amazon Prime)

81. OUTLAND (1981, Amazon Prime)

80. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT (2016, Amazon Prime)

79. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE (2017, Premiere Screening, The Screening Room)

78. THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION (1976, TCM)

77. WALLANDER: THE LEAK (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 7)

76. WALLANDER: THE PRIEST (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 6)

75. BABY DRIVER (2017, AMC Maple Ridge)

74. WONDER WOMAN (2017, Main Street Movies 5 – Newark, Delaware)

73. THE ICE PIRATES (1984, TCM)

72. THE DEAD POOL (1988, DirecTV on Demand)

71. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2 (2017, Regal Transit)

70. SUDDEN IMPACT (1983, DirecTV on Demand)

69. THE ENFORCER (1976, DVD)

68. MAGNUM FORCE (1973, DVD)

67. DIRTY HARRY (1971, DVD)

66. 5-25-77 (2017, The Screening Room)

65. GOOD TIMES NEVER COME (2017, Vimeo)

64. S.T.A.R. (SPACE TRAVELING ALIEN REJECT) (2017, Premiere Screening, Hamburg Palace)

63. PIECES (1982, Thursday Night Terrors, Dipson Amherst Theatre)

62. A GRIM BECOMING (2014, DVD)

61. FRANKENSTEIN CREATED BIKERS (2016, DVD)

60. THE BABADOOK (2014, DVD)

59. VIDEODROME (1983, DVD)

58. WALLANDER: THE CELLIST (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 5)

57. GINGER SNAPS (2000, DVD)

56. THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974, DVD)

55. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999, DVD)

54. ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1969, DVD)

53. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999, DVD)

52. DEAR GOD, NO! (2011, DVD)

51. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987, DVD)

50. LICENCE TO KILL (1989, DVD)

49. THE RING (2002, DVD)

48. BARBARELLA (1968, DVD)

47. RINGU (1998, DVD)

46. THE LURE (CORKI DANCINGU) (2015, Polish, The Screening Room)

45. HALLOWEEN (1978, DVD)

44. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (2016, DVD)

43. WALLANDER: THE THIEF (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 4)

42. TO SIR, WITH LOVE II (1996, DirecTV)

41.  JOHN WICK (2014, DirecTV On Demand)

40. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968, DVD)

39. THE DARK BELOW (2017, The Screening Room)

- THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER (1933, Short Subject w/W.C. Fields, TCM)

38. KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017, Regal Cinemas Transit)

- THE STORY OF FILM: EPISODE 3, THE GOLDEN AGE OF WORLD CINEMA (Documentary series, DVD)

37. DOCTOR STRANGE (2016, DirecTV On Demand)

36. SUSPIRIA (1977, DVD, SUNY at Brockport, Intro to Horror Class)

35. NIGHT MOVES (1975, TCM)(W/o sound, captioned)

34. HORROR OF DRACULA (1958, DVD)

33. PEEPING TOM (1960, DVD, SUNY at Brockport, Intro to Horror Class)

32. DRACULA (1931, Spanish language version, DVD)

31. WALLANDER: THE COURIER (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 3)

30. PSYCHO (1960, DVD, SUNY at Brockport, Intro to Horror Class)

29. DRACULA (1931, DVD)

- THE STORY OF FILM: EPISODE 2, THE HOLLYWOOD DREAM (Documentary, DVD)

- THE STORY OF FILM: EPISODE 1, BIRTH OF THE CINEMA (Documentary, DVD)

28. TEAM FOXCATCHER (2016, Documentary, VOD)

27. THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956, DVD, SUNY at Brockport, Intro to Horror Class)

26. THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944, TCM)

25. NAVAJO JOE (1966, Cable)

24. HIDDEN FIGURES (2016, Regal Cinemas Transit)

23. CAT PEOPLE (1942, DVD, SUNY at Brockport, Intro to Horror Class)

22. PUBLIC WEDDING (1937, TCM)

21. WALLANDER: GUILT (Swedish TV series, Season 2, Episode 2)

20. THIRTEEN WOMEN (1932, TCM)

19. BRIGHT LIGHTS: STARRING CARRIE FISHER AND DEBBIE REYNOLDS (2016, HBO Documentary, HBO)

- KUNG FURY (2015, Short Subject, El Rey Network)

