I tried to watch 100 movies last year and failed (but I got close)

The Writing Post

January 3, 2022

Greetings!

I decided to try to watch 100 movies last year and failed. It’s a lot more movies than you think! Even though I didn’t get to 100 movies, I got close. The grand total was 74 films. After trudging along through the year at an even clip, it was in December I realized that I wasn’t going to watch one movie a night, let alone two on some evenings in order to reach 100 films, so I let my goal go instead. My new goal is to watch 100 movies in 2022.

The reason I started this challenge is because as a cinefile (as I find most writers are), I love analyzing movies as I watch them, especially for story elements and things that relate to me as a teacher and a writer. In fact, it’s why I started the “Literature in Film” posts on this very blog!

With that said, the best film I watched this year was either My Dinner with Andre (1981) or Big Night (1996). Interestingly enough, they are both food movies and center on the relationship between two individuals in different modes of crisis (classic!). Last year was a year of crisis just as this year is a year of crisis in its own way (just in different forms).

I would list the worst films I watched this past year, but they were too numerous. I mean, I wanted to love Midnight Run (1988), but it just didn’t happen. Why was it so long?

Anyway, before I get to the list, if you watched any notable movies that you think are worth checking out in 2022, please leave them in the comments so I can add them to my list!

Here’s the list of films I watched in 2021: