2012 End of Year Wrap Up

My End of Year Wrap Up

Well, ladies and germs, this blog, this, my own personal blog, is something I am still committing to six months after I started it.  That right there is kinda sorta a big deal for me.  So as silly as this may sound, I’m rather proud of myself.  I’ve done more writing about films this calendar year than I ever have in the past.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and something I had dabbled with in the past, and if anything, my New Year’s resolution is to continue maintaining this blog, to remain committed to writing and updating.

So here are some highlights of my cinematic year.

• In February, I discovered Squish’s 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Blog Club, and for the very first time, I realized that I was not alone.  That there were others out there in Internet Land who had become rather obsessed with the idea of watching and writing about all the films from the book.  This simple fact reinvigorated my passion for film and for the book, both of which had taken a bit of a back seat in my life for a few years.

• I saw over fifty new movies from 1001 Movies, which is far more than in the past couple of years.  That rocks.  I hope it keeps up for next year. 

• I wrote over one hundred new reviews, probably more like 150.  I try to write detailed reviews, not in terms of plot, but in terms of my reaction to the film.  I do this so I can remember the film by reading my review; too many times I’ve watched a movie then forgotten about it.  I don’t want that to happen anymore.

• I met a great deal of wonderful and intelligent people who share a like mind about watching these movies.  Thank you all.

And here are some of my end-of-year Bests and Worsts.

Favorite new movie I watched this year:

I saw a lot of great new movies this year, but without a doubt, my favorite was Kieslowski’s Red.  I’ve yet to post my review of his Trois Couleurs trilogy, but that’s because I keep on thinking of more things I want to say, so I go back and add to it.   It’s the review that won’t die.  I’ll give you the capsule version: Red makes a case for being one of my favorite movies of all time.  IT’S THAT AWESOME!!!!

Honorable Mentions: Black Swan, Blue, Manhunter, Taste of Cherry

Least favorite new movie I watched this year:

Oh, Too Early, Too Late, what the heck are you?  Random boring static camera shots of landscapes and Egyptian marketplaces.  For an hour and a half?  Sorry.  No.  (but thanks to Chip for pointing me in the right direction to actually see this one.)

Honorable Mentions: Out of Africa, Reds.  Not to be confused with Red.  Two very different movies, two very different reactions from Siobhan.

Favorite movie I had already seen that I finally properly reviewed:

Double Indemnity.  I love that movie with the passion of a thousand burning fires.  I honestly consider it cinematic perfection, and it was great to be able to put that enthusiasm into a fairly coherent blog post.

Honorable Mentions: Laura, I Know Where I’m Going!, A Christmas Story

Least favorite movie I had already seen that I had to review:

I have now seen Manhattan twice, and I’m done with it.  I never want to have those obnoxious characters inflicted on me again.

Honorable Mention: Marnie.  Because rape is never okay.

Favorite new directors:

This was the year I discovered the awesomeness that are the Two Ks: Kieslowski and Kiarostami.  I do not think I could pick between them.  I choose them both.  I had never seen a dang thing by either of them at the beginning of 2012, and ended the year having taken in three of each of their works.  Kieslowski for how he subverts cinematic expectations, and Kiarostami for his pure philosophy.

Major films crossed off my “List of Shame”:

We all have “those” movies, those famous films that we haven’t seen and really should have seen by now.  I was able to cross a number of these off that list this year, including:

The Untouchables

Fight Club (I know, I know)

Children of a Lesser God

Thelma & Louise

The Color Purple

Terms of Endearment

Out of Africa

Mulholland Dr

Unforgiven

Reds

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Goodfellas.  Nope, hadn’t seen Goodfellas before.  That was a big one to check off.

My most-hit blog post of the year:

Apparently, the world at large does a lot of google searches for Woody Allen’s Manhattan, because jeezy creezy, that post of mine has four times as many hits as the next most popular post (which, by the way, is Borat).

My cinematic resolutions:

Simple: keep doing what I’ve been doing.  Keep up with Squish’s blog club.  Keep writing.  Don’t let it feel like work – that’s a big one, and the only way I’ll keep doing it.  Don’t watch more than one movie a day (that helps it not feel like work for me).  Keep posting. 

A Happy and Healthy (and movie-filled) 2013 to all!