films

Films of 2023

Here’s the ongoing list of all the films I’ve watched this year. Really, my only film-related goal of the year is watching at least 52 Films by Women (both films directed by and written by women) again and I’ll be re/watching a fair few series this year and possibly reviewing them too. You can find out more about what I’m watching on my Twitter or Letterboxd – I sometimes write a couple of lines of my thoughts of a film on Twitter/Letterboxd rather than writing a full review here.

Without further ado, here’s what I’ve watched in 2023! Film titles in bold are films I saw at the cinema and films with an asterisk are rewatches. Any title with a hyperlink goes to its review.

January:
– Top Gun: Maverick (2022)*
– John Wick (2014)*
– John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)*
– John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)*
– Rescued by Ruby (2022)
– Hidden Figures (2016)*
– See How They Run (2022)
– The Sound of 007 (2022)
– Rocky (1976)*
– Wildcat (2022)
– Rashomon (1950)
– Rocky II (1979)
– Rocky III (1982)
– Rocky IV (1985)
– Rocky V (1990)
– Rocky Balboa (2006)
– Corsage (2022)
– Plane (2023)
– 1Up (2022)
– Creed (2015)*

February:
– Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend (2022)
– The Whale (2022)
– Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
– Devotion (2022)
– My Father’s Dragon (2022)
– Dear Zoe (2022)
– Yes, God, Yes (2019)
– Do Revenge (2022)
– Creed II (2018)*
– All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
– What’s Love Got to Do With It? (2022)
– Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
– Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)*
– Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
– Cocaine Bear (2023)
– I Get Knocked Down (2021)
– Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

March:
– Creed III (2023)
– Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021)
– 65 (2023)
– Shazam! (2019)*
– Rye Lane (2023)
– Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
– Luck (2022)
– John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Number of different films watched: 44
Number of times been to the cinema: 17

My film year in review and my film-related goals of 2023

In 2022 I was very chill about film-watching and didn’t make myself watch things like the awards buzzy films just to keep in the loop (which was one of my goals last year!). I do think my whole procrastinating/mindless scrolling through social media did possibly have an affect on my film-watching like it did my reading at times though. I did also re/watch Doctor Who from Christopher Eccleston to the end of Jodie Whitaker’s era (I kind of stopped watching when the Ponds left and didn’t start again until the middle of Thirteen’s run) which took me six months so watching a couple of episodes of Doctor Who took the same time as watching a film might’ve.

In total I watched 177 different films, about 40 of which were rewatches. I said 2021 was the year I’d watched the least films but turns out 2022 now beats that which I’m OK with as I still watched a lot of good films, including these which made my Favourite Films of 2022 list. I still do enjoy watching films, whether they’re the latest blockbuster or something more obscure that I’m only watching because there’s an actor I like in it, but it’s nice not to put any pressure on myself to hit an arbitrary number or anything. I did see 45 different films at the cinema which was more than I expected because unlike previous years I didn’t really spend many Saturday’s at the cinema watching two or more films in a row like I used to. Again, I think this is a sign of me being choosier over what I want to watch rather than going to the cinema just for the sake of it. I did have an unlimited card which meant for about £16 a month I could see as many films as I like but I don’t think I was using it to its full potential as I used to so I cancelled it. I did get a similar card for a cinema that’s a lot closer to me (as in less than a 10-minute walk away) so I can go see a film at like 6pm after work and walk there rather than having a 30 minutes’ drive to the cinema.

I completed my 52 Films by Women challenge for both directors and writers again this year which I’m always happy about. Though it wasn’t intentionally I did like how only one of the films directed by women was a rewatch – which was of course, Mamma Mia! (more…)

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge – 2022 Edition

It’s fast approaching that time of year again! For me and this blog April has meant the A-Z in April Blogging Challenge for the past eight years and this year is no different. The challenge is to post on your blog every day in April except Sundays. Not including Sundays, there are twenty-six days in April which matches with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. That means on 1st April you write something beginning with the letter A, on the 2nd something beginning with the letter B and so on and so forth.

Part of me can’t quite believe this will be the ninth year I’ve attempted this challenge and like the previous eight I hope to succeed at it.

This year my theme is the same as it was in 2020 – a film review for each letter of the alphabet and FYI “the” and “a” at the beginning of the film title doesn’t count. I still have over 60 unwatched DVDs/Blu-Rays sitting on my shelves so those films are likely to make up a big chunk of those featured in the challenge. Any letters I don’t own unwatched films of, I will go to the various streaming platforms I have and see what’s on my watchlist. In those instances, I will make an effort to find, watch and review a film that’s directed by a woman. That way it’ll help me hit my goal of (at least) 52 films by women directors watched this year plus I’ll finally watch something that I’ve probably been meaning to for ages.

