February 2015 films

As you can see, this monthly review is two months late. However, in some ways, it's right on time. Because do you know how many movies I've watched since 1st March? Zilch. Nada. Zero. Yep, not one. This may have something to do with the arrival of a new baby - not to mention organising a trip to the USA, buying a new car, dealing with an incredibly stroppy toddler...

Anyways, here are the films I did manage to watch in February, when I was sat at home waiting for a baby to arrive and had a lot more spare time than I do now!

• Cuban Fury (2014) - 3 stars
• All Good Things (2010) - 2.5 stars
• The Avengers (2012) - 3 stars
• American Reunion (2012) - 4 stars
• The Raven (2012) - 4stars
• Quartet (2012) - 1 star

Whilst there are a number of average movies in here, Film of the Month and Film not to waste your time on are both fairly easy.

There are two contenders for Film of the Month - American Reunion and The Raven. Both incredibly enjoyable movies in their own way, they are very different, which does make it difficult to pick one over the other. I'd be happy to watch either of them again, but on balance I think The Raven has to be my Film of the Month. I really enjoyed John Cusack's performance here, and I have to admit that generally I prefer a thriller to a comedy - making me more slightly likely to re-watch this and not American Reunion.

Film not to waste your time on is, however, incredibly easy. Quartet involves watching a bunch of actors run around being ridiculous, and pretending that they're doing it for the sake of acting. This isn't acting, it's just idiocy. Boring idiocy at that.

Film of the Month: The Raven
Film not to waste your time on: Quartet

November - December 2014 films

November/ December 2014 hasn't been a particularly busy time for me in terms of movie-watching; I've been too busy getting ready to host Christmas, covering two full-time jobs at work (on part time hours), and preparing for the arrival of baby#2 (due in Feb). Which suggests that most of 2015 won't be peppered with movie-watching either. However, I thought I had better do a quick review of the four movies I had seen in the past couple of months, so that I could get on with my yearly review without too much of a delay. Those four movies are:

• The Help (2011) - 4 stars
• Adam (2009) - 2.5 stars
• Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) - 3.5 stars
• The Way (2010) - 4 stars

Luckily, most of these movies were quite enjoyable; although all did have some flaws. Film of the Months is fairly easy to pick - whilst both The Way and The Help scored 4 stars, I've seen movies like The Help before. It was an enjoyable watch, but not particularly original. The Way, however, was very different to anything I'd seen before. As I mentioned previously, I might be a little biased because it was directed by Emilio Estevez, but I found it to be a truly memorable film and really enjoyed it. 

None of movies listed above were especially bad, and none really deserve the title of 'Film not to waste your time on'. However, one movie stands out as less enjoyable than the others, and this is Adam. If I'm honest I couldn't really remember it that well without going back and reading my review, which is probably one good reason for it to be film not to waste your time on. The complete lack of emotional engagement I felt for any of the characters is another one.

Film of the Months: The Way
Film not to waste your time on: Adam

September-October 2014 films

It's probably about time I wrote another review of the films I've watched in the past few months. Not only have I neglected to write a review recently, I've also neglected to write about 3 or 4 movies that I've watched since the beginning of November. So I'll start with a review of movies I watched between Sept and Oct this year, and then update this blog with some posts about additional movies I've watched in the last month or so! I had a fairly film-filled (for me, at the moment) couple of months in Sept and Oct - in total I saw 6 movies:

• Frankenweenie (2012) - 4 out of 5
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) - 4 out of 5
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - 3.5 out of 5
• Kung Fu Panda (2008) - 3 out of 5
• The Ides of March (2011) - 2.5 out of 5
• First Snow (2006) - 3 out of 5

There are quite a lot of mediocre movies here. It's only The Hunger Games and Frankenweenie that truly stand out as enjoyable. Having said that, there's nothing here that I really hated and warn people against seeing either.

Although The Hunger Games and Frankenweenie both scored a totally deserved four stars, my Film of the Months has to be Frankenweenie. It's different, interesting and memorable. To remember the plot of The Hunger Games I'd have to go and re-read my review, but no such reading is necessary with Frankenweenie. This is Tim Burton doing what he does best, and I truly enjoyed every minute of it.

The honour of Film not to waste your time on goes to The Ides of March. It's not really a bad movie as such, it just has a message that, surely, everybody knows? Yes, people are politics play dirty. It doesn't feel especially clever or idealistic to tell us that.

