[Travis is unable to host the Challenge this year so I will give it a try. Thanks for your patience.]

The Challenge begins Sunday, August 31 at dusk, and ends Wednesday, October 1, at sunrise.

List thread here!

A little history:
The first annual Indie/Art House Challenge evolved out of what was previously the Criterion Challenge. In this challenge, we emphasize exploration rather than a raw quantity of films viewed. We encourage you to take some time and dive into the films you watch. If you're like me, you buy a lot of discs for their commentaries and supplements, and then wait for free time to check them out. In other words, immerse yourself! So… what exactly is an Art-House film? It’s a sort of “You’ll know it when you see it” thing, but Wikipedia offers a definition:
An art film (or art house film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience.[1] It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal",[2] "made primarily for aesthetic reasons rather than commercial profit",[3] and contains "unconventional or highly symbolic content".[4]

Join in! Clear that unwatched pile! Set goals...or just have fun.

Pre-Horror Participants
We welcome the horror enthusiasts among us who just can’t wait until October. Think of this as a chance to emphasize Art-horror, and save the really schlocky stuff for next month. You’ll find a considerable amount of eligible content! There will also be a crossover with the Horror Challenge - double listing opportunity!.

Thank you for taking on this responsibility Shack. I normally don't participate in this challenge but I have some un-watched Criterions I want to get through.

Looks great Shack. You did perfectly. I have a few blu rays and DVDs I can watch. Plus with the entire Showa Godzilla series (not side movies tho) now eligible, I am even more motivated and excited.

This reminded me to resubscribe to Criterion Channel!

Whoops, I started the challenge early!

I felt like watching an action movie, so I eventually landed on Supercop in my Vudu collection. I was enjoying the Jackie Chan/Michelle Yeoh fighting and silliness when I realized… Supercop is a Criterion title. It wasn’t one of the many Criterions I’ve bought on Vudu in recent sales (they do have the Police Stories) so it didn’t jump out as Criterion to me. I put it on my list but unnumbered.

Thanks - I did borrow a good amount of the text from Travis's entries from years past, so credit there too!

I had planned to watch the Godzillas for the Horror Challenge, but good reminder that many of them are eligible as Criterions. There are a few I haven't seen.

I've also started a little early, kind of by accident. I bought Malcolm X during last year's B&N Criterion sale, so it's definitely time I opened it. It's a terrific Criterion set, full of extras, and of course the film is great. I'll no doubt watch the commentary later on in the month.

I started off with The Death of Stalin for obvious reasons. Today I watched Todd Haynes's gay re-imagining of David Bowie's life and music. If Criterion can release Happiness, they can surely get this out on 4K.

I wondered if The Death of Stalin had any particular meaning...thanks for confirming.

I thought about watching Dave, but it doesn't fit as well into this Challenge.

I started the challenge by watching Querelle, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's queer fantasia about a criminal sailor in Brest-by-way-of-Tom-of-Finland. It's a truly singular vision. Today, I finally watched Sawdust and Tinsel from Criterion's Bergman set. While the characters aren't as queer as those in Querelle, they are just as unpleasant and morally compromised!

Trying this one again. I've got tons of stuff I've bought and never watched. Might tackle my silents.

I watched A Better Tomorrow, which I bought back in the 20th century on a Tai Seng DVD (along with its sequel). I had a hankering to watch it this year, then by luck it was released digitally, and I bought a 10-pack with those, The Killer, Hard Boiled, Chinese Ghost Story, etc. The story isn't anything special, the music is hokey, and the dubbing is awful, but it still has Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo bringing the action, particularly one shootout with Chow in a hotel/restaurant.

I just noticed that the subtitled version is available as a bonus feature so I'll watch that for any of the others of the bundle I fit in this month.

Finally bit the bullet and subscribed to the Criterion Channel. It hurts because I own so many of their titles, but I can't buy them all so I guess it was inevitable.

Watched In The Heat of the Night because my class discussed Sidney Poitier in class this past week. The Kino Lorber 4k which I own (I have the Criterion blu) have the two sequels. I had never seen them before so I figured now is a good time. Neither is good as the original but they're not too bad. They're tangentially related to Criterion so I put them on my list.

I followed A Better Tomorrow with the sequel, which I don’t remember at all, but it still has John Woo action. Chow Yun-Fat I don’t think thi was an actual Criterion title, but it’s international.

I also counted the new Emmanuelle, which is fine but not that memorable.

Lucked out and a theater not too far away has been doing a David Lynch retrospective. Last night was Mulholland Drive. Hadn't seen it since it first came out. I've bought it a few times but never got around to rewatching it. Kind of remembering why. Still, always nice seeing Lynch in a theater.

I think Criterion Channel is my most-watched streaming service so it was a great investment for me. Yes, I do own many of their films, but I have discovered so many more.

I've been pretty slow this month. In the last week or so though I have mostly been keeping to my goal of trying to get at least one watch in a day (based on when I really picked up that is). One was complete accidental. While scrolling my YouTube feed, I found a 24 7 Godzilla channel that had just began Invasion of Astro Monster. So I decided to watch it since didn't have anything else in mind anyway.

Thanks to all who joined the Challenge this year, and Happy Horror Challenge Crossover day to all who celebrate. I didn't reach even my revised-downward goal of 20 commentary watches, but I do have some good offerings to look forward to in the chilly winter days to come. The stack of discs by my television is decidedly lower now, so I'm counting that as a win.

I’ve been largely absent from DVDTalk this past year, but still follow the Challenges and get at least a viewing or two in. Was out of the country much of this month, so today’s Crossover Day content is probably my only participation.

Thanks for running things!

It was pretty quiet this year, but I still enjoyed knocking a few more Criterions off of my unwatched pile. This challenge isn't about volume anyway.

Thanks for running the show, Shack, and thanks to the other participants for keeping this challenge going!

Thanks for hosting, Shack! Always good to have another host in the stable.

It wasn’t the busiest Criterion challenge for me, but I’ve had worse.

Thanks for stepping up Shack. I didn't do a lot but I still think it was more than most years. Probably due partly to Godzilla.