2013 in Review

Number of films seen, excluding shorts: 343
Number of films seen for the first time, excluding shorts: 278

Pre-1920s: 1 (1 first time viewing)
1920s: 2 (1)
1930s: 6 (4)
1940s: 10 (8)
1950s: 13 (8)
1960s: 18 (17)
1970s: 18 (11)
1980s: 29 (15)
1990s: 32 (15)
2000s: 18 (9)
2010s: 196 (192)

I didn’t exactly succeed with my resolution with older cinema from the 2012 entry, but I did see enough great films for the first time this year to justify expanding the following list from 50 to 75.

75 best first time viewings of 2013, in alphabetical order
Much of a tentative selection of my favourite 2013 films can be found within. Podcast episodes and relevant writing of mine, where available, are linked.

The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012, Denmark/Norway/UK/Finland)

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Seen Your Video #20: Vulgar That Shit Up

On the latest episode of Seen Your Video, Chris Ward and I find unexpected links between Olivier Assayas’ Something in the Air and Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby. We also take a look at Assayas’ earlier masterpiece Cold Water and Carlos Saura’s Cría cuervos.

Stream the episode here.
Alternatively, you can download the episode or subscribe to the podcast by looking up Seen Your Video on iTunes.

My Month in Films: May 2013

28 films, 18 first time viewings

Best first time viewings
1. Cold Water (Olivier Assayas, 1994, France)
2. Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941, USA)
3. Osaka Elegy (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1936, Japan)
4. Ali (Michael Mann, 2001, USA)
5. A Hijacking (Tobias Lindholm, 2012, Denmark)
6. My Name Is Julia Ross (Joseph H. Lewis, 1945, USA)
7. Dust in the Wind (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1987, Taiwan)
8. Mud (Jeff Nichols, 2012, USA)
9. The Most Dangerous Game (Ernest B. Schoedsack/Irving Pichel, 1932, USA)
10. Fast & Furious 6 (Justin Lin, 2013, USA)

Programme Notes: Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas, 2012)

I was commissioned to write a set of programme notes for Glasgow Film Theatre, for their screenings of Olivier Assayas’ Something in the Air during the months of May and June. You can find an online copy of what I produced for them here.