One of the nice things about paying as much as I do per month to Charter Communications is that I have a decently robust OnDemand service. (And as a momentary aside, isn't it crazy that I'm paying for a shitload of channels in my basic and expanded service that I have never and will never watch? Why is cable one of the only areas of modern society exempt from the "free market" mentality, where the personal choice of the consumer drives media consumption? In other words, we should be at an a-la-carte approach to cable television, regardless of the urges to maintain of a digital version of corporate welfare with channel bundling. But I digress.)
Anyway, part of this service includes some television (I caught up on episodes of 30 Rock as well as the first two eps in the six-part Monty Python documentary) as well as a nice mix of new and new-ish films. Quick snapshots of four recent buys are below:
Trick 'r Treat -- How bad could a seasonal scare-fest be if it features Dylan Baker and Anna Paquin, regardless of the fact that it skipped theaters? Well, it wasn't great -- an anthology much like Creepshow, but less compelling -- but I've paid for worse. Such as Bio-Dome, a film that offered more (unintentional) fright than any non-Halloween-themed film should.
The Proposal -- Yes, I actually paid to watch this at home. And while I'll never be a Sandra Bullock fan (not then, not now, not ever), she was not as repellent as she usually is to me in this flick. And can I further sing the praises of Ryan Reynolds, a man who can liven up even the most formulaic material? Again, not the worst comedy I've ever seen. That would be Bio-Dome.
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men -- Now, this was an interesting failure. Based on the writing of the late David Foster Wallace & adapted and directed by John Krasinski (from the American version of The Office), the film plays a bit undercooked (clocking in at under ninety minutes) and stagey (with a healthy chunk of the dialog coming directly from Wallace's text in a presentational style rather than with the improvisation and interpretive rapport that a true adaptation should bring, a la Where The Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze). Kudos to Krasinski for at least attempting the impossible: doing filmic justice to a work by one of the greatest American writers of the past half-century.
The House Of The Devil -- Flashing back to the occult-themed suspense-horror films of the '60s and '70s (yet set in the early '80s, as evidenced by some bopping around to "One Thing Leads To Another" by The Fixx), Devil manages to slowly build to an effective and creepy resolution without resorting to prurient sex, outlandish gore, or paraphilic torture masquerading as plot advancement. No, the only fetish here is to the past, from the camera movement (hello, reverse zoom!) to the soundtrack score to the flipped hairdo's of the main female characters. Canny and effective (if less aggressively paced than modern flicks), The House Of The Devil was more treat than trick, a winning and faded snapshot of the halcyon days when all a horror film needed was cute college chicks, creepy creaky houses, and an eerie old dude with a cane in one hand and Satan in his heart.
I might suggest this in response to your frustrations of not being able to pick which channels to buy. Why pay for TV at all when you pay for the internet, which is the 100% fully customizable TV? Now I do realize that this isn't a complete solution, as it is nice to be able to just sit down and flip around, but it is a pretty good way to see a lot of stuff. And it isn't all illegal either. Most of the big networks put all there current shows on their website, and you can stream them whenever is most convenient for you. Just a thought.
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