Tag Archives: February

The Limiting and Emotionally Draining Monthly Review of February 2019

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Critique, eh?


#11 Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
#12 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
#13 First Reformed (2017)
#14 High Flying Bird (2019)
#15 Memories of Murder (2003), aka Salinui chueok
#16 Gods and Monsters (1998)
#17 Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
#18 Leave No Trace (2018)
#19 Hereditary (2018)
#20 Zatoichi and the Fugitives (1968), aka Zatôichi hatashijô
#20a Inception: The Cobol Job (2010)
#21 Fences (2016)
#22 Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
#23 Ocean’s Eight (2018)
#24 Rope (1948)
#25 Roma (2018)
#26 Green Book (2018)
#27 Serenity (2019)
#28 The Predator (2018)
Memories of Murder

Hereditary

Rope

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  • So, I watched 18 new feature films in February.
  • That’s below the rolling average of the last 12 months (previously 21.3, now 21.1), but does beat the average for February (previously 12.4, now 12.8), as well as January’s tally of ten.
  • That puts me at #28 overall as the month ends, which is the lowest I’ve been at the end of February for five years, since February 2014 closed out at just #12. On the other hand, 2015 and 2017 were both only on #29 at this point, so there’s nothing to worry about (where I should be to reach my new official target of 120 new films in a year is, of course, #20).
  • This month’s Blindspot film: Alfred Hitchcock’s wannabe-one-shot real-time thriller, Rope.
  • This month’s WDYMYHS film: true-life Korean murder mystery Memories of Murder. It reminded me of Fincher’s Zodiac, which is high praise indeed.
  • From last month’s “failures” I watched Roma, First Reformed, Leave No Trace, and my first 4K Blu-ray (see Rewatchathon).



The 45th Monthly Arbitrary Awards

Favourite Film of the Month
There were several films this month that earned five-star reviews — not always a prerequisite for being a favourite; and, I have to say, in most cases that was thanks to rounding up (I don’t believe a film has to be wholly flawless to earn full marks on a ratings system that’s so inherently vague!) My pick of the bunch is probably Korean police procedural Memories of Murder. As I said above, it reminded me of Zodiac, one of my all-time favourite films.

Least Favourite Film of the Month
Various films disappointed, underwhelmed, or divided me this month, but lowest among them has to be the battiness of Serenity, which also gets bonus negative points for trying to use the same title as the Firefly film.

Most Meme-able Movie of the Month
In my Velvet Buzzsaw review I noted it was ripe for the picking by meme-makers, but I guess because it didn’t go down very well it hasn’t really caught on. Instead, a drama about a troubled priest from the writer of Taxi Driver might not seem like a meme-magnet… but then again, “are you looking at me?” was a meme before memes existed. Anyway, nothing else this month beats this all-purpose line from First Reformed…

Well somebody has to do something

Oh, and thanks to the unpopular Oscar results, this gem has taken off too…

Will God forgive us?

Most Self-Consciously Whimsical Title of the Month
I can kind of see what they were going for with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but they took it too far and now it’s a more horrible mouthful than the pie itself.

The Audience Award for Most-Viewed New Post of the Month
Oscar buzz and an Oscar win did little to boost the fates of Roma and Green Book here. Instead, the top two spots were taken by reviews of new Netflix releases (an ever-popular post category), with High Flying Bird coming a distant second to Velvet Buzzsaw.



After a strong start last month, my Rewatchathon falls behind pace a little this time, with just two films.

#6 Inception (2010)
#7 Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

Of note here is that Inception becomes the first film I’ve watched on 4K UHD Blu-ray. It looked great, and sounded even better. It ‘only’ has a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, though (as opposed to audiophiles’ new infatuation, Dolby Atmos), so I guess the regular Blu-ray sounds just as good; unless it was remixed, because the 4K does make a point of being the “original theatrical mix”. Well, whatever — the 4K disc sounds immense.


I once again have an extensive list of films I was meaning to get round to this month and, well, didn’t.

No trips to the cinema this month, so I haven’t seen How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Alita: Battle Angel, or The Kid Who Would Be King. I was going to rewatch How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2 in 3D before that cinema trip, too, but didn’t get round to those either. I guess I’ll go through the whole trilogy in 3D when the third one hits disc in a few months’ time.

