What are you watching now?

My Name Is Earl - I've been with this show from the beginning, and while I still enjoy it I do feel it has been losing steam for around a season or so and it doesn't look to get back into season 1-2 form anytime soon. It's still funny, but the problem now is that there's more not funny than funny and the show is pretty directionless in general.

The Office - Another fantastic episode, and a great character builder and arc episode as opposed to an all out hilarious episode like the premier was. Although this did feature the Jim/Andy "Battlestar Galactica" conversation, and that was the funniest minute or so of TV in a long while.

Life On Mars - I haven't seen the original, nor did I bare witness to the original pilot that was supposedly horrid. With that being the case I greatly enjoyed this episode. I like the premise, I thought the acting was minimalist, and that fits with the time period, it looked great from a setting standpoint, and the story played out nicely. Still, over time I can see how the setting and premise can possibly get in the way of good storytelling.

Eleventh Hour - Rufus Sewell rocked it, but then again he rocks everything he's in. I really like the premise behind the show, and I think there was a lot put forth that nabbed my attention and will bring me back. But, there was also a lot that I hope they iron out, most noticeably the score. At points it completely drowned out what was happening on screen so that you couldn't distinguish between the action and the music, and at other times it didn't fit in any way particular scenes. There were too many "coincidental" or "idiotic luck" moments, or too many people acting stupid period, but like I said I think it shows promise and I'll be back.

Still watching "Supernatural" and loving it. Finished Season 3. Not sure why this show hasn't gotten more attention. Almost caught up to this season.

The Office - Another fantastic episode, and a great character builder and arc episode as opposed to an all out hilarious episode like the premier was. Although this did feature the Jim/Andy "Battlestar Galactica" conversation, and that was the funniest minute or so of TV in a long while.

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"Is it like the original Battlestar Galactica?"
"Actually, it's practically a shot-for-shot remake"

lol

The Office will never match the heights of season 2, but it's always good for some solid moments, and the performances are the greatest I've ever seen in a sitcom.

Another movie I liked a lot that the rest of the public didn't care for all that much, but I had a blast watching it and thought it really delivered for the type of movie that it wanted to be.

Either way, here's my review,

Cloverfield (2008)
http://worldsoforos.com/secondviews/2008/10/10/cloverfield-2008/

I loved Cloverfield. I thought it was pretty solid all around.

Been meaning to see Cloverfield.

Got a call from my cable company yesterday telling my the "bundle" I supposedly signed up for is expiring and- out of sheer consideration, I'm sure- offered to sign my up for a new one with more channels that cost more, but really I'd be "saving" all this money!

I'll call them and see what my options are, but my guess is I'll end up dropping a bunch of stuff. I absolutely don't want to pay any more and upon reflection, realize I don't use a bunch of this stuff. For example I signed up for this "sports package" because of the NFL Network and ESPN Classic, but haven't even turned those channels on since. HBO used to be cool because of show like The Wire, Deadwood and Rome- all gone. They only thing they have left is some comedy specials and boxing, but it's not worth paying extra for a channel just for occassional programming. Same w/ Showtime. I think I'll also dump the DVR cable box- no shows worth recording and the few I will still want to follow, like Lost, I can "acquire" via other means, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, he said knowingly.

If I drop this I may end up picking up a Blu-Ray player at some point if I can find one for ~$200. Plus there's On-Demand- paying for the occassional movie may be cheaper than paying for more channels.

Frankly I'm surprised cable companies are still so uptight w/ their pricing policies, what with all the competition they now face.

I dropped HBO, and I have a friend recording Bill Maher for me.

One thing I don't understand about cable pricing is that they charge more for "On Demand" than a video store does to rent a DVD. Surely it is cheaper for them to provide the "On Demand."

I think the cheapest Blu-Ray right now is $238 for a Samsung, but it is expected that some will be available for $199 during the holidays.

Jade Jaguar said:

One thing I don't understand about cable pricing is that they charge more for "On Demand" than a video store does to rent a DVD. Surely it is cheaper for them to provide the "On Demand."

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Old rule of thumb - to make a big profit charge what the market will bear.

It is
"On Demand" price
Vs.
DVD rental price + parking + cost of travel + (something to cover the hassle).

I don't know how much it costs for the cable company to run an On-Demand service, but in terms of convenience and quality, On-Demand far outshines any of the alternatives. HD movies at the click of a button- beautiful. I really don't mind paying the 4 or 5 buck for it, especially since I don't use it all that often anyway.

GKarsEye said:

...I really don't mind paying the 4 or 5 buck for it, especially since I don't use it all that often anyway.

