FiberFlix

February movie and March nominations

2008-02-20T06:20:00.001-08:00

Things were quite crazy for me in the past month or so. In the end I didn't get to post the Watchalong movie for February. So, in the last week and a half of the month, if you'd like to see You Can't Take it with You directed by Frank Capra, you can see it instantly through Netflix for free.

I'm also collected nominations for our March movie. The theme is Documentary. Please nominate up to 2 documentaries over at the Ravelry group or in the comments to this post. Movies that have been nominated already are Harlan County, USA; Sicko; Jesus Camp; The Heart of the Game; and Into the Arms of Strangers. If you'd like to second any of these choices they will make it into the final vote. Nominations will be collected until this Saturday 2/23.

January and an announcement

2008-01-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

December seriously kicked my behind, so January's movie is free choice. Whatever you want to watch, do so, and post here or on the Ravelry group with your thoughts and favorite knits from the movie(s).

Also, I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to keep up the blog and moderate the Ravelry group as well. It seems that most of the action happens over at Ravelry, so please check in with us there. I will keep this blog up to date with the watchalongs and knitalongs, but won't be posting much more commentary. If you'd like to contribute to the blog with your thoughts, please do! I just can't keep up with the commentary here and at the message board.

Let's have a fun, and fibery year with our knitting/crocheting, and movies!

December KAL!

2007-11-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a bit quiet here. I know that several of you have found us over at Ravelry, and others have been very busy. For December we're going to do a pairing of movie and pattern like the one we did in the summer. This month we are also having a contest, details to be found at the end of this post. So without further ado...

For our December movie selection, we will be pairing movies with a knitting pattern.

Our December movies are: Emerald Forest (1985) and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)

While we watch these films, please KAL with us with one of these suggested patterns: Foliage, The Forest Canopy Shawl, Backyard Leaves scarf from Scarfstyle, Falling Leaves socks, or Embossed Leaves Socks from Favorite Socks. Crochet enthusiasts, let me know if there is a suitable pattern that fits this theme and we can add it to the pattern options.

To make it more interesting, let's have a contest to! Post a review of one of the movies AND a FO picture of your finished project on this blog by midnight of December 31st, and be entered into a drawing for a prize.

Hitchcock selections!

2007-10-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

I've tabulated the votes and have come up with our November Selections. Please watch along with us:

Rebecca

"When a naive young woman marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion, she finds the memory of the first wife maintaining a grip on her husband and the servants."

Vertigo

"A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her. "

North by Northwest

"A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive."

All plot synopsis in quotes are from the imdb.com website.

It was a close race and many other movies like Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Notorious, Psycho, The Birds, etc. came very close, so if the top three choices don't appeal, feel free to see any Hitchcock you want. We'll discuss them all!

November Hitchcock!

2007-10-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

It's time to pick the Hitchcock movies we are going to watch together next month. We'll combine our nominations and voting this time, so nominate/vote for up to three Alfred Hitchcock directed movies by Wednesday October 24th. I will tabulate the movies voted for and announce our Hitchcock choices by Friday, October 26th.

And don't forget to post any thoughts and/or projects that you've worked on while watching this month's selections: 28 days later, 28 weeks later, and/or A Nightmare Before Christmas.

28 Days Later - a mini review

2007-10-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to rewatch 28 Days Later and was impressed all over again at what a good movie it is. Yes, it is a horror, but it's also a movie about what happens to people when the worst happens. What kind of person will you be if disaster strikes? Will you be like Jim, Frank, and Megan and not give up on you humanity and caring about people even if all you've known is lost? Will you be like Major Henry West and his soldiers and make up your own rules no matter what the human cost just to rebuild? How the characters deal with the horror and the choices facing them is what makes the movie so good.

Then I have to pay attention to the new treatment of zombies themselves. The infected in this movie are incredibly fast. This makes them terrifying. A scene that never fails to give me the shivers is the scene in the underground tunnel. This scene uses the notion of fleeing animals to great effect as a truly horrifying chase scene ensues.

So has anyone else had a chance to see 28 Days Later? I have plans to see 28 Weeks later when it comes out on DVD this month, and am looking forward to making comparisons.
But for now: What did you find most interesting about this movie? What was the most terrifying? What do you think the virus "Rage" is really? Are the soldiers and Major West totally evil, or can they be sympathized with somewhat?

October - 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks later

2007-10-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

It's October and it's time for some scary movies! The weather seems just right for a good scary movie too. It's starting to get quite cool at night, and why does it seem like it's just getting darker and darker, earlier and earlier these days?

For the horror adverse, we also chose A Nightmare Before Christmas.

As always, feel free to post your thoughts or the projects you worked on while watching!

Grosse Pointe Blank

2007-09-21T06:29:00.001-07:00

Ok I rewatched Grosse Pointe Blank! Great movie with lots of memorable lines. The thought did occur to me that John Cusack is perfect for this role. You could imagine some of the characters he played in the teen movies like Better off Dead and Say Anything growing up to be Martin Blank. I've never gone to a reunion. I have my 15th coming up this year. I've never felt the desire too, for some of the same reasons Martin doesn't (not the hired killer part, the I don't have anything in common anymore with these people part. I did fully enjoy this movie and watching his experience with coming home though.

Memorable quote: "They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?"

Has anyone else seen this movie or Clueless or Heathers yet? Post your thoughts!

Also a reminder. If you wish to participate in the Yarn and a Movie Swap, please email kathie AT charter DOT net by September 25. If you leave a comment on this blog, she may not get it as she is a moderator over at the Ravelry group.

Our September through November movie selections!

2007-09-01T06:26:00.001-07:00

The votes left here and at the fiberflix craftalong blog have been tabulated. It was a very close race, but we do have winning movies. A quick review first: all are invited to watch and knit/spin/crochet along with these movie selections. I will put up discussion posts where we can then talk about the movies, and perhaps share what we were working on while watching them. Sounds like fun? I think so!

So what are the final movie selection winners?

September: Theme "Back to School"

Grosse Pointe Blank, Clueless, Heathers

October: Theme "Monster Movies"

28 Days Later, 28 weeks later (this movie comes out on DVD on October 9th! Convenient, no?)

For the horror adverse, the next runner up is A Nightmare before Christmas

November: Theme "Director Retrospective"

We're going to take a closer look at Alfred Hitchcock this month. In October, I'll post a list of movies that Hitchcock directed and we'll vote to choose 2 or 3 to watch together in November.

