Movie watched: Synecdoche, NY

Connection to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplay for both films. On a related note, Amy Wright, who played the Burning House Realtor in Synecdoche, NY also played a Bridesmaid in The Deer Hunter - which brings us full circle to the movie that started the year.

And that is a Year of Movie Connections. Sixty-six movies watched over the course of 2009 (on DVD or Blu-ray - new movies in theatres were not included unless they did connect).

Stay tuned to this blog and YouTube for a special round-up of the Year of Movie Connections.

And what's ahead for 2010? Inspired by the book Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris, we'll be selecting 12 groups of films from various prizes/years and see if each - especially the winner - stands the test of time.

Happy New Year everyone!

Movie watched: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Connection to Shakespeare in Love: Tom Wikinson was in both films.

Movie watched: Shakespeare in Love

Connection to Bug: Brian F. O'Byrne, who was featured in Bug, stars with Joseph Fiennes (who stars in SIL) in the current TV series Flash Forward.

Movie watched: Bug

Connection to Frida: Ashley Judd starred in both films.

Movie watched: Frida

Connection to An Education: Alfred Molina was in both films.

Movie watched

An Education, which – owing to it being a new movie in theatres – does not have to connect to the last film but does anyway: Carey Mulligan AND Matthew Beard were in both films AND they played almost-love interests in both.

Everyone has been raving about Carey Mulligan in this and she was good; however, I'd also like to mention that Rosamund Pike (who played her old sister in 2005's Pride & Prejudice) was fantastic in a very small role. And not just because she looked like Catherine Deneuve. Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina were also excellent.

Movie watched: And When Did You Last See Your Father?

Connection to Pride & Prejudice: Even though Colin Firth might first spring to mind (at least for the women out there), the P&P watched last time was the Keira Knightley version which stars Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy instead of Colin Firth. That's close enough for me to call it a connection; however, Carey Mulligan, who played Kitty Bennet (in her debut role) also happens to be in And When Did You Last See Your Father?

Bookshelf - Stop-motion animation

Gina and I inherited a bookshelf, which made room for more books! In the process of re-arranging them, I thought we might as well make it into a film project. This is our first attempt at stop motion animation (using photography).

Movie watched: Pride & Prejudice

Connection to Edward Scissorhands: Both films' main characters only kiss each other once and virtually not until the final scene.

Movie watched: Edward Scissorhands

Connection to La Promesse: Thematcially, both films feature "illegal aliens" coming to a new world and trying to get by just making a living. Scissorhands is not technically an alien in the immigration or even interstellar sense; however, he is an inventor's creation (NOT like the rest of us!) and thus has no Social Security Number, etc. putting him in the same boat (as it were) as one.

Movie watched: La promesse

Connection to Before Sunset: Louise Lemoine Torres, who played Journalist #1 in Before Sunset, was in an episode of the long-running French television show Commisssaire Moulin entitled "La promesse".

Movie watched: Before Sunset

Connection to Flags of our Fathers: Mo Henry was the Negative Cutter for both films.

Movie watched: Flags of our Fathers

Connection to Family Plot: Henry Bumstead was Production Designer on both films. Check out his résumé - quite impressive as both Art Director and Production Designer.

Movie watched: Family Plot

Connection to Time Bandits: Katherine Helmond starred in both films.

Movie watched: Time Bandits

Connection to Garden State: Ian Holm stars in both films.

Movie watched: Garden State

Connection to Mean Girls: Neil Flynn, who played Cady's dad, was in the TV show Scrubs with Zach Braff, who directed and stars in Garden State.

Movie watched

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. As this is still in cinemas, no connection is required.

Movie watched: Mean Girls

Connection to Saved!: thematically, both films follow a gaggle of high school girls' zany hijinks.

Movie watched: Saved!

Connection to "10": Nedra Volz – who had a bit part in "10" – was in 4 episodes of One Day at a Time with Valerie Bertinelli, who played herself in Saved!.

Movies watched

Men Who Stare at Goats, The Invention of Lying. No connection required as both movies were in cinemas.

Movie watched: 10

Connection to L.A. Story: Denise Crosby starred in Star Trek: The Next Generation with Patrick Stewart; she had a bit part in 10 (party guest) and he had a bit part in L.A. Story (maitre d').

Movie watched: L.A. Story

Connection to Sunshine State: Sam McMurray acted in both films.

Movie watched

Where the Wild Things Are. New movie in cinemas, no connection required.

