Category Archives: Editorials

2011 In Retrospect

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A week into the new year, it’s time to wrap up 2011…


Introduction

Everyone has different criteria about what constitutes a Great Film. Some people despise Hollywood-produced mass-market action fare; other people it’s all they watch. Some people can’t stand a slow-paced meditative drama with subtitles; other people it’s all they watch. And, naturally, there are various less extreme opinions in between.

So choosing a best (or worst) films list is always a highly subjective and personal experience, and however acclaimed the critic or definitive the source it will always be so. There’s also arguably a difference between Favourite and Best, and I can never quite decide which my list is; never mind the initial hurdle that I have quite broad tastes. How do you qualify two vastly different films against each other?

But anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard such musings about the compilation of such lists before — I shan’t go on (for a change). Here’s some lists; they explain themselves. Through the cleverness of HTML, I shall provide a linked contents list:

(OK, they’re not all lists.)

As ever, all of these are selected from what I watched this year, so the full list of eligible titles is here.



The Five Worst Films I Saw in 2011

Cloak and Dagger
I think I’ve been quite generous with my scores this year — I was surprised upon reviewing my worst-of-the-year shortlist to find three stars on this review. Whether you’re looking at his German silents or Hollywood noirs, Fritz Lang is an exceptional director. But even exceptional people have off-days.

Valley of Fear
An easy one this, but hey-ho. It’s probably the least-well-regarded of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and while it’s not the worst in this series of animated adaptations — the woefully misjudged version of The Hound of the Baskervilles takes that honour — it’s still not got much going for it.

Saw 3D
Some people write off Saw too readily — while at its worst it does sink to the risible depths of torture porn, at its best it’s an engrossing and complex thriller. This franchise-ender is a disappointment even to those of us who border on liking the series, though. Full of good ideas wasted. Shame.

Monkey Business
Here’s another one I gave three stars (there are several not here that scored lower), but my memory of it is worse. Despite some considerable talent — Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hawks — it doesn’t tie together into something particularly entertaining, in my mind. Passable.

Beyond the Pole
I didn’t hate Beyond the Pole, but there wasn’t a great deal I enjoyed about it either. It’s good when a comedy makes you laugh and, unlike Monkey Business even, this one doesn’t really. It’s a waste of a talented cast. Impressive production values for such a small British film though.



The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2011

10) Gambit
“Go ahead tell the end… but please don’t tell the beginning!” Gambit is worth watching for its opening conceit alone, but once that’s done there’s tons of fun to be had with Caine and MacLaine, bumbling through a con in delicious fashion. Largely forgotten, it deserves to be remembered; perhaps the Colin Firth-starring Coens-penned remake will do it a favour.

9) Centurion
With Scottish landscape shots to rival Lord of the Rings‘ New Zealand, Centurion is breathtaking to look at. Underline that with a tense story and a fantastic cast (not the last time Michael Fassbender will appear in this top ten), not to mention some brutal but not excessive action, and I think you have a winner. A little blokey, but also a little more.

8) Easy Virtue
Looking at reviews and aggregate sites, Easy Virtue seems to be almost maligned. Shame. Adapted from a Noel Coward play, it’s very witty, surprisingly dramatic, and with an outrageously cheeky score. This changeability and irreverence is, I think, quite British. Perhaps it confuses some by not being easily pigeonholed. I adored it.

7) My Neighbour Totoro
It’s hard to think of a film more gentle than Totoro, although some might find things like the cat-bus a bit creepy (me not entirely excluded). Gorgeously animated with a beautiful soundtrack, it lures you in to a world and tells you a thoroughly nice story, with no enforced peril or nasty characters. Refreshingly lovely.

6) Monsters
Made for next to nothing and with all the computer effects home crafted by director Gareth Edwards, Monsters is an amazing technical achievement. But it’s also a character drama about disaffected twenty-somethings and man’s destructive nature, amongst other things no doubt. Edwards is unquestionably a genre filmmaker to watch.

5) Super
It may have the same subject matter as Kick-Ass, but Super scores bonus points for its low-budget very-real-world aesthetic… in spite of featuring some of the craziest anime-inspired CGI you’ll see from a US movie. Very funny, but with a kick too, while Kick-Ass slid into fantasy this remains reality (pretty much). They make a helluva pair.

4) Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
The first film from anime master Hayao Miyazaki has been described by no less than Steven Spielberg as “one of the greatest adventure movies of all time”. Do you need higher recommendation? Exciting and funny, while it may lack the emotional resonance that made Miyazaki so acclaimed later, it appeals rather to my blockbuster sensibilities.