So start loading up those Netflix queues! Discussion posts on Grosse Pointe Blank, Clueless and Heathers will be posted soon.

Voting and a Swap

2007-08-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the nominations are in! Between the blog and the Ravelry group we got some really great nominations, so I decided to add them all in to the vote. Please leave your votes in the comments to this post. If you are a member of Ravelry, please leave your vote in the thread over at the Fiberflix group. You can vote for up to 2 movies per month. Voting ends on Friday, August 31st. Also, after you vote, scroll down to the bottom of the post for a new swap sign-up. It's another yarn and a movie swap but with a Halloween twist.

September: Back to School Movies

Heathers
Breakfast Club
Back to School
Election
Rushmore
Sixteen Candles
Grosse Pointe Blank
School of Rock
Bring it On
Dazed and Confused
Mean Girls
Clueless
Rock and Roll High School

October - Monster Movies

Night of the Hunter
The Others
28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later
The Mummy (1932)/The Mummy (1999)
Dracula (1931)/Dracula (1992)
Gojira (the orginal Godzilla)
Van Helsing
Candyman
Dogma
The Corpse Bride
Nightmare Before Christmas
Ed Wood

November - Director Retrospective

Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, The Seven Year Itch, Sabrina, Stalag 17, Double Indemnity, etc)

Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, North by Northwest, Dial M for Murder, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window, Marnie, Rebecca, etc.)

Akira Kurosawa (The Seventh Samurai, Ran, The Hidden Fortress, Dreams, Shadow Warrior, etc.)

Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Michael Collins, Breakfast on Pluto, Interview with a Vampire, We're no Angels)

Robert Altman (A Prairie Home Companion, Gosford Park, The Company, Short Cuts, The Player, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, MASH, Nashville)

Tim Burton (Batman, Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, Big Fish, Planet of the Apes, Mars Attacks)

Kevin Smith (Clerks, Clerks 2, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Mallrats)

Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Insomnia)

Also, over on Ravelry there's a Yarn and a Movie Swap - the Halloweeen edition starting up. Here's the info. If you are interested please email Kathie at kathie AT charter DOT net to sign up.

"Yarn and a Movie" Swap
On suggestion from DiniKnits and with the blessing of CraftyLilly I bring you "Yarn and a Movie"!
Note At this time, the swap is open to those in the US and Canada due to region issues with dvd's. However we do have several people in this group who are in the UK and other locations outside the US & Canada, If there are enough of you who are interested we can match you up in the swap, just message me and let me know your interested.
Official Swap Rules and other Stuff...
1) Sign-ups Officially start Wednesday, August 22nd and will end Tuesday, Sept 25th @ Midnight PST. Swap partners will be distributed by Sept 30th. Packages can be sent anytime in October, but please be sure to get the package out in time for delivery by the 31st. To sign up please send me a message, or post your intent here. (We could also use an angel or two for just in cases)
2) This is a theme oriented swap, not everyone likes horror films so the categories are as follows horror/thriller/suspense. After you are paired up with your swap partner, you will exchange a short questionnaires (which I will post when we are ready to post partners) and a list of 5 movies in this genre that you would like to see.
3) What will be swapped?
a) A movie of course, preferably a new one.
b) Munchies to make movie night fun, this could be popcorn, candy, chips, anything that you think your swap partner might enjoy. You could also use this as an opportunity to include some type of local snack item that might not be readily available in your swap partners area.
c) Yarn!! Enough to make a small project like a hat, scarf or a pair of socks, you can also include any extra goodies you might want to pass on to your swap partner.
4) I'm thinking we are looking at about $40 per package plus shipping... give or take... I know there are some people who are swap shy because they have either at some point or another not received a package or got a puny package vs the spoils they sent. I do not want this swap to go down like that! If you cannot participate please do NOT sign up. There are times when once committed to something life happens, at that point please just message me and let me know, don't just disappear.
I really want this swap to go well, if you have any questions or issues please let me know. If this goes well we can probably set up do a movie swap several times a year, under different themes.

September through November Movie Nominations!

2007-08-18T09:13:00.001-07:00

I can't believe the summer is over. I just can't believe it! I know it's been quiet over here on the blog, but I hope you've enjoyed the Westerns this month. If you are on Ravelry and haven't joined our Fiberflix group, please do so! We are quite active over there. If you still have to receive your invite, when you do, please come join us!

It's that time to nominate films for the next three months so here are the themes:

September - "Back to School" Films. Let's nominate any movie that occurs at a school (any grade, high school, or college). There are so many choices that span so many genres! We can have a lot of fun with this one.

October - Monster Movies. Any movie that features a monster is appropriate for our nominations here. The monster can be a classic monster (the orignial Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula movies, zombie movies, etc.), or a human that has a monstrous character (Hannibal Lector movie, Cape Fear, Brotherhood of the Wolf, etc). These movies can be horrors or thrillers. In fact I'll probably have us choose one of both so that the horror adverse will have something to watch too.

November - Retrospective of a Director. Nominate your favorite film director, or one you'd like to explore further. In October we'll vote on which 2 or 3 directors films we will watch together.

Please make your nominations in the comments of this blog (one or two for each month). I will also post this on the Ravelry group to collect even more nominations. Please nominate in only one place, either here or on Ravelry.

Rustle up your six-shooters, and hop on your horse

2007-08-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

It's time for a Western! Our August movie selections are Tombstone and/or the Magnificent Seven. If you decide to see the Magnificent Seven, it might be interesting to also see Kurosawa's The Seventh Samarai. Although The Seventh Samarai isn't technically a Western, The Magnificent Seven was based on it, so it would be interesting to do a comparison. I'm going to try to have some links up by the end of the weekend about our genre and movie selections.

Two things to look forward to:

1) I will be putting up nominations for out next movie selections in about a week or so. If you have an idea of a genre, or a topic (actor, director, theme) that you'd like to see sometime between September and November, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

2) If you get an invite to Ravelry, also come over and join our Fiberflix group. We've got quite a lively bunch there who love to talk about movies. I'm glad many of you that have received your invite have also joined in. I'll be posting a thread about our August selections in the next day or so.

