After failing miserably with the Blindspot series this year, I decided to create my own version of catching up. Because despite being quite bad with challenges I do love to take them on. So here’s one I created for myself that I hope not to fail – Hidden Gems.
Hidden Gems is an idea I had when I stumbled upon Sam Rockwell’s page on Letterboxd. It was there were I realised I’ve only seen 32% of his movies. Granted, some of those listings are a bit wacky but still, that’s quite low. Especially since I love him so much!
So I started to look at some of my favourite actors and actresses. Imagine my surprise when I realised the percentage is low for so many of them! And that’s when it hit me! What if their filmography has movies that I would love and I haven’t even seen them!? What if there are hidden gems in their repertoire that I’ve yet to discover!? And a challenge for 2020 was created.
WAIT, WHAT IS IT?
Now I know this is just for me but in case somebody wants to join in, even just for a month, I’m going to explain my challenge a bit further.
I picked 6 actors and 6 actresses, then assigned one for each month of the year. Now things went a little nuts. I created a randomised list of movies (no 2020 releases) I haven’t seen from each of their filmography. Some had a lot, some not so much but for everyone I let my mom randomly pick a movie and ended up with 3 movies for each month.
Every month in 2020 I will watch that certain set of three movies and see if I can find a hidden gem. I’m guessing, since I know all 36 movies already, that 2020 is going to be quite…. interesting. I figured I could have picked these movies as I went along but it’s too late now.
WHAT’S THE POINT AGAIN?
The idea is to knock off movies I might never watch. I set it up as a challenge based on actors and actresses because it seemed more fun. I mean, Jake Gyllenhaal has some good movies but he has done a lot of weird stuff too! Stuff that I’ve avoided (probably for a reason) but I mean, who knows because hidden gems could be anything!
Hidden Gems itself stands for something that is valuable but it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be good. The movie can be so bad that it’s actually special in its own way! Anyway, the main idea is to award one or more of these 36 movies with that hidden gem title.
Now why three movies? Well, one didn’t seem enough and more seemed like too much. That being said, I’m not saying I won’t watch more. It’s just that those extra entries won’t be considered as contenders for the hidden gem.
2020 HIDDEN GEMS CONTENDERS
Last but not least, I’ll be listing the actors and actresses according to the month their assigned to. I won’t be revealing any of the movies I’ll be watching for the first time but trust me when I say this – I’m actually a little scared.
January – Anne Hathaway
February – Joseph Gordon-Levitt
March – Jake Gyllenhaal
April – Nicole Kidman
May – Brad Pitt
June – Sam Rockwell
July – Emma Stone
August – Keira Knightley
September – Amy Adams
October – Saoirse Ronan
November – Adam Driver
December – Chris Evans
As you can see the mix is quite good. It’s also randomised so I had no hand in the fact that I’ll be closing the year with Chris Evans. The universe did that all by itself.
WELL, WHAT NOW?
Since it is still 2019 and I’m still trying to finish all my decade posts (yes, I’m doing something but I’m afraid to mention them because they are taking forever!), the next hidden gems post is coming in January.
All the post will be uploaded on the last day of the month but if that falls on a Thursday, the day before. With each hidden gems post I’ll be also mentioning performances by said actor or actress I’ve loved and why they made the cut to the ultimate 12. Then I’ll do quick reviews of those three movies and we shall see if I was right or wrong to skip those in the first place. And most importantly, I decide if any of them will be the hidden gem!
As you can see this is just a challenge for me that I wanted create and possibly make myself suffer. But most importantly, I just want to have fun. Even if I am setting myself quite the challenge with sticking with any kind of schedule I’m known for not following.
So here’s what I’ve got planned for myself in 2020. A movie challenge that can go so wrong and yet, it fills me with excitement. If this ends up being my last post of 2019, I’ll see you guys in 2020!
This sounds like fun!! I like the mix of watching movies you’ve never seen before with actors you’re a fan of already. I love that you’re not announcing the movies you’re watching in advance. It adds a lot of mystery and you won’t get extra recommendations of what you should watch. Even though it was random, I love that Chris is my birthday month too. Hope you can find some hidden gems and hope you have a great 2020! You deserve it!!
Aww, thanks! That makes me even more excited now! I really hoped the idea and the fun part of the challenge came across. And even though I know the movies ahead of time myself this year, I will most likely pick them randomly next year every month. Rather than knowing ahead. 😀
I hope so too! Thank you and I will try to make Chris’ month extra special for you! 😉
Oh lawd gurl. You could have at least choose 12 hot actors and only hot actors so that you always get something nice to look at lol Thank God Oscar is not on that list, that’s marching through shit guaranteed.
Well I wanted to mix it up a bit because I don’t enjoy the ladies enough. 😀
Oh I had such a difficult time to limit the actors to 6, I skipped Reeves and Stan and like, I wanted to put Pine in but like. I’m sure there’s some real “gems” in their filmography too. 😀
This sounds like a blast!! I’m going to try really hard to take part in this because I know for a fact there are a ton of movies from my favorite actors/actresses that I haven’t seen. Excellent idea and a wonderful list of actors you have yourself.
Omg that’s awesome! You can do a mont or two months only, you don’t have to do like the entire 12 months in a row. What ever works for you! 😀
So exciting! Hope you do it too! Keep me posted!
I’m definitely going to try! I may come up with a list of people today and fill out a few months and see how it goes. Can’t wait to see how your challenge is coming along!
Ah yes, I’m trying to get myself sorted by next week but at the moment I’m in a *catch up* frenzy. 😀
I am in love with this idea! I tend to find a new obsession and fall down a rabbit hole of their filmography so I know for sure there are hidden gems and duds out there!
Can’t wait to see your posts, I’m especially looking forward to November 🙂
Ah thank you so much! I’m hoping there are but at the moment, I don’t see much potential myself. 😀 November is probably going to be the best…. I think. Who knows though! NOT ME! 😀