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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11755577)
For those of you who've seen World War Z, what have you thought of it? I might go see it this weekend.
The twists and ending aren't too surprising, but they weren't (all) completely obvious either. I enjoyed it. :) |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756065)
Surprisingly, I now see that World War Z is NOT labelled as Sci-Fi or fantasy on IMDB or allmovie.com, Does that mean I will need to use a wild card for it?
The IMDb labels and categories are a shambles. The most tangential and idiotic things are included, but actual genres are frequently left off or hidden. I don't even bother to look any more. Which is a problem, because it tends to mean I might have to glance at a plot summary to get genre information. And then I get plot points spoiled. :( |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756276)
Despicable Me listed as Fantasy but Despicable Me 2 is not! Can it be wild-carded then? I certainly don't see a lot of those little minions running around in real life!
Particularly since earlier there was mention of Lion King and Muppet films falling under the "fantasy" umbrella for some reason...! (Muppets I can see, Lion King surely only for the 'talking animals' aspect, which would surely be the same logic to classify minions likewise.) |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by Cardsfan111
(Post 11756407)
Just finished the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans. Love how films can take you back in time. I had seen this movie one other time. I was probably 10 years old, and at a friend's house when this aired on cable. All kinds of other little details about that experience popped into my head simply by watching this today.
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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by shadokitty
(Post 11755924)
I just finished watching Independence Day, and I noticed something I had forgotten. Jeff Goldblum said the exact same line that he said in Jurassic Park when the T Rex was chasing them when the alien fighters were chasing them.
Originally Posted by lisadoris
(Post 11756128)
Originally there wasn't any dialogue from Goldblum in that ID4 scene so Emmerich and Devlin got permission to lift the lines from Jurassic Park. A useful nugget of info courtesy of the ID4 commentary track.
Originally Posted by Gobear
(Post 11755992)
I'm fairly sure that Mike Judge is not a conscious racist, but Idiocracy has an unpleasant subtext that in 26th-century America, increased proportion of non-white ethnicity leads to decreased IQ.
Originally Posted by SterlingBen
(Post 11756001)
^---Not really, the movie is very clear about what leads to decreased IQ, any secret racism is something you are projecting on it.!
Originally Posted by Gobear
(Post 11756019)
Watch it again and listen to the musical cues and the accents of the announcers in the ads and the Rehabilitation scene. Yes, the film indicates that stupid people outbreeding the intelligent creates the world of Idiocracy, but that world is heavily Latino and African-American. I'm certain the association is unintentional, but it is there.
That movie troubles me. On one level, I feel like it addresses the frustration that I think we all feel at times with society at large. Yet I also feel like it stands back mocking things without offering anything of value, other than encouraging condescension within its fans. There's a smugness that I encounter entirely too frequently about that film that bothers me.
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756276)
Despicable Me listed as Fantasy but Despicable Me 2 is not! Can it be wild-carded then? I certainly don't see a lot of those little minions running around in real life!
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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
I just finished Spielberg's War of the Worlds, my second viewing of it and my first since its theatrical run in 2005. From my Letterboxd diary:
SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE READING EMAIL Spoiler:
War of the Worlds -X- 2000 (2005) -X- Watch a film based on a novel -X- Watch a film which was nominated for a Hugo or Saturn Award (N: Saturn, 2005) -X- Watch a film directed/produced/written by Ed Wood/Steven Spielberg/Terry Gilliam -X- PG-13 (Frightening Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Disturbing Images) -X- Alien invasion |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756276)
Despicable Me listed as Fantasy but Despicable Me 2 is not! Can it be wild-carded then? I certainly don't see a lot of those little minions running around in real life!
Originally Posted by Travis McClain
(Post 11756618)
Pfft. Just add it. IMDb's submissions process is pretty easy. I know we defer to IMDb and Allmovie for clarification and confirmation for borderline cases, but that's such a no-brainer that even if it doesn't meet the letter of the law for this challenge it surely meets the spirit of the law.
IMDb doesn't seem to like putting a movie into more than 3 categories, although they will sometimes add 1 or 2 more in the lower Genres section. When they categorize something as short or animation or family, which are obvious and tend to limit the number of other categories that they place a title in, it doesn't tell you much about the movie that you don't already know. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by ororama
(Post 11756655)
When they categorize something as short or animation or family, which are obvious and tend to limit the number of other categories that they place a title in, it doesn't tell you much about the movie that you don't already know.
Thanks for the clarification, all. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by Travis McClain
(Post 11756627)
I just finished Spielberg's War of the Worlds, my second viewing of it and my first since its theatrical run in 2005.
But what I really want to say is this... Spoiler:
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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756707)
I also like that movie. And if any of you only have the DVD and are holding out on buying the blu-ray, run, don't walk, to your favorite blu-ray store and buy it. It looks SO MUCH better on blu-ray than it did on DVD.
SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE READING EMAILS But what I really want to say is this... Spoiler:
As far as the ending, I feel like that was an attempt at atonement for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I get why you dislike it, but since it happens literally right before the voiceover that takes us into the end credits, it doesn't have time to really faze me. It's actually funny that you bring up A.I. I was just discussing its finale in another online discussion not 15 minutes ago! I found it annoying when I saw the film during its theatrical run in 2001 but when I revisited it in January for the Oscar challenge, I reacted differently to it. SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE READING EMAILS Spoiler:
There's a scene in Close Encounters where Roy becomes excitable at the fact that Disney's Pinocchio is playing in town and he wants to take his kids to see it. David is drawn to the original fairy tale in A.I. It might be interesting to watch those three pictures together to see what observations emerge. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
I got a $25 deal on the Cruise BD Collection last year, and I had only two of the titles on SD (WOW and Top Gun, I think). I'll open it this month for WOW or Minority Report if I get the opportunity.
http://www.tomcruise.com/blog/wp-con...786237510.jpeg |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756707)
I also like that movie. And if any of you only have the DVD and are holding out on buying the blu-ray, run, don't walk, to your favorite blu-ray store and buy it. It looks SO MUCH better on blu-ray than it did on DVD.
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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by davidh777
(Post 11756743)
I got a $25 deal on the Cruise BD Collection last year, and I had only two of the titles on SD (WOW and Top Gun, I think). I'll open it this month for WOW or Minority Report if I get the opportunity.
http://www.tomcruise.com/blog/wp-con...786237510.jpeg |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
While looking for some early silents I'd not seen before I stumbled across this site:
http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/silen...a-sci-fi-films It has a nice, though small, collection of early SF silents. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by BobO'Link
(Post 11756802)
While looking for some early silents I'd not seen before I stumbled across this site:
http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/silen...a-sci-fi-films It has a nice, though small, collection of early SF silents. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by cliffl
(Post 11756700)
I totally agree with you there. They clearly waste space with Family and Animation. I thought that same thing before the month started and I was researching some of my unwatched pile. One of which was Wreck-It Ralph which I had hoped to watch, however I put it on my "no" pile. It's okay because I can watch it next month, but I want to see DM2 right away obviously.
Thanks for the clarification, all. settings in the future, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, aliens, and paranormal abilities And going down Wikipedia's summarised checklist of elements, you have:
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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by ntnon
(Post 11756842)
I wouldn't have classified Wreck-It Ralph as Sci-Fi or Fantasy as a primary classification, but it's clearly in the spirit of things. Never-mind that it couldn't happen (which sends it immediately to the peripheries), and that it's videogame based (moving closer), if you look up key elements of Sci-Fi stories, you get:
(Irrelevant/yes/yes-ish/YES/YES/somewhat) And going down Wikipedia's summarised checklist of elements, you have:
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Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Just finished some more Star Trek. My notes:
"The Squire of Gothos" This episode is the evolutionary step between "Charlie X" and Q. William Campbell hams it up as Trelane, going so far over the top that even the animated Shatner seems relatively even keeled. I'm told it was originally conceived as an anti-war episode inspired by the writer seeing some kids playing as soldiers, emulating but not truly understanding the subject matter. I'm not sure how much of that comes through in the final episode but that's okay. It's delicious fun. "Are you challenging me to a duel?!" One of the best lines so far! "Arena" One of my favorite episodes of the original series, of the franchise, even of all television ever made in the history of ever. I love that we begin with the Gorn as cruel aggressors and Kirk the avenger, and end with Kirk the merciful who not only shows the nobleness of mankind, but in the process shames the Metrons for having pitted him against the Gorn Captain in a duel to the death. It recalls Fritz Lang's classic film, M, in which we root for one thing to happen only to be taken to task for rooting for it by the end. Plus: The Gorn is one of the coolest cats in the galaxy. Snazzy dresser, too! "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" The first true clunker for me. None of Kirk's decisions here even make sense. First of all, giving Captain Christopher a tour of the Enterprise is the height of irresponsibility. Then there's the fact that if they could just undo the Enterprise's visit by going back to the future, why did Kirk and Sulu even bother trying to confiscate the evidence of their visit that was never going to have happened anyway? There's some nice banter with Spock but on the whole this episode is a perfect microcosm of why I dislike time travel stories. "Court Martial" Law & Order: Starfleet. This one has a slow burn but I dig it in part because it's different from the rest of the episodes. I never really cared for the fact they invented the whole pod thing just for this episode and never came back to it again. I wish instead it had been a more common crew position that was at the heart of the matter, if only so I didn't spend the entire episode thinking about how they invented a position just for the sake of this one episode. Still, it's an intriguing idea and it's nice to see this kind of conflict for a change of pace. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
So this is a lesson on how not to watch a film franchise. Years and years ago I saw a teeny, tiny bit of Resident Evil and I've never played the games. Well mom has a Showtime free preview and Resident Evil: Retribution fulfilled a checklist item so I watched it. It wasn't really my type of film though I am grateful to the director and screenwriter for including a nice 2-minute intro at the beginning of the film for folks like me who haven't a clue about what's happened in the previous films. Sci-Fi was showing Resident Evil: Afterlife so even though I didn't care for subsequent film I figured I'd watch it just to see how we got to the events in Retribution. Still not really my kind of film but hey, two checklist entries got taken care of.
I think I'll pass on any previous or future Resident Evil films but I will say, it's probably not a good idea two watch a franchise in reverse chronological order unless you're already familiar with the characters and story. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Today, July 8, marks the 160th anniversary of the arrival in Japan of Commodore Matthew Perry and his fleet of "Black Ships," thus beginning the process of "opening up" Japan, a difficult task that, dare I say it, continues even today.
I watched the perfect film for this anniversary last month, for the Historical Challenge: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/9...8f4f02b526.jpg ...the only film I know of to feature Commodore Perry as a character. For this Challenge, I watched the first significant U.S-Japan movie collaboration, FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (1965), which features an American star, Nick Adams, who went to Japan to make the film (unlike, say, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, in which Raymond Burr's scenes were shot in L.A. two years after the original film's release and then inserted into a reedited version of the original). http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2874/9...ea8cdb71be.jpg The DVD offers the English-dubbed version of the film, plus two other versions that are in Japanese with English subs. These versions include a scene where Nick Adams and his leading lady, Kumi Mizuno, visit a shrine and a cemetery: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3719/9...42d5c1da78.jpg This scene was cut from the English dub. I write about this film on my film blog: http://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2...965/#more-1292 |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum
(Post 11756935)
.
For this Challenge, I watched the first significant U.S-Japan movie collaboration, FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (1965), which features an American star, Nick Adams, who went to Japan to make the film (unlike, say, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, in which Raymond Burr's scenes were shot in L.A. two years after the original film's release and then inserted into a reedited version of the original). http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2874/9...ea8cdb71be.jpg The DVD offers the English-dubbed version of the film, plus two other versions that are in Japanese with English subs. These versions include a scene where Nick Adams and his leading lady, Kumi Mizuno, visit a shrine and a cemetery: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3719/9...42d5c1da78.jpg This scene was cut from the English dub. I write about this film on my film blog: http://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2...965/#more-1292 |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by ntnon
(Post 11756842)
I wouldn't have classified Wreck-It Ralph as Sci-Fi or Fantasy as a primary classification, but it's clearly in the spirit of things.
While I'm not the host, the way I look at it is that as long as there's a minimum of a sci-fi or fantasy characteristics, not necessarily the main genre, it should count. Without stretching things of course. I would say watching an episode of The Adventures of Jim Bowie and saying "This is fantasy because real indians don't greet each other like that". There's a difference between a director trying to get from point A to point B in a story and intentionally using sci-fi or fantasy in the story. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum
(Post 11756935)
Today, July 8, marks the 160th anniversary of the arrival in Japan of Commodore Matthew Perry and his fleet of "Black Ships," thus beginning the process of "opening up" Japan, a difficult task that, dare I say it, continues even today.
I watched the perfect film for this anniversary last month, for the Historical Challenge: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/9...8f4f02b526.jpg ...the only film I know of to feature Commodore Perry as a character. The event itself has interested me since I became familiar with Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by ororama
(Post 11756655)
Wikipedia includes Despicable Me 2 in a list of comedy science fiction films. It is an obvious title for this challenge.
IMDb doesn't seem to like putting a movie into more than 3 categories, although they will sometimes add 1 or 2 more in the lower Genres section. When they categorize something as short or animation or family, which are obvious and tend to limit the number of other categories that they place a title in, it doesn't tell you much about the movie that you don't already know. |
Re: 6th Annual Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge
Originally Posted by davidh777
(Post 11757514)
I actually own that film but heard it wasn't the most engaging watch from an entertainment perspective. How was it?
The event itself has interested me since I became familiar with Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures. |
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