Category Archives: Movie Reviews

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Lion

Becky and I went to see the new movie Lion last week at the AMC theater in Highlands Ranch, CO.  The Fandango website at Lion describes the movie as follows…

“In this adaptation of the memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, a five-year-old Indian boy is adopted by an Australian couple after he gets lost in Calcutta. Years later, he struggles with his memories of his birth family, and decides to begin a search for them…”

The Review:  Lion is an amazing true story that takes place in India where a young boy goes to work with his older brother.  After his brother doesn’t show up, the boy, who is about five years old gets on a train that takes him close to 1,200 miles away to another part of India where they speak a different language.

The film takes you through his experience into the unknown as a child and as he grows older.  The movie will really make you think and it’s an incredible story of courage, love and determination,  The acting and directing is good and even features Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman.

This is one of those Independent films that should win plenty of awards because it’s so well done.  The story is fantastic and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t enjoyed seeing it yet.  Definitely put it on your list for this year.

We really liked it and thought it was definitely a don’t miss it.

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

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com that is a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO.  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 Hidden Figures

Becky and I went to see the new movie Hidden Figures on Thursday at the AMC theater in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Hidden Figures describes the movie as follows…

“A team of female African-American mathematicians provide crucial calculations for NASA’s race to the moon, all while dealing with the racist and sexist assumptions of those around them…”

The Review:  Hidden Figures is a true story about three African American women who helped America win the race to get into space against the Russians.  It was at a time when women were not permitted to be Engineers and that there was plenty of sexism and racism even in a place like NASA where you would think that people would only be judged based on their minds.

This is an amazing story about how these women overcame obstacles in the workforce and overlooked the racism and hypocrisy of other people to contribute to America.  The challenges they had to face and overcome while at work, while being some of the “smartest people in the room”, was pretty amazing and it’s a great movie.

The acting and directing is great.  The fact that it’s a true story makes it even better.  It’s really a must see movie and very fitting in a society that lacks innovation the way that prior generations had to “create the math” as it were.  It’s kind of amazing how much we rely on computers today for so much of our lives where the generations before actually had to calculate the math to get things done and figure things out.  So much so that people who were good in math at NASA were called “computers”.

We all really liked it and thought it was definitely a don’t miss it.

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

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com that is a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO.  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 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I went to see the new Star Wars movie Rogue One last week the AMC theater in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Rogue One: A Star Wars Story describes the movie as follows…

“This prequel to the very first Star Wars movie tells the thrilling story of how a ragtag band of freedom fighters — including a former soldier-turned-prisoner (Felicity Jones), a Rebel Alliance insider (Diego Luna), a Jedi (Donnie Yen), and a sentient robot (voiced by Alan Tudyk) — worked together to steal the Death Star’s secret blueprints. Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jimmy Smits co-star in Rogue One…”

The Review:  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the story before the first episode of the Star Wars sage that came out back in the late 1970’s.  The movie tells the story about how the Rebel Alliance was able to get the plans to destroy the Death Star and the people involved in making that happen.

The computer graphics are great and the story is entertaining.  The characters are much better than the Star Wars that they came out with last year, The Force Awakens and the story is far more original as well.

If you’re a Star Wars fan you should really like this movie.  Conroy and Corban both liked it and they are not huge Star Wars fans, but I couldn’t get Becky to go and see it.  She’s not a fan of Star Wars, but I actually think she would have like this movie because it is more “independent” than previous Star Wars films.

I really liked it and ended up going to see it a second time, so I’m rating it a Don’t Miss It.  The acting and directing are good and the characters are interesting with a good story, so what more can you ask for than that in a film?

