All posts by The Cool Car Guy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Becky and I took the kids to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie last weekend with the kids.  The MovieFone website at Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides describes the movie as follows:

“Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise–this time in Disney Digital 3D.

The Review
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the latest installment of the Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  New characters are introduced and a new storyline with the infamous Black Beard the pirate and Penélope Cruz as they go in search of the Fountain of Youth.  A few of the other characters from the former movies appear in this film, but not some of the former main characters.

This is a fun movie, if you’re a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  I think Johnny Depp is fantastic in all of these films and his character is a riot.  If you haven’t seen these movies you may not like this movie since it’s a continuation of the Captain Jack Sparrow story.  There are some strange characters in this movie too, such as wild Mermaids, zombies and deadly pirates.

I liked this movie much better than Becky did, but it was pretty predictable, which took away from it quite a bit. Our kids really liked it and all thought it was a Don’t Miss It.  It’s doing really well at the box office even though most of the critics didn’t like it.

John – *** Worth The trip
Becky – ** Rental

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_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter@coolcarguy

 

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Everything Must Go

Becky and I went to see the new Will Ferrel movie this past weekend at the AMC theater in Highlands Ranch.  The MovieFone website at Everything Must Go describes the movie as follows:

Adapted and directed by Dan Rush, and based on a short story by Raymond Carver, ‘Everything Must Go‘ tells the story of Nick Porter (Will Ferrell), a career salesman whose days of being on top are long gone. The same day Nick gets fired, for falling off the wagon one last time, he returns home to discover his wife has left him, changed the locks on their suburban home and dumped all his possessions out on the front yard. Faced with his life imploding, Nick puts it all on the line — or more properly, on the lawn — reluctantly holding a yard sale that becomes a unique strategy for survival.

The Review 
Everything Must Go is really Everything Must Suck, including this movie.  We went in expecting more of a comedy than a drama and that was part of the problem, but not entirely.  How this movie ever was produced and Directed we do not know.  It’s about this guy who is an alcoholic that loses his job.  His wife leaves him because she is a recovered alcoholic and apparently he can’t shake the booze, but on her way out she locks him out of their house and puts all of his stuff on their front lawn to move on.

He goes on a drinking binge in the front yard and hires a lonely neighbor kid to help him sell his junk.  He then meets a woman across the street who is pregnant and movie into the neighborhood and they become friends, but in the meantime he discovers his wife is shacking up with his best friend and AA Sponsor.  For 96 minutes we have to endure through this movie, watching this guy sell his junk in his yard as he tries to figure out what his next move is since his life now sucks so bad.

Becky and I both thought this movie was a total waste of time.  There are a couple of funny parts in the film, but overall it wasn’t worth the price of admission or even the time you would waste watching it as a rental.

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

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_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of THOR

Becky and I went to see the new comic book super hero movie THOR this past weekend with the kids.  The MovieFone website at THOR describes the movie as follows:

Exiled to Earth after his arrogance fans the flames of an ancient conflict, The Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) of Asgard discovers the meaning of humility when a powerful old foe dispatches a destructive force to crush humanity. Only when the banished prince has defeated an opponent capable of crushing him in battle will he learn what it takes to be a true leader. Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, and Tadanobu Asano co-star in a comic-book adventure from acclaimed director Kenneth Branagh. – Jason Buchanan, Rovi…”

The Review
THOR is a another super hero thrill ride with more star power than previous comic book films. This flick has Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins and this new soon to be heartthrob Chris Hensworth.  There have been a ton of comic book movies over the years, from the X-Men to Batman to IronMan.  This one delivers like all the rest with plenty of special effects, a pretty cool story and good character development.

Rather than being true “gods” as in the ancient Norse writings about Thor, God of Thunder and Odin his father, the film makes them more like space aliens who live in a galaxy far, far away that have more advanced technology than we humans.  It’s an interesting twist and one of the things that I have always found fascinating is that in Norse mythology you have Thor who yields his hammer and creates thunder, while in Greek mythology there is Zeus who yields a lightning bolt and controls the storms as well.  In this film Thor has his hammer that has been forged in a Sun giving him tremendous power.  Once he is cast to Earth, which again is interesting in light of Satan and other angelic beings that have been cast down to Earth in the Bible, he loses his power and must become worthy to get his hammer back.

Becky and I both liked it, but I think I liked it and so did the kids.  We all thought it was worth the price of admission, if you like fantasy movies and super hero’s. If you don’t, you’ll want to skip this one because you definitely won’t like it unless you like this genre.

