2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I wanted to let someone else take the reins, but given that the Challenge is only a little over week away, I decided to start the thread. It runs from sunset on February 29, and runs until sunrise on April 1.

What counts is easy. Anything that could even vaguely be considered to count is eligible, including dvd bonus features and movie and tv show trailers.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Don’t forgot double and triple Challenge credit possibilities with the February Romance/Music Challenge, and the 2/27 thru 3/2 Leap Day Challenge.

Fwiw, in the past, during leap day years, we’ve had it where you can start this A/A/C/M Challenge when the Leap Day Challenge starts, if the items qualify for both.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Yay. I haven't done this one in a while. Not sure how much I can get done, but looking forward to finding out.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Some things I plan to watch are some of my 80s cartoons. I’m still working my way through Voltron, having Season 2 of Lion Force, and Vehicle Voltron yet to watch. I also have GI Joe, Transformers Headmasters, MASK and others. I also have Star Trek, Xena, Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica as well as other TV series and movies.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Just letting everyone know that I’m keeping the tradition of starting at the Time Travel challenge if time travel is involved.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Counting down the hours till tonight. This is one of my favorite challenges.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Since I’ve already been watching Voltron this month, working my way through the series, I figured why not start the Challenge with an episode. I’m still working my way through Season 2 of Lion Force, but am only a few episodes away from the second half of the season when Merla enters the scene.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I'm a sucker for Victorian / Edwardian adventure stories: a ragtag group of British (and Americans depending on were the stories are produced) adventures go to the jungle in search of riches / science and run from dangers. If there happen to be dinosaurs, that's even better! In 1992 there was an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World starring John Rhys-Davies, David Warner, and Eric McCormack as well as a followup called Return to the Lost World. I cannot claim that they are good movie - the pacing is off, the acting is campy, and the dinosaur puppets are among the worst to ever grace a movie screen - but I love them so much. Rhys-Davies and Warner bicker like an old married couple, and the entire cast is game to gawk at the bad puppets as if they are taking in something majestic and scary.

I also found out the early 2000s television adaptation of the novel is currently on AmazonPrime. I watched it on A&E when I was in college but never decided to spring of the expensive DVD sets. The pilot is... not good. In fact it's pretty terrible, yet I still found it enjoyable as adventure silliness. I cannot recommend the series unless you have a high tolerance for bad acting and okay-for-the-time CGI.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I, too, love those movies... Even the laughably bad Irwin Allen one, although I'd like to have a properly restored BR of that one. Outside the 1925 silent version I don't think there's ever been a truly "good" adaptation of the story and it has its own very cheesy moments. I *did* enjoy the Rhys-Davies movies.

I lament fairly regularly that I failed to purchase a copy of that 2000s TV series when it was cheap (at one point you could get it for ~$10/season). I've watched some episodes on Amazon and, like you, found it to be mostly terrible but still enjoyable for what it is. I may watch more of it this month since I'll have an excuse.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Started off with some John Wick.

Not enough killing. :D

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Technically, I’ve completed my minimum goals for the Challenge. One thirty hour binge and I completed my checklist (all time travel Challenge qualifying). But I’ll likely get another 30 hours of viewing time in before the month is over, the fifth season of The Wire being a priority.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

The 1925 adaptation is one of my absolute favorite movies, and it's a shame that no other adaptation has been as excellent. I have mention how much I love the early 2000s miniseries starring Bob Hoskins. It may be the second best adaptation. There's a poorly-reviewed one from 1998 that I've never seen but would love to.

This evening my movie friends and I ended up watching a comedy, so I got in a bit of action with an episode of The Master with Lee Van Cleef. I blind bought the Kino-Lorber BD from Hamilton Books, and I've enjoyed the first three episodes. It's bizarre to me that they would remaster this odd show, but it looks great. I watched the third episode which concerns motorbike racing (and unions!), and the sports action was pretty solidly filmed.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I know about the Hoskins version but have never seen it. As luck would have it, it's currently available for Amazon Prime free streaming so I dropped it in my queue.

