Published 2024-10-17T10:46:50.253Z Updated 2024-12-28T10:20:58.714Z/time>

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Scavenger Hunt #116 - November 2024

Greetings and salutations,

I'm Robbo and it's my privilege to be hosting this month's scavenger hunt. This marks four years since I first started doing these hunts - a good way to both challenge and focus my film-watching habits (which were already quite voracious even before I started taking on roughly 30 more movies a month) that I've kept up with in some form or fashion ever since. Certainly a lot of time to think about potential prompts, but now that it's finally my turn to host, I think I've managed to narrow it down to 30 that I think will be satisfactory - but I guess I'll let you be the judge of that.

Thanks again to Nick for…

Greetings and salutations,

Thanks again to Nick for hosting October's hunt.

The Links:

Master List
Discord
December 2024 Host Raffle

The Prompts:

1. November 1st is All Saints' Day. Watch a film with "saint" or some variation thereof in the title (e.g. films like The Boondock Saints or St. Vincent are eligible).

2. Before we get too far away from October, I want to fit in one more horror film - since this is the 2nd prompt of the month, let's make it a sequel. Watch a sequel to a horror film.

3. Now that the transition into November is out of the way, time to get to the real reason to host a scavenger hunt - getting other people to watch the films that I like. Watch a film from my top 100 (or, if you'd like a wider range of options, try my personal canon).

4. Mortal Kombat is one of my favourite videogame franchises. In addition to the cartoonishly bloody fun it provides, its recent entries have also featured a considerable number of characters from other works of media. Watch a film from the Mortal Kombat franchise or a film featuring a character who has made a guest appearance in the franchise.

5. We Hate Movies is my favourite film podcast thanks to how much comedy gold they mine out of the dregs of cinema. Watch a film that has been covered on the podcast. (Don't worry, they do "We Love Movies" episodes about good films as well).

6. Another podcast I've been listening to a lot recently is Blank Check With Griffin & David because their focus on directors' filmographies and how things change with each new film is a fascinating idea for a podcast. Watch a film that has been covered on the podcast.

7. There's a lot to be said for appreciating the artistic potential that can be found in the unlikeliest of places - say, by recontextualising the pointedly artificial aesthetic choices of certain "lesser" genre films as being tantamount to their own distinctive cinematic movement. Watch a film from comrade_yui's "neo-expressionism" list.

8. Two of my favourite streaming services are MUBI and Tubi, having only one letter to differentiate their names while the titles in their libraries are almost complete opposites to one another. Watch a film that is available on either service.

9. Audio commentaries are a great special feature that I always feel I should listen to more, gaining insight from a film's creators or appreciators into everything from the facets of the creative process to the signifiers of deeper meaning to the trivialities of behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Watch a film while listening to its audio commentary.

10. A good thing about these scavenger hunts is getting to find out how much you have in common with other users. For this prompt, go to my watchlist, filter it as "show films on watchlist", and watch a film that is on both your watchlist and my watchlist.

11. I collect a lot of physical media, especially now that video stores are gone and second-hand DVDs are plentiful. Watch a film on my Owned/Unwatched list or a film you own on physical media but have not watched.

12. I've always been fascinated by the idea of cult films and how they defied conventional definitions of success by building their own devoted followings. We all know the long-established cult classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show or This Is Spinal Tap, but I want to highlight an old A.V. Club column called "The New Cult Canon" that aimed to shine a spotlight on the predominantly newer films that were building (or deserved to build) similar levels of devotion. Watch a film from the New Cult Canon.

13. Another resource that was a major early influence on me becoming a cinephile was 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die and its efforts to condense a century-plus of cinema history into a relatively manageable goal (even if they kept adding and removing films with each new edition). Watch a film that has been included in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

14. Gladiator II comes out this month, which makes for a good opportunity to look back on the extensive and eclectic filmography of one Sir Ridley Scott. Watch a film he directed.

15. One of my favourite premises for a film is that of "the most dangerous game", which at its most basic is about one person hunting another one for sport but can be expanded into anything from dystopian game shows to twisted social experiments. Watch a "most dangerous game" film (here is a fairly comprehensive list of examples).

16. Seeing as this is Scavenger Hunt #116, watch a film that is 116 minutes long. Just be glad I'm not hosting Scavenger Hunt #300, I guess. (Edit: Thanks to Letterboxd user konri for compiling a list of films that are 116 minutes long in case you need it.)

17. Roger Ebert once claimed that any film featuring M. Emmet Walsh or Harry Dean Stanton couldn't be altogether bad. Watch a film featuring either of those actors.

18. A few years ago, I started the "Chain Reaction Challenge", which involved connecting 100 different films by making each new pick relate to the last one in some way (same actor, same director, etc.) I figure the connections I made would serve as good scavenger hunt prompts and I've already decided to use a few for this hunt, but I figure I'll let you decide which of the others you'd like to use so go to the list I made and watch a film that fits one of my Chain Reaction Challenge prompts (be sure to specify which one you picked).

19. Another challenge that I'm fond of doing is the annual Criterion Challenge, which - as you can probably guess - involves watching films that are in the Criterion Collection. Watch a film from the Criterion Collection.

20. As long as we're talking about film distribution labels, I think I should acknowledge the Australian ones that do their best to bring a variety of titles to a country that does tend to get a little underserved in terms of physical media. Watch a film that has been released through Umbrella Entertainment or Madman Entertainment.

21.Johnnie To's The Heroic Trio features three truly iconic leading ladies in Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh, and Maggie Cheung. Watch a film featuring at least one of these ladies.

22. I once saw someone claim that, if you want to see which film is the "real" winner of Best Picture at the Oscars then you look at what won the Oscar for Best Film Editing. The accuracy of that claim is naturally debatable, but why not use it as an excuse to pay extra attention to one of my favourite aspects of the filmmaking process? Watch a film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.

23. As long as we're on the topic of the Oscars, it does seem like the above-the-line award that gets the least amount of attention is the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Watch a film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

24. A sub-genre I'm fond of is when a film takes place in 24 hours or less (especially over the course of one night). Watch a film that takes place in 24 hours or less.

25. Science fiction is one of my favourite genres so I'd like to see more of what Letterboxd considers the best of the best. Watch a film from Letterboxd's Top 250 Science Fiction Films.

26. I know it's not the most original of prompts, but seeing as we're getting close to the end of the year, this is usually the point at which I try to catch up on new releases. Watch a film released in 2024.

27. If you're a fan of "Weird Al" Yankovic, you will already know that 27 is the number that shows up a lot in his work. Watch a film that features an artist parodied by Al (this applies whether they have a song on the soundtrack or appear in the film themselves).

28. I like anthology films and how they can challenge a director (or directors) to work within constricted narrative frameworks. Watch an anthology film.

29. We're getting close to the end here, so let's focus on completion. Watch a film in a franchise/collection that you haven't finished yet (bonus points if it's the last one you need to see in order to complete the collection).

30. So we've reached the end of the month and, you know what, let's give ourselves a break by watching something quick. Watch the highest-rated short film on your watchlist.

If any of these prompts don't work for you, try watching any film from your watchlist, use a prompt from my Chain Reaction Challenge list or, if you're feeling particularly masochistic, a film from my bottom 100,

The Re-watches:

Yojimbo, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Participants:

Make sure to tag all your entries with "scavenger hunt" and "scavenger hunt 116". Good hunting, everyone.

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Scavenger Hunt #116 - November 2024