2009 Closure - Finishing off 9 in 2009

I'm so ready to be done with 2009! I know it's only Jan 5, 2010 but I'm ready to wrap that sucker up with a bow and file it away. I thought looking back at my 9 in 2009 Goals would be a great way to get some closure!

At the beginning of 2009 I came up with 9 film goals for the year, playing along with DVD Panache's fantastic idea. I met 7 of the 9 goals, and the 2 I didn't met (go to a festival outside Toronto & see either microcinema or go to the drive in) I totally plan on doing in 2010 and some of the goals I will continue to work on (101 films to see list) and reprise (see all borrowed or bought unseen films). I'm not sure I'll commit them to a list like I did in 2009 but I'll be sure to share the results.

Speaking of results, just doing the challenge led to some very interesting insights. I think my favourite out of all of the items was #6. Buy a new TV. I *love* my new 40" TV. I don't know how I lived with my wee lil 13"er for so long - it served me well, I still have it and use it but dangnabit it's pale in comparison to my new one. Although I still gotta work on the audio - I sometimes get a little feedback/staticy sounds when I turn it up really loud, but other that that it's totally the cat's pyjamas.

I'm loving co-hosting the Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast and it was great to be a guest several times over at gmanReviews Unnamed Movie Podcast. There is more podcasting goodness in the future, have a few guests spots and will be launching my very cast own soon.

General viewing/watching goals were very interesting, I like my new 101 films to see list and some of the titles are a little harder to come by as it's delving further into the world of horror, genre and foreign films. I'm already over 40% done and have almost 2 years to complete this lists so it's smooth sailing there.

Goal #4 was to see more 2009 releases in 2009 than 2008 films in 2008 which I did... kinda... this is where some of the parameters get a bit mucky. In saw 92/341 of 2008 films and by the end of 2009 I saw 104 Films from 2009 - but several of those I saw before 2009 in years past through festivals and such. So, I consider that complete but it doesn't technically meet the definition. I'm glad that I did end up review more 2009 release in 2009 (67 for 2009), I still wish I had gotten a few more December films reviewed, but there was like... turkey to eat and stuff like that.

Along the same lines #8 was to take a picture of the poster for all 2009 releases I see & create a slideshow of the images which I did (see video here), this one I fit the video to the parameters of the challenge, but then realized it didn't meet the intention of the challenge which was to snap an image of all films seen - either theatrically or just every single one. Theatrically didn't work for 2009 because I saw some through means other than theatrically (festivals, DVD, etc) and some I saw outside of 2009. Gets freaking murky! Also, at festivals or special screeenings something there isn't anything to take a picture of! I want to reprise this one with a different definition for 2010.

The most insightful one was #9 List, watch and return all unseen film I've borrowed or own. I waded through a lot of these in Dec 09 to get this done but along the way I accumulated more films I've yet to see! The big insight here is - I'm not going to buy or borrow films that I'm not interested it, specifically romantic comedies - they really don't interest me and unless I get a reputable recommendation I'm likely going to sideline them.

So there you have it! 9 in 2009 is now complete! YAY! Bring on 2010!

9 in 2009 Goals (see original post here)

1. Attend a film festival outside of Toronto - not this year!
2. Create a new 101 films to see list (see past list here)
3. Create a or be on a podcast Done & Done: Guest on Gmanreviews Unnamed Movie Podcast + Co-host of Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast
4. See more 2009 releases in 2009 than 2008 films in 2008 (2008 was: 92/341) - Done! 104 Films from 2009 seen
5. Review more 2009 release in 2009 than 2008 films in 2008 (2008 was: 38) Done: 67 reviews of theatrical releases
6. Buy a new TV
7. Go to a microcinema and / or drive in - no luck here
8. Take a picture of the poster for all 2009 releases I see & create a slideshow of the images: in process - done! See video here
9. List, watch and return all unseen film I've borrowed or own: List made! & Done
Bonus: Have a fabulous opening night outfit - done!

