Today is April Fools’ Day, and many blogs will be publishing “prank” posts, but I’ve decided to go the no-jokes way this year and kick off the new month with the usual wrap-up of what I’ve watched in the past 31 days. March was kind of a low viewing month for me (or, lower than usual) but I still managed to get in some really interesting viewings. Here are the stats and titles for March!

New-to-me viewings: 13

Re-watches: 9

TOTAL FOR MARCH: 22

TOTAL FOR 2016, SO FAR: 78

The new-to-me list:

  • Dangerous (1935)
  • The Girl from Missouri (1934)
  • Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
  • Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
  • Under Eighteen (1932)
  • The Magic of Audrey (2011)
  • Murder, He Says (1945)
  • Fog Over Frisco (1934)
  • The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
  • Coquette (1929)
  • My Big, Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016)
  • Kisses for Breakfast (1941)
  • Berlin Express (1948)

Tiny, tiny list this month, but with lots of cool titles from the ’30s and ’40s, plus a documentary about Audrey Hepburn. I’m having real writer’s block on my Coquette review but you should see reviews of the rest of these films (minus the 2016 titles) throughout April.

Re-watched:

  • How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
  • Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)
  • Walk, Don’t Run (1966)
  • The More the Merrier (1943)
  • Pearl Harbor (2001)
  • Idiocracy (2006)
  • Vicacious Lady (1938)
  • She’s the Man (2006)
  • The Wedding Planner (2001)

As you can probably tell from some of these re-watches I had a couple of movie nights with my sister this month! Sometimes you just need to hang out with your sister and watch cheesy movies from your childhood and eat Fig Newmans. I also got in several classic re-watches for upcoming blog posts.

Viewing methods:

  • At the cinema – 2
  • DVR: Decades – 1
  • DVR: TCM – 4
  • From my collection – 5
  • From my sister’s collection – 2
  • Warner Archive Instant – 1
  • WatchTCM – 7

A big month for WatchTCM, back on top as my most-used viewing method! I also watched a handful of TCM titles on the DVR, slowly making a dent in my backlog of recordings from the network. Only two theater trips this month, though there are still several movies released in March that I hope to catch before they leave the big screen.

By decade:

  • 1910s – 0
  • 1920s – 1
  • 1930s – 7
  • 1940s – 5
  • 1950s – 0
  • 1960s – 1
  • 1970s – 0
  • 1980s – 0
  • 1990s – 0
  • 2000s – 5
  • 2010s – 3

The 1930s reign supreme this month with seven viewings. The 1940s and 2000s are not far behind at five viewings each (the more recent decade thanks to those aforementioned movie nights with my sister).

The month in blogging:

While viewing was lower than average this month, it was a very good month on the blog, with a lot of features and a little bit of survey-making.

I opened the floor to you folks to share your opinions with a reader survey, resulting in some surprising admissions (apparently everyone loves the “One year, one film” series!) and a few small changes to the blog schedule. All of the announcements and survey results can be found in March’s State of the Blog.

TMP took part in one blogathon in March, contributing a review of My Favorite Brunette to The Dot Blogathon, celebrating the talent and career of Dorothy Lamour.

The “One year, one film” series hit the mid-1950s with The Desperate Hours and Forbidden Planet. “Mill Creek Musings” picked back up with two reviews this month, Palooka (1934) and The Duke is Tops (1938), both appearing in the 50 Classic Musicals box set. “Second Looks” also had a new installment: re-examining Errol and Olivia’s adventures in Robin Hood.

I revisited my “dealbreakers” and “buzzwords” from the first year of the blog to see how my viewing habits and biases have changed in the past four years.

I shared some lovey-dovey classic film recommendations for fans of The Bachelor, to pass the time between seasons.

And, finally, a few random features: I had a great time exploring the soundtrack of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World with a post titled “Seeking a Friend and the Apocalyptic Tunes of the Midcentury.” (Good movie, even better soundtrack!) From my vintage book/magazine collection, I shared a few examples of the “style personalities” of classic actresses according to a 1956 book on fashion and hairstyling. Earlier in the month, after publishing my review of Swing High, Swing Low, I realized I had reviewed all of Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray’s films together and decided to rank them from best to worst (in my book).

There you have it — March in movies and rambles! I hope you all had a great viewing month, and here’s to a wonderful April!