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:

Hugh Jackman's Biceps! Samurai Swords! Train Fights! It's the 1st Full-Length Trailers for "The Wolverine!"

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I are currently working on unleashing a string of new posts - reviews, Six Packs Of..., you name it - but while we're working on those we wanted to post the first full-length trailers for this summer's new X-Men film, The Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman in the role that shot him to super-stardom.

The Wolverine is a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand (as we can see by some shots of Famke Janssen's Jean Grey in the international trailer) and is based off the limited "Wolverine" comic series from the 1980's. Check out the trailers after the break and then I'll give some quick thoughts on my and Sarah's behalf!

Not Exactly The Spring Break We Were Expecting: Our Review of "Spring Breakers" (2013)

Directed By: Harmony Korine (Kids) 

Starring: James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine

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

Run Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Synopsis: Four friends desperately want to go to Spring Break in Florida, so they rob a restaurant to fund their trip and head on down. After getting arrested along with a couple of guys for drugs they catch the eye of a local dealer/rapper named Alien (Franco), who bails them out and tries to seduce them with the seedier side of Spring Break, giving the girls more than they originally bargained for.

REVIEW 

Sarah: Hello readers! Andrew and I caught an early evening viewing of one of this weekend's four wide releases, Spring Breakers, starring Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and James Franco. A story about four college girls who want to go to Spring Break but can't afford it so they rob a restaurant and then head down to St. Petersburg, Florida where they get into your typical Spring Break shenanigans...and some not so typical shenanigans. After getting arrested for drugs they're bailed out by a drug dealer named Alien who proceeds to show them a bit more of the darker side of Spring Break. 

We had been hearing a lot of things about this one, both good and bad. The director, Harmony Korine, has come out and said, "You know what? I don't care if you like it or not!" He's very outspoken and so this was kind of a "see it for yourself" film. So now that we've seen Spring Breakers, Andrew, what did you think?

Not Quite The Blackout We Were Expecting: Our Review of "21 & Over" (2013)

Directed By: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (writers of The Hangover trilogy) 

Starring: Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Justin Chong, Sarah Wright

Rating: R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, some graphic nudity, drugs and drinking

Run Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Synopsis: Miller (Teller) and Casey (Astin), best friends from high school, visit their other friend Jeff (Chong) to celebrate his 21st birthday. But when Jeff blacks out after drinking too much, Miller and Casey can't remember where he lives and wind up spending of the night trying to get him home before his big med school interview in the morning...and learning more about the current state of their friendships than they knew.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Sarah and I both had the day off from work yesterday so we decided to catch a matinee showing of a film we A.) haven't had the time to see until now, and B.) didn't catch our attention with the trailers too much but had been hearing good things about. That movie was 21 & Over, starring Miles Teller (Rabbit Hole) and Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect) as a pair of friends named Miller and Casey who visit their friend Jeff Chang (Twilight's Justin Chong) at college to celebrate his 21st birthday. Even though JeffChang - always referred to as JeffChang, one word, even in the credits - has an important med school interview the next morning, Miller and Casey proceed to get him blitzed and the trio fall into some Hangover-esque shenanigans.

As mentioned earlier, Sarah, this wasn't one that we were dying to see, but now that we've seen 21 & Over, what did you think of it?