I doubt there will be non-A to Z in April film reviews next month but there should still be book reviews on Thursdays. I’m going to try and get as many films watched, reviewed and scheduled before April starts as having the posts scheduled really does make life easier – especially as I’ve got a friend’s wedding in the first week of April that I have to travel to so I won’t be online much then. I currently have 10 posts written and scheduled (unfortunately they aren’t for the first 10 letters of the alphabet) with another 11 days left in March so I should get some more films watched, reviewed, and posts scheduled before April comes around.

There’s still time to sign up for the A to Z in April Challenge. I do recommend it; it definitely makes you stretch yourself to think of something for every letter and it encourages you to be organised – something I’m always trying to be better at when it comes to my blog.

Films of 2022

It’s about time I got this post up and started adding to it. Here are all the films I’ve watched this year. My film-related goals of the year include watching 52 Films by Women (both films directed by and written by women) which would be my seventh year of completing this challenge, and I am once again going to try and make an effort to watch my Clint Eastwood and Alfred Hitchcock boxsets – I may use the A-Z in April Challenge to help me out with this. You can find out more about what I’m watching on my Twitter or Letterboxd – I sometimes write a couple of lines of my thoughts of a film on Twitter/Letterboxd rather than writing a full review here.

Without further ado, here’s what I’ve watched in 2022! Film titles in bold are films I saw at the cinema (if/when they’re open again) and films with an asterisk are rewatches. Any title with a hyperlink goes to its review – whether that’s here on my blog or on JumpCut Online which I sometimes contribute to.

January:
– Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)*
– The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
– Live Free or Die Hard (2007)*
– The King’s Man (2021)
– The 355 (2022)
– Encanto (2021)
– Luca (2021)
– Ray and the Last Dragon (2021)
– Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021)
– Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)*
– Mainstream (2020)
– Blade (1998)*
– Blade II (2002)*
– Blade: Trinity (2004)*
– Playing with Sharks (2021)
– Monster Hunter (2020)

February:
– Moonfall (2022)
– Shadow in the Cloud (2020)
– Marry Me (2022)
– Fistful of Vengeance (2022)
– Second Act (2018)
– Uncharted (2022)
– Dog (2022)
– The Immigrant (2013)
– Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)*

March:
– Blue Steel (1990)
– The Batman (2022)
– House of Flying Daggers (2004)
– Rope (1948)
– Turning Red (2022)
– Absolute Power (1997)
– Enough Said (2013)
– Quincy (2018)
– City Heat (1984)
– Firefox (1982)
– Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
– The Trouble with Harry (1955)
– King Leopold’s Ghost (2006)
– The Adam Project (2022)
– Mamma Mia! (2008)*
– Jenny’s Wedding (2015)
– Psycho (1960)
– One for the Money (2012)

April:
– The Good Shepherd (2006)
– Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
– Matchstick Men (2003)
– Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
– Space Cowboys (2000)
– The Lost City (2022)
– Legally Blonde (2001)*
– The Year of Spectacular Men (2017)
– Upside-Down Magic (2020)
– Vita & Virginia (2018)
– White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
– Zoe (2018)
– X+Y (2014)
– Downton Abbey (2019)*
– Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
– Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)*

May:
– Jungle Cruise (2021)*
– Free Guy (2021)
– Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
– Doctor Strange in the Mulitverse of Madness (2022)
– Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
– Extinct (2021)
– Doctor Strange in the Mulitverse of Madness (2022)*
– Top Gun (1986)*
– Code 46 (2003)
– Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)
– I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)
– Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
– Introducing, Selma Blair (2021)
– Val (2021)

June:
– Becoming Cousteau (2021)
– Interceptor (2022)
– Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
– Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
– Fire Island (2022)
– But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
– Swan Song (2021)
– The Thing About Harry (2020)
– Alaska Is A Drag (2017)
– The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)
– The Prom (2020)

July:
– Top Gun: Maverick (2022)*
– Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
– Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
– Dalek’s Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966)
– Cinderella (2021)
– The Princess (2022)
– The Gray Man (2022)
– The Janes (2022)

