Prologue

Six years ago, writer and performer Kevin Murphy, perhaps best known for writing for, and playing the part of Tom Servo on Mystery Science Theater 3000, released his book A Year at the Movies [buy at Amazon]. Having found himself increasingly unsatisfied with the moviegoing experience since MST3K ended production in 1999, Murphy sought to rekindle his passion for the cinema by seeing a movie every day in the year 2001, whether it be in a theater, or watching an in-flight movie on domestic or international flights. Murphy engaged in a few stunts to keep things interesting, such as smuggling an entire Thanksgiving dinner into a theater for an afternoon screening of Monsters Inc., visiting the smallest commercial theater in the world (the Terrace Theater in Tinonee, NSW, Australia, which is someone's private residence converted into a 22 seat public theater), and he even devoted a chapter to successfully sneak into a movie theater without getting caught.

I have re-read the book several times, and I've enjoyed it every time. It also made me wonder, could I ever do this? Do I have the patience to sit down at watch at least one film every single day for a calendar year?

Well, starting on Monday, December 1st, I'm going to try to duplicate Kevin Murphy's journey. But, there will be two noticable differences:
1. Instead of actually going to the theater, I'll simply be watching selections from my collection.
2. With the exception of attending B-Fest in Chicago at the end of January, it's very unlikely I'll be traveling anywhere just to watch movies. So, sorry, there won't be any trips down to Tinonee, New South Wales to sit in someone's private screening room, or anywhere else that Murphy visited in 2001.

I think I have spent more money on new DVDs this year (mostly of older films) than any other year, and I have been asked the same question several times: When are where are you going to watch all of these? My answer has usually been "I'll figure something out" or "I'm doing my best." This really isn't an attempt to watch every movie that I own in the space of 13 months, but I certainly won't mind watching more than one movie on a day off. Also, I won't be limiting myself to just movies, so unlike Kevin Murphy, I will have the option of watching television shows on DVDs, live concert videos, or anything else that's on a disc.

With all of that said, I invite you to join me here, starting on December 1st for the first movie, which I haven't chosen yet. This is going to be a blast, and I'm looking forward to getting started.