Tag: television

Shhh… don’t tell the 14-Year-Old Boys I’m Watching Marvel’s “Agent Carter”

Because they think it is FUNNY to tell you SPOILERS about the shows you may be catching up on. THE TWERPS! No lie, The Boy and his friend texted me a bunch of things that would happen during the finale of “Agents of Shield.” I’m still mad…

image from google.com
image from google.com

Needless to say, I wasn’t about to tell them that I started the “Shield” prequel “Agent Carter,” which picks up the Marvel universe storyline from shortly after we lose Captain America in the 1940’s. The show follows the life and adventures of Agent Peggy Carter, fighting for respect from coworkers almost as much as fighting to uphold the ideals of the free world. IMDB sums it up so: “In 1946, Peggy Carter is relegated to secretarial duties in the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR). When Howard Stark is accused of treason, he secretly recruits Peggy to clear his name with the help of his butler, Edwin Jarvis.” You can watch the last four episodes, including the season finale, on abcgo.com, if you are so inclined.

Some of the best lines from the show are given to Angie, one of the girls who lives in the apartments for women with Peggy Carter:

Angie Martinelli: These rolls keep for three days. Four if it’s cold and you put them out on the windowsill.
Peggy Carter: Oh, glad to hear it. I don’t often steal food.
Angie Martinelli: Are you kidding? Carol once fit a whole chicken down her sweater.

and:

“(Showing Carter around the apartment building) Hi, Mary! That’s Mary. She’s a legal secretary at Goodman, Kirksberg and Holloway. Evelyn. Evelyn is a lounge singer at a club in midtown. Hi, Sarah! That’s Sarah. She’s a slut.”―Angie Martinelli

and more:

“I got a bottle of schnapps and half a rhubarb pie; let’s see which one makes us sick first.”―Angie Martinelli

I began writing this post after starting “Agent Carter” early last week, intending to finish it and the series in about 10 days or so. Nope! All done! Great show, lots of fun. Looking forward to season two. It is on the high end of violence for me… as a matter of fact, there was a scene in the penultimate episode that reminded me of a (terribly violent, awful) scene in the movie “Kingsman- The Secret Service.” If you have seen both, you know what I’m talking about. Ugh. I’m more of a Rom-Com fan, and really surprised how much I’m enjoying this Marvel Comics universe.

Now… on to “Daredevil?” Just DON’T tell The Boy and his friend, please!

Housework vs. Binge Watching… there’s no choice here, really.

There is a big payoff when I catch up to my kids’ friends- the nagging ends. “Mrs. J, have you watched those movies I loaned you? Have you started Arrow yet? You are going to LOVE Daredevil!! WILL YOU PLEASE CATCH UP TO ME IN AGENTS OF SHIELD!” I think I have finally watched all of the Marvel movies and have almost finished going through my DVR’d Agents of Shield episodes. (one of the best lines from a show: “Perhaps we could have discussed this alone without all of Hufflepuff looking on”).

I have to admit, I did the same thing to some of these kids with the Harry Potter books- remember the childhood credo-” If you can dish it out, you gotta take it, too.” Years ago, the babysitters for my kids were great fun to talk with about the Potterverse.

another image straight from IMDB.com
another image straight from IMDB.com

Watched Iron Man 3 last night- loved it! Almost blinked and missed Stan Lee’s signature cameo, but I caught it. And I thought this movie had the best after-credits clip. I liked The Winter Soldier better, because it tied in so many of the sub-plots over the whole Marvel universe, but what do I know- maybe the new Avengers movie will tie into Iron Man 3? The Husband and I will try to catch it in the theater. But Iron Man 3? Loved it. Great character growth. I was too wrapped-up to note any favorite lines, whoops.

To wrap all of this up, I am a full-on fangirl now of the whole Marvel experience. Sigh. They got me, and I’m loving it. On to Agent Carter, Daredevil and the rest. Next time I look for a new show or movie to watch I’ll be choosing those that are NOT part of a huge, obsessively interwoven web of excitement. Again, I share the warning- don’t ask teens to recommend new TV shows or movies.

How NBC’s Today Show and a YouTube Channel Sparked an Hour of Debate

Friday morning I had NBC’s Today Show playing in the background as I worked. A short feature caught my attention enough to not only hit the rewind, but also to prompt a later discussion with The Husband running the gamut from commercialization, privacy, preschoolers’ TV/Video consumption, unexpected celebrity, to responsibility with windfall fortunes… the list went on. And this was BEFORE either of us actually watched even one of the You Tube videos in question. Let me preface that we were discussing concepts, and NOT passing judgement on ANYONE. I can’t stress that enough. I took the roll of the Devil’s Advocate, because I wanted to see how far apart opinions could be stretched on this subject.

Here’s the actual You Tube Channel Hulyan Maya:

The channel up for discussion is “ILoveMayThing’s” Hulyan Maya, which is simply the family’s videos of their children playing with toys. This could be anyone’s videos of their family on You Tube, shared so the far flung friends and family can see each other.

NBC Today video and story via Pinterest
NBC Today video and story via Pinterest

Everything must have changed for this family when the videos, mostly of their children playing with toys, became hugely popular with children- to the tune of millions of hit per day. Enter toy companies paying to have their commercials shown before these videos, they’d be foolish to ignore this golden opportunity to advertise so directly to their targeted audience. The family seems to have made wise decisions as to handle their unexpected fortune.

Photo from NBC Today, links to the video under discussion
Photo from NBC Today, links to the video under discussion

Our society has long had the Armchair Athlete. Spectator sports bring an enormous amount of joy undoubtedly to billions of people. Here is what most caught my attention- It was a eight second clip that I could’t get over from 2:07 through 2:15 Seeing the kids sitting mesmerized, watching a Hulyan Maya You Tube video on a tablet makes me want to champion less screen time for young children. I would do that differently in my own family if I could go back in time. I know, I know, these little ones could have just come in from running around outside in the fresh air, or reading with a loving caretaker or parent, but in these eight seconds they are just staring and watching other kids play. On a tablet.

Remember, this, coming from me, the woman who raised her daughter on a steady diet of Blues Clues… I’m truly The Pot Calling the Kettle Black, here.

I asked The Husband one last question- Would you do the same today, if you were just starting out with your family in this digital age- would you take this opportunity to have financial freedom in this manner? His reply was that he didn’t know… he just couldn’t say.

What Would a Haunch of the Devil’s Ass Taste Like? Giles Coren Has an Idea…

After running the gamut of errands, house work, and emotions, I plopped myself down and thoroughly enjoyed Giles Coren in “The Million Dollar Critic.” If you have access to BBCA Network, and are looking for something other than the usual sitcoms and Reality TV (LOL… I can hardly mention that poorly-named genre with a straight face), you might appreciate this show.

I enjoyed Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins in “The Supersizers…” The series, in which for one week they wear period costumes, live in close to or completely authentic settings, and eat the foods from different eras throughout history, was full of great banter and crammed in a lot of interesting facts. I caught “The Supersizers…” on American TV several years after it originally ran in the UK, from 2007-09, and I was happy to see Giles Coren on a new foodie show for North American audiences.

A lot of self deprecating humor in “The Million Dollar Critic” helps to balance the fact that he really is a highly regarded critic with much riding on his reviews. When dining with Eva Avila, the season four Canadian Idol winner, he shares “People imagine that having dinner with a restaurant critic is going to be informative, thrilling, and sexy. But in fact, as I’m demonstrating to Eva, it is as boring as having dinner with any other tedious, self obsessed middle-aged man who loves the sound of his own voice,” and then proceeds to embarrass himself with the cutlery.

Best lines included:

“An amuse bouche is something that restaurants that think they’re fancy give you because they’ve seen it on the TV… just the sort of thing that makes you wish you’ve gone for a burger instead.”

On trying seal meat- “This tastes like death. Like a small haunch of the Devil’s ass.”

On observing the chefs and owners of a popular restaurant- “Chefs should never be drunker than I am. That’s just showing off.”

There are about 120 other great lines, go watch this show. Great television viewing here, folks, it doesn’t get any better that this.

Headache + Nagging Adolescent = Agents of Shield

This morning brought me a headache, so I am having quiet time watching a show that is new to me:

http://www.netflix.com/search/agents%20of%20shield
Netflix

My son’s friend has been nagging me to watch this show since the pilot aired. Looks great from the pilot! At least it gets the middle schoolers off my back. For awhile. This kid has good taste in movies and is a walking encyclopedia of Marvel Comics info, and has half a dozen more movies lined up for me to watch to bring me up to speed in the Marvel universe!

Best lines:

Doc-“This is a disaster.”

Mike-“No. It’s an Origin Story.”

And can I have Coulson’s special car… was that a Corvette? Yow!! This series will be fun just to see the return of Coulson!