shadokitty

I notice sometimes it takes a little while to get into a movie when it's a first time view, but if you stick with it, you are rewarded with a good movie after all. Case in point is Strange Days. I was looking for something to watch, and was browsing the Dish Guide, and came across this on Encore Action. I had never seen it before, and it had just started, so I thought, 'Why not?' At first I didn't really understand what I was watching, but I decided to stick with the movie, and it definitely got better. Being a James Cameron movie, I can understand why.

shadokitty

It's the last week of the Challenge, and I want to thank you for running it, Trevor. I've really enjoyed this month, as this is one of my favorite Challenges. I never slowed down all month, and I have no intention of slowing down this last week either. I kicked off my last week by watching an episode of The Kayak Fishing Show, on the World Fishing Network. Jim was in Canada, fishing for lake trout, and some of the fish he caught were really big.

davidh777

Watching Final Analysis (1992) and had forgotten how much of a Hitchcock ripoff, er, homage, it is.

I've also been working on the first season of Supergirl, having not kept up with it during broadcast. Melissa Benoist is charming as hell.

BobO'Link

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed S1 of Supergirl. I'll be picking up S2 once it's being sold (I don't watch "live" TV any more).

davidh777

I really like the whole cast--Benoist, Jordan (who I know from his musical work), Brooks, etc.

I watched the crossover episode with the Flash so I was kind of missing some of the season 2 context there.

I do watch broadcast shows, but it's hard to keep up with them if it's not something the wife wants to watch also. I'm doing OK with Riverdale so far.

BobO'Link

The only thing I disliked about Supergirl was the totally unnecessary inclusion of Jimmy Olsen. They could have done that role with a different name and it would still have worked. He doesn't belong in Supergirl - he's Superman's "best pal," not Supergirl's guardian.

I have S1 & S2 of The Flash but haven't watched any of those yet. Same for Arrow. Both wre blind-buys based on good word-of-mouth and good reviews. The same reason I purchased Supergirl - it, too, was a blind-buy.

It's a shame DC can't do movies as good as some of their TV series.

ntnon

Someone must've decided Cat Grant wasn't name-recognition-worthy enough... plus, what would a TV show be without a forced love triangle/quadrangle..?

On one hand, Marc Guggenheim, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. On the other, Zack Snyder.

Without wanting to be rude (or, well, snide), it certainly seems as if the approach is different because of the people involved.

BobO'Link

I really liked the character and she got at least one really good line:
That is my other main gripe with the show - but it seemed toned way down by the end of season one so I pretty much let it go.

Gee... whatever gave you *that* idea?

Indy24LA

Count me in as another big Supergirl fan. Waiting for season 2 to come to bluray and really enjoyed season 1. Great blend of humor and action and Benoist pretty much owned the role from the word go.

shadokitty

I felt like some MMA, so I turned on Hulu, and went with UFC Unleashed, since I'm slowly work my way through the series, a little at a time. You already know who the winners of the fights are going to be, but that doesn't make it any less exciting to watch. The episode I just watched ended with a Title bout, that the fighter who lost almost went all the way, until he had taken so much punishment, that the doctor put a stop to the fight.

shadokitty

I was in the mood for an outdoor show, so turned on Outdoors In The Heartland, on the Outdoor Channel. The episode actually covered both hunting and fishing, with a trip to Ontario for giant Smallmouth Bass, and at the end of the show, there was a hunting segment where the host bagged a big, mature 8 point whitetail.

LJG765

I just finished up the last 7 episodes of Bones. They had a couple rough seasons lately, but these last 12 of the series were all really good. I really am going to miss it being on the air. I am glad though, that they are stopping now, rather than trying to get another couple seasons out that are half-assed.

shadokitty

One fish I've always wanted to go after, but never have because we don't have a boat, is lake trout. The episode of The Ultimate Fishing Experience, I just finished on Wild Television, got me thinking about that, because the host was up in Canada, fishing for lake trout.

Trevor

I'd be surprised if my "work" in setting it up this year totaled more than two minutes, but you're welcome.

Did my usual ~20 items for my monthly checklist, and not much more. Reading and dealing with family are about my only big time wasters lately. Rarely get a good TV binge in outside of Octobers it seems.

davidh777

Eh, I didn't mind it. True they could've easily created a new character, but they did use the device of "we know you know Superman," which then kind of made sense that he would have a connection to Supergirl.

I bought season 1 of Arrow, but haven't watched it, and of course then it hit streaming, which turned me off of buying these kinds of series. I watched a few episodes of Gotham but it didn't grab me, and a couple of DC Legends. No Flash yet. I really haven't kept up with any superhero series since the end of Smallville--maybe I was too scarred by some of those later seasons. I did binge Agents of SHIELD for one of last year's challenges.

Annoyingly, Comcast doesn't have the second season of Supergirl available for streaming on demand. I did watch the musical Flash crossover, and I also liked the Flash crossover in season 1.

BobO'Link

Neither Gotham or DC Legends sounded remotely interesting so I've not bothered with them. I disliked Smallville from the start and only watched the first half dozen or so episodes before I completely wrote it off. In fact my dislike of Smallville kept me from trying any of the new DC offerings - until Supergirl as she's a favorite character from waaaaaay back (early 60s comics) and $10 for S1 was low enough for me to take a chance. None of the guys at the local comic shop had watched the series so I couldn't use them as a sounding board. It was good enough to convince me to give Arrow and The Flash a chance.

davidh777

I happened to pick up Smallville with the fourth season and stuck with it (one of these challenges I'll watch the earlier ones). It got pretty terrible then rebounded, then was terrible again, but I felt obligated to see it through. The thing I like about the concept of DC Legends is that it uses some of the minor characters in the DCU.