I have 3 or 4 different releases of the 1925 film with the latest being the BR. It's excellent.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

A couple weeks ago I was sent an email by VRV. They said they would give me a free month to come back to them. I took advantage of it, and I know that Crunchyroll has some good action anime as well as Japanese subbed versions of various Ultraman series. Since I recently finished Season 1 of Lion Force Voltron, I might watch some episodes of Golion, since I don’t have all of the episodes on DVD.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I’ve been a super hero fan ever since I was young, so an action challenge seems like the perfect opportunity to watch some. I’ve only seen a few episodes of Batman: The Brave And The Bold ​​​​​​, but from what I’ve seen, I enjoy the show. Just finished the episode where he teams up with Aquaman against Black Manta one of my favorite villains, since the days of Challenge Of The Superfriends.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I started off by watching S5 of Hart to Hart. I almost went with a season of The Rockford Files but realized I had that last season of H-H and I'd be done with it. I used to watch it fairly regularly during the original airings and am finding it to be OK but often quite cheesy - more than S4 (and it had lots of cheese). Especially some of the stunt, fight, and chase scenes. Plots this season also feel far more contrived than before. The season opened with an episode showing how they met. It was OK but has plot holes the size of Texas (Jennifer says she "never lies" when she'd lied about her name to get into Jonathan's hotel suite - and he never called her out on it) and the "start to finish" romance on that was over the course of a couple of days. He doesn't seem that compulsive.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

It might be in poor taste, but the family voted to watch Contagion tonight.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

You're not the only one; it's supposed to be in the top 10 buys/rentals (whatever the metric is...) on Itunes right now.

Also, for anyone interested, season 3 of Castlevania pops up on Netflix tomorrow.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I was surprised to find a DVD of Scarface at my local Goodwill, and even more surprised to realize I'd never owned it. So now I have three things in this world: my word, my balls and a young Michelle Pfeiffer on DVD.

For such an over-the-top movie, the scene where is actually moving.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Thrift store finds are always a nice surprise. I once found Volumes 1 and 2 of Beast King Golion at Salvation Army for $1 a piece.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Between yesterday and today, I have finished Disc 1 of Dogfights ​​​​​​, Season 1. It’s always been a show that I’ve enjoyed, and being eligible for a challenge is always a perk. The two episodes were about the Korean War and Vietnam. The episode about Vietnam was about one of the Air Force’s greatest aces, Brigadier General Robin Olds. Besides the two episodes, a bonus feature of the Pilot of the series was also included on that disc.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I'm just about done with S5 of Hart to Hart and trying to decide what to watch next. Rockford Files is calling as is The Fugitive, Perry Mason, The Saint, It Takes a Thief, Mod Squad, The Ellery Queen Mysteries, Father Dowling Mysteries, .Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Untouchables. Plus a few westerns and SF series (but they have their own genre challenge so...).

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I am NOT a horror film watcher at all, but when I saw previews for Ready or Not, it caught my attention. Watched it tonight and while it's no Oscar winner, I enjoyed most of it. There was only one part where I really cringed. Not a lot (or any) jump scares. Pretty bloody, but the pacing was good. It wasn't until the very end where it really went too bloody and over-the-top for me.

Would I watch this again? Probably not, but I'm not disappointed in it. If you like this type of movie at all, you'll probably enjoy it. I will say that the dress should be credited in this. It really deserves some credit for surviving!

