Category Archives: Uncategorized

John & Becky’s Movie Review of The Wolfman

Becky and I went to see the new movie The Wolfman a couple of weeks ago at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO. The Fandango website at The Wolfman describes the movie as follows:

“Though absent from his ancestral home of Blackmoor for many years, aristocrat Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to find his missing brother at the request of the latter’s fiancee, Gwen (Emily Blunt). He learns that a creature has links to…”

The Review
The Wolfman was very true to the original Wolfman with Lon Chaney Jr and had some good special effects and cinematography. It’s a pretty graphic film, with a little too much gore and that would be the worst part of the movie. However, I guess you might expect that for a story about a guy who turns into a wolf and terrorizes and eats people. The special effects pretty wild. This film was a great remake of the old classic in black and white only with a few new twists. Parts of it were stupid though.

The screenplay was unusual and Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro were good together. I liked the movie more than Becky did and I thought it was in between a Rental and Worth The Trip. Becky thought it was a rental and didn’t like it that much. I think she fell asleep in part of it, but she’s not a big fan of science fiction films either.

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

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Shutter Island

Becky and I went to see new movie Shutter Island on Friday night at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

I’m a bit behind on the movie reviews again. I got pretty busy last week since I was moving my office as The Cool Car Guy to a new location. I need to write a couple movie reviews this week, but I wanted to get this one up for Shutter Island since it did $40 million at the box office this weekend.

The Fandango website at Shutter Island describes the movie as follows:

“The project centers on a U.S. marshal (Mark Ruffalo) who along with his new partner (Leonardo DiCaprio) travels to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. During their inquiry , the two encounter a web of deceit, experience a hurricane and become involved in a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island. Ben Kingsley will play Dr. Cawley, the hospital’s enigmatic chief physician who must reluctantly play host to the two U.S. marshals…”

The Review
Shutter Island is a film that has great actors, incredible acting and Directing, but the story is totally whacked. We were really looking forward to this film because they have been advertising it for so long and we figured it would be great with the all star cast. However, it’s extremely graphic with disturbing violence and all kinds of stuff going on in the film that makes you cringe at times. It takes place inside of a mental hospital on an island that there is no way out and you don’t know who’s insane and who is normal.  It’s a bit nuts as you might expect.

It does keep your interest, but it moves really slow, it will keep you guessing for sure, but it’s too disturbing. The main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is brilliant in this movie, is dealing with some serious mental issues from his past with flashbacks to World War II and the Nazi camps.  You will see scenes with bodies everywhere and it’s a bit horrific. He has witnessed some sick events in his life and he believes that his wife has been murdered and a woman he’s looking for on the island is locked up for killing all of her children. At least, you think that’s what happened or maybe not?

The theater on Friday was packed. However, by the time the movie is over we both left thinking it was a rental at best and many people who were leaving didn’t like it that much either. We didn’t enjoy the movie because of the outcome and the reality of the insanity that is taking place. It will definitely make you shutter when you discover what’s really going on at Shutter Island and it was a let down.  This is not a film with a happy ending for sure, but was far too depressing for our liking.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review Of From Paris With Love

Becky and I went to see the new John Travolta movie From Paris With Love this Weekend at the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, CO. The Fandango website at From Paris With Love describes the movie as follows:

“A low-ranking intelligence operative (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) working in the office of the U.S. Ambassador in France takes on more than he bargained for when he partners with a wisecracking, fast-shooting, high-ranking U.S. agent (John Travolta) who’s been sent to Paris to stop a terrorist attack…”

The Review
From Paris With Love is the new John Travolta flick that came out this weekend and we were surprised by this movie. There is plenty of violence and it’s quite graphic at times, but the story and the characters were really interesting. It’s directed by the same guy who did Transporter and Transporter 2, so there are some action sequences with the beloved Audi again, with a great chase scene.

it’s violent like the Transporter and Taken movies that Pierre Morel Directed and John Travolta’s character is violent, but very funny that helps alleviate the violence. He does a great job with his main character and so does Jonathan Rhys-Meyers who plays his side-kick, analytical, wanna-be secret agent.  The film has plenty of twists and turns with a good story. There are a number of parts that are not believable, as you might expect in an action film.

Overall, this movie was a surprise. It’s probably a rental for most people, but we both liked the film for an action flick, other than the violence being a bit over-the-top at times. We would have to say that it was Worth The Trip though.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Edge of Darkness

Becky and I went to see the new Mel Gibson movie Edge of Darkness last week at the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, CO. The Fandango website at Edge of Darkness describes the movie as follows:

“As detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) is investigating his activist daughter’s murder he uncovers a corporate cover up along with government collusion that brings the unwanted attention of an agent whose job is cleaning up evidence of a crime…”

The Review
Edge of Darkness is a suspense thriller about a cop, played by Mel Gibson, who loses his daughter who works for a company that is involved with the U.S. government in manufacturing weapons. The story is very good, the acting is good, but the film is extremely graphic. It was much more graphic than we expected it to be, but it was also done really well. The character’s were believable.

