Sep 01 2011

Red Box Review—Cedar Rapids #redbox #moviereview

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

Cedar Rapids (2011–87 mins) Ed Helms,  John C Reiley

Tim Lippe (Helms) is a small town eternally straight as an arrow (and naive) insurance salesman who is utterly sheltered from the world. He is so sheltered that his only romantic contact is his current girlfriend who happens to have been his 7th grade teacher. Every year his insurance company sends a salesman to the annual convention where they give a presentation to try and earn a top honor award. The fate of the branch each year essentially rides on the award. Lippe’s branch has gotten it for a few years now but the golden boy of the branch suddenly dies and it’s thrust upon Tim to take the reigns of the presentation. This then brings us to the first 1/2 of the crux of the comedy of the movie, the Amish-like Lippe in the big city of Cedar Rapids.

That aspect of it is pretty funny and all but quickly becomes old hat and more annoying then anything else. The good part of that is the 1/2 half of the comedy comes from the 3 crazy personalities he meets once he gets to the convention. First we have his two room-mates,  ZIegler and Wilkes. Ziegler (Reiley) is the life of the party type guy who is the center of all rooms he is in. Wilkes, being the other roommate is an extreme satirical oreo. The last and possibly the one who breaks him out of his shell the most is the devilishly beautiful Joan (Anne Heche). Joan manages to help Tim adjust to the big time of the convention scene and corrupting him just a tad in the process. The foursome have a great time and in the process show time there is more to life then just getting by. They seem to use the weekend away as their do anything they want weekend. A break from everyday life and their own suburban trip to Vegas.

The movie moves fairly well and does a fine job of making us laugh. There are times where it wants to be funnier then it really is but all in all it’s a good comedy. It isn’t one that is begging for a sequel but it’s one that is begging for a few watches later on cable. A standout in the film is Isiah Whitlock playing the look like a badass sound like Ward Clever Wilkes. He does the deadpan delivery so well that he made me laugh my ass off every time he opened his mouth. Yet this is a real oddball set of 4 people to get together but somehow the chemistry just works and the movie is well received and nice and short but possibly one or two scenes short as they surely could have made this a 95-100 min affair.

Verdict–> This is another in a long line of “this should be funnier” movies. Yet, that being said “Cedar Rapids” still feels a bit me satisfying then “Hall Pass” or other let downs. It’s a good comedy rental and I think most people will enjoy it. Pick it up a great stand alone or double feature movie.

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Aug 31 2011

The Guild season 5 Episode 5 is PURE AWESOMESAUCE #theguildrocks

Published by under Felicia Day,The Guild

Poor Codex… Something tells me she’s going to need a bloody mary or a couple of Zofrans in the AM after this night of drinking.

Enjoy and as always visit their site www.watchtheguild.com !
Video: Season 5 – Episode 5 – Focus Problems
 

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Aug 29 2011

Red Box Review Dylan Dog: Dead of Night #redbox #moviereview

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

Dylan DogGrinead of Night (2010–107mins) B. Routh, S. Huntington, T. Diggs

Fans of the comic book Dylan Dog won’t like this take on the supernatural private eye, but those of us who enjoy comedic supernatural movies this is a good find. Brandon Routh abandons his Superman outfit in favor of the signature red shirt of Dylan Dog. Dylan is a human who has been tasked by the undead world of Vampires,Zombies, Were-wolves and Ghouls to keep the peace (so to speak). He’s been appointed as the one who makes sure none of any of the factions over-steps their boundaries and tries to interfere with mankind too much. But someone has killed a human and it resembles a supernatural being who murdered him and Dylan has been hired to figure it all out.

It’s a movie in the Buffy or “Angel” vein, mixed with a 60’s serialized private investigator tone. It even has Routh doing the PI narrating as it goes along. A very nice touch of filming. One where the beings hide in plain sight and aren’t entirely known to humankind cept for those who need to know. Dylan doesn’t have any sort of real power unlike Angel, cept he seems to have been granted some sort of immortality to not age, but nothing superhuman about his strength. He is simply a supernatural PI who knows the ins and outs of the undead world, with connections, and the knowledge on how to find out what he needs to know. It also has another thing going for it.. it’s pretty damn funny. Like the two TV shows I mentioned it doesn’t take ANYTHING seriously and pokes fun at itself whenever possible. But it just works to me. I like the mindless supernatural fun with great comedic writing.

