The Next 50: Film Watching During the Pandemic

Well, folks, it's that time again. Another 50 films have been viewed. It was a much slower pace than usual, as the call of genealogy has been very strong. This particular group of films begins on 1 June and runs to 21 August. 

As has been the case lately, I have left the world of live action to live with the cartoon folk. This increase has never been more visible than in this 50. 

To start with, I picked up some of the early works of Mokoto Shinkai. For those unfamiliar, he is the director of "Your Name" and "Weathering With You." A number of his early short works are available on YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo. I managed to see:

Mokoto Shinkai
Other Worlds (1999)
She & Her Cat (1999)
Someone's Gaze (2013)

One can see from these his ability to inspire emotions. He also features the rain in most of these, an occurrance that continues through his lastest films.

Other Animes include:

Modest Heroes (2018), currently on Netflix
Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985), on Amazon
A Whisker Away (2020), also on Netflix
Midori, or Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show (1992)
Mirai (2018), Netflix or Hulu
Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

Mamoru Hosoda


Of these, "Mirai" is wonderful and is another strong work from Mamoru Hosoda, the director of "Summer Wars", "The Boy and the Beast" and "Wolf Children". If you truly want to be freaked out, find "Midori". Believe me, you've never seen any Anime like it. "Angel's Egg" is very trippy and I needed to seek out a YouTube video explaining some of it. It is still worth the watch.

Other Animated Films include:

The Nut Job (2014)
Animal Crackers (2020), Netflix
Terra Willy: Planste Inconnue (2019, France) on YouTube
Batman: Year One (2011)
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part I (2012)
Boy & the World (2013, Brazil), Netflix
When the Wind Blows (1986), Amazon
 
plus shorts:

Teeth (2015)
Wow! A Talking Fish (1981, Russia)
Noose (2016)

I really loved "Animal Crackers" & "Terra Willy". Both are adventures and just fun to watch. "Boy & the World" is an Oscar Nominee for Best Animated Feature and carries some stirring images. It has little dialog that isn't Portuguese played backwards. 

I have always known about "When the Wind Blows" and have avoided it. Not because it's a lousy film, but because I'd already seen "Grave of the Fireflies" and wasn't sure I could take another experience like that. The opening song of the film is sung by David Bowie, the voices of the old couple are supplied by Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Sir John Mills, and the soundtrack is by Roger Waters. The film is a classic, but a tough watch.

Late June saw the latest Sohome Horror Film Festival-Pride Edition, spotlighting LGBTQ+ Horror features and shorts. Due to time constraints this time around, I managed only to see the short films. As usual, they put forth excellent work. Hopefully, they can be found on line somewhere.

The Pain Within Us (2019)
Conversion Therapist (2019)
Jeremiah (2019)
Thirst Trap (2019) 
Tea Parties are for Babies (2020)
Demons (2017)
A Halloween Trick (2019)

Documentaries also hit the forefront this time with:

David Bowie: Finding Fame (2019) Starz
Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary (2014) Starz
Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (2018) Amazon
Birth of the Living Dead (2012) Amazon
Nightmares in Red, White & Blue (2009) Amazon

Not to lose sight of my personal favorite genre, Zombies showed up again. You'd think I'd seen them all by now, but NO...

Overlord (2018)
Little Monsters (2019, Australia)

I tried my hand at some Giallo from Italy, and found myself somewhat disappointed. 

Torso (1973, Italy)
Black Belly of the Tarantula (1972, Italy)

Both films may be found on Amazon. I remember the film "Torso" and the stir it caused when I was a kid. It came out right around the time of the horrific Delores Della Penta murder in Philadelphia. I didn't get to see it then. It wasn't what I thought it would be.

Other Films:



Features-

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
Crawl (2019)
Jurassic Thunder (2020), yes, as bad as it sounds
Inhumanwich (2017), a must see for anyone wanting a beautifully done homage to 50s B movies.
They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)
Hamilton (2020), yes, me too, Disney+
Tetsuo, the Bullet Man (2009, Japan), subpar remake of a classic surreal film. Stick to the original.

