#Citizen Kane International

[edithshead]

from Spectacle Spectral Karen Elson by Kat Irlin styled by Ise White for Citizen Kane International, Spring 2022

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Chelo Alonso (Sign of Rome Morgan the Pirate La ragazza sotto il lenzuolo)— She was an international star, and she was so hot she had to turn down marrying a prince, and became so famous for being hot that Fidel Castro sent Che Guevara to beg her to go back to Cuba. She was also called the Cuban H-Bomb. She makes me light-headed.

Agnes Moorehead (Dark Passage, Mrs. Parkington)—i'm just submitting all the milfs at this point

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Chelo Alonso:

"forgive me sending in more pictures of her but i CANNOT be normal about here asdhgkljhahgjkhgkajshgajghshgjl"

Agnes Moorehead:

“Daughter of a minister, she’s incredibly religious. Would arrive on the bewitched set with “the bible in one hand and the script in the other.” And once during an earthquake, she refused to run to safety and said, “God will protect me.” - Her father prohibited her from attending an acting school until she had a formal education so she got a degree in biology. She taught at english, speech and history a high school while also getting degrees in English and Public Speaking. Entered AADA at 25. - Her film debut was in Citizen Kane when she was about 40 - She had a lovely singing voice. - Despite her religiosity, her privateness and close relationships with female friends fueled rumors even during her lifetime that she liked women. In her rather emotional interview with Boze Hadleigh, she expressed her desire to not have her private life be reduced to a few paragraphs of sensationalism. It is not really possible to know with certainty. - She had a farm with cows and donkeys. Lastly, I am aware that Agnes was not considered a leading lady and I’d like to campaign for her inclusion as we have reason to believe that this might have been due to the prejudices of ageism, her unusual (but stunning) features and a number of other factors: 'To classify her roles so as to discover her closeted lesbianism, although productive in the exploratory sense, runs the risk of imposing another set of stereotypes upon Moorehead. Linking character actresses and lesbians confirms marginalization, and while Moorehead played marginal characters in most of her plays and films, she could have played the leads had she so been cast, and she did play supporting roles brilliantly. That New York and Hollywood directors cast her as the outsider may be as much a statement about ageism and sexism as about sexual identity. It is probable, however, that her sexual identity figured and figured prominently, and if as an overlay to the other issues, we are left to interrogate the entertainment industry that forced her into exaggeration because she could not express whom she really was. Endora and Moorehead, one and the same, finally achieved supporting star status, with all the ambiguous meanings implied by the ''Bewitched'' narrative; however, Moorehead might have achieved diva status within legitimate classical theatre had she sought unambiguous sexual leads. Because she did not, or could not, we can conclude, using the soft evidence of innuendo and intuition, that her sexual identity clearly affected the direction of her career.' From a paper called ‘The Witching of Agnes Moorehead’ by Lynne Greeley”

[roninkairi]

MOVIE REVIEW- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Mild Spoiler Alert About Phoebe Included)

Let me get something off of my chest before we begin: I've been apprehensive about taking sites like Rotten Tomatoes or IGN seriously when it comes to reviews. I mean, I am aware that the purpose of the former is to show the average score of a movie among critics but I rarely take it at face value. (Hence my enjoyment of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie") and as for the latter, the quick summary of their review gave off the wrong kind of vibes, as if the person who wrote it was expecting some sort of Citizen Kane level masterpiece. And I get it, a lot of people set their expectations for a Ghostbusters movie, ANY movie, high. MAybe sometimes a little too high. For me, a good indication of whether or not I want to see a film is how the trailer portrays it. When I saw the trailers for Madame Web, for example, I wasn't too sure if it was something ! would want to see willingly in the theaters and, judging by critic and audience responses, my decision not to see it was well founded. The trailers for Frozen Empire however had the opposite effect, and I'm glad it did, as it really is a good movie all things considered.

Taking place about 3 years after the events of "Afterlife", the story returns us back to NYC where it all began: The Spenglers and Gary Grooberson have moved into the firehouse and take over the operations of the business, while Winston has opened up a new research center in Brooklyn (seriously, Brooklyn? I'm sure Queens would have had some better spots nearby.) However, the story begins to pick up steam once Ray acquires a relic that houses something decidedly sinister and soon, it will require both new and old team members to stop the threat.

The main story of course focuses on Phoebe and her rather rebellious streak (yeah, we all reached that part in our teen years when we thought we knew better) but surprisingly enough, Ray is also part of the story as sort of a mentor figure to Phoebe and Podcast (who, like Lucky, have become interns in the company as a way to explain why they are in New York). Both of them find themselves in a situation where they are sidelined because of their actions out on the field but for different reasons. Its interesting to note since we never really got to see much of Ray's interactions in the first two movies (of course the video games counter this) and Phoebe's character is slowly fleshed out more; here she is quick to anger, seems more assured of herself and more impulsive, which gets her into trouble. In short: she's a teen with a unlicensed nuclear accelerator on her back and a chip on her shoulder. Oddly enough though, she is the one sibling between herself and Trevor who seems to have gotten more attention in the potential romance department. While it's good to see Lucky return, I wished they had tried to further the potential relationship between herself and Trevor, as hinted at in the end of the previous movie. But for the purposes of the story, it's Phoebe and her maybe-girlfriend that we get to explore (yes, you read that right but I won't elaborate further since that is a big Twinkie to digest). Trevor gets relegated to a mini side story with an old ghost friend however...

That's another thing I wanted to touch on, the side stories themselves. Kumali Ali Nanjiani, one of the supporting cast members, said in an interview this movie drew inspiration from The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon series and in many aspects, it feels that way. The tone of each plot point, while seemingly independent, can at times feel like it could be part of a TV show narrative; from the cold opening to Ray's investigation into the legend of Garakka, if the film was indeed a portal into making a limited series it would fit right in. We are left with wanting to see more about the new lab that Winston has set up, the new tech guy, even more about the library but we only have so much time. And you want to see more of the Spengler/Grooberson family dynamic but we got an evil ghost god to contend with. Its a fun ride though, especially towards the end. But if we only got 20 MORE MINUTES, oh the possibilities. Does this mean its bad? No, its a good film. This is something you can definitely sit down and enjoy. But you will want more lore out of it. And hopefully when the next film comes out (and lets face it we will get one sooner or later) we will see the story take more risks. The good kind of risks too.

And MAYBE Phoebe and Trevor go on a double date.

[classichollywoodarchive]

images and gifs of old hollywood (1910s-1960s)

i post once a day (unless the queue fails me) and post everything from movie making photos to film stills to theater decor. sometimes international films, too.

