Hi, everybody! 2011 has come and gone. It has actually been one of the best years of my life on a personal level, thanks in no small part to writing this blog. One year ago today, I resolved to watch for the first time and review 100 movies in 2011. Sometimes it was a struggle finding things to say about a movie. There were a few reviews I wasn't happy with, I'll admit. But I pressed on anyway and actually achieved my goal back in October, and kept on going past it, ultimately watching and writing about 138 movies.
As for what you're reading now, I thought I'd write a little year-end piece, maybe talk about the highlights of writing I Probably Liked It. This isn't going to be a best movies of the year list (I'm not sure if I'm going to do one yet), just my personal favorite blogging moments.
So read on, if you're interested. And in case you decide you're not, thanks for reading! Keep coming back, I've got big plans for 2012. I have no idea what they are.
First things first: Here is a list of all the movies I watched in 2011.
January
1: Branded to Kill
2: The King's Speech
3: Fantasia
4: Fantasia 2000
5: How to Train Your Dragon
6: Cyrus
7: Starcrash
8: The Kids are Alright
9: Evilspeak
February
10: The Secret of Kells
11: Seven Samurai
12: A Town Called Panic
13: Cedar Rapids
14: Frankenstein
15: The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
16: Bride of Frankenstein
17: Popeye
March
18: Rango
19: Follow that Bird
20: Brewster McCloud
21: Arthur (1981)
22: Once Upon a Time in the West
23: Hausu
24: Son of Frankenstein
25: High Noon
26: Paul
27: Whisper of the Heart
28: Gojira (Godzilla)
April
29: Win Win
30: Sleeping Beauty
31: Circle of Iron
32: Four Lions
33: Black Dynamite
34: Source Code
35: Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal
36: Invaders from Mars
37: The Mikado
38: Topsy Turvy
May
39: Thor
40: Student Confidential
41: Bridesmaids
42: The Golem
43: Mac and Me
44: Heaven Can Wait (1943)
45: Winter's Bone
46: Attack the Block
47: Kung Fu Panda 2
48: The Mack
49: Tokyo Drifter
June
50: X-Men: First Class
51: The Tree of Life
52: Tales from the Crypt (1972)
53: The Vault of Horror
54: Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter
55: Submarine
56: Super 8
57: MacGruber
58: Green Lantern
59: Puppet Master
60: Microcosmos
61: Cars 2
62: Summer Wars
July
63: Good Morning
64: Fright Night Part II
65: Pinocchio
66: Samurai Rebellion
67: The Knack ...and How To Get It
68: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
69: Captain America: The First Avenger
70: A Little Princess
August
71: Cowboys & Aliens
72: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
73: 30 Minutes or Less
74: Power Kids
75: Fright Night (2011)
76: Alakazam the Great
77: Paper Moon
78: Zardoz
79: Sword of Doom
80: Wing Chun
September
81: Our Idiot Brother
82: Winnie the Pooh
83: The Outlaw Josey Wales
84: The Maltese Falcon (1941)
85: Contagion
86: The Invisible Man
87: Planet of the Vampires
88: The Thing with Two Heads
89: The Secret of the Urn
90: Moneyball
91: The Killing
92: Killer's Kiss
93: The 10th Victim
94: 50/50
October
95: The Bad Seed
96: The Uninvited
97: Patrick
98: Vampyr
99: Real Steel
100: The Last Man on Earth
101: Goke, Bodysnatcher from Hell
102: The Innocents
103: Tales that Witness Madness
104: The Wolf Man (1941)
105: The Old Dark House (1932)
106: The Sentinel
107: Martha Marcy May Marlene
108: The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
109: Carnival of Souls
110: In Time
November
111: Rope
112: Winnebago Man
113: Dracula (1931)
114: Logan's Run
115: Citizen Ruth
116: The Descendants
117: The Warriors
118: The Muppets
119: Kagemusha
120: Mystery Team
121: Hugo
122: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
December
123: American Graffiti
124: Machete Maidens Unleashed
125: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
126: Charley Varrick
127: Johnny Dangerously
128: Murders in the Zoo
129: Young Adult
130: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
131: Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece
132: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
133: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
134: The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
135: Dr. No
136: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
137: War Horse
138: From Russia with Love
That list is in order, so if you're interested in reading any of those reviews, check them out in the corresponding month on the bar to the right.
Holy crap! I just found out that due to a counting error on my part, my super special 100th movie review was NOT actually my 100th movie review! Whoops! Let's pretend that never happened.
Here is a list of my five favorite entries of 2011:
Zardoz: My friend Kent over at Cinematic Seppuku and I enjoyed writing a few collaborative movie reviews over the year, and our review for this baffling John Boorman sci-fi oddity was probably the best of them. We haven't done any since because things got busy and those ones took a long time for us to write.
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell: Not only was this trippy 1960's Japanese sci-fi/horror cult classic one of my favorite movies that I watched last year, it was one of my best entries to date. Scratch that, it IS my best entry, the one I'm proudest of, anyway. It was written under the belief that it was my 100th review, and to make it special, I loaded it up with my own crappy (but hopefully funny) MS Paint illustrations.
Logan's Run: Yet another weird cult classic sci-fi movie. This was my third (and final so far) illustrated movie review. The review itself is maybe a little on the lazy side, but I think my "artwork" has improved. This time I did it as more of a comic strip. A Logan's Run fan site found it and linked it on their page, and now it's one of my most successful entries. I want to do more illustrated stuff this year, but it all depends on time and if I see the right type of movie.
Real Steel: This entry seems to be very popular among people I know in real life, probably because I really, really hated this movie. Considering that this website is about 99% positive reviews, people must have really gotten a kick out of hearing me tear into something. Plus, I think it's decently well written.
The Knack... and How to Get It: This review of a 1960's Richard Lester classic provided me with one of the highlights of my year: When I put a link up on Twitter, I theorized that Edgar Wright had been influenced by this movie. Shortly after, he tweeted me back and confirmed it! That might seem like small potatoes to you, but to be complemented on my astuteness by one of my favorite writer/directors ever was kind of incredible for me.
Those aren't all the highlights. Others include the time I experimented with Adware and dropped it because I didn't like how it was changing my priorities. Or how about when I joined the Large Association of Movie Blogs (LAMB)? They've been really cool to me and I've gained several regular readers and Twitter friends from them. Or how about the time I accidentally killed my little girl's turtle and had to find an identical one to replace it with? Wait, that might have been from Full House or something.
That's about it for now. I'll be back soon with more reviews. I would like to do more illustrated stuff this year, but it all depends on me having time and proper inspiration. I'll be continuing some of my ongoing movie watching projects, including the early James Bond films and Disney classics. Also, I'm not necessarily limiting myself to the "100 movies, 100 reviews" thing, so there might be something new and different if it strikes me. Thanks again for reading! Happy New Year!
Jim
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