30 Day Film Challenge – Day 30 – Your Favorite Film This Time Last Year

THE KING’S SPEECH

I assume this prompt means what my favorite movie in general was a year ago.  The only problem is that my favorite movie a year ago was the same as it is now.  So I changed the prompt a little bit, and I’m choosing my favorite film of the previous year, to avoid repeating films.

I’m choosing The King’s Speech for a number of reasons.  First of all, it was a great film that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Also, it was a movie that I was kind of invested in outside of the theater.  The rating controversy related to the film affected me, and I posted multiple opinions on the matter.  The fact that the R-rated version of the film won Best Picture at the Oscars meant a lot to me.

Well, I finished the challenge.  It was an interesting assignment.

30 Day Film Challenge – Day 29 – Your Favorite Film as a Kid

THE THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA

I like cats.  That’s a fact.   And that’s probably why, as a kid, I was drawn to this charming Disney film about a cat.  There aren’t many films about cats out there.  Dogs have plenty of movies, but cats are rarely to be found as movie heroes.  I love Thomasina’s voiceover narration.  I like to think all cats have their own internal monologues going on in their little furry heads.  Of course, that might be because I’m unusually fascinated by cats.  There are a number of other films I was obsessed with as a kid, and which I watched over and over.  But I thought I’d choose this one to feature because it makes me look classy.

 

30 Day Film Challenge – Day 28 – The Most Obscure Film You’ve Ever Seen

A QUESTION OF SILENCE

I watched this Dutch film in my Women and Film course.  It’s about a group of three women, all strangers to each other, who enter a shop and end up beating the shopkeeper to death after he accuses one of them of shoplifting.  A psychiatrist examines the three women, who claim their actions were caused by a misogynistic society.  The film is dated and often uncomfortable to watch.  It’s nothing visually amazing, but it contains interesting themes.  And it’s definitely one of the most obscure films I’ve ever seen.

30 Day Film Challenge – Day 27 – Your Favorite Independent Film

DAVID AND LISA

Frank Perry’s low-budget 1962 film about two teenagers in a mental institution was one of the first films of the American independent film movement.  It won over audiences and earned two Academy Award nominations.

I may have told this story before, but here it is again.  I discovered this film in a used CD and DVD store when I was a young teenager.  I’d never heard of it, but I thought the description looked promising, so I bought it.  It still sits among my DVDs, and I list it among my favorite films.

There’s a nice little article over at TCM that explains the history of this little film.

30 Day Film Challenge – Day 26 – Your Favorite Foreign Language Film

AMELIE

 

Who wouldn’t love Amelie?  This French film is the ultimate feel-good movie.  It’s so charming and adorable.  Audrey Tautou is undeniably lovable as the title character, and the story is perfectly quirky.  It makes me smile every time I watch it, and I suggest it to everyone.  I even dressed as Amelie for Halloween a few years ago.  The wig I wore was a bit messy and askew, but overall I think I did a pretty good job.