Morning all,

Question: do the Jurassic Park films count as prehistoric or do I have to find a film that actually takes place during prehistoric times?

Mister Peepers:

Don't forget to get me a prize list!

Wheels

Good question. I can see it going both ways but I'll let others jump in first. I think I was primarily thinking of lost worlds/land before time type things but maybe that's too strict.

I've had the page open but I've just been busy and when not busy, lazy. I'll get something to you in the next couple of days.

I have a full day of no kids/wife. I just finished the Rifftrax version of Inception and I have no ideas on what to watch the rest of the day. I have tons of unwatched stuff but nothing jumps out. I know if I don't pick something, I'll waste an hour or more deciding.

I'd say the first one would count considering the storyline of "resurrecting" dinosaurs, but would that then open the door for films like "Encino Man" (thawed out caveman) qualifying? After all, the caveman *is* prehistoric... (hmmm... I've not seen that one in a while and it *is* fantasy... might have to pull it off the shelf for watching)

I've only partially seen the 2nd and none of the others so I can't comment on them. Although what I saw of the 2nd I'd grudgingly say OK just because of the dinosaurs. From what I recall of the 2nd it's more a action/suspense type film that happens to have dinosaurs rather than packs of wild dogs, lions, tigers, etc.

I'd say yes, allow them. If the intent was "lost worlds/land before time" films (which is how I read it, but then I'm not much of a fan of "Jurassic Park" so never even considered this option) then next year Mister Peepers can be more specific.

Let's just say that prehistoric means 'contains prehistoric creatures' which would cover both "lost worlds/land before time" and movies like Jurassic Park.

That's the sort of thing I was thinking of. Since it's only a checklist item, I don't think there's a need to get too strict on it the way it is, so Jurassic Park is fine.

Starting on my mission to watch all Star Trek films.

Just got back from a week long vacation. The checklist is probably a no-go, but can't wait to catch up on Eureka, Warehouse 13, Torchwood, Falling Skies, Futurama and Falling Skies!

Enjoyed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 today. I had a crash course in Harry Potter last year, watching the first 6 films on DVD in the month before seeing Part 1 in the theater.

I've been relying on the To 3D or Not To 3D column on cinemablend.com to decide which version to watch, and 2D seemed to be best for this movie. Other than Avatar and a few animated movies, the studios haven't put this technology to good use (unfortunately, I haven't seen Cave of Forgotten Dreams). I don't expect to be sorry when it fades away.

So instead of 5 years you only have 11 days.....

In terms of 3-D, I was disappointed in CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, but quite pleased with TRANSFORMERS 3 in real IMAX 3-D. I now realize that IMAX 3-D (real IMAX) was the only way to see AVATAR and I regret not doing so.

Based on them saying the 3D in Jackass 3 wasn't needed, I've written off that site.

The grandkids are at the house to spend the night so I put in "Wizard of Oz". Grandma left the room (she likes it less than I do), the 8yr. old boy said "Do we have to watch *that*" and the 5yr. old girl asked if we could watch something else. When I asked, both said they'd seen it before and didn't like it. Out it came. I'll watch it after they've gone to bed to make sure the disk doesn't have any problems but it looks like this one will rarely, if ever, be watched again unless I finally watch it synced to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". That's something I've read and heard about but have never done as, until I purchased this copy, neither I nor anyone I know has owned a copy of "Wizard of Oz" to give it a try.

Just got back from G-Fest, a Kaiju convention. It was fun, and got a lot of kaiju movies in over the wekend as the in house hotel channel was airing kaiju movies, tv shows, and giant robot anime all weekend long. Picked up some figures, won some figures in a raffle, and picked up some movies that I plan to watch sometime during the sci fi challenge. Now that I just got back from a kaiju convention, I'm running on a kaiju kick and am in a mood to watch my Toho, Gamera and Ultraman dvds.

