Probably fine and counts for the fantasy martial arts thing on the checklist also.

So we didn't nudge you hard enough on Saving Private Ryan?

I already took care of the 'fantasy martial arts thing' with Deadful Melody.

Oh, that's just one cinematic albatross around my neck...! Currently intending to use this month's challenge to finally rid myself of the weight of 2001. I'll never understand why I can wind up choosing to watch movies I've never even heard of instead of the movies I've been meaning to see literally for years.

I do the same thing, I have a handful of movies I've been meaning to watch for ages yet instead I end up picking something I've never heard of on netflix.

That's interesting, I carefully plan out what I'm going to watch to complete the checklist and then Netflix makes some suggestions for me and I find myself rethinking all of my choices! We should do this challenge every other month and then maybe I'd get to see the movies I planned to see.

Just finished RoboCop, which I found "average." I liked the premise, thought they did a great job creating the environment of that version of Detroit, and I liked the cast (particularly Kurtwood Smith and Nancy Allen). The story, however, was way simpler than I had hoped and I was disappointed that the final 20 minutes is just a run-of-the-mill 80s action movie complete with the protagonist triumphantly disregarding the rule of law and becoming a summary executioner. Also, the stop motion animation of the ED-909 has not aged well.

Even though I streamed it, does it count for "Criterion version" since there was a Criterion release of the movie? I never understood what "version" means in this phrasing.

Have you not seen BUDDHA'S PALM yet? It's wonderful, a lot better than DEADFUL MELODY, as far as I remember. And it's a fantasy film, so it certainly fits the "Sci-Fi/Fantasy" challenge. I was thinking of re-watching it for this challenge myself. I want to work in at least a couple of Shaw Bros. films. SUPER INFRAMAN and something from the BUDDHA'S PALM/BATTLE WIZARD/DESCENDANT OF THE SUN/TALES OF THE FLYING FOX genre.

Watched 28 Days Later yesterday and I really should know better than to watch horror films. They freak me out and I don't enjoy them but the point of a challenge is to watch new things.

I think I'm going to take a break from Babylon 5 today and watch either the Matrix or the Terminator films.

It's been a few years since I watched BUDDHA'S PALM (same as DEADFUL MELODY actually). I vaguely recall it having the same over the top quality as HOLY FLAME OF THE MARTIAL world, but otherwise I can't remember any details to speak of. So it'll be new-ish to me.

I'm not sure it's fair to compare a late period Shaw wu xia, trying to jump onto the New Wave and a mid-nineties wu xia staring Brigitte Lin and Yuen Baio. Or maybe that's just me being sentimental.

I find that I will postpone watching something if it qualifies for another challenge. I meant to watch Saving Private Ryan during last years Historical challenge but put it off because I thought I would catch it during the Academy Awards challenge. Then, when that came along, I postponed it again knowing it would qualify for this years Historical challenge. I finally watched it this year and it was well worth it.

I also have a tendency to "save" the good stuff for later and watch the "crap" now just to get it out of the way. Don't know why I do that.

You just lost all credit with this board.

Also that is a no on the Criterion.

Do they stream the R or X version?

I preordered the Transformers Headmasters set back in April and it has been shipped out now. I am just debating now, do I want to watch it for the sci fi challenge or save it for the animation challenge, as IMDB does have a sci fi genre listed on it.

I thought it would be a 'yes' on the Criterion. Iirc, all the Challenges always interpret that checklist item as loosely as possible, allowing one to watch any format of the film, as long as Criterion released it in any format.

It's not the first time I've taken a sacrilegious stance on a film! To be honest, I'm amazed any time I post and no one makes an effort to chase me out of here. What can I say? Its story felt generic to me.

As for the streaming, it's the R-rated cut. As for the Criterion rule...

I share Trevor's interpretation, but like I said, I didn't know what the hell "Criterion version" meant. I know that during the actual Criterion Challenge, online streaming is eligible for any film that has ever had a Criterion release--even if it was LaserDisc-only--but of course, each challenge operates by its own rules. We didn't even have Criterion on the checklist for last month's Historical Appreciation Challenge.

Thats why I asked what the rating was, it's at least got to be the right version I would think...

The whole idea of having "Criterion" on these checklists has always been a little strange, and subject to change year-to-year and challenge-to-challenge per each OP's wishes of course.

I guess the reasoning initially was that Criterions are sort of a DVDTalk "thing", with their collectability and "importance" in film. It was possibly my idea to add it back in an early Horror Challenge, I apologize for my error.

It has always been the convention in these challenges that you can watch a film that is in Criterion's library in any format and have it count. So MinLShaw most definitely can tick it off on the checklist.

Question, is all super hero considered sci fi for the purposes of this challenge? I know when I looked on IMDB, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League: The New Frontier, and Superman: Doomsday were not listed as sci fi under imdb.

Superman is an (illegal) alien from the planet Krypton--any movie with Supes is therefore sci-fi by definition.

Streaming was very likely a peripheral concept at best for most participants at the time, so I can see how the emphasis on the Criterion subset of DVDs would be attractive. Even without that aspect of it, I do think there's some value to recognizing the care and appreciation for film that has gone into the cultivation of the Criterion Collection. If it's been selected for inclusion, chances are pretty good there's some strong merit to watching the film.

That said, going back to my specific example at hand, I can appreciate the contextual significance of RoboCop. It was clearly a commentary about the high crime rates of the Reagan 80s, which has been attributed by more than one sociologist to the Cold War tensions of the decade. Many felt nihilistic, as though nothing they did would matter long, which prompted a "devil may care" defiance that led to more frequent criminal acts.

I think there's enough in this film alone to help make that suggestion. Jones (Ronny Cox) outright declares that OCP "practically is the military," and he's just the very kind of corrupt business leader that was often as respected as loathed (a dichotomy that has stayed with us today). The film doesn't make a big show of connecting the dots, but there are clearly some important international incidents taking place, including at least two references the SDI system that President Reagan imagined.

In some ways, RoboCop is a microcosm of that period, and in other ways it's a satire. I think it's pretty easy to see how Paul Verhoeven would later come to direct Starship Troopers, which is clearly a satire of the military-industrial complex.

In light of all this, I suppose an argument could be made that the climax of the film in which Murphy becomes an anti-hero is the most satirical part of the entire film. It may be, but for me it just felt obligatory and perfunctory, devoid of the kind of attention to detail and environment that characterized the rest of the film.

Yes

Superman and most superheros are fine. There might be a couple minor ones out there that wouldn't count but I can't think of any.

Popeye? I kinda wanted to dust off my copy of Altman's movie.

Allmovie/allrovi sub-genre list lists 'Superhero Film', so....it it should be fine.

FWIW I pretty much agree with you on "RoboCop". While I do plan to eventually pick up a copy due to it's historical significance I've just never seen the attraction, nor much cared for the film. I strongly feel certain films belong in any "self-respecting" sci-fi library no matter how one personally feels about them. I've been seriously considering getting a copy this year solely for the checklist.