RIP Michael Apted .

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RIP #MichaelApted

One of my *very* favourite directors, without me even realising it!

Of course, he was responsible for one of the most staggering achievements in cinema history: The Up Series. It's a crime that neither he nor the series was every recognised by the #Oscars. Seriously, what an omission.

It was thanks to my film school professor #JedDannenbaum(RIP…sigh…) that I found out about this monumental documentary series (and almost everything else about docs, what a great teacher!). TBH and I devoured the ones that had come out up to that point, and we made the trek to the movie theatre(sigh…) for every installment after that. It wasn't just about life, it kinda *was* life itself, no?, spurring you to put your own life under the introspective microscope in seven-year chunks. We even met the great man himself; he couldn't have been kinder, or more patient(he must've heard my questions like a billion times before).

But, ya know what, after the Up series discovery I was like Michael Apted…yeah, sure, I've heard the name before…and then it came tumbling out. *All* those awesome, well-made, mid-budget studio movies(sigh…) starting in the 80s, they were made by him. Thrillers, dramas, all engaging, all focused on characters and their humanity, the kinds of movies that would be universally applauded today because we've all been so beaten down by the endless binary of sky-high-budget franchise movies and lecturing Awards-Season bait. The tweeners…were have those gone?

Now that 2021 has gotten off to a patchy start, maybe stay in the comfort of your own home, and fire up that old DVD player and pop in this underrated director's formidable body of work, and be prepared to be moved by the humanity of it all…

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#RIP #director #filmmaker #film #movie #cinema #TV #music #documentary #docs #legend

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Seven Up! (1964)
7 Plus Seven (1970)
21 Up (1977)
28 Up (1984)
35 Up (1991)
42 Up (1998)
49 Up (2005)
56 Up (2012)
63 Up (2019)
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Thunderheart (1992)
Incident at Oglala (1992)
Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
Gorky Park (1983)
Nell (1994)
Enigma (2001)
Blink (1994)
Continental Divide (1981)
Amazing Grace (2007)
Agatha (1979)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Extreme Measures (1996)
Class Action (1991)
Critical Condition (1987)
The Squeeze (1977)
Firstborn (1984)
Stardust (1974)
Always Outnumbered (1998)
Unlocked (2017)
Bring On the Night (1985)
Moving the Mountain (1995)
Another Sunday and Sweet FA (1972)
P'Tang Yang Kipperbang (1982)
The Lovers (1970)

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