Category Archives: progress reports

How am I doing? Including monthly updates.

2013: The Full List

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Here we are for the seventh time, dear readers: a new year begun, meaning it’s time to look at the one just passed.

2013 was an above-average year for 100 Films in purely numerical terms: I watched 110 films that were new to me, a number higher than I managed in four of the blog’s six previous years. There are a whole host of ways I’ll be (over-)analysing that viewing, both throughout this post and another in a few days’ time — perversely, this is one of my favourite bits of the year.

Anyway, because there’s a lot of long lists stretching out this post, let’s begin with a list of handy links, enabling you to jump down to whichever bit interests you:

So without further ado:


2013 As It Happened

Below is a graphical representation of my viewing, month by month. More importantly, each of the twelve images links to their relevant monthly update, meaning this is where you can find a numbered list of every qualifying film I watched in 2013.













The List

Alternate Cuts
Other Reviews
Shorts

The Statistics

As I expect you know by this point, I watched 110 new (to me) feature films in 2013. (All are included in the stats that follow, even if I’ve not posted a review yet.) This makes 2013 my third best year ever, behind 2007’s 129 and 2010’s 122.

I also watched three features I’d seen before but were now extended or altered in some way. I also chose to review ten others for the fun of it. Between those two groups there’s all eight Harry Potters, watched and reviews as part of my thorough retrospective. All 123 films are included in the statistics that follow (except where indicated).

I also watched four shorts this year (which shan’t be counted in any statistics… except for the one that says they are). That’s one fewer than last year and one more than the year before, but as I own literally hundreds on DVD, I really should be doing a lot better.

The total running time of new features this year was 209 hours and 10 minutes, a huge increase on last year; indeed, it’s the highest ever (by 58 minutes), over a year that had about a dozen more films. Lots of long ‘uns this year. The total running time of all films (and this is the one that does include shorts) was 239 hours and 29 minutes — which, as you can see in the graph below, makes this year the longest by some way; in fact, new features alone definitively tops the entirety of viewing from all but one previous year!

This year’s most prolific viewing format was, for the first time, Blu-ray. HD discs accounted for 59 of films watched, which is also the format’s highest tally to date. Second was television, bumped off the top spot for the first time since 2008 (when it finished fourth). I watched 42 films on the gogglebox (just four of them in HD), which is also its lowest total since 2008 (when it accounted for just 10!) Also-rans include DVD with eight (considering my vast collection, I ought to invest a bit more time in them) and downloads, also with eight (mostly Falcon films nabbed from iPlayer, but also two others in HD).

Finally, after ‘storming’ from nowhere to a massive four films last year, streaming continued its (minor) resurgence with six. Last year it was thanks to Netflix and LOVEFiLM, this year it’s Now TV (which also means they were all in HD, something the other two services didn’t offer through my Wii). To be honest, I’m surprised that number’s so low — I really ought to have made better use of the service. Maybe in the early months of 2014.

For the first time since this blog began — indeed, for perhaps the first time in almost 20 years — I didn’t make a single trip to the cinema this year. Put that down to personal laziness as much as apathy with the current state of the cinematic experience. Sad in a way, but so often I find it such a palaver, and an expensive one at that: when you can get a new release Blu-ray for little more than the total cost of a solo cinema trip (and these days, if I cared enough to go to the cinema for it, I’m almost certain to want the Blu-ray too), it makes financial sense.

This year’s closest temptations were The Wolverine (now the first X-Men film I’ve skipped theatrically), Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary special (I was going to catch an encore but, of all things, a broken boiler got in the way), and Gravity (“see it in 3D on the biggest screen you can find,” they wailed. I forgot.) Maybe next year I’ll be tempted to make the arduous shift from my sofa to a cinema seat by the likes of X-Men: Days of Future Past and… um… well, I’m sure there’s something else to look forward to…

The most popular decade in 2013 was the 2010s, with 54 films. Unsurprisingly, 2013 itself accounted for a goodly chunk of that. At 43.9% of my total, the ’10s are also up a fraction on last year. Continuing that pattern, the ’00s finish second again, with 22 films (17.9%) — numbers close to 2012’s.

In all, my viewing spanned eight decades — as with last year, every decade since the 1930s is covered (I really must make an effort with my silent film DVD/BD collection). With post-millennial years taking the top two places, it falls to the last millennium to round out the list: the ’40s and ’50s come joint third with 10 (8.1%) apiece, while the ’60s are just behind on nine (7.3%). In descending order, the ’80s claim seven (5.7%), the ’90s account for five (4.1%), the ’70s manage three (2.4%), and the ’30s have just two (1.6%). Finally, if I included shorts in these things the 1900s would also feature, thanks to 1902’s A Trip to the Moon.

Last year, 106 of the 108 films I watched were wholly or significantly in English. Poor. This year, it was 115 out of 123 — still not great if you’re looking to take in the vastness of world cinema, but 93.5% vs. last year’s 98% is clearly an improvement. A distant second was Japanese with four (3.3%), and there were two apiece containing significant amounts (or being wholly in) French, Italian and Mandarin. Still, as last year’s complete list of languages was “English, German, Cantonese and Mandarin”, the total of 11 this year (plus “silent”, if you count that) is a step in the right direction. Others of note include Sioux (thanks to Shanghai Knights) and Klingon (guess). OK, maybe I shouldn’t count the last one. Call it 10 languages, then.

Moving on to countries of production, the USA is similarly dominant, producing or co-producing 102 films. At 82.9% of my viewing, that’s actually marginally up on last year. Second place again belongs to Britain with 36 films (29.3%), also upping its share from 2012. A mixture of co-productions obscure the true numbers for country-of-origin, but other numerical highlights include France (8), Germany (6, all co-productions if I remember rightly), Canada (5), Italy (4), Japan (3, none of them co-prods), and South Africa (3, an increasingly popular co-production destination I believe). A further 12 countries have one or two productions to their name, although I think only Sweden’s sole entry was entirely their ‘own work’.

This year I also totted up the BBFC and MPAA certificates of films I watched. From the BBFC, the PG, 12 and 15 certificates were all pretty well balanced, with 31, 34 and 33 films respectively. Of the outliers, 12 were rated U and nine were 18s, leaving four that somehow weren’t BBFC certified at all.

The MPAA are a funnier lot: the top certificate from them is “Not Rated”, with a total of 39. That’s because they don’t insist on reclassifying old titles, plus a few “unrated cut”s. The highest genuine rating was just behind: the ubiquitous PG-13, with 37. Elsewhere, R-rated films totalled 27, there were 18 at PG (compare to the BBFC’s 31), the surprisingly-rare G put in one appearance, and there was even an NC-17! Feel free to go hunt that one out.

(I was going to include a graph here, but it didn’t really show anything the numbers don’t. That is to say, the BBFC are more reasonable.)

After just three of 2012’s films appeared on the IMDb Top 250 — the lowest number ever — this year has seen a resurgence. As of New Year’s Day 2014, 13 films from 2013’s main list appear upon that hallowed chart; one of my higher totals, though not a patch on 2007’s 21. This year’s lot is made up of the 11 I saw from What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…? (which had to be on the IMDb Top 250 to qualify), plus Django Unchained (53rd) and It Happened One Night (135th). The positions range from 18th (Seven Samurai) to 197th (The Night of the Hunter). For all that, I still have some 114 Top 250 films to see.

At the end of all six previous years’ final summaries, I’ve included a list of 50 notable films I’d missed from that year’s releases. Taking into account 2013’s viewing, I’ve managed to see (deep breath) two more from 2007’s list (bringing the total for that 50 to 29), no more from 2008’s (leaving it at 14), two more from 2009’s (bringing it to 17), one more from 2010’s (bringing it to 23), and four more from 2011’s (bringing it to 20). It’s now a year since I published 2012’s 50 (obviously), and in that time I’ve managed to see 14 of them. A solid start, but as I own or have access to over 20 more, I could do a lot better.

