More Movie Reviews

Last weekend I once again was treated to a free few days of HBO and Cinemax. I don't know what happened to warrant this, but I'm certainly not going to complain. I'm also not about to point out to whomever is making these free weekend decisions that this strategy of giving me a taste and hoping it gets me hooked is not going to work. Honestly, I've had HBO for months at a time and if I haven't ordered it by now I'm probably not going to. But, again, we'll keep that just between us, as I certainly wouldn't want to block myself from getting free stuff.

Actually the free weekend did come in handy because of the fact a couple of new movies had been added to the on-Demand section of these channels since my last free preview weekend. Which reminded me that if HBO really wanted to get me interested in subscribing I would suggest a different approach: bi-monthly membership. You see, it seems to take a couple of months for the on-Demand selection to completely turn over with all new movies. When you have HBO every single day this lack of variety become apparent. But, if you only had the sections available to you every other month it would be completely different every time you checked it out. Plus, it only takes a couple days to see everything you want to see and then the movies get boring again. If I only have the channel every other month then I'd better watch while I can because who knows if that particular film will be there when I next have the channel in two months. See it's the limited availability which makes it desirable. Plus, every time I looked it would be all new movies, making it look like HBO has a ton of variety. You're welcome for the idea.

Anyway, I did catch up on some movies that I had thought about seeing, but never got around to, which means it is time for more quick movie reviews. Not all of these were on HBO or Cinemax, but they're all newly released to cable.

-Red. Talk about an a great cast: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren. It just goes to show how great actors can make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Honestly, they carried this thing. And they needed to, because I'm still not sure what the point of this was. At times it felt like the studio called the writer's and the following conversation took place:

Studio: Great news. We've got commitments from Willis, Mirren, Malkovich and Freeman's people.
Writers: Oh my God, that is amazing.
Studio: One small hitch, though. They can all only do it if we start filming next week.
Writers: But, the script isn't even close to done!
Studio: Did you hear me when I said Mirren, Freeman, Malkovich AND Willis? Who cares about a script? This thing will make money no matter what. Finish it if you can and if you can't... eh, we'll make it work.

-No Strings Attached. This would be the opposite end of the scale for good actors making a so-so script work. Honestly, Natalie Portman should give back her Oscar. (Though, in her defense she was working with Ashton Kutcher and doing a generic friends-become-lovers movie. She's not a miracle worker.) You've seen this movie before. You'll probably see it again. And again. And again. Without having seen a minute of it you can probably guess the major plot twists and the ending.

-MegaMind. Another movie marketed to kids which I thought was a little too heavy for people so young. But, Will Ferrell just proved once again that he can make anything funny. Lots of jokes that will make parents and kids laugh at the same time, but for totally different reasons.

-The Love We Make. This was a documentary shot way back in 2001 and it follows Paul McCartney around as he tries to pull together a benefit concert following 9/11. I actually remember watching the concert on VH1 and I was just as blown away by the lineup then as I was watching this. Also, it proves famous people all travel in a world I am simply not familiar with. I mean, watching Eric Clapton be the least famous person in a room was astonishing to me. It was a great documentary, though I can't understand why it is only coming out now. Nothing about it seems that difficult to film, so I can't figure out the 10-year delay. Must have something to do with securing music rights.

-127 Hours. I could go on and on about how it seems that actors have decided going the "Cast Away" route and trying to carry a 2-hour movie by yourself is the easiest way to secure an Oscar nod, but we'll save that for another time. Because, let's be honest, you only care about the scene where James Franco cuts his own arm off. Like "Titanic" and the boat sinking, they make you wait a really long time to see it and it isn't nearly as visually impressive. It's not a bad movie, but it probably could have been a lot shorter. I mean, let's get to the good parts already.