DVD. sliders

the wife and i had a bunch of time recently to hang out at the house and watch a bunch of tv.  three weeks off for the birth of my son will do that...  well, there wasnt much good stuff actually on tv, so instead i dug deep into my dvd collection.  on a whim i asked diana if she would be willing to watch an episode or two of sliders.  its a sci fi tv show from the 90's that i remember loving when it was on.  she remembered it too, her mom used to watch it (her mom really loves sci fi. cool, huh?).  well, we started right from the beginning: season 1.  the story is set up as our main character, mallory quinn (played by jerry o'connell) who is a boy genius and has built a device that can open up gateways to alternate dimensions.  he, a girl that he works with, his professor, and a random guy driving by at the time of the accident, are all swept away through the gateway.  from there they visit many different dimensions, all the time trying to get back to their own.  the fun thing is that each dimension is different than ours in some way.  sometimes its something simple like red streetlights mean go while green lights mean stop, but other times its much more interesting like one dimension where the patriots never defeated the english and america is still ruled by the queen.  the different dimensions in each episode can be hit or miss, but for the most part they are a ton of fun!  the show itself actually holds up pretty well, and diana and i found ourselves watching a ton of episodes.  we quickly finished seasons 1, 2, and 3.  by the time we got around to season four it was time for me to go back to work, so we will certainly have to come back and finish them up one of these days!  over all, season one and two were by far the best, season three started to introduce another dimension sliding race of alien bad guys, which was pretty lame, but thankfully they didnt show up too often to ruin the fun.

DVD. true blood

diana suckered me into seeing this. i had no interest in it, but she got a copy from her friend, so we gave it a try. on a friday night we watched one, figured we had some extra time, so we watched another. by sunday evening we had finished the whole season! the story follows a southern town as they deal with the fact that vampires are real. sookie, a local waitress, becomes entangled with a vampire who is traveling through. over the course of the season we follow their relationship as they try to make sense of their differences as well as everyone elses opinion of what's going on. also, there happens to be a slew of murders going on in this town and some people are pretty curious about the vampire's involvement.over all the series is pretty good, there is a strong southern dirty style to the show and an interesting premise at its base: if vampires no longer need to feed on humans, could they be accepted and live among us? this question is just one of many different layers that the show deals with, this question in particular is used as a metaphor for the plight of gays in america. there are other deep issues as well, but the show rarely takes time to linger on the issues, the depth does not bog down the action. i enjoyed the twists and turns, the murder mystery, and the relationships between many of the different characters. with that said, this show falls into the same problem that so many other shows succumb to: the characters are not even remotely believable. they act one way during one episode, and then change completely to suit the story told in the next episode. and worst of all- almost all the problems they face could be solved with just a little clear thinking and a good honest discussion. i always think that its a bad sign of writing to contrive a conflict instead of dealing with any real issues. sookie, the main character is one of the worst culprits of them all. she's about as clear headed as a bowl of mud. most of the time i didn't really feel very sorry for her, she brought it on herself! oh, but even worse then her is her brother jason! what a complete idiot! he life is terrible and falling apart because he just does whatever others tell him to do- grow a pair already! but back to the good: the quality of the show is very high, it looks great. another aspect that i really enjoyed, which is easily noticeable when you watch the episodes back to back, is that each episode starts off immediately after the last one like its one big giant movie with no wasted time to slow down between episodes.

DVD. twin peaks

i dont get it. i have heard so much about twin peaks, how great it is, how strange and unusual it is, how it is david lynch at his best. diana and i recently watched the first season and i'm afraid i just don't get it. the show i watched certainly wasnt amazing, wasn't really that strange or unusual, and i thought it was actually kind of lame. the stories arent very connected, they dont really go anywhere of much interest, the dialogue is very stilted, and the acting is, to put it kindly, wooden. the only thing that seemed very interesting to me was the strange dream where a short guy talks backwards and dances. other than that it just felt like a bad primetime soap opera with no resolution. the whole thing is supposedly about the murder of laura palmer, but by the end it seems like no one cares that much and are focused on their own subplot instead of the original mystery.
the thing that really confuses me is that diana and i watched a few of the dvd extras after finishing the season and in the cast interviews they talked about a bunch of things about their character and some of the themes of the season. both she and i were totally confused about what they were saying. one actor was saying one of the themes was 'about how laura was abused by her father' huh? there was never any mention or hinting at the idea that she was abused! either i am loosing my ability to understand films, or they are totally making stuff up that wasnt in the show... diana suggested that maybe if we rewatch it we might start to see some deeper themes. my question to her was why would i want to watch it again? i didn't even like it the first time!

