I was really looking forward to The Hobbit films when they came out. I was a fan of Tolkien from a very young age, and The Hobbit is perhaps my favorite novel (though if asked I would probably go with either Mrs. Dalloway or A Room with a View). Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed by the first one. I remember going into The Fellowship of the Ring with a fair amount of skepticism and the belief that the novel was essentially not filmable. I expected a lackluster film and ended up being blown away. The opposite happened with Jackson's follow up. There is a very nice theater near me that has a balcony area where you can order meals and drinks. I settled into the very comfortable seat with a cocktail and nodded off about 45 minutes into the film. I think I may have slept for about five minutes, but mostly I did that fall asleep then wake up when your head slumps forward thing. The film wasn't terrible by any means, but it was bloated and lackluster.

I went to see the second one in the same theater (not in the comfy balcony) and enjoyed it immensely. By the time Legolas showed up, I was completely hooked. It felt like fan fiction that I would have written when I was a preteen. (As a kid, I was constantly wondering things like what Rob Snow was up to or how awesome it would be if Tatooine and Arrakis were the same planet.) I imagine that any discussion during the writing of the script began with "wouldn't it be cool if..." It was a huge step up from the first film, and I feel like I have a grasp on what the films are trying to accomplish: mainly to be glorified fan fiction. I'm looking forward to the final film and plan to rewatch the first two when it hits theaters.

I've been waiting till I watched it to chime in (I'm hosting the Animation challenge this year) since I was planning on it and now, having watched it, I'm a bit torn. There is definitely a lot of CGI and that counts per the rules, but I don't know that I'd really say it should be considered animation. So, I'm asking a question over in that thread (don't want to hijack this one anymore than I already am) about adding a CGI category or wildcards for CGI. Please go on over and chime in!

About the movie itself... Well, I do have a question. How tall are these machines? They walk in the ocean, but shouldn't the ocean be deeper than they are tall?

But anyway, I thought it was kind of "Transformers" meet "Godzilla." There are good parts, but overall, I wasn't that excited by it. The action wasn't that great, though, I did enjoy the characters and their interactions outside of the Jeagers.

I watched the 2nd part of Lang's Die Nibelungen, Kriemhild's Revenge last night. It's more a action film than the first part. Again, Lang used some incredible sets - I read many of the sets were constructed outdoors rather than on a sound stage. The score had sections that sounded very familiar and I think I finally placed them. James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, who scored Batman Begins may have heard this score as some of the music for that film sounds eerily like that used in Kriemhild's Revenge. Almost as if it were lifted directly. Of course that's conjecture and I really need to put in Batman Begins to be 100% sure, but that old score is *very* familiar and kept reminding me of a more recent film score.

It's a little late (OK... a *lot* late...) but here's a link to a very good and fun short run (7 episodes) German SF series from 1966(!) called Raumpatrouille -- Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion or Space Patrol -- The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship Orion.

I got this from our own DVD-Savant's weekly column. I saw the article yesterday and watched the first 2 episodes today. WOW! It's quite good and fun! Dig that groovy music! And it has some excellent special effects, especially for the year it was made. If this were available in a R1 subtitled release I'd make the purchase in a heartbeat!

So who all watched Sharknado 2 last night?? It really pulled out all the stops when it comes complete lunacy!

Interesting...

I liked that they explained Vicki's absence in Returns, but then between Forever and Robin Chase just vanished... and nobody cared. Which, I suppose reflects reality!

Crazy! I actually fell asleep in the theatre during Ang Lee's Hulk, and was woken up by the throwing-helicopters-at-tanks battle because of the laughter from the audience. I think that says it all...

I can't remember if I saw all of the Rings in the cinema, but I definitely saw the third and while I enjoyed it, I was very irritated by the half-dozen fake endings.

When the Hobbit came out.. sorry, the first half, no third of the Hobbit, I missed it in the cinema, and got it from the library as soon as possible. And all I remember is that next-to-nothing happened for hours and hours on end. Very tedious, very long, very dark. I was not a fan, and will not be watching the second or third (until I relent ).

I've fallen asleep during Titanic and Saving Private Ryan.

Woke up in Titanic when things started to happen.

For Saving Private Ryan, I would keep falling asleep after the action stopped and then wake up again when it started back up.

Just got back from catching Guardians of the Galaxy. It definitely lives up to the hype. The cast is great, especially Bradley Cooper as Rocket and Vin Diesel as Groot (I so need an "I am Groot" t-shirt) and the pro wrestler Dave Batista has surprisingly good comic timing. Chris Pratt has entered the world of leading men, a new superstar has just been born.

The rifftrax of this an utter scream ... I watched the sequel and I think its funnier than the first

Ended this challenge with Sharknado 2 which I thought was more entertaining than the first film. It was great to play spot the cameo throughout the cheesy ridiculousness.

I didn't reach 100 titles but a good time was had by all.

Does it have a scene where the raccoon appears to be dead, someone is holding his head and feeling sad but then he starts to move and with the ounce of strength he has, makes some zany comment?

No, but he does get a NOOOOOO! scene.

Just got back from my vacation a little while ago. I wish I had taken a more active role as head of this challenge, but I was dealing with my family having a lot of health problems this past month. Luckily, thins are starting to look better now.

I'll give till next Friday for people to finalize their lists and drawing for prizes. Prizes will be chosen my random.org, and you must be from the US to win a prize.

Glad things are looking better Shadow.

I thought I closed the Challenge out with the movie of my favorite book, Watership Down, but I guess it doesn't count as fantasy. C'mon, talking animals is mostly fantasy, mostly, right? (And it was at night....)

I'll allow it. And thanks.

Good. I plan on watching it but every time I see him, I can only dread the not quite dead scene playing out.

I'm officially done with my checklist. I watched quite a few movies this month-pretty pleased considering how much I was really gone. I had several first time watches, a couple surprises in there that I really enjoyed. A couple bombs, but those were-mostly-just as fun. These really are my favorite genres (along with animation)!

My list is finalized.

Prize winners have been chosen. The winners are


1. OOP Double DVD set of Star Wars IV: A New Hope, with the Theatrical Edition; Event Horizon; Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus

mrcellophane


2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition; Gamera Legacy Collection, 1965-1999: 11 Movie Set

BobO'Link


3. King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon From Fay Wray to Peter Jackson (book); Battle: Los Angeles

lisadoris


Congratulations to the winners. I'll give the winners till next Friday to contact either me, or Goldenwheels before that particular prize goes up for grabs.

Congrats to the winners! Thanks to shadokitty and Goldenwheels!

Yay! Can't believe that I won! How wonderful! Thanks to shadokitty and GoldenWheels! I had a great time participating and was able to watch a lot of great content!

Thanks shadokitty and Goldenwheels! I can't believe I won something. I'm just in it for the fun and the conversation so if it's not too much work for you shadokitty, I'd be willing to give the prize to another participant.

Cool!

Thanks shadokitty for running things and a huge THANK YOU to Goldenwheels for his continued support of the challenges with prizes - PM sent! While I participate in the challenges for fun it's always nice to win something while doing something you love!

Any of you who *haven't* checked out their offerings needs to: hamiltonbook.com