Throughout September, I ended up watching several films dedicated to certain stars. That included catching up with a few movies from TCM’s Summer Under the Stars series in August, as well as celebrating the centennial birthdays of two of my favorites, Lauren Bacall and Marcello Mastroianni. But much of that part of my movie-watching this past month was seeing many of the films the American Cinematheque screened in tributes to the late Gena Rowlands and Alain Delon, so it was lovely to see some of their best movies and performances on the big screen. Another star I had the great pleasure of seeing a few times in theaters this month was my favorite actor, James Stewart, as a couple of westerns he starred in played at both the New Beverly and the Academy Museum. Along with all the stars I focused on a bit over the month, I also went to some cool screenings with special guests, including the new 4K restoration of Burden of Dreams with Werner Herzog, an advance screening of The Substance with director Coralie Fargeat, and the L.A. premiere of Saturday Night with director Jason Reitman and some of the cast. The last week of September brings the beginning of Beyond Fest, and I’ve been to three screenings so far: Southern Comfort with director Walter Hill and star Keith Carradine, the 30th anniversary of Ed Wood with screenwriters Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, and A Man Escaped introduced by filmmaker Jennifer Kent. I’ve got a few more Beyond Fest screenings that I am beyond excited about coming up, and then there’s AFI Fest at the end of October, so it’s getting pretty busy around here as fall movie season really gets going! And of course, it’s also spooky season so I’ll be squeezing in some spooky movies in between it all. Until then, here’s all that I watched over the past 30 days…

New-to-Me Films by Decade:

• 1910s – 0
• 1920s – 0
• 1930s – 3
• 1940s – 2
• 1950s – 3
• 1960s – 3
• 1970s – 2
• 1980s – 5
• 1990s – 1
• 2000s – 0
• 2010s – 0
• 2020s – 4

List of New-to-Me Films:

1. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
2. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
3. Ironweed (1987)
4. The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969)
5. Spitfire (1934)
6. Professional Sweetheart (1933)
7. Romance in Manhattan (1935)
8. The High Cost of Loving (1958)
9. The Big Lift (1950)
10. Freud (1962)
11. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
12. That Night in Rio (1941)
13. Burden of Dreams (1982)
14. So Fine (1981)
15. The Substance (2024)
16. Confidential Agent (1945)
17. In Search of the Castaways (1962)
18. Night on Earth (1991)
19. Megalopolis (2024)
20. Saturday Night (2024)
21. Southern Comfort (1981)
22. A Man Escaped (1956)
23. The Shootist (1976)

List of Re-Watched Films:

1. Beetlejuice (1988)
2. Gloria (1980)
3. Le cercle rouge (1970)
4. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
5. Bend of the River (1952)
6. The Far Country (1954)
7. Opening Night (1977)
8. Claudine (1974)
9. A Lady Without Passport (1950)
10. Broken Arrow (1950)
11. The Big Sleep (1946)
12. Shampoo (1975)
13. Purple Noon (1960)
14. La piscine (1969)
15. Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938)
16. Phantom Lady (1944)
17. Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
18. Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
19. MASH (1970)
20. Klute (1971)
21. Psycho (1960)
22. Ed Wood (1994)
23. La dolce vita (1960)
24. Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
25. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)

List of Films I Saw in Theaters (re-watches marked in italics):

1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
2. Gloria (1980)
3. Burden of Dreams (1982)
4. Le cercle rouge (1970)
5. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
6. Bend of the River (1952)
7. The Far Country (1954)
8. Opening Night (1977)
9. The Substance (2024)
10. Broken Arrow (1950)
11. Shampoo (1975)
12. Purple Noon (1960)
13. La piscine (1969)
14. Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938)
15. In Search of the Castaways (1962)
16. Night on Earth (1991)
17. Phantom Lady (1944)
18. Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
19. Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
20. Megalopolis (2024)
21. Saturday Night (2024)
22. Southern Comfort (1981)
23. Psycho (1960)
24. Ed Wood (1994)
25. Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
26. A Man Escaped (1956)
27. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)