Movie watched: Sunshine State

Connection to Malcolm X: John Sayles, who directed Sunshine State, played an FBI Agent in Malcolm X.

Movie watched: Malcolm X

Connection to Summer of Sam: both films were directed by Spike Lee.

Movie watched

Coco Avant Chanel. New movie in cinemas so no connection required.

Movie watched: Summer of Sam

Connection to M: both films feature a serial killer who is terrorizing a city, as well as cops and organized crime both trying to stop the killer.

We'll miss you...

Sonnet
October 31, 1994 – October 31, 2009
a.k.a.: somet, monkey, monkey cheese, chubby cheese, evil cheese, tubby cheese bear, stinky mccheese, kitty, kitten, kitten pants, kitty bear, the grey one, grey monk, little lord fat 'n grey, mckitts, swee-peas, bay-bees,

Most people only ever saw her dark side but she also had a loving, cuddly side that only a lucky few got to experience. Sonnet was very special to us and we will miss her terribly.

Movie watched

Up. New in cinemas so no connection required.Up. New in cinemas so no connection required.

Movie watched: M

Connection to The Maltese Falcon: Peter Lorre stars in both films.

Movies watched: Calgary International Film Festival

We only managed to get out to 5 CIFF programs this year. Some of the usual organizational issues but it wasn't too bad. I would have liked to see more but there were a lot of conflicts. Each year, when the guide comes out, we go through and mark everything that looks good. Then we plot them all out and where two or three play at the same time - or too close to make it between venues - we pick the best of the lot. Usually we get to about 10 programs but this year I missed a few days due to business travel. The loss of The Uptown as a venue hurt a lot too - not only because it's one of our favourite cinemas but also because you used to be able to cross the road to/from The Globe for double features. Please come back next year, Uptown.

What we saw:

The Mirror - a documentary feature made by Calgary's own David Christensen, about the small town in Italy that does not get any direct sunlight for 85 days each winter. The upstart mayor convinced the citizens that building a large mirror on yonder mountain to direct sunlight onto their small town square would chase away the gloom. Zany hijinks ensue.

International Animated Shorts - for the most part a very strong animation program. For me the lone standout was Skhizein, which also happened to win Best Animated Short. From France, it's about a guy who - after witnessing a meteor strike - finds himself parted from his physical being by exactly 91 cms.

I Killed My Mother - the debut from Xavier Dolan (who wrote the script over two years starting when was 17). This film won three awards at Cannes and was recently chosen as Canada's official entry to the Foreign Language Oscar Category. Strange that it didn't win Best Canadian Feature. Anne Dorval was outstanding as Hubert's mother.

Be Good - I really wanted to love this French film (enough said!) but it was missing something (I mean besides dialogue). Anaïs Demoustier was very good and I hope to see her again. There were many great things about this but it really was a short film thinly stretched into a feature.

Cooking With Stella - disappointing effort from Deepa Mehta's brother, Dilip (they co-wrote the script), starring Don McKellar, Seema Biswas and Lisa Ray. It was all over the place. Highlight: living in the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, there was two kinds of beer on the pantry shelf: Canadian and Trad (Big Rock) but they actually just drank the Trad. Hooray!

Movie watched: The Maltese Falcon

Connection to Chinatown: John Huston, who directed TMF, starred in Chinatown (as Noah Cross, Faye Dunaway's character's father). According to the IMDb, Chinatown also references TMF in some way but does not have details.

Movie watched: Chinatown

Connection to Hot Fuzz: The line "Forget it, Nick. It's Sandford" is similar to the last line in Chinatown: "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown." (from Hot Fuzz Movie Connections page at IMDb).

Movie watched: Hot Fuzz

Connection to La Femme Nikita: Remember, LFN was a stand-in for Léon (aka The Professional). In Hot Fuzz, "The Japanese peace lily that Nicholas Angel brings with him and takes care of is much like Léon's plant in the movie Léon. When he talks about it, similar dialogue is used." (from IMDb Movie Connections page for Hot Fuzz).

Likely the most tenuous connection so far but that's what this is all about. No one said it would be easy.

Movie watched

Cold Souls. No connection required as this is new in theatres.
Verdict: Eternal Sunshine without the fun, but still worth a look.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: La Femme Nikita

Connection to La Haine: well, we needed a connection between this and Hot Fuzz. The obvious choice was Léon (aka The Professional) but it was not handy ("WHAT!" you say, "you don't own The Professional?" – I know, I know! However, a quick replacement was on our shelf: La Femme Nikita. Nikita was directed by Luc Besson (as is Léon) and stars Jean Reno (as does Léon). Also, both films have (**SPOILER ALERT**) hitwomen as central themes.

