What I’ve Been Watching #1

I’ve seen posts like this on a few blogs I read regularly, so thought I would start occasionally mentioning what random movies and TV shows I’ve been watching. If nothing else, you may find something to put in your Netflix queue or you may think of something to recommend to me. I’m going to just number these posts sequentially so I don’t have to think of clever titles each time, because lazy.

Take Shelter – Amazon/Netflix

It may be the anticipation of seeing him portray General Zod in the upcoming Superman flick Man of Steel, but I’ve been on a big Michael Shannon kick lately. That dude is intense, and reminds me of the kind of kid that was held back a few times in High School but always gets put on your team in gym class and scares the shit out of you.

In Take Shelter, Shannon plays a Dad and husband to Jessica Zero-Dark-Thirty Chastain who is plagued with nightmares about apocolytpic storms and starts building a storm shelter in his backyard. He worries he’s going crazy, and the whole movie is done in this very subtle way and it was very cool. Shannon plays a quiet, subdued, average guy, and that makes you hang on every word he says. If you like psychological thrillers, you should definitely check it out.

Premium Rush – Amazon/Netflix

Premium Rush was a movie that was on my radar last year but I never saw. It is a bicycle action movie (how was there not one of these in the 90s?), it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. It was written (and directed) by David Koepp, who I didn’t even know was a director now. Koepp has written a ton of huge movie screenplays like Jurassic Park and Spider-Man. With Premium Rush, he took an unexplored subject (crazy-ass bicycle messengers in New York City) and turned it into a very enjoyable movie.

It may have a premise that sounds like a video game from the 90s, but I really liked it. Michael Shannon’s villain character is a lot of fun and never takes himself too seriously, and the bicycle chase scenes are pretty intense.

The Little Mermaid – Amazon/Netflix

I love me some Disney cartoons, and the wife and I rewatch them quite a bit, but for some reason we each hadn’t seen The Little Mermaid for years and years. I always consider it the prequel to the awesome Disney renaissance that was Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, and I always forget that it was the movie that kicked off that whole era. I wasn’t sure how it was going to hold up, but it was still pretty fun. King Triton and Ursula are both total badasses, and I’d watch a movie all about those two characters’ backstories.

Roseanne Season 5

My wife and I started watching Roseanne a few months back because we were curious how we would like it now that we’re “grown ups” and we love it. I have read about how John Goodman’s character takes a turn for the worst in the later seasons, and I’m not looking forward to that, but overall this show is still funny and is pretty timeless. Well, except for when DJ gets a Super Nintendo.

The Office Season 9

I’m a huge fan of The Office, and although I still liked it last season, I think the show has really benefited from having a definite end on the horizon. Last season felt like a show trying to figure out what the hell it was after its star left, but season nine has been solid. I love how they are bringing back older characters and actually addressing the idea that some documentary crew has been filming this for a decade. I just wish they would bring back Michael Scott for one last episode. Everything I’ve read says Steve Carell is done with it, but come on, is a Michael and Holly wedding episode too much to ask?

Transformers: The Movie – Amazon/Netflix

Transformers is something I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for besides Beast Wars because it was just before my time. I didn’t watch the movies for those reasons plus Michael Bay, and with a whole confusing canonical TV show history I’ve never wanted to try and start watching Generation 1. That’s why I just watch the animated movie from 1986 every now and then when I need a Transformers kick. I’ll be honest though, I never have a damn clue what’s going on. Loud rock music and blinking lights is all I get out of it, but it’s fun. I love the voice cast in this movie, and the fact that this was one of Orson Welles’ last performances as Unicron.

Honorable Mention: Snoopy’s Reunion

For some reason I added every Peanuts movie I could find to my queue and every once in a while when I don’t have something more exciting at the top one of these animated specials gets shipped to me. I remembered Snoopy’s Reunion from when I was a kid, but it was pretty boring. It did teach me that if Snoopy and Garfield ever hook up, their baby would look an awful lot like Snoopy’s fat brother Olaf.

So, what have you been watching?