I took our two boys and their buddies to see X-Men: The Last Stand earlier today at the Castle Rock Colorado Cinema’s theater. The AOL MovieFone website at X-Men: The Last Stand describes the movie as follows:

“When a “cure” for mutants is discovered, Magneto’s increasingly powerful Brotherhood declares war on the government, prompting Professor Charles Xavier’s X-Men to regroup and do battle with Magneto once again. Joining the cast for this installment are Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy, also known as the intelligent, furry Beast; and Vinnie Jones (‘Snatch,’ ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’) as Juggernaut, Professor Xavier’s vengeful stepbrother.”

The Review
X-Men: The Last Stand was definitely the final film of the trilogy and a great flick for X-Men fans. Most of the Marvel Comic films are fun films for even a younger audience, but this one has a couple adult situations and a few swear words. It’s on the level of the movie “Fantastic 4” for a PG-13 rating, but my boys and their friends really liked it. I didn’t regret taking them and it’s probably the best of the three X-Men films.

I couldn’t get Becky to see it since she didn’t like the first two X-Men movies, so it’s a movie for comic book and X-Men fans. Wolverine and other X-Men characters are back again with several new heros and villians. The whole story comes together in this final edition of the epic adventure and the battle at the end is worth the price of admission.

X-Men: The Last Stand is a pretty cool movie and i would say that if you’re a fan of the first two movies, as I am, than you don’t want to miss it.

Still, if you like to watch a strange movie every now and then that has mystery, drama, comedy and is a thriller all rolled into one, then Art School Confidential is just the movie.

Becky and I both liked it, but we would suggest you wait for the Rental.

John – **** Don’t Miss It
Becky – * Don’t Bother (She Didn’t)
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!  Call or email John about your next vehicle!  jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see Art School Confidential last week. The Yahoo Movie website at Art School Confidential describes the movie as follows:

“Based on a comic story in Dan Clowes’ “Eightball,” Art School Confidential follows Jerome (Minghella), an art student who dreams of becoming the greatest artist in the world. Arriving as a freshman at a prestigious East Coast art school filled with every artsy “type” there is, Jerome quickly discovers his affected style and arrogance won’t get him very far. When he sees that a clueless jock is attracting the glory rightfully due him, he hatches an all-or-nothing plan to hit it big in the art world and win the heart of the most beautiful girl in the school.”

The Review
Art School Confidential was a very strange flick to say the least. There are a whole cast of very odd art student type characters that fit the stereotype of what you would expect art students to be like. The whacky personalities and the situations they find themselves in makes for a pretty funny movie, but it’s not a movie for everyone. Most people would probably not like it because of the strange humor and cast of characters. You have to be in the right mood to watch this film and it’s definitely a rated R movie.

Still, if you like to watch a strange movie every now and then that has mystery, drama, comedy and is a thriller all rolled into one, then Art School Confidential is just the movie.

Becky and I both liked it, but we would suggest you wait for the Rental.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!  Call or email John about your next vehicle!  jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see Just My Luck last week. The Fandango website at Just My Luck describes the movie as follows:

“Connie Albright, a three time lottery winner, runs out of luck when she loses track of a possible love interest at a masquerade party. Broke and homeless, she finds a job as an executive assistant, and goes in search of her lost beau.”

The Review
Just My Luck is a teenie bopper flick starring Lindsay Lohan. The movie is pretty goofy in that the girl, Connie Albright, is always lucky in a ridiculous sort of way. She scratches lottery tickets and wins. She goes on job interviews and gets the jobs. She hails a cab and five taxi’s suddenly appear. Everything she does is beyond luck and completely magical.

She kisses this guy who is completely unlucky, in a ridiculous sort of way, and suddenly he steals her luck. He becomes the luckiest guy around and she become the most unlucky person around. It’s really quite silly, but it does make for a pretty funny and cute film. As long as you don’t take the film seriously you can enjoy it. It’s a fun romantic comedy that has some strange and comical situations.

