The Stew

J. Michael Straczynski has managed to accomplish what the best minds in Redmond had failed to do. He got me to purchase my first ever Xbox Live Points.

See, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark, a direct-to-DVD movie, is being released today. The only way to see it in high definition is to download it from Xbox Live.

I’ve had my Xbox 360 since January of 2006, and I have had absolutely no inclination to purchase any “points” — which are good for games, game enhancements, background themes, movie and TV show rentals, and other crap. (Microsoft wants you to spend points rather than bucks for the same reason carnies charge you “tickets” for rides. While you might be willing to shell out five tickets to have your kid ride a pony for 15 seconds, you might think twice if you knew you were actually spending $6.25.)

The problem is that while I’m geeky enough to want to watch B5:TLT:VITD, I’m not nearly geeky enough to buy it. That means I’ve got to rent it. And if my options are:

• get it from Blockbuster at DVD quality and pay $4-something, or
• download it from Xbox Live at 720p and pay $5-something

I’m willing to at least try the latter.

I’ll be reviewing B5:TLT:VITD just as soon as I can get it downloaded and watched.

I hate “Grease.” Oh, wait, that’s not what this is about.

Everyone knows that television in the summertime is the dumping ground for cheap-to-produce crap. But this year, between “So You Think You Can Merengue” and “So You ‘Celebrities’ Think You Can Merengue,” we’ve got “Burn Notice.” Essentially, it’s “The Equalizer” for people too young to know who Edward Woodward is.

It’s not a perfect show, but it does have Bruce Campbell in it. At times, it’s readily apparent that it has been scripted by a computer (mother and rebelious teen daughter are in danger, and hidden away in a safe house… what are the chances that before the end of act 2, the daughter will sneak out and find herself in trouble), but it takes place in Miami and features a lot of beautiful scenery. By beautiful scenery, I mean bikinis.

It’s not perfect, but it’s better than we usually get in the summer. So watch it, unless you’re out enjoying the weather or something.

Welcome to The Stew, where we will… stew over stuff. Clever, eh?