As for stuff that’s already coming out at home, I bought First Man, Venom, and imported the new Suspiria and the 1929 Der Hund von Baskerville, but didn’t manage to get round to any of them (obviously, otherwise they wouldn’t be mentioned here). I’ve also got BlacKkKlansman and Upgrade waiting as digital rentals. The Predator was another rental that nearly earned a mention here too, but then I watched it last night. I actually tried to watch it earlier in the month, but it turned out it wasn’t in 4K (despite that being what I’d paid for) and was cropped to the wrong aspect ratio (I do not recommend Chili!) In the end I acquired it via *ahem* other means.

I also bought a bunch more 4K UHD Blu-rays this month, thanks to various sales and offers. I gotta say, though, 4K is not solving all the world’s problems (or, at least, being the ultimate final physical media format) like it should. By which I mean: although I’ve now bought The Matrix trilogy on 4K, I’ve still got to keep my Ultimate Matrix Collection DVD set for four whole discs of stuff not in the 4K set. And although I’ve now bought The Dark Knight trilogy on 4K, I’ve still got to keep my Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray set for the bonus disc which has a couple of feature-length extras. And although I’ve now bought the Mission: Impossible 1-5 4K box set, I’ve still got to keep all the individual films’ Blu-rays for their various bonus discs. And although I’ve not bought the X-Men trilogy on 4K yet, I know it’ll be the same story, because that stupidly doesn’t include any special features discs at all (at least The Matrix and Dark Knight sets managed the film-specific ones). The only 4K box set I’ve bought that’s done it right is the Jurassic Park one, and I think that’s probably by accident (because none of those films had additional special features discs in the first place). I guess having to keep old editions isn’t the end of the world (selling second-hand DVDs/Blu-rays nets so little money nowadays that you’re not even close to covering the cost of rebuying), but it’s the principle — and wasted shelf space — that gets on my wick. Not to mention the looming possibility that one day they’ll do a re-release that does it properly and I’ll feel compelled to buy my favourites again…

Finally, I’ve currently got my annual one-month subscription to Sky Cinema (via Now TV) to watch the Oscars, and there’s a whole host of films I want to get round to currently available on there, including (but not limited to) recent releases like A Wrinkle in Time, Isle of Dogs, Lady Bird, and Love, Simon.


2019 is Marching on already.

(D’you see what I did there? Do you? Do you? Do you?)

The Snowbound Monthly Update for February 2018

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Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but films are so delightful; and since we’ve no place to go, let’s look back at the last month on 100 Films…


#16 Accomplice (1946)
#17 Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
#18 The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
#19 Casino (1995)
#20 Hitchcock (2012)
#21 Fast & Furious 8 (2017), aka The Fate of the Furious
#22 WarGames (1983)
#23 Black Panther (2018)
#24 Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964), aka Zatôichi senryô-kubi
#25 The Dark Tower (2017)
#26 The Duellists (1977)
#27 Persepolis (2007)
#28 Being John Malkovich (1999)
#29 One for the Fire: The Legacy of “Night of the Living Dead” (2008)
#30 Birth of the Living Dead (2013)
#31 Mute (2018)
#32 Big Fish (2003)
#33 My Cousin Rachel (2017)
#34 Mindhorn (2016)
#35 The Villainess (2017), aka Ak-Nyeo
#36 I Origins (2014)
Black Panther

Big Fish

The Villainess

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  • With 21 new films watched this month, February is all set to beat a few stats.
  • So, it passes all averages: for the month of February (previously 11.5, now 12.4); for 2018 to date (previously 15, now 18); and the rolling average of the last 12 months (previously 14.5, now 15.1).
  • It’s also the second highest February (behind 2016’s 24) and the second furthest I’ve reached by the end of February (behind 2016 again, when I’d made it to #44).
  • In 11-and-a-bit years of doing this blog, it’s only the 10th month with 20+ films. That puts it in the top 7.5% of all months.
  • Despite February being the shortest month, 21 is the most films I’ve watched in a single month since last October. If you include rewatches (more on those further down, as usual), it’s the most since… the same. But to find another month where I watched more overall, you’d have to go back to another October: October 2015, aka my highest month ever.
  • This month’s Blindspot film: one of the few gaps in my Tim Burton viewing, probably his most restrained (and, by no coincidence, one of his best) film in the last 20+ years, Big Fish.
  • This month’s WDYMYHS film: one of the many gaps in my Martin Scorsese viewing, though sadly I found Casino to be rather overrated.



The 33rd Monthly Arbitrary Awards

Favourite Film of the Month
This month wasn’t a bad one for quality viewing — far from it — and yet options for this category quickly narrowed to just a couple of prime contenders. Of those, I had little doubt about my favourite: ticking all sorts of boxes with its African James Bond superhero routine, it had to be Black Panther.

Least Favourite Film of the Month
There were a few less-good films this month, two of them courtesy of Netflix’s Originals line. Of that pair, undoubtedly the worst (to my mind) was The Cloverfield Paradox. Its surprise release may’ve been hailed as genius, but when you actually see the film you realise that innovation was almost all it had going for it. If Netflix ever try to pull the same stunt again… well, it’s not going to bode well for that film’s quality.

Best Action Sequence on Wheels of the Month
Black Panther has a cool semi-virtual car chase, and obviously Fast & Furious 8 bases almost all of its action around motor vehicles, but neither can come close to The Villainess’ sword fight on speeding motorbikes. And later it trots out a bus-based finale, just to make sure no one else would stand a chance in this category.

Flower of the Month
It may not be the weather for them, but after Big Fish it has to be daffodils.

The Audience Award for Most-Viewed New Post of the Month
It’s the film everyone’s been talking about this month — and going to see in droves, too — so it’s no surprise to find Black Panther in pole position here.



In a real turn-up for the books, my Rewatchathon is currently well ahead of schedule…

#5 Blade Runner 2049 3D (2017)
#6 Beetlejuice (1988)
#7 The Mask (1994)
#8 The Love Punch (2013)
#9 Mission: Impossible (1996)
#10 Shrek (2001)

Regular readers with exceptional memories may recall I only last watched The Love Punch in January. Frankly, it’s not a film I necessarily thought I’d ever revisit, let alone so soon, but sometimes you need something inoffensive that will placate a group of family members with varied tastes. And, to be completely honest, although it’s an utterly daft movie, I do quite like it.

Beetlejuice turns 30 next month, so I’ll post more about it then. Mission: Impossible and Shrek will also be getting the “Guide To” treatment, to fill out my archive with posts about the entirety of each series — three of the five Mission films are already here; and while there are no Shreks yet, three of those five will be first-time watches when I get to them. This is also the beginning of a rewatch of all the M:I films before this summer’s sixth arrives. It’s the first time I’ve watched the first two in at least a decade — time bloody flies, don’t it?


It’s time for the annual update of my director’s page header image, which features the 20 directors with the most films I’ve reviewed. (The excitement never stops around here, folks!)

There were no humungous changes like the surge of Spielberg last year. Nonetheless, Michael Bay and Ron Howard have moved into positions where they definitely get to appear on the banner; but there’s a ten-way tie for 18th place, from which only three directors can be selected. Already included in the header were John Carpenter, Alfred Hitchcock, Ernst Lubitsch, Tony Scott, and Billy Wilder — at least two had to go to make way for Bay and Howard. Also under consideration for the remaining three slots were Danny Boyle, Kenneth Branagh, David Lynch, M. Night Shyamalan, and Quentin Tarantino.

In the end, I decided to go for a near-maximum refresh: off come Carpenter, Lubitsch, Tony Scott, and Wilder (Hitchcock stays because, c’mon, it’s Hitchcock), and on go not only Bay and Howard, but also Lynch and Tarantino.


British Summer Time begins. No, seriously: right now it couldn’t be more wintery, but in just 25 days the clocks change. Madness.

The Interruptive Monthly Update for February 2017

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And the award for Most Recent Month goes to… January!

