Category Archives: Uncategorized

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

cloudymeatballsBecky and I took the kids to see the new kid’s movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs this Weekend at the Kerasotes theater in Castle Rock, CO. The Yahoo website at Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs describes the movie as follows:

“A scientist tries to solve world hunger only to see things go awry as food falls from the sky in abundance.”

The Review
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a new film based on a popular children’s book. The story is fun, the animation is pretty good and since our children have all read the book they loved it. It’s definitely totally for kids, but Becky and I both liked it too.

It has a great message about persevering and being careful about fame and fortune. The main character has a strange relationship with his Dad after his Mom has passed away. He is a zany inventor with some incredibly stupid inventions with this big one becoming the huge hit to save the town when it starts raining food based on his computer system. As the film progresses things go wrong and the story is about how he handles the situation.

We all liked this movie, it’s done close to $30 million at the box office, so it’s a big hit. The kids liked it more than we did, but we enjoyed it with them. Conroy went and saw it a second time with his buddies.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Conroy – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy or Facebook.

John & Becky’s Movie Review of The Informant

TheInformantBecky and I went and see the new Matt Damon movie The Informant at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO on Friday night. The Fandango website at The Informant describes the movie as follows:

“The Informant is the tale of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), an Ivy League Ph.D. who was a rising star at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s. The bipolar hero wound up blowing the whistle on the company’s price fixing tactics and became the highest-ranked executive to ever turn whistleblower in US history. Whitacre secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio tapes over several years to present to the FBI which became one of the largest price fixing cases in history…”

The Review
The Informant has a great commercial with all these reviews saying how great the flick is and even the Previews looked really good, so we were excited about seeing this one. We expected plenty of laughs, but at times I was one of the few people laughing in a packed theater and that wasn’t very often.

The film is based on a true story, which made it somewhat interesting, but that couldn’t save this film. Nor could the fact that Matt Damon put on like 40 pounds to do the movie. His character was crazy or at least he sure came across as a nut and it was hard to follow as you tried to figure out what was the truth and what was a lie. The people next to us got up and left after telling each other that it was too boring.

The Informant had no action, no suspense and very few laughs. The laughs that it did have were statements from Matt’s character about flossing his teeth in the shower for better time management over his lifetime. The flick was just too strange and it’s definitely a rental at best.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy or Facebook.

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Whiteout

WhiteoutBecky and I went and checked out the new Kate Beckinsale movie Whiteout at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO last night. The Fandango website at Whiteout describes the movie as follows:

“The only U.S. Marshal assigned to Antarctica, Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) will soon leave the harsh environment behind for good; in three days, the sun will set and the Amundsen-Scott Research Station will shut down for the long winter. When a body is discovered out on the open ice, Carrie’s investigation into the continent’s first homicide plunges her deep into a mystery that may cost her her own life…”

The Review
Whiteout is a thriller of the strange kind. I thought it was going to be a horror movie based on the Previews with some kind of monster in Antarctica, kind of like The Thing back in the 1980’s. It wasn’t that though at all and I think that’s what movie goers were expecting. Instead, it was a bit more like a slasher movie and that was surprising.

Kate Beckinsale was good in the film along with the other actors, but it wasn’t a great flick by any stretch. It moved really slow with plenty of scenes of the ice and cold weather. It looked like it was filmed on location and the scenery was wild. There are some really graphic scenes too that they could have done without and there are a few cliff hangers where you’re on the edge of you seat, wondering if she is going to get whacked in the cold, but the plot was really bad. It just wasn’t that interesting as it jumped around and you tried to figure out what they were after and who was the killer.

They tried hard to save this movie, but it was pretty lame. It’s definitely a rental. The ending is really bad. It’s one of those “six months later” deals and you’ll be glad it’s over at that point. Whiteout should make for a pretty good rental for a buck at RedBox, but don’t waste your money at the theater.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy or Facebook.

John & Becky’s Movie Review of 9

9Becky and I took the kids to see the new Tim Burton movie 9 this week at the Kerasotes theater in Castle Rock, CO. The Fandango website at 9 describes the movie as follows:

“When 9 (Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.”

The Review
9 is a very strange cartoon about the end of the world and how a scientist saves the world from the machines he’s created by bringing some small puppets to life after mankind has been wiped out. It has plenty of action and excitement. The characters are interesting, but it’s also violent and kind of scary for little kids, which is why it’s rated PG-13.

I found it funny that we have District 9 out along with this film 9 that came out on 09-09-09, which was kind of cool. The film though is a mixed bag for sure. Becky and Bianca hated it and got up and left. Bianca said, “Enjoy the stupid movie Dad. Mom and I are leaving.” Corban and Conroy liked it and I thought it was entertaining, but probably a good rental for kids who are a bit older. I can’t say I would spend the money on this one at the box office, unless you get the $5 club admission. Which you can get a Kerasotes between 4PM and 6PM in Castle Rock, I believe.

