Two Tickets For… Visits the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con: Andrew Lincoln & Norman Reedus

Andrew: Hello dear readers! Yesterday we kicked off our posts covering the visit Sarah and I took to the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con. Or, I suppose as the logo on the right says, Walker Stalker Con Atlanta. Either way, yesterday we posted our recap of special makeup effects guru Greg Nicotero's panel, which had SO much information that we had to split it up into two posts!

Today we're posting our coverage of what was without a doubt the most-anticipated panel of the whole 3-day weekend: the humorously named "Bromance" panel featuring The Walking Dead's de facto stars, Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus. So without further ado, here's our recap of the biggest panel of the day.


ANDREW LINCOLN & NORMAN REEDUS' WALKER STALKER CON PANEL

Lincoln, who first came to America's attention as a lovesick puppy pining after Keira Knightley in the British rom-com Love, Actually, was the first to walk onstage and the capacity crowd on the 3rd floor of the Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart Building 2 went NUTS. Lincoln appeared relatively clean-shaven and spoke in his normal British accent (though occasionally dipping into his American accent he uses on the show). Lincoln is actually joined on stage first by Greg Nicotero as Reedus was running a bit behind as he finished his lunch.

The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln walks onstage before a packed convention hall floor. This was our view from our general admission seats, with hundreds of people to the left and right of us.

Photo by Sarah Keck/Two Tickets For...

After a minute or two of Lincoln and Nicotero joking around Reedus came through the stage door to raucous applus. Reedus, who first became a cult icon for his role as Murphy MacManus in 1999's indie crime film The Boondock Saints, appeared pretty much as his Daryl character would (if Daryl wore skateboard hats) and held his cell phone out in front of him taking video of the crazy crowd. He then pulled Lincoln and Nicotero to his side and took a video selfie of the three of them with the crowd in the background. These guys clearly knew how to play up the crowed.

Two Tickets For… Visits the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con: Greg Nicotero (Part 1)

Andrew: Hello dear readers! As we mentioned in our Introduction post, Sarah and I attended the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con here in downtown Atlanta this past Saturday. If you were unable to read our intro or just opted to skip it, Walker Stalker Con is a horror/sci-fi convention particularly focused on the hit AMC show The Walking Dead. We were only able to attend the main day on Saturday, and of the number of panels that were held, we were able to catch three of them, including the first one of the day - legendary makeup and special effects artist Greg Nicotero! 

Along with being in charge of all the fantastic zombie makeup and special effects on the show, Nicotero doubles as an executive producer and even triples as an occasional director. In fact, Nicotero had the honor of directing the outstanding Season 5 premiere that aired just last week.

Of the three panels we sat in on, Nicotero's was the least attended, which was a shame because his ended up being the most informative of the day. In fact, it was SO informative that we needed to split up his panel into two separate posts to cut down on reader fatigue 

We took the effort (oh who are we kidding, it was a downright pleasure) of jotting down Nicotero's talking points and taking some photos of the proceedings. Below here you'll find what we believe to be a fine summary of Nicotero's panel. Enjoy!


GREG NICOTERO'S WALKER STALKER CON PANEL, Part 1

- Nicotero walked on stage through a nice mock-up of the "A" train car from the Season 4 finale/Season 5 premiere the show's protagonists were locked up in a Terminus, greeting the 50 or so attendees with a jovial, "You're all the people who don't want Andy or Norman's autograph!"

The Walking Dead executive producer/director/special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero walks onstage through a mockup of the Terminus "A" train from the Season 4 finale/Season 5 premiere.

Photo by Sarah Keck/Two Tickets For...

- Nicotero, who directed the season premiere, is asked about the train car set. He explains how they modified the car a bit from an actual train car by building the wooden frames that allowed Andrew Lincoln's Rick to saw a shiv off of it. More of note, Nicotero points out that Rick is using Hershel's watch chain to saw off the wood, which I didn't notice while watching the show, and how Hershel's watch read 5:01 - as in Season 5, Episode 1. Apparently every clock or watch in a respective episode reads whatever episode number of the show it's in. Little details like that are pretty neat.

Two Tickets For... Visits the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con: Greg Nicotero (Part 2)

Andrew: Hello dear readers! This past Saturday, Sarah and I were able to attend the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con, a horror/sci-fi convention focused primarily on the hit AMC show The Walking Dead. This post is the second half of our coverage of The Walking Dead executive producer/director/special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero's panel. If you missed the first half, you can read it HERE. 