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[pieratt]

Every decade, starting in 1952, the British film magazine Sight and Sound asks an international group of film critics to vote for the greatest film of all time. Since 1992, they have invited directors to vote in a separate poll. —  American critic Roger Ebert described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies—the only one most serious movie people take seriously."

List of films voted the best - Wikipedia

Once a decade! Bicycle Thieves (1948) topped the first poll in 1952 with 25 votes.[1] Citizen Kane (1941) stood at number 1 for five consecutive polls, with 22 votes in 1962, 32 votes in 1972, 45 votes in 1982, 43 votes in 1992, and 46 votes in 2002. It also topped the first two directors' polls, with 30 votes in 1992 and 42 votes in 2002.

[petty-crush]

“Notorious”

-ahhhhhhhhhh, so refreshing

-what a great picture to start off the year with

-it would be his just as great any other time, but especially satisfying this early

-a woman gets involved in a international weapons conspiracy, and is torn between the spy who loves her and the other fool who craves her

-I haven’t seen 40s Hitchcock in a while, snd I gotta say, it’s beating the pants off 50s Hitch pretty easily (which is also great)

-this picture’s strength’s are endearingly obvious; fantastic visual set pieces, sharp characterization, a dynamite ending, and possibly the most erotic kissing in the history of film

-some choice word nibbles first (courtesy of Ben Hencht, a fierce wordsmith)

-“with my father now dead, I don’t hate him any longer....or myself”

-“I did love you. I was just a big fathead, filled with pain”

-so Hitch had the nerve to start the film with a simply voyeur shirt, a courtroom framed by the opening door

-note how he has the woman walking, but always has her on the right side of the frame, and like a conveyer belt has reporters bursting into the left side asking invasive questions

-hey, cinema lovers, I think this guy might be a great director

-later a continuous one shot, with a stranger introduced only by the back of his head, while the woman walks from one shoulder to another, drinking, drinking other men, laughing

-is this a joke at the reporter from citizen Kane? I got a feeling

-one enormous advantage 40s films have is their excellent black and white photography. So rich, so lush, so dreamlike

-so romantic too, which plays rather well into the torrid affair between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman

-note the almost sensual manner Hitch shows a close up of Grant moving his hand to pull the steering wheel from the drunk Bergman, only to hesitate and let her find her way

-get ready to have your mind blown by that shot of Grant entering the room after Bergman is in bed

-it has a cloudy vortex rip to it

-it looks like it could inspire “inception”, but really is stealing from the German expressionists (as Hitch always did) proving film is a ripple of waves splashing again and again

-I also like the reverse shot of Bergman, on her side in bed, with the glass of hangover killer occupying the frame with her face

-this film had some of the best camera work of all time

-I don’t simply meaning the details in the frame or even the motion, but how the story is told robustly and effortlessly visual

-ok, let’s talk about the smooches

-those fucking puritans, those rednecks in the south, told Hollywood via the hays code that no kiss could last more then 3 seconds

-they for sure kissed their cousin or mistresses (do I repeat myself there) for more then 3 seconds, but they project on others

-Hitch then has reasons they keep getting interrupted but kiss again, interrupted, kiss, repeat for 3 mins

-it is unbelievably sensual, and delightfully horny

-from an Englishman? Well, I’ll be

-Bergman must indeed have some of the wettest eyes in cinema history

-what I like about this film is that since everyone is spying, and used to guarding their faces, it’s in the second to second gestures, the gaps in the armor, that we see the real feelings come out

-each close up is a invitation to pour over the eyes more then usual

-How Grant truly wants her but is torn between longing and duty is spectacular

-I’m beyond impressed that Hitch and Ben were able to show American agencies in such a unflattering light, right after world war 2, when many was desperate to return to normal

-the CIA/FBI/etc equivalent is totally willing to have a woman marrying a guy for information, even kill her with no worry. That shit is like oxygen now, but way outside of polite society at the time

-then again, Hitch fucking hated cops (as he should)

-that scene where the five weapon dealers are in a darkened corner, the candles lighting them, looks positively ghastly and medieval

-Claude Rains plays one of the great patsies

-the woman playing his mom only had this one American film credit (more known in Germany) and boy does she make it count

-this is an fascinating piece to watch in view of the way a mother is central to Hitch’s “Psycho” and its world

-I forgot this great line almost

“We are protected by the enormity of your stupidity...for a time”

-oh shit, I also almost forgot this great shot too

-the camera starts high, goes down the stairs, through the party goers, through the champagne being passed around, to a close up of a key in Bergman’s hand

-when people talk about watching a great picture more then once to absorb it, to get the plot out of the way, and just enjoy the symphony of the shots and emotions, this is fucking exactly what they are talking about

-no single viewing will reveal all its tricks and treats

-I adore the part where after Bergman is poisoned (and realizes it) the light goes out on the back, leaving the human only darkened silhouettes

-feels like a powerful acid trip

-the ending is truly spectacular

-you sit there wondering how the hell Hitch is going to pull the cat n mouse game off, how Grant can walk down side by side with Rains but pull it off...and then he does

-there are many a famous shots in cinema, even endings, of doors and a fate closing with them, and I truly think this might be the best one

-I dare say it even outpowers the use of the door in “The Searchers”

-I left the the theatre dizzy with delight, the wonder of motion picture planted firmly in my heart and soul. What a great time at the movies

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #108 (Year 3 / Week 4):

Un Flic, Jean-Pierre Melville’s last moody flick, a French Heist Noir. With Alain Delon playing the cop this time instead of the crook, and Catherine Deneuve just showing her beautiful self. A minimalist exercise in style and genre. 4/10.

🍿 

7 more by Polanski:

🍿 His genial first film, Knife in the water, as strong as some of cinema’s best debut features (‘Citizen Kane’, ‘Sex, lies and videotapes’, ‘Badlands’, ‘Breathless’, ‘The Iron Giant’, ‘Margin call’, ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’, Etc). Co-written by Jerzy Skolimowski (Whose ‘EO’ I just saw last week, and whose complete canon I am going to pursue). A very tense psychological power game with only three players, which surprisingly does not end in violence. A terrific saxophone score. 8/10.

🍿 Venus in Fur, a surprising discovery! Featuring only two characters on an actual Parisian stage, a playwright who looks like a young Polanski, and his real-life wife Emmanuelle Seigner, as an actress who shows up late for an audition. it’s an engaging erotic power-play, a masochistic love story, and it deals with repression, domination, role playing, degradation and cross-dressing. A perfectly-dark subject matter for this brooding director. 9/10.

