The threads need to be swapped. The list thread needs to be sticky, discussion thread not so much. Oops y-daisy.

Huh, I thought I asked for the correct one, but was doing a lot of back and forth between threads at the time. Oops! Requested the right one (hopefully).

It's likely after dusk for some of you and quite close for the rest of us. Have a good first night of the challenge!

Let the challenge begin! What are you starting it off with? I went classic with the RiffTrax of Plan 9 from Outer Space. How about you?

Starting off with The Invisible Ray (1936) A classic Karloff / Lugosi pairing. The Scream Factory Blu Ray looks nice.

I started with my new Blu-ray (purchased from Hamilton Books) of Muppets from Space (1999) which is one of the middling Muppet movies. It's also very 90s: Hulk Hogan shows up as himself; Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson show up as their Dawson's Creek characters; and there is a rather fun Independence Day visual gag. One of the biggest problems with the movie is the lack of original songs. The music is often so important to any Muppet movie, and this one just plugs in some funk standards and calls it a day. Still, there's some good laughs and fun character moments.

Okay, I have a question about these three Checklist Items:

> ''Watch a film that takes place in the "past" but the year has not yet come''

> ''High Fantasy''

> ''No Weapons Used''

What are some examples?

> ''Nicholas Cage''

I don't have a question about this one.
I just wanted to point out that his name is spelled ''Nicolas Cage'', or if you watch any of his trailers after Leaving Las Vegas it's ''Academy Award Winner Nicolas Cage''.

I started with a short since I got distracted by a book I was reading. I watched A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès,. If you're looking for something that is short, but fills several checks on the list, this is the one for you. It's under 15 minutes and it's fun to watch. Méliès, if you're not familiar, is one of the first directors of sci-fi out there.

Excalibur (1981)
Legend (1985)
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Etc...

Oops, I'll fix Cage's name in a sec. I always forget he doesn't use the "h."

Suggestions for the first one are in the thread already. High Fantasy would be films like The Lord of the Rings. According to wikipedia: High fantasy is set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world, rather than the "real" or "primary" world.[2] This secondary world is usually internally consistent, but its rules differ from those of the primary world.

Basically, epic fantasy films.

No Weapons Used: basically a movie that doesn't have swords, lasers, lances...like Labyrinth or The BFG. I'll say, you might have more luck with kids movies or Christmas ones (there is a check for Christmas in July, so you could knock 2 checks out.)

Lost In Space (1998) / Interstellar / Star Trek: First Contact

Not much to choose from.

For some reason I was thinking Bill & Ted or Dude, Where's My Car? but this makes a lot more sense. I can watch The Princess Bride & Your Highness.

Now I feel stupid. I even have a few kids movies & Christmas movies ready to go.

Ghost Dad (1990)
Sabrina Goes To Rome (1998)
13 Going On 30 (2004)
Tiny Christmas (2017)

I've never watched any of these before so I don't know for sure they don't have weapons.

I watched the two movies I've never seen on ''The Alien Files'' 4 Film Collection: Night Skies (2007) & Alien Hunter (2003)

I started with my newish (purchased but not opened until now) copy of the Indicator BR of First Men in the Moon. A favorite since I first saw it as a kid in 1964 during its original theatrical run.

It just hit me last night that the challenges running in the spring and summer months are cheated of hours... the later sunset and earlier sunrise times cut a full movie out of each end.

How is that indicator blu ray Bob? thinking about picking it up

Well... Holy Cow! is somewhat of an understatement. It looks spectacular. I watched with the original mono audio and it's superb - clean with good, but not overbearing, dynamic range. You can actually hear what's being said over the score and sfx (unlike "modern" audio mixes which tend to bury speech). The image is incredibly clean with good contrast and color.

After I watched it I looked it up to see if anyone had compared it to the older Twilight Time release (I missed that one but had heard good things). DVD Beaver has and says the Indicator is the one to beat, looking better than the TT release. If he's to be believed (and I tend to trust his opinion) all of the Indicator releases of the Harryhausen titles are better than anything else out there. That's very encouraging as I also picked up the individual release of Fantastic Island, which I'll be watching this month. I got both of them from Amazon UK a few months back for a very good price (~$13/each after shipping). I'd love to snag copies of their Sinbad movies at such low prices. I already have those on BR but they're earlier transfers and the Indicator releases are supposedly noticeably better.

Powerhouse (Indicator) is currently having a 3/£30 (plus shipping) sale (~$53 after shipping is added). The 3 Sinbad films, First Men in the Moon, and Fantastic Island are included in that sale.

To be fair, I did have it up for suggestions/feedback for at least a 2-3 days before finalizing the checklist and what I got was positive. I bet there are other movies that qualify (Star Trek the reboot comes into mind, though it is a second Trek film.)

