Film Happy New Year! In 2015, for various reasons, I visited the cinema regularly again, attending most of the large action adventure films during the Summer months and into the Autumn (and The Lobster). Most of the audiences were fine as were the films, and it was refreshing to be able to take part in discourse or at least understand the discussion surrounding the release rather than simply listening again much later to the Kermode review and looking below the line at The AV Club review.
Probably the most fun I had was with Mad Max, Jurassic World, Mission Impossible and of course Star Wars. About the only entirely rubbish film on this list was Fan4stic which thanks to complaining about the noisy air conditioning unit which accompanied the screening I didn't end up having to pay for anyway. Spectre was the most disappointing. Bond's a busted flush until it does its own thing again and produces proper period adaptations of the books.
If I have to choose, my favourite film of the year which wasn't the obvious was Advantageous which I was happy to nominate for The Double Negative review of the year. Here's what I wrote:
"Bought for distribution at Sundance by Netflix, ironically causing unfortunate obscurity, Jennifer Fang’s indie wonder Advantageous glimpses a dystopian future in which an older woman is given the choice of losing a job which guarantees her child’s future, or sacrificing her own identity. Tense, impressionistic, refreshing and warm filmmaking. Classic."Seriously if you haven't found it yet, go seek.
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of my film studies degree, I'm currently working my way through the 1001 Films To Watch Before You Die book which thanks to being annually for the past ten years is actually nearly 1,200 films and growing. My only rule is to ignore anything I've already seen in my life which slashes the number in half. I'm also working through them chronologically and so having worked through the silent era, I'm currently at the end of the 1930s.
This project will also be my last hurray with Lovefilm which I'll be cancelling once I've reached the end of the list. Between the iPlayer, my own unwatched archive and subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and NowTV and the imminent price rise, I simply can't justify getting shiny discs through the post any more. Despite back catalogue issues, there'll always be something to watch and frankly I'm also sick of something turning up on Netflix the week I receive the dvd.
So having spent much of the year watching classic films, you'll have to forgive me for not singling anything out. Instead, I've gone the Soderbergh route and listed everything I've watched this year as far as my various sources suggest and my own memory will allow. Find listed three hundred and forty films, although I think there may have been the odd thing on the iPlayer or from my own collection which could add another twenty or so titles.
In Cinemas
San Andreas
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Terminator Genisys
Ant-Man
Fan4stic
Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (twice!)
The Lobster
Spectre
The Martian
Lovefilm
Lone Survivor
The Butler
Brother Bear
Chef
Stranger By The Lake
Mandela
22 Jump Street
The Princess and the Frog
Wreck It Ralph
Frozen (twice!)
Grace of Monaco
Saving Mr Banks
Maps To The Stars
Belle
Desert Hearts
Leviathan
We're The Millers
The Wind Rises
Need For Speed
Mood Indigo
Fruitvale Station
Oculus
The Two Faces of January
The Killer Inside Me
Devoured
A Thousand Times Good Night
Godzilla
Goodbye To Language
Martyrs
Lucy
Take Shelter
The Love Punch
Funny Girl
Paddington
Ray
Midnight Express
Moonstruck
Life is Beautiful
Gone Girl
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Passage To India
The Ten Commandments
Cleopatra
Riggles of Red Cap
Grand Hotel
Mutiny on the Bounty
Bonnie and Clyde
42
Grace: The Possession
The Art of the Steal
Anything For Her
The Hunger Games: MockingJay: Part 1
Possible Worlds
The Equalizer
A Million Ways To Die In The West
Transformers: Age of Extinction
A Most Wanted Man
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Concerning Violence
Finding Vivian Maier
The Congress
The Imitation Game
The Fault in our Stars
How To Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
Leviathan
Ida
Nightcrawler
Mr Turner
Still Alice
Winter Sleep
Jauja
Big Hero 6
Birdman
The Judge
The Babadook
American Sniper
The Duke of Burgundy
The Theory of Everything
Wild Tales
Insurgent
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Venus in Fur
Into The Woods
Timbuktu
Unbroken
Taken 3
Foxcatcher
Gypsy
Inherent Vice
Whiplash
Wild
Selma
Interstellar
A Blonde in Love (Lasky Jedne Plavoviasky)
Dr Mabuse: The Gambler
Jupiter Rising
Our Hospitality
Sherlock Jr.