🍿 For his next number, Polanski directed his wife in another tight two-hander, Based on a True Story, with similar slow-burning psychological threats. This time about a depressed writer who is being befriended by Eva Green, a super obsessive jealous admirer. Co-written with Olivier Assayas, with some inside literary throwaway lines about Amos oz , Cormac McCarthy and Don DeLillo. 6/10.

🍿 First watch: The Pianist. I found the first 1/3 of the film artificial and glossed out in the worst-traditional Hollywood way: Everything was ‘too nice’, and too clean, and not horrible enough. Later in the ghetto and toward the end as Warsaw gets destroyed, it became a bit more “real”, if you can call it that. I can’t stand most movies about the holocaust, because they obviously have to smooth things out, make them palatable. Lanzmann’s ‘Shoah’ was an exception. Coincidentally, I saw it on Friday, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

(Also, how did they shave in the holocaust?...)

🍿 Both ‘The Pianist’ from Warsaw and his Parisian The Tenant were made in English, which made it impossible to take them seriously. The tenant is the last of Polanski’s “Apartment Trilogy”, but it doesn’t compare to ‘Repulsion’ or ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. I can’t remember how original were the themes of sexual guilt, anxiety, cross-dressing and paranoia in 1976, but they surely didn’t age well.

🍿 “...It won't hold. I won't build it. It's that simple - I am not making that kind of mistake twice...”

To me, Chinatown is one of the ‘Best films of all time’. It’s like a song I can listen to again and again and again.

The quintessential LA film, the haunting nostalgia to an era that existed only on celluloid. A perfect dark Noir on every level: the perfect screenplay, the masterful sound and score, even the character names are iconic, Lieutenant Lou Escobar, Russ Yelburton, Hollis Mulwray, Noah Cross, Emma Dill. And Jake “Gits” who appears in every scene and gradually being pulled into the tragic mystery together with us, not realizing that he is played for a fool. This film is about duality, (Sister/daughter, money/power, water/drought, the city and the valley) and about ‘Eyes that are Flawed’. Always 10/10.

🍿 I was planning on seeing all of the Polanski movies I haven’t seen yet, but I had to stop after The Fearless Vampire Killers. Good for him for meeting Sharon Tate during the shooting of this lame Central European vampire ‘parody’, but it took me 3 days to finish it, it was so so tedious. 1/10.

If I were to write a new vampire comedy today, I would call it ‘Garlic’.

🍿

“Life is brief; fall in love, maidens, before the crimson bloom fades from your lips . . .”  Ikiru, Kurosawa’s timeless retelling of Tolstoy’s ‘Death of Ivan Ilyich’ about the ‘meaning of life’. A terminally-ill salaryman realizes that he never really lived.

I plan on taking a deep dive into Takashi Shimura‘s vast portfolio. 🍿 

3 with Alba Rohrwacher, 2 by Paolo Genovese:

🍿 The pupils, a short by Alice Rohrwacher (who directed some episodes of Elena Ferrante‘s ‘My brilliant Friend’). A somehow-related topic to ‘Friend’, it tells of a group of young girls at a Catholic boarding school during the war, and stars Alice’s sister Alba as the Mother Superior. The day after watching it, I was surprised to read that it was nominated for the 2023 Oscars!

🍿...”How many couples would split up if they looked at each other’s phones?”...

Perfect strangers is a perfectly acceptable drama about a group of middle class friends who meet during an eclipse of the moon for their regular dinner. But this time they decide to play a game, and leave their phones in the middle of the table. It’s dark, dialogue-rich, witty and intelligent. 7/10.

This movie has a completely unique history though: Since 2016, it had been re-made into 24 versions, in 24 countries - I never heard of any other movie like that!

🍿 Genovese next metaphorical film, The Place, from the following year, had one of the most unusual stories I ever saw on film. It all takes place at a small cafe where an ordinary looking man meets with various people, and grants them any wish they have, if they perform an arbitrary task he assign them. Yes, it’s the story of Faust, and yes, apparently is is based on a concept from an earlier Canadian TV-show, but I found it absolutely fascinating. 9/10. 

🍿 

Another nominee for this year’s Oscars, My year of dicks. A feminist animation short about a 15-year-old girl in the early 90′s who is determined to lose her virginity. Explicit, real talk and original about the first sexual experience from a girl’s point of view.

🍿

2 award-winners from Finland:

🍿 Grand Prix winner at Cannes, Compartment Number 6 is different: It starts in a claustrophobic, uncomfortable and compact sleeping car train, which a Finnish woman has to share with a gruff and unfriendly Russian miner. This is the first film I ever hoped to see from the bleak, arctic desert of Murmansk. It ends up literally at the edge of the world, with wide and endless frozen landscapes all around. 8/10. 

🍿 The White Reindeer, a 1952 folk horror tale about a Sami woman, wife of a arctic reindeer herder, who turns into a witch in order to make her new husband attracted to her. Not too interesting.

🍿

You people, a new rom-com. It started frantically in a upper-middle-class, plugged-in Brentwood synagogue on Yom Kippur with super hipster Jonah Hill’s family that made me wanna throw up. But soon it turned into a super-sweet romance of super-sensitive Jewish Hill who falls for Eddie Murphy’s black daughter, and sometimes-funny update to ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’ 55 years later. Eventually it fizzled out into a typical Netflix-level sitcom. 3/10.

🍿   

2 unrelated depression musicals:

🍿 "Never again will I allow women to wear my dresses!”

Israel Beilin’s (Irving Berlin’s) musical Top Hat with Frederick Austerlitz (Fred Astaire) and Virginia Katherine McMath (Ginger Rogers). Wonderful high-society dance numbers (mostly in single-shot) in great rooms with 20 ft. ceilings. (Photo Above). 🍿 Re-watching Pennies from Heaven, a strange and uneven musical soap opera by Herbaert Ross. The musical numbers with Steve Martin,Bernadette Peters and Christopher Walken lip-syncing and dancing in Busby Berkeley-style extravaganza, were marvelous. But the depressing drama about a drifting, amoral and horny sheet music salesman who falls in and out of love with a mousy teacher turned prostitute was appalling. It does re-create (nicely, but for no apparent reason) Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks in one scene, and also uses a scene from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ ‘Follow the fleet’ as background, in another.