3) Let the Right One In
This is how you do a vampire love story (for everyone but teenage girls). Genuinely touching and emotional, with highly identifiable themes and characters despite the story’s genre subject matter, Tomas Alfredson’s film is an affecting drama as well as a creepy and horrific fantasy thriller. Genre movies don’t get much better than this.

2) X-Men: First Class
Some reviews spied flaws, attributed to First Class‘ hasty production, but I don’t hold with that. As young versions of McKellen and Stewart, Fassbender and McAvoy bring as much acting gravitas as can be had from their generation. Vaughn manages genuine cinematic spectacle, something I thought lost in the age of anything-is-possible CGI. Marvellous.

1) The Social Network
Some unlikeable brats sit at computers programming websites and argue amongst themselves. Sounds like a bloody awful film, but with dialogue by Aaron Sorkin and direction from David Fincher, not to mention a cast of fine young actors, it’s engrossing, exciting and exceptional. It may be The Movie About Facebook, but it’s about so much more. Like.



Special Mentions

Compiling this year’s top ten felt hard — I managed to get my typically long long list (42 titles this year) down to a short list of about 15, then set about re-reading my own reviews… but whichever film I last read about seemed an obvious contender. In the end I plumped for a couple that ‘needed the support’, as it were. Lingering just outside the ten — or perhaps simply unlucky on the day — were The Big Heat, Fritz Lang’s exceptional dark noir; How to Train Your Dragon, an exciting CG-animated movie that proves it isn’t all about Pixar; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, an effective procedural-ish thriller that gives the US remake a lot to live up to; The Three Musketeers, anarchic fun; and the new Winnie the Pooh, which was flawed but loveable.

As ever, I must also mention the 17 films that earned themselves 5-star ratings this year. Eight of them made it into the top ten, the most ever. The two that missed out were close too, but I think I may’ve got tougher as the year progressed: the last perfect score I handed out was in September, and before that July. Anyway, those in the top ten were Easy Virtue, Let the Right One In, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro, Monsters, My Neighbour Totoro, The Social Network, Super and X-Men: First Class. From the handful that missed out, The Three Musketeers was also a five-star-er. The remaining eight were Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Dog Day Afternoon, An Education, Harry Brown, Holiday, The King’s Speech, Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang and Roman Holiday. Whenever I do this bit I always feel like there were some other films I should have given top marks, and maybe some that only deserved four, but here we are.

On top of those 17, David Fincher Week (I promise this is the last time I’ll mention it in these round-ups) furnished us with five-star reviews for two films I’d previously seen — namely, Se7en and Fight Club — and a third for the only-slightly-different Zodiac: Director’s Cut.



The Films I Didn’t See

To finish off, then, here’s my annual tradition: an alphabetical list of 50 films, that are listed as 2011 on IMDb, that I didn’t manage to see this year. These are chosen for a variety of reasons, from box office success to critical acclaim via simple notoriety.

As usual I’ve stuck to my rule of only including films that are listed as 2011 on IMDb, irrespective of their UK release date. So no Senna, no Submarine, no Brighton Rock, for just three British-made examples; but films that aren’t even out here for over a month are included. What can I say, it’s a flawed system. Maybe I’ll finally change it next year.

The list may show a bias towards my personal interests — I do use this as a checklist going forward after all — but then I have quite wide interests, and I had a look at Box Office Mojo’s account of the highest-grossing films in the US to include all I’d not seen from the top 15 (I drew the line at Rio and The Smurfs), and a Best Of list or two too, so it hits most of the major bases. Nonetheless, I’m certain Stuff You’ll Have Heard Of is missing, but that’s what a limit of 50 does. Maybe I should increase it to 100 — that’d be fitting.

But I digress. Here are some films:

The Adjustment Bureau
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
The Artist
Attack the Block
Bridesmaids
Captain America: The First Avenger
Cars 2
Conan the Barbarian
Cowboys & Aliens
The Devil’s Double
Drive
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Fast Five (aka Fast & Furious 5)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Gnomeo & Juliet
The Green Hornet
Green Lantern
The Hangover Part II
Hanna
Happy Feet Two
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Help
Hugo
The Inbetweeners Movie
The Iron Lady
Ironclad
Kill List
Kung Fu Panda 2
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
The Muppets
Paul
Puss in Boots
Rango
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Scream 4
Shame
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Super 8
Thor
The Three Musketeers
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
War Horse
Warrior
Wuthering Heights



A Final Thought

That’s it for another year… well, apart from the 17 reviews I have left to post. Ought to get a wriggle on with those really.