Shorts-

One Cut of the Dead Mission: Remote (2020, Japan), I'm not saying anything. It's online. See it.
Ten Dollars in Ten Days (1924), a Ben Turpin comedy
 
and finally, two from the UAE's wonderful Hashmic House, home of inventive horror and horror/comedy short films:

Faisal Hashmi of
Hashmic House Films

Skipped (2017)
Wicken (2019)

There you have it. By the count, I have managed to see 151 films since 17 March. And this doesn't count the number of times that I watched "Notting Hill" over this period (spoiler: at least 10 times). 

As it appears that I will be home for a while longer, who knows what will be seen in the coming weeks. 

Where I could, I have linked to some of my viewing.

A Head's Up--

Keep a look at BloodyWhisper.com in late September for the list of Turner Classics horror films showing in October. I am working on the article. I may add some surprises to it from other cable and streaming services. We'll see what we find. 

Be Well! Be Safe! Watch Cartoons!!

The Blogger Recognition Award

 



I have been fortunate to meet quite a few wonderful and knowledgeable people through blogging. As I am relatively new to having my own blog and am neither as prolific or as adept as other, I find myself humbled by being nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award. I thank Rebecca Deniston of Taking Up Room for the nomination. I have been fortunate enough to work with Rebecca on a couple of Blog-a-Thons and have learned a few things from those experiences. Thank you so much, Rebecca!!

Recieving this award requires sharing of the honor and a bit of yourself with others. So...

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and include a link to their blog.

2. Post the award banner on your blog.

3. Share the reason you started your blog.

4. Share two pieces of advice for new bloggers.

5. Nominate a maximum of 15 other bloggers.

6. Tell your nominees about the award post, so they can participate.


Why I Blog

This is somewhat complicated. I started blogging at someone else's blog. I have been submitting reviews and articles about Horror Movies to Bloody Whisper for about five years. I started doing this when I met Cassie Carnage during my time of Google+. I had not yet experienced the joys of Twitter. 

I had told Cassie that I wanted to write. Being a fan of Horror Movies and having had experience on my high school and college newspapers, I felt confident that I could put some articles together for the site. Cassie has always been in my corner. When I started to write some short fiction for the site, she gave me the encouragement and the guidence that put me on the road to storytelling, my ultimate goal. I still submit articles to Bloody Whisper to this day.

My own blog, Until the Lights Go Up, is my branching out. Not everything I write fits in the horror world. I wanted an outlet for that material. It is also a place where I can try out the stories I want to tell, namely, a Middle Grade/Young Adult fantasy series set in 1879, with adventures concerning children and talking dinosaurs. Obviously, a bit different than the things that go bump in the night.

Advice to Bloggers

I have often found that my "feet of clay" has sometimes held me back for doing what I dream (yes, that is a reference to "The Neverending Story", a personal favorite). Do your best to put your fears into a box and ignore them as best as possible. You will write things that make you cringe later on. I know that from experience. Try not to let that stop you! You will get better. You will find your voice.

Don't limit yourself. As much as I love writing about Horror Movies, I have found that I can write other things. I have written some humorous articles for my blog, several genealogy stories about my findings as a family historian, a couple of photo essays, the list goes on. Being focused on one subject is fine, but remember, there is more to you than you think. You have other stories to tell.

My Nominees 

Now, I am sure that some of these folks listed below have already been nominated for this award. So, if you have already been recognized, I find you just as deserving of this award.

Cassie Carnage at  Bloody Whisper  

Rick at Classic Film and TV Cafe    

Joe Blevins at Dead 2 Rights 

John Harmon at The JHL Collective 

Barry at Cinematic Catharsis 

Gwen Kubberness at Criminal Genealogy 

Gill at Realweegiemidget Reviews 

Daniel at Daniel's Genealogy 

Gabriella Buba at G.A. Buba 

Robin at Dark Corners (note: Robin's blogs are all via YouTube)

I wish to thank all these nominees for their continued excellence. These blogs, along with Taking Up Room , should be on your reading list. 

Stay tuned. I think I may have built up the courage to run my own Blog-a-Thon! Details coming soon.