Summertime means movietime.

Summertime is here and what that means for those of us who watch entirely too much TV, the network TV seasons are finished with no new shows until the fall. I am now forced to actually do something constructive or find something else to watch on TV. I have chosen the latter and I’ll make my summer, a summer of movies. I don’t necessarily mean summer theater blockbusters. Blockbusters that cost as much to see them as it did to make them, no I mean movies on my beloved DISH TV. I am speaking specifically about Turner Classic Movies and The Fox Movie Channel, with a dash of AMC and Independent Film Channel thrown in for good measure. Why do I love my DISH TV so? Because I have DVR capabilities and I can record movies without having to deal with stupid tapes, another reason is that DISH TV gives all movies a star rating. I know what movies, according to DISH TV, are the best movies to watch. I used to watch every 3 star movie that sounded interesting to me, but that was more than I could handle. So I now try to watch 3+ and 4 star movies that interest me and even some that don’t interest me.

I am trying to watch all the movies on the AFI top 100 years, 100 movies list. I am not hurtling through the list with the end in sight, but at 58 out of 100, I am making progress. I don’t want you to think that because I normally watch pre-1980 movies that I am a movie snob, on the contrary, I like stupid movies as much as I like great movies. The Big Lebowski is one of the greatest ever made, and that movie is not seen as a 4 star classic.

Why am I telling you this crap? Well, I thought that maybe I would give you a movie pick from time to time, a personal recommendation of a movie that I enjoyed and that I think you might enjoy. With that being said, I have two for you this week.

My first pick is The Longest Yard. Now, before you get ready to head to the theater, I am speaking of the classic movie, the original version starring Burt Reynolds. I watched it this past weekend and it is a movie that just gets better and better after every viewing. Burt Reynolds is the star and for about 5 to 10 years, he was THE STAR in Hollywood and one of my favorites. He is tough and cool, and except for the silly laugh, he is the perfect Hollywood star.

Reynolds plays a former quarterback who gets into some trouble with the law and is sent to prison. This is a prison that happens to have a semi pro football team made up of the prison guards. The warden wants Reynolds to coach the team, but Reynolds refuses and ends up putting together a team of inmates to take on the guards.

This movie has it all. It has a nice little car chase. It has all the elements of both a prison movie and a sports movie. If it only had a few naked women, it would be the greatest movie of all time. The acting isn’t exactly Oscar winning, but if you enjoy Burt Reynolds or sports, you will enjoy this flick. I haven’t seen the remake starring Adam Sandler in the Burt Reynolds role, but I find it hard to believe that Sandler can pull this off. I have to believe that the role has been changed a little to accommodate Sandler, but in any case, I plan on checking the remake out soon. I can’t envision the remake even coming close to the original, it’s that good.

My second pick is the movie called Charade. It stars the man who I believe to be the biggest and best star in movie history, Cary Grant. Audrey Hepburn also stars with Grant in a movie that has both equal parts mystery and comedy. Sounds like a strange combination, but it works. Audrey Hepburn is a widow whose husband, Charlie, has been murdered. Before his death, Charlie auctioned everything they owned and collected $250,000. Audrey Hepburn has no clue as to the whereabouts of this money. Money that everyone and their brother seem to be after.

This movie works as a romantic comedy and a great whodunit. The cast is great even beyond Grant and Hepburn. Walter Matthau, James Coburn, and George Kennedy co star in this movie and that is a great cast. I don’t know about you, but I find that I have a hard time not trying to figure a mystery out, so instead of just enjoying the movie, I am trying to figure things out before the characters. This movie is so good that I figured things out right at the same time as the characters. It is smart and funny.

This movie was also remade, and while I don’t know for sure that The Longest Yard remake is a hunk of crap, I do know that the remake of Charade is a hunk of crap. The remake was titled The Truth about Charlie and it starred Mark Wahlberg in the Grant role and Thandie Newton in the Hepburn role. By all means, avoid this movie. It has none of the charm of the original and it makes you wonder why anyone would release a movie this bad after the original was so good. The one good thing about The Truth about Charlie is that the DVD comes packaged with Charade. I recommend renting or buying the remake to watch the original, it will be worth it.