Saturday, September 23, 2006

Time to Vote!

Here are the films up for consideration. Please vote for TWO films in the comments section of this post. The two films that receive the most votes will be the October selections. Voting is open as of now, and will remain open until midnight PST on September 30th.

Votes as of 7:10 AM PST on September 29:
Gaslight - 22 votes
Strangers on a Train and Maltese Falcon - 12 votes
Sunset Boulevard - 8 votes
Talented Mr. Ripley and Niagara both have - 6 votes
Double Indemnity, Memento, Gilda - 5 votes each
The Third Man - 4 votes
Shadow of a Doubt - 3 votes
The Man Who Wasn't There, In a Lonely Place have - 2 votes each
Usual Suspects and DOA - 1 vote each

Gaslight (1944) : A young girl loses her aunt, a famous entertainer, to murder. The young girl, Alice, is sent away to school, only to return 10 years later with her husband to live in her aunt's home. She finds herself psychologically terrorized by her husband, while questions involving her Aunt's murders resurface.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943): A young girl named after her favorite uncle Charlie, suspects that her uncle may really be a killer.

D.O.A. (1950): A man is told that he has been poisoned and has only days to live. He tries to find who has killed him and why. This movie was remade in 1988.

The Maltese Falcon (1941): A private detective is on a hunt for the man who murdered his partner, and find himself investigating the characters who are all after a valuable statuette.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999): A man is sent to bring back an errant playboy, but ends up trying to take over the rich man's life.

Sunset Boulevard (1950): A failed screenwriter takes a job writing a screenplay for a former silent film star, only to find himself trapped.

The Third Man (1949): A pulp fiction novelist searching for work travels to Vienna for a job offered by a friend of his. He finds his friend dead and decides to try to find out what happened.

Niagara (1953): Two newlywed couples are honeymooning at Niagra Falls. One relationship's problems lead to murder.

Gilda (1946): The boss of a South American casino finds that his new wife and right hand man already know each other.

The Usual Suspects (1995): A boat full of dead seaman and missing cargo leads to an investigation into the mysterious and deadly Keysar Soze.

Memento (2000): A man who suffers from short term memory loss uses notes, tatoos, and a crooked police officer to hunt for his wife's murderer.

Double Indemnity (1944): An insurance rep is seduced into an insurance scam that arouses an investigator's suspicions.

Strangers on a Train (1951): A tennis star and a socialite happen to meet on a train and decide to trade murders.

In a Lonely Place (1950): A screenwriter is accused of murder. His attractive neighbor clears him of murder only to begin to suspect his innocence.

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001): A barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in a drycleaning business.

Friday, September 22, 2006

The Nominations so far

We've have had some fabulous films nominated! This is a compilation of our nominations so far. The films that have been nominated multiple times are definitely going to be part of our vote next week. The list of films that have been nominated once may not be. Please take a look at these lists. If you wish to second any of the films that have only one nomination, please do so. I will make sure they are part of our voting pool.

Nominations will end tomorrow night at midnight PST. I will post the voting list along with a short bit of info on each film so we can make our choice on Sunday. Voting is then open until Saturday, September 30.

Please second a nomination in a comment on this post.

Films that have been nominated multiple times and will be part of our vote:
Gaslight
Shadow of a Doubt
DOA
Maltese Falcon
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Sunset Boulevard
The Third Man
Niagra
Gilda
Usual Suspects
Memento
Double Indemnity
Strangers on a Train

Films that have been nominated only once. This is the pool that needs a second to make it to our vote:
In a Lonely Place
The Man Who Wasn't There
Dead Reckoning
Blue Dahlia
Brick
Dark City
Charade
Key Largo

Edited to reflect the movies that have been seconded.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Nominations for October Films!

Hello everyone! I'm excited that this group blog idea has gained so many members in just a day. I hope that everyone will have fun and enjoy the movies, conversations, and projects as we move forward. I do want to start discussion about nominations for October movies.

Before the blog had members, I thought that beginning with film noir would be a good idea. It goes well with October. There's a great article on film noir that you can find here. In essence film noir isn't a genre but more a film's mood and theme. The themes often included "melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia"(Film Noir, Tim Durks). There are cinematic conventions that are often used in film noir such as the use of the femme fatale, the double cross, the cynical leading male being made a fall guy, etc. Classic film noir films were made in the 1940s through the early 1960s. There have been many more recent films that take a page from film noir, or could be considered to be modern representations of the type.

Some classic examples of film noir are:
The Maltese Falcon
Double Indemnity
Laura
Touch of Evil
The Naked City
Vertigo

Some newer films with film noir themes include:
Chinatown
Dirty Harry
Body Heat
Blade Runner
LA Confidential
Dark City
Blood Simple
Sin City
Memento
Minority Report

So what I thought is I'd open it up for nominations. Please leave a comment to this post with two films that you'd like to nominate. I'll leave the nominations open for a week, and then we'll vote in the last week of September.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Welcome to FiberFlix!

Hello and welcome to FiberFlix, a crafting group for people who love movies and love knitting, crochet, spinning and weaving. Every month we will watch a couple of movie selections and discuss them. Members are also invited to craft a project in the spirit of the films that we will be watching and discussing together. This group is low stress. Participation every month is not mandatory, nor do you need a blog. If you are familiar with the Knit the Classics group, a crafting and reading group, this group will be run similarly.

All fiber crafters are welcome: Knitters, spinners, crocheters, and weavers. If you enjoy creating with fiber and often watch movies while you craft, then this group is for you! If you are interested, email me at craftylilly AT hotmail DOT com.