MacFarlane's New Film is Classic MacFarlane, For Good and Bad: Our Review of "A Million Ways to Die in the West" (2014)

Directed By: Seth MacFarlane (Ted) 

Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried

Rating: R for strong crude and sexual content, language throughout, some violence and drug material

Run Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes

Synopsis: Albert (MacFarlane), a cowardly sheep-farmer, gets dumped by his girlfriend Louise (Seyfried) in favor of the more dashing and richer Foy (Harris). During a bar brawl, Albert steps up and saves the new girl in town, Anna (Theron), from being seriously hurt. Impressed by Albert's heroics and wanting to help him win Louise back, Anna helps train Albert in gun-shooting so he can win a duel with Foy. But unbeknownst to Albert, Anna is the reluctant wife of Clinch Leatherwood (Neeson), the deadliest outlaw in the land, and who will eventually be arriving in town.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello dear readers! We're back yet again after seeing only one of this past weekend's two big releases, Seth MacFarlane's new comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West. This is MacFarlane's second feature film directorial effort following the smash hit that was Ted. This time he took things to the Old West and decided to cast himself in the star role of Albert, a cowardly sheep-farmer, but surrounded himself with some more than capable actors in Charlize Theron, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried and Liam Neeson to name a few.

Sarah, as some of our readers might know, we're big fans of MacFarlane's work with Family Guy and we loved Ted. So we were certainly looking forward to seeing how this one would fare. And now that we've seen A Million Ways to Die in the West, how did you feel it fared?

Sarah: Yes, I was really looking forward to this one. To say we're big fans is a bit of an understatement. Family Guy is pretty much quoted once a day, at least, in this house. 

Now that we've seen A Million Ways to Die in the West, I have to say, I'm a little let down. And here's why: it wasn't because of the jokes, those were gold, it was that we heard all of them in the trailers! There were some great set-ups for the jokes that we had already seen, but it was still a disappointment because we knew the punch-lines. What did you think?

Take Your Hard-Earned Money and See A Different Movie This Weekend: Our Review of "Taken 2" (2012)

Directed By: Olivier Megaton (Columbiana) 

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality

Run Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Synopsis: Some time after Bryan Mills (Neeson) saved his daughter Kim (Grace) from being kidnapped in Paris by a sex slave operation and all seems well, he invites them to vacation with him in Turkey after his finishes a bodyguard job. What he doesn’t plan on is family members of the Albanian gangsters he killed in the first movie coming after him to exact revenge for his actions.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I braved the middle and high schoolers that congregate at the local multiplex on Friday nights (shouldn’t there be high school football going on???) to see this weekend’s new action film Taken 2. The sequel to 2008’s surprise Taken, it sees the return of Liam Neeson to his role as ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills. This time instead of his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), being kidnapped it is he and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) who are kidnapped and Kim has to help save them.

So this was one I think we were both kind of looking forward to mainly because Taken is plain awesome and I guess it was an assumption that a sequel made by essentially the same crew as the first one would be just as badass.

Sarah: Well the first one was surprisingly scary, too, because Kim is taken in Paris which is not usually considered a dangerous city. I mean, every city has it’s dangerous parts, but she’s abducted and sold into sex slavery. That’s terrifying!

Taken 2, however, is a pure revenge movie where the father of one of the Albanian’s Bryan killed wants to kidnap him and his family and bring him back to Albania for justice.

Let’s do this a little bit differently and I’m going to let you start by telling me what YOU thought of this one.

A: To be quite honest, I wasn’t impressed. I really wanted to like it because I love the first one and I assumed this one would just be mindless fun. And at times it is, but for the most part it’s actually quite tedious because there are very slight variances between this one and the original, but not enough actual excitement or originality to make me enjoy it. Honestly I was bored a lot of the time we were watching this.

Yeah, Liam Neeson is still pretty badass as Bryan Mills. Too bad he doesn't do too many cool things like this in Taken 2.

