Thanks to the infectious film-buffiness of G, I have probably watched more movies in the cinema in the last year (including an unplanned viewing of Fantastic Four in Taipei thanks to a raging typhoon outside) than in the last decade. I now know which cinema chain in Singapore has the best hotdogs (Cathay), the longest advertisements (Golden Village at twenty five minutes of pre-movie ads), and the easiest online booking experience.

I even attempted to keep a film diary – it’s mostly accurate but there really should be a way to completely automate these things. Here are some of the more notable movies:

1. Black Mass

   With a grim but intense story, this film had some great performances (finally featuring Johnny Depp as a character who actually looks like a regular human). Also, I was amazed to find out yesterday that the female lead is the same person as in 50 Shades of Gray – talk about versatility!).

2. Big Hero 6

   I was expecting this to be so-so (I’d never heard of the comic, and the name sounded a little silly) but it turned out to be one of the most entertaining animated movies I’ve seen in a very long time.

3. The Hundred Foot Journey

   It turns out that I quite enjoy movies centred around food. This one had an interesting mix of characters (though I think I have a tendency to always be a little surprised when I see Indian actors in an English movie), some pleasant locations and a nice storyline.

4. Kingsman

   A self-aware take on typical spy movies, made quite enjoyable thanks to certain action sequences and visual effects.

5. Interstellar

   I find it pretty cool that the visual designers had to write new software based on the consultant physicist’s equations, and also that this resulted in the publication of two scientific papers.

6. Bridge of Spies

   Spoiler alert! I kept expecting the main character to die, and even though he didn’t I found that I ended up liking Tom Hanks’ role and the story.

7. Focus

   Will Smith! I hadn’t seen him in a movie in aeons and this one was continuously entertaining with some unexpected twists.

PS: I rarely do these end-of-the-year posts but thanks to almost no blogging this year, I thought I’d give it a try. What say?