It’s time for the final tally. With a record breaking year, and four months of unemployment here’s what I managed in the last few days of 2013.
Happy 2014 people… more writings on the new year and this site in coming days.
FRUITVALE STATION (2013) – I’m not hating on the world guys…
RIDDICK (2013) – I’m not hating on the world that allows this movie to keep going…
THE EAST (2013) – I’m hating on the world, and cinema for this movie…
MUSEUM HOURS (2013) – Let me think about art some more…
FROZEN (2013) – Let me wish for more great musical songs per film…
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (2013) – Let me wish for shorter films…
CALL ME KUCHU (2013) – Let me wish for equality…
THE TWELVE CHAIRS (1970) – Young Frank Langela makes me feel weird…
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) – Charlton Heston is badass guys…
REWATCHED
MACHETE KILLS – “Machete don’t tweet”
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER – “There are things you do hate, Lord. Perfume-smellin’ things, lacy things, things with curly hair.”
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS – “Jack, please, I’m only an elected official here, I can’t make decisions by myself!”
BATMAN RETURNS – “The heat’s getting to me. I’ll murder you momentarily.”
TRUE GRIT (2010) – “The jakes is occupied.”
THE ICEMAN – “I only feel alone around other people. Couldn’t be truer.”
THE SPECTACULAR NOW – “I guess this would be the part where I give you a lecture about what you’re doing with yourself.”
IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD – “*Everybody* has to pay taxes!- Even businessmen, who rob and cheat and steal from people everyday, even *they* have to pay *taxes*!”
FACE/OFF – “The eternal battle between good and evil, saint and sinners… but you are still not having fun.”
My count for the year of 2013 is updated to 317 First time watches (179 from 2013); 217 Rewatches; 534 Total Films
A great cluster of films to end of a great stretch of consumption. As I looked back on my own tally (posted today!), I had to ask myself one question:
Is this a plateau for my film-consumption, and am I happy with that?
Specifically: Without a major life change (added responsibility that decreases free time/life event that increases free time), I feel like I'm watching as much as I would want to watch in a given year. Perhaps that true for you too, or perhaps not?
As to the second part, are you down with what film is giving you? Do you feel like it continues to be a good use of your time, or are the returns starting to diminish?
Well… let's look at it this way. I sort of felt it a bit at TIFF; that 40 mark was hard for me. And I don't think that 40 in 11 days is what was hard but that the way I structured it at TIFF was hard. I planned basically as many films as possible in the first 10 days (what became 38 films) and made my final day be open to allow for a lot of hanging out and such. Also leaving space for you guys and everything else I love about being in town for TIFF. So I think it's easy to do 40 (probably 42) in 11 days and not feel that diminishing returns.
SO first it's to admit that there is such a thing as diminishing returns. If you push yourself to a week of wall to wall 6/7 film days you're going to start losing points of reference. But with my final tally and this last month I never got there generally. Especially since so much of it includes rewatches (prob near 40%; too lazy to do the math) were it becomes passive film watching.
I felt a lot of my film watching in the last four months, being back home, was spurned on by making Douglas watch movies. I got him to watch so many films in the last few months that as he attests on the podcast while he may have wanted to watch initially he would've never made himself do unless I was there sitting him down. Looking at the above tally 6 of the above rewatches were with him; 4 at least specifically for him to make him watch.
I think, especially in the last few months, what helped it not be a bore or drain was the fact that I wasn't writing as much. I would always go into certain films with the expectation to write, but a day or two later when nothing came I moved on and I was ok.
So…to answer you question with a lot more words than movies I saw: I don't think I saw more movies that I would've watched in the year given my situation(s) throughout the year. If I was still working maybe I wouldn't have beat 500, and I'm sure that will be a thing, but I don't dislike my tally (even though I still kind of kiddingly pretend we were racing in some sort).