August:
– Plan B (2021)
– Spider-Man (2002)*
– Spider-Man 2 (2004)*
– Spider-Man 3 (2007)*
– Prey (2022)
– Unstoppable (2010)*
– Bullet Train (2022)
– Unstoppable (2010)*
– Outside In (2017)
– Happening (2021)
– Unpregnant (2020)
– Aftershock (2022)
– Everything, Everything (2017)
– Beast (2022)
– Mr. Malcolm’s List (2022)
– The A-Team (2010)*

September:
– Rio 2 (2014)
– Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
– The Forgiven (2021)
– Top Gun: Maverick (2022)*
– Fire of Love (2022)
– The Hunger Games (2012)*
– The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)*
– The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)*
– The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)*
– Language Lessons (2021)
– Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
– Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
– Sea Fever (2019)
– Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
– Olympus Has Fallen (2013)*
– London Has Fallen (2016)*
– Angel Has Fallen (2019)*
– The Craft: Legacy (2020)
– Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

October:
– Vampire in Brookly (1995)
– Interview with the Vampire (1994)
– Jennifer’s Body (2009)
– Werewolves Within (2021)
– The Woman King (2022)
– Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (2022)
– Hidden Letters (2022)
– Call Jane (2022)
– Till (2022)
– The Middle Ages (2022)
– The Haunted Mansion (2003)
– Inventory (2021)
– Cherry (2022)
– The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
– Aftersun (2022)
– Sirens (2022)
– A Compassionate Spy (2022)
– Klokkenluider (2022)
– Black Adam (2022)
– Armageddon Time (2022)
– Deep Rising (1998)
– Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
– Wendell & Wild (2022)
– Captain America: Civil War (2016)*
– Black Panther (2018)*

November:
– Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
– Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
– Morbius (2022)
– Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
– Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)*
– The Menu (2022)
– Confess, Fletch (2022)
– Rosaline (2022)
– She Said (2022)

December:
– Violent Night (2022)
– Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
– The Burning Sea (2021)
– The 39 Steps (1935)
– The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)*
– RRR (2022)
– Falling for Christmas (2022)
– The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)*
– Knives Out (2019)*
– Glass Onion (2022)
– The Godfather (1972)
– The Godfather: Part II (1974)
– The Godfather: Part III (1990)
– The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)*
– The Mask of Zorro (1998)*
– Ice Age (2002)*
– Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
– Sicario (2015)
– Death on the Nile (2022)
– Escape to Victory (1981)*

Number of different films watched: 177
Number of times been to the cinema: 47

Films of 2021

Here are all the films I’ve watched this year. My film-related goals of the year include watching 52 Films by Women (both films directed by and written by women) which would be my sixth year of completing this challenge, and to make an effort to watch my Clint Eastwood and Alfred Hitchcock boxsets. You can find out more about what I’m watching on my Twitter or Letterboxd – I sometimes write a couple of lines of my thoughts of a film on Twitter/Letterboxd rather than writing a full review here.

Without further ado, here’s what I’ve watched in 2021! Film titles in bold are films I saw at the cinema (if/when they’re open again) and films with an asterisk are rewatches. Any title with a hyperlink goes to its review – whether that’s here on my blog or on JumpCut Online which I contribute to.

January:
– Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
– Take the Ball, Pass the Ball (2018)
– Los secretos de La Roja – Campeones del mundo (2020)
– Fernando Torres: The Unexpected Hero (2020)
– Andrés Iniesta: The Unexpected Hero (2020)
– The Beguiled (2017)
– The Secret of Kells (2009)
– Epic (2013)
– We Can Be Heroes (2020)
– The Way I See It (2020)
– The Untouchables (1987)
– One Man and His Shoes (2020)
– Over the Moon (2020)
– Time (2020)
– The Vast of Night (2019)
– Outside the Wire (2021)
– Collateral (2004)
– The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
– Dune (1984)
– Game Night (2018)*

February:
– Banlieue 13 (2004)*
– Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (2009)*
– Greenland (2020)
– Agnes Joy (2019)
– Dead Pigs (2018)
– Young Adult (2014)
– RAGE (2021)
– Dinosaur (2000)
– Mortal Kombat (1995)
– X-Men (2000)*
– X2 (2003)*
– X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)*
– X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)*
– X-Men: First Class (2011)*
– The Wolverine (2013)*
– X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)*

March:
– Moxie (2021)
– Deadpool (2016)*
– X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)*
– Logan (2017)*
– Deadpool 2 (2018)*
– Cinderella (1997)
– X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)*
– Justice League (2017)*
– Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015)
– Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010)
– Cats (2019)
– Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
– Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
– Ready or Not (2019)
– Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
– Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
– The 8th (2020)
– Minari (2020)
– Wildfire (2020)