9 in 2009: Posters of All Film Seen Theatrically

One of the 9 Challenges I posed to myself at the beginning of the year was to take a picture of the poster for all 2009 releases I see & create a slideshow of the images. I think one of the most interesting things about the process was to realize what isn't here as much as what is. A lot of the 2009 films I've seen I saw at festivals therefore don't appear here, and I sure do like seeing horror films at the theatre. There are a few oddball omissions of images of films I saw at rep theatres, nothing for films seen on TMN or DVD. Other weirdest includes no poster at the theatre when I saw Moon, literally not being able to find the image of The Fourth Kind, which is just creepy. And the biggest shock was one time I forgot my camera.

Week in Film Vlog: December 21, 2009

Happy Holidays all! I hoped to find my Santa hat for this vlog, but no luck. I did put bows in my hair if you look closely...

Awards Season Begins!: Golden Globe Nominations
Theatrical: Up in the Air, The Young Victoria, Bright Star, A Single Man
9 in 2009: The Man with the Golden Arm, David Copperfield, Herbie Full Loaded
Random: Speed Racer, Garden State, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), Oceans 13
Holiday: Prancer, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Randomly mentioned:
The Young Victoria is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, whom also directed C.R.A.Z.Y.
Actor from A Single Man & About a Boy is Nicholas Hoult
Recommended Holiday Theatrical Viewing: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus




Only got through some of the above films next week, hopefully will see the rest by next vlog time!

Week in Film Vlog: December 14, 2009

Theatrical: Invictus, Me and Orson Wells
9 in 2009: Mr. & Mrs. Smith, No Country for Old Men
Decade-ness: Link List for Best of Decade Lists, My 2000 Movie Memories
Random: Oceans Twelve (Thanks Bob for the recommend!), Inkheart, Speak, Fulltime Killer / Chuen jik sat sau
Holiday: White Christmas (awesome black dress pic), Holiday Inn

Week in Film Vlog: December 6, 2009

Theatre: Brothers, Red Cliff / Chi bi
Trailer: Crazy Heart (see trailer here)
DVD: Public Enemies
101 Films: Safe
9 in 2009: D.O.A. (1950)
Random: Idlewild, Marie Antoinette, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (see Bob's post re: Journey at Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind) and The Order

Week in Film Vlog: Boatloads of Movies!

Films Discussed
In Theatres: Where the Wild Things Are, Whip It, Paranormal Activity
101 Films: Amarcord, Belle et la Bete, Black Sabbath, The Hanging Garden
Own/Unseen: The Grudge (US version)
Random Watching: Bolt, Prom Night (Original), The Bride
It Used to Scare Me Tuesdays: The Stuff

9 in 2009 Update!

Back in January 2009 I set a list of 9 goals for the year, all film related. As 9 months of the year have now past, what better time to check in and see how things are going. Of course I like to do this with enough time to check in before it's too late to still work on them. I'm currently at 4 done out of the 9 selections, and very surprized that "review more 2009 release in 2009 than 2008 films in 2008" is one that is already done! I'm sure that I will see and review more 2009 films but it feels awesome to be already ahead in comparison to last year. Seeing films at festivals really makes a difference for this one, a lot of the films reviewed were seen this way. I think it will be a closer call to see more 2009 films this year (67 so far) than 2008 films in 2008 (92) - that's 25 more films in 3 months, theatrically. That's a lot. Totally doable, but a lot.

I am shocked at how little progress I've made on List, watch and return all unseen film I've borrowed or own. It's been 9 months and I've only watched 5 out of the 18, and I've acquired more films. Shocking! But, I'll keep this one close in mind and if I can get 1 in a week, I should be good. It is possible!

The only one that looks like it isn't going to happen is getting to a festival outside of Toronto. Not impossible, but so far doesn't look promising.

But, one thing that wasn't really planned or on the list but was previously floating around on paper and in my head was to have more re-occurring columns and I've done that with New Moon Mondays for all us Twi and vamp lovers out there. In the same vein are various marathons including the Countdown to Star Trek, Harry Potter Countdown and current vampalicous Vampathon. I love marathons, countdowns and lists - they are such a great way to revisit and discover fantastic films.

