Under the Dome.

So, Under the Dome is not on Netflix, however it is streaming on Amazon Prime.  So if you have Prime then I suggest you go check it out.  It's based on a Stephen King book and Stephen King is really awesome.  I'm from Maine, King's from Maine, so basically that means we're both cool, right?  Don't answer that.

Under the Dome has become a small obsession.  Caleb and I were a little late jumping on that train.  Probably because we don't have cable and don't always hear about the new shows.  We blasted right through the first seven episodes that were available and now wait impatiently for a new episode to air every Friday on Amazon.  The first season will run thirteen episodes and has already been renewed for a second season.  Hallelujah!

 
I don't know what it is about Stephen King but his work is so often turned into movies, television series, or mini-series.  I guess he's just that good!  King always has his hand in all of his screen adaptations so maybe that is why his work is so successful.  He has been around for ages and has written many novels and short stories and screenplays.... The man does it all!  I will forever be a Stephen King fan.  I love horror and I love his creativity.  Though, I do question his sanity sometimes because he writes some messed up stuff.  Check out that cow above that got chopped perfectly in half by the dome!  You get to see that cow get halved in the opening to every episode.

Under the Dome features quite a few main characters.  There does not seem to be one protagonist so I'll list the most prominent characters:

• Joe McAlister: Colin Ford is probably best known for playing Young Sam Winchester in the show Supernatural.  He also voices Jake in the children's animated series Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
• Angie McAlister: I know Britt Robertson from the short lived series Life Unexpected.  She starred in another CW series called The Secret Circle.  She's been in a lot of stuff actually!  She was in Scream 4 and I'm always up for new Scream movies.
• Norrie Calvert-Hill: Mackenzie Lintz has a short acting resume!  She was an extra in The Hunger Games and has a small role on the show Drop Dead Diva.  I like her so I hope she continues acting as a career.
• Dale "Barbie" Barbara: The ever handsome and mysterious Mike Vogel has been in quite a few titles including Grounded for Life which now that I think about it I totally remember him in!
• Julia Shumway: Most of you will recognize Rachelle Lefevre from her sadly short-lived stint as Victoria in Twilight and New Moon.  She was replaced and not for the better.  She will always be the greater Victoria!  She was also in this SUPER creepy thriller called The Caller.  I highly highly highly recommend that one.
• Linda Esquevil: Natalie Martinez is a face and name that I do not recognize.  Upon investigation I found that she plays Detectives an awful lot!  Hmm, that must be her thing!
• "Big Jim" Jim Rennie: Ahhh, good ole' Dean Norris!  I'm sure you all recognize Norris from Breaking Bad.  It's actually quite hard to watch Under the Dome and not think of him as Hank from Breaking Bad.  He's totally bad-ass and I don't know why anyone messes with this guy.
• "Junior" Jim Rennie, Jr.: Alexander Koch's resume is also a bit short.  He was in two shorts and had an appearance on an episode of Underemployed.
• And a shout out to Beth Broderick, who played Rose Twitchell the dinner owner.  Broderick was Aunt Zelda on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  One of my ALL TIME favorite shows ever.  So she needed to be mentioned.

So, that's quite a cast!  Even the unknown names are great, I think.  Sometimes the acting falls a little short but I wonder if that's the characters and not necessarily the acting.

Under the Dome can be rather predictable.  But only at times!  Caleb and I love to make predictions while we watch movies or shows so this one is perfect for us.  We'll both shout out something that's about to happen and when it does we get so excited.  On the other hand, occasionally that dome throws us a curve that we did not expect.

It's a unique plot for sure, so kudos to Stephen King for writing yet another fantastic novel and keeping his creativity right in there for the television series.  I have yet to see his cameo, though!  Maybe he saves those just for the movie adaptations.

If you haven't checked it out yet and if you have Amazon Prime then go watch this right now!  It may also be available to watching on CBS.com but I haven't checked that out myself.  It's worth watching because of how unusual the plot is.  A giant dome comes down over the town of Chester's Mill and no one can get out or get in.  Even after a military bomb the dome is still standing strong!  I can't even imagine what the second season of this series has in store for us but I am excited to find out.  Check out the intense preview below!  If this doesn't make you want to watch it then I don't know what will.

Hotel Babylon.

Wow, so I completely forgot to write yesterday.  Also, school will be starting for me next week so I may be writing less.  I will try to continue every other day but I may get bogged down in too much school work.

Now on to more important things.  Hotel Babylon is my new favorite show.  I cannot even describe how much I love this show.  It's a British series that ran from 2006 to 2009.  It stars a bunch of people that look familiar but I have no idea who they are.  The show is just so great!  I was hooked from the first episode and have been exclusively watching it for the past few days.

I'm in the second season right now and there are four seasons.  Normally I like to watch an entire series before I write about it but this one couldn't wait.  I have slightly ruined it for myself by looking at IMDB because now I know a couple of the current main characters will be leaving the show soon because they're only in half the episodes that the other main characters are in.  I can see how they're giving the long-term characters more responsibility and air-time as they prepare for others to leave.  So that's interesting to watch.

The show is about eight staff at the five-star hotel Babylon who get into trouble, get out of trouble, have fun, and help their strange guests.

• Rebecca, played by Tamzin Outhwaite, is the hotel general manager.
• Charlie, played by Max Beesley, is the deputy manager.
• Tony, played by Dexter Fletcher, is the concierge.
• Jackie, played by Natalie Mendoza, is the head of housekeeping.
• Anna, played by Emma Pierson, is the lovely and scheming head of reception.
• James, played by Raymond Coulthard, is head of waitstaff I think.  His title is not clear but he does wait tables and he's in charge of ordering wine.
• Ben, played by Michael Obiora, is the token gay man of the show.  He works reception with Anna.
• Then there is the head bartender Gino, played by Martin Marquez.  Now, when I first started watching the show I thought he was Spanish.  According to his last name and IMDB profile, he is Spanish!  But for a while on the show they made him seem Italian.  Then, on the last season they clearly state that he's Spanish when a Spanish boxer stays at the hotel.  I'm not sure why there was confusion but he's definitely Spanish, don't let the name Gino fool you!

I believe there will be other main characters as the show goes on but these are the current stars.  They started in the series so they're most important.  After Rebecca leaves as Managers, Charlie takes over for a while.  Then he decides to leave as well and some other young guy, they slowly introduced, takes over.  But only for a few episodes and then he suddenly is gone and some lady is in his place.  So, once the main characters leave it gets a little dicey on who exactly is in charge.  Still a great show but I can see why it ended after four seasons.

Each episode focuses on one main theme.  The voice of Charlie usually introduces the episode while scenes of guests coming in are playing, then the opening theme song plays.  One great episode was about how guests should never pick-on the employees as employees will get revenge.  The episode featured a group of soccer (or football as they say in England) players who completely disrespect all the staff and in the end they learned a BIG lesson.  Somehow, the staff never get into trouble for their shenanigans.  I guess that's poetic license, huh?

Hotel Babylon gives an interesting look into management and hotel life.  Of course, I have no idea how much of the show is factual but I'm sure it is truthful on some level.  Within the series you learn about staff, guests, guests of guests, and how a hotel is run.  Hotel Babylon is funny, dramatic, and well made.  It has music that reminds me of Charlies Angel's, it's kind of fantastical.

I highly recommend  you check out Hotel Babylon!  It ran four seasons so there is a good chunk of show to watch.  It's always sad when you get into a show and then realize it only ran for one season so don't fear this one!  Check out this hilarious clip of Gino showing off his "gay walk" for Charlie and Ben.  Gino wanted lessons on how to act gay so that he could get better tips at the bar from a customer.  Always trying to make money on this show!

Any Day Now.

I watched a movie recently on Netflix called Any Day Now that reduced me to a crying mess.  The movie is about a gay couple in the 70s who struggle to get custody of a fifteen-year-old boy with down syndrome.  A gay couple in the 70s would have been enough.  A down syndrome boy would have been enough.  The combination sent me over the edge, though.  The movie is touching, sad, happy, wonderful, and very well made.

Alan Cumming plays Rudy Donatello, a drag singer in a gay bar who lives in a small studio apartment.  Donatello meets lawyer Paul Fliger, played by Garret Dillahunt, and the two fall in love and move in together within a few short days.  They take in Donatello's neighbor Marco, played by the talented Isaac Leyva, and the three start the most glorious family you could ever imagine.  They are so happy!  And they make this kid, who has had a crappy life with his low-life mother, so happy!  What more could anyone ask for?  Well, it's the 70s so people are not too keen on homosexual relationships, especially when children are involved.  It doesn't matter if it's best for Marco to be with Rudy and Paul, the court system sucks and bigots suck and everyone just sucks.

The ending of this movie will rip your heart out, stomp on it, grind it into oblivion, all while you're crying your eyes out.  Just to warn you.  You might go through an entire box or two of tissues.

Garret Dillahunt is AMAZING.  He plays Burt Chance on Raising Hope.  If you haven't watched Raising Hope than I suggest you do!  It's streaming on Netflix and it's hilarious.  It's a half-hour sitcom about a poor family raising a baby and getting into all sorts of silly antics.  Dillahunt is very funny in the show but he plays serious well.  Any Day Now is a serious drama and his acting shines.  He was also in the remake of The Last House on the Left in which he plays a super creepy, horrible dude.

Then we have Alan Cumming.  Dude's been in everything.  My favorites are Spice World and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.  How can the dance scene at the end of Romy and Michele not be your favorite scene from a movie ever?

These two, with the edition of Isaac Leyva in his only role ever, makes for a great movie.  I don't even know what else to say about it.  It's just so good!  It's one of those movies that speaks to me.  I felt empowered, for some reason, while watching it.

I think you should check it out.  Right now.  Do it.  It will pull at all of your heartstrings but it's worth it.  Original, well made and acted, and streaming right now on Netflix.  Perfect!  It's also based on a true story.  You never know how much of it is true but that's always something to think about.  If the part about two people wanting this perfect child with down syndrome is true then daaaaang.  I can't even.

Here's the trailer.  Usually trailers are not good enough but this one is fantastic.  I cried, just now, watching it.  My favorite part of the entire movie is when Marco cries in his new bedroom.  Please get tissues on hand for this empowering film.  Best quote ever: "I don't see why he should be punished any more for stuff that ain't his fault."  You said in Allan Cumming! You said it.

Saved by the Bell.

Saved by the Bell is streaming on Netflix!  I love this show.  It brings back all those amazing youthful feelings of happiness and being carefree.  I was born in 1991 but that doesn't mean I was too young to appreciate all the music and television shows that the 90s had to offer.  When I first started watching Saved by the Bell again I found the show kind of hard to take.  It's dorky and immature and the story lines are absurd.  It got better through it and I'm glad I pushed onward.  So if you try watching these again and think "this show is stupid, why did I ever like it?"  Just keep trying! You can do it!

The series ran from 1989 to 1993 and then had Saved by the Bell: The College Years as a spin off.  Not as good, of course, but I still watched it.  The show was actually a spin off from something called Good Morning, Miss Bliss.  Disney picked up the series for thirteen episodes, where the teacher, Miss Bliss, was the main character and the secondary characters were Mr. Belding, Zack, Screech, Lisa, Nikki, and Mikey.  Now, if you watch the first season of Saved by the Bell on Netflix you'll see that these characters are all featured.  So I'm gonna take a leap here and say that the first season of Saved by the Bell is actually the show Good Morning, Miss Bliss.  After the first season the characters change; we now have Zack, Screech, Lisa, and Mr. Belding plus Kelly, Jessie, and of course A.C. Slater.

Saved by the Bell has a great cast and stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack, Dustin Diamond as Screech, Lark Voorhies as Lisa, Dennis Haskins as Mr. Belding, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen as Kelly, Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie, and Mario Lopez as Slater.  What have they all been up to since the show?

• Mark-Paul Gosselaar hasn't been in anything big that I've seen but he has had recurring roles on Franklin & Bash, Raising the Bar, and D.C.
• Dustin Diamond is an interesting dude who made a BIG splash on Celebrity Fit Club in 2008.  He has a foul mouth and giant attitude.  I can't even remember if he lost weight or not, all I remember is that he left the show and then came back.  He was also on Hollywood Squares in 2003.  That show was awesome.  OH!  Dustin also wrote an "insider" book in 2009 called Behind the Bell in which he spilled lot's of secrets.  Most of which his colleagues claim are not true.  Oh Dustin, you will always be Screech no matter how hard you try, sorry!  Even if you have allegedly had sex with 2,000 women.
• Lark Voorhies has been in all kinds of stuff since her Bayside years but nothing I've ever heard of.  She was in The Bold and the Beautiful from 1995-1996 but that's the only significant title I recognize.
• Dennis Haskins, the man, has been in just about everything.  He was in all the seasons of Saved by the Bell, including the spin-offs.
• Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, aside from being a mom, was most notably in Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1994-2000.  Which is an impressive run.  So she's been in two long television series.  Good for you Tiffani!
• You can see Elizabeth Berkley's breasts in Show Girls if you want.  She's been in lot's of other stuff but nothing really compares to Show Girls in 1995.  I mean, she plays a ruthless exotic dancer in Las Vegas! What's not to like?
• Finally there is the ever-so-popular, Mario Lopez.  Mario has been in loads of lame movies, like stuff on ABC Family.  Which I still love and will happily admit.  He has been the dorky but studly host of The X Factor, Mario Lopez: One on One, H8R, America's Best Dance Crew, and Pet Star.  Plus he's just been on EVERYTHING.  Seriously. Whether he's the host, a guest, or a contestant, he's been on too many things to list.  What a guy!

So the show did have some drama towards the end of the series.  Thiessen and Berkley refused to renew their contracts so the character of Tori, played by Leanna Creel, was added to replace them.  Tori is only in half of the episodes of the final season.  So it's really confusing to watch because suddenly Kelly and Jessie are there, then they aren't, then there they are again!  They filmed the graduation scenes while Thiessen and Berkley were still around and mixed the Tori episodes in the middle.  It's super confusing and weird but I am glad Kelly and Jessie graduation scenes were filmed so the original, favorite crew was all together for everyone to say goodbye to their Bayside friends.

If you love this show as much as I always have then give it another go!  It's streaming on Netflix right now!  If you've never seen the show before, well I'm not sure how you'll feel about it.  Let me know!  It's very 90s so beware but it's also totally amazing.

One really unique thing about Saved by the Bell is how Zack talks to the audience.  Something will be happening and he'll just stop and talk directly into the camera.  Here's a ridiculous clip that literally made me laugh out loud.

Mary and Max.

Mary Daisy Dinkle and Max Jerry Horovitz are two unlikely friends in the 2009 clay-animated black comedy called Mary and Max.

Mary and Max, directed by Adam Elliot, is a tale about two pen pals: Australian eight-year-old Mary and American forty-four-year-old Max.  Mary finds Max's number in a phone book at the post office and writes him a letter to ask where babies come from in America.  Mary's adult questions give overweight, anxiety ridden Max anxiety attacks every time he receives her letters.  Eventually, he needs to be institutionalized after one of her letters and when he stops writing Mary freaks out and pretends to forget about him.

This movie is incredible!  It is now one of my all-time favorites.  It really hit me.  I shed a lot of tears while watching and felt oddly empowered by the movie.  It's about being different and only having one other person in the world understand who you really are.  It's about overcoming the difficulties life has thrown at you and beating all the odds.  It's about friendship and love.  It's really about self-discovery and growing up.

The movie not only has an incredible story-line but great claymation and voice acting as well!  Mary is voiced by my all time favorite actress ever, Toni Collette.  Toni Collette has starred in some of my favorite programs ever like United States of Tara where she plays a mother with multiple personality disorder.  She's also fantastic in In Her Shoes, Little Miss Sunshine, Connie and Carla, Clockwatchers, and Muriel's Wedding just name my favorites.  She's AMAZING. I could go on and on.

Max is voiced by the talented and super cool Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Hoffman has been in everything from The Hunger Games to Along Came Polly to Charlie Wilson's War.  This guy does it all!  He is hilarious in comedies and great in his very serious roles.  I'll never be able to forget him in Along Came Polly as Ben Stiller's very strange friend who sharted at a party.  Also, I found this awesome picture of him playing basketball from the movie and ALWAYS thought he was saying "Letter A" and not "Let it rain."  Learn something new everyday!

I really could go on all day about Toni and Philip but this is about Mary and Max.  Apparently, according to the director, the movie is based off true events.  The character of Max is based off Elliot's own pen-pal in New York.  According to sources from Wiki, the movie took about 57 weeks to shoot and used 133 separate sets, 212 puppets, and 475 miniature props including a fully functioning Underwood typewriter which apparently took 9 weeks to design and build.

I really love the look and feel of a good claymation.  I've seen videos of people making claymation's and it takes a lot of hard work and time!  They set up the puppets then move them, take a picture, move a little, take a picture, and so on and so forth.  It's a long process but worth it in the end for how amazing it looks.

If you like claymation, Australia, Toni, Philip, weird storylines, and general awesomeness then check out this movie!  It really left a mark on me and I'm not sure why.  It's streaming right now on Netflix!  Here's the trailer. I couldn't find anything better than a trailer but at least you can hear how wonderful the music is in this movie.

Also, because I love Along Came Polly here's a clip of Sandy taking what is obviously his spotlight.  Just give him the freedom to rock out, guys!  Also, please note his outfit.  It's tight and makes him even funnier.  I never realized how much I love Philip Seymour Hoffman until this moment.

Top Of The Lake.

Top o' lake to ya!  Okay, that's Caleb's dad joke and I will not make it again.

I finished watching Top of the Lake last night and I now have mixed feelings about it.  Top of the Lake is a seven episode mini-series set and filmed in New Zealand.  It's sort of a thriller/horror/mystery/drama and I definitely recommend it.  The show was written and created by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, neither of whose previous filmography I am familiar with.

The show is about twelve-year-old Tui, played by Jacquline Joe, who tries killing herself after discovering she's pregnant.  Tui is so young that she doesn't even really understand what's happening to her.  She does not know how or why the baby got inside her or how it's going to come out.  Detective Robin Griffin, played by the oh so talented Elizabeth Moss, is obsessively determined to solve this case.  The picture above is of Tui entering "Paradise."  She's running away and this land is no paradise, that's for sure.

Robin is back in her home town to care for her dying mother when the local police (a woman called her, by the way.  I find that interesting) ask for her help because she is trained in working with children.  The policeman treat her like absolute trash, even though she is much smarter than they are.  Despite having to work with these pigs (haha, get it? Pigs?) she presses forward through the difficulty of small town secrets and lies.

With the help of her former high school boyfriend and current lover Johnno, played by the handsome Thomas M. Wright, she goes after the town bad-guy Matt.  Matt, played by Peter Mullan, is Johnno's father.... or is he?..... and he has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve.  Matt is also Tui's father and Johnno's half-sister.  Seems like Matt has children all over town.  That scum bag.

Top of the Lake is dramatic and the end took a turn that I NEVER saw coming.  In fact, it seemed random and I'm wondering if I should watch it again in case I missed something.

Oh also, what the heck is Holly Hunter doing in this show?  Her character GJ is like some sort of weird, self-help guru who is actually rather mean.  Wardrobe gave her this terrible, long gray wig that looks like a wig.  And she wears these strange, out of style, mega high-waisted brown pants.  And Hunter isn't a very good actress in this but I don't think it's her fault.  Her character is just so weird!  I don't have any other good adjectives to describe it.  The whole thing confuses me.  GJ did have one good line, though.  When Tui asked her how to get the baby out she simply replied, "Follow the body.  It will know what to do."  And boy did it.

I really did like this mini-series.  Mini-series are odd because it's like watching a really short show or a really long movie.  This one has so many twists and turns and drama and and and.... I don't even know what else to say about it.  It was so good!  I am confused about the ending and that in turn confused me about my feelings on the show as a whole.  I suggest you watch it if you haven't already.  Each episode is about 40-50min long, there are seven episodes, and I think you'll enjoy it.

New Zealand is gorgeous so Top of the Lake has some great shots of the land.  Plus, the accents are fabulous and that's always a plus in my book!

Check out the video below.  It has a trailer to introduce the show and some behind the scenes looks with the show creators.  Interesting to me how much Holly Hunter in the trailer when her character has such a small role in the show.  Guess they needed one big(ish) name to help promote them.