🍿 

Re-watching the revenge flick Law Abiding Citizen with non-actor Gerard Butler. I remembered it as a technologically-sophisticated ‘fight for justice’ story. But no: It was just sadistic entertainment for sadists, which opened with a brutal child-killing and Clockwork Orange rape, and and continued from there. 2/10.

🍿 

Stand up with Jimmy O. Yang: Good Deal. Leaning hard into his hapless Jian Yang character from ‘Silicon Valley”.

Bonus: 25 minutes of The best of Jian-Yang.

🍿 

Throw-back to the art project: 

Adora in Chinatown (again).

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

[beabaseball]

About Orson Welles specifically: he is not even necessarily talking about poverty in the "unable to eat" way that some people in the notes have mentioned, which I want to bring up because he did grow up during the great depression. Welles's family was relatively affluent and when he was orphaned at 15, he had money to finish school and to travel a little in Europe, getting a job in a theater in Ireland and later in radio where he made so many radio plays in such a short about of time for about two years there he made about $2,000 a week. In 1937 money. This is before the War of the Worlds incident (likely hyped to wild levels afterwards because "some people who missed the beginning a bit startled by radio program" doesn't sell papers like "radio program creates mass hysteria" does) and eventually he was offered an extremely generous contract from the company RKO, especially considering he'd never made a movie before. He hosted two international radio shows and was asked to make a film about south america (Yes All Of It) as a goodwill ambassador, the same concept that gave us The Three Amigos from Disney

So where did all that money go?

Welles was fairly infamous for going over time and over budget. Citizen Kane was put in a vault for years after the Hearst newspapers didn't carry stories for it since Kane was partly inspired by Hearst's life (pov: guy who hated him), and Insinuating Things about his patriotism when he was not drafted for WWII. Magnificent Andersons got a scary preview audience review and got 50 minutes chopped off. And like 1/3rd the way through the goodwill project, he was fired from RKO after a leadership change that pretty heavily ruined his reputation.

Welles continued to film for half a year without compensation in South America.

He returned to radio to make money, and invested 40k of his own money to build a charity circus in Hollywood that allowed military members in for free while the general public had to pay, all proceeds going to the Military Assistance League, a charity for military personnel.

He hosted war loan drives to finance the Normandy invasion on request of FDR.

And he had to finance almost every film he made from then on. Because Hollywood had screwed him over so badly on his first three. Later on in life films would sometimes have to go on hiatus because he would stop to raise funds to pay everyone and buy the supplies. They worked on found sets and looked for sponsors who always fell through. He hired his friends over and over again for multiple movies, and people would return to work with him despite these problems and the reputation-- which of course became even more late, expensive films.

His poverty very literally stood in the way of his creativity. Not because he didn't have the money to eat. Every moment in between making things was spent trying to finance them.

His first fucking film was Citizen Kane.

And it was also one of the only ones financed by someone all the way through.

Imagine if the road had been cleared, instead

[writer59january13]

Twenty first century civilization gone?... I askew.

Ah... what luxury to wax poetic as freedom to trumpet thoughts, ideas, emotions, et cetera will wane, especially if president number forty five

courtesy wealth and/or stealth dons the mantle as de facto fractious tyrant of these United States

come November 5th, 2024

methinks perchance mankind always vain n'er did appertain moral hike polar opposite

from human being: uncivil, unethical, unsocial, et cetera minimally app proxy mating, neither didst faithfully abide as citizen Kane externally - nar main ten an ounce, (asper atop figurative fain faux shaw didst attain "FAKE" horn o' manners), tolerance, our predecessors didst abstain nor internally between brain,

sans modest straight, and ne'r did entertain narrow true lofty salient tenet absence of virtue tis no matter pray'n - quite self evident, plain as day, and vice gripped by fratricide (or homicide in general) endemic throughout evolution of humanity dripping nee gushing more'n

nah globule bloodstain, viz more aptly bloodbath, haply insinuated, embedded, and accrued heart felt toehold gain saying division among caveman club rings animal hides pelt did maintain bare co-opted spirit hood did micro reign buzzfeed ding death,

via plenti did retain aplomb murderous sprees kickstarter thankfully guaranteeing (ha) hardy internecine characteristic kept in lock step with proto humans enlightenment, qua i.e. as earliest primates acquired innate haughty

zealous apropos boastfulness to ascend chain

of command anointing insane lee flattering hashtag, re: (albeit ill fit ting), yet utopian appellation "noble savage," which inchoate bipedal hominids (forerunners of Homo sapiens), quickly dost wrought impertinent sobriquet (by anonymous

simian "Einstein brain child"), viz favored

killing one another strove and still thrives,

since Adam and Eve, for sport, but most dramatically didst appear purportedly, when Abel got slain by Cain punctuated equilibrium lopping limb and/or head off if one didst dissent or complain setting precedent for consanguineous modern Roman Times

(font size twelve) brutish, nasty, and short train ning supposedly "civilized insubordinate" Lorde foo fighting beastie boy

received fatal crackbrain

with imprimatur challenging authority, sans grossly wading, brazen overstepping circumscribed domain, where thwack on noggin determined, hence did explain survival of fittest.

[brookston]

Holidays 9.5

Holidays

Achalasia Awareness Day

Amazon Rainforest Day

Another Look Unlimited Day

Beard Tax Day

Be Late for Something Day

Bill Murray Day (Canada)

Clifford the Big Red Dog Day

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin (Puerto Rico)

First Day of School (Vietnam)

Flg Day (Mozambique)

Flag-Flying Day (Denmark)

Freddie For A Day

Freddie Mercury Day

Gaura Parva (Nepal)

Hassaku-sai (Kyoto, Japan)

International Day of Charity

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International Indigenous Women’s Day

International Multiple Myeloma Day

International Pierre Robin Sequence Awareness Day

Jury Rights Day

Mexican Marigold Day (French Republic)

National Actdumb. Day

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On the Road Day

Red Cross Day

Regata Storical (Historical Regatta; Venice, Italy)

Straight Story Lawnmower Day

Teacher's Day (India)

Tweet Like Werner Herzog Day

Working Mothers Day

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World Day of Tourism Journalists

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Yrittäjän Päivä (Entrepreneur Day; Finland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bitter Beer Day

National Cheese Pizza Day

World Samosa Day

1st Tuesday in September

Another Look Unlimited Day [Tuesday after 1st Monday]

Camo Tuesday [1st Tuesday]

Play Days begin [Tuesday through Saturday after 1st Monday]

Protect Your Groundwater Day [1st Tuesday]

Telephone Tuesday [Tuesday after 1st Monday]

World Art Drop Day [1st Tuesday]