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, October 5th)

Andrew: Hello readers! It's time again for a preview of this week's new theatrical releases! This week we don't have a large number of wide releases with only Taken 2, the sequel to the 2008 surprise hit action film Taken, and Tim Burton's new animated movie, Frankenweenie, which is coming out in time for Halloween.

There are some limited release films coming out as well such as Butter, The Paperboy and V/H/S but none of those are hitting our neck of the woods. That said, another limited release film that is increasing to more screens this weekend in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and you can read our five-clapboard review of that right here.

So Sarah, with only a couple of films to talk about, let's get down to it and talk intimately about Taken 2. Directed by Olivier Megaton, who directed last year’s fun Zoe Saldana action flick Columbiana and the third entry in the Jason Statham Transporter series, Taken 2 sees the return of Liam Neeson to the role of ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills.

If anyone's been living under a rock the last few years, in the original film Mills' daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), is kidnapped while on vacation in Paris by an Albanian sex trade ring and Mills goes on a rampage through Paris to get here back. In a word, it's awesome.

Sarah, all I'm looking for with this sequel is that it's just a badass. I'm expecting a pretty similar story but if the action is on par with the original, I'll be a happy man. It's written by Luc Besson, the somewhat legendary French filmmaker/writer who wrote the first one, so hopefully it'll be good.

The Trailer for "Taken 2" Makes It Looks As Good As the Original!

Andrew: Hello readers! Lots and lots of trailers coming out this week, our apologies for a being a little slow on posting some of them. We'll try to get around to as many as we can, but for now I'm posting this particular one because it looks awesome.


This is the first trailer I've seen for Taken 2, the sequel to the surprise hit Taken starring Liam Neeson a few years ago. Whereas in the first one it was Kim (played by Maggie Grace), the daughter of Neeson's Bryan Mills that was taken, this time it looks like it's Bryan that's being hunted down and his ex-wife, Lenore (played by Famke Janssen) is abducted. At least that's all the trailer shows, I expect there to be more to the story.


In the meantime, check it out!

Taken 2 brings back all three of Neeson, Grace and Janssen, is produced by Luc Besson, and comes out on October 5.

What Would Two Tickets For... Do?: "Battleship"

Andrew: Hello readers! Personally I'm very excited about today's post because it is the first entry of a new column Sarah and I are going to start writing called "What Would Two Tickets For... Do?" (or WWTTFD?) The basic idea is that every now and then we'll see a movie in theatres, on DVD or on TV and we talk about what we didn't like about it, or what didn't work for us, etc. And sometimes we'll talk about what we would have done differently or what we think the film-makers should have done differently that would have made the movie better (in our opinion, of course).

So this column is essentially going to be taking a look at one movie and what Sarah and I think should have been done differently to make it better. A simple premise, no? It's not meant to be holier-than-thou, of course, just a simple exercise in looking at what could have been done differently in a film to make it a bit better. SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ THESE COLUMNS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE WE TALK ABOUT AND DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO BE SPOILED. We are writing these under the impression that if you’re reading it, dear reader, then you know what we’re talking about because you’ve seen the film, too.

Sarah, for our first WWTTFD? column we are going to talk about a recent blockbuster that's received a very tepid response for many reasons - Universal and Hasbro's Battleship. (Read our 1.5/5 review of it HERE)

Sarah: Ooo this promises to be a fun column! Yes, as many of you know, we were not a huge fan of this movie, me in particular because of the whole "game as a movie" thing, but I have to say the whole idea might be growing on me a bit. Now, I will give the good people at Universal and Hasbro credit for taking a game that really didn't have much to go on in the first place and try to develop a movie around it, but we here at Two Tickets For... think they went about it the wrong way. Why aliens? Why not keep it to the original game of ship vs. ship?

A: That's exactly the first thing I would have changed if I were involved in the making of this movie. I get that their rationale was probably something like this, "Hey, Transformers has made us a boatload of money, let's make this one look exactly like a Transformers movie!" But that's not good rationale. People went to see those films because they were already big fans of the Transformers and wanted to see it on the big screen, and Michael Bay is a master at making big, stupid action tent-poles.

