June is usually a very special month for me, with all the celebrations and anniversaries I have.
On June 1, 2012 – I launched the most recent edition (2nd) of my e-book in Romanian, “Guide for Efficient Learning”.
On June 7 it’s my birthday.
On June 15, 2011, I started the Debug Your Mind blog. Read about it here (En) and here (Ro)
On June 17, 2009, I published the first official post on this blog. Just yesterday, I wrote about how important this anniversary is for me.
Well, on June 18, 1997, I saw for the first time a film at the cinema. Since then, film, in all its forms, has been a part of my life. I am a film fan, what they call in France “cinephile”. As I wrote here, my first job was as a film reviewer, and I am very proud of it. I have even taken film directing classes for 1 year and a half in Bucharest, but I never made any movie. I just used it to shape my film culture. Many know that last year I worked as a film and book reviewer for a top Romanian site, filme-carti.ro.
So June 18 is, this year too, the 17th, a very special date, which I celebrate with great enthusiasm by… seeing a film at the cinema! And what better option than the latest “Star Trek” movie, which is the only 2013 film that appears (for the moment, at least) in Top IMDb 250 best pictures ever. All my life, I’ve been a Trekkie. So now’s the time to celebrate it!
Now, mind you, this is a very special thing I share with you, so I prepared a little table: which movies I have seen each year for the June 18 celebration. Although, of course, some of the films have lost some “weight” in the rating – I grew up, I gathered different & better film culture.
Enjoy!
Click on each film title to view a trailer for it.
Year saw |
Title |
Recognition |
Film Director |
My rating then |
My rating now |
1997 | William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1997) | BAFTA for the screenplay, direction, production design, and music. Silver Berlin Bear & Alfred Bauer Award + 4 awards for Claire Danes | Baz Luhrmann | 10/10 | 8/10 |
1998 | Judge Dredd (1995) | – | Danny Cannon | 6/10 | 3/10 |
1999 | The Siege (1998) | Nominated by Political Film Society in the categories “Human Rights” and “Democracy” | Edward Zwick | 8/10 | 6/10 |
2000 | American Pie | the best casting for comedy Casting Society of America, Young Hollywood Awards Best Ensemble Cast | Paul and Chris Weitz | 7/10 | 5/10 |
2001 | Along Came a Spider | 1 award for music | Lee Tamahori | 5/10 | 3/10 |
2002 | La Stanza del Figlio | Palme D’Or, FIPRESCI, Cannes 2001 European Film awards for actor, actress, director; David di Donatello awards for actress, film, music | Nanni Moretti | 10/10 | 8/10 |
2003 | Solaris (2003) | nominated at Berlin Golden Bear in 2003 | Steven Soderbergh | 7/10 | 6/10 |
2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 12 awards (mostly for visual effects and music) | Alfonso Cuaron | 8/10 | 5/10 |
2005 | Osama | 3 awards at Cannes, 2003, best foreign-language film, Golden Globes, nominated for PFS Award for human rights | Siddiq Barmak | 7/10 | 7/10 |
2006 | Inside man | Spike Lee got 3 awards for directing this thriller | Spike Lee | 6/10 | 6/10 |
2007 | California Dreamin’ | Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2007; 5 other awards for the film director | Cristian Nemescu | 6/10 | 5/10 |
2008 | Funny Games [US] (2007) | I wrote about it here | Michael Haneke | 8/10 | 7/10 |
2009 | Il Nascondiglio/The Hideout | – | Pupi Avati | 6/10 | 5/10 |
2010 | Toy Story 3 | Oscar for animation and original song, nominated at Oscar for best picture, BAFTA & Golden Globe for animation, other 22 awards for best animation | Lee Unkrich | 10/10 | 6/10 |
2011 | Hanna | 2 awards for Saoirse Ronan; I wrote about them here | Joe Wright | 9/10 | 9/10 |
2012 | We Bought a Zoo | 1 award for music | Cameron Crowe | 6/10 | 6/10 |
2013 | Star Trek: Into Darkness | Voted on IMDb the best picture of this year so far | J. J. Abrams | 6/10 | 6/10 |
Copyright © Marcus Victor Grant, 2013-present