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

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_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Fast Five

Becky and I went to see the new Fast Five movie last night with our friends. The Fandango website at Fast Five describes the movie as follows:

“Ever since ex-cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Torretto (Jordana Brewster) broke her brother Dom (Vin Diesel) out of custody, they’ve traveled border to border to evade authorities. In Rio de Janeiro, they must do one final job before they can gain their freedom for good. Assembling their elite team of car racers, Brian and Dom know they must confront the corrupt businessman who wants them dead, before the federal agent (Dwayne Johnson) on their trail finds them…”

The Review
Fast Five is the fifth installment of the Fast and the Furious series and it stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, although I think he just wants to be known as Dwayne Johnson now.  The film is over the top nuts and comic book believable as you would expect, if you’ve seen any of the previous movies.

You can’t believe 95% of the film that any of these things could even remotely happen, including street car races, massive machine gun fire with bullets flying everywhere, running from the police cop cars in another country no less, robbing a bank, jumping out of moving vehicles at high speed or even the intense fist fights.  However, suspend any hint of reality when you go to see this movie and just sit back and enjoy it like an amusement park ride into crazy land.  There are some amazing and rare fast cars, guns, girls and wild events that take place during the movie.  It’s a thrill ride!  Fast Five has plenty of action and cool cars and it’s fun.  If you just go for the entertainment value of an off-the-wall action film with characters that border on being super heros.

If you don’t have this attitude than you’re probably not going to like the movie, even though there is a pretty good story to go along with it.  Becky and I went with our friends Rod and Kimberly and they both liked it and Becky didn’t care for it at all.  I thought it was super cool and fun, but I also love seeing fast cars and action films on the big screen.  Even if they are unrealistic, I have a good time.

I liked it enough that the neighbor boy came over tonight and asked Corban if he could go see it and I said, “Only if I go along and we bring Conroy.” Dad of the Year – I know.  It’s definitely not a kid’s movie for those of you who are more responsible parents than I am, but what the heck it’s rated PG-13, so I’m going to blame it on the ratings committee.  We’re out of here!  Zoom-Zoom.

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

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter@coolcarguy

 

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Limitless

Becky and I went to see Limitless when it came out and I’m finally getting around to writing our review. We took our kids to this one and that probably was not one of our better parental decisions. The MovieFone website at Limitless describes the movie as follows:

“Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star in ‘Limitless,’ a paranoia-fueled action thriller about an unsuccessful writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret “smart drug” that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film…”

The Review
Limitless is a movie that’s a trip. It stars Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro which are actually really good together, even though they are conflicting characters. The story of Limitless is a totally wild ride into the world of manufactured drugs and trying to tap the power of the human mind.

There is plenty of action in this movie with some suspense. The character is a kook who goes from being a lazy guy working on writing a Novel to a high-powered financial wizard in demand as a Wall-Street Maverick after taking a magic pill. The story is well done, it’s a very cool concept that was different than other films, but be forewarned there are some parts that are disturbing for sure. It gets a bit violent at times with the Russian Mobsters that come on the scene and it’s definitely PG-13.

Becky and I both liked it, but I think I liked it more than she did. The kids liked it too, but it’s not really a movie for kids, so I’m going to leave them out of this review.

John – **** Don’t Miss It
Becky – *** Worth The Trip

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Lincoln Lawyer

Becky and I went to see Lincoln Lawyer almost a month ago at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO and I’ve finally got around to writing a review. I’m so far behind right now since we’ve seen way more movies than I’ve been able to write reviews about. The MovieFone website at Lincoln Lawyer describes the movie as follows:

“In the gripping thriller ‘The Lincoln Lawyer,’ Matthew McConaughey stars as Michael “Mick” Haller, a slick, charismatic Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Having spent most of his career defending petty, gutter-variety criminals, Mick unexpectedly lands the case of a lifetime: defending a rich Beverly Hills playboy (Ryan Phillippe) who is accused of attempted murder. However, what initially appears to be a straightforward case with a big money pay-off swiftly develops into a deadly match between two masters of manipulation and a crisis of conscience for Haller…”

The Review
Lincoln Lawyer is a very well done thriller with plenty of star power and great acting. The story is really great with a great deal of suspense. The main character drinks way too much, which is a bit of a distraction at times.

The movie is exciting and the characters take you right to the edge with a strange and complex murder mystery. There are some serious issues about who is really in control in this flick and that makes it really exciting.

Becky and I both really enjoyed this movie and definitely recommend checking it out.

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

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Win-Win

Becky and I went to see Win-Win about a week ago at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO with our friends Mark & Maria and Jeff & Maria. The MovieFone website at Win-Win describes the movie as follows:

“Paul Giamatti headlines writer/director Tom McCarthy’s comedy drama centering on a beleaguered attorney and part-time wrestling coach who schemes to keep his practice from going under by acting as the legal caretaker of an elderly client. Mike Flaherty (Giamatti) thinks he has discovered the perfect loophole to keep his practice in business. But his brilliant plan hits an unexpected hitch when his client’s troubled grandson shows up looking for a place to stay. With his home life in turmoil and both of his careers in jeopardy, Mike quickly realizes that he’ll have to get creative in order to find a way out of his current predicament. – Jason Buchanan, Rovi”

The Review
Win-Win is a quirky flick about a family that is struggling to make ends meet, but the Dad who is an attorney is too proud to tell his wife the problems he’s having in his business. As a wrestling coach he finds relief from his life by teaching kids how to participate in the sport, but his team really sucks until he gets a break from a new kid that shows up through a series of events.

