Tuesday, January 01, 2008

476

476. That's the number of movies I watched in 2007. That’s thirteen more than last year, which surprises me, because it seemed like I saw fewer this year. Thankfully, it’s still way behind 2004, when I saw an astounding 588! It doesn’t include all the television series on DVD I’ve been digging through this year, including MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, THE MOD SQUAD, THE ROCKFORD FILES, THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, ARK II and a few others.

Of the 476 movies I saw, I watched 281 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 James Bond Ultimate Collection DVD sets)
• Movie serials count as one long feature
• Multiple viewings each count as a separate movie

These are my rules. Your mileage may vary.

Just for fun, a few stats:
First film of 2007: A BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY (Fabian is Pretty Boy Floyd)
Last film of 2007: BLOOD, BOOBS & BEAST (documentary about Baltimore filmmaker Don Dohler)

From the 1930's: 0
1940's: 8 (including 1 Tarzan, 4 Michael Shaynes and THE DEVIL BAT)
1950's: 32
1960's: 48
1970's: 106
1980's: 146
1990's: 61 (oddly, I saw nothing from 1999 and just 1 1998 film)
2000-2006: 46
2006: 29

I’m still not going to theaters very much. Outside of January’s annual B-Fest at Northwestern University, I saw a theatrical film only fourteen times this year, which is a slight increase over 2006 and 2005. Three of them I saw in one day (THE TRIPPER, FRACTURE, PERFECT STRANGER), BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS showed at Roger Ebert’s annual Overlooked Film Festival, and I caught HELVETICA at a Parkland College screening, so I actually visited a real theater a mere eight times. As I wrote last year, I am still 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.

Most in one month:
January & May: 52
Least in one month:
April: 25

Some of the films I saw more than once:
2020 TEXAS GLADIATORS
ABOMINABLE
BIGFOOT: THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTER
BLOODFIST 2050
THE CHEERLEADERS
DEVIL’S DEN
DRIVE
ERIK THE CONQUERER
EYE OF THE TIGER
THE FOOD OF THE GODS
FROM BEYOND
THE GIANT CLAW
GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM
THE KING OF THE KICKBOXERS
LETHAL FORCE
A LIFE OF NINJA
LUNCH WAGON
THE MAN FROM HONG KONG
THE MANITOU
MOONTRAP
NIGHT WARNING
NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER II
PAROLE VIOLATORS
RAW JUSTICE
RAW NERVE
SHOGUN ASSASSIN
STREET TRASH
STRIKE COMMANDO
UNDEFEATABLE
VAN NUYS BLVD.

The most films in any one 24-hour period:
14, when I attended Northwestern University's annual B-Fest January 26-27

Same title, but different movies:
3:10 TO YUMA

WTF is this?:
THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE
DINOCROC
GATOR BAIT
IF YOU MEET SARTANA, PRAY FOR YOUR DEATH
INSEMINOID
THE KINKY COACHES AND THE POM POM PUSSYCATS
KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK
MR. HERCULES AGAINST KARATE
NEUTRON THE ATOMIC SUPERMAN VS. THE DEATH ROBOTS
RISE: BLOOD HUNTER
THE SAGA OF THE VIKING WOMEN AND THEIR VOYAGE TO THE WATERS OF THE GREAT SEA SERPENT
SHAKMA
SKI LIFT TO DEATH
SNAKES ON A TRAIN
STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
TRANSMORPHERS

2007 Releases:
28 WEEKS LATER
3:10 TO YUMA
BLACK SHEEP
BLACK SNAKE MOAN
BLOOD, BOOBS & BEAST
CROOKED
DEVIL’S DEN
DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE
D-WAR: DRAGON WARS
FRACTURE
GRINDHOUSE
HELVETICA
HOT FUZZ
KNOCKED UP
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
OCEAN’S THIRTEEN
PERFECT STRANGER
RISE: BLOOD HUNTER
SICKO
SUPERBAD
TRANSMORPHERS
THE TRIPPER
UNDISPUTED II: LAST MAN STANDING
UNTIL DEATH
WALKING TALL: LONE JUSTICE
WALKING TALL: THE PAYBACK
ZODIAC

My Top Ten of 2007:
3:10 TO YUMA
GRINDHOUSE
HOT FUZZ
KNOCKED UP
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
OCEAN’S THIRTEEN
SICKO
SUPERBAD
UNTIL DEATH
ZODIAC

My Bottom Five of 2007:
28 WEEKS LATER
CROOKED
PERFECT STRANGER
RISE: BLOOD HUNTER
TRANSMORPHERS

How many movies did you watch this year?

8 comments:

katie said...

i've watched 300 for the first time in 2007. whoohoo.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year, Marty!

I'm sure I'll never be as prodigious in my movie-consumption as you are, but I did set a goal for myself last year to watch 365 films, and managed to exceed it just slightly with a final count of 370. I score more or less the same as yourself.

Of those 370 films, only 4 were seen at a theater (GRINDHOUSE, RATATOUILLE, THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, and ENCHANTED), 6 were caught on television, and the remaining 360 were viewed on DVD (I think this was probably the first year in a loooong time that I didn't watch anything on VHS). 250 of my 2007 films were first-time views.

Breaking it down by decade:
'30s: 10 (3%)
'40s: 8 (2%)
'50s: 18 (5%)
'60s: 76 (21%)
'70s: 135 (36%)
'80s: 66 (18%)
'90s: 23 (6%)
'00s: 33 (9%)

I'm not even going to try to top this again in 2008, and will instead enjoy being a lot more flexible with how I choose to spend my free time, but I was thinking that I would make it a goal to read a book a week for the year. We'll see...

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention...

My moviest month was March, with 41 titles, and least-moviest month was April, with 26.

First film of the year: AMERICAN DREAMZ
Last film of the year: THE LORELEY'S GRASP

Only two titles watched twice during the year: SWEET SUGAR and DELINQUENT SCHOOLGIRLS

Marty McKee said...

There's a coincidence--I watched DELINQUENT SCHOOLGIRLS this afternoon.

As you know if you regularly read this blog, I'm also an avid reader, so I don't know where I find the time to watch all these movies.

Anonymous said...

I saw 395 different movies in 2007 (List Here: http://calendar.reeldistraction.com/?action=byTime&year=2007).

Most movie-heavy month was March (53) and least movie-heavy month was September (21).

First Film of the Year: All Through the Night
Last Film of the Year: T.N.T. Jackson (she'll put you in traction)

Anonymous said...

As a matter of fact, Marty, your pulp fiction reviews (as well as those over at Curt Purcell's Groovy Age of Horror blog) were my main inspiration to seek out more luddite entertainments!

Anonymous said...

Terrific site, Marty. I would make a $100 bet that you watched more movies and read more pulp fiction than Quentin Tarantino in 2007. Keep these reviews coming.

Rich D said...

I watched 207 films that were new to me in 2007.

My rules are a little stricter. To qualify, the film has to have been made for theatrical distribution and have been screened that way. (Festivals count) I don't count films I've seen before, so the three or four times I saw RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, including one theatrical screening that was packed, don't count.

My busiest month was April, where in nine days I caught 37 movies at the Philadelphia Film Festival. (Love that All Fest Pass!)