Becky and I went to see the new movie The Call at the AMC theaters in Castle Rock, CO last week. The Fandango website at The Call describes the movie as follows…

“An emergency operator receives a desperate call from a kidnapped teen, and races to locate the young victim while facing a terrifying killer from her own past in this thriller from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Session 9). Abigail Breslin and Halle Berry star in a film penned by Richard D’Ovidio (Exit Wounds, Thir13en Ghosts). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi..”

The Review: Becky was really excited to see this film and I wasn’t overly thrilled about it.  I didn’t think it looked very good and thought it would be really predictable and the critic reviews were not very good for the movie.

It turned out to be a pretty good thriller that delivered much better than I expected, although it is very disturbing.  The psychopath in this movie made it look way too easy to kidnap a person and kill them, which I didn’t like at all.  When we showed up at the movie, some friends of ours were there seeing the film as well and she’s actually a 911 operator and her husband is a police officer.  That was wild since this movie is about a 911 operator, who gets a call from a girl who has someone break into her house that is a murderer and it’s a crazy film from there on out.

They both liked the movie and thought it was well done and realistic.  That fact of course made it even more disturbing and it is grotesque at times and bone chilling to think that there are people like the killer in this film, who are seriously influenced by the demonic,

Becky and I both thought it delivered on what it promised, but I’m not sure I liked it because of the content, it was very well done.  If you’re in the movie for a psychotic thriller than go see this movie.  I can’t say I would want to watch it a second time.

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 took the kids to see the new movie Oz The Great And Powerful at the Regal Cinemas in Lone Tree, CO tonight. The Yahoo Movies website at Oz The Great And Powerful describes the movie as follows…

“When Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot – fame and fortune are his for the taking – that is until he meets three witches, Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting…”

The Review: We were all really looking forward to seeing this movie and figured that it would be like Tim Burton’s epic Alice In Wonderland, but Sam Raimi is no Tim Burton.  This movie wasn’t even close to as good as the original Wizard of Oz that was made back in 1939 before any special effects and color was just invented.

I didn’t believe the reviews from the critics that this movie wasn’t very good, but I do now.  Sam Raimi should have never directed this movie, he sucks as a Director to botch this one as bad as he did.  Come on, did he even watch the original movie?  Totally forgetting to put in the Ruby Red slippers?  That’s like making The Lord of the Rings and forgetting to put in the ring!

They cast the Wicked Witch wrong, Mila Kunis was terrible as the Wicked Witch, sometimes forgetting she was a witch and talking like a Valley Girl and her appearance didn’t even come close to the original witch.  If you put the two of their photos side by side, you’ll ask “How did they miss that?” and her voice was not even close to one of the best witches of all time, “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too.” is a classic line.  Disney’s only interested in making a buck now and you can see it in this film because the story and inconsistencies in the film made it weak.

The story had far too many holes in it, way too much filler where they could have done so much with the Wizard of Oz had they actually stayed even close to the original story.  It was as if they couldn’t decide, if they were making Alice In Wonderland again and trying to compete with Tim Burton or the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy showed up.  Which I might add, she was in the same tornado as the original Professor Marvel, who turned out to the be Great and Powerful Oz in the original story, so Hollywood botched up a classic with this one.  Did they really think that Wizard of Oz fans wouldn’t notice?  It’s a bit like remaking Star Wars and casting Darth Vader with Brad Pitt, putting him in a business suit like Meet Joe Black and then wondering why people are not excited about your movie.

The special effects were all this movie had going for it, which is fitting since that’s all Oz was doing anyway.  Apparently, Disney and Raimi didn’t want the audience to look behind the curtain either.  The flying monkey’s are now flying baboons and there was very little else that was close to the original of this movie.  It’s at best a good rental, but if you have a choice between watching the original Wizard of Oz and this Disney destruction of a classic, go with the original where you’ll actually see the ruby red slippers, which are an integral part of the story.

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

Corban – ** Rental
Bianca – ** Rental
Conroy – ** 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 the new movie Dead Man Down at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO last night.  The Yahoo Movies website at Dead Man Down describes the movie as follows…

“Two strangers who are irresistibly drawn to one another by their mutual desire for revenge.”

The Review:  Dead Man Down is a very odd film in that it’s such a simple movie with a ton of plot twists, which is probably why I liked it.  It’s simple in that it’s just about these two people who meet each other and are desiring revenge, that’s pretty much the entire premise of the film, which is probably why many of the critics are not liking this movie.  However, it’s because of that simplicity that the movie is such a wild ride.

This woman, played by Noomi Rapace, the chick from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (the first one, not the second one) is living across the balcony in an apartment building from a gangster, played by Colin Farrell and they are going to eventually meet.  They have been watching each other for sometime and are interested in one another.  They both have a problem they need to solve, which involves murder and this creates a number of interesting plot twists and plenty of action.

The movie does move slow at times for an action film, but it has to build up the suspense because of the characters and how they cannot let go of their past.  Which I thought made for an interesting film because it’s a action film, thriller and a love story all rolled into one.  Becky and I both liked this movie and so did our friends Mark and Maria, but be aware that it does move slow at times, it is pretty violent and a little far fetched at times as well.  It is definitely rated R, but we thought it was worth the price of admission.

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 the new movie Jack The Giant Slayer at the AMC theaters in Castle Rock, CO last weekend.  The Yahoo Movies website at Jack The Giant Slayer describes the movie as follows…

“An ancient war is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend – and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

The Review:  Jack The Giant Slayer is a modern twist of the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk with his magic beans that grew into a giant beanstalk.  In this story, there isn’t a goose that lays golden eggs or a golden harp, but an army of giants living between Heaven and Earth, who are waiting to bring forth a rampage on the men who defeated them on a previous trip to Earth.

This is a goofy movie with some real problems.  Sometimes the giants are taller than trees and sometimes they are about as big as a stop sign, which created some serious consistency problems with the film.  The acting wasn’t very good and it switched from being a light hearted children’s movie to a comedy and a drama, so it was pretty much all over the place.  The story was fun and entertaining at times, but it also got a little dark with giants eating people and the villain murdering people, so it’s a bit of a whacky flick.

Becky hated this movie and so did Conroy and his buddy Lance.  Corban and I kind of liked it, but we were not over analyzing it, but watching it for the pure entertainment value of a odd movie about giants and a hero trying to score the princess.  It’s no Princess Bride for sure, but we didn’t think it was as bad and Becky and Conroy made it out to be.  Well, maybe it was, but we thought it was fun and goofy enough to enjoy it.  It’s definitely not for everyone and probably best left for the rental rack.

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

Conroy – * Don’t Bother
Corban – *** 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 the new movie A Good Die To Die Hard at the AMC theaters in Castle Rock, CO on opening week.  The AMC Theaters website at A Good Day To Die Hard describes the movie as follows…

“Iconoclastic, take-no-prisoners cop John McClane, for the first time, finds himself on foreign soil after traveling to Moscow to help his wayward son Jack — unaware that Jack is really a highly-trained CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist. With the Russian underworld in pursuit, and battling a countdown to war, the two McClanes discover their opposing methods make them unstoppable heroes...”

The Review: A Good Day To Die Hard is another installment in the Bruce Willis Die Hard films that they tried to make believable by bringing his character’s son into the film, instead of making Bruce be the super hero cop like in the previous films – it didn’t work.  They just couldn’t help having Bruce Willis get beat up more than any James Bond character and walk away without having any broken bones or his son for that matter.  It was so ridiculous that I thought we had accidently stumbled into an Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stalone action film from the 80’s.

Here’s a free tip for the Director of these type of action films.  If you throw your action hero into a plate glass window from a helicopter of a commercial building he is not going to go through it, roll around and start running to shoot more bad guys.  No, he’s simply going to bounce off and fall to his death.  In the unlikely event that he was miraculously able to shoot out the window first and make it through the heavy glass, when he hits that steal beam holding the window together in the middle that you had Bruce Willis break like a two-by-four, he’s going to just fall down on the ground and wait for the paramedics to arrive and hall him off to the hospital.

Becky and I just can’t take these ridiculous action films anymore.  We might as well have stayed home and watched the Road Runner and Wiley Coyote blow himself up and then come right back in the next scene.  At least cartoons have enough sense to make a joke out of it with the audience, but most of these action movies, are so far fetched now that it’s comical to watch and difficult to enjoy.

I think Becky fell asleep at one point in the film she was so bored.

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 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 the new movie Identity Thief at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO on opening week.  The Fandango website at Identity Thief describes the movie as follows…

“Florida resident Diana (Melissa McCarthy) has a luxurious lifestyle as the queen of retail, buying whatever strikes her fancy — and it’s all free, thanks to Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Jason Bateman), a guy from Denver whose identity she stole. With just one week to track down Diana before his world implodes, the real Sandy heads south to confront the unapologetic con artist and bring her back to Denver so that he can clear his name and restore his shattered credit rating...”

The Review: Identity Thief  is a comedy with two funny characters and comedic actors, about a guy (Bateman) who gets his identity stolen by a crazy woman (McCarthy) down in Florida, that is over the top wild.  He decides to go down and try to bring her back to Denver, so that he can clear his name and get his life back, which makes for a very funny set of situations.

This movie is pretty predictable and ridiculous at times, but it will make you laugh.  It’s not one of the best comedies I’ve seen and there are a couple of situations that are disturbing or at least over-the-top, but it’s funny enough that we all laughed.   It got a little too serious at times, toward the end of the film, that created some problems with the movie.

Becky and I both liked it and our older son Conroy really liked it .  This is not a great movie, but if you like a good laugh then it’s worth the trip otherwise it’s a rental.

