2023 Film Challenge

250 guys walking down the road, just like that?

01-01-23

Watchlist
Watched

Main Challenge

Nightmare Mode

Gonna Hold onto these:

Relevant Lists
Below you will find some examples & ideas for certain categories.

Film Foundation�s World Cinema Project

Previously featured Cinematic Waves

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Last edited by edarsenal; 6 days ago at 02:10 PM.

Siddon

Registered User

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Jabs

Edit: Unless you guys have in mind 5-6 cinematic waves we haven't covered yet that fit the bill, in which case feel free to DM me.

Well I think you should take a break from all the international films seems like 40-50% of the list every year.

New French Extremism
Slasher film movement
Italian Giallo's
Universal Monster Movies
Hammer Studios
Atomic Age Monsters

Jabs

Also answers to Jabba

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Siddon

Well I think you should take a break from all the international films seems like 40-50% of the list every year.

This year is a tad more country focused as there is an extra nightmare mode challenge about this. Still it barely cracks 30% and that's counting cinematic waves and the communism section as country-specific which arguably are more complex and have to do with sociopolitical reasons rather than just a nation.

Are you arguing for a more US-centric challenge or just other themes and categories to be explored?

Siddon

Registered User

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Jabs

This year is a tad more country focused as there is an extra nightmare mode challenge about this. Still it barely cracks 30% and that's counting cinematic waves and the communism section as country-specific which arguably are more complex and have to do with sociopolitical reasons rather than just a nation.

Are you arguing for a more US-centric challenge or just other themes and categories to be explored?

A. Get lost in the movement
[Watch one film belonging to each of the following cinematic movements]

1. New German Cinema
2. Japanese New Wave
3. Cinema du look
6. Iranian New Wave

B. Behind the Iron Curtain
[Watch a film from each of the following countries while they were under communist rule]

1. Soviet Union (1922-1991)
2. Poland (1947-1989)
3. Yugoslavia (1945-1992)
4. Czechoslovakia (1948-1989)
5. China (1949-present)

D. I coulda been a contender:
[Watch a film that has won the following awards]

1. Cannes Film Festival
4. Berlin International Film Festival
5. Locarno Film Festival

E. I have always depended on the lists of strangers:
[Watch one film featured in each of the following prominent lists]

3. 100 Italian Movies Restored
5. Film Foundation�s World Cinema Project

F. I see dead people:
[Watch one film from each group of deceased directors, actors and cinematographers]

2. Alain Resnais, Wolfgang Petersen, Sergei Eisenstein, Manoel de Oliveira

H. Country roads take me home
[Pick one of the following country groups and watch 5 films from its members, without repetitions]

1. Mediterranean (Albania, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Turkey)
2. Former French Colonies (Algeria, Cambodia, Canada, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Palestine, Senegal, Tunisia, Vietnam)
3. Spanish speaking countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Spain)
4. WWI Allies (Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Montenegro, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Thailand, United Kingdom)
5. Antarctic Treaty Parties (Australia, China, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Uruguay)

You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in Paris?
watch 10 foreign language films

All the places you�ll go
watch 10 films, each from a different country that you�ve never watched a film from before

So this challenge has about 40 foreign language films at the start but that number can inflate to 80-120 based on the other categories. You might be okay watching all of those foreign language films during the year. When you ask for 10 different countries...I don't know if there are 10 different countries with films I haven't seen or that I would want to see.

It's also very much the same thing every year

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

01-02-23

Many of those Mentioned by Siddon are not really film movements, but rather genres.

If you want suggestions for other movements, there�s Czechoslovakia New Wave, Taiwanese New Wave, Romanian New Wave, Greek Weird Wave, Kazakhstan New Wave, Soviet New Wave, New Mexican Cinema, South Korean Nee Wave, Chinese fifth generation and Chinese Sixth Generation, although those latter two are debatable I think?

I have no issue with taking a break from the movements, as even those I supplied are mostly small, with a few exceptions.

I also have no issue with the amount of foreign films.

Jabs

Also answers to Jabba

01-02-23

@Siddon even using your math, that is 40/162 films which is less than a quarter. I do not want to get bogged down in specifics though.

I would just like to submit for consideration that it is not as easy (at least for me) to find year after year challenges that can apply to both US cinema and World cinema (if that is the categorization you wish to go with), and when I do it tends to take the more general form of '10 films from the same director/actor etc' which can be vastly different each year and per participant and would also invite comments in the vein of 'it's very much the same thing every year'. In general the idea is not to change the whole challenge each year, but to rotate in and out the more general categories and sprinkle in more specific categories as one-offs with each iteration.

Additionally, the purpose of the challenge is to step out of your comfort zone and experiment with films, genres, ideas that you ordinarily wouldn't. And finally, the nature of the challenge is purely voluntary; if you wish to skip a whole category because you have no interest in it, that is also perfectly fine and completely up to you.

That said, I happen to have searched quite a bit into world cinema so I can be of assistance to anyone that wishes to find good films from countries that are not traditionally producing cinema. I can even provide sources to watch them on occasion.

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

01-02-23

The challenges are fine. I�m quite happy with them, in fact. Spent the day looking up films that would fit into the categories.

Siddon

Registered User

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Jabs

@Siddon even using your math, that is 40/162 films which is less than a quarter. I do not want to get bogged down in specifics though.

