As a student in film watching movies is like homework but I hadn’t been doing a very good job at keeping up. I have access to movies on DVD, at the theater, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and on Xfinity OnDemand…my watchlist goes on and on.
On September 7, 2015, I started keeping track of the movies I was watching. My goal was to watch at least 15 movies that I hadn’t seen before by November 7, 2015…here’s the list!

1. A Serious Man (2009)
   • Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen
   • Starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard King, Sari Lennick
   • Trivia: The Coen Brothers stated that the opening scene was nothing more than a little short that they made up to get the audience in the proper mood, and that there is no meaning behind it.
   • Watched at home on DVD
   • Thoughts: Strange but it kept my interest
2. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
   • Directed by Guy Ritchie
   • Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander
   • Trivia: The only principal cast members to use their natural accents in the film were ‘Sylvester Groth’ and ‘Hugh Grant’.
   • Watched in theater
   • Thoughts: Definitely entertaining and Armie Hammer is a beautiful man
3. Behind the Candelabra (2013)
   • Directed by Steven Soderbergh
   • Starring Matt Damon, Michael Douglas
   • Trivia: Robin Williams was originally set to play Liberace.
   • Watched at home on Xfinity on Demand
   • Thoughts: It was interesting seeing how Liberace lived his life. I will never look at Matt Damon the same again.
4. L!fe Happens (2011)
   • directed by Kat Coiro
   • Starring Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson
   • Watched at home on Xfinity on Demand
   • Thoughts: Cute little chick flick
5. Vertigo (1958)
   • Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
   • Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak
   •  Trivia: There is a 25 year age difference between James Stewart and Kim Novak, who were 49 and 24 respectively when the film was shot in 1957.
   • Watched in my Scoring class at DePaul
   • Thoughts: Brilliant, I’ll always appreciate the work of Hitchcock and the score is simple but yet again, brilliant. But the ending makes me so angry.
6. The Intern (2015)
   • Directed by Nancy Meyers 
   • Starring Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway
   • Trivia: Reese Witherspoon was originally cast but she dropped out and Anne Hathaway replaced her.
   • Watched in the theater
   • Thoughts: Sweet film, Robert De Niro plays a father-like figure to Anne Hathaway to help her realize her true strengths.
7. THX 1138 (1971)
   • Directed by George Lucas 
   • Starring Robert Duvall 
   • Trivia: The sounds of the police motorcycles are the sped-up sounds of women screaming together in a tiled bathroom.
   • Watched in my Sound Effects class at DePaul
   • Thoughts: Totally weird, and I still don’t quite get it but the sounds effects are awesome.
8. Black Mass (2015)
   • Directed by Scott Cooper 
   • Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch 
   • Trivia: Johnny Depp tried multiple times to speak to Whitey Bulger while preparing for the role to which Bulger declined.
   • Watched in the theater for my scoring class
   • Thoughts: I was distracted by Johnny Depp’s makeover at first but the story took over and I embraced it…and then a lot of people died.
9. Chef (2014)
   • Directed by Jon Favreau
   • Starring Jon Favreau
   • Trivia: Jon Favreau did his own cooking by training with food truck chef Roy Choi.
   • Watched at home on Netflix
   • Thoughts: An endearing film that put a special light on a father-son relationship
10. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
    • Directed by Wes Anderson
    • Starring  Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray
    • Trivia: Wes Anderson‘s sixth collaboration with Bill Murray.
    • Watched at home on Netflix
    • Thoughts: I can’t resist Wes and his quirky characters.
11. Crimson Peak (2015)
    • Directed by Guillermo del Toro 
    • Starring  Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston 
    • Trivia: Everything in the house was made for the house. Nothing was reused from salvaged parts.
    • Watched in the theater for my Scoring class
    • Thoughts: Most certainly a Gothic Romance, not a Horror film. Beautifully dressed and shot. Jessica Chastain was amazing.
12. Risky Business (1983)
    • Directed by Paul Brickman
    • Starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay 
    • Trivia: The dance scene where Joel dances to “Old Time Rock N’ Roll” was completely improvised. In the script Tom Cruise was simply instructed to “dance to rock music”.
    • Watched at home on Netflix
    • Thoughts: A classic, glad I finally watched it!
13. The Best of Me (2014)
    • Directed by Michael Hoffman
    • Starring James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, Luke Bracey 
    • Watched at home on Netflix
    • Thoughts: Typical Nicholas Sparks, I cried like a baby.
14. Boogie Nights (1997)
    • Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
    • Starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds
    • Watched at home on Netflix
    • Thoughts: That was an experience…but just another confirmation that I will watch any movie that stars Mark Wahlberg or Julianne Moore.
15. The Room (2003)
    • Directed by Tommy Wiseau
    • Starring Tommy Wiseau
    • Trivia:
      • There are eight instances of the phrase “Don’t worry about it”, plus one “Don’t worry about that”, one “Don’t worry about me”, two “Don’t worry about Johnny”s, one “Don’t worry about those f*ckers”, and two plain old “Don’t worry”s.
      • There are thirty-four spoon shots.
      • A lot of the film’s dialogue was dubbed in, which is why there are many out-of-sync scenes, particularly those involving Johnny. Tommy Wiseau was said to be unable to memorize lines, necessitating the use of cue cards, and the sound crew was reportedly plagued with difficulties.
    • Watched at a friend’s house on DVD at about 12am
    • Thoughts: Terrible, seeing this once is more than enough. The dubbing makes me want to cry as a sound person.

So many movies, so little time.
Have you seen any good movies lately? I’m always taking recommendations!