Rubicon

Greg's Review

So it has been a while since we have updated our blog here. I think it was a combination of things that got us side tracked a bit: School got busy for me, I went on a trip to Israel, and Michelle and the kids went to Wyoming to visit family. Anyway, hopefully we can be a little more consistent now and provide some more reviews. The review today is a first for us. Until now, we have focused on movies but recently we have made a bit of a switch to television series. So today, Rubicon, which aires on AMC is the subject of our review.

I must say that this is definitely my kind of T.V. show. It is the ultimate mind-bending espionage show that I love. I will provide a brief description from the AMC website:

"Nothing is what it seems, eveything is questioned, and clues hide in plain sight in the AMC original drama series Rubicon. Inspired by the suspenseful and high-stakes political whodunits of the 1970s -- from The Parallax View to All The President's Men -- Rubicon is a modern-day conspiracy thriller that taps into the collective paranoia of a post-9/11 era. Set at the New York City-based American Policy Institute (API), a federal intelligence agency, Rubicon follows Will Travers, a beleagured and brilliant API analyst who, after being faced with a shocking tragedy, begins to uncover clues that could point to a complex and sinister conspiracy."

So to the review:

Acting: 4.5 stars

Entertainment: 5 stars

Message: 4 stars (at this point, I guess I could say that a morale that you could take away might be to do what you believe to be right regardless of the odds against you)

Cleanliness: 4.5 stars (there has been one episode with a bit of skin)

Originality: 4 stars (the idea has been done before but it is very refreshing from the same old "Law & Order" cop shows)

Overall: 4.4 stars (I love this show!!!)

It Might Get Loud

Being a musician myself, these types of movies tend to hit home with me but I must say that I have never been a U2 fan. When I heard that the Edge was a part of it I decided against seeing it. It wasn't until somebody recommended it highly that I thought I would give it a whirl. It was very, very cool! I especially liked Jack White's part in the movie, which I thought was going to be a bit awkward because he really doesn't fit the mold of the other two. I would rate it by our rubric but most of the categories do not apply. So I will just give it my overall rating:

Overall: 4.5 stars

Lovely Bones

Michelle's Review

I have never read the book that goes a long with this movie, so I didn't really know what to expect going into it.  I knew the basic plot line though, and knew it would kind of be a creepy movie.  And indeed it was.  The way the movie was directed and written was a little odd, but the story line just made me sick to my stomach.  I did not really like this movie, and would not recommend it to anyone who has children.  (The thought of losing a child in this way just makes me sick.)

Entertainment: 2 stars

Message: 2.5 stars

Acting: 3.5 stars

Cleanliness: 4 stars
(There wasn't any bad language or immoral stuff that I can remember, but what happens to the girl in this movie is really creepy.)

Originality: 4.5 stars

Overall: 3.3 stars

Greg's Review

This movie was disturbing just due to the story line itself.  It deals with a serial killer that murders young women and gets away with it until the end.  It was interesting if you like this type of movie.  To the review:

Message:  4 stars
(although horrible things happen to us there is a silver lining.)

Originality:  3.8 stars
(The story was told through the eyes of the daughter that gets murdered and that point of view was interesting.)

Acting:  3.5

Entertainment:  4 stars

Cleanliness:  3.5 stars

Overall:  3.8 stars 

Oceans

Michelle's Review

Greg has been in between semesters for the past week or so now, and one day we were trying to find something to do.  Going to movie seemed like fun, and it just so happened that this movie was playing.  We don't normally go to the movie with kids anymore because well now that is just crazy.  But we made an exception with this one hoping that Deagan would really like it and it would go really well.  It must have been fate because we were the only ones there that day to see it and Deagan did infact like it! Two perfect combinations!
The movie was actually pretty good with a TON of amazing photage of a ton of amazing sea animals.  I have a pretty big fear of water since for some reason I have convinced myself that there is a shark in every body of water (lame I know), but I am always fasinated with reading about or watching stuff about the ocean and sharks. 
Towards the end of the movie, Kayden was getting restless and Deagan was getting a little too crazy with all the freedom, so I was anxious to get out there and the movie just wasn't ending soon enough.  But overall, it was a great movie and I would reccomend it to anyone with kids or anyone who just wants to watch a movie about oceans:)

Entertainment: 4.5 stars

Originality: 5 stars

Acting: n/a

Message: 5 stars
(The underlying message was obviously to protect the ocean, and you gotta admit; that is a pretty good message:)

Cleanliness: 5 stars
(Gotta love rated G movies!)

