New-to-me viewings: 22

Re-watches: 8

Total for July: 30

Total for 2013 thus far: 254

The “new-to-me” list:

  1. Seven Psychopaths (2012)
  2. La ragazza che sapeva troppo (1963)
  3. The Heat (2013)
  4. The Love Trap (1929)
  5. Rhythm in the Clouds (1937)
  6. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
  7. 20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang (1933)
  8. Tony Rome (1967)
  9. White House Down (2013)
  10. State of Play (2009)
  11. The Devil Doll (1936)
  12. The Go-Getter (2007)
  13. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
  14. Grown-Ups 2 (2013)
  15. Drop Dead Fred (1991)
  16. The Crystal Ball (1943)
  17. Spilt Milk (2010)
  18. The Conjuring (2013)
  19. Kill Baby, Kill (1966)
  20. Drinking Buddies (2013)
  21. Raw Deal (1948)
  22. Barefoot in the Park (1967)

Tally by decade:

  • 1920s – 1
  • 1930s – 4
  • 1940s – 4
  • 1950s – 0
  • 1960s – 4
  • 1970s – 1
  • 1980s – 0
  • 1990s – 3
  • 2000s – 3
  • 2010s – 9

The month was split about half and half between modern and classic films.

Viewing methods:

  • Amazon Instant Video – 2
  • From my collection – 11
  • From the library – 1
  • Netflix Instant – 8
  • On the big screen – 5
  • Redbox – 1
  • TCM/DVR – 2

Not a lot of TCM viewing this month, since I spent a good chunk of the month in a hotel without access to TCM. Five theater visits is the highest number I’ve had in while for that category, and the most exciting of those was a trip to the Redford Theatre to see Notorious. You can expect a full post on that coming up in a few days!

DVD Collection Update

I let myself “splurge” a little bit on DVDs in July since it is the month of my birthday, after all.

Amazon was having some serious deals at the beginning of the month so I snatched up Vegas Vacation, The Shining, Waterloo Bridge and Ziegfeld Girl — all old favorites I’m glad to add to my collection, and only around $5 each. I also picked up a couple of bargain bin choices in stores: There Will Be Blood on Blu and the 30th anniversary edition of a corny favorite, Saturday Night Fever, on DVD.

My awesome mom, who I have successfully converted into a film fanatic, gifted me Annie Hall, Twister and State of Play. In addition to introducing her to the classics I’ve also turned her into a Woody Allen fan, so I had her watch and do a little guest post on Annie Hall before giving the DVD to me.

I hit up my favorite local record store and their glorious used DVD collection, too. They were having a 25% off sale on all used items, so I couldn’t resist. First off I picked up I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang starring Paul Muni and Glenda Farrell. I also happened upon a Errol Flynn/Randolph Scott double feature of Santa Fe Trail and Abilene Town for only $6. And finally, for the low-low price of only $4 before the discount, I picked up the Brittany Murphy/Michael Douglas thriller Don’t Say a Word. This was kind of a joke purchase, or a blind purchase out of curiosity. My sister and I have seen the preview for it a million times on one of our old VHS tapes and even quote the preview frequently (“I’ll never tell… ANY OF YOU”), but we realized we had never seen the full film only a few days before my trip to the record store, so when I found it at such a small price I had to pick it up.

I made another trip to the same record store on my actual birthday because they were having a one-day-only 15% off deal on all used CDs and DVDs, and I found a copy of The Hudsucker Proxy! This is the “holy grail” purchase of the month, because it is one of my all-time favorite movies. I’m so glad to finally have it in my collection.

Early birthday gifts from my dad included bargain bin copies of Footloose and We Bought a Zoo, plus season 1 of New Girl, which is one of my absolute faaaavorite TV comedies.

My dad also let me absorb his DVD collection into my collection. I’m not going to list those here because there are about 70 titles. My master list at Listography has been updated if you’re super curious. I’m most excited about the absorption of five seasons of Friends!

A friendly reminder

The doors are still open for you to join in on the fun of the Gish Sisters Blogathon, which I’m co-hosting with Movies, Silently! We still have all of August and a sliver of September to prepare for the big event, so there’s plenty of time left for you to get working if you haven’t yet joined on or selected a film. ANY topic related to the Gish sisters is open for discussion, even if a fellow blogger has selected the same topic. Click on the pretty banner designed by Fritzi over yonder in the right-hand sidebar to join up.

A potential absence…

My final announcement in this enormous monthly update post is that I may be temporarily disappearing, and crushing my own dream of not missing a single day of blogging this year. (I missed only a handful in 2012.) I’m going to be spending the second half of August in the beautiful wilderness of northern Michigan. Cell coverage may be scarce, and electrical connections will most definitely be scarce… and as much as I love blogging, I’m extremely excited to escape from business as usual for a minute before my final semester of undergrad begins. I do have posts planned for every day of the time I’ll be gone, but I can’t promise that nothing will get in the way of those posts going up, since I’ll be livin’ in a tent in the middle of nowhere. Please know if I do disappear for a day (or two or ten) that TMP is not dead, and I have not abandoned it!