The 306 films my wife saw in the theater in 2018

My wife Vickie doesn't watch TV.

Instead, she'll go see a movie in the theater - every night if possible. Every year, she makes a spreadsheet with the films, what theater she went to, and how the ticket was bought. This helps her keep track of her budget, and when she makes her list of her favorite films.


Here's the theaters:
1 Wilmette Theater
1 Cinemark Century Evanston
1 Chicago Cultural Center
1 AMC Niles 12
3 Facets
4 AMC Block 37
6 AMC Navy Pier IMAX
4 Brew & View at The Vic
4 Regal Webster Place
7 Landmark Century Centre
12 AMC Streets of Woodfield
27 Regal City North 14
29 Music Box
34 AMC Rosemont 18 (Muvico)
46 Gene Siskel Film Center
49 AMC Galewood
77 AMC River East 21

...by chain:
1 Cinemark
31 Regal
181 AMC

...who paid:
9 Free passes
39 A*List (1st one Augest 10)
60 MoviePass

The films (A* means AMC Stubs A*List - * means MoviePass):
12 Strong
2.0 (A*)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (A*)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
A Private War
A Quiet Place *
A Simple Favor
A Simple Favor (A*)
A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (A*)
A Wrinkle In Time
Across The Universe (2007)
AI (2001) *
Airpocalypse
All the Money in the World *
All the Queen's Horses *
Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days (A*)
Alpha (3D) (A*)
American Animals *
American Graffiti (1973)
Anna and the Apocalypse
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion & Disco
Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman 3D
Araby
Assassination Nation
Assassination Nation (A*)
Assassination Nation (A*)
At Eternity's Gate (A*)
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Infinity War *
Avengers: Infinity War *
Avengers: Infinity War *
Bad Times at the El Royale (A*)
Beast *
Beautiful Boy
Becks *
Beetlejuice (1988)
Beirut
Ben Is Back (A*)
Black '47
Black Panther
Black Panther
Black Panther *
Black Panther *
BlacKkKlansman *
BlacKkKlansman *
Blaze
Blindspotting *
Bodied
Bohemian Rhapsody (*)
Bohemian Rhapsody (A*)
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story *
Border
Boy Erased (A*)
Bullitt (1968)
Bullitt County
Bumblebee
Burning
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Chasing the Blues
Christopher Robin
Cielo
Coco
Colette
Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians
Creed 2 (A*)
Damsel *
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back)
Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back) (A*)
Deadpool 2
Deadpool 2
Death In Venice (1971)
Death Wish
Den of Thieves *
Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (A*)
Devil In A Blue Dress (1995)
Die Hard (1988)
Doctor Who: New Season Premiere
Dog Days
Dog Days
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot
Eighth Grade
Elf (2003) (A*)
En El Septimo Dia
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Far From The Tree *
Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool *
First Man (A*)
Free Solo (A*)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Game Night
God's Own Country *
Gold (A*)
Good Time
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami
Green Book
Green Book
Green Days By The River
Green Snake (1993)
Gringo
Hal
Harold and Maude
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 (2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2 (2011)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Hearts Beat Loud
Hearts Beat Loud *
Hereditary *
Hostiles *
Hotel Artimis *
Hunter Killer (A*)
I Am Not A Witch
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) (A*)
I, Tonya *
If Beale Street Could Talk
Incredibles 2 *
Inquiring Nuns (1968)
Instant Family
Isle of Dogs
Jonathan (A*)
Juliet, Naked (A*)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
KGF: Chapter 1
Kin
L'Atalante (1934)
Lara Croft *
Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story
Leave No Trace
Let the Corpses Tan
Lizzie (A*)
Love, Gilda
Love, Simon *
Madeline's Madeline
Mahanati
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again *
Mandy
Marvel - Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Marvel - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Marvel - Avengers: Infinity War (2018) (A*)
Marvel - Black Panther (2018)
Marvel - Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Marvel - Doctor Strange (2016)
Marvel - Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (2017)
Marvel - Iron Man 2 (2010)
Marvel - Iron Man 3 (2013)
Marvel - Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Marvel - The Avengers (2012) (A*)
Marvel - Thor (2011)
Marvel - Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Marvel - Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots (A*)
Meek's Cutoff (2011)
Messidor *
Mid90s
Midnight Sun *
Minding the Gap
Minority Report (2002) *
Mirai
Mission Impossible: Fallout (A*)
Monsters and Men
Mortal Engines
Museo
Nico, 1988
Nigerian Prince (A*)
Oceans Eight
On the Basis of Sex
Once Upon A Deadpool
One False Move (1992)
One Sings, The Other Doesn't (1977)
Operation Finale (A*)
Oscar Shorts (Animation, Live Action)
Oscar Shorts (Documentary)
Overlord (A*)
Pacific Rim: Uprising *
Padmaavat
Peppermint
Peppermint Soda (1977)
Poop Talk *
Proud Mary
Puzzle *
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Rampage
Ready Player One (3D)
Red Sparrow
Return to Oz (1985)
Robin Hood
Rocky (1976) *
Roma
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
Saving Brinton
Schindler's List (1993) (A*)
Science Fair
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Scrooged (1988)
Searching
Searching
Second Act
Shoplifters
Shorts Program: Pioneer Comedies
Sicario: Day of the Soldado *
Silencio
Skate Kitchen
Skyskraper
Smallfoot
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo: A Star Wars Story *
Sorry To Bother You
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 3D
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Starship Troopers (1997)
Submergence
Summer 1993
Support the Girls
Susperia (2018) (A*)
Syl Johnson: Any Way the Wind Blows
Tag *
The Atomic Cafe (1982)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs *
The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales
The Bookshop (A*)
The Commuter *
The Darkest Minds (A*)
The Death of Stalin *
The Equalizer
The Favorite (A*)
The Favourite (A*)
The Fisher King (1991) *
The Fog (1980)
The Front Runner (A*)
The Girl in the Spider's Web
The Gospel According to Andre *
The Guilty
The Happy Prince
The Hate U Give
The House With A Clock In Its Walls (A*)
The Hurricane Heist *
The Island (A*)
The Last Detail (1973)
The Leisure Seeker *
The Little Stranger (A*)
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Man With The Iron Fists (2012)
The Meg
The Miseducation of Cameron Post *
The Mule (A*)
The Nun
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
The Old Man and the Gun
The Other Side of Hope *
The Party's Just Beginning
The Post
The Predator
The Predator
The Princess and the Frog (2009) (A*)
The Sisters Brothers
The Sound of Music (1965)
The Spy Who Dumped Me *
The Wife
They Shall Not Grow Old
Thoroughbreds *
Three Identical Strangers
Tokyo Idol *
Unsane
Upgrade *
Urgh! A Music War (1981)
Used Cars (1980)
Vazante *
Venom 3D
Venom IMAX 3D (A*)
Vice
Vice
Vox Lux (A*)
Wait For Your Laugh *
Wanda (1970)
We The Animals (A*)
Welcome to Marwen (A*)
Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist *
What They Had
What We Started *
White Boy Rick (A*)
Widows (A*)
Wildlife (A*)
Winchester *
Wings of Desire (1987)
Won't You Be My Neighbor? *
World's Greatest Dad (2009) *
Yojimbo (1961)
You Were Never Really Here *
Zama
Zero (A*)