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

YouTube can be a treasure trove, even when you end up watching something besides what you were looking for. I went on to YouTube initially to watch some Airventure Oshkosh videos. After not seeing anything in the Recommended section, I saw a turkey hunting video. That led me to an entire playlist of hunting videos.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

The Rockford Files won the next TV season to watch. After watching half the season I switched to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes to finish watching that original film franchise. I watched the first 3 and Burton's version during the Leap Year Challenge as they all have time travel aspects. I may watch the 3 films in the recent remake franchise today or tomorrow. They're all in a new "Complete Movie Collection" set I picked up a few months back and those would be the last ones I need to watch to finish the set.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

My daughter has been on me to watch The Godfather for a couple months now, so it's finally time.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I discovered that many of the Abbott and Costello movies (especially the later ones) qualify so I'm watching my BR of those I'd not gotten to yet. I also discovered the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" movies also qualify and I have 2 BR upgrades of those left to watch. :)

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Yesterday, I took part in FThisMovieFest, a Twitter-based film festival. Patrick Bromly of fthismovie.net organized one of these each year. The concept is that everyone watches the movies at the same time and discusses them on Twitter. This year was a celebration of 1990 cinema and featured six films (three of which I'd not seen before). Here's the rundown:

Tremors - This is one of my favorite films. It's nearly perfect.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - It's an extremely silly movie, featuring some of the best puppetry of the late 80s / early 90s. I cannot decide if April O'Neill is the best reporter or the worst reporter.

Dick Tracy - I love this movie so much. Warren Beatty doesn't entirely work in the role of the titular detective, but everyone else is just great. I even love Madonna as perpetually-horny Breathless Mahoney.

Hard to Kill - Steven Seagal's brand of stoicism and hyper-competence is a bit silly, but this was a fun revenge flick. Seagal is shot and goes into a seven year coma, only to wake up and take down the dirty cops and thugs who killed his wife. The Big Boss is a corrupt Senator played with haughty smirks by William Sadler. Seagal pairs up with a beautiful nurse played by Kelly LeBrock who plays the role as if she were addicted to Ambien.

Darkman - I must admit I was a bit high for this one, but I was absolutely blown away by the zany visuals. Liam Neeson plays the absurd, over-the-top tragedy wonderfully and even looks good in Phantom of the Opera cosplay. I got super happy when Larry Drake showed up; he has a small role in an episode of Firefly and even shows up in the board game adaptation.

Total Recall - So many things from this movie have filtered into pop culture, and I'm pleased that I now get all of the references and gifs. Arnold is great. Sharon Stone is great. Rachel Ticotin is great. I think all movies should have a second version in which Michael Ironside obsessively tries to kill the protagonists.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I exceeded my total for last year's challenge (only 30) yesterday so I'm pretty happy with my viewings so far. My favorite up to now is Deadline - U.S.A. a 1952 movie starring Humphrey Bogart as a tough and principled newspaper editor who is racing the clock to finish an exposé of a crime boss before his paper is sold by the heirs of the now deceased founder. It can be a little preachy at times but the pace feels frantic and the newsroom is just bursting with energy. The entire cast is very good.

While going through a box of TV DVD's I ran across seasons five and six of The F.B.I. which a I got as a gift years ago but never got around to watching. I remember my parents watching this (I would have been 17-18 years old during these two seasons) and that it starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. who I knew from an earlier show 77 Sunset Strip but that's about it. It was the most successful show from Quinn Martin Productions lasting for nine seasons (1965 - 1974). I'm going to check out some episodes today.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I decided to watch some of the Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce film adaptations of Sherlock Holmes - all of which were collected and restored for a BR box set. I want to do some research to see when "bumbling Watson" became a thing, because Nigel Bruce does it so well it seems plausible that these movies started the trend. The first film is Hound of the Baskervilles which has never been my favorite Holmes mystery, but the film is populated with a pack of quirky characters. The second film is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which is largely inert. Aside from Ida Lupino, the supporting cast isn't terribly interesting, and there is too much time focused on them. Thankfully, the next film plucks Holmes and Watson out of their Victorian surroundings and plops them in the 1940s. These films tend to be a bit shorter and move a bit quicker.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

