Dreamworks' Latest Animated Film Is Sure To Be a Holiday Hit: Our Review of "Rise of the Guardians" (2012)

Directed By: Peter Ramsey 

Starring: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Isla Fisher

Rating: PG for thematic elements and some mildly scary action

Run Time: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Synopsis: A magical and secret group called The Guardians of Childhood - comprised of Santa Claus (Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Fisher) and the Sandman - protect the hopes and dreams of children worldwide. Through their classic duties (i.e. delivering Christmas gifts, Easter eggs, leaving gifts for lost teeth) they must maintain children's belief in them in order to protect them.  But when an ancient evil named Pitch (Law) rises from the darkness and threatens the Guardians' very existence, they must reach out to the lonely and misunderstood Jack Frost (Pine) to join them in their cause.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I were able to catch an advance showing of this holiday season’s newest animated film, Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians, based on William Joyce’s “The Guardians of Childhood” book series. In a neat spin on some classic childhood characters, the film’s protagonists – The Guardians, if you will – are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and their newest member, Jack Frost.

Sarah: And here they’re all called something different: Santa Claus is just called North, the Easter Bunny is E. Astor Bunnymund, the Tooth Fairy is simply Tooth and the Sandman is called Sandy.

A: Correct. And what the Guardians do, essentially, is protect children’s wishes, hopes, dreams, etc. and try their best to bring joy to kids around the world. They strive to continually ensure that children "believe" in them, because it's only through strong belief do they truly exist, and only when they exist can they defend the children against evil forces that may threaten them, particularly The Boogeyman…

North (a.k.a. Santa Claus) explains to Jack Frost that every light on their globe is a child who believes in the Guardians' existence, while Tooth, Sandy and Bunnymund watch from the side. It's really a neat idea that's executed quite well.

It's Not as Good, But We'll Always Have Paris: Our Review of "To Rome With Love" (2012)

Directed By: Woody Allen

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Roberto Benigni

Rating: R for some sexual references

Run Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes

Synopsis: Set in city of Rome, Woody Allen interweaves the stories of many different people – from a retired music director and his newest discovery to a young Italian couple who lose each other in the city and more.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I made the trip down the street to our movie theatre and caught Woody Allen’s latest film, To Rome With Love. Much like Allen's 2011 hit Midnight in Paris, To Rome With Love is another film with an ensemble comedy that takes place in a large European city. So a lot of similarities between the two.

This was not a film we previewed since we didn’t do a preview this week (it’s been incredibly busy at work for the two of us), it’s been in limited release in North America for a few weeks but only went wide just this week, and it’s one of the rare movies that we went in to see that I had absolutely no idea what it was about (not unlike Midnight in Paris, actually).

You knew a little bit more about it than I did because you had seen the trailer and some of the actors on talk shows.

Sarah: I did but the previews were pretty misleading. I expected it to be mainly focused on Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Ellen Page (Juno), Woody Allen…I expected it to focus on them because that’s what the trailer showed.

But it actually focused more on the Italian actors in the movie, at least I thought so. It’s very much an Italian movie, very much a European movie. I got this feeling that it American audiences were the secondary audience in mind for Allen. Just the flow of it, the look of it…I guess that’s the best way for me to describe it.

A: I guess I don’t fully understand why you’re saying that though.

S: It’s kind of avant-garde. To me…it didn’t have a lot of similarities with Midnight in Paris. It didn’t have much of a general storyline. There were five different subplots going on at the same time…

A: Well before we get any further, let’s go through those five threads, then get into out take on them. (Fair warning, this might get a little confusing.)

The first one we are introduced to is Hayley and Michaelangelo, an American tourist and an Italian lawyer, who meet cute and fall in love. They get engaged, so her parents (played by Woody Allen and Judy Davis (Marie Antoinette) fly to Rome to meet Michaelangelo and his family. Hayley’s father, Jerry, is a reluctantly retired music executive. As it turns out Michaelangelo’s father, Giancarlo, is a GREAT opera singer…but only when he’s in the shower. (Giancarlo is played by the famous Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato). So that vignette actually revolves around Jerry trying to make Giancarlo share his talents.

