Sounds like just the right stuff. Thanks. I added Lost Highway and Eraserhead to the list. Didn't realize he also did Elephant Man. Hated that movie though.

K

I wonder if I could deal with one of those really bloody ones floating around out there? Haven't seen anything like that in years. I've heard they've gotten much worse or better depending on your point of view.

Black Christmas comes out on Christmas Day. I'll probably see it after piggin' out.

xmas at your house sounds kind of fun!

Have you seen Shaun of the Dead? A hilarious zombie movie...

Shady - If you like a Christmas-free-zone, you would love it here.

Rita - Thanks. I'll look that one up now.

Slither was an absolute delight!! I actually jumped at one point and tossed my cup of tea in the air. It was so much fun.

I've not watched much in the true horror genre; I tend to watch films to escape reality so tend toward comedy. But when we were visiting friends they had Saw which we watched. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. While it's not actually horror, I've got the director's cut of Donnie Darko coming this week. I'm interested in seeing how it compares to the original plus it just seems like a nice, holiday season movie. I've not been making good use of my Blockbuster Online service lately so I need to crank up my turnover!

Escape from reality is good. I watch more action and sci-fi than anything, but find comedies very hit or miss. Most I hate or find boring after 20 minutes, but every now and then I find one that has the right balance of subtle, dark, intelligent humor I like. It's rare though.

Over the weekend I saw "Thank You for Smoking" and thought it would be right up my alley based on some reviews, but it just didn't do anything for me. Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 is next on the list. Haven't seen any of those in a long time.

We're on the same wavelength, I think. We watched Thank You For Smoking last weekend and thought it was just OK. And I'm frustrated with my Battlestar Galactica experience. I watched the dvds of season 1 and got totally hooked. Watched the first disc of season 2 and then somehow the second disc got deleted from my queue so I added it again just this morning. I had hoped to get caught up with season 2 and then buy episodes of season 3 online and eventually be viewing the series "in real time" but that's not looking likely now. Also, I made the mistake of going to some site where they included a MAJOR plot spoiler in the first sentence of their text but I can pretend I don't know what I know when I watch the rest of the dvds. I guess this means I'll be watching season 3 next summer? Oy.

Always looking for good movie recommendations. I'm taking next week off work and will probably have a lot of time to watch dvds.

I can't remember which Battlestar's I've seen, so I'm starting with the most recent season. I know I haven't seen any of those. That's one of the frustrating things about renting DVDs of things that have been on TV. It's hard to figure out what I've seen before.

Have you ever checked out Starhunter? That was a really promising, but short lived, obscure TV channel series I was hooked on, but then it suddenly disappeared in this country. I know it's available on disc now  2 seasons I believe.

What else?

Superman Returns is wonderful.
I mentioned Slither for really cheap thrills, but just delightful for that reason.
Intermission - Mimi told me about this one last summer and I loved it. Kind of an Irish Pulp Fiction.
Green Street Hooligans - liked it lots.
Bulgarian Lovers - I have no idea how I found this one or why I rented it, but it sucked me in totally. The plot is ridiculous, but there is something about the characters that just grabbed me. It's a very odd film, but you might like it. No, I think you would like it.

One of my favorite "watch any time it's on" is 'Lake Placid'. Great fun, especially if you have a sense of apprecation for the absurd. I suppose it qualifies for 'soft horror'.

A non-horror film I happened to catch recently is "Undertaking Betty." It's slightly uneven, but has a beguiling plot, a charming leading lady (Brenda Blethyn of Secrets and Lies) and some hysterically funny moments.

Thanks, guys. I'll check out those titles.

I'll definitely get Superman Returns. I have a fondness for superheroes. Has anyone seen Hellboy? What did you think?

I think I did see Lake Placid, but I don't really remember too much about it. Maybe I saw a condensed version on TV or something. Looks kind of fun.

OK, it's Hellboy for Christmas Eve! Sounds like a tearjerker for sure.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the new Superman. Yes, he's very nice to look at (VERY nice to look at), but he also has this stoic quality I found very appealing. It also added to the whole mystery of Superman and that s half the fun.