Overall: 4.8 stars

The Time Traveler's Wife

Michelle's Review


I am a sucker for romance movies obviously, so that was my reason for wanting to see this movie.  We actually went to see it in theaters a while back, but had a bad experience at the theater with Deagan and didn't stay for more than 20 minutes of it.  We finally rented it, and I am glad that we got to finish it finally.  We felt like some of the parts felt too close to home, so it was really emotional for us.  But we liked the movie overall.  Definitely worth watching if you are into romance movies:)

Entertainment: 4 stars

Acting: 3.5 stars
(I think that Rachel McAdams is a good actress, but I am not that impressed with Eric Bana in this movie.  I have seen him in other roles, and like him, but he was definitely not my favorite in this one.)

Originality: 4.5 stars

Cleanliness: 3.5 stars
(There was some language, and a few risque parts)

Message: 4 stars


Overall: 3.9 stars

Greg's Review

We went to see this movie a few months ago when it was in the theater but we got "shhh"ed by some lady that was not having a good day apparently.  We went to a matinee and we brought Deagan with us.  He was playing around us and we didn't think anything of it.  Anyway, so I had only seen the beginning and I wasn't too impressed so when we rented it I did not have high expectations.  I was very surprised and I will admit I shed a few tears!  For anyone that knows me that is very uncharacteristic of me.  Anyway, it was very sad in the end and it had to do with death and kids were invovled and I guess it just hit home.  So with that to the review:

Entertainment:  4.5 stars

Originality:  4.5 stars
(You could have predicted the ending but it was not obvious and he travels through time! That is pretty unique.)

Message:  4 stars
(tragedy happens and we need to move on)

Acting:  4 stars

Cleanliness: 3.5 stars
(There was one scene)

Overall:  4.1 stars

Avatar

Michelle's Review


First off, when I first heard that this movie was coming out, I had absolutely no desire to see it.  I am not into the whole sci-fi scene.  People kept telling us how good it was, but I just wasn't convinces.  Then I was at Target last week, and it was on sale for $14, or something like that, and I almost bought it just because it was a pretty good deal for a new release.  I decided that we should see it first though just incase we didn't like it.  Well, we rented it this past weekend, and I REALLY liked it.  I was converted:) Really, all skeptics should see it.

Entertainment: 5 stars

Acting: 4 stars
(Most of it was really great, but Sam Covington had a few moments that were a little awkward sounding to me.)

Originality: 4.5 stars
(The story line was pretty predictable.  It felt a lot like a cowboy vs indian type of plot.  But James Cameron created this whole new world with a new language, and I consider that to be pretty original!)

Cleanliness: 3.5 stars
(There was a lot of bad language)

Message: 4 stars

Overall: 4.2 stars

Greg's Review

Well, I do not normally like sci-fi-type movies but I have to say that Avatar was pretty cool!  I thought that it was amazing how they were able to create this new world and the computer animation was amazing.  I think that pretty much the whole movie was eye-candy and refreshing.  To the review:

Entertainment:  5 stars

Originality:  3 stars
(Like Michelle said it was a futuristic story of cowboys and indians)

Acting:  4.5 stars

Message:  4 stars
(Good can triumph over evil)

Cleanliness:  2.8 stars
(There was quite a bit of foul language)

Overall:  3.9 stars 

Love Happens

Michelle's Review


It has been a few days since we watched this movie, so my review is probably going to be a little rusty.  This movie didn't receive very high reviews, but I did not think it was bad as every review made it out to be.  This was your typical romantic comedy though, so it is not very original.  The acting was also so-so, but the story line was kind of unique.  If you like a love story, this is a movie for you!

