Civilian 2018 Wrap-Up and Year-End Stats!

Aaaaaaaaand we're back!

Having addressed the horror genre in the previous entry (hey, this is HORROR 101 after all), it’s time to give the Civilian flicks their moment in the sun. As always, all titles listed were encountered for the first time from January 1 to December 31, 2018 (i.e. no repeat viewings were eligible), with top picks denoted with an asterisk. (*)

As mentioned in the horror wrap-up post, I didn't spend a lot of effort keeping up with the current output - I only indulged in two or three cineplex binge-trip theater-hop voyages, with most of the current crop viewed in the latter half of the year once they’d hit home video. I also will admit to spending a fair amount of time revisiting films that I hadn’t seen in a while to see if my opinions had changed (or hey, just for fun - what a concept!)

I am also happy to report that after two years of less-than-ideal stats, I managed to climb back into the 300+ Club (not really a club) and, as you’ll see below, I devoted a healthy amount of time to several actor/director projects over the course of the year. In addition to another successful Scare-A-Thon/October Challenge, I decided to re-introduce the notion of a November Turkey Hunt, tracking down the best of the worst, tallying 30 Gobblers (plus a few fence-sitters) when all was said and done.

Many thanks to everyone for their support and feedback and conversation over the years. We'll see what 2019, the last year of the “teens,” has in store!

Let the OCD madness begin!!!

TOP 10 2018 CIVILIAN RELEASES

Avengers: Infinity War
BlacKkKlansman
Black Panther
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
Game Night (*)
Leave No Trace
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (*)
Sorry to Bother You
Thoroughbreds (*)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

TOP 10 2017 CIVILIAN RELEASES SEEN IN 2018

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The Foreigner
Thor: Ragnarok
The Little Hours (*)
Coco
Logan Lucky
Unacknowledged
The Florida Project (*)
Good Time

TOP CIVILIAN DISCOVERIES (First Time Views released before 2017)

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
My Favorite Brunette (1947)
Hara-kiri (1962) (*)
Lonesome Dove (1989)
Bottle Rocket (1996) (*)
Schizopolis (1996)
Shotgun Stories (2007)
Dear White People (2014)
A Man Called Ove (2015)
Tangerine (2015)
The Founder (2016)
The Lobster (2016)
Nocturnal Animals (2016)





2018 Totals: 346 films, 211 1st time views, 173 horror, 41 cinema

(2017 Totals: 251, 179, 111, 52)
(2016 Totals: 272, 183, 131, 31)
(2015 Totals: 352, 190, 224, 41)
(2014 Totals: 399, 203, 251, 48)
(2013 Totals: 306, 240, 185, 69)
(2012 Totals: 607, 520, 362, 166)
(2011 Totals: 640, 419, 355, 59)
(2010 Totals: 364, 253, 242, 45)
(2009 Totals: 472, 276, 289, 38)
(2008 Totals: 384, 278, 226, 39)
(2007 Totals: 409, 284, 260, 40)

DOUBLE VIEWS (so nice we watched ’em twice)

Gags
He Never Died
Hereditary
Lady Terminator
The Shape of Water

HAVEN’T I SEEN THIS BEFORE?

The Last House on the Left (1972, 2009)
Suspiria (1977, 2018)

GOING FULL FRANCHISE

Creature from the Black Lagoon (3 films)
Final Destination (5 films)

THEY COME IN TWOS:

Ginger Snaps 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, [Rec]2, Grease 2, Grave Encounters 2, Final Destination 2, Incredibles 2, Silent Night Deadly Night 2, T2: Trainspotting, Revenge of the Creature, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, Curse of the Cat People, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Staying Alive, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Sleepaway Camp II, The Strangers: Prey at Night

DOCUMENTARIES (13)

24 x 36: A Movie About Movie Posters
And Everything is Going Fine
Brewmaster
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest
John Carpenter's The Thing: Terror Takes Shape
Kate Plays Christine
Monster Madness: The Gothic Revival of Horror
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
Slay Bells Ring Again: The Story of Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2
Unacknowledged
The Wolfpack
Won't You Be My Neighbor?