"Lake Placid" was the one with Betty White and the crocodile? Loved that!

I like the original "Tremors", too. Both have good dose of humor.

There's a scene in "Shaun of the Dead" where the title character is trying to fight off zombies by throwing vinyl LPs at them, but can't bring himself to fling "the good ones" and sorts thru the box looking for disposable ones, like Sade.

Betty White is one of my all time favs. I love her in anything she appears in. I guess Lake Placid goes on the list too. Both Tremors were really good. I watch them whenever they appear on the tube.

That's too funny about the flying LPs.

Yes, Betty White rules. No doubt about it. Sueanne Nivens was a role model in my childhood. Now I remember seeing part of that movie on TV.

Tremors! Yes! I only saw the first one but thought it was great. Too funny to take seriously. Any more you can name in that vein would be appreciated.

nd Shaun of the Dead was great. I loved the scene with the actess teaching them how to pass for zombies so they could reach safety.

OK, just finished watching Disc 1 of BSG 2.5 - 3 hours and 10 minutes, but man was it good! Disc 2 tomorrow night. Have to make sure to go to the store tomorrow, so I don't run out of chips again. That's kind of a bummer.

I'll have disc 2 in my mitts probably tomorrow but I'll wait until at least Saturday to start watching it. Gotta savor.

Speaking of Jamie Bamber, have you watched any of the bonus features where's he's speaking in his normal accent. It's very bizarre because he does American English so well for the show.

Since we're straying so far from horror I might as well throw this in: Today's the tenth anniversary of Carl Sagan's death so it might be a good time to rent some Cosmos DVDs!

Here is a link that might be useful: Carl Saga Portal

I usually don't watch the bonus stuff, but if I'm not too fried I might. 2 hours is kind of my max for any TV or movie experience, so I'm really pushing it with these long discs. Must admit the time flew by last night.

Cosmos - I wonder which ones I've already seen? As stated above that's a big problem for me. For the last couple of years, I've been keeping a list of movies I've seen just so I don't rerent something. Hate that!

OK, today I also signed up for Blockbusters free 2 week trial. Right now I have Netflix 3 at a time and now Blockbuster 3 at a time. Who has time for Christmas? Who has time for orchids? Not me. During the next couple of weeks it's going to be nothin but movies, movies, movies. After that I probably won't watch another one till summer.

I've got Blockbuster 3 at a time but for some reason my queue keeps allowing me to have four out at a time. I figured it out that if they keep getting mailed as fast as usual plus the two free in-store rentals a month plus getting free ones at the store by returning my mailers there I could conceivably watch two movies a day if I really put the effort into it. Who needs a life? As for repeats, I don't know if Netflix has it, but I can go on my Blockbuster account and there's a history of everything I've gotten so far.

I guess the coupon thing is the big advantage to BB. Yes, who needs a life? Right now I don't want one, but that will change with the new year. I always get a burst of something come Jan 1.

Netflix does keep a history, but since I only started getting my movies this way last summer I have a big list of movies I rented the old way. I had a really big list of "seen" movies covering several years on my old 'puter. Then it crashed. No backup. Dumb.

Disc 2 under the belt.

"Fracking" is my new word. What a wonderful solution to the age-old problem of profanity on TV. They did the same thing in Farscape, but I don't remember which word they used. Must have drove the "naughty word" people crazy.

Fracking is a useful word.

I never really rented a lot of movies before getting the Blockbuster thing. We started that about 1 1/2+ years ago when we were remodelling in an attempt to prevent going stir crazy living in just three rooms. The turnover rate was greater then and I keep thinking maybe we should drop it. Looking back on my "rented" list there are actually a lot of tv shows. For example, I'm finally watching all the episodes of Kids in the Hall.

And speaking of SF, a co-irker who's way into it recommended some show that escapes me now that ran for five(?) years that might be good to check out. I wish I could remember which one! He said the series was coherent as a whole because it was written to run for that set time and the plot arcs were designed to be resolved. I also considered being an admitted late-adopter and watching the Buffy the Vampire series but that would be a major commitment.

