Super excited to have been selected to host June 2026’s Scavenger Hunt 135! Wow!
Here are a few links you should know:
Mandel’s Scavenger Hunt Master List
Discord
July Scavenger Hunt Raffle
This is my first time hosting, so I’m hoping these prompts are fun, challenging, and engaging. Along the way, I’ll hopefully give you an idea about who I am. If you’re not interested in the running commentary, though, no worries — all of the prompts are collected in my notes as well.
Now let's get onto the good shit: the prompts.
1. My birthday is January 1. I was the first baby born in my town and county that year, and I’m also the oldest of my siblings. Watch a movie that kicked off a franchise or series.
2. Exactly two years ago, I participated in my first Letterboxd Scavenger Hunt: Scavenger Hunt #111, hosted by Zoey Rose. To honor Zoey, choose a prompt from her list and watch a movie that fits it. Note: Zoey Rose includes several excellent prompts related to LGBTQ+ themes, which also work well for Pride Month inspiration if you’re looking for it.
3. I’ve been blessed with three wonderful siblings — Matthew, Christopher, and Claire. Watch a movie featuring someone in the cast with one of those names (shortened versions count too).
4. For most of my life, I’ve lived in Northern California — a very different California from the version often portrayed in TV and movies. Watch a movie set or filmed in Northern California.
5. My earliest memories of going to the movies are seeing The Little Mermaid and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my friends and cousins. Watch a movie from the Disney Renaissance or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
6. Speaking of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, when we were kids, my brothers, cousins, and I painted ourselves green, made papier-mâché turtle shells, and rode in the back of a truck during our town’s Fourth of July parade as the Turtles. Watch a movie featuring a character you once cosplayed or dressed up as for Halloween.
7. Another movie I was absolutely obsessed with as a child is The Wizard of Oz. I’ve since learned about a lot of the issues that happened behind the scenes, especially through the podcast What Went Wrong. Watch a movie covered on What Went Wrong.
8. Confession: I still love The Wizard of Oz — I’m just not quite as obsessed with it as I was growing up. That said, it still shows up on at least three of my Letterboxd lists, so I guess I haven’t completely let it go. For this prompt, visit one of these lists — I ❤️ This 💯, The Top Shelf, or 5-Star Rewatches — and select a movie to watch.
9. As evidenced by those three lists in my previous prompt, I really enjoy the curation aspect of Letterboxd. I also love seeing how that plays out through the Showdown topics. For this prompt, go to one of the three most recent Showdowns, find a “Most Mentioned” film you haven’t seen, and watch it. If you’ve seen all the “Most Mentioned” films in a Showdown, move to the next most recent one until you find one you haven’t seen.
10. Another element of Letterboxd that I really enjoy are the challenges. Aside from the monthly Scavenger Hunts, the two I’ve participated in most are Ben’s annual Japanuary challenge and Moresbi’s M(a)y Korea challenge. In honor of both, watch a film from Japan or South Korea.
11. Wanting to keep these prompts somewhat thematically connected, I’ve linked a few of my Letterboxd-based prompts together. I really enjoy the community and tool that Letterboxd is. But prior to discovering it, I primarily listened to podcasts to learn about and discover film. One of the longest-running ones I’ve listened to is The Cine-Files, hosted by Steve Morris and John Rocha — I’ve been listening for about 10 years. For this prompt, watch a film covered on The Cine-Files.
12. While I’ve enjoyed listening to The Cine-Files, one thing I’ve never fully agreed with is their take on The Lord of the Rings and their avoidance of doing episodes about it. I was twelve when I first read The Hobbit, and it sparked a lifelong love of epic fantasy. A few years later, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in theaters, and I absolutely saw it on opening day. Peter Jackson’s trilogy helped redefine and evolve the fantasy genre for modern audiences. Part 1: Watch a fantasy film released before The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
13. Part 2: Watch a fantasy film released after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
14. I think a rite of passage is watching a movie you probably had no business seeing at the age you saw it, without your parents’ permission. For me, that movie was Scream 2 on Christmas Day with my cousins and my brother, Matt — and yes, there was definitely some “creative access” (a free movie credit before there was such a thing) involved at the time. Watch a movie you would have gotten in trouble for watching at the time it was released.
15. Childhood movie memories are universal—mine include a fifth-grade sleepover where I somehow ended up watching Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Timecop. But my real origin story of loving movies began at 15, when I got my first job at my hometown video store, where I watched films I might never have chosen and talked with customers about their different tastes. Watch a movie you first heard about through someone else’s enthusiasm rather than advertising or trailers.
16. “He’s a softie!” Erica says about Logan/Wolverine in X-Men as he stops his truck to let Rogue ride with him. Erica was someone I met when I went to see X-Men in theaters with my cousin. After the movie, we traded emails for a while, and I developed a huge crush that lasted a few years—even though she lived hours away and I rarely saw her again. Watch a movie about a crush, a long distance relationship, or unrequited love.
17. The week that I met Erica was actually a pretty formative week as far as my tastes go-- this is also the week that I discovered Cake. I've had the opportunity to see Cake twice in concert, and I absolutely love their music. Watch a movie that features a song by Cake or by an artist/band they’ve covered, such as Gloria Gaynor, Black Sabbath, or Willie Nelson.
