The Monkees

The 5th Annual Academy Award Movie Challenge

Official Rules

-ANY movie that has been NOMINATED or WON an Academy Award counts

-There is NO time limit, meaning it doesn't matter how long or short the item in question is, as long as it has been nominated or won an Academy Award

-You can watch a movie once then count it again if you watch the same film with a commentary

-There WILL BE a separate thread for LISTS ONLY created shortly before the challenge begins.

-You can count the actual Academy Awards Ceremony to be televised on Sunday February 27, 2011 as an entry if you'd like.

-As last year there will be a "In Memoriam" Wild Card option. You can select up to 10 films to watch featuring a celebrity that died during 2010. But only ONE movie per celebrity. For example: You can watch "Easy Rider" to honor Dennis Hopper but you cannot watch another Dennis Hopper movie unless another celebrity that died during 2010 is in it. If that makes sense... The celebrity has to have died in 2010.

-The challenge begins on Thursday January 27, 2011 at 12:00am CST and will end at 11:59pm on Sunday February 27, 2011

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, REMEMBER TO NUMBER YOUR LISTS

***LISTS THREAD***

Past Challenges

2010 Rules & Discussion Thread
2010 Lists Thread
2009 Rules & Discussion Thread
2009 Lists Thread
2008 Rules & Discussion Thread
2008 Lists Thread
2007 Rules & Discussion Thread
2007 Lists Thread

External Links

TCM's 31 Days of Oscar Schedule
Academy Award Database ---> To check if a movie has been nominated or won an Award
2010 In Memoriam List ---> To See Who Died During 2010

CardiffGiant

Looking forward to it. Thanks for putting this together again.

I completed the checklist last year, so I might pass on it this year, but I'm still undecided. I'm definitely looking forward to checking some more titles off my personal "never seen" list.

davidh777

Just jumped into challenges in 2009 so I'm going to try this one as well, if only to knock off a few unwatcheds like All About Eve (it qualifies, right?).

EDIT: I guess it qualifies, with six wins and eight noms

Greg MacGuffin

Looking forward to it. One of my favorite challenges.

Travis McClain

I'm still hip deep in the TV on DVD* Challenge so this seems really distant to me right now. It should be interesting to see how it works, going from a month of almost exclusively watching TV shows to watching Academy Award-caliber movies. I can already tell you I have two goals for this. First, to complete the checklist which I came thisclose to doing last year, and secondly to (finally!) see Saving Private Ryan. Also, this year I'll have access to the Netflix streaming library and that should make it a lot easier to complete some of the checklist items that aren't well represented in my own library.

lisadoris

I've already starting thinking about this challenge. I finished the checklist last year and I'm going to try to do that again (those 1920s films are hard to find). I'm also going to try to watch 20 titles I haven't seen before.

Ash Ketchum

The wording in the rules makes it unclear about films that were awarded Oscars, but didn't win them. Can you clarify that? For instance, for many years, right up until 1955, the Best Foreign Film was awarded by the Academy Board of Governors, but not voted on by the membership. It was an Honorary Oscar. E.g. Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON. I'm assuming those films will still count, but I'm hoping you'll change the wording to "awarded" rather than "won."

On a related note, Honorary Oscars often went to performers for specific films. For instance, in 1960, Hayley Mills got an Honorary Oscar for her performance in POLLYANNA, "the most outstanding juvenile performance during 1960." Yet POLLYANNA wasn't nominated in any categories. I think we should be able to include POLLYANNA and many similar films, cited in Honorary Oscars, but not in any nomination categories, in our viewing tallies. Whaddaya say?

lisadoris

I always assumed honorary/special awards could be included - I know I've watched Fantasia as part of the challenge before and no one said anything. My rule of thumb is: if it's included in the official Academy Award Database, it's fair game (if you search for Pollyanna in the database it comes up). In this case awarded might be a better verb for the rules than won.

davidh777

Or "received"

CardiffGiant

Post #92 to Post #99 here discusses it not counting for the checklists, but we never really got into a discussion about whether it counts overall.

I agree with davidh777 that anything that received and Oscar would be fair game, but that's just my opinion. I think when it comes to challenges, a great deal is left up to the viewer. Personally, I decide on my movies based on The Monkees link to the Academy Award Database. I either type in some films that I'm planning on watching and see if they were nominated or I will just click a category and go through the years and see which interesting films I've yet to see.

Some checklists have no interest to me at all, but this one always intrigues me because the feeling of accomplishment spans decades and a long list of awards. The only real frustrating thing on the list for me is the Documentary Short Subject (because they are so hard to find...although last year I was able to find "A Year Toward Tomorrow" and watch that). Obviously, I'm not calling for its exclusion, but just talking about the difficulty of that category. For the short subjects, it might be good to place links in our lists (and/or on the discussion board) to help each other out.

Giles

reserved! oh wait this is the DISCUSSION thread

The Monkees

Yep. Anything that was awarded, won, given, or whatever can be included. I think I counted Snow White one year and that didn't win anything but Walt Disney was given an Award for achievement or whatever, so yeah if it's on the Database it's all good!

