Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thursday Thirteen- Underrated Movies and Shows

I haven't done a Thursday Thirteen in ages! But since I've done hardly any baking this week in anticipation of next week's baking blitz, I thought I might give this a go.

One of the things the husband and I do on a regular basis is veg out in front of the T.V. at night. Not exactly a recommended activity, but we are so pooped from the day it's the only way to keep our sanity. Because of all our wonderful viewing experience, we have quite a few shows and movies we've had a chance to see that made us wonder why they weren't more popular. Here are some of those shows:

1. Supernatural- A tv show about two brothers who travel from town to town searching for their father and seeking out mysteries that are weird or well, supernatural. Sort of like an X-Files but with siblings and easier to understand.

2. IP Man- A super awesome movie about Bruce Lee's trainer (which I didn't know until after I watched the movie) and how he made it through some very difficult times by sticking to his morals and using his seriously good martial arts abilities. A must see even if you don't like martial arts.

3. Jericho- An interesting show about what might happen if major cities were destroyed and most of the population was gone. The characters really make this show and the story line is quite plausible.

4. Survivors- A similar story line to Jericho, but a very smart British medical version. A bit liberal for my taste (no guns until late in the show, in the U.S we would have been armed to the teeth within an hour!) but understandable given it's Britian. Adds some medical drama to the already incredible story. Again, the actors really make this a good show.

5. The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn- Sidney Poitier is the star. What more do I have to say? That man can't make a bad movie! Very moving, grabs you in the beginning and pulls you in. You can't help but cheer for him.

6. The Jesse Stone series- Tom Selleck is the main character, a cop with a drinking problem who is hired in a small town. Tom Selleck really pulls off a great performance. Robert Parker wrote the series, one of my favorite authors. I really miss him.

7. Life on Mars- Set in the 1970's, it's about a present day cop that gets pulled into the past to a precinct in the 70's. He spends his time trying to figure out what happened to him, keeping himself out of trouble and solving crimes without letting anyone know where is from. Just fun to watch, remembering all the craziness of the 70's.

8. The Express- a story about racial inequality on and off the football field. Very well done, it's a tough but wonderful story that will stick with you for a long time.

9. Life- One of my favorite tv shows. To this day, I really don't get why they cancelled it. Excellent characters, interesting story line and funny too. It's about cop who gets wrongly accused of a crime, does time, then gets exonerated and gets rehired. He is quirky but lovable and the chemistry between him and his partner is strong. The music on the show is great too.

10. Band of Brothers and The Pacific- I know the Band of Brothers did well (one of the main characters is the lead in Life, the tv show) but I hardly heard anything about The Pacific. Both are fantastic and hard to forget.

11. Taking Chance- Kevin Bacon leads this movie and does an excellent job. It is a very still movie, no action except emotions, but it's unforgetable.

12. Moonlight- ok, it's a vampire show. Still, it was well done and fun to watch. Another one they cancelled and I can't figure out why.

13. Dark Angel- Jessica Alba before all the glamour. Great show, lots of action, a bit corny but it's worth it.

6 comments:

CountryDew said...

I haven't seen but two of these, The Band of Brothers and the Pacific, but then I don't watch a lot of TV anyway. Of those two, I thought Band of Brothers was extremely well done. I did not care for The Pacific, though.

Sweetflutterbys3 said...

You know Anita, I've heard that from other people as well. Too bad it is that way. Band of Brothers was so good. I still think about it and it's been a while since I've seen it.

I neglected to mention that I got most of these shows and movies from Netflix. Easier to fit into a busy schedule! Watching T.V is too annoying these days with all the commercials.

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

I'm thinking of getting Netflix. But I'm already paying over a hundred bucks for the Dish because hubby needed to have all the movie channels. Funny thing is all he ever puts on is CSI and Fringe and that other one with the psychic guy. Blah.

Those sound good. I'm a fan of apocalyptic movies.

Beth said...

Really interesting list, Mary Ann. I'll have to check these out---I've only seen Band of Brothers. It's wonderful. Tom loved it so much that I bought it for him last Christmas. I got it for $25.00 on Amazon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. My Bob and I love to watch movies. We get one from Netflix weekly. We loved the one with Tom Selleck. We like anything with him! We watched one recently with Sophia Loren and Chris Kristofferson. I think it was called The Lives of Saints. It was really good but started out kind of slow. I got it because I could not imagine those two in the same movie!

Sweetflutterbys3 said...

Hey everyone, thanks for your comments!

Debi- I love nexflix. They used to be terrible then someone sued the pants off them and now they are fantastic. Always on time, great selections, and customer service is top notch. Fringe is one of my favorite shows! I can't wait till next season (on disc, of course).

Beth- I agree, Band of Brothers was great. I've thought of buying the series too. I'll check out Amazon if I do.

Southernlady- I'll have to rent that movie. I've never heard of it, but sometimes those quiet ones are the best. Yeah, Tom Selleck rocks! The Jesse Stone series is wonderful. I hope they make more.