Ash Ketchum

In looking over the list thread for the Academy Award Challenge on the DVD Talk forum, I'm alarmed at how few of the Movie Talk regulars are participating. This challenge would be a natural for so many of you guys. In reading the posts on the Timeout 100 Best British Films thread, I see that some are interested in seeing the films on that list they haven't seen. Well, since many of them were nominated for Oscars, it would be a simple matter to participate in the Academy Award Challenge on DVD Talk and check off films on the 100 British list.

The same thing is probably true of such past challenges as the August Animation Challenge and the September Criterion Challenge (which encouraged me to finally watch some Criterion Box sets I'd had on the shelf for a while, including a Mizoguchi set), but I didn't think to do a post here about it back then.

I'm using the Academy Award Challenge to go through films I have on tape and disc that I want to watch and move off the shelves to make room for others. And to finally watch the handful of Best Picture winners I've never seen.

Anyway, this is just a suggestion.

Groucho

I simply don't have time to plow through a ton of movies in a given month.

obscurelabel

I can watch four or five movies a week, but not every week -- then it becomes work, not fun, for me. Also, although the AA challenge isn't like this, I don't enjoy watching the same type of film, one after the other; I have to mix up genres or I get sick of them. Finally, I don't have time right now

islandclaws

Ditto to both posts above me.

NoirFan

Also, other than during the Horror Challenge, most folks here simply don't frequent the DVD forum anymore.

Dr Mabuse

I didn't know any such thing was even going on.

JayDerek

I'm in agreement w/ the other posters...

- I like to mix up my movie genres.
- I tried the Horror challenge a few years ago, but just got burnt out on it.
- too many other things I like to do to be doing nothing but watching movies

Fist of Doom

You don't have to watch a shitload of movies to participate (I only plan on watching six to eight this challenge). It's more of an excuse to watch or rewatch stuff you've been meaning to get to, and discuss some classic films.

Patman

I've always wondered if those who do those movie-watching challenges are either students, or unemployed or retired, and thus, have more free time than us working schlubs.

Ash Ketchum

Since we're in the Academy Awards challenge now, it's not all the same genre. If you looked over a list of all the films that have been nominated, you'd find an amazing diversity: screwball comedies, westerns, James Bond movies, film noir, '50s sci-fi, cartoons, '90s blockbusters, superhero movies, Pixar, Coppola, De Palma, Scorsese, Eastwood, Fincher, Nolan, Burton, Tarantino, Spielberg, etc., etc. etc. One of my favorite cult horror comedy movies, KING OF THE ZOMBIES, was even nominated for an Oscar. Chances are that most of you will be watching more than enough Oscar-nominated films normally this month to enable you to participate in the challenge.

I work full-time, so I fit in what viewing I can, but it's a fun way to focus my viewing habits in any given month.

Cardsfan111

This is the way I treat every challenge. I'll never set a record or end up with some astronomical number. I'm going to watch films and TV shows on DVD anyway in any given month, so I just focus on whatever the challenge is with an emphasis on unwatched titles in my collection.

Bandit03

I tried a couple of the challenges when I first started coming to this site years ago but stopped participating when I couldn't keep up. Fist of Doom makes a good point though so maybe I'll start participating again.

Dan

There's a DVD Talk fourm!?!!

Dimension X

That's how I treat them. So far, I've only watched one qualifying film for the Oscar Challenge.
The only two Challenges I "watch a shitload of movies" for are the Oct. Horror Challenge and the April Drive-In Challenge (conveniently placed six months apart). Neither genre are known for lengthy epics, so I'm not really spending more than a few hours a day (on average) watching films.
Yeah, it's best not to pay too much attention to the other lists during the month. The real "challenge" should be for you to watch some stuff you've been meaning to watch but just keep putting off.

Supermallet

Sometimes a thread here or a comment a friend makes inspires me to watch a movie, but in general I have a huge backlog anyway, so I get to the movies in my own way.

