THAT CREEP CAN ROLL: November 2010

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Today's Viewing & Review: Black Death

2010 Challenge – Month 10 Stats

(Not long to go now)

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.

The solid flow of film-watching continued into October, with the final total just a few less than September. Still, it’s a good five or six better than the monthly target I set myself. Again, there were very few days with no film-watching and then a fair few days of multiple viewings to compensate.

A trip down to the London Film Festival for a few days helped. While I didn’t see an outrageous amount while down there (seven in three days, as well as other events), it was three days off work with nothing on the agenda but film-watching so it certainly helped. Outside of that, the journey provided time to watch a few with no distractions. It definitely helped although didn’t quite reach EIFF levels.

It has left me in a good position for the last two months of the year, which I’ll need considering those months house both a holiday and the festive season.

With only 65 films left to reach the target, and still hovering safely above the 80% threshold of new films, I’m at the stage now where it would really take an absolute disaster for me not to make it. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen and also that this smugness doesn’t make a case for schadenfreude.

So, here's where I stand at month 10's end:

October:

Total films watched: 43
First-time viewings: 38
Percentage of first-time viewings: 88.4%
Cumulative monthly total: 385
Cumulative monthly first-time viewings: 334
Cumulative monthly percentage of first-time viewings: 86.8%

Best Films: NEDS, Black Swan, Busting, The Social Network, Back To The Future, Aguirre, The Wrath Of God, Let Me In, It’s Kind Of A Funny Story, Taking Off, Despicable Me, The Foot Fist Way
Worst Films: Burke & Hare, RED, Takers, One Last Chance, All I Want, Wind Chill, Dark Love

October 2009 Comparison:

Total films watched: 46
First-time viewings: 26
Percentage of first-time viewings: 56.5%
Cumulative monthly total: 336
Cumulative monthly first-time viewings: 264
Cumulative monthly percentage of first-time viewings: 78.6%

I notice that I didn’t actually manage to beat the equivalent monthly total from last year, but if memory serves I went on an all-out horror binge (and the watching of old favourites accounts for the shockingly low first-time viewing percentage).

I’m happy with the number of new things I saw at both the cinema and on DVD. The buying of multiple cheap DVDs has left me with a stockpile of stuff to see me through the year.

I can relax a bit but don’t want to take my eye off the ball too much, lest I underestimate how easy the final period of the year will be.