Movies and TV

It was very nice having an actual weekend, though it pretty much rained most of the weekend. I held true to not doing any work on Sunday, and now I feel refreshed and almost even ready to work.

I hit the DVD box sets this weekend. I started watching season one of Supernatural, though that did get confusing when I saw a season two episode Sunday night on TV, in between season one episodes on DVD. I think I'm going to start using episodes as rewards if I get my writing work done for the day. I really get an early X-Files vibe off that show, back when it was more just creepy (and a little campy) fun with a slight paranoid undercurrent and before it became Huge Global Conspiracy that was too tangled to make sense. However, the way the show is lit means I can't watch it during daylight on the LCD TV because my living room gets too much sunlight and the whole screen fades into darkness. It's definitely an after-dark show. At night with a few candles lit around the living room, it's perfect. Now I need to go dig in my old cassette tapes for my 70s and 80s hair band music. I think it may be a sign that I'm getting old that my interest in the cute boys has more to do with wanting to adopt them and make sure they get a good meal than in anything else.

I've also been rewatching The Office, and it's amazing how much of the groundwork for what's happening now was laid in early episodes. For instance, we see the seeds for the very end of the latest season (the cliffhanger involving Ryan) in the episode about the fire, when Michael felt threatened by the fact that Ryan was in business school. It was also fun seeing Jim's latent leadership abilities in "Office Olympics," and now he's assistant regional manager (and not even "to the"). You know, if I worked in that office, Jim's totally the guy I would go for. I love that mix of goofy and capable, and the way he's able to be kind of a cheerleader, very encouraging and supportive, able to draw out the best in others. Even with Dwight and Michael, he manages to really be there when they need him. Awww. The really great thing about The Office DVDs is they have so many deleted scenes, it's like getting an entire bonus episode.

I watched Ice Age 2 on HBO Saturday night, and found it to be a lot weaker and less fun than the original. Maybe I'm overthinking a kiddy flick, but it didn't make a lot of sense to me. I know that global warning is the issue du jour that must be inserted as a message into every kiddy flick these days, but the end of the Ice Age wasn't exactly a devastating global warming. If we hadn't had that round of global warming, there wouldn't really have been civilization, and it certainly wasn't caused by civilization. That one was pure cyclical climate change, so it kind of weakens the "hey, kiddies, global warming is bad, and it's all your mommies' and daddies' fault!" message. Plus, in the last movie, weren't these same characters having to move around because the Ice Age was starting? And now their lives are threatened by the end of the Ice Age? How old are these critters?

Yeah, okay, I'm probably overanalyzing this.

I tried to go see the new Pirates movie today, but ran into that problem of one person running the concession stand and selling tickets again. I got to the theater about seven minutes before the movie start time, and there were about five people in line. If they'd just been in line for tickets, it would have been no problem. But they were all getting snacks, too, and the one poor guy having to run around doing everything only managed to serve two people between the time I got there and the time the movie was supposed to start. At the rate he was going, I still wouldn't have a ticket before the previews were over, so I turned around and left. They have a little scanner kiosk if you buy your tickets online, but I tried going to their web site when I got home to see how that worked, and the web site wouldn't respond. So, as much as I love being able to walk to the movie theater, it looks like I'll have to find another place to go see movies because that level of customer service is just ridiculous. Besides, it's soon going to be too hot to walk to the movie theater. And because I believe in naming the guilty in circumstances like this, the theater is part of the Hollywood Theaters chain. Boo, hiss! And with the web site not even responding, I also can't find contact info so I can write them a letter letting them know they've lost a customer.

Oh well, I probably needed to be working anyway. I've got a book churning I need to play with, and I need to get my characters developed and my plot outlined this afternoon so I can watch another episode of Supernatural tonight.