101 Films to See

I love lists. Making lists, carrying around lists, revisiting lists and especially crossing things off lists when they are complete! About three years ago I made a great list: 101 Films I Can't Believe I Haven't Seen and the plan was to see them all in 1001 days, which was completed just before midnight of the last day. Overall it was a great experience, so I'm going for round 2 and this time it's literally a 'Films to See' list. I drew inspiration from a variety of sources, the nominees list for the 31 Flicks That Give You the Willies list for filling in some of the blanks for horror films, the Movies You Should See Top 1000 Movies You Like list, the Stephen Jay Schneider book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", the IMDb Top 250 and of course I threw in a bunch of stuff I just want to see as well as the inevitable 'films people always talk about'. Once I filtered out all the films I had seen from those lists I was left with just over 1000 films. It was a challenge to narrow it down to 101, but I excluded films I already own (that is a different challenge), would be near impossible to find and anything I've already requested either from zip.ca or the library. Time to embark on another fun film adventure!

Start Date: February 15, 2009
End Date: November 13, 2011

Films Seen 68/101

1. 400 Blows, The (seen August 27, 2009, Vlog)
2. Aguirre, Wrath of God (seen May 25, 2009, Vlog)
3. Amarcord (seen Oct 17, 2009, Vlog)
4. American Psycho (see Apr 17, 2009, Vlog)
(5. Amores Perros (turned off)) removed *
6. Apartment, The (seen Feb 28, 2009, Vlog)
7. Barry Lyndon
8. Barton Fink (seen Oct 30, 2009, Vlog)
9. Battle Royale
10. Beast Cops / Yeshou xingjing
11. Before Sunset (seen June 1, 2009)
12. Belle et la Bete (seen Oct 17, 2009, Vlog)
13. Black Christmas (1974)
14. Black Sabbath (seen October 28, 2009, Vlog)
15. Blow-Up (seen January 9, 2010, Vlog)
16. Bob Le Flambeur (seen April 5, 2009, Vlog)
17. Boondock Saints (seen October 22, 2010)
18. Bride of Frankenstein (seen March 21, 2009, Vlog)
19. Brides of Dracula, The (seen January 23, 2010, Vlog)
20. Brood, The (seen Apr 12, 2009, Vlog)
21. Carnival of Souls
22. Cat People (1942) (seen September 17, 2010)
23. City of God (seen October 15, 2010)
24. Conversation, The (seen March 7, 2009, Vlog)
25. Cool Hand Luke (seen March 10, 2010, Vlog)
26. Day for Night (seen May 20, 2009, Vlog)
27. Dellamorte Dellamore / Cemetery Man
28. Dracula (1931) (seen Apr 18, 2009, Vlog)
29. Duck Soup (seen January 9, 2010, Vlog)
30. Earth (1998)
31. Eat Drink Man Woman
32. Eraserhead (seen January 20, 2010, Vlog)
33. Farewell My Concubine (seen June 4, 2009)
34. Faster, Pussy Cat! Kill! Kill!
35. Freaks
36. Ghost and Mrs Muir, The (seen April 4, 2009, Vlog)
37. Giant (seen March 10, 2010, Vlog)
38. Godzilla / Gojira (seen August 9, 2010)
39. Grand Illusion (seen June 4, 2009)
(40. Grave of the Fireflies) removed *
41. Great Silence, The
42. Hana-Bi
43. Hanging Garden, The (seen Oct 17, 2009, Vlog)
44. Happy Together (seen January 23, 2010, Vlog)
45. Harold and Maude
46. Harvey (seen May 23 2009, Vlog)
47. Hiroshima Mon Amour
48. House of Wax (1953) (seen April 18, 2010, Vlog)
49. Hustler, The (seen Dec 26, 2009, Vlog)
50. I Walked with a Zombie (seen Sept 13, 2010, Podcast)
51. If… (seen Feb 28, 2009, Vlog)
52. Infernal Affairs (seen November 20, 2010)
53. Iron Monkey (seen September 25, 2010)
54. Kaidan
55. Kes (seen July 3, 2010)
56. Kiltro (seen August 2, 2009, Vlog)
57. Kissed
58. Last House on the Left (1972)
59. Laura (1944) (seen June 21, 2009, Vlog)
60. Layer Cake (seen April 10, 2010, Vlog)
61. Léolo (seen Nov 7, 2009, Vlog)
62. Linda Linda Linda
63. Lonely Are the Brave
64. Love and Human Remains
65. Mad Detective
66. Man from Laramie , The (June 30, 2009, Vlog)
67. Margaret's Museum (seen December 5, 2010)
68. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (seen May 23, 2009, Vlog)
69. Mon oncle Antoine (seen January 16, 2010, Vlog)
70. Night Tide
(*) Nosferatu (1922) (seen April 10, 2009, Vlog)
71. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979) (seen October 10, 2009, Vlog)
72. Onibaba (seen Apr 25,2009, Vlog)
73. Out of Africa (seen Nov 26, 2009, Vlog)
74. Papillon (seen July 10, 2010)
75. Passion of Joan of Arc , The (seen February 7, 2010, Vlog)
76. Persona (seen June 12, 2009, Vlog)
77. Phantasm
78. Possession (1981)
79. Possible Worlds
80. Quadrophenia
81. Rebecca (1940) (seen December 2, 2010)
82. Red River (seen March 21, 2009, Vlog)
83. Requiem For a Dream
84. Safe (seen December 5, 2009, Vlog)
(*) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
85. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (seen May 19, 2009, Vlog)
86. Sleuth (seen Apr 18/09, Vlog)
87. Star Is Born, A (seen August 8, 2009, Vlog)
88. Sting, The (seen October 10, 2009, Vlog)
89. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (seen November 25, 2010)
90. Sunset Blvd. (seen Apr 24,2009, Vlog)
91. Tale of Ugetsu, A
92. Tales from the Gimli Hospital
93. Tampopo
94. Tetsuo
95. Thing from Another World, The (seen Apr 23, 2009, Vlog)
96. Time of the Gypsies / Dom za vesanje
97. Vampyr (seen August 29, 2009, Vlog)
98. Westerner, The
99. Yi Yi (seen Dec 27, 2009, Vlog)
100. Zatoichi (seen March 7, 2009, Vlog)
101. Zodiac (seen November 25, 2010)

