Happy October! I’m kicking off the month by spending the next ten days in New York City, primarily for the New York Film Festival; I’m so excited to be back at this great event and to see some of my most highly-anticipated movies of the year. With that said, this will be another short wrap-up up post for the past month. But before we get to my movie viewings, I want to mention that I was invited to be September’s guest contributor as The Classic Film Collective! There I wrote about Deborah Kerr and some of her films playing on The Criterion Channel and TCM for her centennial, which was just yesterday. So please consider becoming a Patron there to read my article and much more fantastic content for old movie lovers. Now, here’s a quick look at what I watched in September.

New-to-Me: 55

Re-Watched: 24

New-to-Me Films by Decade:

• 1910s – 0
• 1920s – 1
• 1930s – 7
• 1940s – 4
• 1950s – 6
• 1960s – 8
• 1970s – 7
• 1980s – 9
• 1990s – 4
• 2000s – 6
• 2010s – 2
• 2020s – 1

List of New-to-Me Films:

1. The Browning Version (1951)
2. The Comic (1969)
3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
4. Jack of Diamonds (1967)
5. Hotel (1967)
6. Act One (1963)
7. Bye Bye Braverman (1968)
8. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
9. Paprika (2006)
10. Cloudburst (1951)
11. Body and Soul (1925)
12. The Emperor Jones (1933)
13. Octopussy (1983)
14. The Last Ride (1944)
15. Valley of the Kings (1954)
16. 11’09”01 – September 11 (2002)
17. United 93 (2006)
18. A View to a Kill (1985)
19. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
20. Drive a Crooked Road (1954)
21. Sanders of the River (1935)
22. Big Fella (1937)
23. The Professional (1981)
24. The Bedroom Window (1987)
25. Manhunter (1986)
26. Deathdream (1974)
27. Croupier (1998)
28. Dramatic School (1938)
29. The Woman in Question (1950)
30. Major Barbara (1941)
31. Days of Being Wild (1990)
32. 2046 (2004)
33. Happy Together (1997)
34. Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
35. Lust, Caution (2007)
36. Song of Freedom (1936)
37. King Solomon’s Mines (1937)
38. Jericho (1937)
39. Señorita (2011)
40. Apparition (2012)
41. God Told Me To (1976)
42. Little Murders (1971)
43. Getting Straight (1970)
44. Léon Morin, Priest (1961)
45. Magnet of Doom (1963)
46. The Stepfather (1987)
47. Wicked Stepmother (1989)
48. Dune (1984)
49. Macbeth (1948)
50. Hell Bound (1957)
51. The Proud Valley (1940)
52. The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
53. The Incident (1967)
54. Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
55. Across 110th Street (1972)

A Few Favorite Discoveries:

I had a lot of fun watching the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings now ranks among my personal top ten of the franchise. While the MCU movies are pretty formulaic, this introduction to the title character still felt fresh as it mixed martial arts with the typical comic book action. It boasts a dynamic cast, and I was especially captivated by the legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai making his Hollywood debut as the movie’s antagonist.

Sadly early in September, French film icon Jean-Paul Belmondo passed away at the age of 88. He’s one of my favorite international actors, so I ended up revisiting and watching quite a few of his movies following the news. Léon Morin, Priest was my favorite of his films I hadn’t seen before, and his role as the title character is different from the kinds of roles he’s best known for. I also really liked Emmanuelle Riva’s performance as an atheist woman who forms a bond with the priest.