Almost exactly a year after beginning an expansion that would encompass at least five sites, I consolidated most of my archive and began publishing weekly, alternating between "Best of the 21st Century?" entries on Wonders in the Dark and a series of ambitious pieces on my own original home. This allowed me to dive deeper in both prose essays and visual tributes. I had almost been ready to shut down, but the combination of a sleek new reformat and the excitement of these different projects gave me a jump-start.
Subjects include a couple captivating films by Zhangke Jia, researching the sixties roots of Field of Dreams, written and visual surveys of all of Star Wars, conveying the sweep of European art history in Civilisation, and a "first frames" tribute that inspired dozens of themed "picture gallery" posts from other sites.
Cities of the Imagination, a meditation on city-dreams using several films and a mixture of images and words, is my highlight for best capturing the scope and freedom of this period.
JUNE
Re-launching my main site after closing down various satellite blogs - although I still wasn't sure if I'd carry on, this turned into a fruitful summer
Creating a picture gallery for the site that has continued expanding over the years
Mystified by the Coen brothers' mysticism, as the Best of the 21st Century? series begins alternating with other posts
Field of Dreams is not just a film about baseball, it's a film about the sixties - particularly how a segment of baby boomers envisioned their own past and legacy in the late eighties
Jia Zhangke uses the microcosm of a Chinese theme park to explore intersections of illusion and reality - another Jia gem discovered through Best of the 21st Century?
I loved compiling this reflection on city dreams, incorporating Carl Jung, Jia Zhangke, and Michel Gondry
JULY
Best of the 21st Century? leads me to Wes Anderson's first foray into stop-motion
Some of my favorite opening frames in cinema history (+ initiating a "picture gallery" meme in which bloggers offered themed screencap collections - all responses linked alongside my own entry)
Celebrating the conclusion of Allan Fish's decade countdowns with an image from every single film on his list in chronological order
After watching all six of the existing Star Wars films in story order, I acknowledged their appeal and complications
The entire arc of Darth Vader told through screenshots, from the orphan kid to the dying man
AUGUST
The third Jia film in the Best of the 21st Century? series, a survey of Chinese transformation in the eighties, ended up being my favorite
Two fifties noir Sterling Hayden heist films featuring horses - a double review
Sensitive direction and performance by Terence Davies and Gillian Anderson make for poignant adaptation (Best of the 21st Century? series)
Time for a few Jean-Luc Godard quotes, shared on Wonders in the Dark
Watching this film for Best of the 21st Century?, I felt more engrossed as it went along - which may be the point
SEPTEMBER
Comparing the '58 and '86 versions of The Fly
A couple years after its conclusion, the entries for my Hooray for (Hating) Hollywood series were gathered into one place
(I covered this period on Episode 10 of my Patreon podcast)
Next: Golden Age (September 2010 - January 2011)
(in which I establish a diverse but disciplined fall schedule six days a week)
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Previous: Four's Company (February - May 2010)
(in which I establish a diverse but disciplined fall schedule six days a week)
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Previous: Four's Company (February - May 2010)
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