Against the Crowd Blogathon 2019

It's time for Against the Crowd Blogathon, hosted by Dell on Movies! The blogathon runs from the 23rd to the 25th of August. Rules are:

1. Pick one movie “everyone” loves (the more iconic, the better). That movie must have a score of 75% or more on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you hate it.

2. Pick one movie that “everyone” hates (the more notorious, the better). That movie must have a score of 35% or less on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you love it.

3. Include the tomato meter score of both movies.

4. Use one of the banners in this post, or feel free to create your own (just include all the pertinent details).

5. Let us know what two movies you intend on writing about in one of the following ways: Comment on this or any ACB 2019 post on this site, Tweet me @w_ott3, E-mail me: dellott@yahoo.com

6. Publish your post on any day from Friday, August 23 through Sunday, August 25, 2019 (tighter schedule this year), and include a link to this announcement. If you’re a podcaster or YouTuber that is interested in participating just talk about your chosen movies during your closest podcast and/or video to those dates and mention that you are taking part in this blogathon. You could also just tweet about it!

Mt Rushmore of Movies Blogathon

This is hosted by Two Dollar Cinema, and in his words: To participate, simply choose the top four of anything cinematic and explain why they should be carved into the side of a mountain forever. Remember, these are real people carved into imaginary rock - so choose wisely!

I wrote about romantic comedy leads two years ago, but this year I decided to go with musical talent in movies. This can either be a solo performer or a band that performs a catchy or memorable song in their film. A lot of films could have been contenders, but most of my picks are of the recent past, and they made my mountain because of the songs performed.

Double Feature: To All the Boys I've Loved Before / Our Times

(in participation to Girl Week hosted by Dell on Movies)

I have been on a romance movie kick since the summer, and these were the two movies that started it all. Both movies have a similar vibe: cute teen romance and chemistry between the two leads that lead to their rise in stardom. Both movies also became popular in their respective countries, and as a plus, were written and directed by women.

Against The Crowd Blogathon 2017

It's that time of the year! Dell on Movies and KG's Movie Rants are hosting the Against the Crowd Blogathon. It runs from August 14 to 20. I've participated in this for three years now, and it's been really fun. Here are the rules:

1. Pick one movie that "everyone" loves (the more iconic, the better). That movie must have a score of 75% or more on rottentomatoes.com [or 7.0 on imdb]. Tell us why you hate it.
2. Pick one movie that "everyone" hates (the more notorious, the better). That movie must have a score of 35% or less on rottentomatoes.com [or 4.0 on imdb]. Tell us why you love it.
3. Include the tomato meter scores of both movies.

My choices for this year's entry are both movies that I am surprised that are not liked/disliked more. Here are my choices for the blogathon:

My Movie Alphabet Volume 2

In celebration of the 7th birthday of her blog, Mettel Ray has hosted the second round of her movie alphabet blogathon! Head over to her site and join in the fun! I participated in her first blogathon, and had a blast writing this so I was definitely in the second time around. When I first made this list, I was just thinking off the top of my head and placed a few things in there for the sake of crossing off some letters. I did end up thinking a lot for this list, and I went with things that are currently relevant to me. I also tweaked the rules a little bit, only because I don't want to let go of some of my picks. I think this list is a much clearer reflection on where I am in terms of my preferences compared to my previous years. 

No, You're Crying! Blogathon

Debbie over at Moon in Gemini is hosting the No, YOU'RE Crying! Blogathon. The rules are simple - talk about our favorite tearjerker films! Head over to her site for a list of participants and their subsequent entries. I had a bunch of movies that made it to my short list, but ultimately decided on the movie that I keep coming back to. That is Disney's The Fox and the Hound - and it does not fail to make me cry. Note: spoilers for the movie below.

The Mt. Rushmore of Movies Blogathon

This blogathon is hosted by m.brown of Two Dollar Cinema. I haven’t joined a blogathon for a while and this sounds fun. In his words: “To participate, simply choose the top four of anything cinematic and explain why they should be carved into a side of a mountain forever. Remember, these are real people carved into imaginary rock – so choose wisely!”

Inspired by Katy Rochelle of OhSoGeeky’s post ‘Where Did All the Rom-Coms Go?’ I’m going with my favorite Romantic Comedy Leads of the 21st Century. I narrowed down my choices in such a way that no two same personalities appear on the list. I’m excluding Bridget Jones on this because she is my all time favorite romantic comedy lead for this century and I feel like I’ve raved about the movie a lot in this site.  Here are my choices.