Becky and I both liked the movie and Becky thought it was Worth The Trip where I would suggest waiting for the Rental with the high cost of movies today.

John – ** Rental
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky went to see The Da Vinci Code on Friday with some co-workers and I went to see it on Sunday night. The Fandango website at The Da Vinci Code describes the movie as follows:

“A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that — should it come to light — could rock the very foundations of Christianity.”

The Review
The Da Vinci Code made quite a stir before it was released with Director Ron Howard, actor Tom Hanks and other Hollywood elites cruising the world on an all out media campaign. Television programs, newspapers and others have all been talking about the enormous impact that the book has had on society with a readership of over 50 million people. It’s been hailed as the best selling fiction novel of all time.

Becky and I had not read the book nor were we interested in reading it. I had a former business partner who had read it a couple of years ago when it first came out. Since I used to host a radio show called “Bible Talk” here in Denver I was amazed that he and others actually thought that this goofy mystery story had any credibility whatsoever. Even though it was fiction, I spoke with numerous people over the past couple of years who gave the book credibilty and talked about it to me, as though it were fact.

For me, the whole idea of Jesus Christ being married to Mary Magdalene because of the painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci, that the early Church had covered up the fact that Jesus was just an ordinary man and other wild assertions in the book was nothing short of absurd. That’s the basic premise of The Da Vinci Code that the world has been believing a big lie when it comes to Christ and the crucifixion. Even if it is a work of fiction, it has been able to shake the faith of many people by questioning the authority of the best selling book of all time – The Bible.

The movie starts out rather graphic with a terrible murder that takes place and a high-profile author being brought into solve the case. It turns out that he is the lead suspect in the murder and one of the hero’s of the film. The whole movie turns crazy as the movie leads you on a wild ride into a conspiracy by a sect of the Catholic Church to cover up the fact that Jesus was not really who the world believes that He was. I was really surprised it got a PG-13 rating because it was more of an R rated film with the violence. It kind of reminded me of the film National Treasure with Nicolas Cage only not nearly as good of a film or as good of a story.

At least in that film they were chasing something that might actually be plausible and it was way more entertaining. The idea that Jesus would go to the cross as a liar and a deceiver, that early Christians would be thrown to lions because of a massive cover up that Jesus was really just another married man, that the Apostle Paul would willingly leave his seat of authority with Judaism and be stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned and eventually put to death, Peter would deny Christ and later be crucified upside down for his faith, John would be boiled in oil and exiled to the Isle of Patmos, the vail of the Temple ripped from top to bottom at Christ’s crucifixion, thousands of Jews and pagans converted to Christianity and over five hundred people witness Jesus alive after He rose from the dead, all be a hoax is as laughable as having a movie about how the moon is really made out of cheese and NASA has been covering it up ever since Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind.

The fact is that the very early Church was not the omnipotent, powerful and deceptive organization that the film wants the audience believe. The main character in the film proposing this hypothesis turns out to be a lunatic, but it’s too late because he’s been presented as the authority figure. The fact is that early Christians were extremely persecuted people and still are today in many parts of the world. Just visit www.persecution.org and you can read about modern martyrs who are being killed for their faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God even today.

Sure, the Roman Catholic Church gained power after Constantine and has many skeletons in her closet, but keep in mind that the Roman Catholic Church has never been much for covering up some of it’s non-biblical beliefs or even her past sins. The Inquisition was a real event that you can read about in Foxes Book of Martyrs and it has been acknowledged by the Vatican today. There were some real whacko’s who came into power during the Middle Ages and these nutcrackers were obviously serving themselves and not God.

It’s also true that many pagan rituals were blended into Catholism under Roman rule in an effort to win the pagans to Christianity and to bring Roman culture into Christianity. Even today, there are rituals of praying a set of Rosary beads as an act of contrition and to obtain the 15 Promises of Mary. The belief in Purgatory for a second chance to gain a new way back into God’s Grace by works, after someone has already died.

