LJG765

As I watch movies, I've been putting names into the first post under suggestions for next year. Some names were once on the list and rotated off, some are new. Please take a look as you watch films too and make suggestions for me! I am planning on making a database for next year's challenge where I can easily pick out several names using a random generator of some sort, so it's a bit easier to make the list fresh every year but not have to struggle with coming up with those names.

Older names, newer names, they're all welcome!

LJG765

I just finished watching Logan. I now realize why it took so long for me to watch it. Man, was this movie sad and depressing. I'm not saying it was bad by any means, but a lot darker than I was expecting and lot gorier too. It earned that "R" rating.

shadokitty

Yesterday I finally took time to watch the She-Ra reboot, Princesses Of Power ​​​​​​. I never watched it originally because the animation style turned me off. However, it was actually a very well written show. I watched the first three episodes, and really liked it so far. I particularly liked how Adora and Catra were actually best friends, even after Adora left the Horde, Catra still considered her her friend, and was even starting to have some doubts about the Horde herself.

BobO'Link

I don't care for Harley Quinn - the character - not even in episodes of Batman:TAS in which she appears - so that series is a non-starter for me. I very much disliked the two "Harley Quinn" movies, primarily due to that character appearing.

BobO'Link

If you can call ~10-13 episodes a "season"... I call it a mini-series.

I'm on season 3, episode 3 of Discovery and am reminded of one thing that annoys me about the series. It's the same thing that annoys me about the majority of modern TV series (movies, too). The score doesn't know when to shut up and let the dialog speak for itself. I'd *love* an option to turn the soundtrack off completely. EVERY scene is underscored in a manner attempting to add gravitas/emotional response/lightness - even when it's not needed. IMHO, it rarely is...

I finished Lower Decks yesterday. It's OK but nothing I'll likely ever revisit simply because it's just too much like most modern animated series aimed at 10-15yos. In all fairness, I said the same thing about The Animated Series after watching it during its original airings yet now own a copy (2 actually - DVD and BR) and have watched it several times, enjoying it more each time I make the visit.

BobO'Link

I watched S3 of Discovery today. Unlike the first 2 seasons, it doesn't tell a fully serialized story. While there *is* an undercurrent of a serialized story it's typically *not* the main focus of an episode. Several are bottle episodes and I enjoyed those the most. I didn't much care for the final few minutes of the season but, overall, I liked it much better than S1 and slightly more than S2, though I could have done without the 2 episodes that primarily dealt with Georgiou and her alternate reality.

I also watched the first episode of Picard. It didn't do much for me and I very much disliked the way that episode ended.

I'm about to do a rewatch of the first episode of Strange New Worlds. I've been looking forward to watching this series as I greatly enjoyed that first episode months back when it had a free preview airing. It's the primary reason I did that $.99 subscription for Paramount+.

BobO'Link

I enjoyed watching the first episode of Strange New Worlds again. While it, too, suffers from unnecessary/unneeded scoring it's not as egregious at what's in Discovery. I've tried to watch episode 2 *twice* and have fallen asleep on it both times!! I don't know if that speaks to it being boring or that I just waited too late in the evening to start (I suspect the later). FWIW, I've nodded out at roughly the same place both times...

