It’s the new year. I thought it would be fun and interesting to look back at the films I watched last year. Inspired by Edgar Wright’s Instagram post from the start of last year where he listed the films he watched in 2022, I decided to follow suit and keep track of the films I watched in 2023, see how well I do as a growing cinephile.

The List

I have watched a total of 182 films last year, ranging from the silent films in the 1920s to the latest features in 2023. This came just short of the goal of 200 films I set at the start of the year, partly due to a busier work schedule than anticipated. Note that the number of films indicate number of unique films, not the total number of viewings - films like Oppenheimer or The Dark Knight are counted only once.

Here is a breakdown by decade.

I also kept track of the number of first-time watches in the year. With 117 new films watched, this sets the ratio of first-time-watch to total number of films at 64.3% - surpassing my goal of 50%.

Statistics:

• Decade with most films watched: 2010s

  This seemed interesting to me at first, as I generally felt that I was watching more films from the 20th century. However, looking at the data, the 2010s is the decade which had the lowest first-time-watch to total ratio by decade – 37.2% (16 out of 43). This reflects my attachment to films that I grew up with, as I am more inclined to rewatch films from that decade than any other decades. This is evident because 27 out of 65 films (41.5%) that I have rewatched in the year are from that decade.

• Number of years: 59 different years

• Year with most films watched: 2023 with 22 films

  This is not surprising as I have been paying more attention to film releases this year, though 22 is not a huge number as I was mostly focused on going back in time and watching older films.

• Oldest film watched: The Gold Rush (1925)

  The Gold Rush is a comedy classic directed by the great Charlie Chaplin. I decided to watch the film primarily because I have seen clips from films by Chaplin but never properly watched a full-length feature. The Gold Rush is a splendid piece of slapstick comedy, full of heart, humour and occasionally even terror.

• Film watched the most: Oppenheimer (4 times)

  As I wrote in my review, I loved the film to pieces. Having seen it 4 times now on the biggest screen possible, I love it even more.

• Number of visits to the cinema: 27

  A huge proportion of that is for Nolan’s films. Celebrating Warner Bros’ 100th anniversary, the local cinema chain created ticket bundles of 4 Warner Bros’ films, three of which are Nolan’s, which I happily bought. As a result, I watched Inception, Interstellar (twice) and The Dark Knight (twice) in the cinema, to great pleasure.

• Directors with the most films watched:

  1. Spielberg: 12

     I started going through filmography of celebrated directors, and Spielberg was on the top of my list. I am by no means at the end, but I admire Spielberg’s versatility and ability as a filmmaker and story-teller.

  2. Nolan: 11

     There is really no surprise given what I mentioned above. 2023 is the year of Nolan for me, as I revisit his classics and catch up on his lesser-known works like Following and Insomnia, making him one of the few directors whose filmography I have watched completely.

  3. Miyazaki: 7

     Miyazaki is perhaps my favourite filmmaker since childhood, thanks to my mother’s introduction of Spirited Away. With the release of his latest feature, The Boy and The Heron, I have been going down memory lane and revisiting some of his classics.

All in all, although the total number of films has fallen short of expectation, I am rather pleased with the diversity of films I have watched in terms of genres, directors and decades. I hope to keep it up and grow as a film-lover (part-time film reviewer) in the new year.

Customary top 10 list

Finally, a customary list. Here are my top 10 films of all time (for now).

1. Pulp Fiction
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. Taxi Driver
4. Farewell My Concubine
5. No Country for Old Men
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
7. Spirited Away
8. The Shining
9. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
10. The Silence of the Lambs

Author: Chia Jing Heng (andreusjh99)