We’re officially three-quarters of the way through 2012 now (scary, ain’t it?) and this month I pass the three-quarters mark. Indeed, I’ve reached 81, which is exactly where I was this time last year.
Other than that, it’s quite unremarkable. I watched eight films, which is the average needed per month to make 100. After last month’s features being entirely Saint and Falcon vehicles, this month not only had more variety but not a one is a ’40s RKO flick. Back on that train next month, perhaps.
Other than that, the only observable trend is perhaps films of note. And by “note” I mean “success”: a surprise-ish franchise hit from 2011, two of 2012’s biggest films (one of them amongst the very biggest of all time), and an enduring ’80s ‘classic’. Also, Fantastic Four.
September’s films
#74 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
#75 The Hunger Games (2012)
#76 Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, aka The Other Woman (2009)
#77 Fantastic Four (2005)
#78 Avengers Assemble, aka Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
#79 Ip Man 2, aka Yip Man 2 (2010)
#80 RoboCop (1987)
#81 Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project (2011)
Next time on the all-new 100 Films in a Year monthly update…
The beginning of the home straight, you could say. But watching 100 films in a year is always a marathon not a sprint, and with 19 still to go form tells me it’s going to be another month or two — or three — before the titular goal is reached.
Less optimistic than some of my previous end-of-month “how I might do next time” declarations, but more realistic.
The Other Guys sounded like a great concept; so great I overlooked the fact it’s from the director of the massively over-rated 
Everyone loves The Rock and Jackson; no one likes Ferrell and Wahlberg; and they’re not assigned the case, they stumble upon it. Wouldn’t it have been more fun if everyone actually hated The Big Damn Heroes who make it hard for the regular guys to do their job? If a pair of normal detectives were assigned The Big Case and had to prove themselves worthy? Maybe even put the Super Pair in the shade, rather than killing them off in the first act?
I first encountered Outland in a similar context to a lot of people, I think, based on reviews and whatnot I’ve read; that is, as “
It works as well in space as it does anywhere else.
A venture into the increasingly-popular CG family film market from Universal, Despicable Me is about a supervillain who comes to question his evil ways. It was released the same year as the similarly-themed 
The film’s country is officially listed as USA because it’s made with American money, but it feels more like a French production (albeit dubbed with US voices). Look at those directors’ names (though only Coffin is French — Renaud is actually American); it was made entirely in a French studio (Mac Guff in Paris); and it has a kind of feel that doesn’t seem like it came from a US studio. So while technically, yes, it’s American, I don’t think the French side should be wholly ignored. I’m not saying it makes it bad, but perhaps it lessens the apparent superhero feel — that’s a very American genre, after all.
From the co-director of 
There’s a starry voice cast behind the characters, and fortunately they never overwhelm their roles. Which is good, because I’m not really a fan of Will Ferrell and he’s the lead. There’s also the likes of Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill and Ben Stiller rounding out proceedings — not that it matters because, as I say, the voices fit their roles seamlessly.
Despite that aim, these aren’t glaring holes that desperately need a fix. Rather they’re join-the-dots enterprises; the thing most people won’t have noticed at all, that fans may have wondered about, that it’s more fun to connect up than strictly necessary. It makes this piece resolutely fan-only — while it’s quite good, it’s more admin than a story in its own right, showing how various films connect together in the lead-up to 
It’s a standalone piece, and though it’s brief (under three minutes before the credits role), it still manages to add quite a lot to the character of Agent Coulson, who in the main films to this point has been a minor (albeit increasingly major) supporting role. I suppose it’s fitting that Clark Gregg has been the star of these connecting shorts, as he’s one of the main links across the films (he appears in 
They renamed Gay Falcon’s hero, Gay Falcon, to Gay Lawrence (well, Gay Laurence at first, but I don’t think that really matters), moved his previous surname to be a reasonless Saint-like nickname, and in the lead role cast “Russian-born English film and television actor, singer-songwriter, music composer, and author” (and, later, voice of Shere Khan in 
Quite outside of the Falcon film series, this third entry is notable for being the first screen adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. Ditching Chandler’s then-unknown Philip Marlowe in favour of the Falcon in the lead role, this is a version of the character’s second mystery, Farewell, My Lovely — which would be 
As usual, it doesn’t have the same je ne sais quoi that makes the Saint films particularly entertaining (yeah, you know I mean wit); and I can well believe it has “
100Films.co.uk 