What are you watching? (TV/Movies)

[ZetaBladeX13]

[Maxine MagicFox]

^_^; I had a taped off tv version then got it on VHS, then about three years ago I got it on DVD for Christmas. The tapes, obviously, didn't last very long and were watched over and over and over and over.... did I ever mention to you how MUCH I watch it? .... -_- I have the movie practically memorized...

I'm so fuggin' pathetic XD

[Kinokokao]

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Kinokokao]

Mmmm Lost.

My fiance and I picked this up the first summer we were together. We rented the first season on DVD and marathoned it over two weeks. At the end of the summer we saw the 2nd season, and then bought the 3rd season on DVD when it came out around Christmas last year. We saw all the 4th season while it was still on the air thanks to a friend who records/downloads it for us. I cook us dinner when we watch it to apologize for dragging him into our obsession.

I like Lost. I dunno if you would... I think it's a good time. I could give you a rundown of the premise and such if you wanted it.

My parents only ever bought disney movies on VHS for us to watch. I taped stuff off TV all the time, though. One summer I made a tape of all three Back to the Futures, in order, but taped off different stations at different times.

I get kept a little more on top of things now due to where I work. I need to stay up with what series are coming out on DVD, even if I don't watch them.

[Maxine MagicFox]

Nah, I'm good, thanks. I've already been told by several buddies whose taste in movies is close to mine, that they thought it was "a shitty and worthless attempt at mindfucking Lord of the Flies". No CLUE what the hell that means, but XD it really hasn't put me in the mood to want to learn anything more about it. I don't even know if THEY truly watched it or how much they did. (And, I'm not saying that to be mean or anything. ^_^; If you really want to talk about the series, go ahead. You know I'll end up reading, haha. Maybe you can get me interested.)

We were VERY big on taping things. TV Guide was our best friend and we always had a bunch of free tapes ready and on-hand at all times XD

[Kinokokao]

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Kinokokao]

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Kinokokao]

[Hanyou]

Um...I'm a bit confused. There was already a topic like this, and I posted it and killed it. However, since a couple people have posted again, I'll do the same and see what happens. o_o;

I suppose it's worth saying I've never watched Labyrinth, I prefer to own movies than use Netflix, and I tried watching Lost...it seemed a bit boring.

My question about Labyrinth is: exactly how incoherent is its fantasy world, and to what end? I don't much like fantasy unless it either manages to establish a coherent and even realistic world (though it's a game series, The Elder Scrolls is a perfect example of this), boasts an incredibly interesting atmosphere for its lack of realism (Alice in Wonderland would perhaps qualify here), or manages to be captivating for wholly other reasons (Narnia). I'm still not sure if I should watch Labyrinth. I suppose it's worth noting that I found Willow almost unwatchable, and if Labyrinth is too similar, I might not even complete it.

I have seen Pan's Labyrinth, and I think it's very good. XP Does that count? Can it, please? Though it's not in my "top ten," I strongly believe it's one of the best films ever made.

Shows:

Political/ News Shows: 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Glenn Beck, On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, ABC World News, Hannity and Colmes

Pundits are only destructive if you hang on their every word (remember, kids, The Daily Show is NOT a good source for news). I like Glenn Beck's show because he frequently admits his biases and doesn't seem to expect anyone to agree with him. As for The Colbert Report, I don't mind laughing at my own views. And yes, you'll often hear me rant about a liberal bias in the news, etc.--but at least I'm informed about what ABC, CBS, and NBC do. I refuse to not watch those channels, if only so I can get a different angle on the news and know what I'm talking about. And pretty often, they peddle good information.

Sitcoms: Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, Cheers, The Andy Griffith Show, George Lopez, Frasier, I Love Lucy

These are my all-time favorite sitcoms--it doesn't mean I watch them all at once. Right now, I spend about 30 minutes a night on Home Improvement and another 30 minutes on George Lopez. Cheers and Seinfeld are probably the best on the list, though.

Television Dramas: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Does this even count? I don't watch it much, and the only reason I do watch it is that (for the most part) the stories are somewhat isolated. I could never commit myself to watch a television drama on a daily or weekly basis, so I've never tried.

Anime: The Big O, Cowboy Bebop

Bebop's on everyone's list, but it's The Big O that I really love. I own season one and two, and they're both pretty good. I don't really care for giant robots, but everything else about the story and the setting is very much to my liking. The robots become more tolerable in season two because they're brought to the foreground of the plot, which makes the whole thing feel less contrived. Both of these shows also have really great soundtracks.

Miniseries: North and South

A good civil war epic in spite of its soap opera-ish tendencies.

Movies:

This will be long because I'm a bit of a movie buff. I frequently rank my favorite movies, and this is where they stand now--though the list could change tomorrow, depending on my mood. It's also worth noting that "favorite" is not synonymous with "best." Chariots of Fire ranks above Metropolis as a favorite, but is it better? Probably not, though I'd argue both are very good movies.

1.) Chariots of Fire:- An uplifting, powerful story about two people who battled the elitists of their generation and became legends. I must have watched this movie a hundred thousand times and I never get tired of it.

2.) Ben-Hur: Heston had no rival when it came to acting. He was one of the best of his time, and helped create some of the most enduring characters in cinema. Half the reason Ben-Hur is so good is that Heston portrayed his character with a sincerity and energy that you simply don't find in modern cinema. The story was also incredibly good, however, with all the trappings of a greek tragedy. And while the chariot race will always be hailed as perhaps the greatest scene of its kind (rightfully so), I find the redemptive ending even more powerful.

3.) Patton: Was Patton as cruel as many believed him to be at the time, or was he simply misunderstood? Like any good documentary, this film presents the viewer with a mostly unbiased account and lets him or her decide for him or herself. Aside from being a fantastic biopic, it's also one of the best war films ever made. It's impossible not to like Patton.

4.) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: Everything clicked into place here. The story found its direction, the characters broke out of their character types, and the special effects served to punctuate, rather than dominate, the story. It lived up to its name, leaving my favorite Star Wars character neatly encased in carbonite and the hero with five less real fingers, but I honestly feel that Luke's victory in this movie is much more powerful than any victory achieved in any of the other Star Wars films. If Lucas had handled Anakin's fall to the Dark Side as intelligently as Kershner handled Luke's victory over the Dark Side in TESB, perhaps the prequels would have been better. As it stands, the best scene in the prequels--the conversation between Palpatine and Anakin in the opera house--recalls the same sense of inevitability that was present in The Empire Strikes Back. Kershner understood why people go to the movies--it's for the same reason we read books or listen to music. We want to be emotionally stirred, to see ourselves in the characters and the timeless, tried-and-true plot devices such as the Hero's Journey. Lucas knew how to spin a good yarn, but he couldn't put it into words. Kershner filled in the gaps. That's why this franchise was at its very best in 1980.

5.) Fritz Lang's Metropolis: Best science fiction film of all time, period. Even in its incomplete form, it's better than most of what's been released since. Touches on psychology, philosophy, theology, and, ultimately, mankind's will to survive. Powerful stuff. The special effects of this film were so far ahead of their time that I daresay they rival anything that any science fiction film has churned out in all the time since then. The original score (be sure to watch the 2002 version, by the way--it's truest to the original cut as of now, though they've recently found newer footage) perfectly represented the contrast between the industrial underground area and the "pleasure gardens" above, alternating between heavier, more militaristic sounds and more lighthearted orchestral segments. Any science fiction fan would be well-served to watch this movie. It's as close to perfection as any movie could possibly get. is a trailer for the Kino cut...it should give you a good idea of what to expect. It's easy to forget this movie was made in 1927, isn't it? Be sure to turn up the volume and remember that it's a silent film--the emotional impact of every bit of dialogue and every sound was conveyed through the visuals and the music.

6.) Lord of the Rings: I'd read the books prior to the release of the movies, and I honestly think the saga lived up to its name. I mentioned above that characters and believable interactions were what made Empire so good. It's hard to make a fantasy story down-to-earth, and I think Jackson did with Lord of the Rings everything Lucas should have done with the Star Wars prequels. Again, the special effects served the story, rather than the other way around, and interactions drove the plot forward. Much credit goes to Tolkien, but Jackson's achievements should not be understated; bringing this franchise to the silver screen was a monster of a task, and it could have had disastrous results. Instead, it's one of the definitive movies of the modern era.

7.) Batman Begins: I hate superhero films. That's why I love Begins so much--it's true to the style of the more noir-ish comics and you tend to forget it's about a superhero. I need to let my thoughts marinate on The Dark Knight for now. After it's on DVD and I've had a chance to watch it a few times, I'll see where it falls on this list.

8.) Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis: This is the best animated film I've ever seen. Critics ridiculed it for being all style and no substance, and while I'm generally against that sort of thing, I think this movie's style and substance play off of each other and are both necessary to the progression of the plot (this was also true of the original Metropolis, so I don't see why there should be anything wrong with that). The fluid, bright animation contrasts with the dark and foreboding plot, and it probably has one of my all-time favorite soundtracks. The story drew me in with its multi-faceted characters (you can pretty much sympathize with all of them) and the vivid world certainly helped. This is the movie that got me into anime--and sadly, this is the movie that also pulled me out of it when I found few anime films or shows that, in my opinion, recaptured the sense of wonder or the universal appeal of this movie's plot while still managing to be so deeply personal (Spirited Away came close, but I had a hard time taking it as seriously). Beautiful.

9.) Braveheart: One of the most stirring Hollywood epics of all time, and a clear reminder that a good battle scene is worthless without good characters to drive the action forward. It's not necessarily accurate to history, but I think it fitfully captures the spirit of freedom that drove people like William Wallace.

10.) Citizen Kane: Is it as good as everyone says it is? No. But it's good.

Honorable mentions: Gattaca, Seven, A Few Good Men, Blade Runner, The Omega Man, The Godfather I and II, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: A New Hope, Casino Royale, The Terminator, Lawrence of Arabia, Nosferatu, Silence of the Lambs, Guns of Navarone, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Spirited Away, The Truman Show, Jacob's Ladder, Dr. No, Memento, Phantom of the Opera (1925), Finding Forrester, Dark City, Pan's Labyrinth, Apollo 13, 12 Angry Men.

[Kinokokao]

[Maxine MagicFox]

Oh GOD I fucking loved Pan's Labyrinth!!

[spoiler]Sorry, Kino, I'm in the camp of "it was all in her head".[/spoiler]

Memento - judging from Kino's comment, is this the one that plays the movie in reverse time or something like that? I've heard mention about it but know nothing about it. Details?

[Maxine MagicFox]

So... Netflix has Heroes on 'watch instantly'. I've only seen a few previews for this that have shown up announcing season 3 on dvd on commercials in between SVU episodes. Is it any good? Or is it ... korny?