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

Either actress would be fine with me, though I'd prefer Sigourney Weaver.

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

Shows what I know, she's already there.

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

There's loads of fun stuff on this 70's sci-fi blog, including vintage TV Guide covers and ads for Star Trek II video-game watches (only $19.99!).

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

Has anyone listened to the Kevin Smith commentary on "Donnie Darko"? Is it worth listening to?

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

It's actually the director and Kevin Smith (just as a fan, no involvement in the movie) and it is a great commentary. I highly recommend it.

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

Don't forget that Futurama started up again last night. If you wanted to save them for the challenge.

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

Planning on taking the 1st and 2nd off from work (and possibly the 6th). I have other plans for those days, but hopefully can find time to squeeze in some extra TV episodes as well.

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

I'm going to try to complete the checklist this year and I noticed in the past that people put the same movie in multiple spots. Is this allowed? And secondly, do TV episodes qualify in completing the checklist?

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

Yes to the first. You sneakily added the 2nd question after I hit 'quote', not positive on that one.

I might work on it this time as well, skipped the last several checklists, but I keep changing my mind on next month and might like the direction.

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

Nope. They all say "Watch a film..."

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

Wait...what? Has it always been that way? I just assumed you forgot to put watch a "film/show."

I guess I'm a bit surprised. There are SO many sci-fi shows that the sci-fi challenge always seemed to lend itself to a large mix of movie and TV watching and I, personally, don't see why the checklist would differentiate to only movies.

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

Just a guess, but if you use shows for the checklist, you only have to watch 30 or 45 min per category, as opposed to 90 min for a film.

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

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

This Challenge, more than any other I think, lends itself to TV shows, even exclusively, so the checklist should probably be open to both, imo.

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

I think you should be able to count TV shows in the checklist if the same way you do in the challenge itself: watch 2 hours (with commercials) to count as one film.

I'm not hot on the idea that you can use one movie for several categories. I think that should be limited so that no one movie can be used for more than two categories. Otherwise I could watch T2 and put it into:

1990's
Watch a film which won an Academy Award
R rated
Cyborg
Cybernetic revolt
Time travel
Arnold Schwarzenegger

With a little digging I'm sure you could find a movie that would cover more than that too.

What does everyone else think?

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

I think you leave it up to the individual, allowing all.

All of the Challenge checklists have historically accepted multiple items per film, but some individuals choose to to only use a film once.

I always vote on the side of inclusivity.

Making the checklist more difficult just discourages people from even starting them. I'm 'the checklist guy' and a couple of the Challenges have had checklists too complicated or daunting for even me.

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

That's how I was thinking. If I were to allow TV episodes, you'd need to watch enough stuff that would count as one list entry to also make it count as a checklist entry.

You also wouldn't have to have the same exact list item to count for the checklist. Like if you watched 4 different episodes of something on 4 different day, they might all be different list items but you could group those together for one checklist item. How does that sound?

I allow multiple entries per movie but if someone wants to make it more challenging for themselves, that's up to them. Just doing the checklist takes up a good portion of what someone watches, even doing multiple entries per movie. I'd rather let someone be able to switch between focusing on something specific they want and at other times focusing on the checklist.

For the exploitation checklist, I decided to work on that about halfway through the challenge and I had to work on it the entire time just to finish at the very last minute.

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

That's a good point about not making the checklist too complicated. I agree that you don't want to scare people off. The more I think about it, finishing the checklist with fewer movies isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you have fun. You could even give a shout out to the person who finishes the checklist with the most and fewest movies. It could be a fun challenge to fill it out while minimizing the # of movies you need.

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

There are quite a few MST3K episodes streaming on Netflix, including many that would qualify for this challenge. Here are the ones in my queue. If anyone discovers any others, feel free to post them:

The Indestructable Man
The Starfighters
The Giant Gila Monster
The Crawling Eye
Laserblast
Future War
Blood Waters of Dr. Z
Furst Spaceship on Venus
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

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

Here's my starting lineup of previously unseen movies:
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek(2009)
Children of Men
Stalker
Kin-Dza-Dza
The Man From Earth
Tanin No Kao
Moon
The Girl Who Lept Through Time
The Iron Giant
Sexmission
Serenity
Island of Lost Souls

I have everything setup except for Tanin No Kao, which I'm getting through Netflix.