GREG NICOTERO'S WALKER STALKER PANEL, Part 2

- A fan asked about Nicotero's preparation when he directs an episode and about AMC's notoriously stingy budgetary concerns. He explains that for season premieres, mid-season finales, mid-season premieres and season finales directors are given nine days to shoot. Nicotero says he traditionally gets his copy of the script, will jot down his own notes, and then storyboards how he wants to shoot scenes. Nicotero claims episode 9 of this season, which he directed, is one of the best they've ever done, that he can't wait until the audience can see it in February, and that some scenes ended up exactly as he had storyboarded it earlier that week.

Nicotero followed this up by telling an anecdote of one particular episode he directed where he neglected to make his shot list upon originally receiving the script like normal, and how he waited until the morning of shooting to hastily make his "sh*tty shot list" and how Andrew Lincoln came up to him as he was doing so and gave him crap for doing it right before shooting that day's footage.

- A fan asked Nicotero if he has nightmares, and if so, what are they about? Nicotero answers that he does have nightmares, and when he does they're about his kids, because they're back in Los Angeles while he's in Atlanta and he worries about them. He said he'll wake up from a nightmare and call his wife to make sure they're okay, to which his wife will confirm they're just fine and then chastises him for waking her up at 5:00am her time.

Nicotero continued talking about his kids, explaining that they were 5 years old when the show started, and that they've played with tons of creepy things their father has made for the show, such as the zombie heads in The Governor's apartment. He also joked that when his son goes off to college "He'll be like, 'My dad worked on The Walking Dead. I know Norman Reedus.' He's gonna get LAID!" This obviously got tons of laughter from the crowd.

The Walking Dead executive producer/director/special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero explains to his panel's crowd how he and the show-runners look at the show and feel a responsibility to the audience to do fresh things.

Photo by Sarah Keck/Two Tickets For...

- A fan asked if the rate at which the zombies decay on the show will eventually hit the point where they're all completely decayed, unmovable and non-threats to the characters. "They'll never fall apart," Nicotero said. "I just want to give you guys something cool to look at."

Two Tickets For… Visits the 2014 Atlanta Walker Stalker Con: Introduction

Andrew: Hello dear readers! So we've been positively awful about posting our most recently recorded review, the Robert Downey, Jr. drama The Judge. While we promise we'll be posting that sometime soon, we are VERY excited for the next few posts we'll be posting here on Two Tickets For…!  

This past Saturday we hit up the 2014 Walker Stalker Con here in Atlanta. It was a personal first for us here at Two Tickets For… as Sarah and I had never been to a convention before, so when we heard a radio promo for this The Walking Dead-centric horror/sci-fi convention, we jumped on the chance to attend.

I could spend some time trying to come up with the best, succinct way to explain this convention, but I'll just let the "About Us" page from walkerstalkercon.com do the talking:

"Walker Stalker Con is the fruit of The Walker Stalkers Podcast with James & Eric. The podcast began with an amazing trip to Senoia, GA where James & Eric were able to view the set of The Walking Dead and meet the incredible actors from the show. As a result of this experience, a podcast began and then the idea of a convention focused around recreating that same experience with the cast and crew of the show, along with talented actors and artists from other zombie shows, movies and art.

Walker Stalker Con is not just a convention. It is a fan meet-up and an opportunity for each guest to come away feeling like they’ve had an amazing experience and became part of a greater community of zombie lovers! Walker Stalker Con is three days of events, panels, and experiences that zombie fans won’t find anywhere else!"

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#WalkerStalkerCon in #atl! Gunna go hunt down some zombies!

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Guests that were present at the 3-day weekend included most of the cast of The Walking Dead, past and present, headlined by Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus. Other notable guests from the hit AMC show included Steven Yeun (Glen), Lauren Cohen (Maggie), Melissa McBride (Carol), Chandler Riggs (Carl), Laurie Holden (Andrea) and Michael Rooker (Merle, also hot off of this summer's hit Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy); plus The Vampire Diaries stars Ian Somerholder and Paul Wesley, and Game of Thrones star and future big-screen Aquaman, Jason Momoa. Notable guests who were previously scheduled but had to drop out included Danai Guriri (Michonne), Jon Bernthal (Shane), and David Morrissey (The Governor).

