Being tight on a budget as a student, going to the movie theater can break the bank. With  $10 for one ticket, $7.50 for an Icee, $8.50 for a bag of popcorn, that’s already close to $30 for one person.

Why not make it a Redbox night? Redbox makes the perfect date night on a college student budget.

Redbox has over 1,200 kiosks all over Houston, and with a price of $1.50 per night, how can you beat that? For $5, you and your date can watch a film, have some popcorn and make some hot dogs. I did it this week.

Here’s the breakdown: Movie: $1.50, bag of Popcorn: $0.99, hot dogs: $0.99 and twelve pack of buns: $0.99. That comes out to a total of about $4.50, plus tax of course.

Redbox has new releases every week on Tuesday. Visit redbox.com for the latest list of releases and their future release schedule.

Just released to the box is the new film by Nancy Meyers ‘The Intern’. It’s a film about a 70-year-old widower, Ben Whittiker (Robert Dinero) who is bored, retired and tired of the same old routine of everyday life.

Ben sees an ad for a senior intern position with a company that’s looking for a new angle and trying to catch some publicity. He get’s hired on and has to shadow the owner, Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), a young woman, founder and executive of a thriving fashion online store who has a whole set of her own problems.

The film takes place in an old building in the Bronx. Quite coincidently that building just happens to be the same building Ben worked in for over 20 years.

The film is a romantic comedy budgeted at $35 million and grossed over $75 million.
I would say that Director Nancy Meyers, also known for directing ‘It’s Complicated’, ‘The Holiday’, ‘Something’s Gotta Give’, ‘What Women Want’ and ‘The Parent Trap’ did an amazing job selecting the location and bringing out amazing performances from the cast.

This film grows on you. The relationship between Ben and Jules becomes like a father-daughter relationship. Ben is the father you never had who helps you through your challenges, and always tries to guide you along the best path.

Being that this is a movie about fashion, I did enjoy the array of clothes—especially the way Nancy Meyers compares fashion from decades past to today. There is one scene when Ben explains why men carry handkerchiefs in their pockets, which I never understood until I saw this film.

Ben is a real character full of love and kindness. The kind of person you want to be around all the time. Always on time, always trying his best, making sure that things get done and most of all standing up for what is right.

This is truly a film you can enjoy over the weekend or anytime during spring break with a special someone. Make ‘The Intern’ into a movie night, buy some popcorn, maybe grill up some hot dogs and have an enjoyable, entertaining evening.

Another option is ‘The Good Dinosaur’, a film by Peter Sohn starring Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, and Maleah Nipay-Padilla. These are actors I’ve never heard of, starring in a film that took a staggering $350 million to get to market. To date, it’s grossed just over $315 million and is now on DVD.

This is a great film for the family, or even a nice date.

This film takes an interesting twist on evolution. Instead of the asteroid hitting Earth and causing  mass extinctions, the asteroid missed Earth. Bob Peterson, who came up with the original concept and story, does an amazing job with the “What If?” scenario.

What if the dinosaurs did not become extinct? What would the world be like? What would we be like? How would we live?

Although the story concept was from Bob Peterson, it looks like Director Peter Sohn was intricately involved in writing the script.

The film is about Arlo, a young Apatosaurus, who is learning about life, facing his fears and having to grow up and mature. Arlo loses his father when trying to track down and kill a young human.

It’s fascinating how low humans are on the food chain in this alternate universe. After losing his father and trying to seek revenge, Arlo is swept away from his home by a storm. His journey is about getting back home and facing his greatest fears. On that journey he becomes friends with the human child he was trying to kill.

Just for the record, the dinosaurs speak English, but the humans can’t speak.