Ash Ketchum

I think one useful part of the checklist would be for participants to try to see every Best Picture winner they haven't yet seen. Of classic Best Picture winners, I'm left only with CAVALCADE (1933), which I taped once off Fox Movie Channel, and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966). I have more to catch up with from recent decades: TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, DRIVING MISS DAISY, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, and CRASH, none of which I have on tape or DVD.

I realize that it's easy for me to suggest something like this since I'm in a more enviable position than most of you, having seen so many Best Picture winners when they played regularly on TV as I was growing up in the pre-cable, pre-video era, or, when I was in college, at revival theaters. And I've actually made more of an effort in recent years to catch up on ones I hadn't seen, e.g. THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, AMADEUS, OUT OF AFRICA, and, only three months ago, CIMARRON (1931). (I watched three of these on VHS, one on DVD.)

Travis McClain

A handy pair of checklists of winners, for those who use such resources:

ICheckMovies - Academy Award Best Pictures
ICheckMovies - Academy Award Best Foreign Pictures

As always, the links go to my lists so you can mock how far behind I am (or, you know, you can friend me over there if that's your bag). It would be a lot more helpful if other Oscar-based lists were there (actor, actress, etc.) but for now these two are it. The Best Foreign Pictures is probably the more helpful as I suspect many of us aren't even sure which titles to search for in the Oscars database.

Regarding the Documentary Short Subject field, last year I had to settle for streaming Women--for America, for the World in five parts from YouTube. It calls out for a MST3K commentary, just because it's a microcosm of all that was wrong with 1980s fashion for self-respecting women. The pleated blouses, high hair, shoulder pads...it's pretty bad. Otherwise, it's a nearly mind-numbing aggregate of interviews arguing against the usual Evils of Mankind (war, greed, exploitation). I, of course, agree with their ideals but I felt like I'd just sat through a job training video. In other words, I would advise streaming it if and only if you're absolutely desperate for that last check mark.

jmsmath

I'm in again for this year. It's always an enjoyable challenge for me because every genre is covered.

By golly, I AM going to watch all three Godfather movies this year even if it means I only watch three movies!!!

CardiffGiant

I like the spirit of this idea, but there's no way I'd be able to pull it off in one month (unless I start shortening the list now). I have 39 left to go and I have no desire to watch at least a few of them (LOTR, Chicago). I always try to watch new things that I haven't seen and I usually have some vague personal goal of about 50/50 seen/unseen.

CardiffGiant

Thanks for the info about Documentary (Short Subject). The one I watched wasn't very good either...probably could get some MST3K on that as well. IIRC, it was on YouTube as well.

I will echo the helpfulness of the icheckmovies checklists. MinLShaw introduced me to the website (during the Criterion Challenge) and it's a good way to keep track of what you have left to watch in a given category. Those interested in "friending" me as well, my name is the same as this site: CardiffGiant

So, if we have an overlap of two challenges, is it safe to assume that we could technically watch Fanny and Alexander (the Television Version) and have it count for both? It's the only one I can think of off the top of my head that might count for both.

Travis McClain

Re: Chicago - I'm not generally big on musicals, but I kinda liked this one. I don't know your taste well enough to know what, if any, elements might appeal to you but I got a kick out of a number performed by Queen Latifah in prison.

I don't have a formula for this year, but I'm going to try to either watch movies I haven't seen before or, if I'm going to re-watch something to try to do it with a previously-unplayed commentary track so I'm at least getting something new out of it. I also suspect I'll watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid yet again simply because I love it and it qualifies. Also, I'm keeping an eye out for a good deal on Up in the Air on Blu-ray, which was the only title I saw last year on the big screen. I recently read Walter Kirn's novel and am wanting to revisit the film version, armed with my new perceptions and insights.

Travis McClain

You know, as host of the TV on DVD* Challenge it didn't even cross my mind that there might be a title or two out there that would be eligible for both. Absolutely, you can count it as far as I'm concerned. I'll have to poke my head around the web and see if I can identify any others. Thanks for bringing this up!

CardiffGiant

I found this one today. Short subject documentary winner from 2001. Also available on DVD from Netflix. I haven't seen this and I'll probably watch it for this year's challenge. If it's helpful, I can keep posting others that I find along the way...just let me know.

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Giles

here in DC the West End Cinema is denoting that the Oscar Documentary Shorts will open on February 11

Darth Maher

I'm gonna watch what I can. I had a ton of fun last year... and I have plenty of movies that I still need to get to.

yoshimi

I would enter but I would rather have a cheese grater taken to my ball sack than watch The English Patient again.

Indy24LA

I've been buying movies all year waiting for this challenge.

Corey31

For the "In Memoriam" Wild Card, does the film have to have been nominated for an Oscar? If so Easy Rider is a bad choice for an example, as it was nominated for 2.

Something like say... Super Mario Bros. would be a better example for Dennis Hopper.