It's a DVD Summer
 

LOST, Survivor, 30 Rock, The Office...my TV shows are over for this season, and I'm sure yours are too. Time to work the Netflix queue, figure out how Amazon Unbox works, or perhaps just dust off those DVDs you bought forever ago and have yet to unwrap.

What's on your summer viewing to-do list? Up next for us:

The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!
The Informant!
Alice in Wonderland
Away We Go
The Wrong Guy (just added this one)

An Education
A Single Man
Alice in Wonderland (my roomie did not see it and I want to see it in 2D)
Ken Burn's Civil War
Gosh this sounds like a serious and dreary line up. I'd better see if I have some fluffy movies in the mix.

I'm not done with TV yet. I've got True Blood coming up and - before that even ends - Mad Men.


My Netflix queue is going to remain a stagnant pool for a while to come.

I've decided to make Dr. Who my summer video watching hobby, assuming I enjoy the first set. (total newbie here)

At some point I'd like to continue watching True Blood. I've only seen the first episode.

I don't have Netflix, though I'll probably get it back sooner rather than later, especially since I just found out that I can stream through the Wii.

I have to watch season 2 of True Blood so I can be caught up for season 3. I also have Burn Notice starting next week and I'm trying to get through Farscape still but I think I need to start it over.

I do want to see:

It's Complicated
Valentine's Day
Crazy Heart
but I have a RedBox around the corner and that works out much better for my random movie viewing.

Our Blu-ray is in the mail

I'm thinking:

Avatar
District 9
The September Issue
True Blood
A Single Man
That Lars Froozenglaajen film with Charlotte Gainsbourg
An a mini-Ken Russell film festival

Besides finishing True Blood season 2 and watching Mad Men in real time there's:

Inglorious Bastards
The Imaginarium of Dr. P.....
Paris 36
The September Issue
Grey Gardens
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Fur
A Single Man
Atonement (although this is another one that Chris hasn't read, so I may see this one solo)

July sees the release of a new collection of Mystery Science Theater 3000 with one of my favorite episodes, Jack Frost. I all ready pre-ordered Survival of the Dead for August and I want to see Herzog's, Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans.

Le Sigh. Don't fall in love with David Tennant like I did...

I'm thinking about giving Fringe another go 'round. I watched about 1/2 of the first season and could never get engaged. I have been told, very insistently, that it is now completely different and that I would love it.

Holy crap, Netflix has a TON of MST3K's available streaming! I had no idea. Our summer is SET

Keep an eye out for Jack Frost -- I think its one of the best they've done. It helps that the movie is one of those classic, twisted, Pippi Longstocking-style children's movies.

Saw it when it first aired. Definitely one of the best.

Jack Frost, alas, has not yet been released on DVD or Netflix. It's a doozy. I also long to see again another Russian folktale movie they skewered, The Day The Earth Froze, known in Russia as Lemminkainin. I suspect someone somewhere has transferred their old broadcast VHS copies to the digital realm. Boy, that hobby could turn into a time sink real fast.

Keep circulating the tapes!

I have every broadcast episode of MST3K on DVD, including the holiday specials and Turkey Day Marathon interstitials.

I'm guessing you haven't gotten laid in a while?

roughly 14 years

I wish I was kidding.

It's being released in July.

I have two freshman sitcoms to recommend, once they come out on DVD (or in the re-airing, in the case of one of them.)

Community grew into a very, very funny meta-commentary on pop culture and how we're informed by it. It started out so-so, but the development of the supporting characters (and ditching the focus on will-they-or-won't-they love connection) has everything to do with how my appreciation grew. The Goodfellas episode alone is reason to watch the show.

Modern Family is one that we've just started catching up on, but I love it. It takes the mockumentary style from The Office, and the absurdism from Arrested Development and 30 Rock. And it's all about unconventional family pairings, all in one extended family. The gay couple is especially charming, but I've quickly grown fond of pretty much everyone on the show.

Oh, sorry. I WAS just kidding - didn't mean to call you out :blush:

It doesn't look like there's a DVD yet, but you can now rent on iTunes the fantastic documentary about the Sherman Brothers, The Boys. I just got done watching it, and, well, it's going to have a lasting impact. If you are any kind of a Disney fan, or have ever loved (or even loved to hate) any of their songs, this is a must see. It sets a very high bar for any other Disney history or "behind the scenes" effort. The run of the mill Making Of stuff will forever seem hopelessly superficial after this. I'm trying not to oversell, but this is the real deal, a show that will forever change how I hear their music. Have tissues on hand.

