Wednesday, May 25, 2011

What We've Been Watching

The Mr. and I love to watch movies and TV series together on Netflix. It's something nice we can do after work with a glass of wine to unwind and reconnect.

We do however occasionally make it to the theater to catch a new movie.

Like this past weekend I (somehow) got the Mr. to see Bridesmaids with me.


It was so nice of him to go with me because this was SUCH a "girl movie" but he tolerated it and even had a few laughs. It was pretty funny, but not amazing. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

It definitely wasn't as good as some of the Academy Award nominated movies we've been watching on Netflix Lately.

We recently rented The Social Network, The Kings Speech, The Fighter, and Blue Valentine.


We LOVED The Social Network. For me, this should have won Best Picture. Great acting, great music, and a socially relevant story line. I give it 5 stars out a 5.

The King's Speech was very good. Fantastic acting. I still give it 5 stars out 5, I just don't think the subject matter was a relevant to our society as the Social Network.

The Fighter was good. It was pretty much the same as every other movie about boxing/sports/bad neighborhoods in Massachusetts/dysfunctional families ever made, but we liked it a lot. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Note: We've now seen 9/10 of the Best Picture Nominees from 2010. Not bad!

Finally, Blue Valentine. I had such high hopes for this movie. I'd heard it was poignant and superbly acted. Well, The Mr. quit watching at about the 40 minute mark. I soldiered on and in the end wished I had not. The movie was depressing, disturbing, and left me with nothing to take away from it. I give it 1.5 stars out a 5 (redeemed only by some good acting ).

We've recently also been watching some older TV Shows on Netflix: Rome, Twin Peaks, and Nip/Tuck.


Rome is fantastic! Great acting. Great history (esp. if you're a history geek like me).

Twin Peaks is a early 1990s show. It's a thriller/mystery filled with quirky, funny characters. We really enjoyed Season 1. But now Season 2 is disappointing us.

Nip/Tuck was also good for the first couple of seasons, but now that we're several seasons in, it's kind of jumped the shark. I think we may quit watching it.


Have you seen any of these movies or TV shows? What did you think? What have you been watching lately?

23 comments:

Katie said...

Oooh I really want to see Bridesmaids and Thor- a couple we met on vacation said Thor was really good, but this is the first I've heard about Bridesmaids. Hubby and I went to see a midnight showing of Pirates 4 while on vacation, and thought it was really good. More the tone of the first Pirates, which we really liked, and I loved the mermaids. I don't, however, recommend going to a midnight premiere of a Pirates movie (and I hear they are planning more). Way too many crazy, drunk pirate wannabes.

Jessica said...

We watched The Kings Speech and loved it, I think Geoffery Rush was cheated out of Best Supporting Actor for that role! Hmm... I was really tempted to watch Blue Valentine but I did hear it was depressing. I might skip it... Rome is on my Netflix list but the Mr. and I are obsessed with Californication right now, so we haven't torn ourselves away to watch anything else yet. :-)

Rachel said...

I loved King's Speech, The Fighter, and Social Network! Haven't seen Blue Valentine, but think I'll pass. You're not the first person to give it a depressing review. Have you guys seen 127 Hours? I absolutely loved it. My favorite Oscar Nom, by far! It's gruesome and I had to look away at times, but I really enjoyed it!

Meghan said...

I laughed really hard at Bridesmaids! The Social Network is one of my favorite movies I have seen in a long time- I thought it was excellent. The King's Speech is at the top of our Netflix queue. I enjoyed Nip/Tuck the first few seasons, and then it got a little too weird!

Kristin Brannan Wilson said...

I am really wanting to see Bridesmaids..hopefully soon! I agree about The Social Network & The Fighter. Still can't convince him to see The King's Speech. Have you watched Friday Night Lights at all? It is one of our favorite television series!

Linda said...

I'm going to see Bridesmaids this weekend with some friends. We love Netflix. We have the first season of the Wire (I cannot get into this show) and we've been watching Veronica Mars streaming.

Tillie said...

