Revisited a year's worth of shortlists for week 50 and caught up on five I'd missed. Began with 'Killer of Sheep' (1978) from week 44, 'The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun' (1999) from weeks 24 and 38, and 'Asako I & II' (2018) from weeks 27, 37, 41, and 45, so that one was long overdue... 1/2

Popped in to visit four films in Movietown. Terence Stamp (RIP) got the whole family horned up in Teorema ('68). A count brought messy drama to The Haunted Castle ('21). Durante invited everyone to his place for a Hollywood Party ('34). Shatner came to town to start a race war in The Intruder ('61).

Got around a bit in week 48 with a little vehicular viewing. A Ukrainian couple got wrapped up in a plane crash in 'Klondike' (2022), underground train workers needed therapy in 'Kontroll' (2003), and a town had an unhealthy relationship with automobiles in 'The Cars That Ate Paris' (1974)... 1/2

4 from 2024 for week 47. Saoirse Ronan got her life back together in 'The Outrun' (2024), a cute cat learned the power of friendship in 'Flow' (2024), two manga artists united their creative sparks in 'Look Back' (2024), and poverty bred gruesome desperation in 'The Girl with the Needle' (2024).

For week 46 I watched as many movies as there have been Charles. In 'Pool of London' (1951), sailors on leave got into girls and trouble. Jessie Matthews conned her way into the London theatres in 'Evergreen' (1934). Ended with a pair of actors needing to escape London in 'Withnail and I' (1987).

Of all the movies I've seen, allow me to name the four most recent. 'Amanda' (2022) about Amanda making a friend, 'Lilya 4-ever' (2002) about Lilya trying to survive creeps, 'Tony Takitani' (2004) about Tony's shopaholic wife, and 'Silvia Prieto' about Silvia Prieto finding another Silvia Prieto.

Unmasked four new-to-me films in week 44, watching a spooky masked man targeting models in 'Blood and Black Lace' (1964), a gas mask clad bank heist with 'The League of Gentlemen' (1960), a time traveler with a mask in 'Timecrimes' (2007), and mask-wearing travelers in 'Lost in New York' (1989).

Wish I'd made more time in week 43 but still enjoyed these three. A phone in the past changed the future in 'The Call' (2020), a time machine displaced Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 'Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession' (1973), and a journalist learned his lesson in 'It Happened Tomorrow' (1944).

Pulled four films under one roof for week 42, watching a house become a prison in 'Home' (2008), youths trying to save their housing complex in 'Gagarine' (2020), the last night of an aging cinema in 'Goodbye, Dragon Inn' (2003), and a bored hotel night clerk people watching in 'Nightshift' (1981).

In spite of the prompt I found three films for week 41. A worker disappeared among land being reclaimed in 'A Land Imagined' (2018), the elusive Chan is in fact very much missing in 'Chan is Missing' (1982), and a husband disappears prompting an emotional crisis in 'Under the Sand' (2000). Poof!

Stalked my watchlists to find three films for week 40. A woman hunted a soldier through the forest to seek revenge in 'The Nightingale' (2018), two captains tried to outsmart one another in 'The Enemy Below' (1957), and a family came under scrutiny for girl's death in 'An Inspector Calls' (1954).

Four films bloomed on my tv in week 39. Happy flowers infested brains in 'Little Joe' (2019), a rich botanist married a selfish schemer in 'A New Leaf' (1971), Jeffrey Combs played a manipulative mold in 'Motivational Growth' (2013), and I tried to learn if corn is a grass in 'Grasses' (1970).

In week 38 I caught up with four films I'd missed as a teenager. 'But I'm a Cheerleader' (1999) had been on my watchlist forever, 'In the Soup' (1992) was a new discovery that I enjoyed, and ended with a Parker Posey double feature of 'The Daytrippers' and 'Waiting for Guffman,' both from 1996.

Four adaptations in week 37 with 'The Cruel Sea' (1953) from a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, 'Muse' (2025) from motifs notated by Jose Luis Padula and Hoagy Carmichael, 'Tank Girl' (1995) from a comic by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin, and 'The World of Kanako' (2014) from a novel by Akio Fukamachi.

Week: 36. Films: 3. Words: 2. Watched 'Magic Farm' (2024) about a documentary crew who didn't know where they were, 'Air Doll' (2009) about an inflatable doll who grew a heart and a sense of whimsy, and 'Silent Running' (1972) about an environmentalist gone rogue in space with his robot friends.

