The 3rd Annual Academy Award Movie Challenge (1/22 - 2/22)

[HyperWeather]

Ugh I'm way behind in this, I was busy last week then to top it off got the flu, and couldn't get myself to focus on anything... hopefully I can start back up tomorrow.

I've been trying to do the checklist and all of the categories are pretty easy to find something for except for Best Documentary (Short Subject), can someone point me in the direction of a disc I could rent with a winner on it, or maybe something online?

[popcorn]

I've seen the 2002 winner, Twin Towers at Barnes & Noble. Netflix has it too.

[HyperWeather]

Originally Posted by popcorn

I've seen the 2002 winner, Twin Towers at Barnes & Noble. Netflix has it too.

Ha of course.. I searched for them other places but didn't even think about the fact they might have their own dvd release.. anyways.. thank you, that was the one I had actually searched for the most

[CardiffGiant]

For the checklist, with the "watch a film winner from each decade" category are we talking Best Picture winners from each decade or just films that won "anything" from each decade?

I'm having fun doing this challenge as it has made me explore some of those lesser watched (short film, mainly) categories.

[lisadoris]

I'm done - woo hoo!

I was going to try and find a movie from the 1920s to complete the checklist but my Blockbuster doesn't carry Sunrise or The Jazz Singer so that category will remain blank unless I can track down a copy between now and Sunday.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by lisadoris

I'm done - woo hoo!

I was going to try and find a movie from the 1920s to complete the checklist but my Blockbuster doesn't carry Sunrise or The Jazz Singer so that category will remain blank unless I can track down a copy between now and Sunday.

Congrats! There may be other 1920s films at Blockbuster. I forget if the checklist is for just Best Picture winners or all winners. But Best Picture winners would give you three choices (Jazz Singer not one of them btw), and all winners would give you 40 or so choices. Google video may even have one or more online, and Netflix instant streaming if you want to sign up for a free trial.

[QuirkyMovieGirl]

This is the first challenge I've participated in and I think I officially suck at it. I haven't watched anything for it since the 7th because I've chosen to watch ungodly amounts of television instead.

At first I thought I'd aim for 50 but now I'm gonna aim lower and will be glad to get to 30 by the end of the challenge...

[Corey31]

Originally Posted by QuirkyMovieGirl

This is the first challenge I've participated in and I think I officially suck at it. I haven't watched anything for it since the 7th because I've chosen to watch ungodly amounts of television instead.

At first I thought I'd aim for 50 but now I'm gonna aim lower and will be glad to get to 30 by the end of the challenge...

Hey, that would still beat me. I set a very conservative goal of 20 and so far I have only reached 15 . Still I'm hoping I can fit in 4 movies this weekend to reach the goal (I am half way through Platoon right now) and I'm happy that I got through some classics that I really needed to see (Godfather Trilogy, Indy Trilogy, etc.)

[smashthesymbols]

Originally Posted by Corey31

Hey, that would still beat me. I set a very conservative goal of 20 and so far I have only reached 15 . Still I'm hoping I can fit in 4 movies this weekend to reach the goal (I am half way through Platoon right now) and I'm happy that I got through some classics that I really needed to see (Godfather Trilogy, Indy Trilogy, etc.)

Same situation here. Goal at 20, only to 15 so far. I may try to make 20, but I don't know if it will happen at this point.

For whatever reason I burned out quick on this challenge. It's just not as fun as others. I think that's mostly because of the length of the movies and the content of the movies. Let's face it, it's a lot easier and a lot more fun to watch cheesy horror movies day after day than it is to watch three hour epics day after day.

[Jeffy Pop]

I disagree. I think the challenge is a blast, and for me, the best part is the variety of films you can choose from. Three hour epics are great, but so are ten-minute shorts. I watched Spirited Away last night. Tonight I'm going to finish All the President's Men. I love all the different challenges, but this one has become my favorite over the last couple of years.

