Popular movies I might have seen

Popular movies I might have seen

This morning I stumbled upon this fantastic post by Marco Arment titled "Popular movies I haven’t seen in the last 15 years" where the first paragraph reads:

Whenever anyone asks me about a popular movie, they’re flabbergasted that I haven’t seen it. You’d think they’d learn to just assume I’ve seen nothing, but they haven’t yet.

My first thought was something like "Wow, really? There have been a lot of good movies in the last 15 years." and although I've absolutely noticed that I'm watching less and less movies I was kind of shocked when I scrolled through the list and counted.

TLDR: I don't watch many mainstream movies. For the definition of mainstream that reads "Academy Award Best Picture nominees and top 10 highest-grossing films". So thanks Marco and I hope he doesn't mind that I copy his list verbatim.

Key: Seen it, Haven’t seen it

2000

  • Gladiator
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • Traffic
  • Mission: Impossible II
  • X-Men
  • What Women Want
  • Meet the Parents
  • Chocolat
  • Erin Brockovich
  • Cast Away
  • Dinosaur
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  • The Perfect Storm
  • What Lies Beneath

2001

  • Monsters, Inc.
  • Ocean’s Eleven
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Moulin Rouge
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
  • Shrek
  • The Mummy Returns
  • A Beautiful Mind
  • Gosford Park
  • In the Bedroom
  • Pearl Harbor
  • Jurassic Park III
  • Planet of the Apes
  • Hannibal

2002

  • Spider-Man
  • Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
  • Men in Black II
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • Ice Age
  • Die Another Day
  • Minority Report
  • Chicago
  • Gangs of New York
  • The Hours
  • The Pianist
  • Signs
  • My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2003

  • Finding Nemo
  • The Matrix Reloaded
  • The Matrix Revolutions
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • X2
  • Lost in Translation
  • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
  • Mystic River
  • Seabiscuit
  • Bruce Almighty
  • The Last Samurai
  • Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
  • Bad Boys II

2004

  • Shrek 2
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • The Incredibles
  • Ocean’s Twelve
  • Million Dollar Baby
  • The Aviator
  • Finding Neverland
  • Ray
  • Sideways
  • Spider-Man 2
  • The Passion of the Christ
  • The Day After Tomorrow
  • Meet the Fockers
  • Troy
  • Shark Tale

2005

  • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  • Madagascar
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • Batman Begins
  • Crash
  • Brokeback Mountain
  • Capote
  • Good Night, and Good Luck
  • Munich
  • War of the Worlds
  • King Kong
  • Mr. and Mrs. Smith
  • Hitch

2006

  • The Departed
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
  • Ice Age: The Meltdown
  • X-Men: The Last Stand
  • Little Miss Sunshine
  • Casino Royale
  • Cars
  • Babel
  • Letters from Iwo Jima
  • The Queen
  • The Da Vinci Code
  • Night at the Museum
  • Mission: Impossible III
  • Superman Returns
  • Happy Feet

2007

  • Ratatouille
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  • Transformers
  • The Simpsons Movie
  • 300
  • No Country for Old Men
  • Juno
  • I Am Legend
  • Atonement
  • Michael Clayton
  • There Will Be Blood
  • Spider-Man 3
  • Shrek the Third
  • National Treasure: Book of Secrets

2008

  • The Dark Knight
  • Iron Man
  • Quantum of Solace
  • WALL-E
  • Slumdog Millionaire
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Frost/Nixon
  • Milk
  • The Reader
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  • Kung Fu Panda
  • Hancock
  • Mamma Mia!
  • Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2009

  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Avatar
  • The Blind Side
  • District 9
  • An Education
  • Precious
  • A Serious Man
  • Up
  • Up in the Air
  • Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  • 2012
  • The Twilight Saga: New Moon
  • Sherlock Holmes
  • Angels & Demons
  • The Hangover

2010

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
  • Iron Man 2
  • Despicable Me
  • How to Train Your Dragon
  • The Social Network
  • Toy Story 3
  • The Kings’ Speech
  • 127 Hours
  • Black Swan
  • The Fighter
  • Inception
  • The Kids Are All Right
  • True Grit
  • Winter’s Bone
  • Shrek Forever After
  • The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
  • Tangled

2011

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • The Artist
  • The Descendants
  • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
  • The Help
  • Hugo
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Moneyball
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1
  • Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
  • Kung Fu Panda 2
  • Fast Five
  • The Hangover Part II
  • The Smurfs
  • Cars 2

2012

  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Les Misérables
  • The Avengers
  • The Dark Knight Rises
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • The Hunger Games
  • Skyfall
  • Argo
  • Amour
  • Django Unchained
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Zero Dark Thirty
  • Ice Age: Continental Drift
  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
  • The Amazing Spider-Man
  • Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
  • Men in Black 3

2013

  • Iron Man 3
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
  • Thor: The Dark World
  • Monsters University
  • 12 Years a Slave
  • American Hustle
  • Captain Phillips
  • Dallas Buyers Club
  • Gravity
  • Her
  • Nebraska
  • Philomena
  • The Wolf of Wall Street
  • Frozen
  • Despicable Me 2
  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
  • Fast & Furious 6
  • Man of Steel

2014

  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Birdman
  • American Sniper
  • Boyhood
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • The Imitation Game
  • Selma
  • The Theory of Everything
  • Whiplash
  • Transformers: Age of Extinction
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Maleficent
  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  • Interstellar

For the record: He has watched 33, I have 65 out of 234 (if I counted correctly). I find my numbers quite interesting, although misleading. If I subtract the 12 Marvel movies, 8 Harry Potter movies and 5 Tolkien movies, there goes a good third.