A calendar of movies

When I choose one of those page-a-day books to accompany me through a year, they are usually devotional or inspirational in nature, but my 2023 book was different: A Year of Movies (2016) by Ivan Walters.

So many of the movies we watch include scenes that occur on a particular date. Groundhog Day is obvious. So is Tora! Tora! Tora! (about the bombing of Pearl Harbor). And Gettysburg. Other films aren't usually associated with particular days of the year, but Walters gives us a movie for each date on the calendar. Actually he gives us two, for on each day there is an alternate film. If you'e already seen Groundhog Day, you might want to watch Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story on Feb. 2.

Each entry includes a synopsis of the film, as well as the cast, director, running time and a brief review suggesting whether the movie is worth watching or not.  Walters also tells us exactly the point in the movie where the date applies. In some cases, the date is never mentioned in the movie but is revealed in the book upon which the film was based or in some historical record.

All of this sounds much more interesting than it actually is. Walters clearly went through a lot of trouble to put all this together, but was it really worth it? Who really cares that a scene in The Terminator took place on May 12?

I tell myself I devoted just two minutes a day to the book, which is reassuring until I multiply that by 365.