MOSTLYFILM: Mostly Farewell

Thelma: OK, then, listen. Let's not get caught.
Louise: What are you talkin' about?
Thelma: Let's keep going!
Louise: What d'you mean?
Thelma: Go. [she nods ahead of them]
Louise: You sure?
Thelma: Yeah. Yeah.

After a wee false start a few weeks ago, we're finally driving MostlyFilm off the cliff edge as promised. And guess who's behind the steering wheel?

Yes, I know, it's the hoariest sitcom cliche there is. A character repeatedly says they are never, ever going to do a thing: smash cut to them actually doing the thing. In the various bits of MostlyFilm backup material I've published on this site over the last seven years, I've frequently acknowledged the gruelling work put in by the people who've volunteered to edit the site, and insisted that it was something I'd never want to do. Smash cut to me editing the final week of posts before we close it down.

Having spent the last month or so pulling this final tranche of content together, my respect for my editorial predecessors has grown even more. If you're not careful, it's a job that can easily eat up every spare minute of your day: I've been lucky in that my stint as editor has been fairly limited, as opposed to the three-to-six-month tours that have been common. But all the usual contributors seem to be onboard with the idea of a final high-intensity blast of material, and we've got plenty to share with you over the next week or so.

So, a quick breakdown of what's going to be happening. The whole shebang actually started yesterday, on the seventh anniversary of the Guardian talkboard shutdown, the event which ultimately inspired the creation of MostlyFilm: Mostly Farewell is CaulorLime's lovely overview of our history in general and the final week in particular. That week is going to involve two new posts every day, half of which will come under the banner title Seven Of Seven. Each day, we'll take one of our areas of expertise – films, TV, music, ignorance of foreign languages – and pick out seven great examples of them from the seven years of our existence.

Alongside these posts, we'll also have final appearances from a few old favourites. Two large-scale media franchises are winding down at around the same time as we are - the Fifty Shades movie series, and the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who - and it would seem rude not to allow our regular reviewers to give them one final kicking. Meanwhile, the one member of our team who actually makes films people pay money to see will be introducing his latest documentary, and we'll also be revealing the results of our talkboard's Best Films Of 2017 poll. Our choice of film of the year will blow your etc.

Obviously, this is the month where a few other people announce their own choices of films of the year. So over the coming weekend, we'll going into our home stretch with a series of posts covering the Oscars, culminating in our traditional epic liveblog of the awards ceremony itself on the night of Sunday 4th - Monday 5th March. We'll take a day off to catch up on some sleep, post a small epilogue on Tuesday March 6th, and then that'll be the end of MostlyFilm.

It’s been a good seven years, but we don’t intend to leave quietly. We have a month’s worth of content ready for you on mostlyfilm.com, and we’re going to be hurling it at you in the space of just over a week. Ladies; gentlemen; start your engines.