As I said above I have read that it’s not a 100% faithful representation of the comic, so the die hard DD comic fans are pissed, but for you and I who like these type of comedic projects, it’s just fine. Routh has some good timing decent action cred and great chemistry to his comic relief side-kick Sam Huntington. I liked it enough that I would even enjoy it if they made a sequel straight to dvd or for SyFy channel.

Verdict–> I think it’s a very good movie. It would hold up very well for a late night flick on TNT/TBS or SyFy for cult-like status. A perfect movie for a double feature rental weekend night. You pair this with a more serious type movie (or rom-com) and you have a great one two punch. I put this in a solid mid level to upper level recommendation. It’s a underDOG movie that will fly under the radar for most b/c of the whole supernatural theme. Enjoy!

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Aug 29 2011

Red Box Review Unknown #redbox

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

Unknown (2011– 113 mins) L. Neeson, D. Kruger, J. Jones

Neeson has done a few movies where he seems to be playing the same spy/badass in them. “Unknown” takes us on a ride which is “Taken” crossed with “Bourne Identity”. Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, who is in Berlin for a science conference with his wife. He forgot a bad at the airport, and while in a taxi on the way back he gets into an accident which puts him into a coma. Upon wakening he has slight amnesia and he finds that when he goes to find his wife she doesn’t know him and someone has taken his place as he husband. Thus he starts to question everything… who he is who they are and what he’s doing in Berlin. It’s a decent action thriller in the vein of “Taken” in which it’s fairly straight to the point and good action. The story, while of course a bit far fetched, is still a decent one and fun to watch. Liam Neeson plays the same gruff bad ass type as “Taken” for the most part and he is good in it. January Jones who plays his wife, doesn’t have a whole lot to do in it, cept look ridiculously hot and wear sleek dresses and smile. CHECK!

Verdict–> It’s funny to review a movie like this and have hardly anything to say about it. The main thing to repeat is it’s “Taken” crossed with “Bourne Identity”. If you read that you have the whole idea what you are in for. Feel’s like a short review/ cop out, but when it’s a movie like that just  know it’s a good watch and entertaining, and anything else will just spoil parts of it. I put it up as a good recommendation from the Red Box… Not too long, not to confusing and pretty entertaining. So pick it up if you are looking for a decent action flick!

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Aug 28 2011

Red Box Review Take Me Home Tonight #redbox

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

Take Me Home Tonight (2011– 97 mins) T. Grace, A. Faris, T. Palmer  

“Take Me Home Tonight” gets in that line of high school/college shenanigans movies. Think most any high school movie in which there is a quiet/geeky guy in high school who had a crush and sees her later and wants to score the girl of his dreams. It’s been used a thousand times but with smart writing good actors and great sound tracks they usually do very well. This one is no different in that the actors are good, the lines are funny, the story is wrapped up nicely and in a quick enough fashion, and there is the usual supply of T & A.

Topher Grace is Matt Franklin, said genius protagonist who went to the college of his dreams but kinda flaked out a bit and is now home hanging out with his twin sister (Faris) and typical idiot best friend (Dan Fogler). He is typically re-living the stories of yesteryear and what could have been in high school, and of course the one that got away (Teresa Palmer the requisite complete hottie). Seems she is going to be at a huge annual party thrown by Matt’s sister’s boyfriend that evening, AND she remembers Matt and interested to talk a bit. Now cue 80’s music, 80’s hair and 80’s talk as the trio goes to the party and hi-jinx ensue. There is the usual drugs, sex, rock and roll, deception and lies to get the girl (which as usual will come back to haunt our hero. There is nothing new here, but it’s not anything we have been bombarded with this year and it doesn’t feel old hat yet, and is actually kinda funny. Grace is still likable, and the stories work as always. We want to see the geeky witty guy get the girl and we want to see his idiot friend get laid.I can’t say so and so is good or bad here b/c it’s not much of a stretch and not very challenging for anyone here.