Film of the Months: Frankenweenie
Film not to waste your time on: The Ides of March

May-August 2014 films

I've grouped the last four months together because I really haven't seen that many movies - just 6 in total. That's less than I watched in the month of April alone. The movies were:

• Water for Elephants (2011) (4 stars)
• My Sister's Keeper (2009) (4 stars)
• What to expect when you're expecting (2012) (4 stars)
• The Fault in our Stars (2014) (2 stars)
• Brighton Rock (2010) (1 star)
• Drive (2011) (4 stars)

 As you can see, there's a fair spread there in terms of how good these movies were. Thankfully, the majority of the movies fall on the better side of good. None were good enough to get a full 5-star rating though - and looking back, this was the right decision, as none of them were memorable enough for this.

Of the four star movies listed, my Film of the Months probably has to be Water for Elephants. I hope I'm not just picking this because it's the one I remember best (it's the only August movie, and it's already October, so it was some time ago I saw all these movies now). I think I'm picking Water for Elephants because it held my attention, was an interesting story, was easy to watch, and kept me interested for the entire movie. Plus, it looked good!

Film not to waste your time on has to be Brighton Rock, although I remember The Fault in Our Stars with a more lingering hatred. This may be because I was expecting so much from it, and it turned out to be just a cliche. Not what you want from your only cinema visit for some months. However, having re-read my review of Brighton Rock, it was pretty pants. The fact that I thought it was rubbish and can't really remember it suggests that it deserves title of Film not to waste your time on.

Film of the Months: Water for Elephants
Film not to waste your time on: Brighton Rock (2010)

March 2014 films

It's taken me a while to get around to writing this - a combination of being too busy, not having time to watch films, let alone write about them, and a total failure to realise that it was the end of the month and therefore a monthly review was due. As it turns out though, I did watch a fair few movies in March - of varying levels of quality:

•  Stand by Me (1986) - 5 stars
• A History of Violence (2005) - 3 stars
• Charlie Wilson's War (2007) - 2.5 stars
• Easy A (2010) - 4 stars
• Angels and Demons (2009) - 3 stars
• Beginners (2010) - 2 stars

Film of the Month is so easy. The honour was always going to go to Stand by Me if I chose to watch this movie, being that it's one of my all-time favourites. 

Film not to waste your time on isn't too hard if you look at my ratings either. It goes to Beginners. Which I have to admit I can remember nothing at about without reading my review of it, so I figure it's a just title for the movie to have. (Even reading the review, I'm struggling. Whilst Charlie Wilson's War wasn't a great movie, at least I can remember what it was about).

Film of the Month: Stand by Me
Film not to waste your time on: Beginners

February 2014 films

We've been making an attempt to watch all the movies we've recorded in the last year or so over the previous month - mostly because we want to get a cheaper TV deal and if we do that, we'll lose all the movies we've recorded. Which has meant (probably positively) that we've watched more movies this month than we normally do.

• Once (2006) - 3 stars
• Stakeland (2010) - 3.5 stars
• Mirror Mirror (2012) - 4 stars
• Did you hear about the Morgans? (2009) - 2 stars
• Senna (2010) - 4 stars
• Bad Education (2004) - 4 stars
• Jane Eyre (2011) - 3 stars
• The Awakening (2011) - 3.5 stars

On the whole, this month has been pretty average. I haven't watched many dire movies, but nor have I watched anything stand-out brilliant. Looking at the above list, there are few movies that I have any particular desire to watch again.

All this does make Movie of the Month pretty hard. There are three 4-star movies - Mirror Mirror, Bad Education and Senna. As far as I can tell most critics and reviewers hated Mirror Mirror, but I still loved it. It was just such an easy watch. Senna was also well told, and although the ending was odd, I can hardly blame that on the filmmakers. I think my Film of the Month is going to go to Bad Education though, for being the film I perhaps expected to like least out of the three, and the one that surprised me most with its uniqueness and mysteriousness.

Film not to waste your time on is much easier. Whilst many of this months movies received average 3-star reviews, only one got a lower rating - and that was Did you hear about the Morgans? And it fully deserves the review I gave it. Time has not made me feel any more positive about this movie, and when I think back on them, the characters annoy me even more than when I first watched the film. I wonder if I can retrospectively lower a star rating for characters that still grate, 3 weeks after watching a movie...?