18. FRANKENSTEIN (1931, DVD, SUNY at Brockport, Intro to Horror Class)

17. CONRACK (1974, Cable)

16. SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL PROBLEM (Season 4, Episode 3)

15. LA LA LAND (2016, Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema)

14. THEY LIVE (1988, Thursday Night Terrors, Season 2, Dipson Amherst Theatre)

13. SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE LYING DETECTIVE (Season 4, Episode 2)

- TERMINAL ISLAND (1973, TCM UNDERGROUND)

- PRINCESS O’ROURKE (1943, TCM)

12. ULTRAMAN GINGA S: THE MOVIE (2015, The Screening Room, Boulevard Mall)

11. ULTRAMAN X: THE MOVIE (2016, the Screening Room, Boulevard Mall)

10. DILLINGER (1973, TCM)

9. SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE SIX THATCHERS (Season 4, Episode 1)

8. ROGUE ONE (2016, Regal Cinemas Transit)

7. BIG TROUBLE (2002, Cable)

- BRUCE LEE, THE LEGEND (1984, Cable)

6. THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN (1958, FX Movie Channel)

5. BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN (1967, TCM)

4. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT III (1994, TCM)

3. THAT’S DANCING (1985, TCM)

2. MYRNA LOY: SO NICE TO COME HOME TO (1991, Documentary Short Feature, TCM)

1. A BONE TO PICK: AN AURORA TEAGARDEN MURDER MYSTERY (2015, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel)

- FUNERAL IN BERLIN (1966, watched it for the second time)

SCRIPT FRENZY 2013: Here we go again..!

My wife is a champion of the annual on-line writing challenge called National Novel Writing Month or, the more popularly monikered/acronymed, NANOWRIMO. The challenge is this: to write a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days, specifically from November 1-30. She has successfully participated in this venture for the past several years.

I emphasize that it’s a challenge and not a contest. The only thing you can receive upon successful completion of the writing goal is a certificate that says you successfully completed it. When I tell people this, there is usually a question about, “Well, how do they know? What if you just type 50,000 words of gibberish or the same word 50,000 times?” I guess technically these questions raise a good point, except for the fact that the entire concept is designed to MOTIVATE writers who have wanted to write something but never sat down and tried.

That’s why it is NOT a contest.

Also, the OTHER thing you have, beside the certificate, is the satisfaction of having a first draft of a 50,000 word story you wrote — in 30 days!

If anything, NANOWRIMO is a sort of self-help website with an infrastructure of assistance.

Perhaps you’ll finally write that story within you if thousands of others are doing the same thing. In November, the website offers weekly e-mail pep-talks from published authors to motivate you to stay on track with your goal. There are additional helpful things on the website like plot generators and various message boards, etc., as writers commiserate with other writers about their individual writing problems or share their successes that they’re all experiencing daily during the month-long task and creative journey.

I personally have never participated in this event. I’m not so good with writing prose. Well, I can, I think, but it comes with much effort. 

However, after a few successful years of NANOWRIMO, the website launched a new challenge in April: SCRIPT FRENZY. This was designed as an on-line challenge to write a script (play, screenplay, graphic novel) in 30 days. Unfortunately, after a few years, the organizers decided not to continue SCRIPT FRENZY mostly due to a steadily decreasing number of participants and a lack of fundraising to support SCRENZY as a stand alone event. You can read the official announcement here.