Both Buffy and Angel would be huge commitments, but worth pursuing over a long period of time. Even though I was a complete freak about both, I couldn't watch the whole series of either in succession. It would become more of a challenge and a lot of the fun would be lost.

See if you can remember which series your co was talking about. Curious here.

Watching these TV series is very different from watching a regular old 2-hr movie. I like the movie for the quick, cheap thrill or whatever, but if the series is really good like BSG it's almost like reading a book. I'm much more drawn into characters and story lines and the whole development-of-everything process. I rarely think about a movie too much after seeing it (sorry, no movie has changed my life as they so often promise), but this whole BSG is a different. I find myself thinking about it at odd times of the day. I know there are at least a few other good ones out there to check out, but I'm going to have to be in the mood to make the commitment. Sex in the City is not one of them thank you.

Oz is kind of next on the list to watch in its entirety. I've seen a few episodes, but need to watch the whole thing from beginning to end. Sounds like something for the summer when itÂs hot and steamy.

I only watched a little of Oz. After a few episodes we just kind of stopped. Six Feet Under we totally got hooked on but only watched two or three seasons. Maybe I'll finish that one. It's actually kind of hard to coordinate watching things with my consort. I tend to order things I know I'll be able to watch by myself and throw in a few that interest both of us should the opportunity for dinner-and-a-movie-at-home come up.

Sex in the City? I've endured a few nights of watching that at a friend's house and frankly I couldn't get into it. It was like once you'd seen one episode you'd seen them all and the characters were irretrievably detestable.

I know what you mean about catching yourself thinking about BSG. The whole cosmology of that universe and the idea of machines that believe in god is really intriguing. Have you seen the Pegasus episodes?

I can't believe I actually found the name of that series: It's Babylon 5. I just typed "science fiction series five seasons" into Google and got it.

Maybe if I tried to do all of Oz, I would get bored, but I want to give it a try. At least I want to see some of the first episodes in order.

Sex in the City is odd. For years, I kept hearing about this groundbreaking series, but never saw an episode since I don't and will not do cable. Then it appeared in reruns on regular TV at the time of day I was finishing up dinner. Gave it a shot and came to the same conclusion as you. I would also add - hateful creatures!

By Pegasus episodes do you mean when they first found Pegasus? Those I have seen. Yup, I find myself contemplating the big questions, but also wonder about a lot of details like: Have you noticed there's a lot of smoking going on? Where do they get their booze, their food, their stuff in general? If they have all this technology, why can't they cure cancer? They have gods (plural)? Probably most of these will be answered if I start at the beginning, which I intend to do at some point. I also find myself thinking a lot about individual characters.

Babylon 5 was good. I guess I've seen all the sci-fi stuff that made its appearance on regular network TV. Keep in mind since it was made for regular network, it lacks all the cool, gritty stuff networks in general don't want to deal with. I would watch Buffy or Angel before this one, but it is good in a Startrek sort of way.

Have you not seen the BSG miniseries? I haven't really noticed the smoking. I think they're trying to make it grittyreal. But, yeah, all the booze and having enough food doesn't make sense in a way because everybody kind of had to skeedaddle with what they had when the cylons attacked. They have touched on plotlines about running out of supplies, and there was the episode where the water tanks were destroyed, but I think this is getting into areas where we're just supposed to willfuly suspend our disbelief.

OK, I'll probably at least check out Babylon 5 and dump it if it doesn't grab me. I'm now contemplating Dante's Cove. Sounds like The OC+Dark Shadows+Queer as Folk. The potential is unimagineable.

BSG miniseries? - I don't think so, but I'm not really sure what I've seen in the past.

Dante's Cover - never heard of that one before, but took a look at the member reviews on NF. Here's one:

"Yeah, this is somewhat poorly acted, the sets are awful, the story is sort of dumb and the music bad, but...after about 5 minutes of shock, I was totally hooked. All of these aspects are pretty unimportant to the reason for watching. Namely this is overwhelmingly, gratuitously GAY! All the men are gay and all the girls are lesbian. There is a token straight couple and they get no screen time. Most of the screen time is taken up by boys making out with boys and girls making out with girls, usually in skimpy outfits. They are all hotties too. Its all very easy on the eyes and entertaining, so relax, set your standards aside and bask in a world that is totally gay."

