Movies I Watched in 2019

I watched 1,065 movies this year. That seems rather a lot.

There was only one week when I didn't watch a film: while Sylvia and I were on vacation on the east coast. I can explain why I watched Mr. Arkadin twice; it's a great film, and there were two versions on the DVD set. The others were accidental rewatches.

Letterboxd gave members the ability to add a featured list to their annual statistics; I chose my Top 50 Iconic SF films. Below that, you can see my breakdown of films according to genre, national origin, and language.

The pie charts show that I reviewed only a fraction of the movies I saw, that most of the movies I watched predated 2019, and that I only rewatched a few films. The bar chart shows my ratings spread. Finally, Letterboxd reveals that I watched 197 of the movies on my watchlist, but that I also added almost 1,700. This seems to be a losing battle.

I'm not sure how Letterboxd defines which actors are stars and which are not, but in any event, here are the stars I watched most this year. Aside from John Wayne, the top row is dominated by Looney Tunes voice actors, which makes sense because I watched four box sets of WB cartoons in 2019. Paul Fix, Ward Bond, and Yakima Canutt were in a lot of westerns, and so they appear because I watched a lot of westerns last year. I went through a Stallone phase and a Schwarzenegger phase in a fit of nostalgia.

Here's a very different look at the stars: "highest rated." I'm not sure how Letterboxd determines this.

Here are the directors I explored most this year. Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Frank Tashlin, Robert McKimson, Bob Clampett, and Tex Avery appear because of those Looney Tunes box sets. Heise, Lumiere, Melies, White, and Dickson appear because I try to screen early cinema whenever I can. John Ford, David Lynch, and George Cukor are favourites, of course.

And here's the mysterious "Highest Rated" version of my director list.

The rest of the crew. This year, Letterboxd added co-director and studio stats.

The "Highest Rated" version.

My most liked review and list...such as they are.

And finally, my world map, which shows where the movies I watched in 2019 were made.

Here are some stats that Letterboxd didn't capture: I watched 38 Best Picture nominees in 2019, bringing my total to 533 out of 557, or 95.69%. Those nominees were:

Trader Horn
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Four Daughters
Romeo and Juliet
Vice
Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Book
One Foot in Heaven
A Star is Born
The Favourite
Blackkklansman
Broadway Melody of 1936
Becket
Born Yesterday
Decision Before Dawn
Moulin Rouge (original) 
Julius Caesar
The Country Girl
Friendly Persuasion
The King and I
Peyton Place
Auntie Mame
Sons and Lovers
Separate Tables
Rocky
Prizzi’s Honor
A Thousand Clowns
Darling
The Mission
The Color Purple 
America America
Fanny
Ship of Fools
Hold Back the Dawn
Finding Neverland
Love Story
Gosford Park
Good Night, and Good Luck

Here`s how the decade-by-decade screenings went down:

1880s: 7
1890s: 107
1900s: 12
1910s: 11
1920s: 39
1930s: 85
1940s: 138
1950s: 165
1960s: 110
1970s: 80
1980s: 51
1990s: 52
2000s: 60
2010s: 150

My focus in 2019 was to capture films from a wide range of decades, directors, and styles, while also dusting off some discs that I`ve owned for years but had not yet watched and exploring some actors and directors in more depth. I think I accomplished that, making my way through four out of six Looney Tunes box sets, a bunch of 21st-century Best Picture nominees, a ton of John Wayne films, and a mixture of classics and not-so-classics from across 14 decades of film. 

Let`s see what the 2020s have in store...

Best Picture 2013

Tomorrow's Oscar night, and the pundits say it's a three-way race for Best Picture between 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle and Gravity. Personally, I think all nine nominees were fine films; this was a good year for movies. Here's how I'd rank them:

9) Captain Phillips. This movie is tense, exciting, and features a great performance by Tom Hanks, especially in the final minutes. Is it better than any of the other action movies of 2013, though, just because it's based on a true story? I think not.
8) The Wolf of Wall Street. It's a very funny movie, but I find it hard to laugh at the evil that's helping destroy our civilization.
7) Nebraska. This film features absolutely stunning black and white cinematography and a great performance from Bruce Dern, an old favourite.
6) Dallas Buyers Club. I really enjoyed this, but I would have liked it even more had the main character been given just a little more backstory. We don't really see him before he's stricken with AIDS; it would have been an interesting contrast.
5) 12 Years a Slave. Given the subject matter, I thought this film played it too safe, which sounds shocking given its scenes of cruelty. And yet I found it just a little sterile.
4) Philomena. I hid it from Sylvia, but this movie made me tear up a bit; the senseless cruelty and loss angered me, which shows the film did its job.
3) Her. Finally, an SF film that explores an important SF concept without resorting to action and explosions. A great script, superb production design, wonderful acting...one of my favourites.
2) American Hustle. Nostalgia and a fantastic ensemble cast really pulled me into this story of con men and women and complicated love and the tragedy of overreaching. Just gawking at the 70s decor and fashions was entertainment enough!
1) Gravity. The story is simple, but seen in theatres and in 3D (which I normally hate), Gravity provided one of the most tense and visceral movie-going experiences I've had in years. 

