2023 Film Challenge

Tools    





Anyone looking for a Cinema du look film, I note that Leos Carax's Boy Meets Girl is now on Criterion.



H. Country roads take me home
[Pick one of the following country groups and watch 5 films from its members, without repetitions]
5. Antarctic Treaty Parties
China Drunken Master
Netherlands Amsterdamned
New Zealand Vigil
South Africa Skin
Sweden And Then We Danced

I. Three monkeys off your back
[Watch a film fitting each of the following categories of addiction]
1. a film with an alcoholic main character The Squeaker
2. a film about drug addiction Beautiful Boy
3. a film in which gambling is a central theme Molly’s Game

A decent crop. I'd say that all of the ones I watched for group H were really solid, especially And Then We Danced and Drunken Master.



H. Country roads take me home
[Pick one of the following country groups and watch 5 films from its members, without repetitions]
5. Antarctic Treaty Parties
China Drunken Master
Netherlands Amsterdamned
New Zealand Vigil
South Africa Skin
Sweden And Then We Danced

I. Three monkeys off your back
[Watch a film fitting each of the following categories of addiction]
1. a film with an alcoholic main character The Squeaker
2. a film about drug addiction Beautiful Boy
3. a film in which gambling is a central theme Molly’s Game

A decent crop. I'd say that all of the ones I watched for group H were really solid, especially And Then We Danced and Drunken Master.
I just watched Beautiful Boy as well for this challenge. I must say, that was a hard slog. Plenty of teary moments, but overall, I was really not impressed with this poor little rich white boy's rebellion phase movie. I've now seen Tim-Oh-Tay Camelot(tm) in three films, and in each, he played a privileged white kid going through privileged white kid crap. He plays the role ok, but meh to the whole trope?



Welcome to the human race...
China Drunken Master
Drunken Master was made in Hong Kong pre-1997 so I get the impression it can't be counted as a mainland China film.
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Also answers to Jabba
I spent a good amount of time yesterday categorizing the films I possess between what was made in China and what was made in Hong Kong because they are indeed very different types of films. It's definitely not as important as the Chinese film the Communism category but the distinction is technically correct.



The trick is not minding
I believe she may have done the same with A Chinese Ghost Story earlier.

She’s probably frowning s little bit at this, but knowing her, she’ll have found and watched their replacements by Saturday. 👀



Registered User
January update. Slow start with only one movie watched and not the whole nightmare challenge filled.

My future updates:

Main Challenge [1/52]  

Nightmare Mode [0/110]  



Also answers to Jabba
She’s probably frowning s little bit at this, but knowing her, she’ll have found and watched their replacements by Saturday. 👀

It's completely voluntary which definition you want to take anyway. We are just offering an opinion.



I just watched Beautiful Boy as well for this challenge. I must say, that was a hard slog. Plenty of teary moments, but overall, I was really not impressed with this poor little rich white boy's rebellion phase movie. I've now seen Tim-Oh-Tay Camelot(tm) in three films, and in each, he played a privileged white kid going through privileged white kid crap. He plays the role ok, but meh to the whole trope?
I don't know. Plenty of people from all walks of life end up addicted. For me, part of what the film highlights is that you can be in a near-ideal situation (family with money for fancy rehab, support system, all the privileges that come with his race/gender/social class), and yet still not be able to kick the habit.

Though I think it's a fair point to consider who eventually gets the privilege to tell their own stories about addiction.

Drunken Master was made in Hong Kong pre-1997 so I get the impression it can't be counted as a mainland China film.
I spent a good amount of time yesterday categorizing the films I possess between what was made in China and what was made in Hong Kong because they are indeed very different types of films. It's definitely not as important as the Chinese film the Communism category but the distinction is technically correct.
Whups. Pulled them both from my watchlist in combination with a "Best Chinese Films" list that didn't make that distinction. No worries. I'll bump them down to nightmare mode and find some replacements.

the distinction is technically correct.



I haven't recommended any films yet, so here's a bunch:

Margin Call
Blue Jay
Shirkers
I second these films.



I don't know. Plenty of people from all walks of life end up addicted. For me, part of what the film highlights is that you can be in a near-ideal situation (family with money for fancy rehab, support system, all the privileges that come with his race/gender/social class), and yet still not be able to kick the habit.

Though I think it's a fair point to consider who eventually gets the privilege to tell their own stories about addiction.
You are absolutely right. Anyone can find themselves in addictive behavior and it has an impact on all those who surround them. But not everyone gets treatment, or a voice. This kid got a book published not only for him, but his dad also published a book about their experience. The privilege is palpable. That was one rich white kid who could beat the addiction while countless others die from our lack of concern. I guess acknowledging that even white kids die helps, but I am still annoyed that its target audience isn't those who can access such help. It was touching, but we all knew he would live in the end because he was a rich white kid and not a poor black kid from the hood.



we all knew he would live in the end because he was a rich white kid and not a poor black kid from the hood.
Eh, maybe?

I have a friend whose brother could be considered a "rich white kid". He died of an overdose two years ago.

My brother's best friend was definitely well-off and came from a very financially stable, supportive family. He died of an overdose three days before Christmas five years ago.

I knew he would live because I saw on the IMDb page that it was partly based on his own book, but had I not known that I wouldn't have been so sure.

I think that what's more insidious is the constant emphasis on his talents and potential. Not only do we not get stories about less privileged people dealing with addiction, I frankly don't think that a lot of people think about such people as having amazing potential. It makes saving "talented" people seem like more of a moral imperative and frames their addiction problems as being part of their fragile, gifted-but-complex minds.

At the same time, I'm reluctant to diminish anyone's experience with something as harrowing as trying to support a person with serious addiction issues.



I wanted to pick out my "Recommended by Another Challenge Participant" film.

I figure I'll post a collapsed version of the recommendations every other page or so, so that it's easy to find them without too much hunting.

Recommendations  



Also answers to Jabba
I wanted to pick out my "Recommended by Another Challenge Participant" film.

I figure I'll post a collapsed version of the recommendations every other page or so, so that it's easy to find them without too much hunting.

I can just put it in the OP along with the other lists if you prefer.



Okay, I think I finished the Normal Mode. As we have learned this year and in past years, I sometimes need a few fact checkers. (Yes, I'm still bitter that Portrait of Dorian Gray isn't a Criterion film. Not because I had to watch another movie, but because dang it, it should be!).

Normal Mode  



Okay, I think I finished the Normal Mode. As we have learned this year and in past years, I sometimes need a few fact checkers. (Yes, I'm still bitter that Portrait of Dorian Gray isn't a Criterion film. Not because I had to watch another movie, but because dang it, it should be]
Wow. 52 new to the viewer movies in 36 days, all of which fit the specific criteria. Just wow. Clearly a film Goddess/God/Godx! I plan on taking the whole year.