I decided not to count Crumb. It was a stretch, but my review copy arrived and I wanted to give it a spin.

I have 4 movies setup for this last run. The third Mummy movie, Twilight Eclipse, the movie Vanilla Sky was based off of and Goldeneye. If I have room for another one, it'll be Princess and the Frog.

Don't forget that if you're doing the Animation Challenge, this challenge ends at dawn on August 1st, so don't be afraid to overlap.

So, if we start watching an animated sci-fi/fantasy movie at 11:30pm on Saturday, and finish watching it at about 1:00am on Sunday morning, then it would count for both challenges?

I did all 6 Star Wars movies (in HD!) back to back for the first time earlier this month. Today is my marathon of all the original Planet of the Apes movies in BD. Can't wait.

Yes. Anything that you're watching between the hours of midnight and whenever the sun rises could count for both Challenges.

Sweet, thanks.

Watched my second Warner Archive disc for the challenge, Captain Sindbad. Looked OK, anamorphically enhanced, and it did have the real trailer (my other disc, Reckless, just played the first few minutes and called it the "trailer"). I tried to watch it on my laptop running PowerDVD and it crashed after a little while. No problems on the PS3, though, which is the only place I've played the other Archive disc.

Last day of Sci-Fi challenge makes me sad

Can't believe I'm gonna reach 140! I was hoping to get 100.

Fwiw, we listed about 25 examples of films that fit before you dropped it, and you left in several checklist items with 10 or way fewer options.

I decided to go for the checklist last night, and it's kicking my butt. Daniel Radcliffe? Elijah Wood? What if? NC-17 and X? 1900-1920?

Man, this checklist is fun, but quite frustrating. For future Challenges I'd suggest making anything with fewer than 12 options optional. We could work together to create a checklist database for the harder-to-figure-out items.

July 1
1. Demon Seed*
I don't know if it is because I watched too much stuff this month or because the movie was forgettable, but I can't remember anything about Demon Seed beyond what you could read on the back of the DVD case.
2. The Black Hole
I hadn't seen this since a free Disney Channel weekend in the 80's and I expected it to be pretty dumb but I liked it. There's a weird sound thing where it sounds like everything was redubbed in post production and they did the recording in an empty airplane hanger. I was really surprised when it ended in hell.
3. The Greatest American Hero: 01/07 Fire Man* / The Greatest American Hero: 01/08 The Best Desk Scenario*
I bought the first season for super cheap and Biglots. Unlike The Black Hole this was worse that I remember. I watched the first half of the season months ago and used the challenge as an excuse to finish the last few episodes.
4. Doctor Who: 05/08 The Hungry Earth* / Doctor Who: 05/09 Cold Blood*
5. Doctor Who: 05/10 Vincent and the Doctor* / Doctor Who: 05/11 The Lodger*
6. Doctor Who: 05/12 The Pandorica Opens* / Doctor Who: 05/13 The Big Bang*
I wasn't a crazy Tennent fanatic but I don't really like this new guy. That redhead girl is cute though.
7. Being Human: 01/01* / Being Human 01/02*
8. Being Human: 01/03* / Being Human: 01/04*
9. Being Human: 01/05* / Being Human: 01/06*
Based on the premise, I expected this show to be a lot jokier. Then I read that it was original intended to be a straight drama about a sex addict, an agorphobe and a dude with anger issues. Later the supernatural aspects were added. While watching I was enjoying it but the show didn't really stick with me and I'll need a refresher if I start to watch the third season.

July 2
10. The Fall*
11. The Fall w/ Tarsem Singh Commentary
I put off watching this for a long time because I wanted to be able to give it my full attention. I thought it would be more weird and hard to follow. The basic premise isn't too original but the show is really beautiful and Lee Pace and that little girl are awesome.
12. Iron Man w/ Rifftrax
I really only enjoyed MST3K when watching it with a big group so I never had a good reason to check out the Rifftrax stuff. I seriously didn't laugh a single time while watching this.
13. The Crazies*
I've really enjoyed the recent rash of Romero remakes. Having said that, I was only paying enough attention while this was playing to know that I want to watch it again.
14. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus*
I wasn't wild about some of the CGI stuff only because I love the handmade quality of most Terry Gilliam movies. Like The Crazies, I'll need to watch this again. Not because I wasn't paying attention but because Gilliam movies usually deserve multiple viewings.
15. Eureka: 03/01 Bad to the Drone* / Eureka: 03/02 What About Bob?*
16. Eureka: 03/03 Best in Faux* / Eureka: 03/04 I Do Over*
17. Eureka: 03/05 Show Me the Mummy* / Eureka: 03/06 Phased and Confused*
18. Eureka: 03/07 Here Come the Suns* / Eureka: 03/08 From Fear to Eternity*
Like a lot of television, I keep watching this series even though I don't really like it. It is just too lightweight and too loose with the science. But I like the premise and keep hoping it will live up to its potential. This reasoning kept me going on Smallville for six or seven seasons.

