Dexter: Season Three

Lynn’s Druthers Marathon, part 11



Data
Title: Dexter: Season Three
Year: 2008
Network: Showtime
Episodes: 12, at c. 50 minutes each
Creator: James Manos Jr. (developer), from a novel by Jeff Lindsay
Directors: Marcos Siega (4 episodes), Keith Gordon (3), John Dahl (2), Ernest R. Dickerson (1), Steve Shill (1), Tim Hunter (1)
Writers: Scott Buck (3 episodes), Melissa Rosenberg (2), Tim Schlattmann (2), Charles H. Eglee (2), Lauren Gussis (2), Clyde Phillips (1), Adam Fierro (1), Scott Reynolds (1)
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, Jimmy Smits
Music: Rolfe Kent (theme), Daniel Licht
I saw it: on video (rented from Greencine and Netflix), over the past few weeks
Synopsis: the serial killer who kills other killers tries to make a friend

My reaction
Concept:
Story: Painfully predictable.
Characters:
Dialog: The show's pretty much become a parody of itself. Lots of hilarious stuff that's not meant to be funny.
Pacing: Slow to get started, and when it does get exciting, it's over too quickly.
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, ). Much better than season two, but that's not too hard.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "Who Mourns for Adonais?"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “Who Mourns for Adonais?”
Year: 1967
Network: NBC
Episode: the second (of twenty-six) from season two; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Gilbert Ralston
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Michael Forest, Leslie Parrish, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Fred Steiner
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a being claiming to be the god Apollo demands to be worshipped

My reaction
Concept: God-like powers, again? Really?
Story: Okay, it's not really god-like powers after all, just someone who wants you to think he has god-like powers. Still not a very good plot, though.
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, ). I enjoyed it enough while watching it, but I guess it was just camp value. Thinking back, it really is a horribly written episode.
Objective Rating (Average):

Greencine vs. Netflix

I've been using the DVD rental services "Greencine" and Netflix side-by-side for three months now, so I feel like I ought to say something by way of comparison.

Greencine (with 1-Out plan):
- slow shipping, with only one shipping center, in California (we can get about one disc per week at best in our location (WA))
- cost per month: $9.95 (no tax in most states)
- potential cost per disc: $2.30
- our cost per disc: $2.99 (10 playable discs over three months)
- VOD costs extra (who would pay for that?)
- slow, poorly designed website
- ability to lock your queue order (although, when I tried this, it just meant they didn't send me anything)
- almost every movie that's readily available on DVD, plus a number of hard to find things
- only some TV shows
- porn
- the best available editions of silent films

Netflix (with 1 DVD out at-a-time plan):
- fast shipping (about two discs per week at best)
- cost per month: $9.99 plus tax ($10.79 for us)
- potential cost per disc: $1.25
- our cost per disc: $1.62 (20 discs over three months)
- unlimited free streaming
- fast, well designed website
- if a title is too popular, you will never get it
- almost every movie that's readily available on DVD
- only some TV shows
- no porn
- unwatchable editions of silent films that they found in the value bin

So, if I had to just pick one or the other, it would be a no-brainer in favor of Netflix. Maybe.

It really bothers me how Netflix handles silent films (or anything in the public domain, really). I mean, I'm not a huge silent film fan, but that attitude makes a huge difference. With Greencine, I can be sure that if I add something to my queue, I'm going to get the movie that I thought I was going to get. With Netflix, you might end up with something someone transferred off of an old VHS.

And just recently, Netflix stopped getting all of the new releases of classic Doctor Who, which means, as far as the stuff I want to watch is concerned, Greencine's selection wins hands down.

Of course the free streaming shifts things pretty heavily in favor of Netflix. Personally, I don't like to watch things that way; the video quality's not quite as good as a DVD. But Lynn loves it, mostly because we live in a valley where there's no TV reception, and having Netflix and a Wii means she can just turn on the TV and there will be something mindless there to watch. (Although, if/when the BBC ever releases an international iPlayer on the Wii, Netflix won't even have this going for it anymore.)

Step up your game, Netflix. You are rapidly becoming obsolete.

Star Trek: "Amok Time"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “Amok Time”
Year: 1967
Network: NBC
Episode: the first (of twenty-six) from season two; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Theodore Sturgeon
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Celia Lovsky
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Gerald Fried
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: Spock must return to Vulcan for... person reasons

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, ). Solidly written episode - exciting and unpredictable.
Objective Rating (Average):

One Hundred and One Dalmations

Data
Title: One Hundred and One Dalmations
Year: 1961
Length: 79 minutes
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske & Wolfgang Reitherman
Writer: Bill Peet, based on a novel by Dodie Smith
Starring: Rod Taylor, J. Pat O'Malley, Betty Lou Gerson, Martha Wentworth, Ben Wright, Cate Bauer, David Frankham, Frederick Worlock, Lisa Davis
Music: George Bruns (score); Mel Leven (songs)
I saw it: on video many times, most recently yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Synopsis: two dalmations rescue their puppies from becoming fur coats



My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters: The protagonists had the potential to be extremely likable, and Cruella De Vil had the potential to be interesting and kind of tragic, but all the focus is purely on action.
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design: It's not the mid-century extravaganza I was hoping for (at least, not after the opening credits are done), and there's no comparison to something like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, but it's still great.
Acting:
Music: Great score, obnoxious songs. Even with only two songs, they're bad enough to balance out an amazingly great score.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, ). The first ten minutes are charming, sweet, distinctively stylized and absolutely wonderful.  Then Cruella De Vil shows up and it's like a completely different movie - one I couldn't care less about.
Objective Rating (Average):