Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

I completed all of my goals except for rewatching Buffy, but I'm extremely happy and shocked completed the other 4. The best I've ever done with this challenge is 21, (and last year only 4), and I got to 64 this year, I think its the best I've ever done in a challenge. I finally watched all of the original trilogy for Star Wars (had only seen the very first one a few times), watched Alien for the first time, and finished Soylent Green, which I had seen most of a long time ago but never the end (although I knew how it ended), along with rewatching some favorites (Star Trek and Ghostbusters). Thank you for a great challenge, I'm already looking forward to next years!

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

I didn't watch too much this time, but I will recommend The Dresden Files for those who like fantasy.

:up: to Mister Peepers for running the challenge.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Too late for me to recommend Larry Cohen for this challenge. I've thought of him as a favorite for a long time, so I was surprised to check his credits and see that, before this year, I had only seen two of the films that he has directed. I saw Q in the theater, and probably saw The Stuff on VHS. I watched Bone for the Drive-In Challenge this year, and was surprised that it was more social satire than blaxploitation (it was sort of anti-blaxploitation). At the last minute I decided to watch It's Alive for this challenge, and while it was clearly sci-fi/horror, it had a surprising amount of social satire. I'm looking forward to watching several more of his movies in the next Horror Challenge.

That is always my main goal. I try to vary the eras, sub-genres, and countries of origin of the movies that I watch, in order to avoid burn-out.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Yes! Thanks Mister Peepers! My favorite challenge by far.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

July 5
37. Land of the Lost*
There's some funny stuff in here but I won't watch it again. I might have missed something but I still don't understand the spacesuit stuff at the beginning and hoe it connects to the rest of the movie.
38. Nineteen Eighty-Four*
This was a BBC live television production starring Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence. Its an ok adaptation though pretty truncated.
39. The Day of the Triffids (2009) Part One*
40. The Day of the Triffids (2009) Part Two*
I heard this was terrible but I kind of liked it. After the challenge was over I watch the original 1981 Triffids miniseries which is pretty highly regarded and I though it was boring. So I'm giving it to the remake.
41. Eureka: 03/13 If You Build It...* / Eureka: 03/14 Ship Happens*
42. Eureka: 03/15 Shower the People* / Eureka: 03/16 You Don't Know Jack*
43. Eureka: 03/17 Have an Ice Day* / Eureka: 03/08 What Goes Around, Comes Around*
44. Caprica
45. Caprica: 01/01 Rebirth* / Caprica: 01/02 Reins of a Waterfall*
I've been trying to watch this series for a while now but things keep interrupting me. I think I started the pilot 3 or 4 times before I actually made it through to the other episodes. I think the series is pretty great with a lot of big ideas to think about, but I'm worried that, Like Battlestar, they don't really know what they want to do and they're just reacting episode to episode. I'm not sure if the show is even coming back I heard the second half of the season was pushed back another year.

July 6
46. The Invention of Lying*
I really like Ricky Gervais and I'm totally on the side of the atheists, but the second half of this movie just deteriorated into one big atheist proselytizing session. If you want to turn people to your way of thinking, consider using some subtlety.
47. Orgazmo*
Only for the NC17 checklist.
48. Stardust*
I don't know. OK I guess, but did Deniro really need to be in this and why does he keep doing this light, comedic roles. Doesn't anyone ever tell him he isn't good at that?
49. The Day the Earth Stood Still*
I was curious to see this despite knowing that it was going to be total garbage. I was pretty much right. I would rather have seen a River's Edge remake with Keannu in the Dennis Hopper role.
50. Pandorum*
It is becoming a common theme here, but I don't remember anything about this move other than it was dark and ugly.
51. Caprica: 01/03 Gravedancing* / Caprica: 01/04 There Is Another Sky*
52. Caprica: 01/05 Know Thy Enemy* / Caprica: 01/06 The Imperfections of Memory*
53. Caprica: 01/07 Ghosts in the Machine* / Caprica: 01/08 End of Line*
54. Monsters vs Aliens*
I just don't think Dreamworks should be making these animated movies. They are just so generic. Maybe they should find someone with an original vision and give that guy access to all their technology the way Pixar did with Brad Bird. They should also stop casting big stars for the purposes of marketing. No body is out there thinking "If only Reece Witherspoon's voice was in this I'd go see it."
55. The Faculty*
If you count this as a body snatchers remake, and you probably should, I watched a lot of body snatchers remakes this month.