Ex Machina
Electric Boogaloo
The Last Laugh
Wanderlust
Badland: Road To Fury
Belle Epoque
47 Ronin
Under The Rainbow
The Phantom of the Opera (Cheney)
The Last Five Years
The Gold Rush
Storm Over Asia
The Thief of Bagdad
A Throw of Dice
Tomorrowland
Fifty Shades of Grey
Lost River
The Look of Silence
Survivor
St. Vincent
Appropriate Behaviour
The Eagle (Valentino)
It Follows
The Blue Angel
Ceremony
Mr. Holmes
Little Caesar
Dishonored
Good Dick
The Four-Faced Liar
Two Night Stand
The Thin Man
Destry Rides Again
Top Five
The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum
Olympia: Festival of Nations
Sons of the Desert
Trouble in Paradise
Vampyr
Triumph of the Will
Duck Soup
The Awful Truth
The Wolf Man
Dracula (Lugosi)
Les Vampires
Judge Priest
The Black Cat
Netflix
Locke
Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Past
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Hoodwinked
Meet the Robinsons
Draft Day
Winnie the Pooh
Skyline
Happy Christmas
A Long Way Down
The Seven Year Itch
Road House
In Your Eyes
Frank
Not Another Happy Ending
Parallels
The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears
Girl Most Likely
Hello I Must Be Going
The Guest House
Sex and Lucía
Young & Beautiful
Black Rock
10 Rules for Sleeping Around
Afternoon Delight
They Came Together
Excision
Calvary
The Battered Bastards of Baseball
And the Oscar Goes To...
Hello, Dolly!
Patton
The Prince of Tides
Beyond Clueless
Zombieland
Lost in Translation
Life Itself
Meatballs
The Machine
Day Watch
Hector and the Search for Happiness
What Happened, Miss Simone?
The Rewrite
Advantageous
Love is All You Need
Out of the Furnace
Coherence
Space Station 76
Cloverfield
What We Do in the Shadows
The One I Love
Obvious Child
The Grass Is Greener
His Girl Friday
To Kill a Mockingbird
Back in Time
Used Cars
Life After Beth
Chaos on the Bridge
Best of Enemies
Atari: Game Over
A Very Murray Christmas
Amazon Video/Prime
Ray
Midnight Express
Effie Gray
The Eichmann Show
Pompeii
Next Time I'll Aim for the Heart
Beyond the Lights
The Phantom Carriage
The Last Five Years
Source Code
Before I Go To Sleep
The Thief of Bagdad
Dear Diary
What If?
My Man Godfrey
Camille
Swing Time
For Me and My Gal
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Captain Courageous
Home (and other sources) (as best as I can remember)
The Next Three Days
Superman: The Movie
Superman 2
Superman 3
Superman 4: The Quest For Peace
Superman Returns
Bitter Lake
Tangled
Death Defying Acts
Bolt
Meet The Robinsons
Chicken Little
Home on the Range
Treasure Planet
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two
Thor: The Dark World
Top Hat
Silkwood
Mulholland Drive
My Cousin Vinny
All Is Lost
Phoo Action
A Story of Children and Film
Milius
August: Orange County
Breathless (Gere)
The Name of the Rose
The Money Pit
Get Carter
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
The Paper
Wild Target
Hudson Hawk
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Nightwatch
Daywatch
Ten Inch Hero
Up The Sandbox
Enough Said
Quest for Fire
What Happens In Vegas
All You Need Is Love
Kokowaah
The Net
Gigantic
The Homesman
Alfie (Law)
Last Night
Interview
Face of an Angel
October Sky
Mystery Men
Teaching Mrs Tingle
Extreme Measures
Fantastic 4
Wilt
Overboard
The Adjustment Bureau
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Legacy
Non-Stop
Cabin in the Woods
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The Great Train Robbery
Broken Blossoms
Within Our Gates
Way Down East
Orphans of the Storm
The Smiling Madame Beudet (La Souriante Madame Beu
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler)
Nanook of the North
Häxan
Foolish Wives
The Wheel (La Roue)
The General
October (Oktyabr)
The Kid Brother
An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou)
Earth (Zemlya)
Scarface: The Shame of a Nation
Footlight Parade
Gold Diggers of 1933
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies: Extended Cut.
Wuthering Heights (Wyler)
Stagecoach
Pepe Le Moko
Le Jour Se Leve
La Grand Illusion
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