Because I'm supposed to be studying.

[shirenomad]

From pretzelcoatl:

Pick 20 movies/anime/video games/TV shows/literary works and put their summaries from Better than it Sounds and WITHOUT CHEATING have your friends guess.

ETA: Since it's been 24 hours, I've updated the remainder with the category of work as hints.

ETA 2: 48 hours, so I'm adding the genre.

1. (VIDEO GAME) Siblings argue over how to inherit their father's legacy. (Baldur's Gate, guessed by westmarked)
2. (MOVIE, WAR DARK COMEDY) A man's sexual frustrations cause him to make some questionable decisions at work. Hilarity Ensues. (Dr. Strangelove, guessed by surgo)
3. Dead people fight other dead people but almost never to the death.(Bleach, guessed by tozetre)
4. Evil billionaire rebuilds family heirloom on top of New York City skyscraper, unleashes Noble Demon creatures that really don't like to get up in the morning. (Gargoyles, guessed by bugen)
5. Scientist, police officer afraid of water and war veteran go fishing. With explosives.(Jaws, guessed by mahmoth, with honorable mention to thunderphoenix)
6. Japanese schoolgirls hang out. (Azumanga Daioh, guessed by bugen)
7. A man wears sunglasses at night, so he can fight crime. Then the government. Then conspiracy nuts. (Deus Ex, guessed by moltare)
8. A college professor joins forces with a bartender to fight an entire army over a box that will kill you if you try to open it. (Raiders of the Lost Ark, guessed by tozetre)
9. (COMIC BOOK) Emo Kid breaks out of prison, gets his jewelry off some weirdos, gets into trouble thanks to a White Haired Pretty Boy and tries to get his sister to accept him. (Sandman, guessed by thunderphoenix)
10. Holocaust survivor turns Statue of Liberty into deadly weapon. (X-Men (movie), guessed by tozetre)
11. A miner and a delinquent team up with an underage girl for the purpose of fighting a race war. (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, guessed by westmarked)
12. Ninja detective fights mad scientist that wears a bag on his head. (Batman Begins, guessed by pretzelcoatl)
13. Family comedy about a young child who is abandoned by his family and robbed in his own home. On Christmas Eve. (Home Alone, guessed by bugen)
14. A prince must pick up litter in order to make up for his father's alcoholism. (Katamari Damacy, guessed by bugen)
15. Two former celebrities and their children fight a wannabe ex-fan. (The Incredibles, guessed by bugen)
16. (THEATER) Young man suffers from mental illness, hallucinates, desecrates a grave, then murders his family. (Hamlet, guessed by shadeykins)
17. Thieves kidnap a young princess as part of a political coup. They're the good guys. (Final Fantasy IX, guessed by pretzelcoatl)
Yeah, this one was maybe too tough... --> 18. (ANIME, SCI-FI ACTION/COMEDY) A young boy has disagreements with his new maid. (FLCL, guessed by no one
19. The last human in existence drifts through space in a vast abandoned ship. It's a comedy. (Red Dwarf, guessed by bugen)
20. Prisoners concoct elaborate escape plan with help from an American circus acrobat after learning that their captors intend to turn them into pies. (Chicken Run, guessed by pretzelcoatl)

Comments

[pretzelcoatl.livejournal.com]

12. Batman Begins

17. Final Fantasy IX

20. Chicken Run. Also, LOL.

[shirenomad]

Correct on all counts.

[bugen.livejournal.com]

Guesses:

3) Yu Yu Hakusho
4) I haven't seen it, but... Gargoyles?
6) ...There are several slice-of-life anime series that would probably fit this, but... Azumanga Daioh?
13) Home Alone
14) Katamari Damacy
15) The Incredibles
19) I haven't actually seen this, either, but... Red Dwarf?

[shirenomad]

Right for everything but #3.

[tozetre.livejournal.com]

3 is Bleach?

[shirenomad]

Correct.

[tozetre.livejournal.com]

8. Raiders of the Lost Ark.
10. X-Men.

[shirenomad]

Yes and yes.

[moltare.livejournal.com]

7 is Deus Ex, I think.

[shirenomad]

Bingo.

[chime.livejournal.com]

Having not come up with anything on the remaining ones for like 15 minutes, I decided to cheat -- I felt better upon realizing that a lot of them I wouldn't have had any chance of! I might've gotten 16 and/or 18 given a couple days to think, and 2... well, 2, I've seen, but I'd be astounded if anyone got that one. :)

[shirenomad]

Most of the remainder are indeed tough, but I'm surprised no one's gotten 5 or 11 yet.

But anything still unguessed after 24 hours will be labeled with the appropriate category (e.g. "anime") as a hint.

[mahmoth.livejournal.com]

5 should be Jaws, I believe.

What is this?

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

We must settle this like gentlemen. Pistols at dawn, good sir.

Re: What is this?

[mahmoth.livejournal.com]

Haha! You are clearly a full minute slower on the draw, so your death is a foregone conclusion...

Re: What is this?

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

If that is the case, then I did not deserve life to begin with.

[shirenomad]

Yes, and also good timing.

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

And now you must further my shame by showing it to the world! Does your depravity know no bounds?

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

#5 is Jaws, of course.

[westmarked.livejournal.com]

See, I should have checked this a while ago.

5 is Jaws, but some other people seem to have claimed that.

11 is Gurren Langan.

Is 18 He is My Master? I suppose there are a couple dozen things it could be. Same with 1.

I'm going to kick myself when someone guesses 9 correctly.

[shirenomad]

Yeah, but you always guess them all when you do that; we know each other too well.

11: Yes.
18: No.

[westmarked.livejournal.com]

Wait: Is 1 Baldur's Gate?

2 sort of sounds like American Beauty, but it could be a number of other things too.

I'm still kicking myself for not recognizing 9. Do you mean American comic book only, or could the category also include manga?

[shirenomad]

1: Yes. 2: No. 9: I meant American, and see below.

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

With the added hint, I believe that #9 is Sandman.

[shirenomad]

Ding!

[shadeykins.livejournal.com]

Oh. 16. is Hamlet.

[shirenomad]

Ding!

[surgo.livejournal.com]

With those hints, #2 must be Dr. Strangelove.

[shirenomad]

A winner is you.

[(Anonymous)]

18: Mahoromatic?

[shirenomad]

Nope.

In hindsight, that one could really be lots of things, and you'd think of the actual example last... I'll just give it to you.