That's really nice. I had certain categories and a box set I was trying to finish. I'm close to a couple goals that I might be able to do tonight.

I'll second/third/fourth/etc. any who say this is their favorite challenge. I *love* sci-fi films, especially those pre 1970 with emphasis on the "golden age" of the 50s. I'm a sucker for them all, even the bad ones. Second favorite genre is fantasy with "classic" horror films (generally the same era - pre 1970 with 50s being the best) a close third.

As I've watched all the unwatched sci-fi/fantasy I own I'm finishing up with a group of cheesy "B" flicks from the 50s.

I just finished Cat-Women of the Moon. Gotta love a rocket ship with corrugated steel walls and swivel office chairs. Even better is the cigarette that flash burns when tossed from the dark side to the light side of the moon!

Up next: Robot Monster - Aliens that look like gorillas wearing really bad dime store space helments!

The fun part is Elmer Bernstein wrote the score for both of these! I've read that he was "grey listed" during the McCarthy era (not banned, but kept off major projects) due to sympathy with left-wing causes, and had to work on low-budget science fiction films. That seems somewhat in contrast with his receiving an Oscar nomination for The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and scoring The Ten Commandments (1956). Plus those 2 sci-fi films are the only ones I can find which he scored during that era.

Ended up watching way more than I expected, and enjoying almost all of it. I had held off on watching most comic book animation, afraid that the melding of my two favorite hobbies would suck. I'm possibly just extremely biased, but I'm loving it.

Maybe it's because I've lost the will to read in recent years, so watching superheroes is the easiest way to get my childhood fix in.

I'd actually agree with that. There's some definitely some decent stuff out there but a lot of it is average at best.

I've seen all three movies and they bore me. I will shamelessly rewatch them to please my wife, though.

I gave up on movies, and instead we're chugging along with The 4400 - The Complete Second Season. Not gonna finish, I don't think, but we're really enjoying it.

I cannot believe I hit 60, a new challenge record for me. I guess the combo of the wife going on 2 trips in July plus oppressive heat did it. Now I'll have to beat 60 for the horror challenge.

Finished the first two discs of The 4400 The Complete Second Season to conclude the challenge.

Looking Back

I'm much more into science-fiction than fantasy and my list reflects this. There are three primary objectives to SF storytelling: to inspire and/or reflect imagination, to tell a socio-political allegory or to tell a cautionary tale (typically about technology or the erosion of social mores), whereas fantasy is almost always only about imagination. It has to be particularly well crafted (The Princess Bride) to engage me and leave me satisfied.

Netflix made a big point of adding most of the Star Trek TV shows to their streaming library this month, but I made a conscious point of resisting the temptation to just gorge on Trek. I wound up not watching any Star Trek as it turned out, but I did finally get to several of the big movies on my To See list, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, RoboCop, Highlander, The Lost World (1925) and Blade Runner. I didn't fall in love with any of those, though I came close with 2001 and The Lost World. Somewhere in the discussion thread I went on for a bit about how Highlander was an expression of the late 70s/early 80s punk scene. That was fun to discuss.

This was also a surprisingly good month for me getting to the theater: I made it to four different screenings, plus I caught Cross at the Fright Night Film Festival in Louisville. That's five screenings in all, about half of my entire count (11) for 2010. Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 were both what I hoped they would be. Also, I had fun revisiting three movies I saw in a theater in 1997: The Fifth Element, Men in Black and Starship Troopers.

Awards

Most Chilling Technology: 2001: A Space Odyssey (HAL-9000)
Favorite Performance: Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner Theatrical Cut
Most Unexpected Nudity: Stargate SG-1 "Children of the Gods" (Vaitiare Bandera, full frontal)
Bleakest Social Commentary: Watchmen
Favorite First-Time Viewing: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Favorite Special Effects Sequence/Moment: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Bumblebee driving, then transforming into robot and back into a car with Sam)
Favorite Discovery: Aelita
Favorite Rant: Harlan Ellison in Dreams with Sharp Teeth (Ellison going off about writers being asked to, or agreeing to, provide content without compensation)
Favorite Commentary Track: The Adventures of Robin Hood (Film Historian Rudy Behlmer)
Funniest Movie: The Smurfs (which really surprised me)

Also, I'd like to thank BobO'Link for that in depth explanation of Chiari's. I wasn't going to press my friends for more information than I frankly needed in order to be there for them, but it's nice to have a better understanding of what's been going on with their son. Very sorry to hear about your wife having to go through all that. I hope she has more good days than bad!

Lastly, of course, props to Mister Peepers for running a fine challenge. Everyone played nice, and I had fun not only watching a lot of stuff I'd been meaning to see, but discussing those movies here in the discussion thread. Now, onto the Animation Challenge!

Awesome challenge as always, thanks Mister Peepers for hosting.

Re-watched Babylon 5 which just gets better with every viewing and the finale still makes me cry every single time. watched Torchwood for the first time and while I enjoyed it, I don't regret my decision to pass on it when it originally aired. The stand-alone episodes were mostly cheesy but the arc episodes, especially Children of Earth, were remarkable.

I also got around to some classic films I hadn't seen before: Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Last Man on Earth and those were cool. Before my Netflix subscription ends, I'll stream a few more classics. I wanted to watch some Star Trek but I'm saving it since I want to watch the entire franchise next year.

The challenge ended with Age of Dragons which was just boring. I didn't complete the checklist but I did much better than I thought I would. Now I can rest and wait for the Oscar Challenge.

My challenge ended with Iron Man. Had planned on getting in Iron Man 2 but I fell asleep after Iron Man was over and didnt wake up until the sci fi challenge was over. I second that about Age of Dragons being boring. I watched it on SyFy on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I'd also like to thank Mister Peepers for hosting this challenge. Sci Fi is one of my favorite genres so this was one of my favorite challenges.

Finished with 69 entries - not bad. Looking back I wish I would have relied more on my own DVD collection instead of rentals. My local video rental place had frequent rental discounts during the month and I took advantage of them all, sometimes renting 4 movies at a time. I also did not finish the checklist but only because I set myself the rule of not repeating films in the categories. All in all, had loads of fun!

Nice. When I figured early on that , I figured it wouldn't work (even though I generally consider superhero titles as fantasy, including Batman), but I slipped that in along with Source Code, which I'd seen in theaters but wanted the family to see as well.

I think my final tally was close to what I did last year, and this had generally been my best-performing challenge due to my fondness for and large backlog in both genres. Fairly early on I abandoned my goal of tackling B5 because I realized I wouldn't have time for concentrated watching, and I sort of dropped out altogether for a while. But still a fun challenge and lots of first watches. Thanks to Mister Peepers and all the discussion participants.

I finished last night with Moon and think it's an instant classic. Loved it and plan to watch it again in the near future. I can't believe Sam Rockwell (any the movie overall) didn't receive any Academy Award nominations. That just blows my mind!

Anyway, thank for hosting Mister Peepers. As always, I didn't get to everything I wanted to, but still managed to get 54 titles in and am happy with that.

This was my first Sci-Fi/Fantasy challenge and I had a great time with it. I usually have a lot of visitors in July and little time for watching DVDs but this year I didn't have anyone for the whole month. I got to revisit old favorites that I hadn't seen in a long time (and some of which I hadn't seen on DVD before) and also watch some new things I'd been trying to get to for a while. I also got through two television series, one of which, UFO, I can easily recommend to any fans of Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds. Just don't expect much more than that.

I finished with a total of 55 which I'm happy with. I also made a run at the checklist but didn't finish it although I think I made a pretty good showing. So thanks for hosting this Mr. Peepers and I hope to be back next year as long as the Omike Hotel business stays slow.

You're welcome! It's a tough thing to understand. You want to go "what?!? my *brain* is too big for my skull!?!". As far as my wife, good days far outnumber the bad, although she's looking at a second total knee replacement sometime in the next few years. It's currently being postponed with injections of synvisc which is liquefied rooster comb (yes, you read that right - liquefied rooster comb). Essentially liquid cartilage which cushions the knee. Due to the expense the insurance company only allows a shot every 6 months. She feels the effects start to wear off after about 5.

I came just a few short of the 150 I wanted but life got in the way on a few days. No biggie as I'm very happy with my final total!

I finished with a couple of *real* groaners!

Devil Girl from Mars and Mesa of Lost Women. Anyone who's seen Mesa and thinks it's better than Plan 9 needs to have their head examined. The *entire* soundtrack consists of 3-4 15 second passages played on flamenco guitar with a piano "hit" at times for emphasis. I got so tired of that music I almost turned the sound down. If the film had had CC or subtitles I would have done that! It stars Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester) as Dr. Aranya. At one point, when a victim calls him by name, our intrepid swarthy hero does an aside to the blonde "damsel in distress", "that means Spider in Spanish". And that's one of the *good* lines!

Absolutely! On all counts! I'd be happy to do this again rather than animation, but since that's not possible I'll move on. After all, there's next year...

iv attempted to do this challenge many times nd always gave up after awhile.

but got through alot of tv iv been putting on the backburner (finished and caught up with lost and supernatural, and true blood) and finally watched my blu upgrades like lotr

I had a lot of fun participating in the challenge. I watched some things that had been mouldering in my unwatched pile and finished several television sets. Next time I will be active in the forum. This time I sat back and read the posts. I also compiled a list of films that others watched and that interested me. It is nice that there are many different tastes represented here!

My best experience was watching Forbidden Planet with my eleven-year-old cousin. He took a break from the pool and sat through the entire film with me. Afterward, we had a good discussion about the id and the motivations of the characters. It was a pleasant surprise since he is generally hyperactive and inattentive.

My geekiest experience was having a completely serious, non-ironic conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of Scooby-Doo movies/shows where the monsters are real vs. movies/shows where they are people in masks after watching Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King with my sister.

I enjoyed seeing the old classics again: THINGS TO COME, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, DESTINATION MOON, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, THEM!, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, ALPHAVILLE, GAMERA VS. BARUGON, GODZILLA’S REVENGE, JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING, etc. Some of them really held up (esp. BEAST, THEM, SINBAD), others less so. I don’t know that I would have given myself a chance to re-watch them if not for this challenge.

Of my 48 entries, 23 were first-time viewings, just under half, and many of those were groups of “Power Rangers” episodes. In fact, the best first-time viewings were the PR episodes, esp. Power Rangers Jungle Fury, one of the best seasons in the whole franchise. And some of the various Japanese TV series I watched (“Gantz,” “Super Robot Red Baron”). A lot of the films I watched for the first time were disappointing, including THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, SERENITY, OSAMU TEZUKA’S BUDDHA, TWENTIETH CENTURY BOYS and ARRIETY. The last was produced by Studio Ghibli, written by Hayao Miyazaki, and based on the book, “The Borrowers,” by Mary Norton. It was beautiful to look at, but not very interesting dramatically. I watched it with two of my sisters, who’d read the book as girls, but I forgot to ask them what they thought of it.

I didn’t complete a lot of checklist items, but I did see something from each of the decades from the 1930s to the 2010s. And I saw films from six different countries: U.S., England, France, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong. And four different languages: English, French, Japanese, Cantonese.

I saw four films with special effects by Ray Harryhausen, four with music by Bernard Herrmann (who would have turned 100 on June 29, just before this challenge started), and two directed by Japanese kaiju master Ishiro Honda. Three of my favorite creators.

Other than the three films I saw in theaters (OSAMU TEZUKA’S BUDDHA, TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER), everything else was from my collection.

Fell a bit behind in reviews and checklist but should have all those and awards, hopefully in a few days. This has so far been my favorite challenge of the year but I do lament it a bit now that my "to watch" pile is missing a lot of awesome.

Here's a suggestion thread for next year

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/59...ge-2012-a.html

Thanks to Mister Peepers for hosting!

Finished with 88 entries. Not too bad considering I was out of town for about 2 weeks of the month.

Love this challenge. Thanks to this never-ending heat wave I've been somewhat of a shut-in lately and was easily able to amass a total of 104 entries. If I hit the century mark for the horror challenge I'll complete the Genre Century Trifecta (Drive-In, Sci-Fi and Horror challenge) for the first time. Yeah, that's a thing.

Unfortunately I didn't get around to finishing my 'to watch' pile. I seriously need to re-think next year's strategy because I tend to save what I consider to be the best for last (2001, Solaris, etc.) and never get around to viewing it all. Yet, I can find time to fit in crap like "Beast with a Million Eyes", the most excruciatingly painful 75 minutes ever. Go figure.

I'll post my awards in a day or two.

Excellent job as always, MP!

I'll find a way to add that to the Compendium tables....
I have a similar save-the-best-for-last philosophy in many of my watching habits. I had Moon, 2001, Tremors, and several other classics in a pile to watch last month, and never got to any of them.
Yes indeedy! Thanks to MP and all of you for a fun month.

Thanks MP for hosting an always fun challenge. This challenge sets the bar for the horror challenge.

I do this with books, comics, movies, music, food, well almost everything. My saving grace this year was I was determined to watch all the sci-fi/fantasy movies in my "unopened" pile. By focusing on those first I was able to rationalize watching those I'd been saving. Even so, I watched the ones I was looking forward to the most "last". A few films in that stack had been awaiting my attention for over a year!