Becky and I went to see Miami Vice on Friday at the UA Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada on Las Vegas Boulevard.

We were surprised that the movie theater was not located in one of the monster hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, especially the MGM Grand since MGM is are known for movies. Instead it’s kind of a hole in the wall UA / Regal theater just off the strip located in a parking garage called The Showcase.

The Yahoo movie website at Miami Vice describes the movie as follows:

“Ricardo Tubbs is urbane and dead smart. He lives with Bronx-born intel analyst Trudy, as they work undercover transporting drug loads into South Florida to identify a group responsible for three murders. Sonny Crockett is charismatic and flirtatious until-while undercover working with the supplier of the South Florida group-he gets romantically entangled with Isabella, the Chinese-Cuban wife of an…”

The Review
Miami Vice was a movie loaded with violence, sex, more violence, more sex and more violence, along with drugs and prostitution. It was about on the same lines as Scarface for graphic violence without Al Pacino saying, “Say Hello To My Little Friend”.

The bottom line is that there was absolutely nothing original, entertaining, interesting or worthwhile about Miami Vice. It’s a bang, bang, shoot em’ up, catch the bad guys, mindless trip into the base world of drug lords and mobsters. The movie Heat with Robert Deniro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer and a number of other well known actors was more entertaining and that’s not saying much.

If you decide to see this movie you will probably leave feeling numb to the violence, bored and wishing you would had spent two hours doing something else. The fact that we saw it in Las Vegas, “Sin City”, probably didn’t help much, but there isn’t much you can really do for this movie since there isn’t much too it.

Our advice for Miami Vice, pardon the pun, is to wait for the rental, if you are a Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell fan, otherwise skip it all together and watch something with more substance.

John – ** Rental
Becky – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
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 took the kids to see Ant Bully on Saturday morning at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch. The MSN movie website at Ant Bully describes the movie as follows:

“A kid who hates ants finds himself living among the six-legged critters in this computer-animated comedy-adventure. Lucas Nickle (voice of Zach Tyler Eisen) is a ten-year-old boy whose family has just moved to a new town, and Lucas isn’t enjoying it much — he hasn’t made any friends yet, his big sister ignores him, his parents (voices of Larry Miller and Cheri Oteri) are occupied with their upcoming vacation in Mexico, and his loving but slightly crazy grandmother (voice of Lily Tomlin) is convinced space aliens are casing out the neighborhood. To make matters worse, the local bully has found Lucas and is making his life miserable, so the boy looks for someone he can push around — and he soon finds a large colony of ants in his yard. Lucas takes out his frustrations by stomping, drowning, and burying the bugs, little realizing the ants see him as a threat to their safety and aren’t about take his attacks lying down.”

The Review
Ant Bully reminded us too much of the movies Ants and A Bug’s Life with a little kid from Honey I Shrunk The Kids finding himself in the insect world to make it a bit different. Of course, all of these films were successful at the Box Office, so I’m sure that Ant Bully was a sure thing for Hollywood producers to get into production.

Becky and I were both bored with this film, having seen enough ants in cartoons over the years, along with a predictible storyline, but the kids really liked it. In fact, all of our kids thought it was a movie that you and your kids shouldn’t miss. So, don’t expect much as a parent, but the odds are pretty good that your kids will like it.
John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

The Kids Review
Corban – **** Don’t Miss It
Bianca – **** Don’t Miss It
Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It
_________________________________________________________________________
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 Lady in the Water on Friday night at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch. The Fandango movie website at Lady in the Water describes the movie as follows:

“When Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) rescues an enigmatic young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from danger, little does he know that she is a character from a bedtime story, who is trying to return to her world. As he falls deeply in love with her, he begins to realize that he and fellow tenants are also characters in the fable, and they must work together to protect her from those who would prevent her from returning home.”

The Review
Lady in the Water is a whacky, kind of spooky film that is a bedtime story gone awry. If you read the description above before you go into this film then it will make sense and you will probably enjoy it. I didn’t read it going in, but had the patience to figure it out. Becky on the other hand fell asleep and hated this movie. She put it right up there with The Village, which is another M. Night Shyamalan movie that was not as good as this one in my opinion.

If you like this guy’s work than you will probably like the movie. A few people clapped at the end, other people yawned after waking up and some people just left completely confused. In other words, enter this movie at your own risk.

You may want to wait for the rental when you can pause, rewind, or turn it off. Plus, you can share the cost with a friend and figure it out together.

John – ** Rental
Becky – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
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 took the kids to see Monster House on Saturday morning at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch. The Fandango movie website at Monster House describes the movie as follows:

“No adults believe three youths’ assertion that a neighboring residence is a living creature that means them harm. With Halloween approaching, the trio must find a way to destroy the structure before innocent trick-or-treaters meet ghastly ends.”

