Dr. Who and Mad Men are the only things on that list I haven’t seen - and I plan on checking them out at some point. Mad Men is probably my next “project” once I get done with the first season of The 100 (not a bad show actually) and get caught up on Louie. There is some really, really great TV out there!
I believe she wound up manning a radar tower in Alaska ;)
The first few episodes of season 1 of the new Doctor Who are pretty weak so if that’s all one sees it would be easy to pass on the rest. By about episode 6 or 7 it was really working for me, though, and season one still has three of my favorites of the entire series: Father’s Day, The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances.
Also, if y’all haven’t seen Terriers, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Laura
3665
I loved Terriers and was sad that there was only one season. I missed watching the main characters and Winston, the bulldog, who had a big part.
I thought Serenity was really good but I’ve tried a few times to enjoy Firefly and it just never grabbed me, even past the pilot. It just feels so very…hokey.
I watched Serenity before seeing Firefly and hated it. It assumed I knew and cared about the characters which I didn’t and just didn’t work for me a standalone movie. After watching the series it improved greatly for me, but I’m surprised you guys managed to enjoy fanservicey Serenity and not Firefly.
I watched Serenity before seeing Firefly and hated it. It assumed I knew and cared about the characters which I didn’t and just didn’t work for me a standalone movie. After watching the series it improved greatly for me, but I’m surprised you guys managed to enjoy fanservicey Serenity and not Firefly.
Yeah, it seems a weird take. I mean, I watched Serenity before the show and enjoyed it, because I’m a sucker for Whedon doing Whedony things, but now I love the show.
So a coworker and I have formed a little movie club where each week we alternate picking a film that’s streaming which neither he nor I know anything about. So far, there have been a couple of great hits with only a few duds.
Hits:
Blue Ruin
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Frank
We Are The Best!
It’s Such a Beautiful Day
Housebound
The Dark Valley
Filth
Big Bad Wolves
Runaway Train
Misses:
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Happiness
Here Comes the Devil
Buried
My choice for next week is Paul Williams: Still Alive. The last few weeks have tended towards dark, disturbing, and foreign language, so (I would hope) this won’t be any of those.
Paul Williams: Still Alive is actually a really great little movie. Assuming you’re a fan of his music or, uh, Smokey and the Bandit or something.
Ha ha, you saw Big Bad Wolves!
It’s funny to me that people call mostly harmless crap like Saw “torture porn”, when offensive tripe like Big Bad Wolves is, quite literally, torture porn. All the torture, none of the inconvenient guilt. Is it any surprise that stuff plays in Israel as well as the US (Prisoners, for instance)?
-Tom
I had fairly mixed feelings on Big Bad Wolves, though my coworker liked it quite a bit. I did enjoy the character of the father, but I felt as though they never gave much reason to suspect the teacher was guilty, even though all of the other characters seem pretty convinced of it.
Regarding Paul Williams, I only really know of him through Smokey and the Bandit (and Smokey and the Bandit 2, though the less said of that the better, maybe…) but it seemed like a nice antidote to the last few weeks.
I think after you watch the Paul Williams film you’ll be surprised by how many songs he penned. I’m partial to the songs he wrote for the Muppets personally, particularly “The Rainbow Connection.”
The Paul Williams doc was great. Not so much for the technical merits of the film, but just because it was cool to see Paul Williams in such a better place. His life really took a nosedive when the drugs and booze got out of control. Now? Playing smaller venues, getting back with old band-mates, living quietly and conservatively? He seem so much happier.
The Roger Ebert doc is on Netflix. Have not watched it yet due to a Breaking Bad binge, but I am excited to check it out tonight.
Does he talk about his work on Batman: The Animated Series at all?
Not so much. I think it was mentioned in one sentence as part of a summary of what he’s accomplished, but the doc is mostly about his musical and TV career from the 70’s and early 80’s.
Alrighty, thank you. I’ll still watch it, that just would’ve moved it up in my queue. ;)
Netflix recommended Danger 5 to me. I’ve only watched the first episode, but it’s definitely caught my interest. You’ll know within the first two minutes if the show is for you.
Paul Williams did the music for Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas, which is all you need to know to know that Mr. Williams is awesome.
