Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Movies Monthly - January

Last year in December, I came across a blog post in which the author stated that they had read 25 books in 2015. I thought to myself: 'It is easy to count books, but how should I know how many movies we watched during the year?' I asked my husband what would an approximate number of  the films would be in his opinion, and he said: ' About a thousand'.

To make the number clear and accurate, I have decided to make notes and count the films we watch this year. You will see my diary entries in monthly posts on the blog.


We enjoy watching various kinds of movies but, as you can see below, one of our most favorite category is detective stories - Columbo is my no.1 detective of all time. Then goes DCI Barnaby (Midsomer Murders), William Murdoch (Murdoch Mysteries), DI Poole (Death in Paradise) and others, including Miss Fisher (and her gorgeous wardrobe!). We like not only detective and crime stories though. There are many more. Some films on our list are brand new and/or are new to us as well. Some of them we watched in the past - a long time ago. Long enough not to recall the entire plot. However, no matter when a film was made, if it is really interesting, it is worth seeing it again. Especially, if they (meaning old movies) had interesting settings and costumes which were all real and non computer made, comparing to most recent productions.

Our movies of the month were:
'The Thin Man' series and the two films directed by Alberto Cavalcanti: 'Went the Day Well?' and 'They Made Me a Fugitive'.

Colors (related to movie genres) which I use in my diary notes:

Action
Comedy
Documentary
Detective/Crime Story
Drama
Fantasy, SF
Family
History
Horror
Musical
Thriller
War 
Western

Some of the films are marked with asterisks (if we really like them/do not care for them much). Most of the titles on the list are not marked at all - we simply generally enjoy watching them because of different reasons.

1. Scary Movie 4 - 2006
2. The Thin Man - with William Powell & Myrna Loy -1934 (detective story, comedy) ****
3. After the Thin Man - 1936 *****
4. Another Thin Man - 1939 ****
5. Shadow of the Thin Man - 1941 ****
6. The Thin Man Goes Home - 1945 ****
7. Song of the Thin Man - 1947 ***

We very much enjoyed watching the series about the Thin Man. The costumes worn by Myrna Loy were gorgeous!

8. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - 2015 (drama) ****
9. Downton Abbey VI.1 - 2015 (drama) ****

It was quite interesting to see two of the main actresses in both movies - different looks, different female characters, the same persons.

10. The Twilight Zone: Number 12 Looks Just Like You - 1964 (SF)


11. The Twilight Zone: Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross - 1964 ( SF)
12. Are You Being Served: The Hand of Fate - 1975 (hilarious comedy series!) ****
13. Columbo: Columbo Goes to College - 1990 (detective story)
14. Gang Wars - with Charles Bronson - 1958 (crime story) - seemed to be a pre 'Death Wish' series movie
15. The Twilight Zone: I Dream of Genie - 1963 ( SF)
16. The Mystery Cruise - 2013 (detective story) **
17. Murder on a Bridle Path - 1936 (detective story) ****
18. The Twilight Zone: The Long Morrow - 1964 ( SF)
19. Brannigan - with John Wayne - 1975 (detective/crime story) ***
20. Independent Lens: Chuck Norris vs Communism - 2016 (documentary) 


21. Shall We Dance - with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers - 1944 (musical)
22. Went the Day Well? - by Alberto Cavalcanti - 1944 (based on a novel by Graham Greene - thriller, war) ****
23. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries III.1 Death Defying Feats (detective story)
24. They Made Me a Fugitive - by Alberto Cavalcanti - 1947 (crime story) ****
25. The Twilight Zone: A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain - 1963 (SF)
26. Out of Reach - 2004 (action) **
27. Downton Abbey VI.2 - 2015 (drama)
28. Diagnosis Murder: 35 Millimeter Murder - 1996 (detective story)
29. The Murdoch Mysteries: Kommando - 2011 (detective story)
30. The Murdoch Mysteries: Buffalo Shuffle - 2011 (detective story)


