Becky and I went to see We Own The Night on opening night at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. The Fandango website at We Own The Night describes the movie as follows:

“In 1988, New York’s police wage an all-out war on drugs, and guilty and innocent alike become casualties. Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix), manager of a nightclub that is often frequented by gangsters, tries to remain neutral but hides a potentially fatal secret: His brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) are both cops. Caught in the middle, Bobby and his girlfriend, Amanda (Eva Mendes), are forced to choose sides – between the familial ties he has rejected and a future he cannot avoid.”

The Review
We Own The Night has an all-star cast including Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes, so you would think that this would be a fantastic flick. Unfortunately, the story is a bit too generic. All of the characters are interesting for a while and the acting is intense at times with a couple twists along the way.

Becky liked We Own The Night more than I did. We both thought it was a pretty good flick and I was into it for about half the movie, but then it just lost me since the drug dealers were far too stupid and there were too many things that weren’t feasible. It reminded me a great deal of that movie Copland where it was much ado about nothing with plenty of great actors, but a story that made you leave thinking “Yeah. Right?”.

I’m suggesting you wait for the rental rack for We Own The Night and Becky thought it was worth the $9 admission at the box office.

John – ** Rental
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Across The Universe tonight at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, Colorado with our friends Rod and Kimberly. The Yahoo website at Across The Universe describes the movie as follows:

“A romantic musical told mainly through numerous Beatles songs performed by the characters. A young man from Liverpool comes to America during the Vietnam War to find his father. He winds up in Greenwich Village, where he falls in love with an American girl who has grown up sheltered in the suburbs. Together they experience the sweeping changes of America in the late 60’s.”

The Review
Across The Universe has some great music from the 60’s and in particular The Beatles. However, you would be better off buying a collection of Beatles songs that are actually played by The Beatles and staying home and listening to the real music rather than going to this film. It’s long, too long and by the end you’re tired of hearing the lead character’s voice with far too much drama that makes no sense to anyone who isn’t on drugs or wasn’t involved in creating this film.

There is plenty of symbolism in this movie. No, there is way too much symbolism included in this off the wall politically motivated “musical”. At several points in the film, I thought we were watching a convoluted set of Pink Floyd MTV music videos put to music from The Beatles and co-starring actors who were supposed to look and sound like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. There is even a cameo appearance from U2 singer Bono where he appears as “The Walrus” and drives a psychedelic bus from the East to the West coast. It made tons of sense. Not really, it fit the rest of the movie since it made absolutely no sense at all, but made for good filler and he sounded really good singing The Walrus song.

I can’t forget the scene where you think you’re watching “The Grudge meets Yoko Ono”, which was super creepy and of course played to Beatles music. If you see the film you’ll know what I’m talking about the minute you see the dead women splash into the water.

I think that our friend Rod summed up Across The Universe the best when he said, “I feel like I just watched a 2.5 hour Coke commercial”. In conclusion, you can score another loser for Hollywood.

We debated if we should recommend this one as a Rental, but we’re pretty confident that you’ll be as bored as we were, after about an hour into the film, even with the good music. However, you can at least fast forward through the slow parts, which we didn’t have the luxury of doing. Although, I must say that some people apparently really liked this movie, so it is probably a mixed bag. My recommendation is to see it at your own risk when you have nothing better to do.

Once again, this weekend in movies has turned out to be a total waste of time at the theater.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Heartbreak Kid on Friday night at the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, Colorado with Becky’s Mom and Aunt Judy. The Yahoo website at Heartbreak Kid describes the movie as follows:

“After years of bachelorhood and ample pressure from his father, Doc, and best friend Mac, Eddie Cantrow starts to wonder if he is being too picky about the women he meets. So when a chance encounter with an alluring blonde named Lila leads to a sweet romance, Eddie impulsively proposes. But right after the wedding, as the newlyweds get to know each other on the drive down the California coast, Eddie…”

The Review
Heartbreak Kid is rated R for strong sexual content, crude humor and language and that pretty much sums up this worthless film starring Ben Stiller. It’s directed by Peter Farrelly and his brother Bobby Farrelly and we’ve all seen funnier Seinfeld episodes than this movie. You can probably find funnier films on YouTube for free than this movie and save your money and your time.

Ben Stiller should have passed on this one. It’s right up there with Good Luck Chuck for being a raunchy comedy that goes nowhere, but to the clearance rack for ninety-nine cent films and even then they won’t be worth your time. It’s about the fifth film we’ve seen recently that wasn’t worth the price of admission and that we should have paid for the agony of having to sit through them.

This weekend in movies was definitely another total waste of time at the theater.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see The Kingdom on opening night at the Kerasotes theaters in Castle Rock, Colorado. The Fandango website at The Kingdom describes the movie as follows:

“When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an international incident is ignited. FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) quickly assembles an elite team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing. Upon landing in the desert kingdom, however, they discover Saudi authorities unwelcoming of American interlopers into what they consider a local matter. The FBI agents find their expertise worthless without the trust of their Saudi counterparts, who want to locate the terrorist in their homeland on their own terms. Fleury’s crew finds a like-minded partner in Saudi Colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhoum), who helps them navigate royal politics and unlock the secrets of the crime scene. With these unlikely allies sharing a propulsive commitment, the team is led to the killer’s front door in a blistering do-or-die confrontation.”

The Review
The Kingdom has some powerhouse stars like Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner, along with some great trailers to really pump up the film. Becky wanted to leave after about 20 minutes and the first part of the film is really sick with little kids getting killed by terrorists. The promo says that you’ll be on the edge of your seat for the last 20 minutes of the film and that’s pretty much about the entire film. Besides having to watch a bunch of actors dressed up as FBI agents get frustrated with the Saudi Arabian government for two hours as they sit in a gymnasium talking about their lives.

It’s a dud of a film and the moral of the story is that if you move to Saudi Arabia and put your life and that of your family’s into the hands of the Saudi Arabian government for a few more bucks than you’re an idiot. Duh! Somebody had to make a movie to explain this to us? Give me a break.

Honestly, I had to step back and ask if it was just Becky and I who thought this movie was stupid because I’ve been so critical of movies at the box office lately, so I decided to check another movie review website RottenTomatoes.com and they agree with me. 53% of their visitors thought The Kingdom was “rotten”. So, I can have confidence in telling you to wait for the rental rack to see this one, but be prepared to fast forward to the end, which isn’t much better than the rest of the movie, so it’s really a Don’t Bother in our book.

Want an example of what to expect? There is one part of the film where they spend about 20 minutes sorting through mud trying to figure out what kind of vehicle the terrorists used to blow up a building and kill their friend in the FBI. Keep in mind, you get to watch this and you’re waiting for it to have some real significance to the film. After pulling car parts out of the mud for 20 minutes, it turns out to be an ambulance and the lead agent of the mud expedition is all excited that they have solved the clue. Would it have made a difference if it were a Jeep Liberty or a Toyota Corolla? I’ve seen Scooby Doo cartoons with more excitement from Velma finding clues. At least they had some relevance to solving the caper.

Actually, I think the best part of the movie was the beginning where it tells about the history of Saudi-American relations and our ties to oil with Saudi Arabia. Beyond that the movie is a waste of time.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Eastern Promises tonight at the AMC theaters in Highlands Ranch, Colorado with our friends Rod and Kimberly. The Yahoo website at Eastern Promises describes the movie as follows:

“The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon (Academy Award nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl), whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably…”

The Review
Eastern Promises didn’t deliver on it’s promises. It’s a Russian mobster movie that was far too graphic, moved way too slow and was completely pointless. Our friends thought it was as stupid as we did. It was a movie with potential, but the directing was bad, the story was weak and the film was really graphic with senseless violence whenever anything did happen.

It’s being touted as a Russian Godfather, but it was just a lame gangster movie that wasn’t worth the price of admission even though the acting was good by Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen.

This weekend in movies was definitely a total waste of time at the theater.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – * Don’t Bother
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Agent – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto agent with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

After leaving the stupid movie Good Luck Chuck, I went to see Resident Evil on Friday night. I couldn’t talk Becky into going with me since she’s not a fan of sci-fi horror films. The Yahoo website at Resident Evil describes the movie as follows:

“Alice, now in hiding in the Nevada desert, once again joins forces with Carlos Olivera and L.J., along with new survivors Claire, K-Mart and Nurse Betty to try to eliminate the deadly virus that threatens to make every human being undead…and to seek justice. Since being captured by the Umbrella Corporation, Alice has been subjected to biogenic experimentation and becomes genetically altered, with…”

The Review
Resident Evil is the third installment of the futuristic graphic horror film that came out of the video gaming world. The Umbrella Corporation is still trying to figure out how to contain the virus they have unleashed on the world that has turned humans into flesh eating zombies. It’s an action packed remanufactured version of Dawn of the Dead with a super hero called Alice played by the beautiful Milla Jovovich, but other than that it’s on the same level and totally nuts.

I can’t recommend paying for this flick at the theaters and I don’t know if you even want to rent it since it’s such a graphically violent and stupid movie. It’s just non-stop zombie killing from start to finish and on about the same level as playing a video game with a cast of characters playing the roles.

Needless to say that Friday night was a waste of time at the movie theater this week.

John – * Don’t Bother

_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Agent – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto agent with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Jessica Alba’s new movie Good Luck Chuck at the Kerasote theaters in Castle Rock, Colorado on Friday night. The Yahoo website at Good Luck Chuck describes the movie as follows:

“A man breaks up with his long-time girlfriend only to see her get engaged to the next guy she dates. The same pattern occurs with his next girlfriend, and continues to repeat. All of a sudden he finds himself becoming a lucky charm for women, who all want to date him. ”

The Review
Good Luck Chuck was given a “D” rating by the critics and we would go even further with an “F”. This movie was so stupid that we got up and left the theater. It was ridiculous. The story is that each time Dane Cook’s character sleeps with a woman she will find her true love. The whole film is woman throwing themselves at his character to try to sleep with him. It’s a raunchy film that wasn’t worth the price of admission.