A total of 96 solo directors and three directing partnerships appear on the main list this year. Foremost among these numerically is George A. Romero with six films, while there are two each for William Clemens, Justin Lin, John Madden, Orson Welles and David Zucker. Elsewhere, Jay Oliva appears once on the main list and once in the additional films. The latter also gives us four films for David Yates, two each for Chris Columbus and Gordon Flemyng, and two shorts for Louis D’Esposito. Most of those multiples are thanks to franchises: “the Dead” (Romero), the Falcon (Clemens), Fast & Furious (Lin), Naked Gun (Zucker), Batman (Oliva), Harry Potter (Yates, Columbus), Doctor Who (Flemyng), and Marvel (D’Esposito).

I noted previously that there seemed to be an uncommonly high number of noteworthy directors who I was encountering for the first time this year. They include Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal), Frank Capra (It Happened One Night), John Cassavetes (The Killing of a Chinese Bookie), Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves), Georges Méliès (A Trip to the Moon), Nicholas Ray (On Dangerous Ground), and George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead, and the rest). There could be said to be more (Andrew Dominik, Richard Fleischer, Charles Laughton, Ben Wheatley…), but your mileage may vary.

Lastly, the scores. 2013 ushered in 22 five-star films (the most ever!) and just one one-star film. 2012 saw three-star films top the tally for the first time; 2013 saw the highest number of three-star films ever, at 44… but they were nonetheless bested (just), by the 46 four-star films. Hurrah for quality! Last but not least (literally), there were 10 two-star films.

To be frank, I expected the number of films I awarded three stars to have again exceeded the number given four. Last year I wondered if I was being harsher or just watching poorer films; this year, I’d felt certain I was doing the former, with multiple movies that would previously have benefitted from my benevolence being cruelly stripped back to that middle rank. And I only felt a little bit bad about it. In fact, the only thing that ever gives me pause is that there are archive four-star reviews which, for parity’s sake, ought now to be three-stars. I guess I’ll just have to live with that.

Finally, then: after last year’s record-low average score, this year saw it rise back into regular territory, finishing up at 3.6. Hurrah again!


Coming next…

It’s time to definitively wave goodbye to 2013 with my final summary post. My bottom five are already chosen, my top ten currently has fifteen entries, and the long list for my “50 unseen from 2013” stands at 113… but fear not, dear reader: choices will be made, and all will be revealed this weekend.

December 2013

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Merry New Year to you, dearest reader. Before I get really stuck in to reviewing the year as a whole, there’s one final month to look at individually.

That said, we begin proceedings with how things went for my new-this-year challenge-within-a-challenge…


WDYMYHS 2013What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

Having set out with the goal of watching one super-acclaimed film per month, I somehow ended up with three to get through come December. That didn’t quite go to plan then. Undeterred, I shall be attempting this again in 2014… even though I wound up only seeing 11 of the 12 films I was supposed to.

So what were the final two? Well, both were from the 1950s — somewhat unsurprisingly, considering that decade made up half the starting list. More precisely, they were Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, and a film I’ve been meaning to see for so long I can’t even remember how long that is — and, indeed, one that inspired this very project — Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

What got missed? Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. Hey, I don’t like boxing movies. It won’t roll on to 2014’s WDYMYHS (unless it qualifies again under whatever new rules I cook up — yes, there will be a modified selection process), but I still intend to try to squeeze it in during January.


Seven SamuraiDecember’s films in full

#104 On the Waterfront (1954)
#105 Arthur Christmas (2011)
#106 Hanna (2011)
#107 Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
#108 Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)
#109 Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
#110 Seven Samurai, aka Shichinin no samurai (1954)


Analysis

110! A nice strong number, I’d say. Also, the first time I’ve ever finished in the 110s (after two 90s, two 100s, and two 120s).

The total for December 2013 (seven films) is pretty much in line with the same month from the last few years: in 2012 it was six, in 2011 it was eight, and in 2010 it was seven. Quite a different tale to the early years: it was double that in 2009 at 14, and 2008 was the infamous “race to the finish” year that saw me churn through 19 films (still the highest ever single month in the blog’s history).

I won’t share too much more analysis on how December fits into the year as a whole, because that’s what the big stats thing in the next year-end summary is for. If I were to rank the months of 2013, though, it would come 8th, which is the lower end of the middle.


The Advent Calendar

Last year’s inaugural 100 Films Advent Calendar wound up only managing 23 of the intended 25 reviews… though it was still a great success, both in reducing my backlog and producing views: December 2012’s hits were up 41% on November 2012’s.

This year, it’s a similar story: I managed to get in all 25 reviews, reducing the backlog once again, and the views for December 2013 were up 18% from November 2013 — and up 74% from December 2012! Rest assured, unless I manage the unlikely feat of keeping on top of my reviews, it’ll be back in 2014.


Next on 100 Films in a Year…

No “list of five” this month because, quite frankly, I’ll be chucking enough other lists your way soon enough: there’s the full list of 2013 viewing, my bottom five, my top ten, and the 50 I missed, not to mention all the lovely stats.

And then it all begins again, for the eighth year. Octastic!

November 2013 + 5 Number 100s

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November: the month with Men in its posters!

(I was going to open this post by ‘singing’ Europe’s The Final Countdown. Then I realised I did exactly that in November 2011. I’m nothing if not unoriginal.)


Ooooooone-huuuuuundred!

Yes, for the first time in 23 months, 100 Films in a Year has a #100! And for the first time in the history of ever, I’ve made it to #100 in a month that isn’t called “September” or “December”.

There’s a more detailed history of this blog’s #100s further down, but an analysis-like bit first: in the previous six years, I’ve made to 100 films a total of four times. Two of those were reached in September, two on December 31st. November now joins those illustrious ranks, completely ruining any patterns you thought you might’ve been able to see. But that’s good, because it breaks a cycle that only led to expectations, and expectations are always awkward.

More about November’s total and the usual analysis in a bit. First:


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

I always intended each year’s #100 to be a film that was significant in some way. That hasn’t always panned out (missing it twice and “squeezing in anything I can” two other times have seen to that), but with a more leisurely arrival this year I was able to plan it out. And what could be more appropriate than one of my WDYMYHS films, supposedly the greatest examples of the cinematic art that I’ve yet to see?

And so, #100 was also my latest WDYMYHS conquest, and it was… David Lean’s acclaimed and beloved epic Lawrence of Arabia. That was one of the films that inspired me to start WDYMYHS in the first place, so it seemed only fitting.

I tried to squeeze one more in before the end of the month, but no doing. That leaves three to get through in December, which wasn’t the plan in the slightest. We’ll see how that goes.


Lawrence of ArabiaNovember’s films in full

#99 The Falcon’s Alibi (1946)
#100 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
#100a Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1965)
#101 The Wolverine: Extended Cut (2013)
#102 Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)
#103 Man of Steel (2013)


Analysis

I meant to post my review of The Day of the Doctor by now, in which I will explain/defend why an episode of TV counts as a film; but as I haven’t got round to that yet, let’s quickly run through it here as well: it was simultaneously released in cinemas; it’s feature-length. That’s good enough for me. Oh, and it did huge business and cracked into the charts both here and in the US — that’s not “oh, and it’s in cinemas too”, is it? No. Good.

Moving on to November itself, then. The past three years (i.e. 2010, 2011 and 2012) I’ve watched exactly four films in November, so it’s good to break another cycle of expectation with this month’s five. That also means it’s not 2013’s worst month (a two-way tie between June and July), but instead equals April’s five.

Having reached #103, November sits in a unique place in the history of Totals Reached By The End Of November. In the two years I’d reached #100 in September, I was in the 110s or 120s by now; in 2008 and 2009 I was at #81 and #80 respectively; and in 2011 and 2012 I was at #92 and #91 respectively. If you really want to dig into it there’s almost some kind of pattern there, but I think it’s best I leave well enough alone.

