Breadline Optimists: A Film Podcast

 I am a completist. If I love a handful of films by an actor or director, I will soon see all of that person's films. This has paid of in a lot of ways and sometimes I regret the time spent. John Schlesinger for instance ended up having a so-so filmography. I found this podcast called The Incinerator; the creator/host is named Billy Ray Brewton.  The premise is two people make individual lists of the 20 best films on any given topic (for instance vampire films). The host takes a look at these lists and sees which films both individual lists and notes what if any films the players have in common. Let's say both players have eight common picks. Each player must now pick 6 of the 12 they do not have in common and submit those. That makes up the top 20 list. There is then an Engineer who adds 5 films that the engineer feels are lacking from the list.  That makes the list a top 25.  The players then eliminate films one by one, until only one is left standing. But the engi...

This year I saw over 140 2021 features and 31 films at the cinema.  I make a list every year of the best and worst releases of the year.  Recently, I somehow erased all but last year's list, so here goes nothing.   January: Outdoor Screenings Films Seen in a Theater: MLK/FBI The beginning of  the year offered no decent mainstream releases and no interesting low rent ones. The art theater at the time was only doing outside screenings, very well handled outdoor screenings; they had patio heaters; they had popcorn and a drink waiting at my seat. The only issues with the outdoor screenings are bugs and especially traffic noise; it really takes you out of the film especially if the flick is only mildly diverting.   A film that might have been a fun outdoor screening (in a mondo sort of way)  Grizzly II , a film I bought sight unseen. It had a star-studded cast (George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen each for about 30 seconds), and the origin...

  Movies I saw in a Theater Pre-Pandemic The Grudge,  Howls Moving Castle, Weathering With You, Firecracker, Citizen K, Color Outside Space, Oscar Nominated Short Cartoons, Birds of Prey, Fantasy Island, Sonic the Hedgehog, Hellhole, Impractical Jokers the Movie, Cats, Invisible Man, The Boy II Movies I saw at the Drive In Days of Thunder, The Sandlot, Breakfast at Tiffany's, True Grit, Amityville Horror (2005), The Great Outdoors Movies I saw after March because we waited until right before the start time and the theater was completely empty Ten Minutes to Midnight, BTS Break the Silence, The Call I also rented a theater to screen A Rainy Day in New York with half a dozen friends. It came out worldwide last year so is not on my list. I have seen all of Woody's pictures in a theater since I was  a kid. The film got a warm reception even from a few of the folks who had never seen one of his films.  I usually see 52 films a year in theaters. But this was not an option....