Against the Crowd Blogathon

Wendell from Dell on Movies is back with the Against the Crowd blogathon, and this time he’s co-hosting it with KG of KG’s Movie Rants. The blogathon runs until August 26, so head over to their sites for the rules (and join in!). I haven’t joined in any blogathons recently, and I had fun participating last year, so I’m definitely in for this one.

The Acting Black Blogathon

It’s Black History Month over in USA and Wendell from Dell on Movies is hosting a blogathon to celebrate it! It would be between today until February 17 so head over to his site to see the rules and participate! The name that immediately popped into my head for this blogathon was Gugu Mbatha-Raw, a British actress who is better known for her role in Beyond the Lights. While she does give a tremendous performance in that, I decided to go with the first film that has impressed me with her talent and am now looking forward for her future works – Belle.

Oscar Re-Do Blogathon

I've read about this blogathon hosted by Matt of Film Guy Reviews through others' entries and I wanted to join in the fun. Before anything else, here are the rules:

1. You must only pick one film from one year.
2. When nominating it in different categories, you must take out one actual nominee to make room for yours.
Ex: Shame (2011)
Best Picture
-Who goes off: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Best Director (Steve McQueen):
-Who goes off: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
3. After including it in each category you chose, give a short blurb as to why you would've entered it in the different categories that you chose and why you would've nominated it over the nominees that you replaced.
4. It can be a film that is already nominated. But one that only has about one or two.
5. After posting on your blog, you can post the link in the comments section of this page or tweet me @filmguy619.
You guys have two weeks to take part in this blogathon and I look forward to what you guys come up with. Have fun!

Against the Crowd Blogathon 2015

Wendell from Dell on Movies is hosting another blogathon! Its a sequel to the Against the Crowd Blogathon he hosted last year (you can read my entry here). Here are the rules:

1. Pick one movie that "everyone" loves (the more iconic, the better). That movie must have a score of at least 75% on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you hate it.
2. Pick one movie that "everyone" hates (the more notorious, the better). That movie must have a score of less than 35% on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you love it.
3. Include the tomato meter scores of both movies.
4. Use one of the banners in this post, or feel free to create your own.

Movie Roulette Blogathon

As part of the celebration of her and her blog’s birthday, Mettel Ray is hosting a blogathon! It’s quite simple and fun - here are the rules:

1. There are 25 facts, you have to pick 5 or more and for each, you drag out a movie as an answer!
*Click on the gif, hold it and drag out a single movie 

2. You can only drag out one movie for each statement, no do overs, guys!
*If you haven’t seen the movie (or can’t recognize it) you can pick again.*If you pull out a movie you already dragged out, you can try again until you get a different one. 

3. Write down your answers and feel free to comment whether they make sense or not.

4. Link back to this announcement, and link to the Movie Roulette Ultimate Gif Set as well!

*The gif set does have some movie title glitches, apologizes!5. Last but not least, have fun!

I answered every question, following a pattern (1st, 6th, 11th, 16th and 21st question using the first gif set and so forth) and went with my 10 favorite pairings for this post! These are arranged by question number, so here are my favorite ones:

White Swan, Black Swan Blogathon

Sati of Cinematic Corner is hosting a blogathon, where she asks us to write about our favorite characters that display dual personalities. I had a difficult time deciding which character to write about because apparently I surround myself with too much comedies that I barely watch anything with complicated characters.  But here is a character I think fits the bill on having dual personalities. Note: this post has spoilers.

Summer Blockbuster Cast-a-thon

John of Hitchcock's World is hosting a blogathon! Here is the scenario, as well as the rules:

Oh no! It seems the Prime Minister of Canada was on a flight to a very important U.N. conference when his plane was shot down somewhere over an isolated war-torn location and now he has been kidnapped by Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas. We received a message from them demanding that the United Nations deliver Belgium's top-secret nuclear launch codes by May 31 or they will kill the Prime Minister. Oh, it's a catastrophe. Whatever shall we do? If the Prime Minister doesn't make it to the conference in time for his speech and fails to present the contents of his top-secret briefcase it could mean the end of civilization as we know it!
It seems the only thing we can do is find the toughest men and women available and put them together as a ragtag force of crack commandos who can get in there, find the Prime Minister, take out the enemy, and bring him back in time for the conference. Are you a bad enough dude (or dudette) to organize this team and rescue the Prime Minister? 

