Everybody’s Talkin’ 6 – 6 (Chatter from Other Bloggers)

I feel mildly perplexed about something.

It seems as though when I look here and there, I’m already seeing posts about “2014 So Far”. They pop up every year of course – and some sites actually keep running tallies from month-to-month where they reflect back on what happens as it happens. It’s a neat tool actually, since it allows a document of what the vibe was at half time which can make for an interesting analysis at the final buzzer.

Here’s the thing though: “2014 So Far” is premature…like, at least three weeks premature. Yes, June is the sixth month but it isn’t over. The year isn’t yet six months old…it’s five months old. Twenty-three out of fifty-two weeks to be precise. Ordinarily I’d say “OK, just round up”, but there seems to be an awful lot of goodness released at the moment that I might well need three weeks to sift through before I could put a stamp on “2014 So Far”.

In a way, it makes me think ahead to what you’ll see in December, when no-doubt there will be posts about “The Decade at The Half”. Five years into this decade does seem like a good time to take stock, but perhaps it would be better to let the dust settle on 2014 before we compare it to the films of 2010 – 2013.

I guess what I’m asking, is what’s the rush?

I will say this – there have been a lot of great offerings so far this year, enough that I could probably offer up a pretty solid top ten. If I’m lucky, I might even see a few more movies in the next three weeks that will reshuffle the order!

For your listening and reading fulfilment, I give you…
Rachel and Jess are back with a new episode of Reel Insight, one in which they cover two years, both of them the source of an iconic musical. Listen while they dig in to 1964 and 1965 – MY FAIR LADY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

One of my favorite films of this young year (which, contrary to many articles, is not yet half-over) is Kelly Reichardt’s NIGHT MOVES. Kurt has a pretty spiffy write-up on the film over at Row Three: give it a read and give the film a look!

More from Row Three, where Marina (whose writing I don’t nearly link often enough over here) weighs in on THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.

One indie that I haven’t seen yet that I hope to catch up with soon is THE IMMIGRANT – a title that I keep hearing great things about. This week, James Blake Ewing joins the ranks of those saying great things, which just makes me want to catch up with it that much more.

Fisti brought together a pretty decent all-star team of movie lovers to discuss the Oscar-winning roles of Sean Penn (For what it’s worht, I’m still a big fan of MYSTIC RIVER)

Andrew Robinson is having quite the introspective week…well, when he isn’t driving me batty about Ninja Turtles. This time around, he pondered how we take to films that disagree with us.

There’s more introspection at Inspired Ground where Andina is doing some soul-searching and wrapping it around the film that prompted her to start writing in the first place. Go read, and go comment.

After finishing Sam Fuller’s memoir “A Third Face”, I find myself anxious to start digging into his filmography (I’ve only seen a paltry one of his films). The Void is already ahead of me, having jotted down some thoughts on VERBOTEN this week.