Maybe you’re looking to save a few bucks or the current theater choices just aren’t cutting it. Whatever the case may be, sometimes it’s just as nice to sit at home and watch a good flick. Take a look at this week’s picks for some At-Home Alternatives to the weekly cinema options.
Instead of White House Down: Die Hard
Channing Tatum saves the president, Jamie Foxx, and maybe the world in what’s been looking like Olympus Has Fallen on steroids. Tatum is a cop on a White House tour when terrorists spring into action and attempt to kidnap the president. Die Hard has John McClane (Bruce Willis) at a christmas party that gets overrun by terrorists, including Hans Gruber (played by Alan Rickman, Mr. Potter) and finds himself having to save the hostages. Either should whet your appetite for action with a few chuckles here and there, though personally, I’m a Roy Rogers kinda guy.
Instead of The Heat: Lethal Weapon
The Heat is essentially a buddy cop. Two detectives are paired together and they have to bring down a drug dealer. In the case of The Heat, the pair is newly crowned queen of funny Melissa McCarthy and Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock. If you couldn’t make it out to the theatres or you want to wait for The Heat to come to DVD/BluRay, then hold yourself over with Lethal Weapon. Any of them really. It’s two unlikely cops that bring down different criminals with the perfect combination of comedy, action, and saxophone riffs.
Portlandia Season 3
No major studio releases this week, but Portlandia Season 3 is now available! Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein return for another hilarious season where they become nearly every character on the show (minus the Mayor who is played wonderfully by Agent Cooper, I mean, Kyle MacLachlan) through continuing sketches that both satirize and lampoon society and pop culture. With cameos from Bobby Moynihan, Matt Berry, Jack White, Chloe Sevigny, Bill Hader, Kumail Nanjiani, Kurt Loader, Jim Gaffigan, and Jeff Goldblum, how can you go wrong?
In The Loop (2011)
The President of the United States and the UK Prime Minister would like to start a war. However, many of their upper level Secretaries and Generals disagree. So throughout the back and forth political discussions, behind closed doors these secretaries barrage each other with some of the funniest insults and lines of dialogue I have ever heard in my life. Tears streaming down my eyes and Peter Capaldi (who should have won some kind of award for this role) stole every scene he was in. The film is fairly underrated and that’s a shame because the performances are outstanding, especially James Gandolfini. He dishes it as hard as he takes it and he does it with this smile that disarms you right before he says, “I’ll hit you so hard in the face you’ll be shitting teeth.” Definitely seek this one out.
In The Loop Netflix Synopsis: When the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister decide to invade a certain Middle Eastern country, skeptical American and British operatives do their best to stop the runaway train to war in director Armando Iannucci’s scathing political comedy.
What do you plan on watching this week, at home or otherwise? What do you think of my choices?