June 11, 2011

Neglected movie blog

Yep. I'm once again writing about how I haven't been keeping up with this blog like I wanted to. Interesting reading ehh? I honestly haven't been watching many movies at all. What I have been watching hasn't gotten me excited. It seems like more often than not I hit a slump and I need something to break me out of it. Bridesmaids was good, but I liked it in spite of a lot of things. The more I thought about it the more criticisms I came up with.

This weekend was supposed to be that weekend to break out of the slump. Super 8 was coming out. I'm not sure why I was so excited to see Super 8. The first teaser trailer looked kinda cool, but the extended trailer that came out a few months ago totally killed my anticipation for the film. It looked nothing like I had initially expected. But all the hype that has been building over the last few weeks reignited my desire to get out to the theater and see what JJ had to offer. There was only positive buzz and it looked to be setting up as an amazing film.

Early this week the critics got to see a screening. Actual, tons of people got to go see advanced screenings. I feel like one of the few people who hasn't seen Super 8 yet. I probably payed too much attention to what they had to say. While most of the feedback was positive there were a few critics that Super 8 was exactly what I was afraid of going in. I'm not sure why, but reading a few opinions effectively killed my excitement once again. I hate reading reviews before seeing a film, and I try to avoid it, but in the Twitter age it is tough to shelter yourself from at least seeing all the opinions that flood my feed.

There is this whole "nostalgia" debate around the film. Some people might argue the only reason you liked it is because you were duped into liking it by your own nostalgia. I'm not totally sure what films you have to have seen to be effected by the nostalgia bit, but it is likely that stuff will be lost on me. If I did see the films in question, it was probably when I was a tiny kid, so I'm not going to remember them anyway.

I'd still like to make it out to the movies this weekend if I can. I definitely still want to see Super 8, and I wouldn't mind seeing X-Men either. If not this weekend, hopefully next. I just seem to be extremely busy these days.
Typically this is the time of the summer when I start to watch a lot more movies. All of the tv shows have had their season finales, the temps are getting hot enough that I don't want to spend time outside in the middle of the day. These are the Saturdays and Sunday where I catch an early afternoon flick or two. This year I seem to be watching more tv shows.

My wife and I started Friday Night Lights last summer and made it through the first season. We went right into the 2nd season in the fall, but lost interest. We were also pretty busy preparing for the babe. In the last few weeks we've resumed the 2nd season and I'm getting back into the show. The first season is really solid. I think we can all relate to the high-school experiences that are portrayed. Thus far the second season has been more uneven and more difficult to relate to. It has ventured into more "soap opera" territory. While I still enjoy watching it, I'm not nearly as invested. I've heard it improves, so we will stick it out.

I've also started watching The League. I'm only a couple episodes in, but it is wicked funny. I'm not sure how many season are available on Netflix instant. Hopefully I can get current by the time the new season starts this fall, though I'm sure it wouldn't be a huge deal if I weren't.

Both Dexter and Arrested Development are available on Netflix instant. I would love to watch both of them from beginning to end, but thinking about all the time you would have to put in is a bit daunting. I've tried watching Dexter but I can't seem to get into it. Any show that I start watching I always have the fear that it is going to pull a LOST. I didn't start watching that until the 4th season was just getting over. We got all the seasons on DVD. We caught up halfway through the 5th season. I was so pumped for that final season, and it turned out to be one of the biggest let-downs ever. What a horrible ending to the series. I felt like all those hours spent in front of the television were wasted.

If you've seen Super 8 let me know if you think it is worth trying to squeeze it in sometime this weekend. Hopefully I'll get back to updating this blog on the regular.