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

Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Conroy – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy or Facebook.

John & Becky’s Movie Review of All About Steve

All About SteveBecky and I went and caught the new Sandra Bullock movie All About Steve at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO on Friday night. The Yahoo Movie website at All About Steve describes the movie as follows:

“Mary Horowitz is a cruciverbalist – a crossword puzzle constructor. Her brain spins at warp speed with an endless stream of arcane information. She can come up with the perfect word – and dozens with the same meaning – at a moment’s notice, but “normal” behavior eludes her. For Mary, nothing is typical, especially relationships. When she is set up on a blind date with handsome cable-news cameraman Steve, Mary thinks the chemistry is undeniable – that Steve is “the one.” Steve, on the other hand, thinks Mary is crazy…”

The Review
All About Steve is a film that was totally hated by the Critics, probably because there were not any homosexuals in the movie and they ripped on the Media. It’s a typical quirky Sandra Bullock movie that has quite a few laughs and really pokes fun at the Media.

The film has plenty of meaning and the importance of words and how they have an impact on the lives of those around us. If you say one thing, you may mean something else, but people may take what you say the wrong way. The movie is definitely silly, but it was really fun and we both thought Sandra Bullock did a great job, along with the rest of her cast.

Be forewarned there are some stupid parts in the film, but again, you have to take them in the context of how the media chases some of the most stupid stories on the planet and turns them into “news”. For example, in the film, there is a media frenzy at a hospital about whether a child should be allowed to keep a third leg and there are groups on both sides fighting over what the outcome should be. Seems ridiculous, but if you track how the news media today responds to the craziest stories imaginable, it’s not really that far fetched.

The ending is not a huge success for a “feel good” movie and that’s probably the biggest shortcoming of the film, but it does deliver plenty of laughs and given the movies that are out right now, it’s probably the best of the bunch.

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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Taking Woodstock

Taking WoodstockAs I have been reporting, the movies at the Box Office have been terrible lately, but we ventured out to see the new movie Taking Woodstock at the AMC theaters in Broomfield, CO. The Yahoo Movie website at Taking Woodstock describes the movie as follows:

“A man working at his parents’ motel in the Catskills inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969…”

The Review
Taking Woodstock is a very stupid movie about the world famous art and musical event that took place back in 1969 with 500,000 whacky people, who found out there was a free concert in Woodstock, New York. I know I just offended a bunch of people, but maybe they should go and see this movie and they will have a different view.  Let’s watch some guy get naked and stoned in the back of a VW bus and look at pretty colors spin around on the screen.

Creedence Clearwater Revival for example was the first act to sign a contract for the event, agreeing to play for $10,000, which was a bunch of money back then, so obviously the event wasn’t free for everyone.  Someone paid for the bands to come and play and you do see that aspect in the film.  Especially, when they barter with the owner of the farm who went from wanting $5,000 to use his property to $75,000 once he found out they had ticket sales.  While so many young people think the music industry is all about freedom and love, it’s really about money.  Which is why they couldn’t book any bands for Woodstock until CCR got the guys putting it together to choke up $10,000.

The script for this movie, really centers around a young Jewish guy though, who of course is gay, trying to help his parents with their failing motel in Woodstock. He helps organize the Woodstock Art & Music Festival, since he’s gay, to try and save their motel with needed cash. It turns out he was buddies with the main organizer of the festival growing up, who could be gay we don’t really know.  He also also meets his own male love interest while organizing the “festival”, if you can imagine.

Goblin Network AdAfter the guy gets stoned and tells the world that the concert is going to be “Free Man”, 500,000 people decided to descend on the farm in Woodstock to hear a bunch of amazing bands.  If they show up, “Please come Bob Dylan” was a sign you saw quite a bit.  Bob must have been busy though because I don’t think he showed.   Unfortunately for the participants, the three day festival got rained out and many of the musicians didn’t want to get electrocuted, but there were still plenty of bands that played.  Along with plenty of sex, drugs, and rock and roll with lots of trash to clean up and the National Guard had to rescue many of the morons who over-dosed or got dehydrated. There were two deaths during the event that was left out of the film as well.  What do you expect when you get a half a million people together for three days?   “Somebody is going to die – man”.

As I watched this incredibly stupid movie, I was thinking, “These are the goofballs who are now running our Country and the music and entertainment industry. No wonder we’re in the trouble that we’re in now.” This movie really sucked on too many levels to mention, plus it was totally boring. It’s done about $3.5 million at the box office, so this isn’t going to be one that is going to knock the Studio’s socks off.  God isn’t dead, but Woodstock definitely is.

