Becky and I went to see “Poseidon” on Friday night with my Mom for Mother’s Day. The Fandango website at Poseidon describes the movie as follows:

“After a huge tidal wave capsizes a luxury liner in the North Atlantic, individual survivors band together to traverse an upside-down maze that they hope will take them to safety. As the wrecked vessel fills with water, the survivors must call on hidden strengths and skills to face the fight of their lives.”

The Review
Poseidon had a great cast of characters and actors, including Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and even Richard Dreyfuss. Unfortunately, these great movie stars couldn’t save this drowning ship. It was like Titanic meets The Pefect Storm meets Die Hard and that was just too much for everyone. Too many bodies flying, far too much rushing water and not enough interest in any of the characters to care that they should survive. Especially, after having watched the rest of the ship meet a gruesome death.

Of course, this film had the token gay guy, played by Richard Dreyfuss and he survives in the movie. There is a ton of special effects in this film, which unfortunately pushed the audience overboard.

My Mom had watched the original the night before and she liked the 1973 film much better. Probably because the Director of the original took the time to get the audience interested in the characters before wiping out the entire ship. It was probably fitting that the ship was upside down since the audience pretty much felt the same way.

Our recommendation would be to wait for the rental on this one.

John – ** Rental
Becky – ** Rental
Mom – ** Rental
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I went to see “United 93” last week on opening night. The MovieFone website at United 93 describes the movie as follows:

“Bloody Sunday director Paul Greengrass marks the five-year anniversary on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with this largely speculative meditation on the events that took place onboard the fourth hijacked plane, and the heroic actions of the passengers who gave their lives to ensure the safety of others. Told in real time and acted out by a cast of unknowns who were provided with detailed studies of their real-life counterparts, United 93 attempts to reconstruct the airborne tragedy from the view of the ground and flight controllers, the passengers, and their nervous families awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones. As the terrified travelers and crew gradually become aware of the historical events taking place on the ground so far beneath them, the 90 minutes in which a random collection of strangers realized their fate and came together to confront an unthinkable threat are re-created. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide”

The Review
United 93 was a surprisingly very good film. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it, but Becky really wanted to and I am glad that we did. I remember standing in our kitchen on September 11th watching in disbelief as the World Trade Center buildings were attacked by terrorists. The tragedy of that day and the media coverage that followed was enough for me and I figured that this movie would be a disaster about the disaster.

Well, I was wrong and this was a very good film. Becky and I both thought that it was extremely well done and what we appreciated about it most was that it was not only about what took place on flight 93. The movie gave the audience a perspective of what September 11th was like for the military leaders, the FAA, air traffic controllers as well as the hero’s on board United flight 93.

This is not a movie for children, it’s rated R and is definitely a movie for adults. If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, we would recommend it. Most movie theaters are not showing Previews with this film, so make sure you arrive on time. It is definitely worth the trip.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I went to see “Stick It” last week. The Yahoo Movie website at Stick It describes the movie as follows:

“A 17 year-old, ex-gymnastics star with big family problems finds herself on the wrong side of the law after one-too many arrests. Forced back into the regimented world of gymnastics to clean up her act, she rediscovers her love of the sport and gets the chance to make peace with her dysfunctional life. Empowered by her transformation, she rallies fellow gymnasts to protest and outsmart outdated scoring…”

The Review
Stick It was a great teenie bopper / chick flick. It’s definitely geared toward a younger audience and has a great deal of drama and emotion to go along with the action of this sport’s story.

The story was clever and kept our interest with a great deal of attitude and sarcasm with some good laughs to boot. It’s a story about a girl gymnast, her life struggles, along with the difficulties she faces while participating in the sport of gymnastics.

Stick It will make you appreciate the challenges and intense training that world-class gymnasts go through to compete at the top level of the sport. It also dealt a blow to how the sport is judged, how trainers can be completely self-motivated and how some gymnast’s can be overly confident or downright arrogant.

However, it wasn’t very believable because of some of the situations that the main character finds herself in, especially during the climax of the film at a major competition and how all the gymnasts responded to the judges.

In spite of it’s shortcomings in the area of believability, “Stick It” grabs you and keeps your interest from start to finish. We both really liked the movie, but we’re also both suckers for teen sports flicks.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I took the kids to see the movie Hoot this Weekend. The Fandango website at Hoot describes the movie as follows:

“After moving from Montana to Florida, a youth becomes aware of a threat to a local population of endangered owls. Together with his new friends, he takes on corrupt politicians, greedy land developers and ignorant lawmen in a fight to protect the birds.”

The Review
Hoot was a cute movie that lived up to the movie trailer, but was not a great film by any stretch. Our older son Conroy, who is now 8, liked it more than Bianca and Corban did. It had a few laughs and kept your interest with a story about saving owls from the evil land developers trying to build their 100th pancake house. Unfortunately, every character in the story was stupid except for the three main characters and Jimmy Buffet the school teacher. It wasn’t really believable on any level.