I had the Supergirl $10 deal in my cart but didn't pull the trigger in time so I had to stream the season.

ntnon

The script, plot and adaptation (and cast, obviously) for Captain America is almost as good as Thor. I had forgotten Tommy Lee Jones leads the assault in Switzerland, and that Peggy is right alongside him with a machine gun. Steve jumping on a grenade is still probably the best character moment from any of the MCU films.

And, OK, the heat of the plane sunk it into the ice and it was hard to find. Stark went looking and came up short. But, really, it was SIXTY YEARS hard to find...?! That seems highly unlikely

BobO'Link

I enjoyed Captain America far more with the second viewing than the first. With that first viewing I thought it was rather boring but told a decent story. The second time I was in a better frame of mind and found myself wondering just what I'd found "boring" the first time through. Winter Soldier is even better. I saw it the first time a few days back, right before I watched Thor: The Dark World, which I enjoyed more than Thor. And I really enjoyed Thor. I was hoping to get in The Avengers before the challenge ends but don't know if I'll make it. It, too, will be a first time viewing.

davidh777

I finally got around to seeing Allied, which I liked. I wasn't sure if it qualified, but decided there was enough machine-gun action to make it work.

Also saw the first four episodes of Netflix's Iron Fist. Hoping I can push through a bunch more today.

Thor is my least favorite Marvel Universe franchise (not counting the stuff from other studios), but it's still watchable. I only saw TDW once so maybe I should give that another try. Captain America is great, though, and Winter Soldier might be my favorite Marvel film.

I hope you can slip in The Avengers. It nicely pulls together the stuff you've been watching.

shadokitty

I watched Iron Man earlier this month for the Challenge, and had bought 2 and 3, on Amazon Instant Video. I had planned to get the entire trilogy in this month, especially since 3 would have been a first time view, but just never got around to it.

LJG765

Captain America was my first watch of the Marvel Universe and it totally sucked me in. It rivals The Avengers as my favorite of them all.

Have you watched any of the short "films" they add to the discs? One of the bonus ones explains how they find Captain America's plane. The Hulk goes to the Arctic and causes an avalanche which dislodges the plane buried in the ice and snow. This lets them find it as the plane is finally close to the surface.

You have to really be looking in the background, but you can see the plane as the snow/glacier starts crumbling. I figure that it was quickly buried-it was in '40s so technology, even with Howard Stark's help, was still being developed. The conditions are pretty harsh there and the cold really does a number on electronics. So if the plane was buried deep enough, under water and ice and snow, it'd be hard to pinpoint.

BobO'Link

Hey! Where've you been hiding? Or maybe I should say you've been more quiet than usual...

When first reading your post that first line came in as: "...and it totally sucked..." and I did a mental "Whaaaat!?!?! It didn't pull me in as much as I'd have liked the first time but it didn't 'suck'!" and then got the "...me in." part. Whew! I thought you'd gone off the deep end for a moment there!

I finished the challenge last night with The Avengers. Without a doubt, it's my favorite Marvel Universe film to date and was a great challenge finisher. I've not yet seen the last two X-Men films nor Captain America: Civil War but don't see either topping The Avengers. It has so many good scenes and dialog. Then the credits roll and I see why. Joss Whedon. There are very few things he's written that I don't care for. He's one of those handful of creators whose product I'll watch without reading reviews first. I had no idea he was both writer and director on The Avengers as, it being a Marvel Universe film and one of the few franchises I don't bother with reading reviews first, I'd have watched it no matter who was involved (well... I'd be hesitant if J.J. Abrams was involved but watch anyway).

I have a copy of Civil War and will likely watch it sometime in the next week or so. I'm about to start X-Men: Days of Future Past. While I enjoy the X-Men part of the Marvelverse I like The Avengers branch much more. The two Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor films, which mostly set the stage for The Avengers, were all very good. The third Iron Man was OK but not as good as those first two. So far, Hulk films have pretty much been a bust but he's also a character I've never much cared for anyway so it would take a exceptional film for me to get invested. Banner gets "angry," becomes the Hulk, smashes things, turns back into Banner. OK... I get it. But the character, in both films and comics, seems to swing back and forth from "brainless monster" to "brainless monster who can think if necessary or it suits the story" so much that I just don't see the point. Anyway... he works in The Avengers as he's the "brainless monster who can think if necessary" and did inject a few nice comic moments:


The Avengers is a coworker's favorite Marvel film, possibly his absolute favorite film of all time. He's been chomping at the bit to talk to me about it but has shown great restraint since its release knowing that I'd not yet seen it. He talks about it but in generalities and will be happy I've finally given it a viewing.

ntnon

I thought so, but obviously not... There's ITEM 47 about the aftermath of Avengers; Agent Carter; and 'A Funny Thing Happened..' with Agent Coulsen. There's one about Sir Ben's Mandarin... which one's the Hulk one?

Yes... and they do have Stark point out that they were tracking energy signatures and those died out. But in the real world, they had radar and sonar by that point; in the alternate world of tesseracts, super soldiers and Stark thinking about Arc Reactors and flying cars... I know why they did it (and WWII as a setting was necessary - thanks, Mark Millar), but it much more plausible to find and dig him out in the 60s than 'now'.

ntnon

I know they're up against stiff competition, so I like your phrasing of "least favorite", but I know several people who co side THOR the 'worst' Marvel film... and I do not understand why. It's funny, epic, reconciles gods and mortals in a believable way...