It is time yet again in our long year to review the previous year's movie watching! I make no amends for how much my watching has slipped off the past couple years. Fatherhood and my new interest in Warhammer 40k has really done it in for me. So much so that I think after 11 years of doing this it's time to hang this up. It will be really nice not having to frantically write down everything I see all the time. Not saying this will go away forever but for now this slice of Norwegian Morning Wood is done. So let's update the all-time stats!
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | TOTAL |
| Total movies | 198 | 220 | 224 | 249 | 200 | 182 | 181 | 202 | 171 | 123 | 73 | 2023 |
| First-time viewings | n/a | 117 | 133 | 157 | 131 | 110 | 111 | 154 | 102 | 81 | 52 | 1148 |
| First-time viewing % | n/a | 53% | 59% | 63% | 66% | 60% | 61% | 76% | 60% | 66% | 71% | 63% |
| Streaming | n/a | 55 | 81 | 157 | 118 | 133 | 134 | 160 | 133 | 110 | 67 | 1148 |
| Streaming % | n/a | 25% | 36% | 63% | 59% | 73% | 74% | 79% | 78% | 89% | 92% | 63% |
| TV | 86 | 84 | 55 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 278 |
| TV % | 43% | 38% | 25% | 4% | 4% | 2% | 6% | 1% | 4% | 7% | 4% | 14% |
| Theater | 10 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 86 |
| Theater % | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 1% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 2% | 4% | 4% |
| DVD | n/a | 70 | 75 | 64 | 63 | 39 | 29 | 23 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 379 |
| DVD % | n/a | 32% | 33% | 26% | 32% | 21% | 16% | 11% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 21% |
Note that because I did not write down First-time viewings not did I denote between Netflix and Netflix DVD in my first year, when I totaled those percentages I took that year out.
Obviously watching literally one hundred less movies than two years ago is going to make a big impact, but I'm actually shocked that my percentages stayed perfectly in line. I did push first-time viewings this year (quite frankly I can't believe that I was still nearly a third repeat viewings, but those were mostly Holiday favorites, movies on TV, and movies when hanging out with friends. It's funny how it adds up.
It really is just a coincidence that first-time viewings and streaming viewings are somehow exactly identical. In a few more years those averages would balance out. It's hard to think about ten years ago in 2016 only 25% of movies were streaming. I can see us hanging around that 90% mark, there is just always going to be a handful of films on TV, DVD, or uh...the THEATER that I'll watch.
On that note, for some reason I've never added movies watched on DVD, or maybe more accurately, on disk that I've seen in this grand tally. No big surprise, steady decline and then goose eggs the last two years. That has everything to do with Netflix DVD shuttering.
A few things here - obviously we know TV and DVD movies have declined. But Theater percentages, even if it's small, have been really steady (with the exception of 2020 of course). I am convinced that my habits, even if they are likely way more than the normal human, are representative of normal humans. And that is simply to say that I watch movies on streaming 13 times more than in Theater so why are we caring about the theater at all? I would argue that the theater is assuredly the better movie watching experience, it's communal, the picture is solid, you get the sense of going out, but you just can't beat the convenience, selection, and freedom of streaming at home. With wee kids I will start and stop a movie three or four times across a week to get it in. That's not perfect but it is a way to succeed at this life.
There is however one more bit we can read - my repeat viewings have gone way downhill but so have my TV viewings. This is no coincidence. Also we continually talk about how movies aren't memorable these days and don't have cultural staying power. I really think watching a bunch of these over and over again on TV had a big thing to do with all that!
Alright, let's get to 2025. First, our breakdown by medium:
| HBO Max | 22 | 30.1% |
| Amazon Prime | 12 | 16.4% |
| Netflix | 11 | 15.1% |
| Hulu | 5 | 6.8% |
| YouTube | 5 | 6.8% |
| Other Streaming | 4 | 5.5% |
| TV | 3 | 4.1% |
| Theater | 3 | 4.1% |
| Tubi | 3 | 4.1% |
| Planes | 2 | 2.7% |
| Paramount+ | 1 | 1.4% |
| Disney+ | 1 | 1.4% |
| Apple TV+ | 1 | 1.4% |
| | 0.0% |
| | |
| Total Streaming: | 67 | 91.8% |
HBO Max wins it! It's been a couple years but I'm glad it's back on top. They really do seem to get all the great movies. On the other end, Peacock is literally zero, and the other services don't really offer much. Hulu had a big drop, but their bag just seems like TV anyway. But we have gotten to the point where why does Paramount+ even exist? It has had many, MANY years to improve and it just hasn't. I really felt like I was watching a ton of Prime movies this year, and I was, but it is just above Netflix. It really is a great location for boffo weird old movies and that's really cool.
| 1940s | 1 | 1.4% |
| 1960s | 1 | 1.4% |
| 1970s | 3 | 4.2% |
| 1980s | 5 | 6.9% |
| 1990s | 11 | 15.1% |
| 2000s | 5 | 6.9% |
| 2010s | 8 | 11.1% |
| 2020s | 39 | 54.2% |
| 2024 | 11 | 15.3% |
| 2025 | 24 | 33.3% |
There is definitely shenanigans going on here! How did I watch only five movies from the 2000s (three of which were Final Destination movies?!) and more from the 90s than the 2010s? And of both decades the only first fime viewing was Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) which I literally watched at 10 pm on New Year's Eve (no, I did not know that stat going into it!). I might be in a zone where those decades have been pretty thoroughly examined by both living through them and blogging about them, but the 80s and 90s still have a lot of gems I haven't uncovered. The past twenty five years are more comfort food right now I suppose. Or it's just really skewed because I only watched 72 movies and this would have been balanced had I hit 200+.
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | AVERAGE |
| January | 19 | 17 | 23 | 16 | 22 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| February | 11 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 13 |
| March | 15 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 27 | 16 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 15 |
| April | 15 | 23 | 15 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 13 | 12 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 16 |
| May | 15 | 17 | 22 | 13 | 19 | 22 | 29 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 17 |
| June | 20 | 16 | 25 | 8 | 18 | 19 | 24 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| July | 16 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 14 |
| August | 12 | 14 | 18 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 14 | 17 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 15 |
| September | 10 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| October | 14 | 20 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 24 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 16 |
| November | 12 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
| December | 22 | 21 | 20 | 28 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 16 | 20 | 10 | 11 | 19 |
I still don't know that there's that much value in tracking months. But yeesh, just look at my 2025. November almost escaped without me seeing anything, until Franksgiving. Some of these are still double digit respectable, but barely. I still don't know if there's a lot of rhyme and reason here. February is down until it's not in 2020, same with September until it's not in 2019. May trended down the past three years but also had my biggest month ever in 2021.
So that's it! I have watched 2022 movies in the past 11 years, which is an average of about 183 per year, so every other day. Not too bad. I do fear my stats will just get worse and worse so time to go out when I'm slightly caving.
In general though, I really liked the films I saw in 2025! Here are my top picks for movies I saw for the first time:
| The White Buffalo | 1977 |
| Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | 1991 |
| Matinee | 1993 |
| The Long Kiss Goodnight | 1996 |
| Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai | 1999 |
| Psycho Goreman | 2021 |
None of these are good but they're all weird and interesting! The White Buffalo may have the most accurate old timey western dialogue I've ever heard in a film. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man is just an absolute trip. Matinee is actually good and compelling, a fun family film. I knew going in that The Long Kiss Goodnight has gotten a bad rap for no reason and I did enjoy it. Ghost Dog is this meld of everything and Psycho Goreman is just fun for the whole family.
Good night!
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