Thursday, December 31, 2020

End of Year Eleven

Year 11 and still going strong, or at least limping along.

It seems that even with a pandemic I can’t quite hit that 400 movies in a year goal. I came closer this year than the previous two, however. As I write this, I stand at 395 movies on the year with a little bit of time left to get there, but I think it’s unlikely.

This has, of course, been a terrible year in almost every aspect. My father and one of my sisters have dealt with cancer, one of my brothers spent a week or so in the hospital with COVID, my other brother was hit by a car while on his bike, my niece shattered her knee falling off a ladder, and my wife was out of work for seven months. But we’ve made it through—everyone survived, and my wife is employed once again. Still, I’m happy to see this year in the rearview.

As lousy as this year was, I hit some milestones. Until the new Oscar nominations are announced in March, I’m done with the Oscars. I’ve also got only 11 more Oscar Got It Wrong! posts before I’m complete. There are also only two more movies left on the latest 1001 Movies list. So, while I didn’t hit all the milestones, I got very close to many.

So what’s next? Horror movies, certainly—there’s a lot remaining on the They Shoot Zombies list. And, I’ll be tackling a lot more of the suggested movies and likely reviewing a lot of them in full.

In other words, I’m not done yet. Stay tuned!

11 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about all the family crises but glad they have worked out positively.

    Sorry that you're getting to the end of the Oscar Got It Wrong comparisons. I've enjoyed reading those and started late on them.

    I'm not much of a horror guy, particularly blood and guts, so that will limit me somewhat but looking forward to the reviews of the various films that have been recommended to you. I've seen a lot of them but it also gave me some new titles to search out.

    I like everyone else I think is more than happy to see this dreadful year come to an end. I can only imagine the coming one will be an improvement even though it will still offer its share of challenges.

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    1. There will be a gap after I finish the Oscar posts, but I think you'll be interested in what I bring in to replace them.

      I do love horror movies, but I've never really been a gorehound. I like the psychological stuff a lot more, so there will be plenty that are more your speed rather than the blood-drenched variety.

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  2. That's a lot for your family to deal with but I'm glad you're all okay now. 400 movies in a year is a HUGE undertaking. I don't think I could do that. I'm lucky if I hit 200 (not so lucky this year, I only hit 182)

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    1. I watch virtually no television and absolutely no sports, so that helps. 400 movies works out to one movie per day with an extra three movies per month (actually, that's 401, but who's counting?).

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    2. 400 is a fine goal, daunting but achievable.

      I'm going to try for a number near that by resuming a project I started a bit late last year. I'm going to attempt to watch one film a day with a performer I like who happened to be born on that day that I haven't seen before. I managed to make it work last year but didn't start until the lockdown was in swing on April 1st. I ended up seeing 278 but I'm shooting for the full 365 this year.

      So far so good....I'm at 1 with Charles Bickford in Queen of the Yukon! :-) Today Anna Lee in "The Man Who Changed His Mind"! Hardly art but some days hold unexpected surprises of hidden gems, just like many days reveal films that are justly forgotten and obscure.

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    3. That is an excellent idea for a project! Please feel free to use these monthly posts as a place to talk about anything you saw.

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    4. Thanks! Will do.

      I think you'd enjoy The Man Who Changed His Mind. It reminded me of the Universal chillers. So much so that I had to double check that it wasn't made by them, it wasn't it's a British picture made by Gainsborough with a slightly higher budget than the Universals but it does have Boris Karloff in mad scientist mode along with Anna Lee.

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    5. It's on the They Shoot Zombies list, so I'll take this as a solid recommendation. I do love horror movies from that era.

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  3. The worry is, honestly, that 2021 will metaphorically take a look at 2020 and say, "Hold my beer."

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  4. I wish you and your family a much better 2021 than the past have been. It does sound like you got more than your share of calamities and I do hope everyone are recovering.

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    1. You know, everyone survived. It could have been a hell of a lot worse, bad as it was.

      Jesus, I hope 2021 doesn't look at the last 12 months and say, "Hold my beer."

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