I also discovered there's a *fifth* new Trek series - one called Star Trek: Prodigy. Based on the opening credits (or rather pre-show advertising crap disguised as an opening sequence) it was developed for Nickelodeon - and it shows. It has a very "modern" animation type look (computer generated "3D" looking stuff) coupled with scripts/action aimed at the Nickelodeon age groups. Basically lots of frenetic action and bouncing all over the place with completely implausible goings on. The general premise is: "5 years after Voyager's return, a crew of young aliens find an abandoned Starfleet ship, the USS Protostar, in the Tars Lamora prison colony. Taking control of the ship, they must learn to work together as they make their way from the Delta Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant." (bolding mine). The same Delta Quadrant in which Voyager was thrown and eventually made their way home... very, very, early (without special help you're looking at roughly a lifetime voyage) - so it's, essentially, repeating Voyager but with kids as the entire crew. And... Capt. Janeway (Voyager's captain) is a holographic entity on this ship, which is apparently some kind of Star Fleet Academy training vessel. Her holograph mistakes the runaway kids for Academy students and treats them accordingly. Apparently, Chakotay was the captain of the Protostar and in command when the ship was taken by unknown parties. It somehow would up in the Delta quadrant... at some point there'll be many guest "appearances" from classic, TNG, and DN9 cast mostly via archival recordings of those series. I can't decide if I want to continue this one or not...

My new "filler" series is the 1995 version of The Outer Limits. I'd purchased several "Best of" releases years (and years) back and enjoyed the few of them I'd watched so started purchasing the series proper. I have *several* season gaps and am looking at a "complete series" release to fill those in but am watching S1 to make sure there's enough "good" to warrant the expense. So far, after a half dozen or so episodes, there is. It's much better than I expected and absolutely superior to what I've seen of the 1985 Twilight Zone relaunch (and I just discovered this series is also in the Paramount+ package so I'll watch some of it as well).

I'm trying to make time to watch the new Director's Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I generally like the movie but was absolutely disappointed with it when I saw it during its original release. I felt then, and still do, that it's little more than a filling out/reworking of 3 classic TOS episodes. But... I'm a Star Trek junkie and will watch, and purchase, just about anything released under that banner (as proven by me watching and purchasing the TNG theatrical films, the "Kelvin" films, and continuing to watch Discovery in spite of putting it at the very bottom of my "ranking the series" list - even below Lower Decks and possibly Prodigy).

And I discovered those "slow shipping digital credits" you get from Amazon (on occasion - not nearly as frequently as in the past) can be used for paying for, at least some, Prime Video subscriptions! I was looking at my credit balance and saw that $.99 had been used. Hmmm.... looked at the Paramount+ order to find it had been applied to that subscription! WooHoo! Totally free for 2 months! I can work with that...

Warning: Rant about streaming follows...

And I'm finding it *quite* annoying that *every* episode of *every* series I've watched on Paramount+ is preceded by a forced 15 second Paramount+ logo that runs *twice*!! Once with just the logo and a 2nd time just to add a super of "original programming" to the bottom. Couple that with a horrible interface and a horrible "remote" (Roku) with zero functionality and it makes me wonder why people put up with streaming services. Discs are *far* superior and easier to use - even taking into account those times of forced warnings/etc. You'd better be paying attention for the ~5 second option to "Skip recap" and/or "Skip open" buttons or you're stuck watching them anyway. There are *no* chapter stops, skips only work backwards for ~10 seconds each (and it takes more than 10 seconds for *that* to work) so you're forced to "rewind/ff" to get to where you want and it's wonky as all get out! Keep in mind that this is Amazon so other services *may* be better but it's not making me a fan at all. It's only good if you want to start something, watch all the way through, and never rewind/skip around for any reason. It actually takes me longer to start the Amazon app, scroll to "my stuff", scroll to "TV Episodes", and *then* scroll to the series I want to watch than to load a disc. Every time I decide to watch a movie (purchased with those free digital credits) or TV series (usually a free Amazon production) on Amazon streaming I'm reminded how inferior streaming truly is to discs - especially with devices like the Roku. It's much, much, easier to do this with a computer interface - but then I'm stuck having to use the computer for viewing and that's not as satisfying as using the TV. All around a lose-lose proposition.

End rant.

In spite of issues and several kind of "meh" series I'm really enjoying the month and, so far, am way ahead of where I've been at this date the past few years. And that's without really pushing to watch stuff - it's been quite relaxing and laid back. It's also the first year in many years we've not gone to my son's house or had them at our house for a week in July.