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

Would the four Wallace and Gromit shorts (roughly 30 minutes each) count as one selection?

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

If they're closer to 30 minutes than 23 minutes, then 3 is all you'd need for one selection.

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

Red Dwarf episodes are 30 minutes & The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy episodes are 33 minutes!

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

I think I'd keep it simple. 23-30 minutes is essentially the same thing and = 1/4 entry. 43-60 minutes = 1/2 entry and so on. It's part of the concession you make for getting to watch TV shows.

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

What about 31 to 42 minutes?

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

^ what the hell would be 31 to 42 minutes?? I'd use a wild card for those movies/tv shows.

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

About 90 minutes of actual tv episode programming, not counting commercials, counts as one entry. What caligula posted is the simple guide. If you need an extra 7 minutes or so, just find a Marvin the Martian Looney Tunes cartoon on youtube.

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

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy episodes are 33 minutes.

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

if you don't count the credits - I'd round it down to a 1/4 entry

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

And that's what the temp section ultimately is for, throwing all the things in there until you get a good combo for an entry. Just be sure to note the times in it so you don't forget about something you watched a week prior

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

Good, I don't really want to re-watch A Matter of Loaf and Death anyway.

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

I thought A Matter of Loaf and Death was the weakest of the W&G films.

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

I'm having a hard time choosing what to watch this July. No different from any of you I imagine, so I'm just rambling here.

I've been concentrating on my unwatched mountain the past year or so in all the Challenges, and probably could go all unwatched for the month. But on the other hand, I'm getting tired of all new-to-me stuff and could go all favorites. I'm also slightly behind in my TV watching schedule, so I should go all TV to catch up.

Too many choices!

Do you all sort of plan the whole month's Challenge viewing out ahead of time, or just wing it?

And I'm thinking of watching Sanctuary and Supernatural, both fairly blind buys, although I did love the few early episodes of Supernatural I saw a few years ago. Any opinions?

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

I mostly wing it. As I mentioned earlier in this thread I'm hoping to re-watch all of my Babylon 5 collection this time around. That's 6 TV movies and 123 hour-long episodes. ID4 is also on the docket for the 4th, although if I don't get around to it I won't be too upset. I'll also scan the OnDemand offerings to see if anything looks interesting.

Other than that I'll just see what I feel like. I wasn't specifically planning on watching The Prisoner or Earth2 last year, but ended up falling into them as the month wore on. I don't think I'll be able to watch as much as I did last year, so Babylon 5 might be the only major thing I get to (and I might not even finish that).

If I do find myself with some extra viewing time then seaQuest and Sliders are on my short list of shows to revisit, having just purchased Season 4 of the latter and planning on picking up Season 2 of the former soon. I also have my complete series sets of Farscape and Red Dwarf that I've purchased in the last year, but at this point I'm thinking they'll probably have to wait until next July.

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

I'm first doing the unwatched from this list
http://www.icheckmovies.com/list/sci-fi/chemosh6969/

With a side order of the unwatched from
http://www.icheckmovies.com/list/the...s/chemosh6969/

Anything after that is the Rifftrax versions of Star Trek, Avatar, the last LOTR movie. Probably throw in some MST3K and other stuff at random that I haven't seen. Can't forget the new episodes of Futurama :D

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

I'm anal so I've actually planned out everything I want to watch. Having a list keeps me from staring at my collection and not being able to decide what to watch. If I want to watch something else, that's fine - the list isn't written in stone.

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

got the two first episodes of the new season of Futurama all ready to go for Thursday.

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

:grumble: My DS9 nemesis from last year...

You'd better not be watching B5 this year!

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

Definitely recommend Supernatural. I think that would make a great marathon.

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

I'm planning to go almost entirely Hi-Def this year: Blu-rays and avi/mkv files taken directly from HD broadcasts. Plus, a few streaming MST3K episodes from Netflix and a small handful of DVDs.

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

So is it on every Thursday now? New shows, I mean.