Independence Days

Bir Tawil Empire (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abdus of Susa (Christian; Saint)

Alto (Christian; Saint)

Bertin (Christian; Saint)

Caspar David Friedrich (Artology)

Charbel (Christian; Martyr)

Day of the West Wind (Pagan)

Duhamel [du Monceau] (Positivist; Saint)

Gargling Day (Pastafarian)

Genebald (Christian; Saint)

Genesia (Day of the Dead; Ancient Greece)

Gregorio Aglipay (Episcopal Church)

H.L. Mencken Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janmasthami (Birth of Lord Krishna; Hindu)

Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Laurence Gustiani (a.k.a. Laurence Justinian; Christian; Saint)

The Moes (Muppetism)

Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa; Christian; Saint)

Ursicinus of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Yodeling Day (Pastafarian)

Zechariah and Elisabeth (Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Batman: The Animated Series (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Blue Christmas, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1957)

Bonanza Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

The Chain Gang (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Citizen Kane (Film; 1941)

The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Novel; 1953)

Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (U.S. Novel; 1958)

Greenpernt Ogle, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 105; 1961)

It (Film; 2017)

Louder Than Love, by Soundgarden (Album; 1989)

The Mail Animal or Bullwinkle Stamps His Foot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 106; 1961)

No No: A Dockumentary (Documentary Film; 2014)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1957)

Ping Pong Playa (Film; 2008)

Sherman’s March (Documentary Film; 1986)

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

A Street Cat Named Sylvester (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Trolley Troubles (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

The Wrestler (Film; 2008)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Larentius, Roswitha, Teresa (Austria)

Elisaveta, Hari, Zahari (Bulgaria)

Borko, Eudoksije, Lovro, Roman, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Boris (Czech Republic)

Regina (Denmark)

Preedik, Priidik, Priido, Priidu, Priit, Reedik, Vidrik (Estonia)

Mainio, Roni (Finland)

Raïssa (France)

Hermine, Roswitha, Urs (Germany)

Zacharias (Greece)

Lőrinc, Viktor (Hungary)

Vittorino (Italy)

Klaudija, Perse, Persijs, Vaida (Latvia)

Dingailė, Erdenis, Justina, Stanislova, Stasė (Lithuania)

Brede, Brian, Njål (Norway)

Dorota, Herakles, Herkulan, Herkules, Justyna, Laurencjusz, Stronisława, Wawrzyniec (Poland)

Regina (Slovakia)

Obdulia, Teresa (Spain)

Adela, Heidi (Sweden)

Elizabeth, Raisa, Raya, Zachary (Ukraine)

Bert, Bertha, Bertie, Bertin, Berton, Burt, Burton, Rigoberto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 248 of 2024; 117 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 36 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Geng-Shen), Day 21 (Bing-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 19 Elul 5783

Islamic: 19 Safar 1445

J Cal: 8 Aki; Oneday [8 of 30]

Julian: 23 August 2023

Moon: 62%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 24 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Duhamel (du Monceau)]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 76 of 94)

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 15 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Muin (Vine) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 9 of 13]

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.5

Holidays

Achalasia Awareness Day

Amazon Rainforest Day

Another Look Unlimited Day

Beard Tax Day

Be Late for Something Day

Bill Murray Day (Canada)

Clifford the Big Red Dog Day

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin (Puerto Rico)

First Day of School (Vietnam)

Flg Day (Mozambique)

Flag-Flying Day (Denmark)

Freddie For A Day

Freddie Mercury Day

Gaura Parva (Nepal)

Hassaku-sai (Kyoto, Japan)

International Day of Charity

International Day of the Vaquinta Marina

International Indigenous Women’s Day

International Multiple Myeloma Day

International Pierre Robin Sequence Awareness Day

Jury Rights Day

Mexican Marigold Day (French Republic)

National Actdumb. Day

National Cellulite Day

National GIF Day

National Shrink Day

On the Road Day

Red Cross Day

Regata Storical (Historical Regatta; Venice, Italy)

Straight Story Lawnmower Day

Teacher's Day (India)

Tweet Like Werner Herzog Day

Working Mothers Day

World Day of Siblings

World Day of Tourism Journalists

World Spinal Cord Injury Day

Yrittäjän Päivä (Entrepreneur Day; Finland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bitter Beer Day

National Cheese Pizza Day

World Samosa Day

1st Tuesday in September

Another Look Unlimited Day [Tuesday after 1st Monday]

Camo Tuesday [1st Tuesday]

Play Days begin [Tuesday through Saturday after 1st Monday]

Protect Your Groundwater Day [1st Tuesday]

Telephone Tuesday [Tuesday after 1st Monday]

World Art Drop Day [1st Tuesday]

Independence Days

Bir Tawil Empire (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abdus of Susa (Christian; Saint)

Alto (Christian; Saint)

Bertin (Christian; Saint)

Caspar David Friedrich (Artology)

Charbel (Christian; Martyr)

Day of the West Wind (Pagan)

Duhamel [du Monceau] (Positivist; Saint)

Gargling Day (Pastafarian)

Genebald (Christian; Saint)

Genesia (Day of the Dead; Ancient Greece)

Gregorio Aglipay (Episcopal Church)

H.L. Mencken Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janmasthami (Birth of Lord Krishna; Hindu)

Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Laurence Gustiani (a.k.a. Laurence Justinian; Christian; Saint)

The Moes (Muppetism)

Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa; Christian; Saint)

Ursicinus of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Yodeling Day (Pastafarian)

Zechariah and Elisabeth (Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Batman: The Animated Series (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Blue Christmas, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1957)

Bonanza Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

The Chain Gang (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Citizen Kane (Film; 1941)

The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Novel; 1953)

Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (U.S. Novel; 1958)

Greenpernt Ogle, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 105; 1961)

It (Film; 2017)

Louder Than Love, by Soundgarden (Album; 1989)

The Mail Animal or Bullwinkle Stamps His Foot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 106; 1961)

No No: A Dockumentary (Documentary Film; 2014)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1957)

Ping Pong Playa (Film; 2008)

Sherman’s March (Documentary Film; 1986)

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

A Street Cat Named Sylvester (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Trolley Troubles (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

The Wrestler (Film; 2008)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Larentius, Roswitha, Teresa (Austria)

Elisaveta, Hari, Zahari (Bulgaria)

Borko, Eudoksije, Lovro, Roman, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Boris (Czech Republic)

Regina (Denmark)

Preedik, Priidik, Priido, Priidu, Priit, Reedik, Vidrik (Estonia)

Mainio, Roni (Finland)

