The MovieViews 500 – December Summary

At the beginning of 2017, the MovieMuse crew set ourselves the challenge of watching 500 different films between us in the calendar year. Every new film watched would be rated and given a short review as part of our MovieViews database. And guess what? We did it! 😀

A final push throughout December resulted in an additional 66 different films being watched between us, which means the final total for 2017 was 511 different films. Gordon continued to work through many of the year’s new releases, while Mat decided to see if there were any half-decent Christmas films on the many freeview TV channels (Spolier alert: there weren’t!). All of the team had time to check out a number of beloved classics over the festive period, and of course there was time to assess new cinema releases such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Jumanji:Welcome to the Jungle.

Below are the stats for the month, including our picks for best and worst films of the month. You can also scroll down to see the reviews written by each team member for every film watched in December. We’ll also be revealing more stats about our viewing (and reviewing) habits in an upcoming podcast.

Our challenge may now be complete, but that doesn’t mean we will stop watching or reviewing films, so expect the MovieViews database to continue to grow during 2018, and we will post occasional updates to highlight some of the best and worst films we’ve seen over the year.

Overall Stats

	January - June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Total Films Watched	282	39	35	63	38	37	74
Unique Films Watched	258	32	32	51	36	36	66
New Reviews Added	231	30	30	47	33	36	61
Average Rating Given	3.30	3.09	3.29	3.25	3.03	3.08	3.18
Challenge Completion	51.6%	58.0%	64.4%	74.6%	81.8%	89.0%	102.2%

Team Member Stats for December

	Gordon	Mat	Simon
Total Films Watched	37	31	6
Unique Films Watched	35	23	5
New Reviews Added	35	21	5
Average Rating Given	3.28	2.94	3.83
Best Film of the Month	Blade Runner 2049	Lights Out	Sherlock Holmes
Worst Film of the Month	Geostorm	Christmas on Chestnut St.	Jumanji

Gordon’s Reviews

Movie	Year	Comments	Rating
1 Buck	2017	A decidedly average indie thriller whose gimmick of a one doller bill that is passed between all of the main characters, feels superfluous and tacked on.	4
American Made	2017	Cruise suits the slightly comic persona well, but this biopic of a drug runner falls foul of glamourising the criminality it is chronicling.	6
Battle of the Sexes	2017	This chauvinist vs feminist tennis showdown overplays and under-explores most of the films real themes and even makes the tennis scenes look pedestrian. However the performances of Stone and Carell pull it through to a satisfying conclusion.	6
Beach Rats	2017	Young stoner battles with his sexuality in a Brooklyn suburb. Slow pacing and shaky-cam direction detracted from some good performances.	6
Blade Runner 2049	2017	Looks, sounds and more importantly feels like a Blade Runner movie. After Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve is the new master of thoughtful sci-fi. I can't wait to see if he can make the hattrick.	9
Borg McEnroe	2017	In a film heavy on emotion, Shia Lebeouf is particularly effective as he mirrors McEnroe's tennis antics (turning a hostile crowd on side) with his own acting resurgence. This is Borg's story, but McEnroe wins our hearts.	7
Bright	2017	An interesting concept (bringing the Tolkien world to modern day LA), but shoehorned into a pretty unfulfilling buddy cop shooter.	5
Call Me By Your Name	2017	A beautifully romantic tale of a boys sexual awakening, in the Italian countryside.	8
Detroit	2017	Three equally tense tales of before, during and after the Algiers Hotel incident during the 1967 Detroit riots. A fine dramatisation of an incident that shows how 50 years on we have come so far, yet hardly moved forward an inch.	8
Downsizing	2017	Whilst the second half of this film didn't go where I wanted it to, the story of people being given the opportunity to be shrunk and live in luxury miniature worlds is delivered with enough humour and heart to see past its shortcomings.	7
Four Brothers	2005	A throwaway tale of four adoptive brothers who reunite for their mother's funeral and plot revenge on her killer. Entertaining, but the strong cast don't live up to their billing.	5
Fracture	2007	Anthony Hopkins is perfectly cast as the well to do man who confesses to killing his wife, but then toys with the cocky Deputy DA (Ryan Gosling).	7
Geostorm	2017	A disaster movie in all senses of the word. The kind of film that happens when movie execs come up with ideas for cool explosions and special effects, with no thought for the movie around them.	4
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	2017	Despite some awful jokes and set pieces, Jungle is far more entertaining than it really ought to be. The update from board game to video game is handled well and doesn't insult gamers too much.	7
Kicks	2016	When a young poor kid has his beloved Air Jordans stolen, a violent chain of events plays out. Bleak and compelling in places, but it felt like the director was originally making a kids film but decided to add adult themes at the last minute.	6
Lady Bird	2017	Lady Bird is one of those films that has so litle to dislike it for. The coming of age story, the acting, the humour are all fine. But then nothing stands out as being particularly noteworthy either.	5
Mother!	2017	A polarising film that fortunately feels more genius than lunatic. As the film decends into madness so does the viewer in a twisted tale of the excesses of love.	8
Once Upon a Time in Venice	2017	Despite my dest intentions and a scene with Bruce Willis skateboarding naked through LA, I just couldn't hate this film. Keanu does the stolen pet comedy-thriller better, but Venice is fun all the same.	6
Paddington 2	2017	As delightful and heartwarming as the original cartoon series, the Paddington sequel improves in almost every way. Hugh Grant is on fine form as the pantomime villain in a wonderfully comic romp.	8
Payback	1999	Mel Gibson at his 90s best as a criminal looking for revenge on the mobster that double crossed him. Think Lethal Weapon but from the criminal perspective.	7
Right at Your Door	2006	When dirty bombs go off in LA a man seals off his house only to find his wife trapped on the outside. A superbly played out film that raises all the right questions about what YOU would do in those circumstances.	8
Road to Perdition	2002	As entertaining and well made as Road to Perdition is, Hanks notions of how to end the feud are overly elaborate, meaning if not for Jude Law's incredibly incompetent hitman, the film would have ended much sooner.	7
Roman J. Israel, Esq.	2017	Denzel puts in another good performance in a film that wants to sell a social and philosophical message but only ends up showing how even the most moral can be corrupted.	6
Star Wars: The Last Jedi	2017	Full of excitement and wonder, but tainted with too much comedy and an over-reliance on set pieces.	8
The Florida Project	2017	A beautifully voyeuristic look at the life of a six year old and her dysfunctional mother in the Florida equivalent of the urban projects - a run down motel outside Disney World.	9

