Becky and I went to see the new film Out of the Furnace a couple of weeks ago at the AMC Theaters in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Out of the Furnace describes the movie as follows…

‘‘From Scott Cooper, the critically-acclaimed writer and director of Crazy Heart, comes a gripping and gritty drama about family, fate, circumstance, and justice. Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell’s brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so – with nothing left to lose – Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother. The impressive cast of Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson are rounded out by Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepard...”

The Review:  Out of the Furnace is a film that is designed around a somewhat strange screenplay and carried on the big screen with totally raw acting.  Every actor in this movie is amazing, but especially Casey Affleck, Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson.  Woody’s character is pure evil on the same level as the Joker in the Batman series.  He does an amazing job pulling this character off.  The guy is totally disturbing in this movie and Christian Bale is like Batman without the suit.

The story is really wild and is a story within a story that deals with the issue of poverty in America.  It’s a very dark film that doesn’t have any high end special effects or ridiculous scenes like so many action movies of today.  I don’t think this is a movie that everyone is going to like because it is a difficult film, almost like one of the older classic films like “Walking Tall” or “The Pride of Billy Jack” where there is action in a movie that is more of a drama about good versus evil.

Becky and I really liked this movie and thought it was 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 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 a the new Hunger Games movie a few weeks ago at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO with our kids.  The Fandango website at The Hunger Games: Catching Fire describes the movie as follows…

‘‘THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever...”

The Review:  The second movie in The Hunger Games trilogy was much better than the first film.  I didn’t really like the first flick, but I did think that this one was much better.  I thought they did a much better job of getting the audience more emotionally connected with the characters in the film.  The conflict between good and evil in this movie is very obvious.  You can see how wicked people can become when the value of human life is diminished.  Although this movie is far fetched, it’s believable because of the corruption of man’s fallen nature.

The characters were well done in this movie, but the scenes are pretty graphic and it is disturbing to see young people playing a game of death to kill each other.  However, it is trying to make a point about what people will do when they are putting in desperate situations and forced to survive.  The acting is good and the main character is without a doubt the star of the film.

We all liked the film and thought it was worth the price of admission.  If you’re a huge fan of the book series, then you should really like this movie.  We liked it and we didn’t read the books, except for Conroy who did.

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 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 a the new Thor movie a few weeks ago at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO with our kids.  The Fandango website at Thor: The Dark World describes the movie as follows…

‘‘Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all…”

The Review:  This latest installment of Thor keeps many of the previous characters as the last one, including Thor of course and his evil brother, Thor’s mortal love interest played by Natalie Portman and a number of other previous actors that were in the first movie.  This time around, the evil villain is much more powerful and darker with a plan to destroy planet Earth, along with the Universe and plummet everything into total darkness.  The problem though is that the evil characters are

much more powerful than Thor or his fellow ancient gods of Asgard.

This was the real problem with this movie is that Thor is supposedly the god of Thunder and yet he gets his butt kicked by the Dark Lord in this film.  However, this is the challenge with most Marvel super hero movies.  The super hero is powerful, but the bad guy is usually more powerful until the very end and then as our son Corban put it, “The Marvel super hero gives the guy a one hit and kills him.”.  The story wasn’t bad and the characters are pretty fun, but these films always end the same and the bad guys are always stronger, but seem to get defeated easily by the end of the movie.  They are way too predictable, which takes away most of the excitement of the movie.

If you’re a big Marvel comic book and Thor fan than you’ll probably really like this movie.  If you’re not a super hero fan, you will probably like parts of the movie, but more than likely be bored.  I think we were more bored by this movie than we expected.  We didn’t dislike the movie, but it wasn’t that much different than the first movie, which made it a little too boring for us.  Some of the other super hero films are much better than these Thor movies.  We would suggest saving your money and waiting for the rental.

John – ** Rental
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 to see a Sneak Preview of About Time a few weeks ago at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO.  The Fandango website at About Time describes the movie as follows…

”When Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is 21, his father (Bill Nighy) tells him a secret: The men in their family can travel through time. Although he can’t change history, Tim resolves to improve his life by getting a girlfriend. He meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), falls in love and finally wins her heart via time-travel and a little cunning. However, as his unusual life progresses, Tim finds that his special ability can’t shield him and those he loves from the problems of ordinary life…”

The Review:  About Time is a movie with a very interesting love story that hasn’t been done before, which is one of the reasons why we liked it.  The main character has been born with the unique power allowing him to go back in time at his will.  He doesn’t discover that he has this amazing power, until he has screwed up most of his relationships with women.  He isn’t that concerned about money or fame, but really wants to find true love.  When he finds his ideal mate, played by Rachel McAdams, he uses his powers to do whatever he can to gain her love by essentially hitting the reset button whenever he screws up.

The film is very clever and quite fun to watch because each time he goes back in time, he runs the risk of messing something else up in the future.  The dynamics between the characters is really well done and there are some interesting situations that they all find themselves in throughout the movie.  It will make you think about how you would use the ability to go back in time and change your life and what the consequences of such power could be.  What seems like a great idea, could actually drastically change the outcome of your life.  It will make you realize that it’s better that we cannot control something as simple as time.

Becky and I both really liked this movie and at the end of the film the audience applauded.   This is always strange since they are just applauding for one another expressing how much they liked the movie.  Nevertheless, most people who have seen it really liked it, even if the majority of movie critics thought it was just an okay movie.  We thought that it was really well done and definitely worth the price of admission, especially as a date movie.

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 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 Enough Said on Friday at the AMC Theaters in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Enough Said describes the movie as follows…

”A divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter’s impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) – a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest. As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems “almost perfect” except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne’s Ex…”

The Review:  Enough Said was James Gandolfini’s last film before passing away, while on vacation.  We didn’t know what to expect going into this movie, but I had clients who had seen this film and they told me that it was pretty good.  It’s a story about a few people going through Middle Age after having divorced and trying to figure out who they are going forward.  The dynamics of the movie are very interesting because it shows how easy it is to find faults with people over little things.  For example, there is this part in the film where the ex-husband separates the onions from his guacamole and it drove his ex-wife crazy to the point that she couldn’t stand him any longer.  The reality is that it wasn’t that big of a deal.

This movie is a really good rental or Date Night film for older couples, who have had more life experiences.  I don’t think it’s for everyone, but it will make you think about how you treat people that you love and are you taking them for granted?  We both liked it and I would say that it’s somewhere between Worth The Trip and a Renal, so we’ll split it between the two.his is a movie that has no special effects, no far fetched plot, but just dealing with the realities of real life and the consequences of not being honest in relationships with people.

It’s a very good movie with a great story that will make you think about how you relate to other people.  Can you forgive others and move on or will you hang on to the past and let it predict your future?  Often times people do not look at the good that comes out of a relationship, but only the bad.  In one part of the movie, the main character has dinner with her ex-husband and complains about him ordering bread for the table because she will eat it.  It’s very trivial, but how many times to do people allow the trivial to destroy their relationships that have meaning?

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

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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 Escape Plan back in October at the AMC Theaters in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Escape Plan describes the movie as follows…

”Action superstars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger team up in the action-thriller ESCAPE PLAN. Ray Breslin (Stallone), the world’s foremost authority on structural security, agrees to take on one last job: breaking out of an ultra-secret, high-tech facility called “The Tomb.” But when he is wrongly imprisoned, he must recruit fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) to help devise a daring, nearly impossible plan to escape from the most protected and fortified prison ever built…”

The Review:  Escape Plan is one of those movies that Becky and I went to see that we had really low expectations for going into the theater.  We figured this movie was going to really suck, but at the time we had already seen everything and figured we would go see it.  It actually wasn’t a terrible film like we expected.  It was a typical Sylvester Stallone movie with a bunch of action and far fetched, but it was pretty fun.

The story was actually pretty wild and it was done much better than we thought it would be.  The prison that the main character gets locked into is very futuristic and is probably something that will be designed to incarcerate people.  It’s actually a pretty scary premise and how they developed this prison and where they put the prison is very creative in this movie.  What’s unique is why the people get sent to this prison because they are put away by people who want them to disappear and are paying to have them locked up unless they need them again.  This made the movie pretty interesting.

Escape Plan is not a great movie, but it should be a good rental and we actually enjoyed it at the film, which we were surprised about.   Becky and I both liked it and thought it was between worth seeing and waiting for as a rental, but I think most people will wait to see this when it hits Redbox.

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

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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 RUSH on opening night at the Regal Cinemas in Lone Tree, CO.  The Fandango website at RUSH describes the movie as follows…

”The epic action-drama stars Chris Hemsworth as the charismatic Englishman James Hunt and Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) as the disciplined Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda, whose clashes on the Grand Prix racetrack epitomized the contrast between these two extraordinary characters, a distinction reflected in their private lives. Set against the sexy and glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing, Rush portrays the exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivals the world has ever witnessed—handsome English playboy Hunt and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Lauda. Taking us into their personal lives on and off the track, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error. If you make one mistake, you die…”

The Review:  RUSH is definitely my favorite film of the year.  It is extremely well done and the fact that it’s based on a true story makes it even more exciting.  Ron Howard did a great job on this movie and the story is very powerful by itself, but he really pulls you into these two characters.  The action is great and even if you’re not a racing fan or a car fan, you should still like this movie.  It’s just a really fun flick!

The contrast between the two race car drivers and their different personalities is very cool in this movie.  It really fascinating to watch and see how two people that are complete opposites could both arrive at the same results.  The movie also shows how much pure determination, raw talent, precise calculations and risk taking plays into becoming a champion.  The challenges the two men faced in their personal life was amazing, while still focusing on their profession of race car driving.

The acting in this film was great and the Directing was fantastic.  I expect that this movie is definitely going to win some awards.  Becky and I both liked it so much that we went to see it twice!  Put this one on your list as a Don’t Miss It before it leaves the theaters.

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 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 Gravity 3D this Weekend at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch, CO.  The Fandango website at Gravity 3D describes the movie as follows…

”Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission. Her commander is veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney), helming his last flight before retirement. Then, on a routine space walk, disaster strikes — the shuttle is destroyed, leaving Ryan and Matt stranded in deep space with no link to Earth and no hope of rescue. As their fear turns to panic, they realize that the only way home may be to venture further into space…”

The Review:  Gravity 3D is a movie that is best to see in 3D because of the visual effects of the film.  What’s really fascinating is that it’s a movie with really only two actors for the entire movie.  When they said that it stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock they were not kidding and it’s really more Sandra Bullock than anyone else as she tries to make her way back to Earth.

The story is pretty stressful, but it’s a pretty good story.  It shows what could happen if a satellite were destroyed by a country and it were to send the exploded parts into orbit that could take out a team of astronauts and other satellites who were in the same orbit.  It is a wild ride and if you like movies about Space you’ll like this film.  I think it cured me from any desire of ever being an astronaut seeing how fragile life is in outer space without tools.

Becky and I both thought it was okay, but we both said it was something you’re better off waiting for  to watch as a rental.  Unless, your aspirations are to become an astronaut, it was pretty boring other than the stress of seeing the main character trying to survive.  The odds of her making it were slim to none, so it was just a little too far fetched for me.  It reminded me of Castaway in outer space.

John – ** Rental
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 to see Runner Runner this Weekend at the AMC Theater in Castle Rock, CO.  The Fandango website at Runner Runner describes the movie as follows…

”Believing that he has been swindled, Princeton grad student Richie (Justin Timberlake) goes to Costa Rica to confront online-gambling tycoon Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Block’s promises of immense wealth and power have a seductive effect on Richie, until he learns the shocking truth about his new mentor. When Richie is coerced by the FBI to help bring Block to justice, he faces the biggest gamble of his life: outmaneuvering the two forces closing in on him…”

The Review:  Runner Runner did not get great reviews from the movie critics, but many people who saw it seemed to like it.  We’re with the critics on this one though.

It stars Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake in a story about a guy going to a prestigious college who is paying for his tuition using a gambling Affiliate Program.  How being a marketing Affiliate for an online gambling site makes you a good poker player is beyond me, but his Dad is also a professional gambler, which made more sense.

It was actually a good story, but it was too low budget of a film.  At times it felt like we were watching a made for television movie.  Quite a bit of the film didn’t make a great deal of sense and was kind of boring to watch and slow.  There are a couple twists and turns that kept our interest, but it’s not a really good movie.  The bad guy wasn’t bad enough to make you really want him to lose and the good guy wasn’t good enough to make you want to care a great deal about him either.

Becky and I both agreed on this one that at best it will make a good rental.

John – ** Rental
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 to see Prisoners last week at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch, CO with our friends Mark and Maria.  The Fandango website at Prisoners describes the movie as follows…

”How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release. Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, he may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante?..”

The Review:  Prisoners is a film that is very well done with superb acting and directing.  It shows how people can lose their minds when put into positions where their child has been abducted by a potential serial killer and take the law into their own hands.  This film deals with every parents nightmare when the character’s children are taken, while walking home from the neighbors house.  It does a great job of taking you through the entire story with some serious complexity.  Unfortunately, it’s very disturbing and at times hard to watch.

Prisoners is one of those movies that you’ll probably either really like or not like that much.  Becky and I disagreed on this movie.  I liked the story, but I didn’t like parts of the film that were just too disturbing such as when they torture a young guy that they believe is involved in stealing their children.  It’s too gruesome and inexcusable as you watch the parents take out their frustration on someone who could be innocent.  Maria and I both had a problem with that and it wrecked the movie for us.

Becky and Mark on the other hand didn’t like that part of the film, but it didn’t ruin the movie for them and they really liked it.  The movie does ask the question of whether the ends ever justifies the means when it comes to trying to get information that could save another persons life at the expense of another person’s freedom.  That part of the film with the torture really upset me.  I didn’t like the ending either because it left us hanging.

I have to rate this a Rental because the movie bothered me too much even though it was very well done with great acting, but Becky really liked it.

John – ** Rental
Becky – **** 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