Raïssa (France)

Hermine, Roswitha, Urs (Germany)

Zacharias (Greece)

Lőrinc, Viktor (Hungary)

Vittorino (Italy)

Klaudija, Perse, Persijs, Vaida (Latvia)

Dingailė, Erdenis, Justina, Stanislova, Stasė (Lithuania)

Brede, Brian, Njål (Norway)

Dorota, Herakles, Herkulan, Herkules, Justyna, Laurencjusz, Stronisława, Wawrzyniec (Poland)

Regina (Slovakia)

Obdulia, Teresa (Spain)

Adela, Heidi (Sweden)

Elizabeth, Raisa, Raya, Zachary (Ukraine)

Bert, Bertha, Bertie, Bertin, Berton, Burt, Burton, Rigoberto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 248 of 2024; 117 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 36 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Geng-Shen), Day 21 (Bing-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 19 Elul 5783

Islamic: 19 Safar 1445

J Cal: 8 Aki; Oneday [8 of 30]

Julian: 23 August 2023

Moon: 62%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 24 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Duhamel (du Monceau)]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 76 of 94)

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 15 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Muin (Vine) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 9 of 13]

[mayanaisnin]

Citizen Kane

By Roger P. Smith

ESSAYS

—

DEC 3, 1984

Since the dawn of the sound era, an estimated 25,000 feature-length films have been produced—and that’s in the English language alone. When, in the early 1960s, an international group of film critics were polled as to their “number-one film of all time,” Citizen Kane was in first position. The repetition of this poll in the early 1970s and once again in 1982 produced the same result: Citizen Kane was a solid first each time. Even more important than the opinion of critics is the opinion of audiences. They too, decade after decade, have ranked Citizen Kane as their favorite film. For what truly sets Kane apart from every other film commonly called a “masterpiece” is that it’s also an enormous amount of fun.

If one thinks about it, the very idea that there could be unanimity of opinion on such a subject as “the best movie ever made” is absurd. Not only have different generations viewed movies differently, but groups within each filmgoing generation seek different things. Some search for an aesthetic experience; others look for social relevance; still others rank storytelling as the ultimate purpose of a film; and yet another group believes insight into human psychology is the special province of film. Citizen Kane’s accomplishment is, simply, that it achieves greatness whatever one’s perspective may be.

Despite the fact that Citizen Kane can’t truly be called “art”—or perhaps because of it—its greatness is undeniable. While some critics have gone so far as to call Kane kitsch, such people tend to regard estrangement from popular entertainment as proof of worth. In stylistic terms, the film is an amalgam of many forms of popular entertainment—the historic radio plays, the breakneck pace of vaudeville comedy, the cheap emotions of pulp fiction, the phony drama of the newsreel, the cartoon-like, larger-than-life quality of the characters. It is these “popular” qualities which underlie the film’s extraordinary claims on our attention.

While numerous individual elements of the film are truly artistic—cinematographer Gregg Toland’s deep-focus camera work leaps to mind—those elements are subservient to what was presumably Welles’ original purpose, and certainly his ultimate effect: to grab the audience from the very first frame and take it on a breathless rollercoaster ride through early twentieth-century America, leaving it at the end of the trip exhilarated and spent, but begging for more.

As for the social relevance of Citizen Kane, it—like the film’s art—is there when needed but always subjugated to the film as grand entertainment. At the time of Kane’s release, social commentators (particularly on the Left) felt the film failed to inveigh sufficiently against the abuse of wealth and power by such as Kane/Hearst. Instead, it tells the audience what it already believes: money doesn’t buy happiness. While the absence of a desire to transform human consciousness may bother some, for most of us Kane-as-Daddy Warbucks, lonely despite vast riches, is a far more engaging character than the malefactor of great wealth some would have him be.

It is in the telling of the story of Charles Foster Kane that the film transcends the limitations of popular entertainment and achieves greatness. That it does it through the devices of popular entertainment is irrelevant. From the first moment when the camera conspiratorially draws the viewer behind the giant iron gate with its “No Trespassing” sign, to the final moment when the sled is consumed by flames, every aspect of cinematographic art—photography, music, set design, editing, costuming, special effects—is assembled with a unifying vision into an endlessly fascinating portrait of a not-all-that-fascinating man.

The New York opening of Citizen Kane was at Broadway’s RKO Palace, newly converted from a vaudeville house, on May 1, 1941. While from the beginning the film’s extraordinary quality was recognized, it was not what today would be called a blockbuster. Its initial release earned RKO most, but not all, of its total cost—as Hearst-inspired fears of booking on the part of many exhibitors probably contributed to its failure to earn a profit. However, beginning in the 1950s, a series of releases brought the picture to the attention of a new generation of filmgoers. Most of them saw the film in grainy 16 mm prints in “art” houses. Despite all of the attention the film has subsequently received, few viewers have, according to Welles himself, seen the film as he intended it to be seen.

[vatt-world]

filmmaking class 3 ucla ext

story more denser cross pollinating stories/genres

story vs plot

pay off /satisfy

ask intriguing questions-- mystery

plotting /setting the structure

john truby mario movies

expectations

visual storytelling

other people 2012 movie

evovling internal conflicts - addiction tangerine poverty

how it pay offs - back to future

anatomy genres - truby

inciting incident -- upsets balance

who is protaganist - detective / or kane what does rosebud mean ?

news reel -

in john wick - dog getting killed he associates his wife

character change citizen kane

more unhappy he becomes.. more destructive he becomes

his desepration changes

character change in themes that expressed like in godfather.. main character becomes bad

1927-1945 classical filmmaking

characters should be relatable

always sunny

you

sopranos

testing limits of empathy

enmorous self pity in breaking bad

tormented characters

bojack brilliant show

unintrusive styles of filmmaking

avenger end game

zack synder is a hack

visual transition on jaws-- when he watches from cavern

subverting structure to express theme-- no country for old men

[graveyardbard]

Haunted By The Ghost of You | Part 2

*does a fun little dance because we passed the hump of awkward realizations*

⸻⸻⸻

Rating: SFW Length: 2K Pairing: Established Poly!Ghostface (Billy and Stu) x GN! Reader | Warnings: Descriptions of death, Gore, Strong horror elements, and Manipulation Tags: Paranormal, Ghost, Breaking “Ghost” rules, Re-materialization

⸻⸻⸻

Months had passed since your untimely death. Every effort you made to break the two psychopaths that ended your life came up short. They continued on with their rampage through Woodsboro, ending the lives of anyone involved with Billy’s make-believe girlfriend. You weren’t surprised, neither of them held any remorse for what they were doing. What did surprise you, was the comfort they’d developed with your ghostly presence in their home. 