Next we’re BRIEFLY introduced to Alec Baldwin’s character, John, a famous architect on vacation in Rome who meets Jesse Eisenberg’s Jack, a budding architecture student.

S: And John really becomes Jack’s…what would he be? His adviser?

Alec Baldwin plays John, a famous architect who "advises" Jesse Eisenberg's Jack, an architecture student who falls for his girlfriend's friend. We were just as confused sometimes as Eisenberg is here.

A: John basically becomes Jack’s conscience. And it confused us because it really becomes JACK’S story where he lives with his girlfriend, Sally, and Sally invites her friend Monica  (Page) to stay with them for a while, even though Sally knows all men seem to fall for her. So while Jack tells Sally he won’t fall for her friend, John is always there to cut through the b.s. and tell him what he truly knows deep inside, pointing out all of Monica’s negatives that Jack is blind to. We’ll get back to this one.

S: Then we have the young newlywed Italian couple, Antonio and Milly. They’re visiting Rome because Antonio’s uncles have offered him a big job and he’s to meet all their business partners. But when Milly leaves the hotel to get a quick haircut, their stories split into two different paths.

While Milly’s out, a high-priced escort named Anna, played by Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona), shows up at Antonio’s hotel room, his aunts and uncles show up all of a sudden, and in a case of mistaken identity he pretends that Anna is his wife. Hijinks ensue.

A: On the flip side, after Milly loses her cell phone in a sewer grate and can’t find the hotel again, she stumbles across a movie set and meets her favorite actor, the fictional Luca Salta, with whom she goes to HIS hotel room and fights the urge to sleep with a famous actor. Hijinks also ensue there.

S: And it was funny to see Penelope Cruz in a role like this. You have these two unknown Italian actors and in-between them is this Hollywood superstar. The balance of it was quite funny.

We both particularly enjoyed Penelope Cruz's comedic turn as Anna, a prostitute who ends up having to pretend to be Antonio's (far left) wife during an important meeting with his uncles, one of whom is in the middle of this shot.

A: It really was. The final subplot involved Robert Benigni (Life Is Beautiful) as Leopoldo Pisanello…

S: Who is a middle-class nobody.

A: He’s a self-proclaimed schmuck.

S: And all of a sudden he’s super famous and he has no idea why.

A: There’s paparazzi following him around, reporters constantly asking him inane questions about what he ate for breakfast that morning…and it’s all very humorous but also very surreal. He literally has no idea why he’s famous. So those are the five storylines, and really they have NOTHING to do with one another.

S: Which is strange. It’s not like New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day where everyone’s related somehow. Instead the narrative just bounces between the five stories.

A: Correct. Ok, so when I say that I think this is a lot like Midnight in Paris I mean in that it’s a Woody Allen film, it’s in another European city, it’s another ensemble cast but it’s a very quirky comedy that I didn’t see coming. Because what it is, much like Midnight in Paris, is that it’s a bit of a fantasy.

S: It’s very fantastical, I was JUST going to say that. Especially Benigni’s storyline where his Leopoldo is famous all of a sudden and has no idea why and EVERYONE around him believes him to be famous, too.

A: A lot of the time we had no idea what was going on in this movie or why it was going on. Alec Baldwin…there are scenes where he’s in the scene with Eisenberg and Page and they’re both talking to him and he’s talking to them, but is his character there? Is he not really there? And then at the end, he and Eisenberg have a final exchange, go their separate ways and the camera follows Baldwin! And it’s like, “Well was he really there that time?”

To me the similarities between Allen’s last two movies are that their very fantastical, to the point where with this film we asked each other if the characters were all dreaming.

S: We did. And they never explain what’s going on. So in that respect yes, it was a lot of like Midnight in Paris. I just didn’t feel like this one had a central storyline and I suppose that’s because it didn’t.

A: And each story had some sort of commentary going on with it, a criticism of something. Most notably to me, one that made me laugh and I think I was the only one in theatre who laughed when I realized it, but at one point Leopoldo asks his chauffeur, “WHY am I famous?” And the chauffeur replies (and I’m paraphrasing here), “You’re famous because you’re famous.”

The storyline for Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni) was definitely the strangest of the them all, but Andrew found it to be a sharp critique of the world's infatuation with "famous" people.

