What's the ideal vacation? For most people, it's "getting away from it all." Exasperated workers look for the antidote to the mundane and often, a return to a simpler time, a simpler life. Find yourself on Long Island, NY's Fire Island and satellite tv will get the picture. After taking the ferry across the bay, you'll discover there are no cars allowed. Have to make an important call? It probably won't happen, as the community has shunned the unsightly cell phone towers and reception ranges from bad to worse. Yes, it's back to nature and back to a simpler life. Later on, however, after strolling along the pristine beach you might find haven't been left alone after all -- the satellite tv satellite tv your rented cottage has a slew of great movies on deck for the night.
Sometimes it's good to have the best of both worlds. While you ponder the sleepy history of Long Island, you can tune in to Turner Classic Movies and take a trip back to Hollywood's Golden Age. TCM host Robert Osbourne fills you in on juicy behind-the-scenes action from a time when HD television didn't exist, and stars were stars. In March they feature a terrific lineup of Academy Award-nominated or winning films, in a marathon called the "31 days of Oscar." Not only an escape to the past, you can get a view of how the Academy has judged the film industry over the years. You can mull over the controversial decisions (what? Citizen Kane not Best Picture?) and the see the evolution of voters' tastes. It's a great look into Oscar.
Eventually your thoughts will come back to the present and, gulp, the idea of being near the office water cooler once again. Have you seen Batman? Come to think of it, have you seen any of the Oscar contenders who fought it out for 2009's prizes? Soon enough, it will be time to dust off your own television and, though you missed these Oscar-worthy films in the theater, at least view them at home in high definition. As DVD has obliterated VHS and all pretenders with its high-quality picture, so traditional cable has gone the way of the dinosaur since the advent of satellite tv. Frankly, as Robert Osbourne would tell you -- if you can't make it to the theater, you owe it to the director and yourself to see it in the best format possible. You don't listen to your Bach's cello suites on cassette on a portable boom box, do you?
Comparisons to the highest of high arts could sound inflated when speaking of Hollywood films. After all, you might say, I did see Titanic. In the 1940's, art and commerce were not such distant relatives, as a look into TCM's vaults will prove. John Ford, king of the classic Western, loved having John Wayne as his featured star, for his lovable persona. But beneath Wayne's wry blubbering in a film like The Searchers, you'll find Ford weaving a complex, moving story about race relations and Native American rights in the old American West. And you'll find that the care Turner has taken with their brilliant restorations certainly will warrant such a high definition reception.
With DirectTV you get premium entertainment plus great customer service. DirectTV has topped cable in customer satisfaction ratings for eight years running. So make the switch today - go with one of the great DirectTV packages available now. You'll have all the best sports, movies and HD programming at your fingertips!
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