Movies I Watched in 2013

Last year I started tracking the movies I watch. Here's this year's list in viewing order: 

A Room With a View (James Ivory, 1985)

A Touch of Class (Melvin Frank, 1973)

Idaho Transfer (Peter Fonda, 1973)

Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman, 1972)

Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Trevorrow, 2012)

The Man in the White Suit (Alexander Mackendrick, 1951)

The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, 1983)

The Imposter (Bart Layton, 2012)

Inspector Clouseau (Bud Yorkin, 1968)

House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953)

Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)

Lenny (Bob Fosse, 1974)

Anne of the Thousand Days (Charles Jarrott, 1969)

The Dresser (Peter Yates, 1983)

Atlantic City (Louis Malle, 1980)

A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966)

War Horse (Steven Spielberg, 2011)

Joysticks (Greydon Clark, 1983)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Stephen Daldry, 2011)

Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)

Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)

Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012)

Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012)

Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)

Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)

Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)

Dredd (Pete Travis,2012)

Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)

Happy Accidents (Brad Anderson, 2001)

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (Mike Judge, 1996)

Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)

Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)

Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)

Mrs. Miniver (William Wyler, 1942)

Empire of the Sun (Steven Spielberg, 1987)

Red Planet Mars (Harry Horner, 1952)

Dr. Who and the Daleks (Gordon Flemyng, 1965)

Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (Gordon Flemying, 1966)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010)

The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012)

Malibu Express (Andy Sidaris, 1985)

Cosmic Voyage (Bayley Silleck, 1996)

The Emigrants (Jan Troell, 1971)

Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972)

Sounder (Martin Ritt, 1972)

The Untouchables (Brian DePalma, 1987)

Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

Hard Ticket to Hawaii (Andy Sidaris, 1987)

Breaking Away (Peter Yates, 1979)

The Turning Point (Herbert Ross, 1977)

Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997)

Intolerable Cruelty (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2003)

The President’s Analyst (Theodore J. Flicker, 1967)

Dolemite (D’Urville Martin, 1975)

The Human Tornado (Cliff Roquemore, 1976)

Iron Man 3 (Shane Black, 2013)

The Valley of Gwangi (Jim O’Connolly, 1969)

The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)

Battle Beyond the Sun (Francis Ford Coppola, 1959)

Star Trek Into Darkness (J.J. Abrams, 2013)

Space Battleship Yamato (Takashi Yamazaki, 2010)

Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

Dracula’s Daughter (Lambert Hillyer, 1936)

Son of Dracula (Robert Siodmak, 1943)

House of Dracula (Erle C. Kenton, 1945)

Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee, 1939)

Wrath of the Titans (Jonathan Liebesman, 2012)

Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, 2011)

The Ghost of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton, 1942)

House of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton, 1944)

Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013)

Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly, 1969)

Z (Costa-Gravas, 1969)

The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)

The Night Stalker (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1972)

The Night Strangler (Dan Curtis, 1973)

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome (Jonas Pate, 2013)

Invasion of Astro-Monster (Ishiro Honda, 1965)

All Monsters Attack (Ishiro Honda, 1969)

Blow Out (Brian De Palma, 1981)

Licence to Kill (John Glen, 1989)

Terror of Mechagodzilla (Ishiro Honda, 1975)

King Kong vs. Godzilla (Ishiro Honda, 1962)

Devil (John Erick Dowdle, 2010)

Atragon (Ishiro Honda, 1963)

Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013)

Gorath (Ishiro Honda, 1962)

La Fin du Monde (Abel Gance, 1931)

La Decima Vittima (Elio Petri, 1965)

Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978)

Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor, 2013)

The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988)

Red State (Kevin Smith, 2011)

Flash Gordon (Mike Hodges, 1980)

Oliver! (Carol Reed, 1968)

Splice (Vincenzo Natali, 2009)

The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)

The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)

Ted (Seth MacFarlane, 2012)

This is Cinerama (Merian C. Cooper, 1952)

That's 102 films, a few less than last year's 116. 

