2014 Blindspot Series + Christmas

Blogging in 2014 will be a lot more random, I might have spells where I don't post anything for weeks. I hope to do a few marathons, such as horror(October), top 50 short films, animation, documentaries, and film noir. Those are areas where I feel I am lacking in terms of watching. I may spread those marathons out to 2015 and beyond.

I've decided to join Ryan McNeil's blindspot blogathon. Many other LAMB bloggers are also participating, so it should be fun. The idea is you select 12 films you've never seen before, and write about a film each month. I've compiled a list of films I definitely want to watch in 2014:




The Seven Year Itch (1955) (Billy Wilder)

Das Boot (1981) (Wolfgang Petersen)

The Birth of a Nation (1915) (D.W. Griffith)

The Great Dictator (1940) (Charlie Chaplin)

Malcolm X (1992) (Spike Lee)

Hard Boiled (1992) (John Woo)

Duck Soup (1933) (Leo McCarey)

The Player (1992) (Robert Altman)

Come and See (1985) (Elem Klimov)

Castle in the Sky (1986) (Hayao Miyazaki)

Grand Illusion (1937) (Jean Renoir)

The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) (Mark Cousins)






Hope you are having a nice Christmas! Several people in our family were away, so we were only a small group that celebrated this year. Which also meant less presents. Being less spoilt than usual is tough, how will this affect my sanity I wonder...?

In terms of gifts, I was pleased to receive The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) on dvd, which I have heard a lot about, and have wanted to watch for a while(included above in blind spots). Another movie-related present was the book Ten Bad Dates with De Niro: A Book of Alternative Movie Lists (2007), which my sister stumbled upon in a book store.

In January, I will post a "preliminary" top 20 films of 2013. The final list you can read here in 2018 or so...




Don't forget this is also a music blog. Besides new music, the year 2013 saw me blog about: Fleetwood Mac, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smiths, The National, Burial, Camera Obscura.


I've (secretly) been listening to a few bands, that I haven't gotten around to blogging about yet. Looking ahead, the long-term goal is share my favorite tracks from:

60s: Johnny Cash, The Doors, The Rolling Stones

70s: Neil Young, Roxy Music, Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, Big Star, Billy Joel, Jim Croce, Steely Dan, T. Rex, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Queen, America, David Bowie, The Eagles, Diana Ross, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Carly Simon, Blondie, Tom Petty, Gil Scott-Heron, The Runaways, Joe Cocker

80s: The Cure, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Bruce Springsteen, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Prince, Peter Gabriel, New Order, Sonic Youth, Grace Jones, Janet Jackson, Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, The Pixies, The Clash, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Ultravox, Genesis, Phil Collins, The Replacements, Yazoo, Giorgio Moroder, Patrick Cowley, Pet Shop Boys, Talk Talk, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Psychedelic Furs, Tom Tom Club, Echo & the Bunnymen, This Mortal Coil, Everything but the Girl, Soft Cell, The Sugarcubes, Love and Rockets,

90s: The Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam, Belle and Sebastian, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Björk, Julee Cruise, Massive Attack, Sinéad O'Connor, Beck, The White Stripes,  Blur, Oasis, The Strokes, Morrissey, Aphex Twin, PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, Tindersticks, D'Angelo

2000s: The National, Destroyer, Camera Obscura, Burial, The Radio Dept, Phoenix, Interpol, The Knife, Arcade Fire, Sun Kil Moon, Arctic Monkeys, Keane, Franz Ferdinand, Feist, Sebastien Tellier, The Antlers, Amy Winehouse, Cat Power, The Killers, The Shins, Gorillaz

2010s: Blood Orange, Beach House, Mac DeMarco, Tame Impala, School of Seven Bells




Which mini goals, in terms of movie watching, or life in general, do you have for 2014? Receive any great gifts from under the tree? Thoughts on the music? I hope you are enjoying Christmas, and wish my readers a Happy New Year!