Luhrmann Can't Make Jay Gatsby and Co. Any More Interesting, But They Sure Do Look Pretty!: Our Review of "The Great Gatsby" (2013)

Directed By: Baz Lurhmann (Moulin Rouge!) 

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton

Rating: PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language

Run Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes

Synopsis: Midwestern writer Nick Carraway (Maguire) moves to New York City to try his hand at bond trading. While in New York is befriended by the charismatic and mysterious Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio), who harbors a long-standing love for Nick's beautiful, but married cousin, Daisy (Mulligan). When Gatsby enlists Nick's help in rekindling his relationship with Daisy, it draws the ire of Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan (Edgerton), who begins to unravel the truth of who Gatsby truly is.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! This past Saturday Sarah and I had the recently rare opportunity to go see a movie in the theatre, considering we weren't on the road somewhere for the first time in four weeks. We took that opportunity to see this past weekend's big new release, The Great Gatsby.

It's directed by Baz Luhrmann, of Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet fame, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the rich and mysterious Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as his neighbor/writer/bond salesman Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan (the object of Gatsby's desire), and Joel Edgerton as Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan.

So this is a film that we've been looking forward to for some time now...

S: The trailers for it have been absolutely AMAZING. They made it look like it was going to be another Luhrmann spectacle.

A: To be quite honest, I never read "The Great Gatsby" - I wasn't made to read it in high school, I wasn't made to read it in college, and I've never read it just because. So this was my experience with any version of this tale.

Is Sarah Starting to Get Sick Iron Man?: Sarah's Review of "Iron Man 3" (2013)

Directed By: Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) 

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content

Run Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Synopsis: Following the epic battle in New York City involving monsters, Norse gods, aliens and a near-death experience, Tony Stark (Downey) can't sleep at night and has panic attacks at the mere mention of NYC. Not helping matters are a scientist (Pearce) that Tony blew off in the past who has a break-through technology and a grudge, plus a terrorist named The Mandarin who's attacking Americans and hits Tony close to home, and Tony's forced to protect those closest to him at all costs.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Earlier this week Sarah and I went to see last weekend’s gargantuan hit Iron Man 3. I had seen it once already without Sarah (you can read my solo review of it HERE), so this was the first time she had seen it, meaning this review will be a little different in that it’s going to be Sarah heavy.

Sarah, I know that I personally was very excited when this film was released, but it wasn’t until we were leaving the theatre and getting in the car that you admitted to me that it had never been one you were particularly jonesing to see.

Sarah: It wasn’t, really. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movies that comprised Marvel’s “Phase 1” and I love them all the way up to The Avengers, but I’ve had a little bit of a roadblock getting my head wrapped around the films that are going to be following The Avengers. I feel like there was all this build-up and a climactic event in The Avengers and now we’re going back to the separate movies – and I understand their reasoning for doing so, I get Disney and Marvel’s plans for Phases 2 and 3, but I think I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around them.

Alone In The Dark: Andrew's Review of "Iron Man 3" (2013)

Directed By: Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) 

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content

Run Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Synopsis: Following the epic battle in New York City involving monsters, Norse gods, aliens and a near-death experience, Tony Stark (Downey) can't sleep at night and has panic attacks at the mere mention of NYC. Not helping matters are a scientist (Pearce) that Tony blew off in the past who has a break-through technology and a grudge, plus a terrorist named The Mandarin who's attacking Americans and hits Tony close to home, and Tony's forced to protect those closest to him at all costs.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! Today I bring you a very special version of Alone in the Dark because I’m not doing a solo review on a horror movie. As I’m sure the headline, the poster picture, and the link you probably clicked to get to this page have already told you, this is a solo review of Iron Man 3! I got to see the movie a day early thanks to an employee screening at my place of work (we’re owned by the same company as Marvel), but Sarah had to work late tonight so she couldn’t go. We’ll see it together after the weekend, but for now, here’s my take on it.

Starring Robert Downey, Jr. in his fourth turn as billionaire/playboy/philanthropist Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), this is the first film in Marvel’s “Phase Two” – meaning it’s also the first Marvel film since last summer’s gargantuan hit The Avengers. Without a doubt the biggest question going in to Iron Man 3 is whether or not it could be a worthy follow-up to The Avengers, and thanks to two things in particular the answer – in these eyes – is an emphatic “yes.”

