N8 Storm

It was a fun challenge. I was also able to complete the checklist and watched a nice variety of shows and movies.

Jerpuffs

This has been my first challenge and I had a lot of fun with it. I found this to be a great opportunity to catch up on my collection (i didn't) and see a lot of stuff for the first time.

Cardsfan111

I know I've mentioned this before, but one of the highlights to many of these challenges for me is seeing new folks join the forum and participate.

So a belated welcome, Jerpuffs! Hope you'll stick around.

cproaps

Another fun, but tiring month doing back to back challenges like that. Thanks again for hosting. For some reason I had all these random Fire Bomber songs stuck in my head today!

Michael Corvin

My first time too. I loved doing the checklist but had no delusions of watching 100 movies such a short amount of time. After doing it, I have to say there should have been a "Disney Afternoon" category.

I wish I had gotten to more of the gems in my Netflix queue but having two girls under 6, they kinda dictate the animation we watch.

Ash Ketchum

This was my first challenge, too, but chiefly because I have such a large amount of animation in my collection, so it was easy to do. I had planned to watch a large number of movies, but I wound up relying on shorts for much of the count, since my time was so curtailed that it was easier to set a goal of finishing a number of shorts before going to bed, or watching them at work when I had the chance than it was to concentrate on movies. And the movies I chose tended to be short ones (60-80 min.), which enabled me to pick up the count. (As a result I left things like the 133-minute PRINCESS MONONOKE off my viewing pile.)

I haven't had time to go through my list item by item, but I think roughly half of what I watched was first-time viewing. The major discoveries were Disney's wartime documentary, VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER (1943), a masterpiece of animation of combat scenes, and the recent anime videogame adaptation, HALO LEGENDS (2010), an epic sci-fi work that deserved a theatrical release, IMHO.

I continued my animation watching last night (Sept. 1), including a few more old Looney Tunes and Popeye cartoons, as well as finishing up the one anime series I came close to completing, "Rumbling Hearts," the last four eps. of which I watched last night (after stopping at ep. #10 on Tues. night). It's a romantic melodrama, maybe not for all tastes here, but I found it quite compelling.

jmsmath

I had a lot more fun with this challenge than I expected. Going into it, I really wasn't sure if I'd make it through the entire month, but I did with ease and found myself wishing I had a few more days.

I missed my modest goal of 50 by 2, but that's because I had to unexpectantly go out of town for work the last two days of the month. Even though I had my laptop, I just couldn't find the time to fit much in.

Anyway, thanks for hosting Mister Peepers and now to clean off my DVR before the horror challenge in October.

BobO'Link

I didn't watch many of the titles I had in mind. I'd meant to catch up on the LT Golden sets, Popeye, Top Cat, Batman TAS, etc. but just didn't have enought time...

I *did* use the challenge to burn through a set I didn't care for much ("Wait Till Your Father Gets Home"). It was better overall than my impression of the first few episodes I watched last year when I bought it, but it's not one I'll revisit much, if ever. It suffers from one of my pet peeves with animated product. I *hate* film/tv actors doing voice work on animation if they sound like themselves in the finished product. In my head I see them instead of the character on the screen which takes me out of the story. On "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home" I heard/saw Howard Cunnningham, *not* the dad of the series everytime he spoke (which is often).

I also watched my "Birdman and The Galaxy Trio" set. I found I that I'd never seen it growing up! In the back of my mind I keep thinking I *must* have seen it because I watched every episode of "Space Ghost" and most markets ran both titles. Apparently it never ran here or I just changed the channel. I really enjoyed it... not as much as I do "Space Ghost" but it's still very good.

Anyway, I did better than I thought I might and had a good time with it.

Now to wait for October and the Horror challenge... I've been saving Horror titles so I'll have more unwatched product for the month!

Thanks again Mr. Peepers!

davidh777

I've been on the forum for years but just discovered the challenges. I really enjoy the concept and the discussions, and I've been able to finally get some stuff off my unwatched pile. But my schedule doesn't allow for a lot of bulk watching and i'm sure I'll end up at the bottom of the list for the third time in a row. I know it's not about the numbers, but it's still demoralizing. Is it worth finishing at the bottom of the Criterion challenge just so I can finally watch The Wages of Fear and Rififi? Not sure...

But many thanks to the folks who run the challenges.

ororama

You're really asking if The Wages of Fear and Rififi are worth watching, davidh777, and my answer is yes. I haven't seen anyone belittling how much anyone else watched. I find the challenges that I participate in help me decide which unwatched DVDs to get to, and help me plan which movies I want to share with my family.

I've decided that I watched too many movies in last year's Horror Challenge. I'm going to try not to push myself to watch one more when I'm too tired in the future. I'm also watching the occasional film that doesn't fit the current challenge when I feel like it, rather than putting it off for a month or more.

This challenge led me to watch some great movies that have been on my shelf for a long time, and led me to discover one great movie that I had never heard of, Blood Tea and Red String. I also revisited Popeye, Betty Boop and Droopy. I wasn't planning on participating in this challenge about a month before it began, so I view my participation as very satisfying.

Thanks for organizing this challenge, Mister Peepers.

Travis McClain

I think it's encouraging that even established members have recently gotten into the challenges. Remember, these things are like golf: your final score might be compared with the other participants's final scores, but you're really competing against yourself. Check out my 2010 lists (links in signature) and you'll see I haven't hit 30 yet. Hell, when I could make my own challenge, I only managed to watch six things!

What makes the Criterion Challenge really nice is that it's the one challenge where cumulative quantity is de-emphasized. Like the collection itself, this challenge is entirely about quality--watching films held in high esteem. So you've only got two titles. Won't it be great to finally get those out of your unwatched pile? And this is the chance to not only make yourself (finally) watch them, but to catch like-minded people in the same state of mind with whom you can discuss the films on a level beyond "fail" or "ftw."

Also, if your schedule is the main discouraging factor, then I suggest that you make it a point just to watch the two discs you have in their entirety (every bonus feature, with commentary, etc.). Let's say you're worn out and just don't have it in you to watch a whole movie one night. Watch a featurette on the composer, or browse through a photo gallery instead. Feel free to stretch out your viewing. For that matter, you can just sit down and read through the booklet if you want and still make some progress.

My last suggestion is that you really explore the complete list of eligible titles. You'd be surprised how many movies you might actually own in non-Criterion editions that you could watch if you want to up your viewing count. I had no idea, but apparently Silverado had a Criterion release once upon a time on LaserDisc. It hasn't been part of their DVD library, but I'm gonna finally get around to watching the DVD that has gone unwatched since I so happily bought it on sale more than five years ago!

davidh777

I appreciate the support. I actually have tons of unwatched Criterions. Seven Samurai was one of the first DVDs I bought, but I haven't cracked the three-disc version. And I just ran across my sealed copy of The Third Man. I'd love to watch these again. The reason I specifically mentioned The Wages of Fear and Rififi is because they've been on my really-should-watch list for a while. I could throw Sanjuro and some others on there as well. Heck, I'd like to rewatch The Rock too. I guess I'll think about it some more.

Trevor

I've been largely offline for the last week or so, but mucho thanks to MP for running the Challenge and to everyone else for making it a fun month. I ended up sick in bed several days of August, so watched much more than I planned, and more TV seasons than I thought possible in a month. But I finally watched all of Futurama and absolutely loved it. Looking forward to finding the new shows now, glad it's back, and hope it's up to the quality of the first 4 seasons. I enjoyed all of the discussion and the list posts, and look forward to next August.

And welcome to the Challenges davidh777! I'm just echoing what others have said, but don't feel bad about personal numbers or think that you have to watch 100 to participate. Watching 1 is just as "good" as watching 300. It's just all about making this a community.

kstublen

If you haven't already, make sure you watch the four movies before you watch the new season.

Dimension X

I think I watched three Criterion movies last year. But that was two DVDs and an LD out of my unwatched pile, and that's all that really mattered to me at the end of the month.
I'm more or less just repeating what Trevor and MinLShaw said, but it's a good idea to remember that we're not all playing on a level playing field in these Challenges: Some participants are single, some are married, some have kids, some have jobs that allow them to watch movies at work, some work part-time, some are between jobs, some are still in school, some may be on vacation during that month, some may be home recovering from an illness or surgery, etc.

If you feel a need to compete, compete against yourself: Set a personal goal and shoot for that. If you're like me, the important thing is to move some stuff out of your unwatched pile, and watch a few new films or maybe a couple of old favorites.

BobO'Link

Have the final stats been listed? If so, I've totally missed that thread!

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

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The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/57...ts-thread.html