April:
– 12 Angry Men (1957)
– Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)*
– Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
– The Finest Hours (2016)
– My Little Sister (20200
– Black Milk (2020)
– Overlord (2018)
– Charlie’s Angels (2000)*
– Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)*
– Charlie’s Angels (2019)*
– Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
– Peninsula (2020)
– First Cow (2019)
– Love and Monsters (2020)
– Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (2020)
– Rio (2011)

May:
– The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
– Galaxy Quest (1999)*
– Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary (2019)
– Skylines (2020)
– The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020)
– Lemonade Mouth (2011)*
– School of Rock (2003)*
– Remember the Titans (2000)*
– Relic (2020)
– Buffaloed (2019)
– Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
– Marie Antoinette (2006)
– The Namesake (2006)
– The Judge (2017)
– John Tucker Must Die (2006)
– Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
– Radioactive (2019)
– Beyond the Lights (2014)
– The Half of It (2020)
– Late Night (2019)
– ’49-’17 (1917)
– Army of the Dead (2021)

June:
– A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
– Cruella (2021)
– Logan Lucky (2017)
– Safety (2020)
– The Fast and the Furious (2001)*
– 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)*
– The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2005)*
– Fast & Furious (2009)*
– Fast Five (2011)
– Fast & Furious 6 (2013)*
– Furious 7 (2015)*
– In The Heights (2021)
– Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021)
– The Fate of the Furious (2017)*
– Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)*
– Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
– F9 (2021)
– G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)*
– G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)*
– The Other Woman (2014)

July:
– Serenity (2019)
– The Happening (2008)
– Black Widow (2021)
– The Hunters (2013)*
– The Green Hornet (2011)
– The Suicide Squad (2021)

August:
– Blitz (2011)*
– Jungle Cruise (2021)
– Chaos Walking (2021)
– Boss Level (2021)
– Predators (2010)
– AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
– Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
– Snake Eyes: G.I. Joes Origins (2021)
– Reminiscence (2021)
– The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
– Spider-Man (2002)*
– Spider-Man 2 (2004)*
– Spider-Man 3 (2007)*
– Black and Blue (2019)
– Jiu Jitsu (2020)

September:
– Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
– The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)*
– Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)*
– Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
– Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
– Copshop (2021)
– Cosmic Sin (2021)
– The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)*
– 42 (2013)*
– The Sweetest Thing (2002)
– Song One (2014)
– Schumacher (2021)

October:
– No Time to Die (2021)
– The Great Wall (2016)*
– Venom (2018)*
– Afterlife of the Party (2021)
– Flee (2021)
– Queen of Glory (2021)
– Welcome to Spain (2021)
– Playground (2021)
– Citizen Ashe (2021)
– Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
– The Last Duel (2021)
– Little Monsters (2019)
– Dune (2021)
– Beyond Skyline (2021)*
– The Martian (2015)*
– Army of Thieves (2021)
– Practical Magic (1998)*
– Hocus Pocus (1993)*

November:
– Eternals (2021)
– Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
– Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
– A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)
– Passing (2021)
– Shopping for Fangs (1997)
– Mortal Kombat (2021)
– Petite Maman (2021)
– A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019)
– Salaryman (2021)
– Ferguson Rises (2021)
– Beyto (2020)
– The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
– Hostile (2021)
– The Seed (2021)
– Lapwing (2021)
– Nico (2021)
– Growth With Hope (2021)
– Everything in the End (2021)
– Friendsgiving (2020)
– King Richard (2021)
– The Matrix (1999)*
– The Matrix Reloaded (2003)*
– The Matrix Revolutions (2003)*

December:
– Single All the Way (2021)
– Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)*
– Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)*
– The Family Stone (2005)
– Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
– Scrooged (1988)
– tick, tick…BOOM! (2021)
– The Rescue (2021)
– The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)*
– Peter Rabbit (2018)
– Peter Rabbit 2 (2021)
– King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)*
– Worth (2021)
– A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
– Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)*

Number of different films watched: 203
Number of times been to the cinema: 29

My Film Year in Review and my Film-related Goals of 2021

What with 2020 being what it was, my film-watching didn’t really take a hit. I watched 265 different films and of those films, 93 of them were rewatches. I think with everything going on I definitely enjoyed revisiting old favourites, where I knew the story so didn’t necessarily have to think too much. I did manage to see 16 films in the cinema in 2020, pre-pandemic and in between the various lockdowns the UK has had. I shared my Ten Favourite Films last month, in some ways it was hard to pick favourites as I felt I hadn’t seen many new UK releases what with everything else going on, but I really would recommend all the films I mentioned in that post.

