I noticed that a lot of people started following my lead in 2012 and did weekly posts listing every title they watched (or monthly in some cases). To those of you who started the routine, I’m curious to know what you think of seeing your habit strung together chronicling a year’s worth of consumption. Are you watching as many as you thought? More? Less? Do you want to increase your first-time viewings?
If you thought logging an entire year’s worth of moviegoing was intriguing, allow me to tell you that keeping the habit going will provide for even more intrigue.
Considering that this now makes two years that I’ve been logging what I watch every week or so, I now have a baseline to measure changes in the routine.
For instance, I can see at a glance that I watched about 15% more in 2012 than I did in 2011. I think a part of that increase came from my tendency in 2012 to PVR films off TCM. Having all sorts of titles I’ve never seen before ready and waiting certainly did prompt me to queue up more movies during down moments. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – I don’t know how you Netflix users get anything done.
With that said, I do still wish that my new watches-to-rewatches ratio was a bit more skewed. There are so many amazing films out there that I’m yet to catch up with…continually dipping back into my own stash seems like a waste of time!
And so we turn a page. Next year might bring higher numbers, or if my hometown baseball team does as well as I hope, next year might bring lower numbers. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Here’s a breakdown before the final entry of the year
490 Films watched
252 First showings
238 Re-watches
124 Screenings
366 DVD’s
18 Different theatres
81 Commercial films
3 Film festivals
38 Festival screenings
28 Films watched twice each
3 Films watched three times each (CAFE DE FLORE, BATMAN BEGINS, and 500 DAYS OF SUMMER)
4 Films screened in theatres twice (CAFE DE FLORE, THE MASTER, CLOUD ATLAS, and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK)
Here’s The Final Stretch of 2012…
Screenings
DJANGO UNCHAINED - One of the year’s best. Might garner a rewatch before it leaves theatres.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS - One of the year’s most underrated titles.
WHO’S THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR - My list of unseen Scorsese dwindles that much more.
MYSTERIOUS SKIN - Lordy did I ever feel icky watching this…alone.
THE WILD ONE - A better piece of iconography than an actual film.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
NATIVITY! - Keep this in mind for next Christmas. Martin Freeman at his best.
ELF - My holiday go-to.
RANGO - Another film I believe is underrated, despite its Oscar win.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL - RANGO led to a Depp/Verbinski double-feature.
THE POLAR EXPRESS - The first half of a Christmas Eve double-feature.
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET - The second half of the Christmas Eve double-feature.
BATMAN BEGINS - Guess who got The Dark Knight Trilogy Box on blu-ray?
TAXI DRIVER - Movies like this make me wish I saw New York City before Giuliani got his hands on it
MOON - Another Christmas gift. Watching it reminded me that I desperately need to get my mitts on the soundtrack.
LIVE FOREVER - A fantastic doc on the Britpop era of English music.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - The New Year’s Eve selection prior to going out for the night.
21 comments
Nikhat says:
Jan 2, 2013
Happy New Year!
I adored Rise of the Guardians and The Polar Express is my favourite Christmas movie.
Also 490 was SO close! I myself ended up with 439, but I did manage to watch those 300 first-watches.
Firsts: Amadeus- I had expected to hate it for some reason. Felt quite the opposite when I finished. Gotta learn Mozart’s laugh.
Flight- Washington was really good. The film was nice enough.
Pitch Perfect- It was fun and Fat Amy was aca-awesome!
Gremlins- So my kids are not going to watch it until they’re about 12.
Moonstruck- I’m still laughing over “sexy” Nicolas Cage :’)
Rise of the Guardians- What I said above. Also if it weren’t for Merida’s hair, I think Jack Frost would have been the prettiest animated character of the year.
Hesher- I was a bit creeped out while watching but the more I think about it, the funnier it becomes.
The Heartbeats- Loved it. Officially one of my favourite looking films ever. Also proved to be a wake-up call since Xavier Dolan is 23 and this year I will turn 21 and what the hell am I doing with my life?
