Watch "Marley & Me" For Free Tonight in the Comfort of Your Own Home!

Last week, I was on a spiritual forum talking to a woman about this and that. Here's an excerpt:

Tom: "I planned to see "Milk" this past weekend, but was feeling much too lazy."

Rachel: "lol! I watch all of the movies "free" online. Sometimes, I'd go to the show, but at *********.com, you can see them all. When it's cold, sometimes a person just wants to chill in the house and look at good movies. When the weather is nicer, I'd go to the show (maybe). A movie can come out on Friday, and by that same night, it's online, in its entirety. Very convenient."

Wow, I thought. My favorite theatre is about a 15-minute drive away, prices range from 6 to 8 dollars, and many times during the winter, my feet get too cold for me to really enjoy the movie. I decided to check out the site. I figured it was probably bootleg videos, you know, the kind where someone took a camcorder into the theatre and videotaped what was on the screen.

Imagine my surprise when I watched my first movie, "The Reader". Starring Kate Winslet and nominated for Best Picture, the movie is still playing in hundreds of theatres across the country (it's yet to come to Rochester). The movie started and I quickly realized it was the actual movie, not a copy or a bootleg. What I was watching was a screener (the Academy of Arts & Sciences sends out screeners to many of its members so they've no excuse not to see the nominees).

I leaned back quite happy to be seeing this much-talked-about film. Once I set it for full-screen, there were no advertisements to take me away from the movie and the movie was presented in its proper widescreen format. After 72 minutes of play, it said I had to wait 54 minutes before finishing the movie unless I wanted to sign up for the Deluxe Package which costs about ten bucks.

I figured I could wait the 54 minutes, just treat the time as an intermission in which I could go to the bathroom, get a snack, maybe take a bath and think about what I'd just watched. An hour later, I went back to my computer and finished the film. The next day, I viewed "Happy-Go-Lucky", another film that hasn't come here, but which I was greatly looking forward to seeing.

It's about a lady who is always happy no matter what is happening in her life. Yesterday, I watched "Doubt", a movie that did come to town, but has since gone. Four of its performances are nominated for Academy Awards. Now, none of these movies are even on home video yet. You can imagine how elated a movie fan like me was to see these films without any of the distractions I would be exposed to at our local theatre.

Other movies presently available are the Best Pic-nominated "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Slumdog Millionaire", and "Milk". If you like comedies, there's "Marley & Me",

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop", "Bride Wars", and "Hotel for Dogs". All are currently playing on the big screen. I'm sure you're wondering by now where to go to experience such joys. Well, I'm not gonna give this out to every Joe Schmo on the web. If you'd like the link, leave me a note in the comments or send me an email.