Film of the Month: Bad Education
Film not to waste your time on: Did you hear about the Morgans?

December 2013 - January 2014 films

I didn't write a monthly review in December because I had watched two movies. But I've done a bit better with 4 movies in January, so that feels like a good enough amount to write a review. The movies in question are:

• Hidalgo (2004) - 3.5 stars
• Let Me In (2010) - 4.5 stars
• 2012 (2009) - 3.5 stars
• Tangled (2010) - 3.5 stars
• Gnomeo and Juliet (2011) - 4 stars
• Saving Mr Banks (2013) - 4 stars
• Carnage (2011) - 2.5 stars

A fairly eclectic mix of movies. but on the whole a good selection. I really enjoyed a number of these movies, and only one was really disappointing. Having said that, my film of the month(s) is easy. Let Me In stands out above all the other movies, because the story is simply such a good one. Although this is an American remake, it doesn't suffer for this - although I'm not sure it improves on the original Let the Right One In much either. It's still a fantastic, interesting story and manages to set just the right atmosphere.

Film not to waste your time on is pretty easy too. Only one movie here stands out as bad, and that's Carnage. It could have been so much better. Whilst it's an interesting story and a good premise, it really does feel as if you should be watching this on a stage. It also totally fails to have any closure at all, which was very frustrating. It's not a movie (or a story) that needs to lack closure. However, although bad, it's not terrible. It's just the worst movie on a list of films that, on the whole, were really quite fun to watch.

Film of the Month(s): Let Me In
Film not to waste your time on: Carnage

November 2013 films

November hasn't been a busy month film-wise (it has, of course, in other ways), but I've still managed to fit in 4 movies- which is roughly one or so a week, although I actually watched them in all in 1 week. They are:

• Paul (2011) - 4 stars
• The Invasion (2007) - 3.5 stars
• Wedding Daze (2007) - 3 stars
• Watchmen (2009) - 3 stars

As you can see, none of these movies were stinkers; but none made the top of my movie list either. Paul was enjoyable, and lots of fun for what it was, but I'd still choose to watch Shaun of the Dead over it (but then, I would choose to watch Shawn of the Dead over many movies, so perhaps that's not a fair comparison). It wins Film of the Month, but really only because the other movies were relatively average...

... which makes Film not to Waste Your Time On pretty hard. None of the movies above are dire, and all are relatively memorable. It's a toss up between Wedding Daze and Watchmen, and the films are so different I'm honestly not sure I can pick one. Different audiences would both equally hate Wedding Daze and Watchmen. However, I'm edging towards Watchmen because a major problem was its length, which was fixable. Wedding Daze did at least do exactly what it said out to do - whether or not you appreciated what that was. So Watchmen wins Film not to Waste Your Time On, but with the proviso that I've seen far worse films this year. And far better ones too, mind you.

Film of the Month: Paul
Film not to Waste your Time On: Watchmen

October 2013 films

Unlike many months, I feel I've watched more than enough movies in October to warrant a full review. In total I've watched 6 movies this month, which now feels like a great achievement - that's more than one a week! Without further ado, here is the full list:

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) - 2 stars
• Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) - 4 stars
• Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) - 2 stars
• Finding Nemo (2005) - 5 stars
• Sahara (2005) - 2 stars
• The Next Three Days (2010) - 3.5 stars 

As lists go, this isn't a bad one. There are some pretty rubbish movies in here, but they've been tempered with some excellent ones, and the list is at least incredibly varied. 

Film of the Month is so, so easy here. It might be nearly 10 years old, but Finding Nemo is still easily the best movie on this list. I enjoyed re-watching it so much, having not seen it for some time. It's a month later, and I'm still walking round the house mis-quoting the movie ("You think you can do these things Joe, but you just can't").

