Movies-Inglorious Basterds-The Other Man-Public Enemies

There were so many great movies showing over the weekend with Dish Network's premium channels that it was difficult to choose which movie to watch! I absolutely had to check out Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds so I decided to hit the video store Friday night. Since snow was in our Massachusetts forecast, I assumed that I'd have time to watch this movie as well as one or two more. This is probably the first weekend in six months that I actually put time aside to relax and have some fun at home.

I had a weird feeling that I would enter the video store and see that every copy of the movie would be gone and I was right. I asked the clerk if there were any Inglorious Basterds hiding behind the counter. I figured if I made him laugh somehow he would look deeper for the movie. He said that there should be two copies in the store and we went searching to see if they were misplaced. They were no where to be found so I started poking around to see what other treasures I could find and I ended up renting four movies! Most people would say that renting four movies is ridiculous but you must understand that I have much catching up to do on my entertainment. I grabbed Public Enemies, The Other Man and Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves for my daughter who laughs every time she sees the preview on her copy of Toy Story. I realized I was holding three movies and couldn't decide on which to rent for myself so I headed to the counter with all three until I noticed something at the corner of my eye. Inglorious Basterds! I must have looked insane when I jumped like a child to grab the DVD off the shelf. I laughed at myself and headed to the counter with the four flicks in hand.

We decided to watch The Other Man Friday night and chose to save the main feature for Saturday night so we'd have something to look forward to. This film stars Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney. The title is self-explanatory and I'm sure that you can guess that Antonio Banderas is the "other man". It received negative reviews, but I'm always up for a challenge. I know now why this film didn't make a killing. I fell asleep! The last time I fell asleep on a movie, it was because I was sick. The total film probably could've been compiled into thirty minutes because it was so uneventful that the wait for something interesting to happen was excruciating! What a waste to include three decent actors in a movie that was almost about nothing. You have the cheating factor that is interesting but it was not enough to make this movie fly. I watched an hour of it and I still plan to see the rest tonight. I still don't want to totally give up hope. Liam Neeson is an amazing actor and if you've seen his performance in Schindler's List you'll know why, but he has taken every movie offer that comes his way. I don't know how many more sleepers I can handle just to see a movie including Neeson. His other recent film, Taken was one of the worst hostage films I've ever seen. What's going on Liam? Laura Linney can be slightly annoying to watch but she's a great actress and truly shined in The Truman Show. Antonio Banderas is great no matter what he's in. He has the skills, the great looks and, of course, the accent. There must have been some reason these actors chose to be in this film so maybe I'll be proved wrong when I finally watch the rest of it tonight!

I was finally able to watch Inglorious Basterds Saturday night. The suspense and excitement had been building ever since I heard word on the Internet of Tarantino filming this movie. Maybe I built up too much excitement because I wouldn't say that this is his best film. It was certainly as unique as I would expect from Tarantino and the story was quite interesting. There was a certain level of suspense and anxiety that was great but something about it seemed off. I was getting that feeling that we would encounter a Pulp Fiction style revenge in the end that makes you want to jump out of your chair and say, "Take that!" but something about the ending wasn't as effective as I expected. I won't go into detail because I don't want to ruin it for anyone but it just seems that there could have been a more shocking approach to the grand finale. Those of you who have seen this film may agree that you would have liked to see the "girl that got away" pull a Kill Bill type can of whoop-a** on the bad guys. Maybe it's just me. Overall, I thought it was a good film but I must say that Tarantino's best films were his earliest. I hope one day Tarantino makes a movie as good as Pulp Fiction. This is such an original hit that I think he set his bar at the top when this movie hit theaters because it's almost impossible to make a movie another film as great and as twisted as this. I enjoyed the following movies more than Inglorious Basterds; the obvious Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk Till Dawn and Jackie Brown. Kill Bill was fun but Inglorious Basterds was better. Brad Pitt continues to amaze me with his flexibility as an actor. I always thought he was a decent actor especially in Legends of the Fall, then he absolutely blew me away with his part in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and again with his character in Burn After Reading. I thought his role in Inglorious Basterds seemed a little silly and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to make his character believable but I was mistaken because he surprised me yet again with a great performance! The cast was superb in this film with the exception of Eli Roth. What the heck was that Tarantino? Eli Roth is an awesome director and maybe he has become friends with Tarantino but the guy couldn't act if his life depended on it. Eli, we love your movies but not your acting. How about another film like Cabin Fever?

I watched Public Enemies last night for the conclusion to my entertaining weekend. I have one question, how can the director not know that the film he has just made contains one hour of boredom and one hour of award-winning entertainment? The first half of this film doesn't even compare with it's last half so I'm glad I didn't fall asleep! If I was fortunate to have made a film and it turned out to be half dull and half fabulous, I would go back and film the whole first part of it the way I did the last to create a blockbuster hit. Overall the movie was fairly entertaining and ladies, if you love Johnny Depp wait till you see him crying over his girlfriend in this film.

Out of the three movies I rented for us, I would have to go with Inglorious Basterds as number one. Part of me feels that it would have been more worth it to spend the twenty dollars I spent at the video store at the theater to see Avatar, another film I can't wait to see!

Here are some great movies showing on Starz and Encore with Dish Network tonight and tomorrow according to Eastern Standard Time:

Monday 12/21/09

Quarantine 5:45-7:20 p.m. on Starz

I've Loved You So Long 6:05-8:05 p.m. on Starz Cinema

The Goonies 6:05-8:00 p.m. on Encore

Mask 6:50-9:00 p.m. on Encore Love

Sixteen Candles 9:00-10:35 p.m. on Encore Love

Tuesday 12/22/09

Doubt 11:30- 1:15 p.m., 11:00-12:50 a.m. on Starz

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 9:00-11:30 a.m., 4:50-7:30 p.m. on Starz

French Kiss 2:15-4:10 p.m. on Starz Comedy

In the Bedroom 9:20-11:35 a.m., 7:45-10:00 p.m. on Starz Cinema

Clifford 6:25-8:00 p.m. on Starz Kids & Family

Rocky III 4:10-6:00 p.m. on Encore Action

Shining Through 4:50-7:10 p.m. on Encore Love

The Cider House Rules 2:20-4:30 p.m., 8:00-10:10 p.m. on Encore Drama

The Parent Trap 12:20-2:35 p.m. on Encore WAM