Binge Watching: Some new titles to enjoy over the Holidays...

Let's go back to the Sixties... "Not Fade Away"

is a familiar tale about a musical group that did not make it big...One of James Gandofini's last films, "Not Fade Away"

focuses on the changing times, attitudes and events that drove the American suburban lifestyle as Vietnam became dark news, as the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King were gunned

Huston without the mask

down, and as the American family began to loose its charm.


Inspired by the music of Bob Dylan, John Magaro plays Doug, the lead singer and main protagonist in the

Huston in his role from
Boardwalk Empire

story line.  We also enjoyed seeing Jack Huston in a role that doesn't require a mask (you may know him from Boardwalk Empire).

We gave it five stars.  Check it out...

In the same musical vein: "Losers Take All" sports a fine cast of new comers and chronicles the ups and

downs of a band of punks as they find out just how difficult the road is.

We gave this one four stars.  It's also worth the watch.

Happy Binging and Happy New Year Folks!

Read more »

BINGing It!: Blood Splatters and Aliens...good times!

Netflix put up "new episodes" of Dexter: the blood splatter expert/serial killer.  By "new" Netflix means, season 4, even though the show is now on season 8--Showtime. 

Good ole Dexter--Serial killer of the evil doers--is one

 we've been waiting to catch up on, especially since we'd seen the teaser ads showing his sister 'Deb' walking in on one of his kills--this was NOT in season 4, just released for BINGing on Netflix.


Part of the drawback of BINGing TV this way is the let down when it's over,

those cliffhangers leave you wanting to get right into the next part of the story line.  

Fortunately, Dexter: seasons 5-7 are already available on Amazon for $1.99 an episode.  We're sort of cheapskates, for the most part, so we'll put this off a bit...

...Since we have "Falling Skies" season 3 already available on Amazon Prime (no rental fees with shows and

movies on Prime).  Our History professor Tom is now "President" of the "New United States", which consists of about twenty square blocks of what used to be Charleston, S.C.

Intrigue abounds as new alliances have been formed between human and aliens; sort of a

"The enemy of my enemy is my new bud..." kind of deal.  Anyhow, it works and we're now back on the Falling Skies BINGE.

Dexter is still in the queue, as well as others.  We've still got

the last season of "Damages" to BINGE, and many others as we wait, patiently, for season three of "Game of Thrones"!

Keep in mind: BINGING doesn't have to happen all at once. Personal schedules may only allow a couple/three episodes an evening, along with the occasional weekend BINGE that may allow us to watch an entire season, or two, of a show, not to mention the latest, greatest film gem...

Speaking of which: Have y'all seen "The Conjuring"?  If not, consider this your recommendation! 

 *WARNING* You'd best like the scary stuff if you dare to stream this one...

Happy BINGing, everybody.  More to come...

Read more »

BINGing IT: Monday morning post binge blues...

This past Saturday night, The Fabulous Feathermaye and Your's Truly sat down to begin a BINGE on one of our all time favorites: 

SONS OF ANARCHY

Sunday evening closed with the

final episode of Season 5

Leaving us with grand expectations

and the Monday morning POST BINGE blues.

It's a condition common for us Bingers; having the opportunity to view, without commercial interruption, an entire season of a well written, superbly cast and sharply executed production allows us to form real attachments to characters we come to love or dislike.

Sons delivers on all fronts!  If you recall: this was the season that JAX takes over the gavel at the head of the table.  Thrown head long into dealings with rival gangs, mafia, drug cartels as well as the CIA and  IRA.  All this while struggling--Michael Corleone style--to get the MC out of the gun and coke-muling business.

We were sad to see one of our favorite characters leave the show.  

But, like all the good ones, Sons of Anarchy left us, once again, anxious for next season.  

That's what Binge Watching does, after all: It allows the viewer to be pulled in fully, taking us through the drama without pause, except for those moments you choose to hit the rest room or Binge in the fridge.

It leaves us chomping at the bit for shows like: AMC's

HELL ON WHEELS in which our hero Bohannon is left to assume control of the construction of a rail road, cutting through the Post Civil War American West.

Bohannon, and his partner face compelling odds as they attempt to not only meet deadlines, but also keep the wild assortment of townspeople in line.

Binge Watching shows like these takes away the need to wait a week between episodes.  Personally, I've always hated TV scheduling for network programming.  It's like the man behind the curtain has always been in charge of what we watch, and when.

NETFLIX has already figured this out and is

gearing new shows for us Binge Watchers! Case in point: House of Cards...

Kevin Spacy leads a slick cast in this Political Drama that peels back the behind the scenes back stabbing and double dealing in

Washington.  

Likewise, one of our new favorites is based on a best selling book about women's prison:

Orange is the NEW Black takes the "Life in Prison" genre to new levels.

Just like House of Cards, NETFLIX is releasing EVERY EPISODE at ONCE!  So, no waiting on what happens next...Until you reach the end of

a season.  And, they are not going light weight on subject matter, or hesitant when it comes to subjects that you might not want to discuss in Sunday School.  Orange is the New Black doesn't hold back

on the shock factor, or the blunt trauma of Prison Life; and yet, even in the darkest recesses of a life most of us can only imagine, Orange is the New Black finds more than one way to bring humor to the front.  The characters are amazingly

flamboyant, while remaining painfully human.

How about that? Just telling all of you about Binging last weekend makes me feel so much less Blue... Now, what will we Binge Watch next?

Read more »

ARK LIFE: BINGE WATCHING IS WHERE IT'S AT!

WHEN Life gives you lemons or: making chicken salad out of chicken shit...

The Fabulous Feathermaye and Yours Truly have a lot of life lessons we've collected over the past two years.  In that time, a sudden unemployment tuned us in to life in a bad economy, and just how drastically America has changed from the wonderful land of opportunity we were raised to believe in, to a more dependable truth: we needed to downsize and start living as if it can all change tomorrow!


This new philosophy is not the big disappointment one might think it is; rather, it opens up the eyes to new ways of living, and pursuing the American Dream.  Very simply put: we've learned that we don't need the standard "fixed fortifications" we'd been lead to believe we had to have: house, cars, toys etc. 



Instead, we've boiled it down to the essence of "What we really enjoy" and "What we actually need".


We call it "ARK LIFE"... Living with mobility in mind.Let's face it: Moving is a bitch, so make it easy on yourself.  Only take the essentials with you, so you can set up camp quickly, without feeling as if you're missing or lacking anything important.  


*A good rule of thumb: if you haven't used it in the last three months, you don't need it*


One important essential component question is: "how will you entertain yourself in downtime?'' 


Since today's technology has become more mobile, we discovered a little device call

"ROKU" that we carry with us everywhere.  Through it, and a decent WiFi signal, we can stream videos, movies and TV shows.  Which leads me to the current topic: Binge Watching.


Have any of you tried this?  Seems to be catching on with many of us Baby Boomers.  We saw a report just a couple of days ago from one of our favorite actors, Sir Anthony Hopkins, in which he told of how he caught up on the fantastic AMC Drama: Breaking Bad.  In two days, Hopkins watched every episode of Brian

Cranston's characterization of a High School Chemistry teacher who began to produce high grade Methamphetamine, and ended up destroying his family, and himself as his efforts lead from a "little extra cash for cancer treatments" to becoming the infamous Heisenberg, Drug Lord of New Mexico.



We did the same here in our portable ARK; only we did it in stages; the first two seasons (which my buddy Bill Keith recommended) and then waited with baited breath as each new season was offered on our favorite stream providers: NetFlix and Amazon Prime.  

Personally, I've always hated the distraction of commercial TV.  I can't stand the constant bombardment of "over-run" commercials--Super Bowl ads being the lone exception, but that's once a year, right?


With streaming TV, you catch it all in succinct episodes.  This has allowed us to keep up with all

our favorites, and we tend to do so in "Binge" periods, taking in the whole show in that period of time, be it a few episodes a night, or a weekend Binge from beginning to end!



Sure, there are other ways with which we spend our spare time: Exploring the different cities we find ourselves in, or the surrounding country side.  Feathermaye's photography comes from these excursions, and often my own impressionist paintings are inspired from those very same captures.
  


However, being "homebodies" by nature, not to mention the simple fact that we just enjoy each other's company so very much, streaming video together has become a routine we look forward to every day.



For more information on ROKU, Netflix, Amazon, and all the other streaming sources available today, you might try these links.


And, I'm curious to know how many of you already Binge Watch?  Feel free to leave a comment below, and include your favorites! 

Read more »