And at that moment it clicked for me that Leopoldo’s storyline is Woody Allen kind of critiquing people like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, socialites and reality TV stars like that…

S: Who are mainly famous for being famous. I got ya.

A: Exactly. I think that’s what his story was a critique on and there are others like that in this film as well.

S: I will say…my favorite character in this movie was Woody Allen’s Jerry. He was so funny…

A: Oh man, he was annoying me at the beginning with his neuroses.

S: That’s what I found so hilarious! He was this little nerdy dad, which I know is his shtick, but it totally worked for me. But each character had their own special personality that was really quite clever of Allen. I applaud him for that.

A: Yeah, it was great casting, the script was good but at times I thought characters might have rambled or Allen held a shot too long, but overall I liked the storylines. And you mentioned her earlier, I really liked Cruz. She was very funny, especially when she and Antonio are taken to meet all his uncle’s business partners and they end up all recognizing her.

Much like Midnight in Paris I liked the music a lot but I wasn’t a huge fan of how Allen shot the movie.

S: I mentioned at the end of the movie, and I don’t know if you’ll agree with me, but this is another movie that seemed very much like a stage performance. There’s a narrator at the beginning and end, which was odd but felt a lot like a play to me. Then you have the visual of Alec Baldwin’s John being Jack’s conscience, sitting off to the side all the time but it’s like he’s not really there? That’s a very visual thing that would translate well to stage. There’s a lot of scenery so it might be tough to completely visualize this film on stage…

A: And you might have to streamline or cut out a couple of the storylines so you’re not bouncing back and forth so much, but I see what you mean now.

S: All this said, I’m not necessarily sure I liked the movie all that much. It’s not a movie that I would just pop in on a Friday night. But it was certainly entertaining. I’m glad we saw it.

A: I don’t think this will get any Oscar cred like Allen’s last film, it’s not quite as good, especially with the five storylines it got a little confusing at times and it probably ran a little long. But I’m still glad we saw it.

FINAL VERDICT: Netflix it.

(Out of Five clapboards)

Photo Courtesies: Movienewz, Italia Living, AceShowBiz.com, Mad Betty

Ain't Nothin' But a Good Time!: Our Review of "Rock of Ages" (2012)

Directed By: Adam Shankman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking and language

Synopsis: Set in 1987, Sherrie (Hough) is a bright-eyed young singer who leaves Oklahoma for the bright lights of Hollywood. When she arrives she meets Drew, a bartender at the popular nightclub The Bourbon Room, who's also an aspiring rocker. When the wife of LA's mayor (Zeta-Jones) makes it her mission to shut down The Bourbon Room, it comes down to a big show my the famous but temperamental rocker Stacee Jaxx (Cruise) to save the place. Instead he ends up turning everyone's lives upside down.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I just got out of seeing this weekend’s new musical, the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Rock of Ages starring Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Julianne Hough (Footloose) and many more famous actors with various ranges of singing prowess that we’ll touch on later.

Sarah, first things first, what are your immediate thoughts on Rock of Ages?

Sarah: It was AWESOME. I mean it was pure rock and roll. This is a Broadway musical that has been adapted to film, something that’s been done many times before and will be done many times in the future, but this movie ROCKED. I was really nervous about how good it would be, but it kicked ass.

A: I could not agree more with you. And I’ll say this: it’s not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is just a FUN movie. I can’t even articulate how much I enjoyed this film. I love 80s music to begin with, but every aspect of this film related to the 80s, I’d have to imagine they made it perfectly. This was obviously a passion project by those who made it because it LOOKED and SOUNDED perfect. I had a smile on my face, literally, from beginning to end.

S: Yeah, it was awesome. Now let’s get into how the actors fared. I was a little concerned that this had such a huge cast with so many big names.

A: But they fared well, right? So let’s pick out a couple of the songs and actors and talk about the best, and then the worst if there were any.

First and foremost, the best performance, hands down, was Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx.

S: Oh, he hit this one out of the park.

A: I can’t even pick which song I think he did best. I think if I had to choose I would say it was his rendition of “Wanted Dead or Alive.”

