*sigh*
I resisted, I really did. Unfortunately, I got myself hooked on HBO's In Treatment. I had no intention of watching that show because it's entirely too time consuming. The show airs each week night. What kind of maniac asks viewers to commit to a half hour every night? Well, I was just going to cross my arms, sit back and refuse. That was my plan, of course, until I saw an exceptionally kick-ass episode that sucked me right in. Naturally I was forced to fire up my HBO On Demand to go back and watch the first 6 weeks. It's really good and just keeps getting better. I love it!
I'm now almost caught up on In Treatment and what happens? My brother tells me I simply MUST watch John Adams. Again, I had no intention of getting sucked up into another show, but I was just 35 minutes in when I realized I was sold. Well, really, I was sold at "Starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney" but I resisted. Damn you HBO!!! That John Adams is good stuff, people. The opening scene of John Adams wearily riding towards his home, after what you're guessing has been one helluva night, is just so good and unlike anything I've seen before. I'm not sure why that is, except, it seems most filmmakers are so damn precious with the founding fathers. Not HBO! They seem to be doing a fair job of portraying the colonialists as a sometimes barbaric crew and our founding fathers as not quite as certain as we like to recall them. It's a refreshing POV that I'm really enjoying.
When it comes to history, I love a new perspective. When I visited the Tower of London I noticed a military museum. I wanted to see an honest to goodness red coat so I dragged my friend over to the building. We saw a red coat (cool!), so I was satisfied, but we also got a fun new take on the Revolutionary War. First of all, the British don't call it a Revolution. They call it the American War of Independence which totally takes the punch out of the whole thing. My favorite fun fact was learning that the Brits don't really give us credit for winning the war by our wits, or bravery or fighting ability. They just sort of shrug about it and claim that they weren't really into it and were drunk and lazy and who wanted those stupid colonies anyway? If nothing else, it reminded me, once again, that history may be told about a million different ways. It's all in the POV. I'm pretty much always a skeptic when learning about history. I never believe anyone entirely. Well, except Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough. (I know, I know... I don't care! I like them so pipe down. I don't wanna hear it.)
The only real bummer about all of this is adding more programming to an already packed Tivo To Do list. Another show is gearing up for a season kick off in just a couple of weeks. Yes, I've made a commitment to The Tudors. I've been tolerating The Tudors because I love those crazy royals but I'm still annoyed with the casting of Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII. Every time I look at him I see a spoiled little boy dressing up as a king and it bugs the hell outta me. I saw Henry's armor and he was WAY bigger than Pee Wee Meyers. (Man that trip to The Tower really messed with my head, huh?) The rest of the group is perfectly cast, especially Katherine of Aragon. Now that casting was nicely done. Of course, some may argue that I should be equally annoyed by the casting of Paul Giamatti as John Adams but I'm not. Mr. Giamatti is a far superior actor whose ego isn't cranked to ten throughout his performance. I can accept him as Mr. Adams. Meyers as Henry? Not so much.
As you can imagine my poor Tivo is pretty much on fire these days. It's swinging from one time period to another and I'm freaking out. I haven't even had a chance to watch His Girl Friday, All About Eve or CBS This Morning yet. Where will I find the time to watch it all? Oh well, it's a nice problem to have, for a change of pace.
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