I remember liking that one alright. Certainly more than its reputation suggested I would, anyway. As for the MCU, I bailed not long into Phase 2. I have, however, been streaming Loki weekly in a groupwatch with some friends. I've enjoyed it just as a buddy cop thing. I dig the chemistry between Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson.

I have a question about the category "mythology". I know that this fits Greek or Norse Mythology, but would it fit aliens or predators? Their movies creates a mythology about these creatures, so I wondered if they would fit.

I'm going to say no on this one...My thoughts were definitely along the lines of ancient mythology (Like Greek/Roman/Norse/Chinese) than movies that have one surrounding them.

OK, thanks.

I remember seeing this in the theater and being very uncomfortable though I thought it was amazing. I also remember that the theater put a sign in the window telling people that the film was in Spanish. I asked the women at the window if people didn't know the film was in Spanish and she said not only did they not know but some folks were complaining about it. I don't miss living in Oregon and I probably should revisit this film.

I was browsing one of my subscribed channels on YouTube today, Toei Tokusatsu, and saw many playlists of Ultraman style shows. I chose one out of the blue called Kikaider ​​​​​​. It was full of sci fi action, with the premise that a captured scientist built a super android in order to fight the evil androids that he had been forced to build for the villain organization in the show.

It's unfortunate that people just see "subtitles" and skip the movie. As long as they are done well (I hate when they subtitles use a color that is the same as the background and you can't read them!), it's easy enough to keep up. People miss out on so many great movies by not being willing to watch with the subs on.

I find it curious that we've spent decades as a society worshiping at the altar of multitasking, shifting personal communication to text-based formats, and incorporating running tickers into our TV broadcasts, but people still act as though reading closed captioned text for a language they're not proficient in hearing is somehow an unreasonable demand for which they're ill-prepared. Of course, there's also a strong resistance to silent films and those require considerably less reading than captioned talkies. Hell, anymore it seems like we can add 4:3 aspect ratio to the list of unacceptable formats, along with foreign language, silent, and black & white.

I kind of feel like reading in general has become "bougie." Something for the hoity toity to do. Text messages are brief and don't use correct spelling/punctuation for the most part. Moving tickers at the bottom of the screen just show brief highlights. Add this to people wanting to multi-task, and a movie that requires your full attention is going to be spurned. You are forced to keep your eyes and your mind on the screen.

Somewhere out there right now, Guy Montag still thinks this is as it should be.

Well... there are *some* up and coming kids who'll watch subtitled movies. My 17yo grandson's current absolutely favorite movie of all time is Gojira - the original Japanese print watched with subtitles. I'd bet he'd also really like Pan's Labyrinth. We also watch all of the Jackie Chan movies in Cantonese where possible. I've not yet tried him on the Kurosawa films but think he'd enjoy them.

While I will just as willingly watch King Of The Monsters, the original Japanese Gojira has always been one of my favorite movies, ever since I first found the DVD soon after its American release at Best Buy. Now many kaiju movies I watch are the Japanese cuts.

It's funny, I saw Independence Day in the theaters during a midnight preview way back when and loved it too. But through the years, I've seen it 3-4 times and liked it less and less each viewing. I now agree with you 100%, it's truly the lowest common denominator of science-fiction.

I recently discovered that Clarence Boddiker in Robocop was Kurtwood Smith. Now whenever I watch it, I can’t help picturing him calling Robocop a dumb***.

That would be pretty funny! I have to say, though, Robocop is not a favorite of mine. I picked up the BR a few years back and watched it and didn't love it. I remember seeing it when it came out but don't remember if I liked it then or not, but kind of feel it didn't age that well.

How are people's challenges going? I've gotten a few watches in, but haven't picked up pace yet. I am back home; my trip went really well but we were busy everyday so only got one qualifying watch in while away.

If you're using the checklist, how do you like the changes? Don't forget if you come up with change suggestions, I'd love to hear them and will keep them for next year!

I'd doing pretty good (30 titles as of now which *should* be on track for 100 by the 31st but I also have several days of family stuff coming up that'll eat lots of movie time) but am also not pushing myself like in the past. Taking things at a more leisurely pace to better enjoy the films. Plus my unwatched SF movie pile is quite a bit smaller than it's ever been with maybe 20 titles left - not counting the MCU/DCU stuff (can't say the same about the TV SF unwatched pile though - lots of material there - enough to fill several challenges).

