coyoteblue

Three of the four Matt Helm movies qualify too, The Silencers (1966), Murderer's Row (1966), The Ambushers (1967) as well as the second 'Bulldog' Drummond spy flick, Some Girls Do (1969).

Trevor

Crappy day with celebrity deaths. Watching some Space 1999 now. Martin Landau

Maybe I'll find some Romero qualifier next.

popcorn

After exploring films like Her, A Clockwork Orange, and The Stepford Wives I would like to submit the sub-genre of Psychological Sci-fi for consideration next year (yes, I'm already looking forward to next year).

BobO'Link

Directed by Romero Fantasy/SF films:

Fantasy:
Creepshow
Season of the Witch (1972) (OOP)

SF:
Monkey Shines (looks to be OOP)
The Crazies (Blue Underground release appears to be OOP on both DVD and BR)

mrcellophane

This month I've revisited two films I hadn't seen in ages: The Iron Giant and Babe. I recently got a very good deal on the BD of the former, and the latter was featured on the last episodes of "The Next Picture Show" podcast. Both were surprisingly moving experiences, especially since I had previously classified them as fun but light. Perhaps it's the politically polarizing nature of today's world or the fact that you can easily go to almost any comments section and find some of the worst humanity has to offer, but both films really resonated with me, and I think they are important for our times. Their messages are very simple (basically boiling down to be nice and open-minded) and ones we need to hear now.

On the other side, I watched a recent kid's movie: Spark: A Space Story which I rented for free from Redbox. I should know better than to watch animation simply because I like the character design, and I'm so glad I didn't pay money to see it! While the other kids movies had complex characters in interesting situations, this one features flat characters in a convoluted, nonsensical plot. Thankfully, I had also rented The LEGO Batman Movie which was a treat and had a lot more heart than I thought it would. If you can get through the manic, YouTube-esque first twenty minutes, it settles into a fun, thoughtful story with a meta-pop-culture edge.

Trevor

For Challenge-planning purposes: http://comicbook.com/2017/07/12/youn...mited-leaving/

Was hoping to have Young Justice for August Animation, alas.

shadokitty

One nice thing about listening to Coast To Coast AM, is since there are always at least two guests on the show, and sometimes more, if I don't feel like listening to the entire show, there is no need to. As a matter of fact, many times, only one of the guests would count for the Challenge anyways.

caligulathegod

Although we now associate it with Horror after years of subsequent sequels/ripoffs/homages, etc., Night of the Living Dead was part of the '60s cycle of science fiction films. It's a Venus probe returning with some mysterious radiation that precipitates the resurrection of the dead, rather than anything supernatural. Even Dawn of the Dead is about the downfall of society after a catastrophic fantastic event and Day is about science's last ditch effort to adjust to the situation.

LJG765

Sure, I'll add it to the first post.

I'll also add George Romero for the "He's Dead, Jim" section for next year. He doesn't have a ton of Sci-Fi/Fantasy directing credits, but I think he's influential enough to count for that alone, plus he does have some acting/voice credits that would count as well.

I'm also thinking of adding Chris Evans and Vin Diesel to the list. Chris Evans is on the edge, between Captain America and the Avengers, those are the majority of his films, but he does have films like Snowpiercer and Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Thoughts?

caligulathegod

Chris Evans also played Human Torch twice.

numbercrunch

RIP George Romero.

I been working my way through the first six Star Trek films. I think my favorite of the bunch is The Search for Spock.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Arrow Video is releasing a Romero set Oct 24th that includes The Crazies, Season of the Witch, and There's Always Vanilla.

Trevor

Thanks Bob! I caught a Tales from the Darkside episode, and now I'm watching The Crazies on YouTube.
I imagine about half of all horror films could qualify for this Challenge.
Sweet, don't think I own any of three in any format. Thanks.

BobO'Link

Awesome! I don't own copies of any of those and have wanted The Crazies and Season of the Witch for some time. I'll be keeping an eye out for it! Thanks!

LJG765

True, I always forget he played him.

If not more!

davidh777

Yeah, I tend to think of all post-apocalyptic films as sci-fi, and most zombie content qualifies.

I think Diesel is a more obvious choice than Evans but would have no problem with either.

brainee

Does The Strain count towards the challenge? The show consistently includes a lot of scientific content in how it deals with the vampire threat. Though sci-fi isn't a listed genre at imdb.

LJG765

I have not watched it, but reading the summary makes it seem like it should be sci-fi. It also mentions tentacles and nuclear war? Sounds post-apocalyptic to me. Sounds like you've watched it before? If so and it is as sci-fi as it sounds, you can count it. If it's a first time watch and it's not as sci-fi as it appears, feel free to use a wild card and then save the rest for Horror Challenge.

brainee

Yeah, I've seen it before. While horror is the main genre, I've always thought sci-fi fits it as a secondary genre (and I'm surprised imdb doesn't list it that way).

I don't know if the last season of the series will go this way, but the last book went heavily into post-apocalyptic.

LJG765

Then count it. Sometimes IMDb.com doesn't have the correct information or the full information. I know they will change small details so they can track if another site uses their information without permission plus, a lot of it is user generated. Heck, if you have an account there, you can update the genres listed yourself!

shadokitty

Frankenstein and The Invisible Man from the Universal Monsters also have Sci-fi as listed genres. I'm actually surprised Creature From The Black Lagoon doesn't though, being about a gill man.

I also consider giant monster movies as sci-fi and horror.

BobO'Link

It's called "George A. Romero Between Night and Dawn," is a 6 disc set (containing both BR and DVD copies), with a release date of Oct. 24th, 2017.

I found the Amazon listing, it's currently a bit high at $99.95 but carries the standard pre-order price guarantee.

There's also a listing for it at Diabolik (a site I've never heard of. A news story about the release on Bloody Disgusting links there). Their price is currently $66.99 + $5 shipping.

LJG765

Watched Jurassic Park: The Lost World tonight. It's definitely the least of the 4 movies, but it's not quite as bad as I remember. Jurassic Park III is always a fun watch if only for William H. Macy's mustache. May have to pop that one in too.

Thinking Jeff Goldblum might be a good addition to the list next year as well. Thoughts?

Think I'll definitely have to pare down the actor's list or at least really change it up before it gets impossibly long for next year...

Ash Ketchum

One of the great things about seeing FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH the other night was that it propelled me to dig out the book from which I first learned that its original title was QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. That book, Science Fiction in the Cinema, by John Baxter, was one of the first film books I ever bought and was a seminal influence in guiding me in my exploration of the genre. It even included a chapter on Jack Arnold and the sci-fi films he made at Universal (IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, TARANTULA, INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, etc.). He took those films seriously--quite a rare critical stance at the time--and dissected their virtues with clarity and enthusiasm. I mentioned all this on another group and it was pointed out to me that Arnold had read the book and greatly appreciated it and met Baxter when he visited Hollywood and took him on a tour of Universal Pictures.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

They're safe to buy from and if it's like my experience in the past, it might be delivered a little prior to release date.