Civilian 2022 Wrap-Up and Year-End Stats!

And we’re back!

Having addressed the horror genre in the previous entry (hey, this is HORROR 101 after all), it’s now time to give the Civilian flicks a moment in the sun.

This year, however, was bound to be different. As an experiment in time management, I implemented a policy that (for the most part), I would only watch movies in the company of another human being or if I was planning to discuss said film for a scheduled event (podcast, lecture, etc.) As a result, the random flights of fancy (chasing down an actor or director’s C.V. or various other infinite rabbit hole themes) which had made up my viewing patterns for the past 40 years were almost entirely absent. The results were equal parts frustrating, fascinating, and liberating.

I’m not sure if I’ll follow the same guidelines this year. As the pandemic continues to clear and I’m feeling more comfortable spending time with (smaller) groups, I’ll likely host and attend a few more in-person viewing parties. That said, watching 200 fewer films than usual yielded a lot more time for cooking, conversation, and creating, which I didn’t mind at all. So, we’ll see how things fall out.

In the meantime, let’s get on with the business at hand! As always, the non-horror titles listed below were encountered for the first time from January 1 to December 31, 2022 (i.e. no repeat viewings were eligible), and there is the usual (if diminished) collection of random trends that appeared organically or by design. Hope you enjoy the read.

Stay strong, stay safe, stay tuned!

FAVORITE CIVILIAN FILMS OF 2021/2022

Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Everything Everywhere All At Once
King Richard
Top Gun: Maverick
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story

HONORABLE MENTION:

CODA
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Northman
The Power of the Dog
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

MIXED BAGS:

No Time to Die
House of Gucci
Nightmare Alley
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

TOP CIVILIAN DISCOVERIES (First Time Views released before 2021)

Let the Corpses Tan (2017)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
I Am Big Bird:The Carroll Spinney Story (2014)
Rush: Time Stand Still (2016)
The World of Jim Henson (1994)
Stay Hungry (1976)
Surge (2020)




Totals for 2022: 203 films, 105 first time views, 143 horror, 17 cinema

(2021 Totals: 383, 198, 115, 5)
(2020 Totals: 434, 260, 148, 2)
(2019 Totals: 467, 222, 247, 41)
(2018 Totals 346, 211, 173, 41)
(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)

SEEING DOUBLE (so nice we watched ’em twice)

The Brain from Planet Arous
Child’s Play
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
The Vampire Lovers

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Dune/Dune/Jodorowsky’s Dune
One Million B.C./One Million Years B.C.

GOING FULL FRANCHISE:

The Conjuring (8 films)
Insidious (4 films)

THEY COME IN TWOS

Child’s Play 2, Conjuring 2, Don’t Breathe 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Evil Dead II, Halloween Kills, Insidious: Chapter 2, IT: Chapter 2, A Quiet Place Part II, Sinister 2, Top Gun: Maverick

DOCUMENTARIES (13)

Chaos on the Bridge (2014)
Frazetta: Painting with Fire (2003)
I Am Big Bird: The Carroll Spinney Story (2014)
Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
Jorge Grau: Catalonia’s Cult Film King (2020)
The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry (2010)
A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt (2011)
The Meerkats (2008)
QT8 – The First Eight (2019)
Rush: Time Stand Still (2016)
Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech (2009)
Who is Bill Rebane? (2021)
The World of Jim Henson (1994)

MOST WATCHED DIRECTORS:

5
James Wan (Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, Malignant)

3
Roy Ward Baker (The Vampire Lovers, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Quatermass and the Pit)

2
Simon Barrett (Seance, V/H/S/94)
Michael Chaves (Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It)
Joel Coen (Macbeth, Raising Arizona)
Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Black Phone)
Terence Fisher (The Mummy, The Curse of the Werewolf)
John Gilling (The Plague of the Zombies, The Reptile)
Umberto Lenzi (Spasmo, Eyeball)
Eugene Lourie (Gorgo, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent)

MOST WATCHED ACTORS:

Nicolas Cage: 4
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Raising Arizona, Prisoners of the Ghostlands

Lin Shaye: 4
Leigh Whannell: 4
Angus Sampson: 4
Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious: Chapter 3, Insidious: The Last Key

Peter Cushing 3:
The Mummy, The Vampire Lovers, Twins of Evil


LONGEST STREAK OF SEEING MOVIES FROM EACH YEAR:
Hahahaha oh man, so many holes


GOING A-Z
(What are the odds that, without even trying, I would have five films starting with Q, and yet none with Z?)

All My Sons
The Bishop’s Wife
Chaos on the Bridge
Don’t Look Up
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Forever Purge
Gaia
The Hideous Sun Demon
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Jodorowsky’s Dune
King Richard
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Magic
No Time To Die
One Million B.C.
Peninsula: Train to Busan
The Quatermass Xperiment
Rocketship X-M
So Cold the River
Tokyo Decadence
UHF
V/H/S/94
Watch Me When I Kill
X
Yeti: Giant of the 21st Century

EARLIEST FILM WATCHED:

The Devil-Doll (1936)

FIRST VIEW OF 2022:

The Vampire Lovers

LAST VIEW OF 2022:

Fast Times at Ridgemont High


COUNTRIES OF RECORD: 22
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, UK, USA,


VIEWING PATTERNS:

With Others: 100
Solo – 44
Podcasts – 36
Scare-a-Thon – 32
Blu-ray Reviews – 10


VIEWINGS BY MONTH:

January – 11
February – 7
March – 10
April – 13
May – 13
June – 6
July – 16
August – 21
September – 15
October – 45
November – 22
December – 24


VIEWS BREAKDOWN BY DECADE:

 
1910s – 0
1920s – 0
1930s – 2
1940s – 2
1950s – 12
1960s – 12
1970s – 26
1980s – 30
1990s – 12
2000s – 10
2010s – 29
2020s – 68


That's all, folks! If you made it this far, you're clearly my kind of people. Wishing you a fantastic year and looking forward to seeing you at the movies!


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