Verdict–> I liked the movie quite a bit. I did 80’s throw backs, loved everyone in this movie and thought it was pretty damn funny. It’s no “family” movie, but it’s a great rental. Well worth it for a weekend double feature and a top of the line recommendation from he red box. Pick it up you will laugh, especially if you grew up in the 80’s or 90’s!

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Aug 23 2011

This week in my board gaming…AKA more Ascension Goodness! #Ascension #boardgames#Quarriors

Published by under board games

I have been wanting to do some game reviews or some posts on board games for some time now. What’s been stopping me? I am glad you asked… well I will tell you. Mostly the fact that I am not the best teacher of games in the world. It doesn’t mean that I CANNOT teach a game, but more-so that I cannot spell out how to play in simple words. And to me, it seems that most decent reviews spell out so much of the game in good terms that I just don’t think I can do that effectively, so it kinda scares me to try and review a game. BUT if I was to tell how I feel about a game without going to crazy into the rules then sure I think my reviews would be just fine. I guess the difference between game reviews and movie reviews is that no one cares if you spoil any part of a board game.

So this past week at the board game night at my FLGS (friendly local game shop), Gamers Armory,  I got to play for the short stay. I usually try and go to board game night there (on Wednesdays ) when I don’t have to work that night so I can stay  there until 10pm which is there usual stopping time. Unfortunately, Mrs. Geekjock has had to work a few Wed. in a row 9-9 so that’s made my longer gaming on those Wed.s impossible. SO I have had to try and squeeze in some board game night fix on my work week, which is only so so b.c I have to leave by 845 to get to work so that kinda eliminates more then 1 semi-long game per night. What tends to happen most BG nights, even on the non-work weeks, is us gamers tend to do the high school kid thing…. “What do you want to play”, “I don’t care what do you want to play”… And this can go on for a while. So anyway, last week I knew a friend of mine was going to be there around 7pm, and I just bought one of the new hotness, of games Quarriors! from WizK!ds games. So we kinda killed some time till he got there and then we got a game of Quarriors! going.

In a nutshell, Quarriors!, is Dominion with dice. It’s a quickish (15-30mins) game and it’s real light hearted so don’t take it too seriously. I love the game tho mainly b/c I love two things in games a ton… DICE and.. CARDS… and well like I said this game has them… 130 dice to be exact. You start with 12 pre-determined dice in your pile which you then put in your bag and draw out 6 at a time. Then you roll them. You either roll Quidity (The money) or the basic monster on one of the 4 starting monster dice. You then will eventually start buying up some monsters or spells from the 10 randomly choosen middle available in the game (just like Dominion has 10 cards each game at random). Basically if your monster you summon lives till your next turn you score points. Certain number of points that person wins. It’s not that simple b/c of spells and special abilities but I have to say it’s just chock full of fun.

So before I try and remember the other games from BG night let me just tell about all the Quarriors! plays of this week. So that night I played 4 players with 2 SERIOUS board gamers, myself and one other friend of mine (the one who I was waiting on to show him). The 2 serious guys didn’t seem to enjoy it, I think , mainly b/c it’s not a deep strategy game. Sometimesyou just take whatever and have fun. You could sit there and agonize about what to buy but that rips 1/2 of the fun out of it. But dice roll them have fun… not much more needed. Myself and my lighter game buddy both enjoyed it.. I think the jury is still out till he plays it again but I will repeat htis100x I LOVE IT.

Quarriors Set up (image borrowed from baordgamegeek.com)

I then showed it to Mrs. Geekjock the next day and played it 2x with her, and she seemed to really enjoy it as well. Again, for the 1st game or two you just buy whatever till you get used to what the varying monsters and spells can do then you get that “AHHH” feeling to it, when it clicks. One quick not quite that high point of the game. And this could be the same for a bunch of other games, but sometimes it can be the race for the big bad creature die, and the one who gets it tends to win. Granted you still have to roll the creature with said die but still tends to happen. But, like I keep saying I love this game anyway. Another time I played Q, was even with my 7 year old. I figured she loves dice like I do, so why not give it a try. We didn’t water down the rules at all but all I did was tell her how much quddity she had to spend and which dice she could purchase and she picked. In the end Mrs. Geekjock won but my daughter did quite well and had fun at the same time. Score another victory for Quarriors.