I’m sorry, no, there’s a mistake. February, you guys won Most Recent Month. This is not a joke. This is not a joke, I’m afraid they read the wrong thing. This is not a joke. February has won Most Recent Month. February, Most Recent Month.


#16 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
#17 It Follows (2014)
#18 Elstree 1976 (2015)
#19 Hell or High Water (2016)
#19a Mad Max: Fury Road – Black & Chrome Edition (2015/2016)
#20 In a Valley of Violence (2016)
#21 Don’t Breathe (2016)
#22 Fandango (1985)
#23 Hail, Caesar! (2016)
#24 San Andreas (2015)
#25 Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie (2015)
#26 Dances with Wolves: Special Edition (1990/1991)
#27 Police Academy (1984)
#28 The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
#29 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Fandango

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  • I watched 14 new films in February, plus one alternate version.
  • That’s now my 33rd consecutive month with ten or more films.
  • It easily passes the February average (11.22; now 11.5), but isn’t even close to the highest February (last year’s 24).
  • It also falls just short of the last 12 months’ average (15.83; now 15 exactly).
  • It’s also behind where I was this time last year (#44!), but it’s equal to this time in 2015 and ahead of every other year.
  • This month’s WDYMYHS viewing: the Coen brothers’ frothy ode to Hollywood (which may have deeper stuff going on that, frankly, I wish it didn’t try to bother with), Hail, Caesar!
  • I know some people like to schedule exactly which month they’ll watch each of their Blindspot films. Never quite understood why personally, and here’s a good argument for why not: suddenly finding myself with a weekend all to, er, myself, I was able to comfortably watch all four hours of Dances with Wolves.



The 21st Monthly Arbitrary Awards

Favourite Film of the Month
One of this year’s Best Picture nominees and a winner from the past may be among my viewing this month, but, while I liked them both very much, there were other films I enjoyed even more. Of those, I think I’m going to pick a coming-of-age comedy-drama I’d never even heard of ’til the ghost of 82 recommended it to me last year, Fandango. It’s definitely worth seeking out.

Least Favourite Film of the Month
There were no outright stinkers this month — and considering I watched things like San Andreas, Police Academy, and Teenage Mutant Michael Bay Turtles 2, I’m surprised. I nearly gave this award to Don’t Breathe, because the hyper-praised horror-thriller isn’t quite deserving of the extreme love it attracted, but I’ll probably give it a higher star rating than those three I already mentioned. Instead I’ll plump for Police Academy, which isn’t bad but isn’t all that great either.

Best Cover Version of a Classic Song of the Month
After getting an oriental-tinged version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps in Kubo last month, this month it’s California Dreamin’ given a hyper-dramatic do-over by Sia for San Andreas.

Best Dog of the Month
Could it be the talented Abby from In a Valley of Violence? (Very much so.) Could it be the vicious guard dog from Don’t Breathe? (Not really.) Could it be Snoopy? (Eh…) No, the actual winner is the cute little scruffy dog that gets chased by zombies but runs away and totally survives (yes he does) from The Girl with All the Gifts.

The Audience Award for Most-Viewed New Post of the Month
My stats went through the roof this month thanks to being linked to in an article on Cracked.com — just those hits alone would make February 2017 my fourth highest month ever. But it was an old review (Wizardhood) so has nothing to do with this award. Two posts vied neck and neck all month, but in the end It Follows was bested by my review of “Tim Burton’s X-Men”, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Special Award for Best Pun of the Month
This is a bit “patting myself on the back” (possibly undeservedly) but, honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of referring to In a Valley of Violence as “John Wick-y wicky wild wild West”.



You may have noticed there were fewer reviews this month than normal. That’s because (in case you missed it) I marked the blog’s 10th anniversary by posting ten top tens about the last ten years. Plus the customary statistics post, of course.


Despite its aim, my rewatchathon has thus far done very little to halt my focus on watching stuff I’ve never seen before — instead of one a week, I’m averaging one a month. Oops.

#2 21 Jump Street (2012)

I suppose you could also count Fury Road: Black & Chrome down here, but the decolourisation has such a profound effect on the feel of the film that I think it belongs in my main list, albeit as an unnumbered aside, like most alternate versions. And it can’t really be in both lists, can it?

