Hello, movie buffs, and happy November! I’m always a little bit baffled by the way people shout, “Halloween’s over! Merry Christmas!” on November 1st. But the temperatures are in the 30s here in Michigan now, so I see a lot of blanket-wrapped, hot cocoa-accompanied, corny Christmas movies in my near future.
Before we begin growing our holiday spirit, let’s take a look back at what was watched in October.
New-to-me viewings: 12
Re-watches: 5
Total for October: 17
Total for 2019, so far: 148
The new-to-me list:
- Diabolique (1955)
- A Moment in Love (1956)
- Hustlers (2019)
- Joker (2019)
- Swamp Women (1956)
- I Walk Alone (1947)
- The Burglar (1957)
- Call Northside 777 (1948)
- The Lighthouse (2019)
- The Stranger (1946)
- The Premature Burial (1962)
- Donovan’s Brain (1953)
My favorite discoveries of the month would have to be Diabolique and The Premature Burial.
In terms of new releases, I really enjoyed The Lighthouse — it contains what I think is probably my favorite shot of the year. Only two features in and Robert Eggers is already building himself quite the filmography!
Re-watches:
- Where the Heart Is (2000)
- Runaway Bride (1999)
- A River Runs Through It (1992)
- Psycho (1960)
- Halloween (1978)
Viewing methods:
- At the cinema – 3
- CMT – 2
- Criterion Channel – 3
- From my collection – 5
- Movies! TV Network – 2
- Netflix – 1
- YouTube – 1
I lost access to TCM this month, so you won’t be seeing much of that in the wrap-ups from here forward. I do still have quite a few TCM movies saved on the DVR — but other than that, I’ll just be watching everyone else enjoy the #TCMParty on Twitter and hope HBO Max delivers with its promised TCM content next year!
Also, CMT is an odd inclusion for this month, but its Sunday night movie selections happened to be two of my tween favorites while I was staying at an Airbnb, haha.
By decade:
- 1910s – 0
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 0
- 1940s – 3
- 1950s – 5
- 1960s – 2
- 1970s – 1
- 1980s – 0
- 1990s – 2
- 2000s – 1
- 2010s – 3
The month in blogging:
I didn’t quite post as much as I hoped to in October, but I did manage to succeed in getting all four Horror Half-Week posts up, plus a couple of extras. That seems like a real achievement given my spotty schedule-keeping over the past year or so! (I guess my New Year’s resolution for 2020 is all sorted, haha.) In case you missed ’em, this month’s reviews are linked below.
- Cult of the Cobra (1955): A shape-shifting cobra-woman targets a group of Air Force pilots after they intrude on a cult ceremony while waiting to return home from the war.
- Diabolique (1955): The wife and mistress of a cruel, abusive man team up to take him out after deciding they’d both be happier without him.
- Don’t Look Now (1973): An English couple goes to Venice to escape their grief after their daughter dies, only to find that her spirit has followed them.
- Dr. Cyclops (1940): A doctor working in a remote jungle laboratory invites a gang of researchers to his lab — and then shrinks them.
- The Leech Woman (1960): A doctor and his wife become obsessed with finding the secret to everlasting youth after a very old woman tells the doctor she knows where to find it.
- Swamp Women (1956): An undercover cop helps a gang of jewel-thieving women escape from jail in hopes they’ll lead her to the loot.
I see a couple of decent noir films on that list! And that’s cool that you liked ‘The Lighthouse’…I was hoping that Robert Eggers’ would put out another good one!
And am I allowed to ask what happened to TCM? I haven’t had cable for over ten years now, but back when I did, I would’ve had to pay extra for a package that included TCM, which I thought was a rip-off, so I didn’t do it.
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Comcast is doing its usual dance of moving channels around and trying to get people to pay more. It moved TCM into a premium package, primarily featuring sports channels. Our (surprisingly reliable) internet is also through Comcast, and with the ridiculous prices of their internet-only service we may as well bundle in cable, otherwise we would have cut the cord and gone the Sling route long ago.
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OOoo I’ve been meaning to get to Diabolique for ages. I’ve not heard of The Premature Burial before and seeing Ray Milland I gotta get on this, sharpish.
Really looking forward to The Lighthouse. Though I’ve kept away from the trailer, just going on the poster image it looks like it has a fantastic dark mood to it.
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I avoided the trailer for The Lighthouse, too! Best way to go in. I saw the trailer afterward and it gives up a couple of memorable moments.
And you’re in for a treat with The Premature Burial! It is a part of Roger Corman’s “Poe Cycle” — the only one not to star Vincent Price.
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