JOE29

Having problems for this years challenge. Lost my best TV and my region free Blu-ray player to a lightning surge.
Plus my computer. We were away on vacation when it happened. So it’s going to be extra tough signing in and listing titles this year. I will do the best that I can. But i’m a bit handicapped at the moment. Hopefully i’ll get things straightened out by start up. But can’t guarantee it.

jholmes

Thanks! I just grabbed 6 blu rays from Blowitoutofhere. 30% off is great!

Trevor

Actually 27.75% off.

jholmes

Still good. :-)

alfonsosoriano

Awe yeah, it's almost that time of the year! I watched 82 last year, a new record for me. Not sure how I'll do this year but I can't wait.

DaveyJoe

I watched a Rob Zombie movie to complete the subset challenge one year. There shouldn't be susbstitutes.

Trevor

I agree almost entirely, which is why my version was very limited. Allowing a substitution to include any past subset film is too broad.

My reasoning, iirc, was something like this: Person A watches the 31 October date subset films, posts nothing in discussion threads, but gets full credit for both the subset and the theme checklists. Person B watches 32 of the 33 total choices (adding the bonus Criterion and Comedy dates), posts discussion in all the threads, but misses one day in the middle (due to working a 24 hour shift, or getting sick, or being opposed to non-legal sources, or whatever) and gets no credit for the subset and theme checklists. My idea was to allow just the already voted on subset choices to be wildcards to allow flexibility for people who run into a problem one or two days. As others have said, I think having a bit of flexibility allows people to not give up if they miss one, and creates an atmosphere of more participation. And my severe limitations on this flexibility may appease the purists who want it to be hard or not really different from previous years.

jholmes

So you're saying that only the Comedy and/or Criterion picks can replace 1 or 2 movies on the 31 subset list? This is good for me as well.

DaveyJoe

In terms of the subset list I thought the flexibility was that you can watch the subset films on any day of the month. If you miss a subset film you can always catch up and watch it another night, which is something that happens to me all the time.

I just see people using a substitution as an opportunity to skip something they're not interested in: "I'm not into horror comedies so I'm going to skip Tucker and Dale and watch Silence of the Lambs instead." Which goes against the spirit of the subset challenge, which is to force us out of our comfort zones and force us to give films a shot that we might not otherwise.

If it's something that a lot of people would think improve the challenge, it's worth discussing, but I imagine everybody that participates in that subset challenge winds up watching something they're not excited about.

Trevor

Yes, the exact day thing only applies to themes, but there are more reasons than timing to miss a subset film.
Yes, but I’m still watching at least 31 of the specific subset films. Why would you watching just the inner 31 subset films be superior to me watching 32 of the 33?
I think most wont really care one way or the other, but then most don’t even do the optional things. And if a few think it’ll help, and it doesn’t hurt anyone or have a valid argument against it, then maybe it’d be a nice rule to have available to help someone out of a jam?

Say you’re committed to watching them all, but then something happens in your life and that last day you’re jammed up with an emergency or a bad disc or no internet and you miss that last film you were saving to complete the subset. It’d be cool to breathe a sigh of relief because you had earlier watched the subset for day 0 and/or day 32.

jholmes

I definitely an interesting aspect of the challenge that you end up watching a lot of films other people select that you would not normally watch. That would still be the case for at least 29 films. 31 if you count the group picks for Comedy and Criterion.

For me, it's more about not watching a film I just watched. Yesterday I watched Deranged and Cult of Chucky, for example. And we watched A Quiet Place last week, which will likely be on the challenge. I'll rewatch movies if it if comes to that, but it would be nice to be able to sub 1 or 2 of these. Trevor's suggestion of only allowing the Criterion or comedy picks to be substitutes would make it pretty minimal impact for the purists, I would think.

<shrug> It was only a suggestion. :-)

When are the subset picks likely to be final? I need to stop watching movies or only watch ones on the previous years' subset list!

Anyone else watching Castle Rock? It's awesome.

clckworang

I totally agree with you. I've certainly watched films I didn't like or had already seen and didn't want to revisit many times. The fact that we allow you to watch on any day provides ample opportunity to complete this. You can watch all of them in a matter of days and be done with it.

