I’ve seen more than 100 movies this year
In 2019, 2020, and 2021 I saw more than 100 new movies each year. Some of them are good, some terrible, some absolutely awful, and a few were amazing. But to get to that number it really was a test of endurance than anything. I exhausted every possible way to see movies to get to that number. Every month I shell out the $25 to AMC to get that A-list subscription, which allows me to see up to three movies a week with them for free. (I used to have MoviePass before they went under. Spoiler alert: I’m not shelling out for them again. That’s buying a ticket to Fyre Fest 2.) Also, I have subscriptions to Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney +, and Peacock. Not to mention every now and then I’ll shell out for a month of access to Apple TV+, and I borrow my buddy James’ password to Paramount+ too. (Hi, James! I love you.) Also I tend to frequent the local art house theater near me and I still go to Harkins Theaters at times because they are just better than AMC (Sorry, blog bois).
But usually, it took me to late in the year to hit that century mark. I would be coming up on Christmas time when I hit that threshold, but it’s not even Spook-tober yet! I feel like I am stat padding in a way that Russell Westbrook would be envious of. Because it’s not like every single movie I see is in the forefront of pop culture. Shoot this weekend I saw Pearl, a prequel to horror movie X that came out earlier this year. 90% of the time Jane has no idea what movie I’m going to the theater to see unless she wants to go it too.
“Well, Sam. I’ve heard of Pearl. It doesn’t sound like you’re seeing anything too obscure.” Thank you my movie-conscious friend, for knowing some other movies too. Well I will take your knowledge of hipster-horror movies and raise you one Netflix garbage film by the name Tall Girl 2…I mean Brazen…I mean Do Revenge…I mean Home Team…I mean The Grey Man. All of those are crappy Netflix original movies that have been helping me increase my yearly count. It’s the movie-watching equivalent to missing a lay-up on purpose, getting my own rebound, and then making the lay-up in basketball. That brings me to a good point here: Netflix’s decision to release a movie a week has produced some of the most forgettable and blah content ever. They are not exactly putting out consistently quality content if in the same month they put out The Adam Project, The Weekend Away, and Windfall (those were all Netflix movies that came out in March of this year). All of their movies have this bizarre sheen to them that feels inauthentic and cookie-cutter, like they came out of a factory.
On another note, I wish other streaming services like Hulu and HBO Max would put out more original content frequently. It seems as if almost every time I catch one of their new movies it is actually quite good. For instance, Not Okay was a very interesting take on the effects of lying. It had Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien, two young and upcoming stars and almost no one talked about it. Also Hulu put out Prey in August, a prequel to Predator that’s actually better than Predator. They are very good at the original programming game. HBO Max is not as good but in 2022 they did have good movies like Kimi, Moonshot, and a Father of the Bride remake. All of those were at watchable and fun in their own right. Plus they had star power like Zoey Cravitz, Dylan Sprouse, and Andy Garcia. Most of the Netflix original movies have up-and-comers or people just going for a paycheck.
Back to my original point here though, I have seen a lot of movies this year. So much so that it seems like a chore sometimes. When I first started “letting my freak flag fly” by seeing multiple movies a week, I had a joy when I would go to movies. Sure I might not love everything I saw, but it was still enjoyable. Each trip was a little whimsical, and I would get excited no matter what movie I was seeing. Heck, I remember feeling a buildup of excitement to see Fate of the Furious and that movie was pure insanity and garbage (aside from Jason Statham, but he’s a god). Seeing all of these helped me to see why critics can be so harsh on movies at times; they have to sit through so much repetitive crap that at times that it can feel like they are living in Groundhog Day, living out the same thing over and over again. Is that always fair to the people who worked hard on those movies? No. But sometimes we have heard a story before.
However, I am not going to slow down. I am planning to continue seeing more movies. As of my writing, I have officially seen 114 movies that were released in 2022. I know I’ll be able to hit my goal of 150, and probably clear that very easily. Part of me is wondering if I could hit 200. Some of it just my own curiosity of how far I can go. But also it’s because I know there are great movies being released all the time. If we are not on the lookout for them, they will fly right by. So I will continue my question. Hopefully my reviews and writings will remain some what interesting to you all.
Next week I plan to see Don’t Worry, Darling, and probably catch up on a few other things. Expect a review of that and maybe some more thoughts about birthday things since my birthday is next week!
Until I see another one!