My backlog is a ever growing mound of movies. It always has somewhere between 200 and 270 movies on it across many streaming platforms and downloads, then you add in the movies I want to see on my Watchlist and.. there's a lot.
Inspired by the Criterion Challenge I decided to make my own challenge a few years ago to help me get my movie queues under control. It worked well and other people also did the challenge so I made a sequel! Then MORE people joined in. And of course they keep making movies and I keep discovering new ones.. so the queues are always ever growing! Join in if you want!

The rules are simple:

-They must be new to you.
-The films must be from your movie queues, Watchlist or you can see them in theatres.
-You can tackle the list in any order you want.
-They must be feature films, no short films here. 40 minutes or longer folks!

I suggest doing the list in order since the weeks line up with certain calendar dates.
Categories are designed to be wide enough that one of your backlog films will be in them. We're looking to get backlogs under control, not add to them. I personally use the week's prompt to focus on those films in my queue.

It's never too late to start!

The Categories:

1) Out with the Old, watch one of the movies that has been sitting in your queue for the longest.
2) In with the New! Watch a new addition to the queue.
3) Watch a movie that starts with one of the first letters of the alphabet.
4) Dadcore: Watch a film that your father likes or you think he would like.
5) Watch a highly rated movie from 2024 from your queue.
6) Black History Month: Watch a movie from a black director.
7) Black History Month: Watch a movie with a black lead.
8) Shortest Month of the Year: Watch one of the shortest movies in your queue (+40 minutes).
9) As John Waters says," Get More Out of Life, Watch a Fucked Up Movie." Watch a movie from the Weirdo Watchlist.
10) Watch an Oscar winner from your queue. The Oscars air on March 2nd.
11) Watch a movie from the Criterion Collection.
12) Watch one of the oldest movies in your queue.
13) Directed by a woman.
14) April Fool's, Watch a Comedy.
15) Watch a Film with Someone's Name in the Title.
16) Canadian Film Day is April 16th, Watch a Canadian Film.
17) Watch one of the lowest rated movies in your queue.
18) Watch a black and white movie.
19) Watch one of the highest rated movies from your queue that's not in the Letterboxd Top 250 List.
20) Watch a film that played at the Cannes Film Festival . Cannes starts May 13th.
21) Watch a movie that's also in one of your mutuals Watchlist.
22) Watch an Animated movie.
23) Pride Month: 1,001 Movies to Criterion Before You Pride.
24) Pride Month: Watch a queer Documentary from Pride: A Chronological History of Queer Interest & LGBTQ+ Cinema .
25) Watch a movie that was made in the Southern Hemisphere.
26) Free Space, watch whatever you want.
27) Blockbuster Summer: Watch a film that held the #1 spot at the box office.
28) Blockbuster Summer: Watch a movie in your queue you missed in theatres.
29) Blockbuster Summer: Watch a sequel, prequel or remake of a series you've already seen one entry of.
30) Watch a film that seems to radiate Summer Vibes.
31) Period Piece.
32) Watch a War or Western film.
33) Watch a movie in your queue with the most generic title.
34) Watch a Family movie.
35) Watch one of Hideo Kojima's Twitter picks for his birthday, August 24th.
36) Watch one of the least popular movies on your queue.
37) Watch a film that played at the Toronto International Film Festival. . tiff starts September 4th.
38) Watch one of the most popular movies in your queue.
39) Watch a Documentary.
40) Watch a movie from before you were born.
41) Watch a movie in your queue with the coolest title.
42) Spooky Time: Watch a movie that showed up in one of the following series on Shudder: One: Queer for Fear, Two: 101 Scariest Movie Moments or Three: Horror's Greatest.
43) Spooky Time: Watch one of the Lowest Rated Horror Movies in your queue.
44) Spooky Time: Watch one of the Highest Rated Horror Movies in your queue.
45) Noirvember: Watch a Noir film, Classic or Neo.
46) Noirvember: Watch a Thriller movie.
47) You're Going to Die Someday, Better start making a dent on this list, 1001 Movies to See Before You Die.
48) Watch a movie you wouldn't want to watch with your parents.
49) Not Your Choice, allow someone else choose the movie from your queue.
50) Watch a movie that starts with one of the last letters of the alphabet.
51) Watch a movie from the Neverending Christmas list.
52) Full of cheese week: Watch a comedy.
53) End on the Right Foot: Watch a movie from the Letterboxd Top 250 Narrative Feature Films.

My Progress: 8/53

Wait.. 53?! That's right, Week 1 and 53 have four days to them (Sun-Sat calendar dates).

People doing the Challenge:
Zoey Rose
Nick Atkins
shi qin
Jo
pei
lestrudel
LauraCid
NastyHxC
meyi☆
nonphenomenal
Alex A.
bella ! ၄၃
Zoey White
raquel
chaotic neutral
vanillaight
minifreak
João
lissaaah
Ron
robyn
Purrloin
Keaton
ChuckBathory
Totally Not Mikey
kungfuhustler_
Joe_Moore
emshobbies_ 💞
SJ
Eduardo Mateos
Sam Moore
Hot_Anarcocoa
TimSP1
TheRealGiggs
Jayce Fryman
thecinzentu
Destanie
JLoRabbit
profondo robbo
RealStyn
Iga
Goodnekovibes
katherina
Franzi
Ian MacLeod
⟢ zolie ! <𝟑
Carlos (Hache)
dadeej
serialkilled
Isaac
⁺˚ * •✩ kimi ✰ཽ☾
Nuriko1412
Andrew
lonlonkitty
vicky:)
୨ ipseity ୧ ‹𝟹
redshreds
Barbieque
Izzy
Michael
Rose O
clara 🐛
Art_station
zae
Geta
Mariska٭༻
Cosmic Witch 🧙🏻‍♀️
sofia
Alex
Brett D
nan❄️
SparkAgain
morganasol
cursivewolf00
João Vitor Dantas
Historian In The Making

Let me know if you're doing the challenge by leaving a link to it in the comments. I'll add a link to your list here! Never too late to start.

Good luck!