The great news is that most people today don’t care about Woodstock anymore because we’ve all watched the idiots from the sixties become half-baked musicians, lawyers who sue for spilling coffee on themselves or political Spin Doctors who have pushed America into the tank. 

225px-mao_zedong_portraitEven this week, President Obama, influenced heavily by people who came out of the 1960’s, is struggling with whether he is our President or the new U.S. Czar (we’ve got enough of them in his current administration, i.e. car czar, green jobs czar, bank czar) as he wants to get his motivational video pumped into our Elementary schools and probably send our children home with a picture of himself to put on their wall.  Where have I seen that before?  Oh, that’s right, that guy, what’s his name?  “Chairman Mao.” 

Well, since Woodstock was really a political statement at the time, I’ll give you mine.  I think that we should elect Tony Robbins as our next President and maybe we can all get a free trip to one of his motivational seminars or at the very least a free DVD series.

Our advice is don’t bother with this one. You’re better off finding a different kind of party to attend where you won’t find sex or drug, a Tea Party and listen to people who want to throw the bums in Washington out instead of going backwards once again to the 1960’s. 

Don’t get mad about my review either, since I went a little political because it’s all about “Peace man”, I mean “Far Out”, come on, it’s just “Groovey”.

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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of Post Grad

Post GradAbout a week ago Becky tortured me and we went to see the movie Post Grad at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO. The Yahoo Movie website at Post Grad describes the movie as follows:

“Ryden Malby had a plan. Do well in high school, thereby receiving a great college scholarship. Now that she’s finally graduated, it’s time for her to find a gorgeous loft apartment and land her dream job at the city’s best publishing house. But when Jessica Bard, Ryden’s college nemesis steals her perfect job, Ryden is forced to move back to her childhood home. Stuck with her eccentric family – a stubborn…”

The Review
Post Grad is one of the most ridiculous flicks we’ve seen this year. The acting is terrible, the Directing is goofy and the story makes very little sense. This movie was so bad that Becky and I got up and left out of complete boredom.

Goblin Network AdPost Grad is not even a good B movie. It’s not even a good rental. Carol Burnett tried to play her part and so did Michael Keaton, but their characters were borderline insane. The movie jumped around more than a Mexican Jumping Bean trying to create somekind of a plot, but there wasn’t one.

Post Grad is almost as though Hollywood said, “We’ve got this really cute girl Alexis Bledel, let’s put her in a movie this year.” They didn’t have a script, so they made one up and threw some money at it, which hasn’t paid off since they’ve done just over $5 million in ticket sales since opening. At any rate, the film wasn’t any good and we haven’t really seen a good flick for quite a while.

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

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

GIJoeI finally got around to writing the review of the new G.I. Joe flick that I took Conroy to a couple of weeks ago at the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, CO. Becky and Bianca didn’t want to see it and Corban was busy.The Fandango website at G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra describes the movie as follows:

“Director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) adapts the beloved Hasbro G.I. Joe toy line with this Paramount Pictures production that pits the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity against the evil forces of the organization known as Cobra. Dennis Quaid and Channing Tatum star as General Hawk and Duke Hauser, respectively, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marlon Wayans leading the rest of the cast, including Sienna Miller, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Saïd Taghmaoui, and Asian film star Lee Byung-hun….”

The Review
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra has plenty of action, violence and crazy special effects. It reminded me of that line in The Incredibles, “Woman, Where’s my super suit?”. Since the primary elements of the film are these wild G.I.’s battling in million dollar super suits that turn them into nothing short of modern Super Hero’s.

Goblin Network AdThe story is about this madman who is a descendant of a Scottish genius who played both sides in war using technology. His team has created this super nano technology that devours anything in their path and the only hope for mankind are the modern G.I. Joe team of super hero army men. There’s a bit of a love story in the film between the main character and one of the primary evil characters and she’s really an evil woman, which was a bit disturbing. You find out why later in the film, but it was still a bit over-the-top for this type of film.

This isn’t a bad movie, but it’s not a great movie either. I think Conroy summed it up best when he said after the movie, “Dad, that’s a great flick for anyone between 9 and about 14 years old. I loved it!”, which if you think about it G.I. Joe is really an action figure for little kids. I think ages 4 to 7 play with G.I. Joe action figures, so I’m not sure why they made it PG-13. This particular film definitely should have been PG-13, but they probably would have done better at the Box Office had they made it for a younger audience as well, by leaving out some of the serious violent action scenes and adult situations. I let Conroy see it a second time with some of his buddies from school since he liked it so much.