We could only attend the Saturday session, which happened to be the biggest day of the event. We were able to hit three of the five Walking Dead panels - executive producer/lead makeup and special effects artist/occasional director Greg Nicotero; "Abraham's Army": Michael Cudlitz (Abraham), Josh McDermitt (Eugene) and Christian Serratos (Rosita); and the highly-anticipated "Bromance" panel of Andrew Lincoln (Rick) and Norman Reedus (Daryl). Because of the tightly-packed schedule we were unable to attend Riggs' panel (he originally was scheduled to be with Guriri, but she had to bail) and regrettably we couldn't attend the "The Grove" panel that consisted of McBride, Chad Coleman (Tyreese) and Brighton Sharbino (Lizzie). We also weren't able to catch Momoa's solo panel, as it was on the secondary stage right before the Lincoln/Reedus panel, so we were already in line for that one. 

Starting today and over the next few days, we'll post an entry a day about one of the panels and we'll finish with a fun little post about meeting a pair of our favorite contestants from SyFy's hit movie makeup competition show, Face Off, and some sweet swag we picked up. These posts will primarily just be highlights of the cast's panels along with photos Sarah was able to take. We hope you enjoy these posts for what they are - your way to vicariously attend the Walker Stalker Con through us!

We'll kick things off tonight with what was maybe the least attended and yet most informative panel - Greg Nicotero! His panel was so informative, in fact, that we had to split up his talking points into two separate posts just to avoid reader (and editor) fatigue. So expect those to hit our blog tonight! Sorry for the delay!


Photo Courtesy: Walker Stalker Con

Two Tickets For... Ranks David Fincher's Films!

Andrew: Hello dear readers! Earlier this week Sarah and I posted our review of David Fincher's latest directorial effort, Gone Girl, and because his new film also happens to be his tenth feature film we decided it was the perfect number to do a rankings post! As we mentioned in our review, we both love Fincher's stuff. In fact, we own all of his movies except for Gone Girl, but when it does come out on home video you can bet we'll own it. And owning a film is the highest compliment we can pay one.

Sarah: Instead of each posting our own rankings like we do for our Marvel Cinematic Universe rankings, we decided to do this one similar to how we ranked our Most Anticipated Films of 2014. We each sat down and ranked Fincher's films, wrote up what we thought of them and why we ranked them where we did, and then we combined those to come up with this compilation!

A: And we just know that you're going to find some of our ranks kind of interesting. This is probably one of the best examples of how sometimes we think alike, and sometimes we think differently about films. So without further ado, listed below are the official Two Tickets For... rankings of David Fincher's Films!

TWO TICKETS FOR...'S RANKINGS OF DAVID FINCHER'S FILMS

10.) Alien 3 (1992)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 7th  Andrew: 10th 

A: In all fairness to Fincher, his first feature-film directorial effort was a studio-interfered CF of the highest order. He was brought on late, had to start shooting with an unfinished Frankenstein-esque script, was overruled on many things by the studio that he eventually walked away before editing the film. So even the finished edit isn't Fincher's. And I can’t blame him. While there are flashes of the kind of director he would become in this film, it’s best to just say it’s not even really a Fincher film.

S: I love the Alien franchise. Aliens is my favorite of the bunch, so naturally I take issue with the third installment. They completely negate my favorite of the films in such a violent and unnecessary way. Killing off all of Newt and Hicks at the start of the movie was poor decision-making. But that's not where the bad decisions end. There are scenes where we have the great man-in-a-costume/puppetry xenomorph and then there are the moments where it's terrible CGI. At times it's so bad that the alien is actually green. It's. Just. The worst. The only compliment I have is that I liked the cast. But that doesn't matter and you can't get attached because of course they're all gonna die! Fincher can't be blamed for it all, though. With multiple writers and no say in the editing, it was bound to be a tough freshman film.


9.) The Game (1997)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 10th  Andrew: 6th 

A: While most people think of The Game as one of Fincher’s worst, I don’t think that’s necessarily fair. It’s very underrated. It is a very well-made movie that’s anchored by a very strong starring turn from Michael Douglas. It is probably the first film that really looks like a Fincher film, with the help of the great, late cinematographer Harris Savides, whom Fincher would team up with again for Zodiac.  The biggest knock on it is that this was Fincher’s follow-up to his immediate classic, Se7en, and that if you think about the plot too much there are some logic holes. But I have fun whenever I watch this movie.

