Becky and I went to see the new Mark Wahlberg movie The Gambler at the Regal Cinemas in Lone Tree, CO this past Weekend.  The Moviefone website at The Gambler describes the movie as follows…

“Literature professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance…”

The Review: This movie not only had a pretty cool movie poster that would look good hanging on the office wall of a Mark Wahlberg fan, but it had a really off the wall story to go along with it.  It opens up with the lead character going into an underground gambling casino to play.  I’m thinking he’s going to sit down and play poker for the night with mad genius skills taking everyone for their money. Nope.  He plays blackjack and within a few minutes has lost thousands of dollars and you are wondering if this guy has a brain.

We soon discovered that this guy is a train wreck in deep with gangsters and continues to get further in debt.  It doesn’t make any sense because the guy has the Life of Riley with no other obligations in life or to people other than the people he is gambling his life with and that is what makes it interesting.  He’s an unhappy dude who is a bit of a spoiled brat because life is just too easy for him.  He meets some fascinating characters along the way though, including a young writer that he finds attractive, a gifted basketball player, a gifted tennis player and three different types of gangsters.  His Mom is played by Jessica Lange and she does a great job playing a rich woman who loves her confused son.

I found it to be entertaining and I really liked it.  Becky wasn’t very interested in it though and found it boring, so we are not in agreement on this one.  I definitely thought it was Worth The Trip and could see it again and Becky thought it was at best a Rental or a Don’t Bother.

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

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant and owner of CoolCarGuy.com with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase or consign your vehicle – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter@coolcarguy

Becky and I went with Conroy, Corban and Bianca to see the new Christmas movie Unbroken at the AMC Theater in Castle Rock, CO tonight.  The Fandango website at Unbroken describes the movie as follows…

“Angelina Jolie directs this true-life tale of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in World War II, only to fight for his life against nature and eventually as a prisoner of war. Joel and Ethan Coen provide the script…”

The Review: This true story is amazing and the movie is fantastic.  I have actually heard critics say this movie is not very good and they are crazy.  Unbroken is one of the best films of the year for sure and every showing at our theater was sold out, so I wouldn’t listen to the critics on this one.  People actually applauded at the end of the film, which is always strange to me since it’s a movie, but that should tell you how much the audience enjoyed this movie.

This film is a reminder of the incredible sacrifices that were made by men and women in World War II.  The story of Louie Zamperini is absolutely unbelievable and it is titled correctly because I cannot imagine that most people wouldn’t just want to give up and die.  The acting is very well done, the story is shocking and Angelina Jolie needs to win an award for the directing of this movie.  She did a fantastic job bringing this story to life.

We all liked it and thought it was a don’t miss it for sure.  You will want to put it on your list for sure.

John – **** Don’t Miss It
Becky – **** Don’t Miss It

Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It
Corban – **** Don’t Miss It
Bianca – **** Don’t Miss It

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________________________________________________________________

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant and owner of CoolCarGuy.com with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase or consign your vehicle – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter@coolcarguy

Becky and I went to see the new Christmas movie Big Eyes at the AMC Theater in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Big Eyes describes the movie as follows…

“The true story of painter Margaret Keane’s life in obscurity while her husband gleaned the notoriety for being the face of her work is brought to the screen by Tim Burton and his Ed Wood screenwriters, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The story opens in the late 1950s, when Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) packs up the car with her daughter and their personal belongings, and leaves her husband to start a new life in San Francisco. There, Margaret quickly reconnects with her old friend DeeAnn (Krysten Ritter), and falls head over heels for Walter (Christoph Waltz), an artist and part-time real-estate broker who soon shows great interest in her unique paintings of small children with strikingly expressive, saucer-like eyes. ..”

The Review: This story was fascinating and it stars Amy Adams, who grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado where we live, so we have to go and support the home town talent.  I really like Tim Burton films and he produced and directed this film about a famous artist, who had a crazy life story as a painter because of her whacko self-promoting husband.

The story is wild in that real life is often stranger than fiction, especially with this film.  Her husband had the world believing that he was the artist of these strange paintings of little girls with big eyes.  He became incredibly famous and he was a total jerk, locking his wife up to paint so that he could mass produce her paintings and make money as the artist.

I really like this movie and thought it was definitely worth the trip to the big screen to see Big Eyes, but Becky thought it was a rental.  I liked her paintings too.

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

Sponsored By: SHAREMERCHANT.com:  Get paid to share!  Find out how you can earn $1,500 a month using and recommending products with a low cost business.  Become a Share Merchant!

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________________________________________________________________

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant and owner of CoolCarGuy.com with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase or consign your vehicle – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter@coolcarguy

Becky and I went to see the new Christmas film Into The Woods at the AMC Theater in Castle Rock, CO on opening night with Conroy and Bianca.  The Fandango website at Into the Woods describes the movie as follows…

“Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods is adapted in this musical from director Rob Marshall and Walt Disney Studios. Inspired by a choice selection of Brothers Grimm fairy tales, this plot centers on a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who incur the wrath of a witch (Meryl Streep) while attempting to start a family…”

The Review: We didn’t know this movie was a musical or we probably would have skipped it, so if you’re not a fan of musicals you will want to blow this movie off for sure.  You know, those musicals where people burst into song for no reason to sing about why their cow is white.  It’s that type of a film that is more like going to the theater and seeing a play instead of watching a movie. This is not like Pitch Perfect where people sing at appropriate times, but one of those sappy films where people sing about everything that happens in their life.  Bianca looked at me about 20 minutes into the movie and asked if we could please leave.  Although, I think the movie Grease is probably the exception because that was a pretty fun musical.  This film was a bit too depressing to be a musical.

The acting, the characters, the costumes and the cinematography were all very well done.  Even the singing was really good at times, but these type of movies are exhausting to watch and I’m not sure why people like them.  If you’re a fan of these type of musicals you will love this film, although it should have ended with Cinderella finding her Prince Charming, but instead they had to take a turn to the dark side and make sure that a “happily ever after” wouldn’t happen.

Conroy liked it much more than the rest of us.  In fairness to the actors that did a great job I’ll rate this movie a rental, but for me and Becky it was definitely a Don’t Bother.

John – ** Rental
Becky – * Don’t Bother

Bianca – * Don’t Bother
Conroy – *** Worth The Trip

Sponsored By: SHAREMERCHANT.com:  Get paid to share!  Find out how you can earn $1,500 a month using and recommending products with a low cost business.  Become a Share Merchant!

Click here!

________________________________________________________________

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant and owner of CoolCarGuy.com with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase or consign your vehicle – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter@coolcarguy