Frankly, I’m kind of burned out on Mel Gibson like many movie goer’s are after his whacky world off screen, which is about as nuts as Lindsey Lohan. We didn’t go into this film with great expectations and I was expecting to see something on the same level of a Sylvestor Stallone movie with plenty of unrealistic action done by an aging actor. This movie didn’t do that though. Mel’s character was actually believable and his gun did the majority of the damage in this movie, much like an old Dirty Harry film.

There were some interesting twists, turns and characters in Edge of Darkness that kept the movie stimulating. If there was a big flaw it was that the film was far too graphic showing people being killed and it was disturbing. Be forewarned that this film is definitely rated R for the graphic violence, so keep the kids at home.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of When In Rome

Becky and I went to see the new movie When In Rome last night the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, CO. The Fandango website at When in Rome describes the movie as follows:

“An ambitious young New Yorker (Kristen Bell), disillusioned with romance, takes a whirlwind trip to Rome where she defiantly plucks magic coins from a fountain of love, inexplicably igniting the passion of those who threw them in: a sausage magnate (Danny DeVito), a street magician (Jon Heder), an adoring painter (Will Arnett) and a self-admiring model (Dax Shepard). But when a charming reporter (Josh Duhamel) pursues her with equal zest, how will she know if his love is the real thing?…”

The Review
When In Rome is a goofy movie about a woman who can’t find love and is in love with her job. After taking a few coins from the fountain of love in Italy, she is chased by these men who are now in love with her and are under a spell.

The premise of the movie was “cute”, but the movie was not very good. The acting wasn’t bad, but the lines were stupid, the situations were ridiculous and the Directing was horrible. The guys who are chasing her in the film are crazy and it’s just not that funny after while because it’s too stupid.

One lady walked out of the film and said to her husband, “That was cute.” and her husband said, “That was stupid.” and we will have to agree with her husband on this one.

I don’t think we can even rate this one as a good rental because it was just so far fetched as a Romantic Comedy that it was far too painful to watch.

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

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Tooth Fairy

Becky and I took the kids to see the new movie Tooth Fairy last night at the AMC Theater in Highlands Ranch, CO. The Fandango website at Tooth Fairy describes the movie as follows:

“Tess is a 6-years-old girl who is very disappointed when Derek (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) tells her that the tooth fairy isn’t real. Derek is left to try and save the tooth fairy kingdom…”

The Review
Tooth Fairy is a cute film about a hockey player who has reached a dead-end in his career and is therefore very negative toward everything and everyone. He’s kind of a mean guy who has a tendency to crush the dreams of children since he’s not living up to his own expectations.

The story is really silly. The main character, played by “The Rock,” gets a notice from Tooth Fairy Kingdom that because he’s been calling himself The Tooth Fairy and crushing the dreams of children that he will have to work as a real tooth fairy. There are a few funny parts in the movie, but overall it moved slow and was a bit too ridiculous.

Corban and Bianca really liked this movie and Conroy thought it was okay. Becky and I definitely thought it was a rental for sure.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

Conroy – ** Rental
Corban – **** Don’t Miss It
Bianca – **** Don’t Miss It
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of The Book of Eli

Becky and I went to see the new movie The Book of Eli on Sunday at the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, CO. The Yahoo website at The Book of Eli describes the movie as follows:

“A lone hero must fight his way across the wasteland of post-apocalyptic America to protect a sacred book that holds the key to saving the future of humanity…”

The Review
The Book of Eli is an amazing film. It’s definitely in my top five favorite movies of all time and that’s saying a great deal with as many movies as I’ve seen. Let me warn you that this movie is extremely violent and at times gruesome, but in the same way that The Lord of The Rings is also violent and gruesome at times because of the content of the film. The acting is spectacular and the story is great, which is what makes this such a fantastic film.

I know that many people are going to disagree with me on this one because it’s a bit like the second Mad Max film, The Road Warrior that launched actor Mel Gibson to fame since it’s a post nuclear holocaust type film. Humans are wicked and they are borderline feral after the nukes have hit. If you’re a believer in the Theory of Evolution or an atheist, you’ll see first-hand what “survival of the fittest” really means in a world without God and without a moral code. The Book of Eli deals with man’s sinful nature in a world that has burned all the Bibles after the nuclear war because it was believed that religion was the cause of mankind’s woes.

Eli is like a modern prophet, who is a cross between King David, who had so much blood on his hands that God wouldn’t allow him to build His Temple, and Paul the Apostle who obeyed the voice of God after a supernatural encounter with him. That’s how I perceived the character anyway, even if it wasn’t intended. I expect that many Christians will be offended by the violence in this movie, but I think that’s because many people don’t read the Bible in it’s proper context most of the time or they look at the world with rose colored glasses.  The world is an extremely violent place, but in America most of us are sheltered from the violence that happens in the rest of the world.  As I watched this movie, it reminded me of ancient times when lives were sold into slavery like pieces of meat or when Christians were fed to lions or prophets were sawn in half.

