My First 100 Movies Of This Year
So in early March of this year (2017), I saw my 100th movie since the year started. The last few years I have hit between 400-500 or so movies in a calendar year, 99% of them seen in theaters. My lofty and unrealistic goal of reviewing each movie as I see it has gone unrealized, as I would either have to make a decent living off writing reviews, or learn to speed write or form thoughts much more quickly. Plus the more movies I see the less time I have to review them.
So here I am over 2 months into the year with only one review written. So I decided to post a list of the first 100 movies I have seen this year just for the hell of it. This will include the few things I watched online, plus some shorts as well, but most were feature length films. There are all sorts of genres, from different decades, some well known, some not known at all, and some that were lost for long period of time. While I wish I could review them all, I do have to somehow make a living and try and pay my bills!
1. Passengers (2016) in 3D
3. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
5. Underworld: Blood Wars (2016) in 3D
6. The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad (1973)
9. Sixty Million Dollar Man (1995)
10. Heaven (1998)
11. Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
12. Portfolio (1983)
17. Rocky (1976)
18. Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
21. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
22. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
23. Report To The Commissioner (1975)
24. A Face In The Crowd (1957)
28. The Axe Murders of Villisca (2016)
30. Ice (1970)
32. Julieta (2016)
34. Puzzle Of A Downfall Child (1970)
35. Split (2016)
36. Purple Rain: Terror Beyond Belief (1984/2014)
39. Duel (1971)
41. The Ring (2002)
42. Frenzy (1972)
44. Popcorn (1991)
46. Slapshot (1977)
50. Too Young, Too Immoral (1962)
51. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) in 4DX
53. Un Padre No Tan Padre (2016)
54. Journey To The West 2: The Demons Strike Back (2017) in 3D
55. Marriage Italian Style (1964)
57. Sex Doll (2016)
58. Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
59. The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) in 3D RPX
61. Audition (1999)
62. Motorama (1991)
65. XX (2017)
66. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
67. Angel (1967)
68. Poen (1967)
69. Ladies And Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (1966)
71. A Cure For Wellness (2016)
72. Portrait D'une Jeune Fille De La Fin Des Années 60 à Bruxelles (1994)
73. Rings (2017)
77. Candyman (1992)
80. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
81. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
82. Catfight (2016)
84. Maniac (1980)
87. The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (1976)
88. The Brood (1979)
93. A Tale Of Sorrow And Sadness (1977)
98. Angel (1984)
100. Montreal Main (1974)
The movies on this list that I rated the highest were Re-Animator, Audition, The Silence Of The Lambs, Maniac and The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. They all received a 9 out of 10. I had previously seen all of them either on the big screen or on video.
The lowest rated movie was XX, which I gave a 4 out of 10 rating. I would also say this was my biggest disappointment of the year, I did have higher expectations for this one, and was pretty much disappointed all the way through.
I also rated a few movies a 5 out of 10, and those were Perfect, The Naked Ape, Fifty Shades Darker, and The Decameron. Anything rated less than a 6 is pretty sub par in my book.
Of the 100 movies, 25 were new (within the past year or so) while 75 were older. 40 were probably big budget studio type movies, while 60 were more indie or uncategorizable. About 27 were horror related, 3 were short films, and I only watched one of these 100 online (which was the American version of The Ring). I had previously seen 22 of the 100.
30 were from the 2010s, 7 were from the 2000s, 11 from the 1990s, 17 from the 1980s, 28 from the 1970s, 6 from the 1960s, and 1 from the 1950s.
Of the larger budget new studio movies I actually really enjoyed Monster Trucks, Split and The Lego Batman Movie, all which were a bit of a surprise to me.
I also really enjoyed a few smaller budget new ones, like Julieta, The Comedian (which most people hated), American Fable and Catfight.
One note for horror fans, most of the new movies were not good, the one exception other than Split was Don't Knock Twice. While I would only say this was good compared to many others that I saw, it did have a beginning, middle and end, and the plot holes were all filled. That is rare in most modern horror movies. Oh, and Rings was far better than I expected, but I guess I expected it to be horrible, so I was pleasantly surprised it was somewhat entertaining, though I wouldn't rave about it.
The one movie I saw from the 1950s was A Face In The Crowd, a film about an alcoholic drifter who gets interviewed on the radio and his charm propels him to fame and fortune. While Donald Trump was never an alcoholic drifter, much of the plot revolves around the man's charm (and fame) taking him places he would never end up had he not had the opportunities surrounding him. It is a fascinating movie to watch in our current political climate.
A revisiting of Dirty Dancing was a surprise to me as well, as not only did I enjoy it was more than I had previously, I also found the character of Baby to be much more well written than most parts for females, especially in the 1980s. Although some of the plot is pretty cliched, it is handled well and does touch on some darker subjects, something I had forgotten about.
Another revisiting which took me by surprise was Candyman. While I remember liking it the first time I saw it, I do not think I noticed what a well made, well acted film it was. The direction was top notch, and there were some beautiful scenes within the horror on screen.
Lastly, a note about Jodie Foster. While I have always loved Taxi Driver, she is a small part of the movie, though she does a great job. I grew up watching The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, and had relegated my love for it to nostalgia. While watching it again, I realized how good of a job she does in that movie, when she was only 13. I know she has a particular hatred towards it, but I am guessing her view of it is based on how she was treated on set rather than her own acting or the story. On top of those two films, upon rewatching The Silence Of The Lambs it struck me how damned good she is in that one too. I have never been particularly into her, and haven't seen a ton of her movies, but I did get to see Catchfire last year, a movie that was directed by Dennis Hopper of all people. While some of it is a mess, the version I saw was really good, and once again she was great. I am definitely going to make an effort to see some of her other films that I have skipped over the years, and see if my love for her acting skill grows.
All in all it was a decent first 100 movies, hopefully the next 100 are that good or better!