With that, 100 Films is officially five years old. Oo-ooh! Originally I started it in February 2007, looking back on the first few weeks of the year to get it going (to this day I wonder if I forgot any films I watched in that period), and come the proper fifth birthday next month I may have a post or two to acknowledge the relative longevity of this enterprise.

But until then… well, I’ve got a lot more films still to watch…

2011: The Full List

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For only the second time in the history of 100 Films in a Year, I have watched 100 films in a year.

As opposed to over-100, which I’ve done twice, or the obvious under-100, which I did once. And indeed this year I didn’t watch just 100: that’s 100 feature-length films that I’ve never seen before. But you knew that, because that’s what this blog is about. I still think no one’s going to have remembered the rules. Best to be clear, eh.

So, as we’ve reached the end, here’s the first of two summary posts. More on the second post later, but first there’s the complete list of everything I watched: the main list of 100, in numerical order of viewing again this year, followed by lists of other things I decided to review — this year, a couple of shorts and most of the contents of David Fincher Week.

And then there’s the statistics. I love the statistics. There’s some interesting stuff in there this year — including graphs! — though the way things seem to be trending next year might be even more interesting. Only 52 weeks until we get to find out… But I’m getting ahead of myself. It may be 2012, but let’s luxuriate in the events of 2011 for just a moment longer.


The List

#1 Saw VI (2009)
#2 Exam (2009)
#3 Genevieve (1953)
#4 Synecdoche, New York (2008)
#5 Melinda and Melinda (2004)
#6 The Invention of Lying (2009)
#7 Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
#8 The Big Heat (1953)
#9 Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro, aka Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)
#10 The Three Musketeers (1973)
#11 Bolt (2008)
#12 The Four Musketeers (1974)
#13 Harry Brown (2009)
#14 Alien³: Special Edition (1992/2003)
#15 Monkey Business (1952)
#16 True Grit (1969)
#17 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
#18 The Social Network (2010)
#19 Easy Virtue (2008)
#20 Once (2006)
#21 Roman Holiday (1953)
#22 Sabrina (1954)
#23 Clash of the Titans (2010)
#24 Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (2010)
#25 Up in the Air (2009)
#26 Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
#27 Cloak and Dagger (1946)
#28 Unthinkable (2010)
#29 Let the Right One In, aka Låt den rätte komma in (2008)
#30 Let Me In (2010)
#31 The Damned (1963)
#32 Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
#33 Death Race (2008)
#34 Night of the Demon (1957)
#35 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, aka Män som hatar kvinnor (2009)
#36 High Plains Drifter (1973)
#37 Young Guns (1988)
#38 The Day of the Locust (1975)
#39 The Girl Who Played with Fire, aka Flickan som lekte med elden (2009)
#40 Monsters (2010)
#41 My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
#42 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, aka Luftslottet som sprängdes (2009)
#43 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
#44 La Règle du jeu, aka The Rules of the Game (1939)
#45 Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
#46 A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)
#47 Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
#48 Funny Face (1957)
#49 Catfish (2010)
#50 Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
#51 An Education (2009)
#52 (500) Days of Summer (2009)
#53 Salt: Director’s Cut (2010)
#54 The Princess and the Frog (2009)
#55 Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
#56 Iron Man 2 (2010)
#57 The King’s Speech (2010)
#58 The Thief (1952)
#59 Jonah Hex (2010)
#60 X-Men: First Class (2011)
#61 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (3D) (2011)
#62 Ip Man, aka Yip Man (2008)
#63 Law Abiding Citizen: Director’s Cut (2009)
#64 Valley of Fear (1983)
#65 Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance., aka Evangerion shin gekijôban: Ha (2009/2010)
#66 A Study in Terror (1965)
#67 Saw 3D (2D) (2010)
#68 The Locket (1946)
#69 Tangled (2010)
#70 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
#71 Super (2010)
#72 Sucker Punch: Extended Cut (2011)
#73 Source Code (2011)
#74 Glorious 39 (2009)
#75 Nirvana (1997)
#76 The House on 92nd Street (1945)
#77 Browncoats: Redemption (2010)
#78 Bringing Up Baby (1938)
#79 Holiday (1938)
#80 How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
#81 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
#82 Centurion (2010)
#83 Magicians (2007)
#84 The Brothers Bloom (2008)
#85 Batman: Year One (2011)
#86 Battle Los Angeles (2011)
#87 That Touch of Mink (1962)
#88 RED (2010)
#89 Gambit (1966)
#90 Cars (2006)
#91 Beyond the Pole (2009)
#92 Cruise of the Gods (2002)
#93 Diner (1982)
#94 Nativity! (2009)
#95 Hotel for Dogs (2009)
#96 The Spider Woman (1944)
#97 Faintheart (2008)
#98 The Man from Earth (2007)
#99 Winnie the Pooh (2011)
#100 The A-Team: Explosive Extended Edition (2010)


