The End (Or The Beginning): 30 Days of MoviePass Summary

Our 30 days of MoviePass have come to a bittersweet end.
We have very much enjoyed going to the movies as many times as possible in 30 days!
We saw some fantastic movies and some bad ones, but in the end, I think it was completely and totally worth it for hardcore film fanatics.

Reflecting on our experience, I have come to the conclusion that I absolutely love going to the movies.
I love everything about it.
From talking to the people who work at the theater, to the "coming soon" posters lining the walls, to the smell of $18.00 popcorn popping from behind the concession stand, everything about going to the movies is (usually) an enjoyable experience.

What I hate is that one asshat in Colorado with a gun and no sense of right and wrong ruined it for the rest of us.
I can count on one hand the number of times I didn't get freaked out, scared, or distracted because someone walked by me and "acted strange" during a movie.
I've become nervous about going to the movies, yes, but I'm not letting that stop me from going, even if I get irrationally nervous.
I won't go to midnight release showings because that's a bit too much for me right now, but maybe in the future my paranoia will slip away.

About 98% of the movies we went to had great audiences with very few people using their cell phones and/or general annoyingness during the showings. There were some groups of people who talked nonstop, but it usually got curbed after a while.

It's interesting to note that the theater we go to most raised their ticket prices by $0.25 per showing right in the middle of our MoviePass adventure.

Here's a more in-depth look at our MoviePass experience:

• Normally, we would be forced to go to the earliest showing of movies because it's so much cheaper. $11.00-$12.00 for a movie ticket is sort of steep. MoviePass allowed us to go to ANY showing, regardless of the time, which was a huge benefit for us when going to "kids" movies.
  
• In total, we saw 23 movies in 30 days, and most of the movies we wouldn't have bothered seeing in the theater.
• Total ticket price for ONE PERSON without MoviePass: $211.75
• Total ticket price for TWO PEOPLE without MoviePass: $423.50
  
• 1 MoviePass (for one month): $50
• 2 MoviePasses (for one month): $100

***TOTAL SAVINGS WITH MOVIEPASS: $323.50***

While we did thoroughly enjoy our time as MoviePass members, I do have some suggestions for the company, so that they may continue to grow and include as many people as possible in their program.

• Please, please, PLEASE invent a pricing plan for couples and families! I think this would really drive up the amount of people who would be interested in using your service. Even if it's a bit more per month, it's still cheaper than $100 for two people (two one-month memberships at $49.99 per person is what we paid).
• Not that we're huge fans or anything, but I see some people alienated from this membership because they like to go to 3D & IMAX movies but are not allowed to do so. Maybe there could be a plan where users pay more (and would be willing to do so) that could include 3D showings of movies.
• For older moviegoers who do not have a Smartphone and/or know how to use a Smartphone, this service is basically pointless since the entire "check-in" process revolves around having a Smartphone with a data plan. Perhaps allowing users to"check-in" at home and giving them a bit more time to get to the theater, instead of 30 minutes to buy their ticket, would allow people without fancy phones to get in on the MoviePass fun.

Here are our favorites!

My top 5 favorite movies:

-Star Trek Into Darkness

-This Is The End

-Iron Man 3

-Despicable Me 2

-Epic

Josh's top 5 favorite movies:

-Star Trek Into Darkness

-Iron Man 3

-This Is The End

-Despicable Me 2

-Monsters University

Our least favorite movies:

-The Heat

-After Earth

-Fast & Furious 6 (Waaaaaaaay out in 3rd (because the other two were soooo bad) and only because it was numerically the next least favorite movie)

We hope you enjoyed reading our reviews and our MoviePass experience! I know we had fun seeing movies and writing reviews!

Check out our (soon to be live????) NEW BLOG at: http://www.lololovesfilms.blogspot.com (seeing a pattern?). 

We may even buy a whole year of MoviePass to keep the reviews coming!

See you at the movies! :)

Movie Review, Day 30: "Despicable Me 2"

Day 30 (last movie) :(

Movie: "Despicable Me 2"
Ticket Price: $12.00
Showtime: 9:45 pm
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

GRU!!!!!!!!! MINIONS!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

"Despicable Me 2" is the much anticipated sequel to the wildly successful first installment featuring Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), Agnes, Edith, Margo, and Dr. Nefario (voiced by Russell Brand).

The movie starts off with Gru being a father to the three girls and doing everything in his power to keep an honest, non-villainous life. He gets recruited by the AVL (Anti Villain League) to figure out why an Arctic lab with a dangerous mutation chemical was stolen off the face of the Earth. We meet Lucy (voiced by Kristen Wiig), a crazy/eccentric/silly AVL agent, who becomes Gru's partner to try and solve this crime using the mind of someone who used to be a criminal. Gru and Lucy's cover is a cupcake shop in a local mall; there, the two try to figure out which shop owner is really a criminal villain mastermind. Gru's suspicions grow deeper as he accuses restaurant owner Eduardo of being a thought-to-be-dead supervillain. Along the way, the characters find love, heartbreak, and new-found bonds in this sometimes heartwarming sequel.

This movie was basically made to showcase The Minions since kids loooooooooved them in the first "Despicable Me." It was extremely cute, and we both found ourselves smiling throughout the entire movie. The plot was good, the actors did great voice work, and I think it has a very touching message throughout the film. Steve Carell can do no wrong in my eyes.

We went late at night on July 3rd, and the theater was packed with mostly adults and teenagers. There were probably 5 or 6 kids in the entire theater. The guy behind us didn't stop laughing through the entire movie. And when I say laugh, I mean LAUGH, like hearty, guffaw type laughing. He loved the Minions, which proves you don't need to have kids or be a kid to enjoy cartoon movies.

My Rating: 8/10
Josh's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.9/10
Do we recommend the movie: Yes! Fans of the original movie will enjoy this one, too.

Movie Review, Day 29: "White House Down"

Day 29 (?)

Movie: "White House Down"
Ticket Price: $10.25
Showtime: 12:45 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 11 minutes

"How are you still awake?"
"Coffee and patriotism, sir."