It’s OK though, there are still ten months to go…


So, I said I was going to post 100 Favourites II on consecutive days for the rest of this week. I’ve decided that’s not going to work out, so instead I’ll post the four parts weekly, starting this Sunday.

Other than that, after spending ages celebrating the blog’s anniversary, regular service will be resumed.

The Past Month on TV #2

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This month, another ragtag selection of programmes I’m not watching at the same speed as anybody else.

The 88th Academy AwardsThe Oscars
They feel so long ago already, don’t they? But no, the Oscars were just a couple of weeks back. I thought it was a pretty good show this year. Chris Rock ended up belabouring the race point a bit by the end, including a few gags that went very wrong, but his opening monologue was good, as were some of the skits on the way. That there were a few surprise winners also helped keep things ticking along nicely, though (without having seen it) I think Spotlight is already destined to be an obscure answer to “name a film that won Best Picture” within a couple of years.

Person of Interest (Season 4 Episodes 1-3)
Person of InterestI have very mixed feelings about Person of Interest, whose fourth season has only made it to UK TV in the past few weeks (the belated fifth starts in the US in May, they announced yesterday). When it works, it’s a good quality vigilante/procedural action show; but its array of arc plots are as unrewarding as they are never-ending, and are consequently unsatisfying to a fault (literally). However, now that I’m so deep into it, and with cancellation finally confirmed (the foreshortened and delayed fifth season will indeed be its last, as was also finally announced yesterday), I feel like I’m in ’til the bitter end. The makers just bloody better have had the notice to get a proper ending into that now-final episode…

Ripper Street (Series 4 Episodes 5-6)
Ripper StreetWhen Amazon picked up Ripper Street after the success of the third series, it was for a fourth and fifth season totalling 13 episodes. The show’s writers seem to have taken the double recommission to heart and crafted an arc plot to last throughout those two seasons, meaning this first half ends on a big surprise and with all sorts of things left up in the air. And now we have to wait. Still, it’ll be fascinating to see how there are six or seven more episodes left, considering the predicament they’ve put the characters in.

Shetland (Series 3 Episodes 3-6)
ShetlandI think I sounded a little more dismissive of Shetland than I’d intended in last month’s review. The remainder of the season stepped outside the programme’s usual wheelhouse, heading down to Glasgow and into the world of organised crime, which perhaps lost some of the series’ unique spark. However, it chose to tackle some very heavy issues in the last couple of episodes; the kind of thing that has too often been dumped into dramas as a plot twist without exploring the actual ramifications. Kudos to the writers for dealing with it intelligently and sympathetically, then, and to the cast — particularly Alison O’Donnell — for their incredible performances.

The X Files (Season 10 Episodes 3-6)
The X FilesThe quality of this revival has certainly been all over the place. I was wary of episode three, Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster, because comedy always seems at odds with The X Files’ grand conspiracy storylines, but I thought it was hilarious and deserving of its acclaim as the best episode of the season. Home Again felt like solid standard X Files fodder, and Babylon was clearly trying to be zeitgeisty but perhaps wasn’t fully thought-through. As for the much-maligned finale, My Struggle II… well, it was a mess, and over-ambitious, and a stupid idea to end it on a cliffhanger when no one knew how well the revival would go down. Let’s hope Chris Carter is right that there’ll definitely be more.

Also watched…
  • Dickensian Series 1 Episodes 13-20 — please BBC, can we have some more?
  • Elementary Season 4 Episodes 9-13 — you can adapt the wordplay mystery from A Study in Scarlet all you want, it still doesn’t make you actually similar to Sherlock Holmes.
  • The Flash Season 2 Episode 10 / Arrow Season 4 Episode 10 / DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 1 — I can’t be the only person who thinks of these like one show that’s on three times a week.
  • Gilmore Girls Season 3 Episode 11-Season 4 Episode 17 — 71 to go.
  • Grantchester Series 2 Episodes 1-2 — remember when I said I was going to watch fewer crime dramas? Because I didn’t, clearly.
  • The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story Season 1 Episode 2 — who thought this was going to be a comedy?