We stopped watching Nip Tuck sometime in season 3 or 4 -- can't exactly remember but yeah, the show was spectacular to start. So sad it went on such a downward spiral.

Betty said...

At least you and the hubs agree on Blue Valentine...my hubby thinks its really good (yeah he's one of those) and I wanted my time back. We do the Oscar Death Race each year, and that one won Worst Movie Ever Nominated by a LANDSLIDE!!!! And I agree that The Fighter, The Social Network and the Kings Speech are both VERY good!

Chic Runner said...

I just saw Bridesmaids with B and my roomie and we loved it too. B thought it was pretty hilarious :) Glad the Mr. enjoyed it as well

Naturally Caffeinated Family said...

We are the same way :) We happened to see Bridesmaids in the theater last wkend, same thoughts, we were surprised how raunchy it was, but we especially liked the main SNL girl, Kristen?. We recently saw the Fighter from Netflix too and liked it, Marky Mark and Christian Bale did a good job. And we have but haven't watched yet, The King's Speech from Netflix too! :) Have you seen Damages??

REBrown said...

I've heard that Bridesmaids is really funny from lots of people...we're going to have to see it!

I'm disappointed that Blue Valentine wasn't better. We have it on our NetFlix now.

B. Wilson @ Windy {City} Wilsons said...

Completely agree about Bridesmaids. I saw it with 5 of my friends and while we laughed, I was a but underwhelmed. Considering the fantastic ratings and how hilarious Kristen Wiig really is, I was hoping for more. Less raunch, more Meet-the-Parents, Hangover funny.

BTW, love that you and a friend had brunch in those bridesmaid dresses. Even more fun if you and a bunch of girlfriends wore bridesmaid dresses to see the movie! Okay, I'm overboard. But still funny. :)

Shoshanah said...

I really liked The King's Speech. I definitely think it deserved the Oscar, although I never did see The Social Network. But I still think that even if I had seen it, I'd feel the same way.

Ker said...

We saw Blue Valentine in January on a weekend getaway in Austin - we had such a great, fun weekend until we saw that movie and it just sucked the fun out of the afternoon!! Definitely a depressing movie, especially for newlyweds.

I loved the others that you saw, though! And early Nip/Tuck (before the move to California) was sooo good!!

LWLH said...

I enjoyed Bridesmaid...I thought it was lighthearted and funny! :)

Erin said...

We haven't bent to the theater since Inception...which we saw like 4 months after it came out cuz we had a baby :)

I love that you mentioned the music in Social Network, because I liked it, too...and it drove my husband so nuts it was hard for him to finish the film!

I'm a hardcore Aaron Sorkin fan, so I recently started Sports Night on Netflix after watching Studio 60 about 20 times...and also Ally McBeal. Apparently, there was a lot of good television I wasn't allowed to watch growing up!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

I haven't seen Blue Valentine but I've heard a lot of people say the exact same thing. That's great that you've seen so many of this year's movies. I still haven't seen The Social Network.

Brooke said...

I just got Blue Valentine from Netflix and I might send it back without watching... the last thing I need at the moment is something to make me feel even worse.

Jessica @ Wanting Adventure said...

Those look like some great movie choices! I've added the King's Speech and the Fighter to my Netflix queue. Just hadn't gotten around to that yet!

California Wife said...

So much to comment on...
-I loved Bridesmaids! That was the hardest I've laughed in a long time!
-I completely agree about Blue Valentine! I was so excited to watch it, and was really disappointed.
-My mom used to watch Twin Peaks when I was a kid, I should totally watch it on Netflix. I've never seen it, but she always talked about how it was her favorite show.

The Shabby Princess said...

Used to love Nip/Tuck but it totally jumped the shark! Sad face.

I've been watching early seasons of Grey's Anatomy via Netflix lately--the husband, not so much, ha!

Sweet Simplicity said...

I just started watching Nip/Tuck on netflix this weekend. So far, so good!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recommendations! We just got NetFlix and I thought about adding Blue Valentine, but now it's definitely not making its way into my queue.

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