Although this development is genuinely disappointing, what was most important for me about both NANOWRIMO and SCRIPT FRENZY was the idea of focusing for a month on writing something, which is something I would like to do. I’ve tried it a few times in the past; unfortunately (yet typically) I have yet to successfully complete a first draft of a script, whether as part of SCRIPT FRENZY or just on my own.

But it’s April again and I have some ideas for short films, a comic book idea and a feature film screenplay I’ve already begun last year that I’ve failed to complete. So, as I’ve done (at least) a couple times before, I’m going to try and write a first draft of a script this April. 

April 7, 2013. 

Yes, that is the date.

Technically, I’m starting this a week late. My late start is a result of both my being out of town for the first couple days of April in Boston (a really cool city, by the way). Then, for the rest of the week, I was… uh… just a lame-ass.

 

[NOTE: When I first wrote this post, it was at the beginning of April, so the whole horrible event of the Boston Marathon bombing two weeks later had not happened.]

 

But one of the triggers that finally motivated me to commit to this SCRIPT FRENZY venture is my recent meeting this past Thursday night (April 4) with another filmmaker who’s working on his own screenplay. His name is Joey S., and he’s a college freshman.

I first met Joey on-line over a year ago through a Facebook group either for local horror fans or for local filmmakers. He basically said that he had written a script for a film, but it was his first time doing so, and he was looking for anyone who might have advice regarding his screenplay and screenwriting.

Well, I figured: What the hell.

I’m always blabbering on and ON about writing screenplays and thinking about ideas and the writing process, and, I believe, just prior to Joey’s request for feedback, I had personally encountered some positive periods of writing on my own, surprisingly. The script I was working on then (and now, actually, but we’ll get to that), is a genre story that I’m calling HORROR MOVIE (merely a working title). So, basically, at the time, even though I had never written a finished draft of a screenplay before (and I still haven’t!), I was feeling pretty confident with my writing abilities based on the few scenes I had written from scratch and one I had re-written (HORROR MOVIE is based on an original short script/plot synopsis by Carter Soles, and Carter and I hope to start pre-production on this movie soon, like, perhaps starting this year. But first we need a finished script!).

So, I responded to Joey’s FB message and he sent me a copy of his zombie action screenplay and I read it. And I had some very specific feedback which I gave Joey in a long e-mail. And he responded positively, especially to some suggestions and observations I made about his first scene.

Well, in a nutshell, that’s how we met and that’s how we know each other: through the screenwriting process. 

Over a year later, he’s still working on the same idea. The difference is, he was a high school senior last year and now he’s a freshman at a local college and majoring in Film and Television Production. He tried to shoot his film last year but had a hard time getting various locations. I even tried to help him with a location where I work, and then that fell through, to my chagrin.

But now I think he may have a little better luck with his location issues.
In the meantime, he’s still working on his original screenplay, and he e-mailed me recently to see if I wanted to read his latest draft and share some thoughts.

So, we met at Hotdog Heaven on Williams St. and Harlem Rd. in the Buffalo area and we talked for a couple hours over dinner (Texas hots, baby!) about Joey’s screenplay.

I had fun. I always enjoy talking about filmmaking and this was especially enjoyable because it was a discussion about an actual project going on, not some armchair discussion about some Hollywood film. Joey seemed to enjoy himself as well, although I think I gave him a (good-natured) hard time about some of his writing choices, especially with regard to his main character. I’m charmingly obnoxious.
What was very gratifying for me was that he seemed receptive to some of my feedback, and whether or not he was going to employ any of my specific suggestions in the actual script, he at least recognized some of the issues I was bringing up. So, I felt it was a fruitful meeting of the minds.

Of course, the upshot of all of this was: “(Script) Doctor, heal thyself!”

Yeah, yeah, yeah! I know! I talk big about OTHER people’s projects, but what I have done lately on my OWN???

Which brings us to April 2013, and MY version of SCRIPT FRENZY, and my hope to “do a lot of shitty writing” this month in order to complete a first draft of a screenplay.

More to come!