2023: FOOD
Breakfast: Chocolate covered doughnut holes
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Elevenses: Hoppin’ John
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Lunch: Spanakopita and Mini-Samosas
• Babette’s Feast
Afternoon Snack: Soup
• Eat Drink Man Woman
Dinner: Roast beef sandwiches
• Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
Dessert: Cheesecake with fruit toppings
• Soylent Green
2022: THE APOCALYPSE
- Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
- Tank Girl
- Zombieland
- On The Beash
- Pontypool
- The Matrix
2021: JOHN HUSTON
- Night of the Iguana
- Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
- Petrified Forest
- Wise Blood
- The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
2020: UNDER WATER
- Yellow Submarine
- The Enemy Below
- The Abyss
- City Beneath The Sea (1970)
- 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
- Operation Petticoat
2019: ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- 2016: La La Land
- 2002: Road to Perdition
- 1934: Cleopatra
- 2003: The Far Side of the World
- 1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2018: AROUND THE WORLD WITH HOLLYWOOD
- Canada- Gunless
- Mexico- The Brave One
- France- Moulin Rouge
- Antarctica- The Thing
- Indonesia- Gold
- New Zealand- What We Do in the Shadows
2017: HEDY LAMARR
2016: CATS
- The Rabbi’s Cat
- The Master and Margarita*
- The Cat People (1982)
- Bringing Up Baby
- Born Free
- Gay Purr-ee
- Cats and Dogs
*There were two exceptions to this year’s moviefest: the first film we drew out of the random slips of paper in the movie bowl was That Darn Cat, which was listed on Netflix and Amazon but in both places turned out to be a remake rather than the original, which we would never have chosen if we had known that, so we gave it a pass. The other was Master and Margarita, one of Ottersis’s favorite books; she supplied the Russian language DVDs for the movie fest, and when we opened the package (which she had bought for this occasion) it turned out to be a recent 10 hour tv miniseries! so we watched the first two and, subtitle grammar errors aside, it’s an excellent series. But since we haven’t watched the whole thing, I have no review yet.
2015: WITCHES
- Haxan
- Escape to Witch Mountain
- The Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm)
- Maleficent
- Wyrd Sisters
2014: MOVIES THAT TAKE PLACE IN LA WITH AN ICONIC BUILDING OR LOCATION IN THE MOVIE
- Safety Last – the clock tower was on 7th street in LA
- Singin’ in the Rain – Graumann’s Chinese
- Blazing Saddles – Graumann’s Chinese and the Warner Brothers studios (aerial view)
- Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death – Hollyhock House in Pasadena (and UC Riverside and the UCR Botanic Gardens as a bonus)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit – the Red Line bus system
- The Player – All over LA, with bunches of star cameos as well
- Gidget – Malibu beaches
2013: AMERICAN HISTORY
- Sergeant York (WWI and post war)
- Johnny Tremain (Revolutionary War)
- The Alamo 1836
- Zoot Suit (WWII home front race riot)
- Northwest Passage (French and Indian War)
2012: JAMES CAGNEY
2011: BC
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
- One Million Years B.C.
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
- Caveman
- Prince of Egypt
- Cleopatra
- David and Goliath
2010: FLYING
2009: ANIMAL ATTACK MOVIES
2008: PIRATES
- The Black Swan
- Treasure Planet
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
- Captain Kidd
- The Crimson Pirate
- The Sea Hawk (1924)
2007: UNDERGROUND
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Volcano
- The Mole People
- Treasure Island
- The Descent
2006: HUMPHREY BOGART
- Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- The Barefoot Contessa
- In a Lonely Place
- The Petrified Forest
- Sabrina
- High Sierra
2005: DESERTS
2004: FILMS THAT TAKE PLACE IN A CITY WHOSE NAME IS IN THE TITLE
2003: FILMS FROM 1939
- The Real Glory
- Paradise in Harlem
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Only Angels Have Wings
- Juarez
- Gone With the Wind
*Mr. Otter and I have a long-standing (well over 20 years now) tradition of spending New Year’s Day watching either a long miniseries, (like The Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, I Claudius, or Poldark) or movies based on a theme. If it’s a theme, we pick it early, usually by the beginning of November. We usually pick eight movies or so, and plan to start watching at 10 am and go til 9 at night, which means we generally watch 6 of the 8, picked randomly. Although the year our theme was 1939 we had so much fun that after everyone had gone home, at 9 pm…we watched Gone with the Wind til 1 am! People drop in and out, we have lots to eat and drink, and msting is often encouraged, depending on the movie. It’s a lot of fun.
theotterlimits 