Film Karma Rules: Year Two

1. I must watch at least three new films a week.

2. At least one of the films must be in a foreign language.

3. At least one of the films must have been made beyond three years ago.

4. I should be attempting to complete the subgoals found here, though it won't be as strictly enforced as it was in the first year.

5. I should have one retroactive viewing a week (that is to say, rewatching something I've seen before or rewatching something with audio commentary). In the event that I don't have this, I should watch four new films for the week.

6. An amalgam of short films can be used as a its own movie slot, as found here.

7. I reserve the right to change, alter, or ignore these rules at any time.

One Year!

I did a top twenty of the first half of the year, so for the second half (in no particular order):

Stalker

Throne of Blood

Persona

Spirit in the Beehive

Rules of the Game

Solaris

Control

Ikiru

For a Few Dollars More

Barton Fink

The Twilight Samurai

The Day the Earth Stood Still

A Serious Man

Les Diaboliques

The 39 Steps

From Dusk Till Dawn

A Single Man

Broken Embraces

Grand Illusion

Irreversible

Finally, I'd like to do a top twenty of the entire year, again no particular order:

La Dolce Vita

Stalker

Throne of Blood

Spirit in the Beehive

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Das Boot

All That Jazz

Persona

Solaris

8 1/2

Wild Strawberries

La Notte

Sullivan's Travels

Control

Ikiru

The Bicycle Thief

For a Few Dollars More

Barton Fink

All About My Mother

Honorable Mention:

First Half - Swordsman 2

Second Half - The Twilight Samurai

Year End Reflections

It's done, that's a whole year, it's over! Well, for the original goal of the project anyway. I ended up breaking my rules three times. One week I did four recent films to catch up for the Oscars, one week I skipped my IMDB sub-goal, and then there was the dark month of August where I didn't watch a single new film (almost). What stands here as August was actually September (with the exception of The Crow and A Single Man). My reflections are brief. I find the project a success, I find that I have watched more films than I would have if left to my own devices, I find that I found a lot of good film shit just looking for something to round out my week (Spirit of the Beehives comes to mind as a completely random discovery that I am entirely thrilled about).

Anyway, I'm going to continue the project, but I'll loosen up the rules a little. I like having the blog as a way to keep track of what films I've been watching. It's very helpful that way.

Mission Statement

I have thought of an odd mission for myself. Originally it was to take place January 2010 but I can think of no reason to delay it. So it will have started as of yesterday September 1st, 2009 and go until September 1st, 2010. My task will be to watch films that I have egregiously not seen yet. Originally I was going to do one every day, but I think that might be a little intense given school and work so I will instead set out for four films a week. Then perhaps I will write something about the films I watched.

I don't expect anyone to read this, it is more for organizational purposes for myself. If any of my friends do come across it, however, feel free to offer suggestions. Also note I don't know why I called the blog "Film Karma". Perhaps because it sounded catchy. Perhaps because of the idea that watching good film will make me a better filmmaker. Perhaps because, according to dictionary.com, the fourth definition of karma is:

4. the good or bad emanations felt to be generated by someone or something.

That seems apt for film.

Click Here to See the Rules

Side Tracked

I ended up taking the last month left on my project off. Mainly because I just didn't want to watch any movies. Anyway, the project is resumed with September acting as August.