Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In a world where all vampires can do is look angsty and make teenage girls’ hearts melt, it’s almost quaint to look back at a vampire show that’s heavy on action (every vampire knows karate!) and even heavier on sass.
Buffy gave us a whole world of beasties and, um, beastie fighters over its seven seasons and you can catch up on all of them on Netflix and Hulu Plus (which are both now $7.99 for all you can stream). It also inspired a spin-off and launched Joss Whedon to his current nerd-genius status.
I missed the boat on Buffy the first time around, and I have to admit I haven’t quite caught up on all 144 episodes, but I have a few questions… Can someone be a werewolf and a vampire at the same time? How about a witch and a vampire? Why is there so much hand-to-hand combat involved in slaying vampires? And isn’t Angel just dreamy?
Uh… never mind that last one.
Of course, as with most TV shows that are almost old enough to drive, watching Buffy is like a constant parade of Before They Were Stars. It should be a drinking game… if you spot an actor you recognize in a bit part, you have to take a shot. (Don’t actually do that, I don’t want to get sued.)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 on Netflix
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu Plus
And a special bonus: the original movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie on Netflix
Tribute to Stephen J. Cannell
Stephen J. Cannell, who passed away at the end of September, was responsible for some of the best TV of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, including Rockford Files, A-Team, The Commish and Greatest American Hero. You probably remember him for his production card, which included footage of Cannell typing and then tossing a piece of paper, which turned into an animated logo. (You can see several versions here.) Next to “Sit Ubu, sit,” it’s the credit I remember most from my childhood.
Here’s a round-up of everything I could find that he wrote, produced or created. If I missed any, let me know in the comments and I’ll update the post. Some of these shows don’t hold up very well, so if you have particularly fond memories of one of them, it might be better to just skip it.
The Greatest American Hero: Season 1 on Netflix
The Greatest American Hero on Hulu
The Rockford Files: Season 1 on Netflix
The A-Team: Season 1 on Netflix
The A-Team on Hulu (Available only through Sept. 18, 2011)
The Commish: Season 1 on Netflix
21 Jump Street: Season 1 on Netflix
Hackers
Perhaps one of the greatest (but not best, let’s not confuse this with fine cinema) movies ever made. At the very least it’s Fisher Stevens’s best role that doesn’t involve donning a terrible Indian accent. I also can’t think of another Angelina Jolie movie that I like.
With Jonny Lee Miller (TV’s Eli Stone) and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy from the Scooby Doo movie) rounding out the most well-known of the cast, Hackers takes you deep into the seedy and sorted world of freaky (or should I say phreaky?) kids on rollerskates who can crack any computer system in the world. Including a magical one that apparently exists only as a set of three-dimensional holograms.
When you watch this today, you may think the technology only looks laughable in comparison to your iPad, but, seriously, the tech in this movie was goofy even in 1995. By the time this movie was made, there were plenty of stories of real hackers and the damage they had created (like, say, Kevin Mitnick, who had been in prison for years by that point), but I guess it was easier to create a fictional world of fast typing and strange clothes. And for that, we thank them. Hack the planet!
The Professional
There are some movies you have to watch anytime they’re on. For me, this is one of them. Jean Reno is fantastic here, as he is in all his roles (yes, even Couples Retreat and the Pink Panther remakes), but it’s a young Natalie Portman that steals the show.
If you’ve only seen her in the Star Wars prequels, you might not know that she can act. But, here, she shows a craft she didn’t get to display in Lucas’s vanity project. (Fun fact: Portman was also in Beautiful Girls, the Matt Dillon flick that gave us the version of Sweet Caroline that everyone sings at baseball games.)
The Professional was written and directed by Luc Besson, writer-director of The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita and writer of the Transporter movies, among others, which should give you an idea of the overall tone (and level of violence) of the movie.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
“I’m having a birthday party, but you’re not invited, but you can come if you want.” — Arnie
It’s hard to believe this movie was made 17 years ago, but I guess its age is part of what makes it a classic. Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover… do you even have to know what it’s about to want to watch it?
It’s only available until Sept. 30, so if it interests you at all, get over to Hulu and check it out now.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape on Hulu