I completed the 52 Films by Women challenge for both directors and screenwriters again, which was the fifth year in a row. I watched 57 films directed by women and 70 that were written by women.

I did make some headway with my unwatched DVDs and Blu-Rays! That’s thanks to the A-Z in April Challenge where I posted a film review for every letter of the alphabet. Now I have 63 unwatched physical films so that’s good. I did watch some of my Clint Eastwood and Alfred Hitchcock boxsets but I still have over 10 films in each boxset.

I didn’t spend much time watching TV series in 2020 (what a surprise!) but I did finally finish watching Shadowhunters and I was really happy with how they managed to wrap everything up. I also watched series two of The Alienist and His Dark Materials, Good Omens and Down to Earth with Zac Efron, which I all really enjoyed in different ways. My newest TV obsession is Cobra Kai, I watched the first two seasons in one weekend in September and fell in love with it, then I watched season three in two days at the beginning of the month and even got my mum into it. I love that show a whole lot.

Now it’s time for the fun actor and director stats I get from having a Letterboxd pro account.

My most watched actors of 2020 were:

I watched the Underworld series, the Karate Kid series and the Descendants trilogy for the first time, and I rewatched the entire MCU in April/May (and wrote about how that helped me grieve for my dad). I also rewatched The Chronicles of Narnia, the original Ocean’s trilogy, the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (that was back in January and wow does that seem like a long time ago!), the Bourne series, the Jurassic Park/World films and The Lord of the Rings – so that explains most of the actors who make an appearance. I also made an effort to watch more of Anton Yelchin, Chadwick Boseman, Kristen Stewart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s filmographies.

My most watched directors definitely reflect the fact I watched a lot of different series. Kenny Ortega (Descendants), Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s), the Russo brothers and James Gunn (MCU), Paul Greengrass (Bourne), Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean), Steven Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic Park/World), John Avildsen (Karate Kid) and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings). It’s disappointing but not surprising that it’s just male directors as I didn’t watch many films made by the same woman.

So what are my film-related goals of 2021? I’ll continue to be a mood watcher, there’s loads of films of different genres in my Netflix and Amazon Prime queue to keep me busy as well as the physical films I have. I want to watch 52 Films by Women, both directors and screenwriters, again. I was considering to try and watch one Alfred Hitchcock film, one Clint Eastwood film, and one Studio Ghibli film (they’re all on Netflix and I’ve only ever seen Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle) a week but we’re a week into 2021 and I haven’t watched any of them yet. But I do like that idea and hopefully going forward I’ll watch at least one of those types of films each week.

With regards to TV, I suppose what I’d really like to do in 2021 is finish all the Marvel Netflix series. I’ve watched up to and including season one of The Punisher so that means I have six series left to watch. Speaking of Marvel, I’m really looking forward to all the MCU shows coming to Disney+ this year, with WandVision starting next week. I do think I’m generally better at watching shows when they’re released weekly so I should be able to keep up with them. Otherwise, there are a load of series I’d like to try like The Madalorian, Dickinson and Ted Lasso but I won’t hold out too much hope with that one – I know what I’m like with TV.

Do you have any film or TV-related goals for 2021? If you have a Letterboxd account do let me know so I can follow you.

Sci-Fi Month 2020

ARTWORK by Tithi Luadthong from 123RF.com. QUOTE from Seven Devils by Elizabeth May & Laura Lam.

Even though 2020 seems to be dragging on forever, we are getting closer to the end of the year and November brings Sci-Fi Month, hosted by Lisa and Imyril.

As the name suggests, Sci-Fi Month is all about celebrating all things sci-fi, whether that’s books, films, TV show, games or podcasts. It’s the chance to focus on the sci-fi stuff you’ve been putting on the backburner, whether it’s speculative fiction, epic space operas, time travel adventures or parallel worlds.

There’s a couple of readathons happening during the month if that’s your kind of thing. Jorie Loves a Story is hosting a readathon of Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott while Imyril is hosting a readathon of Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle.

While there’s the readathons and some challenges still to be announced, there’s no requirements or goals to take part in Sci-Fi Month, the main point is to consume some sci-fi, a little or a lot, and have some fun. See imyril’s blog for more information and to sign up to Sci-Fi Month and follow @SciFiMonth on Twitter and use the hashtag #SciFiMonth to take part in all the chats or when sharing your posts.

