This little experiment, which started in January of last year, was born of a curiosity regarding my favorite obsession, movies. How many hours of my life were spent enjoying films and which genres did I watch the most? What other interesting tidbits could I garner from an accurate catalogue of my own viewing habits? Thus One Year of Movies was created and I started on my journey.
Here we are, 243 movies later. I’ve compiled all the big ticket stats (total hours, total movies, etc.) and some more nuanced stats along with a few milestones (i.e. 100th movie). I definitely didn’t fall into any typical demographic. My tastes are all over the place and my viewing habits are probably on the extreme end of the scale.
There were a couple of disappointing duds and a few films which pleasantly surprised me. Some were so niche that almost none of my friends saw them while others were old standbys. There were even a handful of films which inspired me to pick up a pen and write. In spite of 2012 being a shitty year in general, I did experience some great movies.
The Big Picture
- Movies Watched: 243
- Total Minutes Watched: 26843
- Total Hours Watched: 447.4
- 1st Movie of 2012: I Am Legend
- Last Movie of 2012: The Witches of Eastwick
- Most Watched Movie: Tie @ 4 times each (Labyrinth, Puss in Boots, The Avengers, Star Trek [2009])
- Most Watched Genre: Comedy (61 Films)
Genre Breakdown
| ACTION | 51 | DRAMA | 18 | MUSICAL | 4 |
| ANIMATION | 14 | DOCUMENTARY | 5 | ROMANCE | 13 |
| COMEDY | 61 | FANTASY | 13 | SCI-FI | 29 |
| CRIME | 12 | HORROR | 23 |
I spent a staggering 447.4 hours watching movies. To be honest, I would have loved to have broken through the 500 hour barrier along with 300+ movies watched. Slowing down near the end of the year was unfortunate, but unavoidable with the insanity life had in store for me. I’m surprised I got any films in during that time.
2012 was packed with a lot of laughs. Comedy, both of the film and standup variety, kept me going. Action films were a close second with 51 movies logged. My least watched genre was Musicals with only 4 seen. This isn’t because I dislike the genre, but because they don’t make them as frequently as they used to.
I didn’t see as many foreign language films as I would have liked. THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC was a standout in that category. I kept starting DAY WATCH, but just couldn’t get into it which was weird because I absolutely loved NIGHT WATCH. Perhaps I need to recalibrate my subtitle senses. Documentaries barely made a dent. Truth may be stranger than fiction, but it’s not nearly as entertaining.
Horror had a solid showing at 23 movies. Sadly, the quality of those films was very inconsistent. Many of them were old favorites I had revisited. Of the new batch, only a smattering were worth a damn: CABIN IN THE WOODS, FRIGHT NIGHT (2011) <—surprisingly, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. I chewed through a ton of trailers for horror flicks, but many of them looked poorly put together or clichéd from the outset so I decided to skip them altogether. I don’t understand why movie studios use horror as an excuse for shitty writing. It’s a real shame.
Sci-Fi was in a similar predicament. The oldies were just as good, but the newer stuff tended to disappoint. MEN IN BLACK 3 was much better than anticipated and so was CHRONICLE. If I could, I would punch IN TIME in the throat for destroying a beautiful premise. I love this genre, I’m just not a fan of what it put out in 2012.
The Devil & His Details
Here are all the smaller details scattered throughout my spreadsheet.
- Longest Film: 200 minutes (Henry Rollins: Provoked)
- Shortest Film: 56 minutes (Dana Carvey: Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies)
- Average Length: 110.47 minutes or 1.84 hours
- Oldest Film Watched: Gigi (1958)
- 100th Movie (Movie, Date): Blink, 04/17/12
- 300th Hour (Movie, Date): The Matrix Reloaded, 06/03/12
- 200th Movie (Movie, Date): Romeo+Juliet, 08/21/12
- 400th Hour (Movie, Date): Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,10/27/2012
Monthly Breakdown
| Total Hours | # of Flicks | |
| JAN | 45.48 | 25 |
| FEB | 46.00 | 26 |
| MARCH | 68.45 | 37 |
| APRIL | 43.77 | 23 |
| MAY | 38.35 | 20 |
| JUNE | 58.53 | 29 |
| JULY | 36.50 | 22 |
| AUG | 41.75 | 22 |
| SEPT | 15.68 | 8 |
| OCT | 8.27 | 5 |
| NOV | 7.15 | 4 |
| DEC | 37.45 | 22 |
Normally I would include a listing for Worst Film, but there were several movies vying for the title so I thought it best to focus on the positive while letting the horrible fade from memory.
