Movie Tuesday 6/17

Ah, I got all wrapped up in watching the CFSAC meeting online yesterday and today and didn't have time for a Movie Monday post, so here it is a day late. By the way, I learned some interesting things about revisions to the Social Security rulings for ME/CFS watching today's meeting, so I will summarize that for you in the next few days.

We watched a lot of movies this weekend because our youngest son (who doesn't like to watch much TV or movies) was away at the beach with friends, so the remaining three of us had a movie fest! With two men and me, it was back to action and suspense this weekend!

During the week, my older son and I painstakingly went through the Redbox listings from home, looking up titles on some of my favorite movie websites, to pick out one that all three of us would like. After all that research, we did enjoy the movie...but my husband pointed out that he and I had seen it before, a fact I didn't believe until the very ending! One of the benefits of brain fog.

Anyway, we watched Inside Man, a very clever caper movie directed by Spike Lee with an outstanding cast. Clive Owen stars as the lead bank robber in a big operation with dozens of hostages, while Denzel Washington plays his nemesis in the police force, a hostage specialist brought in for the case. Jodie Foster also stars as a highly-paid "fixer" for powerful and wealthy people whose role is not clear early in the film. The movie unfolds with plenty of suspension, as the small group of robbers hold a large group of people hostage and talk to the police. The criminals seem to have thought of everything. It's an elaborate heist, in which they always seem to be one step (or two or three) ahead of the police. If you like good twisty caper movies, this is a great one! We all enjoyed it (even though my husband remembered how it ended!).

Saturday night, the three of us settled in with Homefront, a suspense/action movie starring one of our favorite actors, Jason Statham (speaking of caper films, he was excellent in The Italian Job). Here, he plays an ex-DEA agent who broke up a meth operation in New Orleans by working undercover as a gang member and got the crime leader's son killed in the process. He and his adorable daughter have moved to rural Louisiana (he with a new name) in order to try to live a quiet life away from the nasty criminals who want him dead. Despite his efforts to lay low, he runs afoul of some locals with connections to the drug trade (James Franco plays a truly scary drug dealer), and before long, his old enemies are tracking him down. Surprisngly, this movie was written by Sylvester Stallone (I didn't know he wrote screenplays), based on a book, and although it is mainly an action-packed thriller with lots of fights, explosions, and gunfire, it also has plenty of heart and warmth. Statham plays a loving father just as well as he plays a tough guy, and the relationship between he and his daughter in the movie is wonderful. Again, we all enjoyed it...and this time, none of us knew how it ended!

Finally, on Sunday, we watched Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, a movie just released on DVD that we've all been waiting to see. It is based on the popular character from all those Tom Clancy novels. It's a bit confusing because Jack Ryan, a recurring character in the novels, has now been played by 4 different actors in 5 different movies! In this one, a prequel, he is played by Chris Pine, whom we all like. This is basically an origin story, showing how the famous secret agent was first recruited by the CIA for a quiet analyst's job and ended up as a top operative. Kevin Costner plays his boss, and Keira Knightly plays his girlfriend, so the acting was excellent. As you'd expect from a CIA/Jack Ryan movie, there is a lot of action and suspense (and car chases and bombs), but it is also a clever plot about using economic forces as a terrorist tool. Good entertainment.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

And have you ever watched a movie twice without realizing it??