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