With just one month to go, I’ve averaged 9.36 films per month in 2013, on which basis I should end the year having watched 112 or 113 films. But considering said average includes months with viewing as low as four and as high as 17, my final tally could theoretically be anywhere from 107 to 120. My money says closer to the former than the latter.


5 Number 100s

In seven years of 100 Films, I’ve made it to the titular goal five times. Here are those films that received the glorious honour of being #100…

  1. Citizen Kane
    Citizen KaneUpon reaching my goal the first time, I decided (quite rightly, I think) that #100 should be An Important Occasion — and what can be more important than The Greatest Film Ever Made™? Many viewers these days seem to struggle with Kane’s reputation, or it just leads them to dismiss the film out of hand, but I thought it was genuinely exceptional and deserving of its acclaim.

  2. Swing Time
    Swing TimeCome the second year, and watching Something Significant went out the window as I scrabbled through 11 films in 6 days to make it to 100, and this Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers picture happened to be the last of them. That said, Swing Time is hardly a poor movie — while not my favourite Astaire/Rogers movie (not that I’ve seen many, but the honour goes to Top Hat), their dancing is nonetheless sublime.

  3. The Hurt LockerThe Hurt Locker
    Having failed in 2009, 2010 was a return to form. Whether its #100 is a classic for the ages remains to be seen, but at the time it was the most recent Best Picture winner. How much insight it casts on the broad scope of recent conflicts is debatable, but it’s an interesting — and certainly tense — depiction of modern warriors’ mentality.

  4. The A-TeamThe A-Team
    Though not as much of a rush as 2008, in 2011 I only just made it to 100 again — and, again, it was less a special choice more something fit-in-able. That said, I liked The A-Team: it sets out to be a funny, entertaining action movie and, by and large, it achieves that goal. Not for those who like Serious Movies, or for those who take their movies too seriously.

  5. Lawrence of Arabia
    Lawrence of ArabiaAnd so, after missing it again in 2012, we come to this year. The alternation continues, with arguably the most acclaimed and beloved film that I’d never seen earning the spot of my fifth #100. As a double bonus, it’s one of my WDYMYHS films too (OK, that’s not an accident). That status, and the film’s sheer size (its length! its scope!), makes it a little tricky to get your head around. But wow, it looks incredible on Blu-ray.

And also…

    Failure.
    What of the other two years? Well, in 2009 I fell well short at 94. #94 itself was the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring an Oscar-nominated Albert Finney as Poirot.Failures

    And then last year, when I made it even closer with 97, but couldn’t quite reach those final three films. #97 itself was cult favourite comedy The Plank, which I didn’t really connect with and is the lowest-scored of these seven films.

What will the next #100 be, I wonder? Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 23 months to find out…


P.S.

For December, my 100 Films Advent Calendar is starting up again. The introduction is here; reviews commence in the morning.


Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

Join me on New Year’s Day (you’ve got nothing better to do, right?) for the first of my usual array of retrospectives on the year just passed.

October 2013 + 5 Best George A. Romero Zombie Films

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A brief aside from my Week of the Living Dead now (don’t worry, it will return later today, with my review of Diary of the Dead) for the regular monthly update…


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

I was supposed to watch two of these this month, but by giving myself over to Romero for a week I scuppered my own carefully-spaced plans. Nonetheless, I did add tick off one more from the list: ’50s noir chiller The Night of the Hunter. That’s one destined for my year-end top 10, I feel.

Two months left, still four films to go. So much for a neat one-per-month, but at least it’s not an unachievable goal.


October’s films

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs#84a Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
#85 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
#86 Fast & Furious (2009)
#87 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
#88 Lady of Deceit, aka Born to Kill (1947)
#89 Shanghai Noon (2000)
#90 Shanghai Knights (2003)
#91 The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Night of the Hunter#92 The Tale of Zatoichi, aka Zatôichi monogatari (1962)
#93 Night of the Living Dead (1968)
#93a Toy Story of Terror! (2013)
#94 Dawn of the Dead (1978)
#95 Day of the Dead (1985)
#96 Land of the Dead: Director’s Cut (2005)
#97 Diary of the Dead (2007)
#98 Survival of the Dead (2009)


Analysis

It’s been an horrific month all round — in terms of viewing content, rather than viewing numbers. Kicking the month off was the godawful G.I. Joe, followed by the little-better fourth Fast & Furious film. After some quality asides, it was into the intentionally horrific: Nights of the Hunter and the Living Dead, the rest of Romero’s zombie cycle, and a brief aside from some family-friendly frights in Toy Story of Terror! I may not have given myself over to 31 days of horror as some people have (it seemed to be all over Letterboxd, anyway), but there was a definite spooky theme to this month’s watching.

That theme carried me to my most successful October ever, and the second-best month of 2013 too (just pipping September’s 13, but a few shy of March’s all-time-second-best 17). It’s also the best-ever end-of-October total for a year in which I didn’t make it to #100 in September. Which is a bit like when a film has the highest-grossing opening weekend for a mid-size 3D release in a non-summer month, or whatever other hoops they have things jump through just to be able to claim it’s “record breaking” these days. That said, having only reached 100 in September twice out of six years, that makes it my third-best end-of-October tally ever.

That tally being 98 means that, with just two months of the year left, I also have only two films left until #100. I think even I can manage an average of one film per month. In fact, my year-to-date average is 9.8 films per month. If I can maintain that, I’d be looking at a total of 118 — not far off the over-120 final totals of my two best years. My viewing often tails off a bit once I pass the 100-films barrier, though, so realistically I’ll be happy with a number closer to 110.

But, hey, we’ll see — as well as my usual viewing, and my toddling-along NOW TV subscription, there are multiple high-profile summer season Blu-ray releases yet. I even bought World War Z, which I said I wasn’t going to do, thanks to a Sainsbury’s exclusive bonus disc. I struggle to resist a good exclusive disc (The Wolverine, which has an extended cut on the 3D release but a Sainsbury’s-exclusive bonus disc only with the 2D release, is killing me), and those Sainsbury’s ones do tend to sell out.


5 Best George A. Romero Zombie Films

I normally avoid just doing a “rank something there are five of” list for this, but I’ve been rather busy with my Week of the Living Dead during the entire time I’d normally be pondering and constructing the usual list-of-five for this post. Besides which, my theme is always inspired by something in the month’s viewing, and it’s pretty clear what dominates this month.

  1. Dawn of the Dead
    The top two are separated by a hair’s breadth; if I could, I might even give them a joint number one. This certainly wasn’t my favourite of the two after initial viewing (I say as much in my review), but with a few more days’ reflection, I feel like I’ve seen Night, whereas Dawn feels like it will merit revisiting sooner.

  2. Night of the Living Dead
    After so many decades, cheap movies usually look even cheaper and terribly dated. Not so Night of the Living Dead, which, technical elements and fashion choices aside, could have been made last week. Few people can claim to have spawned a whole genre, but this is where Romero did.

  3. Land of the Dead
    Returning to something successful after 20 years is undoubtedly a poisoned chalice: your fans are excited you’re back, but can you ever live up to those expectations? For many, Land did not. I think that does it a disservice. Romero’s chameleon-like directorial skills create a very ’00s movie, but still with the trademark Romero social commentary.

  4. Day of the Dead
    I like a quotable cult special-effects-fest as much as the next man, and there’s far more to Day than just that, but I didn’t feel it as much as I did with the other films. Not a bad picture, just a half-step behind the one above for me.

  5. Diary of the Dead
    Diary’s Blu-ray cover proudly boasts four-star reviews from Empire and Starburst, but went down less well with the public. You can see how many stars I gave it later, but suffice to say although I did like it, it’s still the least of the initial five ‘Dead’ films.

Of course, there’s still one other…

    Survival of the Dead
    By the time you read this, I’ll have watched Survival of the Dead; at the time of writing, I hadn’t. Consensus seems to be its easily the worst of the series, a misguided failed cash-grab. I’m sure my full review will let you know my thoughts.