July 3
19. Eureka: 03/09 Welcome Back, Carter* / Eureka: 03/10 Your Face or Mine*
20. Wanted*
I had just read the comic a few months ago and I was surprised by how many details of the story were left intact while the main premise of the book was totally changed. I think people often confuse juvenile or prurient with edgy and most of Mark Millar's stuff I've read falls in former category.
21. The Happening*
Shyamalan, what happened to you? Is it the George Lucas syndrome where nobody has the nerve to second guess you because your early works were such successes? But actually, while this entire thing is pretty hamfisted, it did keep me interested the whole way through. And there's something compelling about this style of blank acting that seems like it most have been intentional.
22. Trancers*
23. The Stuff*
Both of the above come from the era of early VHS rental success and it seems like everyone has seen them. I finally got around to it thanks entirely to the checklist and I could have gotten by fine for the rest of my life without having done so.
24. Eureka: 03/11 Insane in the P-Brane* / Being Human: 02/01*
25. X-men Origins: Wolverine*
Here's another example of a totally forgettable movie. When I was watching it, everything was fine, though I kept feeling like I was missing out on a lot of comic book references that I'm not privy to. When I was a kid I had the really early X-Men comics but didn't collect them during the later years. (I actually had X-Men #1 but I don't know where it ended up.) So introducing all these characters without any real explanation for who they are or what they can do is totally lost on me. Now a few weeks after watching it, I don't have any idea of what happened in this movie.
26. Being Human: 02/02* / Being Human: 02/03*
27. Being Human: 02/04* / Being Human: 02/05*

July 4
28. Being Human 02/06* / Being Human 02/07*
29. Being Human: 02/08* / Eureka: 03/12 It's Not Easy Being Green*
30. Hancock*
This is the kind of movie that will get added to my list, along with Independence Day, of "things to turn on when you just need some noise in the background but you aren't planning on really paying attention."
31. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief*
Is Chris Columbus second guessing his decision to leave the Harry Potter Franchise. This movie is a crock of shit.
32. Hot Tub Time Machine*
I guess there's some funny stuff in here but I'm never going to want to watch this again.
33. Terminator Salvation*
I guess people hate McG but I thought this was a perfectly serviceable sequel and when I have time, I will certainly watch this again.
34. 2012
There's something about these Roland Emerich movies. I know they are big and dumb but they are just perfectly big and perfectly dumb and I really find myself drawn to them. I'll watch this over and over again just like I do his other movies.
35. Clash of the Titans*
There's no reason at all for this movie to exist.
36. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I used to think Alfonso Cuaron's episode was the best in the series but not I like this one better. With this challenge I was trying to mostly trying to watch things I hadn't seen before but the Daniel Radcliffe checklist item made that impossible. So I watched this for the checklist but also because I just wanted to see it again.

Yeah, the last minute changes to the checklist could've been better. Next year I'm looking to do pretty much what you said, more general things and the optional.

Now's as good a time as any to start throwing out recommendations for next year.

For the early years, there's that short with the rocket flying into the eye of the moon. Can't remember the title but I'm pretty sure it's easy to find and watch online.

I'll give everyone till the 3rd to complete their lists, unless a week would work better.

I had fun watching all of Red Dwarf (including commentary on every episode, two on some).

But I found out something horrible!

My Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Disc One (with all the episodes on it) is rotting.

There was one chapter in episode 4 that wouldn't play and the play side of the disc has two black lines on it!

So I've been awake most of the last 48 hours working through the checklist. Stupid OCD. But thanks to Mountain Dew I am currently watching the last item I need to complete it, and should be finishing it just as the sun is rising.

If I'm this close next year, I'll fly to Hawaii for the last few days to give myself that extra 5 or 6 hours.

Well, I actually managed to watch *over* 100 films! I truly thought I'd never make 75... but it consumed most of my free waking hours!

Comments:

My only goal of reducing the unwatched pile was successful as it is visibly smaller (although still quite large) as I only re-watched about a dozen films from my collection. Those few were strictly for the sub-challenge which I failed to complete due to, what I feel were, some fairly restrictive categories. Those were the NC17, X rated, and a pair of obscure/limited SF output directors. In all fairness, I felt I'd not complete the challenge from the outset due to those categories but I filled in the blanks anyway just for fun.

The ratings category was a no-go as of the *very few* films rated NC-17 and X that would qualify I'd only consider buying "A Clockwork Orange".

The 2 directors I failed to watch films from (Larry Cohen, and Charles Band) was also due to limited choices on films I don't like or have never heard of. With an already large unwatched pile, blind buys on obscure films are out.

Someone commented on difficulties with 1900-1920 films. For me, that was easier than 2010 films since I do not rent or go to theaters. None of the 2010 films I'd consider owning have yet reached price points at which I'll make a purchase or are not yet out on DVD.

Outside of 3 streaming titles for the challenge ("Voyage to the Moon", "20,000 Leagues under the Sea", "Plan 9") I watched only what I own. I do not rent... ever. I rarely see a film in the theater due to all the distractions (cell phones, talkers, kids, babies!). It's just not worth the money/hassle when I can own the same title for less than a single ticket.