*replacements:
Amores Perros and it has been replaced with Nosferatu (1922)
Grave of the Fireflies has been replaced with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

9 in 2009 - Get a New TV!

I just brought a new TV. It's been a long time coming and believe me I have loved my dear lil old 13" TV for many years. But the time has come and I went a little crazy going wit a 40" flatscreen. I don't understand all the features and need to figure out how to tone down those reds but it's nice to read subtitles in wide screen again! I went with a Toshiba 40" 1080p LCD HDTV (40RV525U). And, as a bonus this completes one of my New Year's Resolutions on my 9 in 2009.

The box for the new one took up almost all my floor space in my kitchen:


Assembly was easy but lifting that sucker to place on a shoulder high surface was not!

Check out the comparison pics!

Old TV at it's old spot:


New TV:


Me & Old TV:


Me & New TV, arms aren't long enough to get whole image in there!

My Week in Film - Playing Catch Up

I'm getting back on the Week in Film train after taking a bit of a hiatus. Choo Choo! Let's see what this train has been up to!

I'm thrilled that I've knocked off 3 out of the 18 films on the Seen Unseen Films list for my 9 in 2009. First up is Murder Party, which was the closing night film for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival in 2007. It was one of the few films I didn't see that year, I decided against going after watching the trailer which just looked like a bunch of people trying to kill each other. What changed my mind? My buddy Bob from Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind assured me it was more than that, and oh boy it sure is. Although technically the title tells you the gist of the film, but what it doesn't tell you is that it's funny as hell. Which sometimes feels awful in a horror film but it gives such a great balance to the tension. I wouldn't recommend it to the highly squeamish, but anyone that likes a good horror film especially with some indie flavour, this is a gem. It also has some of the funniest DVD extras I've ever seen, including step by step 'how to' on making one of the costumes in the film.