31. Whitechapel ep.1 - 2009 (detective story)
32. Open All Hours  (watched by mistake/accident instead of Are You Being Served - TV schedule was altered)
33. The Twilight Zone: Ring-A-Ding Girl - 1963 ( SF)
34. Mad Max: Fury Road -2015 (action, SF)* - in our opinion, a 15 minute Twilight Zone episode has more plot than this Mad Max part. We found it very little involving, however a bit more interesting than 'Gravity'.
35. The Twilight Zone: You Drive - 1964 (SF)
36. Face/Off - 1997 (action, SF)****
37. The Twilight Zone: Probe 7, Over and Out - 1963 (SF)
38. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders - 1970 (fantasy) - quite a different movie
39. Death in Paradise 4.1 - 2015 (detective story)
40. 100 Rifles - 1969 (western)


41. Shallow Hall - 2001 (comedy)
42. Nothing Sacred - 1937 (comedy, drama)
43. Death in Paradise 4.2 - 2015 (detective story)
44. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Murder and the Maiden - 2015 (detective story)
45. The Twilight Zone: Uncle Simon  - 1963 (SF)
46. Blue Skies -1946 (musical) - lots of great dance and song numbers including my favorite "Puttin' on the Ritz"
47. Whitechapel ep.2 - 2009 (detective story)
48. The Murdoch Mysteries: Downstairs Upstairs - 2011 (detective story) 
49. Downton Abbey VI.3 - 2015 (drama)
50. The Twilight Zone: Ninety Years Without Slumbering - 1963 (SF)


51. Sherlock Holmes: The Abominable Bride - 2016 (crime story, drama)
52. Are You Being Served?: Up Captain Peacock - 1975 (comedy)
53. Diagnosis Murder: The Murder Trade - 1996 (detective story) 
54. The Twilight Zone: Living Doll - 1963 (horror) 
55. The Twilight Zone: The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms - 1963 (SF)
56. Muppets from Space - 1999 (family)
57. Knocked Up - 2007 (comedy)
58. Midsomer Murders: The Straw Woman Part I - 2004 (detective story)
59. Midsomer Murders: The Straw Woman Part II - 2004 (detective story)
60. The Fly - 1958 (SF) - quite a good plot/movie as for the time when it was made


61. The Thief of Bagdad - 1940 (fantasy, family) - great movie considering the time when it was made -interesting plot, efects and amazing colors by Technicolor
62. The Taking of Pelham 123 - 2009 (crime, thriller)**
63. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Murder and Mozarella - 2015 (detective story)
64. Whitechapel ep.3 - 2009 (detective story)
65. Death in Paradise 4.3 - 2015 (detective story)
66. Downton Abbey VI.4 - 2015 (drama)
67. British Intelligence - 1940 (thriller/war)
68. Are You Being Served?: Cold Store - 1975 (comedy)
69.  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - 1949 (fantasy, family, musical)
70. The Prize - with Paul Newman - 1963 (crime story, drama


71. Blood Feuds: Gangs of New York - 2016 (history)
72. Blood Feuds: Yukon Gold Rush - 2016 (history)
73. The Twilight Zone: A Kind of Stopwatch - 1963 (SF)
74. War Peace 1 - 2016 (drama, history)
75. War Peace 2 - 2016 (drama, history)
76. Our man in Havana - 1959 (comedy, drama)*** - based on a novel by Graham Greene
77. Forced Vengeance - with Chuck Norris - 1983 (crime story)**
78. McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force - 1965 (comedy, war)
79. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Blood and Money - 2015 (detective story)
80. Death in Paradise 4.4 - 2015 (detective story)


81. Whitechapel ep.4 - 2010 (detective story)
82. True Story - 2015 (drama)*  
83. Downton Abbey VI.4 - 2015 (drama)
84. The Murdoch Mysteries: Monsieur Murdoch - 2011(detective story) 

In January, we also saw a couple of episodes of TCR (Texas Counrty Reporter). It is not on the list as it is a TV show, not a movie.

With eighty-four movies watched during one month, it seems very likely that, by the end of the year,  we will reach the one thousand, estimated by my husband.

And what kind of movies do you like watching?


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