Yearly Round Up - The Best Films I Saw in December + Links + Future Plans

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a great Christmas. It's the exciting time of the year where everyone is thinking back on the year that has passed and all of the films they have seen, and coming up with lists of their favourite films. I came up with my 2011 Buckle Awards and an unofficial 30 Best Films of 2011 list and I'll be linking to lists made by my colleagues early in the new year. As I didn't write a links post on Monday - it was Boxing Day and had to work the busiest cinema day of the year (or so we thought - turns out the 27th and 28th can be busy too) - I thought I'd finish 2011 with my usual column, the December round-up, and one final links post. Unfortunately, over the next week I'm not going to have much time to write. I am working at my cinema a lot - and with the exception of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (released January 5) I don't have any reviews to work on. I posted my review of The Iron Lady last night, which is a bit of a sad way to end the year. I remember at this time last year I was writing reviews for Blue Valentine and Love and Other Drugs. I saw them back-to-back on the 29th of December. Amazing how fast a year disappears. Here's a link to a list of my 25 Best Films of 2010 from early March - comprised of films (with the exception of The Social Network) I have thought very little about since then. January and February are certainly exciting months with Hugo, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Young Adult, The Artist, Shame and Carnage amongst the high-profile films I am yet to see scheduled for a release.

Before I get into the links I'd like to run through my stats for the year. They are stats that may not be repeated ever again. This is my 534th post of 2011, which means that I have averaged about 44 posts a month. That is a pretty extreme pace. Not all of these were reviews, usually around 20 or so, but also comprised of a mix of weekly regulars (Monday Links and Releases), film news and trailers, the occasional essay or list. As many of you might not know, but perhaps you assume, this pace took a pretty big toll on me over the year. I have worked like crazy to keep this blog full of interesting material, and the reward has been great. Of course there are some days when you wonder if it is all worth it, but when I think about all of the talented writers and journalists (and many have become great friends) I have met this year and shared discussions with, it is definitely all worth it. Still, I felt like I might need a little bit of help, so I asked my friend Dominique, an ambitious and talented writer, if she'd like to work on some reviews. Her review of Roman Holiday was wonderful and I look forward to her future contributions.

I will have to decide if I am going to keep my weekly segments (I'd like to) or perhaps introduce some new ones. Also, with increased screening opportunities for new release films, I'll have to decide whether or not to watch and review as many older films as I did this year. I have been selecting a director each month and worked through their filmography. To name just a few I covered Tarkovsky, Cronenberg, Altman and Godard. I enjoyed it immensely but I don't know if I will be able to keep this up. As I am planning a trip overseas in August/September, I will have to have more paid work between now and then, meaning I will have less time to write. As a result, I may be sticking predominantly to new releases, and constructing shorter reviews. Does anyone feel like my reviews are too long?

I doubt I'll be watching a film today or tomorrow so that leaves my final film tally for the year at 371. I surpassed 365 last week (which became my goal when I realized it was realistic). I doubt I'll ever watch this many films in a year again. These weren't just new releases, but also older films that were new to me this year, and re-watches of films I had seen previously. Sometimes you feel like relaxing to an old faithful, rather than be challenged by a new and unique experience. I remember in December last year (actually it was December 18) when I had just 41 page views for the entire day. This month I have been surpassing 1,000 page views nearly every day, and am heading towards 30,000 for the month - easily the biggest one yet. It's been incredible to see Film Emporium continue to grow. I also had about 11 followers back then and would love to break through the 100 barrier (I'm sitting on 98) before the end of the year.

So, on with the links and later, my 'Essential Viewing' selections from December:

Steve @ 1001 Plus has a different opinion than most on Martin Scorsese's new film, Hugo.

Alex @ And So It Begins recently watched A Dangerous Method, The Artist and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I will be waiting until I see them before checking out his thoughts, but based on his grades, I gather it was a disappointing day at the cinema. He's always a great read, so be sure to check them out.

At Anomalous Material Max looks at What Makes a Masterpiece and Nick lists 10 Movie Characters To Spend New Year's Eve With. Also Sam and Red have vastly different takes on David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

For another great write-up about Dragon Tattoo, check out Phil's @ Phil On Film. He's one of the best writers on the web.

CS @ Big Thoughts From A Small Mind is catching up on 2011 with capsule reviews of Tabloid, Rango, The Ides of March, Cars 2 and Contagion. I am yet to see Tabloid but I think he gets it spot on with all of these.

A local buddy of mine, Chris Elena, shares his thoughts on Steven Spielberg's War Horse. I agree with him in almost every way.

James @ Cinema Sights recently recommended I check out Winnie the Pooh. Check out his review to see why.

Tom Clift is currently traveling abroad, but he is still managing to write amazing reviews. Check out his take on the controversial shock-horror film, Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence, at Cut Print Review.

Sam @ Duke and the Movies also catches up on Tabloid and collaborates his and his fellow Fresno film critic's Best Movies of the Year.

Max @ Impassioned Cinema catches up with A Separation, one of the best films of 2011.

Corey Atad @ Just Atad has been championing War Horse all week. I don't share his enthusiasm for the film (it actually didn't work for me at all), but Corey's review is still a great read.

Steven @ Surrender to the Void takes a look at some of the Most Anticipated 2012 Releases.

Ryan @ The Matinee reviews Roman Polanski's Carnage, which isn't getting a cinema release here until February.

I watched a total of 26 Films in December (down from previous months, but whatever):

First Viewing (Cinema) - The Adventures of Tintin, Attack the Block, The Muppets, New Year's Eve, Melancholia, Tower Heist, Puss in Boots 3D, The Women on the 6th Floor, We Bought A Zoo, The Skin I Live In, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows and The Iron Lady.

First Viewing (DVD/Torrent) - Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) Code Unknown (Michael Haneke, 2000), Trust (David Schwimmer, 2009), Wasted on the Young (Ben C. Lucas, 2011 and Bellflower (Evan Glodell, 2011).

Re-watched (DVD/Torrent) - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966), Army of Darkness (Sam Raimi, 1993), Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007), 2 Days in Paris (Julie Delpy, 2007), Four Lions (Chris Morris, 2010), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Niels Arden Oplev, 2010) and Senna (Asif Kapadia, 2011).

Essential Viewing

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Code Unknown

Eastern Promises

Senna

The Muppets

The Skin I Live In

Final 2011 Tally: (345) + 26 = 371 Films

Thank you to everyone that has stopped by my site this year. I greatly appreciate the comments and the feedback to my posts and I hope you'll stick with me through the new year. Here's to another great year of film and a safe, happy, prosperous and productive 2012!