Tom Cruise gives 110% in his performance as the rock star Stacee Jaxx, and he alone makes this movie worth seeing

S: Yes! What was crazy for me was that when he sang that song, as a woman, I felt what it would be like to have been around when rockers were considered gods by women. When women would just throw their bras and underwear on stage at these guys, cuz they were SEX ICONS. He OOZED sex in this film!

A: And he slinked around so perfectly and he just embodied a man who’s seen a million faces and rocked them all. I think it helpful that he actually went through all that crap he went through when he had his downfall, and now he’s resurrected his career because you could see that experience in his performance.

S: What’s crazy is it was like watching Steven Tyler, Brett Michaels or Axl Rose, just these guys that were considered icons of their age. And yeah, I would have to say that not only was Tom Cruise perfect in this role, but he can make no wrong decisions in his career right now. I don’t know who is managing him but he cannot make a wrong decision.

A: Ever since his cameo in Tropic Thunder…

S: He’s been on fire! Untouchable. Ok, so the other songs…

A: There were so many good songs. And it’s tough to pick only a few out, cuz off the top of my head they did “Jukebox Hero”, “Sister Christian”, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”…

S: “Paradise City”, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, “I Want to Know What Love Is”… but let’s be honest, the “We Built This City” and “We’re Not Going to Take It” mash-up was the pinnacle of the movie. Everything had built up to this part.

A: I think it was a good part, but everything actually built up to the final song. I don’t even want to say what it is so as not to spoil it, I thought it was so perfect.

S: I was surprised! Were you surprised by the song choice for the finale?

A: A little bit but I’m glad they did because it’s one of our all-time favorite songs.

S: It’s one of the most ICONIC songs in all of music history.

A: Exactly, and that’s why I think it’s perfect. I like that they ended it the way they did. But let’s go back to the actors - Julianne Hough did a great job…

S: Diego Boneta, which was a breakout role for him, did really well.

A: His look kind of bothered me a bit, like he looks really too fresh faced for me. But any scene that he was singing in and really rocking out he was perfect. Russell Brand’s (Get Him to the Greek) not bad, not great but not bad; Malin Akerman (The Proposal) was pretty good in the song she did with Cruise.

Sherrie (Hough) and Drew (Boneta) meet cute as soon as she arrives in LA via Oklahoma. Both actors do great job singing the classic songs they're given in Rock of Ages

S: Mary J. Blige was great obviously, but she didn’t have much to do.

A: And they did do a really cool rendition of “Any Way You Want It” by Journey. Just in general, this film is exactly what I thought it should be. It was a straight-up musical and it made me smile from start to finish. But I also enjoyed it because, and I’ve said this many times before to my friends, I think it would be awesome if people actually did just burst into song in real life situations.

S: Oh I tweeted as soon as we left that I wish life was a musical.

A: Because that’s what they did well with this one, they didn’t just stage songs but they told the story through the songs. That was the strength of the film. Like if we were going to grade this on a normal scale, it’s not a 5 out of 5, it’s not perfect. It’s a little long…

S: But it is a musical. There were definite acts, there was an intermission type feel to it with a first act and a second act. It was adapted well from the stage to the screen and I think the music had a lot to do with that. There were times where it got really slow, but again that’s a show. That’s a Broadway show for you. I would have to say that they’ve gotten a lot better transitioning theatre shows to the screen. They’re not cutting things out, they’re not making it tighter, and they’re staying true to the story.

A: I was okay with the two hour run time because I feel like that’s what the actual show is. And you have to get all the songs in there.

S: And they did have to end up cutting some songs out!

A: The director, Adam Shankman, who directed Hairspray a few years back, did a great job and I think this is actually better.

S: Oh gosh yes.

A: But a lot like Hairspray, everyone gave it 110% - the hair, the sets, the costumes…

S: Everyone just had fun! We hope it does well this weekend because it was awesome. I would have to say that if you’re a fan of the musical genre, if you’re a fan of the 80s, this is definitely one you have to see in theatres. And not because it’s any better in theatres than it would be on your TV, but just the sheer spectacle of it. You gotta rock out to it. I wish it had been louder.

A: And again, I can’t stress this enough, see this because of Tom Cruise. Yeah he’s crazy, but you can’t deny that the man gives it his all. From being on the outside of the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol to just giving it his all as a rock star in this.

What’s our final grade for Rock of Ages?

