Watches

Playlist of watched movies, television shows, online videos, and other visual-based events

📺 "The West Wing" Election Day: Part 2 | Netflix

Watched "The West Wing" Election Day: Part 2 from Netflix
Directed by Christopher Misiano. With Alan Alda, Kristin Chenoweth, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina. Polls are closing across the country, and the race is too close to call; friends and colleagues react to the news about Leo.

📺 "The West Wing" Welcome to Wherever You Are | Netflix

Watched "The West Wing" Welcome to Wherever You Are from Netflix
Directed by Matia Karrell. With Alan Alda, Kristin Chenoweth, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina. A federal prosecutor's threat to indict Toby on another charge has the potential to affect the impending election.

📺 "The West Wing" Two Weeks Out | Netflix

Watched "The West Wing" Two Weeks Out from Netflix
Directed by Laura Innes. With Alan Alda, Kristin Chenoweth, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina. Both candidates face vital choices about which states to campaign in; Vinick tries to put the nuclear issue behind him; Bruno finds Santos's briefcase.

📺 "The West Wing" Duck and Cover | Netflix

Watched "The West Wing" Duck and Cover from Netflix
Directed by Christopher Misiano. With Alan Alda, Kristin Chenoweth, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina. A nuclear accident in California sends the White House and both campaigns into overdrive. Meanwhile, China and Russia appear headed for a showdown over elections and oil in Kazakhstan.

📺 "The Great British Baking Show" Bread Week | Netflix

Watched "The Great British Baking Show" Bread Week from Netflix
Directed by Andy Devonshire. With Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins, Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood. The bakers face an ovenless technical challenge and a three-flour showstopper.
This show makes me wonder a bit about the bread culture in England. Are people really baking larger plaited loaves either at home or even in restaurants? Why isn’t it more of a thing here in the US?

📺 "The Great British Baking Show" Biscuit Week | Netflix

Watched "The Great British Baking Show" Biscuit Week from Netflix
Directed by Andy Devonshire. With Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins, Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood. The remaining bakers face three biscuit challenges. Who will see their dreams crumble?

📺 Welcome to Micro.blog | Micro.blog Help

Watched Welcome to Micro.blog from help.micro.blog
In this 2-minute screencast video, a quick overview of how Micro.blog works.
A great and very succinct video of what micro.blog is and how one can use it. They need more great documentation like this.

📺 The Facebook Dilemma (Part 1) | Frontline

Watched The Facebook Dilemma from FRONTLINE

A major, two-night investigation of the powerful social media platform’s impact on privacy and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.

The promise of Facebook was to create a more open and connected world. But from the company’s failure to protect millions of users’ data, to the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation, mounting crises have raised the question: Is Facebook more harmful than helpful? On Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, FRONTLINE presents The Facebook Dilemma. This major, two-night event investigates a series of warnings to Facebook as the company grew from Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room to a global empire. With dozens of original interviews and rare footage, The Facebook Dilemma examines the powerful social media platform’s impact on privacy and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.

Some great journalism, but somehow I don’t think it’s as frightening as it should be.

It did spark some great debate within the house though.

📺 "Will & Grace" Where in the World Is Karen Walker? | NBC

Watched "Will & Grace" Where in the World Is Karen Walker? from NBC
Directed by James Burrows. With Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally, Sean Hayes. Will, Grace and Jack realize they've been too preoccupied with all the changes in their lives to notice that Karen hasn't been seen since her husband found out about her affair with Malcolm.

📺 Crown for Christmas | Hallmark Channel

Watched Crown for Christmas from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Alex Zamm. With Danica McKellar, Rupert Penry-Jones, Ellie Botterill, Pavel Douglas. After getting fired from her job as a maid at a ritzy New York City hotel, Allie reluctantly accepts a temporary gig as the governess to a young girl who is part of a powerful family in Europe that lives in a castle.
Continuing on with our formulaic list:
If possible, the title should completely give away at least the entire plot if not the ending.

📺 Christmas at Pemberley Manor | Hallmark Channel

Watched Christmas at Pemberley Manor from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Colin Theys. With Jessica Lowndes, Michael Rady, Cole Gleason, Maddie McCormick. Loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, event planner Elizabeth Bennet is initially at odds with Mr. Darcy, the owner of Pemberley Manor, which she intends to be the venue of her next event, but soon finds herself irresistibly attracted to him.
This new Christmas movie premiered today. Just as treacle-y as you’d imagine.

I ought to map out a plotline of dos and don’ts for these movies as they’re quite formulaic.

Here’s a start:
A first kiss should be interrupted at least twice.
Women should have lost their first loves or spouses in natural accidents (car crashes or the like) so that they’re “pure”.
Someone in the film should be named Darcy.
Casting should feature one or more pseudo-stars from more than a decade prior. Everyone else should be complete unknowns.
Bonus points if casting can be done in Canada.
Solid working character actors should be eschewed at all costs.
Unlike standard romantic comedies, the “best friend” should never be the funny, comic relief.
Even when the plot is clearly open for it, the lead female should never be forward to get what she wants. She should always be able to retreat to have the man “win” her.
The big ending should feature fake snow falling.
Blatant rip-offs of plots of popular books and movies should be encouraged, but this should be heavily downplayed with the plot significantly weakened and overly-Americanized for the 1950’s. Example: “Die Hard meets Father Knows Best with a healthier helping of Christmas–and no guns.”