Four years ago, when I started this blog, I posted almost every Thursday about "Things to Read." Such posts came easily, as we raced through picture book after picture book. But now the girls choose their own reading material and, sadly, they rarely request my input. Of course, I'll always love books and love posting about books, but I no longer have much to say on a weekly basis. So, time for something new . . .
As I've written about before, we find it incredibly challenging to agree on movies/tv shows to watch as a family. INCREDIBLY. CHALLENGING. But we keep searching. In order to help with such efforts, Netflix has recently asked some bloggers to join their "Stream Team", where we'll post once a month on some of our recent viewing successes. *** And, yes, if you're wondering, I do feel a little silly moving from books to movies, but, sometimes a bucket of popcorn, a comfy blanket, and our whole family crammed on one couch equals happiness.
FAMILY VIEWING:
I'm a little obsessed with Netflix's 80s' offerings (oh nostalgia). (1) The Karate Kid is probably the most accessible, as Ralph Machio is pretty much impossible not to love. We're also big fans of (2) Adventures in Babysitting, despite the iffy language. (3) Pretty in Pink remains one of my all-time favorite movies, though F didn't really love it ("why is she obsessed with this loser mom? she's way too good for him."). (4) We also watched (4) Ghostbusters recently, which the kids and my husband all found hysterical, though I still find it random.
KID-ONLY VIEWING:
For the most part, the kids aren't allowed to watch TV during the week. So this category may be a little bit trim for now. But for F's Halloween sleepover the kids watched (1) My Babysitter's a Vampire and now they want to watch it over and over again. They're also somewhat addicted to (2) High School Musical. All three kids were somewhat obsessed with (3) Kickin It, but after a middle school babysitter opened my eyes to the fact that T was attacking everyone in site, we've banned the show for awhile (plus, I hate the snarky banter that epitomizes all Disney shows).
ADULT-ONLY VIEWING:
So my absolute favorite sitcom probably ever is (1) The League (all 5 seasons of which are available through Netflix streaming). The show focuses on a group of four friends in a fantasy football league, a premise which would usually bore me to tears. But it is funny. Pee your pants funny. Test the boundary lines of what you can do on TV funny. So wrong you're appalled, but you're still laughing hysterically funny. When we finally finished the last episode of Season 5, the sense of loss was almost too much to bear. What should we do now? Who will make us laugh? We've since moved on to (2) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which is also very funny but so snarky that viewing it is comparable to eating too much cheesecake, in the sense that you feel somewhat bad about yourself afterwards.
Regarding movies, we were pretty psyched when (3) Silver Linings Playbook showed up on streaming. Bradley Cooper is amazing. Dan also enjoyed (4) Soccer Stories, which I missed out on. And we just finished the Netflix original (5) mini-series, Happy Valley, which, while depressing (another lost-girl drama) was well-acted and somewhat addictive.
Okay everyone, what have you been watching on Netflix?
*** Full disclosure - As a Stream Team member, I received a free ipad mini and a free Netflix subscription (we've been paid subscribers for years now). Of course (and, AS ALWAYS) the opinions I express are entirely my own (no free gifting will ever make me like High School Musical).
As much as we use Netflix (we have a Roku, and don't have cable), I am very jealous of your Stream Team title! ;) My oldest and I used Netflix to finally get through the first three seasons of Once Upon a Time. I adore Ghostbusters, but I also have it on DVD. My husband and I are working our way through season 4 of Portlandia. My girls like Kickin' It, too, as well as Adventure Time. We need another season of Adventure Time on Netflix, though!
ReplyDeleteDo we need to be watching this Kickin It show???
ReplyDeleteJulia is and has been OBSESSED with Jessie for the past 6 months. She's desperately waiting for Season 3 (or is 4?) to come onto Netflix - DO HEAR ME NETFLIX???? I've been charging through every episode of Parks & Recreation, and the HAPPINESS that show brings to my life....I can't fully express in words.
Basically, since we axed cable in favor of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Plus - I don't miss cable AT ALL. Except for the weather channel and the Hallmark Channel, I do miss those.
Also, movies are almost as great as books. :)