Film not to Waste Your Time On is a little harder. It's actually really tough to pick my least liked movie from the three 2 star movies on the list above. They've all got some exceptionally bad qualities. However, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs does at least do what it says on the tin - even if I didn't really enjoy it. Sahara is ridiculous, but it's laughably ludicrous. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, however, takes itself horribly seriously - resulting in a totally boring, banal movie - and I enjoyed the original. So the dubious honour of Film Not to Waste Your Time On goes to Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Film of the Month: Finding Nemo (and very possibly The Year)
Film Not to Waste your Time On: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

September 2013 films

I perhaps didn't watch a lot of movies in September, but I think it's just about enough to warrant a monthly review - especially as this is appearing so late. Which means that I know I've watched enough movies in October for that month to have a review all of its own. So here are the movies I've seen:

• Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story (2008) (3 stars)
• The Number 23 (2007) (3.5 stars)
• Insidious (2010) (4 stars)
• Another Year (2010) (1.5 stars)
• The Invention of Lying (2009) (3.5 stars)

Whilst there's nothing wrong with a number of these movies, there's nothing particularly ground-breaking in here either. Most of the movies are hovering very definitely on average; even those I've given higher scores tend to have received these because I enjoyed watching them at that particular time, rather than because I think they are especially good examples of movies.

Which leads me on to my Film of the Month. It's not, as you might expect (considering it has the highest rating), Insidious. This is because, looking back on it, it did have a number of flaws that may well annoy a seasoned horror fan (and potentially some of the less seasoned ones too) - I simply really enjoyed it at the time I watched it because I hadn't seen a horror movie for so long. This means that The Number 23 and The Invention of Lying both become strong contenders. Whilst they are very different movies, I can already feel The Number 23 fading from my memory a little. So my Film of the Month goes to The Invention of Lying, for being a good and enjoyable example of the type of movie it sets out to be.

Film not to waste your time on is much, much easier. There's no contest here - it has to be Another Year. For easily being the most miserable movie I've seen this month, filled with some of the most awful characters you're likely to come across in cinema for a while. Not a movie experience I'm in any hurry to repeat.

Film of the Month: The Invention of Lying
Film not to waste your time on: Another Year

April-June 2013 films

Whilst I watched lots of films in June, I watched very little in April and May, so have decided to review them all together just for ease.

Without further ado, here's the list:

• A Bunch of Amateurs (2008) (4 stars)
• Before Midnight (2013) (3.5 stars)
• West is West (2010) (3 stars)
• Despicable Me (2010) (2.5 stars)
• Date Night (2010) (3 stars)
• The Switch (2010) (2.5 stars)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) (4 stars)
• Sideways (2004) (3 stars)
• The Host (3.5 stars) 

What a bunch of average looking movies, quite frankly. Which makes it fairly easy to pick a Film of the Month (I know, it's 3 months, but then all but 3 of the movies were watched in June...) , and virtually impossible to pick a Film Not to Waste Your Time On. Not only because I've seen much more dire movies than most of these, but also because so many of these movies were so average I can barely remember them anyway.

Film of the Month goes to (OK, this is quite hard)... A Bunch of Amateurs. It is a close call between that and The Hobbit though. Whilst The Hobbit was everything I was hoping it would be, and I did really enjoy it, A Bunch of Amateurs just tops it for me because the fact that I enjoyed was just such a pleasant surprise. There's just something special about finding a great little movie you didn't really know existed, and it hasn't happened to me for a while.

Film Not to Waste Your Time On goes to, umm... The Switch. This is mostly because I can't really remember this movie at all. The other 2.5 star movie is Despicable Me, and although it's not a great watch, I'm not going to forget what it's about quite so soon, and quite so definitely (I'll admit that may have more to do with the marketing and the fact that a Despicable Me 2 has been released than because the film is particularly memorable). I had to read my review of The Switch even to know who it starred (Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, apparently).

So, not actually a great movie month - a shame, considering I now go to a fair amount of effort to find time to watch these movies. I'll try harder over the next few months.

Film of the Month: A Bunch of Amateurs
Film Not to Waste Your Time On: The Switch

March 2013 films

Well, it seems that I've watched enough movies in March to make a monthly review worthwhile. This might be a one-off occurrence, so no guarantees that I'll be doing a monthly review again in April... but for the time being at least, here's what I've watched this month:

• Winter's Bone (2010) - 1.5 stars
• Moulin Rouge (2001) - 5 stars
• Compliance (2012) - 2 stars
• Down with Love (2003) - 4 stars
• Les Miserables (2012) - 2 stars
• Robot and Frank (2013) -3.5 stars

No prizes for guessing my Film of the Month, or Film Not To Waste Your Time On choices. Moulin Rouge was always going to win Film of the Month, unless I basically spent the month watching my favourite movies. And even then, it would be in with a pretty good chance. I just love everything about it, and could watch it over and over again - a lot!