Is placing Land above Day tantamount to sacrilege? Is Survival actually surprisingly good and I should have waited to include it? Your thoughts are welcomed, dear readers.


Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

…I reach #100!

I mean, probably. I probably will. I’d have to watch either just one film or no films not to. Though I have gone a whole month without a single new film before now…

And also! Doctor Who is 50. You think that’s not to do with films? Think again, mister! I’ve got a couple of posts lined up to mark the occasion.

Happy times and places.

September 2013 + 5 Great Shakespeare Films

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Bah-da-bah-da (bah-da-bah-da) bah-da-bah-da-daaa!

For most of the month I’ve been playing, virtually on loop, the Iron Man 3 main titles, Can You Dig It.

Turns out, yes I can.


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

There’s no doubting that WDYMYHS has been a success in terms of making sure I see more films I’ve long been meaning to see (I may not have watched one every month as intended, but I’ve still seen 7 of the 12, with 3 months to go), but it’s been less satisfying in terms of my enjoyment. City Lights and Dr. Strangelove were comedies that left me fairly cold; Bicycle Thieves and The Seventh Seal are films that surely helped define our cliches of Arthouse Cinema; and though I was suitably awed by both Once Upon a Time in America and Touch of Evil, for neither would my watchword be “enjoyed”.

That changes this month, however, with a film that was pure enjoyment from start to finish: Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Unsurprisingly it’s my favourite WDYMYHS film to date, and it’s up there with the Welles and the Leone in terms of sheer filmmaking quality too.

Also this month, my review of Dr. Strangelove, trying to fathom what I didn’t see that so many other people do.


September’s films

Iron Man 3#72 Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
#73 The Tempest (2010)
#74 Iron Man 3 (2013)
#75 LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite (2013)
#75a Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (2012)
#75b Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (2013)
#76 The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
#77 The Falcon in Mexico (1944)
North by Northwest#78 Real Steel (2011)
#79 Macbeth (1948)
#80 Wolf (1994)
#81 North by Northwest (1959)
#82 The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
#82a Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Deluxe Edition) (2013)
#83 Flight (2012)
#84 The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)


Analysis

You might not think it, but September is a surprisingly key month in my annual drive to 100 films: the only two times I’ve beaten 100, I reached the titular goal in September. That being said, in other years its use as an indicator is minimal: the past two years were both at #81 by now, but on one of those I made it to 100 and the other I failed. (In fairness, I did get to 97 — a margin of 3% isn’t that bad.) In 2008 I made it to 100 off a 64 in September, and in 2009 I only reached 94 off September’s 54.

Having reached #84 in 2013, then, it looks like I’m pretty well set going into the year’s final quarter. It won’t be a record-breaking year (unless I average over 15 films per month from here on out — to put that in perspective, my best month ever was 17 films; my average for the year to date is just over 9), but I have fair hopes of at least making it to 100. Hey, that’s the title, and always feels doubly important when I failed the year before.

Before now, I’ve noted that the first six years of this blog have followed a pattern: a year where I reach 120-something films, a year of exactly 100 films, a year of failure, repeat. What also happened is that both the 120-something years reached the titular goal in September, while both the 100-exactly years only got there on December 31st. This being the seventh year, I should be on 120 films and getting to 100 in September. Obviously, I haven’t. Something about humans always seeing patterns that aren’t there and all that, eh…

Viewed in other contexts, however, this has been a very good September. It’s the second-best month of 2013, behind March’s stupendous 17; and in terms of Septembers past, 2013 is one for the ages. I watched 13 brand-new films, making it my most prolific September to date (previous best was 11 in 2010). The past two years I’ve watched four and eight films respectively, so this year is a marked improvement. Though somehow I doubt next September will continue the pattern by reaching 19 films. But you never know — I’ve done 19 in a month (once) before…


Summer 2013 update

I mentioned last month that my Summer 2013 was kicking off now, as the big films made their way to Blu-ray and I finally started to see them. I wasn’t necessarily convinced of my own prediction — the list of films I have accessible to me but still haven’t watched from the summers of 2011 and 2012 is too long to go in to here — but, lo and behold, look what’s up there: both Star Trek Into Darkness and Iron Man 3.

Only two films, I know, but this month’s other big release was Fast & Furious 6 and I’ve not seen 4 or 5 yet. All the other high-profile releases are still to come, and, looking at the release calendar, there’s not much of particular interest until November. October can only offer After Earth and World War Z, both of which I intend to see, but neither are day-one purchases for me. Looks like summer will be going on until at least Christmas.


5 Great Shakespeare Film Adaptations

There are an awful lot of Shakespeare screen adaptations. I’ve not seen most of them. But nonetheless, inspired by this month’s viewing of Orson Welles’ Macbeth, here are a fantastic five:

  1. Throne of BloodThrone of Blood
    Kurosawa abandons Shakespeare’s setting, some of his characters, and, most contentiously, all of his dialogue in this nonetheless extremely faithful rendering of Macbeth. Dripping atmosphere from every frame and gorgeously staged throughout, this both illuminates and transcends the Bard’s work. I bet it’d look great on Blu-ray. Why isn’t there a Blu-ray?

  2. Romeo + JulietRomeo + Juliet (1996)
    As if using teen heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio to bring Shakespeare to a whole new generation wasn’t admirable enough, Baz Luhrmann also produces a remarkable rendition of Will’s most famous play. The entire film is a feast of invention (who can forget the swords-as-guns thing?) and fabulously cinematic.

  3. Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing (1993)
    The ’90s offer us a veritable banquet of Shakespeare adaptations, and the man involved with a good many of them was Kenneth Branagh. Here he takes one of Shakespeare’s most accessible works and, while retaining period costumes and a classical directorial style, still produces a movie capable of entertaining any modern audience.

  4. The Lion KingThe Lion King
    Apparently Disney now deny this is an adaption of Hamlet, but tosh and piffle, the similarities are numerous — too numerous to go into here. There are more faithful adaptations of Hamlet out there (loads of them), but I’d wager few are as purely entertaining as (and none less depressing than) this indisputable masterpiece.

  5. Looking for RichardLooking for Richard
    Not strictly an adaptation, though chunks of the play are performed, in this documentary/adaptation Al Pacino looks into “Shakespeare’s significance and relevance to the modern world”. If that sounds dry, it’s actually quite engrossing. Also, much better than that dappy horribly-mid-’90s poster might suggest.

And one I disliked…

    Henry VThe Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France
    Oh sure, most people love Larry Olivier’s wartime version of Henry V, but I didn’t take to it. Indeed, in my review I asserted that “however good it may once have seemed, I think this version has had its day.”
    So there.

Want to tell me how wrong I am about Romeo + Juliet, The Lion King, and Henry V? Or just tell me which adaptations I’ve missed and really ought to check out? That’s what the comment section is for.


Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

Just 16 films remain this year!

Probably not one month’s work, but October could dictate whether I reach #100 in November, or December, or not at all…

August 2013 + 5 Adaptations That Changed the Book’s Title

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August is over, meaning summer is too. If you’re the kind of person who hates it when the nights draw in and the days get colder… booyahsucks! You’ve just had a heatwave-lashed summer — it’s my turn now!

Ahem, anyway — let’s talk films:


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

After failing last month, I kicked off August with a WDYMYHS film, in a concerted effort to catch up the two I’m behind. That film was Bicycle Thieves, once voted Sight & Sound’s greatest film of all time. Also one of just three foreign films on the list, for whatever that’s worth. Unfortunately, that was where my viewing wrapped up this month, meaning I’m still two behind. Must try harder.

I did post the first WDYMYHS-related review, however: January’s contribution to the challenge, City Lights.


