There are some $4.99 steals in the Amazon Instant Video store right now, like (descriptions from IMDB):
RED (R, 4.5/5 stars, closed captions available)
Frank (Bruce Willis) is retired, bored and lonely living off his government pension in a nondescript suburb in an equally nondescript house. The only joy in Frank’s life are his calls to the government pension processing center when he gets to talk to his case worker Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life.
When something in Frank’s past forces Frank back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle of the intrigue, Frank and Sarah begin a journey into Frank’s past and the people he used to work with. Like Frank they are all RED … Retired, Extremely Dangerous.
– Written by Malcolm is Crazy
The Usual Suspects (R, 4.5/5 stars, closed captions available)
Following a truck hijack in New York, five conmen are arrested and brought together for questioning. As none of them is guilty, they plan a revenge operation against the police.
The operation goes well, but then the influence of a legendary mastermind criminal called Keyser Söze is felt. It becomes clear that each one of them has wronged Söze at some point and must pay back now.
The payback job leaves 27 men dead in a boat explosion, but the real question arises now: Who actually is Keyser Söze?
– Written by Soumitra
Legally Blonde (PG-13, 4.5/5 stars, closed captions available)
Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) has it all. She’s the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there’s just one thing stopping Warner (Matthew Davis) from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in LA, but nothing to Warner’s East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday.
– Written by vanessawhistler1971
But will Elle still want her snobby ex-boyfriend once she’s proven herself more than worthy of a better man, and a better life?
Platoon (R, 4.5/5 stars, closed captions available)
Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two non-commissioned officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two NCOs and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.
– Written by Jeremy Thomson
Sling Blade (R, 4.5/5 stars, closed captions available)
Karl Childers, now a grown man, is released from a psychiatric hospital where he has been hospitalized since the age of 12 for the murder of his mother and her lover. He returns to his childhood town, and although being mentally handicapped, gets a job fixing small motors at a local repair shop.
Karl befriends a young boy, Frank, and is soon invited by Frank’s mother Linda to move into the family’s garage. As a strong relationship develops between Karl and Frank, a confrontation builds with Linda’s abusive and sometimes violent boyfriend Doyle.
– Written by Todd K. Bowman