TV, films and books don't hook me

yeah i'm the same a lot of the time with Sky.Rarely spend much time watching anything other than the 5 terrestial channels i can see anyway without it.Waste of £20 a month.Been meaning to get round to canceling it and just getting a freeview box.

there are still good books and films out there. you just got to know where to look. agreed 80% of tv is shit. i am seriously considering getting pay tv. don't laugh here in oz it is still the exception to have pay tv.

Books - hardly read at all anymore, mainly due to my job which is PC based and makes my eyes too tired at the end of a long day in front of the screen. Movies - once movie tickets went over the $10 mark (think they're about $15 now) I stopped going. I'll make the odd exception for something mindblowing like LOTR, but other than that I'll go and see the odd re-screening of something like Blade Runner or Alien just to see it on the big screen again. TV - recently got pay TV and I don't watch free to air at all anymore. Mainly watch sport, some docos and the odd live music concert - saw an excellent Bloc Party show 2 nights ago. Overall it gets harder to be impressed by entertainment options as you get older, because obviously you've seen a lot more and it gets harder to find something that is original and fresh rather than a pale imitation of something that's been done before. I concentrate my energies on finding new music before anything else, and that takes up enough free time as it is.

Johnny wrote: yeah i'm the same a lot of the time with Sky.Rarely spend much time watching anything other than the 5 terrestial channels i can see anyway without it.Waste of £20 a month.Been meaning to get round to canceling it and just getting a freeview box.

If you cancel it Johnny, you don't need a freeview box, you get all the channels you need via the Sky box. BBC3 and 4, ITV 2, 3 and 4 and also Filmfour and BBCnews 24.

This also means that you get all the decent British comedy and documentaries, without the influx of American crap that I personally cannot stand.

Back to the point though, agree with Ness in so far as... I can't be arsed going to the Cinema (I talk too much anyway) the odd BBC drama catches my attention now and again (Life on Mars, Rome) although I do have to say that I was a complete sucker for Footballers Wives (only saw the last series) but found it a complete piss take and was shallow and suberb.

I think I feel like most of you.

TV ? As miss Jiphy is away for a while, I watch it when I eat. And that is just crap, crap, crap. Except ARTE which is a French-German channel. Last week I saw M Ein Stadt sucht ein Mörder in German, a couple of days ago a Woody Allen's film with Sean Penn in English and last night Zonzon (Parisian slang for jail), a very moving film. This is not an anti-American channel but a free Hollywood crap one. And most of the films are not dubbed which is something I like because all languages have their own melodies. Add to this interesting documentaries. Last night, before Zonzon, there was an interesting one about the CIA. When people come to discuss about something, guests are from many countries so that you can have many foreign points of view to make your own. The news do not only talk about France but also about Germany. It is always interesting to dip into his neighbours' daily life. And it also seems to escape any political propaganda, almost a fair neutrality. And most of all. NO COMMERCIAL BREAK.

Books ? Hard to make a choice. There are so many. Just to read the classics takes a lot of time, what about our contempory writers ? I do not know how it works by you, but here autumn is the season of awards. So the amount of published books becomes senseless. A lot of people running libraries told me that it was almost impossible to show them all in the shelves.

Cinema ? Althought there is the vertige of the big screen and the surrounding soundtrack, I cannot stand the smell of pop-corn, huge cinema centers, commercial zones.

You whining fuckers just need to expand your horizons and actually LOOK for good entertainment. You can't expect it to just land on your doorstep with so much shit out there.

68Pontiac wrote:

Shellshocker wrote:

68Pontiac wrote: Other than that, I find myself constantly watching the Simpsons, though I think their time has gone by a few years back. JHC

The Simpsons used to be the best written show on TV, but it's probably been about 8 years since it's been really good. I still catch the new episodes sometimes, but I'd rather watch the old episodes for the 10th time.

Yeah, the new material is downright disturbing.