All of August’s films

Jack Reacher#63 Bicycle Thieves, aka Ladri di biciclette (1948)
#64 Immortals (2011)
#65 The Falcon and the Co-eds (1943)
#66 Sharknado (2013)
#67 Side by Side (2012)
#68 The Imposter (2012)
#69 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter (Extended Cut) (2013)
#70 Jack Reacher (2012)
#71 The Falcon Out West (1944)


Analysis

I always illustrate the above list with the poster(s) of my favourite film(s) from the month’s viewing (if you’ve not noticed that before, knock yourself out going over my old progress reports). This month, much to my surprise, it is indeed Jack Reacher. And you know what else was fun? Hansel & Gretel. It’s a month full of surprises!

Watching 100 films in a year means getting through 8⅓ of the things every month, so, with a total of 9, this August is practically a model student. It’s certainly a marked improvement on the meagre four I managed in both June and July. However, it’s the fourth month this year not to crack double figures, and is down on last August’s tally of 12. Those were all short Saint and Falcon films, though, so in running-time terms I’m probably tied.

Closing out the month at #71 makes this my weakest year-to-date since 2009. Back then I’d only made it to #44, so by comparison I’m flying. Although this means I’m behind a year that I failed to make it to 100 (last year, when August ended at #73), I’m also ahead of one where I did: 2008, when I’d only reached #59. The target for August is #66, so I’m five ahead really. Hope is most certainly not lost then, especially with a third of the year still to go. It’s not as if I don’t have plenty of DVDs, Blu-rays, recorded and downloaded films to watch. Plus I’m currently enjoying NOW TV’s 30-day free movies trial. Might write a dedicated post on that service sometime soon.

And as if that wasn’t enough choice…


Summer is over!

The nights are drawing in; the good telly’s starting up; the kids are off back to school this week — yes, the summer’s over. What’s on in cinemas is the other sign of this, of course; but as this is a film blog, that’s the point I was building to. I think the only major ‘summer blockbuster’-y movie left is Riddick, and as I won’t be seeing that I can officially confirm I’ve not been to the cinema once this season. That’s partly personal laziness/apathy; partly that whenever I begin to seriously consider making the effort, something conspires against it. Hey-ho.

Star Trek Into Sainsbury'sThe flip side is that, for me, the summer movie season is about to begin! That should help with the aforementioned final tally. Thanks to studios’ (wannabe-)piracy-beating speed when it comes to getting films onto disc these days, Star Trek Into Darkness should be with me tomorrow, and Iron Man 3 a week later. Even though Man of Steel is going to take until the start of December to get here, I hope my other summer most-want-to-sees (The Wolverine, Kick-Ass 2, etc) aren’t quite so tardy… but if they are, well, I’ll just wait, won’t I.


Pretty pictures

One final quick note before the top five bit: early in August I finally updated the header images on most of the blog’s main pages. I posted a post about it, but as I flagged it an “aside” it only went out to those who get emails. I thought I’d just mention them again, then, because I do rather like ’em. You can read a little more here.


5 Adaptations That Changed the Book’s Title

Inspired by the film adaptation of Lee Child’s One Shot morphing into Jack Reacher, I thought I’d do a quick run-down of five other notable or lesser-known movies that changed their source’s title. Why? Who can say…

  1. Nothing Lasts Forever
    Nothing Lasts Forever, aka Die HardIn researching this list I was surprised to discover a few films I didn’t know were adaptations. That might be a good list for another time, though that list, and this one, could be almost entirely filled by a single franchise: Die Hard. While the first film is based on Nothing Lasts Forever, to one degree or another, the second takes its title and basic concept from 58 Minutes; the third was based on a spec script called Simon Says, which also nearly became Lethal Weapon 4; and the fourth on an article called A Farewell to Arms. Only the fifth seems to be inspiration-less — which is a pretty accurate description based on what I’ve heard…

  2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
    Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, aka Blade RunnerAs evocative as the title of Philip K. Dick’s novel is, someone clearly wanted something punchier, to the extent they purchased an entire screenplay just to get their hands on its title: Blade Runner. The second Dick adaptation also underwent a title change, from the equally unwieldy We Can Remember It For You Wholesale to the equally snappy Total Recall. More recent films (Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, The Adjustment Bureau) have been more faithful… titularly, at least.

  3. The Body
    The Body, aka Stand By MeJust as prone to retitling as Dick is Stephen King. Oh sure, there’s Carrie and The Shining and, y’know, all the rest; but there are at least two notable exceptions, and the first is The Body, adapted as Stand By Me — altogether more wholesome, no? The story comes from King’s Different Seasons, a collection of four stories that has been ¾ adapted: the other two are Apt Pupil, filmed as Apt Pupil; and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which underwent a less drastic title change. I can only presume the fourth story isn’t much cop.

  4. The Midwich Cuckoos
    The Midwich Cuckoos, aka Village of the DamnedAww, a nice novel about some birds! What a pleasant motion picture that would make; no doubt in the vein of Springwatch, but fictional and cinematic. But no, dear reader, no! That’s not the style of the author of The Day of the Triffids, is it? And so to make sure you knew you were watching a sci-fi horror thingamie, the retitling bods gave us Village of the Damned. They’re damned! Damned! Etc. And in the ’90s, horror maestro John Carpenter did it again with a remake. Almost weirder than that, a quick look on Amazon suggests no tie-in edition of the novel with the new title, ever. Which I guess is a good thing.

  5. I Am Legend
    I Am Legend, aka The Last Man on Earth, aka The Omega Man, aka I Am Legend“But there is a film called I Am Legend,” I hear you cry. And so there is — now. But before 2007, Richard Matheson’s exceptional post-apocalyptic vampire/zombie novel was filmed twice: once in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth, and again in 1971 as The Omega Man. I guess that’s the snappy title brigade at work again. Presumably the Will Smith-starring version stuck to source to convey some kind of weight, while the film itself titted about with all kinds of over-CG’d action movie nonsense.

There are so many to choose from, I feel I could run this list again next month. I even have more than one option worthy of the closing “opposite” segment, which this month is (of course) a film that notably didn’t change its title…

    Les Misérables
    Les Misérables, always Les MisérablesDespite having one of the most glaringly French titles ever committed to paper or celluloid, Les Misérables has been adapted multiple times — but always as Les Misérables. It’s the lack of a solid English translation that does for it — even Google Translate won’t bother converting it. Now it’s just a brand in its own right, and no doubt we’re all saying it totally wrong… which is probably why everyone just calls it “Les Mis”. (Or if you’re American, “Les Miz”; because if you miss something you’d say you mis it, right?)

As I mentioned, there are copious examples of this kind of palaver I’ve left out. Please do share any personal favourites — or grievances — in the comments below. For instance, I’ve never seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory because I loved the book as a child and the retitling has always rubbed me up the wrong way.


Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

is September.

July 2013 + 5 Directors Whose Films I’ve Never Seen

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Let’s get straight into it this month…


July’s films
A Field in England
#59 A Field in England (2013)
#60 The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)
#61 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976/1978)
#61a Akira (1988)
#62 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)


Analysis

The second half of Wimbledon and tireless preparations for the exacting standards of a single-night guest put paid to film-watching for the first week of July (including the innovative multi-format premiere of A Field of England on 5th July, missing which provoked a reaction in me that begins with π and ends with -ssed off… though I did catch up with it soon after). Of course, that left three weeks to make up for it…

Except on the weekend of one of those weeks, my sister was getting married, which somehow turned into a near-week-long exercise in travelling and doing family stuff. Of course, that left two weeks to make up for it…

Except on returning from said wedding I went down with a cold so nasty it left me uninspired when it came to watching films, especially those that required my critical faculties to be, if not firing, then at least present. It’s still lingering now, actually.

Which means July ended up being, effectively, a week. (Well, maybe 10 days.) Bearing that in mind, I’m less downhearted that I only managed four films — I mean, that’s the same as last month, and I didn’t even have any excuses then. Plus I re-watched and will review Akira, so on that basis July still wins. Hurrah.

Keen-eyed regulars will have noticed the omission of the What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen section, and even-keener-eyed ones will have noticed no film from that list on this month’s viewing. Sadly, yes, I missed it again — see above for my excuses. That puts me two behind now, after also missing April. Still, there are five months left yet, so we’ll see.

In historical context, this month’s total of four is the same as in 2008 and 2011; in 2009 July was my worst month ever: the only time I’ve not watched a single film all month. The overall total of 62 puts me one ahead of last year, but well behind the low 70s of 2007, 2010 and 2011 — three of the four years I’ve reached 100. Oh dear. On the bright side, I also reached 100 in 2008, and I’d only made it to #49 by the end of that July. On the other hand, I did have to watch an exceptionally-high 19 films that December to even scrape through, so…

Nice to end on a cheery note, eh.


5 Directors Whose Films I’ve Never Seen

As this month marks the first time I’ve seen films directed by John Cassavetes and Ben Wheatley (separately, obv.), and as I noticed back in May that there seem to be an uncommonly high number of new-to-me important directors this year, I thought I’d take a look at some of the other significant or surprising helmers that I’ve not seen a single movie from.

This was done with the help of lists at They Shoot Picture’s, Don’t They? — both their old rated list and the current Top 250 Directors. Rather than just take the first five, however, I weeded them out on dual provisos of, a) subjective importance (i.e. ones I’d never actually heard of got dropped), and b) subjective obscurity (i.e. what were the realistic chances I’d have seen one of their films). That’s why, despite ‘only’ scoring 8 out of 10 and ‘only’ coming 32nd on the Top 250, my #1 on this list is…

  1. Powell & PressburgerMichael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
    Also known as The Archers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger loom large in the history of British cinema; and internationally, too, in part thanks to Martin Scorsese’s unabashed fondness for their work. Significant films I’ve missed include A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, and The Red Shoes.

  2. Federico Fellini
    Federico FelliniWinner of the highest number of Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film (five), the Italian writer-director is “one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century”. He’s the only member of TSPDT’s Top 250’s top 10 (at #4) that I’ve not seen anything by. Significant gaps in my viewing include La dolce vita and 8½.

  3. Luis BuñuelLuis Buñuel
    Just five names attract a perfect 10 score on TSDPT’s rating system, and this Spanish-born surrealist is the only one absent from my checklist. Significant misses include Un Chien Andalou, Viridiana, Belle de Jour, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

  4. François Truffaut
    François TruffautOne of the founders of the French Nouvelle Vague (alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, who I have seen films by), Truffaut is still probably best known for his first film, The 400 Blows; or to a different audience for ’60s sci-fi adaptation Fahrenheit 451. Other significant oversights include Jules et Jim and Day for Night.

  5. Werner Herzog
    Werner HerzogThough only at #52 on TSPDT’s Top 250 (there are 11 above him I’ve not mentioned), there’s no denying the notoriety of Herzog, the man who once got shot while being interviewed by Mark Kermode, amongst other bizarre anecdotes. Key works include Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, and Grizzly Man — and, unlike any of the others, he’s still going!

And one TSPDT regards with snobbery…

    Baz Luhrmann
    Baz LuhrmannThe theatrically-inclined Australian scores just 3 on TSPDT’s ranking, their lowest awarded mark. Only five others suffer this ignominy, and the only one I’ve heard of is Ed Wood. According to TSPDT, none of Luhrmann’s films are Highly Recommended, Recommended, or even Worth a Look. The best he can hope for is Strictly Ballroom being classed “Approach with Caution”. I’ve heard some Shakespearean scholars deem his 1996 Romeo + Juliet possibly the definitive screen interpretation of one of the Bard’s most famous plays, but TSPDT reckon it’s a “dud”. So too Moulin Rouge… which they then have to acknowledge (grudgingly, I imagine) is on their own list of the 21st Century’s Most Acclaimed Films (at #60 of 250 too, which isn’t bad).

    Mr. Luhrmann has no real connection to the top five up there — I’ve seen some of his films; I’ve not seen all of them, which would’ve been a point of contrast — but his besmirchment caught my attention.

Which notable directors are missing from your own viewing experience? Or perhaps there are some you’ve managed to thankfully avoid? Mine would’ve been Uwe Boll… oh, would’ve been…


Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

After the typically quieter J-months, August often sees a surge in my viewing. Fingers crossed for one this year too, as despite being ahead of goal (that’d be 58) I’m clearly off-pace to reach 100…

June 2013 + 5 Franchise-Killing Sequels

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It’s June! It’s the halfway point of the calendar year! What a good time to assess a year-long task, eh?

But first…


In the name of…

I can now unveil a major new undertaking (for me): the complete 100 Films review database, sorted by director.

Creating this page involved taking nearly 800 reviews from their title-sorted 28 categories on the existing list, looking up the director for each film, then re-sorting them into a new list that eventually came to include 537 categories (that being one per represented director, of course). It’s taken over four months of work (on and off), but it’s finally here — and is perfectly easy to update going forward, thank goodness.

James Hill, film directorI have no idea if this is of use to anyone. Probably not. But it’s a slightly interesting, different way of looking at my review archive. For instance, compiling it threw up some odd things, such as James Hill. Who, you may ask? Indeed it’s no surprise I hadn’t noticed I’d watched two films directed by him. More interesting was what they were: lovely family animal movie Born Free, and Hammer-esque Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper thriller A Study in Terror! He also directed Lunch Hour, part of the BFI Flipside strand, so he may one day acquire a third entry. That’s more than some incredibly well-known directors have.

Anyway, if you want to have a peruse and somehow missed the links above and the one in the menu, it’s here.


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

Statistically speaking, my selection for WDYMYHS threw up a few interesting ratios. For instance, exactly half the films hail from the 1950s; there are 9 in black & white vs. 3 in colour; and also 9 in English vs. 3 in foreign languages (French, Japanese, Swedish); and 5 on DVD vs. 7 on Blu-ray.

Having so far watched a third of the films, it’s got to the point where I can see what needs to be done to keep these numbers roughly in proportion. So, if I wanted to do such a thing, I came to the conclusion that I needed to watch a 1950s black & white English-language film on Blu-ray. That left two options: The Night of the Hunter or Touch of Evil. And this month I watched…

Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil.

No particular reason for choosing one over the other, although during the time I was pondering this the BFI announced their exciting Gothic season, the trailer for which included a clip from Night of the Hunter, which led to the thought that I might put it off until such a time as it coincides with whatever the BFI are up to. But we’ll see.

Those familiar with Evil’s multiple versions (there are five included on Masters of Cinema’s Blu-ray release) may like to know that I watched the Reconstructed Version in 1.37:1, as recommended here.


The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordJune’s films

#55 The Bourne Legacy (2012)
#56 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
#57 The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
#58 Touch of Evil: Reconstructed Version (1958/1998)


Analysis

I talked last month about the shape of this year’s viewing emulating most previous years, and that continues in June, a month which has never seen my viewing reach double figures. Nonetheless, this year’s four is the poorest on record (behind last year’s five).

More interesting, however, is what it might tell us about the year as a whole. It’s exactly half way, after all, giving enough time to settle down from the exuberance of the year’s first three months and paint a picture of how I’m getting on this year. At 58, I’d call it “not bad”. Clearly I’m well over the halfway mark, and ahead of this point in 2008, 2009 and 2012 to boot… though as I failed to make 100 in two of those years, and only scraped it with a mad dash in the other, such facts aren’t that comforting.

What about June as an indicator of my final tally? It’s not that hot, to be honest, showing just how erratic my viewing can be across the year. It was closest (or I was most consistent) last year, when I reached 51 by June, giving a ‘prediction’ of 102, and I made it to 97. 2010 was similarly close: 64 in June gives 128, and I made 122. But in other years it’s ranged from 18 under (2009) to 34 over (2011), so it tells us nothing. More exciting that way, eh?

