The first month of 2016 is over and done, and what a month it was. Quite the auspicious start to my new year, with a change of jobs and an entire week off to relax in between! During that time, I watched and enjoyed a whole bunch of films, and it was great. And as February begins, let’s reflect on a lovely January by having a look at some great things to read from throughout the month.
Firstly, over at Cinema Fanatic, Marya spent the entirety of 2015 watching only films directed by women, and wrote a post reflecting on the films she’s watched over the year and what she’s learned. An amazing reflective piece with some great recommendations which reminds me to watch more films directed by women in 2016, and to make a concerted effort to do so.
The 8th of January in 2016 was Roy Batty’s birthday, or, incept date! Roy Batty of Blade Runner (1982) fame, that is. Niall of The Fluff Is Raging celebrated Roy’s incept date here. Happy incept date Roy!
January was also the month that I became obsessed with true crime television. I watched Netflix’s Making A Murderer and was swept up in the incredible story and legal process like everyone else across the globe, and when I finished it, I wanted to watch more of its ilk. Luckily, Mark of Movieblort has compiled a great list of more documentaries to watch if you became a Making A Murderer fiend like I did. So far I’ve also watched The Jinx and The Staircase and I’m not stopping at them!
Unfortunately, January was also a month where we lost a lot of talent – with David Bowie and Alan Rickman passing away within a short span of time. Cinema Parrot Disco honoured top ten Alan Rickman films here, and Cara of Silver Screen Serenade made a beautiful tribute to Bowie and Rickman here.
The Golden Globes also happened. I didn’t watch them, because the Globes have really fallen off my radar as of late, but I heartily enjoyed Melissa of Snap Crackle Watch!‘s recap of the top 12 most interesting and worst moments of the award ceremony, complete with the best gifs of the night.
Mark of Movies Remark recently shared this amazing video compiling the works of David Lynch (one of my favourite directors) into about twenty minutes. It’s a pretty lovely watch for Lynch fans and soon-to-be-fans alike. As Mark recommends, crank up the volume, set it to full screen and just take it all in. Some fantastic editing and choices of Lynch’s works.
Meanwhile, Abbi of abbiosbiston.com recently spent a couple of days in one of my favourite cities – Berlin, Germany! She documented some of her travel adventures in this here post, some of which were also my favourite things to do. Missing that currywurst for sure. (On an unrelated note, the photo on my about page is from Berlin as well!)
This month I participated in January’s Genre Grandeur over at Movierob, the chosen genre of which was sci fi films. I wrote about Sunshine (2007), a film I absolutely loved. There are so many great write-ups to read, which you can find here! I also particularly loved this write-up of The Fifth Element (1997) by Girls Do Film.
A post that was made in December (but I read it in January so it counts) from Literary Vittles, Alina documented her reflections and highlights from her year of 2015 which included some splendid travel around the magical country of New Zealand. In true Literary Vittles style, there is some absolutely gorgeous photography – all of which were taken on an iPhone 4, which blows my mind. I also really loved Alina’s post about her goals for 2016.
That’s just about it for my sharing of favourites for this month. Truthfully, I enjoyed reading so much stuff this month that it was difficult to narrow down and include in the one post! What did you enjoy reading in the month of January, this first month of 2016? Feel free to share below!
FILM GRIMOIRE 
Good stuff!
Why thanks! 🙂
Sounds like you had a great month. Glad you did. I will certainly be reading that post on Cinema Fanatic. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks heaps Wendell, hope you enjoyed, and hope you had a great January!
Thanks so much for the mention, Anna! 🙂 It’s funny – I was able to do that Rickman post but Bowie’s death upset me so much that I entirely avoided all posts about him. 😦 By far the most upset I’ve ever been over a celebrity. Some great links here again! I love the idea of watching more films directed by women – I’m definitely going to check that post out. And Happy Incept Date to Roy! Lol! 🙂 Oh, Sunshine is such a great film. I keep meaning to watch it again! And the score is AMAZING.
You’re welcome! 🙂 I’m still quite upset about Bowie if I’m honest. One of those people you never imagined would ever be gone. Meanwhile I can’t stop thinking about Sunshine – what an amazing film!
Yeah – I was genuinely shocked about Bowie. Just didn’t seem possible in a way… 😦
thanks for the shoutout!! best of luck with the new gig
Thanks heaps Niall! 🙂
Lots of great recommendations here – thanks! I’ve been reading a lot of writing & poetry blogs the past few weeks. I am not a poet, not even remotely, but I admire those who make it look easy.
I so admire people who are able to make amazing poetry as well! It’s such a special skill that not a lot of people are able to do. Very admirable indeed.
Aw, thank you for the mention! I’m sorry the Australia post still hasn’t come together – all in good time, all in good time! (I loooooved Australia). Heading off to read a couple of these posts now… By the way, if you’re interested in other film blogs that focus on female directors, you might check out Veronika’s Film Reviews (https://nickysfilmdiary.wordpress.com/)
You’re welcome Alina! No worries regarding the Australia post, though I am looking forward to seeing photos of the illegal fence jumping kangaroo adventure! 😀 Also I love Veronika’s film blog – her writing style is so lovely.
Thank you so much for the shout out. I had an absolute blast in Berlin. Definitely need to go back!
You’re welcome! I want to go back to Berlin post haste as well. I spent ten days there and still feel like I didn’t tick everything off the list. What an amazing city.
I love when you do these and thank you so much for the shout out!! Yah baby I made the list. 🙂
Wahoo! 😀 You’re welcome Melissa, I can always count on you for the awesome recaps!
Woo hoo thanks Anna!
This is a crazy belated response, but thank you so much for the mention of my Bowie/Rickman tribute, lady. Still trying to process the fact that they’re gone.
But on a lighter note, Making a Murderer…OMG RIGHT?! So. Hooked. An excellent roundup as always, Anna! 🙂
And here’s my crazy belated response! 🙂 You’re welcome, loved your post. Still not over Making A Murderer though!
Ugh. I’m with you. I need season 2 naaaaooowww! Lol.