5,000 Films

31 December 2020

In 2007, I made a personal goal to see 10,000 different feature length films in my life. I still keep track of the films I see on a spreadsheet.

I've seen more than 5,000 because I saw many films before 2007, but I didn’t keep track of those films. I plan to re-watch many films from my youth and childhood to make them official.

Therefore, between January 2007 and Dec of 2020, I watched 5000 different feature length films (narrative and documentary). A narrative feature-length film is at least 70 minutes in runtime, and a documentary feature-length film is at least 40 minutes in runtime. About 95% of my film count is narrative and 5% are documentaries.

Through this journey, I've seen most of the Academy Award Best Pictures, many Criterion Collection films, hundreds of international films, films from every genre, films on numerous platforms, films from the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries, weird films, famous films, obscure films, terrible films, haunting films, tear jerkers, films I love re-watching, and many more. I love the visual artistic storytelling film brings to people. I love talking about film and hearing about other's thoughts on films. I love getting recommendations.

I traveled all over the world to see films in theaters. In my journey to 5,000, I've seen a film in a theater in every state in the United States of America except Alaska. I've seen films in theaters in France, Germany, and Canada. I can’t wait to see films in more countries and finish my goal of seeing a film in a theater in each state of the U.S.A.

This journey is not unique, and I join millions of people around the world who enjoy film. Some made their own film enjoyment goals. There was Ashish Sharma from Mathura, India who set a world record by continuously watching films for 120 hours. Maggie Correa-Aviles, from Puerto Rico, who in 2010, broke a world record by watching 1132 films in one calendar year. Last, but not least, there was Gwilym Hughes, from Gwynedd, Wales, who in 2008, held a Guinness World Record for sitting through over 28,000 films. I just found about them a few days ago, and I’m inspired by their journeys.

I thank friends, family, and people who joined me in this journey. I especially thank my wife, Amy, who is the best.