I've been doing this for ten months and have blogged 59 movies. (Dirty secret: some of the early movies were watched months prior!) One entry covered two and one movie spread two entries. My original premise was to do movies of "some distinction" that I hadn't seen before, made before I was born. So, how did I do?
Not too good. March through May went well, 17 of 18 movies that meet my criteria. I had seen Kong before. June and July (busy months for me) I did four movies, only one which fit. I don't know WHAT I was thinking doing The Bad News Bears. Maybe I felt I needed to add content. August had good films, but only one fit the criteria, though Dr. Renault's Secret was very enjoyable. September and October were mixed bags, doing crap films from my Horror collection and rehashing movies I already knew I liked. December started poor but ended well. Overall, I count 37 that fit my intention.
The biggest surprises for me are:
Seven Samurai. I cannot explain why this 3 1/2 hour, black and white, subtitled, actionless action film kept me so entranced. It was simply wonderful.
The Thin Man. The humor holds up very well, the story is complex, and the dialog is as sharp as it gets. I already have the next one on my entertainment center.
It Happened One Night. Never heard of it before, despite it being an Academy Award winner. It was wonderful and loved it when I watched it a second time the following day. I had seen some of the scenes, though. Either from Warner Brother's cartoons or from when I watched That's Hollywood back in the day.
M. Not sure if I will watch it again, but was surprisingly impressive.
Would I change any movie ratings? The A in AMRU is significant. Few things in life are as arbitrary as my rating system. But looking back, I was a little too kind to some movies. I gave many a 2.5 because I didn't want to be too dismissive. Don't know why. Case in point, The Reluctant Astronaut. All that movie had going for it in 1967 was the public's fascination with the space race and Don Knotts improbable popularity. Today, it brings nothing to the table. I have fond memories to the pre-Ralph Furley Don Knotts, but this film is a testament to rose collared glasses.
What have I learned? I've come to notice how things like score and editing can really effect a movie's appeal. I've come to notice good acting a little better. I've come to realize the benefit of Netflix, which I may subscribe to in the near future.
What will I do in the future? I intend on keeping to my criteria a lot more. I'll slide on the year a bit or grab lesser known films, but I hope to keep the total trash (I'm looking at you, Killers from Space!) to a minimum.
At this moment, I'd like to acknowledge my first ever follower. Hi Carl! That was pointless, as nobody else reads this tripe, not even my family. And even Carl may fly the coop when he sees me concentrating on films outside of his interest range. I appreciate your interest.
Whelp, it's been fun and educational. I hope to continue this blog for at least another year. Maybe I'll take a film class. Naw, that'll never happen.
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