3) Due to interest expressed with the Fiberflix group on Ravelry, I will be opening up a new Knitflix swap in September. It will have a monster/thriller theme and packages will aim to arrive around Halloween. So if you like swaps, or have missed our last two, look out for sign-ups on that.

Ravelry!

2007-07-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

If you have received your invite to Ravelry, then please come and join our group! It's called Fiberflix, just like the blog. We are having a fun discussion on Guilty Pleasure movies among other things.

Let's indulge in our movie Guilty Pleasures

2007-07-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I've finally got a few links up on our Guilty Pleasure choices, Dirty Dancing and 10 Things I Hate about You. I hope you all get a chance to see one or both this month. I will put up some discussion starters next week on our two films. To get us started though, I thought I'd share why I find Dirty Dancing to be such a guilty pleasure.

I was 13 years old when I saw this movie for the first time. I saw it on VHS at a friend's house during a sleep over. There was something just so fun, and a bit rebellious about watching this movie as a young teen with my friends. We ate popcorn and gummi bears, and drank soda and watched this movie three times at that sleepover. Monday at school had us saying, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner," to each other. Now here's the guilty pleasure part... I find that I enjoy the movie just as much as an adult. First, I still get caught up in the story, and it also brings back fond memories of me and my friends, eating junk food and watching it together.

So what about you? What makes these movies a guilty pleasure for you?

Come vote for the best Knitflix swap package!

2007-06-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Knitflix Summer Blockbuster swap is complete, and I have 6 contestants for best pairing of fiber and film over at my blog. If you have a moment, pop on over and vote for your favorite! Leave your choice in the comments of the June 26th post.

Oh, and get ready for Dirty Dancing and 10 Things I Hate About You! Our July Guilty Pleasures are going to be fun!

Raiders talk

2007-06-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

So, has anyone had a chance to see Raiders of the Lost Ark? I did a couple of weekends ago and was reminded just how fun this movie truly is. It's also a well made film too. Let's talk about your thoughts and impressions of the movie in the comments to this post. Here's some possible discussion ideas:

1) Were there any quotes that really stood out to you, or pieces of dialogue that you really liked?

2) What did you think of Marion as a heroine? Is she an equal match for Indy?

3) What scene(s) really stood out for you? Why?

4) Is Indy more of an archeologist or treasure hunter?

Let the discussion begin!

Our Summer Movie selections

2007-05-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

The votes have been tallied and here are our summer picks.

Our June Summer Blockbuster will be .... Raiders of the Lost Ark

Our July Guilty Pleasure is a choice between Dirty Dancing and 10 Things I Hate about You

Our August Wester is a choice between Tombstone and The Magnificent Seven

I'll have links up for Raiders by the end of the week, and a discussion post to get us started. I'll have to show you all an old movie poster for Raiders that RM and I have up in our living room too. Hey, we're movie buffs! We decorate with the movies. *grin*

Summer Movie Voting

2007-05-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, we didn't get a ton of people nominating films, so I thought I'd put up all the films nominated on our ballot. Please choose one movie from the nominated films for each month and vote in the comments to this post. Votes will be collected through May 29th.

June: Summer Blockbusters
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jaws
Independence Day
Sin City
Barbarella
2001: A Space Odyssey

July: Guilty Pleasures
Dirty Dancing
Back to the Beach
You've Got Mail
10 Things I Hate about You
9 to 5
Animal House
Weird Science
Legally Blonde

August: Westerns
High Noon
A Fistful of Dollars
The Magnificent Seven
Tombstone
Little Big Man

Summer Movie Nominations!

2007-05-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's time to choose movies again. I think this time, we're going to nominate movies for June, July and August. So without further ado, here's the themes:

June - Summer Blockbusters! Let's watch an action/adventure movies together. As the weather gets warmer, I start thinking of all the fun, summer movies out there. Superhero movies, action, adventure, Sci Fi, mystery, thriller, big budgets, big stars, let's go big!

July - Guilty Pleasure picks. Do you have a movie that is a secret guilty pleasure? Nominate it, and share with the rest of us.

August - Westerns. There's something about summer that makes me want to spend some time on the range. There are so many choices out there, let's watch some together!

Nominate one or two films for each month in the comments of this post. Nominations will be collected through Monday, May 21st. Voting will begin on Tuesday May 22 and will continue until May 29th, with our selections posted by the end of the month.

Notorious Talk

2007-05-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm planning on watching Notorious this week. I've seen it before, but it's been a while. Let's start our conversation in the comments of this post. If you have any thoughts, observations, questions, or discussion topics, please comment! I'll post for Murder on the Orient Express as well.

Does anyone have any pattern ideas for Ingrid Bergman as well? Let us know what you're working on, even if it isn't related to the film. I'm interested in what you work on while watching!

Summer Blockbuster Swap

2007-04-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

I posted about this over at my blog, but I wanted to post about this swap here too. Here's the info!

I've been thinking of doing a second Knitflix swap for some time and all the movie talk in my last post gave me the prodding I needed to put it all together. With all the summer blockbuster's coming to theaters starting on Memorial Day weekend, I thought it would be fun to make this second swap, the Summer Blockbuster Edition.

Here's the skinny:

What? We will swap 1) a favorite movie watching food/candy/beverage treat, 2) Enough yarn for a small project or some roving to spin while watching a movie 3) A DVD that you think your swap partner will enjoy.

Swap minimum: Swap items should equal around $25. Used DVD's can be sent but make sure that they work. If you buy it from Netflix or Blockbuster, please check the DVD to make sure it works. If you send yarn from your stash, then the yarn should be unknit with ball bands.

When should swap packages be sent? Swap packages should arrive at your pal's house on or around June 15th, just in time for summer vacations.

Contest! Just like last time, I'm hosting a contest at the end of the swap. Once the packages are sent, participants may email me a picture and an explanation of how their fiber/yarn fits the theme of the DVD they sent their pal. I, along with some other crafting friends will narrow down the choices to the top 3-5 entries. I will post the finalists on the fiberflix blog and ask you all to vote. The entry that garners the most votes will win some sock yarn and a set of stitch markers from me.

