DVDTalk Announces Their Second Annual Criterion Challenge

Hey, Criterion Cast readers/listeners, who’s up for a good challenge?

That’s exactly what our friends over at DVDTalk have shelled out for us. The site has set up a new challenge, set for the month of September, that is right up our alley.

Here’s the deal. For the month of September, all you have to do, is focus your movie watching on the Criterion Collection. There are no rules, no guidelines that you have to go by, and definitely no winners or losers, just yet another excuse to delve into the cinematic world known as The Criterion Collection.

All you have to do is watch any feature film, documentary, special feature or short film released by the Collection, and simply write about it in any shape or form you wish. You could review the disc, give weekly overviews of what you’ve watched, or even make a video talking about the film(s).

The site does give a list of things to focus on, so if you need a little inspiration or a more rigid series of guidelines, here are a few that they recommend:

Watch one film from every decade covered by Criterion.

— 1920 – (insert film title here)
— 1930 –
— 1940 –
— 1950 –
— 1960 –
— 1970 –
— 1980 –
— 1990 –
— 2000 –

Watch films in at least five languages.

— First language, (insert language), (insert title).
— Second language, (insert language), (insert title).
— Third language, (insert language), (insert title).
— Fourth language, (insert language), (insert title).
— Fifth language, (insert language), (insert title).

Watch something from spine number range:

— 001-050 –
— 051-100 –
— 101-150 –
— 151-200 –
— 201-250 –
— 251-300 –
— 301-350 –
— 351-400 –
— 401-450 –
— 451-500 –
— 500-550 –
— an Eclipse title –
— a laser disc only Criterion from this list –

Watch a film from the following genres:

— Comedy
— Drama
— Horror
— Science Fiction
— Action / Adventure
— Musical
— Epic / Historical
— Mystery / Thriller
— War / Western
— Documentary

— Watch a film which won an Academy Award –
— Watch a film with commentary –
— Watch a short –
— Watch a Criterion disc completely. Every part of it. –
— Watch an entire Criterion Collector’s Set/Eclipse Box Set ‘“