collections

The Case of the Dastardly DVR

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I haven’t gotten as far through my movie collection as I wanted.  I blame friends for that – one who bought me a new tv for my birthday, a fancy tv that will get netflix and disney+ and amazon prime and etc – and another who lets me watch her HBO Max and Disney+.  There’s so much stuff to watch!!

But this summer my main viewing goal is to work on cleaning off my dvr.  I’m thinking about ditching cable considering that a) I don’t watch a lot of network tv when it airs and instead b) watch the shows when they’re on a streaming service . . . not to mention that c) my cable bill keeps going up and is now separate from my internet company. 

I have a lot stored up on my dvr – in the 91% range.  A few things I can delete and watch the season on a service.  But I also have a stash of recorded movies, shows, and specials.  Whenever there was a free preview weekend for HBO or Showtime, I’d record a bunch of things, movies I was interested in seeing but not so badly that I would buy the film.  Well, and movies that I would buy but just haven’t gotten to yet.  And a few that I just haven’t seen in years.

So, thoughts on a random assortment . . .

Get Smart – I recall the tv show vaguely.  I like this movie – I think it’s fun. Steve is so good, and Dwayne is always entertaining.  Sure, some of it is cheesy and silly, but that’s the brand.  I do get irritated by little things – like why on earth would he try to use that dart gun to cut the ties on his hands? How does that make sense??  I guess this is why I never became a film editor – I’d be the annoying one who wanted perpetual reshoots and rewrites to make things make sense.     

Drive Angry – Wow.  I mean, just – wow.  Let’s be clear, I like a *lot* of bad movies, and I was, in fact, mildly entertained.  But geez, so bad.  The acting, the plot, the effects – it was all over the top ridiculous.  Which was odd, considering the quality of some of the casting. And I know I’ve never been a waitress in a small diner in a small town, but that brunette was awfully interested in Nic awfully quick.  He was not looking that great, but she didn’t care.  Really? Have some standards, dear.  Milton’s drinking from the skull was particularly terrible.  And the violence – reminds me a bit of The Expendables in the level of gore.  William Fichtner was the best part; I’d watch a series about the Accountant. 

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call – The “this is ruining my childhood!” people need to just shut up.  A, the original film is not ruined; it still exists and people can still watch it and enjoy it. B, if you don’t like this one, fine – don’t watch it.  I grew up with the original – and it came out at a time when I was very into the paranormal (like “just done a school project on the praranormal” level of into), so I feel very nostalgic about it.  Plus the cast – Bill, Harold, Dan, Ernie, Sigourney, Rick . . . perfection.  However, this one had some good points.  I liked Kate McKinnon’s character.  The plot was uneven to me, and the main leads (Kristen & Melissa) were a bit less engaging.  Chris was unexpectedly funny.  It was not as good as the original (as is the case with most sequels / remakes), but it didn’t deserve a lot of the scorn heaped upon it.

Jason Bourne – See above re: sequels declining in quality.  Matt must have worked out like hell, but . . . Hmm.  Trying to put my finger on.  Maybe that they’re still trying to work the “this was the truth about your past” angle.  Feels like that’s been covered.  And we all like Bourne enough to go with him on an adventure.  I guess they felt like it needed to be personal for him to get off his retired ass and participate, but the plots just keep getting more convoluted. 

Invincible – I usually like sports movies better than watching actual sports.  I know that this movie took plenty of liberties with the facts, but it was fun.  The scene of the tryouts made me laugh because I kept imaging myself as the equivalent of the guy in the green cape – when I went to audition for Cabaret.  “I’m in the best shape of my life” when he’s clearly not.  At least I knew that I was not near my old dancing shape.  (Though arguably, I did a better job in the show than the guy did at tryouts.)  And the note his wife left him – how he kept it around for fuel.  I think many of us have been there, even if the negative thoughts become more of an albatross instead of motivation.  I don’t really know Philly, but I’m wondering if that’s really how people there say “eagles” (I don’t think I can capture the exact intonation in writing, but it’s distinctive).  Which also makes me wonder about regional accents and how I don’t have a very pronounced one due to lots of moving (or do I only *think* it’s not there? Hmm.) – but I love trying on new speech patterns.  I wish I was more of a mimic (the speech kind, not the D&D monster kind) – and wow did this turn into rambling!

I started with some of the lighter ones, but a number of these stored films are of the “serious” nature.  “Good” films that I do want to see but which have a heavy tone – so not the usual option for a relaxing evening.  I mean, I’m assuming that The Revenant isn’t a laugh riot, but I could be wrong.  So wish me luck for some depressing evenings in the future. 

Remembrance of Books from the Past

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I’ve been going through my books, compiling a list.  It’s a checklist of sorts as I’m going to attempt to actually get through my TBR pile before death.  I figured it was either that or just move the books over and over until I die and my relatives show up to cart the lot off to the local library.

At any rate, my book collection is a decent size.  Not every book I’ve ever owned (and yes, I miss some of the ones I’ve given up!) because that would be too many to move over and over.  Some got donated in an effort to lighten boxes or save space. 

But as I have been creating my list, I’ve been reminded of some very cool titles that I have.  So many books that I picked up and planned to read and then just didn’t.  It’s not always my fault, though – Borders had a going out of business sale! And the library purges books!  I was morally obligated to rescue as many as I could!