As a final note, swap partners will not be a secret. Like last time, swappers will be paired up and will mail packages to each other. Also, this swap is open to international swappers, but swappers will be paired according to DVD encoding regions. Therefore, US swappers will swap with each other, European swappers will swap with each other, etc. If we end up with an odd number of swappers, we'll work out some alternatives.

Sound like fun? If you'd like to join, email me at craftylilly AT gmail DOT com by May 11. I'll have matches out by May 13.

Designer Woes and Designer Highs

2007-04-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

The good news: I finished my Silk Garden vest - WooHoo! The not so good news: It is too big. It is a combination of the fact that I have lost weight and I didn't factor the "hang factor" into my plan. Although the vest is beautiful, the weight of the fabric causes it to pull. I think I have the problem remedied and am working feverishly on a new bodice and a smaller size. Pictures tomorrow - the vest is at the shop and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to write about our day at Yarntopia.

Today was a great crochet day at Yarntopia. I missed a visit from the H-Town Crocheters - sorry ladies! Amy took good care of them and I understand they had a great time. I did get there in time for a visit from Houston's own Crochet Dude, Drew Embrowsky. It isn't everyday a celebrity walks in the door of Yarntopia. Drew's a great guy and a talented designer, we had a good time visiting about yarn, crochet, and our mutual Melissa Leapman admiration society. Stay tuned for information on a workshop we have in the works with Drew.

I'm still working on the baby blanket, and should be able to finish it next weekend while we drive to my mom's. I frogged the Bella vest and don't intend to reknit it. I am going to use the yarn for a crochet project instead as Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton is a dream to work with and will be fabulous to wear. I am finding it hard to follow other's patterns - all I want to do is make my own designs. Balance, I must find the balance between what I must do and what I want to do. It's tough being a grown up.

Ingrid Bergman Movies

2007-04-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the votes are in, and our official Ingrid Bergman movies are:

Notorious and Murder on the Orient Express

Two very good choices, I think. Of course you are welcome to watch any of the movies on the list and to post your thoughts and projects.

As you can see I tried to fool around with the font and messed it up. Sorry!

Don Juan DeMarco Talk

2007-04-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

So, has anyone seen the movie yet? What did you think? If you've got a comment, question, observation, or review, please share with us either in the comments to this post, or a post of your own.

Also, if you haven't voted for our Ingrid Bergman selection yet, please do so in the previous post. Voting ends on Wednesday!

Ingrid Bergman voting

2007-04-17T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a chance to craft and watch Don Juan DeMarco. I have plans to watch it today. If you've already seen the movie and wish to talk about it, please post your thoughts and label your post "Don Juan DeMarco." If you are going to mention a spoiler, put the term "Spoiler" both in the label and the title of the post. The message board doesn't seem to be working for most of the group, so let's discuss here.

We do need to settle on a couple of Ingrid Bergman movies for next month. Now, since Ingrid Bergman is our focus next month, you could see any movie that features here. However, we will have one or two official movies of hers for next month.

Please take a look at my shortlist of her films. Please vote for two of these movies in the comments section of this post. Votes will be collected until Wednesday the 25th, and the official movies will be announced on Thursday, the 26th.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Anastasia (1956)
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
Joan of Arc (1948)
The Bells of Saint Mary's (1945)
Casablanca (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Notorious (1946)

"Logan, you renewed!" Well he was wearing RPMs

2007-04-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

I finished them! I'm quite pleased with the results. Check out the details on my blog.

Look what I found at my local Target

2007-04-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Don Juan DeMarco for $5.50. Yes!!!

Loving the pictures and links!

2007-03-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Keep the pictures of the RPMs and Jaywalkers coming. I love seeing them all and am glad that people are enjoying the March KAL.

I've posted a couple of links about our April theme and movie on the sidebar, and changed the look of the template a bit. As soon as I figure out how to put the header pic back up, I'll do so. I changed to the upgraded blogger template, and am still learning how to use it.

ETA: Grrr.... I just realized that when I upgraded the template, it took haloscan off and deleted all of our comments. GAH!! Well, we're back to using the regular blogger comments. I'm sorry about the loss of comments.

Finished!

2007-03-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

I bound off my RPMs as the credits rolled on Run Lola Run last night - and I had a whole seven inches of yarn left over! Details and pictures can be found at my blog.

Logan's Run and RPMs

2007-03-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

My son had a chess tournament this weekend which lasted from 10 to 4. I was able to use all the sitting around time to finally catch Logan's Run which has been on my IPod for weeks!

It's funny I barely remembered the second half of the movie. I'm not sure why that is. I also realized I must have always caught it on commercial TV since I sure as hell don't remember all the nudity. Of course I was a little kid when I saw it the first time so it's probably better that way;) It oddly enough was a bit less cheesy than I remember and I enjoyed it way more than I expected to. I've gotten used to watching movies I loved as a kid and not having them live up to my memory of them. In this case the movie was actually better than I remembered.

I love the RPM pattern. It's nice and easy to remember. I hate having to refer to a pattern when knitting socks. I did have to rip it out and cast on for the larger size. I think the Lorna's Laces I am using it noticeably thinner than the Socks that Rock it was designed for.

Our April and May Selections!

2007-03-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

For our April Inspiring Movies we will officially be watching Don Juan DeMarco. However, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Coal Miner's Daughter were close seconds, so if you wish to watch one or both of those as well and discuss them, we can do that too.

Our May Retrospective shall be Ingrid Bergman. We really couldn't go wrong with the actresses that we had in the running. Ingrid Bergman is a fantastic choice. I will post Ingrid Bergman movies towards the end of April, and we will choose a couple to watch together.

In other blog news, I believe I have fixed the haloscan comments. Let me know if there are any further problems. Also, since the message board has been rather quiet, I wanted to ask whether Fiberflix members wanted to use the message boards for discussions, or if we are all comfortable to post our thoughts and projects on the blog. If we are good with using the blog, I will be deleting our message board. I can always create another one if the need arises. Please let me know what you think in the comments section of this post.

RPM's for Logan

2007-03-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

I watched Logan's Run the other night.
I thought it was a really 'cool' movie when I saw it in the theatre in the late 70's,
but watching it now after all these years, It was still good, but oh so cheesy!
I started a pair of RPM's while watching the show too.
I really do like how the swirl effect look on the self striping yarn.
So far it is a very mesmerizing knitting pattern.

