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British comedies to get you through the summer

By on May 15, 2012 in Movies, Pop Culture


Now, t.v. seasons aren’t what they used to be and there are some good shows airing in the summer time….can’t think of one right now but I’m sure there is at least one.  I’m also not saying the all American t.v. is crap. I do love: Boardwalk Empire (but who doesn’t love Steve Buscemi), Walking Dead (I’m a sucker for zombies), Mad Men, Big Bang Theory, and a few others.  Big Bang Theory aside, when I am looking for comedy I look to the Brits.  It’s over the top, dry, and sarcastic - everything I look for in comedy.

I love Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead, Run Fatboy Run, Hot Fuzz, among others (I am looking forward to A Fantastic Fear of Everything like a preteen standing outside a Twilight movie).  This led my husband to have me watch Spaced - and I loved it!  Then it led to more British comedy and I’m hooked.  So..here are my picks for what I’ve enjoyed so far and what’s on my list to watch this summer.

Recommended:

Spaced

Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes pretend to be a couple in order to get the only flat they can afford.  Crazy friends like Twist and Mike and insane neighbor Brian and landlord Marsha are just a strange mix.  Very highly recommended.

The I.T. Crowd

“Did you try turning it off and back on again”  is the standard phone answering technique for geeks Moss and Roy in the IT department.  Socially clueless, their “relationship manager” Jen, is trying hard to be normal and hilarity ensues.  What does Moss do when the I.T. department is set on fire?  He emails the fire department.  This one is also highly recommended.

Red Dwarf

The last human being and his friends are stranded on a mining ship.  This one is hilarious when I watch it, but I haven’t gotten as into it as the others.  I think it’s just because the kids like this one and watch it when I’m not around so I haven’t seen the episodes in order…I really like to watch shows in order.  Recommended.

Dead Set

This is not a comedy nor was it a t.v. show but it is one of my favorites…it’s the zombie thing.  Zombie outbreak, idiot reality t.v. stars trapped on their set.  Love it!  This is a must see for anyone who loves zombies and hates reality t.v.  Highly Recommended. 

Black Books

Bernard Black does and says to the customers of his book shop, things that most people only dream of saying to customers.  He is rude, foul, and hates his customers, tearing apart books at the suggestions that he give them a discount.  This one I am currently watching and loving every minute of.  Simon Pegg fans will recognize Bernard, played by Dylan Moran, as David from Shaun of the Dead, though Manny (Bill Bailey) is my favorite actor in this.

I don’t know if it is because the pool of comedic actors is small or they are just attracted to being in the kind of comedy that I am attracted to watching, but the actors cross over in a lot of these.  I love it, seeing them play off each other in so many hilarious ways.

Now if you have seen all of these or just want more, here is my list of shows I’m going to watch this summer in no particular order:

Fawlty Towers,  Only Fools and Horses, Peep Show, Coupling, and Jeeves and Wooster- this one is next. If you enjoy British Humor and you liked Hugh Laurie as House, you should check this out with me. And last but not least, The Black Adder.

Check some of these out and let me know what you think; I know this type of humor isn’t for everyone.  If this is your thing and you think something is missing from my must watch list, I’d love to hear what it is and add it. If you are a NetFlix user, you can find most of these shows there.

 

Brought to you by: Mills Properties
Photo courtesy of:  crystalcoastgardener.com
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Great Country Music Reality Show Performances

By on May 1, 2012 in Events, Movies, Music Scene, Pop Culture

I got a text yesterday that today was my day to post something intelligent that people outside my immediate family would be excited to read. I haven’t been in a store when it got held up at gunpoint lately, so unless I wanted to go looking for danger, I realized that I probably wasn’t going to come up with anything ground-breaking. When I get bored or want to procrastinate, I often get lost in watching old American Idol or Voice auditions and performances.

While I didn’t think a ton of people would really be excited to read that, I reckoned that it would be fun for me at least to get all these videos in one place so I could go back and click on the links the next time I wanted to impress a lady with my vast knowledge of singing competitions.

Then I saw a tweet coming back from work yesterday from a friend in Nashville, who runs ExperienceNash.com, linking to something Eric Church said that appeared to ruffle some feathers. Mr. Church went on a little rant to Rolling Stone that seemed to indicate he wasn’t a fan of reality singing competitions. Actually, it said pretty much exactly that and more.

I can understand where Eric is coming from on two fronts: 1) He is already positioning himself as a rebel. Might as well push that more and appeal to that audience. 2) I’d kinda be pissed too, like if I was Brantley Gilbert and lost to Scotty McCreery for ‘Best New Artist’ at the recent ACM Awards. Gilbert wrote “My Kinda Party” and “Dirt Road Anthem” for Jason Aldean and released “Country Must Be Country Wide” himself. McCreery did a great job on Idol, but really?

Eric issued an apology last night. It fit right in line with Point #2. Some artists that got their start in these competitions totally enjoy their fame. With that I mean folks like Miranda and Carrie. Artists that come out of these things shouldn’t just be ordained the next Garth, George or Reba right off the bat though.

Without further adeau, here are some of my favorite country performances from The Voice, American Idol and Nashville Star.

While we are already off the beaten path with that one, check out this amazing cover of ‘Rolling in the Deep” by David Cook, the Kansas City boy who won Season 7 of Idol

There have been some great country performances this season between Idol and The Voice too:

In doing research for this, I ran across video from Skylar Laine, who is on this season of Idol. This girl alone will get me to watch the show.  A great voice. It’s too bad she’s only 18 or I’d be more smitten with her than I was with Nicolle Gaylon after watching this. Check out her version of “Born This Way”.  It’s like Lady Miranda or something.

Also check her out on “Gunpowder and Lead” and “Tattoos on this Town”

This post really wouldn’t be complete without audition videos.  Check out Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, Kellie Pickler and possibly the biggest success story from this genre, Carrie Underwood.

Did I miss some? Are these awful and I actually have no musical taste whatsoever?

Post brought to you by Mills Properties
Logo courtesy of RealityWanted.com
Cover photo courtesy of Wetpaint.com
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Watch out Netflix, my Amazon Prime account just got cooler

By on April 2, 2012 in Movies, Retail Therapy

I do not hide my love for Amazon, finding books, buying massive amounts of books and general shopping.  I buy so much from Amazon that I have had a Prime Membership for several years.  Just in case you don’t know; with a Prime Membership you pay $79.00 per year and get free 2 day shipping on anything with the blue Prime logo and reduced cost on overnight shipping.  Type just about anything in the search bar on Amazon and you will find it:  I’ve bought parts for my vacuum cleaner, a new shelf for my fridge, clothes, games, coffee grinder, Cardinals themed UNO game, and food. There is so much and each time more and more stuff is eligible for Prime shipping.

Now to the crux of what has become so over the top amazing about a website that I am already totally in love with.  FREE streaming of 17,000 titles of movies and t.v. shows!!!  That’s right, they recently struck a deal with Discovery Networks to add more titles.   Let’s do the math:  you are a broke college student and you have a roommate. That comes out to $39.50 per person for a year of free t.v. or $3.29 per month.  Take that Netflix and cable and U-verse.  Plus, you don’t have to deal with getting those annoying letters about how you’ve illegally downloaded content.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the limitations. You can’t watch as much as you can on Netflix yet, etc, etc.  I just know that the Prime Membership was already worth the money and so this is just a really awesome bonus.

P.S. If you’re into that kind of thing you can also “borrow” a bunch of books for your Kindlefor free with Amazon Prime.

Brought to you by: Mills Apartments
Photos courtesy of: Amazon.com & reallynatural.com
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The Land of Misfit Movies

By on December 12, 2011 in Movies, Pop Culture, South County, St. Louis City

There are very few things in life I leave the Island of Soulard for.  Family, hot dogs, and $1 stores are about the extent of it.  Sunday, I decided I wanted to see the new Footloose movie.  Seeing as I am a tad behind the times, I had to turn to the trusty Google to see if the movie was even playing on the silver screen still.  I typed in “movie showtimes 63104″ and let Google do its magic.  I had to go all the way to the second page of results before I found a showtime, but I found one.  I attribute this to my singing “Holding Out for a Hero” while the search was going on.  Some place called Keller Plaza Cine 8 was still playing Footloose, as well as The Smurfs, The Help, and Real Steel.

When seeing the address I was more confused than when I originally heard a Footloose remake was in the works.  I worked out in South County for two years off of Lemay Ferry and never noticed a movie theater. I looked at a map and figured finding it shouldn’t be a problem. They make smartphones for things like this and keeping me entertained during meetings.

I recruited a friend to go with me.  By “recruited”, I mean I bribed her with authentic Mexican food on Cherokee and then once she was already in the car and full it was either she walk home or see the movie with me.  More to come in future posts about my complete and utter lack of dating skills.

Of course I got lost getting to the theater. Luckily, while I was busy turning around we happened to see this sight, where without the streets, you see the theater up on a hill. It’s pretty much right across the street from the bowling alley.

Whenever I venture that close to the Jefferson County line, I’m never really surprised by anything I see. It’s a lot like going home to Lincoln County.

Pricing is pretty straight forward. It’s $3 for showings before 6pm and $4 after.  If you were to see someone in line arguing about the price, they should probably be punched in the face.

(Two side notes:  1) People are ridiculous and it probably happens  2) the world would be a much better place if more people got punched in the face when they did stupid things.)

Concessions are pretty cheap and Pepsi products are on tap.  Those are pretty much the only things I ask of a theater.  I paid $10 for two large drinks and a large popcorn that was bigger than my ego.

The cheap pricing isn’t the only thing that makes you think this theater is stuck in the past and should still be showing the original Footloose in all its Kevin Bacon awesomeness. The theater only takes cash.  Luckily, a credit union in the same plaza has an ATM in front of it.  The theater employees were happy to point us in that direction. The ATM very well may be the first ATM ever made, which is cool because that means the fee is only $2. The old school butter machine for the popcorn had me wondering if it had been there since 1984.

The butter machine for the popcorn

The actual theater was laid out pretty well and clean.  I was surprised there were actually other people at our showing.  I mean, great minds think alike so, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

The movie was actually pretty good.  I admit I was a little hesitant to see it when I first heard about it.  If the original Footloose had never been made, this movie would be a must-see.  The world would be a much darker place though, so I guess it’s for the best.  Kenny Wormald does a sufficient job in the Ren MacCormack role and Miles Teller is hillarious as Willard.  Julianne Hough makes red cowboy boots look like the greatest things to ever be worn by a member of the female population.

Two downsides of the movie are the soundtrack and the casting of Andie MacDowell in the Vi Moore role.  I guess they were trying to give the soundtrack a little touch of “hipster” for the remake, but it didn’t tickle my fancy. Vi Moore isn’t too big of a part in the movie, but I would have rather seen someone else in that role, like Reba McEntire.

Is there a movie you are a little late to the party on?  Check the showtimes at Keller Plaza Cine 8 and maybe you can still catch it on the big screen. Just remember to bring cash and dress warm if it’s cold outside, $4 movies don’t pay the heating bill.

Brought to you by Mills Properties

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My Favorite iPad Apps

By on December 5, 2011 in Apartment Living, Arts, Movies, St. Louis City

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

I usually consider myself part of the “hip crowd”. I mean I drink Stag out of the tallboy cans. I shop at Target. I watched The Voice and The Sing-Off.  I did not know that I would feel so much cooler with an iPad.  This being my first Apple product, it’s my first foray into being part of that hipster crowd.  Now that I have had the iPad for about a month, I feel like I am qualified to post about the coolest applications I’ve found. Since I am undeniably cheap, I don’t buy apps either.  I’m sure there are some really cool ones out there to buy, but I’ll leave those to the rich folks. You know, the the folks who actually buy clothes at full price from Express.

  • Hulu Plus–You can’t watch Hulu content on iPad without downloading this app and paying the $7.99/month for the service.  For your money you get more shows, more episodes and more movies.  You can watch all these on everything except your paper plates and all in High Definition.
  • Zite– This is an app I use every morning.  You pick the categories you are interested in and let the app do its thing.  As you go along, you rate the stories like Roger Ebert rates movies.  The more you use, the more the app learns what you like.  My two favorite categories? Gadgets and Celebrity Gossip.
  • iHeartRadio — I’m not very cultured when it comes to music.  I listen to mostly country music. In saying that, I mean I like to listen to something other than the same 20 songs all day long.  That alone pretty much cancels out listening to the two big local stations in St. Louis. I probably don’t get the full iHeartRadio experience with my barn-sheltered musical tastes, but I’m sure that the options for other musical tastes are great too.
  • Google Search– As this review from ZDNet talks about, while Google markets this as an upgrade to its standard Google Search application, it really seems like their way of putting the main features of the Google Chrome operating system on the iPad.  If you use multiple Google products, such as Gmail, Google Docs and YouTube, you need to download this app
  • HootSuite – If Jack Dorsey created the original Twitter application and website while he was on some sort of messy, 1960s LSD trip, it would be this.  If you call yourself a “Social Media Expert” then this is probably to you like giving me an Unlimited-For-Life Taco Bell gift card would be.
  • Amazon Windowshop — This is exactly what it sounds like.  This app makes it easy to scroll through the extensive library of Amazon things that you can justify needing in your life.  It’s perfect for selecting your Christmas list to email to Mom.  Or it would probably be useful for ladies on Sugardaddie.com as well.
  • Explore St. Louis — I’ll admit I was a little leery of this one.  I wasn’t sure at first if it would be very useful.  I admit I was wrong.  Developed mostly for tourists, locals will find themselves using this application quite a bit.  It works to find restuarants, shops and things to do that may not be on the tip of your toungue.
  • Spotify – I thought this app was absolutely amazing when I first downloaded it.  I was able to find and play songs I hadn’t heard in forever like Wade Hayes’ “On A Good Night” or Da Hol’ 9′s “Urbody In Da Club Up”.  After 48 hours, your free trial of Spotify Premium ends on the iPad.  You can always play any song out there from your laptop or desktop, but you need to pay for the premium version to do the same from a mobile device. Otherwise, the only songs you can play on your iPad are the ones that you actually have on your home computer.

What applications do you use every day?  Do you have opinions on the ones I featured? I need to find a good free word processor for the iPad because I am ironically enough typing this on a desktop computer. Any help?

Brought to you by Mills Properties 

Photo courtesy of Time.com

P.S. If you couldn’t tell by the lead for this post or by knowing me in person, I’m not a hipster at all.  I am pretty much what Ren McCormack would have been like in Bomont if he couldn’t dance. You can call me Willard, Willard Hewitt.

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My Favorite Christmas Movies

By on November 30, 2011 in Movies, Pop Culture, South County

With Thanksgiving over, I now feel that I can openly talk about getting geared up for Christmas!  I am sure many of you have already decked the halls and put up your tree (or maybe not).  In order for me to begin all the holiday festivities, I have to start with some really cheesy Christmas movies!  Mine tend to have a Dolly Parton bias but they are all must-haves!  (If you don’t like Dolly, skip numbers 2 & 4 :))

#1 – White Christmas!  In my opinion, the best Christmas movie ever, period.  I have watched it every year since I was 6 years old.  Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Vera Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney make my heart melt.  I will be singing “Sisters” and “Mandy” for weeks!

#2 – Kenny & Dolly A Christmas to Remember!  I know what you are thinking….REALLY?  It is from 1984 and it was a television special and I only have it on VHS and still have some of the funny commercials.  It is classic and awesomely 80′s!  It is songs from the Christmas album acted out with singing and dancing – amazing!  There really is something about a Dolly and Kenny Christmas song to get the season started.

#3 Christmas Vacation.  Pretty sure I don’t need to explain.  It is a must, so make sure this one is on your list!  This one I actually watch multiple times during the holidays!

#4 A Smoky Mountain Christmas.  Another vote that is likely only my preference, but it is super cute!  Full of mountain magic and the true meaning of the season.  Disclaimer: You may be overwhelmed by cheesiness but fight through it.

#5 The Muppet Christmas Carol.  Who doesn’t need a dose of the muppets to get Christmas started?  Kermit the Frog is a perfect Bob Cratchit.

So a few honorable mentions: Unlikely Angel (warning: Dolly movie), Scrooged, and Home Alone.  Notice I didn’t mention a few of the classics…I am not a huge fan of A Christmas Story – I apologize!

What are your top 5 Christmas movies???

Photos courtesy of dvdbeaver.com & ioffer.com
Brought to you by Mills Properties 
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