    Things to Catch Up On
    The Night ManagerThis month, I have mostly been missing The Night Manager. The critically-acclaimed ratings hit is, as you likely know, a spy thriller adapted from a John le Carré novel, which not only means it has pedigree, but that its star — Tumblr-beloved Marvel villain Tom Hiddleston — is now being tipped to take over as Bond. I wouldn’t know, I’ve not seen it yet.

    Next month… Daredevil season 2.

    • The Value-for-Money Monthly Update for February 2016

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    It’s only words, and words are all I have to introduce this post.

    So let’s get on with it.


    The Martian#21 Predestination (2014)
    #22 Prisoners (2013)
    #23 Macbeth (2015)
    #24 Daybreakers (2009)
    #25 The Martian (2015)
    #26 Ex Machina (2015)
    #27 Quigley Down Under (1990)
    #28 Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)Ex Machina
    #29 SuperBob (2015)
    #30 The East (2013)
    #31 Pillow Talk (1959)
    #32 Home on the Range (2004)
    #33 Crimson Peak (2015)
    #34 Grand Piano (2013)
    #35 Home (2015)
    Crimson Peak#36 Noah (2014)
    #37 The Equalizer (2014)
    #38 The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
    #39 Big Eyes (2014)
    #40 The Hangover (2009)
    #41 Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
    #42 Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo. (2012/2013)
    #43 Cinderella (2015)
    #44 Lucy (2014)


    • Value For Money Assessment, Part 1: before I cancelled Netflix last month, I watched 10 films on there. That’s £0.79 per film.
    • Value For Money Assessment, Part 2: after joining Now TV this month, I snuffled out 230+ films that interested me. Of those, I watched 10, plus the Oscars. That’s £0.91 per film/awards ceremony. (That subscription’s not over, so I’ll get more value out of it next month.)
    • Value For Money Assessment, Part 3: I bought and instantly watched four new-release Blu-rays this month. That was £11.87 per film. Picture quality and special features were lovely, though.
    • No WDYMYHS film this month, for reasons I’ll come to in a minute. I did watch two last month, though, so it’s OK.


    This month, I watched 24 new films. Yeah, that whole “watch fewer films so I can do other stuff” thing isn’t going so well. (“Moan when you’re not watching enough films, moan when you are watching plenty of films — what’s wrong with you?!” Yes, I do feel a bit Shinji-ish.)

    The reason? The Oscars. Not watching the nominated films, but paying £9.99 for a month of Now TV so I can watch them. Are the Oscars worth £9.99? No, of course they’re not — hence catching up on lots of other films while I have it. That’ll continue until the middle of next month… when I’ll get Netflix so I can watch Daredevil season two, and also attempt to extract maximum value for money by watching a load more films. So in the middle of April I may finally stop watching so many movies…

    Of course, watching so many films brings with it a number of personal ‘achievements’: it easily surpasses the February average (9.63) and crushes the February record (13, jointly held by four previous Februarys); it’s the 21st month in a row where I’ve watched over 10 films; it’s only the fifth month ever with over 20 films; oh, and it’s a new third best month ever. (“Best” in this sense just meaning “most prolific”, of course. Volume does not equal quality. Unless you’re Mad Max: Fury Road, in which case winning the most Oscars means you are the Academy’s best film of the year. Yes it does. Yes it does.)

    Quick inaccurate future predictions: following the relatively-huge January and February, and as I intend to maintain my ten-per-month minimum, this year’s looking at a final tally of at least 144 films. That would make it easily my second most prolific year ever. Which is nice. If by some failure of purpose I continued to achieve my current 2016 average of 22 films per month, I’d be looking at ending around #264. Sounds utterly ridiculous, but in January 2015 I laughed at the statistics suggesting I might make it to #192, and I ended up reaching #200.


    This month, I’ve all but finished posting my 2015 reviews. Just The Story of Film remains, joining Veronica Mars in the eternally-unreviewed club. Maybe I’ll fix them both next month. Plus, the debut of my monthly TV review.


    Superheroes, Disney, history, and noir — both classic and futuristic. Alphabetisation leaves the structure of this series to the whims of fate, but I think it’s a nicely varied month.



