February 2012 films

It's been a while since I posted on this blog. That's not because I've been lazy and given up blogging about movies - that's because I've not watched any movies since the 27th Feb (well, until last night that is). March has been really, really busy. We've been moving house, decorating the house (we still are), and planning for a new arrival, on top of having to go to work and carry on with normal life.

So movies have taken something of a backseat! So much of a backseat, in fact, that it's taken me nearly a month to get around to writing my monthly review. I'll do my best to remember the movies I saw in February, but I can't guarantee I'll remember them all! In total I watched 13 movies, so things were clearly a bit quieter back then! I managed to stick with my target of watching all the movies recorded in November, so up until the end of February I was on track with that plan. The movies were:

• Thirst (2009) - 4.5 stars
• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) - 2 stars
• Irina Palm (2007) - 4 stars
• The Woman in Black (2012) - 5 stars
• Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004) - 4 stars
• A Fistful of Dollars (1964) - 2.5 stars
• Max Payne (2008) - 2.5 stars
• The Three Musketeers (1993) - 3 stars
• Into the Wild (2007) 4 stars
• The Descendants (2011) - 3.5 stars
• Far North (2007) - 3 stars
• Knowing (2009) - 3 stars
• Romance and Cigarettes (2005) - 2.5 stars

The month started out with some pretty mediocre movies, but thankfully things improved. For the most part, even the mediocre movies were fairly memorable; nothing on the list really screams out "bog-standard Hollywood movie" at me. Apart from perhaps The Three Musketeers. The second half of February saw some properly good movies, two of which really stand out. I can't recommend The Woman in Black and Thirst highly enough. Whether the fact that they are both horror movies says something about my mood at the time or not I don't really know!

Film of the Month is a pretty easy call. Whilst Thirst is an excellent vampire movie, with a very different take on things, The Woman in Black just beats it. A proper "scare" movie, at times it had me truly frightened. It's adapted from an excellent novel, and although the story is modified for the movie, it still manages to scare in just the right way.

Film not to waste your time on is a little harder. There are plenty of mediocre movies on this list, but Ghosts of Girlfriends Past just wins it for being, well, stupid. And being one of the only movies ever that has managed to ruin the story of A Christmas Carol.

So, what about Film 365? Now I know it's going to take a brutal hit at the end of March, but how was it all going at the end of February? I had watched 145 out of 365 movies (about 40%). I should have watched 354 movies, and be only 6 away from the end of the project. So there is some way to go yet! It's looking like it will be a 2-year project then...

Film of the Month: The Woman in Black
Film not to waste your time on: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

No of films watched: 145/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 354/365