Leslie Mann Leads the Way in a Surprisingly Funny Chick Flick: Our Review of "The Other Woman" (2014)

Directed By: Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) 

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kate Upton

Rating: PG-13 on appeal for mature thematic material, sexual references and language

Run Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Synopsis: Carly (Diaz) is a NYC attorney who thinks she's found the perfect man in Mark (Coster-Waldau). But when she makes a surprise trip to his house in Connecticut she meets Kate (Mann), Mark's wife. At first distraught, the ladies form a quick bond and eventually discover Mark's other girlfriend, Amber (Upton). Together the trio devises a way to get back at Mark while becoming the unlikeliest group of friends ever.

REVIEW

(Note: We screened and reviewed this film last Saturday, so we're a little late posting it)

Sarah: Hello readers! We just got out of seeing a movie that, honestly, the only reason we actually saw it in theaters was because Andrew lost a bet! Lost horribly I might add. And that movie was The Other Woman. 

Starring Cameron Diaz (The Counselor), Leslie Mann (This is 40), Kate Upton (The Three Stooges) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (HBO's Game of Thrones), this rom-com follows the story of three women who are all sleeping with the same man, Mark, played by Coster-Waldau. Leslie Mann plays his wife and Diaz and Upton play two of the mistresses. When they all discover each other they bond over their shared betrayals. 

This is one that I thought looked funny ever since we first saw the trailer for it, so I kinda wanted to see it. Now that we have, much to your chagrin I’m sure, what did you think?

It's Not a Sure-Fire Hall of Fame Pick But It's Not a Bust, Either: Our Review of "Draft Day" (2014)

Directed By: Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) 

Starring: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Chadwick Boseman, Denis Leary

Rating: PG-13 on appeal for brief strong language and sexual references

Run Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Synopsis: Sonny Weaver Jr. (Costner) is facing a hectic day. It's the first day of the NFL Draft, his girlfriend and co-worker shares the news that she's pregnant, the owner of his team wants him to make a big splash, a stud prospect keeps badgering him and his new head coach keeps butting heads with him. When Sonny does end up making a big splash hours before the draft it has ramifications for how the rest of the day will play out.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! A couple of days ago (ok, like 4 days ago) we went and saw Draft Day directed by Ivan Reitman, the comedy director of such classics like Ghost Busters and Meatballs, and starring Kevin Costner (Man of Steel), Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club) and Denis Leary (The Amazing Spider-Man), just to name a few. 

In Draft Day Costner stars as Sonny Weaver, Jr., the beleaguered General Manager of the Cleveland Browns and we see all the trials and tribulations Sonny has to face during the biggest day of the year for him. 

Right from the start we find out that Costner’s Sonny Weaver, Jr. has lost his father, who just happened to be the former head coach of the Browns that Sonny recently fired, and that his girlfriend and co-worker, Ali (Garner), is pregnant. And all of this is spelled out in the first 3 minutes of the movie. 

To kick off this review I'll admit that while Draft Day had been getting a surprising amount of positive buzz I thought the marketing was terrible for it, so I didn't really intend to ever see this in theatres.

Sarah: Which shocked me, actually.

A: Well the trailers and the commercials for this movie didn’t make me want to see this movie. What about you?

Cap is Back and Better Than Ever in Maybe the Best Marvel Movie Yet: Our Review of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014)

Directed By: Anthony & Joe Russo (Community, Arrested Development) 

Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, gunplay and action throughout

Run Time: 2 hours, 16 minutes

Synopsis: 2 years after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Evans) is working for Nick Fury (Jackson) and S.H.I.E.L.D. as he continues his adjustment to the modern world. After a particular mission disturbs Rogers all hell breaks loose when a mysterious assassin called The Winter Soldier sets his sights on Nick Fury, resulting in Captain Rogers and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow going on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D.

REVIEW 

FAIR WARNING: Some possible spoilers will be discussed in this review. If you're not familiar with the Winter Soldier storyline or haven't seen this film yet, maybe best to wait to read this until you do.

Andrew: Hello dear readers! Last night we were able to catch an early showing of the latest installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Picking up a couple years after the events of The Avengers this new film is also obviously a sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger. Chris Evans returns as Steve Rogers/Captain America and Captain Rogers is still trying to acclimate to today’s world. 

Cap is now working for S.H.I.E.LD. alongside Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. The Black Widow, under the leadership of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). There are some new additions to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, too: Robert Redford plays Alexander Pierce a senior executive of S.H.I.E.L.D, almost the chairman if you will. And Anthony Mackie joins the MCU as Sam Wilson who later to becomes The Falcon.

Sarah: Cobie Smulders comes back as Maria Hill, too.

A: Yep! So some old faces and some new faces. But the big deal about this one is that this movie is really more of an conspiracy thriller of sorts as well as a political/military movie. It's completely different from any of the other Marvel movies that have come out so far. 

So, Sarah, I know I was looking forward to this, and I would assume you were looking forward to this as well because you had Captain America: The First Avenger as your favorite of the non-Avengers Marvel movies so far.