[Trevor]

I'll agree with our metallic-covered corn snack. The depth and variety offered in this challenge blows away all the other challenges. That said, I don't have a clear favorite, and all these challenges are "perfect" for my OCD. That said, I'm fighting my OCD and making a conscious decision to scale back on these challenges . My first time in each challenge I go crazy and watch 7 or more hours per day, and spend hours on the formatting and stat-gathering. But by the 2nd time into each challenge I'm scaled back to avoiding the "checklist" and only watching a couple hours per day.
/end personal reflection

[smashthesymbols]

I should add that I came into this challenge wanting to stick to big winners, particularly watching best pictures I had never seen. That limits the variety a bit, and it seems like all the best pictures are at least two hours long.

Next year I'm going to have to find a different way to approach this challenge.

[Trevor]

You're right there smash. I just finished watching all 82 best picture winners and one thing they all seemed to have in common was length. They seemed to average closer to 3 hours than 2. And the best picture winners didn't vary in type quite as much as I would have liked, but more than I expected. While dominated by dramas and historical bio pics, there were occasional surprises.

I'm finding a lot more variety in the shorts.

[smashthesymbols]

I don't suppose anyone knows a place online to watch La Maison en Petits Cubes? It's the only animated short for this year I can't find online.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by smashthesymbols

I don't suppose anyone knows a place online to watch La Maison en Petits Cubes? It's the only animated short for this year I can't find online.

I briefly toyed with the idea of tracking down and watching every short winner, even from the renamed/retired/merged categories. But there seem to be dozens that are not easily found online.

I ended up watching over 100 shorts, and was surprised at how much quality I found in them, with the expected variety. I think that may become my next collector's quest, collecting these little treasures.

[popcorn]

This was fun! For my first try I watched 85 films, 33 for the first time. I look forward to future challenges.

[Darth Maher]

I'm pathetic. I watched 2-1/2 movies... and all were nominated for music. The fact they counted at all for this challenge was just a mere coincidence.

I was at the Blackhawks game last night so I missed the Oscars too. I DVR'd it though so I'll try and watch some it this week. Of course by the time I'm done watching all of it, the water cooler talk will have subsided.

[smashthesymbols]

Originally Posted by Trevor

I briefly toyed with the idea of tracking down and watching every short winner, even from the renamed/retired/merged categories. But there seem to be dozens that are not easily found online.

I ended up watching over 100 shorts, and was surprised at how much quality I found in them, with the expected variety. I think that may become my next collector's quest, collecting these little treasures.

I watched the other four animated shorts for this year and I was surprised too. I've never paid much attention to the short categories, but I actually found three of the four to be enjoyable. The only one I didn't care for was Lavatory - Lovestory.

I don't think I'd ever tackle every single short, but I may try to find more of the animated ones for next year.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by smashthesymbols

I watched the other four animated shorts for this year and I was surprised too. I've never paid much attention to the short categories, but I actually found three of the four to be enjoyable. The only one I didn't care for was Lavatory - Lovestory.

I don't think I'd ever tackle every single short, but I may try to find more of the animated ones for next year.

I've been loving the shorts that TCM has been airing. As for the animated nominees for this year, I actually liked Lavatory - Lovestory, I didn't care for the winner.

[Corey31]

Also, for next year if anyone in Canada is participating and wants to watch the shorts, a channel called Movieola airs a block of 3 hours with nothing but Academy Award Nominated/Winning shorts. They aired it 5 or 6 times over the weekend. Most of them were from the 2000s though so you could probably find them online or on iTunes also.

[LBCrazyFool]

I didn't even really try this year. Just too many other things going on. I should fare better next year as I will give my newly purchased Blu-ray player a workout.

[The Monkees]

I never really try on this one, but I finished with an okay number.

[SethDLH]

I set a goal of 10, ended up with 7. I watched or planned on watching a couple that I thought were nominated (Zodiac, Seven Samurai) but weren't. I didn't put too much effort into the challenge so I'm satisfied with my total.

[Chad]

Well, I ended up with 40, which is slightly better than last year. Ironically all the unwatched TCM recordings are flooding my TiVo and knocking off the movies from the Holiday challenge that were never viewed - the difference being I'll probably actually watch these ...eventually.

[Trevor]

Looks like I once again proved that I have no life. In my defense, the numbers aren't as bad as they look, as most of my 211+ were shorts. It worked out to about 6.4 hours per day. The winner of the horror challenge watched more than double that. In fact, my time in this challenge would have only netted me about 30th place in the horror challenge. Now that's scary.