For example, there is a part in the film where a diliquent kid, the hero of the film, gets bitten by a Rottweiler dog. His friends take him to the hospital the next day with a minor bite on his arm. Once at the hospital, the kids lie, so that the boy can get health insurance coverage by using the main character’s name. He flees the hospital after about 10 minutes like a super hero. It was not believable that the doctors, the parents and everyone other than the three kids are ding dongs.

I don’t want to wreck the movie because it’s a nice and fun kids film for the right age group. It was a cute movie, if you look past the fact that it was not realistic and simply a feel good film.

Becky and Conroy liked it more than our other two kids and myself.

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

The Kids Review
Corban – ** Rental
Bianca – ** Rental
Conroy – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I went to see “American Dreamz” this evening. The Yahoo Movie website at American Dreamz describes the movie as follows:

On the morning of his re-election, the President decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President’s apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as…

The Review
Becky and I have yet to watch the popular television show American Idol, so this movie gave us a glimpse into the zany world of this pop-culture phenomenon. The movie had a few good laughs, if you have a sick sense of humor, but only because it was so completely ridiculous.

The portrayal of the President, who was supposed be President Bush, played by Dennis Quaid, was downright offensive even if you’re not a fan of Bush. It was just ridiculous how stupid they made him out to be with a crazy Dick Cheney calling all the shots through a microphone in his ear. Every character in this film is nuts. However, the situations and personalities in the film are pretty funny, but overall the movie stinks. The ending was very disturbing and downright mean spirited that wrecked whatever laughs that we sat through.

Our advice for you on this one is to skip it all together.

John – * Don’t Bother
Becky – * Don’t Bother _________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I went to see “Mission Impossible: III” on Friday. The MovieFone website at Mission” Impossible III describes the movie as follows:

Tom Cruise is back as Special Agent Ethan Hunt in the latest installment of this billion-dollar franchise. Ving Rhames also returns as Hunt’s wisecracking partner in anti-crime Luther Stickell, and a bevy of all-star actors — including Michelle Monaghan, Laurence Fishburne, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Keri Russell and Billy Crudup — round out the cast. With ‘Lost’ dynamo J.J. Abrams at the helm, bringing his unique cocktail of action, drama and mystery to the table, this mission promises to be a whole lot more impossible than the first two.

The Review
The new “Mission Impossible III” opens up with Ethan Hunt in a high stress, life or death, impossible situation. The tension is pretty disturbing and you soon discover that this is something that will happen later in the movie and you’re getting a glimpse into the future of the main character. From that point on, it is pretty much non-stop action and thrills. It’s much more than Mission Impossible though, it’s more like Mission(s) Impossible. There are so many impossible scenarios that Ethan Hunt finds himself in it’s crazy.

Even though the situations are completely unbelievable, the movie is a blast. If you liked either of the first two, you will definitely like MI-III. It’s a fast paced action film that definitely delivers. I thought it was better than the last one and the best of the three. As you will recall, Mission Impossible is always about the cool gadgets and there are a ton of them in this film, including some pretty spooky technology that will make you think.

Most of the people we spoke with after the film gave it a “B” rating and we would have to agree. It was a really fun thrill ride with great characters, good acting and loads of excitement. Becky and I both thought it was Worth The Trip.

John – *** Worth The Trip
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I took the kids to see the movie Akeelah and the Bee this past Weekend. The Fandango website at Akeelah and the Bee describes the movie as follows:

“An inspirational drama, Akeelah and the Bee is the story of Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), a precocious eleven-year-old girl from south Los Angeles with a gift for words. Despite the objections of her mother Tanya (Angela Bassett), Akeelah enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne); her principal Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong) and the proud residents of her neighborhood. Akeelah’s aptitude earns her an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in turn unites her neighborhood who witness the courage and inspiration of one amazing little girl. A Lionsgate Films and 2929 Entertainment production, Akeelah and the Bee was written and directed by Doug Atchison. The film’s producers are Sid Ganis, Nancy Hult Ganis, Michael Romersa, Danny Llewelyn and Laurence Fishburne; executive producers are Todd Wagner, Mark Cuban, Marc Butan and Helen Sugland.”

The Review
This was a great movie on many levels. It may have been more suited for our 8 year old Conroy than Corban who is now 6 and Bianca who is turning 5, but all of our kids seemed to enjoy the movie.

There are a few language issues, which were unexpected for a PG movie, but it went over our kids heads as they focused on the story instead of the few instances of harsh language. The movie focused on the importance of having a solid education, the power of words in conversation and print to gain the respect of your audience and to avoiding “trash” talking.

On the way home, our kids were competing to spell words, which was a fun time for all of us. It was like getting to enter a bonus round for watching a good movie. We were all surprised, as we are sure most people seeing this movie will be, that so much hard work and dedication goes into competing in the National Spelling Bee. It was a real eye opener. It made me appreciate the power of the English language, especially in today’s heated political climate where the English language is so often under attack.