Alternate Cuts
– Zodiac: Director’s Cut (2007/2008)

Other Reviews
– Fight Club (1999)
– The Game (1997)
– Panic Room (2002)
– Se7en (1995)

Shorts
– Catwoman (2011)
– The Gruffalo’s Child (2011)
– Lumet: Film Maker (1975)


The Statistics

As I said, for only the second time ever, I watched exactly 100 films in a year — appropriate for my fifth anniversary. (That’s just the new feature films, as ever. All are included in the stats that follow, even if there’s no review yet.)

I watched a single film I’d seen before that was extended or altered in some not-particularly-significant way. (There was also the special edition of Alien³, which I deemed suitably different to include in the main list.) I also reviewed four others just for the fun of it (well, for that David Fincher Week actually). All 105 films are included in the statistics that follow, unless otherwise indicated.

I also watched three shorts (none of which shall be counted in any statistics). That’s the smallest number ever. Considering I own quite a few shorts DVDs, both contemporary and from the silent era, I really should make more of an effort.

The total running time of new features (the 100) was 170 hours and 23 minutes — not the shortest I’ve had, but certainly not the longest either. The total running time of all films (including, for this stat only, shorts) was 182 hours and 13 minutes — not the shortest I’ve had, but… you get the idea.

I’ve already watched one film from this list again, specifically X-Men: First Class. I think a couple of others may at this point require re-viewing before I can review them, though.

This year’s format victor is TV, for the third year running: with 49 (including 16 in HD) it represents almost half my viewing. That said, last year it was over half, so… At least Blu-ray ran it a close race, totalling 42 this year — that’s 13 more than last time, which was 23 more than the year before. DVD continues its inexorable slide into oblivion (despite my massive unwatched collection) with just nine films viewed on that format, down from last year’s 22. Poor DVD — it feels like an under-loved former-champion to me now. (Oh, now I feel I’ve been cruel to it. Sorry DVD! I’ll watch more of you!) Finally, I watched three downloads (one in HD) and made just two trips to the cinema, half of them in 3D. That’s 33% fewer visits than last year. Or, another way, one less.

The most popular decade was the ’00s, as it has been every year since this blog began. Its hold is beginning to slip though: with just 37 films this year it accounts for 35.2% of films viewed, down on last year’s previous low of 48.4% (the first time it fell beneath 50%). Running a relatively close second was a decade just two years old, the 2010s, with 29 films (27.6%). Nothing else came close, with a scattering across most of the 20th century: three were made in the ’30s, five in the ’40s, nine in the ’50s, six in the ’60s and seven in the ’70s (neat), and four in the ’80s. Finally, with just five films the ’90s had its worst result by half — literally: the previous low was 10 in 2009.

I believe I’ve said in the past that I feel I’ve been more generous this year, and it would appear I have: the average score is 3.8, the highest it’s ever been. Readers with strong memories may recall the previous high was 3.7 so it might not look like much of an increase, but it’s a bit starker if we add a few more decimal points and consider percentages. The previous years’ average scores range 0.77%, from 3.629 to 3.657; this year comes to 3.838, a 4.95% increase from the next highest. Still looks small? The gap between the old highest and new highest is 543% bigger than the gap between the lowest and old highest. So there.

This is helped by 20 five-star films, the second-highest year for those (there were 21 in 2009), and, for the first time ever, no one-star films. As ever, the majority of films — 54 this year — scored four-stars. Rounding it out were 25 three-star films, which is about average, and six two-star films, about half the usual number. So with no single-star films, a drastically reduced number of two-stars-ers, and a pretty generous lot of five-stars, no wonder the average comes out so high. Must’ve been a good year.

Seven films appear on the IMDb Top 250 Films as of New Year’s Day 2012 — not the seven I’d’ve chosen, personally. That’s exactly the same as last year, which is about half the amount in the two previous years, and just a third of the first year! This year’s positions ranges from 129th (The King’s Speech) to 239th (Ip Man). Not that I’m giving IMDb’s user-voted list special treatment, but… well, I am, aren’t I. There are too many other such lists out there I could cross-reference all these films with, so I won’t do any of them. As usual.