Rules:
1. Select a group of 12-15 characters from action movies. They are not required to be military, but they should be tough enough to look after themselves when things inevitably go wrong.
2. For each character you choose, include a few words on why you selected him/her and what skills they have that could contribute to saving the Prime Minister of Canada.
3. Much like my Voyage to the Stars Blogathon, there must be gender and/or racial diversity. Ideally, I would prefer it if you could manage both but one or the other is acceptable. If possible, national and sexual diversity is also greatly encouraged (but not required). Either way, I do not want to see any all-white, all-male squads. Doing so means an automatic disqualification.
4. There are no restrictions regarding the era in which your chosen characters originated or their nationality. You could in theory assign Vazquez from Aliens with Nantz from Battle: Los Angeles and Dutch from Predator.
5. You cannot include two or more characters from the same film.
6. I would like you to include the above banner in your post. However, if you want, you may design your own provided it contains the title of the blogathon and imagery that fits.

It took some fiddling around, but I finally found a team dynamic I liked. I decided to add a bit more to the scenario so the line-up would make sense. I've arranged it from the people who are doing the actual rescuing, to those working the surroundings. I am in no way knowledgeable about ranking so my picks are based on impression (not position title) alone. Here are my choices for the mission:

The Five Senses Blogathon

Nostra from My Filmviews is hosting a blogathon! I’ve participated in some of his blogathons and enjoyed doing so. Participants are tasked to describe something movie related (it can be an actual movie, or part of the movie going experience) that they associate with the five senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, touch). Here is what I’ve come up with for the blogathon:

In With the New Blogathon

Wendell of Dell on Movies is hosting a blogathon! As the title suggests, we are to explain why a remake is better than the original. I had a hard time choosing on what movies to write on: either I’ve seen only the remake/original and haven’t bothered watching the original/remake, or I prefer the original movie. So for this blogathon, I decided to go with The Parent Trap (1998), and how it was a better movie than The Parent Trap (1961).  Note: my defense has spoilers, just in case you haven't seen any of the movies.

Women in Film Blogathon Part II: The Director's Chair

John from Hitchcock’s World is hosting a part two of his women in film blogathon! His first blogathon focused on the strong female characters in film, and in continuation, this blogathon now focuses on women behind the scenes - women who directed these films. To be honest, his blogathon came in at the right time, just when I was composing a part 2 of a women-directed list I wrote last year. The director I’ve chosen has been releasing critically acclaimed work, but has yet to have her ‘breakout film’, though with her recent film, I’d say she’s almost there. For this, I’m talking about Nicole Holofcener.

Fairy Tale Blogathon: Penelope

To celebrate fairy tales, Fitzi Kramer of Movies Silently is hosting the Fairy Tale Blogathon which will run from November 9 to 11 this year. For my entry, I decided to review Penelope, a modern retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast. It stars Christina Ricci, and this movie also marks the day the name "James McAvoy" landed on my radar, and I have been tuning in his work since.

Back to School Blogathon

Wendell of Dell on Movies is hosting a blogathon! This was a bit of a challenge because there were so many characters to choose from! Before anything else, here are the rules:

1. Choose at least 1 character to fit into each of the following roles:

Administrator (either a dean, principal, head master, or some other equivalent)
Teacher
Star Student/Nerd
Jock/Class Bully
Popular Girl/Diva
Invisible Girl (aka not popular girl)
Class Clown
Troubled Youth

Of course, include a few words on why each character was chosen.

Some of the categories have slashes because there is a lot of overlap within. However, feel free to break those up to make your class even larger. For instance if you use a jock who is a nice guy, you can also include a bully. As long as you have the minimum number of students and others, your class can be as large as you like.

2. There are NO RESTRICTIONS on age. Theoretically, you can have Zach from Kindegarten Cop in the same class as Rodney Dangerfield's character from...um...Back to School

3. You can use multiple characters from a single movie, but a class must be made up of characters from at least three separate movies.

4. Use movies in which school is an important part of the plot or are largely set in a school.

5. Finally, use my banner somewhere in your entry and link back to this post.

Here are my choices per category:

Six Degrees of Separation Blogathon

Mettel Ray has kindly passed me the baton to the Six Degrees of Separation blogathon, hosted by Nostra of My Filmviews. I had been following some of the entries a while back, and each entry has been fascinating as the next. Mettel has tasked me to connect Ewan McGregor and Dylan O'Brien, two actors whose work I'm only vaguely familiar with. 

So here we go!