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!