The Bible is one of the most violent series of books ever written, including the beating and crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans. It demonstrates the depravity of mankind upfront and personal from the first chapter of Genesis where Cain kills Abel to the Book of Revelation when God wipes out mankind for rejecting His Son. If that’s not violent enough for you, you will find every kind of perversion of men in the Bible, including rape, lying, incest, lust, witchcraft, idolatry, sorcery, adultery, theft, murder, war and even cannibalism to name just a few.

The Bible screams out over and over again the need for men to embrace God as their Savior from their sins and live by a higher moral code than animals, since we are made in the image and likeness of God.  Even in the beginning, when God approaches Cain, He tells him that sin is at his door and that Cain must master it.  He didn’t listen of course and murdered his brother and then failed to accept responsibility for his actions.

That’s what the Book of Eli demonstrates as well, only in a very graphic way on the big screen by holding people accountable for their actions and showing the consequences of a world that doesn’t know God.   It does this without saying it directly, but through the actions of Eli and those he encounters on his journey since actions always speak louder than words.

I got sucked into this movie as I watched the life of a man who has learned to “walk by faith and not by sight” and put God’s mission above himself or the lives of others, which God honors by protecting him for his obedience with supernatural exploits. Eli also learns that he may have forgotten how to love others in the process because of his mission and severe judgments.  Which was the main message of the Book that he’s carrying and that’s one of the things that makes this film so powerful in the end.

We both liked it and I definitely rated it a Don’t Miss It. Becky thought it was Worth The Trip.

John – **** Don’t Miss It
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of The Lovely Bones

Becky and I went to see the new movie The Lovely Bones on Friday at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO. We’re going to try to go catch The Book of Eli later today, so be on the lookout for that review soon. The Yahoo website at The Lovely Bones describes the movie as follows:

“Susie Salmon, a young girl who has been murdered, watches over her family — and her killer — from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal…”

The Review
The Lovely Bones is a disturbing movie that is based on a book about a little girl who is murdered by her neighbor who is a serial killer during the 1970’s. We saw it on Friday to a packed audience, but there were too many teenagers who were a total distraction during the film.

The Lovely Bones is a great story, but it’s really difficult to watch because the serial killer is obviously sick in the head and has murdered others before as well. It also moves a bit too slow, showing some of the same scenes over and over, like when she takes a picture of her killer. If you have children, this movie will bug you!

I didn’t read the book, but it seemed to focus too much on the serial killer and not enough on the little girl when she was alive. It seemed to move too quickly into solving the murder after her death, but it was still a very good movie.

We liked it, but we wouldn’t say it was a Don’t Miss It. It was definitely Worth The Trip.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Leap Year

Becky and I went to see the new movie with Amy Adams Leap Year last week. I’m still a bit behind on the movie reviews, but I’m going to try to catch-up on the reviews today. The Yahoo website at Leap Year describes the movie as follows:

“ENCHANTED’s Amy Adams intends to charm more audiences with this giggle-filled romance. The Oscar-nominated actress stars as a woman who flies to Dublin to take advantage of an Irish tradition that says men who are proposed to on February 29 must marry their love. Director Anand Tucker takes a break from this serious drama of WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER? and HILARY & JACKIE to do this comedy…”

The Review
Leap Year is a typical chick flick and the movie was packed with women; I think I was the only guy in the place. The story was enjoyable and predictable and can best be described as “cute”.

Leap Year is not a great flick by any stretch because we’ve all seen it before in other Romantic Comedies, but the setting is different and the characters. The critics didn’t like it that much and gave it an average rating and I would have to agree that it wasn’t something you necessarily want to see on the Big Screen.

The setting is in Ireland and apparently most of the Irish, other than the main character, are stupid drunks. However, that’s not the main emphasis of this film. Amy Adams does a good job, along with her co-star, but I don’t think the script was written for her character. She pulls it off, but her boyfriend and her character should have been cast differently and I think it would have been a better movie.

We still liked it, but we would wait for the rental.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Sherlock Holmes

Becky and I took the kids to see new movie Sherlock Holmes with my parents a couple weeks ago. I’m a bit behind on the movie reviews. The Fandango website at Sherlock Holmes describes the movie as follows:

“In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson embark on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes battles as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country…”

The Review
Sherlock Holmes rocks!   It’s done extremely well.  This is a great movie that had plenty of action, adventure and suspense, along with some good acting. It’s not your typical Sherlock Holmes with the classic saying of, “elementary my Dear Watson, elementary.” with an overweight and boring Sherlock Holmes.

This Sherlock Holmes is like an action hero with a brain. The story is exciting, clever and will keep your interest from start to finish. If there was one drawback of this film it was that it was hard to understand the lead character at times with his accent. I liked this movie better than Avatar because the story had much more substance and it was put together so well without just the great special effects.

We all liked this movie and thought it was great! Even our kids all liked it.

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

Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It
Corban – **** Don’t Miss It
Bianca – **** Don’t MIss It
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant 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 – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy