... FOR "RANDOM UPDATES TO THE SITE"

When I first embarked on this blogging adventure in February of 2010, I'll admit I was a novice at it in more ways than one. Learning to let my freak flag fly, for one thing, figuring out how to stand toe to toe with (and sometimes head and shoulders above) the millions of other movie blogs out there, by offering up a different spin on the basics of filmcraft - technique, trivia, retrospectives, reviews - than you're probably used to. Or struggling to stay relevant, by paying respect to the films of the present (which, let's be honest, is all people really want to hear about) and also to the films of the past (which, let's face it, is where all modern motion pictures get their ideas). Also learning that you can't be everything to everyone all of the time; sure, people love their Comic Book Movies and their MacGuffin With Egg, but try blogging a quiz or two (or three, or eight), and readers will have nothing to do with it. (It took me too long, perhaps, to realize that once one person responds with the answers, it's pretty much pointless for everyone else.)

Still, the thing that's disappointed me the most is that I haven't been able to build up an audience to the degree I'd initially hoped for. I have my core readership, of course, to whom I'm eternally grateful. Ultimately, though, the responsibility of bringing traffic to the site rests entirely on me, and only me, and I've been slow in making that happen. Never one to toot my own horn, I was uncomfortable at first posting updates to Facebook, or anywhere else for that matter, expecting, I guess, to succeed on the strength of my words alone. But it takes a certain amount of shameless self-promotion to make it anywhere in this world, a fact I've only started warming up to, and now that I've started posting to Twitter and Medium.com, we'll see what that does for the site. (Special thanks to Ether Ling for crafting a marketing plan to help bolster the blog.)

... FOR "QUIZ TIME, PART 8 (SUPERHERO EDITION)" - UPDATED... WITH ANSWERS!

In doing my research (if you want to call it research) for an upcoming project, a thought occurred to me faster than a speeding bullet: How many comic book heroes can be identified immediately by the insignias on their chests?

Indeed, these symbols/logos/trademarks or what have you all seem to act as targets for gun-wielding criminals. Be it Superman's "S" or The Flash's lightning bolt or Spider-Man's spider, they all scream, Why, hello, evil doers! Fire your bullets at this! For it is a symbol of who I am and the means by which I shall bring you to justice! (Okay, so maybe that's not exactly what they say, but you get the point.)

How would we know recognize these people if not for their insignias? How would we even know what to call them? And does it help that they're color coded?

... FOR "SANTA SAID WHAT?!!" (OR, "QUIZ TIME, PART 7") - UPDATED: WITH ANSWERS!

Well, it's Christmas time again, folks! And by way of tradition (as well as an excuse for being lazy), I thought I'd offer up another yuletide quiz challenge in the spirit of the season. You know, something to mull over while you're kicking back, enjoying your egg nog, hangin' with the family, waiting for the big guy and his reindeer to make their annual stop-over...

Speaking of the Big Guy... how well do you know your Santa Claus movies? The Jolly One's been around for about as long as anyone can remember, yet rarely, if ever, does he take center stage of his own story. Below are a handful of Santa-centric titles and a snippet of dialogue from each, spoken by ol' Kris Kringle himself (or, conversely, an imposter thereof). Can you match them together, for goodness sake? Don't be a Grinch now...

... FOR "NUMBER CRUNCHING" (OR "QUIZ TIME, PART 6")

Yesterday, Finding The Wrong Words reached a minor milestone: 7,000 page views, officially. That means I've had 7,000 visitors to the blog, whether it's someone who's read an actual post I've published, someone checking to see if there's been a new post published since the previous post, or someone who's stumbled onto the blog by mistake. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful to have so many of you visit on a regular basis, as I've always wanted to share my personal rantings and ravings with folks outside my regular circles. I count my family and friends as my biggest fans, of course, though I've also had comments from readers in the United Kingdom among other places, and I'm grateful as well for your comments as it lets me know you're actually out there, willing to lend me an ear (or eyes) for at least a moment or two. Thank you.

