Tuesday, August 4, 2015

My Film Quest Through 2015 - 100 New Films

Schindler's List, Oliwia Dabrowska

If you've followed my blog for most of 2015, you may have noticed that I've released a lot more reviews than I usually have. The reason for this is because, one of my many New Years Resolutions was to watch 100 films I have never seen before, and write reviews on as many of them as I can. These movies did not have to be new theatrical releases, but any film that I had not already seen at some point in my life.

And after I released my review of "The Exorcist," I had finally reached my goal. After nearly seven months of watching nearly five new movies every week and then finding the time to write my extended thoughts on each of them, 100 new movies have been seen.

This was one of the most fun and exciting times, since nearly every day I got to witness something new and watch kinds of filmmaking unfold. From old and nearly lost silent films, to animated films released only weeks ago, to everything in between, this has been a wild ride.

So, for your viewing pleasure, and to put down in a record, here are each of those 100 films, and my grade on each of them. As I recall, all but five of these movies have a review somewhere on the site. The only ones that don't are the first three, an animated trilogy released straight to DVD that was based on a manga in Japan, and "The Room" and "Sharknado 2," both of which were a Rifftrax Live experience, from the same creators as "Mystery Science Theater 3000," while they ripped apart a terrible movie, so it is hard to properly judge the movie when I could barely distinguish the movie from the riffing.

Other than that, all the other 95 movies have proper reviews. The grades in this list might be modified from my original reviews, as my thoughts on them might have changed over time, though only slightly.

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1. "Berserk: The Egg Of The King" - B-
2. "Berserk: Battle Of Doldrey" - B+
3. "Berserk: Advent" - B
4. "Wild" - A-
5. "Big Eyes" - A-
6. "Top Five" - B
7. "Election" - A-
8. "Selma" - C
9. "Attack Of The 50-Foot Woman" - B+
10. "American Sniper" - A-
11. "War Of The Worlds" (1953) - C+
12. "Foxcatcher" - B
13. "The Way We Were" - B-
14. "Boyhood" - A
15. "Dale & Tucker Vs. Evil" - B
16. "Inherent The Wind" - B-
17. "The Imitation Game" - C+
18. "Zodiac" - B
19. "Whiplash" - A
20. "Top Hat" - C+

top-hat

21. "King Kong Vs. Godzilla" (Japanese Version) - B+
22. "The Theory Of Everything" - C+
23. "The Interview" - F+
24. "The Odd Couple" (1968) - C-
25. "Jupiter Ascending" - C-
26. "Father Of The Bride" (1950) - B
27. "Philadelphia" - B-
28. "The Hustler" - C+
29. "Project Almanac" - D+
30. "Easy Rider" - C-
31. "Kramer Vs. Kramer" - B
32. "Barbarella" - C+
33. "Kingsmen: The Secret Service" - B+
34. "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" - A-
35. "An American Werewolf In London" - A-
36. "Them!" - B
37. "The King's Speech" - B+
38. "Nosferatu The Vampyre" - C
39. "The Fugitive" - B
40. "My Man Godfrey" - C

My_man_godfrey

41. "Melancholia" - C+
42. "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - D+
43. "In Bruges" - B-
44. "Now, Voyager" - B-
45. "Superman II" - B-
46. "Wall Street" - D+
47. "The Public Enemy" - A-
48. "The China Syndrome" - B
49. "It Follows" - A-
50. "Viva Zapata!" - C+
51. "Die Hard 2" - C+
52. "Run All Night" - D+
53. "Chef" - B
54. "The Secret Of Kells" - B-
55. "Rushmore" - A-
56. "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" - C
57. "Unfriended" - A-
58. "Crank" - B
59. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - B
60. "Ex Machina" - C

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61. "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1955) - B-
62. "The Magnificent Ambersons" - C+
63. "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" - B-
64. "The Room" - B
65. "Schindler's List" - A
66. "El Mariachi" - C+
67. "My Dinner With Andre" - B
68. "Unbreakable" -B
69. "Stella Dallas" - A-
70. "Mad Max: Fury Road" - A
71. "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" (1939) - B-
72. "Papillion" - C+
73. "Time After Time" - B+
74. "Dark Passage" - A-
75. "Spy" - A-
76. "The Babadook" - C+
77. "Jurassic World" - C
78. "Greed" - B+
79. "Dirty Harry" - A-
80. "Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks" - D+
Disney•Pixar's "Inside Out" takes us to the most extraordinary location yet - inside the mind of Riley. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), Disgust (voiced by Mindy Kaling), Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Fear (voiced by Bill Hader) and Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. Directed by Pete Docter and produced by Jonas Rivera, "Inside Out" is in theaters June 19, 2015.

81. "Inside Out" - A-
82. "Hotel Transylvania" - B
83. "Soylent Green" - B
84. "Kung Fury" - B-
85. "Hannah & Her Sisters" - D
86. "Rubber" - C+
87. "All-Star Superman" - B
88. "Terminator: Genisys" - D
89. "Sharknado 2: The Second One" - D+
90. "Miami Connection" - C+
91. "The Shop Around The Corner" - B
92. "Varan, The Unbelievable" - C-
93. "Atragon" - B-
94. "The Giant Claw" - C
95. "Mortal Kombat" - C+
96. "Ant Man" - B-
97. "Mr. Holmes" - B+
98. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" - B-
99. "The Red Shoes" - C-
100. "The Exorcist" - A-

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Since the selection of movies is so fruitful in this list, and because there were so many that I adored, it seems applicable that I count down my ten favorite. So, just for the sake of argument, here are my ten favorite of these 100 films.

10. "Election"
9. "Dark Passage"
8. "The Public Enemy"
7. "The Exorcist"
6. "An American Werewolf In London"
5. "Whiplash"
4. "Inside Out"
3. "Boyhood"
2. "Schindler's List"
1. "Mad Max: Fury Road"
Max_Mad_Fury_Road_Newest_Poster

And, because I'm sure this question will get asked as well, here are the five films that I hated the most out of the bunch.

5. "Project Almanac"
4. "Hannah And Her Sisters"
3. "Wall Street"
2. "Terminator: Genisys"
1. "The Interview"

The_Interview_2014_poster

So that is what I've been working on for the last seven months. When I wasn't working or spending time with my family and friends, I was mostly watching these movies. What you can expect from me in the future is to finish up my Favorite Films countdown, as we will soon be reaching my top ten.

Thank you to every last one of you for your continued support and interest in my passion. I wouldn't be here without you guys and hearing each of your thoughts on my opinions and reviews keeps me going. All of you are amazing people and don't ever forget that.

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