July 7
56. eXistenZ
I watched htis a long tome ago and didn't really get it. I still don't get it but I prefer this Cronenberg to the more recent Cronenberg.
57. Lifeforce*
Naked sexy space vampires. What could go wrong with a movie like that? Nothing. Wasn't this also the premise of an episode of Buck Rogers? Patrick Stewart checklist.
58. Cypher*
Another handmade project from Cube's Vincenzo Natali. Like Cube, this one's primary interest comes from its low budget nature. I love when people just get it together and make something decent. It doesn't have to be outstanding, just pretty good.
59. Life on Mars: 01/01 Out Here in the Fields* / Life on Mars: 01/02 The Real Adventures of the Unreal Sam Tyler*
I like the original series just fine and was curious about the U.S. remake. I assumed the bad word of mouth was just a knee jerk England-is-better kind of reaction. But this is a dull ass show. I forced myself through all the episode even though I didn't really enjoy it.
60. Ghost Town*
61. Ghost Town w/ Ricky Gervais and David Koepp Commentary
I assumed this would be pretty lightweight but worth seeing just for Ricky Gervais. In the end I think it is a kind of minor masterpiece and I enjoyed it so much more than The Invention of Lying.
62. Life on Mars: 01/03 My Maharishi Is Bigger Than Your Maharishi* / Life on Mars: 01/04 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadows?*
63. 2010
I remember when I saw this the first time, years ago, I thought the politics were already out of date. Now that it actually is 2010 that aspect of the story seems ridiculous. But you can't go wrong with Scheider.
64. Silent Hill*
I watched this for the video game checklist item because I had no intentions of watching Resident Evil at the time. A few weeks later I did actually go ahead with the Resident Evils anyway. But anyway, what is Silent Hill about? Was there possibly a language barrier issue with the French director? I never played the game, but I heard it was scary. This movie isn't scary. When scary stuff was happening the lighting was so dark I could tell what I was looking at. Also what was going on with Sean Bean? At the end was he having a dream? I think I'm going to have to watch this again.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Man, I am extremely bummed about this challenge. I was doing pretty well a couple weeks in but I've been a ghost the last half of the month. I had to go to Cleveland and help my parents out, didn't get around to watching any more films or even Inception like I was planning. Oh well it was still fun for the first half of the month.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

For awhile there I was on pace to break 100 and even beat my total from last year, but I really slowed down at the end of the month. Still, I accomplished my goal of watching all of the Babylon 5 that I own, so I consider my effort a success.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Wrong thread gfoots, looks like you meant to put that in your personal list.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Yes! I typed my initial thoughts in a hurry and totally forgot to say "thanks!".

This was the first time I participated in one of these watching challenges and it was lots of fun!

But... I don't think I'll be in a hurry to do another any time soon. It's one thing to watch a film or two a few days a week "just because" and quite another to have to watch at least 2 per *day* just to keep up! While I'm very much a couch potato and *love* to watch TV/movies it's a lot of *work* to find/make enough time to hit the target number!

Now... back to chapter 6 of "The Phantom Creeps"... :)

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Yes big thanks to Mister Peepers for a fun and interesting challenge.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

well i screwed up this challenge by not updating. was writing down all my movies to update with my opnions but threw out the damn notebook. had fun tho and watched alot of new first time views. will need to be better organized for animation

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Glad people had fun!

Any suggestions for next year?