Nikita is French and takes place in France (what are the chances?), which connects it to La Haine in it's own right. Léon gets to Hot Fuzz through a connection which I'll discuss after we've watched it.

Movie watched

Taking Woodstock. Because this Ang Lee film is new in theatres, no connection is required.

Movie watched: La Haine (Hate)

Connection to Amelie: Mathieu Kassovitz – who starred in Amelie – directed La Haine.

Movie watched

Moon. Because this movie is new in theatres, no connection to the previous film is required.

Movie watched: Amelie

Connection to La Placard (The Closet): Michel Filippi was the post-synchronization engineer on Amelie and an ADR Supervisor on La Placard. Oh, and the DVD of Amelie has the trailer for La Placard as one of the Coming Attractions.

Movie Watched: La Placard (The Closet)

Connection to Cache: Daniel Autieul starred in both films.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched

The Time Traveler's Wife. Because the movie is new in theatres (free preview, actually – thanks, Autumn!), no connection to the previous film is required.

Movie watched: Cache (Hidden)

Connection to last movie (The English Patient): Juliette Binoche starred in both films.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: The English Patient

Connection to Gosford Park: Kristin Scott Thomas stars in both films.

Movie watched: Gosford Park

Connection to The Madness of King George: Helen Mirren stars in both films.

Movie watched: The Madness of King George

Connection to American Beauty: Tariq Anwar was the Editor of both films.

Movie watched: American Beauty

Connection to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Conrad L. Hall was the Cinematographer on both films.

American Beauty is another one of those films that just gets better with each viewing. Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and Chris Cooper all give excellent performances.

Movie watched: Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

Connection to The Sting: 1. Paul Newman, 2. Robert Redford, 3. George
Roy Hill (director)

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: The Sting

Connection to Night Sun: Ernest Hemingway. Paul Newman was in Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man and Julian Sands was in The Sun Also Rises (1984).

Movie watched: Night Sun (Il Sole Anche di Notte)

Connection to War & Peace: both films were based on works by Tolstoy.

Gina wondered how this got on our Ziplist. I'll fess up - I zipped everything available with Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Movie watched: War & Peace

Connection to Charade: Audrey Hepburn stars in both films.

Gina had a few words to say about this one.

Movie watched: Charade

Connection to Marie Antoinette: Both films have Paris has locations. This also has a connection to Duplicity, which we just saw in the cinema (which doesn't require a connection) - both films are RomCom-Thrillers.

**Note: Charade is one of the best films ever: fantastic script, great acting & direction, I could go on and on.

Movie watched: Marie Antoinette

Connection to Elizabeth the Golden Age: both films have royalty as themes/characters.

Movie watched: Elizabeth The Golden Age

Connection to Map of the Human Heart: The Northwest Passage - in MOTHH, Patrick Bergin's character was mapping in the Arctic. Elizabeth I sent Frobisher to find the Northwest Passage.

Movie watched

Two Lovers (i.e. Joaquin Closet's last movie). Free Preview in the Cinema, no connection required. This was actually fairly good and not at all what I was expecting. It had one particular flaw that could have been easily corrected by the removal of one scene. Since it's a spoiler, I won't tell you which one.

Movie watched: Map of the Human Heart

Connection to Tsotsi: Both films were co-productions, both made by white guys about characters that aren't white.

Map of the Human Heart was really not that good. I can't remember how it ended up on our Zip list but it really proves that Zip needs to add the functionality to include a brief note as to why you Zip a movie. They often come so long afterwards you can't possibly recall what made you want to see them. I'm going to pester Zip to add this.

Movie watched: Tsotsi

Connection to Conspiracy: Tsotsi rhymes with Nazi, the subject of Conspiracy (I know, I know).

Movie watched

Gran Torino. Seen in cinema - no connection required. GT was good: a great solid script and very funny (where it was supposed to be), even if Clint was a little over the top. Grrrrr!

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: Conspiracy

Connection to Tigerland: both films are war films.

Movie watched

The Soloist. Since it was new in the cinema, no connection is required. It was actually pretty good, although Bre said it wasn't nearly as good as the book.

Another year older...

