Sunday 27 June 2010

Today's Viewing & Review: The House Of The Devil

EIFF Viewing List

A quick round-up of what I watched at Edinburgh International Film Festival:

16/06/2010 The Illusionist
17/06/2010 Chase The Slut
17/06/2010 Outcast
17/06/2010 SoulBoy
17/06/2010 22 Bullets
17/06/2010 Two Eyes Staring
18/06/2010 Donkeys
18/06/2010 Jackboots On Whitehall
18/06/2010 Huge
19/06/2010 Toy Story 3
19/06/2010 The Boy Who Turned Yellow
19/06/2010 Boy
19/06/2010 Toy Story 3
21/06/2010 Nothing Personal
21/06/2010 The Kid
21/06/2010 The Good Heart
21/06/2010 The Runaways
22/06/2010 My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
22/06/2010 The Secret In Their Eyes
22/06/2010 Mr Nice
22/06/2010 High School
23/06/2010 Heartbreaker
23/06/2010 Lucky Luke
23/06/2010 Superhero Me
24/06/2010 The People Vs. George Lucas
24/06/2010 Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World
24/06/2010 Skeletons
25/06/2010 A Spanking In Paradise
25/06/2010 Barry Munday
25/06/2010 The Dry Land
25/06/2010 Winter's Bone
25/06/2010 Girl With Black Balloons
25/06/2010 Get Low
26/06/2010 C'est Déjà L'été
26/06/2010 The Last Rites Of Ransom Pride
26/06/2010 Nénette
26/06/2010 Snowman's Land
26/06/2010 The Robber
27/06/2010 Gravity

For my reviews on most of these, take a peek at our coverage over at http://www.reelscotland.com/?cat=295

Wednesday 9 June 2010

2010 Challenge – Month 5 Stats

(this is starting to become really challenging)

To recap, I’m aiming to watch 450 films by the end of the year but a minimum of 80% of that total has to be stuff which I have never seen before.

Although now more firmly established www.reelscotland.com still continues to be where the bulk of my free time goes. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have it any other way but it obviously eats into film-watching time though. Conducting interviews, transcribing interviews, editing interviews, reviewing and the like are (as anyone possessed with an ounce of smarts will obviously tell you) time consuming.

May was still peppered with a few days where I didn’t watch any films – either due to general tiredness or having something else to do.

So, here's where I stand at month 5's end:

May:

Total films watched: 37
First-time viewings: 34
Percentage of first-time viewings: 91.9%
Cumulative monthly total: 168
Cumulative monthly first-time viewings: 154
Cumulative monthly percentage of first-time viewings: 91.7%

Best Films: The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser, The Sting, Four Lions, Annie Hall, Amsterdamned, The Hunger
Worst Films: Cop Out, The Bridge, American Cousins, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife


May 2009 Comparison:

Total films watched: 32
First-time viewings: 26
Percentage of first-time viewings: 81.3%
Cumulative monthly total: 160
Cumulative monthly first-time viewings: 129
Cumulative monthly percentage of first-time viewings: 80.6%

May was very nearly a total whitewash. I was heading for the lowest daily average so far this year were it not for a four-day, bank holiday weekend right at the end which allowed the time for a 14 film blow-out.

So, approaching halfway through the year and I’m slightly up on last year – but possibly not enough to reach the 43 extra films I’m aiming for.

Still, the fact I’ve only watched 14 films so far this year which I’ve seen before is impressive. It’s looking clear that my 80% target of seeing stuff I’ve never seen is achievable and will hopefully allow for some nostalgia-wallowing quick-fixes in the winter months.

Edinburgh International Film Festival is in mid-June so that will present a chance devote entire days to film-watching, with the wonderful nature of EIFF meaning this will all be new, or undiscovered, stuff. It will certainly boost this June to an unnaturally engorged state, but will do me favours later on.

May was a success. Just. June’s looking that way too, but I’m 57 films off hitting the midpoint target of 225…