A Rented Weekend
There's no thief like a bad movie. ~Sam Ewing
As I posted on Wednesday, there isn’t much to do in the winter during our leisure hours but feed the fire in the woodstove, read, and watch DVDs. As I lamented in my post during last month’s movie giveaway, Dale and I have always enjoyed a good movie. I think the problem these days –and I really hate to sound like my mother here – but they just don’t make them like they used to!
It seems most of the movies we rent these days have these convoluted plots or are just dumb. “Maybe Hollywood is running out of ideas.” My mom used to say that too.
Makes you wonder if this is why they market to the 18–34 year old audience.
Still, we have a subscription to Netflix, and although there aren’t very many movies I consider great, this service is wonderful for those of us who live in rural areas and still want to keep up on what’s playing – good or bad.
Drop it into the mailbox one day and usually within 2 days, you get DVD back. Or, if you have a good enough Internet connection (which we don’t), you can watch some online. The great thing about this is that you can also rent television series. Netflix allows us to watch a whole season in one weekend without subscribing to the premium satellite channels.
No, Netflix hasn’t paid me to promote them, nor am I receiving a discount on our subscription.
We still have snow on the ground and as of this writing, the windchill is –16 degrees. That’s right, there’s negative windchill readings. We are exhausted from getting up an hour early (4 a.m.) this week as Dale’s had to take the long way to work by staying on the main roads which have been cleared.
So this weekend will be about digging out that crockpot, my nice warm blanket and when I'm not reading, settling in for Season 1 of the FX series, “Sons of Anarchy.” We got into the program this year and realized we had actually gotten into season 2. Maybe now if we watch season 1, some of the things in season 2 will make sense and better prepare us for season 3 this year!
Like books, I like to own good movies. Here’s my list of all-time favorite series and movies:
TV
”Six Feet Under” (I personally think this is the best series ever to appear on television and the series finale was outstanding)
“Dexter”
“The Wire”
“Deadwood”
“The Riches”
“The Sopranos”
“24”
Movies
“American Beauty”
“Titanic”
“Mystic River”
“Crash”
“Hotel for Dogs” (very cute!)
“The Shining” (I watch this every year during a snow storm. It adds to the creepiness)
“Stand by Me”
“Pet Semetary”
“Finding Forester”
“Born on the 4th of July”
“Riding in Cars with Boys”
“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”
“Wizard of Oz”
“Christmas Vacation”
“Funny Farm” (this kind of reminds me of our lives now!)
“State of Play” (a recent Russell Crowe movie and I’m surprised, as I’m not a fan)
“Almost Famous”
“You’ve Got Mail”
“One Fine Day”
“All the President’s Men”
Your turn. I want to know your favorites!
I need to add some of these to my Netflix. Right now I'm waiting for Weeds to come.
We watched my favorite movie of all time yesterday — Same Time Next Year with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn. I love it.
We tried "Weeds," but for some reason, I couldn't identify with the characters, or really cared about them. I wanted to like it though!
MASH (the TV series)
Northern Exposure
Two great oldies, Kathy!
I'm a fan of watching entire seasons of shows at once: Entourage, The Wire, Weeds. So many new ones to discover. I still rent at the video store but Netflix is in our near future!
I haven't tried "Entourage," might have to add that one!
I liked Six Feet Under, but I think the best all-time was The Wire. We are watching Mad Men this winter, thanks to Netflix. Another really surprising good recent movie was Gran Torino. Great script, fine acting. I laughed a lot, which I did not expect. Movies in the winter, absolutely!
Alexandra, I loved "Gran Torino" as well, although my husband didn't like it. He was expecting the trademark Dirty Harry type character. I tried "Mad Men" once and maybe I just didn't give it enough of a chance.
Netflix is the best bargain around, especially if you can watch on your computer. I have lots of favorites, but two that I watched recently are:
As Good As It Gets, with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, and Carolina, with Shirley McLain. This one I had never heard of, but it is hilarious.
I love "As Good as it Gets," Keema. Never heard of "Carolina," but I'll add it to my queue.
While not a DVD yet, Avatar is the most fun I've had in the theatre isince the original Lord of the Rings.
So we've heard. We might even break our no theater rule and go and see this one, since it's supposed to be better in 3D.
Wonder Boys, The Secret of Roan Innish, Lost in Translation, You Can't Take It With You(Jimmy Stewart),Coyote Ugly,Love Actually, Philadelphia Story, Desk Set, Holiday(Katherine Hepburn), Harvey,Last Chance Harvey,Dead Poets Society, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Dave, A Certain Smile, Enchanted April, Rear Window, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, Sleepless in Seattle, An Affair to Remember(Cary Grant, not the re-make), The Quiet Man, Matilda, My Geisha, Memories of a Geisha, A Man and A Woman, Love in the Afternoon, Two for the Road,The Little Princess, the Secret Garden, and on and on-can you tell we are movie buffs? Agree that Six Feet Under's final episode may be the best ever written.
Oh, I had forgotten "Wonder Boys" and "Dead Poet's Society," both excellent movies. You are quite the movie buffs, Rae!
The best movie I've seen recently was "The World's Fastest Indian." I strongly recommend it. Watched it two nights in a row. And one of my favorite movies of all time is "Blazing Saddles." Gene Wilder at his best.
I'll have to check that one out, Reader. And in full agreement on "Blazing Saddles." I have a friend who also loves that movie. If we need to cheer each other up, we start quoting it.
Good morning, Keri. Never saw that one. I will add it to my queue. She's a great actress!
"Sliding Doors" with Gwenyth Paltrow