S: I hated this movie. It freaked me out in the worst way imaginable, and then to find out that the whole thing was like a big joke on the main character?! I mean, how awful is that?! I was so mad at this movie at the end! Maybe that’s what Fincher was going for, but it just really wasn’t my cup of tea.

8.) Panic Room (2002)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 8th  Andrew: 7th

S: This is the last of Fincher's films that I'm not so keen on. This one was, once again, technically executed to perfection but I just really did not like the cast. I can only handle Jodie Foster in one movie, and that’s Silence of the Lambs. I feel like one can only handle that voice for so long before it just becomes grating on the nerves. And then there’s K-Stew. It’s good to know that she didn’t just start off in the Twilight  films as an angsty pain in the ass, that she’s always been that way. I just felt like this movie was lacking for me in the thriller vein. I know I will probably be very argued against on this point but it just fell flat for me.

A: Yeah, I know you hated this film, Sarah, but I really enjoy. Part of it is sentimental value, as this was the first Fincher film I saw in theatres, when I was 14. And now that I think of it, it was probably the first Fincher film I ever saw, period. And it floored me with how slick it was. The great camera movements through the house, the look and feel of the film, the tension between Jodie Foster and the three burglars (including two future Oscar winners in Forest Whitaker and Jared Leto)…I loved it. It’s probably the most short-and-sweet film Fincher has done, except it’s not truly sweet. I remember being bummed as a teenager that it took five years before Fincher would release another movie after this one came out.


7.) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 5th  Andrew: 9th

S: When I first saw this movie I had no idea it was a Fincher film. It’s an interesting character study with a little bit of fantasy thrown in. Once again we have another phenomenal cast that just knocks it out of the park. It’s technically well done, and while the story drags at times, I think that the technicality shines through as a strong point. It’s not one of those movies I’m going to stop on every time I see it on television, but it’s beautifully done.

A: This isn’t my favorite David Fincher movie, and it’s by far his most “Oscar bait” kind of movie, but I think the CGI is phenomenal and the cast is pretty great. It runs a little long for my tastes, to the point where I’m actually okay not watching it again in one sitting, but it looks great, it sounds great, and it’s a very touching movie, which helps it stand out from the rest of Fincher’s filmography.


6.) Zodiac (2007)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 9th  Andrew: 4th 

A: I struggled with my ranking of Zodiac if only because whenever I watch it I feel a little incomplete. And when I thought about it, that’s exactly how I should feel, because the investigation into the Zodiac killer was never resolved. One of Fincher’s hallmarks is obsession, and no other movie of his tackles it as strongly as this one. Another great cast (taking chances on Jake Gyllenhaal to shoulder the film and on a pre-Iron Man Robert Downey, Jr. panned out in spades), it’s another fantastic looking film, and I remember being scared of this film in the final act with the basement scene the first time I saw it. While I have it ranked fourth, I can understand why some people might list this as his best film.

S: I’ve actually never been able to finish this movie. By about halfway through I was bored and confused. It’s not one that I have been wanting to get back to, either. I’ve really had no desire to pick it back up. I hear that it ends well; I guess I’ll have to take people’s word on it.


5.) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 2nd  Andrew: 8th 

S: This movie bothered me. And it should have. The book was disturbing and haunting. This came through perfectly on the big screen. Once again we had the addition of the music to really bring things to life. It created a tense feeling throughout the entire film that made you squirm in your seat. The cast was inventive and housed a lot of familiar faces, which really paid off for the viewers and the filmmaker.

A: The only reason I have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is ranked as low as I do is because I think all of the others have higher rewatchability. That’s not a slight to Dragon Tattoo, it’s just that it can be a difficult movie to watch because of the source material. The cast is great (Rooney Mara’s transformation into Lisbeth Salander obviously standing out), it looks amazing (I always feel cold watching this movie), and the score by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross is sublime. I understand the criticisms people have about it being too faithful to the book, and the fact that it came so soon after the Swedish versions starring Noomi Rapace, but I think those are nitpicks. You can say Fincher sold out with this film, but it’s still a trademark Fincher film nonetheless (maybe save for the lack of underlying humor).


4.) Gone Girl (2014)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 3rd  Andrew: 5th

S: We just posted our review of Gone Girl so I don’t really need to say too much about it here. It was another Fincher film cocktail that hit all the right notes. He really has his formula down.