Originality: 3 stars

Acting: 3.5 stars

Message: 2 stars (It was an odd story line, not necessarily a bad one, but odd)

Cleanliness: 4 stars (Like I said before, it has been a few days so I might be forgetting some things, but I don't remember it being that bad)

Entertainment: 3.5 stars

Overall: 3.2 stars

Greg's Review

Going into this one I thought that it was going to be lame because it had a very low rating online.  However, I have noticed that quite often I like movies that have been given low reviews.  Maybe it means that my taste doesn't quite coincide with what is mainstream?  If so, that is ok with me.  I liked this movie.  It wasn't all that original but it had a good story line and was entertaining.  To the review:

Entertainment:  3.7 stars

Originality:  1.5 stars

Message:  4 stars
(It dealt with tragedy and being able to move on and forgive yourself)

Cleanliness:  4.5 stars
(At least I think...I don't recall any bad parts.)

Acting:  3 stars

Overall:  3.3 stars 

How to Train Your Dragon

Michelle's Review

Greg did not see this one with me, but my mom and I went to this yesterday for something to do and loved it! It had received really high reviews on "Rotten Tomatoes," so we were anticipating it to be good and it was!  Deagan stayed into the movie the whole time.  The best part about it was that is was in 3D.  I normally don't like watching movies in 3D, but this really was the best way to watch it.  There weren't any big name actors in it which made it almost refreshing.  I would recommend this movie to people of all ages!

Originality: 5 stars

Acting: 5 stars

Cleanliness: 5 stars

Message: 5 stars

Entertainment: 5 stars

Overall: 5 stars!

New Baby + March Madness = Less Movie Viewing

So, a week and a half ago Michelle gave birth to our second son Kayden. It has made for a very busy time lately. In addition, we have been engulfed in March Madness and, consequently, we haven't spent a lot of time watching movies. I just wanted to let everybody know so that people did not start getting too antsy. We watched a new movie over the weekend and you should expect a new review shortly.

No Impact Man

Greg's Review

It has been awhile since we saw a documentary.  Over the summer we watched a bunch of them and we really enjoyed watching them.  I think we got a little burnt out with the limited selection of traditional movies that are out there (especially since there seems to be very few movie that are not R rated).  Anyway, I liked this documentary even though I am not an environmentalist by any means.  I think it did make me think a little bit more about how much energy we consume and the small ways that we could reduce our carbon footprint.  The method that this guy pursued to make a point was very extreme, which he outright claims, but I like the way that he (and his family) went about it.  He treated it as a research experiment, which really hits home for me right now given everything I am doing.  With that, to the scores:

Entertainment:  5 stars

Acting:  N/A
(its a documentary)

Originality:  5 stars

Message:  5 stars

Cleanliness:  4 stars 
(a few F bombs)

Overall:  5 stars

Remember Me

Michelle's Review

Last night, Greg and I had what could be our last date before our baby is born.  We aren't really creative on what we do on our dates.  It is either dinner or a movie.  Either way, we love going to movies together, obviously and love going on dates even more!

Neither of us had really looked into this movie much before we went to it, so I had no idea what to expect.  This movie is not for the faint of heart or for someone in the mood for a perfect love story.  From the very beginning, the movies starts off very intense and honestly leaves you in shock at the end.  Thankfully, some characters do find peace or forgiveness along the way, so I did leave feeling better about most of the characters.  But as a warning, the ending is not a happy one though, so beware.

I have never really liked Rob Pattison as an actor, even in the "Twilight" saga.  He just doesn't seem to fit that part very well to me, but I thought he was EXCELLENT in this movie.  Honestly, his best role yet.

The story line keeps you constantly guessing and wanting to know what will happen next, which really makes for a great movie.  While we both left the movie stunned, we really liked how it was written, directed, etc.  However, this movie will not receive a high rating for cleanliness at all.  Lots of language and sex scenes.  We closed our eyes several times unfortunately.

Entertainment: 5 stars

Originality: 4.5 stars

Message: 3 stars

Cleanliness: .5 stars

Acting: 4.5 stars

Overall: 3.5 stars

Greg's Review

I had no idea what this movie was about going into it and I was really surprised perhaps because of that reason.  I thought that the acting was good and the entire movie was very engaging and intense.  The opening scene was heart wrenching and likewise was the ending.  The downside was that there was a lot of bad language and sexual content.  It seems like you can't escape that type of thing unless you watch G rated movies all the time.  Anyway, to the review:
 
Entertainment:  4.5 stars

Acting:  4.5 stars

Originality:  4 stars
(It was pretty unpredictable)

Message:  3.5 stars
(Perhaps, although life gives you lemons you can make lemonade?)

