shadokitty

I see you mentioned Knight Rider in your list. Good show. I have the complete series of the original series. Seasons 1, 3-4 on DVD, and I bought Season 2 on Google Play, since my copy was a bootleg set that I bought at a bazaar when I was deployed to Afghanistan, and the discs became unwatchable.

Giles

sorry ~ I'm late to the party - my theme is 'Restorations / new transfers' i.e, anything that has been upgraded in terms of having a prior home video release ~ I might throw in some 3D and extended cuts as well.

Dimension X

You're not late. I'm not even sure if I'll start mine today, or wait a day or two.

Dimension X

Here's the current list of participants and their challenges. Let me know if you see any mistakes.

List of Participants and their Challenges:

Name	Challenge
Dimension X	"The All-New All-Different Four Color Adventures Challenge"
lisadoris	The X-Files Challenge
TheBigDave	"Back to the '80s Challenge"
pacaway	"Oh, Canada! and/or Not Available In HD In Any Readily Available Format" Challenge
BobO'Link	"Keeping it Real" Challenge
Cardsfan111	"The 50+ Films in 50+ Years Challenge"
Surfinhank	"The Motion Picture Code and Rating Administration 50th Anniversary" Challenge
Bladz	"'2018 Comic Book Movie Challenge"
Trevor	"Wife’s Choice Challenge"
shadokitty	"Action Adventure/Documentary/Sports The Sequel" Challenge
LJG765	"Movies from my Vudu Group that I don't own/have not watched before" Challenge
omike	"The Long and the Short of It Challenge"
Indy24LA	Geek Challenge
Ginwen	"Stale DVD/Blu-Ray" Challenge
davidh777	Tarantino Challenge
SterlingBen	???? Challenge
ororama	"Around the World II" Challenge
KaBluie	"Directed by George A. Romero" Challenge
wishbone	???? Challenge
PCBreakdown	"Superheroes and Slashers Challenge"
Mondo Kane	"Audio Commentary + Documentary/Featurette Challenge"
HyperWeather	"Running the Bases w/Nostalgia Season 2" Challenge
indiephantom	"DETECTIVES and DARK KNIGHTS Challenge"
JennandTheCats	"School Days" Challenge
hbsvb	"Movies/TV Shows based on Comic Books/Graphic Novels" Challenge
popcorn	"The Unwatched/Unwrapped Challenge!"
Giles	"Restorations / 3D / extended cuts" Challenge

BobO'Link

I've been sitting on the complete Duck Dynasty series and several seasons of Deadliest Catch for some time and decided this year I'd theme it to get them watched. Those are the only 2 "reality" shows for which I've ever bothered to purchase seasons.

I went into DD late, only watching the show when my wife had it on one day and I was sitting in her TV room chatting. It was like watching people (aka rednecks) I grew up and hung around with do their daily, stupid, stuff. I stuck with it to the end although it declined in its later years. I enjoyed it enough to purchase the seasons.

Deadliest Catch is interesting enough and I got 4 seasons on sale, very cheaply, otherwise I don't know that I'd have purchased them. I'm curious to see if I'll still enjoy them on disc. I've not seen any "live" episodes in several years.

Trevor

I’m a little late to pimp this, but, as always, we have a comic book Challenge each month that usually corresponds with the monthly media Challenge. So a make-your-own reading Challenge each May. Not a whole lot participants, but it’ll always be there for those interested.
https://forum.dvdtalk.com/comic-book...ay-2018-a.html

shadokitty

I didn’t have time to participate last month, but plan to take part this month.

I’m glad you can watch tv on mobile devices. It was such a beautiful day today, I spent a lot of time relaxing outside. I got a lot of today’s viewing done either on my phone or tablet.

Cardsfan111

It's always a little difficult to generate discussion when everyone can be watching things unrelated. But I did go through the list thread early this morning to check out what everyone else is doing. I always enjoy seeing the creative approaches folks are taking.

pacaway

I'm not sure what some of the themes mean. I'll have to go back and reread this thread. lol

mrcellophane

I was inspired by Avengers: Infinity War to revisit the MCU and perhaps finally check out the myriad television shows Marvel has spawned. (I hear that some are quite good.) However, I wanted to spice things up so I decided to theme my month's non-MCU viewings around the six Infinity Stones: power, time, soul, space, reality, and mind. Hopefully, it'll be a chance for me to explore and really think about the way movies and television explore such themes.

I started by finishing the first season of The Good Place, an excellent television series that manages to make philosophy lectures fun and engaging. Unfortunately, the second season isn't available to stream anywhere so I may have to buy it on Amazon. It's that fantastic!

ororama

I'm repeating my challenge from last May, Around the World in 31 Days. I watch foreign films all year round, but I'm using this challenge to maximize variety. I'm looking for movies that are about how people live, although not all are serious-I have a Serbian romantic comedy planned, and probably a Filipino melodrama or two as well. I had the same goals last year, but watched Don't Deliver Us from Evil because I had requested it through an inter-library loan and it came after this challenge had begun, and had some reason that I don't recall to re-watch The Book of the Dead, even though I'm trying to avoid genre and historical movies for the most part.

I planned to start with Le Silence de Lorna since the movies of Dardenne brothers are the perfect examples of what I'm aiming for with this challenge, but woke up early in the morning and watched two short UK documentaries that fit my challenge.

I'll be trying to write a little about everything I watch for this challenge.

lisadoris

So my X-Files re-watch has begun

“Pilot” sets the perfect stage for the series. We have alien abduction, a (local) government conspiracy, witty banter, and the intro of Cigarette Smoking Man. The chemistry between Mulder and Scully is set as is the sexism exhibited toward Scully by way too many people. We also see the staple of Mulder seeing something extraordinary while Scully is late to the party.

“Deep Throat” introduces a character that will be important for the first season. The story itself about a missing/returned Air Force pilot isn’t particularly noteworthy but we do get the deepening government conspiracy/cover-up here. Seth Green had a nice cameo has a stoned aircraft watcher.

“Squeeze” is the first monster of the week episode and it’s a classic. Tooms is such an iconic character that they revisit him later in the season. Watching the character jump/slither out of Scully’s vent was frightening to watch at the time and it’s still spooky. We have another sexism watch as Scully’s friend from the Academy behaved like a total dick and almost got Scully killed. Doug Hutchinson always plays such nasty characters.

“Conduit” features our first sighting of a person of color with a speaking role as a FBI analyst. I don’t remember Scully pulling such a dick move when she ratted out the kid to the NSA. She didn’t even apologize after the NSA ransacked the house, arrested and interrogated the kid without his mother present, and it turned out to be nothing.

BobO'Link

Duck Dynasty is as humorous as I'd found it upon that first viewing looooong ago. I still remember most of what happens but it's a fun rewatching. S1 down - S2 started (I was off yesterday so had extra viewing time!).

I also watched the first 4 episodes of Deadliest Catch S1. It, too, is still good and I don't think I ever saw that season. If I did I don't recall seeing any of what I watched yesterday.

I have a few other series I'll likely work in since they qualify. Some time back I purchased a couple of the French Chef sets and a Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom set.

I discovered Julia as a young married and my wife and I would watch her, The Galloping Gourmet, and Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet) on a regular basis.

I grew up with Wild Kingdom running every Saturday evening. "While I sit in the relative safety of this tree, Jim will climb down and check out what the crocodile is doing with that chicken we used as bait." I think I still have a copy of "MAD Magazine" which features a skewering of the show.

BobO'Link

I never got into that one during its original airings. I saw a few episodes but nothing just jumped out and grabbed me. A couple of years ago Foxconnect was doing 50% off sales on a regular basis and I purchased the series ($6/season). I watched S1 a couple of years back and enjoyed it. I really need to continue my journey. It'll be interesting reading your observations as you do your re-watch.

Cardsfan111

The same with me. I think I own nearly all of the X-Files seasons. But if my records are correct, I've only watched the first half of season 1. So much to see, so little time!

lisadoris

Today's The X-Files viewing:

“The Jersey Devil” another monster of the week episode but this one isn’t nearly as interesting. A potential prehistoric woman chews a guy’s arm off and all hell breaks loose. We have a complete overreaction by the cops who have the male suspect cornered in a cave of some kind and they unload every firearm they have on the guy without even assessing if he’s armed (he’s not but that’s not the point). This is also the first episode where we see Mulder interacting with porn.

“Shadows” Three people of color with speaking roles in this episode! Unfortunately, the first two were complete jerks. A secretary’s late boss is protecting her and hoping to have his murder solved via electrical energy. Our deceased boss damn near killed Mulder & Scully and completely terrorized his secretary which doesn’t seem like a nice thing to do; there had to be an easier way. It’s another monster of the week episode and while it’s more interesting than the previous episode, it’s not particularly noteworthy.

“Ghost in the Machine” feels a lot scarier now that computers and smart technology control pretty much everything. The idea of a building’s AI going psycho and killing folks seems more realistic today than it did when the episode originally aired. The whole discussion about AI and thinking computers seems so antiquated now. I adore Rob Labelle from his First Wave days though this episode predates that series.

“Ice” I remember the CG worm is most from this episode and it reminded me of Star Trek 2 with the ick factor. I also remember an early performance by Felicity Huffman, Jeff Kober (who I recently saw in a Buffy episode) and Xander Berkley. The paranoia set in quick with this group.

KaBluie

I'm going to add a(n unrelated) second part to my challenge.