Film Not To Waste Your Time On easily goes to Winter's Bone. It's just so bor-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz; oh, sorry, I drifted off there, what was I talking about?

The other movies I've watched this month have varied massively in quality, with Les Mis just annoying me, Compliance distressing me, and Robot and Frank and Down with Love both cheering me up. But nothing beats Moulin Rouge for a good time, or Winter's Bone for a good nap.

Film of the Month: Moulin Rouge
Film Not To Waste Your Time On: Winter's Bone

July 2012 films

Once again, the amount of films I watched in July was pretty rubbish. The amount of time it's taken me to blog about them is even more rubbish. Being that it's already the 20th August, you can probably guess how many movies I've watched this month so far... July did start off a little better than that at least! Here's the full list:

• The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - 3.5 stars
• Transamerica (2005) - 4 stars
• Race to Witch Mountain (2009) - 2.5 stars
• Adulthood (2009) - 3 stars
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009) - 4 stars
• St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009) - 2.5 stars
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 3D (2012) - 3.5 stars

There are a lot of pretty average movies in here, which is a shame considering I've only watched 7 in total. Two stand out as notably better than the others though, and these are Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Transamerica. In some ways, it's really hard to pick between them as they are just so different. But I'm going to go with Transamerica as my Film of the Month, because it's so different to most movies. It's memorable, has some great talking points, and some excellent acting. I'd happily recommend this to others, and more than willingly watch it again (not that I wouldn't watch Harry Potter either, of course).

Film not to waste your time on also isn't that easy. Although there are a lot of average movies in here, none of them are real stinkers. As I have to pick, I'm going with St Trinians 2. In fairness, that and Race to Witch Mountain have equal things to recommend them (or not), but I just find St Trinians 2 a little harder to recall. Which suggests it wasn't quite as much fun to watch.

So, on to Film 365 (ha ha ha). Here are the figures: As of 31st July, I had watched 170 of 365 movies (46%), but I was 143 days (about 4 and a half months) behind the deadline.

Film of the Month: Transamerica
Film not to waste your time on: St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold

No of films watched: 170/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 365+142

June 2012 films

Well, this is going to be easy. I've only watched three movies this month. I think the only other month that's been this quiet is this March. I've been busy! Mostly with more house DIY and house warming parents, plus pregnancy-related appointments and visits... I won't promise things are going to improve either. Here are the movies I have managed to watch:

• Attack the Block (2011) - 4 stars
• The Proposal (2009) - 3 stars
• Dan in Real Life (2007) - 2.5 stars

Film of the Month is so easy. Attack the Block is the only one of these films that I'll even remember in a month's time, let alone want to recommend to anybody. It's original, funny and extremely enjoyable.

Of the other two movies, either could win Film not to waste your time on - although neither are really worthy of that title either. They're both totally forgettable (as proven with Dan in Real Life, which I actually did watch two years ago and then forget about), but not particularly awful. Just very average Hollywood fare. Dan in Real Life just wins the "honour", but it's entirely possible that in two years time I'll re-watch The Proposal and it will score 2.5 stars for being just as un-noteworthy.

And is there even any point in mentioning Film 365? Here are the figures, just in case you want a laugh. I've watched 163 of 365 movies (44%), but I'm 112 days (about 3 and a half months) behind the deadline.

Film of the Month: Attack the Block
Film not to waste your time on: Dan in Real Life

No of films watched: 163/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 365+111 

May 2012 films

So, there's good news and there's bad news. If your RSS feed is as clogged up as mine, you'll probably view most of this as good news. The good news is that, other than this post, I'm up-to-date with posts for this blog. The bad news is that I haven't watched a single movie since 15th May - so for over a month now. Which hopefully helps explain why this particular post is half a month late...

I am hoping to get round to watching at least some movies in the near future, as a lot of series we've been watching on TV have now ended (The Big Bang Theory, Touch, Have I Got News For You to name a few). Of course, I may be naive to believe that this means more time to watch other things on TV!

But that's enough about the future, let's take a look at the movies that I watched in May- a grand total of five:

• Desperado (1995) - 4 stars
• Twilight: New Moon (2009) - 4 stars
• Dark Shadows (2012) - 3.5 stars
• A Mighty Heart (2007) -2.5 stars
• The Hunger Games (2012) - 4.5 stars

Thankfully, I really enjoyed the majority of these movies. Which is good news because if I'm only watching five in a month I want to enjoy every single one of them! Admittedly, I knew I was going to enjoy a couple of them because I'd seen them before (Twilight and Desperado). However, neither quite make my Film of the Month. This honour happily, and easily, goes to The Hunger Games. A really unique movie, well adapted from a book I haven't read, which led to long discussions between myself and my husband about the rights, wrongs and general questions of morality the film posed.