John – **** 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Fences

Becky and I went to see the new movie Fences at the AMC theater in Highlands Ranch, CO.  The Fandango website at Fences describes the movie as follows…

“Denzel Washington directed and stars in this adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which centers on a black garbage collector named Troy Maxson in 1950s Pittsburgh. Bitter that baseball’s color barrier was only broken after his own heyday in the Negro Leagues, Maxson is prone to taking out his frustrations on his loved ones. Both Washington and co-star Viola Davis won Tonys for their performances in the 2010 revival of the play. …”

The Review:  Fences is a movie that is directed by Denzel Washington, who also stars in the film, along with Viola Davis as his wife.  It takes place in the 1950’s with plenty of racism and little opportunity available for an African American man, who is trying to get ahead in the world.

axio smartOkay.  We went into this movie with great expectations and the acting was amazing.  The problem for us was just about every other word out of Denzel’s mouth for half of the film was the “n” word, which was really annoying.  The story wasn’t very good because it was boring watching this really selfish man craving attention from his wife and children with very little honor for his wife or others.  If you’re getting the drift here we didn’t like the movie.

The acting was incredible and even the directing was good, but it’s for a very limited audience that can maybe relate to someone who was so self-centered that he was lost in his own world.  It wasn’t “entertaining” and it wasn’t “educational”, but it was disturbing, which maybe was the intention of the film.  Much like Manchester by the Sea, this is an over-rated film that wasn’t very good.

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

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com that is a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO.  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 Passengers

Becky and I went to see the new movie Passengers last week the AMC theater in Highlands Ranch, CO.  The Fandango website at Passengers describes the movie as follows…

“Two passengers (Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence) aboard a spacecraft traveling to a distant planet are brought out of suspended animation by a technical glitch — 90 years before the vessel is due to reach its destination. Together, they must investigate the malfunction that awakened them, which could threaten the safety of the ship…”

The Review:  Passengers is a movie that takes place in the future in outer space as a spaceship is traveling at high speed to a new planet.  An error takes place and one of the passengers wakes up from space sleep decades too soon and cannot go back to sleep.

axio smartThe film gets a bit strange from there based on the decisions this passenger makes and how another passenger arrives on the scene with him.  Before you know it there are issues with the ship that could end the life of all of the passengers on board.  The movie takes you on a journey through time and space in a unique way that hasn’t been done before.

It’s a pretty cool science fiction flick and it might even make you think twice about space travel and the hazards involved.  The movie is well done and the acting is good.  The story is pretty cool.  I liked it and Becky liked it too.  We both thought it was worth the price of admission.

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 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of La La Land

Becky and I went to see the new movie La La Land at the Landmark theater in Englewood, CO.  The Fandango website at La La Land describes the movie as follows…

“Struggling actress Mia (Emma Stone) and aspiring jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) begin a whirlwind romance as they both pursue their dreams in Los Angeles. However, their blossoming relationship is challenged when their careers pull them in different directions…”

The Review:  La La Land is one of those films that when we saw the Preview for the movie we both put it on the of films to not bother seeing.  We’re not big fans of musicals and this movie looked like it wasn’t going to be very good, but we decided to go and check it out anyway.

The movie is definitely a musical, but it’s not like most musicals that are extremely annoying with people breaking into song continually.  That’s not the case with La La Land where the actors sing at times that seem to make much more sense based on the story.

The movie is a love story and it is really well done with great acting, singing and directing. The story was much better than we expected.  I’m surprised that I’m saying this, but Becky and I both really liked it and we thought it was worth the trip.

We were not a huge fan of the ending, but the movie was very good overall.

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

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com that is a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO.  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 Bleed For This

Becky and I went to see the movie Bleed For This last week the AMC theater in Castle Rock, CO last week .  The Fandango website at Bleed For This describes the movie as follows…

“This sports drama tells the true comeback story of world-champion boxer Vinny “the Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza (Miles Teller). After a horrific car accident, Pazienza is told by his doctors that he might never walk again. Defying their orders, he continues to train as a boxer, returning to the ring and fighting to reclaim his belt only a year later…”

The Review:  Bleed For This is the true story about a boxer who fought for everything that he had and overcame amazing obstacles. Considered a mediocre boxer he had to constantly defend his reputation as a boxer among his critics and promoters.

The character is similar to a real life Rocky Balboa.  All this man knew was boxing and he had the heart of a champion.

The film does a great job of taking the viewer through his life as a boxer, both the ups and downs  His family is very supportive and when tragedy struck him down he had to get back up and decide if he was going to stay down.  After being in a serious car accident his life as a boxer was over, but he fought back and this movie tells his story.