Mat‘s Reviews

Movie	Year	Comments	Rating
A Doggone Christmas	2016	Has almost no relevance to Christmas, with all but the opening scene obviously shot in summertime, and much of the acting is woeful, but the canine star is endearing and there are a few genuinely funny moments.	4
A Monster Christmas (Abominable Christmas)	2012	The only Christmas miracle in this 45 minute film is how they got recognised names like Ray Liotta and Emilio Estevez to provide voices to CG-animated characters that look like they were done for a GCSE Media Studies project.	3
As Above So Below	2014	Bland to begin with, but once it gets going this is an original, claustrophobic and occasionally scary movie. However, it would've been far better with a less irritating female lead and if it hadn't been shot in the 'found footage' style.	6
Bad Neighbours 2	2016	Absolutely awful for the first 15 minutes, but from there it picks up and provides some humorous if predictable moments. The biggest surprise, however, is an engaging performance from Zac Efron, an actor I utterly despised until now.	5
Christmas on Chestnut Street	2006	A very generic Christmas movie with some pretty shameful racial stereotyping and a depressing sub-plot about an old man with dementia. Abysmal stuff!	2
Deck the Halls	2006	You'd expect a film starring Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito to be a bit higher calibre than most Christmas films, but this is the same bland and predictable 'heartwarming' family comedy as all the others.	4
Die Hard	1988	Not only the best action film of all time, but also the best Christmas film of all time! An iconic moment in the evolution of action films, showing good guys didn?t need to be muscle-bound heroes and bad guys could be intelligent and engaging.	10
Dodgeball	2004	The premise is ridiculous and the characters are mostly bizarre, but somehow it works to produce an entertaining comedy, though certain aspects seem dated already.	7
Don't Breathe	2016	An interesting twist on the home invasion thriller that has you questioning who (if anyone) to root for. Unfortunately much of the plot is preposterous and detracts from the more praiseworthy elements of the film.	6
Duck Soup	1933	Almost completely devoid of plot, but covers almost every facet of physical and verbal comedy. Much of that was expected but the satire, songs and innuendo were all a surprise, and this was way more entertaining than I expected an 85 year old film to be.	7
Frailty	2001	An interesting premise and good acting all round from adults and kids alike, but the twists are very predictable for the most part. Maybe I've just seen too many of this type of film!	5
Galaxy Quest	1999	Works as both a parody and a tribute to classic Star Trek, with a decent story, reasonable action and some brilliant comic performances. Alan Rickman gets most of the plaudits but Sigourney Weaver is just as good.	7
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back	2016	The character's lone wolf persona is marginalised by his female co-stars and much of the black humour of the first film is missing. The result is a fairly generic action film and a disappointing sequel to one of Cruise's best films of recent times.	5
Jumanji	1995	At the time the blend of CGI and puppetry effects would have been impressive, but they haven't dated well and when you take them away, the story is rather lacking. Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst are both great though, and it's an enjoyable distraction.	6
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	2017	A straightforward action-adventure movie is elevated by often hilarious performances from some of Hollywood's most engaging talent and a perfect appreciation of the absurdity of video games. A truly delightful surprise.	8