Lincoln- I am so sorry Ryan, but I fell asleep :/ I really loved Jones and the voting scene though.
The Lives of Others- Fan-freaking-tastic!
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans- Just lovely.
The Kid with a Bike- Interesting and thankfully not depressing.
Cloud Atlas- Quite possibly the most entertaining film I have seen all year. Went straight to me number 2 of the year and might go higher after a rewatch.
Munich- Now this I loved.
Bernie- So sweet and funny. Black was excellent.
Rewatches: How the Grinch Stole the Christmas- I adore the Grinch. He’s the best.
Jingle all the Way- Christmas tradition.
Up- That opening man.
The Boat that Rocked- Last film of 2012 and first film of 2013. So much fun!
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 2, 2013
With GUARDIANS, I was actually most impressed with the character design of Sandman. I damned near peed myself when he got in the sleigh and put his hands in the air.
AMADEUS is a personal fave – fun fact: It was the dvd I tossed on to test out my new surround-sound system (works great!).
Gotta wonder what’s with all the hate for CLOUD ATLAS, eh?
SJHoneywell says:
Jan 2, 2013
I ended the year on 455 films, about 2/3 being new to me. I’ll take it.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 3, 2013
No matter what your final number is, if 2/3 of the tally is made up with first-timers, you’re “getting it right”.
James Blake Ewing says:
Jan 2, 2013
You should not watch it again and watch more films you haven’t seen yet. There are so many great films waiting to be watched. Of course, I’m on the other end of the spectrum and usually end up only rewatching about 20-30 films a year. I just got too many new films to watch.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 3, 2013
Rewatching isn’t my preference, but there is a reason why that happens. Of all the films I rewatch, I’d say somewhere around half the time, I’m shutting my brain off and unwinding. It’s a Tuesday, it’s 10pm, I’m not ready to turn in for the night, but not alert enough to pay complete attention either.
Thus, I reach for something I know and something I love to serve as a distraction. I could easily spend the time reading, but giving an old favorite another look just seems more fun.
I *would* like to lower the quotient in 2013, but no promises.
SDG says:
Jan 2, 2013
I started pretty late. So, I have too many films to watch. This year my stats were 305-22. Little too skewed maybe but on the other side. I expect them to be little better this year. I really need to watch some movies again to better decide my stance but not much will change I guess.
This was my first year of doing this. So, I don’t have anything to compare too but I enjoyed doing this more than I thought I would. So, I am certainly sticking to it.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 3, 2013
Sorry – what do you mean by “I started pretty late”?
SDG says:
Jan 3, 2013
Well, I became serious about my movie watching in last three years. I did watch many movies before that but most of it was popular stuff. I wouldn’t seek out foreign, classic or even little unknown stuff that I do now. I wouldn’t go behind an actor or directors filmography. So basically, I wouldn’t have thought about Blond Spot three years ago. That’s why “I started Pretty late”
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 6, 2013
Now I get ya. The bright side of that? There are so many joys left for you to discover! I say this every time I see someone come up with a blind spot list where I’ve seen half or more – I’d give anything to go back and be able to see some of these gems for the first time.
So don’t fret “starting late”, if anything it means that the next few years will be a constant joy for you!
Steven Flores says:
Jan 2, 2013
During that week,
First-Timers: Crossfire Hurricane, 12 Monkeys, Django Unchained, Time Bandits, Les Miserables, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and The French Connection.
Re-Watches: All I Wanna Do, Analyze This, and A Clockwork Orange.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 3, 2013
That, sir, looks like one solid week of watching.
As a Stones fan, I am curious about CROSSFIRE HURRICANE…but all the same I worry that it won’t tell me anything that I don’t already know.
Sam says:
Jan 2, 2013
Wow Congrats on such an impressive number. RANGO is a film I just don’t get, despite many peoples love for it. I just don’t find it funny at all.
I hit 356 single watches and around 100 rewatches. I saw PROMETHEUS, MONSIEUR LAZHAR, HOLY MOTORS, THE MASTER, THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and a bunch of others in cinemas twice. I’ve watched SHAME 7 times this year, and DRIVE 4 times.
My last film of the year was THE GUILLOTINES 3D in the cinema. I’d like to pretend that it didn’t happen.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 3, 2013
Funny thing, in the week in between Christmas and New Year’s I left a lot of my Christmas loot unwatched because it would have upped my tally of films watched twice or three times for 2012.
7 times – that’s hardcore! Especially for a film so…um…hardcore.
Regarding RANGO, I’m curious: Where do you come down on Polanski’s CHINATOWN? I ask because it was my love of the latter that spurred my love for the former.
Sam says:
Jan 3, 2013
SHAME just offers up new discoveries every time I watch it. It’s a beautiful film.
It’s been so long since I watched CHINATOWN that I honestly didn’t draw any connection between them. But I do like it, and really need to rewatch it. I was probably too young when I initially saw it.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 6, 2013
Sure, sure, ‘new discoveries’.
“Hey is Sam watching porn again?”
“No, she says it’s some art film called SHAME.”
I kid of course.
When you get a chance sometime, schedule yourself a little CHINATOWN/RANGO double-feature. You can thank me later.
Will says:
Jan 2, 2013
Well I didn’t take to this on my own site, and I’ve only done it for a few weeks here, but it definitely makes me realize how far from center my viewing is. I see everyone else listing lots of the newest stuff to drop and I’m generally listing a plethora of stuff most haven’t heard of. I hope for 2013 to allow for more theater going!
First time:
The Postman
Fist of the North Star (the American, live-action version)
Run of the Arrow
Casa De Mi Padre
The Lady Hermit
Django Unchained
Re-watches:
Escape From L.A.
Forbidden Zone
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 3, 2013
For my money: Stay far from centre. I’d rather look at lists like yours and get ideas for essentials I haven’t visited yet, or indies I need to move up the queue than seeing the seventeenth person in a week to mention watching THE AVENGERS.
Heck, as it is, looking down your list makes me realize that it’s high time I scratched ESCAPE FROM L.A. off my list.
Sean Kelly says:
Jan 3, 2013
I got a lot of blu-rays for Christmas and this list should be bigger, but I also got the video game Skyrim, which I have been playing non-stop.
However, I still got quite a few movies in.
Screenings:
Scrooged – Great seeing one of my holiday favourites on the big screen
A Christmas Story – Cute film
It’s A Wonderful Life – Second year in a row I saw this theatrically
Django Unchained – I liked it, though it should’ve ended earlier
Les Misérables – The fact I liked the musical (when I saw it on stage 14 years ago) probably bumped up my opinion of the film.
Blu-Ray First Time:
True Romance – I liked the film, HATED the score (even though it was done by Hans Zimmer).
Blu-Ray/Netflix/TV Rewatch
Elf – One more year until this is ten years old….
Home Alone 2 – This film is now 20 years old (I’m old…)
The Goonies – Always fun to watch
Reservoir Dogs – Guess who got the Tarantino box set?
The Muppets – Still enjoyable the second time.
Helen says:
Jan 5, 2013
I’m an inveterate list maker and have been keeping track of the movies I see and books I read for over 15 years now. The greatest benefit is as a memory aid. I’d never be able to put together year-end “best-of” lists without my master list. How I feel when I see a title down there in black and white and have absolutely no memory whatsoever of seeing/reading it is another story.
Last night the Indianapolis Museum of Art started its annual winter film series with THE FALL. I love that movie more than I can say and it was great to see it again on the big screen.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 6, 2013
I swear I am the only person on the planet who has never seen THE FALL. I must remedy that in 2013. And I hear ya on the list-making. I think that’s *really* the reason why I keep this site going!