That looks to be a fairly cool and informative site! Thanks for the link... I bookmarked it to look at a bit closer when I'm not so immersed in sci-fi/fantasy films.

I did the same thing back in early May when I first encountered the redirect to allrovi. I'm hoping they take all the negative feedback to heart and don't force it on allmusic. The funny part is they claim to have done this to create a faster, more modern site to generate more traffic. Not only is the site *not* faster but alexa shows traffic to be significantly less than allmovie. Keep in mind this is with former allmovie redirect traffic along with a few people who appear to actually be using this over allmusic. IMHO this move is even more idiotic than the "new coke" debacle.

Plot descriptions and reviews are still there and, IMHO, far superior to IMDB, but one of the things I used most was the DVD release links that showed *all* DVDs a film was released on. Now all they show is single disk release information. Anything that was on a multi-disk release/title is missing that information. While the *information* still available is better than IMDB in spite of the redesign I've been avoiding them on principle, hoping others are doing the same, so that the people responsible for the redesign will notice traffic numbers are not as good as allmovie, actually look at all the negative feedback, and return everything to a more usable and informative interface.

Wow, I haven't seen these in a long time. They're more in the genre of children's films than traditional kaiju. I got all three on VHS fan-subs back in the late 1990s and then 1 & 2 in English-dubbed VHS versions in early 2000. Haven't watched them since. Maybe I should dig them out for this challenge.

Nope. That's why everything, or almost everything, on the checklist says "film". The reason for the change was that some people could get a good portion of the checklist done if they just watched a bunch of shorts.

Thanks to the mods for stickying the list thread

Anyone who has netflix I highly suggest checking out the movie Hunter Prey. When I saw it browsing through the instant streaming selection I figured judging by the Boba Fett knockoff on the cover it was going to be pretty stupid and mindless fun. It surprised the hell out of me, probably one of the best sci-fi movies to come out in recent years. It's a intelligent, slow burning, cat and mouse tale with a huge 70's throwback vibe. Tons of references and homages too. Absolutely fantastic for a low budget film and carried by a great cast that hasn't been in much else.

And as an added bonus it streams in HD.

Damn it SYFY! you can't cut to commercial during the Khan ship battle finale!!! And then play commercials over Spock's eulogy! Sacrilege!

Indeed, thanks.

Watched Children of Men--it's so rare to watch an intelligent sci-fi film aimed at adults and that is truly about ideas, not robots beating the hell out of each other.

STIII is on now and I'll at least give them credit for not whacking it down to 1.78 like Spike HD and some other channels

Checklist question: Does kaiju refer only to Japanese based films?

Specifically, I watched It Came from Beneath the Sea tonight and was curious if it would fill either the kaiju or giant critters slot on the checklist.

I forgot to ask: what categories does Super 8 satisfy? Also, have we considered adding "Military Experiment" to the checklist?

Just watched District 9, which I started once before then had to update my firmware. Really interesting film that felt like a fresh take on the visiting-alien genre.

Kaiju is strictly a term for Japanese giant monster films (Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Gappa, Varan, etc.).

Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking, but wasn't sure.

To fulfill the X-rated film slot on the checklist I just watched Cafe Flesh, a film I first read about in one of Danny Peary's cult cinema books. I don't know what to make of it. The porno scenes are not even remotely erotic (C'mon, a guy in a rat mask getting up close and personal with another performer's lady parts while 3 adult babies grimace in the background? No, thanks.), but the overall concept of Sex Positives having to perform in sexual cabaret acts to entertain the Sex Negatives is an interesting post-apocalyptic concept that could have been used for a different movie. If the sex scenes had been trimmed to be suggestive instead of graphic, we night have had another film more like Liquid Sky.

Don't know the answer to your first question but we should add that to the checklist for next year.

There's a lot of anime that fits that category. I immediately thought of BAOH (1989) and ROUJIN-Z (1991), which was written by Katsuhiro Otomo who did AKIRA. AKIRA might qualify if you expand that to "government experiment." Also, in MEMORIES (1995), Otomo wrote a segment called "Stink Bomb," that's also about a military experiment that backfires disastrously (and hilariously).

Gonna watch Jason X... cause why not.

I watched it a few days ago without intending to when the challenge began. Caught myself channel flipping and came across it on one of the cable channels. I'd probably stop and watch any F13th film, but felt it was meant to be with it being sci-fi month here.

Just finished streaming Aelita (a.k.a. Aelita, Queen of Mars), a silent 1924 Russian film. It's about Los, a Russian scientist who is paranoid with jealousy over his wife and obsessed with traveling to Mars. On Mars, Queen Aelita is opposed by the Elders who rule. She has been spying on Earth via the telescope created by one of the Martian scientists and develops an infatuation with Los. Eventually, Los travels to Mars and is caught up in a Martian revolt which is an opportunity for the film to celebrate the October Revolution of Red Russia.

The characters are all interesting, and there are some engaging plot twists. Nothing that blew my mind, but I was drawn into the film from start to finish. The Martian costumes were actually pretty impressive given what little I've seen of films from its era, particularly the dress of Aelita's maiden and the Martian army. The Martian sets were spectacular, particularly this one door that opened and closed in a sort of cascading design.

I was fascinated to see what a Soviet sci-fi film from 1924 would even be like. Aelita is a perspective of early Soviet society that I hadn't seen before. What I dig most about it is that it's rife with allusions and allegories--many of which I'm sure escape my understanding at the present, given that Soviet history is not a strong suit of mine. The science-fiction elements aren't even really about Mars, but rather how the post-revolutionary Soviets saw the contrast between themselves and their society under the Tsars. Intriguing stuff, and highly recommended for anyone who finds this stuff interesting.

Also, I have a question: does a silent film count as a film in another language? The title cards were in English only, so it's not like I saw Russian text (except during several shots within the film itself), nor did I ever hear a single word spoken in Russian. Yet, the film is unmistakably the product of the early Soviet Republic. I can see the argument either way, so I'll hold off on checking that off my list until I get a ruling.

As long as you're 100% sure the original version had the cards in a different language, I'd say it counts.

I also wouldn't count an English language film that was dubbed into another language, which someone watched with English subtitles. Since the original was in English, it shouldn't count as being a different language. Otherwise everyone could watch an American TV/Movie on TV, turn on SAP and CC and claim that it counts for another language.

I only bring that up because I watched an English movie dubbed with English subtitles. Even though it was in another language, it didn't make sense to me to check it.

There are some text-based things shown on screen that are clearly in Russian, such as advertisements at the train station, and a few notes passed between characters that are shown in close-up. I would be absolutely stunned to discover that the original title cards were in English.

I'd be surprised too but you know how crafty those commies can be.

As a person who prefers TCM and "classic" movies, I was surprised to find out how much I enjoyed Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. I think that's the fun of this challenge, trying things that you wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I got a kick out of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus when it aired on Syfy. I have to say, I give this forum a lot of credit for nudging me into exploring all kinds of movies outside my default comfort zone. Most of that nudging has come via the monthly challenges. Even movies I've had on my To See list for ages would have stayed there in all likelihood. Then along comes the Academy Awards challenge and I'm streaming One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest after years of procrastinating. Then last night, I'm streaming a silent Russian movie from 1924 I've never heard of before I began watching it. Horizons = expanded!

I want to watch Buddha's Palm (1982), but allmovie/allrovi doesn't list it and imdb doesn't list any genre. I have the synopsis from the back cover:

Plus a couple of asian references that do list genre:

Buddha's Palm at cinemasie

Buddha's Palm at hkcinemagic