Seven days of polymaths for 35. A young Jenny Lewis beat up a gross teacher in 'Foxfire' (1996), Cher swooned for one-handed bad boys in 'Moonstruck' (1987), Billie Piper wrote, directed, and starred in 'Rare Beasts' (2019), and Danny Elfman was a swingin' Satan in 'Forbidden Zone' (1980)... (1/2)

The mission that I chose to accept in week 34 led me to watching 'The Wild Robot' (2024) with M:I film series actor Ving Rhames, 'Lured' (1947) with the original series' Desilu chief Lucille Ball, and 'Dead Reckoning' (1946) with no connection to later films that have shared the same name.

I tried to treat all sides equally during week 33, with the party girl vs. preacher man in 'Sensation Seekers' (1927), the Tsarists vs. Bolsheviks in 'The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty' (1927), and colonialist settlers vs. native populations in 'White Material' (2009). Not all were sympathetic though.

I only needed one, two would have been appropriate, but I watched three for week 32. 'Titanic: The Arabic Version' (2016) was a dumb little parody that got some actual laughs, 'Love Lies Bleeding' (2024) muscled its way into my heart, and 'Evil Does Not Exist' (2023) was a beautiful ode to nature.

Made small use of a history degree this week with a trio of films about days of yore. The skewed biography of Prime Minister King in 'The Twentieth Century' (2019), an expressionistic demise of a famed aviator in 'Mynarski Death Plummet' (2014), and a slice of WWI misery in 'Many Wars Ago' (1970).

Enjoyed a rose-colored week 30. Began with 'Immaculate' (2024) which grew more red as the story progressed. Followed with the red-colored personas of 'Nimona' (2023). Finished with two redheads: Vincent van Gogh in 'Loving Vincent' (2017) and ultimate redhead Karen Gillan in 'Late Bloomers' (2023).

A busy week 29 only left room for two films. Two Laurels and two Hardys caused five times the shenanigans in 'Our Relations' (1936) while Lee Pace and others pulled double duty between the fact and fiction storylines of 'The Fall' (2006).

Played the name game in week 28 by watching 'Seconds' (1966) with Roy Scherer Jr., 'Rain' (1932) with Lucille LeSueur, and 'Mermaids' (1990) with Cheryl Sarkisian and Winona Horowitz. If those really are their names!

A really off week only allowed me to witness a singular act of kindness with Aki Kaurismäki's 'Le Havre' (2011), where an old man tried his hardest to assist a young migrant boy in avoiding immigration police to help him get to his family. A very timely good deed in these trying times.

Only sinned a little in week 26. Probably still gonna wind up in an upper circle of Hell, with some of the poets, at least. I watched a case of generational wrath in 'Revenge' (1989) and the gratuitous gluttony of 'Viva' (2007). Add in my own sloth this week and it ain't lookin' good for me.

Week 25 spoke to me on multiple levels and six films. Began with a mute woman on a feminist rampage with 'Ms .45' (1981), and moved onto paranoia over the telephone line in 'Sorry, Wrong Number' (1948), and saw Jean-Luc Godard philosophizing again in 'Goodbye to Language' (2014)... 1/2

Asked quite a few questions in week 24 and even got some answers back with 'The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future' (2022), 'The Man Who Cheated Himself' (1950), 'What Do Men Want?' (1921), 'When Little Lindy Sang' (1916)... 1/2

Dug into the living earth for week 23 and extracted three elemental westerns. A tungsten mine factored into 'The Painted Desert' (1931), while 'Clash of the Wolves' (1925) starred very good boy Rin-Tin-Tin. Closed out with the boys trying to deliver the deed to a gold mine in 'Way Out West' (1937)

Finished week 22 with two movies. The first was 'Punch-Drunk Love' (2002), which ILM did the effects for but I'm not clear what effects the movie had? The second was 'The Rocketeer' (1991), whose effects still hold up beautifully, a testament to the models and craftsmanship that went into it.

As I aged another week during week 21, I watched six movies. I saw a teenager grow up to be Aubrey Plaza in 'My Old Ass' (2024), 'Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc' (2017) which was exactly what it says on the tin, and the perils of puberty in Paris with the short 'Les Mistons' (1957)... 1/2

I was criminally unproductive in week 20, only stealing a look at two films. The first was 'El Planeta' (2021) about mother and daughter low-stakes con artists, while the other was 'Bob le flambeur' (1956), with a high-stakes casino heist that can't possibly go wrong, no way, impossible.

Watched three stories to converge on the theme for week 19: the twisty-turny Rashomon effect of 'Evaru' (2019), the anthology triptych of 'Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy' (2021), and the three iterations (with three Isabelle Hupperts) of 'In Another Country' (2012).

