Becky and I took the kids to see Eragon tonight at the Colorado Cinemas in Castle Rock, Colorado. The Yahoo website at Eragon describes the movie as follows:

“A boy named Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest. At first, he thinks it’s a lucky discovery, something that will bring meat to his poor family for the winter. Instead, it brings a dragon hatchling, and Eragon is soon thrust into a world of magic and power through which he and the dragon must navigate.”

The Review
When the book Eragon came out there was a great deal of hype about how this story was so much better than Harry Potter.  Becky and I hadn’t read either of the books, but we both agreed that the Eragon movie wasn’t as good as the Harry Potter films by any means.   The story was somewhat fun because it’s fantasy with dragons, knights and a battle between good and evil, but beyond that it’s pretty dull.

There is not a great deal of excitement in this movie and the characters are not that emotionally charged or believable.  The film seemed a bit tired as though it had all been done before and was pretty cheezy at times.  It seemed to me like I was watching a remake of Star Wars in a Lord of the Rings setting with the young “Jedi Knight” finding out that instead of driving a land speeder he gets to ride a dragon.  I guess I was expecting much more from this film based on the previews and the hype, but I would not tell anyone to run out and see it.

Becky hated this movie and the kids kind of liked it, but I don’t think they’ll be asking for the DVD.  Bottom line is that you’re better off waiting for the rental on this one and watching it at home.

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

The Kids Review
Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca –  * Don’t Bother
Conroy – ** 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 The Pursuit of Happyness on opening day in Highlands Ranch at the AMC movie theaters. The Fandango website at The Pursuit of Happyness describes the movie as follows:

“Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.”

The Review
The Pursuit of Happyness was a very good movie, but we didn’t think it was a great film.  It’s a very inspiring and also depressing true story that graphically illustrates the challenges that face many American’s today.  It’s a touching and personal story that demonstrates that if someone is willing to persevere and push through to succeed they can definitely discover the American Dream, regardless of what life throws at them.

Becky and I had both seen the ABC News 20/20 Special several years ago about the lead character in this movie and how he had gone from being homeless with his son and having to spend several nights in a public restroom, to becoming a multi-millionaire.  Apparently, Will Smith had seen the same segment and decided to make the story into a movie, which is what The Pursuit of Happyness is all about.

Where the film falls short is that according to the 20/20 segment the lead character, Chris Gardner, went beyond just becoming a multi-millionaire and actually used his wealth to help other people.  The movie made it seem as though if someone goes from living on the street to being financially secure that they will be happy without ever having to give anything back to society or have a spiritual life.

The fact is that there are many miserable millionaires and poor people who make the tragic mistake believing that money is the end all, be all.  Just look at the life of former Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson as an ongoing tragedy of someone who has had tremendous opportunities. His self-absorption has led to continual self-destruction regardless of his fame and fortune.

The movie is very good, but we, along with several other people we spoke with, thought that the film really missed the opportunity to tell the full story of what makes a person truly happy. 

Clearly, going from rags to riches can make a person happier, but I’m sure Chris Gardner would agree that what makes him happy today is not the riches themselves, but what the riches allow him to be able to do to impact the lives of other people.

We both thought that the movie was definitely 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 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 Holiday on opening night in Highlands Ranch at the AMC movie theaters. The Fandango website at The Holiday describes the movie as follows:

“Two women on opposite sides of the globe, Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) find themselves in a similar predicament. Desperate for a change of scenery, the two women meet on the internet and swap houses for the Christmas holiday discovering that a change of address really can change your life.”

The Review
The Holiday was a cute romantic comedy the most guys won’t like that much and most women will probably love.  It has some good laughs and it was easy to bond with the characters and feel empathy for their pathetic romantic situations, but it’s not a “Sleepless in Seattle” by any stretch.  

There are much better movies that are out this Holiday season than The Holiday, but it’s definitely a good date movie.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag for most people, you will either really like this movie or probably think it was a waste of time.  Overall, we thought it wasn’t great and wasn’t that bad either, which means it will probably be in rental stores soon. 

Becky liked it much better than I did and thought it was worth the trip where I would probably wait for the rental rack, unless you’re looking for a good date movie.

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 went to see Casino Royale on opening night in Castle Rock a few weeks ago with another couple. The Fandango website at Casino Royale describes the movie as follows:

“After receiving a license to kill, British Secret Service agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) heads to Madagascar, where he uncovers a link to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a man who finances terrorist organizations. Learning that Le Chiffre plans to raise money in a high-stakes poker game, MI6 sends Bond to play against him, gambling that their newest “00” operative will topple the man’s organization. Based on Ian Fleming’s novel.”

The Review
Casino Royale is one of the best Bond movies to come along in a very long time. The story is great, the acting is good and the action is incredible.

There was a great deal of controversy surrounding the “new” Bond, played by Daniel Craig, but he definitely pulls off the character. This is the first of the Bond films that I’ve seen where James Bond actually gets his clothes dirty and doesn’t dodge getting injured like a super hero.

Be prepared for a long movie with Casino Royale since it’s 2 hours and 24 minutes in length. When you add in 20 minutes of Previews, going to this film is definitely an event. Unfortunately for Becky and Tammy, they missed the ending since we had to pick-up our kids from a function before the end of the movie.  My friend Chris and I weren’t leaving and the ending was very cool.

Becky thought it was a Rental since she missed the ending and I would say that if you’re a Bond fan, don’t miss this one..

John – **** Don’t Miss It
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 DeJa Vu at the Century Park Place Mall 20 theaters in Tucson, AZ on Wednesday night. The Fandango website at DeJa Vu describes the movie as follows:

“Everyone has experienced the unsettling mystery of deja vu – that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you’ve known all your life or recognize a place even though you’ve never been there before. But what if the feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to the future? In the captivating new action-thriller from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott, written by Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii, it is deja vu that unexpectedly guides ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) through an investigation into a shattering crime. Called in to recover evidence after a bomb sets off a cataclysmic explosion on a New Orleans Ferry, Carlin is about to discover that what most people believe is only in their heads is actually something far more powerful – and will lead him on a mind-bending race to save hundreds of innocent people.”

The Review
Deja Vu was much anticipated, but wasn’t that great of a film. The acting, directing and action in the movie was fantastic, but the story was confusing and kind of lame.

The story is about Denzel Washington’s character, Doug Carlin, an ATF officer, who is recruited by the FBI to help solve a terrorist. Once recruited, Doug is introduced to a new technology that will allow him to see the past, 4.5 days ago, and find the terrorist.

The movie has very little to do with the Deja Vu as the hype of the trailer and the posters would indicate. It’s more of a science fiction, mystery thriller using strange technology.

Becky liked it less than I did. I thought it was almost worth the trip, but she definitely thought it was a rental.

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 took the kids to see Happy Feet on opening day over the Thanksgiving holiday. The Yahoo website at Happy Feet describes the movie as follows:

“In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you’re nobody unless you can sing–which is unfortunate for Mumble, who is the worst singer in the world. He is born dancing to his own tune–tap dancing. Though Mumble’s mom, Norma Jean, thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis, says it “just ain’t penguin.” Besides, they both know that, without a Heartsong, Mumble may…”

The Review
Happy Feet has to be the worst animated cartoon that we’ve seen in a really long time. The animation is great, the characters are cute, the story is even entertaining at times, but it’s a film directed to children and parents with a political agenda.

Hollywood has hit a new low to target five year olds about the problems facing the planet such as pollution and global warming. I was amazed that they would actually target children with political issues simply because they knew that their parents would be in the audience watching it with them. I wasn’t alone with this view of the film and as much as we all liked the animation and the characters, the message was not fitting for a young audience.

Our kids liked the movie, but our 8 year old thought that it was a bit heavy. Our advice is to wait for it to come out on the rental rack before paying to get a lecture on the problems facing our world through a black and white furry character.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

The Kids Review
Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – ** Rental
Conroy – ** 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 took the kids to see Flushed Away last month and I’m finally getting around to writing the review after a few weeks. The Yahoo website at Flushed Away describes the movie as follows:

“Beneath the streets of London, Roddy St. James is a pampered pet mouse who thinks he’s got it made. But when a sewer rat named Sid–the definition of “low life”–comes spewing out of the sink and decides it’s his turn to enjoy the lap of luxury, Roddy schemes to rid himself of the pest by luring him into the loo for a dip in the “whirlpool.” Roddy’s plan backfires when he inadvertently winds up being…”

The Review
Flushed Away was a very strange love story about two rats from different parts of rat society who find themselves on a crazy adventure. The characters are pretty funny, but we didn’t really make a connection with them. It could be that it’s tough to make a connection with a rat, but I don’t think so since Shrek is about an Ogre and that’s a great animated film.

Our kids didn’t really make a connection with the characters either, except for Corban who thought the rat being in the sewer and flushed down the toilet was pretty funny. Other than that, it was just another animated kids movie and wasn’t much funnier than an episode of Sponge Bob, Square Pants that you could watch on television for free.

This film fell short in every area, from the characters to the animation to the storyline. It just wasn’t very good. We would recommend waiting for the Rental for this one and hopefully that’s what you decided to do since it’s already starting to disappear from movie theaters.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

The Kids Review
Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – ** Rental
Conroy – ** 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 Running with Scissors at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO on opening night and what a huge mistake that was. The Fandango website at Running with Scissors describes the movie as follows:

“A man looks back on his unusual childhood, his mentally ill mother and her unorthodox therapist. Based on the book by Augusten Burroughs.”

The Review
Running with Scissors is officially the worst movie we have seen this year!  It stars Annette Bening and she is completely whacked in this movie.  She’s married to Alec Baldwin and decides that her life stinks and that she wants to be a poet, but it’s her husbands fault that she isn’t happy, so she starts seeing a shrink to solve her problems.

The next thing you know she’s giving her son up for adoption to her shrink, divorcing her husband, becoming a lesbian and falling out of relationship with her son.  Eventually, she goes into the looney bin (which is where this film belongs), and her son becomes a homosexual who starts having sex with the shrink’s dysfunctional son.

This movie was so bad that people were walking out left and right and we should have joined them.  We sure wanted to, but we decided to stay and see if it would end as bad as it started.  It did!  Running with Scissors was not even worth the film it was printed on and there wasn’t anything good about this movie. 

There were a few laughs, but the joke was really on the audience since everyone should have been compensated for having to endure the agony of this movie. If you see Running with Scissors on the rental rack, run the other way or just leave it there.

John – * Don’t Bother
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 went to see Marie Antoinette at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO last week.  The Fandango website at Marie Antoinette describes the movie as follows:

“When betrothed to King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the naïve Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) enters the opulent French court which is steeped in conspiracy and scandal. Without guidance, adrift in a dangerous world, the young girl rebels against the isolated atmosphere at Versailles and becomes France’s most misunderstood monarch.”

The Review
Marie Antoinette was one of the worst movies of the year.  This movie was so boring that we almost left numerous times.  There wasn’t really a point to this film other than to apparently make a period film with big foo foo dresses about a famous woman played by Kirsten Dunst.

If you go to watch this movie you will see the strange story about Marie Antoinette, which the audience had no idea is actually true or not.  According to this version of her life, she didn’t consumate her marriage bed for years and that was hardly interesting, but took up a great deal of the flick. 

Because her husband the king was such a dork, she had an affair with some American war hero and then she indulged in continual excessive parties, pastries and chocolates while the country fell apart.  It was like watching a reality show about a modern day Hollywood movie star dressed in outdated apparel. I kid you not, this was the entire movie.

There is absolutely no substance to this film and it won’t even make a good rental.  Our advice is to skip it all together.

John – * Don’t Bother
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

I went to see Flags of Our Fathers at the Colorado Cinemas in Castle Rock, CO on yesterday to escape the big snow storm that hit our area.  Becky had to work, so I talked a couple buddies into playing hooky for the day and going to the movie. The Yahoo Movies website at Flags of Our Fathers describes the movie as follows:

“February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo capturing that moment…”

The Review
Flags of Our Fathers wasn’t at all what any of us expected.  It was a movie that really dealt with how America treated its heros after World War II and asked the question as to what constitutes a hero.

It was directed by Clint Eastwood, which means that it moves really slow.  I have this belief that Clint directs movies for old people, so that they can follow along, but if you’re a younger person a two-hour movie of his seems like a three-hour movie.  In spite of the fact that it’s a slow moving film, the content is very good.  The story takes you through the lives of three men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima and were hailed as celebrity heros when they came back to the U.S.

It’s a thought provoking war film because of the way these guys were exploited by politicians and their government after sacrificing so much for their country.  There was plenty of war action in this film, but it wasn’t like Saving Private Ryan since the entire movie doesn’t take place inside the battle of Iwo Jima.  Instead, the audience is taken to what was going on at home in the U.S. during the fighting, what was the experience of the men who were there on the island and what their thoughts were today about the war.

We all thought it was a very good movie that was well done and made you appreciate what men and women of a previous generation went through to win World War II.  It was definitely Worth The Trip, even if you’re not a fan of war movies.  Stan commented that it wasn’t as good as Band of Brothers, but that he really thought it was a good movie as well.  Our friend Chris liked it too and thought it was good in that it dealt with issues beyond just the war itself.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Stan – *** Worth The Trip
Chris – *** 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