The Bible clearly teaches that it has been appointed by God for men to die once and after that they will be judged. Only those who receive God’s grace exclusively through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and what He did for them through His death on the cross for their sins will be justified before God. You can’t do anything to impress God through your own works because He’s only impressed with the completed work of His Son. We all fall somewhere between Hitler and Mother Theresa, but God’s standard is Jesus Christ. God doesn’t grade on a curve according to the Bible.

There are many other zany rituals and beliefs within the Catholic Church that are out in plain site for the world to see. They are often criticized by Protestants, Muslims, Jews and other religions. So, it’s nonsense to think that they have been covering up something as important as Jesus’ true identity and mission. Especially, since so many other cults and religions completely disregard the Supreme Authority of Jesus Christ.

The Jehovah Witnesses, the Jews, the Muslims and the Mormon’s don’t believe that Jesus is equal with God as His one and only Son, so why would it be shocking to think that there were some in the early Church who believed that Jesus was just a prophet, a mere mortal or even an angel who was not fully man? Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit, preached a great deal against early church heresies and made his doctrine very clear in the Books of Ephesians and Colossians to guard against false doctrines coming into the early church. The one thing that the Catholic Church has always been right on, according to the Scriptures and historical evidence, is the belief in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and the statement of faith contained in The Apostles Creed.

I have to mention one other thing, even though I’ve gone far too long on this review, but I think it’s important given all the controversary surrounding this movie. When I watched the movie and saw the painting by Da Vinci of “The Last Supper”, I immediately thought that the person on his right was his mother. Especially, since the Catholic’s have always held “The Virgin Mary” as the one who would sit at the right hand of Jesus and Da Vinci was under the authority of the Catholic Church when he did the painting.

For example, The “Immaculate Conception” is the official Roman Catholic doctrine that teaches that Mary was filled with grace from the very moment of her conception in her mother’s womb, just like Jesus was born without sin. The title “Immaculate Conception” is only used by the Catholics.

It only makes sense that Da Vinci would put Jesus Mother on his right side, especially since this was considered the highest place of authority. You will notice in the painting that the disciple, which is believed to be Peter, is whispering into the woman’s ear and this also makes sense based on Catholic doctrine as it relates to Mary and her position within the Church.

Was the disciple in Da Vinci whispering in The Virgin Mary’s ear because Jesus would listen to his Mother? That’s the first thing I thought when I saw the picture during the movie. How did Mary Magdalene enter into the painting in The Da Vinci Code when Catholism has always hailed the majesty of “The Madonna” as part of its primary belief system? It’s really goofy to think that it’s Mary Magdalene and not “The Mother of God” based on the belief system of the Catholic Church.

Finally, the one part of the film that was equally unbelievable for me was the assertion that Constantine’s convening of the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 to discuss the Diety of Christ in relation to God the Father was a “close vote”. If you have seen the film or read the book and are at all interested in the facts, you should take the time to read what really happened during the Council of Nicaea. You’ll notice that the “close vote” of the film was over 250 in favor of Christ’s Diety based on historical evidence and church doctrine to 2 who were against His Diety. I would hardly say that’s a “close vote”.

This film completely lacked credibility for me based on what I know about the Catholic church and church history. It’s out of the Council of Nicaea that we obtained The Nicene Creed, which is the most widespread Christian statement of faith and what is commonly referred to today as The Apostle’s Creed. This came about not as a conspiracy, but because the early Christians, not the whacky Catholics of The Dark Ages, believed so strongly that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, that they wanted to clarify who was a Christian and who was not based on what a person was preaching, teaching and actually believed.

In conclusion, I apologize that this was so long, Becky thought The Da Vinci Code was a Rental and I have to give it a Don’t Bother since National Treasure is a much better work of fiction and more fun to watch.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – ** Rental
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see “Poseidon” on Friday night with my Mom for Mother’s Day. The Fandango website at Poseidon describes the movie as follows:

“After a huge tidal wave capsizes a luxury liner in the North Atlantic, individual survivors band together to traverse an upside-down maze that they hope will take them to safety. As the wrecked vessel fills with water, the survivors must call on hidden strengths and skills to face the fight of their lives.”

