Monday, January 01, 2007

463

463. That's the number of movies I watched in 2006. I ran slightly ahead of last year’s pace, but way behind 2004, when I saw an astounding 588! It’s still more than I expected to watch, considering all the television series on DVD I’ve been digging through this year, including MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, COLUMBO, THE BILL COSBY SHOW, HARRY O, THE ROCKFORD FILES, THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, THE WHITE SHADOW, THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., THE WILD WILD WEST and much more. And that’s not even counting all the TV DVD sets I’ve barely even cracked, including TWILIGHT ZONE, ARK II, THE BIG VALLEY, CHEYENNE, T.J. HOOKER, BOOMTOWN, KOJAK, L.A. HEAT, LOVE THAT BOB, THE PRISONER...oh brother.

Of the 463 movies I saw, I watched 274 of them for the first time. Here are my rules. As far as the count goes, only feature films count, no matter whether I saw them in a theater, DVD, VHS or on TV.

• TV shows don't count, unless they were presented in a format resembling a feature film (for instance, the two pilot episodes of HARRY O, which aired as full-length made-for-TV movies)
• Made-for-TV movies count
• Documentaries count
• I didn't count short subjects or feature-length making-of documentaries included as DVD extras (for instance, all of the incredible extras on the new James Bond Ultimate Collection DVD sets)
• Movie serials count as one long feature
• Multiple viewings each count as a separate movie (for instance, I watched LETHAL HUNTER three times, so I marked it down as three "different" movies)

These are my rules. Your mileage may vary.

Just for fun, a few stats:
First film of 2006: SKY HIGH
Last film of 2006: SKELETON COAST

From the 1930's: 1 (KING KONG)
1940's: 7 (including 3 Charlie Chans and 3 starring Johnny Weissmuller)
1950's: 24
1960's: 48
1970's: 115
1980's: 158
1990's: 52
2000-2005: 25
2006: 26

I continued my trend of barely attending movies in theaters. Outside of January’s B-Fest, I went to the theater only nine times this year, which is the same amount as 2005. I am not willing to visit a theater to endure 20 (or more if you get there early) minutes of ads, high prices, obnoxious crowds, poor theater conditions, bad sound, shoddy projection and uncomfortable seating, when I can Netflix the same movie a few months later. Or even buy the damn thing for nearly the same price it would cost to buy a ticket and some concessions. On Christmas night, we went to a late showing of CASINO ROYALE, and there were six or seven jackasses sitting a few rows ahead of us, laughing, talking and taking calls on their cell phones. Forget it.

Most in one month:
July: 62
Least in one month:
October: 20 (for the 3rd year in a row; I wonder why?)

Some of the films I saw more than once:
ALLIGATOR
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
BREEDERS
BRUTE CORPS
THE CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE
THE CLASS OF 1984
DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL
THE DEVIL’S RAIN
FEAR IS THE KEY
FIRECRACKER
FUTURE HUNTERS
HOSPITAL MASSACRE
HOT DOG…THE MOVIE
LETHAL HUNTER (3 times)
LIGHT BLAST
MALIBU BEACH
MARK OF THE GORILLA
MONSTER AND THE STRIPPER
NIGHT OF THE KICKFIGHTERS
NIGHTFORCE
NINJA U.S.A.
POWERFORCE
PRIVATE LESSONS
R.O.T.O.R.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
ROOTS OF EVIL
SATAN’S PRINCESS
SCORPION THUNDERBOLT
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT PART 2
TENDER LOVING CARE
VICE SQUAD
THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS
YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

The most films in any one 24-hour period:
13, when I attended Northwestern University's annual B-Fest January 27-28

Same title, but different movies:
ASSASSINATION
GODZILLA
EQUINOX
THE HILLS HAVE EYES

Shitty Steven Seagal movies:
MERCENARY FOR JUSTICE
SHADOW MAN

Shitty Chuck Norris movies:
THE CUTTER

2006 Releases:
16 BLOCKS
BEERFEST
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CASINO ROYALE
CLERKS II
CRASH LANDING
THE CUTTER
END GAME
FIREWALL
THE HILLS HAVE EYES
LEFT IN DARKNESS
LOOK, UP IN THE SKY!: THE AMAZING STORY OF SUPERMAN
LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
MERCENARY FOR JUSTICE
MONSTER HOUSE
NACHO LIBRE
POSEIDON
ROAD HOUSE 2
THE SENTINEL
SHADOW MAN
SHOCKWAVE
SLITHER
SNAKES ON A PLANE
SUPERMAN RETURNS
TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY
THE WOODS
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

My Top Ten of 2006
BEERFEST
BORAT
CASINO ROYALE
CLERKS II
LOOK, UP IN THE SKY!
LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
MONSTER HOUSE
ROAD HOUSE 2
SLITHER
SNAKES ON A PLANE

How many movies did you watch this year?

6 comments:

Christopher said...

Nice recap Marty - I hope we'll see you again at this year's B-Fest?

Rich D said...

Hmmm... I've only seen 150 movies this past year, but my criteria are a little different- I don't count Made For TV movies/straight to video flicks and films I have seen before*. Strictly films that have had some sort of theatrical release.

* This would raise the number significantly.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year, Marty!

While I doubt I shall ever come close to approaching your awesomely prodigious annual movie-watching tallies, I did manage to watch 303 movies this past year (using your scoring standards, more or less), up from 250 the previous year. Of those, 178 were first-time views.

I saw a movie in the theatre a paltry 4 times, watched 7 movies on VHS, and caught something worth watching on cable twice (no wonder I cancelled my cable service this year...well, that and the incessant GOP propaganda it pipes into my home...). The remaining 290 films were all viewed via DVD.

The first film I saw in 2006 was The Deathless Devil (!972) and the last was Clerks II (2006).

Totals by decade:
1930s - 16
1940s - 22
1950s - 16
1960s - 49
1970s - 110
1980s - 42
1990s - 10
2000s - 38

Yeah, I tend to watch a lot of '70s-vintage exploitation...

katie said...

you didn't give me the rules. i didn't count repeats. i did a pretty good job keeping up with you. but i went to the movie theater more. we'll see what happens next year. it's sooo on! 263 for me this year.

katie said...

did you see the departed mckee? that was one of my top favs.

Anonymous said...

Good LORD, McKee.