Another year has (almost) passed, so time for the “obligatory” look back at the past year in blogging and movies (including my own top 10 movies of the year).

Blogathons

As you know you can always can expect a blogathon each year from me and this year I was running two of them.

I started with the Life, Love and the Movies blogathon, which an amazing amount of bloggers joined. It was fun to see people sharing their personal stories about the last movie they’d want to see or if they had their first kiss at the movies. If you want to know more about the bloggers behind your favourite movie blog chances are they participated.

The other one was a relay race where bloggers were asked to connect a movie/director/actor to another one in six steps or less. It turned out that Hitchcock and Transformers were indeed connected and that Charlie Chaplin and Jason Statham had something in common as well. Many other interesting entries were added and it was fun to see how easily some people could show the connections and show their vast movie knowledge.

As for 2015 I already have an idea for two new ones, so keep an eye out for those. I will try to have the first one out in January if I can.

The statistics

The above picture (clickable for a bigger version) shows almost all the movies and TV shows I saw in the past year. The total number of titles is 307. If I hadn’t watched as many TV shows as I did, the number would have probably been a bit higher. That number of titles results in a total of 39463 minutes or almost 658 hours or 27,4 days of non stop movie watching. Which comes down to an average of one movie every 1.19 days.

Goals

I had set myself a couple of goals for the past year:

Movie related goals

– Watch at least 300 movies: As you can see at the statistics, I have met this goal
– Try to see at least two movies a month at the cinema: This was a goal I had not managed to reach in 2013, so had set it again for this year. As I have a card which allows me an unlimited number of visits I had to see at least two a month in order to get my money out of it. At the end of the year I’ve seen 38 movies at the cinema, so I have managed to reach it.

– I had set myself the goal to watch at least 1 season of 4 different TV shows and more than managed that. I saw both seasons of Black Mirror, which probably is the best tech related series there is. The recent Christmas episode was awesome. I also saw season 2 of The Bridge, True Detective, House of Cards season 2, Lilyhammer season 2, Orange is the New Black season 2, A Young Doctor’s Notebook season 1, Scandal seasons 1,2 and 3, Gomorra season 1 and Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey season 1.

Blogging related goals

– Start at least two new blogathons: Done!
– Write some guest posts: Although I did this, I think there were only three of them.
– Finish my “The Lost Cinemas of Rotterdam” project: Although I’ve written one new entry, I didn’t finish the series

– Do some interviews: Although I interviewed some bloggers I didn’t interview any directors or actors. I had a chance to interview Patricia Arquette, but had to cancel it because I was the best man at a wedding and had to help preparing for it. Sometimes friendship is more important (although I would have loved to talk to her). I did talk to the people from Dolby about the new Dolby Cinema concept they have presented, with the first one having opened its doors over here. Their passion for the optimal movie experience is apparent and you can read my thoughts about it here.

The My Filmviews tens

The amount of perfect scores I have given this year was extremely low, with only three titles receiving them:
Taxi Driver (not written a review for this yet)
Her
Black Mirror – Season 1: National Anthem

Worst movies

Unfortunately not all movies can be good and there were quite a few movies I did not like or really disappointed me. The first one I have to think of is the final Hobbit movie. Although that movie scored a 4, the following movies did even worse:
Glory Daze (1996)
Timequest (2000)
Aanmodderfakker (2014)
Bottled Life: Nestle’s Business with Water (2012)
Da-reun na-ra-e-suh (2012)
Jungle Shuffle (2014)
Mall (2014)
Mommy (2014)
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2012)
Runner Runner (2013)
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
Sweet November (2001)
Think Like a Man Too (2014)
What Happens in Vegas (2008)
The Zero Theorem (2013)
What I take from this list is that I should actually start writing about the bad ones more.

Top 10

And finally the one it is all about. What were my favourite ten movies of the past year? (click the pictures for the full review)
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10. The Fault in Our Stars

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A movie which I had absolutely no expectations of, but which managed to win me over in no time. The story is excellent and the portrayal of the main characters by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort really works on those heartstrings.
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9. How to Train Your Dragon 2

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I wasn’t expecting this second movie to add much to the original movie, but it succeeded in doing so. It added new dragons, a layer of emotion and took the story into unexpected territory. A movie which really surprised me.
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8. Under the Skin

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Probably the movie which is the most controversial as many people hated it. When shown during a film festival over here many people walked out. It is understandable as this isn’t a movie that is easily accessible. There isn’t much story, it is unsettling and the music will haunt you. It leaves the interpretation of it up to the viewer. I quite like challenging movies and this was a big one.
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7. Gone Girl

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David Fincher just shows he is one of the masters of cinema, always making his movies stand out visually and able to seamlessly blend CGI with the rest of what he has shot. This roller coaster, filled with various twists, plays with your emotions and keep you wondering constantly about the truth and often letting you think you know, to suddenly prove you wrong. A movie which I couldn’t leave out of this list.
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6. Enemy

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Just like the previous movie this is also a movie which stimulates your brain. The story about a man who finds out there is someone out there who looks exactly like him is compelling, but the haunting imagery of spiders all through the film will unsettle you. The movie is a puzzle you want to solve even though you know it might not be possible.
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5. Wild Tales

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This collection of dark, humorous short stories came out of nowhere for me. Its twisted sense of humor and criticism of society made it stand out for me. It’s a movie not a lot of people will have seen, but which I really can’t recommend enough.
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4. Nightcrawler

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Another movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and what a film it is. This modern King of Comedy/Taxi Driver type of story shows the current state of the media and how it enables a character like Lou Bloom to thrive, despite his utterly despicable way of doing his work.

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3. Whiplash

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Probably the movie I want to revisit most (as soon as it is available on home formats) on this list. This movie grabs a hold of you and doesn’t let go until the end. With stunning performances by J.K.Simmons and Miles Teller it will leave you exhausted and shows you that some are willing to give up everything to be the best at something. Even if that makes them horrible people outside of their passion.
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2. Grand Budapest Hotel

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Although I initially wasn’t a fan of Wes Anderson, his last couple of movies have changed my thoughts on him. Grand Budapest is a great movie because of the way it tells its story, frames it imagery and the great performances by the cast. One of the few movies I went to see twice at the cinema this year.
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1. Her

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This one shouldn’t come as a surprise if you have seen which movies I have awarded a ten this year. Although most of you will have seen it last year, it didn’t come out over here until early this year. Everything about it is just perfect. I love the world it shows, which feels futuristic, but very grounded in reality as well. Joaquin Phoenix is amazing as the man who falls in love with his operating system and Scarlett Johansson is magical even if we never get to see her. I’m still using the sound of the phone in this movie as my notification sound for new messages. A movie which I will be revisiting many times in the future.

So what was your film year like and what were your favorite movies? (If you have made a similar post/top 10 list please leave your link in the comments)