After the autumnal equinox, I decided to use the winter to watch to watch 25 new (to me) films. The aim was to do so before the vernal equinox, when the evenings are getting light enough to go and play outside. But I’d watched 25 by the solstice so now I’ve watched 28 more. (Technically, the equinox was at 4.15 on Tuesday, and I didn’t watch A Liar’s Autobiography until 9.00, but I hope it still counts…)

The films that counted, and that I wrote up here at Little Storping, had to be films I’d never seen before – but beyond that, it’s a selection of famous films I’d never seen, obscure films I fancied seeing, recommendations from friends, or the newly released.

I’ve combined the 28 more with the first 25 to give the full list of 53:

1940s

• Citizen Kane (1941)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
• The Killers (1946)

1960s

• Dr Strangelove (1964)

1970s

• The Godfather (1972)
• Westworld (1973)
• The Godfather Part II (1974)
• Jabberwocky (1977)

1980s

• An American Werewolf in London (1981)
• 1984 (1984)
• Brazil (1985)

1990s

• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
• Jackie Brown (1997)
• The Green Mile (1999)

2000s

• Crash (2004)
• Batman Begins (2005)
• Sin City (2005)
• Stardust (2007)
• The Dark Knight (2008)

2010

• Robin Hood (2010)
• Salt (2010)
• Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)

2011

• Contagion (2011)

2012

• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• A Liar’s Autobiography (2012)
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

2013

• Elysium (2013)
• Life of Crime (2013)
• The World’s End (2013)

2014

• Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
• Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
• Salting the Battlefield (2014)
• Turks & Caicos (2014)
• Under the Skin (2014)
• A Walk Among The Tombstones (2014)

2015

• Bridge of Spies (2015)
• Chappie (2015)
• The Hateful Eight (2015)
• Mr Holmes (2015)
• The Lobster (2015)
• Steve Jobs (2015)

2016

• La La Land (2016)
• Me Before You (2016)

2017

• Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
• The Death of Stalin (2017)
• 6 Days (2017)

2018

• Game Night (2018)
• I, Tonya (2018)
• Molly’s Game (2018)
• The Post (2018)
• The Shape of Water (2018)
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)

The Best

Out of these 53, this personal top 10:

1. Dr Strangelove
   
2. Molly’s Game
3. Under the Skin
4. The Death of Stalin
5. Blade Runner 2049
6. Jackie Brown
7. Citizen Kane
8. It’s a Wonderful Life
9. The Shawshank Redemption
10. Brazil

The clocks go forward on Sunday, but although the longer evenings mean less screen time and more playing trains outdoors, I’m hoping when I do watch something I’ll keep in the habit of seeing unfamiliar films, rather than old favourites or TV episodes – but I won’t be writing them up, so I’ll have to motivate myself without inviting the public scrutiny…