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

I want to add my appreciation for the hard work done by Mister Peepers. This was well organized. Everyone should jump over to the Animation Challenge which is also going well. I personally don't have any suggestions for next year, I just know that I will be here ready to go!

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Yes, big thanks to Mister Peepers. See you in the Animation Challenge :)

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Thanks to Mr. Peepers for this challenge. I started off well, but definitely hit a snag once relatives and real life stepped in. This was a nice little diversion from everything which was quite enjoyable. I watched a mix of new and old shows that I haven't dusted off in a long time which brought back some good memories. Maybe next year I'll actually try to crack the magical 100 barrier.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Thanks for your hard work, and I do have a few suggestions.

In the subgenre categories, Post-Apocalyptic and Dying Earth are too similar; perhaps next year there could a change to something else, like Possessed by Aliens, Inter-Species Romance (like when Kirk woos hot alien babes on Star Trek), or Steampunk. Also, all of science fiction and fantasy is based on "what if" so that subcategory doesn't present much of a challenge. Perhaps there could be a category for Alien Religion or Mythical Beings for the fantasy films, like movies with unicorns or elves as the main characters as in Ridley Scott's Legend.

I would also shake up the actor sub-category. For instance, Peter Cushing and Boris Karloff were horror actors and made very few science fiction pictures. Maybe you could add more obscure actors who had larger sci-fi resumes. Hugh Marlowe, for example, was in Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and World Without End, or Jeff Goldblum who has starred in several classic science fiction films.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

Yep, I think I forgot to say thanks as well. Awesome job MP, as always!

This may have been my favorite Challenge yet. I relaxed a bit, and instead of concentrating on racing through film after film, I took my time with many of them, exploring all the special features on the discs. I still put up near obscene numbers, since the entire month was virtually nothing except work and DVDs, but still borderline sane.

I enjoyed reading the discussion thread and everyone's lists, and for once almost kept up with my own list formatting/commenting. In fact, I think I'm happy with it except for the last 48 hours or so, when I decided at that last minute to go for the checklist, and didn't leave time to sleep or eat, let alone format/comment on my choices. Not too late I guess, I should go finish it off.

I know I'm in the minority, but I feel that we shouldn't push or even mention any number goals for these Challenges. 100 scares people away I think. Plus it's just unhealthy. A little competition is good, but anything that compels multiple people to average more than 8 hours of TV viewing a day for an entire month is just wrong.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

I get what you're saying, but on the other hand 100 movies in a month is the "challenge" part of (some of) these Challenges. And I wouldn't say it's really "unhealthy" unless people are going for 100+ movies in consecutive months, or for every Challenge. I would hope most people will have favorite Challenges that they "push" themselves during, and then others where they don't watch much more (if any) than they normally would.

I watched over 100 for this one the first year, but for the last two years I've cut way back on it.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

An amazing challenge for me too. I think I finished with about 75 titles, which completely blows away any other challenge I have done. The only thing I wish I would have done was have more first time viewings. I was going to do the "summary" post, but I realized it was a little difficult because there weren't many titles that really worked for the categories. I also focused almost entirely on movies, which was a nice change of pace (I usually just sit on one TV show the whole month.)

Regarding the "challenge" of a 100 titles watched in a month, that isn't even a challenge for most people, it is an impossibility. I had a whole week off in July, did not have any vacations away from home, the challenge pretty much started and ended on a weekend, and I was making a serious effort on this challenge and I was still quite far away from 100.

Personally, I know that I will never get to 100 on any challenge, ever (Holiday challenge not included.) That said, I don't have any problem with the 100 goal/challenge because that is basically never going to happen for me. I think as long as the opening posts really make it clear that the goals are unique for the individual person, then it shouldn't really put anyone off.

Big :up: for this year's challenge....and once again I will reluctantly admit that adding Fantasy was a good idea.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

When will there be a final results tally from this challenge?

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread
 

This weekend, just to make sure people had enough time to finalize their lists.

Re: Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge 10 - Discussion Thread