Voting: Inspiring Stories and Actress Retrospective

2007-03-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

I've taken the movies and actresses that were nominated and seconded and now present the voting ballot for your consideration.

April: Inspiring Movies

Dark Victory (1939) - A young socialite learns she is dying from a brain tumor and finds a surprising happiness in her marriage to the doctor who diagnosed her. Stars Bette Davis, George Brent, and Humphrey Bogart

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - "Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice."(from IMDB.com)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - "An alien lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets."(from IMDB.com)

Dead Poet's Society (1989) - " English professor John Keating(Robin Williams) inspires his students to a love of poetry and to seize the day." (from IMDB.com)

Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)- " Biography of Loretta Lynn(Sissy Spacek), a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame." (from IMDB.com)

Don Juan DeMarco (1995) - " A psychiatrist(Marlon Brando) must cure a young patient(Johnny Depp) that presents himself as Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world." (from IMDB.com)

May: Actress Retrospective

Katherine Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

Elizabeth Taylor

Ingrid Bergman

Grace Kelly

Please leave a comment on this post with one vote for April and one vote for May. Votes will be collected until Monday, March 26.

April and May Nominations!

2007-03-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

Let's pick some movies for the next couple of months! Here are the next two months' themes.

ETA: Please make your nominations by Monday, March 19. Final voting will start on Wednesday, March 21.

April
Inspirational Movies - With the beginning of Spring, I thought it would be fun to watch a movie or two with themes of hope and inspiration. This could be a biopic, a sports movie, a drama, a comedy, any genre really. Take a look at AFI's list of the 100 most inspiring films . Some selections from the AFI list include: It's a Wonderful Life, High Noon, The African Queen, Rudy, An Officer and a Gentlemen, Harold and Maude, and many more.

May
Retrospective on an Actress - Let's pick an actress and see a couple of her essential films.

Please comment to this post with one or two movie inspiring movies for April, and one actress for May.

RPM's and Logan's Run

2007-03-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I started knitting my RPM's! I'm loving them already even though I'm only a couple of inches in. The STR in Yosemite is coming out so pretty with the spiral pattern, and STR is fantastic to knit with. It's my first STR experience.

I also got a chance to see Logan's Run last week. I had fun with it! The plot is engaging enough, and I enjoyed seeing a very young Richard Jordan. Yes, the movie is cheesy by today's standards, but I liked it. Every scene of the monorail and the city from the outside was so obviously a model. It was fun! I'm going to try to fit in another viewing of Run Lola Run before the end of the month.

Anyone else have a knitting update or thoughts on a movie? Post them! I'd love to some Jaywalkers and RPM's and read some movie thoughts.

Also, it's about time for choosing some new movies for April and May. I'll be posting in the next few days with themes and opening nominations.

A colorway choice for the RPM's

2007-03-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

I hope that you all are planning on watching either Run Lola Run and/or Logan's Run this month and knitting a pair of RPM's or Jaywalkers with us! It's going to be fun. Don't forget to post your progress and thoughts on the movie on this blog and the message board.

I finally made a decision on color for the RPM's. I bought a skein of STR in the Yosemite colorway at last year's Stitches West. I dug it out the other day and was reminded of just how lovely the yarn is. They are asking to be RPMs. I'm all ready for the March Fiberflix KAL as now I've picked the yarn, and have Logan's Run ready to watch. I can't wait. Cheesy 70's science fiction... Gotta love it.

The Oscars?

2007-02-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

Did anyone watch them last night? There were a few surprises I think. I was happy to see Martin Scorsese win for the Departed (one of the two films I had actually seen). Poor Peter O'Toole looked very disappointed. As for Jennifer Hudson, I haven't seen Dreamgirls, so I can't speak to her performances Oscar worthiness. What a voice though! And Happy Feet over Cars? I don't think so.

An Oscar Contest

2007-02-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all are gearing up to knit some socks next month. I'm dithering over a couple colorway choices for RPM's.

In the meantime, my regular blog is celebrating it's second blogiversary. I'm celebrating with running an Oscar scorecard contest. Pop on over to my blog for details. Throw your hat in the ring for a fibery prize!

Can't Wait to Get Running!!

2007-02-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

I am excited about the KAL in March. What a fabulous idea!! And socks...who can resist socks. I'm going to knit the RPM's in STR color way Hot Flash. I thought a yarn with the word flash in it is appropriate for running. :) Can't wait to see what everyone else is planning.

Buttons for March

2007-02-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

I noodled around a little bit with my graphics program and came up with these two buttons for our mini-KAL next month. Feel free to take one to display on your blog, just save it to your computer first.

Love, Actually

2007-02-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

I have a few links up on the sidebar, or will soon. I'm looking forward to seeing this movie again. Hopefully many of you will too.

Also, in about a week or so, I will be posting some buttons for those of you who wish to participate in our March pairing of movie and pattern (Run Lola Run and Logan's Run with RPM or Jaywalker socks). When they are posted, feel free to take one, just safe on your own computer.

I hope people are still enjoying FiberFlix! I am, although lately it's been rather quiet. People are busy, though. I'm the first person to understand that!

The New Blogger

2007-01-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I finally was able to move this blog over to the new blogger. I hope this will smooth out the problems that many were having in terms of posting. Let me know if you're having problems using the blog, and I'll do my best to help.

I love Lion in Winter

2007-01-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching it last night and really enjoyed it. The acting is superb and the dialogue is wonderful. I got a kick out of seeing a very young Timothy Dalton in his very first film role as well. Did anyone else get a chance to see it?

I posted a few discussion topics about the movie over at our message boards. Feel free to stop by and discuss.

A final note, there's been a lot of discussion about the new blogger and trying to migrate group blogs over to the new blogger. I've tried to move Fiberflix, but keep getting told that I can't. So, I'm sorry to say, we will continue to limp along here until blogger makes it so that this blog and other group blogs can move over. If you are a member of the group and are having trouble posting either here or on the message boards, let me know and we'll try to work out a way for you to post.

An Announcement about the March Film

2007-01-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all are getting a chance to see The Lion in Winter. Remember that Love, Actually is featured next month, and that I'm running a small contest that ends the end of February. In brief, if you post on this blog, or on the message board about a completed craft project inspired by one of our musicals, The Lion in Winter, or Love, Actually by the end of February, your name will be put in a hat for a fibery prize.