The whole point is to get out of your comfort zone and encourage discussion. Keep in mind these movies were all chosen by challenge participants. So even if it's a title I have seen and didn't like, I feel like I should show that participant some respect and watch his or her selection. That's what I would hope for with my own selection.

And it's not always so bad to revisit. You might notice something you hadn't previously, might like it more. You can watch with a commentary or Rifftrax if available or an alternate cut. You often do have options.

As for the themes, I still stand by that one as well. It's the only optional category that requires you to watch a film every day. That takes planning, commitment and even a little luck, and should be rewarded as such.

If this is all about providing more access to prizes, keep in mind there are trivia questions open to everyone as well as prize categories involving all participants.

I put more emphasis on the inner 31 because those are the only ones technically within the challenge. The only reason we have the crossover is for the challenge fanatics. Many (most?) of us don't even participate or have any interest in the other challenges.

And if that scenario that you described were to happen to me, I think my reaction would be something along the lines of, "oh, darn. I guess I'm not going to be able to complete this part this year." It's really not that big of a deal and wouldn't diminish my challenge experience whatsoever.

These are all optional things. If you're so stressed about completing all optional things that it would affect you that much for not completing something, maybe you shouldn't be trying to do them in the first place and should just enjoy the challenge. Or devote your free days to just the optional categories so you aren't scrambling at the end of the challenge.

I guess I'll go back to the fact that all of these are films chosen by us and should therefore be given the proper and equal respect. I think the Zombie film is a great example. Like many, I'm not a fan of his work. If given the chance, I imagine many of us, including myself, would have opted out of seeing it. Yet, as I recall, that film ended up being one of if not the most discussed film that year. And there was real discussion, not just people saying it sucked. Without "forcing" us to watch it, we might have missed out on a lot of good discussion, which is supposed to be the real point of this anyway. It's not supposed to be about just another check mark.

Trevor

And I’d say that if you’re bothered by one or two people getting a break and watching a subset film not in your personal preferred 31, then maybe you’re the one too stressed and should maybe just relax If it won’t affect you at all, ignore it and let others enjoy the flexibility.

And having a slight bit of flexibility will encourage more discussion.

clckworang

I'm not bothered that people are "getting a break." I'm more bothered that our participants make selections and some of them will willfully not be watched. That's fine if you don't want to watch something, but I don't think you should be rewarded for choosing to skip a movie that one of our participants took the time and thought to select.

Trevor

I understand; the comradarie of a select few of us choosing specific films and watching them together is a great part of this Challenge. But I just know how close I’ve come to missing a subset or theme due to life getting in the way. And if I can almost miss it with my extreme OCD and commitment to this Challenge, then it can hit anyone. It’s not necessarily purposeful or one willingly not watching one or more, it’s circumstances. A lot of people refuse to watch illegal links, this makes some of the subset choices very difficult and expensive to acquire in time. Many people work long shifts, people get sick, people are poor and can’t afford to rent or buy them all, all kinds of reasons. It should be hard, yes. It should foster community, of course. I think the compromises still satisfy those.

Also remember that at least 75% of the Challenge participants willfully choose to not watch any of the subset choices. And more than half the participants don’t post at all in any of the discussion threads. I’m hopeful that adding some flexibility will cause more people to “go for it” when it comes to the subset. Maybe there is no one in the Challenge that is just waiting for a sliver of flexibility before committing to the subset, but the advantage of possibility gaining someone is greater than the disadvantage of a few people being upset that the 31/31 is sacrosanct.

clckworang

You're talking about things coming up preventing you from watching something while the other vocal supporter of this change is specifically pushing for it because he doesn't want to rewatch other people's choices. Do we need a doctor excuse or note from the boss for the exemption to count?

About a month of advance notice on the films, not to mention the 31 days of October, isn't enough time to plan? Yes, life can affect anyone. I don't see what difference that makes. So you don't finish a section. Big deal. Why does everyone have to be a winner nowadays? What happened to simply the love of the game? It won't kill anyone if a section isn't complete.