I'm just getting into serials and really digging Flash Gordon. Star Wars before Star Wars. But it definitely makes one wonder how people coped with the wait back when they originally aired. We're talking an excruciating week's wait between cliffhanging chapters to see if Flash was still alive and kicking. Not to mention the average 15 chapter serial would take roughly 4-months (and the cost of 15 movies) to complete! And here people today complain about waiting a couple of days for a Netflix disc to arrive. Wow.

And on a completely unrelated note...

Happy anniversary to Aliens. It turns 25 today.

Disinherit them. (J/K). How can anyone, especially kids, not absolutely love The Wizard of Oz?

Very jealous....
Cool. Happy anniversary to the third or fourth best Alien film.
I think Bob's grandkids have been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with robots or something more sinister. Sleep with one eye open if they're in the house Bob, there is something unnatural going on there.

FWIW I first saw "Wizard of Oz" when I was about 8 and didn't care for it. I still don't. Not that I consider it to be a "bad" film, just that it's not my cup-of-tea. I'm glad I now own a copy for no other reason than it's historical cinematic significance and status. If nothing else I can finally stage "Dark Side of the Rainbow".

I *did* start the film right after supper while the kids were getting ready for bed. The boy came down during the opening scenes and started watching. He laughed quite a bit during the tornado scene when everything was flying past the house window. I asked "I thought you didn't like this film". He replied "I don't, but this part is funny". He continued to watch anyway. His sister came in right after Dorothy and Toto landed in Oz. They watched until the end without complaint and both asked that it be paused on the couple of occasions they had to leave for a minute. Did they like it this time? I didn't ask. We'll know if they ask to watch it without being prompted.

I plan on getting my grandson to watch the original "King Kong" and "Planet of the Apes" at some point this month. He's never seen either and should really like them. A week or so ago I offered "Planet of the Apes" and "One Million Years B.C.". He chose the Harryhausen because of the dinosaurs and thought it'd be "more exciting". I think Raquel Welch on the cover in that animal skin outfit had some influence as well. I know when it came out dinosaurs and Welch were the 2 reasons I wanted to see it. He seems to enjoy most of the sci-fi/horror/fantasy films I throw his way. Being almost 8 (2 more months) he's at a good age for many of the "classic" sci-fi/horror films. It's a shame none of the TV stations show "Creature Feature" type stuff on Friday/Saturday nights and Saturday afternoons any more. But that's what my DVD collection is for.

Waiting for the next chapter was really no different than waiting a week for the next episode of "Battlestar Galactica" or any other story-line based TV program when watching "live".

I always try to put myself in the shoes of that target audience of the 10-12 year old boy when watching serials. I've gone so far as to only watch a chapter a week to simulate the experience. That can be lots of fun, but it's really hard to wait knowing the next chapter is readily available.

The hell with that. Why is my streaming video buffering?

I believe BobO'Link will find his family on the terrorist watch list. As for me, I had two teeth extracted yesterday and I'm wiped out. So far I've stuck with first-time viewings, but I think today's gonna be a "comfort food" kind of day.

Once again, I agree with everything you've said.

So far I've watched The Princess Bride with the Rob Reiner commentary track because I'm illiterate and didn't realize that to hear William Goldman I had to play a different commentary track. There were a couple great anecdotes so it was worthwhile anyway. Followed that with Die Another Day, mostly because I picked it up at Target a while back for $7.99 and still hadn't watched it. I figured it was appropriate for a wildcard selection, given the story's reliance on the Icarus satellite system, the cloaking car and gene-splicing therapy. Now I'm on to Adventures of Robin Hood with the Rudy Behlmer commentary track.

Hmm, Die Another Day as a wild card selection. Does that mean most James Bond movies would be appropriate for wild card selections? I only have one James Bond movie, and it is in my unwatched pile, but I own Quantum of Solace.

My personal feelings, as a longtime Bond fan, are that only this and Moonraker have the right tone to be wildcards. The rest of the movies may involve technology that's currently outside the realm of reality but the science isn't terribly important to those films.