What’s good team, Hope we’re all well! I want to say a big thank you for being blessed with the opportunity to host Scavenger Hunt #78! I have really enjoyed taking part in these over the last few months and it was so exciting seeing my name come out of the raffle. Before we get into it, I want to thank Cecily for the amazing job she did hosting last month! Be sure to tag your lists with “scavenger hunt” and “scavenger hunt 78” as well. Hope you guys enjoy the prompts I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s choices!

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Links
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When it came to writing out the prompts for this Scavenger Hunt I wanted to make it stand out a bit more from the ones that I’ve previously participated in, and I realised that the best way to keep something original is to stay true to yourself. So with this hunt I wanted to try and give you guys my personal experience with movies over the years and showcase my outlook on cinema and how much it means to me. So I’ll apologise in advance for the more personal prompts but I just want to make the most of the opportunity I have here.

Prompts
1. To begin with, let me introduce myself, my name is Joe, I was born in October 1999 and I always like to ironically joke about how I’m a 90s baby as the amount of people who get insulted by others posing as nineties babies is way too many and just unnecessary to be honest. So for the first pick, Watch a movie from either 1999 or 2000 depending on which year is closest to your birth year.

2. I was born in northern England and have lived here ever since, and I do love that Northern outlook and way of life. I like to think it’s different to the typical English stereotypes that everyone seems to have. I kind of wanted to highlight an English director/actor/language films to capture this but I figured it’d just be better for you guys to simply Watch a film that’s set in England.

3. I have always been a sporty kid, I swam since I was 4, played football since I was 7 and basketball since I was 11. And I can’t remember a time when football wasn’t a life or death matter for my family and friends. So for this pick I’d like you to Watch a movie centred around Football/Soccer or Basketball.

4. When I wasn’t as obsessed with films as I am now, music became something I enjoyed exploring and listening to very much in the same way I explore different films. I’m as much a film nerd as I am a music nerd and since some of my favourite albums have come to my attention from a moviegoing experience I believe music and film go hand in hand. Watch a movie from my favourite musical moments list.

5. I’ve also been known to watch an unholy amount of YouTube. And while I’d love to make you guys watch the Fred Movie or Laid in America, I’d rather look at the more constructive side to my YouTube viewing, especially when it comes to music and film. I believe the channel Cinefix (or IGN Movies and TV) are great for movie lists and the way they format them too. They’ve helped me find new films that were great for different reasons thanks to their lists. And they list all their recurring/favourite choices on CineFix’s 100 Most Talked About Movies. Which is a great list for you guys to pick a film from.

6. The evolution of my taste in film has expanded incredibly since I was younger. And so if we’re going to do a deep dive into my love of movies, where better to start than the beginning. My first cinema-going experiences and first films I can remember loving are Spider-Man (2002), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone through until The Prisoner of Azkaban, and the Star Wars prequels (somewhat regrettably). And while franchise films aren’t my cup of tea now, I can’t ignore how much they do for introducing people to movies, and how much money they make. So, find yourself a new favourite franchise, Watch the first movie from an anthology/trilogy/franchise of your choice.

7. From there we get to that age where I was unbelievably annoying and irritating (and kind of still am now). And I’ll blame that on how obsessed I was with almost every Adam Sandler or Happy Madison comedy that was made, regardless of how awful they were, if they were bad sometimes that makes them more fun to watch. Especially to an 11 year old me. But in recent years he’s been in a couple of great films, so channel this humiliation with me and Watch any Adam Sandler film.

8. Although I may have grown out of Adam Sandler films, I do still admire awful films, for how ridiculous they can be and some of the errors that are in there, they will always be so much fun to watch and laugh at. Which is why I want you to Watch a film with an average Letterboxd rating of less than 2 Stars. Have some fun watching a shit film.

9. One of the main reasons for my love of Adam Sandler films and awful films in general is my auntie, she would always stick on some of the most god awful rob Schneider or Dax Shepard comedies (just to name a few). I mean she  introduced me to the Greasy Strangler. And on top of all this she has a great knowledge of films and it was really cool to find out how much she loves David Lynch and share that with her as well. And so I thought I’d get her involved with this. Watch one of my Aunties favourite films.

10. Before I get a bit more serious with the prompts and film choices we’ll embarrass myself, to an extent, because I love all of these films. Watch one of my (or, if you can’t pick one, one of your friend/family members’) guilty pleasure movies.