So the first thing to do is get rid of the aliens altogether. I don't see why they couldn't have set the movie in the mid-1900's during a time when the United States might still have need for actual battleships, and make the story about a fictional World War III or something, and make it more of a character story revolving around Taylor Kitsch's Alex Hopper and how he has to mature in a time of war. (They sort of did, but it involved aliens, so.......yeah.)

"What are we doing in a movie about battleships?"

I mean, they already make very heavy-handed allusions to the old tensions between the USA and Japan throughout the film, why not just cut to the core of it and make it about a war between the two again? Just anything other than aliens, and if you’re going to include aliens, give us a reason why they came in the first place.

S: Yeah, and make it so that the audience actually cares what happens to Alex. Make it so that when he loses his brother, the audience is shocked and really feels for the loss of him and his crew. If you’re gonna keep the aliens, turn them into a real-life threat.

This could have been a whole new take on a World War or the Cold War. If you get rid of the aliens, bring in Liam Neeson in a bigger role. He has such a small role in this movie, and it really is a shame. Making him a bigger part of the movie could really bring some of that character developoment back to the film. I would love to see him get a chance to see Alex grow and mature into the perfect man for his daughter.

A: That's a good point on Neeson's Admiral Shane. Director Peter Berg and the screenwriters Erich and Jon Hoeber make a critical mistake in leaving him out of the action for most of the movie. You're absolutely right that they should have had Neeson and Kitsch's characters on the same boat in the middle of the action and had more of a bonding experience. Honestly, they probably could have done completely without Alexander Skarsgard's Stone Hopper and focused more on Neeson. I was far more interested in Alex’s troubles trying to man up and ask Admiral Shane for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

WWTTFD? We'd make it so that Liam Neeson has a MUCH bigger role in Battleship

There's also a small part of me that says they miscast Kitsch in this film, mainly because there's just something about him that does not scream LEADING MAN, but he fit in better here than he did in John Carter. Much like John Carter, if we recasted Alex Hopper, I think it should have gone to someone like Jake Gyllenhaal or Chris Pine. In fact, we’ve seen a better version of Battleship with this exact story of a hot-headed, immature member of the armed forces grow into a leader with Pine in Star Trek. I want to say Rihanna was miscast (because she was) but because we would have set this film in the past, her character would probably have to be male anyways.

S: The last thing that I would say could be different was to put Brooklyn Decker's character in greater peril. Yes, I know it borderlines on the cheesy and predictable, but she's the heroine of the story and should be treated as such.

So, readers, what did you think of our changes? We don't want this to be another movie review on a movie we have already reviewed, but a fun way to look at the movie in a "what if?" fashion. We would love to get your feedback on this new column! Good or bad.

Photo Courtesies: zap2it, We Believe In Aliens

You Sunk My Low Expectations!: Our Review of "Battleship" (2012)

Directed By: Peter Berg (Hancock)

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgaard

Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action and destruction, and language

Synopsis: Based on the classic Hasbro board game, a small Naval fleet comes across some alien ships in the middle of the Pacific during an international Naval war games exercise. Led by reckless Lieutenant Alex Hopper (Kitsch), the fleet must figure out a way to defeat and escape the invaders despite being cut off from the rest of the U.S. Navy.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! The summer movie season kicked off a couple of weeks ago with the highly anticipated The Avengers, and it didn’t fail to deliver even with the sky-high expectations Sarah and I had placed on it.

Well…tonight was a bit different. We hit up the local AMC Theatres to catch this week’s major blockbuster, Battleship, and if you read our weekly preview we posted on Thursday, you know we went in to this one with almost no expectations whatsoever.

So Sarah, did Battleship exceed the very minimal bar we had set for it, or did it manage to fall short?

Sarah: Hmm…I think it hit right about where my expectation level was. It could be that my expectations were so low that that’s where it fell, but it just happened that way. It didn’t blow my mind, but I managed to laugh during it.

