Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts

Netflix Pick of the Week: High Noon

My "watch instantly" pick of the week is an old black and white classic movie called High Noon.  Here is how Netflix describes the movie:
Retiring Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) insists on defending his town from a gang of hooligans who are due on the noon train -- but he faces the task alone as the cowardly townspeople flee like rats from a sinking ship. Director Fred Zinnemann creates an incredibly tense Western (rightly considered one of the true genre classics) that unfurls in real time -- as the clocks on the wall constantly remind us. Grace Kelly and Lloyd Bridges co-star.
When I was a kid, pretty much all that I watched was old movies.  High Noon is one that I can distinctly remember watching on more than one occasion.  I always liked this movie because Gary Cooper, who does a great job of playing the "ordinary guy," continues to stick to his decision of taking a stand against the villains, even though, one by one, the townspeople, who had just talked about how much they love him and owed him so much, would refuse to help him in his time of need.  He was undaunted by their lack of loyalty, because he knew what was the right thing to do regardless of the outcome.  So, he goes it alone, prepared to face these guys by himself.

This brings me to another aspect of this movie that I really enjoy.  As the events begin to unfold, as the description states, "in real time," we don't experience any amazing, no way that's possible, shootouts.  Instead, we see a very believable guy with some believable villains facing off in a believable way.

If you haven't watched a good old western lately, this is the one you should watch.  And if nothing else, you will have the theme songs stuck in your head the rest of the day.  If you have Netflix, click here.

Netflix pick of the week: Microcosmos

My Netflix pick this week is going to be a documentary that my whole family enjoyed... Even my wife!  The documentary was called Microcosmos.  Here is the Netflix description:
Employing unique microscopic cameras and powerful specialized microphones, this highly praised French documentary is a fascinating look at the seldom-explored world of insects and other minute creatures as they go about their daily lives. With footage of ladybugs feasting and snails mating to a mystical score by composer Bruno Coulais, the film won five César Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Music.
Like I said, we all enjoyed the movie.  There was only a little bit of talking at the beginning, but this method of exploring this "microcosmos" was simply captivating. Once we started it, we couldn't finish it.  I will warn you though, more than once it shows some insects mating... and some snails... fascinating, but gross.

It is available for instant viewing, so if you have Netflix, you can click here and go straight to the movie's page.  Here is the youtube trailer for the movie: (The Netflix version is in English, but the trailer is in French.)




Netflix Pick of the Week

My pick for this week is going to be a long-time favorite: Star Trek: The Next Generation.


I am actually really excited about this.  I loved this show when I was a kid.  I don't want to offend anyone, but I thought it was way better than the originals... don't get me wrong, I am a fan of the originals, but this one was better.  I also think that it was much, much better than any of the following shows.  Better than Deep Space Nine, better than Voyager, and Better than Enterprise.

Netflix just added all of the Star Trek shows, and included all seven seasons of The Next Generation.  I can't wait to start watching these with my boys!

Roku

Roku HD Streaming PlayerJust bought my wife a Roku video player for her TV.

I had heard about these through Netflix, but hadn't really considered getting one yet.  But since I wanted to get her something that she would really use for her birthday, this came up again in my mind.

I did a little research, found a good price for one... the cheapest one they had... and made the purchase.

So far I really like it.  Here are some of the "channels" that I have added so far:  Netflix and Hulu Plus, which we already had a subscription to.  Amazon Instant, which is pay per use.  You can rent movies for anywhere from $.99 to $3.99.  I added a free newscaster channel which has news updates from CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, NASA, and a couple of others.  My wife watched the Today show this morning.  I also added Pandora, a Facebook Photos channel, Picasa photos, and a few others.  It is almost like watching a regular TV, except everything is "on demand".  For those of you that care, there are also several sports channels...

If something goes sour with it, I will make sure to let you know.

TV: The Great Life-Waster

Don't Waste Your LifeHere is a very true and very convicting quote from the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper.  This is the book that I am currently listening to on my way to and from school.
Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age. And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up. You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching. TV still reigns as the great life-waster. The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem. Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you're watching. The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God. Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV. The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels. Neil Postman shows why. 
"What is happening in America is that television is transforming all serious public business into junk... Television disdains exposition, which is serious, sequential, rational, and complex. It offers instead a mode of discourse in which everything is accessible, simplistic, concrete, and above all, entertaining. As a result, America is the world's first culture in jeopardy of amusing itself to death."
The entire book is available as a downloadable pdf through the Desiring God website. Click here to download the entire book.  If you want to listen to the book, click here to go to the Christian Audio version.

Blocked!

I just left Direct TV last month.  I had one month left on my contract, I completed that month, paid the bill, and said, "good-bye."  It wasn't a harsh dismissal.  I wasn't angry.  I didn't berate anyone on the phone because of high bills or bad customer service.  I simply did not want to pay for something that I am not going to use.  (There are only 4 episodes of LOST remaining, so once that is over, there will no longer be any ties between me and the TV.)

Truth is, I am just too busy to watch TV.  If I have a spare moment, I want to read.  I want to spend time with my wife and my children.  I want to study for the next sermon.  I want to accomplish some little unfinished project on my house.  These are the things that I want to do.  So, I broke up with Direct TV.

That is when the calls started.  No voice-mail.  No messages of any kind.  Just silence.  I called it back once, and it was Direct TV!

So, thanks the the amazing powers of Google Voice... They are now blocked!  Now, when they call, they will receive a very official sounding, "I'm sorry.  The number you dialed has been disconnected..."

LOST ending

I predict that at the end of LOST, Jack will take Jacob's spot and Sawyer will take the other guy's (man in black... smoke monster guy) spot.

So... There you go. That is my (unfinished) theory.

Found.

I have to thank Tim for this link:





I was a little disappointed in tonight's episode. No questions were answered, and there weren't any really new questions to ask. Which is usually my favorite part of the show; you know, answer a few questions and introduce enough new stuff to ask some more.

I will say that I am probably drawn to the show because of the 27 connection.

Every 108 minutes? Sure enough that is 27 minutes, 4 times.