Movie Count 2014 (only in theaters!)

I saw 209 movies in various Chicago (and non-Chicago) movie theaters in 2014. I thought the number would fill me with pride. It does not. I sometimes feel like that comic-book collecting Simpsons character who, just before being atomized by a nuclear bomb, cries out, “Oh, I’ve wasted my life!”

At any rate, it’s a personal record for me. And that’s even with December being so busy that I could only find time for 11 movies (yeah—I KNOW what I sound like!). And it could be worse—it could’ve been 209 movies watched at home on Netflix in my Mom’s house (sorry, Mom).

So, how did...