At the end of all previous years’ summaries I’ve included a list of 50 notable films I’d missed from that year’s releases. With 2011 over, I’ve managed to see one more from 2007 (bringing the total for that 50 to 26), one more from 2008’s list (bringing it to 14) and five more from 2009’s list (bringing that to 13). In the year since listing 2010’s 50 I’ve managed to see 16 of them — a bloody good start, as you can see from 2008 & 2009’s numbers! As ever, I hope further films from all four lists will appear during 2012 — and plenty from 2011’s too (coming soon).

A record-low 80 solo directors (previous: 87) and a record-high 11 directing partnerships (previous: 10) appear on this year’s list. Topping the list of those with multiple films is David Fincher, who has eight thanks to (of course) Fincher Week. Three of those counted for the main list, leaving him this year’s top director every which way. Seven others have two films apiece: Daniel Alfredson, Kevin Greutert, Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang, Richard Lester and Hayao Miyazaki. For the curious, that leaves 72 directors (and all 11 partnerships) with just a single film.

Also, four directors from this year’s list have surnames beginning “Sch”: Schenkman, Scherfig, Schlesinger and Schwentke. Doesn’t mean anything, I just noticed it. Random.

Finally, 33 of the films (plus two of the shorts and all the Other Reviews) are currently in my DVD/Blu-ray collection, the smallest number yet.


Coming next…

Aren’t the statistics good? I love the statistics. I should save the statistics for last.

Oh, coming next? The bottom five, the top ten, and another list of fifty films from the last 12 months that I haven’t bothered to watch yet.

I better get writing…

December 2011

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2011 is over. 2012 has just begun. But did I make it to 100 in time?


If you follow me on Twitter you know

I did! Just. Three films in the final 24 hours of the year, the last of them finishing just an hour before midnight, see me reach 100 exactly this year. Phew!

In addition to that, six of the finishing eight features listed below were watched in the final three days of the year. Not quite as close to the wire as I had it back in 2008 (11 films in six days, seven of them in the last three), but I didn’t think I was going to get there.


So, my closing salvo included…

#93 Diner (1982)
#94 Nativity! (2009)
#94a The Gruffalo’s Child (2011)
#95 Hotel for Dogs (2009)
#96 The Spider Woman (1944)
#97 Faintheart (2008)
#98 The Man from Earth (2007)
#99 Winnie the Pooh (2011)
#100 The A-Team: Explosive Extended Edition (2010)


Where does that leave us in the grand scheme of thi— well, this blog?

Thus, 2011 ties with 2008 as my third-best year. Hurrah! Though to put it another way, 2011 ties with 2008 as my second-worst year, so, y’know…

It does represent the greatest drop off in potential, though. At the halfway point of the year I was further ahead than I’d ever been — in my best-ever-year, 2007, I’d made it to #60; in my second-best-ever-year, 2010, I’d made it to #64; but this year I’d reached #68. In tied-with-this-year 2008 I’d only limped to #46. Clearly, I need to keep momentum up into the year’s back half.

But hey, 2012’s another year — who knows what’ll happen next time round!


But before all that…

Screw 2012, I’m not done with 2011 yet! There’s my great big long list of everything I’ve watched still to come, along with all those lovely statistics, and the list of films I didn’t see, and — best of all — the statistics.

Oh, I mentioned those? I love the statistics. But almost as good, my bottom five and top ten for the year.

And having to push hard to cross the finish line means I haven’t even made a start on any of that. This’ll be interesting… for me, anyway — you just have to sit tight ’til it all turns up. Probably not that much later than I usually get round to it.

Until then… Happy New Year!

2011’s summary posts are already available here and here.

A pair of comedies — one with snow!

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It’s Christmas Eve! Hurrah! All the best of the season to you, and that kind of palaver.

As I have no Christmassy films stacked up in my big pile of things I need to get round to reviewing, I’ve decided the nearest I can offer to the Christmas spirit is a pair of British comedies (comedies being kinda jolly, see), one of which has snow, which is always Christmassy. Except when it’s just at the North Pole. Like in this film. Oh shh, it’s the best I could do.

