June was my slowest month yet for movies; I saw only eleven. Still, that brings the current tally to ninety-one movies that I’ve watched through the first six months of the year. At this rate, I’ll have watched at least one hundred and fifty before 2016 is out. Even I’m a little shocked at the number. I honestly had no quantitative expectations when I first started this experiment of ratcheting back my television viewing in favor of movies. I only expected to enjoy my time in front of the tube (or screen) more, and that’s definitely been true. Looking back at everything I’ve watched, there have been many deeply satisfying ones—the best thing I watched last month, and maybe all year, was Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 “High and Low”—and very few stinkers. Overall the time has been very well spent, even if I’ve had to miss out on all the water cooler talk about “Game of Thrones.” We all make our own choices in life.
- “Before Midnight” Somehow found myself re-watching this trilogy in reverse order.
- “Before Sunset” Very, very nearly perfect.
- “Before Sunrise” It’s hard for me to believe this is now a whole other era.
- “Paddington”
- “Batman Begins”
- “High and Low” A feast in every way.
- “Only Lovers Left Alive” I was kind of put off by its preoccupation with goth coolness, but it won me over in the end.
- “Pretty in Pink” Really another era.
- “Dial M for Murder” Hadn’t seen this since I was a teenager. So great.
- “Now You See Me” Why in the world I watched this again, I have no idea.
- “Jack Reacher” Believe it or not, this one gets better with repeated viewings.
If you’re interested, here’s my list from May, April, March and my list for January and February. And you can follow along with my film diary on Letterboxd, too.
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