Cool thanks, yep Im going to give the animation a go, not something i watch a lot so will be a nice change.

Yeah, I feel the same about most of them too.

I guess with overpriced theater tickets you pad it hoping people will feel they get their money's worth.

After ragging on Marvel yesterday i watched Thor (2011). It was surprisingly restrained in terms of CGI action, but probably 20 minutes too long.

As the challenge winds down, don't forget to update your checklists! I'll give a couple days after for everyone to finalize lists before doing the drawing. Make sure you keep an eye out here and in your PM's as I'll be notifying people in both places.

I managed to finish my list a couple days ago. Now, I'm trying to watch a few movies I haven't had a chance to in a while but wanted to this challenge.

I think they all are. I love the Marvel films, but totally agree that a good 20-30 minutes in almost every one of them could be removed!

Animation list thread is live here! Would love to see everyone there!

The last Star Wars was so meh for me that I’ve only seen it once, in theaters, even though I usually see SW twice in theaters and bought it back on SW Day. I figured I’d finally rewatch it this month to see if it had gotten any better and figured today was the day. However, I decided to watch the whole sequel trilogy to see if it adds to the experience (I did binge 7/8 before seeing 9). Currently on TFA.

I finally updated my list. I wasn't very active in this challenge but at long last I got to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey. I still don't know what the heck it was all about but I loved the visuals and the score.

Read the book. It'll explain what you saw.

I watched the Star Wars prequels + Rogue One in May and the original trilogy earlier this month. Had the next trilogy loosely on the list to watch this month, but I don't think I'm getting to them. Instead, I decided to watch The Hobbit trilogy which I haven't seen since they were released. I enjoy them but they could use a lot of cutting. Though, the biggest thing I dislike about them is that film two left on this huge cliffhanger with Smaug. You had to wait a year until the next one came out to find out what happened...only for it to be like a 5-10 minute segment. Totally anti-climatic. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating somewhat, but they really just briefly show the dragon and the fight and move on...all that energy in movie 2 and it just splutters out in movie 3.

Edit: Nope, I was pretty right on. 12 minutes in and the whole Smaug bit was done.

I've focused on first-time viewings and shied away from superhero stuff throughout the challenge so far, but I've got my heart set on a drive-in double feature tonight of The LEGO Batman Movie (eh) followed by the 1989 Batman (my favorite movie ever). I'm under doctor's orders to not go out at all, but this is on the approved list because I can stay insulated the entire time. They'll scan my phone through the window so I won't even need to roll that down to get in. I won't be able to get outside and sit in a chair like most of the others, but I can live with that. I've seen Batman at a regular theater, including a midnight screening; on TV, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and I've even watched it on my iPod once. The drive-in is one of the last settings left. I think after this, all that I can think of will be with a live orchestra. That'd be sweet. I've been meaning to squeeze in a few more things, but baseball is back and that's been getting my attention.

I watched the extended versions of The Hobbit this year making the 2nd time I've watched that version. I really, really, wanted to like them more than the theatrical just like I do with the LOTR trilogy. I can't. There's just too much bloat in The Hobbit films and I felt like the theatrical versions were bloated but got the extended anyway (I was hoping the extra stuff would help them but it really didn't). I also have copies of the theatrical versions of both on DVD and BR but haven't watched any of those yet (on either format) - yeah... I'm a sucker...

If I'd seen "Smaug" in the theater I'd have been royally pissed! It's one thing to leave you wanting more, like was done with the LOTR films, but to end on a blatant cliff hanger and especially one which you felt like would be resolved rather quickly in the next movie... I did see it on disc a few months before the 3rd was available on physical and was rather annoyed with the "ending," but not nearly as much as I'd have been had that viewing been in the theater.

The 2nd Matrix movie did the same thing - I didn't see that in the theater either and only watched it when I purchased the trilogy on disc so could immediately watch the 3rd movie.

I have finished the checklist except for the Animation check which I will do on Friday night for double credit (yes, everyone should do the Animation Challenge). This is the first time that I have watched more repeats than first time views (I believe) but I have been focusing on franchises lately. I watched parts of 27 different franchises with 3 or 4 other movies that were part of two movies or overall franchises (like Marvel or DC). I was particularly happy that I will average approximately 111 minutes and 3 seconds per each movie this year. I wanted to get my average up over 1:50 and I have finally managed it. Hopefully next year I will have more first time views while continuing my franchises. Overall this has made for a great challenge, with a great job of hosting done by LJG765. Now besides getting ready for the Animation Challenge I need to look for some suggestions on changes for Directors next year. I know there has to be some that have plenty of choices without the choices coming only from franchises, I just have to look harder I guess.

