Infographic: The Demographics of Ingmar Bergman

I recently discovered a really cool feature on IMDb. Click on any film and you can see the film’s average rating (1 to 10) amongst site visitors who have voted on that particular film. It also shows how many people have voted to make up that individual film’s rating. The really cool feature happens when you click on the total number of voters. It takes you to a demographics page, illustrating how men and women of various ages have voted for that particular film. The possibilities with something like this are limitless, and I can’t wait to dig into it a little bit more. But for now, there’s no better place to start than with everyone’s favorite master of melancholy, Ingmar Bergman. Here’s how the various demographics have voted for Ingmar Bergman films.

It’s Ålways Bergman in Philådelphia

It’s Always Sunny in Philadalphia will be coming back this September, now airing on FXX. They’ve released a series of teasers that pay homage to Ingmar Bergman, thereby creating one of the oddest, most amazing pairings imaginable. Each teaser is riddled with Bergman clichés, and they’re all in Swedish. They’re hilarious, and sure to please the somewhat limited market of people who are simultaneously Bergman and IASIP enthusiasts. As it turns out, I am definitely their target market and I want to high-five the whole cast for creating these ads. Here are the teasers.

Movie Director Baseball Jerseys

There aren’t many opportunities to combine two of the greatest things on earth- baseball and movies. However, to quote Terrence Mann in Field of Dreams, “There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what’s possible.” The possibility today is that I’ve found a way to create baseball jerseys for 15 movie directors. Baseball fans will appreciate that almost all of these have a direct MLB jersey equivalent. There are even a few nods to baseball fans north of the border. Movie fans will enjoy the symbols and themes associated with each individual director.

11 Great Parodies of Ingmar Bergman

When you have a career that spans seven decades, and you’re talented enough to forge some of the best work in your field, it’s inevitable that people will stand up and take notice. Such is the case with Ingmar Bergman, whose films are almost synonymous with art house cinema. Thankfully for us, that means that Bergman’s work has been parodied time and time again. Here are eleven great parodies of Ingmar Bergman’s films.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: The Seventh Seal (1957)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Re-watchterpiece Theater is usually a vehicle for me to tackle questionable films, or films that are likely to elicit a much different response at this point in my life compared to the first time I watched it. And that’s what makes today’s choice so odd. The Seventh Seal has been one of my favorite films from the moment I saw it. It hasn’t even been that long ago that I last saw it. But sometimes, you find yourself in a Bergmany mood and sometimes, in that Bergmany mood, you find that you’ve learned some new tricks.

Ingmar Bergman vs. The World

Ingmar Bergman was a complex man. He spent a lifetime making emotionally and philosophically complex films. That Bergman was one of the harshest critics of his own films is simply part of his neuroses. You may not be aware, but you should not be surprised, that Bergman was equally harsh on other famous filmmakers in his lifetime. There are some quotes out there from Bergman, regarding other famous arthouse directors, that come across like two divas fighting on a runway. And yet, he also gave effusive praise to other filmmakers. It’s fascinating. Here’s some of what Bergman said about other directors. First, the negatives.

Explaining Earth to Extraterrestrials Using Five Films

Wunderkind film writer Sam Fragoso from Duke & the Movies has cooked up a doozie of a blogathon this week. This is the task at hand:

Extraterrestrial forces land on Earth. Unknowing of our planet and society, you can pick five films from the history of cinema that represent humanity. What titles would you choose and why?

It’s a really unique concept. At its heart, the blogathon is about boiling down all of humanity and civilized history into five films. As a human, I feel that I’m uniquely qualified to select five films of my own, each for specific reasons.

Great Moments in Movie History: Fanny and Alexander (1982)

After bringing the Great Moments in Movie History series back from the dead last week, I realized how much fun I have making these things. And hopefully, you all enjoy them too. So I’m going to make a half-assed attempt at turning it into a weekly Friday feature. If I can get into the habit, I’ll use my whole ass and make it a weekly feature for good. Today’s great moment comes to us via Sweden’s very own Dr. Doom, Ingmar Bergman, and his 1982 epic Fanny and Alexander. Frankly, there’s one scene that instantly comes to mind whenever I think of this movie. And it’s been memorialized with stick figures now.

Remembering Erland Josephson: A Career in Screen Stills

For years, Woody Allen has used “surrogates”. They’re characters who are the on-screen representation of Woody Allen. Many directors do the same thing. For instance, Ingmar Bergman did it often, and he almost always used a member of his troupe of actors. Over the weekend, one of Bergman’s surrogates, Erland Josephson, passed away. He was 89 years old. He and Bergman collaborated on more than 40 films and plays. As a fan of Bergman, I am a fan of Josephson by proxy. To honor his career, here are a series of screen caps of Josephson in Bergman films.

The Film Geek’s Holiday: Bergstille Day

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With my (sort of) French heritage, I enjoy celebrating Bastille Day. I do it the only way I know how- with gobs and gobs of French films leading up to July 14th, and compiling my annual list of the 50 Greatest French Films. But July 14th is a special day for another reason. On this date in 1918, my favorite director- Ingmar Bergman- was born.