While I like sci-fi books, I don’t currently have a lot of them on their TBR, in fact I only have two: Brilliance by Marcus Sakey and Gemina Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I’ll try and read them both in November but Gemina will be the priority as that chonky book has been on my shelf for far too long.

I also plan to watch and review a lot of sci-fi films next month. I’ve had a look through what sci-fi films I’ve got in my Netflix and Prime watchlists and pulled together a selection of what it’d like to watch. There’s a whole load of different types of sci-fi, superpowers, aliens, and AI, and from different countries too. Here’s some of the films I’ll hopefully be watching next month – any thoughts or recommendations based on this list would, as always, be much appreciated:

What are some of your favourite sci-fi media? I’m always looking for sci-fi book and film recommendations. My favourite kind of sci-fi (or sometimes it’s science-fact) is when people are really competent at their jobs e.g. The Martian, Apollo 13 and Hidden Figures.

Reflections on the A-Z Challenge 2020 Edition

Another April gone by, and what an interesting April that was!

I’m thankful I was so well organised this year and had over half of my posts already written and scheduled before April began, because the end of March and April itself was tough. Three of my close family died in March (non COVID-19 related but I don’t know if that’s better or worse) and then there was living life under lockdown. It was good to have this challenge to focus on though and have some structure in an ultimately very confusing time.

I’m very pleased I completed the challenge for a number of reasons. It’s my senventh year of taking part in this challenge and I do like how it’s become a “thing” for me and my blog. I’m happy it made me cut down my unwatched film list by twenty. My updated list of films I own but haven’t watched is on Letterboxd and I’m always looking for recommendations. The six films I reviewed that weren’t part of that list were ones I found on Netflix or similar.

The month started on a high with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford which I gave four stars but it ended on a low with Zookeeper which I do not recommend and gave one star. The films I most enjoyed watching a writing about were The Quake, Imagine Me & You and West Side Story. Though I have to say it was hard to review so many films in such a relatively short space of time – my brain’s not made to work that way.

My stats for April this year weren’t as good as last year but were better than the 2018 edition, so I’ll take that. The most popular A-Z posts were my reviews of Let the Right One In, National Treasure and K-19: The Widowmaker. Previous years A-Z posts also got a lot of hits including the posts I wrote about for Bucky Barnes and Happy Hogan last year, and Hermione Granger and Kingsley Shacklebolt that I wrote for the 2017 edition of the challenge.

Because of the aforementioned personal and wider world issues going on, I visited very few blogs which is a shame. I mostly did a good job at keeping up with replying to comments and I should have hopefully got to everyone by the time this post goes live.

Every year in my reflections post I ponder whether or not I’ll take part in the challenge next year, and this year’s no different! But I think as long as I have an idea well ahead of time that I can write and schedule posts for, then I think I will. I think it’d be nice to at least do this challenge for ten years in a row – only three more to go!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my A-Z posts this month. This blog will go back to a roughly equal amount of posts and books and films now. I hope all of you who took part had a successful A-Z in April, and sorry I didn’t get to your blog. For more information on the A-Z in April Challenge visit the website.

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge – 2020 Edition

It’s nearly April so that can only mean one thing – the A-Z in April Blogging Challenge! The challenge is to post on your blog every day in April except Sundays. Not including Sundays, there are twenty-six days which matches with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. That means on 1st April you write something beginning with the letter A, on the 2nd something beginning with the letter B and so on and so forth.

This will be the seventh year in a row I’ve taken part in this challenge and I hope to complete it once again. It’s become almost a tradition to do this challenge and I hope I continue to have ideas for it as the years go by.

This year all my twenty-six posts will be film reviews. More specifically reviews of some of the eighty plus films I have unwatched on DVD and Blu-ray. You can have a sneak peek at what some of the films might be by checking out what’s on this Letterboxd list. I’ve had some of these films for so long, some probably for over five years, so this is just the push I need to finally watch them. For the letters where I don’t have a film on DVD or Blu-ray that begins with that letter, I shall turn to the likes of Netflix to find a film.

In April I will still be posting my weekly book reviews as usual. I’m not sure if there will be “bonus” film reviews that are more modern releases/films I’ve watched that aren’t for this challenge, it’ll depend how I feel and how I keep up with the posts/reviews.

