Hulu, once Again You Rock My Heart! This Time, to Space(ed)!!

I've heard that some people get into relationships with their DVRs. They record things you love, suggest others you might, and when they're temperamental, your whole world smashes to pieces.

Well, I wouldn't know. But what I DO know is that I think I'm starting to fall in love with Hulu. Sure, I've been expounding its virtues for a long time, but that was more like a bit of a crush. But after logging in today and watching the flipping menu to see what new offerings there were, what should I behold? Only one of my favorite. Shows. Ever. No, not Lost (there's a good chance they should be there soon though). Nor Arrested Development (they're already there). Or Firefly (again, Hulu's already got it). Its Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson's amazing Channel 4 1999-2001 series Spaced, about a pair of new friends who pretend to be dating in order to get a flat.

To celebrate/entice additional obsessees, here's an admittedly longis clip (this is showing a lot of restraint). Hopefully you'll enjoy. If not, well, let's say irreverent modern British humor is not everyone's cup of tea.

What's It All About, Andy Rooney?

Whist flipping around the telly this evening, I happened on footage of fruit and an old man saying "mangoes." Well, of course I had to check it out. At the sight of shaky old hands and a distinctive whiny voice I realized it was Andy Rooney talking about fruit. And what was he saying about fruit? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All I gathered from it was 1) There are a lot of fruits, 2) most are exotic, 3) Andy has not tried/does not like most of them, and 4) tomatoes should be with vegetables.

The complete uselessness of this segment of 60 Minutes got me thinking: what use does Andy Rooney serve? It's not his age - though I can't quite understand why, at 90, he doesn't want to take a break, go fishing, or take a nap in an easy chair - I mean, 87-year-old Christopher Lee has at least 5 films yet to be released, Maya Angelou is 81 and still working, and Sean Connery is still an inspiration to women around the world at 79. I guess I just have no stomach for solely opinion-based commentary when done is such an obnoxious manner.

Also, he didn't like mangoes. And, well, I have no use for people who don't care for mangoes. But that's just my opinion.

Random Quote: Miles Makes My Day

"You owe me a fish taco!" - Miles Straume, Lost



P.S. - In the process of finding an appropriate clip for Miles (there is an extreme lack of them, I have to say), I found a MILES/KATE romance video. Not to get too Grey's-Anatomy on y'all, but Seriously?

Seriously?

Summer Doldrums Are Hereby Interrupted By The Amazing Bender Bending Rodrguez!

Ah summer (Not Glau. Which isn't a surprising link to make if you'd been watching several episodes of Firefly [and the commentary] like I have). Between a near-week-long trip to Harrisburg to spend some much-needed time with my Ithaca people I missed while in London, hanging with my pEEps, a lack of universal internet in the house, attempts to read and clean my room, and the all-consuming entity that is summer television I haven't been able getting online much. I mean, seriously. It's like the universe wants me to be a big fat blob. Bones marathons. CSI marathons. Nights with Conan and the increasingly amusing Jimmy Fallon.

But man, I'm making time for THIS glorious news. Futurama is back! Sweet Hypno Toad's Heiny. Let's all jump on the Planet Express Ship and set sail to Comedy Central, sometime in 3010. Oops, I mean 2010. The network has picked up 26 episodes of the show, which hasn't seen new episodes since the four feature-length direct-to-DVD movies released since 2007, which were themselves broken up into 16 episodes shown on Comedy Central.


So until the joyous day when the new eps begin, I say we keep watching old (but never boring) Futuramas. Oh, the glory of summer.

It's the Little Things

File this under the category of Completely Pointless. But guess what, this is my blog - so I can write about whatever I want!

So, I was just signing in to Netflix from the homepage, where new members can sign up if they want to. And they have this cute pictoral to show how it works, with DVD examples and everything - which were No Country for Old Men, Lost: Season 4, and Iron Man. Not only do I love all those movies (ok, not Old Country. I found it really slow moving, though the performances were top-notch), I've seen them all. I can't explain it, but I got this little thrill shudder. It happens everytime I go through my 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, and I have all the movies on the page checked off. I just enjoy seeing things I've watched. Or rather knowing that I've seen a film.

Or maybe I'm just a little nuts. As if that's news to anyone who knows me.

Slap Chop: This Summer's Best Comedy!

You know Vince, that guy who shills all those things on infomercials? Like the Sham Wow! Well, I just saw the Slap Chop, and it. Cracked. Me. Up. I don't know what it was - I mean, I've seen it before. It's probably the combination of a very late time with the innate and unintended humor. But everything about it is magically delicious.



Um, "Stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life." "You're gunna love my nuts." The crazy-fast way he talks. The needless headset. (By the way, when he opens it up, on the TV he said "Like a butterfly," which I prefer much better.) The amazing way he throws the other food-chopper in the sink, over his shoulder. "Fugetaboutit." "Life's hard enough as it is, you don't want to cry anymore." "We're gunna make America skinny again, one slap at a time." (Really, we're all going to slap each other?) His amazing hand motion at "one slap." "The Graty." "Fettuccine, linguini, martini, bikini." It's hilarious!

Can Robert Downey, Jr. Star In Every Summer Movie Season?

There's no use denying my crush on Robert Downey, Jr. Even back in his unfortunate, so-glad-you've-recovered druggie days, he was devastatingly charming as Ally McBeal's short-term boyfriend. But since the amazingness that was Iron Man, I just can't get enough RDJ. Tropic Thunder was not a huge opportunity to see His Hottness underneath all that makeup, but oh boy, did we get to see his intense, hilarious, Oscar-nomination-worthy acting chops — which IMHO is just as sexy as his chiseled features.

Obviously, I was more than happy to finally be able to see the trailer for the Guy Ritchie-directed, RDJ, Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams-starring Sherlock Holmes.



My first thoughts during the trailer were "Oh, so this is going to be just your average Guy Ritchie movie? (which I'm not the biggest fan of)" There were a lot of explosions, and RDJ's accent didn't seem quite right. But then about the 1:32 mark, with the intense music, things start getting really good. I love the sideways shot of Rachel — I have a real softspot for sideways shots, maybe it's the use of the widescreen to frame things in an interesting way — the defeated way Sherlock throws the tiny sledgehammer (oxymoron?) at the Giant-man's chest with no affect, and the "pillow" line. Priceless. Can it be July 24th already?*

And next summer RDJ's going to be in Iron Man 2. Really, he should be in every summer.

* Obviously it did not come out this summer. But I still cannot wait, now for December!