A: Fincher’s latest lands a solid spot in my personal rankings, right smack dab in the middle. And really it’s only that low because the other four I have ranked ahead of it are SO strong. As we mentioned in our review, Fincher cast the HELL out of this movie and he directed the hell out of it, too. This film stuck with me for days after we saw it and I can’t wait to see it again. It also makes me very excited to see what Fincher does next.


3.) Se7en (1995)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 6th  Andrew: 1st 

S: This movie. Woof, it was a doozy. It really took the basic human fears and just amplified them. You would never guess that Brad Pitt could take such a silly line and really put in an amazing amount of fear and panic. That’s what this movie does. It is quite twisted at times and that really bothered me. While it’s a great thriller and horror movie, there’s an amazing twist at the end that you never see coming. It’s a little jarring, which is the point, and it is so well-executed.

A: I have personally have Se7en ranked as my number one Fincher film, and it was a tough call between this one and the two films we have ranked ahead of it in our combined rankings. The fact that it was only Fincher’s second film helps its cause because it shows just how a good a director he was at a young age. Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey are all terrific in this film. It was never scary to me, but I can see how others are scared of it. The level of detail involved with the film is mind-blowing, too. All those notebooks that John Doe had in his apartment? All meticulously filled with random ramblings, even though you only ever see just a few of them open. And maybe the best thing going for Se7en is that it has one of the most famous scenes in movie history and people still claim they saw Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in the box, even though you never do. That’s powerful filmmaking.


2.) Fight Club (1999)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 4th  Andrew: 2nd 

A: I mean, duh. Of course Fight Club is this high. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton knock it out of the park, it’s a scathing satire of masculinity and consumerism, it’s imminently quotable, and it has one of the best twists in movie history. That twist carries more weight than others because Fincher throws in hints to the true nature of the film the entire time. It’s funny, it’s smart, and it’s great that the exact same studio that interfered with Fincher so much on Alien 3 is the same one that let him make this gonzo film.

S: I don’t care what anyone says, this movie is a classic. It’s one of those that you will always remember the first time you watched it. It always sticks with you. It’s also one of those movies that you are always learning something new from. Every time you watch it, something new pops out at you. How many movies can you say that about?! It’s crazy cool.


1.) The Social Network (2010)
Individual Rankings - Sarah: 1st  Andrew: 3rd

S: I love this movie. Everything from the cast to the music in this movie is just perfection. It was one of the first times that I watched a Fincher film and went, “Oh yeah…I get it now.” It wasn’t the first Fincher film I saw but sometimes it can take me a bit to truly appreciate a true artist in the film world. I really, REALLY love the cast in this movie. Jesse Eisenberg was a revelation as Mark Zuckerberg and it really brought him to the forefront of Hollywood. That, and you throw in an unknown like Andrew Garfield and give pop music star Justin Timberlake an incredibly important role into the mix? It was genius, and really told us a story that we thought we knew and put it on its head.

A: Plain and simple, I thought back then and I still think now that The Social Network should have won Best Picture over The King’s Speech. Whoever would have thought that the story of Facebook would be so riveting? Obviously the fantastic screenplay by Aaron Sorkin gets this one of to a strong start, but again with the casting, the mind-blowing special effect of turning Armie Hammer into both of the Winklevoss twins, again with the look, the well-deserving Oscar-winning score by Reznor and Ross…I could go on. Maybe more than any of his films, this one will stand the test of time because it’s such a phenomenal look into the beginning of the social media boom and Silicon Valley in the mid-aughts. 

S: Okay readers, so that's our combined rankings of David Fincher's films! We're sure you might have some agreements and disagreements, so let us know in the comments what you think!

Photo Courtesies: impawards.com, 20th Century Fox, New Line Cinema, Columbia Pictures, PolyGram Film Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, MGM

David Fincher Returns With Another Modern Masterpiece: Our Review of "Gone Girl" (2014)

Directed By: David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) 

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens

Rating: R for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexuality/nudity, and language

Run Time: 2 hours, 29 minutes

Synopsis: After discovering his wife Amy (Pike) missing on the morning of their 5th anniversary, Nick Dunne (Affleck) becomes the prime suspect in the eyes of the police, media and the public. As Nick stumbles around trying to clear his name, it becomes clear that neither Nick nor Amy was being 100% truthful with each other, with devastating results.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! While Sarah and I were back in Michigan this past weekend for a wedding between two dear friends of ours, we were able to sneak in a visit to a local movie theatre with another dear friend of ours to catch David Fincher's latest film, Gone Girl. Now, this is a film that I personally had been anxiously waiting for as I'm a huge Fincher fan (even took a Fincher film class in college), and while we're a few days late with this review we think it'll be worth it because we've had many thoughts about this film percolating in our brains. So without further ado, let's get to it Sarah. 