Film not to waste your time on is also pretty easy. A Mighty Heart isn't really a bad movie, but it's not especially memorable, rather dull in places, and simply can't compare in any way to any of the other movies on this list - not even to Dark Shadows.

And if you hadn't guessed, Film 365 is doing really badly. And June isn't going to help one little bit - not even if I watch a film a day from now on (which isn't going to happen). I've now watched 160 of 365 movies (43%), but as of the end of May I was 82 days (nearly 3 months...) behind my deadline.

Film of the Month: The Hunger Games
Film not to waste your time on: A Mighty Heart

No of films watched: 160/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 365+81

April 2012 films

April has been a fairly quiet month movie-wise - but still busier than March! Not that that takes much. I've watched 7 films in total:

• The Love Letter (2009) - 1 star
• Sex and the City (2008) - 1 star
• Ghost Town (2008) - 3 stars
• Frost/ Nixon (2008) - 3 stars
• Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) - 3 stars
• Beowulf (2007) - 3.5 stars
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - 2.5 stars

Of the films I have watched, the majority of them have been fairly mediocre. A couple of them have been actively bad. Unfortunately, there are no stand-out movies here at all.

Film of the Month is fairly easy - not because there's an especially good movie on the list, but because one is simply better than all the others. Beowulf was a lot better than I was expecting, and whilst it's never going to be a movie that makes my 2012 Top Ten Films of the Year, it was an enjoyable, fun watch.

Film not to waste your time on is actually much harder. There are two real stinkers here - Sex and the City and The Love Letter. Whilst both of these could easily make my 2012 Top Ten Worst Films of the Year, The Love Letter just wins this (or loses, if you prefer). Whilst Sex and the City is truly, truly awful, and worse, morally ambiguous, The Love Letter is also awful, but in addition it is dull and entirely forgettable. Sex and the City might have a lot of problems, but at least it's unforgettable. Although not in a good way.

Looking back at my March Film not to waste your time on (Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists!) I feel quite sad. I wish I had watched Sex and the City in March and The Love Letter in April so I could have two properly bad films not to waste your time on. It's all so unfair on Pirates!

Once again, Film 365 has suffered this month. I've watched 155 of 365 movies (42%), but am now 51 days behind my deadline.

Film of the Month: Beowulf
Film not to waste your time on: The Love Letter

No of films watched: 155/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 365+51

March 2012 films

If you've been paying attention to this blog recently, you'll know that March hasn't exactly been full of movie-watching activity. When you have to inform everyone you're pregnant, celebrate two birthdays, and have a new house to decorate and move into, movies take something of a backseat. So the grand total of March movies is three:

• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012) - 3 stars
• Nowhere Boy (2008) - 4 stars
• Skin (2008) 4 stars

None of these movies were really stand-out movies, but none of them were particularly bad either. So to call them Film of the Month and Film not to waste your time on isn't really fair, but if I had to choose my Film of the Month would be Nowhere Boy. It's a memorable, interesting take on John Lennon's early life, without forcing the Beatles down your throat.

My Film not to waste your time on would be The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, but this is entirely unfair. In any other month it would sit squarely in the middle of the list, and be one of those average-OK, mostly forgotten about, movies. It's highly unlikely to make any Worst Film of the Year lists.

With such a movie-free month, Film 365 has taken something of a hit. I've watched 148 of the 365 movies (still 40%), but should have watched all 365 movies by 11th March. So now it's just a case of working out how far behind I am when I reach 365 films. At the end of March I was 20 days behind.