Cleanliness:  1 star

Overall:  3.5 stars 

2012

Michelle's Review

This was your typical dooms-day/end of the world film with a hero that miraculously defeats all odds. That is my biggest complaint with this movie; there was nothing in it that hasn't been done before in other films like this.  Also, it was absolutely amazing to me that the main characters managed to escape certain death every single time something horrible was happening.  They were always just one step ahead! Not that I was hoping or wishing any ill harm to any of the characters, but way too predictable!  If by chance anything bad did happen to one of the characters, I did not buy any real genuine emotion from any of the other actors.  Come on, if my boyfriend were crushed in a giant gear I think I would cry.  Obviously, I was not a huge fan but did enjoy a nice date night with my hubby:)

Acting: 2 stars

Entertainment: 3.5 stars (It was predictable, but the special effects were pretty entertaining to watch)

Message: 3 stars

Originality: 1 star

Cleanliness: 4.5 stars

Overall: 2.8 stars

Greg's Review

So I thought this movie looked pretty lame from the previews but thought that it might have been a bit better that I expected.  I was completely right!  This movie was horrible!  It was very predictable and so unrealistic.  It was so far out there that everytime there was an action sequence I started to cringe and hope that the horror would end.  I made it through the end and thought to myself, "why did I waste two hours of my time on that?"  With these uplifting comments, here are the marks:

Entertainment:  1.5 stars

Acting:  1 star

Originality:  1 star

Message:  1.5 stars

Cleanliness:  4.5 stars
(I have to give it that.)

Overall:  1.9 stars 

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

G

Michelle's Review

I couldn't watch this movie for some reason, so I can not give an honest review here:)


Greg's Review

As some of you may know, I am studying South Asian studies right now and I love to watch movies that serve two purposes:  entertain and educate.  I think that the first point could be debated as to whether or not films like this are entertaining but, to me they are.  This movie was superb as far as content goes, especially because it gives you a different point of view into Indian politics than you would not normally get.  Dr. Ambedkar was an "Untouchable", which for those of you that know about how the caste system works in India that means he was part of the lowest caste.  He was one of the few that was able to be educated and lead a movement to abolish human right violations against Untouchables.  He lived during the time of Ghandi and interestingly enough Ghandi was opposed to his position.  Anyway to the review:

Entertainment:  3 stars
(to others this could be 0 stars)

Originality:  2 stars

Acting:  2 stars
(the quality was not great but it was about presenting the content in movie format instead of a documentary)

Cleanliness:  5 stars

Message:  5 stars

Overall:  3.4 stars

Surrogates

Greg's Review

So as I promised, this movie is not a romantic comedy. To tell you the truth I looked through all the movies in the Redbox kiosk and decided that I had no other options because everything else was either a chick flick or rated "R". Therefore, this was basically a last resort movie since I had seen previews for it and it looked pretty lame especially since recent films with Bruce Willis have been a letdown. However, I was very surprised. I really liked the movie and thought that the idea was relevant to recent technologies such as "Second Life". I also loved that it was so short (89 minutes), which seems very difficult to find nowadays. So to the breakdown:

Entertainment: 4.5 stars

Originality: 4 stars
(the plot was not very predictable and kept you guessing)

Acting: 3.5 stars
(Bruce Willis isn't the greatest actor and let's be honest how great can the acting be in a sci-fi movie like this?)

Message: 4 stars
(Basically the idea was that over dependence on technology can really rob us of the real experiences of life.)

Cleanliness: 3 stars
(Better than I was anticipating)

Overall: 3.8 stars

Michelle's Review

Yesterday morning we were in the car on the way home from somewhere, and we heard a segment on NPR about how addicting "Second Life" is and that type of technology. It was ironic to me when Greg brought this movie home because of that. I was really surprised at this movie, and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I am not a big Bruce Willis fan, so I had that hanging over my head while I as watching it. I honestly didn't make it through the entire movie either though, so maybe I missed the bad parts:) We started watching this movie really late, and I am pretty much useless after midnight. But I did make it through most of it, and feel that I saw enough to make a review about it.