Giles

I don't have a full time job... yet, but jeesh, some of the people who are hardcore into the challenges baffle me as to how they can just plaster themselves in front of a tv - kudo's to them, but I get ansey, just watching a slew of movies and nothing else.

kd5

I see new stuff in the DVD Talk forum every day, which means to me more people frequent that forum than you give it credit for. -kd5-

kd5

The only reasons I don't participate in the Challenges is that I have computers to work on during the day, and in the evenings my wife and I mix it up by watching TV on DVD one night and a movie the next, and so on and so forth, mixing up the genres as well so we don't get burned out on any one thing. Challenges wouldn't really work very well at our house. -kd5-

Numanoid

I remember reading through one challenge thread a few years ago where someone was claiming to be watching what amounted to essentially 18 or 20 hours of movies every day. That seemed so obviously fraudulent to me, but when someone called them out on it, everyone got in a snit and all defensive. That really turned me off to the challenges. (There's no way someone was watching that many movies, and simply having a movie playing somewhere in the background as you go about your day so that you can count it as part of the challenge is completely disingenuous.)

Although I would never enter one with the idea that I'd get anywhere near "winning", I do think that some semblance of fair play is required, and that's impossible to enforce in what amounts to a "take your word for it" contest.

All that being said, when it really boils down to it, I'll have to ditto Suprmallet's explanation.

caligulathegod

Yeah, I remember that guy and a few others with similar numbers. I did the math on one guy (added up the actual title run-times) and he was claiming to watch 18-20 hours a day in addition to going to school and work for two to three weeks (he disappeared after that). I've done 24 hour marathons, and that's a once or twice a year thing, there were lengthy breaks and it was a weekend (and I was 10-20 years younger). You aren't doing that 2-3 weeks straight. Then others got mad and started "padding" their numbers (allegedly), and it got nasty. It really takes the fun out of it when others are blatantly cheating.

We haven't had that kind of difficulty since then. That was the nadir. The last several have actually had no fighting or arguments over content or rules. Early on, there were heated discussions on TV or not TV, Should Fantasy be part of a SF challenge, commentaries should they count, etc. Now those issues have been settled, so I think the challenges have matured. If the infighting turned you off, then you might want to try again.

The goal (when there is one) is 100, and that's meant to be extreme. That's about 3 movies a day, plus a few extra on weekends. It's not impossible. But there's no requirement to hit 100. Some of the challenges, I've been happy with 1 movie a day. Plus, it's not intended to participate in each one. Find one you like.

I understand the concern for burnout. Several of the challenges are better than others as far as that goes. The Academy Award challenge and especially the Drive-In challenge are very genre mixed, as is the Historical challenge. October is a fun time for Horror, so if you are really a fan, 100 isn't going to burn you out, and 1 a day or less is still fun as a lark. The others are all fun, too, if they hit your particular interest.

Anyway, give 'em a try. We have participants that have as few as 2-3 movies who have won prizes. The prizes are distributed more or less randomly, so there's no competition, just a fun bonus. They are a great excuse to watch some movies you've always meant to watch but never got around to it.

Dimension X

I still don't get why people let it bother them so much. The guy causing all the strife was a new poster (who has been banned a time or two since then) who was obviously just trolling the thread.

There are 42 posts in the list thread. So 41 people have at least expressed enough interest to claim a spot. That's pretty much average for a Challenge that doesn't occur in October.

caligulathegod

I don't know why, either. For some, it just struck a nerve. There's a difference between, "Dude, you are not doing what you say you are," and "Hey, Douchebag! WTF!" Too many people went for number 2 and then somehow started getting the same numbers soon after. But, as I said, that kind of stuff is gone. We all know we're not beating Trevor, so we just enjoy watching the movies for the sake of watching and discussing movies.

PopcornTreeCt

Movie watching should never be a "challenge" unless you're watching something crappy.

parker63

True, but then there's the problem of perspective or personal preference. Since the holidays I've been trying to work on completing the IMDb Top 250. (Current Status: 216 out of 250 watched) and I also was working on completing the AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies list.

There are a lot of movies that get a lot of high praise for various reasons over the years, but damn, there are some that are a real chore to sit through just to knock off the lists. A few that come immediately to mind were "Intolerance" and "Nashville"...almost universally praised, but a real "challenge" for me personally to sit through.

GenPion

I don't like film-watching 'challenges'. It's as simple as that.