Going back to DVDs on Netflix

Our family has had a Netflix account since at least 2005. It may have been longer than that; I just remember that the Netflix concept of mailing DVDs was so new that my coworker to explain it to me and I had trouble explaining it to other people. Anyway, we have used Netflix for quite a long time and been happy with it. When split their plans into streaming-only and DVD options, we dropped our DVD option. We are always looking for ways to save money, and that was $10/month that could go toward our kids' school lunches. It's been a couple years without DVDs and I am finally ready to have that option back.

One of the main complaints when the subject of Netflix comes up is that their Watch Instantly catalog is light on new releases. For quite a while, I was in denial about this. I'm old enough to remember the time before movie rentals existed, so I don't have a problem waiting to see The Heat or whatever is in theaters right now. Also, the lack of mainstream Hollywood movies gave me and the kids a chance to discover the foreign movies and indie flicks that make up the bulk of the catalog. That is how we found Bollywood films and Korean dramas. I still maintain that there are a lot of interesting movies and TV shows to be found on the streaming side of Netflix if people are willing to take a chance on something they have never heard of.

As much as we've enjoyed the streaming service, I finally have to admit that it is no longer enough. The movie studios have gotten even stingier with the deals they are willing to sign with Netflix. Now it is not a matter of waiting a few months after the theatrical release or even a few months after the DVD release of a film. There are films that are never going to be streamed on Netflix. Even though I've heard about this on various tech podcasts, the reality of it didn't hit home with me until Pitch Perfect came out on DVD. I've been checking the streaming catalog periodically since December, and it still isn't streaming. I was even tempted to go down the street to one of the few video rental stores left in our area and rent it because my girls really wanted to see it. That's when I knew it was time to add the DVD option back into my Netflix plan.

Although adding the DVDs back to my plan will raise my bill and feels like a technological step backwards, I still think it is a good choice for us. Back in the heyday of the Netflix DVD plan, I read about people who would get a movie and have it for months because they never had time to sit down and watch it. That is not our family. We don't go out much so there is a lot of media consumption going on here. When we had the two-at-a-time DVD plan, we could easily go through eight DVDs a month. Our plan cost $18 back then, and there was no way we could take all of us to even one movie in the theater for that price. We could possibly rent from the store down the street for that much, if we didn't rack up late fees for returns (which happened quite often). I know there are other online streaming rental options like Amazon, but with as many movies as we watch I think that a flat-rate unlimited price is a better value for us.

I had fun adding movies to my queue yesterday. Strangely, I'm seeing more movies that I can stream now that both catalogs are open to me. That hasn't changed my mind about getting DVDs, though. I'm looking forward to seeing those red envelopes in my mailbox again!

Girls' Movie Night: "From Prada to Nada"

When I post about Girls' Movie Night, I am usually talking about watching movies with my pals Cherry and Maestra.  However, these days I watch more movies with my own girls C1 and C2. This past Sunday C1 and I watched From Prada to Nada. It was an enjoyable film but not quite what I thought it would be.

I don't remember seeing a lot of publicity for From Prada to Nada when it was released in early 2011, but what I did see made it sound like your typical Disney romp. The plot synopsis -- two rich sisters who have to move to the poor side of town when the family's money runs out -- reminded me of Material Girls, a 2006 film starring Hilary and Ashley Duff that was fun but a bit on the silly side. I would classify From Prada to Nada as a light drama rather than a comedy like the Duff sisters' film.

This film is a Latino version of the Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility. The two sisters (Camilla Belle and Alexis Vega), lost their mother at a young age and then lost their father on his birthday. At the funeral they find out that their father had an affair that resulted in a brother they never met. He is entitled to one-third of the fortune, but it turns out that their father lost all the money in the stock market. All that is left is the house, and the milquetoast half-brother lets his arrogant wife (April Bowlby) kick the sisters out of it. They go to live in with their poor aunt (Adriana Barraza) in East LA, and this is where they get more in touch with their Mexican roots.

