Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Fall Film Challenge 2016

My friend, jenn, hosts a fall film challenge each year.  This is the third installment, I've participated in all of them, but never finished watching all my movies.  What can I say?  I'm a book challenge girl. 

I have this little list of 50 Movies that I want to see before I'm 50, and this challenge helps encourage me to knock some off that list. 

If you are a movie buff and want to join us, head over to the fall film challenge facebook group.  There are prizes to be won!

Here's how I've done in previous challenges:
Fall Film Challenge 2014
Fall Film Challenge 2015


Drumroll, please....... my list for 2016:

one. about adolescence. - The Perks of Being a Wallflower; I've read the book, so, yea, I want to see the movie.
two. about a character's rebirth or rite of passage - Trainwreck; Amy Schumer is hilarious, and I've wanted to see this since its release.
three. about a comic book character. - X-Men Origins: Wolverine; this was a difficult category because my stepkid loves these movies, and I've seen a lot of them in recent years.  I realized that I've seen the other Wolverine movie, but I hadn't seen this one.
four. shot or set in washington, d.c. - Burn After Reading; with an uber-talented cast and the Coen brothers at the helm, this one interested me.
five. set in an academic environment - A Beautiful Mind; this one's on my 50 Movies list
six. about failure. - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; I picked this for a previous challenge and didn't get to it.  Maybe this time, I'll finally watch this classic.
seven. about a man vs. god or gods. - Apocalypto; the husband recorded this awhile ago...I guess I'll finally watch it with him.
eight. about a man vs. himself. - Candy; an Australian made movie with Heath Ledger as a heroin addict; should be rather poignant.
nine. about an invention or an ingenuous individual. - Amadeus; another on my 50 Movies list
ten. set in a jail or prison. - Stoic; I've never heard of it before, it has poor ratings, but it still grabs my attention.  Might as well see what Edward Furlong is up to.
eleven. about a dog. - Red Dog; another Australian film; this should be good to watch as a family.
twelve. about loss. - About Time; jenn, the host, recommended it to me, and it's from the makers of Love Actually.
thirteen. about man vs. man. - Cinderella Man; I've only heard good things about this movie, so I'll finally get around to watching it.
fourteen. about man vs. nature. - The Danish Girl; a love story about a transgender person; that's man vs. nature, right?  Plus, there's supposed to be some incredible acting in this one.
fifteen. one that has a monster or monstrous individual. - Wolf Creek; based loosely on a true story about a serial killer who targeted backpackers in Australia; I'd say that's a "monstrous individual".
sixteen. shot or set in pennsylvania. - Paper Towns; movie adaptation of John Green's book; I don't have high expectations, but I still want to see it.
seventeen. about a character's quest of some kind. - Star Wars: The Force Awakens; I'm not Star Wars crazy, so I haven't seen this yet.  But, I did grow up with the movies...and Han Solo is back
eighteen. about a character who goes from rags to riches. - Shine; on my 50 Movies list; plus, Geoffrey Rush is such a splendid actor.
nineteen. about a man. vs. society. - Creation; another jenn recommendation, and she watches a lot of movies, so, I listen to her.
twenty. originally released in the thirties. - A Farewell to Arms; the Gary Cooper one because that's from the thirties as opposed to the Rock Hudson one.
twenty-one. about undesirable individuals or elements. - Devil's Knot; based on the true story of 3 young boys that were murdered and 3 teens (that were most likely falsely) imprisoned for the crime.  I've seen a couple of documentaries and read a book by the guy that spent almost 20 years on death row for the crime.
twenty-two. about a voyage and return. - The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; an Australian classic; the story of two drag and a transsexual and their travels in the Australian Outback.
twenty-three. about wizards or witchcraft. - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; I can't believe I'm going to break.  I've been totally uninterested in HP since its beginning, but the stepkid is getting to the age where he will probably find it interesting; I'll take one for the family/team and watch one.
twenty-four. originally released in the sixties. - The Sound of Music; that's right; I've never seen this movie.  Every time I see that it is on and think I should watch it, it's in the middle (or close to the end), so I don't.  I mean, if I'm going to watch it, I want to watch all of it.  It's about time I do it, huh?
twenty-five. about a yearning or obsession. - Memoirs of a Geisha; I read this in a previous book challenge, enjoyed it, and hear the movie shouldn't disappoint.


Movie viewing doesn't begin until September; you have plenty of time to join and compile your list.  I like lists, so any opportunity to make a list, I jump on it.  This one wasn't easy though.  I had to search and put on my thinkin' cap.

Join us, won't you?  What do you think about this list?

25 comments:

  1. This sounds like fun! Like you, I'm a bit more of a book challenge girl but those are some great movie categories! We watched About Time when I was about 9 months pregnant and I could.not.stop.crying. Thinking back on it, it IS sad, but it's not the kind of sad that makes you cry for weeks...lol. I love Amadeus and The Sound of Music and A Beautiful Mind :) And of course Harry Potter although I prefer the books ;)
    I enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha too, although I found the book to be MUCH better. I really want to see Trainwreck and I forgot about it until I saw your post, so thank you!

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  2. such a great list. i thought train wreck was hilarious. and perks of being a wallflower is so good. that book was everything when i read it long ago! about time is really good too. and was "paper towns" filmed in PA? I know it was based on orlando. if so that's a cool tie in! all great picks!

    xoxo cheshire kat

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  3. Oh this was so much fun last year, I have to do it again! Time to make my list :)

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    1. i'm glad you liked it, steph, and am happy you're participating again. :]

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  4. If there's one movie that you watch out of your whole list, please watch the Sound of Music! It's such a classic! My mom, sister, and I are seriously obsessed with it, which is why Chris and I are planning on making a stop in Salzburg when we're in Europe in September.
    You have a great list put together, and I'm thinking that I need to go over and check out the Facebook group. I've been watching a lot more TV shows lately over movies.

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    1. you should totally check out the facebook group. you can join it, even if you don't want to do the challenge. i've got photo albums of challenge selections arranged by decade, and those who actually make it through one of the films chosen sometimes leave commentary as to what they thought of it. it's a good way to pick movies to see.

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  5. That Wolverine Origin is my hubs favorite super hero movie - & he's a super hero buff so for him to pick one as a fav, tells you that its good :)
    I cant believe I haven't seen Trainwrecked yet.
    Perks of a Wallflower is great... I need to read the book.
    I thought Paper Towns, the book, was meh... just ok - but I still need to see the movie.

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    1. i loved trainwreck. but i was the only in my family who did. i loved how it flipped the personality. if amy schumer's character had been a guy, i think everyone in my family would've LOVED it, and i would've been turned off. so...

      i tried several times to read paper towns. i think i got as far as the hundredth page and then quit. the movie was alright.

      and you absolutely should read perks. loved that book.

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  6. I'm doing this, too. I'm posting my list a week from Wed. I'm watching "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", as well :)
    Cinderella Man is a good one but I really disliked Burn After Reading. Hopefully you feel differently after it's over :) Great picks!

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    1. so glad you're doing it again audrey louise. looking forward to seeing your selections.

      i couldn't stand burn after reading, either.

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  7. I'm a huge fan of About Time! I hope you like it! I remember on a long bus ride/tour thing in Australia Red Dog was playing on the bus, so I've kind of seen that one. Totally would've forgotten about it!

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    1. i LOVE bill nighy. he is fantastic in everything he does, and i think this is probably his best role. not that he wasn't awesome in love actually. but i loved how real he was here. and i LOVED how intricate and unusual this film was.

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  8. I enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is very homage-y to New Hope. Honestly, I was just relieved it didn't suck and will admit getting a little teary when Han Solo and Chewbecca showed up. :) I am a diehard Harry Pottery fan so I hope you enjoy the movie. I actually was dragged to that movie by a friend and subsequently fell in love with Harry Potter and devoured the books. Just thinking about The Sound of Music makes me want to start singing. LOL! The songs are kind of addictive!

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  9. This is SO awesome! I'm totally joining in on this!!!

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  10. erin, you should watch harry potter just for richard harris, because he spectacular in it.

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  11. i can't wait to see what you think of Burn After Reading. i am not commenting at all on what i thought.
    and also trainwreck. i hope you like it. i couldn't get more than a few minutes in, i wanted to! i hope you like HP <3 also, about time. freaking love that movie. corny and adorable but can't handle the cuteness.

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  12. Yayyyy! Sound of Music will fill your heart with so much joy! I'm joining up on the challenge and am blogging about it Friday!

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  13. I love these movie challenges but the problem is I have seen a huge amount of movies! My husband is a major movie buff and since we don't have cable 90% of the time we're watching a movie. And if it's something that is come out in recent years we've probably watched it even if it was terrible simply to have something new to watch. But I might see if there's a few I could fit into this challenge because I don't do the challenge is to win them so much as I do them just so I have new things to experience!

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    1. but that's what makes it a challenge, see? part of the trouble is finding something you haven't seen that you'd actually consider watching.

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  14. Good picks!! Is Devil's Knot about the West Memphis Three? I'd never heard of it before. Wolf Creek sounds good too. The Danish Girl is a great choice for Man vs. Nature! Can't wait for the fun to begin.

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  15. I'm joining in this year for the first time, cannot wait to get started!!!!

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  16. Yay! Nice to see you've joined in too. I'm considering putting The Sound of Music on my list for that category as well. I suppose I should this way I can say I've seen it and just get it out of the way.

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  17. I'm not participating this year. I quit last year, too. There's too many rules and not enough flexibility.

    That said, you have some good movies on your list. Good luck!

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