Saturday, August 17, 2013

Netflix Movie Night and TV Time

I haven't been feeling well the last few days, so I've been watching a lot of TV. I watched a recording of  Parachute Jumper and wrote about it yesterday. We also watched a Dark Shadows episode and the "Out of Gas" episode of Firefly.

First, Dark Shadows: this was the first soap opera that I followed. I caught a few minutes of it as I turned into Where the Action Is  (to see Paul Revere and the Raiders) and got hooked. I didn't see the show from the beginning, but I watched before Barnabas made his first appearance. That makes me an early adopter. The pre-Barnabas years are available on Netflix disks; we saw a few but mostly we watch the instant queue selections. In the episode we watched last night, Dr. Julia Hoffman wants to try to cure Barnabas of his vampirism.

The Firefly episode "Out of Gas" may be my favorite of the series. Zoe saves the day at the beginning and at the end of the episode. We see how the crew members first came to Serenity, revealing more of them than we've seen before. It's a great episode; here is Rhiannon's take.

Today I watched Ex-Lady, starring Bette Davis. Robert Osborne said it wasn't as bad as Bette remembered. I disagree. It's pretty bad. Once again, Bette doesn't have much to do--acting wise--her talent is wasted. It's not enough for me that Bette says she doesn't want babies or that she sleeps with her lover in the same bed. The movie is bad.

The White Queen: I watched the first episode twice, missing the opening scene both times. I read the book after picking it up a a library sale. I'm not a big fan of Philippa Gregory, but was curious. The White Queen is Elizabeth Woodville, the grandmother of Henry the VIII. The War of the Roses is the background for Henry VIII's obsession with an heir. Elizabeth's and Edward's romance is hard to believe. Things got more interesting when Elizabeth went to court. 

The Last Laugh:  I assume I selected this silent movie on a recommendation from riku, It depicts a man who has lost his job as a hotel doorman. It's a good portrait of how one's work becomes one's identity. The ending is unrealistic--apparently the result of studio demands for a happy ending. It's still a movie worth seeing.

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