Thoughts: My Weekend in Film 4/28

It was another weekend of nonsense, mischief, and TV watching. One of these weekends I really will catch up on movies. And watch Once.

Friday PM:

I was supposed to go see Body of War which opened at the Nuart Theater up on Santa Monica after I got off of work. However I ended up leaving work early and went home and then I just couldn't get the motivation to get back into rush hour traffic to make the movie. Rush hour in LA? Yuck.

Instead I put in the second disc of Season 1 Tudors and committed my night to Henry and his court.



This second disc (episodes 4-6) left me feeling a little ambivalent about the show. The production value continues to be incredibly impressive, I think the acting is fine, and there a few steamy, exciting scenes. Overall though, I'm left wanting more. A lot of the time it feels like the episodes are just glossing over the events. There is a lot that I want to see more fully developed. Characters, plot, history.



I did like the subplot with Charles Brandon and Henry's sister Margaret. I think that's actually been my favorite bit so far actually. I'll be honest and admit that that partly has to do with Henry Cavill and the fact that he looks pretty amazing without a shirt.

I'm not completely shallow though! I also think that they actually manage to do a decent job with the development here, I have a pretty good idea who these characters are, what they're feeling, what's going on between them. There's less crazy intrigue going on with them, it's a pretty straightforward bit of story, so I guess they had less to tell in more time and were able to give more attention to details. Or maybe it's a sign that the series will improve over the course of the season and some of these issues I'm having will be resolved. Here's hoping for that!

Saturday AM:




Scrubs again! I love Comedy Central and its Saturday morning Scrubs marathon. I watched a few episodes and then got ready for the day. It was pretty brilliant.

After Scrubs it was off for bike riding and the beach. I managed only a slight sunburn so I'm pretty happy with that. The weekend was gorgeous, a little hot even, and Saturday was perfect for a day at the beach.

Saturday PM:



After the beach and bike riding to Santa Monica with the roommate, I was a little tired. We talked about going out but managed to make it only as far as the neighbors' house. After socializing we wandered back to our couch and turned the TV back on. We talked about catching some Monty Python action but didn't make it that far. Instead it was back to the old staples. Sex in the City and some No Reservations.



Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations is one of my favorite shows currently on TV. It combines so many elements that I love (cooking, travel, a snarky host) into a perfect blend of entertainment, commentary, and even a bit of education. Tony Bourdain is hilarious and while his delivery with the narration can border on cheesy it's always clever and well written. I love seeing all of these different sides to places I've always dreamed of going. And I mean, this guy gets to travel cool places, eat cool food, write about and have his own TV show. How lucky is he?

That is one reality show I would LOVE to work on.

The rest of the weekend:



Scattered throughout the rest of the weekend was more of pretty much everything. Mixed with some of the US version of The Office, BBC's Robin Hood, and some Family Guy. Honestly, with as much as I did this weekend (a lot) I'm really surprised by how much TV I still managed to watch. I went to the beach, I did lots of shopping, I spent almost all of the second half of Sunday at the neighbors' BBQ. I guess that could be why there was a lot of TV but no actual movies. Makes sense to me.

On The Slate:

Body of War - I'll definitely be going to see this either tomorrow or Wednesday. Normally I'm not a huge documentary person but this one looks really, really good. Check out their site for more info and the trailer and showtimes.

Once - I really will watch it this week! I promise!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun - An old Sarah Jessica Parker flick my roommate really wants to check out. With the Sex and The City movie coming up, we're preparing ourselves.

More Tudors - depending on how much else I get through, I may watch the next disc.

And that, as they say, is that.