I finished up with the 3 hour version of Pendragon Studios "H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds" (2005). I'd tried to watch it before but gave up about an hour in due to poor acting and a *plodding* pace. It turns out it wasn't quite as bad as I'd initially thought, although it's still not much more than passable. The constant use of filters and video that was made to look like a silent film (dropped/repeated/paused frames ~30 sec or so) was very distracting. I understand what the film makers were attempting to achieve, but it just didn't work for me. The CGI wasn't too bad... most of the time (the sea battle toward the end was laugh-out-loud bad) but the over use of "green screen" was distracting and of a "made for TV" movie quality. While far superior to the Assylum version it's no classic and certainly not for everyone. At 3 hours(!) it's an hour too long but is faithful to the novel. IMHO, the George Pal version is still the best and I intended to finish with that one but just ran out of time. While it didn't make the challenge, I'll watch it today "just because" and to end on a high note.

That's it! A month of Science Fiction.

Just about everything I watched was from my own collection and lots of it was stuff I hadn't seen in years, some held better than others. I don't rent (no credit card...not a fan of the idea of credit. And on that note, video rental joints still want a credit card! It's 2010 and these shops are on life support, you'd think they'd want my business enough to just give me a membership card, I'd only get to steal from them once...not that I would...and I'd end up being the loser because I'd lose the benefit of the service they provide. Oh, pardon me, is that too much logic for one thought?). Can't go to movies because of photosensitive epilepsy. So it's my collection or nothing. Although I did watch Invaders from Mars on Google Video (I'm not hip to the idea of watching a movie on my laptop when there's a 42 inch screen in the next room, but in this case necessity was the mother of invention).

I completed watching my Babylon 5 run during the month and discovered everything I needed to know about the four year run vs. the five year run of the show. Y'see (and correct me if I'm wrong), JMS originally planned the show to run for five years and some time through the late 3rd or early 4th he discovered the show wouldn't see a fifth season so he condensed the last part of the story so that it would fit into the fourth season. Having done that, the powers that be came back at the end of the fourth and asked for a fifth. Well he didn't have a fifth, and that's why the fifth season is such a mess. Never do I want to see Byron again.

Whipped through Torchwood and had a blast, Is there more?

And finally cracked open Brisco County. It really stands the test of time (outside of all the gun-play and nobody ever getting shot....but that's just a product of the times, see A-Team). I had not seen the show since it originally aired (on Friday nights and I was in my 20s, not easy to stay home on a Friday for an extra hour when you're a hard-partying 20-something) so I was a little trepidatious (sp?).

Onward to the Animation challenge!!

Can't believe the challenge is over. And I can't believe I watched more movies in this one than the horror challenge. Had a great time and now I have a goal to beat come October.

My kids started throwing up last night, so that had me stop on number 70. I knew I wouldn't get 100 without going into a movie watching craze but I'm happy with how far I got.

Well I got a bit lazy in the last half of the challenge and missed my low target by 6.

Oh well, still better then the Oscar challenge where I never got a single one.

Reached 140. Wanted to go higher, but fell asleep around 1am watching Transformers.

I managed to achieve all my goals and beat last year's count by 5. It was fun and just so show how OCD I am, I've already picked some of the titles I want to watch for next year's challenge.

It was a lot of fun. I can't believe I finished the checklist. That was a lot of fun and really added to the enjoyment of the challenge, at least it did for me.

This was the first challenge that I have finished and I managed to complete the checklist and broke 75 movies at the same time. Thanks to doing the checklist I found a lot of new movies that I might not have watched. Especially great was Timecrimes, On the Beach, The Green Slime, Akira, Wild, Wild Planet, The Thing, Son of Flubber and The Man With the Screaming Brain. I now plan on doing the checklist for the Animation Challenge and of course for the Horror Challenge. I'm definitely hooked!

Well, that was a lot of fun. Met two of my goals in watching the Star Wars movies and Planet of the Apes movies. Next week we get Metropolis at the University theater, so I missed watching it. Now it's time to see how I did on the checklist.

Anyway, thanks for the challenge. I have to say, the addition of Fantasy really did blow this challenge wide open and made it brand new and even more exciting. Hope everyone else enjoyed the new genre.

That was fun. And I would have been content with my original list of 80-something titles, that is, until realizing my absent-minded ass forgot to list 6 movies from earlier in the month. So, instead of taking it easy and finishing off with a couple of great thought-provoking Russian films (Stalker and Solaris), I foolishly opted to make a mad dash the last couple of days and go for the big 100 with several surprisingly good and mostly Roger Corman public domain flicks on my Roku player that averaged around an hour apiece.

Yeah, I didn't make it. I would've had to watch 12 films the last day and, well, that just wasn't gonna happen. My final tally ended up at 95, which easily bested last year's. Now it's just a matter of updating the list that I've been behind on the entire month.

Anyway, thanks for another great challenge.