The Sunday Drive: 7/24/11

3. Friends With Benefits
Wow, tough week having to leave off Project NIM, but it's worth it to have the best date movie of 2011 on the list(at least until next week!). A smarter, snappier film than the similar No Strings Attached, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis sizzle as friends who try the impossible: adding sex to their friendship without consequences.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2
Assuming you're one of the few who has decided to wait until the crowds die down, you might be holding out for awhile longer. The final clash between the boy wonder Harry Potter and the evil Voldemort is an epic all out war that will leave you spellbound.
1. Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Can Michael Rapaport kick it? Yes he can. The actor's directorial debut is a loving tribute to hip hop music and arguably the most influential modern rap group, A Tribe Called Quest.

DVD Pick of the Week: Take Me Home Tonight
A perfect example of the weakness of the latest crop of DVDs, Take Me Home Tonight is an average film that wastes the considerable talent at it's disposal. A nostalgia soaked ode to the 1980s, Topher Grace(who can't seem to get away from stuff like this) is that character we've seen far too often: the intellectual who spent far too much time studying and not enough partying. Even so he's wasting his MIT degree working at a video store while his friends are neck deep in Reagan era notions of self serving capitalism. When his high school crush walks into his store, he decides to fake being an investment banker to impress her, leading into a wild night of sex, drugs, and of course rock 'n roll. The comedy isn't particularly funny, and the lessons learned are ones that have been hammered home ad nauseum. So why is it number one on my list? The cast is fantastic, in particular Teresa Palmer and Dan Fogler. And the genuine love for the time period is there, with all the 80s rock jams you expect there and kickin'. If you can get past the fact that Take Me Home Tonight doesn't aspire to be much more than exactly what you think it's going to be, then you'll have a good time slipping back into the era of hot pink spandex and Alex P. Keaton.