How about you? Did it hit your expectations?

A: Considering how low mine were, I’d have to say that there were moments where the film exceeded them and then other times where it plummeted well below.

Let’s put it this way – Battleship is not good. It’s just not. It is BIG, it is LOUD and there are lots of explosions that would make Michael Bay proud. But Peter Berg has somehow managed to make Bay’s awful Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen look like Citizen Kane compared to this.

S: Ouch! I’m not sure I would agree with you on that. I still think that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is awful, and probably not even worth watching to bridge the gap between 1 and 3, but you’re right. This was not a good movie. It made you think at times that it was good – what with all the guns going off and the aliens attacking – but then I started noticing things.

For example, the game boards came to life on the big screen. As I’m watching the alien attack I started to notice that their ammunition obviously resembled the plastic pegs from the game. I understand that this movie has not been hiding the fact that it’s based on the board game, but c’mon. That was more comical than anything else in the film and I don’t think it was meant to be comical.

A: Well obviously it’s never been hiding the fact it’s based on the board game, but in my opinion, other than some parts of the last act, the alien peg missiles were the only thing that showed me the filmmakers were actually making a movie based on the board game.

What? When you played Battleship as a kid, you didn't play as the aliens?

S: I don’t know about that. The positions of the ships when the shield goes up, and just the overall feel of 3-on-3, encased in this globe that no one else can get into, and they have no way out but to work within the constricted space. I guess I saw more aspects of the game than you, but it was still comical. I laughed when I’m sure I wasn’t meant to laugh and I usually hate those people, but I was one of them tonight. (WARNING, SPOILERISH EDIT AHEAD: I also enjoyed that in the final battle, the battleship does get hit but only by 3 missiles, and as any veteran Battleship player will tell you, it takes 4 hits to sink the battleship!)

A: Yeah, the unintentional comedy factor was quite high for this movie. A lot of terrible one-liners, bad acting, stupid situations and more…it was bad. That said, the opening act of the movie up until the naval ships actually head out to sea for the “naval games” wasn’t half bad! It was intentionally funny and it worked, and I actually kind of got into the story of Kitsch’s (John Carter) Alex Hopper trying to gather up the courage to ask Liam Neeson’s (Taken) Admiral Shane for his blessing to marry his daughter, played by Brooklyn Decker (Just Go With It), who didn’t really do a whole lot.

Speaking of Decker not doing a whole lot, one of the biggest negatives of the entire film to me was characters either being miscast or having not much to do with the plot of the film. Neeson and Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) get short shrift, in my opinion, and one guy who gets too much screen-time is Gregory D. Gadson as Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales. Gadson’s character is a former soldier who has lost both his legs and his physical trainer is Decker’s character. And it’s not that he’s a bad actor, it’s just that he’s an actual soldier being asked to act and it’s not pretty.

S: I actually think that it’s kind of cool that he’s a real soldier, but I agree that he probably shouldn’t have been given that much screen-time. The acting was pretty horrible. I’ve decided that Taylor Kitsch plays Taylor Kitsch pretty well. We’ve seen him in two films already this year and he plays the same character in each of them. I was pretty disappointed in his role. I expected to see Neeson in more than just the beginning and the end. They introduced characters from NASA and Washington, D.C. that really didn’t add much to the story, and it bothered me a little bit that there was no real bad guy!

Usually with aliens movies there’s someone who’s trying to profit from the alien invasion and that was missing. I’m not going to lie, for it being such a crappy movie I expected there to be someone in the background pulling some financial political strings. If I’m going to see a bad movie, I prefer them to be predictable.

Rihanna (right) co-stars as Petty Officer Raikes, and sadly for her, gets a lot of the worst lines

A: See, while you say there wasn’t any antagonist I disagree because obviously the aliens were the bad guys. But what bugged me about them is that WE NEVER FIND OUT WHY THEY CAME. Nowhere do they ever say why exactly the aliens came to Earth, why they’re so violent, and why they hate overpasses so much (you’ll see). There’s one point where we see that it’s not the first time the aliens have done this, but we never understand what their reasoning is. That bugs me.