Now, onto my big news, the March film. We're going to be doing things a bit different in March. Here's the plan:

What? We will be watching either/both Run, Lola, Run and/or Logan's Run and knitting either Jaywalker or RPM socks, both free patterns on the web. If you really want to make a complete pairing of project and movie, consider knitting your socks out of Scout's Run Like Hell colorway, Blue Moon's Rolling Stone, or another yarn that fits the theme of being on the run.

Sound like fun? Then update your Netflix queues, and set up your yarn choices for March viewing and knitting.

I'm thinking that pairing a yarn or pattern with a movie would be a good thing to do every once in a while, so if you have a good idea for a month, let us know by posting on the blog, message board, or emailing me.

The Lion in Winter links are up!

2007-01-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I have put a few links about the movie and links to Wikipedia articles on Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I hope you all are interested and excited about this movie! I think I'm going to try to track a copy of this movie at my local movie rental place.

You can also start discussing The Lion in Winter on our forum as well.

I'm also cooking up some fun ideas for the rest of this year! Stay tuned.

Our January and February Films

2006-12-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Our January Biopic is Lion in Winter with Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. Our February romance is Love Actually, although I will also put a dicussion topic up for the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice as it came in at a close second. I hope to have links up for Lion in Winter by the end of New Year's week.

Have a happy and safe New Year everyone!

2006-12-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Let the voting begin!

2006-12-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

ETA Voting as of 1PM December 29th. If you haven't voted yet, you have until midnight tonight!

January Biopics:

Lady Jane - 1
Walk the Line - 3
Great Balls of Fire - 1
Amadeus - 1
Lion in Winter - 5
Ray - 1

February - Romance

Love Actually - 4
Annie Hall - 2
An Affair to Remember - 1
Pride and Prejudice BBC - 3
Mating Habits of an Earthbound Human - 2

Well, not many people nominated films, so I decided to put them all up for the vote. Please vote for one biography for January and one romance for February in the comments of this post. The vote ends on December 29th at midnight PST.

Also, since I think people have just been swamped with the holidays this year, I decided to extend the contest for "Project that best represents a FiberFlix movie" to the end of February. This means that if you complete a fiber crafting project inspired by Funny Face, White Christmas, or the January or February selection and post the FO picture here on the blog, you'll be entered to win.

A last note, I got an email nomination from someone who had trouble commenting on this blog due to beta blogger issues. If you are having a hard time commenting as well, feel free to send me your vote via email at craftylilly AT hotmail DOT com. I'll look into installing the haloscan commenting system after the holidays which hopefully will resolve the commenting issue.

So the movie choices are:

January - Biopics
Great Balls of Fire (1989) - Dennis Quaid plays Jerry Lee Lewis
Walk the Line (2005) - Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash
Ray (2004) - Jamie Foxx's Oscar Winning performance as Ray Charles
Beautiful Mind (2001) - Russell Crowe plays John Nash, a renowned but troubled mathmetician.
Lion in Winter (1968) - Peter O'Toole plays Henry II and Katherine Hepburn plays Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Thirteen Days (2000) - Story about the Cuban Missile Crisis. This isn't technically a biopic as it's more about a historical event rather than one or two historical personages life, but it definitely looks fascinating.
Amadeus (1984) - Tom Hulce plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lady Jane (1986) - Helena Bonham Carter stars at Lady Jane Grey, one of Henry VIII's doomed wives.

February - Romance
The Way We Were (1973) - Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford star as a couple that fall in love but are driven apart by circumstance.
Love Actually (2003) - Ensemble cast. Film follows eight different couples in London
Bride and Prejudice (2004) - Adaptation of the Austen novel but set in the East Indian culture.
Pride and Prejudice BBC version (1995) 6 hours of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy... :-)
Pride and Prejudice (2005) The most recent adaptation with Keira Knightley
Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999) An extraterrestrial anthropologist studies a human couple's dating rituals. David Hyde Pierce, Mackenzie Austin, and Carmen Electra star.
Annie Hall (1977) - One of Woody Allen's most beloved films about love between two city dwellers.
Affair to Remember (1957) - Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr star as a couple that fall in love on top of the Empire State Building.
When Harry Met Sally (1989) - A couple keeps meeting over and over and finally become friends. Are they meant for each other? Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal star.
You've got Mail (1998) - An unlikely pairing of a bookstore chain president and an independent bookseller that begins with an online romance. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star.
While You Were Sleeping (1995) - A lonely woman falls in love with a man she sees everyday. When he has an accident and falls into a coma, she is mistaken for his fiance, but finds herself attracted to his brother. Sandra Bullock stars.
A Very Long Engagement (2004) - A woman is determined to find her lost fiance who has gone MIA during World War I. Audrey Tatou (Amelie) stars.
Immortal Beloved (1994) - After Ludwig van Beethoven dies, his aide searches for the composer's one "Immortal Beloved" to deliver his love letter to her. But which of Beethoven's great romances is his one and only love? Gary Oldman stars.

Nominations for January and February

2006-12-12T06:25:00.000-08:00

It's been rather quiet around here, but I think the holidays have most of us crazed at the moment. I hope we get more active as we enter the new year. I look forward to watching even more movies as I craft and knit and spin inspired!

It's time for the next two month's nominations. The themes for the coming months are:

January - Biographical films or biopics. Here, we're looking for movies that deal with a historical personages life. Examples include: Elizabeth, The Aviator, The Coal Miner's Daughter, Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Beautiful Mind, Mommy Dearest, etc.

February - Romance movies. Yes, it's cliche, but a person can go many directions with this theme. There are romantic comedies, classic romances, melodramatic romances, lots of choices! Have fun with this one. I'm not even going to suggest some examples to keep the field wide open.

So, please nominate two movies for each category in the comments section of this post. Nominations will be accepted until next Wednesday, December 20th at midnight PST. Just as in previous nominations, if you can't think of a second movie to nominate, consider seconding another nominated movie. Seconded movies will make it to our final vote. Voting will begin on Thursday December 21st and extend to Friday December 29th.

Musical links are up!

2006-12-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

I don't have a ton of links but you can find some interesting things about musicals in general and our two selections as well.

