When I first got cable TV I immediately discovered that while have 30-50 channels (oh, back in the day) was really cool, what was TRULY amazing were the free weekends from the movie channels. Showtime and HBO and Cinemax would throw open the doors to the kingdom for 2-3 days and you could watch all kinds of cool things! That’s how I, and a great many other people, discovered the movie “Eddie and the Cruisers”, for example. Today it’s usually a way for me to catch up on some more recent movies that I missed in the theaters.
A little while back I got the chance to score a whole series of movies with my new DVR feature from my buddies at Dish Network.
Transcendence (2014) – I was all set to love this film. The story of a man’s consciousness being transferred into a supercomputer with Johnny Depp playing the lead. But it never quite comes together for me. The story is awkward and lurches a bit, the characters never quite come together. It’s an interesting movie that leaves you think “If only…”.
Rating – *** Worth A Look
Gravity (2013) – I’ve heard all the scientific complaints with this movie and agree that a lot of it is just painfully wrong. But that misses the point for me. This was an edge of your seat thrill ride of a movie. I really wish I’d seen it on the big screen because it would have been so much better at a more appropriate scale. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock have to carry all 91 minutes of this film on their own and they are astounding. Of all the movies from this weekend, this was the one that blew me away. And a great reminder to Hollywood that movies don’t have to be three hours long.
Rating – **** Recommended
Saving Mr. Banks (2013) – The story of Walt Disney(Tom Hanks) bringing the story of Mary Poppins to the big screen with the reluctant help of her creator P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson). As someone who was glued to the TV Sunday evenings for “The Wonderful World of Color” I grew up with Walt Disney in my living room. So I approached this with a certain trepidation. Hanks does a wonderful job, as does Thompson, in creating real people for these legendary characters. Did not quite know what to expect and was utterly charmed and enthralled by the movie (even if I’m not a huge fan of the Mary Poppins movie itself)
Rating – **** Recommended
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) – Loosely based on the life of an actual butler at the White House, what’s not to love about this movie? Great cast (Forrest Whittaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr, Lenny Kravitz, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, Vanessa Redgrave and another handful of quality actors), a great script, beautifully directed by Lee Daniels (his name is included in the title not from directorial ego but because of an asinine dispute with a movie studio over a film made three generations ago) and just generally outstanding.
Rating – **** Recommended
Stories Are My Life 
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