The Future of "Hit Me..."
Friday, August 3, 2012 at 5:17PM 
Breaking: Hit Me With Your Best Shot has been renewed for a Fourth Season. The response to the last few episodes was warm enough to suggest that it'd be worth one more year. It might never be as widely participatory as I'd hoped but the people who are into it are really into it, so we continue. It's like one of those critical darling tv series that the diehard fans keep alive.
THREE EPISODES LEFT IN SEASON 3. Don't be shy, join the party!
Wed August 8th, SHERLOCK JR (1924)
Buster Keaton's silent comedy is only 45 minutes long so you've got time to watch it. Don't pretend you don't! And it's available to instant watch on Netflix so join us in choosing a favorite, er, best shot.
Wed August 15th, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
The Sight & Sound Poll clearly wasn't in the mood to celebrate Gene Kelly's crowning achievement and dropped the film by 10 places just in time for our favorite song & dance man's Centennial -- Rude! Singin' in the Rain is like a shot of undistilled joy. Can't wait to see it again for the nth time.
Wed August 22nd, DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)
Confession: I've never seen this movie and blog projects are often the best way to finally get around to something. This sweltering bank robbery drama was inspired by real life events which took place on this very day 40 years ago.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Reader Comments (21)
Season 4. Hot damn. I'll get a head start on the campaigning...
I would like to nominate
1. There WIll Be Blood
2. Once Upon a Time in the West
and
3. Barton Fink (this series demands some Coen bros)
Michael -- COEN BROS. wow. we really haven't done one yet?
Thanks for renewing Nathaniel. We are like Friday Night Lights, not as popular as it deserves to be....but every season is definitely worth it.
As I tweeted you, we should do a Western at some point.
YES! YES! YES!
And I second Once Upon a Time in the West. Westerns in general are lacking in this series despite the fact that so many of them are perfect for shot selection.
I keep meaning to, but there are only so many hours in the week and not all the choices are in my collection/on Netflix Instant/Hulu Plus. I have fun when I get around to it but that's not every week.
I didn't realize just anyone could be apart of this.
Honestly, I would have no idea how to do this. Oh I could probably blab away for a paragraph or two, but I have no idea how actually get an image off my TV screen, then how to upload it, where to, etc. Not every one of us are professional bloggers after all. ;-)
Oh, and I guess I could renew my Netflix subscription if that's still the best choice these days.
I would very much like to... when I'm done writing my dissertation. (Writing to avoid doing work on that is fun but a bad habit.)
And in all honesty, I am so much more likely to do it for a film I've seen before, instead of a new one. Not that I don't love being introduced to new things! This series just seems (although participants may feel differently) to benefit from a previous familiarity.
Seriously I've been wantin to participate, but then I always forget it's Wednesday. I don't know if I can see Singing' In The Rain once more, because watching Gene Kelly is enough to melt me.
I watched Dog Days Afternoon months ago, into the first 10 or 15 minutes I was ready to give it an A. It's so great.
Yes! I've been hoping that the series would continue, since I've finally reached a place where I can regularly participate *knock on wood*. Bring on the end of season three / season four!
John -- YES. please join us
ames -- i get that's why people want to do it most but i also love the idea of it being totally eccentric from week to week. we need variety in our film diets of genre, familiarity and everything
Jason -- excited to have you. but season four we'll have to wait a bit for. No time during Oscar Mania.
I'm loving the series (wish I could participate more!) and ecstatic that it's been renewed. I cosign Michael's suggestions, especially doing some Coen Bros. Maybe the beautiful B&W of The Man Who Wasn't There?
Honestly, I would have no idea how to do this. Oh I could probably blab away for a paragraph or two, but I have no idea how actually get an image off my TV screen, then how to upload it, where to, etc. Not every one of us are professional bloggers after all. ;-)
This is me as well. I was specifically looking for a "technologically inept" option in the poll.
Dave and Liz -- "CAPTURE ME" is your friend if your computer plays DVDs. easiest screen capture system ever.
I have been trying very hard to stay away from any social network that I don't have any space to post my picks. BUT, I wouldn't anyway. I love the series but I am a voyeur.
Can we campaign here? Please, let me second The Man Who wasn't There! I know the best shors already!
And since you use this series to see movies you've never seen, please consider A Woman Under The Influence or Opening Night, by Cassavetes. We don't see many hand held camercas and improvisional style in this series. And, of course, there is Gena Rowlands, best actress ever!
And, since we're campaigning, PLEASE, where is Best Pictures From the Outside In?
YAYA. I straight up guffawed at the " but the people who are into it are really into it" because - accurate. I'm looking forward to season four. I still say that the best thing about the series (even more than learning new things about the films you've seen through the other articles, and learning to love or appreciate them more because of that) is the way it forces you to examine the film as a VISUAL medium expressly. Something I'm sometimes guilty of NOT doing.
(The only thing I didn't like about this series was that we never got to do Coppola's SOMEWHERE last year. That was a best shot-ty contemporary film.)
Can we do a Cukor or a Ford film? I think the latter is slightly better (and more "directorish" than the former) but they're both great directors who I think don't get near enough love.
Also, Lean, Minghella or Ivory. SO many options really.
I'll campaign loudest for:
1. Summertime (Lean)
2. A Star is Born (Cukor)
3. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Minghella)
oooh. good ideas from all. I sense Season 4 will be very exciting ...though maybe shorter like a cable series ;)
cal -- well sometimes I use it for that. I have seen the bulk of the movies we cover. But I try to slip in a few unfamiliars each year.
I join Dave and Liz, but I will give Capture Me a try for Singin in the Rain.
For screengrabs on the computer, I just use the print screen function. Unfortunately, it's not standard among different computer brands, let alone different operating systems. For example, the computer I'm using right now is CTRL+PrtScn, but my main computer is ALT-Print Screen. Apple has a shortcode (one of the F5 keys) and Linux I don't use for screengrabs.
Then you just need an image editor to paste and crop it in and the ability to export to a picture format--png, jpg, or gif--and you can upload it to your post. The basic software included on your computer can handle it.
Of course, if you want rip off of a TV, it's decidedly trickier. Some brands, like Sony, require so many cables that I just accept that I can't screengrab off of a TV. Others only require a one step adapter that sends the image straight to your computer. Online streaming/dvd on the computer are the way to go if you can control that.
You know I could probably do what Robert G. is suggesting right now. And I could also try Capture Me, but I just realized that I have never once in my entire life seen a movie on a computer. Does that make me a freak? Or am I in the majority? Is this a question for Nathaniel? How do most people watch movies these days?
I'd love to join in the Hit Me With Your Best Shot fun. I just don't have a blog. I suspect I will soon enough cave in and get one. In the meantime I'm very glad to hear that Hit Me With Your Best Shot will continue. It's a great idea and a great opportunity for film blog writers and film blog readers.