Support NeoGAF

[Kabouter]

I'm at books 42/50, films 50/50 and games 23/25 right now. It's going to have to be a bit of a race to the finish in terms of books, hope I'll make it.

 

[thomaser]

Update:

Books:
1: Underground by Haruki Murakami
2: Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
3: Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
4: Windrush by Mike and Trevor Phillips
5: Dead Right by Peter Robinson
6: The Tin Drum by Günther Grass
7: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
9: Underworld by Don DeLillo
10: Sindbad and Other Stories from the Arabian Nights by Husain Haddawy
11: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
12: Rashomon and 17 Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
13: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
14: Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
15: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
16: Black Money by Ross Macdonald
17: Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
18: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
19: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
*20: Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavious by Richard Gross
*21: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics by Janet Holmes

*=not finished

Films:
1: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
2: Castaway on the Moon
3: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
4: Note by Note

 

[white dynamite]

Totally failed on the book end of things, but I'm going to try to squeeze in 6 more movies to make it an even hundred.

Is anyone else going to do this again next year? I found it interesting cataloging the films/few books that I viewed. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I saw The Tree of Life. It feels like I saw it years ago...

 

[Ashes]

45. 1984
46. The Turn Of The Screw

 

[Kabouter]

Totally failed on the book end of things, but I'm going to try to squeeze in 6 more movies to make it an even hundred.

Is anyone else going to do this again next year? I found it interesting cataloging the films/few books that I viewed. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I saw The Tree of Life. It feels like I saw it years ago...

If I make it, no. If I don't, yes.

 

[Ashes]

If I make it, no. If I don't, yes.

ha ha. Same.

I might do shorter runs perhaps.

 

[Nert]

After just barely surviving NaNoWriMo, I could use another arbitrary challenge like this. Are people going to be doing this next year as well, or is this a one-off thing?

 

[Ashes]

After just barely surviving NaNoWriMo, I could use another arbitrary challenge like this. Are people going to be doing this next year as well, or is this a one-off thing?

2012 is nearly over - so feel free to create your own thread in a couple of weeks time. Talking of which, I have no idea when the last time op actually updated where he was at.

edit: You can probably launch the new thread a week before 2013 tbh. And see if anyone bites.

 

[Gila]

I'd like to join this next year. Please do it again!

 

[Lafiel]

Totally forgot to update my scores on this.

Seen more than 50 films this year already. So I'm at 50/50. My movie diary isn't even up-to-date and it has like 76 films on it.

Like 29/50 on my books. Will give a full list by the end of the year.

 

[Ratrat]

So what's a good book that's about 50 pages? I'll need 15.

 

[GasProblem]

I'm definately going to do this next year!

Fifty movies is going to be easy, have an unlimited card for the cinema, so yeah. I just have to go to every movie that gets released And there are alot of classics that I've never seen yet (like the Godfather...I know, should be ashamed of myself)

Fifty books though. There are only 52 weeks in a year D: Still have to finish Game of Thrones. Got up to Storm of Swords then I quit. Will have to re-read the first three books (maybe not the first one). Sucks I can't count them as books I've read though, ugh. Maybe I will, fuck the system. I'll prioritize textbooks I have to read for uni

Don't know if I'm going for 25 games as well. Maybe. Depends on how busy uni/work is. Well, the whole challenge depends on how busy uni/work is. I'll see.

Good luck on finishing the challenge this year guys, a bit less then a month left.

And for people asking if they're doing this again next year: http://www.fiftyfifty.me/2012/11/are-we-doing-fifty-fifty-next-year.html

They are. With a new site as well.

 

[Aselith]

So what's a good book that's about 50 pages? I'll need 15.

You're in luck!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss_bibliography

 

[revolverjgw]

I could never do 50 books in a year... but I've probably watched like 400 movies this year.

 

[Angry Fork]

I failed this miserably =( Feel bad about it. Hopefully it's done again next year and more people get into it.

There's 3 weeks left I'll see if I can get in 6 books within that time frame and if so I'll feel proud for not giving up at the last minute. Problem is I hate to rush I like to make notes of stuff so I can actually learn/remember what I'm reading rather than skimming through it so it takes time.