Entertainment: 4.5 stars

Originality: 4 stars
(This movie kind of reminded me of "Minority Report" because of the futuristic factor, so I didn't feel it was TOTALLY original. However, it was pretty unique.)

Acting: 3 stars

Message: 4 stars
(I really does make you stop and think how dependent we are on technology and how much more we could become in the future.)

Cleanliness: 3.5 stars
(I can't really remember there being a whole lot of horrible parts, but there were a few parts that were risque and bad language)

Overall: 3 stars
(It is worth the watch!)

The Other End of the Line

Greg's Review

I promise that the next movie will be something other than a romantic comedy! This one was just already in our queue on Netflix. Anyway, the rest of the movies that we have reviewed so far have all received pretty high scores. I have to say that this one will definitely not! We gave this one a shot because we sometimes like low-budget, independent films. However, I think I would have turned this one off midway if I didn't feel like I should finish it to give it a score. With that, to the scores:

Entertainment: 2 stars

Originality: 1.5 stars
(really nothing happens that you couldn't guess from the beginning. The only thing that gives it a little originality is the Indian cultural aspect.)

Acting: 1 star
(it made me cringe quite a few times.)

Message: 2 stars

Cleanliness: 1 star
(had to fast forward several times.)

Overall: 1.5 stars


Michelle's Review

Since Greg is studying Hindi in school right now, we have watched quite a few Bollywood films lately.  Some of them I have liked, others not so much.  This one would fall under the "not so much" category.  The story line was very unoriginal and the acting at times was just painful.  Either way, it was nice to see that once again a couple gets their happily ever after!

Entertainment: 1.5 stars

Originality: 2 stars.
(It was pretty easy to tell how the movie would play out from the very beginning.  However, there are always some things that you don't expect which is why I am giving it a generous 2.)

Acting: 1 star

Cleanliness: 1 star

Message: 1 star
(I am not sure what kind of message they were trying to send.)

Overall: 1.3 stars

Suggestions

We are so excited to see the amount of traffic that we have got on the blog so far! While we have a few movies that we are planning to watch and review, we were wondering about what recommendations everyone has for us to put to the test? Let them fly don't be shy!

500 Days of Summer

Michelle's Review

I really liked this movie!  I love independent films and this had that sort of feel to it. I also liked the main character Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  I can't remember the last time I saw him in a movie, and I thought he was so great.  Because I know some people want to hear opinions about the ending, I will give mine. :) Hopefully I won't give away too much though.

The ending is not what I expected at all.  From the previews and from having seen a million romantic comedy movies, I thought it would follow a similar pattern, but it didn't.  But I think that is why I liked it so much.  It wasn't typical ending and fit the independent elements that I really like. But when the movie ended, I felt like all the characters were happy or would find happiness in love.

The catch with this film though that keeps me from saying I LOVED THIS MOVIE is that there were quite a few inappropriate scenes that we fast forwarded through.  It didn't seem to help the story line either, so it was disappointing to have so much of that in it.

The length of the movie was perfect as well.  I think it was only an hour and a half long, and I felt like it was the perfect time.

Ratings:

Originality: 5 stars

(The format of the movie was very unique.)

Message: 3 stars

Acting: 5 stars

Cleanliness: 1.5 stars

(Like I said, too much sex and language for me)

Entertainment: 5 stars

Overall: 4 stars

Greg's Review

So I think it is pretty apparent that the movies that we have been watching lately all come from the same genre and they don't portray me in a very "manly" light:)  That being said, the next movie that we watch will have to be something more like esionage and action.  However, this was a really interesting movie and it really threw a spin on romantic comedy.  It jumped back and forth from early in the 500 days to later in the movie to show the ups and downs of the so-called relationship between the two main characters.   As Michelle said, it had this new-age feel to it that made it original and engaging.  We actually started watching late and told ourselves that we were only going to watch part of it and come back to the next evening.  As we got about half way into the film, there was no way that either of us could stop so, as a result, we are both dragging today.  That really says a lot because Michelle usually has a tough time staying awake through a lot of the movies we watch, especially with her being pregnant right now.  Now to the breakdown: 

Entertainment:  5 stars

Originality:  5 stars

Acting:  4.5 stars

Message:  4 stars
(The message was basically that of optimism and idealism that comes through in the end.)

