You may remember that, at the end of August’s monthly review, I forecast some potential problems for this month with regards to staying on track with my Challenge; but that there was also the potential boon of some time off. Of course, as anyone who read my mid-month update will already know, that spot of good fortune quickly disappeared thanks to some additional hurdles.

Nonetheless, all is not lost. Although I had hoped for a successful September, but have ended up with a lesser one, it wasn’t a total disaster: a few well-chosen watches kept the Challenge ticking over, and I’m notably ahead of where I was at this point last year. Of course, I ultimately chose to abandon the Challenge in 2022, so it’s hardly a positive benchmark. Still, despite September’s woes, I’m hoping to avoid such a fate this year.

#66 The Pied Piper (1986) — Failures #9
#67 The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) — Genre #3
#68 Spy (2015) — Rewatch #9
#69 Fisherman’s Friends: One and All (2022) — Wildcard #7
#70 Nightmare Alley (1947) — WDYMYHS #8
#71 Death on the Nile (2022) — Physical Media #10
#72 The Man Who Was Nobody (1960) — Wildcard #8

• I watched six feature films I’d never seen before in September.
• Four of them counted towards my 100 Films in a Year Challenge, along with three rewatches.
• I’m two films behind where I should be at the end of September to keep my Challenge on perfect track, which obviously isn’t ideal, but also isn’t the end of the world. Really, it just means I have to average 9.3 films per month for the rest of the year instead of 8.7 — which, either way, rounds to 9.
• As you may have noticed, two more Wildcards were used this month. Fisherman’s Friends 2 is an additional rewatch, while I’ve counted Edgar Wallace mystery The Man Who Was Nobody as Series Progression #11 (it could equally have been Physical Media #11, as it was on DVD).
• I’ve taken so long getting round to watching gialli for my Genre category that this month’s — only my third — bumped my first off the bottom of my Recently Watched page.
• This month’s WDYMYHS film was Nightmare Alley — the 1947 original, of course, not Guillermo del Toro’s re-adaptation. Though I’m even more curious to see that now, for the comparison.
• Really, I needed to watch two WDYMYHS films to catch up; though with things being how they were, even watching one feels like an achievement. Certainly, I didn’t watch any Blindspot films — so both categories enter October in catch-up mode.
• From last month’s “failures” I watched The Pied Piper.
• A final point: despite all my aforementioned struggles, if we count both new films and rewatches, at the end of September I hit exactly 100 feature films watched in 2023. So that’s nice.

And talking of 100 somethings…

100 — it’s a big and significant number. Heck, I’ve themed an entire site around it. Although, with a monthly event like the Arbies, it’s a bit of an odd one: it represents 8⅓ years of awards-giving. Hey-ho, let’s roll with it.

To mark the occasion, as well as the usual three awards I hand out these days (I keep meaning to go back to the old five, but it takes that bit more time each month and so I keep putting it off), there’s the “Arbie of Arbies” — my most favourite of the 100 films to win Favourite Film of the Month. More on that at the end. First, this month’s favourite…

Favourite Film of the Month
Only six films to choose between this month, but several were worthy of this honour. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage might be the best giallo I’ve seen so far (out of, um, three), but The Pied Piper is a truly remarkable feat of animation, silent filmmaking, and Gothic storytelling.

Least Favourite Film of the Month
With only six films to choose from, competition was hardly fierce; indeed, the winner of this category was an easy pick: Edgar Wallace programmer The Man Who Was Nobody. “Easy” in this case not because it’s a terrible film, but because the other five were so much better — this was certainly the least successful at what it set out to do.

The Audience Award for Most-Viewed New Post of the Month
In a minor change from most of 2023, there were three posts eligible this month — the usual review and “failures” from the previous month, plus my mid-month progress update. None really set my stats alight, but — for the fifth month running — it was the monthly review that won out.

And the “Arbie of Arbies” goes to…
With 100 films to choose from, this was naturally a tricky proposition. Some were ruled out easily — the fact my Favourite Film is awarded from each month’s pool of new viewing means some films were good for that month but perhaps not so fantastic overall. Conversely, films that have grown in my estimations over time may have missed out due to being beaten by something even better (or that seemed even better at the time) in their original month. Never mind — it’s all just a bit of fun, anyway.

So, having gone back all over all 100 winners (including this month’s, obv), and narrowed it down to a quick initial shortlist (of 16), then halving that number, then umming and ahhing over the remaining eight (for a relatively short period of time because, as I said, it’s just a bit of fun), I’m declaring the winner to be Mission: Impossible – Fallout. It was a tough choice (the remainder of the “top eight” included another Mission: Impossible, two Denis Villeneuves, a Christmas classic, at least one modern action masterpiece, and several films that spoke to me personally even if the broader reception was more divided), but this is what I’ve landed on today.

I’m hoping to get at least somewhat back on track. As I said earlier, I’m not actually far off it, but with several categories complete or almost complete, it’s the others (Blindspot, WDYMYHS, and, especially, Genre) that really need attention. The biggest potential barrier (as mentioned in my mid-month piece) is that I’ve committed myself to a pile of Doctor Who watching, reading, and listening in honour of the series’ 60th anniversary. Will that ruin my film viewing? Will I be able to find a harmonious balance? Only time will tell (appropriately enough).

Also next month, it’s the FilmBath Festival. I haven’t actually attended for a few years, but I’ve got a couple of tickets booked this time — though I think only one of the films I’m seeing will qualify for the Challenge. Nonetheless, more on that next month.

And then there’s the Halloween of it all. Not for me, spending a whole month watching just one genre. Though I feel like I should do it one year, just to have done it. But 2023 will not be that year.