"2012": It's not "The Town"

Here's a lesson for all you video watchers watching videos at home: When you rent a movie, especially one from a high-volume outlet such as Netflix, do a quick test on the disc--maybe just put it in the player and watch it load--before sitting down with your wife to enjoy it after finally getting the kids to bed and having just enough energy left to make it through a couple of hours of gritty crime drama.

A while ago, we tried to watch "The Town" after having it out wayyyy too long from Netflix, only to find--you guessed it--it wouldn't play in my machine! Now, granted, my Old Reliable Panasonic has been getting finicky, but this disc just was in "no condition to perform," as they say in the pro wrestling biz. So, feeling like Lost Episode Ralph Kramden when he would tell his wife, "Don't steam me, Alice, because I'm already steamed," I tried to find a substitute.

I found a substitute, but, boy, was it not a substitute. We eventually watched disaster blockbuster "2012," which had a few amusing moments, a nice extended "Crazy OR IS HE?" character turn from Woody Harrelson, and the reliable awesomeness of Oliver Platt. But it was no "The Town." Not even close. It didn't help that I was in the post-new-baby phase where I was still clinging to the concept of sleep and therefore having a tough time staying awake after the kids were in bed.

I shouldn't have expected it to be anything like "The Town," or even anything close to as good, but, by cracky, I wanted to see "The Town."

So that's another piece of advice. First, check your rental discs as soon as you get them. But also, if you want to watch "The Town," don't watch "2012." It's an OK diversion if you get Starz or Encore or whatever already, but it's not much else.

You know, maybe I should talk about "The Town." Let's do that next week. I'll make it Movies I Held from Netflix Wayyyyy Too Long Week, and I'll discuss "The Town" and another one that gathered dust on top of the entertainment center for an embarrassing amount of time.