Becky and I took the kids to see “Ice Age: The Meltdown” on Saturday night in a packed AMC theater in Highlands Ranch. The Yahoo movie website at Ice Age Meltdown describes the movie as follows:

“The Ice Age is coming to an end, and the animals are delighting in the melting paradise that is their new world. Manny, Sid, and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: a huge glacial dam is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So the three heroes, along with a mammoth named Ellie and her two “brothers…”

The Review
We all liked this film as much as the first one. It has a great storyline and a bunch of fun new characters. The kids loved it and found it to be a blast. We liked it too with loads of animated fun. There was a great deal of adult humor and a few instances where the dialogue got a little too adult, but it went over the kid’s heads.

As screwed up as Hollywood is, they are putting out some great movies to bring the kids for a day or night out on the town. That crazy character Scrat, a strange little creature trying to get an acorn, is a riot.

This is a film you will definitely want to take the kids to for a really good time.

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

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 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 “Basic Instinct 2” on Friday night with about 8 other people who were in the entire theater. The Fandango website at Basic Instinct 2 describes the movie as follows:

“Sharon Stone reprises her role as Catherine Tramell, this time finding herself on the wrong side of the law while living in London. A criminal psychologist is assigned to evaluate her, and he is quickly drawn into her mysterious and sexy spell.”

The Review
If you liked the original Basic Instinct then you will probably like this film, but it’s over the top sexually explicit and pornagraphic. The story was actually pretty wild and interesting. The story definitely kept our interest, but the language, violence and perversion of the film was a total distraction to the point that it wrecked the thriller.

It was too much like a raunchy cheap sex murder novel with so much shock factor that you would like it on one level and hate it on another. We both liked parts of it and disliked other aspects of it, in particular how graphic and overly sexual it was. It’s really nothing short of disturbing. We would have to say that if you’re thinking of seeing this film that you should probably wait for the rental.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** 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 “Inside Man” on Friday night. The Yahoo Movie website at Inside Man describes the movie as follows:

“Four people dressed in painters’ outfits march into the busy lobby of Manhattan Trust, a cornerstone Wall Street Branch of a worldwide financial institution. Within seconds, the costumed robbers place the bank under a surgically planned siege, and the 50 patrons and staff become unwitting pawns in an airtight heist. NYPD hostage negotiators Detectives Keith Frazier and Bill Mitchell are dispatched…”

The Review
Directed by controversial film maker Spike Lee, Inside Man is not your typical bank robber movie. I think it’s the first bank robber movie we’ve seen where the robbers were not interested in the money in the vault. The story is pretty cool and the acting and directing were first class. Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and the main character played by Clive Owen all gave great performances.

Becky and I both found it to be a very fun film with plenty of action and suspense. It didn’t slow down and definitely kept our interest from start to finish. Probably the coolest film of the year so far. It was nice to see Jodie Foster coming back in another powerful movie since her Flightplan flick last year.

We both would say that if you’re going to the box office in the next week or two that this is a film you don’t want to miss!

John – **** Don’t Miss It
Becky – **** Don’t Miss It
_________________________________________________________________________
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 “V for Vendetta” on Friday night. The Fandango website at V for Vendetta describes the movie as follows:

“Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as “V.” Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V urges his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.”

The Review
V for Vendetta was V for Very Stupid. Becky fell asleep since it was too long and painful for her to watch and stay awake. Since I like Science Fiction films more than Becky does I agonized through it and actually didn’t mind it that much. Natalie Portman was very good in the film and the acting and direction of the film was good. The story was just ridiculous.

Christians and people with any type of moral fiber were made out to be raving lunatics and the axis of evil in a world gone mad. The setting is in Britian and the United States has been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah with the belief that God has given the U.S. what it deserves for its overly violent society. This may not be too far from the truth, in the minds of many people today, based on the level of wickedness that has taken hold of our nation. However, in this movie, a modern Hitler who is portrayed as an insane Christian dictator, has taken over and his victims are homosexuals and people with any form of liberal thought.

“V” comes forth as the liberator and hero of the film to eradicate this evil and bring back liberty and freedom from the cruel and wicked regime. Too bad he wasn’t available for eliminating Sadaam Hussein :), which was a real life Muslim dictator I might add. The film once again made Christians look like the axis of evil in the world, which is ridiculous since some of the most persecuted people in history have been Christians and even today they are being murdered, tortured and imprisoned around the globe. It would have done the writers well to visit a few sites like Persecution.org, Persecution.com and PersecutionBlog.com to get their facts straight before writing such a whacky story.

The movie was entertaining from a super hero and comic book story standpoint, but we would recommend saving your money, skipping the movie all together or waiting for the rental.

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.

Becky and I went to see “Failure to Launch” on Friday night. The Fandango website at Failure to Launch describes the movie as follows:

“Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) has never been able to leave the nest. He’s always had some reason or other, but now, his desperate parents have had enough. They hire the gorgeous and talented girl of his dreams (Sarah Jessica Parker) to get him to move out of the house.”

The Review
Failure to Launch is an absolutely ridiculous movie. Once you get past the fact that a guy as good looking as Matthew McConaughey isn’t going to be living at home with his parents at the age of 35, it’s very entertaining. The plot is very shallow and predictable – man lives at home with parents, parents want him out of their home, beautiful girl tries to motivate him to get out of parent’s home, man and woman fall in love. In spite of these shortcomings and some really stupid circumstances that arise in the movie, it’s really very funny.

The story does a great job of showing what the typical adult male is interested in, but rarely gets to participate in on a regular basis, such as surfing, mountain biking, rock climbing, sailing, paintball and of course video games. All of these situations make it very funny because you get to see a 35 year old man acting like a big kid and a woman of his dreams, Sarah Jessica Parker trying to get him to grow up.

