150 Films/150 Days - An Introduction to a New Series

To open the new year, I'll be watching 150 films in 150 days and sharing regular updates via this new Blog Series.  Still not quite on par with my screening habits of old, but I have things to do, ya know. As is typical with my annual resolutions, I'm a month late kicking it off.  The first screening was February 1, and the final day will be June 30 (exactly 5 months).    

The idea is to return to my film school roots of obsessively watching all the films from all the places all the time.  This is actually quite light relative to my film consumption in those days.  Between academia, film festivals, and personal, I was likely closer to 4 films a day - and I do not think I'm exaggerating.  It was a deep dive of infinite intrigue for a young evolving cinephile, and I wanted it all. I soon realized that the exploration of cinema is endless and that a lifetime is not nearly enough, but it is worth the Quixotic attempt nonetheless. 

I still get my film festival fixes and obsessive binges, but my every day film viewing has fallen off quite a bit - hence the 150 Film challenge.  The primary objective is to catch up on integral films missed from the past 10 years and beyond, as well as a few just for popcorn giggles.  For instance, though I have watched clips and scenes, I have never actually watched Bergman's The Seventh Seal in full, nor seen the original Halloween, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Hateful Eight, The Lighthouse, Bong Joon Ho's The Host, Cassavetes' Shadows, and so on.  I know, shameful, but you get the idea. All the films from all the places, and all are invited to watch along.  

 The sources for the films chosen include:

- Major Festival Winners and Notable Foreign Films from the past decade 

- Highly anticipated Indie Films of recent years that have been on my 'to-watch' list for way too long  

- Intriguing Young Filmmakers 

- Integral Cinema and Auteurs that somehow fell through the cracks

- Major Releases and Buzz Films from the past decade, previously avoided

- Genre classics, particularly Horror and Cult films

- New Releases, and my own personal whimsy on a given day. 

The List is over 150 films deep, and I will choose the order as I go.  Inevitably, a day will be missed here and there, but as long as 150 films are screened in 150 days, all is on track. Though the list is predominantly Narrative Fiction, all major modes of film production and cinematic tentacles are up for grabs - from Fiction to Documentary to Experimental and everything in-between.

I'll be making regular posts of 5-10 films at a time, including my screening notes.  Each film will be listed with the release date, relevant creative contributors, the means of screening (theater, dvd, or streaming service), a written response to the film and a recommendation level.  The responses are NOT intended to be formal analysis in any regard.  Quite contrary, they are random screening notes with no guidelines.  Some comments are written before viewing, some during viewing (when at home), and some after viewing.  You will receive the screening notes exactly the way they are scratched in my notebook.  The text will have no editing other than that which is necessary to make them legible.  In other words, the individual film responses will likely be the sloppiest and crudest writing I have ever committed to this blog, so there's that.  It'll offer you insight into what my film festival screening notes often look like when covering as press. 

Finally, after the screening, I will assign a level of recommendation to each film as follows: 

HR-highly recommended, R-recommended, N-neutral, F-failings too extensive to appreciate (hopefully never used, or at least rare).