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Since watching the first moments of this enchanting, beguiling, addictive program I haven't been able to put away the laundry, vacuum the floor or empty the dishwasher. Finding anything this bewitching to watch on TV is my idea of brain candy. And it's a mental vacation to boot because it fully engages my eyes, ears and imagination. Vikings is a rare gem. I'm halfway through the entire series and look forward to upcoming visually stimulating episodic treasures that have yet to be plundered. At first I thought it was a soap opera for guys with its overstated audio accents and battle scenes laden with overkill (literally), but I am not a guy and have found myself swept into the vortex of the Vikings as easily as a berserker joyously heading into battle. If you do decide to binge watch it, start at the beginning and don't make any plans for a week or two.

Just relax and remember this eye-opening film was produced in 1937 when things were not racially balanced like they are now, and it was acceptable for non-Asian people to portray the lead characters in this cinematic saga. Once you get past that concept, bask in the elaborately presented story that paints a very realistic picture of what it was like to survive during China's revolution, and how people migrated en masse to find food during times of famine, and ultimately died of hunger. I didn't care too much for Luise Rainer or Paul Muni before seeing this classic masterpiece, but the movie let me appreciate the full-fledged spectrum of the talent these people possessed. Definitely worth watching, especially for those who appreciate a reminder of how rough life was before modern day luxuries existed.

This intriguing 1969 fantasy is based on a Ray Bradbury novel of the same title. It unravels the story of two unlikely paths crossing on a hot, dusty trail, and features Rod Steiger as Will, the illustrated man, and a boyishly young Robert Drivas as Carl, who is subjected to Will's bizarre whims. The latter is hitching rides and walking to California to look for a job.

"They're not tattoos. They're skin illustrations. Don't you ever call them tattoos," Will barks at the younger man after exposing the full brunt of his body art to him. He admits to Will that a woman committed this heinous artistic act upon his body, and even though he didn't really want to end up covered in skin illustrations, he confesses that he did so to get "laid." Ouch. This tantalizing bit of trivia prompts a picture of a potentially painful sensual endeavor, depending on where the most recent skin illustration has been etched.

The seductive, sultry tattoo-creating female character, Felicia, is portrayed by Claire Bloom in this sci-fi-esque classic that ties the past and the future together through elaborate body art.

Some of the futuristic day-to-day life depictions in this three-star flick aren't far from today's technologies and philosophies. The hairdos and clothing worn in this 1969 interpretation of the "future" are also fairly accurate. Kudos to the costume and hair styling departments. Set-wise, these semi-sophisticated people of the future appear to live comfortably in an over-sized white bathroom at one point in this classic cinematic bedazzler.

The main character in "The Illustrated Man" lived in shame, self-conscious about the horrible, colorful notion of walking around covered from neck to feet in tattoos. How ironic that the opposite is true today. In fact, modern body art doesn't stop at the neck any longer. Certain brazen individuals even sport ink on their faces in the tattoo-laden world of this new millennium.

One can only wonder what the illustrated man would think of that?