LJG765

I just posted the Animation Challenge discussion thread. Go take a look if you are going to participate, please! Had a few add ons to the checklist this year, so I'd love to hear feedback.

BobO'Link: I actually don't mind short seasons. They go by quickly and I think they don't leave a lot of room for random episodes that don't do a lot for the plot. That being said, there are always episodes that don't thrill no matter how short or long a season!

I'm with you on streaming. I get that it's convenient. You don't have store discs, can watch anywhere. I use it for challenges a lot as my Vudu account was linked with 5 others and it's huge and has a ton I'd never buy so it can be more affordable. But the number of times I've had to rent something anyway or just couldn't find a particular on a service is not small. Also, the possibility of losing access is annoying, especially if it's a favorite movie or show.

I find that about every 3rd time, I simply have difficulties starting a movie! I have a Roku and it does not seem to like Vudu. I can stream Vudu just fine on my laptop, so it's not my internet. It's not the Roku as I can stream Disney+ or Movies Anywhere just fine, but streaming Vudu from the Roku? Nope. Tells me my hdmi cord isn't high def. It is. Then it'll decide to buffer. Then it tells me to downgrade from HD then when I do so, just continues to buffer. *sigh* At this point, I tend to give up.

Like you, I want to watch a movie on my TV screen, not my laptop. It's a better picture plus, trying to have more than one person watch on a laptop is not great.

I know, I know, get off my lawn, but if streaming really wants to fully convert me, they need to improve a lot of things!

BobO'Link

I switched "filler" last night from The Outer Limits to Farscape. I've seen enough of The Outer Limits to know I really want to go ahead and jump on that complete series release so don't want to watch any further episodes until it arrives - so I switched to an favorite that I upgraded from DVD to BR (and haven't yet watched). It looks good on BR - an overall improvement over what I remember from the DVDs - in spite of it being an upres from the PAL version (supposedly the original 35mm is lost). I'm less impressed with the 5.1 DTS audio mix as, like all "modern" mixes seem to do, they've messed with the voice to music/sfx balance with the dialog pretty low in the mix. They didn't bother to keep the original stereo mix, which IMHO is a failure. If, like me, you often watch late at night you'll have to use SDH to know what's being said without waking your significant other/kids/neighbors/etc. when music/sfx appear. Still... I'm pleased with the product and it takes up *far* less shelf space than the dozen or so DVD cases which make up the "Starburst" release.

And I *finally* managed to make it through episode 2 of Strange New Worlds. I really enjoyed the episode and seeing Uhura's history on the Enterprise. That the story played into both her knowledge of language *and* her singing was pretty cool... but Spock singing? Well... It's hard to believe they ignored that he *can* sing, as seen in the TOS episode "Platos Stepchildren" (S3), but here he can barely carry a tune. It was painful... Overall, the episode could easily have been one from TOS in the way it was written and presented. I'm trying to space this one out - it's too good, so far, to quickly binge watch.

davidh777

I also got into the new Outer Limits series from those random-episode DVDs many years ago, and since then I’ve acquired a number of episodes here and there. I didn’t even know there was a complete series release!

I like the 10-episode seasons myself. I understand the need for 20+ when it’s filling a TV schedule, but these days it just feels like a huge undertaking.

I’m streaming nearly all the time now. I dislike swapping discs and having to figure out where I left off. That said, I’m really not a fan of the forced ads/trailers on P+, though I’m not sure how much of that is the fault of Paramount and how much is Prime. As far as losing access, I mentioned earlier that Netflix lost DS9, but at least it isn’t like losing something I had bought, which is always the vague threat out there but still very rare in actuality.

BobO'Link

Here ya go:


It's an Australian release - but is NTSC and all region.