(Side tangent: Much like in Independence Day, what’s to stop the aliens from coming back after getting beaten once? This fight can’t be over, right? It’s not like the home planet is going to not get any word back from the first ones they sent to Earth and then just go “Welp, moving on!” End side tangent.)

S: Yeah! All they really gave the aliens is that they’re not too keen on sunlight. That’s it. Nothing else. We didn’t even establish if they could communicate with us in any way. Very disappointing.

A: Speaking of disappointing, before we wrap this up real quick, I was also disappointed that the movie is based on and called freaking Battleship and yet 99% of the movie has nothing to do with an actual battleship. Instead they’re on Naval Destroyers. Just one of the many things this film missed the mark on, if you ask me.

S: And where were all the other ships? Stuck outside the playing field. Yeah, it was a disappointed movie and I’m kind of getting sick of writing negative movie review this week. I’m hoping the next movie we see, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, is funnier if anything, even if it’s not particularly better.

I just wish somewhere along the way someone said “Um no, this is not good.” They spent all this money on big name actors and special effects and no one seemed to pay attention to who was writing the damn thing. And they never even said, “You sunk my battleship!” Thanks for ruining a great childhood game for me, Universal and Hasbro.

A: And with that, I’d say it’s safe to say our final word on Battleship is to skip it. Don’t waste your time or money on it.

(Out of Five Clapboards)

Photo Courtesies: MoviePoster.com, Time ,Teentainment

Our Preview for This Week's New Releases (for Friday, May 18th)

Andrew: Hello readers! It's a double-whammy kind of day here at Two Tickets For... Because of an internet outage last night we weren't able to post our review of Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy The Dictator until this morning (click on the link to read our review), and now it's time for our Weekly Preview!

Technically The Dictator should have been a part of this preview, but because it came out on a Wednesday it was a day early. Therefore we're going to preview the other two big releases coming out this week starting with Hasbro and Universal's new team-up, Battleship.

Based on the classic Hasbro board game of the same name, Battleship is directed by Peter Berg, who made his name with the film adaptation of Buzz Bissinger's non-fiction book "Friday Night Lights", the television adaptation of the same book, and more recently directed the disappointing Will Smith vehicle Hancock. But the most noticeable thing here is that Berg's movie version of this board game clearly involves more than just naval battleship duking it out on the high seas - Sarah, what do you think of the involvement of aliens in this movie?

Sarah: I have to say, I'm a little leary of this movie. Movies based on rides? Pirates of the Carribbean? The Haunted Mansion? Sure, I can get around that. But a board game? I know Jumangi was a movie about a board game but this is taking it to another level. I used to play this game with my cousins ALL the time. And now they're throwing in aliens? I mean when I saw the preview all I thought was, "Michael Bay is doing a new movie that isn't Transformers?" I don't know, I think that this movie looks like a combination of War of the Worlds and Transformers all rolled into one.

What do you think?

A: When I first heard that Hasbro was going to start doing film adaptations of their board games because of the success of the Transformers franchise, I was skeptical. Then I started reading about the names being attached to some of the announced adaptations my interest was piqued. Check these out:

 - A Monopoly movie directed by Ridley Scott, possibly written by Aaron Sorkin
 - A new Clue movie directed by Gore Verbinski
 - A Ouija movie being developed by Platinum Dunes, the horror movie production company co-started by Michael Bay and known for their The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th remakes
 - A Candy Land movie starring Adam Sandler (this one is seriously happening)

And of course, Battleship. Out of all of these Hasbro games, this was the one I was most interested in because I felt that a movie about huge battleships fighting it out would be cool. But then I saw the trailer and it killed any hope I had for it because of the aliens. Now it just looks like a worse version of Transformers.

Official Trailer for Battleship

S: Yeah I'm still not super stoked about the idea of my favorite childhood board games being turned into movies, but I suppose that's not for me to decide. But just know that I will be critiquing them like crazy.