This movie is very well done and the characters are funny. It’s an Independent film, so don’t look for special effects or high tech in this movie, just really good acting. There is a great deal of emotion in this movie and you can connect with all the people in the film.  Frankly, we were not expecting much and the movie delivered.

The story is entertaining and we all enjoyed it and thought it was worth the price of admission.

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

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Arthur

Becky and I went to see Arthurtoday at the AMC Theaters in Castle Rock, CO with our family and friends who were visiting today. The Fandango website at Arthur describes the movie as follows:

“Irresponsible charmer Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) has always relied on two things to get by: his limitless fortune and the good sense of lifelong nanny Hobson (Helen Mirren) to keep him out of trouble. Now he faces his biggest challenge–choosing between an arranged marriage that will ensure his lavish lifestyle or an uncertain future with the one thing money can’t buy, Naomi (Greta Gerwig), the only woman he has ever loved. With Naomi’s inspiration and some unconventional help from Hobson, Arthur will take the most expensive risk of his life and finally learn what it means to become a man, in this re-imagining of the classic romantic comedy “Arthur…”

The Review
Arthur is the remake of the 1980’s film with Dudley Moore about a spoiled young rich guy who never grew up. The story is funny at times, but it was too serious for a comedy and much too crude to the point that you would feel uncomfortable watching it. Jennifer Garner should not have been cast as the woman he was supposed to marry, she just didn’t fit the part of the socialite out for his wealth. Helen Mirren was great as his Nanny and gave a spectacular performance. I think she made the film, along with Arthur.

It’s still very difficult to feel too sorry for this character Arthur who has everything, but is a complete drunk and a moron. The movie is hard to believe, unless you follow the life of Lindsay Lohan, but it really wasn’t very entertaining. There were some good lines and the acting was good, but the script and the film were weak overall.

I didn’t get everyone’s review on the film, but most of us didn’t like it that much. We were hoping to see a light-hearted comedy together and it turned out to be, for the most part, a waste of time that was a rental at best. Soul Surfer was a way better movie that we should have paid to see a second time instead of going to see this one.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

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

Val – * Don’t Bother
Emily – ** Rental

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Source Code

Becky and I went to see Source Code last week at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO.   The Fandango website at Source Code describes the movie as follows:

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the “Source Code,” a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack…”

The Review
Source Code is a movie that Becky and I had been looking forward to seeing and thought it was going to be a great flick.  It didn’t really deliver for us though.  It was like watching a high-tech Groundhog Day only instead of getting a full day, the main character had 8 minutes to repeat his task of saving the world over and over again.  After a while, it got a little boring.

The story was kind of neat at first, but it was too long to watch the same scene over and over again.  It dealt with some human and ethical issues, government abuse, such as keeping a soldier alive to use his mind and spirit for saving the world, instead of letting him die.  I think that is why people liked this film because it has some serious and shocking moral issues within the film.  It didn’t do it for us though.  I think it’s a rental at best and Becky didn’t like this flick at all.

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

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!

_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Red Riding Hood

Becky and I went to see Red Riding Hood last week at the AMC Theaters in Castle Rock, CO with our friends Rod & Kimberly. I got called out of the movie because of a series of crazy events and missed most of the film. While we were in Keystone this week, we went and saw it again with Conroy, Corban and Bianca, so I got to give it a second go around. The Fandango website at Red Riding Hood describes the movie as follows:

“Young Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) feels torn between two men. She loves Peter, but her parents intend that she marry wealthy Henry. Valerie and Peter plan to run away together, but before they can put the plan into action, her sister is killed by a werewolf. The villagers call in Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), a famous monster hunter, to help, but when Solomon warns that the beast takes human form by day, Valerie begins to suspect that the werewolf is someone she loves…”

The Review
Red Riding Hood is an adaptation of the original short story, Little Red Riding Hood or Red Riding Cap in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. If you’re ever read the original story it is very short, about seven pages long, but this rendition takes quite a few liberties with the story to create a pretty wild movie

The critics didn’t like this movie very much and I think that’s because it’s more like a Play than a movie at times. We all liked it and though it has some good action and suspense. It’s not a great film by any stretch, but it was worth the price of admission with some good plot twists and characters. Amanda Seyfried does a good job as Little Red Riding Hood and the fact that the Big Bad Wolf is a werewolf made it rather entertaining. The kids all liked it too and it wasn’t too scary for them with the PG-13 rating.

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

Conroy – *** Worth The Trip
Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – *** Worth The Trip

Sponsored By: Looking for a great income opportunity with a awesome products? Click here!
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy