One personal boon to organizing a local film club and producing content for this site is that I am probably watching more films—and, significantly, more interesting films—right now than at any previous point in my life. Even setting aside the essential, classic, cult, and overlooked cinema that the club tends to focus on, I’m watching a hell of a lot more quality films of recent vintage.
I set a goal for myself last November to see every feature film released in 2007 that achieved a score of 70 or greater on Metacritic. “Released in 2007†in this case means a film that premiered in the United State outside the film festival circuit in wide, limited, or select city release between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. Four months or so later, what’s the score?
According to Metacritic, there were 144 films released in 2007 that rated a score of 70 or higher. As of March 7, 2008, I have seen 75 of these 144, or a little over half my goal.
Of the 75 films I have seen, 25 (33%) are foreign-language films. (Although whether that makes them foreign films is debatable. I’m looking at you, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) 11 of 75 (15%) are documentaries, and 3 of 75 (4%) are animated films.
The collage below is a visual summary I prepared to track my progress. Viewed films have a magenta slash. I’ll check back in two months or so and see how I’m faring.