Next up is Funky Forest: The First Contact which is another film that showed at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, this time back in 2006. It's a Japanese comedy that is a series of recurring and non recurring sketches and it's hilarious! I really enjoyed seeing catching glimpses of the wild imagination brought to life on the screen. You really never knew what would happen next and whether or not it would make any sense at all. The ideas and imagery were so bizarre that sometimes it freaked me out and I did get a mite tired with the, how to put it, references to bodily functions. Other than that, I think it's truly a work of genius. Be prepared to tuck in for a while when watching, it is a 2 1/2 hr ride to crazyland.

I also caught The Terror which barely held my attention which feels odd to say considering it stars Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff. It's a supernatural thriller of the ghost variety and has some interesting ideas but just didn't work for me. Next!

Last up is The Coast Guard from directed Kim Ki-duk. Last year I watched his film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ...and Spring / Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom after which I decided I'll see anything and everything he directs. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ...and Spring was so beautiful and dealt with harsh subject matter with a sensitivity I've rarely seen. The Coast Guard, although has a completely topic, it still has this same sensitivity. The film is structured around the how living in a divided country affects the people. The subject matter and context are by no means easy to deal with but the film is beautiful in its honesty. I'm looking forward to catching 3-Iron, another Kim Ki-duk film this week.

For all the fellow Trekkers and Trekkies out there, The Star Trek Movie Marathon continues this week with The Wrath of Khan review which will be posted on Tuesday January 20/09. For Toronto folk who love this film, it's playing on that very night over at The Fox Theatre in the Beaches.

9 in 2009: List, watch and return all unseen film I've borrowed or own

As a part of the 9 in 2009 film resolution challenge, I decided by the end of 2009 I would see all the films I have in my possession be they borrowed or ones that I own. Looking at the list now, I can see it's one of the stranger film lists I've come up with. I wanted to get the list up sooner rather than later as I'm only including films in my current possession, not any new acquisitions. In total it is 18 films to see in 12 months, should be easy as pie!

Seen so far 17/18 - and I'm calling that complete!

All the unseen borrowed films to watch:
1. Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero's (seen!)
2. Funky Forest (seen!)
3. Herbie: Fully Loaded (seen, vlog)
4. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (seen! vlog)
5. Murder Party (seen!)
6. Pride & Prejudice (BBC Version) - unseeen, techincally it's a miniseries anyway
7. Silk (seen, vlog)
8. Someone Like You (seen, vlog)

All the unseen owned films to watch:
1. Blue Velvet (seen, vlog)
2. David Copperfield (seen, vlog)
3. D.O.A. (1950) (seen, vlog)
4. Game of Death (seen, vlog)
5. Game of Death II (seen, vlog)
6. The Grudge (US Version) (seen, vlog)
7. The Man with the Golden Arm (seen, vlog)
8. No Country for Old Men (seen! vlog)
9. Sparrow (seen!)
10. The Terror (seen!)

New Years Resolution Challenge - 9 in 2009

DVD Panache has come up with a fantastic idea. Create a list of 9 film related resolutions for 2009. I love lists. I love challenges. Therefore, I am jumping on this train of movie going madness. I have so many film related goals so honing it down to 9 and just for this year is a challenge, but I am up for it!

Final Tally: 7/9

1. Attend a film festival outside of Toronto - not this year!
2. Create a new 101 films to see list (see past list here)
3. Create a or be on a podcast Done & Done: Guest on Gmanreviews Unnamed Movie Podcast + Co-host of Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast
4. See more 2009 releases in 2009 than 2008 films in 2008 (2008 was: 92/341) - Done! 104 Films from 2009 seen
5. Review more 2009 release in 2009 than 2008 films in 2008 (2008 was: 38) Done: 67 reviews of theatrical releases
6. Buy a new TV
7. Go to a microcinema and / or drive in - no luck here
8. Take a picture of the poster for all 2009 releases I see & create a slideshow of the images: in process - done! See video here
9. List, watch and return all unseen film I've borrowed or own: List made! & Done
Bonus: Have a fabulous opening night outfit - done!

Part of playing along is tagging 5 people. I don't usually tag but please play along. Click here for all the details on how to do participate.