As expected with the month of August with TCM’s annual Summer Under the Stars program, I watched a ton of movies over the past 31 days. Though it wasn’t just from watching movies on TCM of course, I went to a number of screenings around L.A. too. Some of my favorites on the big screen included: Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm, the Three Colors trilogy, a midnight screening of Inglourious Basterds at the New Beverly, and Disney’s animated classic Beauty and the Beast in 35mm. I also had the pleasure of seeing Back to the Future and Amadeus at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Phil performing their respective film scores live to picture. And last but certainly not least, this past Sunday I attended the Academy Museum’s screening of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which included a conversation afterward with Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn! It’s all part of the museum’s special, two-month celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Actors Studio that they’re combining with their usual Oscar Sundays series, and there are a couple more screenings happening in September that I’m very excited to go to, so stay tuned! Before a quick roundup of the movies I watched in August, I also want to mention that I returned for my third guest appearance on The Matinee podcast, where host Ryan McNeil and I talked about Jordan Peele’s new film Nope, along with other fun movie-related topics. So be sure to take a listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
New-to-Me: 40
Re-Watched: 31
New-to-Me Films by Decade:
- 1910s – 0
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 6
- 1940s – 6
- 1950s – 8
- 1960s – 11
- 1970s – 4
- 1980s – 1
- 1990s – 2
- 2000s – 0
- 2010s – 1
- 2020s – 1
List of New-to-Me Films:
- The Unforgiven (1960)
- Band of Angels (1957)
- Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972)
- The Tartars (1961)
- Chimes at Midnight (1965)
- Reality Bites (1994)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
- The Happy Road (1957)
- Meet the Stewarts (1942)
- Dear Ruth (1947)
- Woman Wanted (1935)
- Let Us Live (1939)
- Three Sailors and a Girl (1953)
- Luxury Liner (1948)
- A Date with Judy (1948)
- Life at the Top (1965)
- Two Loves (1961)
- The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
- The Outrage (1964)
- The Running Man (1963)
- The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
- The Formula (1980)
- Slacker (1990)
- Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
- Virginia City (1940)
- Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960)
- My Man and I (1952)
- Meet Danny Wilson (1952)
- Bandolero! (1968)
- The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
- The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
- The Deep (1977)
- Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
- The Silver Horde (1930)
- Danger Lights (1930)
- The Animal Kingdom (1932)
- Men in White (1934)
- Anna Karenina (1948)
- Guns of the Timberland (1960)
- The Badlanders (1958)
A Few Favorite Discoveries:
Reality Bites (1994), directed by Ben Stiller
I’m just briefly highlighting one movie this month, and it’s a classic coming-of-age staple of the ’90s that I somehow didn’t get around to until now. American Cinematheque screened Reality Bites as part of a Ben Stiller retrospective (in conjunction with Emmys campaigning, where he’s getting recognition for Severance), so it was a great excuse to finally check out his directorial debut. It features a great dynamic cast led by Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke, along with a fun soundtrack.