I'm avoiding the checklist this year because when I use them I tend to go all in and that often means ignoring the unwatched pile to be able to complete it.

I'm currently watching Avatar for the 2nd time. The first didn't impress me at all but I purchased a BR upgrade (got it real cheap) so am watching the expanded cut of it. So far the CGI looks even more fake than I recalled it looking on the DVD. It's kind of like watching one of the newer Disney "animated" features but without the songs and having a more adult theme.

I should break 100 before the end of the Challenge. I've been trying to split my movies evenly between fantasy and SF (9/10 currently). Anime's been a mix of SF and fantasy, but the TV (non-anime) is leaning more toward SF. I've got two more episodes of Quatermass and the Pit to go, and right now I'm leaning toward classic Tomorrow People when it ends, but, I don't know, we'll see. I wish I had Ghosts (2019); maybe for next year. I just started Orphen and there's enough episodes that I'll finish the first season this Challenge and the second season (first time watch!), next month's Challenge.

Tonight's second movie, Scared Stiff (1987) was an interesting ride. Starts off as a sex comedy/buddy comedy, drifts into crime and then sci-fi with a quick detour into horror comedy and the last quarter or so giallo, followed by crime (the sci-fi never quite disappears). It's hung on a frame work that's based on Dreamscape (1984), with a dash of The Fury (1978), especially the ending. It's the kind of movie that could have only been made in Hong Kong in the Eighties.

I finished Avatar and can safely say my opinion of the film hasn't changed. It's not bad but also not that good with CGI that, far too often, looks like a better video game with live action sequences that too frequently look like CGI as well (and maybe they are...). The story is pretty much a recycled, predictable, mess spending far too much time on visual effects sequences which I'm guessing were to show off the 3D processes. Supposedly Cameron is working on *three* sequels. Hopefully he comes up with better stories for them.

I watched Battlefield Earth. Yeah, its bad, but it is in no way one of the worst movies of all time. The script and dialogue are so bad its cringe worthy and it must be John Travolta's worst acted film. i also agree that all of the Dutch camera angles didn't work. Most of the other actors I thought did fine in it.

4.5/10

I bought the book at a library book sale one year long ago. Been meaning to read it, but never got around to it.

The book is *far* superior to the movie. One of those things where if you read the book and then watch the movie you'll be wondering just how they managed to mess it up that much.

I finally watched A.I. Artificial Intelligence yesterday. While it absolutely wasn't what I was expecting I also didn't think it was very good. I found myself laughing at scenes/sequences I know weren't supposed to be funny but they were just too cheesy to take seriously. It *should* have ended at roughly the 2 hour mark - before it jumped 2000 years into the future. That part was the cheesiest of all. Haley Joel Osment did an excellent job - it's just a shame it was wasted on this dreck. I didn't like Jude Law's part at all. All of the segments with him were super cheese fest. And that "circus" was one of the cheesiest things I've seen since I saw Rollerball (which at IMDB's current 6.6 is *highly* overrated). I could easily pick out the Kubrick bits but the Spielberg stuff was the apparent driving force. I'm not that sure Kubrick had a workable film and think that's one reason he never brought it to the screen himself. It's just one more nail in the "Spielberg shouldn't be allowed to touch SF material" coffin for me.

I have a question about "old" Doctor Who. Even though it seems like something that would be right in my wheelhouse, it just wasn't on my radar when I was growing up. I've always been wanting to try to give it try over the years. A few years ago I started watching from the beginning, with the serials from William Hartnell's "The Beginning" DVD set. I liked it alright, but I think trying to be a completionist and go through the "Marco Polo" reconstruction made me lose interest.

Is there any reason to watch the serials in order? Or might I be better off skipping ahead to the ones fans rank the highest? I've heard Tom Baker generally considered long-time fans favorite doctor, and I'm curious to see what his seasons are like, although if I make myself go in order I may never get there.

You can cherry pick a couple of the Second Doctor's episodes, say "Tomb of the Daleks" and "The Mind Robber" for a taste, but go ahead and start with the Third Doctor (Pertwee). His first series was very much a reset so it's a good place to jump on. Just brace yourself for the BBC's charmingly jejeune special effects (Bessie's still cool though).

Sounds like people are doing well in the challenge!

I enjoyed this film but didn't love it. I keep hearing there will be three sequels but has he even started filming any of them?

I agree with this. Not a huge fan of it either. It was just an odd film...