11. The main reason I fell in love with films at such an early age was because my dream job was (and still kind of is) to be a movie director. I remember having a directors chair when I was 10 and even now I just think being able to construct your own vision through film can be very empowering. The main inspiration for this was Danny Boyle (Director of Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 hours, 28 Days Later) because he was born 20 minutes away from my hometown. And seeing how acclaimed he became when he lived so close to me was quite surreal to my 10 year old self. But I think it’ll be an interesting experience for you guys to find and Watch a film directed by someone born in your hometown/city (or if it doesn’t work for you, a director born in your home country).

12. This obsession would evolve into my desire to watch 127 hours which i wasn’t allowed to watch due to the age rating. But once I did I remember being so excited, It was one of the first films I was heavily anticipating watching. It reminds me of specific films that capture a moment in time in my life. One of which I’ll talk about later. But alongside 127 Hours (2010) I remember obsessing over Boyhood (2014) and being pissed about how Birdman beat it to Best Picture. As well as my current favourite film, The Irishman (2019) and how much I adore that film while no one else I know seems to. Luckily, though, these years were quite great for film in general. So I’d like you to Watch a film released in either 2010, 2014 or 2019.

13. From there my love of films only grew, I began researching IMDb looking for the best films and studying the Top 250 ashamedly, so, yes, I once believed The Shawshank Redemption was the peak of cinema and you can experience going down that rabbit hole with me by Watching a film from the IMDb Top 250.

14. Alongside this, I began to believe every film that won Best Picture was automatically a cinematic masterpiece. But Watching an Academy Award Best Picture Winner should be essential to any Scavenger Hunt in my opinion. 

15. The one film that defines a time in my life between 2014 and 2019 is Do The Right Thing. That film and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly is the reason why I wanted to study American Studies and History at University so I can learn about the Civil Rights Movement and race relations in America. And I think the messages these works carry are essential to everyone. Watch a film that tackles race relations.

16. While I was at University I had a long spell of a loss of interest in films. And regrettably the interest spiked again after I did an American Studies course on “Alfred Hitchcock’s America” and as much as I hated the lecturer it was very interesting to see how every part of a film can be a form of expression and how much goes into creating them. It gave me a new outlook on films and brought back that enthusiasm that I once had for them. So I’d like you to Watch one  of the films I studied for that module, they are: Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Spellbound, Notorious, Rope, Strangers on a Train and Rear Window. (If you’ve seen them all, watch an Alfred Hitchcock film that isn’t Psycho, Vertigo or The Birds)

17. After this my research began again, looking for films I need to watch. Cinefix was a great help, and it led me to many different directors who would go on to inspire me even more. I began to appreciate the more classic directors as well as the director’s job of portraying a message and an expression of themselves. And so from that I held more value to a directors catalogue, I began finding new films by exploring filmographies and ranking films made by the same director. I was going to make you guys pick from a list of directors but instead, you can Spin The wheel Of Directors! And watch a film made by whoever it lands on! (if you don’t want to watch any of these guys’ films watch a film by your favourite director that you haven’t seen)

18. For these next picks I want to put a spotlight on my favourite directors. One of which is Martin Scorsese, who came into controversy (not very but kinda) recently by commenting on the popularity of Comic Book films in the modern day - referring to them as amusement park films. And as much as I love him I’m not going to argue whether he’s wrong or right here. I’ll just say Watch a film from the MCU or one of Scorsese’s 125 Essential Films based on whether or not you agree with his opinion.

19. And for my favourite director, it has to be Gaspar Noé, who I love for his way of creating such harrowing and fucked up films that manage to display a meaning to life that will always stick with you, whether it’s because of how thought provoking it is, or if it’s because the film won’t ever leave your mind because of how disturbing it is. I think this guy is such a fucked up genius and has such a great take on cinema, and you can really see this in his cinematic education. So Watch one of Gaspar Noé’s favourite films.

20. After this time in my life, my good friend, Lordlykicker, introduced me not only to LetterBoxd, but to these Scavenger Hunts as well. So there were more films I was getting the chance to watch that I wouldn’t have otherwise. So I felt it’s only right I’d return the favour and let him give his own prompt in my Scavenger Hunt. So here he is: 

My whole life I’ve been obsessed with Pokemon, so for my prompt I want you to Watch any Pokemon Movie (I Heavily Recommend Pokemon Heroes)

21. I’d also like to give an opportunity to my friend Shaun, to give you guys a prompt as he’s one of the two friends I have who enjoys using Letterboxd and who can discuss films with me while knowing what I’m on about. So here is Shaun:

A big eye opener in learning about films is seeing the origins of world-renowned directors and the earliest films in their catalogue. I recently had this after watching Bad Taste, a low budget horror-comedy which was the first film by Peter Jackson, best known for directing the LOTR trilogy. It’s very intriguing to see how far directors have come since their first venture into filmmaking but also to see what remains of an early effort into forging a unique brand of filmmaking well into their careers. So for this prompt I want you to Pick a director with a lot of films under their belt and Watch their first (or at least an early film) from them!