Boy & I saw Avatar Friday night. One of my parent's friends invited us to see it in their new RV, complete with surround sound. When I say I felt the movie, I mean I felt it. The entire rig was jumping, including the floor. It made for quite an experience.

Just recently became the proud owner of a 73" Mitsubishi HDTV and my first Blu-ray player, so we're rewatching old movies we haven't seen in high def. First was Rattatouille and Wall-E, then Pirates of the Caribbean. Watching Apollo 13, The Patriot and Master and Commander while Steph's in Brazil, with King Kong and Dark City on the way. Can't wait to see the Potter films in giant HD too, as well as the Narnia films. When Steph gets back, we're going to watch Planet Earth straight through, too. Lots to watch now that we're an HD family!

Once I manage to go HD, my first task will be the Planet of the Apes series on Blu-Ray, with the never-before-released original cut of Battle for the PotA, with uncompromised ending. Looking forward to it, just don't know when.

I've never heard of this. Intriguing...

With the new Bluray player (and another one on the way), I can't wait to stream stuff. My streaming queue is already HUGE!

We had a 90's throwback night. (You can skip this post, iSm - nothing culturally relevant happened in the 90's.)

The State, MTV's 1993 sketch comedy show, is available via Netflix streaming. I was a big fan and have kept my eye open for this for ages. These guys have moved on many other projects and tend to bring their friends along with them.

It took many years for this to make it to DVD - in fact, only a few sketches had made it to video until now. The State made full use of MTV's music library and it would have been very pricey to pay for all the permissions. Sadly, they had to change out all the good music and even redub sketches, which hurts the show really badly, especially as a 90's time capsule. Still, good to see this stuff after all these years.

I'm surprised how much I remember, but the best is the stuff I had forgotten, like all the spoofs of MTV. MTV Sports, the Free Your Mind campaign...sigh, I miss the MTV of my day, when adding a sketch comedy show was a new stretch for the channel.

The second half of 90's night was Human Traffic, a 1999 British tribute to the club scene. Though there are differences between this and the rave scene I experienced at the same time, the similarities are striking, mostly because the movie revolves around ecstasy use. Strangely, you don't see them taking the drug, even as they mention and describe it repeatedly and thoroughly. They got all the details right. Much better than Go and easily more fun than Groove.

The music is fantastic and the editing/directing are superb. The story isn't anything amazing but that's not really the point. If you're interested in 90's drug culture, definitely worth a watch.

We got out Netflix Streaming set up with our Bluray player last night. Now I just need a week off to watch movies.

I watched The Young Victoria and Wolfman this weekend. An unintentional Emily Blunt weekend.

The Young Victoria was lush and splendid. Not dull in the least. I actually thought they could well have given another 30 minutes to the film, it was a cliff notes version. Beautifully photographed and the costumes were stunning. Everything I want in a historical film.

Wolfman was great fun. Unlike the Universal Mummy franchise, this was not campy at all. Stuck much closer to the original, had some good jump off the couch moments and was a good deal bloodier. Very moody and dark as it should have been. Loved it.

I watched the Blu- Ray of How The West Was Won, which, on its second disc, features an interesting virtual recreation of the three-camera, curved- screen Cinerama experience, in what they call Smilebox. On my hi- def monitor, the image was astonishingly crisp and clear, and the illusion of Cinerama in miniature was persuasive. The movie is an overstuffed three ring circus of meodramatics, folk somgs, stunning views, impressive action scenes and the most awkward staging of actors I've ever witnessed. The cast of name stars apparently hated working with the bizarre mega wide angle format, and it's easy to see why. The hapless stars are often stranded at the center of this huge vista apparently talking to the air, or off to the side gazing off into the widescreen void. Still, this is a fun, nearly overwhelming roadshow spectacle of the type they just don't make anymore, and likely never will again. Comes with a feature- length documentary all about Cinerama, with lots of great "smilebox" clips of those big big travelogues that I was born exactly a year too late to see. note that the really cool stuff (smile box version and nifty doc) are only on the Blu- Ray edition. Netflix won't get you these goodies.