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Well if they charged $1 or $2, I would be using it all the time. Wouldn't you use it more at those prices? If they are getting almost as much usage as their systems will handle, then I understand the pricing, but I doubt that. I guess I should be happy they don't offer the reduced prices, or my cable bill would be higher!

I gather I'm the only one in the USA who lives with a tv service provider whose "pay per view" service shows really horrible movies. And due to the popularity of companies like Netflix, local video rental stores are going out of business left and right. In fact, I wouldn't know where in town to rent a video right now other than... the Safeway grocery store.

Whenever I do check PPV selections (one for the vast majority of the day) I'm always interested to see them airing something that got better than a 1 star rating. Three stars is a bit of a shock to see.

Thank goodness for Netflix.

I've been watching season 2 of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. It's funny and heart-breaking at the same time.

I just started Sanctuary, and I'm re-watching Farscape. Woo!

Jade Jaguar said:

Well if they charged $1 or $2, I would be using it all the time. Wouldn't you use it more at those prices? If they are getting almost as much usage as their systems will handle, then I understand the pricing, but I doubt that. I guess I should be happy they don't offer the reduced prices, or my cable bill would be higher!

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I probably would use it more then- heck, if their library were way bigger, it would replace Netflix.
Using On Demand a few times a month and having a low-end Netflix subscription still seems better and cheaper than paying for premium channels.

HellCat said:

I've been watching season 2 of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. It's funny and heart-breaking at the same time.

I just started Sanctuary, and I'm re-watching Farscape. Woo!

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Is season 2 better than 1? Frankly I felt the show and the character were empty, shallow and stupid and surprisingly uninteresting.


I just finished season 1 of Dexter. It's a really stupid premise and the plot holes were huge, yet I did enjoy the ride. The stories move quickly and main dynamic between the title character and villain were done well enough to keep me interested. All the side stories were really lame, though. Will check out season 2 soon.

GKarsEye said:

Is season 2 better than 1? Frankly I felt the show and the character were empty, shallow and stupid and surprisingly uninteresting.


I just finished season 1 of Dexter. It's a really stupid premise and the plot holes were huge, yet I did enjoy the ride. The stories move quickly and main dynamic between the title character and villain were done well enough to keep me interested. All the side stories were really lame, though. Will check out season 2 soon.

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i love dexter, the concept is new (at least it is in television) and very entertaining.

just finished season 1 of chuck. the whole shows stinks of McG but it remains incredibly entertaining, i'm starting in on my name is earl too, what i've seen so far is very good, though i was initially put off by the fact that it is chock full of Scientologists but, by xenu it's good.

As an atheist, I would be happy to argue about this stuff in another forum, but I'm not even reading it here.

Meanwhile, back on topic...

I have just seen the first two eps of a 5 ep series, made in the UK, shown in the US on the PBS Masterpiece Mystery series. It is called The Last Enemy. It is about a mathematician who was so put off by modern life in the UK that he moved to China, to escape the pressures. He returned to the UK for his brother's funeral. He then discovered that his brother was really murdered because he reported an outbreak of some kind of deadly disease in a refugee camp in Afghanistan, where he worked as a doctor. To try to get to the bottom of it, he has let himself be recruited by some politicos trying to institute a system called T. I. A., or Total information awareness, which will allow total surveillance on everyone, all the time. It's very well done, full of suspense and intrigue. Highly recommended.

Doctor Who (2005) Season 1 (then going on through Season 3, and Torchwood Seasons 1 & 2)
The Thin Blue Line - complete show
House M.D. Season 4
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles - Season 1

Lilo & Stitch (2002)
--The forgotten Disney film as I like to call it, because it was made during the Pixar era, is great, but isn't a Pixar film. There's so much to love about this film, form the clean and crisp animation, to the colorful usage of Elvis Presley songs, the way the humor is handled, and that it's both an honest movie without having to have a typical Disney sappy ending.

Unbreakable (2000)
--Tremendous film. This is easily M. Night's finest work. The tone, atmosphere and feeling of dread was the driving force of the movie and it worked in spades. This was helped out by top notch performances from everyone involved, an excellent score (that was used perfectly) and brilliant cinematography. This is, up till this point, the greatest pure superhero origin story ever put to film, and one of the greatest movies ever made.

Did the ending of Unbreakable come as a surprise to you?

Unbreakable is awesome. My favorite M. Night movie. It builds and builds. I think throughout the entire scene where he's fighting off that guy, my heart was just pounding. And it's no flashy effects or whiz/bam. It's just good ole-fashioned suspenseful storytelling.