Gone Girl is based on the hit 2012 novel of the same name written by Gillian Flynn, who also had the pleasure of adapting her own work for the film's screenplay. It stars Ben Affleck (Argo) as Nick Dunne and Rosamund Pike (The World's End) as his wife Amy, both of whom were once-successful writers in New York City that lost their jobs after the recession and moved to Missouri when Nick's mother was dying of cancer. On their fifth anniversary, Nick comes home to his McMansion to discover a scene of struggle in the living room and Amy missing. What follows is an investigation into Amy's disappearance that takes many twists and turns, with a looming question over whether Nick killed his wife, and whether this married couple really knew each other at all.

Sarah: Right now is a good time to warn our readers that since it's been a number of days since the film came out and a couple of years since the book came out, we're going to discuss non-spoiler aspects of the film first and then touch on some spoiler territory at the end of the review. Don't worry, we'll give fair warning when that section is coming up.

A: Indeed we will. So Sarah, while we hadn't read the book prior to seeing the film, as I mentioned earlier this was one I was very much looking forward to and I know you were as well. Now that we've seen Gone Girl, what are your initial thoughts on it?

This Is a Waste of a Great Cast and Our Money: Our Review of "This Is Where I Leave You" (2014)

Directed By: Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Real Steel) 

Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Corey Stoll, Adam Driver

Rating: R for language, sexual content and some drug use

Run Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Synopsis: Already dealing with the discovery that his wife is cheating on him with his boss, Judd Altman (Bateman) returns home for his father's funeral and to sit shiva with his famous author mother (Fonda) and his squabbling siblings (Fey, Stoll, Driver) per his father's last request. Traditional Hollywood family drama ensues.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! We were a little quiet the last week or so because my mother visited us last weekend and we were unable to catch any new releases, but we're back this week after having seen This Is Where I Leave You this past Friday night.

This Is Where I Leave You is a film we've been waiting to see for a while now because of the star-studded cast full of actors and actresses we very much enjoy. The film stars Jason Bateman (Bad Words) as Judd Altman, a radio producer who gets hit with the double-whammy of discovering his wife had been cheating on him with his boss, followed by the death of his father. His father's passing brings the whole Altman clan together, where we meet Judd's sister Wendy, played by Tina Fey (NBC's 30 Rock); his younger brother Philip, played by Adam Driver (HBO's Girls); his older brother Paul, played by Corey Stoll (Netflix's House of Cards); and his mother Hillary, played by Jane Fonda (HBO's The Newsroom), who's famous for writing a parenting book that explicitly detailed her children's lives.

And that's just the immediate family. Philip's older girlfriend is played by the great Connie Britton (ABC's Nashville); Paul's wife, Annie, is played by the hilarious Cathryn Hahn (Bad Words); and a neighbor/former flame of Wendy's that she still holds a torch for is played by Timothy Olyphant (FX's Justified). So this is a pretty great cast on paper.

Sarah, now that we've actually seen This Is Where I Leave You, do you think the movie lived up to the promise the cast gave? Or were these actors wasted?

Tom Hardy's Quiet Cool Shines in This New Crime Drama: Our Review of "The Drop" (2014)

Directed By:Michaël R. Roskam 

Starring: Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace

Rating: R for some strong violence and pervasive language

Run Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes

Synopsis: Bob (Hardy) and his cousin Marv (Gandolfini) run a bar for some Chechen mobsters that is occasionally used as a "drop bar" for the mob's money. After the bar is robbed one night, Bob's seemingly quiet life is turned anything but thanks to a decade-long investigation into a missing persons case related to his bar, needing to placate his employers and cousin, plus raising a puppy he finds in the trash one night that may somehow be involved in the investigation.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! We profusely apologize for our lack of activity on the blog. Over the past month we were on the road quite a bit taking some much needed vacation time, plus if we're being honest, there just weren't a lot of movies that we thought were worth our time and/or money.

