On demand picks

October 25, 2008

CLOVERFIELD (Comcast Free Movies) After months of buzz, the J.J. Abrams mystery project turns out to be a short, efficient, terrifying monster movie, presented "as it's happening" through one guy's handheld home-video lens. The film is to New York City and the American psyche what "Godzilla" was to Tokyo: a safe cinematic fantasy response to unimaginable events. You get scared, you go home, you laugh it off -- the real world should play so nice. Starring a bunch of young actors (Michael Stahl-David and Odette Yustman, above) you've never heard of. (PG-13; runs through Oct. 31) TY BURR

DEFINITELY, MAYBE

(Comcast Free Movies) An agreeable, engaging piece of Hollywood hearts-and-flowers fluff - the sort of candy-heart date movie the studios usually louse up. Divorcing dad Ryan Reynolds narrates to daughter Abigail Breslin the story of How He Met Mom, done up as a romantic mystery with three potential finalists. Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and Isla Fisher play the women; regardless of who gets Reynolds, Fisher takes the movie. With Kevin Kline. (PG-13; runs through Oct. 31) TY BURR

EXECUTIVE DECISION (Encore) This Joel Silver action thriller gets an extra half-star for the most satisfying Steven Seagal moment yet in the movies. Kurt Russell, as an intelligence operative specializing in the Middle East, accompanies a squad of commandos as they sneak aboard a 747 that has been hijacked by terrorists with enough firepower to waste much of the Eastern seaboard. (R; runs through Oct. 30) BETSY SHERMAN