My stepdaughter has been wanting to watch the National Treasure films for weeks. (I'm ashamed to admit that I actually looked to see if perhaps they were nominated for some minor technical Oscar.) She doesn't quite understand that we have to wait until March to watch them.

Speaking of waiting, let's have a special Leap Day Challenge starting at dusk tomorrow until dusk the next day when Action starts.

We just need to decide the genre/subject matter.

Drive-In Challenge is officially up.

If any of you haven't seen the video Jadzia did about DVDTalk, you should check it out. She does a great job at explaining why this little forum can be become important to some of us. Selfishly disappointing that Challenges aren't mentioned, but she puts into words what I've tried and failed to explain to friends and family many times.

Thread about it here.

Don't we need a Historical thread started up soon? Little over a week until it starts.

I was wondering the same thing. Is MinLShaw hosting it again?

MinLShaw has been sorting through other priorities in his life and usually only posts in the Comic Book forum, so I'm guessing he won't be able to host. I miss him.

so who's picking up the slack then for the Historical themed challenge ??

If there's nobody willing, I'll do it but I'm a mean, drunken, old bastard, so there's that to consider. If anyone hates the fact that westerns were allowed in the past, you better step up because that's what I plan to start out watching, so those would be still allowed.

The more westerns the better...hoo-rah!

I'd be fine with Mister Peepers if MLS is unavailable since MP runs a good challenge. I might be able to serve as well, but I haven't run one before and I like Westerns too so no gain there.

I'm down with westerns and plan to catch up on them. I'm down with MP doing it as well. Motioned passed?

Unless davidh777 wants to give it a shot. I don't have any problem with that. It's always good to have more backups when one of us gets hit by a bus.

I vote for MP hosting it as well if MLS can't host it.

On my phone not with my links, but has anyone contacted ML yet? And correct my memory, but wasn't there a different initial host? We should give them both (?) a PM or email.

Looking back, it was MinLShaw's Challenge, but something came up and he couldn't run it the first year, so caligulathegod stepped in and ran it. MinLShaw ran it last year.

I think MLS started the first year but caligula finished it.

beaten by another dimension

And whoever runs it had *better* allow westerns! I've been saving them all year in anticipation! I'd hate to have to track 'em down and call 'em out for excluding them...

Forgive my ignorance, but - why wouldn't westerns count? Was this a source of controversy last year and I missed it? Wasn't the challenge initially conceived as a western/war challenge that eventually evolved into the more expansive history challenge?

While they take place in the past, they aren't necessarily based on actual history. Django comes to mind but you might have someone try to squeeze in something like Cowboys & Aliens or Back To The Future III. I just plan on watching things that James Stewart and John Wayne would be in.

Same thing comes up with WWII, where you have movies that take place during it but they never actually happened.

And that's true of 90% of westerns, so that eliminates quite a lot. Can't we at least keep any western that has an actual historical character in it, even if it's otherwise fictional? E.g., Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickok, Kit Carson, Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, Cole Younger, the Dalton Bros., the Doolin gang, Jim Bowie, etc., etc., etc.

I'd rather keep all westerns but participants should use judgement with what they watch. No Jonah Hex. If it's something like that and someone feels it's borderline, just pick something else that for sure would count.

Reports of my not keeping up with things...well, to be honest, they haven't been exaggerated at all. I'm happy to host again this year, but I'm afraid I've really dropped the ball on running a discussion thread. I'll look through last year's discussion thread to refresh myself about any suggestions/requests for changes.

There; I've just started the discussion thread: "Verily, Behold! The Third Annual Historical Appreciation Challenge Be Upon Us!" I look forward to your ideas, and more importantly I look forward to finally seeing Saving Private Ryan. (I mean it this time!)

Thanks, and welcome back, MinLShaw! Glad your schedule will allow you to spend some time on this next month.

Awesome! Welcome back into the thick of it. I look forward to participating.