22. I do owe a lot of my film knowledge and passion to people I know. One of the main reasons is my Grandad, who’d always tell me about how back in the day his dad would stop him from playing outside and make him and his siblings sit down in front of the TV and watch Seven Samurai and other classic films which I’m kind of jealous of. But he has such a vast and developed taste in films which is great because I usually end up talking to him about films that I’ve watched but no one I know has seen. So I thought it’d be interesting to see what his favourite films are and share that with everyone. So for this pick I’d like you to Watch one of my Grandad’s favourite films.

23. I kind of wanted to put the LetterBoxd Top 250 in here as it was another great research tool for finding new films. I was also debating giving a prompt for a film with a Criterion Release as I’ve kind of been obsessed ever since they dropped The Irishman. But I think the best list I’ve found since joining Letterboxd, and the final list I’ll put on this Hunt. Watch a film from the BFI Sight and Sound Critics Top 250 (as of 2012) as I believe there are so many more films on here you may not have heard of from the other two lists.

24. There are many different things I’ve grown to love about films, one of which is finding new cultures and new ways of life in film through foreign films. I feel I’m slowly beginning to learn French, Italian and Russian because of the amount of films I’ve watched over the last year or so from these countries. I also blame Godard and Truffaut for my unhealthy need to visit Paris and La Dolce Vita for my wish to visit Rome. And so to embrace a new country/culture for this pick, Watch a film that’s not in your first language (or English).

25. One part of film culture that I’m happy to see people are partaking in is building a collection of DVDs. While Streaming services are doing their thing, I’ve always loved having a physical copy of a film I love because it just makes me feel more connected to it. It also helps if it’s a special edition. So I’d like you to Watch a movie that you (or your household) own a DVD/Blu-ray of (if you can’t do this just find a film someone you know has on dvd that you haven’t seen).

26. One of the best things about film is perspective, especially from the eyes of the director. And making that directors list shocked me as there weren’t many women who get labelled as legendary directors in comparison to men. So the perspective of a female visionary is harder to come across. And so to show some appreciation I’d like you to Watch either a film directed by a woman or a film with a woman in the lead role.

27. With the amount of money the film industry makes there’s more films coming out and more boundaries being pushed. Making it harder to appreciate the boundaries older films broke and how compelling these more dated films are. I do appreciate how older films are able to capture an era and watching films that defined certain times. So I think it’s good for people to see what inspired some of their favourite modern filmmakers by Watching a film released before 1970.

28. As I’m finishing rambling on about why cinema is so special to me. I’d like to highlight the films that have made a lasting impression on me after this evolution. So hopefully now you can Watch a film I’ve awarded a 5 Star Rating and hopefully come out of it at least understanding why I gave it that score. (If you’ve seen them all just watch a film from my Top 100) 

29. And with two slots left, I want to focus on subjectivity, I love hearing everyone’s opinion and what makes their favourite film their favourite. Trying to find those reasons why a film won’t click for me but really does for someone else. So, with that being said, I want you to Watch a close friend/partner/family member’s favourite film that you’ve not given the chance to watch. 

30. And now I want to focus on you specifically. You know That film you’ve wanted to watch for such a long time, but for one reason or another you’ve never got around to it. I’ll give you this final pick so you have an excuse to watch it.

If you can’t pick a film for a prompt, replace it with:
- A film from My Top 100
- A film Cecily considers an Absolute Favourite
- A film Lordlykicker has Reviewed on Letterboxd
- A film Shaun has rated 4 Stars or Higher
- A film that has a Criterion DVD/Blu-ray
- A film from the Letterboxd Top 250
- A film I’ve Watched In 2021
- A film that has been nominated for the Best Costume Design Oscar
- A film that has been nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar
- A film directed by Dennis Dugan
- A film directed by Danny Boyle

A big thank you to everyone who lended a hand helping me with this list (go follow Shaun and Lordlykicker). It was so much fun to make and I hope you guys enjoy these prompts!! 

Thank you for participating:
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