DVD. sliders

i recently went to the used dvd shop and traded in some of my more foolish dvd purchases through the years, and got some new stuff. one of the things i got was the first and second seasons (they are both in one box) of 'sliders'. i have had my eye on that set for about two years, but finally found one at a used store so it would be affordable, and with my trade ins, it was free!

i remember the watching and really enjoying the show when it was originally on way back in 1995. it stared jerry o'connell, sabrina lloyd, and john rhys-davies as people who got sucked into a portal that opened up on alternate earths. they would show up in these different worlds that looked a lot like ours, but with an alternate history that would result in differences from the world we know. they would slide into these places, but not know when and if they would ever get to slide back out. they are continually stuck sliding to different dimensions without ever being sure if they will return to their home.

i just rewatched the original two hour pilot episode. i had been fearing the worst, figuring it might be one of those shows that i would regret going back and watching because it would ruin my positive memories of it by being terrible. but i have to say, i was very surprised! it holds up really well! the special effects are very dated (14 years has a way of doing that...), but the story line and the execution are still very good. the different worlds they go to vary in its changes, everything from a world where jfk is still president and red lights are go and green is stop, to a world where russia won the cold war and the united states is run by a communist regime. the set up and possibilities are really exciting, i just hope that the other twenty episodes fulfill that promise!

DVD. friday night lights

a couple years ago a couple friends and i went to see the movie 'friday night lights' because we had heard such good things about it. it turned out to be ok. im not really that into sports movies (well, except 'field of dreams', but thats a requirement of all guys).

this past tv season nbc decided to make an hour long drama based on that movie, and the book of the same name that inspired the film. i heard about it and quickly dismissed it. i didnt really care for the film, so why should i give the show a chance? after the show got fair ratings i figured it was an easy choice since nbc would probably cancel it anyway. it turns out that nbc renewed it for next season, not because of ratings, but because they believe in the show. strange, huh?

fast forward to this week. i kept reading reviews of the show all season and each one was glowing about how great the show was. it just came out on dvd this week and it seems that nbc is really getting behind the show. they are selling the first season (22 45 minute episodes) for only twenty bucks, and on top of that, they are offering a money back satisfaction guarantee that if you dont like the show they will give you you twenty bucks back.

i just so happened to find myself in a circuit city yesterday and decided to take nbc up on the offer. last night i watched the first 4 episodes, and i must say, it is a lot better than i had anticipated! the focus is well balanced between football and the relationships of the towns people. the acting is good, and the writing is refreshingly believable. ive got 18 episodes to go, but at this point i dont think ill be sending it back...

DVD. stargate sg-1

ive written before about my recent unnatural obsession with stargate, but this week it went to a whole new level. ever since the series finale last month i have been looking forward to this tuesday. the reason is that this tuesday the 1oth season came out on dvd. i knew that in the past best buy has always had a special on the old seasons when the new ones come out. when season 9 came out i was just getting into it, so i picked up a couple seasons (oddly, i started with seasons 4 and 5. go figure...) and over the last month have watched all of the episodes from those seasons. often three or four at a time. and then often again with the director commentaries.

with the new season out this week i was planning on picking up a couple more of the seasons at the much cheaper $20 price (usually they are double that at $40). after a bit of hunting early in the week i bought three seasons, but i then found out that the lower price would only be offered if i also bought season 10 on the same receipt. so i planned to get them on tuesday. but by the time i got to best buy they had already sold out (i guess im not the only loser who likes this show after all!). i went hunting around all the other locations in town and none of them had any left, and by their comments i was doubtful if they would get any in by the end of the week, when the deal would expire.

i decided to take matters into my own hands. i tracked one down and drove out to get it. where? lets just say i got to listen through my new silverchair cd a couple times each way... after making such a long hike to take advantage of the deal, i figured i would just go all in and get the rest of the seasons i didnt have yet.

so, i guess my birthday gift to myself was seven seasons of stargate sg-1. that means i have roughly 160 episodes to watch. yikes, what have i gotten myself in to?...

DVD. the amazing screw-on head

ah, what a wonderful surprise! i had never heard of this particular creation before. i am a huge fan of mike mignola and all things hellboy, but i was unaware of his short story about an amazing screw-on head. i went to buy the animated hellboy dvd when it came out and this dvd happened to catch my eye.
now, be warned, its not really a movie. its actually an animated pilot designed to show to different networks to try and get some interest in producing a full season. so, in essence, its only a 22 minute episode. but, my oh my, what an episode it is!
heres the premise: a head that can screw onto different bodies is hired by the president to fight monsters and other mythical creatures to keep america safe. and as a cool twist: it takes place in the 1850s, so lincoln is the president! the bad guy is emperor zombie, there are vampires, werewolves, mythical demigods, and a machine gun carrying monkey with a crown. needless to say its a bit over the top. but thats what makes it so silly and fun. the voices are fantastic and and to the crazy feeling of the animation.
though its only 22 minutes long, there are a few extras on it that pump up its replay value- there is a 20 minute making of feature as well as a commentary with the guys responsible. if, by some strange event, you have the chance to see it- i promise you will not be disappointed. confussed, but not disappointed...