So COVID. Yeah we know. Well during my second major lockdown, October 2020, I started recording the movies and shows I was watching. So here is everything I’ve watched over the last year and a half.
I did this to push myself to watch a wider variety of film, finally watch some stuff I’ve been putting off and committing to finishing shows I never got around to finishing.
Naturally I rewatched a few things from the past like The Thing or Hero, but this list is predominantly everything I watched for the first time.
- It Follows
- Black Christmas
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
- Midsommer
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Rosemary’s Baby
- The Hills have Eyes
- The Strangers
- Theater of Blood
- Crawl
- Mandalorian Season 2
- Stray Dog
- Batman the Animated Series S1
- Mask of the Phantasm
- Dragonslayer
- Don’t Breathe
- The Beastmaster
- Eraserhead
- Black Cat
- 7th Voyage of Sinbad
- Blood Quantum
- The Witch Who Came from the Sea
- Rabid
- The Host
- The Quiet Family
- The Manchurian Candidate
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Lily C.A.T.
- WandaVision
- Nosferato
- Long Weekend
- No Country for Old Men
- Tampopo
- Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom
- Buck and the Preacher
- Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster
- Alexander Nevsky
- The Queen’s Gambit
- Yeelen
- Sansho the Baliff
- Shane
- Godzilla vs Kong
- Emma.
- Ran
- Shinshiro Sugata
- Suspiria (1977)
- My Octopus Teacher
- Wedding Ring
- King King (1933)
- Pride and Prejudice (2005)
- 47 Ronin; Part 1
- 47 Ronin; Part 2
- In the Tall Grass
- Bo Burnham’s Inside
- Castlevania S4
- Ikiru
- The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Cotton Comes to Harlem
- Across 110th Street
- Night Moves
- The Long Goodbye
- Farewell my Lovely
- Millennium Actress
- The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Arctic
- Kingdom S1
- Kingdom S2
- The Edwardian Farm (series)
- Oculus
- The Autopsy of Jane Joe
- The Thing (rewatch)
- The Mummy (1932)
- The Mist
- Dune (2021)
- Jennifer’s Body
- Suspiria (2018)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon
- The Wolf Man (1941)
- Ginger Snaps
- How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World
- Hero (rewatch)
- Arcane S1
- The Empty Man
- Nightmare Alley (1947)
- Sea Fever
- Spiderman: No Way Home
- The Big Sleep (1978)
What have I learned from this?
Well, I learned to enjoy and pursue a wider range of films and shows… but specifically, this was the year I dove into horror. Let me tell you… doing a horror movie marathon in a cabin… in the middle of nowhere… alone. Yeah, talk about nightmares. Through this I truly experienced that level of relief and catharsis that many horror fans become addicted to. I love horror more now than ever before and will keep hunting for thrills and chills.
The horror movies that linger in my mind before I even look at this list are the Texas Chainsaw Massacre for its visceral, tactile horror and It Follows for its nightmarish dreamy terrors. Both versions of Suspiria hold a special place in my heart, reflecting both sides of what I love about horror and I don’t think one is better than the other.
Plenty of awesome creature features found throughout! Creature from the Black Lagoon, Ginger Snaps, Crawl and The Host! All amazing watches!
I dug deeper into foreign films, though mostly limited to Japanese cinema and I will now push myself to further expand these interests. I will push into French and other European cinema.
My preferred streaming services are Criterion Channel, Shudder and Netflix. I will also use Tubi to hunt for some schlock. Not sponsored, just saying.
My favourite watches of the year are probably Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Dragonslayer, Ikiru, It Follows and Arctic.
They are all atmospheric, stick in my head and prioritize visual storytelling and understated characterization. Which is a combination that I feel perfectly describes my sensibilities as both a creator and enjoyer of culture.
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ZFSigurdson 