The Review
Poseidon had a great cast of characters and actors, including Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and even Richard Dreyfuss. Unfortunately, these great movie stars couldn’t save this drowning ship. It was like Titanic meets The Pefect Storm meets Die Hard and that was just too much for everyone. Too many bodies flying, far too much rushing water and not enough interest in any of the characters to care that they should survive. Especially, after having watched the rest of the ship meet a gruesome death.

Of course, this film had the token gay guy, played by Richard Dreyfuss and he survives in the movie. There is a ton of special effects in this film, which unfortunately pushed the audience overboard.

My Mom had watched the original the night before and she liked the 1973 film much better. Probably because the Director of the original took the time to get the audience interested in the characters before wiping out the entire ship. It was probably fitting that the ship was upside down since the audience pretty much felt the same way.

Our recommendation would be to wait for the rental on this one.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental
Mom – ** Rental
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see “United 93” last week on opening night. The MovieFone website at United 93 describes the movie as follows:

“Bloody Sunday director Paul Greengrass marks the five-year anniversary on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with this largely speculative meditation on the events that took place onboard the fourth hijacked plane, and the heroic actions of the passengers who gave their lives to ensure the safety of others. Told in real time and acted out by a cast of unknowns who were provided with detailed studies of their real-life counterparts, United 93 attempts to reconstruct the airborne tragedy from the view of the ground and flight controllers, the passengers, and their nervous families awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones. As the terrified travelers and crew gradually become aware of the historical events taking place on the ground so far beneath them, the 90 minutes in which a random collection of strangers realized their fate and came together to confront an unthinkable threat are re-created. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide”

The Review
United 93 was a surprisingly very good film. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it, but Becky really wanted to and I am glad that we did. I remember standing in our kitchen on September 11th watching in disbelief as the World Trade Center buildings were attacked by terrorists. The tragedy of that day and the media coverage that followed was enough for me and I figured that this movie would be a disaster about the disaster.

Well, I was wrong and this was a very good film. Becky and I both thought that it was extremely well done and what we appreciated about it most was that it was not only about what took place on flight 93. The movie gave the audience a perspective of what September 11th was like for the military leaders, the FAA, air traffic controllers as well as the hero’s on board United flight 93.

This is not a movie for children, it’s rated R and is definitely a movie for adults. If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, we would recommend it. Most movie theaters are not showing Previews with this film, so make sure you arrive on time. It is definitely worth the trip.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see “Stick It” last week. The Yahoo Movie website at Stick It describes the movie as follows:

“A 17 year-old, ex-gymnastics star with big family problems finds herself on the wrong side of the law after one-too many arrests. Forced back into the regimented world of gymnastics to clean up her act, she rediscovers her love of the sport and gets the chance to make peace with her dysfunctional life. Empowered by her transformation, she rallies fellow gymnasts to protest and outsmart outdated scoring…”

The Review
Stick It was a great teenie bopper / chick flick. It’s definitely geared toward a younger audience and has a great deal of drama and emotion to go along with the action of this sport’s story.

The story was clever and kept our interest with a great deal of attitude and sarcasm with some good laughs to boot. It’s a story about a girl gymnast, her life struggles, along with the difficulties she faces while participating in the sport of gymnastics.

Stick It will make you appreciate the challenges and intense training that world-class gymnasts go through to compete at the top level of the sport. It also dealt a blow to how the sport is judged, how trainers can be completely self-motivated and how some gymnast’s can be overly confident or downright arrogant.

However, it wasn’t very believable because of some of the situations that the main character finds herself in, especially during the climax of the film at a major competition and how all the gymnasts responded to the judges.