Bay's Latest A Nice Reminder That He Can Still Makes Good Movies: Our Review of "Pain & Gain" (2013)

Directed By: Michael Bay (The Rock) 

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris

Rating: R for bloody violence, crude sexual content, nudity, language throughout and drug use

Run Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes

Synopsis: Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) is a personal trainer at a fitness club, unhappy with his lot in life when he becomes obsessed with a "get rich" guru's three-step plan. Inspired by the guru, he enlists two co-workers - Paul (Johnson), an ex-con and drug addict, and Adrian (Mackie), who's impotent because of steroid use - to help kidnap and extort a rich member of their gym (Shalhoub).

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I were finally able to find some time to catch a flick at the local movie theatre, so we caught a late showing of Michael Bay’s latest film, Pain & Gain, starring Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie and Dwayne Johnson as a trio of body-builders who conspire to kidnap and extort a rich member of their fitness club in order to “live the American Dream.” And then things go haywire, and it’s based on a true story, no less.

We had seen the trailers for this one numerous times over the past few months, and it was certainly one that caught our attention. At least I thought it was pretty funny each time we saw it. What did you think about Pain & Gain before we went into the theatre, though, Sarah?

Dare We Say This Jackie Robinson Biopic is a.....Home Run?: Our Review of "42" (2013)

Directed By: Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale) 

Starring: Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman, Nicole Beharie, Wendell Smith

Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements including language

Run Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Jackie Robinson (Boseman), the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, from the decision of Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Ford) to make the controversial move, through Jackie's ascent through the minors and up to the conclusion of his rookie season in 1947.

REVIEW 

Andrew: Hello readers! As you may or may not have known, Sarah and I were on vacation all of last week, as we went back to our home state of Michigan to visit our family and friends in our respective hometowns. So that’s why we were a little quiet last week on our site, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t watching movies!

Indeed, the Sunday before last we went to the local movie theatre in my hometown of Petoskey, Michigan to see the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 along with my mom and my uncle.

Starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson; Harrison as Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers who made the historic decision to sign an African-American baseball player to his team; and a whole host of other recognizable faces like Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) and Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball).

Sarah: Just a host of familiar faces.

A: So obviously the set-up to this movie is that it’s based on the true story of Jackie Robinson being the first black man to play in Major League Baseball. This is one we definitely wanted to see. It’s a baseball movie, so that appealed to me, it’s a historical movie…why is it that you wanted to see it?

A Two Tickets For... Retro Review: "Jurassic Park 3D" (1993/2013)

Directed By: Steven Spielberg 

Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough

Rating: PG-13 for intense science fiction terror

Run Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

Synopsis: "During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok." - via IMDb

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! So a few nights ago Sarah and I decided to go out and check out the 3D re-release of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic Jurassic Park. One of the main reasons we went to see it is that, even though we own it on Blu-ray and we’ve seen it tens of times, Sarah had never actually seen it on the big screen plus it has been 20 years since I’ve seen it in theatres when I was just six years old.

So we’re doing this review as a bit of a Retro Review, so first what I want to talk about is what it was like to see it on the big screen compared to how we normally watch it on TV, then to talk about seeing it through the eyes of how we are now compared to when we both originally saw it, and lastly what effect the 3D had on it.

Sarah: What I loved most about watching it on the big screen was that - like when we saw Titanic 3D in the theatre last year, which I had never done before -  you really got what was so ground-breaking and awesome about the movie when it originally came out.

It’s definitely dated now, but you still got that impact of how it would feel to see man and actual dinosaurs interacting. I mean this was a breakthrough movie, a first of it’s kind, so it was cool to get to live that feeling again. It definitely brought back a sense of nostalgia and wonderment that the movie originally had.

It's Die Hard in the White House, and We Like It For That!: Our Review of "Olympus Has Fallen" (2013)

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) 

Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott

Rating: R for strong violence and language throughout

Run Time: 2 hours

Synopsis: Mike Banning (Butler), the former head Secret Service agent to President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart), has been demoted to working the Treasury Department after Banning saved Asher in a car accident but couldn't save the First Lady. When North Korean terrorists infiltrate the White House and take Asher and part of his Cabinet hostage in order to get U.S. troops pulled out of the Korean DMZ, Banning ends up being the only man who can get inside the building and save the President.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! The other night Sarah and I decided to catch a movie that's been out for a few weeks and we hadn't had the chance to see yet, and that movie was Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler (300) and Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight).

In the film Butler plays former U.S. Army Ranger and Secret Service agent Mike Banning, who - after the White House is attacked by a North Korean terrorist group - winds up being the only man who can stop the terrorists from their fiendish plot.  Honestly this was a film that we were terribly interested in seeing but we needed to see something and this seemed like one of the better options out of everything in theatres we haven't already seen. Sarah, what did you think of Olympus Has Fallen now that we've seen it?

We're Split on a G.I. Joe Movie, Go (Action) Figure: Our Review of "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" (2013)

Directed By: Jon M. Chu (Step Up 3D) 

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, D.J. Cotrona, Channing Tatum, Jonathan Pryce, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Stevenson and Bruce Willis

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of combat violence and martial arts action throughout, and for brief sensuality and language

Run Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Synopsis: The G.I. Joes are back and facing enemies from outside the U.S. and from within. With Cobra manipulating both sides, the Joes are going to have to fight for their very existence.

REVIEW

Andrew: Last night we finally got the chance to see G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the sequel to 2009s G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Channing Tatum, Jonathan Pryce, Adrianne Palicki, D.J. Cotrona and Ray Stevenson. You, Sarah, weren't really familiar with the G.I. Joe series until about a week ago when I had you sit down and watch the first one. So I want to get your take first of Rise of Cobra briefly and then compare it to Retaliation.

Sarah: Well, both of these movies are pretty ridiculous. The first one was ridiculous to the extent that it was almost felt like an animated movie. Things happen that would never happen in our world as they tended to defy laws of physics. It was just pretty unbelievable; pretty action packed. A lot like a Michael Bay movie actually.

Alone In The Dark: Andrew's Review of "Evil Dead" (2013)

Directed By: Fede Alvarez 

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas

Rating: R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language

Run Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Synopsis: David (Fernandez) and his girlfriend head to his old family cabin to join his sister Mia (Levy) and their friends, Olivia and Eric (Lucas & Pucci), in an attempt to help Mia kick her drug habit. When David's dog discovers a bloody mess leading down to the basement, the group stumbles across a gruesome scene...and a book covered in human skin. Eric's curiosity gets the best of him and he reads from the book despite its warnings not to, unwittingly releasing a demon that possesses Mia and causes all hell to break loose.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last week I was lucky enough to jump on some free passes to a screening of this week's new horror film Evil Dead, a remake/sequel of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult classic The Evil Dead. I'll be honest - while Sarah and I do own the original on DVD, it's more out of respect for its place in horror movie history than my love for it. I like that Raimi and Rob Tapert made the original on a shoe-string budget in a very amateurish way, and it is so very clearly the original "cabin in the woods" movie that the brilliant The Cabin in the Woods deconstructed, but it's not my favorite film and maybe because of that, I've never seen Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness. (I know, I know, I'll get to them soon! Just keep reading!)

Even though Raimi's original doesn't get my heart pumping, I NEEDED to see this remake when the opportunity presented itself. All I needed to sell me on it was the blood-soaked red-band trailer. HO-LY CRAP. I was also intrigued by reading Sam Raimi explain that while this movie is certainly a remake of the original, he also sees it as a sequel set 30 years after the original. I could jive with that.

A Six Pack Of... Andrew's Favorite Baseball Movies!

Andrew: Hello readers! So I meant to post this on Monday in celebration of Major League Baseball's Opening Day, but I got a little distracted because it was also my birthday and I was trying to spend time with Sarah before she had to go into work that afternoon, and then my Detroit Tigers played their first game of the year at 4pm and it lasted quite a while. So sorry for the delay!

But as I said, in celebration of the start of the Major League Baseball season, as well as a bit of a look ahead to next week's new Jackie Robinson biopic, 42, starring Harrison Ford, I wanted to share my 6 personal favorite baseball movies of all-time.

KEEP IN MIND, this is a personal list of my favorite baseball movies. This is not a list of what I consider to be the best baseball movies. That's a whole different bunch of criteria. Instead these are the ones that I grew up on and loved as a child and today, ones that anytime I catch them on TV I have to stop whatever it is I'm doing and finish it, or quite plainly the ones that I enjoy more than any others. I've listed them in alphabetical order because I tried to rank them but just couldn't do it.

So without further ado, here is A Six Pack Of... Andrew's Favorite Baseball Movies: