I love watching TV and movies. I refuse to have an actual TV, which is odd considering how much time I spend online at places like free tv online , putlocker, gorillavid, etc. Watching TV is one of a few escape mechanisms I have come up with to deal with stress and a sense of impending doom. (And Doctor Who is usually my cure all). Sometimes I have insomnia from worrying too much so I stay up late and watch TV. So, below I've made a list of shows/movies I've watched that are new to me or are old favorites.
Selfie
If you like Community or the IT Crowd, chances are you will like this show or parts of it. Okay, I'll admit it, I only started watching because I wanted to see what Karen Gillan sounded like with an American accent, but low and behold it's actually good & the best contemporary show I've seen in a while. The story follows a young woman who is "suffering" from narcissism caused by excessive use of social media. She befriends an uptight, anti-facebook, old school, work-a-holic man in her office and he attempts to bring her back to reality. It's disappointing the show didn't get to air the first season in it's entirety before it was canceled this fall. The last episode, I think, will air this week.
Fight Club
Jesse had never seen this movie so we watched it last night. I hadn't watched it since it came out in high school. I had forgotten the main punchline; all I remembered was the bit about the soap (which was just as funny as I remembered).
"Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
Broadchurch
A cross between Lewis and Calvary (both which are worth seeing too). A bit like True Detective, but not as intense and dark. A detective inspector is relocated to a remote village where his first case is to solve the death of an eleven year old boy. Riveting story with rich characters and some similar quirky (though not as out there) elements of Twin Peaks. If you feel like a short marathon over the holidays, I recommend taking a day, getting some take out, and watching the eight episodes of this.
Poirot : Murder on the Orient Express & Five Little Pigs
The best and saddest of Agatha Christie's mysteries. The first takes place on a train (the Orient Express) - a man seeks Poirot's help claiming he is in danger and then is murdered en route. The plot thickens and ends in a heartbreaking way where for the first time Poirot has to turn a blind eye to the guilty party. I won't say more as I don't want to give it away.
The second story is about young woman trying to come to terms with the death of her mother and father which took place when she was a young child. The narrative is told from several view points, and the deaths are re-examined and the murder re-investigated years later.
If you are looking for a more "uplifting" murder mystery - one of our favorites is Dumb Witness, which has a small silly dog in it, and more typical of Christie's works.
Can't Buy Me Love
I got in a conversation with someone about Patrick Dempsey and they asked me if I had ever seen Can't Buy me Love, which I hadn't - then I watched it. A cute, light-hearted, romantic comedy about a nerd in high school who offers to pay a popular girl a thousand dollars to pretend to his girlfriend so he can then become popular, and much to her surprise, it works.
Then, go watch the ABC miniseries of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Pulp : Life Death and Supermarkets
I know, I'm biased, but, this is much better than a normal documentary about a band - because very little of it is about the band. Most of it is about the city of Sheffield and what kind of people live there. Seriously I could write a dissertation on Pulp, class, love, sex, and fame.
I feel like I'm writing a teenage blog when I say this, but there has always been something about Jarvis Cocker that I admire.. He has always been himself and has never compromised his ideas and ideals. He seems like he would be a cool person to be friends with.
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Any fun movie or TV suggestions? I'm always on the look out...