Books are also reminders of life.  Different occasions for getting books – different times.  Who was I when I picked up this fantasy or that romance?  When did I first experience that author?  Was the book a gift from someone, recommended by someone?  Is there an inscription?

I know some people don’t like to read books over because there’s a finite amount of time in life and so many books.  I can respect that sentiment – since my jokes about downloading my brain into a cyborg body in order to live longer enough to read ALL THE BOOKS are just jokes.  (When Skynet takes over, we’re all toast – they won’t be handing out cyborg bodies.)

I do like to reread.  Contrasting the new experience with the old is useful, I think.  And a reread is relaxing because I already know how the book is going to go.  Although from looking at my catalog, I can tell that there will be some books which I barely recall.  My memory is good, but not eidetic, sadly. 

I’m going to try to limit how many new books I bring in to the collection.  Of course, when a book-aholic says she’ll “limit” her book buying, that really just means to specific books.  Like filling in missing books in a series or replacing a book that is falling apart or getting the new release from a favorite author . . .

Look, that IS restraint for someone like me!

I’m a practitioner of tsundoku. 

That’s an art form, right?

Well, I will try to weed out a few books as I go through the collection.  I want to get rid of anything that I don’t really need or wouldn’t read again. 

After all, I do still have my office to get through – thought it was only one cart full of books taken from the library.

Don’t give me that look – they were going to be thrown out – they needed a new home!

Reeling in the DVDs, II

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More of the movie collection – this is going to go on for quite some time.  And no, I’m not going in super strict order.  I finished the numbers, and now I’m just meandering through the A’s.

300: Rise of an Empire . . . I like Sullivan Stapleton on Blindspot – and Eva Green since Casino Royale – but again with the slow motion!!  I briefly considered timing the amount of slow motion, but that would entail watching it again and I am not prepared to do that at this point in my life.  Thanks to google and the often hilarious Cinema Sins, I know there is at least 30 minutes of slow motion in the first film – and this one feels like more.Handy tip: slow motion does not automatically equal artistry.  But props to the film for working in the word “glabrous.”  (More on my word obsession in other posts.)

*Note – I do collect movies based on comics – one of my things, written some papers about adaptations, etc – and I will be keeping 300 – so since they’re on the same disc, I’ll be keeping 300: RoaE.  Otherwise, might be iffy.  And a personal thanks to the filmmakers since the last two days showcased more man-abs than I’ve seen in years.

Alien – basically summed up as “no one listens to the smart woman who wanted to follow correct quarantine procedure – and everything goes to hell as a result.”  Strangely appropriate for 2020.  I remember that a guy in my class brought the movie book to class one day (they used to put out books of the films with images from the movie as illustrations – I think I have my Star Wars one in a box still – it was a whole Scholastic book fair draw) and it grossed everyone out.  Didn’t see it until years later.

Aladdin – wow, was Robin Williams so funny.  I used to have a VHS tape which had the original version of the opening song (with the “bad” lyrics), but my dvd set does not.  The rug manages to be quaintly human – my favorite is right after “A Whole New World” when Jasmine confronts Aladdin about why he lied about being in the market – Aladdin looks at the rug, who gestures with a tassel in a very human-esque “go on” way and then collapses into a “good grief” posture when Al doesn’t fess up.

Avengers – Okay, I’m a comics junkie.  And a movie junkie.  Of course I dig the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  And this was well done – getting them all together.  I think my favorite bit was Steve handing Nick the $10.  No comment, just passing it over.  My ex said that Natasha’s line, “I don’t see how that’s a party” sounded like me.  I remember in the theatre laughing out loud when Hulk smashed Loki around.

Avengers: Age of Ultron:  “That’s not going away any time soon.”  Yeah, I love Cap.  Almost all the casting, in fact.  That’s part of what made the MCU so good – great casting.  (Not so hot on the Hawkeye casting, but eh.)  I can even go along with changing Ultron to a thing with Tony instead of Hank.  And James Spader is perfect.  But what they did to Quicksilver was practically a crime 

Aquaman – they must have used a real golden for the beginning, because my dog suddenly sat up and stared at the tv.  Aside from that, well, I always feel for Arthur because he often gets the short end of the stick (and I wish I could think of some “fishstick” joke to go here, but my brain is not cooperating at the moment).  It looks impressive.  And it’s better than many other DC movies.  I’m hoping they’ll develop him more with the next one – maybe even go Peter David on him – cheers for the harpoon hand!

Alien V. Predator (AVP):  I admit it, I like this movie.  It’s cheesy but fun.  Mad props for having Lance come in – I’m geek enough to love that blatant pandering.  And I like the franchise combo – makes me want to re-read the Stormwatch issues with Aliens that kicked off the Authority.  The “unrated” version is better in the sense that the story is more complete.  More scenes which tie everything together – it’s only 8 minutes, but it helps.  Though I wonder why they felt they had to cut those 8 minutes.  Maybe some for the gore and the rating?

Ant-Man: We can all agree that Luis is the best part, right?  Maybe tied with just having Paul Rudd as a superhero . . . That meme that was going around – saying Luis should do the “sum up” part for Endgame – I would have been so there for that.  Kind of wish that Micahel Peña had spent his time doing that during quarantine.