 

A couple of things about the cost. AMC A*List costs her $19.95 a month, though it will be going up. She is a supporting member of two art houses, the Gene Siskel Film Center and the Music Box. Both cost $50 a year, and get her discount tickets - I believe $6 each. She is no longer a MoviePass subscriber, but it used to cost $9.95 a month. And first run theater ticket prices vary greatly - the AMC Galewood 14 charges only $6 for evening shows.

So, between A*List and various discounts she spends less seeing first run films in the theater than most do on their cable subscription.

One last thing - she only saw one film at a Cinemark theater. This is because Cinemark instituted a policy banning backpacks. She always has a backpack with her to go to and from work, and sees a film on her way home from work. Cinemark has eliminated literally hundreds of potential viewings.

 

By the way, the complete runs of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings films were due to both series being shown in the theaters this summer, along with a huge Marvel collection. For some reason, we arrived at Memorial Day without any giant "tent pole" films in the theater, so all the studios put together discount screenings of "modern classics."

 

Not being much of a movie goer I'm astonished that there are that many films to see in a given year these days.

Looking at the top 6 theaters your wife goes to, they are not particularly close to each other. Her travel time must be considerable and I assume she gets home after 8PM. As to your point about cost, yes the theaters must be glad some people don't care to just Netflix the movie so they heavily discount.

I did see The Favourite (the Queen Anne pic) because I was taken to it haha. I thought it had good traditional movie values with an effective script and fine acting. Not sure of its appeal here though as Queen Anne reigned in a rather quiet period of British history.

 

My list for 2018 is blank

 

Every year, there are films she's missed seeing in the theater.

She tries to see every film nominated for an Oscar. Not just the Best Picture nominees, but every performance by every actor, every one of the artistic award nominees (often wrongly called the "technical" awards) and all of the documentaries and shorts.

Some Academy member really should let her fill in their ballots.

We live in Chicago, and don't have a car. So "close by car" is different than "close by L". There are plenty of theaters that would seem close to a driver. AMC Streets of Woodfield is right next to her work out in the burbs, while AMC Rosemont 18 is next to the stop where she changes from the suburban bus to the L. Most of the rest are near L stops or on busy bus lines.