The professional critics didn’t like the film, but we think they took it too serious. If you take it in the spirit of the film, kind of a like a Dodgeball or Something About Mary movie, it’s 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 16 Blocks last night. The Fandango website at 16Blocks describes the movie as follows:

“A veteran New York policeman must escort a witness 16 blocks from a police station to a courthouse, and the pair must navigate through obstacles placed in their path by those who want to keep them from reaching the destination.”

The Review
16 Blocks was hyped as an exciting action, thriller with blockbuster star Bruce Willis as the leading man. It’s about a washed out cop who must make a life or death decision between his friends on the force and killing a criminal who can testify against them.

The movie was a drag. Becky actually fell asleep several times and I had to wake her up. It was extremely boring and seemed like a remake of several movies that we’ve all seen before. They might as well have had Bruce say at one point the film, “Go ahead, make my day” or “Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do ya?”. It reminded me of the old Clint Eastwood film “The Gauntlet” where you had the bad cops out to keep a key witness from talking, complete with a shootout on a bus.

There was some chemistry between the Rap Star Mos Def and Bruce Willis, but the guy’s voice was so strange that it became aggravating after a while. I’m surprised that the Director didn’t have him break out in a rap song to add some cheap theatrics.

In the end, Becky thought it was a complete waste of time and I would suggest waiting for the rental rack.

John – ** Rental
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 Freedomland this past Weekend. The Fandango website at Freedomland describes the movie as follows:

“A mother blames the disappearance of her young son on a black man from the projects after she reports a car-jacking. Two detectives investigating the case discover the girl’s mother may be covering something up and may be involved in the disappearance. While the investigation continues, the case takes on a life of its own in the media, bringing up some tough racial issues.”

The Review
This was a strange movie about a woman who is car-jacked and loses her son in the process when he is left in the car. It all happens late at night as she is driving through the projects and she claims that a black man did the crime, so suddenly it turns into a huge racial crisis. To make things more crazy, her brother is a white cop across the river (kind of like Copland) and he’s ready to beat up some people in the projects to find his nephew.

There are many twists and turns and you start to wonder what really happened to this woman, what’s going to happen to her son and who’s going to lose it as the mayhem continues to rise. You start to lose interest pretty quick. The woman is completely nuts, the cop is lost in space, the chaos in the projects and police station takes you away from the real story and you forget all about the missing kid. By the middle of the film we were looking forward to a less than happy ending.

The acting by Samuel Jackson and Julianne Moore is great, but the script and the Directing is lame. All the confusion leads to a less than exciting thriller.

Becky didn’t like it at all. She thought it was a complete waste of time and money. I liked it more than she did, but I would still suggest you save your money and wait for the rental.

John – ** Rental
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 took the kids to see the movie Eight Below this past Weekend. The Fandango website at Eight Below describes the movie as follows:

“This Disney action-adventure, inspired by a true story, tells the tale of three Antarctic researchers who are forced to leave behind their beloved sled dogs. Over more than six months, the dogs contend with dangerous weather conditions in their fight for survival.”

The Review
This was a very good movie that had action, adventure, excitement and was fun to watch. The story is really quite amazing and all of us were glued to our seats wondering what the outcome would be with the dogs. Even if you’re not a dog lover you will enjoy this movie because the story is so remarkable.

The acting is good, the story is very moving and the dogs will keep the attention of your kids. However, I think that if you have kids under four years old they will probably be bored. There are also a few scary moments in the film where our kids and the audience jumped.

We definitely thought it was 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 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 Hoodwinked this past Weekend. The Fandango website at Hoodwinked describes the movie as follows:

“The events surrounding the notorious trip to Grandma’s house find Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma and several others as the focus of a criminal investigation. Charges include a domestic disturbance, breaking and entering, and intent to eat, among others.”

The Review
This movie was a riot. The professional critics have no taste since they panned this film. Of course, they loved Brokeback Mountain, so what do they know? We went with a friend of ours and her four young boys. We took up eleven seats in the movie theater, which was a bit nuts, but all of the kids loved this film. It’s the story of Little Red Riding Hood with a bunch of crazy characters like the Big Bad Wolf who is a really a reporter investigating criminal activity in the forest. The story is kooky, but it’s a bunch of fun.

I don’t want to give away any of the film, so just take your kids to see it. If you liked the comedy of Shrek you should like Hoodwinked. There are a bunch of laughs and it’s a very fun and enjoyable kids cartoon that will keep you entertained from start to finish.

We definitely thought it was Worth The Trip.

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

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 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 the new “Firewall” movie on Friday night with Harrison Ford. The Yahoo! Movie website at Firewall describes the movie as follows:

“Jack Stanfield is a bank security expert, whose specialty is designing infallible theft-proof financial computer systems. But there’s a hidden vulnerability in the system he didn’t account for – himself. When a ruthless criminal mastermind kidnaps his family, Jack is forced to find a flaw in his system and steal $100 million.”

The Review
Harrison Ford is getting a bit old for action films, but Firewall is pretty well done in that it’s more of a thriller than an action flick. The story is pretty cool in that the character Jack Stanfield is placed in a very compromising position. His family is at risk after being kidnapped by a crazy money driven psychopath and the movie keeps your interest as you wonder how he’s going to get out of the mess he’s found himself in.

Unfortunately, there are parts of the movie that are pretty lame. For example, there is a fight scene at the end of the flick that is nowhere believable as the sixty-four year old Ford takes on his younger captors. Other than that it’s a fun and exciting movie that keeps your interest.

I think that Becky liked it much more than I did. I was somewhere between a Rental and Worth the Trip and she thought it was really good and would recommend it.

John – ** Rental
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