Netflix

Our latest HBO TV series via Netflix project, and we're hooked. Seems silly to keep watching these shows we know got cancelled before achieving fruition, but what they hey? Gotta kill time somehow.

An avatar is found by a roving band of carnies during the Great Depression. Like most avatars, Ben Hawkins doesn't really understand his gifts or his role. Lots of creepy mutants, mystical visions, supernaturally gifted weirdos, and hot chicks. And Tarot symbolism.

Plus, it's good to see Michael J. Anderson in something other than a David Lynch production:

Netflix

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Senatus Populusque Romanus

Sometimes friends try to tell me that television sucks now, and that television was much better when we were kids. That's utter bullshit. I grew up on wretchedly bad TV shows like Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, The Dukes of Hazzard, etc. I suffered through a spate of variety shows--including Donny and Marie, Captain and Tennille, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Sonny & Cher--and still bear the scars. There were good shows when I was a kid, like All in the Family and pre-maudlin M*A*S*H, but those were rare bright spots cancelled out by insufferable pap like I Dream of Genie and Gilligan's Island.

Of course I'm comparing apples and oranges, because my argument that TV is much better now rests firmly on the strength of several HBO series I've watched lately on DVD, including The Wire and Deadwood. I don't know that broadcast TV has better shows than those when I was a kid because I don't watch broadcast channels often enough. But at least one pay channel is cranking out damn good series.

We finished Deadwood's amazing second season and eagerly await the third on DVD. I love the way expectations are foiled, and how calamatous Fate can claim seemingly vital characters without warning. I love this show for its Shakespearean subplots and its operatic intensity.

I watched HBO's Rome after Julio recommended it, and was completely blown away. The subject matter is perfectly honed for our era of executive over-reach and imperial wars. I don't think television had ever before made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, but the finale of the penultimate episode of Rome's first season did just that. Puts that Russel Crowe Gladiator crap to shame. This is really clever television, dramatizing history in an engaging and realistic manner. It's brutal, bloody, and damn sexy to boot. Like, totally awesome.

I need something to watch now while we wait for The Wire season 4, Deadwood season 3, and Rome season 2 to come out on DVD. I suppose Battlestar Galactica is next? Might as well find out what all the fuss is about.

Netflix

I like John Carpenter, even though I think he's only made one truly excellent film--The Thing. He's clever enough to make lame, weird, or loosely conceptualized material interesting, and I can re-watch stuff like The Fog, They Live, Prince of Darkness, Starman, and Big Trouble in Little China every few years. Halloween? Not so much.

And speaking of lame, weird, and loosely conceptualized--Carpenter's second entry into the SciFi Channel's Masters of Horror series fits the bill. Pro Life tackles the most divisive issue in the culture wars--abortion--in a hilariously stupid but effective manner. Ron Perlman, who always rules, plays a devout pro-lifer whose daughter gets knocked up and ends up in an abortion clinic. Perlman threatens the doctors that if they don't release her they'll be sorry. The staff know his reputation for violence in the name of God, however, and fear the consequences for the girl if they release her to his custody.

After praying for guidance and hearing a voice growl "Protect the child," Perlman's character delusionally believes his daughter is carrying a baby precious to God. He is willing to go to extremes to ensure the baby's safety. Said extremes are quite uncomfortable to watch, but Carpenter balances an epic torture sequence with goofy chuckles. When Perlman finds out his daughter's true baby daddy, things get ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the culture wars themselves. I enjoyed Pro Life for what it is, and would recommend it only for those who enjoy horror of the B variety, or for Carpenter fans, or for those sophisticated enough to 'get' satire.