I'm also cooking up a sweater design inspired by Funny Face. Who knows if it'll be successful, or if I'll finish it this month?

Are you ready for a musical? What about a contest?

2006-11-30T06:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It's been rather quiet around here in FiberFlix land. I hope that you've had a chance to spend some time with friendship in the movies. Now it's time to enjoy some music in the movies! Remember that the December selections include Funny Face and White Christmas. Of course if you see any musical in December, feel free to share it with us either on this blog, or on our message board.

I decided to spice it up a little by running a small contest this month. If you knit, crochet, weave or spin a project using Funny Face or White Christmas as inspiration, post your FO here on the FiberFlix blog by January 10, 2007 (give you a little extra time here to complete your project). Depending on how many entries there are, the submissions will be narrowed down and 3 to 5 will be put up on the Fiberflix blog for voting. The entry that gathers the most votes shall win a small fibery prize and a little candy for the movie watching.

So get your copy of Funny Face and White Christmas and be inspired!

Spending Thanksgiving with the movies

2006-11-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving (for those in the US)! I'm planning on spending some time with the movies. I'm going to see Oh Brother, Where Art Thou again, and going to start gearing up for the holidays, and our December musicals by viewing White Christmas.

Please stop by the forum to discuss this month's movies, or any other movie talk you'd like. Also post any projects that you are working on that fit in with the themes of our films. If you have something that you started last month for film noir and are finishing it now, we still want to see it!

Anyone have any film plans for this weekend?

Problems with the forum

2006-11-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

STATUS REPORT: The forum is back up and running, and I've added a topic under film noir about Brick for anyone who wishes to discuss. Please, if you've seen another movie that fits any of our themes, feel free to post about them on the forum.

I don't know how it happened, but our forum just disappeared. I'm working on getting it back up and running. Until then, if you have seen one of this month's films, please post what you thought of it. Also please post any projects that have been inspired by this month's films, or last month's.

By the way, thinking of last month's film noir theme, my DH and I saw Brick last night. We loved it. It's a fantastic modern film noir. Has anyone else seen it?

See the hat on Holly Hunter one post down?

2006-11-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Now take a look at Pieknit's new felted hat pattern, Stella.

Oh yeah...

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou ideas?

2006-11-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

Just a post to spark conversation about fiberart crafting ideas from our November films!

Starting with Oh Brother, Where Art Thou... what about a felted version of Penny's hat?

Or a frilly shawl or crocheted flower brooch for Some Like it Hot?

I'm wondering if knitting or crocheting an apron would work for Fried Green Tomatoes...

November links are up and an addition to the forum

2006-11-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to November everyone! We have three new movies to watch together this month. I think we have three very different films, but all should be fun and inspiring for our crafting pursuits. I don't think we actually took the theme of buddy films and expanded it to pick movies about friendship. How appropriate for a month that includes Thanksgiving. I think we all are thankful for our friendships.

I've got a few links from Wikipedia and IMDB up in the sidebar. As we aren't working with a genre, there wasn't a lot out there about buddy films. I have, however, added a section on our forum for fun and games. So if you have some time to kill, start up a trivia, or other forum game about movies.

Our November and December Movie Selections are...

2006-10-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

November Buddy Films:

Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot (1959)

The Coen Brother's Oh Brother, Where Art Thou(2000)

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

December Musicals:

Funny Face (1957)

White Christmas (1954)

We've got some great selections for the next couple of months! There are some intriguing crafting inspirations in these movies as well. I'm interested in seeing some of the nominated films that I've missed as well.

If you haven't had a chance to drop by the forum, please do so! We've had some interesting conversations about film noir over there!

Voting for November and December!

2006-10-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

*Voting is closed*

It's time to vote! Please vote for up to two for both the November Buddy Movies, and the December Musicals in the comments section. Voting will remain open until next Sunday, October 29th at midnight.
ETA: Vote Tallies as of Friday morning are in yellow
November Buddy Film Nominees:

Some Like it Hot(1959) directed by Billy Wilder 8
Shanghai Noon(2000) with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, a western 2
The Big Lebowski (1998) directed by the Coen Brothers 3
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou(2000) directed by the Coen Brothers 8
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) with Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Kathy Bates 8
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) with Paul Newman and Robert Redford 5
Thelma and Louise (1991) directed by Ridley Scott 7
The Odd Couple (1968) with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau 4
Rushmore (1998) directed by Wes Anderson 4
About a Boy (2002) with Hugh Grant and Toni Collette 5
The Color Purple (1985) directed by Steven Speilberg 7

December Musical Nominees:

Funny Face (1957) with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn 13
West Side Story (1961) It's the Sharks vs. the Jets and forbidden love! 6
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon 3
White Christmas (1954) with Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby 13
Moulin Rouge (2001) directed by Baz Luhrmann 5
Newsies (1992) with Christian Bale 1
Singing in the Rain (1952) with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds 5
My Fair Lady (1964) with Audrey Hepburn 2
South Pacific (1958) Love in a time of war. 6
Little Shop of Horrors (1987) with Rick Moranis and directed by Frank Oz 0
Kiss me Kate (1953) Taming of the Shrew set to Cole Porter 7

Watched Strangers on a Train

2006-10-22T02:14:00.000-07:00

The other night, I finally sat down to watch Strangers on a Train, and enjoyed a lot. While I knew the basics of the story, I hadn’t seen it before.

I love how Hitchcock creates so much tension with the use of human behavior without gore. Robert Walker’s performance as the spoiled psycho Bruno was positively creepy, and the carousel scene near the end was pretty scary.

Hitchcock always manages to throw in some humor too.

What I really found interesting is how divorce and marital infidelity was seen 50 years ago. Some things change and some things stay the same.

The DVD has the Hollywood version on one side and the longer British version, which has a little bit more about Bruno on the other. The Hollywood version ends with a humorous scene that's not in the British version. I watched both.

Today, before football, I’ll watch my favorite film noir movie, Sunset Boulevard. It’s a fabulous movie and Gloria Swanson’s performance is astonishing.

Nominations for November and December films

2006-10-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

I know that many of us have just begun to see the film noir selections for this month, but we do need to start thinking about our film selections for November and December. I've decided to run nominations and voting for two months at a time, so we aren't constantly voting on movies, but can plan our film viewing and renting. So here are our themes for the next two months.