S: It’s not a five out of five, but we’re buying this. We’ll own it. And I think it’s one of the few that we’ve given that level to!

(Out of Five Clapboards)

Photo Courtesies: Geek Tyrant, Art and Seek, USA Today

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, June 15th)

Andrew: Hello readers! While we've been a little quiet here this week on Two Tickets For... because of heavy workloads with our day jobs, it doesn't mean we're going to miss our weekly preview!

Sarah, this week we only have two big releases: a film adaptation of the Broadway hit Rock of Ages (directed by Adam Shankman, who also did Hairspray) and Adam Sandler's new R-rated comedy That's My Boy. Let's talk about Rock of Ages first because let's be honest, we love the trailer for this film every single time we see it (and you can see below if you haven't).

Official Trailer for Rock of Ages

Sarah: SO excited for Rock of Ages! We’ve been waiting a long time for this to come out and I couldn't be more excited. This cast is going to rock out. With such powerhouse performers, some of whom are proven amazing singers, this musical will bring new life to this Broadway hit. However, with such a large cast there is always the risk that it will be a complete flop, especially with such a personality as Tom Cruise. 

What do you think?

A: I'm very intrigued to see how the different actors perform in a singing role. That's usually what makes or breaks a musical film, you know? We know some of the actors have some singing chops, like Mary J. Blige, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianna Hough and Russell Brand. But how will Malin Akerman sound? Alec Baldwin? Paul Giamatti? Yikes.

But I'm VERY interested to see how Tom Cruise does. By all accounts so far he's the main reason to see the film and he gives it his all as rock star Stacee Jaxx. Also, it's no secret if you know me that I absolutely love 80's music, so I'm particularly interested to see the film's renditions of Journey and Foreigner songs.

S: Oh yea, I totally cannot wait to rock out to all the classic rock. I love me some musicals. I am really hoping that Cruise's role it as awesome as his role in Tropic Thunder. I love that as part of his comeback he isn't himself too seriously all of the time. 

Anyway, I think it's safe to say that we're excited about this one. Ok, so the next one that we have is That's My Boy. I'm not going to lie, I am a little nervous about this one. I am not always the biggest fan of Adam Sandler. He's kind of a joke in my opinion and I'm not sure how I feel about the actual story.

A: I figured this might be one that we go into a little split on, because I'm actually looking forward to this one. I'm not expecting it to be a classic comedy like Sandler's old films Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, but the fact that it's a hard-R comedy gives me some hope. It's definitely not one of his family comedies like Grown-Ups or Just Go With It.

Official Trailer for That's My Boy

I like the plot set-up of Sandler playing a guy who knocked up his junior high school teacher at a young age and has a son almost his age that he royally screwed up. I'm not expecting the story to be phenomenal but I'm looking for lots of laughs, and I'm assuming we'll get some because of this cast. Look at this list of people who are in it along with Sandler and Andy Samberg (that consists of lots of former SNL-ers):

- James Caan

- Will Forte

- Rachel Dratch

- Nick Swardson

- Ana Gasteyer

- Colin Quinn

And then a whole LOT of cameos from the looks of it on IMDb. If it makes me laugh more than The Dictator I'll call it a rousing success.

S: I will have to agree with you that. It can't be much worse than The Dictator  so I am hoping for some more laughs. I just am worried that his cheese-ball accent and Jersey-Shore look will really distract from the story. The hard-R will probably help with some of the comedy, but I really don't have high hopes for this one.

A: I should add that while I like the comedic premise of Sandler's character knocking up his junior high school teacher, it will be interesting to see what the general public's reaction will be for a film that starts with statutory rape to kick off the ensuing hijinks. I think that's something that we'll touch on in our review.

S: Yea I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way. Yea what is up with all the movies bringing up topics that really are a little touchy?! 

Oh well, it's still going to be another fun weekend at the movies!

A: So with these being the only big releases, we guarantee that we will be seeing them at some point this weekend and our reviews will be posted shortly thereafter! Have a great weekend, readers, and as always thanks for reading!

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, May 11th)

Andrew: Hello readers! It's time for our weekly preview of the new theatrical releases coming out on Friday. Last week's preview was all about The Avengers because for all intents and purposes it was the only new wide release last week. This week isn't much different. While there are a few films coming out in limited release (a couple of which we'll briefly touch on towards the end), this week's only wide release of note is the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration, Dark Shadows.