After a few months of working on it, I finally finished Lion Force Voltron. The second season didn’t start out very good, but I thought the season got better when Merla was introduced. I’m looking forward to watching Vehicle Voltron now.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I just got back from a Fathom event - the 1933 King Kong in its first theatrical showing in 60 years. That was very cool to see one of my all time favorite classic movies on the big screen. There were ~12 people in the theater (including my grandson and me) so no crowd at all. I'd love to see more 1933-1960 classics presented this way.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Watched the new Jumanji and if you liked the last one, you should like this one too.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Schools are closed state wide until at least March 30th due to the coronovirus threat. I work in IT for the school and we're working from home (I can remote in and work on the virtual farm/servers) which means I can watch TV while I work (something I can't easily do in the office because I share office space with 2 other guys). That's going to increase my numbers to those I normally get only when on vacation. I spend lots of time watching a server screen monitoring processes and at the office listen to music so am trading music for TV. I have remote tools so I can connect to teacher's school issued laptops if they have issues (they're supposed to be doing their in-service packets and parent conferences remotely this week and may need tech support). When I "got off" this afternoon I went upstairs (my den is in the basement) and told my wife I was almost as productive at home as in the office just to hear her say "Oh... I thought you were doing your usual day off type stuff. I had no idea you were actually *working*."

I've been able to watch the last 2 episodes of Perry Mason S1 and the first 6 episodes of Columbo so far today. I was productive all around. :)

I recently purchased the Columbo Complete Series set from Amazon during a sale ($30 - couldn't resist). I never watched Columbo much during its original run and seeing those 6 episodes today reminded me of why it was never on my "must see TV" list. They typically use the first 20-30 minutes showing a murder being committed and the last part of the episode with Columbo figuring out what happened and manipulating the perpetrator into pretty much spilling the beans on themselves. That means there's no mystery, just watching Columbo getting it all lined up. So far I'm enjoying seeing the guest stars more than the actual shows, although the shows aren't that bad. The episodes I've see so far are in the 75-100 minute range and have lots of padding to get to the required "TV Movie of the Week" length (1 1/2 or 2 hours depending on day of air). I also own a copy of the complete McMillan & Wife and am wondering how it may hold up as it, too, was in that 2 hour MotW rotation block. I watched that one every time it aired and really liked it but expect it to also have lots of padding. I may pull it out to watch a few episodes sometime over the next couple of weeks.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Caught a strange back door Pilot on Diagnosis Murder. A couple of loopy rogue female cops investigate a trio of loopy vigilante female cops that are killing criminals to harvest their organs. Bad acting and dialogue all around. Fun stuff!

Anybody else like back door Pilots? Back in the day I hated them. You wait a week for your show, and it focuses on a bunch of characters you've never seen before. Of course I had no idea what a back door Pilot was back then. I enjoy catching them now. It's easy to see why they're usually not picked up.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Picked off a couple recent releases on HBO. I’d forgotten Anna was Luc Besson, but it’s totally him, kind of a Russian, legal-age Natalie Portman. Pretty good.

Not that thrilled with Alita Battle Angel. Kinda over creepy-looking CGI protagonists.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

I can't stand back door pilots. I've never liked them as they're generally a complete waste of time. Like you said, it's easy to see why they're not picked up.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

When I moved onto Vehicle Voltron I was able to switch to DVD and finished Disc 1 yesterday. There was also a bonus feature, which was called Team Up Clip. It was the scene where Lion Voltron and Vehicle Voltron combined forces to destroy Lotor’s Robeast in Fleet Of Doom.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Just re-watched Community's "Modern Warfare" episode for the umpteenth time. It's just so brilliant. It references/parodies movies as diverse as 28 Days Later (2002), The Warriors (1979), Boondock Saints (1999) and Hardboiled (1989) amongst others. Three more paintball episodes to go.

Re: 2020 Action/Adventure/Crime/Mystery Challenge
 

Anyone doing a Star Wars rewatch, or is there not enough interest in the last one? ;) I rewatched the films in December so don’t need to do it again.