And I'm not too excited about this one if only for the fact that Taylor Kitch was basically ruined for me in John Carter and here he is again in an alien action flick. There are some other, much better names in this movie that I hope won't be tarnished forever by their choice to be in a boardgame movie.

A: You just brought up my next point about my skepticism of this movie - the casting. Taylor Kitsch seems like a nice enough guy but he was miscast in John Carter and I don't have high hopes for him in Battleship. Then you have Rihanna (!) in a lead role and I lose all hope. I'm waiting to see if it can be saved by the awesome Liam Neeson as the Navy Admiral in charge of Kitsch's Lieutenant, so we'll see.

Ok! Next on the agenda is a movie that we're actually kind of looking forward to, and that's the new ensemble comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting. Based off the pregnancy guide book of the same name, this stars a whole lot of famous people (a la Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve):

 - Jennifer Lopez (Maid in Manhattan) and Rodrigo Santoro (300) as a couple looking to adopt
 - Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary) and Matthew Morrison (Glee) as a singer and a dancer, respectively, who are a pair on a celebrity dancing show
 - Elizabeth Banks (Zack & Miri Make a Porno) and Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids) as a baby boutique guru and her husband who are pregnant for the first time
 - Brooklyn Decker (Battleship) and Dennis Quiad (The Parent Trap) as an "older man with younger wife" couple, and Quiad also happens to be Falcone's character's father
 - Anna Kendrick (Up In the Air) as a young woman who gets pregnant from a one-night stand
 - Chris Rock (Grown-Ups), Rob Huebel (I Love You, Man), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!) and Amir Talai (Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanimo Bay) as "The Dads", a group of guys who bond together with their kids' playgroup

The trailer makes us laugh almost every time we see it, doesn't it Sarah?

Official Trailer for What to Expect When You're Expecting

S: Oh my gosh, I am so excited to see this one! It looks hilarious and i do laugh every single time I see the trailer. While I am a little hesitant of the integrity of large, highly famous actors all in the movie together, I think this one will be different. Since there are so many comedians I think it will be a nice balace. So many of these actors make me laugh that I am excited to see how they all work together!

Are you excited about this one?

A: I won't say I'm excited per se, because that's a little too much, but I do laugh at the trailer and I'm sort of looking forward to seeing it because of some of the names and because I want to see how well it fares compared to Rob Marshall's two ensemble comedies we mentioned earlier. I actually kind of like Marshall's films, so I want to see if I walk out of this one feeling the same way.

S: Yea, even with New Years Eve we enjoyed ourselves! I'm excited that this summer is looking to be a good mix of action and comedy with a little horror thrown in for good measure.

A: Now that you mention it, I think we should maybe do a Summer Movie Preview sometime soon of what we're looking forward to most in June, July and August. So definitely be on the lookout for that readers!

I can guarantee we will be seeing the two movies we previewed today sometime this weekend, so be on the lookout for those this weekend, and as always, thanks for reading! 

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (For Friday, March 30th)

Andrew: Hello reader! We missed last week's Thursday preview of new releases thanks to our vacation in Michigan, but we're back with it this week. Last week will be hard to top because of the massive success that was The Hunger Games, but there are some films coming out this week that have certainly been getting some air-time whether through tons of commercials or being talked about in the news.

The biggest film coming out this weekend, arguably, is Mirror Mirror - the first of two Snow White adaptations hitting theatres this year (the other being Snow White and the Huntsman). Mirror Mirror stars Julia Roberts as The Queen who will do anything to make sure she remains the "fairest of them all" and also stars up-and-coming actress Lily Collins (The Blind Side) as Snow White and Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as The Prince.

Sarah, personally I think this adaptation of the classic fairy tale looks too.....childish. What do you think?

Sarah: Oh yes, it is definitely the kid-version of the two that are coming out this year. Now, I don't think it looks as bad as you think it looks. I actually wouldn't mind seeing this one just so that we can say that we saw both of the Snow White movies that unfortunately decided to come out in the same year. I actually think that both of them have weaknesses so it will be interesting to see what those are. 

