The Crap We Watch

It's been revived (as reruns) on Nuvo. I haven't caught any of them yet but the teasers catch my eye now and then.

Heya, Lynn. ;)

You really had to watch each week for it to make sense. I liked the way it showed the good side of prisoners, the dirty prison guards and cops, the relationships formed between people who rarely trusted others . . . The show had depth.

Hey, slyc. :rose:
 
You really had to watch each week for it to make sense. I liked the way it showed the good side of prisoners, the dirty prison guards and cops, the relationships formed between people who rarely trusted others . . . The show had depth.

Hey, slyc. :rose:

I'll admit that I like most of my fiction TV to be a bit on the fluffy side. That's why I watch the SyFy channel. Things like Prison Break and Justified, while they look good to me, might intrude upon my writing since I have a tendency to write "theatrically." Maybe that makes sense, maybe that doesn't.

Give your daughter a kiss for me.

Then keep another for yourself. ;)
 
I'll admit that I like most of my fiction TV to be a bit on the fluffy side. That's why I watch the SyFy channel. Things like Prison Break and Justified, while they look good to me, might intrude upon my writing since I have a tendency to write "theatrically." Maybe that makes sense, maybe that doesn't.

Give your daughter a kiss for me.

Then keep another for yourself. ;)

I can do that. :rose:
 
Over the last couple of nights, I've watched a few of my favorite movies, with an eye for what makes them so engrossing for me. I mean, what is it about a movie that makes me want to see it again and again and again?

I figure it comes down to two things: an engaging plot, and an enticing build-up. A good movie, like a good story, has to snare the reader from the very get-go, and then keep their attention with hints and teases of what's to come. If the first thirty minutes of a movie don't get you, then it's a failed movie. Likewise with a good story. If you can't grab them in the first 3,000 words or so, then you've failed as a writer.

The films in question are From Dusk Til Dawn, No Country For Old Men, and The Book Of Eli. They share many similar characteristics, in that they are all dark, moody, and violent. Tarantino's From Dusk Til Dawn plays on the campiness inherent to vampire/zombie gore fiction, but it fills it's own niche. The other two are a bit more philosophical in their outlook. No Country is very much humano-centric, ultimately asking the question of "why are we so cruel to ourselves?" while Eli seems to ask, what good is the human race without faith?

At the bare bones, each of these stories pulls the watcher in, and makes them want to learn more about the characters. What do they want? What will happen to them? How do I define with them?

This is all any of us, as writers, should hope to accomplish. If a movie can pull a watcher in within the first half hour, then we, as writers, should pull the readers in within the first Lit page.
 
Ha, I turned off my tv in November, 2003.

I had 3 tv's then- one for each eye. I've since given one away, I tossed out another by mistake and I don't know what happened to the 3rd. Now, none of them would be any good. They were all analog and we have changed to digital apparently. I'm not interested.

Who wants to see digits all the time? I have my full compliment- ten fingers and ten toes- there's nothing for me to be envious about.

As "ana" means "without" I wonder if these digital tv's have logs?

It's such a complicated world. But, I'm free.
 
Over the last couple of nights, I've watched a few of my favorite movies, with an eye for what makes them so engrossing for me. I mean, what is it about a movie that makes me want to see it again and again and again?

I figure it comes down to two things: an engaging plot, and an enticing build-up. A good movie, like a good story, has to snare the reader from the very get-go, and then keep their attention with hints and teases of what's to come. If the first thirty minutes of a movie don't get you, then it's a failed movie. Likewise with a good story. If you can't grab them in the first 3,000 words or so, then you've failed as a writer.

The films in question are From Dusk Til Dawn, No Country For Old Men, and The Book Of Eli. They share many similar characteristics, in that they are all dark, moody, and violent. Tarantino's From Dusk Til Dawn plays on the campiness inherent to vampire/zombie gore fiction, but it fills it's own niche. The other two are a bit more philosophical in their outlook. No Country is very much humano-centric, ultimately asking the question of "why are we so cruel to ourselves?" while Eli seems to ask, what good is the human race without faith?

At the bare bones, each of these stories pulls the watcher in, and makes them want to learn more about the characters. What do they want? What will happen to them? How do I define with them?

This is all any of us, as writers, should hope to accomplish. If a movie can pull a watcher in within the first half hour, then we, as writers, should pull the readers in within the first Lit page.