But hey, if it really is hard to complete, let me know at the end of the challenge. I'll keep an eye out on what people used to fulfill it too. If a lot of people who are participating with the checklist leave it blank or only use suggested films, I will either remove it next challenge or combine it with the other time travel one to give people more choices.

I need a ruling from the group: C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389828/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

It's listed under Comedy/Drama/War but it's an alternative history of where the country would be if the Confederacy won the Civil War. Can I count it?

I would say yes, because alternative history is considered a sub-genre of sci-fi. (Had to look it up, tbh). I was leaning towards no, unless there was a sci-fi event that changed it and history changed from there (like time travel to the past), but since a few different sources consider it to be sci-fi...I'll say yes, it counts.

Don't forget too, if there is something you watch that you thought counted but it turned out it didn't, everyone gets 3 wildcards. So if you watch it and you think it really doesn't fit the challenge, feel free to use your wildcards!

Has anyone seen the Netflix series Russian Doll? If so ... that should count, right? I was surprised to see neither fantasy or sci-fi as one of the listed genres, even though the central premise of the series is time travel loops and alternate realities.

Just finished watching The Cat from Outer Space. It wasn't bad, but I really preferred Disney's other cat movie, That Darn Cat!. You can occasionally see wire work, but it's not too bad. Fun seeing Henry Morgan and McLean Stevenson in a movie together. For those wondering, there is a weapon (guns) in this towards the end so it won't count for that check mark.

Going to finish tonight's watch with The Black Hole. Figure I should get this off the watch list. I have definitely read that it's pretty bad, but guess I'll find out here in a bit!

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Oh, it has its moments. And Maximilian is a nasty a piece of work.

Also, a reminder that Hoopla is free and you can sign up using your local library account. I checked out their SF/Fantasy selection and it's pretty solid; there were maybe a couple hundred titles available. It's where I found Mojin: The Worm Valley (2018) . They've got more mock busters than I'd prefer but they've also got a fair selection of foreign, indie and mainstream titles too. The only real caveat is the number of checkouts a month. I get five, which means one movie a week, but other libraries may offer fewer. Still, another free option is good.

Started with Leviathan and was reminded how bad that ending is, but Peter Weller does a good job with what he's given.

Re: The Black Hole, I actually enjoyed it. Loved Maximillian,

I would think "yes" on that, as well as another one of Kevin Willmott's films, Destination Planet Negro.

As long as it is sci-fi, even if it doesn't have the label, it'd count. However, if you watch it and it really doesn't qualify, you could use a wildcard for it, since you went in thinking it would be eligible. But time travel/alternate realities=sci-fi for me.

I'm kind of enjoying it, actually. Is it the greatest? No. But it's not bad. Maximilian is a very interesting robot and I'm glad Vincent did what he did. Though...how did the damage just mysteriously disappear at the very end? That was a big continuity error.

I will say that the dubious science got really bad at the end. It was alright before, if you kept in mind it was a 40+ year old movie, but the very end, not so much.

I missed a screening of that movie and a Q&A with Willmott in March. It happened the week that things started shutting down, and I was too worried to go sit in a theater. It looks like the library I work for has a copy, so I'll definitely check it out for the challenge. I saw C.S.A. in a arthouse theater with a friend. Afterward, I was in cinematic heaven; it felt like I had seen something so snarky, anarchistic, and real. Maybe I should pop in my DVD for the challenge. It's been a while since I last watched it.

I've always liked That Darn Cat better but The Cat from Outer Space is a fun early Disney SF movie. They've certainly done worse in that arena...
The Black Hole was a movie I was really looking forward to when it first hit the theaters. Promotion generally made it look like it'd be a good, serious, SF movie from Disney with stunning visuals. It wasn't and was a huge disappointment. Star Wars had recently set a new standard for SF visuals. Disney took advantage of none of their techniques, and not even those used for 2001, using ones from decades back and it showed. The background matte paintings *looked* like matted paintings. Don't get me wrong as many are beautiful to look at, it's just compared to the outer space sequences in Star Wars and 2001 they look like a 50s SF movie. Then they throw in two of the worst kiddie robots possible with horribly miscast voices (Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens, especially Pickens, doing "funny" robots?!?) with some of the lamest "humor" I'd heard in years - groan inducing claptrap. This was apparently to make it less frightening to younger audiences - as if they had a good, serious, SF film and then realized it'd scare the bejeezus out of the younger kids so dumbed it down significantly to keep it "family friendly." Never mind the wonky science as it's the least of the films problems.

Overall it's goofy fun but not the "serious" SF I was expecting and wanting. It really helps to go into it expecting Disney's patented humor aimed at 10 year olds and visuals that would have been dated even 10 years earlier. Still... I own 3 copies of the film - the original, non-anamorphic DVD, the updated anamorphic DVD, and the new BR. I'll be watching the BR for this challenge and expect to be disappointed by the film all over again.