The Great Movie Conquest of 2022: October

I kinda let myself off the hook this month by not giving myself a specific theme for what movies I hit this round. While, yes, this made the selection process a little easier, it does pose a problem for deciding what I should write about for this month's report.

Something that's been on my mind these last few months of the challenge is the way that, even if my rate of intaking new films has increased dramatically, the frequency with which I come across favorite films hasn't really gone up. Sometimes, it actually feels like it's declined. As the ritual of intaking a new film each day just becomes part of the routine, I am often hit with the outlandish but nonetheless troubling possibility that maybe I have just seen every movie that I like--that maybe there are just no more gems for me to discover. As my rate of enjoyment has declined these last few months, it's a possibility that feels less incredulous.

But sometimes I'm lucky enough to reel in a big fish that keeps me on my feet. And sometimes, after a long drought, I find a couple of them in quick succession. The first of these came right at the start of the month with San Francisco, a piece starring an underdiscussed musical presence, Jeanette MacDonald, and her romance with Clark Gable set just before the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Ben is Back has probably been my favorite movie I've encountered in the last several months of this challenge. The movie follows a young drug addict, played by Lucas Hedges, who sneaks home from treatment to spend Christmas with his family. While his mother, Julia Roberts, is thrilled to see him home, his visit brings about unintended consequences, forcing his mother to unlock the depths of her love for her wayward son and ask how far she'll go to keep him safe. It's the kind of movie that pinpoints very specific sensitivities and just barrages them with emotion. So naturally, I was deeply moved by the experience. So much so that this very viewing inspired me to start assembling a new Professor's Picks, one which, if it actually comes to fruition, you'll see in the next few months.

At the same time, my effort to become more literate sometimes leads me to view films that I know in my heart are only going to make me gag, but I tell myself that it's important for me to understand these films just the same. (And how can I judge these movies so harshly unless I've actually seen them, right?) I had that experience earlier this year with Deadpool, whose wanton crassness was outpaced only by its irritating smugness, and I had it again this month with The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I'd say that I hated the assumptions it made about people like Steve Carrel's character, but the movie wasn't actually any nicer to his friends. It was just universally juvenile. I honestly don't know what the lesson here is, except that maybe it's sometimes okay to judge a film by its cover?

Only one review this month, that of David O. Russell's Amsterdam, but given that we're heading into the most crowded time of the year for new movies, I don't lament the lighter load this month.

As I finally approach the end of this year, I'm trying to zero in on the films that I want to check off before the challenge has concluded, while also internalizing the fact that exposing myself to the full breadth of films that deserve attention is going to be a lifelong endeavor. I very much look forward to the day when I can give myself some breathing room between new viewings, when I don't have to strain to shove a two-hour film into my schedule before I go in for my shift, but nonetheless I look at the library offered by film, a medium so expansive that I could watch a movie a day for the rest of my life and still never wrap my arms around it, and I feel nothing but gratitude.

Yeah, even for films like The 40 Year Old Virgin.

--The Professor

A visual representation of how this challenge makes me feel. (I'm the one wearing the straps.)

October's Harvest

San Francisco (1936)

Rodan (1956)

Big Fish & Begonia (2016)

American Psycho (2000)
It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Amsterdam (2022)

That's Entertainment (1974)

Original Cast Album Recording: Company (1970)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Misery (1990)

The Idle Class (1921)

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2004)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Uncharted (2022)
Ben is Back (2018)

Savages (2007)

Harper (1966)

Jackie Brown (1997)

Cat's Eye (1985)

Dracula Untold (2014)

The American President (1995)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Future World (1976)

District 9 (2009)

Nothing to Lose (1997)

Moonfall (2022)

Fright Night (2011)

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