I have often wondered why I felt the nee to watch "Arthur" over 150 times. Dudley Moore just cracked me up. As did Sir John Gielgud. Now I have to find it on DVD.
 

Askey was one of my grandfather's favorites. I remember going to visit as a child in the 70s and seeing my grandfather's collection of VHS tapes featuring Askey, Burns & Allen, and numerous other vaudeville greats. I think their humor, for the most part, would be vastly under-appreciated now, which is a shame. Thanks for the clips, Og.
 
I have often wondered why I felt the nee to watch "Arthur" over 150 times. Dudley Moore just cracked me up. As did Sir John Gielgud. Now I have to find it on DVD.

As a kid, Arthur was one of my favorites, along with, strangely enough, a movie called Hot Stuff with Jerry Reed and Dom DeLuise. I could watch either of them five times a day and never get tired of them.
 
Askey was one of my grandfather's favorites. I remember going to visit as a child in the 70s and seeing my grandfather's collection of VHS tapes featuring Askey, Burns & Allen, and numerous other vaudeville greats. I think their humor, for the most part, would be vastly under-appreciated now, which is a shame. Thanks for the clips, Og.

I remember seeing Arthur Askey live.

Depending on the audience, his double-entendres could get very close to the mark but never beyond it.

Many of the comedy routines of the period, such as the Sand Dance, were killed by television. The performers could tour the country for years doing the same act in every town because it was fresh to each audience.

But television reached a wider audience who wanted something new each show. Arthur Askey was one of those who could produce new jokes, new routines, and ad lib endlessly.

You can see the difference between the original acts and the novelty ones on Britain/America Has Talent. Some of the performances are great, until you ask the question: What will they do next week?

The real artists produce a performance that makes you want to see what else they can do. The novelty acts? Well, that was interesting, but they have given us their all and there's nothing else.
 
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I remember seeing Arthur Askey live.

Depending on the audience, his double-entendres could get very close to the mark but never beyond it.

Many of the comedy routines of the period, such as the Sand Dance, were killed by television. The performers could tour the country for years doing the same act in every town because it was fresh to each audience.

But television reached a wider audience who wanted something new each show. Arthur Askey was one of those who could produce new jokes, new routines, and ad lib endlessly.

Askey was definitely a ham, no doubt about it. I think that was why he and George Burns endured into the television age. They were able to adapt their comedy and make it fresh. All the way through the eighties, Burns was a household name.
 
I don't watch much tv, I love the new Sherlock on BBC America (the one last season with Irene Adler, well, just blew me away, that actress was so hot!). My guilty pleasure these days are the programs on investigative discovery, it is like watching the Loving Wives stories on here, unreal...black widows, cheating wives killing their husbands, you can't make this stuff up..it is just so low down and sleazy it is good....

Other then watching some of this stuff occassionally, that is about it.
 

Just because no comments were made, do not imagine that your offering was rejected. Thes were appreciate. I'd not seen film of Wilson, Kepple & Betty (I think there were five of them) for many years and enjoyed it.

Arthur Askey was someone I think I'd rather listen to than watch. I really enjoyed Much Binding (Arthur & Dickey in the tent on the roof of BH).

I remember Sabrina. She made eyes pop wherever she went. I remember my Dad putting the paper away out of my sight when there was a picture of her on the front. Mum would Tut Tut and angrily sip her tea. . .



You guys are old! :cattail:

No problem there. Youth is wasted on the young
 
Over the last couple of nights, I've watched a few of my favorite movies, with an eye for what makes them so engrossing for me. I mean, what is it about a movie that makes me want to see it again and again and again?


Ah the silver screen. Now we're talking. My wife says i'm kind of weird in my movie likes and dislikes.

One of my favorites is 'Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas', http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/?ref_=sr_1

Another would be 'Meet the Feebles', http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097858/?ref_=sr_2

adn then there is 'Memento' a movie that will leave you going what the fuck did i just watch.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/?ref_=sr_1


She thinks I need therapy...I tell her that's what I'm writing for.

Giggle.

M.S.Tarot
 
adn then there is 'Memento' a movie that will leave you going what the fuck did i just watch.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/?ref_=sr_1


She thinks I need therapy...I tell her that's what I'm writing for.

Giggle.

M.S.Tarot

Writing is great therapy, isn't it?

Memento was one of those movies I wanted to see when it came out, but lost track of it afterward. (If I remember correctly, it came out around the time when I met a rather significant person in my life) I think I'll have to look for it.
 
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