The Review
Monster House is a pretty spooky film for kids and a for it being a cartoon.  Our little girl Bianca said that it should have been released around Halloween and I would have to agree.  It’s a great story and has plenty of laughs and adult humor while being a bit scary for the kids.  It definitely lives up to its name for sure.

Monster House is a story that is about the creepy house on the block that kids don’t want to venture near, much less into, with the mean guy who wants kids to stay off of his lawn.  It reminded me of the 1980’s movie “The Burbs”, with Tom Hanks, only for kids.  The characters in this cartoon are hilarious and the animation is so good that you would swear that you’re watching a movie with real actors.

It’s rated PG, but is probably not a good film for really little kids that are sure to be scared.  Our five-year old Bianca was a bit scared at times, but the boys loved it.  It’s a very fun kids film that is different than most of the films you’ll see. 

The only thing that we didn’t like was the lead character saying “Oh my God” instead of “Oh my goodness” or “Oh my gosh”, like most cartoons, since so many Christians and Jews don’t believe in taking God’s name in vain.  Other than that it was definitely Worth The Trip.

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

The Kids Review
Corban – **** Don’t Miss It
Bianca – *** Worth The Trip
Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It
_________________________________________________________________________
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 My Super Ex-Girlfriend tonight at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch (great popcorn). The Fandango movie website at My Super Ex-Girlfriend describes the movie as follows:

“ A young man (Luke Wilson) discovers that the beautiful but manipulative woman (Uma Thurman) he is dating is really a superheroine known as G-Girl. After he breaks up with her, he learns that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” as she unleashes her considerable powers against him.”

The Review
This movie was rated PG-13 for – sexual content, crude humor, language and brief nudity. They definitely got the reasons why it was rated PG-13 right because not only is it a stupid film, but it’s pretty raunchy in the language and sexual situations departments.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend is as bad as the name of the movie. There are very few good laughs, and the plot, storyline and characters are so ridiculous that it’s laughable.

We were glad that we had discount tickets to see this one because it certainly wasn’t worth the price of admission. In fact, it would have been better at a $1.00 theater or on the $.99 rental rack. Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman are great actors, along with their supporting cast, but this film didn’t work for anyone involved.

There were very few people in the movie that were laughing and a few people were obviously sorry they brought their teenagers to the film. Don’t waste your money at the Box Office on this one. If you really want to see it then wait for it come to a rental store near you, which shouldn’t be very long of a wait.

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 You, Me and Dupree on Friday night at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch. The Fandango movie website at You, Me and Dupree describes the movie as follows:

“Newlyweds Carl and Molly are anxious to start their lives together, but the pair soon become a trio when Carl invites his jobless buddy, Randy, to crash at their place until he gets back on his feet. At first, Carl is happy to have him around, but that soon turns to annoyance when Randy threatens to become a permanent fixture in their home.”

The Review
If you go and see You, Me and Dupree be ready for a very far fetched and stupid film that has quite a few laughs, but jumps around more than a Mexican jumping bean at a first grader’s Birthday party.

This movie has a little bit of everything that you’ve seen before and a number of things you haven’t seen or probably won’t see again.  The story is pretty terrible, but you can definitely relate to the characters since just about everyone has had these type of people in their lives before.

The story is about two newlyweds who bring in the Best Man to live with them because the guy is too much of a loser to get or hold down a job.  A successful and whacky father-in-law played by Michael Douglas is a bit over the edge about his only daughter having married one of his employees.  This makes for some pretty funny dialogue between Matt Dillon and Douglas.

There are wild thiry-something friends that just like to party and watch porn while trying to influence Matt Dillon’s character who is almost as stupid as his best friend Dupree (Owen Wilson).  Kate Hudson is good in the film too, but she’s a bit too patient compared to most women who wouldn’t put up with a best friend moving in after the Honeymoon.

All of this makes for a very strange film, but there are plenty of laughs even if some of them are a bit crude in a “Something About Mary” sort of way.  I have to say that we did actually like it since there were some really funny parts of the movie, even if they were far-fetched. 

By the end of the film it at least tried to tie it all together with Dupree finding his purpose in life.  I don’t know if it was actually worth the price of admission, but there were some good laughs and it would definitely make for a great rental.

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 and I took the kids to see Pirates of the Caribbean on Saturday afternoon at a sold out AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch. For those of you who don’t know, the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch has a deal where you can get into see a movie for just $5 on Saturday mornings. The MSN movie website at Pirates Of The Caribbean describes the movie as follows:

“Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) returns to the screen for another round of supernatural adventures on the high seas in this spirited sequel to the 2003 Disney hit, which re-teams original director Gore Verbinski with original screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. As Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) prepare to exchange vows at the alter, their wedding plans hit rough waters with the arrival of sea-bound scallywag Jack Sparrow. It seems that Sparrow owes a substantial blood debt to Scottish sea captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), and that the only way for the flamboyant sea rover to elude the wrath of his otherworldy pursuer is to seek the aid of Gypsy queen Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), whose power to resurrect the dead and gaze into the future may provide just the advantage needed to avoid a waterlogged fate in the locker of his legendary nemesis.”