GREATEST. MOVIE. LINE. EVER. #MURICA

"White House Down" follows John Cale (Channing Tatum) as he tries to mend his broken relationship with his 11 year old YouTuber daughter Emily (Joey King); she happens to be a huge fan of all things presidential, and he attempts to bond with her by getting them passes to a tour of the White House. Before the tour, he has to go to a job interview in order to try and become a member of the president's secret service. This is the exact same day that the White House is targeted and overtaken by a group of terrorists. John must find his daughter, who got separated from him, and attempt to keep her safe; along the way, he finds that the president of the United States (Jamie Foxx) needs his help and protection as well.

Two words: CHANNING. TATUM.
He is not shirtless once in this movie and still manages to remain sexier than your favs.
There are a few scenes where he is in a tank top under sprinklers with his huge, bulging biceps in tow.
Check please.

Now, I was a Channing Tatum naysayer for the longest time UNTIL I saw "Magic Mike." Life changing. Earth shattering. So. Much. Shirtless. Gyrating.

My new-found appreciation for Mr. Tatum (congratulations on the birth of your first daughter, by the way, since I know you're reading this ever-so vigilantly) drove us to see this movie. It turned out to be way better than we expected! It was the perfect pre-Fourth of July film. It had lots of explosions, but still managed to have way less than the number of explosions in "Man of Steel." There were many humorous moments, too, which surprised me. I like Jamie Foxx, and LOVE Maggie Gyllenhaal. There was very little romance in this film, which I thought the filmmakers had in the making a few times throughout.

I should mention that there is a pretty big liberal swing to this movie ( and they don't hid it at all) and many reviews we have read for this film are angry about that. Plus, dudes don't want to see Channing Tatum flexing his muscles, so there's that, but it'll keep the ladies happy for most of the movie. ;) There are quite a few glaring potholes and improbabilities in this movie, but then again, it's directed by the same guy who did "Independence Day," "2012," and "The Day After Tomorrow," so you'd expect it from a guy who basically thinks the world is going to end any second.

Take it for what it is: a decent action flick, good for summer (unfortunately didn't make so much money its opening weekend), some funny parts, and machine guns at the top of Motorcade cars.

My Rating: 7/10 (3/10 on the Channing Tatum hotness movie scale)
Josh's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.1/10
Do we recommend the film: It's a good action movie that you don't need to take too seriously.

Movie Review, Day 28: "The Heat"

I know you like Melissa McCarthy, Deb, so stop reading this now.

Day 28

Movie: "The Heat"
Ticket Price: $12.00
Showtime: 10:15 pm
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes

Sandra Bullock (Oscar winner, let that sink in), an FBI agent, stars along side Melissa McCarthy (an Oscar nominee for something related to a sink, let that sink in, so pun intended), a Boston police officer, who need to work together buddy-cop style (one of the only female buddy-cop films I can think of) to try and bring down a local Boston drug lord.

Did I ever mention on this blog that I got a degree in women's studies in college? I thought I had, but maybe not. It's been a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time since something has set off my "internal feminist alarm" to the point where I got angry enough to write about it.
Enter "The Heat."
Some of you will like this movie. Josh and I, on the other hand, did not.
I don't think movies that blatantly make fun of and try to offend every single group of human beings (people of other ethnic groups, people with disabilities, women, people that are older, people from certain areas) are funny.

I have a mouth like a sailor, yes, it's true, but I know when to turn it off, and I know who it will offend (98.29129753% of the time). I've never heard the F-word used so egregiously in a movie. Take "The Big Lebowski," for example: that movie uses the F-word over 200 times, but it never becomes unnecessary because the humor behind it makes up for the fact that it's used. When you're throwing the F-word behind every. single. effing. word. in. ever. single. effing. sentence., it becomes annoying and try-hard. This is the difference between the F-word in context (in "Lebowski") and the F-word being the joke (in "The Heat"). There's nothing else behind F-word, that is the joke. It's supposed to be funny that she keeps saying it over and over and over and over and over and over. It's a sort of "look at me, I'm a woman and I'm saying F**K! F**K F**K F**KITY F**K F**K F**K!!! IT'S FUNNY because I'm a F**KING WOMAN!"

Melissa McCarthy might be your cup of tea, but she just isn't mine. I don't like "Mike and Molly" because it's one big, long, never-ending fat joke, even though I, as a bigger person, am supposed to dig this kind of self-deprecating humor because "hey, I'm fat, I can relate to this!"
Well, I can't, and I don't.
I feel like my life is worth more than making every situation and scenario I encounter into a fat joke.

I didn't particularly like "Bridesmaids," and I don't think pooping in sinks is funny, it's just gross. I LOVED "Gilmore Girls," and I loved McCarthy in it, but she has become a niche actress where all of her characters are written with a need to assert this vulgar, nasty way about her, and I just can't get into it. She always has to be a crass, blunt, tomboy character, and while that's not necessarily bad, I think it's because of her size that this is done: movie makers and script writers assume she can't anything remotely feminine or sexual because she's just too fat, and that's not fair. I think the fact that they photoshopped her on the film's poster, even in different countries, proves this.

I don't think that what I like is better than what you or the next Jo/anne-schmo like, but if I get offended by overuse of the F-word? Yikes. McCarthy knows her place in movies and plays her role well, it's just not something I look forward to seeing 100 times again and again.

Sandra Bullock was annoying in this movie, too. Her character is supposed to act by-the-book, yet constantly felt the need to assert all of her various credentials throughout the film, as if to prove she was smart enough to do whatever it was she was doing. You're obviously a high-ranking FBI agent, you obviously got there for a reason, why constantly try and prove you know Bulgarian, or know how to drive a getaway car and lose a tail, or know how to preform a tracheotomy? And just because she's a woman with a powerful job DOESN'T MEAN SHE HAS TO BE MISERABLE. When is Hollywood going to stop perpetuating this negative stereotype of women? If a woman has a family, she automatically can't have a job. If a woman doesn't have a family, she's automatically unhappy and a bitter old spinster who has a crappy life with cats. It was just tiresome.