“Did you ever get that info from the historic media professor, Stu?” Billy asked, as he perched at the kitchen island.

“Uhhh…” Stu sat the small vintage controller down on the coffee table and grabbed his backpack. “I think so! He gave me a hard time about it, man. Said I should “focus up if I wanna make it in life”, Like I couldn’t make it on my own or something.” 

The tall man stood up, arm still digging around the mess of papers in his bag. He pulled a wrinkled page out, glancing over it to make sure it was the right information. “Got it. Here you go, He also said to try and make a “personal connection” with the source material.” 

Billy simply grunted and gave his partner a nod as he took the paper. His dark eyes scanned the half legible writing as you floated over to him. 

“Maybe you should do a report on all the killing you do.” You jabbed at him, as your form phased through the island and you rested your head right next to his work. “Cute. But that's not gonna happen. Looks like we need to watch an old black and white film and see if we can connect with it. Any recommendations for that?” Billy looked at you with a smirk as he sat his pen down. You grimaced and thought for a second. It felt like a slap to the face, mostly because you were the only one in that class that paid attention. Milling over the question, you perked up. “Belle De Jour! It’s an international film, a bit risque but definitely a great watch.” Stu chuckled, as he closed the fridge behind you. “The french film about a housewife turned hooker? Really?” “Not a hooker, you animal. She wanted something fresh and fun to do, so she took a friend's advice and became a call girl. It's different.” You retorted, turning your attention back to Billy. “What do you think? It’s not that bad, and it gets a bit… horror-eque. But it has a good message.” “Yeah, don’t become a “call girl”.” Stu cracked open the can of soda in his hand, pulling up a stool to the island. “Come on, Billy, we can watch something better than Belle De Jour. What about Bloodsport? Or Citizen Kane?” 

“Nah, I think I wanna try Belle. Sounds fun. Plus if our little ghost likes it, it can’t be that bad.” Billy reached out as if to pat your head but stopped short remembering that you couldn’t be touched.

“I’m not yours, Loomis. I’m just stuck with you.” You grumbled sinking further into the counter, eyes peering at him. “You keep telling yourself that.” Billy stood up, dusting his jeans. “Come on, Stu. Let’s grab the movie and come back.” “Man, I don’t want to watch some lame-o french movie.” Stu whined. 

“I’ll grab you a copy of Blair Witch.” The brunette bribed his boyfriend. “And one of those extra large candy bars you like.” You turned your attention to the other man, who was squinting hard at Billy. He finally sucked his teeth and stood up. “You’re lucky you’re cute, you know that Billy?” “I don’t think my cuteness has anything to do with you being a soft sack.” Billy grabbed his keys and headed towards the front door. “Y/N. Do you want anything?” “I– What?” This wasn’t the first time either of the Ghostface Killers of Woodsboro asked you if you’d wanted anything, or even considered you in this kinda stuff. Didn’t mean it didn’t catch you off guard any less. “Uhm… There's a new Scooby Doo movie out… maybe that?” “Got it.” Billy pulled the door open into Stu’s hand, ducking under the long limb. “We’ll be back, Casper. Don’t break anything.” Stu gave you a wink before closing the door. ⸻⸻⸻

It didn’t take long for them to get back to the apartment but long enough for you to have taken up a cozy spot by the sliding glass door in the living room. Your mind was racing as you thought of all the instances of their strangely endearing brand of affection. Why do they even care if you were… happy or entertained or even around? It baffled you to no end. You tucked yourself a bit tighter, lost deeper in your thoughts. Stu wasn’t as…cruel as you’d first experienced. Outside of the infrequent snide comment, he was fun to be around. Maybe it’s because of appearances but he was always willing to make you laugh. Billy was definitely a caring person, even if it didn’t seem like it at first. He made sure you were okay, even asked for your help with certain things. It wasn’t as if you could eat, but you used to be able to cook and he appreciated your help in the kitchen. You think he just liked your company when Stu was out especially. The jingle of keys caught your attention, standing up and floating over to the door. You were excited for them to be back. They took your life from you and you’re excited to see them after being gone for less than an hour. Billy pushed the door open, a smile on his face as he spoke to his boyfriend. “That's what I’m saying, Idiot, if you eat 15 pounds of bullshit I’m leaving you to die.”

“Oh come on, Billy. You’d really let me die like that? You’re a shit boyfriend, dude.” Stu chuckled as he followed Billy inside. “Welcome home!” You nearly yelled at them, your excitement a little too apparent. It caught them both off guard for a moment, but they gave you genuine smiles as they moved towards the kitchen. You followed after them as they sat the few plastic bags they had on the island. It looks like they grabbed a bunch of goodies, candy bars, popcorn, a few bags of sugar sticks and it looks like several vhs movies. 

“Stu couldn’t let go of the movie thing so we got a few more options.” Billy spoke as he pulled the movies from the bag. “Also we weren't sure which scooby doo thing you were talking about so we grabbed what they had.”

You looked over the movies he sat out, the new cover catching your eye. “That's the one! But we can watch all of them since you went through the trouble of getting them.” It wasn’t often that you watched kids programs but the animated detectives held a special place with you. Remembering your childhood sitting at the coffee table in your family home, a massive bowl of sugar laten cereal in front of you, laughing as one of the characters gets hit with something ridiculous. It warmed you to remember those moments. You reached out to grab the case only to have your hand phase through the object. You’d completely forgotten that there were certain things you couldn’t interact with, like food or books. Slowly pulling your hand back you looked at Billy. He was watching you, curiosity written on his features. “{Y/N}, Are you–” “It’s fine! Don’t worry about it, I just– I forget sometimes.” You quickly cut him off, floating over to Stu who was focused on not destroying the popcorn he’d started. 