Akeelah and the Bee is a great movie for the entire family and a very inspirational film. It deals with the struggles of life, the challenges young people face regardless of where they live, class and prejudice issues in society, and how people can rise above stereotypes and obstacles to become the person they were meant to be. In one part of the film, the entire community comes together to support Akeelah on her quest and they realize they are a part of something much bigger than just themselves.

It’s also not just a kids film, but is a great movie for people of all ages with fantastic acting and a wonderful story.

We definitely thought it was a movie that you Don’t Want To Miss.

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

The Kids Review
Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – *** Worth The Trip
Conroy – **** Don’t Miss It
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I went to see “The Sentinel” last week. The Fandango website at The Sentinel describes the movie as follows:

Pete Garrison is the most decorated agent in the history of the Secret Service – the President’s last line of defense. But now, wrongly suspected of targeting the president for assassination, Garrison has become the Service’s worst nightmare. As he uses his formidable skills to try and prove his innocence and find the real assassin, Garrison is tracked by his equally adept former protegee.

The Review
Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger and Eva Longoria star in this film about the Secret Service and The White House. The acting is very good, but the story is really far fetched. Supposedly the man in charge of protecting the world’s most protected woman is having an affair with her. I had flashbacks to the movie “Bodyguard” with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. While he’s deep in his affair, he suddenly becomes the key suspect in a plot to assisinate her husband, while his primary job is protecting him.

The movie has a great deal of action and a bit of suspense, but I didn’t find it as good as some of the television episodes of “CSI” or “24”. The situational problems with the film didn’t bother Becky as much as they did me and she liked it more than I did. There are times in the film when you can’t decide if he’s a good agent or a bad agent and we could have used the good witch from the Wizard of Oz to sort it out for us. We may have found out that he wasn’t a Secret Sevice agent at all or he could have retired earlier than the end of the movie.

It wasn’t a really bad thriller, but it wasn’t very good either. I don’t think it was as good as “Inside Man”, which would be my recommendation over this one. Becky would agree.

John – ** Rental
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I went to see “Thank You For Smoking” this Weekend at the AMC theater in Highlands Ranch. The Fandango website at Thank You For Smoking describes the movie as follows:

Writer-director Jason Reitman skewers the smoking industry with this satirical take on Big Tobacco’s politics. Aaron Eckhart stars as Nick Naylor, the chief spokesman for the business. While doing his best to make smoking ‘cool’ for the masses, Nick also attempts to be a role model for his 12-year-old son.

The Review
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a totally original comedy and “Thank You For Smoking” definitely hit the mark. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, you should find this flick to be witty and fun.

The hero of the film is a self serving lobbyist for the tobacco industry. Becky pointed out there there isn’t one person who lights up a cigarette during the entire movie, which was ironic given the title of the film and what it was about.

The acting was very good with a quality cast of stars and the personalities are hilarious, including the Hollywood agent played by Rob Lowe. The dialogue in the movie is fantastic, even if it’s cynical and dark most of the time. You can’t help but laugh at the cast of characters and how self-centered, coniving and ruthless they are. We don’t want to give away much of the film. It’s rated R for language and some sexual content, so be forwarned that some people may find a few parts offensive.

I liked it enough that I don’t think you should miss it because the overall message of the movie is very good given all the spin that takes place on both sides of the political fence. Becky liked it too and thought it was Worth The Trip.

John – **** Don’t Miss It
Becky – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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

Becky and I took the kids to see the new animated movie, The Wild on Saturday. The MovieFone website at The Wild describes the movie as follows:

In this wild and outrageous computer-animated comedy-adventure, an odd assortment of animals from the New York Zoo -– including a lion (Keifer Sutherland), a giraffe (Janeane Garofalo), an anaconda (Richard Kind), a koala (Eddie Izzard) and a squirrel(Jim Belushi) -– discover what a jungle the city can be when one of their own is mistakenly shipped to the wild and they embark on a dangerous mission to rescue him.

The Review
Hollywood has found that parents will take their kids to just about any animated movie and kids just like cartoons. Becky and I didn’t think there was anything original about this film. It was like “The Lion King” meets “Madagascar” and it was about half as good as either one of them.

The animation was good, but the story was pretty weak and so much of it made very little sense. Of course, our kids liked it because kids love cartoons regardless of the content, as every parent has discovered with Pokemon. However, our four-year old daughter Bianca absolutely loved this movie and it was rated G. It’s definitely a kid’s movie and there wasn’t much for parents or older children.

If you’re going to take your kids to the movies, go to Ice Age: The Meltdown before this one. There are more animated films on the horizon for families to take their kids too. We’ll keep you posted.

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

The Kids Review
Corban – *** Worth The Trip
Bianca – **** Don’t Miss It
Conroy – *** Worth The Trip
_________________________________________________________________________
Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with Centennial Leasing & Sales 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