A man who lost his job during the coronavirus pandemic managed to watch over 1,000 films in a year.
Film buff Phil Watts, 47, revealed that he watched an astonishing 1,028 films throughout 2021 - equating to seven movies a day. He set himself the goal after losing his job in January 2021 due to the pandemic and by December 15, he managed to watch 1,000 films, topping off with Gone With the Wind.
By the end of the year, Phil managed to watch 28 films over his personal goal while watching "everything from Zulu to Alien". After the long film binge, he ranked Cinema Paradiso as his favourite movie, Wales Online reports.
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"When most kids were out playing football with their dads, I was watching a movie with mine," Phil said. "Everyone has a different passion, and mine is sitting down and being transported to a different place for a couple of hours.
""It could be down to the bottom of the ocean of up into space, that's what films can do. I like to watch things people haven't heard of before and found myself digging up things from way in the past - if it's a movie, I'll enjoy it.
"Towards the end I did get a bit tired of watching films but I kept going because I knew I was so close. People with a passion push themselves and that's what it was like for me, like running a marathon - I kept going even when it was challenging."
Phil's life has always revolved around films after his father Roger, a former cinema projectionist, used to watch films with him before he tragically passed away from cancer three years ago at the age of 53. He recalled his oldest memory of watching Star Wars with his father in a home cinema built in the garage.
Phil said: "He was my best mate, and we worked together a lot as well as watching films. We would sit down and talk about each film and about how it was made."
In 1992, the father-son duo set up Aarchive which converts old films on video onto digital such as DVD and USB. To this day, Phill still runs Aarchive while working retail jobs to support his income.
However, he lost his job in a haberdashery due to the impact from Covid and found himself with a lot more spare time. By March, he realised he has seen hundreds of films, prompting him to set the 1,000 target. By the end of the massive movie marathon, Phill admitted he had become somewhat fatigued.
"I'm not a marathon runner - I get tired running a bath - but for me this was pushing myself to complete it in the way runners do. I was quite determined and wasn't going to give up.
"It was a challenge some days but if you have the passion you can do it."
To read Phil's writing under the username 'Not George Lucas', visit: https://www.lastmovieoutpost.com/?fbclid=IwAR1khm0qDU-bAOK5w9fMtqXjmOnWXHgxrCdKmqbdrh1httfSflhSQwLvfNs
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