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

Conroy – **** 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 the new movie Safe Haven at the AMC theaters in Castle Rock, CO this week.  The Fandango website at Safe Haven describes the movie as follows…

“An affirming and suspenseful story about a young woman’s struggle to love again, Safe Haven is based on the novel from Nicholas Sparks, the best-selling author behind the hit films The Notebook and Dear John. When a mysterious young woman arrives in a small North Carolina town, her reluctance to join the tight knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller...”

The Review: Safe Haven is a made for women movie that Becky talked me into going to see with her and our daughter Bianca.  I thought the move was going to really terrible, but I was surprised.  It was actually much better than I thought it would be, but partially because I went in with really low expectations.  I still am going to rate it a Rental, but the acting and Directing was well done.

The story was actually pretty good though and the acting wasn’t bad.  It’s definitely a good date night movie for sure.  Most guys won’t be overly thrilled about this movie, but it does have some action and suspense in the film that makes it exciting, while keeping to the love story.

Becky and I both liked it and Bianca really liked it .  It’s not a great flick, but if you like love stories with a thriller aspect to it, you should like this film.

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

Bianca – **** 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 the new movie Parker at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO this week.  The Fandango website at Parker describes the movie as follows…

“Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: Don’t steal from people who can’t afford it and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it. But on his latest heist, his crew double crosses him, steals his stash, and leaves him for dead. Determined to make sure they regret it, Parker tracks them to Palm Beach, playground of the rich and famous, where the crew is planning their biggest heist ever. Donning the disguise of a rich Texan, Parker takes on an unlikely partner, Leslie (Jennifer Lopez), a savvy insider, who’s short on cash, but big on looks, smarts and ambition. Together, they devise a plan to hijack the score, take everyone down and get away clean...”

The Review: Parker is a new flick starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez that reminded me quite a bit of that movie Payback that Mel Gibson did back in 1999.  Mel’s character was called Porter and he was left for dead after being whacked by his partner and and Jason’s character is left for dead as well by his criminal buddies and his name is Parker.  They both had a woman involved and both characters were about having their own rules when it came to their criminal activity.

It turns out that the writer behind this movie also did Payback, which is why I thought it was so much like that movie.  The movie is action packed and Jason is a butt kicker in this film for sure.  The movie has plenty of twists and turns.  It’s not a great movie, but it is a really fun as an action film.   Parker is pretty well done for the most part, since the character actually takes a beating and doesn’t have super hero qualities.  If you like action movies, you should like this one.  Jennifer Lopez character was done well too.

Becky and I both liked it and thought it was fun to watch.  Our friend Mark went with us and he liked it too.  It is rated R and if you are in the mood for an action movie, this is a fun flick for the money.

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 the new movie Broken City at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO last week.  The Fandango website at Broken City describes the movie as follows…

“n a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) seeks redemption – and revenge – after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor (Russell Crowe). Billy’s relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force – and the mayor’s worst nightmare...”

The Review: Broken City is a new movie with Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta-Jones about a New York City Mayor who is controlling the city like a gangster.  Enter a police officer who has been relieved of his duty, working as private investigator and ends up becoming a tool for the power hungry Mayor.

There are quite a few twists in this movie, but for the most part they are predictable.  The acting is good, but the story is not great.  It’s a pretty far fetched movie and most of the confrontation between the characters is more hype than substance.  The movie is interesting at times, but it’s boring most of the time and moved a little too slow for me.  I definitely had higher expectations.

Becky liked it more than I did and I think she thought it was worth the price of admission.  I didn’t like it as much and thought it was a rental.  We went with our friends and they liked it more than I did as well.  I would recommend skipping this one and waiting for the rental to watch it.

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 the new movie Gangster Squad at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO last week.  The Fandango website at Gangster Squad describes the movie as follows…

“Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and—if he has his way—every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop…except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart. “Gangster Squad” is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time...”

The Review: Gangster Squad is based on a true story about a mob boss, who was taking over Los Angeles in the late 1940’s.  It is a really violent movie and shows how ruthless the thugs were during the Mafia crime waves.  Sean Penn does a really good job playing the crazy mob boss Mickey Cohen and he was an evil, self-indulgent individual in this film and in real life.

This movie has an all-star cast and the acting is good, the story is fascinating and it’s Directed much like the film that was set in the 1940’s as well, “LA Confidential”.  If you liked that movie, you will probably like this one too.  It is very violent, so be aware of that, but it’s a gangster film and that’s expected.  If anything, it will show you that the “good ol’ days” were not really any better than today with gang violence and evil people trying to take over portions of society and often succeeding.

The Gangster Squad is a group of cops who were commissioned by their boss to fight violence without putting on the badge, but by working as undercover cops.  They were allowed to be as ruthless as the gangsters themselves and that issue comes up in the film that they are not any better than the gangsters themselves.  The critics hated this movie, but the fans seem to like it and I have to agree with the fans on this one.  Becky and I both liked it and thought it was well done.

We both thought that it was worth the price of admission.  We’re giving it a Worth The Trip.

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

Sponsored By: SHAREMERCHANT.com:  Get paid to share!  Find out how you can earn $1,500 a month using and recommending products.  Become a Share Merchant!

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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