Yesterday we got Directv. Finally! No TV for 8 months… actually, TV we can live without, we are online addicts. The boys (all three of them) play those online make-up-your-life games: Runescape and Ultima Online are the two hotties at the moment. Not me. I’m a surfer, doesn’t matter what’s on… I can surf and blog to my heart’s content once the testosterone has quieted down for the night.
Sadly, we don’t get the networks. For a moment, it looked like we’d be able to get cable tv instead of satellite. Cable provides many more channels, including the networks. But that’s not going to be in our area for several months yet. So no Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Southpark… I guess Surface never made it back? That was great fun to watch with the boys… they loved that show. So, we miss the first run of Our Shows. No problem – we can buy the season dvds in a few months online via iTunes or the new totally cool Amazon Unbox Video Download service. Plus downloaded means sans commercials. That alone makes it worth the wait! No DVR service in Costa Rica yet, so you have to sit thru the commercials. Which, oddly, are all in Spanish… even though the shows are in English.
The real joy in having Directv is, of course, movies. HBO, CineMax, Pay-Per-View ($3), Hallmark (the tissue channel), TNT, MGM, The Film Zone and BBC channels. All for only $50/month. Seems like a lot but it’s less than the $80/month in the states… Since 4pm yesterday, we’ve seen three movies: Chronicles of Narnia, The Legend of Zorro (a sequel which was very entertaining) and The Family Stone which was pretty good. I actually laughed, I cried, it was GREAT. Ok, I’m desperate.
Being desperate is a good thing in this case. It means ALL the movies look interesting. That is, when I can figure out what my choices are. Half the titles are in English, half in Spanish. If it’s in Spanish, it means they’ve taken the English title and changed it to another name and then put it in Spanish. So The Family Stone is La Joya de la Familia [The Jewel of the Family]. You have to press the info button to find out what you are really seeing. Which is another challenge. Because when you press the info button, the entire description is in Spanish. Poor me, eh? Heheheh. I shall persevere in the name of moviedom. If this doesn’t make me fluent, nothing will.
Directv adds new PPV movies every Friday, just like the theatres. We got a lot of catching up to do. Today we have Siete Segundos de Peligrosos [7 Seconds], Johnny Y June, Pasion y Locura [Walk the Line], Hechizada [Bewitched], Dicen Por Ahí [Rumor Has It] and Más Barato Por Docen 2 [Cheaper by the Dozen 2]. Nothing earth-shattering, no Tropic Cinema comparables, but, oooh lala, I’ll take it!
Congrats on the DirecTV. We gave in months ago when a salesman came to our door. Grey’s Anatomy is on Thursday nights. We didn’t get the movie channels but can find something we all agree on most nights. Fri and Sat nights aren’t good tv nights. You can change the language on yor buttons to give you the info in English (if you like).
Downside for us is DirecTV programing is our of Brazil. NO college football. Bill’s thinking of buying a second satellite thru another company to rectify this.
Sally, Just FYI,
In the title “La Joya de La Familia” (The Family Stone) ‘joya’ means jewel, rather than ‘joy’. How does that inform the film’s plot then, I wonder? (I haven’t sen the film nor read any reviews.)
Cheers!
Paul
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OMG I’m so envious! I am having movie withdrawels so bad I sit on the couch and pretend I’m watching a movie (albeit a bit boring)as Bill and Lucky Bear play. Did it actually take 8 months to get the Direct TV people here to the finca?
Thanks, Paul. Ya know, I didn’t look that one up because it was so close… I will fix! And, yeah, sometimes the new titles are a stretch from the old titles!