Watch This

So, I watch a lot of movies.  Not as many this year as last year, but that still adds up to more than most people.  "Not as many" means that I watched 288 movies last year.

That doesn't mean I go to the theater a lot.  Most of what I watch is not from the year I watch it.  Rather, it's from a list compiled from the New York Times Best 1000 Movies List, the titles in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, a list of interesting movies on Slant (which at this point I can't find on the site anymore--it's been about six years since I started this project), and an alternative doubled canon.

With that much eclectic viewing, it's pointless for me to compare the best movies I see with critics' top 10 lists from any given year.  What I can do is share what I saw last year that I think you should see too.  Of the movies I saw last year, I'd recommend about half of them.  The list below represents those I'd most strongly recommend (those I graded as A- or A).  Take a (brief) break from puzzle-solving, and see if you can find these.  They're listed alphabetically, and I think they're well worth the time.

1. Before Midnight (2013)
2. Camera Buff (1979)
3. Casque d'Or (1952)
4. La Deuxieme Souffle (1966)
5. The Gatekeepers (2012)
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
7. Her (2013)
8. The Immigrant (2014)
9. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
10. Kaos (1984)
11. Museum Hours (2013)
12. Le Plaisir (1952)

I Want to Believe

Title: I Want to Believe

Rating: 3/5

Sometimes an idea takes hold for whether a certain design is possible.  I wanted to pay homage in my own small way to The X-Files, a show I adore.

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must multiply to the indicated product.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule. 

Windmill

Title: Windmill

Rating: 3/5

As happened in a previous puzzle, this sum puzzle contains regions that overlap each other (instead of just abutting each other).  May your pursuits to solve this one not be quixotic.

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must add to the indicated sum.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the sum for adjacent regions of each of those colors.
• Cells at the following positions belong to the regions that go horizontally and vertically through that cell: (2,2), (2,8), (8,2), (8,8).  The (light purple) color of these cells is the RGB-average of the colors from the horizontal and vertical regions that intersect there. 
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule.

Sea Breeze

Title: Sea Breeze

Rating: 3/5

It's starting to feel like winter, but perhaps this drink (a combination of vodka, cranberry juice, and grapefruit juice on the rocks) will bring back memories of warmer days.

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must add to the indicated sum (denoted by +) or multiply to the indicated product (denoted by *).   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the sum/product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that repetition doesn't violate the first rule.

Rotation

Title: Rotation

Rating: 2/5

While all of these puzzles have rotational symmetry, this week's product puzzles strives to highlight that symmetry as clearly as possible.

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must multiply to the indicated product.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the product for adjacent regions of each of those colors.  
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule. 

Drip

Title: Drip

Rating: 3/5

A medium difficulty puzzle for a medium kind of December day.

The official rules:

• The digits 1 through 9 appear in each row and each column exactly once.
• Digits in each shaded region must add to the indicated sum.   
• Squares with multiple colors contain a number that’s used in the sum for adjacent regions of each of those colors.
• Remember: numbers can repeat within a shaded region if that doesn't violate the first rule.