Sunday, April 7, 2013

What I've Been Watching

I have seen some great television over the past several months. The movies and shows below are how I got through the end of winter.

The Hunger Games (DVD)
One of those movies that everyone talks about and alludes to, so I thought I better check it out. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Some of the plot didn’t make sense and it was too long. Some of the scenes went on and on and on… But, Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic as was the rest of the cast. Excellent actors inhabiting interesting characters. Will I go see the sequel? Most likely. I hear that the books are excellent, so I have downloaded them. I’ll let you know.

Numb3rs (Netflix)
This show kept popping up in my list of recommendations from Netflix, so a few months ago I started watching it. The first five seasons were fantastic. Two brothers, one an FBI agent, the other a math genius join forces to solve crimes. The math is fun and interesting and the cases were rarely dull. Unfortunately, it appeared that both the writers and the actors ran out of steam in the sixth season and it got a bit repetitive. Still, worth a watch if you are at all interested in math.

Wonderfalls (DVD)
I cannot recommend this series highly enough. Only thirteen episodes, it was a mid-season replacement that never found an audience. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why as it is hilariously comic, highly romantic and just plain fun. If you are looking for something to while away a rainy weekend, look no further.

Hatfields & McCoys (DVD)
Kevin Costner won a Golden Globe for this role, so I was really looking forward to seeing it. The first hour was really interesting as the writers set up the reasons for the feud and showed how relatively minor events escalated because of two men who lived by the “death before dishonor” code. Once the feud was well underway, however, it began to feel a tad cartoonish as one scene after another just upped the body count. I watched all six hours, but the final three I watched while I did other things. Never a good sign.

Terriers (Netflix)
Another show that never found an audience, yet should have. One of the best buddy pairings I have ever seen, supported by an interesting and complex group of friends and colleagues. The (anti)heroes are men that are incredibly flawed, yet on the road to redemption. A good mix of standalone episodes and an overarching story about corruption in a southern California town. If you haven’t seen this, you’ll be hooked by the end of the first episode.

Philly (Netflix)
I am the first person to admit that practicing law can be a boring business and, to make it interesting, we have to allow writers of television and film to bring a bit of dramatic license. This show, however, took that license to such an extreme that I spent a great deal of the series wondering how none of these people had been disbarred. Many of the characters were one dimensional (especially the son who was dreadfully miscast) and predictable. Kim Delaney, however, was very good as the lead and Rick Hoffman was outstanding as the prosecutor who is her chief rival and friend. Their performances kept this show from being a complete train wreck.

Clue (Netflix)
One of my favorite shows, Psych, celebrated its 100th episode by doing an homage to this film. As I had never seen it, I thought I would give it a chance. Simply dreadful. Great comic actors who had nothing to work with. Ninety minutes of my life I will never get back.

Conviction (Netflix)
Dick Wolf does great television. One of the reasons his shows do so well is that he stays out of the bedroom and stays in the courtroom or the firehall. He broke his rule with this show. Centered on young DAs and their soap opera lives, some of the stories were good and I really liked many of the characters. Overall, however, it was a huge misfire. A lot of others agreed with me; it went off the air after only half a season.

12 comments:

  1. Sorry you didn't like Clue! I first saw it when I was in middle school, when everything is funny, so my impression of the movie is colored by that.

    I have a friend who is OBSESSED with Numbers, but I've never seen it. Glad you liked it. :)

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    1. Number3rs caught me off guard. I didn't expect to like it at all, but I got completely swept up in it. I am a math geek, so I loved all the math stuff and I loved the relationships between the brothers and their dad. I know you're in the middle of a marathon, but put this one on your list.

      Clue was just god awful. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind this week, but I was bored through it. I love most of the actors in it, so another one that caught me off guard -- but, in a a bad way.

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  2. I actually finished Supernatural! It took me a week and a half. I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed...

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    1. LOL It took me about a week and a half when I marathoned through it. I think it was about this time last year.

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    2. Yeah I kept seeing your comments where you were like "I'm sick!" and then I was going to see if you were feeling better, but then I realized it was a year ago and you're probably better now. :)

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  3. Hellloooooo Chris !!

    Numb3rs : I only have the first 2 seasons on DVD and eventually I intend to get the rest. talk about an INTELLIGENT TV show !

    Wondefalls : simply sublime and cut TV.

    Haven't read the Hunger Games books but I did enjoy the movie.

    I should say hello more often....on your "territory" LOL

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  4. typo !

    cult TV


    still 21 at heart I presume ???????

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Marc. Always 21 at heart! :-)

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  5. So, have you read The Hunger Games yet? I read the books first, but thankfully wasn't disappointed in the movie! I did find it a tad long though...

    And yeah, agree with you the Hatfields & McCoys started out much better than it ended. I guess it doesn't help that the feud kind of just petred out, no real ending there.

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    1. I'm about halfway through The Hunger Games. I'm liking it enough, but I keep putting it down to read something else. I will get through it eventually!

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    2. Might be slow because you already know what's going to happen having seen the movie. I had no idea so devoured it! (same thing happened with Game of Thrones)

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    3. You're probably right. This happens to me a lot. I am always in the middle of at least three, and often more, books! If I read one at a time, I would probably get a lot more read.

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