My Year in Film: December (with a breakdown of my 2011 film watching escapades & some classic film related New Year's resolutions!)

Happy New Year, blog readers! I hope the first day of 2012 has been a joyous and happy one so far! After I've done my monthly Year in Film part of the post, I'm going to wind up with checking up on how I did with my classic film related New Year's resolutions and then type out my new ones so that we can meet back here again in 2013! 

December

330. The Truman Show (1998) 

331. The Aviator (2004) 

332. Home Alone (1990) 

333. Christmas in Connecticut (1945) 

334. Frankenstein (1931) 

335. The Red Shoes (1948) 

336. The Lady is Willing(1942) 

337. Kitty Foyle (1940) 

338. Easy Virtue (2008) 

339. Funny Girl(1968) 

340. Rain Man (1988) 

341. Dead Poet’s Society (1989) 

342. Metropolitan (1990) 

343. The Graduate (1967) 

344. The Major and the Minor (1942) 

345. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988) 

346. Elf (2003) 

347. Primrose Path (1940) 

348. Going My Way (1944) 

349. Holiday Inn (1940) 

350. Holiday Affair (1949) 

351. Nobi (Fires on the Plain) (1959) 

352. The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) 

353. Design For Living (1933) 

354. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) 

355. Thunder in the East (1952) 

356. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) 

357. Christmas in July (1940) 

358. It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) 

359. All Mine to Give (1957) 

360. Dear Brigitte (1965) 

361. It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) 

362. The Young Victoria(2009) 

363. The Sword and the Rose (1953) 

364. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) 

365. The Weak and the Wicked (1954) 

366. Shake Hands With the Devil (1959) 

367. Shall We Dance? (2004) 

368. The Cabinet of Caligari (1962) 

369. My Fair Lady (1964) 

370. Auntie Mame(1958) 

371. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

So, my grand total of films was 371. You all know how much I love stats and lists so I broke my year in film down to a couple of handy, little lists.

Breakdown of Decades

1900s - 1

1910s - 1

1920s - 3

1930s - 72

1940s - 85

1950s - 64

1960s - 51

1970s - 13

1980s - 19

1990s - 20

2000s - 30 

2010s - 12

Breakdown of Most Watched Actresses and Actors

Carole Lombard - 12	Cary Grant - 11
Claudette Colbert - 10	James Stewart - 11
Glynis Johns - 10	Fred MacMurray - 8
Rosalind Russell - 10	Fred Astaire - 6
Ginger Rogers - 9	Frederic March - 6
Katharine Hepburn - 9	Gregory Peck -6
Marilyn Monroe - 9	Henry Fonda - 6
Barbara Stanwyck - 8	Robert Mitchum - 6
Deborah Kerr - 7	William Powell - 6
Greer Garson - 7	Gary Cooper - 5

All in all, I think that's a rather good year in film. What do you think?

Now, erm, it's the time to check and see how many of my New Year's resolutions from last year I kept.

• Watch more silent films
Much as I love them, I really don't watch enough. I often start watching them and then just never finish.

I really didn't keep this one. I watched a pitiful amount of silent films, although I do have a very long list of silents that I need to watch. Maybe 2012 will be the year, eh? 

• Watch more Hitchcock films
I am sadly lacking in the Hitchcock department - I haven't seen nearly enough of his magnificent films. I want to have seen all of his 1940's films, that I haven't already seen, by the end of 2011.

2011 was definitely Hitch's year. I watched around 20 of his films and, although I haven't still haven't seen all of his 1940s films, I'm almost there. I think I'm allowed to say I did pretty well in regards to this resolution.

• Try to complete my Deborah Kerr film collection
I've seen almost all of her films, but only own 30-something.

This didn't happen. I haven't bought any DVDs for myself since my birthday in April and, besides, the Deborah films I need to add to my collection aren't on DVD. Still, I firmly believe 2012 is going to be the year that I finally see ALL of her films. I only have 4 to go (one of which I own, Eye of the Devil, but which I haven't yet watched because it looks really scary). I can do this!

• Try to complete my Greer Garson film collection
Again, I've seen almost all of her films but only own about 20.

I'm in the same boat with this as with Deborah's films, except that I only have 2 films to go until I've seen Greer's entire filmography (Strange Lady in Town and Sunrise at Campobello, both of which I own but... I don't want to come to the end of her filmography!).

• Hoard more Eleanor Parker films
I doubt I'll be able to complete this collection this year, but I own about half of her films so I will try to add to those.

• Hoard more Maureen O'Hara and Barbara Stanwyck films
Again, there's no way I'll be able to complete these collections in 2011 but I can certainly add several titles to them.

Well, this didn't happen. But I did watch more of their films so I think that counts for something. 

• Pick at least one Old Hollywood actor/actress whom I currently dislike/ignore and try to watch more of their films to give them a chance
I've been meaning to watch more Elizabeth Taylor films because I've only seen 2 or 3, and, whilst I don't dislike her, I've just never really given her a chance and generally bypass her films. This time last year I wasn't a fan of Myrna Loy or Joan Crawford and now I love Myrna and really enjoy watching Joan's films!

I did come to appreciate Elizabeth Taylor this year. I feel a little sad that I wasn't more appreciative of her whilst she was still alive, but at least I enjoy her films now.  

• Watch more Patricia Neal, Glynis Johns, Anna Magnani, Joan Blondell, Hedy Lamarr, Eva Marie Saint, and Jean Arthur films

Glynis took the cake for this one, closely followed by Jean. I didn't watch any Anna or Hedy films, sadly. Maybe this year...

• Try to watch as many of the films as possible on the following lists: IMDB Top 250, Academy Award Best Pictures, BFI 100 (Top British Films), The 100 Most Significant German Films, and AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies.

I'm now almost halfway through the IMDb Top 250 list, Academy Award Best Pictures, and AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, so I'm quite proud of that. I wish I could say I'm proud of my progress on the other lists but.. I'm not. Ah, well. It's time to make some more New Year's Resolutions. Here goes...

• Finish watching all of Deborah and Greer's films.
• Finish watching Hitchcock's talkies and progress onto his silents.
• Get at least halfway through the BFI 100 film list and complete at least one of the AFI 100 Years lists (probably the 100 movies or 100 passions).
• Watch at least 30 silents.
• Start reviewing more films. Maybe 1 a week?
• Pick at least one Old Hollywood actor/actress whom I currently dislike/ignore and try to watch more of their films to give them a chance. 

Well, I suppose that's it. I'll be commencing with more normal (I know, when have I ever written a normal post?!) posts after this (including a Classic Film Q&A Time with my oldest brother). Stay tuned!