Natal-

The Canadian mini series, Slings and Arrows, about a fictitious Ontario Shakespeare troupe, is great, great television,and is available on Netflix play instantly. We also liked The Riches, Big Love and Weeds, which I believe are also play instantly on Netflix.

Sandyponder

Loved The King's Speech!

Gscience, if you thought The King's Speech was slow good luck with Moneyball. Slower than a baseball game.

We enjoyed Get Low. Not familiar with Second Hand Lions.

We loved King's Speech too!

Chocolat is another favorite, & Forest Gump & (if you want a good cry) Life is Beautiful. It's a Beautiful Life too...(Christmas in July?)

Natal, you're going to be busy...but watching movies is the perfect hot weather activity. It's generally done in air-conditioning!

Two more lesser known Robert Duvall movies worth a look IMO:

The Apostle http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118632/

A Family Thing http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116275/

A lot of people aren't familiar with Second Hand Lions, but after they watch it, they wonder why they never watched it earlier.

It's one of the "sleeper" movies like "A Christmas Story."

Our all time favorite movie.

In our area, one of my all-time favorite TV series is Showtime's "Shameless." In our area, it is currently available On Demand.

Oh no about Moneyball but LOL on slower than a baseball game. Many of my students have read the book and really enjoyed it, so I am interested in the movie. Thank you for the heads up.

Tastes differ, I loved Moneyball, hated Secondhand Lions and found Get Low only ok. I also really dislike Woody Allen movies, not a right or wrong thing, just different tastes.

Gscience, dh enjoyed Moneyball, but he'll watch anything ... repeatedly. I have little patience for a movie I can't sit still through. Like BB said ... different tastes.

Sandy, we don't subscribe to Netflix, but probably should considering the size of the cable bill.

I was picking up Damages season 4 which just came out recently; I picked up Enchanted April for 10$ after reading about it here this morning, thanks !

Dh and I are big fans of Damages, a tortured and dark series , I think season 4 is the last one, Glen Close is amazing in it.

I just watched "Hereafter." It's a story about how three people are affected by mortality.

I had not heard of it when it came out in 2010. It's a small movie, it comes across almost as a foreign film. So I was shocked to see the names in the credits - Clint Eastwood directed it and Steven Spielberg produced it.

Maybe we should start a netflix suggestion post. We have canceled cable and primarily watch netflix.

There is one more season of Damages mitchdesj! It starts next week. I love that show too.

Regarding TV series, we just recently started watching Justified. It's an FX series from the folks who brought you Deradwood, also starring Timothy Olyphant. We're hooked.

boo, thanks, I'm so happy to hear about another season !

I'm going to note a few series and movies from this thread, I find it overwhelming when I'm in the store and looking around.

DH is reluctantly recording The Help for me. It is on one of the premium channels right now.

We have started Boardwalk Empire on HBO Go (all episodes are there) and ordered the Mad Men DVD's from Netflix.

I haven't been a Julia Robert's fan since her earlier movies, but "Mona Lisa Smile" is fantastic.

It takes place in the early 50s and Julia plays a professor at Wellesly College and we see how young women back then had nothing but marriage on the brain. That's where Julia comes in.

The cast is excellent.

Even dh liked it which is saying a lot. lol

Some of my favorites: Bottle Shock, The Dish, and Waking Ned Devine

Off the top of my head...
Unknown, Taken (both happen to be Liam Neeson movies), and The Next Three Days.

I haven't seen a good movie in forever and I rent and go to the movies often.

I must rent Enchanted April, it sounds wonderful.

DH and I watched Enchanted April last night, it was sweet, very pleasant.

Shee, forget the movies ... we want to hear about your baby! ;)

Another vote for Doc Martin. I'm currently watching it and really enjoy escaping to Portwenn at the end of the day.

Natal, I just saw that Win, Win is available with On Demand. I know you're a Giamatti lover, too. Have you seen it? I just read some rave reviews. I'll have to watch.

I forgot to mention Showtime's Homeland as another fabulous new series. Claire Danes is just awesome in the lead. She should be a favorite for best actress Emmy.

Francy, thanks for the heads up! Dh is watching The Music Never Stopped right now, but I'll take a look at On Demand when it's over.

It's on Cinemax.

Homeland is excellent. They actually filmed an upcoming episode on our campus in our dept classrooms just a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, Claire Danes' character goes undercover as a college professor, LOL. I did not see her, but my colleague did. The first season should be on Showtime OnDemand.

We don't get Cinemax, HBO, Showtime, or any of those "premium" channels. Cable bill is high enough as it is. I checked RedBox and they didn't have it. We keep talking about doing the Netflix free trial. Maybe it's time.

sochi just posted a movie rec on the other side, My Architect: A Son's Journey, about Louis Kahn (architect). Sounds interesting to me.

I watched Enchanted April last night bc of this thread! Very enjoyable.
I used to be a Netflix member for years, but quit when they decided to screw their customers over by offering less and charging more. If you decide to get it, make sure that, while you have your free trial, you do a comprehensive search of what you'd like to watch in the future, to see if they have it.
I now watch almost everything on my computer via Amazon, and bc I have a Prime membership, a fair amt of it is free. Their free movie selection isn't the greatest, but it's constantly growing. I like that it's pay as you go. I ditched cable, bc it just wasn't worth it for me at all. The hardest thing for me is waiting for a series to be released on DVD, when all of my friends, who have cable and can watch it when it's current, are talking about it. My faves are: Downton Abbey, Breaking Bad, Big C, Nurse Jackie, Dexter, Foyle's War, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Doc Martin.
Also, I HIGHLY recommend the Band of Brothers mini-series. I generally have a hard time watching war movies, but it was excellent.
Someday, I hope to have time to investigate Roku, getting a better TV so I can attach a cord from computer to TV, etc. Roku gets rave reviews, but I'm not sure I understand how it works. Does anyone here have it and like it?

We don't get Cinemax, HBO, Showtime, or any of those "premium" channels. Cable bill is high enough as it is. I checked RedBox and they didn't have it. We keep talking about doing the Netflix free trial. Maybe it's time.

I agree that the cable bills can get out of hand. In our case, we chalk it up to an entertainment budget. We hardly ever go out to see a movie and rarely eat out unless on vacation. Some people think nothing of dropping $50 to eat at Applebee's or Olive Garden once or twice a week. That's not for us. My husband brings his lunch to work.

We really enjoy watching the pay cable channels and think their programming is far superior to what you find on network TV. Another thing that's great about them is most have all the seasons of their shows available On Demand. You can start them at any time. It's our budget splurge.

Javachick - I was the one who recommended My Architect, i think Sochi linked to the Kahn house.

I love indies. (hence My Architect). All time fave is probably Big Night. Or il Postino.

My kids are are preteens and don't like kid movies anymore, so in an effort to find something appealing yet not inappropriate, I introduced them to Groundhogs Day, which they now want to watch all the time. It is funny and silly but deep in a way, too.

I was lucky to start MadMen after many seasons were in the can, so I just watched several seasons straight through. It's terrific. Ditto Downton Abbey.

oops! Sorry, mtnrdredux!

"I love indies. (hence My Architect). All time fave is probably Big Night. Or il Postino."

The Big Night was one of my all time favorite movies. I couldn't even begin to remember how many times I've watched it.

"Indies" made me think of The Station Agent. Loved it.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Station Agent

We watched Big Night again a couple weeks ago. Great movie!

I have just watched way too much on netflix while home on maternity leave. I watched many series that were over that I had never watched when there were on. Buffy (now, my all time favorite, I never in a million years would have thought so), Angel, Brothers and Sisters, Rescue me (that was great) Numbers - just OK, Supernatural, The killing, Hot in Cleveland (sooo funny!)and Parks and Recreation (a bit better then OK). For some reason I can't seem to get in to Mad Men of Breaking Bad even though I know so many people love them.

We do have a roku and we used to use it a lot.It works great. now most of our tv's can stream net flix and amazon so we don't use it that much.

I've mentioned this several times, but MI-5 is fantastic. They just ended the 10th season and to the bittersweet end, it was great.
The first several episodes at the beginning, however, don't give you a true feel for the overall series. One of the first episodes, don't recall off hand, maybe eps. 3, is rather gruesome and indeed received more bbc complaints that any other show ever from BBC. After that, the producers toned it down and the show took off.

My all time favorite tv shows ever are Lost and MI-5. They both are top notch in production, acting, plots, characters, etc.

Never heard of MI-5. LOST was a fantastic show, but the ending felt cheap like a big cop-out. OTOH, Rescue Me and Saving Grace both went left on a high note.

My DH, a former stereotypical surfer-dude, born and raised in California back in the day, (who, you can imagine what he did quite a bit of back then-LOL) loved the movie, Leaves of Grass, starring Edward Norton and Richard Dreyfuss. It is set in rural Oklahoma, and I thought it was a good movie also. Funny, but, also with serious undertones.

Natal,

If your library system is good they probably have a lot of these titles. You might check it out before signing up for NetFlix.

Jennifer

If you would like a quirky, charming movie that will make you smile, try "Lars and the Real Girl"

Do NOT be put off by the blurb. It's not kinky, I promise. It's a funny, sweet story.

Oh Happy - I absolutely loved "Lars and the Real Girl". It's one of my all time favorites.

I'm not much of a movie person, but my DIL logged me into her netflix acct so I could get some videos when I am babysitting that my grandson likes to watch. I made note of some of the recommendations here, should I ever get the urge to watch a movie and I just want to thank those of you who recommended Enchanted April. It was really charming and enjoyable. Thanks again!

I second happyintexas's recommendation of Lars and the Real Girl. It really is a sweet story.

Last of the Mohicans - really a top notch film. Michael Mann (Miami Vice) directed an impressive cast - Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stove, Russell Means, Wes Studi. I think it has something for everyone - a historical drama - although not 100% accurate, it's till a great spectacle; realistic battle scenes, superb cinematography and a haunting, stirring music score plus a sublime romance.

Here is a link that might be useful: NYTimes revie

I just watched 'It's Complicated' w/Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin on one of the Time Warner channels Thursday night. It's a cute movie, and if you're in the same age group, can somewhat relate to the story line. Heck, anything with Streep has gotta be good and hoping to catch her new one, Hope Springs, this weekend. ;o)

Marie, that's one of my favorite films of all time.

Bumblebeez - whenever I happen upon Last of the Mohicans while channel flipping I stop immediately and watch it again. It gets me every time. Last night it was on AMC - Story Notes, an AMC feature where they insert captions at the bottom of the screen with brief 'notes' about the film. It's the first time I watched one - the notes were interesting the first time, but I wouldn't want to see it that way again.

But I discovered you can simply read a list of the trivia on AMC's web site.

Here is a link that might be useful: AMC Story Notes - Last of the Mohicans

We just finished Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire, so we are all caught up for the Season 3 premier in a couple of weeks. Really, really good!

We are still watching Mad Men, but I seem to like it more than DH. Of course, we both like the decor!

HBO kept showing Boardwalk Empire in the Season 3 trailers so we had to finish Season 2.