In short: the 'Viewing
Log' will henceforth be referred to as 'Key Films'
To quote the title of a Hitchcock classic: I confess! I'm struggling to maintain pace with this
whole 'viewing log' idea. I watch too
many films and often have nothing interesting to say about them. I step over the fallen few, casually enough,
hoping that no one will ever notice, but ultimately I know, in my heart at
least, that the failure to acknowledge these stray titles represents an incredible
betrayal of intent. Initially, the idea
was to offer a short commentary on everything
viewed, including television programmes, as a kind of personal record of the
year, as it unfolds. Since I was unable
to surmise my initial reaction to a January episode of American Horror Story:
Asylum (the episode in question was Spilt Milk), I made the inevitable decision
to focus solely on films. This was the
first betrayal.
Next, there was the sequel to 30 Days of Night (2007),
subtitled Dark Days (2010), which I intentionally passed over because I didn't
like the film at all. I couldn't find anything positive to say
about it, so I ditched it. Maybe this
wasn't so important, in theory; after all, it's a film that few people will
ever seek out and even fewer will ever enjoy, but to me, it represented the
second betrayal. Next, I saw the first
two films by João César Monteiro; Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1969) and He
Who Awaits Dead Men's Shoes Dies Barefoot (1970). I couldn't do justice to either, so
deliberately left them off the list with the personal promise that I would eventually
return to them, in a month or so (...I'm still holding myself to this pledge). This was the third betrayal and really a sign
of the indolence to come.
Sophia de Mello Breyner
Andresen [João César Monteiro, 1969]:
Since the end of February, I failed to comment on
several films - Playback (2012), The Prophesy (1995), Safe (2012), The Beast
Within (1982) and There's Something About Mary (1998) - essentially because I
didn't like them. I'm not a film critic
and I'm not really that interested in "trashing" films. My opinion is not that important and I would rather use my limited capacity to
express in words an honest conviction to promote the films that I think are
worthy of promotion, as opposed to denigrating movies that are perfectly well-made,
simply because I didn't find them agreeable.
This is yet another reason why the 'viewing log' idea seems
misguided. I've never wanted to be a
"film reviewer", but in discussing these films in such a casual,
almost conversational approach, I'm edging dangerously close to that kind of terrain,
and the realisation sickens me. This is
the ultimate betrayal.
Last week's viewing log was especially difficult to
complete. I suspect it's because I was
writing about a small handful of films that I didn't really love (in any
meaningful way) and as such got the impression that I was making excuses (to
myself more than anyone else). I also
think there was a general failure to get to the point I was trying to
make. For example, the film I mentioned
by Hal Hartley - Meanwhile (2011) - is a minor masterpiece, but I don't think
my writing conveyed that sentiment at all.
I'm generally well aware of how terrible my writing is (just glancing at
the blog on an average day makes me cringe with embarrassment) but the last
post in particular is possibly the worst thing I've ever published, maybe
rivalled only by my awful attempt to write about Żuławski's debut, The Third
Part of The Night (1971).
Since I don't wish to abandon the blog completely, I
feel it is necessary to reassess the parameters a little; to define what it is
that I hope to achieve with this series, on-going or otherwise. From this point on, the 'Viewing Log' will be
re-titled 'Key Films' and will function primarily as a place to offer my
thoughts and feelings on particular titles that I saw during the previous week,
but only the films that are truly
worthy of such consideration. This might
mean fewer titles per-week, but at least I'll have more time to focus my
thoughts and maybe post a few additional things besides. It is
unfortunate, as the idea of "logging" everything seen during course
of a twelve month period greatly appeals to me, but if I'm going to contrive or
engineer the list - dropping particular titles whenever I have nothing
constructive to say - then it seems important to restate my intentions.
