Thursday, February 18, 2010

Thursday Thirteen- Sleeper Movies and Shows

With all this crazy weather, we have doing as much "cave time" as we can. That is, staying in watching movies snuggled up with something good to eat and no where to go. As we go through our collection of DVD's, it makes me think of movies and shows that we love that never did all that well at the box office, but should have (IMHO). Here are some:

1. The Cutting Edge- I first saw this at a bargain matinee with a client of mine. She wanted to go to the movies and chose this one. It surprised me with how good it was. The banter between the characters is sharp, the skating beautiful and the story had depth and meaning.

2. Tombstone- the one with Kurt Russell. Everyone seems to like the Kevin Costner version but I like this one the best. Val Kilmer is perfect as Doc and all the characters stand out in their own right. Plus I love a good shootout!

3. Blade- the movies did well, but I was really impressed with Wesley Snipes athletic abilities and the action was very good as a result. The characters have deep dimension too which makes it not just another karate movie.

4. Pride and Prejudice- the Keira Knightly version. The music, settings, and tension between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy makes this movie a favorite of mine. I watch it nearly everytime my husband is out of town just because I can't help crying at the end!

5. The Express- we just got to see this movie last week. I couldn't believe that I had never heard of Ernie Davis. If the movie is true to who he really was, he was a fantastic example to the current lot of football players who could learn a lot from that man. It also gives a sobering view of the kinds of discrimination blacks faced back then.

6. Frequency- takes place in New York with a father and son who find each other through an unusual way. Without giving it away to those who haven't seen it, I'll just say I love the "back and forth" of the movie mixed with a thriller.

7. The Count of Monte Cristo- not accurate to the book, but a terrific story nonetheless. The layers of the story and the excellent acting make it fun to watch. I especially like Richard Harris's character ("you have some pressing appointment, perhaps?). And we are always quoting Jacopo with his "how is this a bad plan?" Funny! Jim Caviezel is a hottie in this one too (whoops, there I go again)!

8. Kate & Leopold- speaking of Hugh Jackman, this is one of his earlier roles I believe. Kind of corny story but interesting to watch for a bit of romance and time travel fun.

9. Life- we just got done watching this fantastic show. It ran for two seasons before they canceled it. For what reasons I have no idea. It's smarter and better than most of the cop shows out there. The Charlie Crews character is perfect with Dani Reese. It has story lines with layers running all through it. And the music for this show is intense. I've looked up several of the songs for my collection.

10. Firefly- it's Sci Fi but the only thing I see to make it that way is that it's set in the future in space. Otherwise it seems like a regular adventure to me. It didn't look interesting at first, but once I watched it, I was drawn in. If you catch it, watch the show before the movie. I didn't get the movie at all without seeing the show. Nathan Fillon is in this, way before Castle.

11. Moonlight- if you liked Buffy this is another angle to that vampire thing that everyone loves. I don't typically get into vampires (well, except for Buffy), but the story line for this show was great. I couldn't believe they didn't keep it going. Grrrr!

12. Fringe- I keep hearing all the time that this show is going to be cancelled. I sure hope not. It reminds me of the X-Files but without all the strangeness. The characters are easy to take seriously and yet they use a lot of humor to keep things interesting. I can't wait for season two on DVD!

13. Dark Angel- set in the future on Earth. Interesting story line and Jessica Alba is great as Max, before she got all Hollywood! She reminds me a lot of Buffy in this series. Michael Weatherly (from NCIS) is also fun to watch as Max's helper and maybe boyfriend. The reviews on this show were good, but for some reason it only ran two seasons. Bummer.

Any good movies or tv shows you think should have done better?

4 comments:

queen of everything said...

LOVE tombstone. my husbnd does a grea doc. we loved eleventh hour last year and were really bummed it didn't get picked back up. two of my all time fave movies that didn't do well are "if lucy fell" and "fools rush in".

Sweetflutterbys3 said...

My hubby does a Doc impression too! Must be a guy thing.

I'll have to try If Lucy Fell and Fools Rush In. I'm always looking for another good movie.

Beth said...

I've never seen any of these, but I'll definitely add them to my list for when we finally cave and get Netflix! One of my favorite movies ever was Wit. I think it was originally on HBO (which I don't get), but I bought the DVD. It's not an easy movie to watch (the subject matter involves someone dying of cancer and her loneliness) but it was so very well done and so very moving. I cried and cried at the end and couldn't stop. And my favorite TV series of all time (besides Andy Griffith) that was canceled after only one season was one from the eighties called Frank's Place (set in New Orleans). I've never met anyone else that actually remembers it, but we sure do. Every single episode was a gem. I'd give anything to have it on DVD.

Sweetflutterbys3 said...

I just looked up Wit on Netflix and they do have it, but they don't have Frank's Place. I'll have to try Wit. I love Emma Thompson, ever since I saw her in Dead Again.

Netflix is fun! You'll love it.