Another game I got to play at BG night was Alhambra the card game. I had never played either Alhambra or the card game and we were looking for a filler so GAME ON! It’s an easy game to learn and play and went nice and quick and like almost every card game the guys at BG night have taken out to play it was fun and I would like to grab a copy if I see it somewhere. Add it to the good list like Bohnanza, Foppen, Citadels and For Sale for good card fun.

The last game of note that I got to play this week as always was Ascension. Yes it’s yet another deck building game and yes I have been playing the hell out of it but it’s among my favorite games right now and I can’t seem to get enough of it between the board version or the iPad app (which is simply the greatest app out there right now!). So other then the usual constant game I always have going with Todd (co-host with me on our podcast “The Geek Allstars” check it out on iTunes today!), where when the one game is over we simply start the next up, I also got to play some of the actual card game with the Mrs. on Thursday some as well. We were basically practicing some for the big day on Saturday. Yep, that’s right we went up to the Gamers Armory for an Ascension Game Days TOURNAMENT! The podcast was represented in full effect with all 3 of us there as well as Mrs. Geekjock there as well. We were determined to have one of us win the whole shebang!

Warning: This next little bit will have some technical stuff from the game so sorry if you don’t know or like the game and also sorry I don’t know the exact name of all the cards if I mention one or two of them.

This game is simply awesome (Img from BGG.com)

We first got our seat assignments for the start of the tourney. There were 16 players so we had 3 tables of 4 and the top 2 from each table was going to advance to the semi’s and then the top two from there for the finals. So we listened to the draws and it turned out that right away Todd, Red, and Mrs. Geekjock all ended up at the same table for round 1 with me at a different table. The good thing was, we were guaranteed a member of our 4 to be in the 2nd round, but the bad thing is we had no shot of getting all 4 of us to the finals (yeah I know greedy).

Round 1

We played without the expansion this round b/c we only had 2 expansion sets available at the time. I was a bit worried about this. I am a decent player in person with the base set but I get KILLED all the time on the ipad when I play vs humans (for whatever reason). And although I think I am a pretty good player with the expansion, I figured I was likely in deep doo doo in the 1st round. The board started off for my table as 5 monsters right away. The 3 guys at my table (2 strong players and one kid.. nice kid but seemed a bit new to the game and he was a bit over-matched) all decided they weren’t going to commit to all military for the game in case the board went monster dry. Me, on the other hand, I said screw it and went gung ho with the Heavy Infantry and slaughtered the monsters. One turn I killed the Avatar of the Fallen then used it to kill the Earth Tyrant (gives you 5 honor PLUS draw 2 cards). This turned to be a HUGE combo as I went on to get something like 13-15 honor in that turn alone, and with my 11 heavies went on to take the 1st table in 1st place.

At the other table with my 3 peeps, they had a local guy who pretty much lives at the game store. He’s a bit loud most nights I see him, real obnoxious and never wrong. At this table he asserted himself as if he was the only one who knew anything treating my cohorts like rookies (all three of them play A LOT) and almost trying to teach them how to play  the game. When it was all said and done it was the Mrs. Geekjock who won the table! In second was the Redheaded Pharmacist, and in last was the local loudmouth. He proceeded to pull a Phil Helmuth type tantrum and complain to a friend of his (whom I have happened to just be friends with for close to 5 years now) that the others at his table were “not buying what they were supposed to”. Haha this type of complaint always makes me laugh when I hear it in poker and even worse when I hear it in a board game tourney. Let them play how they want idiot. Unfortunately as I said above one person had to be on the outside looking in, and here it was Todd. Todd’s a REAL strong player and he usually kicks my ass on the ipad more then I win, so I guess things just didn’t fall his way. Alas, like I mentioned someone had to lose of my buddies ERGO we head to round two with 3 of the 4 of us alive….