Without further witter, then, here are some reviews. Snow first, quality second — it is Christmas after all…

Unfortunately it’s only mildly amusing rather than laugh-out-loud hilarious… On the bright side, it doesn’t go on about the green agenda too much… While I’m all for informing people and reminding them Something Must Be Done, battering viewers round the head when they’re expecting to enjoy a nice comedy is perhaps not the best way.
Read more…


Though the film pokes fun (fairly good-naturedly) at sci-fi obsessives, the underlying story here is about a man overshadowed by his past. In this Rob Brydon gives a strong performance — I think he’s a better actor than he’s normally given credit for… The biggest twist, however, is that Steve Coogan plays a nice character. There’s no surprise sting in the tail there, he’s just nice throughout. It’s weird.
Read more…


Merry Christmas!

November 2011

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It’s the final countdown! Do-do-doodoo, dododododoo, do-do—

sorry.


The final countd— oh, did that already…

This year’s 100 Films is turning into a race for the finish line — always kinda fun, if not record-breaking. Back in June I reached a high for this year of 20 ahead of target (‘target’ being my running total for Where I Should Have Reached To Make Exactly 100 By December 31st… I probably don’t need to explain that every time I mention it at this point, do I?), after which it’s gradually slipped back, so that now — as I enter the final stretch — I find myself just one ahead.

To put it more plainly: there’s eight films to go to my goal. If I made that exactly, I’d equal my second-worst year… or, if you look at it another way, third best. Getting to 101 or higher (“higher” meaning “below 122”, which, c’mon, I’m not gonna get close to) will leave this year as both the third worst and third best. Right in the middle — somehow apt for a fifth year celebration. Not that apt, but shush, I want it to be.


Anyway, here’s the exiguous (thank you thesaurus) list of films that have got me to this point…

#89 Gambit (1966)
#90 Cars (2006)
#91 Beyond the Pole (2009)
#92 Cruise of the Gods (2002)


Stepping up

It’s not just film watching I need to push up a bit, but review posting too. You may have noticed this happen in the last three weeks or so… not as much as I’d’ve liked, mind, so maybe not. I’m currently thinking I’ll aim to post a review every other day, in an attempt to clear some of my large 2011 backlog before 2012 kicks in. Even at that rate I won’t get all the way through, but hopefully there shouldn’t be too many left as we go into the new year.


Next time on the all-new 100 Films in a Year monthly update…

Next time I post one of these it’ll be the very eve of 2012! Will I have made it to 100?

Try not to ruin your nails biting them…

October 2011

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Boo!

Cos it’s Halloween, see. Well, it was when I posted this. Just.


Quintuple X

Still not watched any of those films I’ve been aiming to watch.

Still not at 100.

I think I would have made it to 90 though, or possibly even a bit further, but I re-watched X-Men: First Class on Blu-ray last Friday night and got a burning desire to re-watch the rest of the X-Men films in chronological order (having started with the chronological first, that only seemed to make sense). So using my film viewing time for that these past few days left no room for anything after #88. Ah well.

Nearly done, though (it’s X2 in a bit, hopefully), so maybe next month… maybe…


Meanwhile, this month… er, last month…

#82 Centurion (2010)
#83 Magicians (2007)
#84 The Brothers Bloom (2007)
#85 Batman: Year One (2011)
#85a DC Showcase: Catwoman (2011)
#86 Battle Los Angeles (2011)
#87 That Touch of Mink (1962)
#88 RED (2010)


Next time on the all-new 100 Films in a Year monthly update…

Maybe 100… maybe…

September 2011

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By the end of September 2010 I’d made it to my goal of 100 films.

This year?


Not a chance.

Of course I haven’t. I ended last month on 77 — even at my best, 23 films in a month is madness. (Actually, I did manage it once: August 2007, when I watched between 24 and 29 films. (I wish I’d kept more thorough records of exactly when I watched things back then.) But my next highest is 18, and next 17, so…)

In January’s summary I noted that, if I could keep my viewing rate the same, I’d reach 100 in early September (and 144 by the end of the year). In May things were clearly going to that plan, as I passed #50 and noted that I should reach #100 on September 9th (and 145 by the end of the year). As you can see, that rate didn’t continue.

