Red

"Red" A-

I know one thing for sure, advanced screening are the best. I love getting the opportunity to see movies that are not only free, but are available for early viewing, way before the movie officially is released. Tonight, they had an advanced screening of the movie "Red", starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary Louise Parker and Karl Urban. The cast is what really drives this movie in my opinion. It is a funny movie and it has some intense and exciting action scenes, but its the cast that really sells here. The movie starts out with Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) in his spacious house just dealing with retirement. Every month, he calls Sarah 9Mary Louise Parker, in a very funny role), his love interest, at a Pension office in Kansas City. He rips up the check each month as an excuse to talk to her about popular books and their attraction to each other, whether they know it or not. This is where it starts in a rousing action scene in his house where machine guns and bombs are loud as ever. This takes place in a suberb full of Christmas decorations. I guess the neighbors were either on vacation or didn't care that there were machine guns and grenades going off at their neighbor's house. Then the layers keep coming, with each of the characters coming in for the fun. We have Morgan Freeman being his usual self, which is a good thing, and we have John Malkovich in a scene stealing role, and Helen Mirren showing once again her acting talent. Another surprise was Karl Urban. I am not usually impressed with his acting, but he was actually not too bad in this role. He was actually one of my favorite characters is the movie as CIA agent William Cooper, along with Frank Moses of course. This movie is based on a DC comic, which was the whole reason why I wanted to see it in the first place. The movie has some action packed scenes, but it slows down at times to remind us of why we care about the characters. There are some light and very funny moments too, which makes for an entertaining time at the movies.

Life As We Know It

"Life As We Know It" B+

I got the pleasure of seeing a sneak preview of "Life As We Know It" tonight for free. At first, I was not really sure as to what I would think of this movie. I will be honest, I really enjoyed it. There were some sad parts, but it was also very funny and the acting was very good too. Basically, the movie starts out with our two main stars Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl going on a first date that was set up by their best friends. They hate each other immediately, but are around each other a lot of their best friends and now their baby. A tragedy happens with their friends, which is sad, and the wishes for Heigl and Duhamel are to be to care for their baby, Sophie. They are skeptical at first, and they don't know anything about raising a baby, but they learn about not only that, but more about themselves and about their growing love relationship. It seems like a formulaic plot, but it is really good the way it was made. I thought the chemistry between Heigl and Duhamel was so good. You really get the impression they hate each other at first and then... Some of the lines are really funny and the supporting cast members add to the movie too. The movie is scheduled for release on October 8th, and I really think it is worth seeing.