Because watching films and then reviewing them takes more time than the average post I’ve done for this challenge previously (especially as some of my unwatched films are really long!) I’ve been somewhat organised and have already scheduled thirteen posts (which is half of them!) and plan to have more scheduled before April arrives. Unfortunately, those thirteen aren’t the first thirteen days of April because I’m someone who has to be in the mood for potentially more serious or heavier films and I just don’t make things easy for myself.

Hopefully having so many posts scheduled already means I won’t be rushing to get the next post out and that I will be more active in visiting and commenting on other people’s blogs during the challenge.

There’s still time to sign up for the A to Z in April Challenge. I do recommend it; it definitely makes you stretch yourself to think of something for every letter and it encourages you to be organised – something I’m always trying to be better at when it comes to my blog.

Films of 2020

Here are all the films I’ve watched this year. My film-related goals of the year include watching 52 Films by Women (both films directed by and by women) which would be my fifth year of completing this challenge, and once again trying to watch some of the DVDs and Blu-rays that have been sat on my shelves for ages. You can find out more about what I’m watching on my Twitter or Letterboxd – I sometimes write a couple of lines of my thoughts of a film on Twitter/Letterboxd rather than writing a full review here.

Without further ado, here’s what I’ve watched in 2020! Film titles in bold are films I saw at the cinema and films with an asterisk are rewatches. Any title with a hyperlink goes to its review – whether that’s here on my blog or on JumpCut Online which I contribute to.

January:
– Puss in Boots (2011)*
– The Sound of Music (1965)*
– Logan (2017)*
– Predator 2 (1990)
– Southpaw (2015)
– Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)*
– Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)*
– Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)*
– 1917 (2019)
– Little Women (2019)
– Safe House (2012)*
– Lockout (2012)*
– Spies in Disguise (2019)
– Just Mercy (2019)
– The Great Debaters (2007)
– Remember the Titans (2000)*
– Like a Boss (2020)
– The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
– The Gentlemen (2019)
– The Quake (2018)

February:
– Miss Americana (2020)
– Outlander (2008)
– Parasite (2019)
– Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
– Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
– The Falling (2014)
– K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
– Troop Zero (2019)
– Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
– The Last Stand (2013)
– House of D (2004)
– The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
– Dark Waters (2019)
– The Call of the Wild (2020)

March:
– Jarhead (2005)
– Fast Five (2011)*
– Ophelia (2018)
– Military Wives (2019)
– Onward (2020)
– Sudden Impact (1983)
– The Dead Pool (1988)
– Inferno (2016)
– Playing It Cool (2014)
– Carlito’s Way (1993)
– Ocean’s Eleven (2001)*
– Ocean’s Twelve (2004)*
– Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)*
– The Kitchen (2019)
– Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
– Troy (2004)
– Strokes of Genius (2018)*

April:
– National Treasure (2004)*
– National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)*
– Family Plot (1976)
– The Edukators (2004)
– Stormbreaker (2006)*
– Imagine Me & You (2005)
– XXY (2007)
– Mamma Mia! (2008)*
– Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)*
– West Side Story (1961)
– Monster (2003)
– Let the Right One In (2008)
– Ray (2004)
– Erin Brockovich (2000)*
– Unstoppable (2010)*
– The Martian (2015)*
– Unforgiven (1992)
– Vertigo (1958)
– You Again (2010)
– Fast Girls (2012)*
– Extraction (2020)
– Zookeeper (2011)
– Iron Man (2008)*
– The Incredible Hulk (2008)*
– Iron Man 2 (2010)*
– Thor (2011)*
– Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)*
– The Avengers (2012)*

May:
– Iron Man 3 (2013)*
– Thor: The Dark World (2013)*
– Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)*
– Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)*
– Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)*
– Ant-Man (2015)*
– Captain America: Civil War (2016)*
– Doctor Strange (2016)*
– Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)*
– Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)*
– Thor Ragnarok (2017)*
– Black Panther (2018)*
– Avengers: Infinity War (2018)*
– Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)*
– Captain Marvel (2019)*
– Avengers: Endgame (2019)*
– Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)*
– Dragonheart (1996)*
– Lady and the Tramp (2019)
– Dead Before Dawn (1993)
– A Dog’s Purpose (2017)
– Finding Dory (2016)*
– A Dog’s Journey (2019)
– To the Stars (2019)
– Misbehaviour (2020)
– Before I Fall (2017)
– Right on Track (2003)
– Trainwreck (2015)
– Remember the Daze (2007)
– The Spectacular Now (2013)