With only four films to consider there’s not much more to say (50% from the ’00s and 50% from the ’50s means nothing when it’s out of four, does it), so moving swiftly on:


5 Sequels That Killed Their Franchise

There have been innumerable bad sequels, especially in these franchise-driven days of modern Hollywood movies… but which have gone down so badly they’ve actually killed off their series? Not just been the final film, but actively led to the series’ demise. (This was inspired by The Bourne Legacy — although #5 is reportedly in development, if they don’t have a serious rethink then I expect Legacy will wind up a member of this club.)

  1. Batman & Robin
    Batman & RobinObvious, I know, but it really is the archetype. Burton delivered two Bat-films that were critical and commercial successes; Schumacher delivered one that didn’t go down so well but turned a healthy profit… and then this. A critical disaster, a box office flop, the series went down with it. It took others to revive the superhero genre, a seven-year gap, and a ground-up reboot to save the series.

  2. The X-Files: I Want to Believe
    The X-Files: I Want to BelieveSix years after the TV series ended (was that all?), ’90s favourites Mulder and Scully returned. Hopes for a third film dealing with the series’ cliffhanger-ish ending were dashed by this low-key supernatural fable, released in a glaringly inappropriate summer slot, with none of the aliens casual viewers expected and too many incidental ties to the series. Some still whisper about a third movie, but 2012 was the perfect time and that’s long gone.

  3. Terminator Salvation
    Terminator SalvationThe first three Terminators all recycle the same plot to some degree, but with Salvation they finally pushed forward. Unfortunately bad word of mouth before release plus constant rumours about final-act twists did the film no favours. It was meant to launch a new trilogy, but instead killed the company who held the rights. A fifth film is in development now, but it sounds like it’ll go back to aping the first.

  4. Blade: Trinity
    Blade: TrinityThe first Blade was something of a breakout hit in the late ’90s, leading to a Guillermo del Toro-helmed sequel that helped put him on the mainstream map. This third entry was designed to launch a spin-off movie for its supporting stars, but behind the scenes woes resulted in a messy film that flopped both critically and with audiences. A TV series did follow, but that was reportedly awful too and didn’t last long.

  5. Saw VI
    Saw VI“But there was a Saw VII,” you cry.
    “But there was meant to be at least a Saw VIII,” I reply.
    When Saw VI lost its opening weekend to Paranormal Activity, someone guessed a shift in horror-fan tastes and called time on this annual scare saga, leading to it wrapping up in film #7. The Final Chapter, as it was advertised, actually did better at the box office, but by then it was all done.

And one that actually revived a franchise… briefly…

    The Final Destination
    The Final DestinationThis fourth entry in the Death-defying horror franchise was due to be the series’ last — hence the definitive article title. In no small part due to being released in 3D in the immediate run-up to Avatar, the movie was a surprise box office hit, becoming the series’ highest-grossing entry, and New Line did an about-face and greenlit a fifth movie. Unfortunately for them, The Final Destination was utter shit, so the marginally-better Final Destination 5 became the series’ lowest earner. In the US, anyway — worldwide, it actually wound up just a few million dollars short of its predecessor. Nonetheless, instead of having a neatly-monikered send-off, the series seems to have limply disappeared.

There are many more sequels that have killed their franchise, so are there any I should have mentioned? And what about that even trickier question: films that have taken an ailing series and turned it around?


Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

With the halfway point passed (did I mentioned we’re halfway through the year?), it’s full steam ahead into the second half. 100 films don’t just watch themselves, y’know.

May 2013 + 5 Greatest Car Chases

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It’s a bumper crop of things to discuss in this month’s update!

  • The return (as it were) of What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?
  • New films in the double figures — but just how many?
  • (Over-)analysis of what this means! (Not much.)
  • The completion of my Harry Potter re-watch…
  • …and a look at the results of my Harry Potter poll!
  • A top five… but of what? (Oh, it’s in the title, isn’t it?)
  • And the usual pointless “next time” bit that I ought to do away with but keep including just because it’s there in the template!

    • It’s only the biggest*, bestest** 100 Films update ever!

    So, as Graham Norton might say, jump on it!

    No, er, I mean — let’s start the show post!

    [Imagine a 100 Films title sequence here. Or don’t, whatever.]


    What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

    The path to not-quite-making-it-to-100-films is paved with good intentions (as is the path to making-it-to-100-films-or-more, but the failure path has more paves), and my plan to watch two WDYMYHS films this month is now another slab in said path. So I bump that idea to next month, because, hey, I did watch one. And that one was…

    Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, aka Det sjunde inseglet if you speak Swedish or want to be one of those people who always uses the original title regardless.

    Despite owning Tartan’s impressive Bergman Collection DVD set for a number of years, this is actually my first experience of Bergman. Once, I noted how many significant directors have been new to me in the course of 100 Films. I thought I’d done it on an individual year, but it was in my review of The Great Dictator. I don’t believe I’ve ever done the former, probably because it’s never actually been noteworthy. However, it’s felt like there have been a few this year, so that’s something I may add to the end-of-year stats.

    But that’s still seven months away. You want to know what I’ve been watching in the past 31 days, right? Right?


    May’s films

    Django Unchained#44 The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
    #45 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
    #45a Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
    #46 Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece, aka Tintin et le mystère de la Toison d’Or (1961)
    #47 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
    #47a Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
    #48 Django Unchained (2012)
    Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan#48a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
    #49 On Dangerous Ground (1952)
    #50 Les Misérables (2012)
    #51 And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
    #52 Shane (1953)
    #52a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
    #53 Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2012)
    #54 The Seventh Seal, aka Det sjunde inseglet (1957)


    Analysis

    This month’s tally of new films rests at 11, more than double what I achieved last year and drawing equal with May of 2011.

    It’s also an anniversary, because May 2010 was my first of these regular monthly progress reports. Three years! My my, time flies. Back then I managed 16 new films, at the time my joint-second highest month ever. Show off month.

    Back in 2013, May is my joint second highest of the year — behind March (which is the current second highest month ever) and tied with February. That’s a pretty solid start to the year — more so than last year, and while 2011 and 2010 show a similar shape (double-figure Januarys, Februarys, Marchs and Mays with a relatively weak April), I’ve reached #54 this year, while in 2011 it was… oh, #58. Well, in 2010 it was… oh, #57.

    Hey, you can’t win ’em all.

    In terms of the films themselves, there’s an uncommonly high number from the ’50s this month — three, whereas my year-to-date only featured one other. There’s no particular reason for that, it’s just one of those coincidences. There’s also four films from 2012 alone, which is more to be expected as I continue to catch up on last year’s cinematic releases. There’ll definitely be more of that next month.


    Potter poll!

    For most of this month I’ve been running a poll on readers’ favourite Harry Potter films (you may have noticed it — it’s sat on the left of the front page). It’s been interesting to see how many votes I’d attract, especially with near-relentless badgering about it on Twitter at some points. As it turned out, better than I’d feared. That’s what bombarding Twitter can do.

    Well, I’m not closing the poll, but as it hasn’t received any new votes in weeks, let’s look at what my tiny sample thought.

    Everything Will ChangeThe clear victor is the Alfonso Cuarón-helmed franchise-revitalising third film, Prisoner of Azkaban, which scooped exactly 50% of the vote. Its supremacy in this poll was never in doubt, lingering around that percentage throughout. There’s a three-way tie for second, though, the result of low voter numbers. Mike Newell’s pivotal and well-liked Goblet of Fire is an unsurprising feature so high, but the incessant climax-readying info-dump of David Yates’ Half-Blood Prince is more uncommon; as is the series’ opener, Philosopher’s Stone, as the Chris Columbus films are often held in the lowest regard.

    That said, there’s also a three-way tie for last place, and the other Columbus film — sophomore entry Chamber of Secrets — finds itself among them. It’s not that bad, but it’s never been widely loved. More surprising are its two companions: both halves of Deathly Hallows. Considering the unrelenting acclaim that the latter half in particular received on its theatrical release, I was a little surprised to see these pick up 0 votes. That said, Part 2 is almost all climax, so perhaps they would fare better if taken as a single four-and-a-half-hour film?