In spite of it’s shortcomings in the area of believability, “Stick It” grabs you and keeps your interest from start to finish. We both really liked the movie, but we’re also both suckers for teen sports flicks.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I took the kids to see the movie Hoot this Weekend. The Fandango website at Hoot describes the movie as follows:

“After moving from Montana to Florida, a youth becomes aware of a threat to a local population of endangered owls. Together with his new friends, he takes on corrupt politicians, greedy land developers and ignorant lawmen in a fight to protect the birds.”

The Review
Hoot was a cute movie that lived up to the movie trailer, but was not a great film by any stretch. Our older son Conroy, who is now 8, liked it more than Bianca and Corban did. It had a few laughs and kept your interest with a story about saving owls from the evil land developers trying to build their 100th pancake house. Unfortunately, every character in the story was stupid except for the three main characters and Jimmy Buffet the school teacher. It wasn’t really believable on any level.

For example, there is a part in the film where a diliquent kid, the hero of the film, gets bitten by a Rottweiler dog. His friends take him to the hospital the next day with a minor bite on his arm. Once at the hospital, the kids lie, so that the boy can get health insurance coverage by using the main character’s name. He flees the hospital after about 10 minutes like a super hero. It was not believable that the doctors, the parents and everyone other than the three kids are ding dongs.

I don’t want to wreck the movie because it’s a nice and fun kids film for the right age group. It was a cute movie, if you look past the fact that it was not realistic and simply a feel good film.

Becky and Conroy liked it more than our other two kids and myself.

John – ** Rental
Becky – *** Worth The Trip

The Kids Review
Corban – ** Rental
Bianca – ** Rental
Conroy – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see “American Dreamz” this evening. The Yahoo Movie website at American Dreamz describes the movie as follows:

On the morning of his re-election, the President decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President’s apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as…

The Review
Becky and I have yet to watch the popular television show American Idol, so this movie gave us a glimpse into the zany world of this pop-culture phenomenon. The movie had a few good laughs, if you have a sick sense of humor, but only because it was so completely ridiculous.

The portrayal of the President, who was supposed be President Bush, played by Dennis Quaid, was downright offensive even if you’re not a fan of Bush. It was just ridiculous how stupid they made him out to be with a crazy Dick Cheney calling all the shots through a microphone in his ear. Every character in this film is nuts. However, the situations and personalities in the film are pretty funny, but overall the movie stinks. The ending was very disturbing and downright mean spirited that wrecked whatever laughs that we sat through.

Our advice for you on this one is to skip it all together.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – * Don’t Bother _________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com

Becky and I went to see “Mission Impossible: III” on Friday. The MovieFone website at Mission” Impossible III describes the movie as follows:

Tom Cruise is back as Special Agent Ethan Hunt in the latest installment of this billion-dollar franchise. Ving Rhames also returns as Hunt’s wisecracking partner in anti-crime Luther Stickell, and a bevy of all-star actors — including Michelle Monaghan, Laurence Fishburne, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Keri Russell and Billy Crudup — round out the cast. With ‘Lost’ dynamo J.J. Abrams at the helm, bringing his unique cocktail of action, drama and mystery to the table, this mission promises to be a whole lot more impossible than the first two.

The Review
The new “Mission Impossible III” opens up with Ethan Hunt in a high stress, life or death, impossible situation. The tension is pretty disturbing and you soon discover that this is something that will happen later in the movie and you’re getting a glimpse into the future of the main character. From that point on, it is pretty much non-stop action and thrills. It’s much more than Mission Impossible though, it’s more like Mission(s) Impossible. There are so many impossible scenarios that Ethan Hunt finds himself in it’s crazy.

Even though the situations are completely unbelievable, the movie is a blast. If you liked either of the first two, you will definitely like MI-III. It’s a fast paced action film that definitely delivers. I thought it was better than the last one and the best of the three. As you will recall, Mission Impossible is always about the cool gadgets and there are a ton of them in this film, including some pretty spooky technology that will make you think.

Most of the people we spoke with after the film gave it a “B” rating and we would have to agree. It was a really fun thrill ride with great characters, good acting and loads of excitement. Becky and I both thought it was Worth The Trip.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide!
Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.com