There were probably 10 other people in our theater, and every single one of them was laughing. AND HARD. I just don't understand why. I chuckle mildly two times. There's no way around it for me: it just wasn't my kind of funny.

I've been going to movies regularly for probably the past 10-15 years and I have never in this history of seeing movies wanted to walk out of the theater. Ever. And despite wanting to 10 minutes into the movie, we sat there and finished the film and couldn't wait to leave. The plot was very disjointed, and many of the secondary characters that are intro

Like I mentioned earlier, some of you like Melissa McCarthy and will most likely dig this film; most critics LOVE this movie, and they are even making a "The Heat II," according to IMDB. I'll go ahead and sit that one out. For now, let's just say we were displeased, at the least.

My Rating: 3/10
Josh's Rating: 2/10
IMDB's Rating: 7/10
Do we recommend the film: No. This movie is not for the faint of heart because it also has quite a bit of violence along with the slew of profanity.

Movie Review, Day 26: "Free The Mind"

Day 26

Movie: "Free The Mind"
Ticket Price: $6.00
Showtime: 11:00 am
Rating:  NR
Running Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

This documentary is about how soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD were asked to be part of a breathing and meditation trial to lessen their need for medication. Many of the soldiers in this documentary either saw people in their battalions get killed or were interrogators themselves (and did horrible things from which they could not escape). Another part of the movie focused on a foster child who had a bad experience in an elevator, and using breathing to get him to overcome his fears.

As far as documentaries go, this one was sort of interesting yet pretty boring. The meditation and breathing practices seemed to work for most of the participants. This movie dragged on, even though it was only 80 minutes long. It was pretty preachy, too. Not our favorite documentary ever.

My Rating: 5.5/10
Josh's Rating: 5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.2/10
Do we recommend the film: 50/50 yes and no.

Movie Review, Day 24: "World War Z"

Day 24

Movie: "World War Z"
Ticket Price: $9.75
Showtime: 1:20 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

PG-13 rated zombie movie? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Brad Pitt stars as Gerry, a former UN employee who had previous experience in war-torn areas, who lefthis job to stay at home with his wife and kids. While he and his family are driving in downtown Philly, the zombie war begins there. Running for safety, they find temporary refuge in an apartment building with a family who is determined to stay in their home at all costs. Tierry, Gerry's former UN employer, gets a helicopter to him and they take it to a ship in the middle of the ocean. They believe the zombies are the result of a rapidly spreading virus that could have possibly originated in South Korea. They make a deal with Gerry: if he accompanies a doctor and some SEAL team members on a mission find the origin of the virus, they will keep his family safe on the boat. The quest to find out what is causing the zombies to spread and fast becomes a race against time as more and more urban/populated cities fall within minutes.

If you haven't read the book, you'll like this. If you have you'll point out the differences and it will ruin it for you. If you take it for what it is, it's a pretty good zombie movie (but I've seen more gore in "The Walking Dead," and that's on TV). It has enough intensity to keep you interested; a bite means you're changed within a few seconds, and these movies ARE NOT slow-moving, they haul ass! Same idea with the "head-shot" and burning methods of destruction, but just fast-moving zombies. These zombies are not interested in feasting on the living, they just need healthy hosts to bite and move on.

I'm still bitter that this has virtually nothing to do with the book.

While this was a decent zombie flick, Brad Pitt: A) runs too much in it; B) managed to keep his scarf on during the zombie apocalypse; C) needs to cut his freakin' hair!

My Rating: 7/10
Josh's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.4/10
Do we recommend the film: Sure, why not. It's a decent zombie movie.

Movie Review, Day 23: "Monsters University"

Day 23

Movie: "Monsters University"
Ticket Price: $12.00
Showtime: 9:40 pm
Rating: G
Running Time: 1 hour, 44 minutes

"Monsters University" is where it all began! This movie flashbacks to Mike and Sully going to the Scaring School at Monsters University years before they start working at Monsters Inc. Mike Wazowski's dream to be a Scarer started when he was just a tiny monster on a field trip to the Monsters Inc. scare floor. He studies hard and gets into Monsters U, where he and Sully became quick competitors before they are friends. Mike is the underdog, the overachieving book worm, and Sully is the child of a legend: the Sullivan family name has been scaring for generations; he a jock-type and feels no need to study for exams because he believes he is naturally talented. We meet a host of new characters in this movie, and some old ones, too.

Mike and Sully, after a small Scare-Off between one another, get expelled from the Scaring program. Forced to join together with a group of not so scary misfit student, Mike and Sully must work together to win the Scare Games as a team in order to be reinstated into the program.

This movie was adorable. The new characters were funny, likable, and I enjoyed every minute of this movie. In my opinion, it did the original justice. The underdog story of Mike Wazowski is one that even littler kids will be able to understand, and they will get a kick out of the other characters as well. The characters are interesting enough to make this often-used plot line enjoyable. Even as adults with no kids, Josh and I loved it. We purposely went to the latest showing so there wouldn't be very many kids (none, in fact). If you liked the old one, you'll probably like the new one!

My Rating: 8.5/10
Josh's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.8
Do we recommend the movie: Yes! It's fun for everyone, even the young at heart.

Movie Review, Day 17: "Evil Dead"

Day 17 

Movie: "Evil Dead"
Ticket Price: $4.00; ***this was a crappy, second-run movie theater about 25 minutes away from our house, virtually at the California/Mexico border. Old seats, cheap hot dogs, smelled of pee. Floor sticky like bubblegum, but actually soda. Popcorn everywhere. But, we are virtually out of movies to see because we've seen everything out right now (until tomorrow, when 3 new movies come out).
Showtime: 9:30 pm
Rating: R, R, R.
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Drug addict gets intervention in abandoned family cabin with her friends and her brother (who apparently had a falling out with the friends, but the movie doesn't go into this much).
Stinky smell.
LET'S INVESTIGATE, KAY!?!?!?!?!
Surprised to find dead animals hanging from the ceiling.
Found a book that is shut in wires and layers and layers of plastic.
LET'S OPEN IT, KAY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Weird things start to happen.
Don't let drug addict leave the cabin.
Book looks like it's covered in burned, stretched human skin.
Drug addicted girl becomes possessed by evil demon spirit thing because guy who opened book repeated inscription.
Gore.
Gore.
Gore.
Gore.
Blood.
Gross.
Half of face sawed off by glass from a mirror.
Gross.
Gross.
Gross.
Awful.
Hid my eyes over a dozen times.
Arm sawed off with meat carver.
Disgusting.
Guy who opened the book dies.
Brother shoots demon girl full of tranquilizer.
Bury the possessed girl alive.
BUT THEN LET'S BRING HER BACK TO LIFE, KAY!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Demon comes back into soul of guy who opened book because HE WASN'T DEAD, obvs.
Always double tap.
Chases girl.
Brother barricades himself in house and shoot gasoline can to burn demon.
Girl rips hand off when Jeep falls onto it.
Saws demon head in half with chainsaw.
HAPI.
Ending sucked.

Still scarred. Ick.
Josh thinks it was an effective horror/gore-or film.
I may or may not have cried.
STOP REMAKING MOVIES THAT DON'T NEED TO BE REMADE.

My Rating: 3.5/10
Josh's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.0/10
Do we recommend the film: Just see the original, you'll be much more satisfied and less grossed-out. better yet, see the SEQUEL to the original, Evil Dead 2. Bruce Campbell is a god.

Movie Review, Day 16: "Before Midnight"

Day 16

Movie: "Before Midnight"
Ticket Price: $12.00
Showtime: 9:40 pm
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

This is the third installment in the "Before" trilogy; its predecessors are "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," each picking up 9 years later (and actually filmed in 9 year increments).

The first movie follows Jesse and Celine in 1994, who happened to meet on a train bound for Vienna; the two get to talking, and Jesse convinces Celine to get off the train with him. They spend the night wandering the streets of Europe, talking of life, love, heartache, and religion. They have one night of romance and, when Jesse must return to the US, they make a vow to meet again in 6 months in Vienna.

The second movie takes place 9 years later, in 2003; Jesse ended up going back to meet Celine as promised, but she never showed up. Her grandmother had died, so that's why she didn't go to meet him. Jesse has written a book about their one night together and is on a book tour when he sees Celine, who has been searching for him after reading the book. He confesses he is unhappily married with a son, and Celine is in a relationship with a man who is always on assignment. At the end of the movie after, yes, another night together, Jesse stays with Celine instead of returning home to the US; the two start their life together in Europe.

"Before Midnight" shows Jesse and Celine 9 years later, still unmarried but with twins of their own (in addition to Jesse's son Hank from his first marriage). Hank visits them in Europe every summer, but this time when he gets dropped off at the airport, Jesse implied a desire to be closer to his son in Chicago (who has a drunk for a mother and a bad custody agreement in her favor). This is a huge source of strife between the couple, and comes up often in arguments the pair have throughout the movie. Celine is debating taking a better paying government job, a step-up from her current non-profit gig; this also is a huge source of strife between the two.

We've watched this couple grow and evolve over the course of two decades and this film shows that their growth is not without its problems. They are seemingly drifting apart, headed in different directions. She constantly tries to change him while he constantly tries to correct her. It is just as happy as it is maddening and frustrating. It's real, and you believe that these two actors, these two characters, have a deep connection with one another.

The film also delves deeply into the philosophy of life, love, the differences between men and women, and concept of a "fairy tale romance." It's one gigantic conversation, but the content of that conversation is enough to keep viewers engaged, excited, and enraged.

The couple fights. They bicker. They walk. They talk. They connect but then disconnect within the span of 30 seconds. They get romantic. Skittle nerps. They trash talk each other. They go through a spectrum of emotions, just like any normal couple does. It's completely realistic portrayal of how relationships work without all the fluff and sometimes never received pomp and circumstance. It's realistic because it thumbs its nose as the notion of  "and they lived happily ever after."

When the movie ended, we were surprise it was over. It was an hour and 48 minutes long, but it felt like it was gone in a flash. I really hope they make another movie in 9 years to see where the couple end ups, good or bad, happy or sad, together or separated.

Starring: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy; movie contains sexual dialogue and gestures as well as a 5-7 minute nude scene featuring Delpy, and some language, but I really encourage you to watch this trilogy.

My Rating: 7/10
Josh's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.4/10
Do we recommend the movie: Anyone who has ever experienced romance will connect with these movie on some level, so yes, we recommend this film.

Movie Review, Day 15: "Man of Steel"

Day 15

Movie: "Man of Steel"
Ticket Price: $9.75
Showtime: 4:55 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 23 minutes

The movie opens on Krypton. We soon discover that General Zod (Michael Shannon) is the military leader of the planet and Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is chief scientist. Kal-El's (Henry Cavill) parents have the first natural birth in centuries.

The people of Krypton have harvested energy from the planet's core, which will ultimately lead to their destruction. Zod and Jor-El have similar visions for the future of the planet, but have very different means of getting there. In order to protect the bloodline, Jor-El and Lara send Kal-El to Earth as a baby. Clark Kent/Superman, now 33 years old, has been told his entire life to hide his true self for fear of rejection by the citizens of Earth; his Earth father and mother (Kevin Costner & Diane Lane) also told him that he had an important role to play at some point in life (ad nauseum, I might add), he just had to wait for the right moment to shine. Superman must attempt to bridge the two planets and subsequent societies (Earth & Krypton).

The entire first part of the movie features Clark Kent jumping from job to job fairly quickly; any time he shows his abnormality/the beast within, he runs away, trying to cover up his past while moving on to the next town, the next job, the next path, trying to find himself along the way.

The space ships in this movie look like male genitalia.

Amy Adams is adorable, as always. <3

Henry Cavill is ridiculously attractive,BUT SUPERMAN IS NOT A BRIT. Ugh!

I do not like Michael Shannon. He always plays himself. And his eyes are scary.

Good special effects, lots of action/boom/people crashing into buildings/buildings crashing into people. This movie was REALLY LOUD, volume wise. The loudest movie I've ever experienced. This movie also dragged on and on and on. I felt like a lot of the lines were rehashed using just different words and verbage (IE: "you're destined for something greater than this world" and "whoever that man is, he's going to change the world.").

While this movie has a lot going for it, it does lack something. Not sure if it's Superman himself, who isn't particularly a compelling superhero due to his inability to be destroyed by anything except Kryptonite/too many super powers/general annoyingness with the whole "I'm putting on glasses and pretending to be A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON" thing.

Most superheroes are underdogs trying to defeat a much more dangerous opponent against all odds. Superman is just that, a really strong, indestructible "super" man, which makes it hard for him to ever be an underdog.

I was really excited about this movie based on the trailers. The director, Zack Snyder is great, Christopher Nolan was the producer and he is basically a genius...unfortunately, it just didn't live up to my expectations. Something about it was off. It wasn't bad, but it's definitely not the best superhero movie I've seen. Not by a long shot.

...and the summer of Christopher Meloni and Michael Kelly continues...

My Rating: 6.75/10
Josh's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.2/10
Do we recommend the movie: Ehh. Fans of superhero movies/Superman/actions movies will dig it.

Movie Review, Day 14: "This Is The End"

Day 14

Movie: "This Is The End"
Ticket Price: $11.00
Showtime: 9:45 pm
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hours, 47 minutes

"The Apocalypse is nigh."

Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson are trapped in James Franco's house after a crazy party when the world beings to end. The friends must lean on one another to stay alive.

Another movie with something for everyone. In my opinion, this movie was outrageously hysterical. There are TONS of celebrity cameos throughout, which lead to some hilarious encounters. If gigantic demon, erm, "members" don't both you, then you're good to go. This movie contains strong sexual content, potty humor, violence, gore, and is definitely a "hard-R." If you've seen one or more of the following: "Pineapple Express," "Superbad," "Your Highness," "The 40 Year Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," "The Watch," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," "Fanboys," or "Grandma's Boy," you'll probably enjoy this.

The only low point was Danny McBride. He's annoying, simple as that. He's that guy (AND WE ALL KNOW ONE PERSON LIKE THIS) in every real-life scenario that crashes a party uninvited and acts like a selfish jerk while eating all the food and drinking all the good liquor. One guy behind us was particularly fond of Danny McBride and let everyone know it. Loudly. At least he wasn't on his cell phone like the girl next to us.

I have not been to a theater this crowded (a non-opening day showing) in forever. We were the second set of two people in the theater, and slowly, the masses started trickling in. Like, people sitting next to us shoulder to shoulder crowded. It was bonkers.

There's a cameo at the very end of the movie that I, in particular, enjoyed so thoroughly that I clapped. Let's just say, 90's boys band. :)

My Rating: 9/10
Josh's Rating: 9/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.1/10
Do we recommend the movie: If you're down with the descriptions laid out above, go for it. NOT for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

Movie Review, Day 13: "Kon Tiki"

Day 13

Movie: "Kon Tiki"
Ticket Price: $9.25
Showtime: 1:30 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hours, 58 minutes

Thor Heyerdal and his very small crew makes a daring attempt to sail from South America to Polynesia in a makeshift balsawood raft the way Kon-Tiki, the Inca sun god, did 1,500 years ago. His theory was that Peruvians were the first people to settle in Polynesia thousands of years ago, not settlers from Asia. Without being able to properly secure funding from various magazines and scholarly journals, who wrote him off as if he was crazy for challenging what is already common scientific knowledge, he turns to the Peruvian government for help. Despite not knowing how to swim and with little more than a hypothesis and faith, Thor and his crew, all facing their own demons, set out on this perilous journey and make some astonishing discoveries along the way.

I was completely surprised by this movie. Going into it, I had no idea what it was about, and also had no idea about the expedition itself. There are two versions of this, one in English, one in Norwegian; the one we saw was the English language version, and a little shorter than the stated run time. This movie had suspense, humor, heart, and pretty great acting; you're left rooting for these six men, with little more than a strung together raft in the wide open ocean. Knowing nothing about this subject, I feel like I learned a lot. It's very cool how Thor Heyerdal inspired generations of explorers after World War II.

This was more than just a movie. It's another film that makes you think outside the box and question what you already know. Are you right? Is everything set in stone? Can you finish what cannot be accomplished?

My Rating: 8.5/10
Josh's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.2/10
Do we recommend the movie: Yes. It has something fascinating about it, even if you're not into movies about exploration/navigation. You really root for these people to succeed!

Movie Review, Day 12: "The East"

Day 12

Movie: "The East"
Ticket Price: $6.50
Showtime: 10:45 am
Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

A former FBI agent turned private investigator for a large corporation is tasked to infiltrate a group that calls themselves The East. The East is a group of like-minded eco-terrorists who come together to wreak havoc on large corporations in order to give them a taste of their own medicine. These incidents are called "jams" and directly involve and relate to at least one member of The East; as we learn their individual stories, we also learn their collective story, too. Along the way, "Sarah" gets a little too close to the group as viewers watch her feelings about them and her understanding of their motives change.

This movie was quite interesting, and I was very much looking forward to seeing it. It makes good points and interesting revelations about corporations, their actions, and what we know and would call "terrorism." Parts of me sympathize with what The East was trying to accomplish, but I don't think "an eye for an eye" is an appropriate response to anything; as Gahndi said, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Violence always begets violence, which leads to more violence, there's no other possible route for it to take.

This is one of those movies that makes you think. Just think.

PS: THIS THEATER HAS RECLINER CHAIRS IN SOME OF ITS THEATERS FOR NOT SO EXPENSIVE TICKET PRICES. FOR THE WIN.

My Rating: 7.25/10
Josh's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.4/10
Do we recommend the movie: Yes! it was a really interesting and relevant concept for today's global climate, and I think some of the points made here are quite valid.

Movie Review, Day 11: "The Internship"

Day 11

Movie: "The Internship" (PS: why haven't movie theaters changed their carpeting in the last 100 years?????)
Ticket Price: $8.75
Showtime: 1:00 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson team up again for "The Internship," a film about a company that needs absolutely no advertising whatsoever.

After losing their jobs, Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) are at a crossroads in their lives. Billy comes up with a brilliant idea: to try and interview for an internship at Google. Knowing little about computers, programming, or the upcoming generation of young adults, they apply and both land a spot to fight for the chance to work at Google. If they make it through the summer internship with their winning team, they are guaranteed full-time positions with the company. Being much older than most of the applicants has its advantages and disadvantages throughout the film. The two guys, who are aces in sales, are super personable but know nothing about "the system." The recent college graduates in this movie lack people skills, but are mavericks on a computer, in true fashion with many young people today; the point here is that people bury themselves behind their electronics in lieu of human interaction and conversation. The guys get stuck with a group of outcasts who have more in common than they think. Billy and Nick get the group to work together as a team and reach deep within themselves to believe in their dreams.

Trying to capitalize on the facts that "Wedding Crashers" was wonderfully hilarious (and R-rated, raunchier and funnier), this movie has its ups and downs. We both got some chuckles which never materialized into full-blown guffaws. There was a good message at the end, of course. It's a feel-good, fish-out-of-water movie with a bit of romance, comedy, and life lessons sprinkled into there, but the main focus was on Vaughn and Wilson's bromance. When one of the guys was down, the other was there to pick him back up, in true friendly fashion.

Again, Google literally needs so self-promotion since people more than likely type their URLs into Google instead of typing them into the search bar of their browser; this movie, at times, felt like an extended-extended-extended commercial. Aasif Mandvi for the win.

My Rating: 6/10
Josh's Rating: 6/10
IMDB Rating: 6.2/10
Do we recommend the movie: There's nothing really there to stop you from watching this movie, it's just a general comedy, not that hilarious, but it's decent.

Movie Review, Day 10: "Fast & Furious 6"

Day 10

Movie: "Fast & Furious 6"
Ticket Price: $10.25
Showtime:  2:55 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese

• Vroom, vroom
• Meet Paul Walker's new baby and wife who barely matters!!
• Explosion and robbery (by criminal mastermind & his group)
• Muscles, ass-kicking
• The Rock (a cop), throws 250+ lb. muscle heavy terrorist man against ceiling to receive necessary information
• Turns to criminal for help (BECAUSE WHY NOT, YOLO)
• WHO ELSE, VIN DIESEL!!!
• Michelle Rodriguez is still alive; Rock offers pardon for Diesel's entire crew in exchange for their help
• Vin Diesel reacts with this face:
• Team assembles
• Cars
• Guns
• Muscles
• Ass-kicking
• Over-the-top action ensues
• Some scantly clad-women
• Group tries to stop 2nd robbery
• Flippy cars, vroom vroom
• Electronic things that latch onto cars and make them go boom
• Michelle Rodriguez shoots Pin Diesel in shoulder
• "Letty? U makesz me sad"
• Vin Diesel reacts with this face: 
• Re-grouping times!
• Everyone trying to find out more about criminal mastermind group
• Paul Walker turns himself in in America to get close to drug dealer
• "You'll only get close to him if he wants you to."
• Ludacris and Rock racially profiled while buying expensive cars because it's funny!!1111 (NOT)
• Michelle Rodriguez and Gina Carano (MMA fighter turned "actress" <--LOL) fight in subway
• Carano only hired to showcase MMA "ability" (LOL ASK CYBORG WHAT SHE THINKS ABOUT THAT LOLOLOL)
• Other guys fight other guys
• Guns
• Breaking glass
• Embarrassment
• Vin Diesel sees Michelle Rodriguez after street race between the two
• She lost her memory in accident in Fast & Furious 4???
• He tries to reconnect with her, recanting old stories and by making this face: 
• Next strike by terrorists will be on an airbase in Spain
• Over a microchip??? WUT??
• Good guys chase bad guys
• Bad guys have tank
• Tank runs over cars, vroom vroom
• Guns
• Missile launcher, explosion
• Pointless guy saves pointless girl
• Vin Diesel saves Michelle Rodriguez by LEAPING OFF A BRIDGE AND CATCHING HER MID-AIR, THEN FALLING ONTO WINDSHIELD OF CAR
• This was due to faith
• Also, by making this face: 
  
• Airplane scene
• Chasing down plane on seemingly endless runway with basically nothing more than a gun and a Honda
• Guns
• MUSCLE-FLEX!!!!
• More fighting
• More muscles
• Vroom, out of plane
• Plane catches on fire, terrorist dies???
• Pointless girl???
• INSTEAD OF ASKING FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR A JOB WELL DONE, ALL THEY AS FOR IS THE INITIAL HOUSE IN THE GHETTO IN L.A. WHERE VIN DIESEL GREW UP...R U DUMB???????
• Tokyo
• Chases
• Muscles
• Jason Statham
• Vin Diesel's face: 
  

My Rating: 4/10
Josh's Rating: 4/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.6/10
Do we recommend the film: It's obviously a marketable franchise, and I respect it for what it was able to do at the box office as a summer flick, but no, not really. In the end, it's just a love story (with cars, guns, muscles, and ass-kicking).

Movie Review, Day 9: "42"

Day 9

Movie: "42"
Ticket Price: $8.75
Showtime: 1:10 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

Jackie Robinson, baseball's first African-American player, wasn't playing on the Brooklyn Dodgers to make friends, he just wanted to play ball. Chadwick Boseman plays an excellent Robinson, and the surrounding cast of actors, including Harrison Ford, makes this movie brilliant. I don't know much about baseball, and I didn't know much about Jackie Robinson, yet I still found this movie entertaining and exciting. You want to see Jackie hold his tongue to all the awful names he's called by white men, women, and children. You want to see him succeed in spite of the fact that his race was the initial deterrent to his success.

Watching this film, you can really feel as if you were in the 1940's amidst rampant segregation. That word was used frequently in this movie, and it still makes my skin crawl to hear it beings used, even if it's only for a movie. It's such an emotionally charged word, that one. In some ways, this movie shows how much our great nation has changed over the pasted few decades, but unfortunately, it can also remind us of how it hasn't.

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Christopher Meloni, Nicole Beharie, Lucas Black

My Rating: 8.5/10
Josh's Rating: 8/10 or 9/10, he refuses to do decimals, haha!
IMDB's Rating: 7.6/10
Do we recommend the film: Absolutely! This movie is more than just a sports drama: it gives us a glimpse into our past and present, our society, and ourselves.

Movie Review, Day 8: "The Purge"

Day 8

Movie: "The Purge"
Ticket Price: $11.50
Showtime: 8:20 pm
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Government sanctioned crime, one night a year, 12 hours of merciless violence, everything is legal, even murder, in order to purge yourself of all your hatred, anger, and pent-up emotions. Are you in?

James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) sells security systems to people in his neighborhood to protect them from the yearly Purge. He also made a fortune doing so, buying a huge house and living a life of ignorant luxury. He figured just because he had money and a security system that was enough to keep violence away from his family.

He was dead wrong.

At precisely 7pm one night a year, The Purge begins and people must take shelter and assume the best or fight for their lives and join The Purge. This government sanctioned process was enacted by the New Founding Fathers as part of a reborn United States in response to soaring crime rates, a slumping economy and rising unemployment. The scary part is, it worked.

"The Purge" is another film about the haves vs. the have nots. Rich people assume that The Purge is a means of getting rid of the poor "trash," society's burdens, though mass population control, almost a mass cleansing.

I walked out of the theater genuinely terrified. The entire movie I was legitimately frightened. It wasn't just the overall theme of the movie, it was much more than that. The human element is was scared me. People supported this movement, people lived for this movement. TV personnel talked about this as happily as if it were Christmastime. A happy sounding sonata plays over a scene of gruesome murders as the credits roll at the beginning of the film. It really reminded me of watching Nazi propaganda films in high school and how people believed in Hitler, and I got very Hilter-esque vibes throughout the entire movie.

The guy in a suit the row behind us walked out of the theater momentarily and I almost jumped out of my seat when he came back in. Another guy came into our theater and just stood there for a good 3 minutes, staring. I was convinced these two were in cahoots and were going to do us all in.

A lot of this movie is pretty predictable with simple dialogue, which makes it flawed. On the most basic level, it's a home invasion type of violent horror film, this violence is just sanctioned by the government. There's no real twists or turns, you pretty much see everything coming, but there were good "BOO!" moments; the suspense was decent and it had a creepy feel to it, especially the masks the people who show up at the Sandin's doorstep wore...DAMN, those were creepy.

BRB, never letting anyone else in the house ever again.

My Rating: 6/10
Josh's Rating: 6/10
IMDB Rating: 5.8/10
Do we recommend the film: The concept is pretty out there, but so are concepts about aliens and monsters and serial killers killing people in dreams. As long as you accept the concept of film and suspend disbelief, you're good to watch this movie. If you have an inherent problem with your government giving you lease and free reign to kill other citizens, stay away. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Heady, and a bunch of other people you've never heard of).

Movie Review, Day 7: "After Earth"

Day 7

Movie: "After Earth"
Ticket Price: $11.50
Showtime: 8:10 pm
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Welcome a post about the worst movie I've seen in a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time.

Josh and I make it a point to only see "big" movies in the theater, such as actions, musicals, big theatrical movies, you know? Stuff that's better on the big screen. If we didn't have MoviePass, I wouldn't have seen "After Earth" in the theater. I also probably wouldn't have seen it on DVD, either.

See, waxy friends, we don't like Jaden Smith. "The Karate Kid" remake was nothing special. He seems to be an arrogant little twerp who is leeching off his dad's fame. If his dad wasn't Will Smith, I don't think he'd get half the recognition he gets.
I don't particularly like Will Smith either. He's okay, but I think he's try-hard, and Oscar bait-y, and plus, he's "in the know" with Tom Cruise...you know what I mean.
Now, while I love the movie "Signs," which some people think is awful, you can't diminish the good work M. Night Shyamalan did with "The Sixth Sense." It's a freaking classic. But, he's just not good anymore. He's got nothing left except twist endings and failed franchises. In fact, I wouldn't have even thought twice about him being the director of this movie if I hadn't gone on IMDB firsthand to see for myself.
It seems like everyone involved with the film tried to hide the fact that Shyamalan was the director of this movie for fear that it would be terrible.
WELL FOLKS, IT DIDN'T NEED ANY HELP HIDING ITS AWFULNESS, IT'S JUST AWFUL.
I also saw it from his perspective: "if M. Night Shyamalan, director of such flops as "The Village," "The Happening," and "The Last Airbender" didn't want to get his stink all over this poo-storm, HOW BAD CAN IT BE????"

BAD.

First of all, let's do a short synopsis. Humans are forced to leave Earth after it becomes uninhabitable due to their own negligence. They settle in a place they call Nova Prime, HOLD UP! This planet is no ordinary planet: it has alien monster things called URSA(s) that smell and sense fear. Otherwise, it's fine! The Rangers are trained to become fearless and suppress their fear in order to become invisible to the URSA. IT'S CALLED GHOSTING, PEOPLE, AND IT'S SERIOUS BUSINESS. Not a bad concept, but we'll get to that later.

Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) fails his Ranger training because he is unable to control his fear. His father, Cypher Raige (Will Smith, OMG HIS RILL LIFE DAD!!!11) is a stone-cold fear-suppressing commander type person who is sorta kinda disappointed his son didn't pass his training but will only yell at him to get his point across. Cypher is pretty much forced by his wife to drag Kitai along on his last routine mission before retirement. URSA in tow, their ship crashes on Earth, killing everyone aboard except for the father-son duo. ZOMG, BONDING TIME! Nope, Cypher has two broken legs and a damaged signaling device to let their home planet know they crashed. Cypher explains to Kitai that he must wander through the "perilous" regions of Earth, a class-one quarantined planet on which everything has evolved to kill humans (WUT??) to find the tail-end of the plane with the second signaling device. Here lies the problem: despite this warning, it would seem most of Earth's animals and beings are a minor nuisance and not much different than TODAY'S animals, given that you were stuck in the jungle all alone with only a double-sided sword. THE MOST DANGEROUS THING IN THIS MOVIE IS THE THING THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM ON THEIR SHIP AND LIVE WITH ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. 

Three-fifths of the way through the movie, we find out that Kitai's super awesome, wonderful suit HAS A FREAKIN' FLYING SQUIRREL APPARATUS WHICH WOULD CUT DOWN HIS TIME TO REACH THE TAIL-END OF THE SHIP BY HALF. He didn't think he should just USE THE FLYING SQUIRREL APPARATUS THE ENTIRE TIME WHEN HALF OF HIS BREATHING FLUID WAS DESTROYED?????

Back to the concept of this movie: it could have been good, but the story, the acting, the directing, the CGI (WHY CGI THINGS WE'VE SEEN BEFORE??)...everything! Everything was bad! Will Smith's seriousface just comes off as unintentionally comical, but not in a HA-HA! type of way. Jaden Smith yells the entire movie because he's mad that his dad was never there for him and his sister. Despite the two being ACTUAL father and son in real life, they have virtually no on-screen chemistry, which I thought was impossible.

We are both sci-fi fans. We are both fantasy fans. What this movie advertised was a sci-fi-action-epic where Will Smith and his son have to battle against hyper-evolved Earth-monsters after a crash-landing. What it delivered was a boring coming-of-age story with birds and baboons and big cats and jungleness and a kid who, despite being an almost Ranger on his planet had NO IDEA how to use a double-sided sword and could barely fend for himself. Do the Rangers only teach people about running???

With all of this being said, the most egregious and distracting thing in this movie were the accents. WHY MAKE THEM HAVE ACCENTS AT ALL? Just because they live on a different planet DOESN'T MEAN they have to have a half Jamaican, half "Downton Abbey" accent. SO DISTRACTING.

I am washing my hands of this movie after this post. I am enraged just writing about it. So, I'll never speak of it again.

My Rating: 2.5/10
Josh's Rating: 3/10
IMDB Rating: 4.7/10
Do we recommend this movie: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000x NO.

Movie Review, Day 6: "Mud"

Day 6

Movie: "Mud"
Ticket Price: $5.75
Showtime: 11:05 am
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

"Y'all can call me Mud."

Two young boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), explore a nearby island on the river near their homes and find a boat stuck in a tree. They claim it as their own, only to discover someone already got there first. Matthew McConaughey stars as Mud, a man on the run desperate to reunite with his one true love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). We find out that Mud isn't exactly who he seems to be, but the boys are determined to reunite Mud and Juniper at any cost. This is a coming-of-age story that deals with love, heartbreak, death, and family.

Another surprise! Because we're trying to see 30 movies in 30 days, we have to see virtually everything in the theater; I had never heard of this film and didn't exactly want to see it because I'm not a fan of Matthew McConaughey. He surprised me in this, though, I found myself drawn to the charismatic way about his character (which is all part of the facade of Mud). This movie was really good! The main boys, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland, are definitely actors to look out for in the future, they was spectacular in this film.

The filmmakers and make-up artists also did a very good job of making everyone look dirty and grimy.

My Rating: 7.25/10
Josh's Rating: 7/10
IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
Do we recommend the film: Yes; it is a really good dramatic film with bouts of action and romance. It's PG-13, but not so terrible that you'd want to make kids stay out of the room (some violence, language, and adult themes).

Movie Review, Day 5: "Epic"

Day 5

Movie: "Epic"
Ticket Price: $8.75
Showtime: 2:05 pm
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hours, 42 minutes

Everything is connected and you're never alone!

A girl named Mary Katherine (or MK, as she likes to be called) is forced to go and live with her father after her mother dies. Her dad is a mad-scientist type and is convinced that the forest near his house is inhabited by tiny humans that are also soldiers. He is right, but MK thinks he's crazy; her dad is so busy constantly running around trying to catch a glimpse of the little soldiers (or Leafmen) that he blows MK off in the process. She gets fed up and begins to leave her dad's house for good, but she lets the family pug run away and chases it through the forest.

In the world of the Leafmen, Queen Tara is trying to choose a pod to be heir of the forest when the Boggans, who bring death and destruction upon anything their arrows touch, hit the queen and most of the forest. MK stumbles upon the dying queen, is shrunk to their size, and is put in charge of guarding the pod. Travels and adventures ensure.

Worth noting: Christoph Waltz is an exceptional villain in any movie, live-action or animated. This movie was a bit more dark than I'd expect from a typical children's movie (which was an advantage for us because it wasn't all cuddles and loves and children-safe). I didn't know a thing about this movie going into it, and I was SO impressed. Usually, if it doesn't say "Disney" or "Pixar," people think it sucks automatically, but this was really great! Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudekis, Aziz Ansari, and Beyonce Knowles.

I will say...I felt weird going into a children's movie without having children, but that subsided when we got into the film. It had everything: comedy (the slug Mub, played by Aziz Ansari, was my favorite character), adventure, romance, action, fantasy, and lessons to be learned. Not so kiddish that an adult wouldn't enjoy it, but not too dark for children to be scared.

My Rating: 8.5/10
Josh's Rating: 8/10
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Do we recommend the movie: Yes! It was both of our most enjoyable non-Disney American film since the likes of "The Iron Giant." Very, very good, and I will own this on DVD.