June:
– The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)*
– Bloodshot (2020)
– Tremble All You Want (2017)
– Beyond Skyline (2017)*
– See You Yesterday (2019)
– The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
– I Lost My Body (2019)
– After (2019)
– Da 5 Bloods (2020)
– First Match (2018)
– Tall Girl (2019)
– Roma (2018)
– My Happy Family (2017)
– Okja (2017)
– Wheelman (2017)
– A Christmas Prince (2017)
– The Chronicles of Narnina: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)*
– The Chronicles of Narnina: Prince Caspian (2008)*
– The Chronicles of Narnina: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)*
– Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)*
– Odd Thomas (2013)*
– Delivering Milo (2001)
– Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
– Fierce People (2005)
– The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story (2019)
– Like Crazy (2011)
– Thoroughbreds (2017)
– Love, Antosha (2019)
– Abominable (2019)
– Paradise Hills (2019)
– The Kindness of Strangers (2019)
– On a Clear Day (2005)
– 42 (2013)*

July:
– Jurassic Park (1993)*
– The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)*
– Jurassic Park III (2001)*
– Jurassic World (2015)*
– Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)*
– Battle at Big Rock (2019)*
– Skyscraper (2018)
– Underworld (2003)
– Underworld: Evolution (2006)
– Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
– Underworld: Awakening (2012)
– Underworld: Blood Wars (2016)
– The Old Guard (20200
– Invictus (2009)*
– Blindspotting (2018)
– Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)*
– Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
– Artemis Fowl (2020)
– Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
– Blockers (2018)
– The Cake Eaters (2007)
– Honey Boy (2019)
– The Losers (2010)*
– Don’t Take Me Home (2017)

August:
– Tomb Raider (2018)*
– What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
– Table 19 (2017)
– Descendants (2015)*
– Descendants 2 (2017)
– Descendants 3 (2019)
– Constantine (2005)*
– Victor Frankenstein (2015)
– Spy Game (2001)
– Underwater (2020)
– Welcome to the Rileys (2010)
– Undertow (2004)
– Personal Shopper (2016)
– Get a Job (2016)
– Mr. Right (2015)
– Venom (2018)
– Tenet (2020)
– Draft Day (2014)
– The Kill Hole (2014)
– The Express (2008)
– Get on Up (2014)
– 42 (2013)*
– Concussion (2015)

September:
– The Karate Kid (1984)
– The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
– The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
– The Next Karate Kid (1994)
– The New Mutants (2020)
– Ready Player One (2018)
– Miami Vice (2006)
– Borg vs McEnroe (2017)*
– RBG (2018)
– Knock Down the House (2019)*
– Becoming (2020)
– Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018)
– Corpse Bride (2005)
– The Craft (1996)
– Enola Holmes (2020)
– Time Out (2018)
– Anesthesia (2015)

October:
– Practical Magic (1998)
– Honeymood (2020)
– Bram Sotker’s Dracula (1992)
– Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
– Stray (2020)
– Herself (2020)
– Farewell Amor (2020)
– Mangrove (2020)
– Kajillionaire (2020)
– Shirley (2020)
– Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
– The Blair Witch Project (1999)
– The Greatest Showman (2017)*
– Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
– 30 Days of Night (2007)
– Vehicle 19 (2013)
– All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020)
– Hocus Pocus (1993)*

November:
– The Mummy (1991)*
– The Mummy Returns (2001)*
– Secret Society of Second Born Royals (2020)
– Advantageous (2015)
– My Zoe (2019)
– Man on a Ledge (2012)*
– Free State of Jones (2016)
– Fast Colour (2018)
– The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)*
– The Bourne Identity (2002)*
– The Bourne Supremacy (2004)*
– The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)*
– The Bourne Legacy (2012)*
– Jason Bourne (2016)*
– Upgrade (2018)
– Farming (2018)
– Break Point: A Davis Cup Story (2020)

December:
– The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (2020)
– Noelle (2019)
– Nativity! (2009)
– Happiest Season (2020)
– Summerland (2020)
– Wolfwalkers (2020)
– Mulan (2020)
– Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
– Irreplaceable You (2018)
– Ava (2020)
– The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)*
– The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)*
– Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
– Shazam! (2019)*
– Soul (2020)
– The Pelican Brief (1993)*
– The Client (1994)
– Tarzan (1999)
– A Christmas Gift from Bob (2020)
– A Time to Kill (1996)
– Frozen (2013)*
– Frozen II (2019)*
– Godzilla (1998)*
– Dante’s Peak (1997)
– Skyfall (2012)*

Number of different films watched: 265
Number of films seen in the cinema: 16