And if so few people participate in the optional things, why are we even trying to change it for the people who aren't interested? It's not like every year we hear lots of complaints from people saying, I would have participated if only there were more loopholes for completion. Maybe that's the question worth asking. Among those who don't participate in the optional sections, would you be more willing to actively participate if there were loopholes or we were to relax the requirements for completion?

I wonder about the checklist, but that has changed so much over the years it may not be the best measure. We used to require full completion but then started to require only so many per section for completion. It might tell us something if we saw the checklist completion trends over the years. Of course, we also greatly expanded the checklist at the same time, so it might be comparing apples to oranges.

I just don't see anything wrong with the current system. It's like we're always trying to fix something that isn't even broken. The rules are simple. You're given plenty of advance notice and flexibility. The last several years, links have been provided for all films. It can't be made much easier. There are free links for every film and you have the entire month to watch them.

If you don't want to use the links, that's on you. Plenty of time then to make other arrangements on account of your own individual hangups. No money? Try the public library, maybe even request a title to be sent there. I know I was shocked at the selection at my nearest library. Ask a friend if he or she would be willing to watch a Netflix movie with you through their account. There are many streaming sites that offer free trials. If it's Halloween and you still have a couple of subset films to watch and something comes up, that's on you. You could have watched any of those titles early. So you work a 24-hour shift ... you're not given breaks? You don't have a phone? I've watched films during my work breaks to satisfy requirements. The point is that if you really wanted to do it, you could. It just might take some ingenuity, sacrifice and planning, something many of us have done over the years.

Undeadcow

I think I've become more lenient over the idea of subset alternatives over time; I don't see a problem with maybe one freebie in the spirit of fun and flexibility. I agree there's not really a 'good' logical reason to implement flexibility other than just not being too strict on rules. If the last thing you want to do is watch Killer Tongue again or sour your marathon with Rob Zombie crap then it there's no harm in one pass and watching 30-32 other pre-selected films should be bragging rights enough.

Personally I'd rather people discuss and make reasonable commentary on films more than I'd care about idle checklists so the actual counting of films in absence of banter seems meaningless - there are varying degrees of participation and watching/counting alone isn't where I'd want to advocate. The participant who seriously comments on 16 subset films should get more of a nod than someone who silently checks off 33. For example, last year there are only 5 comments on Arachnophobia (and up to 42 on Martyrs) so more effort has gone into debating if we should allow a subset substitution than often goes into discussing some of the films themselves.

There's not a majority in favor of subset changes so perhaps that should be shelved for now; the idea has some merit but it seems like serious changes like this should only pass if there's more enthusiasm for them.

orlmac

I tend to agree with Undeadcow's final comment here. I try to be a silent follower on things here mostly, but I haven't been convinced by any arguments here either way so I don't see any reason for a change.

shadokitty

I'm looking forward to opening up my Yongary and Konga double feature disc that I bought last year for this Challenge. I never got around to opening it, as something came up and I missed the theme day last year for it.

GoldenWheels

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan...the annual Rob Zombie bashing begins already. Well the heck with you guys, I'll STILL be watching RZ Halloween 1+2 again this year!

Hamiltons is in for prize packs as usual...will add some slightly disappointing news...many vendors have become MUCH more aggressive in "marking" the samples I provide as a decent portion pf the prizes. So you're going to have to live with some drill holes on some of these prizes if you win.

shadokitty

I have nothing against Rob Zombie myself. Love The Devil’s Rejects .

DaveyJoe

In fairness, I made a point of complimenting the aspects I liked about Lords of Salem when I watched it as a subset pick.

WillieMLF

Anyone want to comment on the Filmcentrix blu of Blue Sunshine? I have the deluxe BU DVD set, but I've been seriously considering and upgrade.

orlmac

I have the philosophy that if something is free I don't complain about it. If they are giving us movies I'm thrilled with whatever way they come, and your prize packs are legendary! I know I'll be happy with whatever they consist of.

Chad