2015: On the Screen

This year's movie scene started out promising. I averaged around two movies a week, helped in part by a lack of steady employment and by a volunteering gig at Scarecrow Video. Honestly, it was a creative haven for me. I was watching movies outside my comfort zone, studying directors, becoming more of an auteur completist. Taylor and I barreled through 70s war movie and Kurosawa phases, dipped our toes into classic works we'd never seen. For my sadly short-lived Most Worlds blog (short-lived due completely to my own personal failings), I immersed myself in glam and vampire films, forced myself through horror flicks. With so many opportunities for new and great films, it was a golden age for the expansion of world views and massive explosions of personal creativity.

And then in July, I embarked upon the Grand X-Files Rewatch of 2015.

Watching one episode a day of any TV show is unexpectedly taxing. It's a lot of screen time, especially when you fall behind and have to catch up on six hours over the weekend. Compound that with rejoining the teaching force and my treasured film time seriously deteriorated. I was lucky to get one a week, if that. It left a surprising hole in my heart. To those who argue movies are a waste of time and brain, I say PHOOEY. It's a necessary boost for my mental acuity. Without movies, my brain is sludge. With movies, my brain ticks and whirs. Go figure.

So, without further ado, my 2015 movie round-up:

Total Movies Watched: 112. A serious dip from last year (133). Again, I blame the X-Files rewatch.

Movies I Saw By Myself in Theatres: The Imitation Game. Selma. Cuidad Delirio. Amy. Ricki and the Flash. Crimson Peak. Steve Jobs. The Big Short.

Movies I FINALLY Watched, Under Much Duress: The Hunt for Red October. It was not as boring as I thought it would be. However, it was also not as great as I'd been led to believe. It was a solid "a'ight."

Movies I Watched for Halloween: Monster Squad. Shaun of the Dead. MST3K: Manos. Corpse Bride. The Worst Witch. The Witches. Young Frankenstein. Something Wicked This Way Comes. 28 Days Later.

Martial Arts Movies: Police Story 3: Supercop. Armour of God 2: Operation Condor. Legend of Drunken Master 2. Fist of Legend. Rifftrax: Miami Connection.*

*I'm counting it. I mean, martial arts IS the co-main focus of the movie (next to neutered 80's pop songs).

Classic Movies I'd Never Seen: Heat. Zodiac. His Girl Friday. Ran. A Streetcar Named Desire. THe Shining. The Deer Hunter. Fight Club. The Silence of the Lambs. Jaws. The Seven Samurai.**

**Flawless Film

Movies Whose Awfulness Angered Me: The Hobbit: the Battle of Five Armies. Avengers: Age of Ultron.***

***Sweet mercy, I hated this movie. I'll be the first to admit I suffer from superhero film fatigue, and the whole building-smash-quick-cut style in this film didn't help. And then there's what they did to Hawkeye. Clint is not a family man. It does not make sense. And the love story was dumb, and they barely gave Quicksilver any lines so WHO CARES. You can tell that Whedon was exhausted with the film, because every frame resonates with a lack of caring. OK, do an explosion, fine. That's your delivery, Ruffalo? Cool, whatever. "Let's just finish the thing and go home" must have been Whedon's mantra as a director, and it was definitely my perspective as a viewer.

Movies That Filled Me With Righteous Anger: The Big Short.

Favorite Movies Released in 2015: The Big Short. Ex Machina. Star Wars VII. Crimson Peak. **** Straight Outta Compton. What We Do in the Shadows.

****Pure Gothic giddiness throughout. A typical del Toro visual feast, but with enough story to keep me interested.

Clint Eastwood Movies: Gran Torino. A Fistful of Dollars.

THE COMPLETE LIST:

• Almost Famous
• The Return of the King
• Pee Wee's Big Adventure
• Election
• Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin'
• Heat
• Velvet Goldmine
• Mud
• Punk-Drunk Love
• The Fifth Element
• Wayne's World 2
• Zodiac
• The Imitation Game
• Moulin Rouge
• Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
• Snowpiercer
• The Hobbit: the Battle of Five Armies
• Can't Hardly Wait
• Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy...
• Donald Glover: Weirdo
• Police Story 3: Supercop
• Gran Torino
• A Fistful of Dollars
• John Wick
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• American Sniper
• Selma
• His Girl Friday
• The Amazing Spiderman 2
• Remember the Titans
• Fantasia
• Fantasia 2000
• Armour of God 2: Operation Condor
• Gremlins
• Trading Places
• What We Do in the Shadows
• 20 Feet From Stardom
• Horns
• The Big Lebowski
• She's All That
• The Crow
• Legend of Drunken Master 2
• Spirited Away
• Ran
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Life Itself
• Cuidad Delirio
• The Shining
• The Deer Hunter
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• West of Redemption
• Fist of Legend
• The Spy Who Loved
• Fight Club
• Hot Fuzz
• The Man with the Golden Gun
• Inside Out
• The Lost Boys
• We Are the Best!
• Ray
• Django Unchained
• Inglourious Basterds
• Rifftrax: Independence Day
• Pulp Fiction
• Jurassic World 
• Attack the Block
• The Silence of the Lambs
• Sharknado 3
• True Grit
• Mr. Holmes
• Amy
• Ricki and the Flash
• Bridget Jones's Diary
• Shakespeare in Love
• From Dusk Till Dawn
• Benny and Joon
• The Hunt for Red October
• Straight Outta Compton
• Throne of Blood
• Jaws
• The Seven Samurai
• Monster Squad
• Casino
• Hercules (2014)
• MST3K: Manos
• Rifftrax: Miami Connection
• Black Mass
• Shaun of the Dead
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
• Corpse Bride
• The Worst Witch
• The Witches
• Young Frankenstein
• Something Wicked This Way Comes
• 28 Days Later
• The X-Files (Fight the Future)
• Crimson Peak
• The World's End
• Spectre
• Steve Jobs
• Coco Before Chanel
• The Godfather
• Laggies
• Kill Bill vol. 1
• Kill Bill vol. 2
• Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
• Sisters
• The Dark Knight Returns
• Ex Machina
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• The Big Short
• Leon: The Professional