Analyzing the 192 movies I saw in 2023
Hi there,
Every year around this time, Steven Soderbergh (one of my filmmaking heroes) publishes a list of everything he saw and read during the previous year. I'm generally a fan of "media diet" posts, and Soderbergh's supersized infodumps are always a delight. (Apparently he likes watching Below Deck, which is one thing we have in common.)
Last year, I decided to try it myself. Here's my list of everything I watched and read in 2023, formatted Soderblog-style.
Turns out I read a whopping 4 books, but I watched 192 movies—slightly more than one every other day, on average.
So, after slicing and dicing the data with my meager Google Sheets skills, I've written a Whitman's Sampler of lists and mini-posts about what I learned. Here are a few Harper's Index-style takeaways about those 192 movies:
Watched in a single sitting: 100, 52% of total
Were new to me: 45, 23% of total (list)
Watched with my kids: 45, 23% of total (list)
Watched in the theater: 16; I resolved to do this at least once a month (list)
Started, but gave up on: 3 (which ones?)
Times I "cleansed" from a disappointing theatrical movie by streaming an exceptional movie right when I got home: 3 (which ones?)
Times I watched The Killer even though I didn't love it: 2 (why?)
Biggest surprises of the year: 3
Movies that had an outsized emotional impact on me: 18 (list, reasons)
Movies obviously mean a lot to me. But keeping this year-long list sharpened up the details of what and when and why, in pointillistic black and white. What's appealing to me as a child-of-the-80s-and-90s-turned-middle-aged dad? What was my comfort food, and what did I deem worth venturing out of my comfort zone for? What stuff did I kill time with? And what are the movies I can count on to just be time well spent?
This was fun. I also learned that once was probably enough. I don't even know if I care enough about my movie consumption to keep tracking it in this much detail, much less share it again with anyone else. I also have a semi-superstitious intuition that continuing to put this lively habit of mine under the microscope will denature it somehow. So in 2024, I'm just noting the peaks, not the whole landscape. (Like seeing The Thing in the theater for my birthday last month. So gross!)
Take it easy,
J