Film of the Month: Nowhere Boy
Film not to waste your time on: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (but it's still not a bad movie)

No of films watched: 148/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 365+20

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

January 2012 films

The year seems to have started off well. In an attempt to get some of the myriad of movies I have recorded watched, I planned my film viewing in January fairly carefully. And it seems to have worked. I stuck to the movies I said I would watch, and as a result have watched 19 movies in 31 days. Considering I had to work and organise buying a house in the same month, I don't think that's bad going! Here's the list:

• The Iron Lady (2011) - 3 stars
• Once Upon a Time in America (1984) - 4 stars
• Bruno (2009) - 1.5 stars
• The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) - 2.5 stars
• House of Wax (2005) - 3 stars
• Defiance (2008) - 3 stars
• The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) - 3.5 stars
• In the Valley of Elah (2007) - 4 stars
• Talldega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby (2007) - 3.5 stars
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) - 3 stars
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - 3.5 stars
• The Artist (2011) - 4.5 stars
• Adventureland (2009) - 3 stars
• Ratatouille (2007) - 4 stars
• Taken (2008) - 3 stars
• Rumour Has It (2005) - 2 stars
• I Love You, Man (2009) - 3 stars
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - 3.5 stars
• Dorian Gray (2009) - 4 stars

There is a proper mix of movies in here. From funny, smart animations to rubbish comedy and romances, to brilliant classics (or very possibly classics-to-be), to your average thrillers and dramas. One thing I will say is that almost every movie on this list is memorable, for one reason or another (and not always for good reasons). That's rare when I watch so many movies in one month.

However, Film of the Month is really rather easy. From this list, The Artist is unbeatable. All the other 4 star movies have flaws, whereas The Artist is just a wonderful, well-made movie with very little to hate about it. It uses black and white and silence in an incredibly talented, powerful way - and I was very pleased to discover that the critics were raving about it because it's actually good!

Film not to waste your time on is also a pretty easy choice. Whilst there are very definitely some average, "meh" movies on this list, one stands out as inexcusably bad. Disappointingly, after Baren Cohen's previous effort (Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan), which was far funnier than I expected it to be, Bruno has all the bad taste elements that didn't make it into Borat.

So, with all this movie-watching, how is Film 365 doing this month? I've now watched 132 movies out of 365 - or 36%. Not quite half way then... I should have watched 325 films, and be only 40 movies away from finishing. This might take two years then - but I'm doing far better than I was 3 months ago!

Film of the Month: The Artist
Film not to waste your time on: Bruno

No. of Film 365 films watched: 132/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 325/365

December 2011 films

Well, I seem to have made a start on watching that big pile of movies I keep meaning to make a start on. Having 11 days off of work and not having much planned in them (except for a few days in Exeter over Christmas) probably helped a lot here. Not sure I can keep it up in the next few months, but you never know... this month's list is below:

• The Holiday (2006) - 4 stars
• Son of Rambow (2007) - 3.5 stars
• Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) - 4 stars
• The Accidental Husband (2008) - 2 stars
• Hairspray (2007) - 4 stars
• Tropic Thunder (2008) - 4 stars
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) - 2.5 stars
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - 4 stars
• Nativity! (2009) - 3 stars
• The Boat that Rocked (2009) - 3 stars
• The Young Victoria (2009) - 3 stars
• Arthur Christmas (2011) - 4 stars
• October Sky (1999) - 3.5 stars
• The Christmas Gift (aka The Three Gifts) (2009) - 2.5 stars
• Inside Job (2010) - 4 stars
• Near Dark (1987) - 4 stars
• Pineapple Express (2008) - 3.5 stars
• 17 Again (2009) - 4 stars

Wow, that makes things hard. I knew I had watched a lot of movies that I'd quite enjoyed this month, but I didn't realise it was quite so many - or that I'd given almost all of them 4 stars. Considering all of the 4 star movies (because nothing scored more than that), Film of the Month has to go to either The Holiday or Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - mostly based on the fact that these are the two movies I'm happiest to watch again numerous times. I think The Holiday might just beat Pirates, as it's proven that I like re-watching it - even when I don't intend to.

Film not to waste your time on is a little easier. Whilst none of the movies were total stinkers, The Accidental Husband really wasn't very good. Whilst Madagascar 2 wasn't great either, it was a perfectly acceptable version of what it wanted to be. The Accidental Husband did what it did badly.

So, considering I've done a little better with the movie-watching, how is Film 365 doing? Well, I still haven't watched a movie a day, but in total I've now watched 113 movies out of 365. That's still only 30%. I should be on 294 movies (80%), and 3 months away from finishing. Oh well.

Film of the Month: The Holiday
Film not to waste your time on: The Accidental Husband

No. of Film 365 watched: 113/365
Target no. of Film 365 films to have watched: 294/365