It’s A Wrap!
This experiment will most certainly be continued into 2013. I won’t be doing monthly breakdowns like I initially did because they generated little interest. Instead I’ll keep writing the milestone posts which people seemed to enjoy. I’m still open to suggestions on other statistics to record or reveal, so feel free to leave them in the comments.
This was more fun than I thought it would be. Even with all those hours spent watching movies, it never felt wasted or tedious. I truly am a film nut.
How did your year of movies shape up? Are there more stats you’d like me to share? Let us know in the comments or shoot me a tweet @gabrielnovo. If you enjoy these articles then feel free to have them delivered directly to your inbox or share them with a friend using the buttons below.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the list and the idea.Was the Henry Rollins movie any good? I used to go to his Black Flag (and later spoken word) shows so he feels like a buddy of mine. And very true about the bad/cliche writing in horror films.
Twitter: gabrielnovo
January 22, 2013 at 9:07 am
The Rollins flick is from his Melbourne performance in 2008 and was fantastic (I’m also a huge Rollins fan), but this edition seems to be Australian exclusive which is a shame. The same titled DVD stateside is from his San Francisco appearance and nowhere near as long. I would have LOVED to have seen Henry Rollins with Black Flag back in his heyday. I am just a little bit jealous.
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What a damn clever idea. Wow, never thought how much movies tell about a person in their tastes. I of course would have to count flicks I sit and watch with my 19mo granddaughter. I wonder how I would break that down as some I like and others not so much but I watch it anyway. Very good idea.
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Twitter: gabrielnovo
January 22, 2013 at 9:18 am
Thanks for swinging by. There was a ton of animation in my list last year. You would have thought I had a little one of my own, but I love animation just as much as the next kid. Reviews of the films didn’t pop up too often unless it was a milestone (200th Movie) or they were unique enough to mention (Not Your Typical Movies).
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with movie reviews. On one hand, I appreciate the critical analysis of a film: its story, subtext, and characters. On the other hand, I don’t want to have my “critical” senses always turned on and lose the ability to just enjoy a film. It’s why I could never become a professional movie critic.
If you decide to run the experiment as well let me know. I’d love to see how others are coming along with it.
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Interesting read Gabriel. Your settee must have a bigger arse groove than mine watching all those films.
It’s funny with films, there are some that leave you bemused, some that have a personal feeling and some that you can watch again and again even though you know what’s coming, but for some strange reason just grip you each and every time.
I too loved Star Trek and personally I can’t wait for the new release to hit the cinemas over here.
It’s hard to ever recommend a film to watch to others as a great film to one ends up being a total waste of time to someone else. The other night I watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, it was one of those films for some reason I had put off watching. One of those that for some reason you have in your mind “it’s not for me”. However, I found it to be a really good feel good film and well worth a watch.
Look forward to reading the next Cuban Nomad, take care my friend.
Twitter: gabrielnovo
January 22, 2013 at 1:04 pm
You hit the nail right on the head. Many a time I’ve recommended a film only to have the person come away with a completely different interpretation. Movies, like food, are a subjective taste and finding someone with your same eclectic palate is akin to finding a unicorn.
You are the first person I’ve heard from that saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Your initial feelings toward it are the same as mine. I haven’t dived into it yet, but armed with your comment I feel more confident in doing so. Another “it’s not for me” film which I have yet to see is Moonrise Kingdom. I love Wes Anderson, but sometimes he can get a little too off kilter for my tastes. One of these days I’ll give it a chance.
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