Films by Genre

Best Picture nominee: 33

Science Fiction: 24

Fantasy: 4

Western: 1

Horror: 12

Action: 4

Thriller: 2

Drama: 27

Comedy: 5

Documentary: 4

Superhero: 4

War: 4

Musical: 3

James Bond: 1 

Star Trek: 1

Top Directors

Ishiro Honda (6)

Erle C. Kenton (3)

David Lynch (3)

Steven Spielberg (3)

Gordon Flemyng (2)

The Coen Brothers (2)

Terrence Malick (2)

Andy Sidaris (2)

Films by Decade

1930s: 3

1940s: 5

1950s: 6

1960s: 16

1970s: 16

1980s: 12

1990s: 4

2000s: 5

2010s: 32

Final Thoughts

I had a lot of fun this year enjoying Ishiro Honda's kaiju spectacles, particularly the off-formula and much-derided All Monsters Attack; you can read my analysis here. 2013 was also the year I finished the filmography of David Lynch, one of my very favourite directors; here is my list of most-to-least comprehensible Lynch films. 

I'm surprised that I managed to knock 33 films off my list of Best Picture nominees to view; I haven't updated my master list yet, but I imagine by now I must be close to 60 percent finished. 

I'm also surprised that I watched only one western this year, considering it's probably my second-favourite genre. 

Of the few first-run pictures I caught in theatres, Gravity was by far the best. I enjoyed Man of Steel, but thought it made a better science fiction movie than a Superman film; Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were fun sequels, and Star Trek Into Darkness was a huge, dumb disappointment. 

Colin Trevorrow's little-seen comedy Safety Not Guaranteed was this year's biggest pleasant surprise, and I thoroughly recommend it. Watch it cold, without knowing anything about the film.

Books I Read in 2013

Since 2011 I've been keeping track of what I read. Here are the 112 books I read in 2013, listed in order of completion and ending with Tarzan and the Leopard Men, which I just finished.

The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling, 1894)

Steel and Other Stories (Richard Matheson, 2011)

The Art of War (Sun Tzu, circa late 5^th century BCE)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (James M. Cain, 1934)

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (Horace McCoy, 1935)

Man Plus (Frederik Pohl, 1976)

Yellow Submarine (Charlie Gardner, 2004)

Earthbound (Joe Haldeman, 2011)

Impulse (Steven Gould, 2012)

The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka, 1915)

Thieves Like Us (Edward Anderson, 1937)

Star Trek The Next Generation: Losing the Peace (William Leisner, 2009)

Star Trek Titan: Fallen Gods (Michael A. Martin, 2012)

The Tomb (F. Paul Wilson, 1984)

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Philip Pullman, 2010)

Star Trek Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions (David Mack, 2011)

Redshirts (John Scalzi, 2012)

Hitchers (Will McIntosh, 2012)

Star Trek Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night (David R. George III, 2012)

Star Trek Typhon Pact: Raise the Dawn (David R. George III, 2012)

Star Trek Typhon Pact: Brinkmanship (Una McCormack, 2012)

Star Trek: Allegiance in Exile (David R. George III, 2013)

The Cassandra Project (Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick, 2012)

Tintagel (Paul H. Cook, 1981)

Arctic Rising (Tobias S. Buckell, 2012)

Cadillac Beach (Tim Dorsey, 2004)

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (Michael Lewis, 2011)

The Big Clock (Kenneth Fearing, 1946)

Sci-Fi Savant (Glenn Erickson, 2011)

Torpedo Juice (Tim Dorsey, 2005)

Robopocalypse (Daniel H. Wilson, 2011)

Amped (Daniel H. Wilson, 2012)

The Big Bamboo (Tim Dorsey, 2006)

Hurricane Punch (Tim Dorsey, 2007)

Phases of Gravity (Dan Simmons, 1989)

Vintage Season (Catherine L. Moore, 1946)

In Another Country (Robert Silverberg, 1989)

High-Rise (J.G. Ballard, 1975)

On Board the U.S.S. Enterprise (Denise and Michael Okuda, 2013)

The Wasp Factory (Iain Banks, 1984)

Atomic Lobster (Tim Dorsey, 2008)

The Human Front Plus… (Ken MacLeod, 2013)

The Bridge (Iain Banks, 1986)

The Dark Fields (Alan Glynn, 2001)

Little Book of Vintage Horror (Tim Pilcher, 2012)

Little Book of Vintage Sci-Fi (Tim Pilcher, 2012)

He is Legend (Christopher Conlon, editor, 2009)

The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross (Alex Ross, 2011)

The Long Earth (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, 2012)

Joyland (Stephen King, 2013)

Tarzan of the Apes (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1914)

The Return of Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1915)

The Beasts of Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1916)

The Son of Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1917)

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1918)