But hey-ho, the first part of the year always seems to go better than the back bit, and I’m not behind my schedule to reach exactly 100 by the end of the year — indeed, even if I hadn’t watched a single new film this month I’d still be three ahead. But I watched four, so that’s… well, it’s better than nothing, eh…


#78 Bringing Up Baby (1938)
#79 Holiday (1938)
#80 How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
#81 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)


Revamp

Attentive readers may note that I’ve made some changes to the ‘info line’ that starts each of my reviews. I’ve been pondering this for a while now and have finally just taken the plunge. Any suggestions for additions (or removals) from the new set of info are welcome. Changes thus far are as follows:

  • I’ve lost the year. It’s in the post title; there was never any need for it to be repeated. Never.
  • Added the aspect ratio. This one probably won’t always be available or precise, but I’ll have a go. For DVDs and Blu-rays it’s copied from the packaging (unless that’s obviously wrong), for formats where I don’t have such ‘precise’ information it’ll be my best guess from the standard sizes.
  • Added the country-of-production and primary language of the film. I don’t want these to be epic lists of funders and every language spoken on screen, so I intend to limit this to the main country/ies and one language, as far as I possibly can. So, for example, the language for Inglourious Basterds would be “English”, even though a tonne of (subtitled) French and German is spoken throughout. Probably. I may end up changing my mind on this one…

Other than that it’s all stuff that was there before. I’m not going to change all the old reviews to match the new format, though — there’s well over 500 reviews now, I’m not mad.

As I said, feel free to berate me for either including something needless/inaccurate or for leaving out something essential. I’ve tried to keep the list focused on facts that are accepted to be important (e.g. the director) or stuff that can vary depending on the viewing source (length, aspect ratio, language), which obviously might impact my experience and therefore opinion.


Next time on the all-new 100 Films in a Year monthly update…

With just three months to go it’s getting close to the final countdown.

Will I make it to 100 next month? Doubt it. 90? You never know…

August 2011

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Dear fans of Firefly and Serenity,

[The following was all irrelevant soon after I posted it, never mind now in 2015. But hey-ho, the repostathon rolls on…]

In case you’ve not heard of it, I just want to quickly draw your attention to Browncoats: Redemption, a fan film about a bunch of original characters in the ‘verse that takes place in the wake of the events of Serenity. What makes this one notable is that it’s been officially sanctioned by creator Joss Whedon and the appropriate Firefly/Serenity rightsholders to be sold on DVD and Blu-ray in aid of charity. But only until September 1st, which (as the handy countdown on the website tells us) means it will only ever be available for order for another 29 hours*.

I’d meant to review the film sooner to give it a proper push, but me being me I only just watched it. I’ll still aim to get a review up sometime, obviously, but for what it’s worth I’ll be giving it 2 out of 5. Hardly a glowing promotion I know, but I’m scoring this next to all the other films I’ve watched and, honestly, it’s a fan film and it plays like one. That said, as examples go it’s a pretty well-made one. Though the acting, screenplay and direction would be kindly described as “well-meaning”, some of the production values are surprisingly good: there’s a decent spaceship set, well-realised location work, solid costumes, decent fight choreography, professional music, some good-quality CGI, and so on. It’s no Serenity 2, and considering the “proper movie” quality of some zero-budget films (like, say, Primer or El Mariachi (both of which cost less)) it’s obviously a labour of love rather than of emerging talent. But for die-hard, sympathetic fans of Whedon’s series, it’s a passable little trip back to the ‘verse. Full marks for effort, at least.

Plus, if you’re interested in this kind of thing, the DVD & Blu-ray versions come with a host of extras: an audio commentary by the writer/director/producer, the best part of an hour on the making of Redemption, over an hour and a half of interviews with cast and crew from Firefly and Serenity, and a full soundtrack CD.

More importantly than all of that, and why I’m mentioning it despite my rating, is that all profits go to five charities supported by Firefly/Serenity cast & crew: Equality Now, Kids Need to Read, the Dyslexia Foundation, the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, and the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. With just 29 hours left to be able to own the film (unless you’re attending Dragon*Con, anyway), I thought that was worth a mention.


* at the time of posting, hence why this round-up is about 24 hours earlier than normal.


Now back to your regularly scheduled monthly round-up…

After that, I’ll just get on with it. Should I watch anything else in the next 24 hours I’ll sneak it on the end later.

#72 Sucker Punch: Extended Cut (2011)
#73 Source Code (2011)
#74 Glorious 39 (2009)
#75 Nirvana (1997)
#76 The House on 92nd Street (1945)
#77 Browncoats: Redemption (2010)


Next time on the all-new 100 Films in a Year monthly update…

September marks the final third of the year. With under a quarter of films to go, that’s not too shabby… even if I’m still not getting very far with posting reviews.

But hey, tomorrow is another day…

25 Films I Own That I Really Should Have Seen

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This was originally published almost exactly a year ago (as the date above will show). Below, I’ve added an update.