Who else shares this day with me?

Movie watched: Tigerland

Connection to The Tiger in the Snow: obviously, both films have "tiger" in the title but they do also have a few other things in common:

1. Both have "wars that America shouldn't have been in" as their backdrop: Tiger in the Snow (Iraq), Tigerland (Vietnam)
2. Both have well-known actors playing outside their nationality: Colin Farrell (an Irishman playing a Texan), Jean Reno (a Frenchman playing an Iraqi)

Movie watched: The Tiger in the Snow

Connection to Mr. & Mrs. Smith: both films revolve around a married couple that is split up for a great deal of the film.

Movie watched: The Notorious Bettie Page

Admittedly, this one has no connection to the previous film BUT that's because it arrived from Zip with a huge crack in it. We had a connection earlier but having to send it back and "re-wait" for the replacement to arrive was impossible. As it turns out, the replacement came quickly but we had already moved on.

Anyway, Gretchen Mol looks great in this one but the film definitely was lacking. I didn't really learn anything about Bettie Page that I didn't already know - and that's wasn't a lot.

Movie watched: Mr. & Mrs. Smith

NOT the Branjelina one but the film directed by Mr. Hitchcock. They have the same title but the newer one is not a remake. Connection to Lifeboat: both films were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Movie watched: Lifeboat

Connection to A Canterbury Tale: both were WWII films and were
essentially propaganda/buy bonds movies.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: A Canterbury Tale

Connection to The Red Shoes: both films were made by "The Archers", Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Movie watched

Pontypool, the new film from Bruce Macdonald. Because this was new in the cinema, no connection to the previous film is required.

I was quite impressed by this. Not knowing anything about it really other than that it's a "sort-of-but-not-really-a-zombie-movie" was a good thing. I had no idea what to expect. I don't want to say too much other than check it out if you can, especially if you're a big fan of sound - which is really key in this. The lead role of Grant Mazzy could easily have been played by my friend Tom Phillips (but was actually played by Stephen McHattie). It would be interesting to hear what Mark Kermode might think of this if it ever gets to the UK.

Movie watched: The Red Shoes

Connection to The Pianist: Composing. The Pianist is about Wladyslaw Szpilman (played by Adrian Brody), a Polish Composer and The Red Shoes is about a ballet dancer (Moira Shearer) who has an affair with a composer (played by Marius Goring).

Movie watched: The Pianist

Connection to Life is Beautiful: the Holocaust.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched

Australia. Still in theatres; no connection required.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful)

Connection to A Sunday in Kigali: Genocide (Rwandan in Kigali and Jewish in Beautiful)

Movie watched: A Sunday in Kigali

Connection to An American in Paris: both films feature the plot "Come-from-away falls in love with someone from there (film location)"

Movie watched: An American in Paris

Connection to Irma La Douce: Paris - both films took place in Paris.

Also watched Shall We Dance (1937) on television, so it doesn't require a connection.

Movie watched: Irma La Douce

Connection to Sunset Blvd.: Billy Wilder directed both films.

Movie watched: Sunset Blvd.

Connection to Easy Rider: The location of the whorehouse in Easy Rider was the mansion of an aging silent film star and the character played by Gloria Swanson is an aging silent film star that has a mansion.

Movie watched: Easy Rider

Connection to Pillow Book: a bit of a stretch but we'll go with it. Cross-country Buddy Motorcycle Rides: Ewan (star of Pillow Book), has done Long Way Round and Long Way Down with Charley Boorman. In Easy Rider, Peter Fonda tours with Dennis Hopper.

Movies watched

The Wrestler (C)
The Reader (C)

New releases, no connection required.

Movie watched

Frost/Nixon (C)

New release, no connection required.

Movie watched: Pillow Book

Connection to Big Fish: Ewan McGregor starred in both films.

Movie watched: Big Fish

Connection to The Shining: both films feature twins. There are the creepy ghost twins from The Shining and in Big Fish, there are young twin girls in the audience at the circus and of course, the conjoined twins in the circus.

Movies watched

Milk (C)
Happy-go-Lucky (C)
Vicky Christina Barcelona (C)

New releases, no connection required.

Movie watched: The Shining

Connection to A Few Good Men: Jack Nicholson starred in both films.

Movie watched

Inkheart (P)

New release, connection required.