JHC

My friend and I were discussing this today. The simpsons are coming upon their 400th episode. Which basically means a show we all hold in such high regard, has far more lousy episodes than good ones.

out of 400, I would say that, 25 are in the highest echelons of hilarity, another 50 are far above average, and 25 more are slightly above mediocrity.

don't watch much telly, but love cinema. there have been lots of great films, you just have to look past the blockbusters! reading a lot more now i'm getting the train to work again, notihing like getting stuck into a good book

Bob Konkel wrote:

68Pontiac wrote:

Shellshocker wrote:

68Pontiac wrote: Other than that, I find myself constantly watching the Simpsons, though I think their time has gone by a few years back. JHC

The Simpsons used to be the best written show on TV, but it's probably been about 8 years since it's been really good. I still catch the new episodes sometimes, but I'd rather watch the old episodes for the 10th time.

Yeah, the new material is downright disturbing.

JHC

My friend and I were discussing this today. The simpsons are coming upon their 400th episode. Which basically means a show we all hold in such high regard, has far more lousy episodes than good ones.

out of 400, I would say that, 25 are in the highest echelons of hilarity, another 50 are far above average, and 25 more are slightly above mediocrity.

Your basic statement (a show we all hold in such high regard, has far more lousy episodes than good ones) is correct. I think you're really selling The Simpsons short on the numbers though. I think it was a consistently excellent show for about 6 or 7 years, then it really dropped off after that. By the way, a Simpsons movie coming out next year? Isn't that about 10 years too late (like Garfield)?? I'll still go see it, though.

Spotnick wrote: But local TV has good stuff.. but I have to admit the americans are doing better tv these days, series like Lost and 24 are really catchy... so were the X-Files.

Yes, X-Files was good. But sooo long ago... :(

There's more quality stuff out there than ever if you ask me; Carnivale, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Desperate Housewives, Lost... etc...

It takes more effort to find sometimes, 'coz there's so much choice nowadays, but the Zeitgeist has never been so vibrant IMHO.

lucyjane wrote:

Johnny wrote: yeah i'm the same a lot of the time with Sky.Rarely spend much time watching anything other than the 5 terrestial channels i can see anyway without it.Waste of £20 a month.Been meaning to get round to canceling it and just getting a freeview box.

If you cancel it Johnny, you don't need a freeview box, you get all the channels you need via the Sky box. BBC3 and 4, ITV 2, 3 and 4 and also Filmfour and BBCnews 24.

.

i was working on the assumption Sky would come and take the box away as i'm technically renting it aren't i?

Mind you, most times they don't bother to come and get it anyway i guess

Craig W wrote: There's more quality stuff out there than ever if you ask me; Carnivale, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Desperate Housewives, Lost... etc...

It takes more effort to find sometimes, 'coz there's so much choice nowadays, but the Zeitgeist has never been so vibrant IMHO.

Battlestar Galactica? New episodes? If so, probably on the Sci-Fi Netwrok here in the states. Did not know that...

Shellshocker wrote:

Craig W wrote: There's more quality stuff out there than ever if you ask me; Carnivale, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Desperate Housewives, Lost... etc...

It takes more effort to find sometimes, 'coz there's so much choice nowadays, but the Zeitgeist has never been so vibrant IMHO.

Battlestar Galactica? New episodes? If so, probably on the Sci-Fi Netwrok here in the states. Did not know that...

It is nothing like the original- You must watch it- The Sci-Fi channel paid for it so you should find it there.

Craig W wrote:

Shellshocker wrote:

Craig W wrote: There's more quality stuff out there than ever if you ask me; Carnivale, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Desperate Housewives, Lost... etc...

It takes more effort to find sometimes, 'coz there's so much choice nowadays, but the Zeitgeist has never been so vibrant IMHO.

Battlestar Galactica? New episodes? If so, probably on the Sci-Fi Netwrok here in the states. Did not know that...

It is nothing like the original- You must watch it- The Sci-Fi channel paid for it so you should find it there.

Sweet. Do they at least still have cylons?

Jiphy wrote: most of the films are not dubbed which is something I like because all languages have their own melodies. Add to this interesting documentaries. Last night, before Zonzon, there was an interesting one about the CIA. When people come to discuss about something, guests are from many countries so that you can have many foreign points of view to make your own.

And most of all. NO COMMERCIAL BREAK.

Truth there. Agreed different lines and tones of different languages. Can get the basic meaning even if some words are missed.

Books. Goes in phases. Like well written things on most any subject. Mostly just make time for news. news. news. Various magazines.

Films. Love them but don't tend to go too often. Enjoy plays when get the chance. Everything is out there. All have individual merits. Even if just simple escapism, good night out and an almost waste of $. 4. Commercial breaks. Almost need them as can get bored, thirsty etc.s

LOve the cinema,don't get there regular enough.Superman Returns,MI3 and Hostel have been my favourites this year so far. Reading...never find the time really,save it for work.Don't like reading at home anymore because I like a bit of atmosphere when I get home. Ergo I read NOOL while playing some toons. TV.........LOST! Can't get enough of it,not missed a single episode since it started.

I need books, and movies and good tv-series (like The Sopranos or Six Feet Under) just as much as good music. There’s very much rubbish around indeed, but plenty quality-stuff as well if you know where to find it.

It all makes life more bearable I think. After all the real world isn’t always the best place to be in with all these ignorant morons living in it.

myself...... i pefer pretentious poetry ha ha i like to read ella wella wilcox in nature, i loooove poetry. the history channel is good for modern art doco's and the earlier painters, i got pulled into watching the reality serries 'inside the playboy mansion'on the infamous 'E!' CHANNEL. yeeeeaahhh it was ok. i watched three episodes. i couldnt stop myself. they made cookies and some other crap..yea it was ok i guess books + films = good x inspiring =

Shellshocker (said):" Sweet. Do they at least still have cylons? "

Cylons still present- Some in human form now...

THE BOX SET OF SERIES TWO IS OUT ON MONDAY IN THE UK!!!

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/RGNCS/3-/1021801/Battlestar_Galactica_Season_2/Product.html

series 2 just started on the telly here.

Somebody brought up "The Simpsons" as no longer being quite up to the same standard that it was before, and I think that's certainly true. Due to longetivity, the series is now being written by people who grew up with the show and were fans. They're probably less likely to experiment with the format as the writers were early on, when it was still fresh and new. A lot of the first-act stories (usually leading up to the actual plot of an episode) are still laugh-out-loud hilarious (the whole Bart and Homer sending a hmaster into space, for example), but then the episode that follows can't measure up. I think it might have started about the time "Futurama" came on and kept Matt Groening from focusing on the Simpsons, and it's been hit-and-miss ever since.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject

Taboo # 7 wrote: Somebody brought up "The Simpsons" as no longer being quite up to the same standard that it was before, and I think that's certainly true. Due to longetivity, the series is now being written by people who grew up with the show and were fans. They're probably less likely to experiment with the format as the writers were early on, when it was still fresh and new. A lot of the first-act stories (usually leading up to the actual plot of an episode) are still laugh-out-loud hilarious (the whole Bart and Homer sending a hmaster into space, for example), but then the episode that follows can't measure up. I think it might have started about the time "Futurama" came on and kept Matt Groening from focusing on the Simpsons, and it's been hit-and-miss ever since.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject

I agree that Groening leaving the show was a big reason for its decline.

Craig W wrote: Shellshocker (said):" Sweet. Do they at least still have cylons? "

Cylons still present- Some in human form now...

THE BOX SET OF SERIES TWO IS OUT ON MONDAY IN THE UK!!!

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/RGNCS/3-/1021801/Battlestar_Galactica_Season_2/Product.html

I noticed yesterday that it's actually on an HD channel here! Didn't get to watch it, though. :( Cylons in human form-good twist!