Amazon's one of the vendors (you have to look at the other offers for them) but their current price is higher than most (and it's been bouncing - I was going to order last night at~$89 and decided to wait until this morning as it'd been dropping by ~$.50 or so every few days - then this morning it'd jumped back up in the $111+ range). The reviews are kind of mixed as to whether or not it's the edited or unedited versions but I really don't care as that should be minimal as it was done mostly for language and/or nudity and the ~$100 price (after tax/shipping from several MP vendors) is pretty good for 7 seasons.

davidh777

I checked my Prime Video account, and I purchased the three “volumes” of 12 episodes each. iTunes has all seven seasons, but only available for $1.99 per episode. Vudu doesn’t have anything. What a mess! Apparently they were on Hulu for a while but are now on Roku Channel. I actually bought a Roku and ended up not using it, so maybe I should take a look there.

BobO'Link

What I purchased were "themed" releases - 6 single disc releases with 5-6 episodes that matched the theme. I picked up one real cheap, watched it, liked it, so purchased the other five. Then S1 came up at a very good price so I picked that up (and am just now watching *it* ~8 years later), followed by a couple of other seasons at "bargain" prices. I was looking at picking up the rest of the individual season releases when that complete series became available at roughly the same price with better packaging (and less shelf space) so...

shadokitty

I’ve been watching some classic black and white tv tonight. I brought out my Mill Creek Classic Sci Fi TV set, and right now am on the third episode of Flash Gordon on Disc 1. I wanted to watch one of my Mill Creek movies, but couldn’t easily locate either of my sci fi movie sets, so settled on this.

BobO'Link

That MC Classic Sci-Fi TV set is quite good. Even the quality on the serials is better than you'd expect from them.

I watched an odd one last night - Incident at Loch Ness (2004). It's kind of a mockumentary within a mocumentary and features Werner Herzog (yes, the director). It came highly recommended by the moriareviews.com site, ranking highly in the "found footage" genre so I picked up a copy in spite of not generally being a fan of "found footage" type stuff. It's not bad and has more in common with Christopher Guest's work than "found footage" stuff but has its moments. I've read that the commentary keeps the "joke" going and is done as if the movie itself is quite serious. I may have to watch it a second time with that audio track...

brainee

I haven't been able to do much with the summer challenge this year. I've been out of town traveling for a month: 3 weeks in Europe, though I'm glad I missed the heat wave they're having now (especially since so few places had AC). But I'm always watching some sci-fi/fantasy, so I figure better late than never (even if my list is much shorter and simpler than I usually do).

Nice! I bought the Blu-Ray set last year and watching season 1 for the summer challenge (and posted about in that thread). I still haven't gotten around to season 2, in part because I heard the things that you're saying. With so many things to watch, it's hard to get up the motivation to watch 20+ episodes of something that isn't supposed to be very good. Season 1 had its flaws, but had a unique vibe to it. And when an episode really worked, it could be great.

davidh777

I have the red one, Sex and Sci-Fi, and the green one, whichever that is. I don’t know if I’ve ever done a top-to-bottom watch. The Amazon volumes are obviously not the same layout, but I think they might have my favorites at least.

brainee

I watched a couple of good ones last night. The Spine of Night (streaming on Shudder) is very much in the style of Ralph Bakshi animated fantasy. I can see how the style won't be for everyone, but I grew up liking those things (and 1981's Heavy Metal) so this was right in my wheelhouse. And I can appreciate the movie even more seeing that it was a labor of love that took years to make (with a production team a fraction of a "mainstream" animated movie).

The Innocents (2021 Norwegian movie, not the 1961 ghost story) was really good too. It's a low key story, so you're not going to see massive super-powered SFX battles. But I thought it was really effective at building tension and emotional involvement. Story-wise it's similar to 2012's Chronicle, although with pre-teen children and much darker (and without the found footage style).

Trevor

Finished my personal checklist much earlier than normal, no last day of the month scramble here.

With this ‘bonus’ time, I think I get back to Stranger Things, haven’t watched it since season one.

shadokitty

I'm looking forward to getting back into some watching later today. I've been too busy to get much tv in the past few days. And when I did have time, I've been watching sharkfest.

