Eclectic Trains

Films of 2016

It's come to that time of year when I realise just how few films I've actually seen.  (You know, properly, at the cinema).  I only watched the 'Revenant' on tv last night!  (Mostly enjoyed it.  Great bear and horse scenes.  It had Oscar-needy performance from diCaprio written all over it but I'm not going to begrudge him his plaudits).  So I'm indebted to people like @davidehrlich who put together mega-montages, such as the one above, that review the year for people like me who so easily fall out of the contemporary film release loop.  2017 - must do better.  I could too easily blame my 'career shift' - I have recently returned to teaching - but that just won't wash with you or me.  (More on that in another post).  For a more textual take on the films from 2016 go and have a read of No Film School's 'No Film School's Top 10 Indie Films of the Year'.

2017: the 'return' of Super 8

Let's all take stock of 2016, and in true analogue spirit, shoot some stock in 2017!  Why not?  Film is making a comeback is it not?  The defunct Kodak has risen from the ashes and has designed a new Super 8 for us all to get retro with.  I still have a wind-up Russian Quarz Super 8 Camera that I better dust-down if I'm going to keep up with these retro times. I never did telecine my footage from the top of New York's Twin Towers that I shot in 1999.  Its time has come!

#Shakespeare400 Tweets

I'm getting into the spirit of the Shakespeare celebrations marking 400 years since his death #Shakespeare400. I'm collecting links about events, performances, talks, screenings, research and teaching resources in a Flipboard magazine. Please take a look: bit.ly/Bard400.