Cleanliness:  2.5 stars
(There were several scenes that we had to fast forward and there was a substantial amount of language.)

Overall:  4.2 stars

Dear John-Michelle's Review

I am a sucker for chick flicks and would prefer to see one over an action film any day.  I think I enjoyed this movie more too because Greg and I saw it on a date, and who doesn't love a movie that you can watch without having to worry about kids?  I have seen pretty much all the movies that have been made off of Nicholas Spark's books, and I feel that this is one of my favorites so far.  I was definately pleasantly surprised!

Entertainment: 5 stars (If I cry during a movie, it automatically gets 5 stars:)

Originality: 3 stars (I felt most of the story was pretty predictable, but there were a few parts that I totally did not see coming)

Message: 4 stars

Acting: 4 stars

Cleanliness: 3 stars (For being a Nicholas Spark's story, I was REALLY surprised that there wasn't more steamy parts.)

Overall: 4 stars

Dear John

So as part of Michelle and I's date night that occurs few and far between, we went to see Dear John. I was a little skeptical coming into it because it received an astronomically low rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I was anticipating a horrible movie with horrible acting. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Although it was a "chick-flick", it proved to be an entertaining 2 hours and a nice couple movie. And with that, to the score:

Entertainment: 4 stars

Originality: 2 stars
(It was a "chick-flick" and therefore pretty predictable, however there was one or two parts that fooled you.)

Acting: 4 stars

Message: 2 stars
(The message was that love can prevail surprisingly enough, however there was a part where the girl made a decision and said that she had no other choice and it was completely ridiculous!)

Cleanliness: 2.5 stars
(There were two scenes that were a bit racy, but to be expected.)

Overall: 3.1 stars

Greg's Review

First movie to be reviewed in The Invention of Lying. My overall impression of this movie was fairly high. It started out with some very hilarious parts and the plot was very unique, which made for an interesting romantic comedy. I would recommend this film to anyone that would like a light and creative movie. Here is the breakdown:

Entertainment: 4 stars

Originality: 5 stars

Acting: 3.5 stars (how great can the acting be in a romantic comedy?)

Message: 1 star
There was a message about "the man in the sky" but it was semi-blasphemous. The movie kind of presents the main character as a prophet who speaks to the "man in the sky."

Cleanliness: 3 stars
Some language and sexual conversations.

Overall: 3.3 stars

Michelle's Review

I have wanted to see this movie since I first saw previews because it looked like an interesting plot.  While I enjoyed the film over all, there were a few parts that I felt were inappropriate and not really needed, but what movie isn't like that anymore?

Entertainment: 4 stars

Originality: 5 stars

Acting: 4 stars

Message: 1 star (I feel the same as Greg did as far as it being a little blasphemous.  And I didn't finish watching the movie feeling like I totally understand the purpose behind the message.)

Cleanliness: 2.5 stars

Overall: 3.5 stars

As a couple, we enjoy watching movies together. Some like to dance, cook, play games, etc.  We like movies! (We do do other things in our lives though I must say.) 

We are probably not like most movie people though.  We own very few movies.  The movies that we do have in our home belong to our toddler.  We just don't re-watch movies that often.  Every once in a while I will get stuck on a movie and just "HAVE TO HAVE IT," but that is rare. We either watch our movies via the theater or Netflix, which is by far the greatest thing!

So the other night, I was telling a story of a couple that had been married for 70 years and their secret to success was that they had fun together and they went dancing every week. 

Greg and I did actually meet for the first time at a dance, but neither of us have ever been dancing since.  For us, I just don't think that dancing will attribute to a long and happy marriage.  However, we enjoy watching movies together and have fun doing so!

All of this leads to the creation of this blog.  We love movies and want to share our thoughts on movies with the blogging world!


Our System:

We are going to go with the traditional "5 star" rating system and rate each movie based off of 5 different categories: 1-Entertainment, 2-Originality, 3-Acting, 4-Message, 5-Cleanliness. 

Each movie will receive two ratings; one from Greg and one from me. 

In no way do we feel we have any real authority on this topic.  We just like movies. 

We hope you enjoy!