Wrapped up week 18 with some furry friends in the form of 'The Cat in the Bag' (1964), then two non-documentaries in 'No Bears' (2022) and 'My Winnipeg' (2007). Finished off with a little short about the unsung star of 'My Winnipeg,' 'Spanky: To the Pier and Back' (2008).

Appropriately enough, my life lacked direction during week 17 and I only managed two films, both seemingly polar opposites but maybe not entirely. They were the French slapstick comedy 'The Falling Star' (2023) and the Italian pitch black satire 'Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion' (1970).

Had a superlative week 16 that included the Chilean documentary 'Los Reyes' (2018) (they're good dogs, Brent), an early western short "The Better Man' (1912), and Don Knotts fighting U-boats in 'The Incredible Mr. Limpet' (1964).

Rooted through a drawer for week 15's inanimate objects and came up with a Lon Chaney double feature and a Dutch short. 'The Unholy Three' (1925) had a ventriloquist with his PUPPET, 'The Trap' (1922) began with a stolen MINE, and 'I'm Not a Robot' (2023) spiraled out of CAPTCHAS on a COMPUTER.

Burned through week 14 with Christian Petzold's 'Afire' (2023), Jia Zhangke's 'Ash is Purest White' (2018), and Denis Villeneuve's 'Incendies' (2010).

I watched four fine feathered films for week 13: 'Bird' (2024) 'cause the bird is the word, 'The Eagle and the Hawk' (1933) about some World War I high fliers, a stop-motion metal-eating 'It's a Bird' (1930), and 'Wings of Desire' (1987) since angels and birds both have wings. And desire.

I'm terrible at math but managed to complete week 12 despite barely understanding the assignment. Came out to 6 movies (ah! ah! ah!) with 'And Then There Were None' (1945), representing subtraction, 'The Second Hundred Years' (1927), as addition, 'Pie-Eyed' (1925), standing in for Pi... 1/2

A productive week 11 with seven films directed by and starring women in the leading roles. Mai Zetterling's 'Loving Couples' (1964), Rachel Lambert's 'Sometimes I Think About Dying' (2023), Emma Seligman's 'Bottoms' (2023), and Céline Sciamma's 'Girlhood' (2019)... 1/2

For week 10 I did a trio of double memoriums, starting with Olivia Hussey and Maggie Smith in 'Death on the Nile' (1978), continued with Roger Corman and Jonathan Haze in 'The Terror' (1963), and finished with Anouk Aimée and Alain Delon in 'One Hundred and One Nights' (1995).

Accessorized in week 9 with 'Creature with the Blue Hand' (1967), featuring a murderous knife-fingered gauntlet. Next were a pair of glass beer-filled prosthetic legs in 'The Saddest Music in the World' (2003). Finished up with 'The Italian Straw Hat' (1928), where a ruined hat led to antics.

Wrapped up week 8 with two Hal Roach shorts, 'Putting Pants on Philip' (1927) and 'A Pair of Tights' (1929). Finished with two stories of clothing designers in Wong Kar-wai's 'The Hand' (2004) and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant' (1972).

Week 7's couplings involved a vampire and her would-be meal in 'Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person,' a young girl and her peculiar friend in the woods in 'Petite Maman,' two bored losers on the run in 'River of Grass,' and two opioid users with different ambitions in 'Werewolf.'

Took to the roads in week 6 with a double feature of driving around Tehran talking to people in cars with 'Taxi' (2015) and 'Ten' (2002). Followed some pilgrims walking to Spain, encountering dogmas, in 'The Milky Way' (1969), and then joined a wagon train rolling west with 'Wagon Tracks' (1919).

Some shorts for week 5, including the anti-gossip 'Scandal [Mongers]' (1915), Buster Keaton's swansong in 'Film' (1965), the earliest film with an original score, 'The Assassination of the Duke de Guise' (1908), and the Gondy/Carax/Bong anthology film 'Tokyo!' (2008).

In week 4 I watched 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' (1941), with Best Supporting Actor nominee James Gleason, and 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice' (1969), with Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress nominees Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon. Both films were pretty good despite having pretty bad posters.

In week 3 I watched Johnny Cash terrorize a bored housewife in 'Five Minutes to Live' (1961) and Emad Burnat recount the cost of filming the IDF in '5 Broken Cameras' (2011). Free Palestine.

For week 2 I watched 'It! The Terror from Beyond Space' (1973 from 1958), 'The Beast' (2044 from 2023), and 'Just Imagine' (1980 from 1930). The last had been on my to-watch list for 14 years and it was about time to finally get around to it!

Attempting the challenge this year. For the first week, I watched 'After the Curfew' and 'Port of Shadows,' with an inadvertent second theme of soldiers attempting to flee their pasts while struggling to find a fresh start.