The Review
The first of the series of Pirates of the Caribbean was one of my favorite epic adventures, so I was really looking forward to seeing the second installment like millions of other fans.

Dead Man’s Chest was exciting, but pretty far fetched and kind of long and drawn out in parts. The movie had too many plots going on at one time and spent way too much time on some goofy aspects of the film like when Jack Sparrow and crew are captured by cannibals. It kind of reminded me of what George Lucas did with his Star Wars little Ewoks that wrecked the third Star Wars film.

It had a surprise ending with plenty of backstabbing that I guess one would expect from pirates, however I wasnt’ prepared for a two part series to conclude Dead Man’s Chest. It was kind of like watching a television show only to realize at the end that they left you hanging for next week’s episode. That was extremely disappointing compared to the first installment where they brought everything to a conclusion for the audience.
We waited until the end of the credits for an extra scene that wasn’t worth the extra time, so don’t bother sitting through the credits unless you like to read them. In the end, I liked the film, but not as much as Curse of the Black Pearl. Becky and I both thought it was Worth The Trip and Conroy and Corban loved it. Bianca thought it was stupid even though she liked the first one. She was probably too little to see it.
John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip

The Kids Review
Corban – **** Don’t Miss It
Bianca – * Don’t Bother
Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It
_________________________________________________________________________
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 The Devil Wears Prada on Saturday night at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch. The Fandango website at The Devil Wears Prada describes the movie as follows:

“Andy is a recent college graduate with big dreams. Upon landing a job at prestigious Runway magazine, she finds herself the assistant to diabolical Miranda Priestly. Andy questions her ability to survive her grim tour as Miranda’s whipping girl without getting scorched. Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger.”

The Review
The Devil Wears Prada had a pretty catchy title, but we didn’t know what to expect. I saw a number of women reading the book in the airport when I was coming back from a recent trip to Arizona, so I was half expecting it to be a very lame chick flick. It wasn’t at all what I was thinking.

This was definitely one of the better comedies of the year. Meryl Streep was awesome as Miranda, who is the Editor in Cheif of a top fashion magazine. Anne Hathaway was great as Andy, who is forced to do some soul searching after working for Miranda who is a power driven, self serving, work-a-holic that everyone in the fashion industry respects and fears – much like the Devil himself.

It has a number of good messages about life, relationships, work and having balance.  There are some strange situations that evolve from putting people in last place and it will definitely make you think.  You’ll also see some personalities that you’ve probably met in real life before.

I don’t want to give away the film. We both thought it was definitely Worth The Trip and is one of the better films in theaters right now.

John – *** Worth The Trip
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 and I went to see Superman Returns the other night at the Colorado Cimemas in Castle Rock. The Fandango website at Superman Returns describes the movie as follows:

While an old enemy plots to destroy him once and for all, the Man of Steel returns after a long absence to a much-changed world. Lois Lane has moved on with her life, and society has learned to survive without him. Superman must find a way to reconnect with her and find his place in a world that may no longer need him.

The Review
As a Superman and comic book character fan I was looking forward to seeing this new installment of the “Man of Steel”. Becky was less interested in seeing it than I was, but she went with me, and we took a bus load of teenagers along with the youth Pastor for The Rock.org to see a late show.

Superman is a kid’s comic book character, but in this installment it’s a long, drawn out drama that is definitely not a kid’s film. Our younger kids would have been bored out of their heads. Most of the teenagers who went with us were bored for 2 1/2 hours. Becky was bored and I was even pretty bored watching this romantic love story between Lois Lane and Superman unfold.

The crazy thing about it was that Superman and Lois couldn’t even have a boy chases girl relationship and stay true to the comic book because Lois had a boyfriend, or a husband, and a child. Of course, she is still in love with Superman and he helps her quit smoking. We find out later that there is a major twist in the plot with her son and her, but it’s a pretty goofy story overall.

Lex Luther played by Kevin Spacey was aweseome as his character to take over the world and to destroy his enemy. Lois Lane is beautiful Kate Bosworth and Brandon Routh looks amazingly like Superman and Christopher Reeves.

As big of a disappointment as the story is the special effects are first class and it’s still going to be a Summer blockbuster that you will probably want to go see. You might want to think twice about taking your kids, unless you want them to become a bigger fan of Spiderman and X-Men. Becky thought it was definitely a Rental and I would have to agree, unless you’re a Superman fan, in which case it was still Worth The Trip.

John – *** Worth The Trip
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