    That just leaves Yates’ debut film, Order of the Phoenix, sitting almost slap-bang in the middle, on its lonesome in fifth place. Each to their own.

    So that’s that. As you can see from the links scattered above, I’ve already reviewed all eight films, but (as promised) I’ll have something to say about Yates’ four films when considered as a job lot, to be posted in the next week or two.


    And finally…

    5 Greatest Car Chases

    Inspired by watching Tokyo Drift, and the most recent Fast & Furious storming cinemas. And by “car chase” I really mean “action sequence involving a road vehicle”.

    1. Tomorrow Never Dies
      Tomorrow Never DiesYou can’t have a list of great car chases without including at least one Bond. Indeed, I could easily fill this top five with that series alone. TND wins because of two stand-out sequences: Bond driving a BMW saloon around a car park in Germany, which sounds dull as dishwater… except he does it via remote control and the car is stacked with gadgets; and a motorbike vs helicopter chase on the streets — and rooftops — of Saigon.

    2. Ronin
      RoninTo bring extra swish and excitement, the Fast & Furious films often use CGI in their car chases. Ronin, however, does it all for real — often with the actual actors in the cars. There are several chases in Ronin, but the extended climax through the tunnels of Paris is of course the best. The film used 300 stunt drivers and they wrecked 80 cars, but the exhilaration provided is entirely worth it.

    3. The Bourne Identity
      The Bourne IdentityMany times, a great sequence is born out of an idea to innovate or do something different (to go back to Tomorrow Never Dies, the bike chase was a deliberate counterpoint to GoldenEye’s tank chase), and the first Jason Bourne film is no exception: he’s in a Mini! Americans always find small cars striking (see also: Da Vinci Code’s Smart car), but at least it’s put to good use — he drives it down some stairs!

    4. The Matrix Reloaded
      The Matrix ReloadedFor sheer throw-everything-at-the-screen bombast, you can’t beat the car sequence in the first Matrix sequel — it was so big, they had to build their own stretch of freeway! Of course, it’s as much about the fighting going on in and around the cars as it is the chase, and there are bikes and lorries and stuff involved too — including a spectacular head-on collision — but it’s all road-based, so it counts.

    5. Quantum of Solace
      Quantum of SolaceI wanted to avoid having two Bond films, and I tried, but I couldn’t think of anything significantly better than the opening minutes of 2008’s widely maligned Bond adventure. Cut like lightning, almost intuitive and impressionistic rather than classically clear, and viscerally destructive throughout, it demands your attention — and indicates the kind of pace the rest of the film will move at. Then the reveal at the end makes it all the sweeter.

    And two I’ve never seen…

      Bullitt & The French Connection
      BullittRead most lists of the greatest car chases and one of these will be at the top, usually with the other in second place. They’re iconic for different reasons: there’s The French Connection’s frantic illicitly-filmed chase between Gene Hackman and Brooklyn’s elevated railway; and there’s Bullitt’s eleven-minute pursuit around the streets of San Francisco, with Steve McQueen and co gaining plenty of in-car air-time on those famous stepped hills. So iconic, I know this much without having seen either.

    Those are a few of my favourites, but what have I missed? And are there are any so bad I should’ve made room to decry them?


    Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

    It’s June! It’s halfway! But I’ve already passed 50!

    Will June’s total, doubled, indicate my final tally? Well, it hasn’t yet, so probably not. But a man can dream…


    * Probably. ^
    ** Subjectively. ^

    April 2013 + 5 Worst Superhero Movies

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    Yes yes yes, it’s May, it’s the summer, it’s exciting. But before all that, let’s take a little peek at how 100 Films’ seventh year fared in April…


    What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

    It was bound to happen eventually: I didn’t see a WDYMYHS film this month. It just never panned out, especially over the last few days. The aim is to watch one in the early days of May to make up for it, and then of course another later.

    So moving on:


    April’s films

    Ted#38a Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Extended Version (2001/2004)
    #39 The Last Boy Scout (1991)
    #40 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, aka 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
    #40a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Extended Version (2002/2005)Harry Potter x4
    #41 The Dinosaur Project (2012)
    #42 Ted (2012)
    #42a Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
    #43 Man on a Ledge (2012)
    #43a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)


    Analysis

    A slow month this one, as you can see, though with five brand-new films watched (alongside four already-seen Harry Potters), it’s far from my worst ever. And that’s with the first week given over to Game of Thrones season two, too. And it’s not even my worst April: 2010 only had three films. Plus, ending at 43, I’m marginally ahead of this time in 2010 and 2012, only a little behind 2007 and 2011, and at double (or more) where I was in 2008 and 2009. Also, as April is precisely one-third through the year, the target number is 33, and I’m well ahead of that.

    As you may have guessed, I’ve mounted a re-watch of the Harry Potter series, one every Sunday. This was started almost on a whim, but rather neatly I’ll be watching one on every Sunday in April and May (if it continues to plan). As I’ve never reviewed the first four, I’ll be covering them with full-ish reviews (the first two definitely count as extended cuts anyway, and those pieces are already up — see above); and for the sake of completeness, I’ll attempt some kind of overview on the final four too.


    5 Worst Superhero Movies

    Inspired by Fantastic Four 2… which then wasn’t that bad so didn’t make its own list. There are too many awful alternatives.

    I was going to go with “comic book movies”, but then you really have to broaden the remit. I imagine the results are more or less the same anyway. As ever, there’s the caveat that I haven’t seen loads of films, so these are the worst I’ve seen (so no Catwoman, The Spirit, never-released Fantastic Four, etc).

    1. Superhero Movie
      Superhero MovieYou might have expected Batman & Robin to top this list. It would be a fair choice. But, believe it or not, it actually has some redeeming features. Not many, but some. This woefully unimaginative spoof has none whatsoever. I’m not even sure it had any laughs. OK, it might not be a ‘real’ superhero movie… but then again, look at the title. It counts.

    2. Batman & Robin
      Batman and RobinThese days, it’s difficult to imagine Hollywood managing to kill off a franchise they didn’t want to. Even those which are consistently a bit rubbish. I imagine this is where they learnt their lesson, turning a reliable cash cow into a despised monstrosity. How the genre got back on its feet just a few years later (and grew stronger than ever) is a minor miracle.

    3. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
      The League of Extraordinary GentlemenI really wanted to like this — a great concept, based on a great comic, with great people involved in the film — and on its release, I convinced myself I did. But it’s a bit of a mess really, isn’t it; and the needs of being a PG-13 blockbuster wrecked a lot of the comic’s best ideas. Shame. (It has left me always abbreviating the comic’s title as LXG too, though.)

    4. The Punisher (1989)
      The PunisherI don’t actually know that much about the Punisher, but I don’t believe this is a very good rendition of the comic (where’s the skull emblem?!). And even if it is, it isn’t a very good film. I’ve largely wiped it from my memory, but I recall it being the twin sins of boring and amateurishly made. The two ’00s movies starring the character didn’t go down well, but I can’t imagine they’re worse.

    5. Elektra
      ElektraA lot of people didn’t like Daredevil. I did. It has flaws, certainly, but it got a lot right. Nonetheless, I had no particular hopes for this spin-off featuring a fan-favourite character who had been mediocrely rendered on screen first time out (and not recast). Low expectations were good, because it’s a mess that doesn’t deliver in any notable respect.

    And one I do like…

      Mystery Men
      Mystery MenThere are many great superhero movies, but this is an undervalued one. Coming in the genre’s quiet period, between the death of the Batman franchise and the rebirth afforded by X-Men, I think this all-star comedy would fare better today. That said, I’ve not seen it for years, and sometimes comedy dates badly, so maybe I should’ve re-watched before putting it here… But I definitely did love it.

    There are plenty more films that deserve a place on this list — what should I have made room for?


    Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

    Can I post more reviews?!

    Can I watch two WDYMYHS films?!

    Can I reach the month’s aim: #41?!

    …which I’ve already passed. Tension, deflated.