I used to have a NetFlix subscription, but gave it up when I realized that every single time I wanted to see a particular movie, it was not available.

We want to see new films, and the only way to do that is to go out to the theaters.

 

My condolences.

 

Impressive, but for me there aren't enough films that I want to see to go to theaters that much, and generally I don't like to go to theaters. I don't like people talking, and I don't like crowds. I like to be able to pause a movie for whatever reason, and if I'm tired and can't finish it one sitting I can just come back to it. All things I can do in my house. Amazon Prime has many new releases available soon enough for me, and there's enough to stream and watch between Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Showtime, TCM, etc., that there is really no reason for me to have to deal with crowds, etc.

 

Yeah, EVERY SINGLE TIME I mention seeing films in the theater, I hear the same thing - people talking, people on cell phones.

I saw over a hundred films in the theater last year, and I didn't hear one person talking. I didn't have to ask a single person to put away their phone.

Vickie saw 306 and had the same experience.

Why is it that those of us who actually go to the theater a lot have such a different experience than those who rarely do?

 

Did Ebert even watch this many films per year?

 

If they installed a TV set in his coffin, maybe.

 

People talking is only occasionally, and frankly doesn't bother me that much. It's more just sitting in a crowded theater, without the freedoms to do what I described above. But everybody has priorities. As for watching films, mine are met at home. Obviously you and your wife prefer the theater. All good.

 

If she wants to see a movie every night, and do so on her way home from work, does that mean that she doesn't get home till after 8pm every night? I would find that hard, to get in so late every night and then have to get up early and to go to work the next day. She must have very broad tastes. I have hyper narrow tastes, and therefore have no desire to see most of the movies being released today. Mind you, being a baby boomer, I grew up in an era where movies were originally made for adults. Nowadays, movies are primarily made for kids (hence the preponderance of animated movies) and adolescents/young adults (action movies as well as Marvel comic book movies). It's great that she really enjoys movies. And I agree -- watching something on your own big screen at home is NOT THE SAME as sitting in darkened theater with a huge screen.

I moved and am living in Montrose, CO, and like it or not [the answer is "not"], I haven't been to a movie in Colorado yet. Montrose (population 20,000) has some dinky theaters that look like they were built thirty to forty years ago. Four screens at most -- maybe only three, and that really limits the choices. I never see a line outside the movie theater. Grand Junction (population 60,000) is one hour away, and I think they have a multiplex, like a Cinemark with a good number of screens. However, the ticket price is about 10.50 a movie (and I don't think there is a discount for first showing), and I can't fathom driving an hour and then paying 10.50 for most movies.

Does she buy any concessions at the movies? It seems like she would be hungry after work and not getting home till later. It's okay to admit it -- I used to smuggle in as much as I can get away with.

The backpack thing -- we all know what this is about. Could she work out a deal with the theater so that she could leave her backpack at the concession stand, and then come back and retrieve it after the movie? That might allay the fears of the theater management.

 

Do you think maybe she is seeing someone?

 

That’s highly presumptious to assume that.

As we age our interests change. I’m sure that’s the case for her; more time to herself and indulge/immerse herself into fantasy and alternate worlds. Maybe she’s just a creative person with few or limited outlets and watches to satisfy her cravings. I don’t know, but assuming she’s having an affair is pretty lame/insulting.

We get through this existence the best way we know how do; escapism, fantasy, or give up. No one is to be questioned; we just do it.

 

Wow, that's a great list...of the group in family and at work many would like to cut the cord lately go see films classics, independent and a selection of the new movies each year.

 

She's missing some pretty darn good TV, though.....

 

Generally, but it's totally fine. See, we actually live in different cities most of the time - she's home in Chicago and I'm at my other apartment in Kansas City. I just returned here after a week home.

It's much harder on her since the company she works for moved out to the suburbs. When she started, they were a ten minute bus ride away. Then they moved to a near suburb, and it took a bus and a train. Now they're out in Schuamburg, and it takes a bus, an L and a suburban PACE bus. But she likes her job, so she puts up with it.

Very wide, as can be seen from her list of films. She'll see a big Hollywood action film one night, a classic by an Italian director the next, a documentary the next...

How do you know?

Sorry, but this is a sore spot. They do make films for adults and they close in a week. Why? Because everyone keeps claiming that they only make films for kids.