Also new, I feel like I’ve been Quite Clever with the featured image above. It would’ve been even cleverer to get all the DVDs/BDs out and line them up and take a photo, but that’s an amount of effort too far.

Anyway. The original post:

As I reach the three-quarter mark of this year’s 100 films, I’ve decided to take a little look at what’s become a sort of recurring theme this year: films I own but have never got round to watching. And, because I have 25 films left to go this year, there’ll be 25 of them (if I was doing all of the eligible titles we’d be here forever).

And these aren’t necessarily the 25 most significant films or anything — I’m sure if everyone was able to peruse my list of owned-but-never-seen films we’d all come out with different shortlists — but they’re 25 that, for one reason or another (often recommendations by other filmjournal-ists*), I should have seen by now.

Note, mind, that this is no guarantee that these will now be my next 25 films. Indeed, I think I can guarantee they won’t be — my viewing is too beholden to the vagaries of TV scheduling and what LOVEFiLM choose to send me, as well as random fluctuations of whim and fancy. But I really should put a great deal more effort into getting round to these ones.

So, in strictly alphabetical order, we have…

1) The 39 Steps and dozens of other Hitchcocks.
2) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
3) Brazil
4) City of God
5) Comrades
6) Day Watch
7) Die Hard with a Vengeance
8) Fantômas parts 3-5
9) Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
10) Heroes of the East
11) Lawrence of Arabia
12) A Matter of Life and Death or any other Powell & Pressburger film.
13) Moon, and District 9, and other recent acclaimed SF/F films.
14) Night of the Living Dead and the five other Romero zombie films.
15) Oldboy
16) Once Upon a Time in America
17) Princess Mononoke and several other anime films.
18) Rififi
19) Seven Samurai
20) Solomon Kane
21) The Spider Woman and the seven other Rathbone Holmeses I haven’t yet covered.
22) Touch of Evil, not to mention dozens of other film noirs.
23) Up, and also A Bug’s Life and Cars.
24) Waterloo
25) Zatoichi

OK, yes, you might argue some of those “and also”s are cheating, but it’s my list, so ner.

I was going to write little blurbs for each too, as there are all sorts of reasons for each inclusion… but there’s 25 for chrissake, does anyone care that much? I mean, if you’re curious, I’ll happily fill in any or all gaps, but this post is beginning to feel a bit self indulgent and faintly masochistic as it is. Some of the links offer an explanation or a hint at one; others are just IMDb, sorry.


UPDATE (29/8/2012)

In the past year I’ve seen four of the 42 films specifically mentioned in that list: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, The Spider Woman, The Scarlet Claw and Cars.

I am a terrible person.


* Highlighting all of these makes me feel terribly rude, actually. And I didn’t even include all of them. It’s nothing personal chaps. ^

July 2011

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Another month over, and what have you done…

Wait, isn’t that how I begin Christmas posts?*


Failings

Every year of 100 Films seems to see at least one shockingly weak month for my film viewing. Last year it was April (three films); the year before February (two) and July (none); and so on. This year I’d done pretty well — my monthly totals so far run at 12, 13, 13, 9, 11 and 9 — but I have finally crumbled: July 2011 scores a lowly four.

Hey, at least I held the bad month off much longer than usual!

My reviews have also dropped to a trickle, as you may (or may not) have noticed — they stand at a pathetic total of two for the entire month. This isn’t a personal blog (well, it kinda is, but not in that way) so I won’t go on about it too much, but it’s not been a great year and film viewing & reviewing is just one thing to be struggling.

That said, it’s only recently my viewing’s suffered — I’m only slightly behind this point last year, which leaves me ahead of every other previous year. Maybe it’s silly, and it’s certainly counterproductive, but I find my review backlog gets in the way: having 20+ films stacked up waiting to be written about lessens my enthusiasm to watch new stuff. And it’s not as if there aren’t other distractions — there seems to be a tonne of TV worth watching these days… not that I’ve been getting on with as much of that as I’d like…


Anyway — here’s this month’s measly foursome… none of which I’ve posted reviews of yet. [Except I have now, by 2015, of course.]

#68 The Locket (1946)
#69 Tangled (2010)
#70 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
#71 Super (2010)


Next time on the all-new 100 Films in a Year monthly update…

It’s August! Summer! Hot, sunny weather! The perfect time for staying inside trying to stay cool!

That’s what I always aim to do, anyway. And what better way to fill that time than watch movies?

Or TV.

Or read books.

But I’ll try for those movies.


* No, it’s (sort of) how I begin new year posts, apparently. ^