year in review

Once again, it’s time to look at my year in film. Cinematically, 2015 is poised to be a big year. You have Avengers: Age of Ultron, two Pixar movies, Jurassic World, Star Wars: The Force Awakens just to name a few. Seriously, it’s going to be big. After all, we’re supposed to be cruising on our hoverboards and watching Jaws XIX.

Looking at the progress made between 2013 and 2014, I hit 365 in October of 2014, a whole month earlier. Granted, it helped that I started from day one instead of day eighteen or whatever. You can check my Stat Sheet to see how well I did. I don’t think I’ll top my 2014 total for a while.

I know I’ve mentioned it in previous posts but I’ll go ahead and talk about them. Meeting Jim Miller and Chris Buck, complete with pics and autographs, was really amazing.

Also, I did get through all of LOTR like I promised earlier this year. Never did get to Harry Potter. Maybe this year.

Best of 2014 (in no particular order):

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Guardians of the Galaxy
Cloud Atlas
The Truman Show
Adaptation.
Brazil
Chicago
Shock Corridor
Spirited Away
The Night of the Hunter
Total Recall (original)
The Decalogue

Worst of 2014 (in no particular order):

Foodfight!
Into the Storm
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Nutcracker in 3D
The Man with Two Brains
Zardoz
Prizzi’s Honor
Equilibrium
Inkheart
There’s Something About Mary

Films that Need a Second Look:

Full Metal Jacket
A Fish Called Wanda
Die Hard
Naked Lunch
Satyricon
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Rosemary’s Baby
The Invention of Lying

It’s that time of year again; time to make (and break) resolutions, to reflect on what has happened, and to ring in the new year. 2013 was no exception. I’m surprised how much I’ve done in those 365 days alone.

I switched majors from computer animation to film, I started this blog way back in April (I think), and I was able to keep my resolution of seeing at least one film per day in 2013. I also became a member of the 1001 Movies Club and LAMB. If you look at The Mega Movie List Stat Sheet, you can get a glimpse of my progress that’s updated as often as possible.

Now out of the nearly 400 films viewed in 2013, there were cinematic successes and box office bombs. I don’t see many current films in the theater as much as nearly everyone else online or in real life. Yes, there were many times where I saw the same film multiple times and had it tally as one film towards the total. But hey, the only way to appreciate a film is in multiple viewings (with some exceptions). So, my best and worst lists cover everything I saw this year.

Best of 2013 (in no order): Mulholland Dr., Stand By Me, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, A Trip to the Moon (on ACTUAL film), Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining, M, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Frozen, Gravity, Moon, Koyaanisqatsi, Mary & Max, Dog Star Man, Neco z Alenky, Lawrence of Arabia

Worst of 2013 (in no order): Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Fur, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny, Babe: Pig in the City, Cars 2, Sacred Planet, Out of Africa, The Jacket, Heaven and Earth Magic, Sharknado, Dune, Vinyl

Films Needing a Second Look (films I didn’t like but plan to revisit): Wavelength, Gone With The Wind, Lost Highway, Notorious, Braveheart, The Last of the Mohicans, Donnie Darko, The King’s Speech, Wild at Heart, Paths of Glory, The Best Years of Our Lives

So, next year will be the same: one film per day. I’m looking to at least hit 80% on both AFI Top 100 lists as well as the halfway mark for the nominations list. Also, I plan to watch all of LOTR and Harry Potter, something I haven’t done but seemingly everyone else has. More foreign films on the docket as well as movie syncs. 2014: here I come!