28 Days In, and out...

Nothing to do with zombies or Sandra Bullock...just the fact that February has only 28 days, and so we find ourselves at month's end today. This was a good, active month for me, with the debut of a new blog, the promise of more to come on Wonders in the Dark, increased activity right here, and two big posts at The Dancing Image, more than I'd managed there for months.

March should be arriving like a lion, with more Oscar-nominated films being reviewed before the big show and the kick-off of my renewed 21st Century series. If all goes as planned it will go out like a lion too; but lately I've been breaking my no-resolutions resolution (much to my chagrin) so I will keep my mouth shut for now.

Anyhow, the purpose of this post is to look back and offer what will hopefully become a monthly round-up (yet another attempt to rescue posts from the curses of chronology, particularly in the wake of a woeful Blogger overhaul, but I digress...)

 

Lost in the Movies 

This new blog, launched just last week, got off to a nice start with my review of Avatar. However, I actually prefer some of the subsequent reviews, all of which are part of my attempt to catch a whole bunch of award-winning films from '09 in the last few weeks before the Oscars. And also to reacquaint myself with contemporary cinema before settling in for my expected new-release-every-Sunday routine. Here's what I've reviewed so far:

Up in the Air

Invictus

A Single Man 

Let me know what you thought of these films as well (I try not to read reviews of new films I haven't seen yet; so if you've reviewed these already link up below and I will re-visit). And of course, more where those came from in the next week or two (after that, a steady reviewer beat, so stay tuned...)

 

The Sun's Not Yellow 

As for this very blog, it took a strong visual turn this month (presaged by this post in January); I kicked off February by rounding up a diverse array of abandoned screen-caps, and then followed up with a tribute-in-images to Pierrot le fou and a great Godard quote. Spontaneously inspired by a morbidly comic Rimbaud poem I also paid tribute to a variety of "danses macabres". Finally, I launched what will hopefully be an ongoing series on this site, a look at the advertising art of varied auteurs.

Captured screens

Two Things We Know About Pictures

Danses Macabres

The Posters of Martin Scorsese & Stanley Kubrick

 

The Dancing Image

That last bit was inspired by a paeon to the posters of my youth, and the spirit of early moviegoing they evoked, which went up on my very first blog, which I know save for more spatially and perhaps thematically ambitious enterprises. One week after this line-up of images, another. I celebrated the Film Preservation blog-a-thon with a great deal of help from the visual backlogs of many fellow bloggers. Plus, it includes images from every single film on Allan's countdown which remains unavailable on DVD - check it out if you haven't already!

They Once Were Coming Attractions

The Restoration 

  

Wonders in the Dark

Finally, a couple announcements on Wonders in the Dark, harbingers of where I'd been and where I'm going. A round-up of 44 pieces previously published elsewhere, and a peek at upcoming reviews as part of my relaunched 21st Century series. Thanks to Sam for hosting me (and I promise next month will be more eventful).

End of the Examiner

Best of the 21st Century? 

Please feel free to use any of these posts as springboards for further discussions, however tangential to the original post. Free association in the name of film! And we'll do this again next month, unless Punxsutawney Phil has something else in mind...