Jungle Tales of Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1919)

Tarzan the Untamed (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1920)

Tarzan the Terrible (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1921)

Tarzan and the Golden Lion (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1923)

Tarzan and the Ant Men (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1924)

Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1963)

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1928)

Tarzan and the Lost Empire (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1929)

The Eyre Affair (Jasper Fforde, 2001)

At the Earth’s Core (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1922)

Pellucidar (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1923)

Tanar of Pellucidar (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1930)

2312 (Kim Stanley Robinson, 2012)

New Taboos Plus… (John Shirley, 2013)

Existence (David Brin, 2012)

Tarzan at the Earth’s Core (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1930)

Slow Apocalypse (John Varley, 2012)

Tarzan the Invincible (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1931)

The Dead Man’s Brother (Roger Zelazny, 2013)

Tarzan Triumphant (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1932)

Tarzan and the City of Gold (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1933)

The Hercules Text (Jack McDevitt, 1986)

Year’s Best SF 4 (David G. Hartwell, Editor, 1999)

Star Trek: From History’s Shadow (Dayton Ward, 2013)

Singularity Sky (Charles Stross, 2003)

Iron Sunrise (Charles Stross, 2004)

White Fang (Jack London, 1906)

Angels of Vengeance (John Birmingham, 2011)

Accelerando (Charles Stross, 2005)

The Complete Peanuts, 1987 to 1988 (Charles M. Schulz with an introduction by Garry Trudeau, 2013)

The Quantum Thief (Hannu Rajaniemi, 2010)

Bloom (Wil McCarthy, 1998)

Web of the City (Harlan Ellison, 1958)

The Bottom Line: The Truth Behind Private Health Insurance in Canada (Diana Gibson and Colleen Fuller, 2006)

7 Against Chaos (Harlan Ellison, 2013)

The Wellstone (Wil McCarthy, 2003)

Star Wars Art: Visions (J.W. Rinzler and Eric Klopfer, editors, 2010)

All Our Sisters: Stories of Homeless Women in Canada (Susan Scott, 2007)

The Sharing Knife, Volume One: Beguilement (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2006)

New Stories from the Twilight Zone (Rod Serling, 1962)

The Sharing Knife, Volume Two: Legacy (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2007)

The Sharing Knife, Volume Three: Passage (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2008)

The Art of Vampirella (Josh Green, editor, 2010)

Neuromancer (William Gibson, 1984)

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2012)

The Sharing Knife, Volume Four: Horizon (Lois McMaster Bujold, 2009)

The Art of Star Wars (Carol Titelman, Editor, 1979)

Turbulence (Samit Basu, 2013)

Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library (Larry Nemecek, 2013)

Lost in Transmission (Wil McCarthy, 2004)

Tarzan and the Lion Man (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1934)

To Crush the Moon (Wil McCarthy, 2005)

The Ten Commandments: An Epic Journey (Michael McMurtrey, 2013)

The Complete Peanuts, 1989 to 1990 (Charles M. Schulz with an introduction by Lemony Snicket, 2013)

Supergods (Grant Morrison, 2011)

Robots Have No Tails (Henry Kuttner, 1952)

Tarzan and the Leopard Men (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1935)

Fiction:99

Nonfiction:13

Science fiction:38

Fantasy:26

Star Trek:10

Tarzan: 19

Peanuts collections:2

Mainstream:23

Top Authors
Edgar Rice Burroughs (22)
Lois McMaster Bujold (5)
Tim Dorsey (5)
Wil McCarthy (4)
David R. George III (3)
Charles Stross (3)
Iain Banks (2)
Harlan Ellison (2)
Tim Pilcher (2)
Charles M. Schulz (2)
Daniel H. Wilson (2)

Books by Decade
-500s: 1
1890s: 1
1900s: 1
1910s:7
1920s:9
1930s:9
1940s: 2
1950s:2
1960s:2
1970s: 3
1980s:7
1990s:2
2000s:22
2010s:41

Oldest Title: The Art of War (circa 5th century BCE)
Newest Title: Turbulence (2013)

Female Authors: 8
Male Authors: 62

Final Thoughts
This year's list isn't quite as genre-heavy as last year's, but I didn't read as many women authors as I should have - something to address next year. I made it almost all the way through Burrough's Tarzan and Pellucidar series, with just a few left in each; they're as entertaining as ever. Lois McMaster Bujold continues to impress, though the Sharing Knife series isn't quite as strong as her other work, but middling Bujold is still much better than most fantasy and science fiction out there.

This year I intended to read The Lord of the Rings and finish the Harry Potter series, but for whatever reason the mood never struck. Maybe I'll tackle them in 2014.