    The 9th Monthly Arbitrary Awards

    Favourite Film of the Month
    Any month with 24 films is likely to have more than its fair share of highs and lows, and so it was with February. Shortlisting contenders for both this and the next award showed more of the former than the latter (nine vs. three), thankfully, but I think this one boils down to a three-way five-star sci-fi stand-off. Of those, I think the best marriage of idea and execution may have come from Predestination.

    Least Favourite Film of the Month
    Two animations with “home” in the title are the frontrunners (rear-runners?) here. However, I expected Home on the Range to be terrible (and only watched it in aid of seeing all the Disney Animated Classics), whereas I only watched Home because I thought the trailer looked entertaining, so was thoroughly disappointed.

    Best Apocalypse of the Month
    Plenty of movies have shown us the end of the world now, but very few have done it in a story set millennia ago. For doing it so convincingly (if not plausibly), congratulations to Noah.

    Most Disappointing Shakespeare Cut of the Month
    “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” Why did they excise one of the best lines from Macbeth?!

    The Audience Award for Most-Viewed New Post of the Month
    Maybe it was the broad range of series covered, maybe it was just because it was something new and different, but my most-viewed new post in February was The Past Month on TV #1. (For the sake of keeping things on topic, I’ll add that the most-viewed film-related review was my Oscars-centric take on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.)


    Halfway.

    February 2015

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    We’re 16.16% of the way through 2015. I watched 16 films in January. But did I also watch 16 films in February?


    The Grand Budapest HotelFebruary’s films

    #17 The Black Cauldron (1985)
    #18 Gone Girl (2014)
    #19 Song of the Thin Man (1947)
    #20 The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
    #21 Byzantium (2012)
    #22 The Last Days on Mars (2013)
    #23 Runner Runner (2013)
    Byzantium#24 Tropic Thunder: Director’s Cut (2008)
    #25 Time Lapse (2014)
    #26 What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
    #26a 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    #26b Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)
    #27 Boyhood (2014)
    #28 Big Hero 6 (2014)
    #28a Feast (2014)
    #29 The General (1926)


    Viewing Notes

    • Answer: no… and yes. That’s 13 counted films, but 16 with the shorts and 2001. More on this in my analysis.
    • My viewing and reviewing of the Thin Man films were both completed this month. You can read about the entire series here.
    • It was the Oscars this month, as I expect you noticed, which is partly why there are reviews of undeserving-loser Boyhood and undeserving-winner Big Hero 6. See also: many previous Best Picture winners among February’s archive reposts, below.


    What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

    Jumping in at the last minute, then, February’s WDYMYHS film is both the oldest and shortest on this year’s list — Buster Keaton’s silent American Civil War-set comedy The General. I have to say, I didn’t actually laugh all that much, but did really enjoy it. That’ll take some working out in my eventual review…


    Analysis

    As noted above, reaching #29 means I’ve watched 13 new-to-me films in February, not to mention two shorts and a re-view for 2001: A Space Odyssey. And I shan’t mention those, so moving on…

    That figure surpasses both the previous February average (9.1) and last year’s monthly average (11.3). It equals 2010, 2011 and 2012 for the most films I’ve watched in a February; but, thanks to January, it’s also the furthest I’ve ever reached by the end of February.

    Although it’s slightly down from January’s 16 new films (though if you do count the shorts and 2001, it equals it), it still passes my goal for reaching a minimum of 10 films each month in 2015. If I keep that up, I’d finish the year on #129 at the lowest, which would tie with 2007 for my second-best year ever. Even better, if I keep up my current monthly average of 14.5, I’d finish the year by reaching an extraordinary (for me…) #174!

    Of course, the same sum done at the end of January had me reaching #192, so we’re a long way off having an accurate prediction yet.


    This month’s archive reviews

    If I’m going to get through all of these by the end of the year, I need to keep the pace up — and so there were another 26 archive reviews reposted in the past month…


    Next month on 100 Films in a Year…

    A quarter of the way through the year!

    Of course, I’m already past my quarter-way point, so there’s a singular lack of tension there, isn’t there.