Frances McDormand Movies

lisadoris

My X-Files episode reviews:

“Space” this is a hybrid monster of the week and straight up mystery. The Mars photos seem so antiquated compared to what the rover has produced. Technology advances so quickly. Ed Lauter is good as the haunted former astronaut/NASA head/alien carrier. That’s a lot of hats to wear for one character.

“Fallen Angel” Black man with speaking lines in the cold open! Poor sap doesn’t live past the cold open though his widow gets a nice scene later in the episode. Mulder goes off on his own to investigate a UFO crash. Of course he gets knocked the hell out by military personnel. This is why Mulder should not work alone. We do meet Max for the first time in this episode and we’ll see him again.

“Eve” the scary twins/clones are here. In another example of how things have changed in 10 years, the episode goes into detail about IN Vitro Fertilization which is well-known today. The fun and excitement of eugenics producing homicidal children. Random question: why would Mulder think that 8-year-olds would be drinking diet soda?

“Fire” is our Firestarter episode and judging from Mulder’s former partner I think the show is making the case that every government bureaucrat except, Scully & Mulder, is an irresponsible, raving ass. This episode gives us the tidbit that Mulder has a photographic memory. Oh, random black dude with one speaking line! While Mulder is trying to rekindle an old flame, pun totally intended, Scully solves the case.

LJG765

Watched my first eligible title for the challenge tonight. I watched Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would when I first saw the previews for it. Jack Black is a hit or miss actor for me and I thought he nailed his character in this. I don't know that I feel the need to add the physical disc to my collection but it's nice to have the option to watch if I feel the need or someone else wants to watch it. I don't think it's as re-watchable as the original in my mind, but it wasn't a bad sequel.

Going through the titles I have available that count, I decided I needed a way to narrow down my choices otherwise I'd be wasting too much time paging through trying to make up my mind. I checked out a few lists on icheckmovies.com and compared them to what is available and started a small list. Once I get through those, I'll probably make another list. So far it's a mixture of classic and modern which is pretty awesome. The Vudu group has a pretty eclectic taste in movies which is much appreciated!

shadokitty

I loved the ending of 'Mettle Of Man'. Was that the season finale of Ash vs Evil Dead?

BobO'Link

Still on my journey through Duck Dynasty and Deadliest Catch. Still finding both very entertaining... again.

I dug out my French Chef and Wild Kingdom sets this morning. I may start one of them tonight...

coyoteblue

That was the series finale of Ash vs Evil Dead.

lisadoris

Watched a couple extra X-Files episodes today

“Beyond the Sea” I’ve always enjoyed this episode partly because of Don Davis’ brief performance (and because it’s a good Scully episode). We get a reminder of Mulder’s porn habit and he calls Scully Dana three – it sounds so unnatural. Brad Dourif plays tortured psychopaths quite well (see Babylon 5,[/b Lord of the Rings, Star Trek: Voyager). I thought it was quite hypocritical for Mulder to judge Scully’s belief in paranormal activity based on the death of her father since his belief is predicated on the disappearance of his sister. And then at the end of the episode Mulder is mad that she doesn’t believe after he specifically told her repeatedly not to believe Boggs.

“Genderbender” yeah I’ve never loved this episode. We’re dealing with a closed society and one member is out committing sexual murders. Now we have reality shows about Amish folks leaving their society but I don’t remember if there was some sort of crime spree that was happening at the time? Scully almost becoming the victim of sexual assault in this episode was just creepy. Mulder and Scully made a series of really bad decisions and the ending was unsatisfying. The only good thing about this episode is an early appearance by Nicholas Lea who was not playing Krycek and a black woman with one line toward the end of the episode

“Lazarus” FBI Agent and bank robber die at the same time and robber’s soul comes back in Agent’s body. It’s an interesting take on Freaky Friday. We learn that Scully had a relationship with one of her Academy instructors. Black law enforcement dude set up the final sting by pretending to be a minister, nice.

“Young at Heart” hey, black man in a primary role and he isn’t a dick, woo hoo! Yeah, he doesn’t make it to the end of the episode, boo. We learn that Mulder used to do things by the book and it got a hostage and Agent killed. To that end, we get a bank robbing killer (again) who has reversed the aging process due to experiments performed in prison. This marks the second time a suspect has broken into Scully’s place, she needs better security.

“E.B.E” Our first meeting with The Lone Gunman and our first look into Mulder’s apartment. Deep Throat lies to them but we end up with a nice amount of back story for his character (maybe, maybe not). Someone bugs Scully’s pen; she is none too happy about that but everyone has a greater understanding of what they are up against. Even though he isn’t credited in the episode, Roger Cross makes a brief appearance.

“Miracle Man” is an episode that should be better than it is. The story of a faith healer who is suddenly killing people and sees those death’s as God’s judgement is an interesting premise for the series. Me thinks the acting is the problem with the episode; it feels a flat.

shadokitty

That's a shame. A season set in a post apocalyptic world might have been fun.

pacaway

nice!