What do you think about it?

Official Trailer for Mirror Mirror

A: I won't mind seeing it (and we will, because we write a movie review blog), but I do think it looks too cheeky for my taste; a little too jokey. Compared to how Snow White and the Huntsman looks like, Mirror Mirror seems like it's more for the younger crowd.

That said, I AM interested in seeing how Hammer does in a comedic role, what Roberts' take on The Queen will be, and to see what Lily Collins can do in such an iconic role. I've really only ever seen her in The Blind Side and she didn't get much to do there, and we didn't see her in Abduction or Priest because they both looked horrible.

S: Well, I suppose we will see when we see it!

Ok, the second big film coming out this week is Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to 2010’s Clash of the Titans. Now I did not see the first one, but the previews for this one actually look like a pretty good action flick. This movie is also filled with some pretty big names – Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes - so that could be kinda cool to see as well. What do you think about this one?

Official Trailer for Wrath of the Titans

A: I did not see Clash of the Titans either, and that was because while it looked like it had some good action in it, it looked like a crappy movie overall. We have friends who've seen Clash and say they liked it, so I think we should maybe rent that first and then see Wrath.

Again, because I haven't seen the first one, I only know that it's loosely based on the tale of Perseus. I also know the new one coming out is about Hades and Ares releasing the Titans on the Earth, so I'm more intrigued with the sequel because I'm a fan of Greek mythology and am interested in the depictions of all the characters involved.

S: Ah the strain of Greek "bio" pics. But yea, I wouldn't mind seeing it.

Ok, moving on to Goon, a sports comedy with Sean William Scott and Jay Baruchel. I don't know too much about this one except that Scott plays a hockey player. I do love Baruchel though so that might convince me to head to the theatres. What are your thoughts on this one?

Official Trailer for Goon

A: I've been looking forward to Goon for a while now. The concept is relatively simple - Sean William Scott plays a bouncer who signs with a minor league hockey team to be their "enforcer" and not much else. Michael Dowse, who also directed Take Me Home Tonight, a film I thoroughly enjoyed, directs it and it was written by Baruchel and Evan Goldberg (Superbad), so it sounds like the pedigree behind it really cared for it.

The only other release this week that is noteworthy is the documentary Bully. It's been making splashes in the national media because the MPAA originally gave it a R rating due to language. The Weinstein Company tried to appeal the rating to a PG-13 so teenagers could see it in theatres without needing their parents but was unsuccessful. Arguing that it's an educational movie that should be seen in schools, and with the backing of a number of Congressmen, the Weinsteins are releasing it unrated to make a statement.

I know that AMC Theatres will be showing the film in limited release this weekend and will allow children under the age of 17 to see it with a signed permission slip from parents, which I think is a great idea. We saw the trailer for Bully yesterday - what did it make you think, Sarah?

Official Trailer for Bully

S: I really think that Bully looks amazing. It’s a movie that I think will really make waves not only in the movie circuit but also in the political circles and parent groups. This is a movie that sounds like it should be seen by everyone. We need to be reminded that bullying is not limited to the homosexual children or children of a different race. It can really affect anyone. It actually really disgusts me that it has taken children killing themselves for the world to stop and go, "Oh, this might be a problem." I really hope that this will change things. 

A: Well said. I hope that it gets to a theatre near us soon because I definitely do want to see it, and agree with what you said. Readers, watch the trailer and tell me that the teacher who says the kids on the bus are just angels isn't despicable.

Ok! With all of that said, it's time for us to rank the films coming out this week in regards to which ones we're most likely to see in theatres:

1.) Mirror Mirror

2.) Bully (when it gets near us)

3.) Goon

4.) Wrath of the Titans

We should also say that Jeff, Who Lives at Home and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen both finally got to our neck of the woods, so we'll be trying to see those as soon as we can and get our reviews up for those. As always, thanks for reading!