Now that sounds totally beneath me, very trashy, a waste of an evening where I could be watching REAL cinema, probably an exploitation of male skinÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..

(It's #1 in my queue for next week - sigh)

Thanks for the tip.

How did I type "Cover" instead of "Cove"? Blond moment for sure. Anyway, did you watch it? I did. (snicker)

No, I haven't gotten it yet. Things seem to be a bit slowed down because of that xmas thing. Can I assume from your snicker that it was good?

I've been so busy I haven't watched nearly as much as I thought I would. Got Mulholland Drive and Hellboy taken care of and maybe one or two others I can't even think of right now. Oh, yeah, Pitch Black. The last BSG disc finally came and I also picked up Superman Returns and Donnie Darko is still laying there.

Well, how can I say thisÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ.?

ItÂs PORN! Porn all the way. Softcore, but porn with real dialogue and a coherent plot.

Maybe IÂm being too harsh. It isnÂt porn like you would get from the sleazy, rental place, but there is a whole lot of skin  a whole lot. Never the less, it was worth watching if you just want to give your mind a rest. Kind of like taking a nap with your eyes open. I think I actually felt refreshed after watching it. Maybe I just needed a break after finishing the one BSG season in 3 nights. That was about 8 hours of pretty intense viewing. IÂll get the 2nd disc of Dante at some point, but IÂm not on the edge of my seat wondering how everything turns out.

This is going to be my final week of movie mania until probably next summer. IÂm starting another season of BSG and one season of Oz. After that, life returns to normal.

Oh yes, hated Hellboy, but loved Shaun of the Dead. Add Invincible to your list of good hero movies, but I donÂt think IÂve ever seen anything with Mark Wahlberg I didnÂt like.

I watched the last three episodes of season 2 of BSG yesterday. Holy Frack! A lot happened and now I'm anxious to start watching season 3.

I loved Sean of the Dead. Hellboy the movie sucked but I liked Hellboy the guy.

I think when I send back BSG that Dante's Porno Cove will probably be shipped next.

Since I've been doing Blockbuster and Netflix at the same time, I'm noticed BB seems to have more movies that are not available right away. For instance: Dante Disc 2 has a short wait. Who else could be watching this? Did you get the only copy? Frack!
Oh well, I moved it over to my Netflix account. They have it right away.

Thought you weren't on the edge of your seat. ;)

I don't quite get the availability estimates. I've had some things that say long wait show up quickly. Maybe it has something to do with their position in the queue and when they were added. I shuffle stuff around a lot too. I've had a Bollywood disc on my queue forfrackingever that's been long wait since I added it. To quote you, "Who else could be watching this?"

I don't understand the wait thing either. Right now I have the entire BSG Season 1 in my Netflix queue. Three of the discs are available now except for disc #1. That one shows up as a very long wait. Why only disc 1? It's been this way for a couple of weeks now. Very, very odd. Unless there are some incredible scenes with Apollo or something and everyone has to watch them over and over. If true, I could understand. He's grown on me. Yes-he-has.

Here's another thought

Maybe we have millions and millions of folks watching our discussion here and we've become the new, hot movie critics and everyone is rushing out to rent what we talk about. We could be Shady & Aachen.

It could happen.

I'm sure that's what happened.

Apollo. Can't remember, but I think it is indeed and episode in season 1 where we get to see much as the law will allow. Ah, the memories.

I'm now going to go watch Superman Returns.

Wow. Superman is so cool and so nice. And so....*sigh* Still, I kept thinking of Christopher Reeve.

Parker Posey was wasted, however.

I know. WasnÂt that fun? They really lucked out finding Brandon Routh for that part. I donÂt think he really looks like Christopher Reeve all that much, but the basic body and face structure is so similar it just made accepting him as the Superman we all knew effortless. As I said before, he also brought something different to the table. I hope he does a few more of these. Did you know heÂs also in a short film "Denial"? I guess itÂs available on iTunes.

Parker  but she kind of had a heart. I still canÂt figure out why Lex didnÂt waste her.

"I still canÂt figure out why Lex didnÂt waste her."