    February 2011

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    Apparently February’s ending. Where’d that go, eh?


    Big numbers

    Another month down sees the year reach ½ of ⅓ complete (or, to put it another way, “one sixth” — but they don’t do a little symbol for that).

    Last month I watched 12 films and talked about continuing at that rate; this month I’ve watched 13, so that’s grand — and sees me quarterway toward my goal already. If I could keep this up I’d reach 150 by year’s end.

    And, in fact, I watched more films than even that this month thanks to my David Fincher Week. Five of those didn’t count thanks to having seen them before, but if they had that would’ve been 18 films this month for a total of 30 — and at that kind of rate I’d be making it to over 180 by December 31st!

    Not gonna happen.


    #13 Harry Brown (2009)
    #14 Alien³: Special Edition (1992/2003)
    #14a Se7en (1995)
    #15 Monkey Business (1952)
    #15a The Game (1997)
    #16 True Grit (1969)
    #16a Fight Club (1999)
    #16b Panic Room (2002)
    #16c Zodiac: Director’s Cut (2007/2008)
    #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, aka Nanny McPhee Returns (2010)
    #25 Up in the Air (2009)


    Reviewless

    So viewing’s going very well. Reviews, not so much — I’m currently 20 behind, which is the most I’ve been for a long time. I shall have to try harder.


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

    The prescribed goal for the end of March is 25 films — done that!

    Can I reach 37? Or even 43? And will I post some damn reviews?

    All will be revealed… maybe with fewer clichés…

    100 Days

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    April 9th: the 100th day of 2008! As it’s just over a quarter of the way through the year (that would’ve been March 31st, more or less), and also a nice round number in its own right, and as I did a similar thing at roughly this point last year, it seems an appropriate time for a statisticstastic look at how things are going so far.

    I’ve seen a total of just 15 films so far. That makes my weekly average a lowly 1.07, meaning I’ll manage a paltry 56 films this year should that continue. Oh dear. (At this point last year, I was on course to see 145!)

    Of those few films, eight were released in the 2000s, two each in the 1990s, ’80s and ’40s, and one in the ’30s. That means I’ve seen nothing from the ’70s, ’60s or ’50s, or before 1939.

I saw nine of them on DVD, four via download, and two on TV. Nothing on VHS, and I haven’t been to the cinema yet this year.

    Ratings wise, I’ve so far handed out three full marks. Those were to Atonement, Dark City and Rebecca. Of the remaining twelve, five garnered 4 out of 5, four managed a 3, and three were awarded just 2. Nothing has been poor enough to merit a 1… yet. The average rating is therefore 3.5, exactly the same as at this point last year and a pretty averagey average.

    With 38 weeks of the year to go, I have 85 films left to reach my target — that’s an average of 2.2 new films every week (or 9.5 every month) from here out. Quite low, one might think, but I’ve clearly not been living up to it.

    2007 | Weeks 9-11

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    My aim is to see 100 films I’ve never seen before by the end of 2007. Simple concept, innit.

    Week 8 seems to have been a high point so far, in terms of film viewing. I mean, I saw six films that week! Compared to an average of just over two films per week at the start and barely two per week now. So much for weekly entries, eh. But I’m not doing too badly — not yet a quarter of the way through the year and I’ve passed the quarter point in my total. There is hope yet!

    For anyone keeping track, this period covers February 26th to March 18th. I didn’t see many films in week nine (the first, and only, was on Friday), or week ten (the first, and only new one, was on Wednesday), so I decided to put these three together. And here is what I saw…

    #22 United 93

    #23 Fargo

    #24 The Reckless Moment

    2007 | Week 8

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    My quest: to watch 100 films that I have never seen before, by 31st December 2007!

    Number of films per week required to achieve this: 1.93

    Current average number of films seen per week: 2.63

    More than on target. Excellent.

    With that information relayed, on to the films that I watched between February 19th and February 25th 2007. They’re now firmly in chronological order.

    #16 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

    #17 Notes on a Scandal

    #18 Nosferatu

    #19 Blood Diamond

    #20 Hot Fuzz

    #21 Johnny English