Red (2010)

I watched this starting in Houston International Airport and finished watching it over the Grand Canyon approaching Las Vegas. Red is just a fun movie with great actors in their waning years. Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) was trying to live a quiet life after years of black ops and assassinations. That was not to be. Also in this movie you will see John Malcovitch, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, . . . I highly recommend this film.

Seven Days in May (1964)

Again I ask why we cannot make really good dramas today like those from yesteryear. Last night I saw Seven Days in May starring Burt Lancaster and Kurt Douglas. It tells the story of a plot by the military (Burt Lancaster's character) to depose a weak president (Fredric March) because he signed a nuclear arms agreement with the Soviet Union. The story is plausible, the acting is really good, and this black and white film gives it a great look without lots of computer graphics.

Robin Hood (2010)

Finally they made a really good Robin Hood movie. I guess I should have predicted that it would be at least decent since it was directed by Ridley Scott and starred Russell Crowe (Robin Lonstride), Cate Blanchet (Marion Loxley), and Max von Sydow (Sir Walter Loxley) This is not your usual romp with Robin and his merry men. It is the story before the story. Robin and his men are initially fighting with Richard the Lion Hearted in France. The action continues when they return to England, specifically to Nottingham to return the sword of a fallen knight, Sir Robin Loxley. This is one of the few movies that I have seen recently that I would recommend.

Predators (2010)

I was not expecting much other than its excellent cast with Adrien Brody and Lawrence Fishburne. My expectations were realized. This is a story of killers who are transported to a distant planet. They discover they are prey for the predators that inhabit this planet. I do not have to say anymore because you can figure out what happens. Predators (2010) is a direct sequel to Predator (1987) and its sequel Predator 2 (1990).

The Sound and The Fury (1959)

I am so glad that I watched this film last night. This is Yul Brynner's and Joanne Woodward's masterpiece that is based on Faulkner's book of the same name. I remember reading this book many years and not really knowing what was going on until I read the Cliff Notes version. For those of you who have not read Faulkner, he like James Joyce, wrote some of their books using a "stream-of-consciousness" style.

Why can't Hollywood produce great dramas with great actors as you see in this film? Possibly it is the result of our anti-intellectualism in this century. This film had no special features, just great actors and a great backdrop of a small Mississippi town.

Stay tuned because I am recording more of these old movies on my DVR.

Fair Game

Fair Game does a great job of showing how the Bush administration concocted a plan of lies to take us to war in Iraq. It is the story of Valerie Plane (Naomi Watts) and her husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn). Valerie Plane was a high-level CIA agent who was exposed by Dick Cheney because her husband Joe Wilson wrote an op/ed piece exposing the lie the government had invented that uranium was being imported into Iraq from Niger. I highly recommend this movie.

Cracks

Last night I finally found a really excellent drama to watch. It takes place at a girls' school that is located on an island off the coast of England. The time period is probably the early 1920's. This is one of the few movies that I have seen with an all female cast--no males. It centers around a liberated teacher and her girls she looks after which is complicated when a mysterious girl from the Spanish nobility arrives. This is a good movie!

The Mechanic (2011)

With few decent dramas to watch, last night again I ventured into more action adventure. This movie is a remake of the 1972 movie of the same name starring Charles Bronson. Being the type of person I am, I always enjoy movies about revenge. Again I enjoy the acting of Jason Statham. I think he smiles once in the movie. The Mechanic is one that you will either enjoy or dislike.

Limitless

Saw this last night and was impressed. It is an action flick in which the star Eddie Mora takes a pill that allows him to use his entire brain. While you may think that in the end taking this drug brings about his demise, as we so often see, that is not the case. I think most people will enjoy seeing this action/adventure movie that also has Robert De Niro in a minor role.

Sucker Punch

I do not know what possessed me to watch this flick the other evening. It was entertaining but strange. It is about a girl who is falsely institutionalized by her horrible stepfather. Throughout the movie she flips back and forth between the real world and a fantasy world in which she and other "patients" make an attempt to escape. I guess this was an escape for me from the lack of good movies to watch.