Movies watched Last Week

The Changeling (C)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (C)
Slumdog Millionaire (C)
Revolutionary Road (C)

Since these were all new releases in the theatre, I don't have to find a connection; however, you'll notice that as of this morning all four of the above films were nominated for at least one Oscar, as was "A Few Good Men" (4 noms, no wins).

Movie watched: A Few Good Men

Connection to Hannah & Her Sisters: J.T. Walsh was in both films.

Sent from my iPhone

Movie watched: Hannah & Her Sisters

Connection to Seventh Seal: Max von Sydow was in both films.

Film Watched: The Seventh Seal

Connection to Casablanca: Bergman. Although Ingrid and Ingemar are not related, they were both Swedish of course. Further, Ingemar was once married to a different Ingrid.

Sent from my iPhone

Film Watched: Casablanca

Connection to Adaptation: twin screenwriters - both films were
credited to twins (even if there is no Donald Kaufman). This
connection is also mentioned in the film Adaptation.

Sent from my iPhone

Film Watched: Adaptation

Connection to The Deer Hunter: Meryl Streep starred in both films.

Sent from my iPhone

2009 Movies Blog: A Year of Connections, Tenuous and Otherwise

This year, instead of just tracking the films we see, Gina and I decided that every movie we watch must have some connection to the movie we watched before it (with one caveat, that is we don't have to link TO new movie releases in theatres because we wouldn't want to not see a new movie just because there was no connection). Still, we'll do our best to connect to those as well.

The connection can be pretty much anything, from simply having the same actor or director (or Key Grip!) to similar settings, shooting styles, props, etc. In fact, the more tenuous the connection the more fun it will be. Each time we see a movie, we'll post it along with an explanation to its connection to the previous film.

We started off 2009 by watching The Deer Hunter on New Year's Day. We figured it was okay to begin with something fairly easy (like a huge cast) but it also just happened to be one of the movies recently arrived from Zip.

Feel free to help us out. Each time we post a movie watched, comment on the film, how cheesy (or absolutely perfect) our connection is and give us some suggestions on what to watch next (making sure to tell us the connection, of course). If we choose your suggestion, we'll make sure to give you credit.

Since we receive several movies from Zip every month, I'll be sure to post what we've got to choose from. Also, you can check out our movie library. We'll be using that and the Calgary Public Library to fill in the gaps.

2008: A Year of Movies - That's a Wrap

It wasn't really a resolution but at the beginning of 2008 I started keeping track of all of the movies I watched. It came about in response to Gina's question at the end of 2007, "what was your favourite movie of the year?"

I don't think it's particularly amazing that I managed to actually do it for the entire year. For the most part it was easy, as each time I watched a movie I wrote it on a calendar (yes, the old fashioned way with a pen). Most weeks I would remember to transfer the data into this blog but sometimes I would add two or three weeks at a time.

So what was my favourite movie of 2008? Well, I should note that I had said I could only select either new movies that I saw in the theatre or new on DVD. Just going by the stats, there were five movies that held the top spot over the course of the year. Here's a breakdown of those:

Movie	Weeks at Number 1
American Gangster	2
Everything is Fine	14
Lars & the Real Girl	31
The Savages	2
Water	4

Those 31 weeks that Lars & the Real Girl were at #1 are more indicative of the movie season than of it's status. The best movies typically come out in December-January (to make the Oscar eligibility deadline) and the Spring Summer is typically the dead zone (unless of course Blockbusters are your thing). So Lars & the Real Girl just happened to be the last movie from the season. From these 5 films, I would likely say that Water was my favourite. However, since it was actually released on DVD in 2006 it shouldn't count, I guess. So, I will settle on Everything is Fine (Tout est parfait). It's a small, indie feature from Quebec that most people likely won't get to see; I was lucky enough to catch it at the Calgary International Film Festival.

Other notable films of the year were Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and not just because the first five minutes are filled with a hardcore full frontal Marissa Tomei sex scene. Born into Brothels was an excellent documentary, High Falls a great short with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard (they had a baby together in real life) and The Visitor was a beautiful, touching indie feature.

Statistics

Format	Movies Viewed
Movie Theatre	24
Free Premieres	3
DVD	90
Shorts	49
Blu-Ray (Hoo-ray!)	1
Television	15

Movies - Week of December 29

Gregoire Moulin contre l'Humanité! **** (D)
Stage Fright ***½ (D)
Bell, Book & Candle ** (D)
Isis in Darkness **½ (D)
Breathless **** (D)
Sunrise ** (S)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine