The conclusion of the whole internet debacle is that I now have satellite internet. The commercials all hype the high speeds and they are pretty fast, but they keep the (very) limited bandwidth to the small print. I currently have the lowest option (10 gigs of upload/download bits a month) and I’m quickly running through them. My first two days online saw me hit the 1 gig mark and I didn’t do any of the normal large file downloading/uploading I normally do. In a word, I’m screwed.
Like mobile-phone deals, I get free bandwidth hours late at night (midnight to 6) but I’m way too old to stay up that late very often. The company does have higher bandwidth allowances but the pricing plans are very high for rather little bang. I’m learning to suck it up and do without. Basically, I’m plugging in a couple of times a day to check e-mail and maybe browse a couple of sites but I’m trying to keep it very limited so I don’t run over.
One of the first luxuries to go was my Netflix and Hulu streaming plans. Streaming movies and television shows is way too much of a bandwidth hit for me to keep them. I did switch over to a DVD in the mail option at Netflix but it is strangely unsatisfying. Thing is I own a lot of DVDs. Somewhere over 1,500 at last count. Many of which I have never watched. I buy them on the cheap from rental store closeouts to garage sales to big discounted sales and I buy them a lot. I’ve also occasionally grabbed movies via other *ahem* less scrupulous means.
Point being, that I’ve got a lot of films on hand available for me to watch. Getting them by mail seems a little antiquated at this point. The nice thing about streaming was that I could turn on my little Apple TV, flip through the available options, and watch something interesting on a whim.
Now I’ve got to flip through all the films, make a decision, and then wait a few days to receive it in the hopes that I’m still in the mood to watch it. The one great benefit to the DVD plan is that it does have a lot of movies the streaming option didn’t and this includes a great deal of the new releases.
Skyfall is a case in point. None of the James Bond franchise is available in the streaming option and I don’t imagine that this one will be any different. Yet with the click of a button I’ll have the DVD arrive in the mail in no time. And I can hold my moral head high knowing that I’m doing it the legal way, too.
I’ve intentionally avoided all information about the latest Bond flick as I didn’t want the tiniest thing spoiled for me. I couldn’t help but hear a little buzz about it and from what I can tell critics have been divided, but this matters little to me. Bond has never been about the critics, and with Daniel Craig still in the starring role and Sam Mendes at the helm I’m not only there but I’m declaring Skyfall as my Pick of the Week.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower: The trailers make this look like yet another quirky teen drama, which usually makes me yawn but with Emma Watson in her first big non-Harry Potter role I’m totally interested.
The Sessions: This one has got a lot of critical buzz and John Hawkes has made himself a terrifically interesting career. Plus there seems to be a lot of Helen Hunt nudity which is never a bad thing in my book. The Critical curmudgeon called it, “One of the best films of 2012.”
Nurse Jackie: Season Four: I got bored with this show halfway through season 2. It was an interesting idea but the writers failed to take it interesting places.
Weeds: Season 8: For the first three seasons this was a great show that integrated humor, drama, and social commentary into a big ball of fun, then it slowly got away from those things. The writers kept upping the stakes of the drama, leading our pot-dealing team into darker and more dangerous water while sacrificing what made the show interesting in the first place. Still, I can’t seem to stop watching and no doubt I’ll finish it to the end.