I liked the casting of this film for the most part. In particular, it was nice to see April Bowlby play something other than an airheaded blond. The only false note for me was the casting of  Wilmer Valderrama as the love interest for the younger sister, played by Alexa Vega. There wasn't a problem with his acting at all, but his age was an issue for me (he is 11 years older than Vega). It didn't bother C1 at all, probably because she just discovered That 70s Show in syndication so she thinks of Valderrama as a teenager. I, however, have the reverse problem; I can't help seeing Vega as the girl from the Spy Kids franchise being hit on by a grown man.

I've never seen a telenovela but I have seen several of what I imagine is its Asian cousin, the Bollywood film. Take away the music and this film has the feeling of a Bollywood film to me. Where many American films seem to have one major plot point and all the action revolves around that, films in the Bollywood style have a lot going on. For your two hours you get surprise relatives, star-crossed lovers, misunderstandings, a bit of comic relief, and a near-fatal accident or disease, and a happy ending. From Prada to Nada fit that mold for me.

Drowning My Sorrows in NetFlix

I am in a down mood for no particular reason today, so I decided to stay in bed and self-medicate with movies. My NetFlix Watch Now queue needed cleaning out, anyway. So far I've made it through The Answer Man, Super High Me, Sunshine Cleaning, and Ready? OK!. It's not much, but it makes me feel like I accomplished something today.

Girls' Movie Night: "Hope Floats"

Normally, when I do dinner and a movie with Maestra and Cherry, I pick the movie. However, after our last gathering, they found out that I had never seen Hope Floats so that is what we chose to watch this month. It is about a woman who moves back into her mother's house with her young daughter after her husband announces his extramarital affair on national television.

Hope Floats is the kind of film where you know how it is going to end, so you are really watching it because you like the actors. Sandra Bullock is sweet and vulnerable, while Harry Connick Jr. flashes his 100-watt smile and provides the only authentic southern accent in the movie. It also stars one of my favorite actresses, Mae Whitman, as the young daughter. She is one of the few actresses whose presence will get me to watch a movie or TV show that I wasn't considering.

We laughed, we cried -- it was cathartic. It was a testament to our growing friendship that I felt comfortable enough to let my tears flow. However, I think that next month I want to go back to watching a movie we can gently mock like a 1940s melodrama or a 1960s sex farce.

NetFlix Friends List is Back

I enjoyed the NetFlix Friends function when they first rolled it out a year or so ago. Seeing what my online friends were watching was fun, and I picked up a few suggestions. NetFlix got rid of it for a while, but now it is back. Unfortunately, they cleared out all the people that were on my list.

I'd like to build my list back up, so if any of my readers have NetFlix and want to connect to me, click the link below:

http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/P5W307yVETlITS0iuLkc

I look forward to seeing what you guys are watching!

Frantically Searching for Father's Day Gift

Perhaps the word "frantically" in the title is something of an exaggeration. In actuality, I've known for weeks what I want to buy ABM: a Roku box. We've had a Netflix subscription for years; it was actually my gift to Allen about five years' ago. However, we rarely make use of the streaming video hours that are included with our subscription. ABM doesn't like to watch video on the computer. I figured that a box that would let us watch the Netflix streaming video on our TV would be a good gift.

So why am I hesitating? Well, the Roku box was a great idea when we had our old TV which didn't have HDMI ports. Now we have an HDTV sitting right next to ABM's desktop. I'm afraid ABM will wonder why I spent $99 on a box that can only access the Netflix videos when he can hook the TV up to the computer for free and access anything: Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.

That leaves me back where I started, without a gift. ABM is tough to buy for. Whenever he wants something, he goes out and buys it for himself. By the time a gift-giving occasion comes around, I can't think of anything to get him. I thought for once I had a winner: something that ABM doesn't even know exists but that meets a need for him.

Anyway, I have until Friday to decide what to get him. I have to be able to order it online and my budget is $100 plus shipping. If I don't come up with a better idea, I will probably buy the Roku box, anyway. There is a slim chance that he may still like it. Even though he's been saying for years that he wants to be able to connect the TV and the computer, he hasn't done it yet except to test it. I think the convenience of being able to use the Roku box with a remote from his favorite TV-watching spot may help him to ignore how much I spent on it.