That sounds like a lot of fun! I know I miss our drive-in. It closed only a few years ago, but now would have been a perfect time to visit it. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't run out of spoons for tonight!

I wasn't super pissed off after the 2nd one. I was IN the 3rd when I realized all that anticipation just went "thud." 12 MINUTES! Why not just throw it on the end of the 2nd movie then and start fresh with everyone heading to the Mountain?

Totally agree the theatrical versions are bloated. I went ahead and bought the that version-they have special ones with Legos that I wanted-because I knew the extended versions would not be that great if the theatrical could already be cut down!

Aw, thanks! I appreciate your (and everyone else's) contribution to the challenge too! Without people responding and participating, we wouldn't have much of a challenge!

Whoa, that's a pretty good average! I have a handful of longer movies in my watch list (Avengers and the Hobbit) but most of mine are more in the 90-110 min range. I find it a lot easier to fit in a couple shorter films than one long one.

I also appreciate any suggestions, directors especially! Keep 'em coming!

I hated The Desolation of Smaug while I was watching it, and felt that same expounded frustration when it was resolved so quickly at the beginning of Five Armies. I've never read a single page of Tolkien, and my only other exposure to Middle Earth was one viewing each of the extended cut of Fellowship, both cuts of Two Towers, and the theatrical cut of Return of the King. I have no way of knowing what came from the source material, what came from appendices, and what was outright invented for the movies, but I had the distinct feeling while watching Smaug that I was watching the pitch meeting for a video game. I'll revisit all six of those movies at some point. I've got the LOTR Blu-ray set on my to-do list for this challenge, but it's unlikely I'll get to them. The only ones I fully enjoyed the first time were Two Towers and Unexpected Journey, and I'm hoping maybe I'll connect more with the others. Gonna be hard for Smaug to win me over, though.

Regarding the checklist, my understanding has always been in every challenge that a movie can count for more than one check, but not more than one per category. Decade, MPAA rating, sub-genre, actor are all fine, but not two sub-genres or two actors. There's no reason that has to be universal, but it would be nice to have it established upfront one way or the other. I hope I don't come off as some anti-franchise snob, because I'm not. But yeah, standing back and looking at the actors and directors lists, it feels like this is more of an Alien/Jurassic/MCU/Middle Earth/Star Trek/Star Wars challenge. They're the marquee attractions of the genre so it makes sense, but it feels like a closed circuit. Maybe a helpful litmus test is whether someone has enough genre work that there's a decent pool of movies to watch if we excluded those franchises. I don't, however, really have any suggestions of whom to add. I've tried some cursory web searching, but I don't know enough about the history of the genre to really know where to look for ideas. Ironic, given that learning more about the history of the genre is the biggest benefit of the checklist.

Just read "The Hobbit" - if you're an average reader it's short enough that you can read it in about the time it'd take to watch all three movies.

For sure the LotRs movies are much much better than the Hobbit movies. Though, Return of the King might be my favorite. Even the extended versions go by quickly.

Huh, I didn't hear that at all about the checklists. I think it's because every challenge has a different host (for the most part). At this point, for this challenge and the animation challenge, you can use each movie multiple times on the checklist, doesn't have to be just per section. I've used multiple for each section many, many times and if I change the rules now, that would be pretty hypocritical of me!

I watched the Avengers: Endgame movie last night. Decided I wanted to watch some more Marvel and just put in Ant-Man. As much as I enjoy the series, I haven't watched that one and the sequel yet. So, will get them off my to watch list.

I made it to the drive-in, which was nice. I was underwhelmed by The LEGO Movie, and one of the things I disliked the most was their take on Batman. Tonight's double feature opened with the spinoff, The LEGO Batman Movie. He's more tolerable here, though still a long way off from being likable. The movie has some heart, I'll give it that. There are also some amusing meta-level Bat-jokes. But it's much too hyper and a little of it goes a long way. I doubt I'll make any effort to revisit it for quite some time.