Sarah: Let's put it this way: we've seen Guardians of the Galaxy three times instead of seeing anything else over the past month. So yeah...not many attractive movies.

A: Very good point. But September is here now, which generally means the end of Hollywood's second dumping season (January/February being the first), as well as the approach of Oscar season. Now that some movies we're actually interested in seeing are coming out again, we're back with a new review!

This past weekend we decided to catch the new crime drama The Drop, starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, and the late James Gandolfini in what is his last film role. Interesting of note to me, The Drop was written by noted crime novelist Dennis Lehane (author of "Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone") and is based on his own short story. So even though this is director Michaël R. Roskam's first English-language film, the pedigree was big enough for me to be very interested in this film.

S: Hardy plays a quiet bartender named Bob, who works at his cousin Marv's place, with Gandolfini playing Marv. Marv is a bit bitter in life because he sold his bar to the Chechen mob years ago, and they now use his bar as a front and as a "drop bar" where their money is occasionally dropped off, hence the name of the movie!

Two Tickets For... Ranks All Ten of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films!

Andrew: Hello dear readers! Last fall Sarah and I posted our personal rankings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films that had been released up to that point, save for The Avengers, because we knew it would top the rankings. Since that post, Marvel Studios has released three films - Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and last week's Guardians of the Galaxy - bringing the grant total of MCU films to a nice, round ten films.

With that in mind, we decided it was perfect time to revisit those rankings to include the three aforementioned films, plus we're including The Avengers this time. As a reminder, when we say the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" we're talking about the films that Marvel Studios themselves, the ones they actually have the rights to make films of; so no Spider-Man films (Sony), no X-Men or Fantastic Four films (20th Century Fox), etc.

Check out our lists below, starting with Sarah's personal rankings!

SARAH’S RANKINGS

10.) The Incredible Hulk 

I’m not going to lie, I actually thought that this movie wasn’t even connected to the rest of the Marvel movies. That’s how much this movie is forgettable. It’s sad really, because the only thing that connects this movie to any of the others in the Tony Stark cameo during the credits. And since they’ve replaced Ed Norton with Mark Ruffalo it’s even more of a throw away film.

9.) Iron Man 2 

The more I look back on this movie the more I realize that it just wasn’t as good as it should have been. This movie was just lacking in pretty much everything from good action to a strong bad guy. I recently caught part of the beginning of this movie again and the comedy was so cheesy that it fell flat. Such a shame.

8. Iron Man 3 

I’m going to defer to my original thoughts of this movie: I still don't quite understand why I didn't like this one. Until we watch it again, I'm going to stick with I think I was just in Iron Man overload and was little tired of the kitsch.

Marvel's Gamble is Their Funniest, Most Enjoyable Film Since The Avengers: Our Review of "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)

Directed By: James Gunn (Slither) 

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language

Run Time: 2 hours, 1 minute

Synopsis: A treasure hunter (Pratt), an assassin (Saldana), a muscle-headed alien with a quick temper (Bautista), a walking/talking raccoon (Cooper) and his living tree sidekick (Diesel) band together first to escape prison to sell a priceless and dangerous artifact, then to ultimately save their galaxy from a crazed zealot named Ronan the Accuser (Pace).

REVIEW

Sarah: Hello readers! We have been a little quiet lately but we are back with one of our most anticipated reviews of the year, Marvel's Guardiansof the Galaxy! We were SO excited for this movie. There's nothing like a Marvel movie to round out the summer and this one did not disappoint. If you have no idea what this movie is about, we'll try to set it up as best we can. 

It stars Chris Pratt (Moneyball) as Peter Quill, an Earthling who was abducted as a child and has grown up with intergalactic thieves. After searching for an orb-like object for a buyer, he's hunted down by a pair of bounty hunters - an anthropomorphic raccoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and a living tree-like alien named Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) - as well as an alien assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana). 

Andrew: Gamora is the adoptive daughter of Thanos (Josh Brolin), the big purple bad guy we saw at the end of The Avengers, and she's helping retrieve the orb for a baddie called Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who said he'll obtain the orb for Thanos in return for his help in destroying the planet Xander.

S: When Quill, Rocket, Groot and Gamora are all arrested and detained at the same prison, they join together - along with another alien named Drax the Destroyer (WWE's Dave Bautista) who wants to come along so he can kill Ronan as revenge for killing his wife and daughter - to escape. Adventure ensues and produces one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time!