Star Trek!

As I've mentioned here before, I only go to the movie theatre about once a year. The cost of a movie ticket combined with the comfort of watching movies on DVD at home has made me reluctant to go. The few movies that I think are worth leaving the house for (special FX extravaganzas) are the ones that ABM goes to see with his friends. He sometimes asks me to go with him, but I've become so accustomed to not going to the theatre that I usually say no.

I almost said no again today when ABM asked if I wanted to go to see Star Trek, but now I'm glad I didn't. OMG, it was great! I haven't read any opinions from my geeky online friends yet because I'm not ready to have my good feeling from the movie ruined. I'm sure they saw plot holes that you could fly a starship through, but I don't care. The story was simple enough for my kids to understand, which was good because this was their first Star Trek experience. It was also simple enough for me to understand, which I appreciated because I get confused when the movie is action-heavy.

I was so excited while watching the movie that I wanted to get all spoilerific and do Twitter updates while I was in the theatres. However, I thought that might be rude. Here are a few thoughts I was having:

--Sulu didn't seem nearly as bad-ass in the TV show as he was in this movie.

--The guy who played Chekhov is familiar to me from kids' television but I couldn't remember which show. A quick trip to IMDB once I got home revealed I remember Anton Yelchin's face from a movie he did called Charlie Bartlett. I wanted to see that movie but never did. By the way, Yelchin actually is Russian. His parents were professional figure-skaters who emigrated to the US when he was six months old, so I guess it wasn't hard for him to come up with the accent.

--What the heck is Tyler Perry doing in this movie? It was a bit part and I don't think he needs the money. Could this mean that he is a fan who pulled strings to get a part?

Unless I'm mistaken, I think J. J. Abrams left the door open for sequels to be made without being to obvious about it. Much of the sci-fi out there doesn't appeal to me (no Battlestar Galactica for me), so I would welcome a revival of the Star Trek franchise with this cast.

Favorite Rom-Com?

I'm feeling a little more romantic than usual this Valentine's Day. Maybe it is due to all the romances I've been reading lately. I even bought ABM a card and a small gift, which I haven't done in ages. That sounds heartless, but ABM doesn't consider this a real holiday so he doesn't expect to get anything. He only buys me something because one of his coworkers shamed him into it years' ago.

Anyway, all this romance in the air got me thinking about romantic comedies and if I have any favorites. It is difficult for me to pick a favorite in anything -- music, books, food, whatever. However, in this instance a clear favorite jumps out at me: The Truth About Cats and Dogs.

Why does this film stand above the rest in my mind? I love the fact that the unconventional beauty gets the guy. There are other movies where the shy girl or the nerdy girl wins out in the end, but they always include the "Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto!" moment. Why does the underdog have to be made over into the prom queen for the guy to notice her? In The Truth About Cats and Dogs there is no makeover involved. The guy just comes to his senses.

Another movie that is SO anti-feminist but I still love it is The Quiet Man. It was released in 1952 so I am willing to forgive the outdated viewpoint on love and relationships. This film showcases Maureen O'Hara at her fiery best. The old-fashioned girl in me loves the fact that O'Hara's character demands that her husband stand up and protect her honor.

So, do any of you have a favorite rom-com? I would love to hear about it. Maybe you'll introduce me to something new.

DVD Wednesday: Kal Ho Naa Ho

M and I recently watched a Hindi movie from 2003 entitled Kal Ho Naa Ho. We haven't watched many movies from India, but I know from my reading that traditionally Hindi films have several musical numbers and melodramatic plots. I love musicals and don't mind a bit of melodrama, while M enjoys movies from foreign countries. I figured this movie would be a home run.

The plot involves a family that is suffering emotionally and financially after the father commits suicide. The MIL does not get along with her son's widow and doesn't like the youngest daughter. The widow is wondering how to keep the family restaurant afloat. The oldest daughter is just all around cranky. Into the neighborhood moves a light-hearted young man who works on improving their situation, never revealing that he has problems of his own.

I don't want to give away any more of the plot, but I will say that the movie has a bittersweet ending. Watching this with M has shown me that she really doesn't like movies with sad conclusions. I think I've been letting her watch too much Disney :-). I, on the other hand, thought this was the perfect tearjerker. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to relieve a little stress.

"G.I. Jane" is my "Rocky"

A local TV station is playing one of my most memorable movies of the 1990s -- G. I. Jane. As I recall, G. I. Jane was not well-received when it was released in 1997. Demi Moore's character was called one-dimensional and much fun was made about her shaving her head and bulking up for this role. However, this is my go-to inspirational movie. Although I've only watched it twice in its entirety, the scenes with Demi Moore gutting it out with the boys are stuck in my head. I call them up whenever I need to push myself in exercise or even in housework.

So many men have visions of Rocky running through their heads to inspire them that it is almost a stereotype as an inspirational movie. I can't think of a movie that most women can agree on as a motivator when faced with a physical challenge. What movie would you call your Rocky?

The Harvey Girls

One of my favorite Judy Garland movies is The Harvey Girls. It also starred other familiar names such as Ray Bolger and Angela Lansbury. I've seen it at least five times and it never gets old for me. It is a perfect example of what I love in movie musicals.

The story is a fictionalized account of the opening of a new Harvey House restaurant in a frontier town, and the lives of the waitresses (Harvey Girls) that worked in it. Harvey Houses really existed; they were the first restaurant chain and in a way, an early version of fast food. The chain was started by Fred Harvey to provide quick and tasty food to railroad travelers during the short water stops that trains would take. Back in those days, the trains didn't have restaurant cars. People had to pack their own food or eat in dirty roadhouses that had rancid meat and stale coffee. Harvey Houses improved tourism in the western US by providing fresh food in a clean atmosphere, all served in time for you to eat before the train left. They employed young single girls and dressed them in black uniforms with starched white aprons to drive home the image of cleanliness and civility.

In the movie, Judy Garland plays a woman who goes west to the frontier town of Sandrock to marry someone she met in a lonely hearts ad. When that doesn't work out, she joins up with the Harvey Girls to earn some money. The Harvey Girls are setting up a brand-new Harvey House in this town, but it doesn't go smoothly. That's because the saloon girls, headed up by Angela Lansbury's character, see the Harvey House as competition. Matters are complicated further when the saloon owner, who seems to be Angela Lansbury's guy, falls for Judy Garland.

This movie combines so many elements that make it re-watchable for me.

--It was filmed in that glorious Technicolor that has fallen out of favor these days. The YouTube clip above doesn't do the cinematography justice.

--Along with the saturated colors, the costumes and hairstyles definitely satisfy me when I am in the mood for eye candy.

--Ray Bolger and Cyd Charisse both have wonderful dance numbers.

--Angela Lansbury is known to most of today's generation as sweet Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote. It is fun to go back and see her in a not-so-gentle role.

Best of all, the movie is clean and has a happy ending. It is a movie that I can watch with my daughters without cringing. It is also an escape from the all-too-realistic movies of today. That's what makes me go back to The Harvey Girls again and again.

Broadway Melody

It's a new month and Time Warner Cable has added a few new choices to the free On Demand roster. Today I watched a movie called Broadway Melody. It was released in 1929 and was the first movie with sound to win the Oscar for Best Picture. The plot involved a vaudeville sister act who try to make it big on Broadway. A song-and-dance man in their show dates the older sister but falls in love with the younger sister, a fact that the younger sister tries to hide by dating a stage-door Johnny with only sex on the mind.

I haven't watched a 1920s-era movie in ages, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The slang ("It's cream in the can, baby!") and the clothes (LOVE those cloche hats)! It is heavy on the melodrama, but I enjoy that after a steady diet of modern movies. I prefer snappy dialogue and pretty clothes over graphic sex and violence any day.

What I'd love to see come back

I've been watching a lot of TCM over the past couple weeks. One thing I miss that they don't do in modern movies is the fashion montage. There are movies where someone attends a fashion show, like Raising Helen, but it's not the same. In older movies like That Touch of Mink, there was usually a scene where the leading lady went shopping. All the latest fashions were paraded slowly in front of her. The viewer usually got a good look at five or ten outfits. The models all had such an elegant carriage about them. The few times I see a fashion show in a movie today, there is pulsing rock music and the models all have a dead-eyed gaze. Where's all the glamour?

Movie: "Stranger Than Fiction"

Although Stranger Than Fiction sounded intriguing to me when it was released, I avoided it because of my distaste for Will Ferrell. He specializes in a goofy style of humor that makes me cringe. I made the mistake of going to see "Bewitched" and told myself that I would not be fooled again, no matter how good the trailer looked. A holiday with no plans will do strange things to your mind, however. I ended up watching Stranger Than Fiction yesterday, and I am glad that I did.

For those who don't know the basic plot:

Stranger Than Fiction is the story of Harold Crick, an IRS agent who is living a rather boring and predictable life. He lives alone and has no social life; he barely even interacts with his coworkers. Then one day, he hears the voice of a British woman narrating his movements, which makes him think he is going mad. Although he doesn't know it at first, there is a reclusive author who happened to name the protagonist of her next novel Harold Crick. When she says in her narration that Harold is about to die, he realizes that he has to find her to save himself.

This is the movie for people who hate Will Ferrell movies. He totally plays against type. I can now put him in the same category as Jim Carrey -- actors who are best known for their comedy but who are more appealing to me in serious roles. The scene where Ferrell plays the guitar and sings is one of my favorites. It was tender and sweet, and he didn't pull a face once.

This movie could have easily been turned into a comedy like John Candy's Delirious. Luckily the creators leaned more toward the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show and explored the feelings of the "fictional" character. I would highly recommend it.

The planets have aligned

According to this article, Zac Efron has been chosen to play the male lead in the movie version of Hairspray. The Broadway cast CD of Hairspray has been in heavy rotation in my house for months, so the kids will be excited when they find out it is being made into a movie. Not only that, but Zac Efron played the male lead in one of their favorite movies, High School Musical. I've also read that Queen Latifah will be playing the role of Motormouth Maybelle. That is perfect casting in my mind, so this movie will be a treat for all of us. Perhaps I can talk ABM into taking us to the theatre rather than waiting to see it on DVD.

New Classics?

The rural area where I grew up didn't have cable television service. We picked up three local channels and that was it. It was a miracle that I even discovered old movies since this was also pre-VCR. When I finally moved to the closest metropolitan area, I fell in love with AMC and TCM. These two channels enabled me to get my black-and-white movie and musical fix every week when I was a single gal. Once I married ABM, I phased out my viewing of old movies. Black-and-white film hurts his eyes and the songs in musicals interrupt the flow of the plot for him :-p.

My desire to watch movies has been rekindled, so I've been checking out the offerings on AMC and TCM. Those channels aren't as black and white as they used to be. Today, right after airing "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", TCM showed "Honey I Shrunk the Kids". Huh? That movie was released in 1989. While I agree that it is a pretty good movie, I have trouble thinking of a movie that is only as old as my marriage as a classic. ACM is showing newer movies, too, and even worse: now they show commercials!

You could argue that '80s movies are classics to my kids and you probably would be right. I can't wait for M to watch "Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink". However, AMC and TCM are the only two channels that focused on those old black-and-whites and I feel like they are being pushed off the prime-time schedule by the newer stuff. Why can't they branch out like radio stations? In my area, we have an oldies station that plays music from the 50s and the 60s and then another one that plays music from the 70s and 80s. On TV, we've got three Disney channels, four Nickelodeon channels, and several different HBO channels. I want AMC and TCM to start channels for new classics so that I can get my oldies back!

"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

Can anybody watch the filibuster climax of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and not have their emotions stirred? The movie is dated and idealistic, but I love it. I'm watching it right now. I already know the ending but my eyes are still welling up with tears.