I realize that 7,000 page views isn't exactly breaking any records. Just this week, as a matter of fact, Charlie Sheen scored 3 million followers on Twitter over the course of a single day (this on the heels of his much-publicized release from CBS TV's Two & A Half Men). From that perspective, when you consider that FTWW has been up and running since February 2010, a number like 7,000 is far from impressive.

... FOR "QUIZ TIME, PART 5 (CHRISTMAS EDITION)" - UPDATED!

A short one this week, as we're currently gearing up for a busy Christmas weekend here at the Lundberg household. Anyway, what better way to update this blog than with a Christmas quiz? We all have our traditions this time of year - food we eat, people we see, movies we watch to help ring in the season. Can you match the titles of these holiday-themed favorites to their poster pieces below? No cheating now. That wouldn't be very festive...

... FOR "MARKETING PLOYS AND WALT DISNEY'S 'TANGLED'" (OR "QUIZ TIME, PART 4")

So there's a new Disney cartoon out in theaters. It's called Tangled, about a rogue-ish thief named Flynn Rider who climbs a tall tower in the middle of a pastoral field and finds a barefooted girl with wicked-long hair extensions living inside. Hilarious adventures ensue, in which Flynn and his horse encounter ruffians in a forest, all the while accompanied by said girl who giggles a lot and swings from trees and other assorted things by said hair.

Did I mention the story's actually a modern spin on Rapunzel, that age-old Grimm's Fairy Tale your parents read to you as a child, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair" and all that? You probably gathered as much from the previews you've seen on television, only... why aren't they advertising it that way? Before the movie was released last weekend, I don't think they even mentioned Rapunzel by name in the trailers. If you haven't ventured out to see it yet, you might even be surprised to learn it's also a full-scale Disney musical, complete with show-stopping numbers by Alan Menken (of Little Mermaid / Beauty And The Beast fame) and all.

... FOR "QUIZ TIME, PART 3 (HALLOWEEN EDITION)"

I should have gotten on top of this last week, but since it's October, how about an entire month of blog entries devoted to Halloween and scary movies? It'll help us get into the spirit of things, so that those of us with kids can get excited for the end of the month, when our little tykes go trick or treating on the 31st and we end up eating half of the candy they collect and get fat. (Or, if you do your own trick-or-treating, eat all of your own candy and get fat.)

I figure, since we've just started a couple of new series, we might as well have a little fun with that. Looking ahead, it'll also push me to finish the latest entry in my "Best Of The Decade" – which coincidentally covers my favorite horror movies of 2000-2009 – by Halloween night. (You might think I planned it to work out that way, but truth be told it's just my knack for procrastinating that got the better of me. Hooray for happenstance!) I'm not promising anything, but we'll see how that turns out.

... FOR "A LITTLE FACE TIME" (OR, "QUIZ TIME, PART 2")

For those of you paying attention, Salt opened in theaters this past weekend, starring Angelina Jolie. Here's the poster: 

Notice anything prominent in there? Right: Angelina Jolie. If the goal of any given poster is to advertise the movie at hand, then Angelina's patented "I'm-Pissed-And-If-You-Even-Think-About-Standing-In-My-Way-I'll-Be-Sure-To-Wipe-The-Floor-With-You" glare as featured above should tell you everything Salt is about. They might as well have called it Angelina, Ready To Kick Your Butt.

... FOR "QUIZ TIME, PART 1"

I'm in the process of streamlining my "Best Films" project (it's taking me way too long to get it finished; at this rate, I'll wrap it up just in time for the next decade to come rolling around). So, to distract you, here's a quiz.

We'll call this one "Movie Title Mashup," just for the sake of calling it something. The rules are simple: I give you a movie title. You take the last word of that title, and come up with your own title that begins with that word. Then combine the two to form one giant title. If that confuses you at all (because, let's be honest, sometimes I even confuse myself), let me give you a freebie:

Rosemary's Baby + Baby Mama = Rosemary's Baby Mama

Got it? Awesome. Now a rule. Now let's try a few, shall we? Please leave your answers in the comments below. Winner gets my undying respect and affection. Or at least what's left of it.