Top X Films Before You Die: Movie Log

The Top 100 Films Ever Made. The Top 50 Romance Movies. The Top 12 Cult Classics. e.t.c. I'm addicted to completing those lists! It's a fabulous excuse to discover new films.

The swap: pick one of the many, many "Top (however) Movies of (whatever)" lists. For the next three months (i.e. from today until the end of December), try to see as many as possible while tracking your progress.

This log should be in any papery format - I will be typing a very, very lengthy letter - but feel free to make or buy a journal if that's more your style. Decoration is nice, but optional: writing is your first priority.

Here are some content ideas:

• Introduce yourself and your list before you start How many have you already seen? Which films are you looking forward to most/least, and why?

• Each time you see one of the list movies, log: Date and circumstances of viewing What did you think - a mini review. Did it match expectations?

• And make sure you write a conclusion of sorts How many have you seen now? Which did you enjoy most/least? Any you think don't deserve to be on the list? Which ones do you recommend? Has your viewing inspired interests in particular actors/directors?

Remember to include a copy of the list!

The small print: newbies welcome, as is anyone else with a decent rating. I'm normally pretty gentle towards swap participants, but the three movie-watching swaps I have hosted in the past have been total flakeathons, that have been chaos to resolve - and I've yet to actually recieve anything from any of my own swaps. Probably because three months is a long time.

Therefore, if you want to join the swap then hit join or watch and start working. But the deadline for dropping will be close to the deadline for sending, at which point I will remove anyone who is no longer seems reliable (i.e. members who haven't logged on for ages, whose rating looks very dodgy, or who have been suspended). I may send out PMs to make sure you're still interested. This seems like the sanest way of arranging matters.

Timeline: THIS WEEK - join the swap and start working, as if the deadline were next Saturday or so. December 23rd - the "deadline" to drop the swap. December 31st - Stop working! You now have a week to mail.

Happy viewing, folks!