Anyone have any tips on how to read quickly and actually remember it all so you can recall it later? I'm thinking of trying this 'active learning' approach where you read out loud, I do the notes stuff but you can't take notes on everything.

 

[Ward]

Books: 6. Half way through two others, and still working on Dance with Dragons

Movies: 259 Last watched: Contagion

 

[Maklershed]

Is anyone else going to do this again next year? I found it interesting cataloging the films/few books that I viewed. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I saw The Tree of Life. It feels like I saw it years ago...

Yes definitely. It kinda forced me to watch more movies than I normally do which in turn made me try movies I don't normally watch. I found a love for Humphrey Bogart movies this year for example.

And I'm definitely upping my number on the book side - I think I'm gonna go for 60 next year.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

I have watched in excess of 70 movies this year, 80% of them are either Korean or old hong kong movies. i might compile a list.

EDIT: btw how can some of you read 50 books in a year?

 

[DieUnbekannte]

I'd like to join 2013 too. I have found this thread a little bit too late this year and haven't kept track of all the movies I've seen.
Fifty movies won't be that difficult to achieve in one year (at least I hope so) but I'm not totally sure about the books. This year I've read about 30 to 40 books and that is a lot for me. It's really going to be a challenge to finish both parts.

 

[Dark Octave]

I've seen maybe 30 movies and read 1 book aside from technical manuals. I read for information and can't really find myself reading for entertainment. Entertainment to me is games and film, but the one book that I did read this year for entertainment was pretty good.

Now ask me how many games I've played this year.

 

[Maklershed]

For those of you that are going to do the challenge again next year, don't forget to stop by the What Are You Reading threads as well.

EDIT: btw how can some of you read 50 books in a year?

For me its because I ride a bus 50 minutes to and from work so I get a lot of reading done there. And when its summer I spend a lot of time reading out on the porch at nights.

 

[Ashes]

I pmd the op and asked him if he wants to take the reigns again. I think it's only fair he gets first shout. After that, learn from his and our mistakes this year. It's a big big ask. A year long thread. It's one of the marathon challenges on gaf.

We've got one person who completed the task 100%. And a few others lining up behind him. On top of that there were several who really killed their chosen path, be it films or books.

Best start the thread a week before 2013. And then get on with it basically.

Good luck everyone who is taking part. Tough few weeks for me to get those books read. It's going to be close.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I would love it if someone else took over. I got really overwhelmed really early on. (Obviously.) I should have a recap of my progress in a little while once I sort it out.

 

[dBOL]

The 50 books is going to be tough, I'd be willing to try. 1 movie a week is pretty easy to do. 1 book a week is not as easy for me because I mostly read fantasy. I should end this year with 31 books, and that includes wheel of time, which clocks in at about 4 million words.

But I think this is a really cool idea either way.

 

[Ashes]

As I'm pretty sure I won't be in 100% next year, I'm gonna rule out myself too. The plan was to update per month. lol.

It only started being a less of a pain due to standardising the list.

I think I'll have an updated list this sunday. As we've got a few updates. Three weeks and a weekend left.

 

[Nert]

I'm a little confused here. Are people expecting one poster to keep track of what everybody has watched and read throughout the year in the original post? Wouldn't you just want to open up a public Google Document or something similar and just let people fill out their own information?

 

[Ashes]

I'm a little confused here. Are people expecting one poster to keep track of what everybody has watched and read throughout the year in the original post? Wouldn't you just want to open up a public Google Document or something similar and just let people fill out their own information?

A mixture of both. The op has a list so as to compare one to another, but it was a chore to update. We then just had a list every couple of months, where it was reduced in simplicity so we could chart progress.*

And everybody updates their own list as we go through the thread. I like looking at what people have read or watched.

You're free to try an alternative if you think that would work better. We just made it up as we went along.




*top of the page.

 

[Nert]

A mixture of both. The op has a list so as to compare one to another, but it was a chore to update. We then just had a list every couple of months, where it was reduced in simplicity so we could chart progress.*

And everybody updates their own list as we go through the thread. I like looking at what people have read or watched.

You're free to try an alternative if you think that would work better. We just made it up as we went along.

Ah, that makes sense. I hope I didn't come across as too critical; I didn't even know about this thread before last night.