November's theme is Buddy films. Now the buddy film is more a movie category than a genre. Buddy films often cross genres. They are many times comedies, but not always. The hallmark of a buddy film is the focus on more than one (often two, but occasionally more) protagonist or main character, and a focus on the nature of friendship between the main characters. Some examples of Buddy films include Thelma and Louise, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Lethal Weapon, Stand By Me, The Blues Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, any of the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movies, etc.

December's theme is Musicals. For our purposes, a musical is a film that incorporates songs sung by the characters that are incorporated into the narrative and advance the plot and/or character development. Many film historians consider the 1930s through the 50s to be the golden age of the musical, but there have been many successful musicals made recently such as Chicago, Moulin Rouge, The Producers and Rent.

So, we're going to be taking nominations in both categories for the next week. Please nominate no more than two films for each category in a comment to this post. Nominations will be collected through next Saturday, ending at Midnight PST. Then we'll vote during the last week in October.

ETA: Here are the Nominations so far (Wednesday morning). Feel free to second any of the nominations as part of your nomination if you wish. Seconded films will make it into our final vote, just like last time. So if you see a great film and you can't think of two new nominations, second it and make sure it makes it to our vote!

Buddy films:
Seconded films which will make the vote:
Some Like it Hot
Shanghai Noon
The Big Lebowski
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou
Fried Green Tomatoes
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Thelma and Louise
The Odd Couple
Nominated films waiting to be seconded:
Rushmore
Rush Hour
About a Boy
Wedding Crashers
Muriel's Wedding
The Frisco Kid
The Colour Purple
All the President's Men
Midnight Run
His Girl Friday
Withnail and I
Twins
Dumb and Dumber
Steel Magnolias
How to Make and American Quilt
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Spy Game
New Nominations?

Musicals:
Seconded films that make the vote:
Funny Face
Westside Story
Rocky Horror Picture Show
White Christmas
Moulin Rouge
Newsies
Singing in the Rain
My Fair Lady
South Pacific
Nominated Films Waiting for a second:
Cabaret
Pajama Game
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Purple Rain
Gypsy
A Star is Born
Meet me in St. Louis
Music Man
Kiss me Kate
Showboat
Little Shop of Horrors
Camelot
Reefer Madness: the Musical
The Young Girls of Rochfort
Damn Yankees
Wizard of Oz
Grease
Oklahoma
New Nominations?

Gaslight & Fiber

2006-10-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

I am sad to report that I fell asleep during the last 30 minutes of Gaslight. I get up really early and this was ending way past my bedtime. I will try to rent it or watch another of the movies this month. I just saw the Maltese Falcon for the first time about 2 months ago so I am hoping for Strangers on A Train.

As for fiber projects I am thinking that I might make a drawstring bag like Ingrid Bergman carried in the first part of the movie. I saw it and thought of crochet and what a beautiful freeform project that would make. Don't know if I can get it done in October, but I'll try.

I just registered for the forum and haven't responded to the email so I decided to post a quickie. I love this whole idea - I hope it lasts a long time!

Fiber & Flix...yeah

2006-10-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hey there fellow knitters,Sherrill here...just joined in and have the three October movies in my queue over on Netflix. What a great way to get lots of knitting done and watch some classics.

Happy knitting to all.

Gaslight on the Double

2006-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hi,

My name is Vera, and my blog is Vera's Crafty Blog. I watched both the 1944 and the 1940 versions of Gaslight last night on TCM. I had never seen either version, and watching both back to back was interesting.

Although the main story was the same, the details were very different, and it was fun to see how some of the same scenes played in the two versions.

I liked the Bergman/Boyer/Cotton version better overall. To me, it was more glamorous than the British version.

I got some knitting done too, I worked on the second of my Aran Braided Socks.

I'll try to rent Strangers on a Train this weekend.

Netflix is telling me

2006-10-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

that the Maltese Falcon is a "long wait!" Could this possibly be because we all want it? :-)

2006-10-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Right after TCM shows Gaslight (1944) starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, they will show the version of Gaslight done in the UK in 1940. Just an FYI! Might be interesting to compare afterwards.

Double Indemnity on Turner Classic Movies

2006-10-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Eventhough it did not win a spot in the list of movies for this month, Double Indemnity will be on the cable network Turner Classic Movies this Sunday Oct.8 @ 10AM EST. This is just an FYI for those that might want to see it.

So, any film noir fibercrafting pursuits out there?

2006-10-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping that everyone is getting a chance to see one or all of the films that we have chosen for this month! I know I'm eagerly awaiting a couple from Netflix. Has anyone thought of any fibercrafting projects inspired by film noir or one of the films? I'm planning on knitting Bonne Marie's Ariann this month. Now, to be honest, I planned on knitting this sweater not thinking about the connection to film noir. However, I think the sweater has is a bit of a vintage sweater with a modern sensibility. Woh, I'm not sure that made any sense! Anyway, I'm hoping as I knit on Ariann while watching Strangers on a Train that the connection will prove more evident!

Also, if you haven't already signed up over at our forum (check the sidebar for the link), please do so! There's already been activity over there. I'm glad we're getting to know each other.

Our October Films

2006-10-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

All of the ballots have been counted and we have a winner. We had such an incredible field of movies to chose from. It was very hard to choose! I decided to put of three movies to watch this month. Watch whichever you want to, or watch all. There will be discussions on all three at our forum. So without further ado, our selections are:

Gaslight

Maltese Falcon

Strangers on a Train

Speaking about the forum, please follow the link and register to be able to post over at the forum. We will be discussing our thoughts about the films over at the forum. If you decide to watch another film noir that didn't win, I set up a place in the forum to discuss alternate films. Please post your projects here at the blog. Also, if you'd like to introduce yourself to the group, please do so here at the blog. We will also be nominating and voting on films here on the blog.

I am currently working on putting up some links on our films and film noir in our sidebar. If I've neglected to put your name and blog link in our sidebar, let me know and I'll fix it.

I did hear from a member that Gaslight will be on Turner Classic Movies on October 10th at 10:30PM EST. Yay!

Time to Vote!

2006-09-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

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.

The Nominations so far

2006-09-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

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.

Nominations for October Films!

2006-09-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

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.

Welcome to FiberFlix!

2006-09-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

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.