2014: My Film Blog Year in Review

It's hard not to notice that my movie count was way off this year. I won't go into detail, but in February that my mother was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Weeks later my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. As my father's days were coming to an end my mother was hospitalized and looked as if she would beat him into the grave. My father passed in late August surrounded by family. My mother, surprisingly, recovered. It has been a transformative experience for me and it's no guess why my time and concern was directed elsewhere.

I expect my 2015 numbers to look more like 2013, but you never know what life will throw at you. But let me start with examining how well I did on my preset goals. Apart from the movie count I mentioned lightening up on the Sci Fi and Horror. Of the 28 films, eleven were tagged as either Horror or Sci Fi, so I guess that was an improvement. I did do well on the "classics", even hitting two best pictures. One surprise is hitting six silent movies, liking most of them. Maybe I've finally figured them out. Zero musicals. I'm good with that.

Unwritten, I had intended on progressing on the James Bond films, hitting another William Castle or Marx Brothers film, and maybe even a Russ Meyer. Struck out there. But I did finish off the Val Lewton horror collection and introduce myself to new directors to follow. Overall, few of 2014's movies were garbage and many were quite good.

Only one film, Batman (1966) was a resounding failure. I expected it to be bad, but it surpassed expectations. Twelve I rated 4 or better. Compare that to seven for 2013 when I watched sixteen more films. So, I guess I liked what I selected. I hope to continue that trend. I rated The Graduate the highest, but I think the real winner was Keaton's The General. It's probably the one I'm most likely to watch again anytime soon.

Now, for the complete list of movies I saw in theaters: Hunger Games MJ1. Yea, that's it, and it was on my wife's insistence. She made we watch the first two films streaming in the week before we went. Not a bad series (3.5 range, I would guess), but someday I'd like to go to the movies to see a movie *I* chose. Someday that may happen.

For 2015 I will throw in the following goals: Bond, Castle, Marx Bros., more Best Pictures. Also Hitchcock, Bergman, and Kubrick. One last item: I will formally expand into the 1970's. I have no where near saturated the older territory, it's just that there are a lot of excellent films that I have neglected in my life. I'll resist the urge to rewatch movies I know I love (sorry, Star Wars).

Thanks for following.