Maybe it's because despite the violence (e.g. the gattling gun) and scary stuff it was packaged as a family movie.

I checked out his IMDB page briefly. I wouldn't mind seeing him in other things. Seriously handsome. Although sometimes during SR it seemed like his face? makeup? was intentionally a little artificial looking, and not just the forehead curl. Still, he can save me from a falling building any day.

Still haven't watched Donnie Darko with the consort yet. He's seen Bareback Mountain so I was able to sell it on the Jake G. angle. I've seen it but not this one, the director's cut. But it's one of those that I think I'll need to see again to really appreciate, plus it features former President of the Twelve Colonies, Laura Roslin!

Donnie Darko - haven't heard of that one, but will look into it. The Jake angle is good. You could sell me.

Probably right about Lex and the family stuff. I guess I forgot there are kids watching this stuff too. They ruin everything.

There are a couple of pics of Brandon on "Hunk du Jour" if you want to Google. Nice eye candy site.

ALERT ALERT ALERT
BSG Season 2.0, Disc 2, Last episode
Apollo - towel malfunction
See how fast your finger can find the Zoom and Stop on the remote.

Aaaaaaargh! I already returned it!! :(

Never mind, it's on youtube among other places and yes, I remember that sequence well. Must have watched it multiple times.

I love digital media.

Ain't the digi stuff great for things like this? That scene really wasn't all that revealing, but it was something. In a pinch, something will do......... sometimes...........

If you ever get around to Dante, don't bother with Disc 2. Boring as heck.

I'm going to finish BSG Season 2.0 tonight and then I'm off DVDs for a while. I really did OD on all this stuff the past month.

I can't believe you're watching BSG out of order. Did it make any sense? (to the extent it could)

Thanx for the tip on Dante disc 2. For some reason I just received my last couple of discs out of order and I thought I'd have disc 1 by now.

You know I must have seen more of these episodes than I remember. I seem to know the whole story already, but I don't know how.

No, it really doesn't bother me to watch Âem out of order. I wouldn't want to jump between seasons, but as long as I'm doing an entire season at once I'm content. I wanted to do Season 1 before this one, but that first disc is still not available. Maybe it will be by next summer when I resume my movie watching.

Now the question becomes whether or not to do the other BSG stuff. Any advice?

Epic Series - 10 discs
BSG the theatrical release
Miniseries

"I seem to know the whole story already, but I don't know how." You're a cylon.

Do the miniseries. It starts the whole story out and shows how your kind waged such a successful initial attack.

I think the Epic and theatrical releases are just repackagings of the regular series.

Me? Cylon?

Fracking Zeus, you may be right! That explains a lot:

No baby pictures
11 brothers who all look like me
That odd factory in my hometown
How perfect I am

Speaking of small towns. Ever notice how some of these in our neck of the woods are all quaint and charming and others are just sad and creepy?

You know, I really enjoy these TV series, type DVDs. ThereÂs something a bit more gratifying when you have to devote many nights of viewing in order to finish something and see how it all turns out. After I did a bunch of these and then took a break and watched a few regular movies, the movies just seemed lacking or rushed or kind of lame at telling the story they wanted to tell. Maybe all movies need to be 6 hours minimum. I have to do more of these series once I start the DVD thing again.

Will do the miniseries. I like my kind.

I think I was wrong about the Theatrical Release. Did some Googling and it looks like it was actually a movie released in the 70s (before our time) and so related to the first TV show when Richard Hatch played Apollo and not an evil terrorist politician.

When you mentioned sad and creepy small towns I had a sudden mental flash of gray asphalt shingle siding.

I like TV on DVD. I've got another Kids in the Hall now. Those can be watched out of order fer sher.

My hometown used to be this kind of Mayberry type place - nice main street - lots of old, brick buildings, etc. In recent years everything being built seems to be either box-like, steel sided buildings or fake colonial-type things. It's so frelling ugly (new word for you - from Farscape)I can't stand it. I have no idea how these folks think this is some kind of improvement. Why didn't it surprise me that the city council also banned outdoor clothes lines?

Yes, that gray stuff is pretty ugly too.