I would volunteer to help out with the thread, but I have my own GAF-related madness coming up before too long. I'm definitely still interested in participating in the challenge itself, though!

 

[Ashes]

No worries mate. Any help we can get is well appreciated. On that note, I'll update the list on Monday. After the update you will have just three weeks to complete whatever goal you are striving for. go go go.

 

[Ceebs]

Oh man I should try and update this. I know for a fact I have blown past 100 books for the year.

 

[Ashes]

47. The Big Sleep
48. Winnie-the-Pooh
49. The Wind in the Willows

One last book!

Never give up. Not on things great and small.

 

[Kabouter]

Books 48/50, Films 52/50, Games 25/25
I think I can finish before the year is over.

 

[deleted]

This should be my final post this year, I won't get through 400 pages of A Clash of Kings till 31st and I most likely won't have the time to watch another movie.
It was fun to see the list grow, but also a bit depressing that I didn't even come close to 50 books. It seem like I have my New Years resolution.

Movies:

1. Let Me In - 7/10
2. Real Steel - 7/10
3. Sunshine Cleaning - 9/10
4. Insidious - 7/10
5. Our idiot Brother - 6/10
6. Friends With Benefits - 7/10
7. Lars and the Real Girl - 8/10
8. Punisher: Warzone - 6/10
9. Clerks II - 8/10
10. Columbiana - 7/10
11. Elizabeth - The Golden Age 6/10
12. Unknown Identity - 6/10
13. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 8/10
14. Drive - 8/10
15. In Time - 4/10
16. Don't be afraid of the Dark - 4/10
17. The Muppets - 8/10
18. Dead Silence - 7/10
19. Warrior 9/10
20. The Inbetweeners Movie 7/10
21. Fargo 8/10
22. Black Snake Moan 9/10
23. From Hell 7/10
24. Layer Cake 8/10
25. TinTin 7/10
26. Tower Heist 6/10
27. Inkheart 6/10
28. There Will be Blood 8/10
29. Chaos Theory 7/10
30. Lincoln Lawyer 7/10
31. Iron Sky 6/10
32. Angels & Demons 6/10
33. Sherlock Holmes - Game of Shadows 7/10
34. Rum Diary 7/10
35. Marvel's The Avengers 9/10
36. Super 6/10
37. Trespass 6/10
38. I love you Phillip Morris 7/10
39. A Time to Kill 7/10
40. Carnage 8/10
41. Change up 7/10
42. Man on a Ledge 6/10
43. Wrath of the Titans 5/10
44. Project X 7/10
45. Safe House 6/10
46. God Bless America 8/10
47. Amazing Spiderman 7/10
48. Triangle 8/10
49. Wanderlust 5/10
50. This Means War 6/10
51. American Reunion 6/10
52. The Great Dictator 9/10
53. The Dark Knight Rises 6/10
54. Rampart 7/10
55. Soldiers of Fortune 6/10
56. Haywire 6/10
57. The Lorax 7/10
58. Lockout 6/10
59. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 8/10
60. The Hunger Games 7/10
61. Prometheus 8/10
62. Ronal Babaren 7/10
63. The Cabin in the Woods 8/10
64. The Dictator 7/10
65. Machine Gun Preacher 7/10
66. Goon 7/10
67. The Expendables 2 7/10
68. Waking Ned 8/10
69. Detroid Rock City
70. John Carter 7/10
71. Men in Black III 5/10
72. Looper 8/10
73. Everything must go 8/10
    [*]Hard Candy 8/10
    [*]Skyfall 9/10
    [*]Candyman 8/10
    [*]Cloud Atlas 8/10
    [*]Merida 8/10
    [*]Solaris (1972) 7/10
    [*]Get the Gringo 7/10
    [*]The Raid 7/10
    [*]Being Elmo 7/10
    [*]Lawrence from Arabia 10/10
    [*]Lawless 7/10
    [*]The Hobbit 7/10
    [*]Total Recall 7/10
    [*]Love Actually 7/10

Books:

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles - 8/10
2. Baron Munchhausen's adventures - 6/10
3. Alice in Wonderland - 7/10
4. Walhall - 2/10 (as far as mythology goes, its fine, but the book was written in 18xx and the author was a nationalist and antisemit, which comes through. It was free in the amazon kindle store, so no money wasted on it at least)
5. Geliebte Teufelin - 1/10 (worst book I ever read. Another free kindle book, though, so I only wasted time I guess)
6. I Shall Wear Midnight - 7/10 (great book, strange translation)
7. The Hunger Games - 7/10 (last third was a letdown)
8. 11/22/63 - 7/10
9. The Walking Dead - 9/10 (I don't know the stance on comics, but since I read all of it recently, I think it can count as one book)
10. The Dark Knight Returns - 9/10 (see above)
11. A Game of Thrones 9/10
    [*]The Color of Magic 8/10

 

[Kabouter]

Books 49/50, films 52/50, games 26/25
I am about 30% of the way through book #50, and will finish in time . Yay.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Is there going to be a new thread for 2013? If so, I'd like to participate.

 

[Simplet]

Can you start lots of books and then finish them beginning of next year to get a headstart?

 

[Bloodbeard]

Cool thread idea. If there is one for 2013, I'm in.

 

[Ashes]

Books 49/50, films 52/50, games 26/25
I am about 30% of the way through book #50, and will finish in time . Yay.

I'm two thirds through book fifty... Never count your chickens before they hatch though.

Is there going to be a new thread for 2013? If so, I'd like to participate.

Nobody's jumped in yet, you could start the thread yourself, if you wanted?

Can you start lots of books and then finish them beginning of next year to get a headstart?

No.

Cool thread idea. If there is one for 2013, I'm in.

Create a thread. And let loose the dogs of hell.

 

[Kabouter]

I'm two thirds through book fifty... Never count your chickens before they hatch though.

Sure, but I can't imagine what could happen that would keep me from completing the goal . I'm not going to let it come to the last minute though.

 

[twilitesparklemotion]

Cool thread idea. If there is one for 2013, I'm in.

Me too.

 

[deleted]

Ok guys, I made the new one for 2013:

Come in and participate

 

[Ashes]

50. Silas Marner

What a year it has been.

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

Well, it's nice to have incredibly average and easily attainable goals I guess.

So it's been a year since this douchey post was made. How many movies and books did you get through?

 

[Ashes]

So it's been a year since this douchey post was made. How many movies and books did you get through?

It's their only post in the thread.

 

[thomaser]

Final update (unless I view The Dark Knight Rises tomorrow):

Books:
1: Underground by Haruki Murakami
2: Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
3: Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
4: Windrush by Mike and Trevor Phillips
5: Dead Right by Peter Robinson
6: The Tin Drum by Günther Grass
7: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
9: Underworld by Don DeLillo
10: Sindbad and Other Stories from the Arabian Nights by Husain Haddawy
11: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
12: Rashomon and 17 Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
13: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
14: Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
15: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
16: Black Money by Ross Macdonald
17: Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
18: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
19: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
20: Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell
21: Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
----
22: Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour by Richard Gross (half finished)
23: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics by Janet Holmes (90% finished)

Films:
1: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
2: Castaway on the Moon
3: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
4: Note by Note

Reasonably content with these numbers, since I had longer periods where I didn't read much at all. Hope to read a little more next year and cut down on my backlog a bit. There are somewhere between 50 and 100 unread books lying around here. I have bought many more books than I have read the last few years, and that's a bit stupid to be honest.

I replaced my DVD-player with a new Bluray-player a couple of days ago, so I might watch more movies too.

 

[Ashes]

That reminds me... Gotta do my own final update... too... I'll do it tomorrow...

@Kabouter: hope you get over that line bro...

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

It's their only post in the thread.

Probably hasn't had time to post due to all of the reading and goal achieving he's been doing.

 

[Kabouter]

That reminds me... Gotta do my own final update... too... I'll do it tomorrow...

@Kabouter: hope you get over that line bro...