Jurassic Park	1993	The dinosaur effects have aged surprisingly well, and upstage the generally mediocre human actors in most cases. The film blends the feelings of wonder and terror perfectly however, and is one of the best technical achievements in cinematic history.	8
Kill Me Three Times	2014	Starts off reasonably well but completely fails to follow the plot suggested by its title, and the early humour isn't sustained. Almost all the characters are horrible too, so there's nobody to root for.	5
Lights Out	2016	David Sandberg's adaptation of his own short film is a taut, effective chiller with good characters and some incredible use of sound and light to build tension. Watch it with the lights off to maximise the scare factor!	8
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	2003	The Lord of the Rings saga comes to an end with another epic, action packed and emotion-filled instalment. There are undoubtedly too many endings, but spending a few more minutes than necessary with the residents of Middle Earth is no bad thing.	9
Monster Trucks	2016	Does absolutely nothing new for this type of movie, with some abysmal acting at times, but the main creature is fairly adorable and there's just about enough entertainment to warrant its running time. Inoffensive moving wallpaper.	5
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale	2010	A dark, comic twist on the Santa Claus legend, which hints at being a horror film but never truly follows through with it. Well put together on a modest budget, featuring a brilliant performance from Onni Tomilla who would go on to star in Big Game.	7
Rock Dog	2016	Story-wise it doesn?t stand up against the big players like Pixar and Dreamworks, but this is still an enjoyable film with good voice casting, a nice soundtrack and occasionally striking animation.	6
Snow Day	2000	A predictable teen high school romance comedy set against a snowy backdrop. Mildly entertaining but nothing that hasn’t been done a thousand times before, and Chevy Chase may as well have not turned up.	4
Star Wars: The Force Awakens	2015	My fifth viewing of the film, and it's still just about as enjoyable as the first. It certainly riffs heavily on the original trilogy but the new characters bring a freshness to the saga, and there are plenty of thrills and laughs.	8
Star Wars: The Last Jedi	2017	There are a few moments in this film that are absolutely awful, but it also has fantastic visuals and the most daring story and character progression of any Star Wars movie so far.	8

Simon’s Reviews

Movie	Year	Comments	Rating
Back to the Future	1985	A classic in every sense of the word and one of my favourite films. Great story, great effects, great cast, great everything! Amazing stuff!	8
Back to the Future Part II	1989	A brilliant follow up to a classic first part. I actually enjoy this one more than the original as I love the future scenes. The story gets a bit complicated but it is still a classic part of a great trilogy.	9
Jumanji	1995	Only seeing this for the first time, I quite enjoyed it. The effects were OK in a mid 90s way and I enjoyed the story, even though there didn't seem to be much coherency. It was nice to see Robin Williams even if he was more subdued than I expected.	7
Scrooged	1988	An often overlooked Christmas film and made for Bill Murray at the height of his powers I would say. No one could play a modern day Scrooge any better and the film is a great take on the classic story.	7
Sherlock Holmes	2009	A classy, stylish and slick rendition of the classic British Sleuth, with a decent enough story and a pretty good cast. I don't mind Robert Downey Jr's english accent and enjoyed his interaction with Jude Law's Watson.	7
Star Wars: The Last Jedi	2017	I like the real Star Wars stuff, the music, the lightsabers, but the story had nothing to it.	6
Trading Places	1983	A classic Eddie Murphy Vehicle, with a good solid cast and a great story. The sense of moralistic victory lends to a good feeling while watching the latter half and overall it is a great movie.	8