A longer post about why I'm doing this

I started the ChronoOrder project for about three reasons:

First, I had some films I wanted to watch but kept putting off - in particular, Un Chien Andalou (b/c Dali made a film!?!?!) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (b/c Portlandia) and that 1954 movie where Charlton Heston plays Indiana Jones (b/c obviously. HT: Cracked). Watching the films in order meant that when the year came, I'd -have- to watch those movies.

Second, When Warner Brothers turned 75, the Princess Cinema in Waterloo showed a week of their best films, one decade per day, and I loved it. I loved it so hard. It added a new type of context to the films, and it made some film tropes that are commonplace now seem brand new. This is why I chose chronological order rather than, say, alphabetical order, or by-director, or the like.

And third, I had spent the last three weeks almost never leaving my house, spending all of my time watching TV or movies. This was obviously a problem. So I set a limit: I got to watch a film first thing in the morning, but then I couldn't watch anything more until I left the house to do something else.

The project worked. I saw great films, and I rejoined society. The selection of films was haphazard, mostly based on what I had around at the time, with large gaps between years and as many as 4 or 5 films in some years. But still, I enjoyed it, and I had made it from Un Chien Andalou in 1920 all the way to 1959. Then, while I was in the middle of watching The 400 Blows, my motherboard disintegrated.

So I thought, well, maybe I should do this for real. And tell other people about it so they can join in. And plan the films more carefully. And here we are.

All this means that you shouldn't feel like you have to participate. I don't want anyone to do any homework. I'll get something out of this project even if I'm the only one involved. But if you do get involved, you will surely double the radness.

-Phil

The List Begins

I've created a google doc where we can build the list of films for the ChronoOrder project. If you'd like to get in on it, contact me and I'll invite you to edit it.

Phil's life in Moving Pictures

Hello whoever still reads this. I'm going to repurpose this blog for a while, and I hope you'll join me in the new project.

The project is for me to watch a film a day in chronological order. Believe it or not, I started this as a way to _increase_ my productivity. Mental Health problems sometimes have wacky workarounds.

The project has two phases:

1) create a list of films, one per release year, from the beginning of film until the present day. There are two criteria for inclusion: First, (you and) I haven't seen the film yet. Second, since it's only one film per year, it should probably be one worth watching. The goodness of the film is ABSOLUTELY NOT a criterion. But if it's bad, it should be spectacularly so-bad-it's-the-best-film-choice-of-the-year bad.

2) Each week, I post the list of films selected for the upcoming week. After I watch them, I'll post a brief comment about them here. I'll also tweet snide remarks with the hashtag #chronoorder, probably.

If you want to take part, that's awesome. If you -can- take part, that's awesome too. Here's how you can:

Phase 1: Help me build the list of films. Suggest any film you haven't seen but wish you had, or think you should. Or films you've seen but think I should definitely see.

Phase 2: Watch any films that your whims and circumstances recommend. If you want to watch a film with me (in Edmonton), let me know a day in advance and I'll come to you. If you want to discuss the film, we can have a slow-mo discussion in the comments here.

I do discourage anyone without my particular circumstances from watching -all- of the films. That would be pathological. But so am I. In fact, feel free to watch -none- of the films, and just watch vicariously through me.

Feel free to contact me about this using any medium through which we are connected - twitter, facebook, comments here, text messages, seeing me around, etc. I will start building the list soon.

Let's do this!

Right place, right time

Look at that! Just for living with somebody having a birthday, I get a present! From Simon, who wants me to get in the spirit of his wedding by sending me one of its feature performers.

Priorities

"Ah, I know," I thought, "I'll put the phone across the gap in the table. That way if it spills, the phone won't be damaged!" Then, three days later, I realized my mistake.

YEEEEEEHEEEEEE!

I knew it! As soon as I saw the UPS coming down from the house, I knew there would be a new cheap-ass purple guitar up there waiting for me. A cheap-ass purple guitar with a WHAMMY BAR!!!1!!1!@331!@#1@#!@#123

GAY GAY GAY

Hmmm.... clearly the table formatting didn't work the way I expected, but at least now I have a table that says "GAY GAY GAY".