WHAT THE $$#@%&$% DID I JUST WATCH??? (CIVILIAN EDITION)

Deadbeat at Dawn (1988)
Endless Love (1981)
Grease 2 (1982)
Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
Staying Alive (1983)
The Sword and the Claw (1975)

MOST WATCHED DIRECTORS:
6
Steven Soderbergh (Schizopolis, Logan Lucky, And Everything is Going Fine, The Girlfriend Experience, Unsane, Haywire)

4
Juan Ibanez/Jack Hill (Alien Terror, Dance of Death, Torture Zone, Isle of the Snake People)

3
Juame Balaguero ([Rec], [Rec]2, [Rec]4: Apocalypse)
Martin Campbell (The Foreigner, Goldeneye, Casino Royale)
Paco Plaza ([Rec], [Rec]2, [Rec]3: Genesis)
Herbert Ross (California Suite, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The Last of Sheila)


2
Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project)
Justin Benson / Aaron Moorhead (Spring, The Endless)
Brad Bird (Incredibles 2, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol)
William Castle (Strait-Jacket, The Tingler)
Roger Corman (Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, Teenage Caveman)
Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky)
Joe D’Amato (Athropophagus, Absurd)
John De Bello (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Return of the Killer Tomatoes)
John Erik Dowdle (As Above So Below, The Poughkeepsie Tapes)
Clint Eastwood (Sully, The Outlaw Josey Wales)
David R. Ellis (Final Destination 2, The Final Destination)
Cam Evrenol (Housewife, Baskin)
Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil)
Luca Gaudagino (Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria)
Lawrence Kasdan (Silverado, French Kiss)
Masaki Kobayashi (Hara-kiri, Kwaidan)
Akira Kurosawa (High and Low, Dreams)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Doug Liman (American Made, Edge of Tomorrow)
Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible – Fallout)
Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories)
Richard Pryor (Richard Pryor: Here and Now, Jo Jo Dancer Your Life is Calling)
Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night)
Tony Scott (Top Gun, Days of Thunder)
Steven Spielberg (The Post, Minority Report)
Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Winterpeople, Thor: Ragnarok)
James Wong (Final Destination, Final Destination 3)

MOST WATCHED ACTORS:

Tom Cruise: 19
American Made, Knight and Day, The Mummy, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Top Gun, Rain Man, Vanilla Sky, Edge of Tomorrow, Jerry Maguire, Minority Report, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Born on the Fourth of July, Collateral, Endless Love, The Firm, The Last Samurai, Magnolia, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Tropic Thunder


Kurt Russell: 8
Sky High, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Fate of the Furious, Swing Shift, Dreamer, Overboard, Poseidon, 3000 Miles to Graceland


Richard Pryor: 7
Stir Crazy, Silver Streak, Jo Jo Dancer Your Life is Calling, California Suite, Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip, Richard Pryor: Here and Now, Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic

Jason Bateman: 5
Couples Retreat, The Change-Up, The Family Fang, Game Night, The Kingdom


James Bond (Brosnan/Craig): 7
Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall




LONGEST STREAK OF SEEING MOVIES FROM EACH YEAR:
(1944-2018)




GOING A-Z (WE DID IT!!!)
Absurd
Baskin
Calvaire
Darkest Hour
Edge of Tomorrow
The Family Fang
Gags
Hail, Caesar!
I Didn’t Come Here to Die
Jackals
Kate Plays Christine
Lady Bird
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
The Old Dark House
The Paleface
Quantum of Solace
Rain Man
Scarlet Diva
Tangerine
Unforgettable
Vanilla Sky
War for the Planet of the Apes
XX
YellowBrickRoad
Zombi 3

EARLIEST FILM WATCHED:

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

FIRST VIEW OF 2018:

The Resurrected (1991)

LAST VIEW OF 2018:

Titus (1999)




COUNTRIES OF RECORD: (21)

Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK, USA




VIEWINGS BY MONTH:

January – 35
February – 23
March – 18
April – 5
May – 31
June – 6
July – 16
August – 19
September – 46
October – 47
November – 62
December – 38





VIEWS BREAKDOWN BY DECADE:

For the second consecutive year (and for only the third time in 15 years), the 1970s have lost out to the 1980s, this time by a wider margin than ever. And I don’t know if they’ve ever lost to the ’90s before. Tis strange.

1910s – 0
1920s – 1
1930s – 1
1940s – 6
1950s – 12
1960s – 19
1970s – 32
1980s – 52
1990s – 35
2000s – 44
2010s – 145

Totally gratuitous pic of your humble narrator in a T-Rex outfit wearing a T-Rex holiday sweater.

That’s all, folks! Have a great year!!!!


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