The acting and the story is great.  The movie is really well done and Becky and I both liked it.

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

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com that is a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO.  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 Manchester By the Sea

I went to see the new Star Wars movie Rogue One last week the AMC theater in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Manchester By the Sea describes the movie as follows…

“A hardened handyman named Lee (Casey Affleck) returns to his hometown in New England after the death of his brother (Kyle Chandler) to care for his 16-year-old nephew (Lucas Hedges), but his arrival also unearths his checkered past. Soon, Lee comes back into contact with his estranged wife (Michelle Williams) as he deals with life in his tight-knit former community…”

The Review:  Manchester By the Sea is a film that is getting rave reviews.  The acting is spectacular, especially Casey Affleck, who is the main character.  The story is disturbing and extremely depressing.

axio smartThe story is all about this guy who has a hard luck story and it goes through why he is such a mess.  The reason he is such a disaster is because he’s had a really bad event happen in his life and now his brother has passed away.  He needs to take care of his nephew and he’s not fit to do this on his own.  At least he doesn’t think so and this makes for a very boring movie.

Becky and I were not sure why everyone liked this movie.  It was boring, depressing and a little too real with serious raw emotion about how life can throw you a serious curve ball.

We left the film feeling like we had wasted our time.  The acting was great and the directing was good, but the story was not worth watching.

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 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review Of Hacksaw Ridge

hacksawridgeBecky and I went to see the movie Hacksaw Ridge last week the AMC theater in Castle Rock, CO last week .  The Fandango website at Arrival describes the movie as follows…

“Mel Gibson directed this biopic about World War II Army medic Desmond Doss (played here by Andrew Garfield). A conscientious objector who refused to take a life or even carry a weapon, Doss was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of 75 soldiers on the battlefields of Okinawa..”

The Review:  Hacksaw Ridge is a true story Directed by Mel Gibson about Desmond Doss, who was an American Hero who refused to take a life during World War II.  The movie is extremely well done and could very well be nominated for Best Picture this year.

axio smartThe film tells the story about his life as a child, the life of his father and his father’s friends, who had died in World War I and his brother signing up to fight in World War II.  Desmond also decides that he must do his part to serve his country even though he refuses to take a life based on his religious views.  Which is a very odd position to take for volunteering for the Army during a war.

The acting and directing and the story is fantastic and this movie is superb.  I am amazed that anyone would like this film because the story is incredible.  The fact that it’s a true story is even more amazing.  This is definitely a Don’t Miss It.

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

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John Boyd

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

John & Becky’s Movie Review Of Arrival

arrivalBecky and I went to see the movie Arrival at the AMC Cinema in Destin, FL last week when we were visiting our relatives and running The Pensacola Marathon.  The Fandango website at Arrival describes the movie as follows…

“Denis Villeneuve directed this science-fiction suspense film about Earth’s response to a possible alien invasion. After extraterrestrial spacecraft plant themselves at various locations around the globe, a linguist (Amy Adams) and a theoretical physicist (Jeremy Renner) must find a way to communicate with the mysterious visitors….”

The Review:  Arrival has a 93% good on the Rotten Tomatoes website, but don’t believe the hype on this movie.  It’s a confusing, slow moving, boring film that is about aliens landing on planet Earth.  As if we’ve never seen that storyline before?

axio smartOur nephew Sterling had seen the movie the night before and he tried to warn us, but we were going off of all the great reviews and figured we had to go see it.  We should have listened to Sterling who told us it was pretty boring.  That’s the understatement of the year.  This movie is the classic alien film where mankind is bad and aliens are good, but they through in some time warp element as well that was supposed to make it better.  It didn’t.

The acting is good, the story is terrible, the movie moves as a snails pace for two hours and you are just hoping it will get over soon.  At the end of the movie, the guy at the end of our row said it best, “That was a complete waste of my time.” and most of the people in the theater started laughing because we all agreed.  This is definitely one to wait for at the rental box or when they show it a dozen times on one of the cable networks.

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 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