18. Earlier in the list, I mentioned that I’ve lived in Northern California for most of my life. The only time I lived elsewhere was for half a year in Portland, OR when I was 17. I still visit occasionally to see friends, and I think it’s a wonderful city—microbreweries, eccentric people, and Powell's City of Books. Honestly, Powell’s might be better than Disneyland: an entire city block dedicated to books. Watch a movie set or filmed in Portland, or a movie adapted from a novel.
19. Juneteenth commemorates emancipation, freedom, and an ongoing struggle for equality in the United States. For this prompt, watch a film centered on Black history, culture, joy, resistance, or identity.
20. The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer. Summer has always felt a little magical to me—long days, warm nights, road trips, concerts, county fairs, bonfires, swimming pools, and the feeling that life briefly moves at a different pace. Oh! And blockbusters! Watch a movie that takes place during the summer or strongly captures the feeling and atmosphere of summer.
21. My dad and I have similar tastes in movies—we both enjoy sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and adventure films—and when we lived closer to each other, I used to take him to the movies around Father’s Day. I remember us going to see Superman Returns and Get Smart in theaters. A couple years ago, since he lives out of state, I ordered Villeneuve's Dune 2-Film Collection for him from Amazon. Watch a movie you think your dad, father figure, mentor, or someone who has guided you would love.
22. Earlier this year, I got curious what AI might recommend if I loaded my 25 most recent watches into it and asked for movie recommendations. The results were interesting—some films I’d seen, some I hadn’t. I’m still working through the list, but it did recommend Before Sunrise and its sequels to me, and I really loved the first two. For this prompt, copy/paste your 25 most recent watches into ChatGPT (or other AI) and ask for recommendations, then watch one you haven’t seen before. If you’re worried about AI eventually rising up against us, or you just haven’t been logging films, you can always use one of the recommendations it gave me instead.
23 & 24. My most popular (and most time-consuming) Letterboxd list is If You Like (2020s Movie), Watch (Older) Movie, which I started in early 2020 after discovering a similar list for the 2010s. I haven’t updated it as much lately, but I’m still really proud of it. For these prompts, watch a 2020s film and an older film (20+ years older) that closely resembles it or may have inspired it. You can either use one of my existing pairings or create a new one I’ve missed. Note: if you create a new pairing, there’s a decent chance I’ll steal it for the list.
25. I started student teaching at 25 with the goal of becoming a teacher. I wanted to be a teacher like Dead Poets Society’s Mr. Keating. I completed the program two years later, and for about a decade I bounced between school districts across California (maybe I was a little too much like Mr. Keating?). Eventually, I got tired of constantly moving and decided to pursue becoming a librarian, so I went back to school. Watch a movie about an unconventional teacher or a movie about going back to school.
26. I’ve been trying to bounce between my present life and my past throughout this Hunt—maybe successfully, maybe not. A lot of these prompts have come from memories surfacing as I work on specific numbers or topics. It’s been an interesting exercise in trying to introduce myself and give you a better sense of who I am. In a way, this whole Hunt has turned into a kind of nonlinear storytelling. Watch a movie with a nonlinear timeline.
27. I’ve really enjoyed writing this Scavenger Hunt knowing there’s a built-in community around it. I hope I’ve managed to come up with some fun and interesting prompts along the way. Outside of this challenge, I also enjoy creating challenges for the Letterboxd community. The first one I felt was truly successful was the original Cape’ril over three years ago, which I created while working through the MCU, Christopher Nolan’s filmography, and Hayao Miyazaki’s films. I realized I’d be watching four superhero movies that month and thought, “Cape” sounds a lot like April… and the idea was born. For this prompt, let’s get a little weird with our heroes: watch a non-DC/Marvel superhero or graphic novel adaptation, or a sci-fi film that relies on practical effects.
28. The second challenge I created on Letterboxd was a yearly challenge focused on exploring the filmographies of MCU actors by watching films outside the Marvel universe. It’s always interesting to see how varied and unexpected some of their careers are. Choose an MCU actor from my 2025 or 2026 list and watch a film outside the MCU.
29. “The biggest word you ever heard…” — supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I’ve always loved how playful and ridiculous it is, and I also really enjoy Mary Poppins. For this prompt, pick any syllable or natural chunk from “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and watch a movie whose title starts with that chunk. Example chunks: super, cal, cali, frag, gil, list, ex, exp… you get the idea. This was the first prompt that I thought of including when I was invited to host this month, but it seemed so far off from everything else that I had to save it towards the end.
30. I love a good bookend. Since we kicked things off with a movie that started a series or franchise, let’s close the loop: Watch the final (or most recently released) movie in a series or franchise—your cinematic bookend.
If you want to substitute any of the prompts, these are substitution prompts you can use as often as you want to replace the prompts that I came up with:
- watch a movie starring an actor from the MCU in a role outside of the MCU
- watch a superhero, fantasy, or sci-fi movie
- watch something that will encourage you
Thank you for taking this journey with me! I hope these prompts lead to amazing discoveries.
Rewatches:
Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
How to Train Your Dragon
I Love You, Man
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Note: Movies subject to change should something become inaccessible or leave streaming.