Dark Shadows is Burton's film adaptation the popular 1960's soap opera of the same name starring the late Jonathan Frid as a vampire named Barnabas Collins. In the new film, Barnabas (Depp) is an aristocrat from the 1700s who, after ticking off a witch, is turned into a vampire and buried for 200 years. He awakens to find himself in 1972 and that his ancestors have basically ruined the family's wealth and are an ecclectic bunch of weirdos.

Sarah, I think we've made it well-known on our blog that we're pretty big Johnny Depp fans, so on a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are we about Dark Shadows?

Sarah: I would have to say that I'm at about an eight on the scale. While Johnny Depp looks pretty hilarious is a typically dark fashion only to be brought about by Tim Burton, I am not super familiar with the story so I really don't know exactly what to expect. What about you?

Official Trailer for Dark Shadows

A: I'm fairly excited for it because I'm a big fan of Burton and Depp's prior movies - particularly Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (and yes, even Alice in Wonderland).

So I'm very interested to see their newest film for that reason alone, but also because I'm interested in seeing a film adaptation of the old Dark Shadows television show. I haven't seen any episodes of it either, only a clip your mom showed us on YouTube once, but just from that clip I could tell why Depp and Burton have a passion for the show and why they'd want to make it into a film of their own.

What I'm curious about is not only Depp's portrayal of Barnabas Collins, but how the rest of this A-list cast fairs. Your thoughts on the cast?

S: Oh yes, even from that short clip you could tell that this was definitely something up Burton and Depp's alley. It's dark with strange looking costumes and a lead that would fit perfectly with Depp's slightly morbid sense of humor.

Yea, the cast is killer. You have all of Burton's favorites (such as his partner, Helena Bonham Carter) and even some new ones that seem like they will fit right in with the rest of the cast. Chloe Grace Moretz looks like she will steal the show from Depp and this role might just solidify her as Hollywood's next go-to gal for all the movies. She has already starred with some big names (Nicolas Cage, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley) and is set to be alongside the likes of Blake Lively and Alec Baldwin this year in Hick.

What do you think of the cast? It's the typical Burton cast. Does that bother you at all?

A: I agree with your sentiment on Moretz, she's been great in Let Me In and Kick-Ass, and I know she's already been cast as the lead in the remake of Stephen King's Carrie, so you're spot on with her being a hot property in Hollywood.

I like the rest of the cast, too, I'm just worried about how much screentime they'll all get and how they'll work together. I think Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the Collins family matriarch, was a stroke of genius from the outset, and I've enjoyed seeing what possibilities Eva Green can bring from a comedic standpoint as the film's antagonist, Angelique Bouchard, the witch who turns Barnabas into a vampire in the first place.

S: Yeah, and I do think this movie will have some unexpected laughs that we haven't seen yet in the trailers! I'm excited to see it and it will be a great review to add to our list!

So what else is gracing the big screen this weekend?

A: Well other than Dark Shadows, a couple of films coming out in limited release that have caught our eye are the new Eva Mendes film Girl in Progress and the aforementioned Chloe Grace Moretz film Hick.
Girl in Progress stars Eva Mendes as a woman who got pregnant as a teenager, and now that her daughter is also a teenager, she still hasn't completely grown up and it affects her daughter in the same ways her own absentee mother did. Honestly I'm probably butchering how best to describe this movie, so I suggest watching the trailer below, which is quite good.

Official Trailer for Girl in Progress

 Hick, on the other hand, stars Moretz as a teenage runaway who becomes involved with some shady characters while on the road, including Blake Lively as a con artist, Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn) as a potentially dangerous drifter, and the always awesome Alec Baldwin. Full disclosure, we were hooked by the trailer (that you can view below), and now I'm even more intrigued now that I know it currently has a 0% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes! How can this film be that bad??? I must know.

Official Trailer for Hick

So really, that sums up the few movies coming out this weekend that have caught our eye. I can personally guarantee that we will be seeing Dark Shadows and that review will be up this weekend. For both Sarah and I here at Two Tickets For..., as always, thanks for reading!