We usually don’t see enough interesting offerings on HBO to justify paying for it, but we do cough up the extra money to subscribe when “Big Love” comes back with a new season.   We love to watch every Sunday night the joys and trials of our favorite polygamous family. And this season the big question is will they be able to buy Weber Gaming and run a Native American casino that will be a “wholesome place where even Mormons will be comfortable playing video poker.” I am not holding my breath, however, that it will be one with good paytables! (Oops, I’m confusing TV with reality.) 

HBO did not provide great entertainment for us tonight, however, after “Big Love.” Looking for some light amusement after losing our Super Bowl bet (we had a $100 parlay on the Cardinals and Under), we decided to watch “Snakes on a Plane.” Brad thought the title sounded interesting and I temporarily forgot I hate snakes. It had only 2 stars – but sometimes we don’t agree with the critics! BIG MISTAKE! They should have warned us by giving it a minus 2 stars. We decided it was the worst movie we had ever watched. In fact it was so bad we had to watch it to the bitter end to see just how bad it would get. 

I just hope I can go to sleep tonight and not have nightmares – not about snakes but about bad movies!

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Although Southpoint is still listing on their Web site $3 tickets for seniors on Mondays and Thursday (all day), I see an ad in today R-J’s Neon section that tells about a new senior offer: “$3 Senior Ticket with Club Card – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays, until 6 PM (ends July 31).” 

I’m not sure which promotion will be valid on Monday, June 30, but if you go before 6 p.m., it won’t matter. You might want to call to see about after 6 p.m. that day. For what it’s worth, in the past they often didn’t question your age if you “looked old” and/or sometimes they gave the senior discount for those as young as 50 even though they said the “official senior age” was 65. (Hardly anyone asks me for ID anymore to prove my senior status – that’s a little depressing!) 

The Coast Casinos also has an ad in today’s Neon for the 3 of their casinos that have theaters: Sam’s Town, Suncoast, and the Orleans. Tuesday is Senior Discount Day – all tickets are $3 for those who are at least 60. You must show ID and a Club Coast member card. 

 They also have a non-senior promotion. Wednesday is Free Popcorn Day. You get a free small bag of popcorn with each ticket purchased if you are at least 21 and can show ID and a Club Coast card. 

Both these Coast Casino offers run through August 28. As the ad says, “Turn off the air and head for the coolest entertainment in town.” 

Now if there was a really good movie showing that we really wanted to see. We just wasted our comps (although we did have a 2-for-1 coupon so it didn’t make much of a dent in our thousands of dollars worth of comps at the Palms) on “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” I have liked Adam Sandler in some of his previous comedies and the previews had looked like it would make for a light but amusing afternoon break from video poker. Brad, who says he is the ultimate movie critic, fell asleep in the first five minutes. I am not that relaxed a person and I always try to keep the faith that a movie will get better. But it turned into an absolute horror film for me, reminding me of the days I was substituting in junior high and trying to teach English to adolescent boys who had dropped out of the human race. I’m not a prude but there is a limit to seeing humor in storytelling that revolves around bodily functions. 

Brad says he would like to relive his comic book youth and see “The Incredible Hulk.”   I may send him to watch that alone; I’m still trying to get over Zohan.

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First, I need to repeat a basic truth about movies. What one likes or thinks is good is just an opinion, never a fact. This goes for the “professional” critic as well as for the man on the street. And this goes for the Oscar process as well – it is just the result of a bunch of people who are giving their opinions when they vote.

That being said, I am influenced when many people have the same opinion about a movie - influenced to go see or not go see it. However, my decision also takes into consideration the subject. I usually don’t go see a movie about aliens or beings with supernatural powers or hip hop themes, no matter how many critics say it has a wonderful plot and powerful acting. On the other hand, I often disregard the critics panning of a movie if it is about a subject I like. For example, we usually go see all movies about gambling – and if it isn’t very good, we amuse ourselves by looking for scenes with situational gaffes written by someone who obviously doesn’t have any personal experience with the subject – or by looking at the carpeting and seeing if we can recognize in what casino it was filmed. 

I hadn’t seen all the Oscar-nominated movies, but I had seen No Country for Old Men, the eventual big winner, and I had written earlier here that I felt left up in the air at the ending. I never said the movie wasn’t a “good” one; it was powerful and well done. I just don’t enjoy those kind of non-ending endings. 

I did enjoy Michael Clayton, and not just because I think George Clooney is sexy. I liked the plot and the action. Same for American Gangster, plus I was impressed that this was a fact-based but still dramatic story. I loved Charlie Wilson’s War, also based on real-life characters, with many enjoyable humorous scenes but an ending that hit me in the gut and is still making me think when I hear about the Afghanistan war on the news.  I found watching Juno a very pleasant experience, watching how this “little” story turned into something much deeper than I expected without unrealistic drama. 

Do you want to know which Oscar-nominated movie was my favorite? One in which I had to bring out the Kleenex very early, keep them handy throughout the whole film, and had to sit through the entire ending credits and 10 minutes of dark screen that followed to get my public face back on so I could leave the theater without sobbing and making a spectacle of myself. No, Away From Her never got an Oscar mention -- and perhaps many will never ever choose to rent this movie now that it is out of the theaters. But for two seniors who are already having some problems remembering, this bittersweet tale may stay as one of our strongest memories.

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