I would just like to submit for consideration that it is not as easy (at least for me) to find year after year challenges that can apply to both US cinema and World cinema (if that is the categorization you wish to go with), and when I do it tends to take the more general form of '10 films from the same director/actor etc' which can be vastly different each year and per participant and would also invite comments in the vein of 'it's very much the same thing every year'. In general the idea is not to change the whole challenge each year, but to rotate in and out the more general categories and sprinkle in more specific categories as one-offs with each iteration.

Additionally, the purpose of the challenge is to step out of your comfort zone and experiment with films, genres, ideas that you ordinarily wouldn't. And finally, the nature of the challenge is purely voluntary; if you wish to skip a whole category because you have no interest in it, that is also perfectly fine and completely up to you.

That said, I happen to have searched quite a bit into world cinema so I can be of assistance to anyone that wishes to find good films from countries that are not traditionally producing cinema. I can even provide sources to watch them on occasion.

How many foreign do you think are readily available? Hulu has 30, TCM has 100 but how many of those 100 have I already seen or could fit your criteria. Most films from non-traditional countries are bad borderline unwatchable....which I know because I watch them Also don't even know if I have 10 countries that I haven't seen.

I understand that it's hard...but when I do the horror challenge I don't just follow the same format year after year after year. I saw your one from every country tread let that be it's own thing.

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=57721

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Siddon

I can see how this might be a problem for you, since you�ve undoubtedly seen more films than most, but keep in mind that Jabs isn�t making this only with you in mind. The are plenty of us who still have a lot to cover in terms of world cinema. That�s why he chooses the categories, even if they are largely the same each year. And even then, who cares?

Let the guy make the challenge as he sees fit.

Jabs

Also answers to Jabba

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Siddon

Foreign is a subjective term and by no means a narrow one. You may be hard-pressed to find more than 130 films in the 2 American streaming services you subscribe to, but that is definitely not a small number nor should the whole challenge revolve around a couple of streaming services and what they happen to offer.

As for your comment regarding 'non-traditional' countries when it comes to film production, I find it an over-simplification. I can compile a short list if you like for inspiration. I have personally been attempting the challenge you linked for years and still have so many options available to me that finding 10 is a mere drop in the ocean.

I have been trying to understand your position but this is starting to sound more and more like "I am American and I don't want to watch too many foreign movies" which is perfectly fine, but don't expect everyone to cater to your specific tastes. I will reiterate that this is a voluntary challenge and nobody will ever pressure you to participate in it, complete it or even follow any sort of format in regards to what you count in each category.

ApexPredator

Registered User

01-02-23

Originally Posted by Wyldesyde19

The challenges are fine. I�m quite happy with them, in fact. Spent the day looking up films that would fit into the categories.

Same thing here. That's why I haven't put up my list yet.

And I'll agree with others that it's not too centered on foreign films. It feels just right.

ApexPredator

Registered User

01-02-23

Don't get too excited. I'm probably just doing the Main Challenge again this year. The Nightmare is to clean up any loose ends.

NOTE: Bolded Titles=Seen; (Titles)=Downloaded/Locked In; Titles=Considered

Main Challenge (6/52)

Nightmare Mode (2/110)

I'm gonna probably spend the next day or two trying to determine what films I want here, but I think the results aren't too bad so far. Got a mix of harder hitting films and lighter ones (although I may try to lighten things up a bit more between now and then).

View Spoilers

WARNING: "Highlights" spoilers below

Come and See
A Taste of Cherry
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Second shot at Goodfellas
Finding room for The Banshees of Inisherin and RRR
The Gold Rush
The Apartment

Last edited by ApexPredator; 03-03-23 at 07:55 AM.

Kamakhya

Registered User

01-02-23

Hi. I'm new around these parts. I wanted to find a good movie challenge to do this year and this challenge looked the most interesting of the half dozen I found.

I started off the year with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul by Fassbinder, my first Fassbinder film. A great start!

Main Challenge 18/52

Nightmare Mode 0/110

Doesn't Fit Anywhere Else 07/??

I am not well versed in the ins and outs of how to post in this forum, so please be patient as I learn the platform and make the inevitable blunders. Can't wait to see what everyone else chooses for the challenge.

Last edited by Kamakhya; 02-19-23 at 10:32 PM.

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

01-02-23

Welcome!

Jabs

Also answers to Jabba

01-02-23

@Kamakhya welcome both to the forum and the challenge! Enjoy yourself and don't worry about blunders.

Ali: Fear eats the Soul is my choice as well for New German Cinema

Jabs

Also answers to Jabba

01-04-23

Some observations by checking your lists:
@Wyldesyde19 Embrace of the Serpent is Colombian, not Cambodian.
@RMNT The White Ribbon is not considered New German Cinema as that wave ended in the 80s. Here is some more info.

Also throwing a handful of very high recommendations from myself:
Incendies
Smooth Talk
Insiang
The Cremator
Z

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

01-04-23

Originally Posted by Jabs

Ah, you�re right! Thanks for the correction. I�m still sure I haven�t seen anything from Colombia yet either way

Jabs

Also answers to Jabba

01-04-23

Originally Posted by Wyldesyde19

Ah, you�re right! Thanks for the correction. I�m still sure I haven�t seen anything from Colombia yet either way

If Cambodia is also new territory for you, First They Killed My Father is a great film.

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

01-04-23

Originally Posted by Jabs

If Cambodia is also new territory for you, First They Killed My Father is a great film.

It is. Still many countries to for me to uncover. Like Finland. All these years and I haven�t seen anything from them. Good time as any time crack into Karismaki.

Wyldesyde19