Just a brief insight into the mind of Greg here. Friday night is another Movie Night that I get the privilege of facilitating. My reasons for offering for the gig were as follows: it strikes me as a shame that there wasn't a group that met close to town (all the others were way out in the periphery of what I like to call "civilization"); and secondly that it might push me out to catch a movie on a semi-regular basis.

The challenge for yours truly has been that, to my way of thinking, movies always look better from a distance than they do on decision night with a $9 ticket to be procured. So it's not unusual that I'll see a preview or trailer that really looks good to me, start investigating the movie a bit ... and then talk myself out of seeing it. It may not sound like a terribly entertaining way to catch new movies, but the cost savings are great!

Note: I usually pick a day knowing that there'll be at least one release out that I can justify the effort for. In this case, the date was picked due to it being the release date for the second "Harold & Kumar" movie. For those of you trying to raise your kids right ... don't let 'em go see it. It almost always happens that whatever movie I target, the showtimes are never convenient for a 7pm dinner meetup. Theoretically, the crowd starts getting itchy for a movie around 8:30 or so. Invariably, my choice has a 10pm showtime or thereabouts. So here's what I have to look forward to tonight, with a brief note on what goes through my own mind when I see this offering.

21 ... tempting, but I really wish they made something a little closer to the reality of the backstory on this movie rather than an overdramatized glitz & glamor flick.

88 Minutes ... Alicia Witt is a key selling point. The storyline - not so much.

Baby Mama ... a good laugh; Tina Fey; Amy Poehler. Easily a contender for my time and dollar.

The Bank Job ... dunno much about this one. Might be swayed after some YouTube investigation and checking on showtime in comparison with other contenders.

Deception ... the movie description on Yahoo begins with "An accounting consultant ...". What more do I need to say?

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! ... not opposed to seeing it. Just opposed to paying top dollar for seeing it.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed ... Just saw Ben Stein on one of the late night talkshows. Pass.

The Forbidden Kingdom ... Jet Li & Jackie Chan. Automatic "No" in my book. To each their own.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ... moderately tempting just for the cheap laugh and familiarity with the writing crew.

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay ... precisely the type of movie I would think of going to see for a cheap laugh. And for encouraging my fellow churchgoers to pray for my soul. Leading contender. I don't know what else to tell ya.

Leatherheads ... mildly tempting. That rarely gets $9 out of my pocket, though.

Nim's Island ... I never quite got into this genre of movies. Then again, I did recently laugh all the way through "The Neverending Story." Maybe if I just pretended they were supposed to be comedies, I'd see more merit in them.

Prom Night ... another cinematic vice of mine - I love a good, scary flick. The previews of this one are tempting, but I think I've done scary movies the last two movie nights in a row. Not opposed to seeing this one, but it goes to the backburner.

Smart People ... I hate to sound cruel here, but Sarah Michelle Gellar hasn't done much that I've appreciated since "Square Pegs." Don't get me wrong, I think that's enough to have her warrant a claim to fame. Just that I'm one of five people in this world that see things that way. Pass.

Street Kings ... see above. Replace SMG with Keanu Reeves and "Square Pegs" with "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Pass.

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns ... I love Tyler Perry, just maybe not enough to plunk down top dollar at the theater for one of his movies.

Vantage Point ... this is still in theaters? Seen the previews, saw the cinematic approach done better with "Cloverfield," not a fan of the adventure/thriller genre. Pass.

So after all of that, I'm down to the following decision-set for movie night:

Contenders:
- Harold & Kumar
- Baby Mama

A three-hour wait from dinner to movie. That's rarely something to look forward to.

Definite Maybe:
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Optimal showtime (8:50), just have to justify in my mind why I wouldn't go see one of the other two.

Maybe/Maybe Not:
- Leatherheads
- The Bank Job
- 21

Decent showtime on "Leatherheads" probably bumps it up a notch for consideration. Who knows, maybe I'll hit dinner in a mood for a sports movie. "Bank Job" requires a bit more investigation on my part. It'd have to look darned good to move up the list, though.

CODA: "Leatherheads" won out in the interest of time. Loads of work on my plate for the weekend, so there was enough of a premium to nudge me to catch an earlier show with moderate appeal to yours truly.

By way of a mini-review ... it was so-so. Not bad, not great. Maybe justifiable for a $9.50 ticket depending on what $9.50 means to ya. I'm not exactly regretting the choice since I happen to like Rene Zellweger and the guy from The Office. (Clooney, I'm indifferent to). The storyline seemed like every bit the throwback that the movie tried to be - as if someone might try a Capra-esque approach to a modern movie based in the 20s. Not to say this one strives for Capra's style, but they clearly weren't going for an overly complex storyline. At least that's how it struck me.

All that aside, between "Baby Mama" and "Harold & Kumar", I've got one more movie to take in sometime soon.