⸻⸻⸻

The movie night went by in a flash. You had convinced Stu to sit long enough to finish all of Belle De Jour with minimal complaints. It took him a bit but once he got into it, he had a great time. You definitely considered that a win in your book. Billy stood up and stretched his arms above his head with a long groan. “What do you guys wanna watch next?” You hadn’t noticed until Stu shifted, that during the movie he had been resting on you as you played idly with his short tufts of hair. He rolled his shoulders and hummed at the question. “We can watch those cartoons you grabbed. Kinda get something mind numbing going after that roller coaster.” “I’d like that actually.” You yawned for the first time in the months you’d been there. You were feeling sleepy, genuinely tired. As if you’d been in a movie theater watching a premiere release that lasted nearly 3 hours. It was baffling, and slightly welcome. Did that mean you would be able to feel things again? Emotions weren’t out of the realm of possibility for you, but physical touches were definitely not something you had, even a few hours ago. It was happening so fast, you were struggling to process this new information, pinching your arms absently and letting the sting travel through you. Billy had already swapped the VHS out and plopped back on the couch. When he draped his arm across the backrest of the sofa just behind you, you could feel the natural heat radiate off of him. It made you sink a bit into the plush fabric. On your other side, Stu chugged the last bit of his cola and re-positioned himself back on your shoulder. It was an strangely endearing gesture and you could tell he was resting firmly in place as you felt the weight of his head against you. 

The ads before your show started rolled on, giving you that moment to process this moment. You were able to feel them, you could feel when they touched you and the heat from them. You were able to feel exhaustion, watching a movie from start to finish giving you some form of entertainment fatigue. You still had your memories, those never left you. You knew your name, {Y/N}, your age when you passed, 27, and even why you came back to begin with, revenge… or… No, it was definitely revenge that trapped your ghostly being with The Woodsboro Ghostface Killers. There was no other explanation, or reason, or anything, that could change your mind on that. Right? Your thoughts raced a bit before you finally snapped back to reality.

Billy had drifted off, his head lulling over onto your other shoulder. He was a sound sleeper thankfully, simply huffing harshly through his nose every now and again. Stu was still awake on the other side of you, eyes trained on the television set.

“Hey {Y/N}.” He spoke, focused unmoving from the show. “Remember what I said the first day you were here?”

“About me not being special?” You were confused. Why was he bringing that up? “Yes… Unfortunately.”

He chuckled, scooting closer to you. “No, not that, dude. About sticking around. I’m glad you didn’t just up and leave. You’re nice to have around. Though what I said is still true, I just mean it a little differently now.”

Your eyebrows shot up and a smirk spread across your lips. “Oh? And how differently could you mean ‘You weren’t special’, Stu?”

“Well, being special kinda blows. Like with Syd and Tatum, they’re mega popular on campus right? Hot as hell, and everyone wants ‘em right?” He began explaining his logic. You simply nodded in agreement. “But you, people knew you, but didn’t want you like they wanted them. Makes it easier to be around you, get to know you. Like how you like Saturday morning cartoons, and read books about detectives while laying on your belly. Shit like that. You’re perfectly average and we like that.”

His words still stung, but the sentiment behind them was truthful. He wanted you to know that even if you weren’t super popular around the college, you were wanted by them. You could feel the tell tale thump of your heart in your chest. It was so weird to think that you, A ghost who was a victim of theirs and came back with the sole purpose of making them pay, was wanted by them. This was getting a bit more complicated than you anticipated when it began.

[mariacallous]

It was heralded by Le Monde in 1976 as “the first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of cinema”. Nearly 50 years later, Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles has become the first feature by a female film-maker to be named the “greatest film of all time” by Sight and Sound, the magazine of the British Film Institute (BFI).

Akerman’s 70s classic, which follows the meticulous daily routine of a middle-aged widow over the course of three days – including having sex with male clients for her own and her son’s subsistence – topped the decennial poll this year for the magazine, pushing Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo to second place and Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane to third.

The Belgian film-maker was 25 when she shot the experimental, groundbreaking film starring Delphine Seyrig in the main role, and it has since become a cult classic – provoking years of analysis and debate.

“Jeanne Dielman challenged the status quo when it was released in 1975 and continues to do so today,” said Mike Williams, the editor of the Sight and Sound, which has conducted the poll every decade since 1952.

“It’s a landmark feminist film, and its position at the top of the list is emblematic of better representation in the top 100 for women film-makers.”

Dielman leapfrogged from 36th place in 2012. Williams said the film’s success was a reminder that there was “a world of underseen and underappreciated gems out there to be discovered”, and he emphasised the importance of repertory cinemas and home entertainment distributors in spotlighting undervalued films.

In fourth place this year came Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story, while three new films have made it into the top 10, including Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love in fifth place (up from 24th in 2012), Claire Denis’s Beau Travail at No 7 (up from 78th in 2012) and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive in eighth place (up from 28th).

The survey was its most ambitious to date this year, with more than 1,600 of the most influential international film critics, academics, distributors, writers, curators, archivists and programmers voting – almost double the number of participants in 2012. It is an eagerly anticipated moment within the global film community, representing a litmus test for where film culture stands.

In 2012, Vertigo took the No 1 spot from Citizen Kane, which had held it for 50 years. That year, Jeanne Dielman and Beau Travail were the only female film-makers’ films in the top 100. But this year’s poll features 11 films by female film-makers in the top 100, and four in the top 20.

Furthermore, in 2012 there was one film by a Black film-maker listed in the top 100 – Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki, at No 93. In 2022 there are seven titles in the top 100 by prominent Black film-makers. Touki Bouki has climbed to 67th place, with new entries including Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing in 24th place, Barry Jenkins’ Academy award-winning Moonlight in joint 60th place, and Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Ousmane Sembène’s Black Girl jointly at No 95.

Jason Wood, the BFI’s executive director of public programmes and audiences, said: “As well as being a compelling list, one of the most important elements is that it shakes a fist at the established order. Canons should be challenged and interrogated and as part of the BFI’s remit to not only revisit film history but to also reframe it, it’s so satisfying to see a list that feels quite radical in its sense of diversity and inclusion.”

Laura Mulvey, a professor of film studies at Birkbeck, University of London, said the success of Jeanne Dielman – a film that closely adhered to the female perspective –signalled a shift in critical taste. “One might say that it felt as though there was a before and an after Jeanne Dielman, just as there had been a before and after Citizen Kane.”

Meanwhile, in a separate directors’ poll, a record 480 film-makers from around the world, including Jenkins, Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola, Bong Joon-ho , Lynne Ramsay and Mike Leigh, voted Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey the greatest film of all time. Citizen Kane was at No 2, and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather was placed at No 3.

Sight and Sound’s top 20 greatest films of all time

1. Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975) 2. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) 3. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) 4. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953) 5. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2001) 6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) 7. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1998) 8. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) 9. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) 10. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951) 11. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (FW Murnau, 1927) 12. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) 13. La Règle du jeu (Jean Renoir, 1939) 14. Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962) 15. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) 16. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943) 17. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989) 18. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) 19. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979) 20. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)

[pleatedskirt]

Karen Elson for Citizen Kane International Spring 2022 by Kat Irlin