She loves those, but I can easily pull 50 films out of her list that are films about adults, for adults. I'm sure there are a lot more there, but I haven't seen all the films she saw. Here's a short list of films I also saw, that I can assure you are neither animated, comic book movies or intended for kids:

1. 12 Strong - a film about US Special Forces in Afghanistan
   
2. A Quiet Place - very effective horror/alien invasion film
3. A Simple Favor - nice, twisted comedy/mystery
   
4. A Star Is Born - not one of the best films of the year, but enjoyable
5. All the Money in the World - about the Getty kidnapping
6. Alpha - set 50,000 years ago about the start of Man's relationship with dogs
7. At Eternity's Gate - Vincent Van Gogh
   
8. Bad Times at the El Royale - bunch of strangers gathered at a motel
9. BlacKkKlansman - truly great film about a Black man creating an identity as a racist
10. Blaze - about the alt-Country singer Blaze Foley
    
11. Bodied - wickedly funny, un-PC film about Battle Rap
    
12. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen biopic
13. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story - The brilliant actress/inventor who came up with the concept behind cell phones
    
14. Border - I can't even begin to describe this film.
    
15. Boy Erased - drama about "gay conversion"
    
16. Christopher Robin - yes, it features the beloved children's books characters, but it's about maturity
17. Crazy Rich Asians - romance and culture clash
18. Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back) - twisted story about a suicidal young man hiring a hit man
19. Dog Days - should have been a huge hit.
20. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot - about the paraplegic cartoonist
21. Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool - don't want to spoil it, but you can guess
22. First Man - disappointing story about Apollo 11
    
23. Game Night - adult comedy
24. Good Time - great film about criminals
25. Green Book - going to get nominated as Best Picture, but not half as good as a dozen other films I saw
26. Hearts Beat Loud - widowed father and his daughter making music together
27. Hotel Artimis - not great, but worth seeing
28. Hunter Killer - submarine crew. Not as good as The Hunt For Red October, but worthy
    
29. I, Tonya - worth seeing for the great performances
30. If Beale Street Could Talk - another mature family drama
    
31. Instant Family - exactly the soft of film that people claim they don't make any more
32. Isle of Dogs - animated, but not for kids
    
33. Juliet, Naked - relationship comedy/drama about an obsessed music fan
34. Kin
35. Leave No Trace - a vet with PTSD who cannot live in society and the effect on his daughter.
36. Love, Gilda - documentary about Gilda Radner
37. Love, Simon - a gay teen worried about coming out
    
38. Mid90s - didn't much like it, but even though it is about kids, not for kids
39. Mirai
40. On the Basis of Sex - bio about Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the case that changed everything
41. Operation Finale - hunting Adolf Eichmann
42. Red Sparrow - it was terrible, but worth seeing for her performance
43. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda - documentary about the Japanese composer
44. Searching - great mystery about a father searching for his missing daughter
45. Sorry To Bother You - must be seen to be believed
46. Support the Girls - comedy set in a sports bar
47. The Death of Stalin - hilarious comedy about the death of the distator
48. The Favourite - still don't quite know what I think of this one
49. The Happy Prince - Rupert Everett drama about the last days of Oscar Wilde
50. The Hate U Give - brilliant drama about a Black family, the daughter witnesses a police shooting
    
51. The Miseducation of Cameron Post - another "gay conversion" drama
52. The Post - about the Pentagon Papers
53. The Sisters Brothers - Western
54. The Spy Who Dumped Me - dopey, but fun
55. They Shall Not Grow Old - documentary made by Peter Jackson using 100 year old film
56. Three Identical Strangers - read NOTHING about this before seeing this
57. Upgrade - one of the cleverest action films in years
58. Vice - wickedly funny film about Dick Cheney
59. Wait For Your Laugh - documentary about Rose Marie
60. Welcome to Marwen - failed experiment by Robert Zemekis
61. What They Had - mature relationship drama/comedy about Alzeheimer's
62. Widows - crime drama
63. Won't You Be My Neighbor? - documentary about Fred Rogers

Exactly.

She has far greater opportunities living in Chicago, but most of the films I listed above played widely.

She does, especially as the A*List films are "free" ($20 a month to see 12 films.)

The cretins at Cinemark came up with this policy without creating a way to check bags. No choice, you have a bag, you can't come in.

 

I watch some shows, and mention them. But the thing is, to see all that great TV, we'd have to pay more than she pays to see the movies. We'd have to have subscriptions to:

• NetFlix
• HBO Now
• Amazon Prime
• Hulu

 

Wow, what a list.

I say this as I would have trouble finding 5 movies a year I feel are worth watching. My daughter talked me into watching "The Avengers - Infinity War." I felt like I truly wasted 2 hours. What a crappy movie. She got mad at me for expressing my opinion, but I couldn't one redeeming quality in that one.

 

Chris, has your wife considered taking up macrame...?

 

I'm sure her relationship with Chris Hemsworth is deep and meaningful, but they've never met.

 

Look at my answer to Townsend above. Loads of great films, intended for grown-ups, come and go to the theaters in a week. In any given week, I could come up with three films playing in a theater in any city, that you are likely to enjoy.

 

We both love to see films in the theater. During the week and two weekends I was home, I saw 16 films.

 

So do I, but, occasionally I have to leave the auditorium to at least vent myself...