The reason I went, though, was to see the 1989 classic Batman. Over the years, I've come to view it as a descendant of German Expressionism. Earlier this year, I streamed a collection on The Criterion Channel that convinced me of it. Tonight I made note of several specific elements that support my thesis: The absurdly long dining table; The Joker emerging from the shadows; the Batmobile drive back to the Batcave; the entirety of the cathedral in the finale. Plus, Batman and The Joker themselves, really. There are plenty others, but those were the key standouts. I highly recommend that Criterion Channel collection, several of which fit this challenge for anyone looking to squeeze in anything here at the end. None of them are eligible for August's Animation challenge, but provided they're still up in September, they'd be eligible for that month's Criterion Challenge. Movies in that include The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; Nosferatu; Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler; and Metropolis, among others.How incredible could Fritz Lang's Batman have been! Which reminds me, in case anyone hasn't seen this yet, it is amazing and I wish there really was an Ingmar Bergman film based on The Flash:

I am just over 80 watches. I probably won't get too many more genre watches in other than The Outer Limits original series. I finished and posted my checklist. It is hard to believe, but somehow i did not watch a single film in the directors list!

I wouldn't worry that you come off as anti-franchise as everything you say is true. As far as the checkist goes, I never use any movie for more than one check and yet I watched many franchises. The suggested changes to the checklist (especially the directors etc. changes) will make it much harder to watch as many franchises but I look forward to more first time views next time, however, having spent a number of hours on the Directors etc. category I can't find many changes to suggest myself. Part of the problem is IMDB's search ability, but I am beginning to accept that there aren't many choices if you rule out franchise movies. I hope someone else has more knowledge in this area and can suggest some changes that make sense and aren't just changes for change sake without enough choices. I have come to the conclusion that we might want to make packs of three choices per checkmark to create some choices. My only real hope is that someone has IMDPro and that the search for that will have the ability to show how many different genre films each director has, making this job a piece of cake.

I don't have IMDb Pro, but it just occurred to me that I could use Flickchart's filter to suss out some ideas:

DIRECTOR
Roger Corman
Terrence Fisher
Freddie Francis
Robert Stevenson

ACTOR
Peter Cushing
Christopher Lee

Yeah, they're both in Star Wars movies and Lee is also in the Middle Earth series, but you could knock out a decent chunk of the checklist using just their filmographies without getting into those. [As an aside, Season of the Witch has the distinction of being the only thing that featured both Nicolas Cage and Christopher Lee.]

I haven’t posted much this month, but I have really enjoyed this challenge. I’ll likely watch a lot of sci fi and fantasy cartoons next month. Many of my cartoon DVDs are sci fi. I have a lot of 80s cartoons, like MASK ​​​​​​, Voltron ​​​​​​, GI Joe ​​​​, Jayce And The Wheeled Warriors​​​​​. I even have a complete set of G1 Transformers ​​​​​​, including all three Japanese series. I’ve also enjoyed working on the checklist. Not everything I watched worked for it, but I enjoyed adding to it.

It's surprisingly easy to do. :/ We'll figure something out for next year. Either fill in with directors that only have a couple eligible titles but they are well known ones, or maybe lower the requirement...

I'll add these to the list in the opening post. Pretty sure Lee was on there at one point, but we can definitely switch him back in for someone else. Someone mentioned having switching them in and out on a yearly basis, maybe keep a list of actors we used each year and doing half one year, half the next would work and make the actors list fresher each year?

I'm not putting up big numbers this year, but I wasn't planning to. But I'm getting through my existing streaming queues of fantasy and sci-fi movies, got around to watching the first season of a couple of recent sci-fi series (Lost in Space reboot and The Expanse), and rewatched a couple of trilogies from my Blu Ray collection (Jurassic Park and Back to the Future). And unlike past challenges, I'm not bailing on other kinds of media (like books and video games) to put up better numbers.

Going by my ratings, my favorite first-time views were I Lost My Body (a clear #1) followed by Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie and Aniara, I also enjoyed The Vast of Night, Snatchers, Underwater, and I certainly won't forget Butt Boy.

For those that have watched, how does the second season of Lost in Space compare to the first? I liked it ok but it didn't grab me to the point where I'm sure I'll keep watching. Though the ending of the season was interesting


I'll finish up season one of The Expanse on the last day of the challenge (I have 2 more episodes to go). It's hard to judge until it's over since the season is really structured like a novel (episodes are not at all stand-alone) and it took me some time to get acclimated to the characters and world. But it seems like it's coming together, and I've read that many think the series improves in future seasons.

That will be me tonight. Finally cracking open my 4K Blu-ray of it. Can't wait.

I picked up that one on disc simply because I like the original and it was very inexpensive (IIRC I paid $10 for the BR). Like you, I found it OK... Most of the changes worked and it looks quite good. On the down side, it moved way too slow in the way modern dramas seem to do. Where they take a really good episode and stretch it across 3 or 4 with lots of padding. That Soap Opera kind of feeling. I'll not subscribe to Netflix to watch but will likely purchase S2 on disc should it come out and be as inexpensive as S1.