I have to say that other than Julie and Julia this was the best film I’ve been to in a while. The late Summer has really stunk at the movies. I think G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was Worth The Trip, but I wouldn’t rate it a Don’t Miss It.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of District 9

District9Becky and I went to see the new movie District 9 last night with our friends Rod & Kimberly Tactaquin at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, CO. The Fandango website at District 9 describes the movie as follows:

“Aliens become refugees in South Africa where they are kept isolated from any human contact. While being contained in the refuge being ignored of their welfare, their weapons become the sole interest of Multi-National United (MNU). But only one man , Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), can activate these weapons. He becomes hunted for and only one place can give him refuge, District 9…”

The Review
District 9 was supposed to be the flick Becky and I would go and see with Rod & Kimberly to end a weekend of pretty bad movies, but this was just one more.  It’s like that film Cloverfield with the real life camera work, but this movie was one of the worst sci-fi movies I’ve ever seen. I think the 1948 black and white film, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein would have been better entertainment.

Goblin Network AdThe story is about these aliens who land in South Africa and they are placed in District 9 as a refugee camp that turns violent. The advanced alien life form have super weapons, but they like to dine on cat food instead of gain their freedom from men and they look like giant bugs. The military contractors want their weapons, so there is an underlying motive to having them in the camps, but they want to evict them for political reasons and need their signatures for legal reasons, if you can imagine. Since these alien bugs will kill you without hesitation.

The film is disturbing on a number of levels, it’s certainly not entertaining, with plenty of nasty violence and a really pathetic story fueled with desperate characters. If anything it’s depressing and we got so fed up with it that we had to leave and couldn’t wait for the supposedly spectacular ending. Rod & Kimberly stayed, poor Kimberly.

The movie was just plain bad and I’m amazed people liked it as much as they did, since all I heard was how great it was.  The dude from Lord of the Rings produced it, Peter Jackson, so his fans are probably trying to pump him up as a Spielberg genius, but you would never know the same guy was involved in both movies.  About the only thing the two films have in common are black blood from goblins and aliens, but other than that this is not even a good rental where Lord of the Rings was fantastic.

Rod did like it for some reason and thought it was a good Science Fiction flick, but I’ve seen better episodes of the X-Files on T.V. than this goofy film. Rod is a Peter Jackson fan though, so that might have had something to do with it. I’m going to tease him that he’s a Peter Jackson “groupie”.

Our eleven year old could have written a better script. Actually, come to think of it, I would love to see somebody make The Last Apprentice book series with Tom Ward and Alice into a movie, instead of this crazy stuff. That would be entertaining to watch on the big screen and super scary because there is a great story.

Kimberly, Becky and I all thought District 9 was a complete waste of time. What’s “Nine” in German – No.

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

Rod – *** Worth The Trip
Kimberly – * Don’t Bother

Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy
_________________________________________________________________________
John Boyd

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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

John & Becky’s Movie Review of The Goods

spreadBecky and I went ended up in the new movie The Goods on Friday at the AMC theaters in Highland Ranch, CO. The Rotten Tomatoes website at The Goods describes the movie as follows:

“Who is Don Ready? Salesman? Lover? Song Stylist? Semi-professional dolphin trainer? Ready is all of the above – except for a dolphin trainer. When he’s asked to help save an ailing local car dealership from bankruptcy, Ready and his ragtag crew descend on the town of Temecula like a pack of coyotes on a basket full of burgers…”

The Review
Becky and I walked out of one bad movie on Friday night, Spread, and into another one, The Goods. After we left Spread because it was so terrible, we decided to go and see The Goods and that was another big mistake. I think we’re going to go and catch District 9 tonight and hopefully that will be better than these two films were.

Goblin Network AdThe Goods has a few good laughs, very few, but for the most part it’s nuts like that movie Anchorman or some of the other crazy Will Ferrell movies. I would liken the humor to what you would find in Land of the Lost, except their is a massive amount of cussing, bad situations and plenty of sex again in this film.

The story is about a failing car dealership who calls in a “closer” for the weekend with his crew of misfits to sell cars and they make no bones about it, that’s what they do. Obviously, the people who wrote the script had some knowledge of the car business, but it’s really ridiculous and stupid. For example, the owner of the car dealership turns out to be gay and wants to sleep with one of the guys on the Don Ready crew. The woman on Don Ready’s team wants to have sex with the owner’s ten year old son who is trapped in an adult’s body.

There are a couple funny parts, but once again this is a movie that is not even worth renting. We would have left had we not already left Spread. Our advice is to save your time and Don’t Bother seeing this one either.

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

Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. Find his consignments at JFRCars.com. 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 Follow The Cool Car Guy on Twitter – @coolcarguy or Facebook.