Indy24LA

In my comedy A to Z, when it comes to X, I might have to try and sneak Xanadu in. That's the closest one I could fine and I'm sure there's got to be something funny about it.

davidh777

Welcome back, Trevor!

Travis McClain

For those interested, I would strongly recommend the Warner Archive Collection Podcast, which is a collection of golden age radio broadcasts related to their films from the time. Most of the recordings are from radio dramatizations of films, often with the same cast (but not always). Given that the Warner Archive titles are devoid of bonus content, this podcast might be a nice supplement if your challenge revolves around actors or productions from that era.

As for me, I'm strongly leaning toward a comic book theme. I'd like to aspire to something more thoughtful, but I've just really got the itch right now. I'd love to get the Superman Blu-ray box set in June, but that won't be happening so I'm thinking about gorging on my Superman DVDs to get my Super-fix for the time being. Aside from that, there are several movies based on comic books available for streaming from Netflix that I still haven't gotten around to seeing, and this could be a nice impetus. Plus, Free Comic Book Day is in May. Besides, I can still incorporate some of my other movie-watching ambitions into other challenges throughout the year. There are more to comics than just superheroes, too, so there's still some room for variety (Ghost World, Persepolis, From Hell just offhand).

HyperWeather

I always go and visit a friend a few weeks a year (sometimes twice for a few weeks) and badly planned it for the last 2 weeks of May this year (does it mean I have a problem if I was trying to go in June instead because I prefer this challenge over the historical challenge?)

Anyways I think what I'm going to do is use the first part of the month to clean up my tivo so it has plenty of space to tape stuff while I'm gone... meaning anything that has been sitting on there forever and also keep current with the stuff I am watching now.

The second part of the month I'm not really sure.. just might make it whatever my friend or her children pick type thing, or might have to talk her into focusing on gorging through a series with me.

Ash Ketchum

I can't recall if I mentioned this in an earlier post or not, but there's tons of live-action Japanese films and TV shows based on manga that would qualify for your challenge, e.g. the "Lone Wolf & Cub" films, "Lady Snowblood," "20th Century Boys," "Nana 1 & 2," "Shadow Hunters," etc. There are live-action "Fist of the North Star" and "Crying Freeman" films, too. Plus several Hong Kong films based on Hong Kong comics, "Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre," "Storm Riders," etc.

Travis McClain

"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"

I might try to dabble in some of that world, but right now I'm still plenty behind on the stuff I already know interests me. Maybe in August for the Animation Challenge I'll try to take a look at some anime.

Fist of Doom

I've decided to watch films/TV shows that deal with the radio and TV business for my challenge. Any suggestions for lesser-known films would be welcome.

Travis McClain

It's hard to know from titles alone which would fit your theme, but here's a filtered list of search results from IMDb that might help.

As for me, I talked it over with my wife last night and she's okay with a Based on Comics theme. Here's what I've decided are my challenge rules:

Comic books and comic strips are both eligible for consideration. For instance, Dick Tracy was originally a comic strip character. Netflix has recently added The Dick Tracy Show to streaming and I've never seen it so that's eligible.

Content about the comic book world is also eligible, so documentaries (like Comic Book Confidential are in, as well as movies like Comic Book Villains, which is a comedy about a pair of comic book store rivals.

Movies/TV shows are not eligible if the property came before a comic book presence. So, even though there are numerous Star Wars and Transformers comics, those franchises began as movies and toys, respectively.

Standard TV:movie conversion formula rules apply (2 hours broadcast time = 1 movie).

I am allowing myself to watch bonus content, and am counting it by the standard 2 hour conversion rule. So if I watch four 15 minute featurettes and two behind-the-scenes features, that's worth 1 entry.

Commentary tracks count as a separate viewing.

The emphasis will be on movies and TV shows I have never seen, but that won't be a formal restriction. I already know I intend to re-watch a lot of Superman content, for instance.

I will allow myself three wild cards for tangential movies. For instance, Adventures in Babysitting isn't about comic books, but there is a little girl obsessed with Thor, and that's a recurring theme/gag with a funny pay-off scene. It's possible that a local theater might be doing a midnight screening of that in May, and if I can attend, I'll count that.

Lastly, I'm hopeful that I can make it out to a local comic shop next Saturday for Free Comic Book Day, and I'd like to go through my comics library and read some of them. I won't even try to create any kind of conversion formula to count any of that, but I do intend to track my comics reading for the month along with my viewing totals, and to post reviews/remarks about them in the comics sub-forum (I'll be sure to bump appropriate threads rather than start all new ones).

Ash Ketchum

One of the films I watched for the B-movie challenge is UP IN THE AIR (1940), a lowbrow Monogram comedy about shenanigans at a radio station. A similar one is WHO DONE IT? (1942), an Abbott & Costello comedy about murder at a radio station with a mystery show being the focus of it.

Others, off the top of my head:

WAKE UP AND LIVE (1937) radio - Walter Winchell is in this
THE HUCKSTERS (1947) radio
THE GREAT MAN (1956) TV
A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957) TV
THE THRILL OF IT ALL (1963) TV
FEAR ON TRIAL (1975/TV movie) TV
NETWORK (1976) TV
THE FRONT (1976) TV
GOOD NIGHT,AND GOOD LUCK (2005) TV

There were tons of radio-themed movies in the 1930s, mostly just successions of musical acts. There was a series of BIG BROADCAST films that starred, in different films, Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields and Bob Hope.

In the serial, ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN (1950), Lex Luthor goes "straight" and runs Metropolis's sole TV station, going so far as to hire Lois Lane away from the Daily Planet to work as a reporter doing live man-on-the-street interviews.

BobO'Link

Here are a few lesser known TV series:

"Good Morning World" (1 season, 1967-68)
"Buffalo Bill" (1 season, 1983-84)
"The Comeback" (1 short season, 2005)
"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (1 season, 2006-07)

Red Skelton did several films playing a radio actor, Wally Benton, better known to his fans as that intrepid crime-solver "The Fox". They do not exactly "deal with the radio and tv business" but the lead character *does* work in the business and it's key to the plots.

They are:

"Whistling in the Dark" (1941)
"Whistling in Dixie" (1942)
"Whistling in Brookland" (1943)

Don't forget "UHF" (1989) or "Airheads" (1994).

Plus a serial "Phantom Empire" (1935). Gene Autry plays a singing cowboy of the same name, who runs Radio Ranch, a dude ranch from which he makes a daily live radio broadcast at 2pm. The plot hinges on his ability to make that broadcast every day to avoid losing the ranch thus allowing the "Muranians" easy access to the surface world or the "bad guys" to get the radium which powers the underground civilization. It doesn't deal with the business directly but it, again, is a key plot element.

BobO'Link

Well, as we come down to the wire I'm torn between "Movie Serials" (Saturday Matinee "Cliffhangers" and films/TV shows directly inspired by or based on the art form) and "Bob Hope Films" (films with Bob Hope in a starring role).

lisadoris

Do both: two weeks of serials and two weeks of Bob Hope. Everybody wins.

llandros

I'm leaning towards this as well - basically looking for the variety of films and this one is pretty easy for me to get that. Guess I have a few more hours to finally decide!

Dimension X

Or do both concurrently. That's what I finally decided to do with my two themes so I'd have more variety in what I was watching.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Mill Creek has a serials box set with this in it. I thought it was pretty good and a nice change to all the sci-fi serials.

davidh777

Still sticking with my Chuck seasons 2-4 challenge. I hope the boob count will be as high as it was in the Exploitation challenge.

Ash Ketchum

Maybe it's time to put a "sticky" on the Lists thread? Before it slides off the front page?

Just sayin'...

BobO'Link

I always considered "Phantom Empire" to be sci-fi, but with cowboys instead of space men...

That Mill Creek set has some good stuff. I occasionally kick myself for not picking it up for $6 at BL sometime back even though I have all but one of them in my collection. A "good" copy of that "missing" one will cost as much or more than that set would have at the time.

BobO'Link

And I've decided. It's Movie Serial time!

kstublen

I think I might make my challenge a Month of Matt Groening, watching only The Simpsons and Futurama. Not sure though...

EDIT: I'm actually going to be fairly busy in May (studying for finals, moving, and starting to study for the bar), so I needed to pick something that I've seen many times before and don't have to pay super close attention to. I can't count how many times I've seen The Simpsons and Futurama, and I've been meaning to watch them again anyway, so this seems a good choice.

And while these shows would qualify for the Animation Challenge, I think it's specific enough to work. I did watch four seasons worth of The Simpsons during the Animation Challenge, so I'll just watch other seasons instead of those, unless I have time left at the end, which I definitely won't, lol.

I'm calling my challenge "A Month Of Matt Groening: The Simpsons And Futurama Challenge" and made this image to commemorate it:

aspects

Okay I decided to go the easy way out and change my theme to:

1930's and 1980's

These are the two decades I have lists from and movies on my TiVo/VHS tapes off of Turner Classic Movies.

Just watched Born to Dance, which is at least interesting to hear James Stewart singing.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Can't go wrong with that. At least until you hit an awful one.

Dimension X

Here's the list of participants and their Challenges as of now. If I've made a mistake on yours or missed anyone who has already decided on a Challenge theme, let me know.

Dimension X

Stay away from The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand. Man was that one tedious.

PopcornBandit

Could you add my name to the participants list? I'm going with a TV Sitcom challenge.