BobO'Link

I hit 100 last night - and am just a bit surprised as it seems to have been quite easy to do so this year, especially with 9 days left. Work has made that a bit easier as we were on "summer hours" for a month or so, going in a half hour earlier and getting off at noon on Fridays. I don't change my waking/prep hours for that so managed to get in a hour TV episode each morning before heading out and those Fridays added at least 2 entries a week. Combine no family gatherings/vacations and it just all added up quickly. In prior years, I'd be practically exhausted in getting to 100 by now.

I've neglected the Paramount+ sub this week so am watching Picard today. I still can't quite get fully "invested" in this one. It's moving incredibly sluggishly and the incessant "incidental" score under *everything* is distracting (I know... I keep beating that dead horse... If I thought producers of such product would listen I'd bombard them with emails on the subject). At least it's not devolved into a Borg story like I feared after the final shot of episode 1 so that's a good thing though they *have* used a "decommissioned" Borg cube as a plot point which seems to imply that will change... sigh... I very much dislike Borg stories. And Picard just used the cliche "engage" which was followed by the TNG theme music to end an episode... not looking good...

shadokitty

I don’t remember what the premise was, but I seem to recall on The Borg Fan Collective, Enterprise had a borg episode. Which I don’t think made sense to me, given the time period. I should dig out my Alternate Realities set before the month is out. I at least enjoyed the Mirror Universe. Though Mirror Mirror was always my favorite.

shadokitty

It took a long time between parts, but I finally got around to finishing the mini series pilot of the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Once I got past Starbuck being a woman, I actually enjoyed it. And no daggets or boxies either.

BobO'Link

I finished S1 of Star Trek: Picard. It was OK though nothing I'll revisit often, if at all. They took 10 episodes to do what should have taken at best 3 or 4. The appearances of Riker and Troi were handled well. I somewhat cringed at the use of David Bowie "Easter Egg" stuff (a planet and city name that are pulled from his songs) and didn't much care for the many (many) times they'd "channel" TOS or Voyager queues in the music. I generally liked it better than Discovery but it's still close to the bottom of my ranking of the ST series, just ahead of the 2 animated series and Discovery (which is dead last).

And I just read that Picard S2 is mostly (completely?) a "Q" story. Of course... the only antagonist I dislike almost as much as the Borg... I found the TNG episode "Encounter at Farpoint" so bad I almost didn't watch that first season of TNG, and in hindsight I'd not have missed much if I had though it *was* a significant factor in my decision to stop watching after a few episodes of S2.

LJG765

I get that. I know I've watched something streaming that I own in disc form because I didn't want to get up and find it. I've never really had issues with losing my place-I use Profiler and use that to keep track of what I've watched by disc or even episode if I don't watch a full disc.

For me, it's been more like you can't find the film that you're looking for, though I do have that thought about losing a favorite film. I'll be in the mood for a particular film, but it'll be no where streaming. The one that comes to mind is A Christmas Story. Now, pretty sure this no longer applies, but several Christmases ago, I was looking for it. No one had it not even to rent at the time. Amazon, Netflix, Vudu...tried all of them. Could I find a Christmas movie? Yep, but could I find the one I wanted? Nope. So that's why I don't really trust it.

Fun! I hope your trip went well and you didn't lose any baggage! And yes, still some time left to get some watches in!

Congrats! I'm down to one more check on my list myself. Hope you enjoy Stranger Things! I have seen the first 2 seasons, and probably should watch the next two, but I've been trying to finish the checklist first before watching other things.

Nice! I'm nowhere near that, but I've really only been watching one or two movies/shows a night.

I didn't mind Q but he is definitely not my favorite character, especially one that shows up repeatedly. The Borg aren't favs either, but I thought some of the story lines weren't too bad. Hard to please everyone, right?!