The MovieViews 500 – March Summary

The MovieMuse team has set ourselves the challenge of watching 500 different films between us in 2017. Every new film we watch will be rated and given a short review as part of our new MovieViews database. Keep reading to see how we got on in March…

 

Amazingly, Simon didn’t manage to watch a single film in March, so it was left to Gordon and Mat to pick up the slack, and despite now being two men down, we still managed to watch one more film than the entire team managed last month! With a quarter of the year gone we’re still ahead of schedule, though we’d expect the numbers to drop a little as the weather improves.

 

Viewing-wise, Mat definitely focussed on some personal favourites and big budget Sci-Fi and Fantasy movies, with titles such as Logan, Thor, Robocop and Fantastic Beasts amongst his favourites for the month. Gordon’s range of movies watched was as eclectic as ever, but there was certainly a focus on British film makers old and new, with Prevenge and Free Fire showcasing the latter and a selection of Ken Loach classics the former.

 

Below are the stats for the month, including each team members’ best and worst picks from the films they watched for the first time. You can also scroll down to see the reviews written by each team member for every film watched in March.

 

Overall Stats

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJuly
Total Films Watched84454731522339
Unique Films Watched78363927421832
New Reviews Added72374025382030
Average Rating Given3.213.273.292.733.233.223.09
Challenge Completion15.6%22.8%30.6%36.0%44.4%48.0%54.4%

Team Member Stats for March

GordonMatSimon
Total Films Watched30160
Unique Films Watched29140
New Reviews Added28120
Average Rating Given3.183.56-
Best Film of the MonthPrevengeLogan-
Worst Film of the MonthThe Love WitchSlap Shot-

 Mat‘s Reviews

PosterMovieYearCommentsRating
Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954 The rubber-suited creature may no longer be scary, but the film itself is still enjoyable in other ways, and features some impressive underwater cinematography for its time. Fully deserving of its classic status. 7
Dressed to Kill 1980 Unashamedly taking influence from more than one Hitchcock film, this movie was probably pretty disturbing in its day, but almost 40 years on provides more giggles than scares. 5
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2016 A darker, more grown-up story from J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World, with glorious production design and superb performances from Eddie Redmayne and especially Dan Fogler. The only letdown is the below-par CGI rendering some mostly unspectacular beasts. 8
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 It may not be much different to its predecessors in terms of story, but the addition of Sean Connery as Indy's dad brings a new dynamic to the main characters and more humour, making this my favourite of the series. 9
Logan 2017 To call this a superhero film does it a massive disservice. An emotional and violent road movie that is a fitting end to the Wolverine story and is exactly the mature film that many have been hoping for from this genre. 9
Moon 2009 A great performance by Sam Rockwell anchors a dark and intelligent Sci-Fi film that successfully captures the feel of some of the iconic 70's films from the genre. 8
Robocop 1988 An absolute classic of the genre, and still as gut-wrenchingly violent and darkly satirical as it ever was, but recent viewing also revealed a emotional tale about humanity that I hadn't previously appreciated. 10
Shaun of the Dead 2004 A quintessentially British blend of horror and comedy, with plenty of pop culture nods and dozens of memorable scenes. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright may have gone on to bigger movies, but there are few that hit the mark as well as their debut. 10
Slap Shot 1977 There are a few humorous moments at either end of this film, but the story is so marginal that an hour could easily be removed from the middle and have barely any effect, while Paul Newman seems either bored or embarrassed to be involved. 5
Star Trek: Insurrection 1998 A surprisingly light-hearted and amusing outing for the usually serious Next Generation crew, with the lack of significant deep space action a definite plus-point. Much better than expected! 7
The Croods 2013 One of the most gorgeous-looking animated films I've seen, and it has some nice characters and funny moments too. It's just a shame the story is rather lacklustre and predictable. 6
The Dark Crystal 1982 The story is a fairly generic fantasy offering, but the puppetry and voice acting is generally impressive and this has aged far better than Labyrinth, despite being produced 3 years earlier. 6
The Purge: Election Year 2016 The most visually stylish of the three films, and the concept is great, but the story doesn’t work as well as in the first two films. It is still a decent and logical conclusion to the Purge story so far, however. 6
Thor 2011 An entertaining debut for Marvel's God of Thunder. The action sequences are largely forgettable, but as with most Marvel offerings, the humour and charisma of the lead actors is what stands out. 7
Top Dog 2015 Exactly as good as you'd expect a family film about International Dachshund Racing to be. Undemanding and instantly forgettable, but entertaining enough. 5
X-Men 2000 Assembles a very well-cast and generally well-acted group of characters, but then does very little with them. In retrospect this film feels like it was just a set up for the superior sequel. 6

 

Gordon’s Reviews

PosterMovieYearCommentsRating
The Love Witch 2016 Don't be fooled by the aesthetic, this isn't a horror version of Bewitched. It is an awful film that disguises its poor script and worse acting by looking like it is bad on purpose. 3
The Ref 1994 At its best when Spacey and Davis are at each other's throats. A straight forward farce with a few laughs, though Leary isn't very appealing. 6
The Village 2004 Another fine M. Night Shyamalam showpiece, though the acting was a little under par. I'd love to see a darker version by the director of The Witch. 7
We Don't Belong Here 2017 A well meaning portrayal of mental illness in a middle class American family, but too much melodrama and an awfully convenient end clouds the real pain. 5
What's Eating Gilbert Grape 1993 DiCaprio is superb and the rest of the cast are all very good, but the film has an air of liberal superiority throughout that gets a little too much. The end of the film is also pretty odd and definitely illegal! 6

 

What do you think?

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