Got back to my usual movie-watching habits in October, and even ended up watching at least one movie from each decade (from the 1920s onwards; I need to get better at watching silent movies!). I also took 13 trips to the theater this month, though most of those were to re-watch some old favorites, a handful being Hitchcock movies one of my local theaters played every Wednesday of the month. Sadly though, news came out last week that FilmStruck would be shut down at the end of this month, so that really soured what was overall a great month of movies. And with that, I’ll keep this post relatively brief, as I’m trying to squeeze in as many movies from the service as I can within the next few weeks. While I’m heartbroken to see FilmStruck go, at least November is sure to be filled with some great discoveries; plus, it’s Noirvember! Bring on the film noir!

New-to-Me: 24

Re-Watched: 13

New-to-Me Films by Decade:

• 1920s – 1
• 1930s – 2
• 1940s – 2
• 1950s – 2
• 1960s – 2
• 1970s – 3
• 1980s – 2
• 1990s – 1
• 2000s – 1
• 2010s – 8

List of New-to-Me Films:

1. Scent of a Woman (1992)
2. A Star Is Born (2018)
3. Private Life (2018)
4. Unfaithful (2002)
5. First Man (2018)
6. The Old Man & the Gun (2018)
7. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
8. The Loves of Carmen (1948)
9. Tonight and Every Night (1945)
10. The Old Dark House (1932)
11. The Devils (1971)
12. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
13. The Black Hole (1979)
14. Affair in Trinidad (1952)
15. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
16. A Passage to India (1984)
17. Beautiful Boy (2018)
18. Free Solo (2018)
19. Dead Ringer (1964)
20. Dead Ringers (1988)
21. My Voyage Through French Cinema (2016)
22. Serenade (1956)
23. You Can’t Beat Love (1937)
24. The Immortal Story (1968)

A Few Favorite Discoveries:

A Star Is Born (2018), directed by Bradley Cooper

This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, especially as a fan of the 1937 and the 1954 versions. Just from the trailer, I already enjoyed it more than the 1976 version, so I had a good feeling I’d love Bradley Cooper’s take. I think this is easily his best performance to date, and I’m crossing my fingers he’ll get the Oscar for it as there’s a ton of awards buzz around A Star Is Born. Lady Gaga was also great in this, and her chemistry with Cooper is what really makes the movie for me, along with the soundtrack (which I’ve had on repeat all month long).

First Man (2018), directed by Damien Chazelle

As I’ve previously mentioned on my blog, I really like movies set around the Space Race era, so I was looking forward to seeing First Man, especially considering the musically-inclined director Damien Chazelle was at the helm. It’s actually a little more Malick-esque and slower-paced than the trailers would suggest as opposed to a straightforward biopic, but I ended up enjoying it. I thought Ryan Gosling was very good in this, giving a subdued, internalized performance as the reserved Neil Armstrong. Claire Foy was also great as his wife Janet, having some of my favorite moments in the film. What I probably loved the most from this was the score by Justin Hurwitz, which I also ended up playing on repeat through October.