I did!
Final list:
Books:
1. Tony Judt - Postwar
2. Stephen E. Ambrose - Band of Brothers
3. Jules Verne - Around the World in Eighty Days
4. Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Affair at Styles
5. Larry Wilmore - I'd Rather We Got Casinos
6. Adam Fergusson - When Money Dies
7. Ian Fleming - Casino Royale
8. George Orwell - Animal Farm
9. Ian Fleming - Live and Let Die
10. Ian Fleming - Moonraker
11. Ian Fleming - Diamonds are Forever
12. Ian Fleming - From Russia With Love
13. Ian Fleming - Dr. No
14. Ian Fleming - Goldfinger
15. Ian Fleming - For Your Eyes Only
16. Denis Leary - Why We Suck
17. Chris Anderson - Free
18. Ian Fleming - Thunderball
19. Ian Fleming - The Spy Who Loved Me
20. Ian Fleming - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
21. Dave Gorman - America Unchained
22. Ian Fleming - You Only Live Twice
23. Ian Fleming - The Man With the Golden Gun
24. Ian Fleming - Octopussy and the Living Daylights
25. Ken Follett - Jackdaws
26. Dan Gardner - Risk
27. Dan Gardner - Future Babble
28. Ken Follett - The Man From St. Petersburg
29. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - Roseanna
30. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
31. Barney Stinson - The Bro Code
32. Bill Maher - The New New Rules
33. Christopher Hitchens - Hitch-22
34. Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle - The Secret Race
35. Christopher Hitchens - God is not Great
36. Isaac Asimov - I, Robot
37. Vasily Grossman - A Writer at War
38. Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene
39. Agatha Christie - And Then There Were None
40. Matt Taibbi - Griftopia
41. Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway - Merchants of Doubt
42. John Grisham - The Pelican Brief
43. William L. Shirer - Berlin Diary
44. Isaac Martin - The Permanent Tax Revolt
45. Rachel Maddow - Drift
46. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - The Man on the Balcony
47. Blaine Harden - Escape From Camp 14
48. Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
49. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - The Laughing Policeman
50. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - The Fire Engine That Disappeared

Favourites: Postwar, The Secret Race, The Selfish Gene, Berlin Diary

Films:
1. Moneyball
2. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
3. Killer Elite
4. The Double
5. Audience of One
6. In Time
7. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
8. Drive
9. The Adventures of Tintin
10. Underworld: Awakening
11. The Patriot (2000)
12. Young Adult
13. Fireproof (Yes, really, it was hilarious)
14. The Descendants
15. Game Change
16. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
17. 2012: Ice Age
18. The Three Musketeers (2011)
19. 3 Musketeers
20. J. Edgar
21. God Bless America
22. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
23. Teenage Paparazzo
24. Red Tails
25. John Carter
26. Iron Sky
27. Fatherland (1994)
28. Prometheus
29. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
30. Cowboys & Aliens
31. American Reunion
32. Lockout (2012)
33. Detention
34. Ghost World
35. The Hunger Games
36. Battleship
37. The Dark Knight Rises
38. De Heineken Ontvoering
39. Safe House
40. My Way (2011)
41. The Avengers
42. The Dictator
43. Chronicle
44. Men in Black 3
45. Expendables 2
46. Safety Not Guaranteed
47. The Amazing Spider-Man
48. Ted
49. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
50. The Bourne Legacy
51. Jurassic Shark
52. Skyfall

Favourites: Iron Sky, The Day of the Jackal, Moneyball. In general I really need to watch better films in 2013. Oh, and Jurassic Shark is basically the worst film I've ever been aware of, it was truly something.

Games (I went very strict here, I could have counted probably about ten more if I counted just reasonably exhausting a game with no ending):
1. Puzzle Agent
2. Puzzle Agent 2
3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
4. The Great Art Race (Won several games, did everything)
5. Singularity
6. Mass Effect 3
7. Sniper: Ghost Warrior
8. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
9. Bulletstorm
10. Tropico 4: Modern Times
11. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
12. Driver: San Francisco
13. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
14. Dear Esther
15. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
16. BioShock 2
17. Secret Files 3
18. Hearts of Iron III: Their Finest Hour (Won games as all majors)
19. Spec Ops: The Line
20. Farming Simulator 2013 (Did everything, got all achievements except the one where you have to be in the red on day one. Seriously.)
21. Prototype 2
22. Sleeping Dogs
23. Far Cry 3
24. Assassin's Creed III
25. Stacking
26. FTL

Favourites: Hearts of Iron III: Their Finest Hour, Stacking

 

[Ashes]

 

[Yen]

About 20 books. Maybe 150 movies(hence why I didn't bother updating mine).