I left and went to Resident Evil and Becky went to see the remainder of Sydney White.

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

_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Agent – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto agent with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Billy Bob Thornton’s new movie Mr. Woodcock at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on last week. The Yahoo website at Mr. Woodcock describes the movie as follows:

“John Farley, author of a best-selling self-help book about letting go of the past, violates his own advice when he returns to his small hometown to receive the community’s highest honor. While there, John learns, to his horror, that his widowed mother, Beverly, is engaged to be married to none other than Mr. Woodcock, the gym teacher whose sadistic exploits were the bane of John’s youth. Abetted by…”

The Review
Becky and I went into Mr. Woodcock with really low expectations, especially after the last few Billy Bob Thornton movies and the rave reviews of the lame comedy Superbad. From the opening scene Mr. Woodcock will have you laughing. Becky and I are not big fans of Billy Bob Thornton, but his character Mr. Woodcock was hysterical.

I’m surprised to see how many people and critics gave this film poor reviews when it was such a funny film. It’s on about the same level as a movie like Meet The Parents where the settings are ridiculous, but they are really funny. If you’re looking for a bunch of laughs and a good time, this is a movie to see. The entire theater was cracking up on this flick and the only thing that was surprising to us was that it wasn’t rated R.

There is no way that this movie should be rated PG-13 because it’s really over the top with the language and sexual situations. Do not take your kids to this film since it’s definitely adult humor. Be forewarned that it is stupid like “American Pie” or some of the other successful comedies of the past, but it’s pretty darn goofy.

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

_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Agent – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto agent with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Jodie Foster’s new movie The Brave One at the AMC Theaters in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on Friday night. The Yahoo website at The Brave One describes the movie as follows:

“New York radio host Erica Bain has a life that she loves and a fiancé she adores. All of it is taken from her when a brutal attack leaves Erica badly wounded and her fiancé dead. Unable to move past the tragedy, Erica begins prowling the city streets at night to track down the men she holds responsible. Her dark pursuit of justice catches the public’s attention, and the city is riveted by her anonymous…”

The Review
The Brave One is packed with action, suspense and drama all rolled into one very powerful and emotionally charged film. At times Becky and I thought we were watching The Silence of the Lambs. It’s very graphic and disturbing in that it makes you question when, if ever is it right to take another person’s life and when is revenge justified.

The Brave One really grabs you and forces you into some morality questions that you really don’t want to think about, but it also shows how screwed up our judicial system is and how a free society like American can be easily abused by criminals. This flick was far better than Charles Bronson’s Death Wish, but it dealt with the same vigilante issue of getting revenge on the wicked. The difference is that Jodie’s character is really struggling with losing herself and her soul where Bronson’s character made it clear that his victims deserved his justice.

Jody Foster was great in this movie and so was her co-star Terrence Howard. It’s an intense film, but Becky and I both liked it even though it’s disturbing on a number of levels. What’s that say about us? It will make you question your views on the death penalty since people get whacked without a trial and I was surprised that Jodie Foster played the role since she’s a pretty liberal Hollywood actor. She’s turned into quite the action hero with this flick and her previous Flight Plan and Panic Room.

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

_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Agent – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto agent with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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

Becky and I went to see Shoot ‘Em Up for a sneak preview last week at the AMC theaters in Littleton, Colorado. The Yahoo website at Shoot ‘Em Up describes the movie as follows:

Mr. Smith, the angriest, most hardboiled man in the world, finds himself entrusted to protect the most innocent thing of all–a newborn child. When Smith delivers the baby in the middle of a gunfight, he soon discovers that the infant is the target of a shadowy force that has sent a team of mysterious and endless assailants, led by Hertz, to erase all traces of the baby. Amid a hail of bullets and…

Review
Shoot ‘Em Up is much worse than the description of this movie above. It’s rated R for pervasive strong bloody violence, sexuality and some language. That’s all this movie is. There is absolutely nothing good about this film. Becky left and I agonized through it. I thought it would be a pretty decent action flick since it stars Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, and Monica Bellucci, but it was stupid and totally sick.

If you want to watch Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti run around brutally killing people for an hour and thirty-three minutes non-stop then this movie is for you. He’s invincible of course until the very end of the film where he’s still a comic book character. 3:10 to Yuma is violent, but it at least has some sensibility to it, a story and deals with the issue of right and wrong where there is no right or wrong in this movie, just kill or be killed. It sucked.

This movie isn’t even a good rental. It’s definitely on our worst list for the year and possibly one of the most ridiculous films we’ve ever paid money for. I should have left with Becky.

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

_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Agent – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto agent with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado and the host of The Cool Car Guy Show on Castle Rock Radio.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