This Week In Netflix

"We Know Where You Live. Live!" (2001) Description from Netflix: Eddie Izzard hosts this entertainment bonanza that showcases some of the best comedians and musicians from the United Kingdom. Features interviews with, and heart-pounding performances from, such headliners as U2, Dom Joly, Phill Jupitus, Jonathan Ross, Tom Jones, Harry Hill, Vic Reeves, Harry Enfield, Simon Day, The cast of Goodness Gracious Me, Paul Whitehouse, The Stereophonics, Badly Drawn Boy and more.

This was a charity concert/comedy show to raise money for Amnesty International. It was "meh" at best. Eddie Izzard was good, but it wasn't anything new. The other comedians were either just okay or completely over my head with the British references. There were a tons of cameos, but other all it wasn't worth the time.

"Then She Found Me" (2007) Description from Netflix: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick star in this comedic tale about a schoolteacher in the thick of a midlife crisis involving a messy divorce, the death of her adoptive mother and a reunion with her eccentric birth mother. As if that weren't enough to juggle, things grow even more complicated when she begins dating a man who turns out to be the father of one of her students.

This was just not a good movie at all. Helen Hunt directing herself was just a bad idea. She has poor comedic timing for a drama. She should have cast Diane Lane would have been a better choice. The movie just felt like a play at times and a film school film at others. Helen just felt like she was acting as opposed to seeming like a character. And it was slightly distracting just how old Helen Hunt looked. She's supposed to be 39 and in real life she was 44, but she looked 50. Bette Middler (62) was supposed to be her mother and they almost looked the same age. It was pretty bad and I can't recommend it even for a rental.

"Penelope" (2007) Description from Netflix: Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) is cursed, and the only way out of it is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she possibly find her soul mate when she's sequestered inside her family's sprawling estate with only her parents (Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant) to keep her company? Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon co-produced this unconventional fairy tale about a girl who bucks convention to make her own happy ending.

LOVE this movie! Everyone should see it. A modern fairytale. I added it to my wishlist the moment it finished. This movie also proves that James McAvoy can do an American accent and that "Wanted" was just crappy all they way around. It was just a fantastic movie all they way around and can't reccomend it enough.

"Hello, Dolly!" (1969) Description from Netflix: Composer Jerry Herman's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical was adapted for the big screen in an outsize production featuring Barbra Streisand as matchmaker Dolly Levi. When wealthy merchant Horace Vandergelder (Walter Matthau) hires Dolly to find a mate for him, she decides to win him over for herself. Songs include "Before the Parade Passes By," "It Takes a Woman" and the glorious title tune. Michael Kidd staged the exhilarating dances.

I lifted my Barbara Streisand ban to see this. This is the movie Wall-e watches and I wanted to see it to put it in context. I forgot how long musical numbers used to be. Dear me, they went on for an eternity. Also, Walter Matthau singing was slightly disturbing. There is one song about why you need a wife and all I could hear in my head was Professor Higgins singing "Never let a woman in your life" and "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" All in all. Just okay.

"Eli Stone: Season 1" (2007) Description from Netflix: Cutthroat attorney Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) has a problem: He's starting to care about the people he's supposed to be exploiting. And adding insult to injury, he's having prophetic hallucinations and prescient visions. Could it be that he has a higher calling? From the creators of the popular drama "Brothers and Sisters," this quirky series follows the quasi-spiritual exploits of Eli, the people's prophetic attorney.

Upon my mother's urging, I rented this. I have to say it is very good with a positive theme which is why it's ratings are low and it got casted. I liked it more than I thought and look forward to seeing it's second and final season when it comes out on DVD. Side note, like "Alias" they shoot a lot of it on the Disney lot so it was nice recognizing a lot of the locations even though it's supposed to take place in San Francisco. And George Michael did a great job as a re-occuring character.

The next week or two should just be movies and no tv shows for a bit. I knew I would have all 4 discs over the weekend so I rearranged the queue a bit to be able to watch the full "Eli Stone" series in 2 days.