When she was a young teenager my daughter did a drawing she called "Intravenous TV" which was a figure of a man lying on his back with a television set on the wall. He was covered with wires and tubes connecting him to the set, just passively receiving by the hour. It was a stunning picture. I still have it, tried to upload it to the blog, but it didn't come clear. So I'll have to use this little cartoon which doesn't quite say the same thing, but goes to the point of all humanity, young and old alike, glued to the tv, drinking in the messages, whether we like it or not.I'm something of a television addict myself, but more than tv I like movies on tv; movies without commercial interruption. For years I would browse the local DVD rental stores and come home with a few I wanted to try. Friends urged me to order them online, and finally about two months ago I followed up on one of those ads for Netflix offering one month free service.
It didn't take any time for me to get hooked. I browsed their selection and rated the ones I'd seen, and began ordering. Once I got the hang of the handy little packages (I know, I know, they're easy, but I had to figure out how to dismantle them without destroying the return envelope) and got used to the website recommending the same movies time and again (Why do I seem like a The Treasure of Sierra Madre type? As a matter of fact, I am, and it's been on my to-see list forever, but I'm waiting until I'm in the mood. For 30 years I haven't been in the mood.)
I think my queue is eclectic. It contains not only There Will Be Blood but also Enchanted and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I just viewed Lars and the Real Girl (excellent little dark sweet film), and Babel is on my coffee table waiting to be unloaded tonight. Next to come will be Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I've seen the first season of Arrested Development (hilarious!) and Mad Men, both of which I'd only heard about.
The options are staggering. I can watch every movie ever made, some I've never heard of. It's like having them in my veins.
6 comments:
I've subscribed to Netflix off and on for years. Right now, it's "on." "Slumdog Millionare" arrived yesterday, and my wife and I will probably watch it tonight or tomorrow night. I've also begun taking advantage of Netflix's relatively new feature of instant viewing of an unlimited number of movies and TV shows each month on my computer.
By the way, I loved "Babel." I hope you do too.
I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you that you and your wife will love Slumdog Millionaire! I saw it on the big screen. I think you'll like Lars and the Real Girl, even though it's not about reinvention. Lars has problems, and he changes before the movie is over, but not by reinventing himself. Not quite, anyway.
I've added "Lars" to my queue. I'm also excited about the package I just received from Amazon. It's my birthday present to myself. One item is a book titled "Integral Life Practice." I'll probably have a lot to say about it on my blog shortly. It's about cultivating the major aspects or dimensions of one's being, and I consider this vital to thorough personal reinvention. The other item is the miniseries "Oppenheimer." It appeared on PBS in the early 80's and is a seven-part dramatization of J. Robert Oppenheimer's work supervising the Manhattan Project and his fall from grace afterward. Sam Waterston plays the title role wonderfully and the series is one of the best I've ever seen, at least as I recall. It will be interesting to see it again now.
Watching tv one day will be a thing of the past. The computer age has arrived. We all will be glued to the computer...to watch any movie that we wish at any time...on a large screen.
Some of it is here now. HULU TV and others are available. One day soon we will be in control of what we see, commercial free...well almost. Broadway plays on your computer will one day be possible, I see it coming.
But all of these things will come at a cost $$$...did you realy think you would get them for free ..NO...the sponsors do have to make money.
The brainchilds of computers have a lot up there sleeves for the future. The name of the game is to make money
Turner Classics, a great channel, will be one day on the computer. Sports and other events will come too but at a cost. The good news is you can copy and save on a CD ..a bright future is coming for the movie lover. Our grandchildren will be able to see anything just by a click of a mouse. The down side is there will be things they should not be watching. I'm sure they will find a cure for that one day.
no tv at all for me, only netflix...and i loved "lars" too...try "kinky boots" (quirky little british film) strange topic but cute movie and true story...and "saving grace" another feel good brit flick...can't you tell, i'm an anglophile
Well, I just loved this. Keep sharing what you see, please. I'm mostly disappointed in movies, and tend to enjoy tv series more. And guess what? We just got our satellite dish back. I couldn't bear not seeing the Red Sox, and I've already discovered other pleasures like seeing LOST live on Wed instead of Tom buying it from iTunes. And I liked the new show afterwards. And I've been enjoying the food channel immensely and got two new recipes from Ina Garten. We don't have any of the movie channels. We still have Netflix but have cut down from 5 to 2. I second sinjap's recommendation of Saving Grace. It'll be fun talking movies and tv with you, Mary Lois!
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