Round 2

The round seat selection was set and Red and the Mrs GJ were together again and I was alone at a different table. We were using the expansion plus the base set for the rest of the tourney so I was pretty stoked at my chances to move on. The field was pretty strong on both tables and better yet, I knew all but 2 of the players who were left. One

Would this card win me two rounds?

was a strong player at my table who came to the tourney with the other real strong player, Ken, who came in 2nd at my 1st round table. Again the board came up monster heavy initially and I (again) said screw it and went in sword first in a HUGE military deck building strategy. Again the monsters kept coming out. For the second straight game I used the Avatar of the Fallen into Earth Tyrant combo to pump up huge points and had an insurmountable lead going into the end game adding up of scoring. I knew I was either 1st or second just by how I was playing and sure enough, I finished what was a tourney high 97 points and moved on to the final table. The fight for second was a tough one as Ken  (the guy who came with Sam) ended up edging out Marjorie (A strong player at everything she plays) for 2nd place and a seat at the final table.

Over at the table with my spouse and best friend… Sam (the guy who finished in 2nd place to me in round 1), was steamrolling the heck out of the table using his black hole (think that’s the name) to simply trim his deck down sooooo slim that at the end the only monetary card (I am not kidding) he had in his WHOLE deck was 1 single Mystic… no Infantry, no Militia, no apprentice… 1 Mystic!! I am not sure of the particulars but it turns out the battle for second went to The Redheaded Pharmacist again! So he would ride 2 second place finishes into a seat with me at the final table!

Final Table.

So here we were… Myself with Red, Sam and Ken. 4 pretty strong players. This time the board started off with only 1 or two monsters. I was going to abandon the military this game almost entirely. I got a Mechana Construct early and then on the second turn a Great-Omen Raven (you name a card, then turn over the top card. If you named the card correctly you gain 3 honor. Either way you get the card in your hand). I ended up drawing the Raven 4 times in the game in hand, and ALL FOUR times I guessed correctly. Well in all honestly the only time I actually had to guess was the 1st time, all the rest I knew what was on top b/c I put it there with another card, and one other time I had one card left in my draw pile and knew I had yet to draw my second militia. So that got me 12 honor right there. Ken on the other side of the table was doing those turns each round were you end up drawing what seems to be 10 cards into your deck each time. So I was fairly certain he was running away with it. His buddy was having an ok game but I felt he was stronger then me, and Red just had some of the crappiest luck with the center row that I have seen. It happens sometimes I guess. So after a few more rounds one of the owners of the GA, Scott came by asking how it was going and I mentioned I was fairly sure we were all playing for second place to Sam’s first. His buddy said he wasn’t so sure b/c I had been amassing a ton of Mechana constructs (I was but hadn’t really noticed it was a decent amount or not) and he felt I was in 1st. The last round a Reclamax came to the center allowing us to put a Mech Construct into our hand, which it turned out was MY reclamax and I put it in play, then proceeded to discard it and buy a 7 cost construct for 5 from the void (I had the construct that gave me 2 discount— see told you I was forgetting names). While I was doing this Sam had added up his points and he had 75. I thought he would have ended up with 90+ so hearing this I thought I might have a chance. Since we all four had about the same honor (give or take 4-5 honor) on the table in crystals at the end of the game, I liked my chances in the end game scoring of my cards. I added them up and had 88! Now it was just waiting for Red to finish his last turn and see how he did. He ended up with the construct in his hand that he could banish for an extra turn so he had a nice last round hand. He definitely improved his standing but he still was not able to get higher then Ken or myself so in the end….

GEEKJOCK COMES AWAY WITH THE TOURNAMENT WIN!

Yep, I am happy that I won a card game tourney. It was fun as hell and I felt I played well too. Oh and I ended up with a nice gift certificate

This one likely won me the whole tourney

to the Gamers Armory for winning, so I think I will be waiting for Blood Bowl to come in stock around here and pick that deck building gem (yeah I am a glutton for deck building).

So all in all it was a fun week in gaming. Aren’t they all when you get to play some games!

Go out and play some board games with friends and your significant other today!

–GJ out.

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Aug 19 2011

Just Dance 3 Song list revealed, a decent list of fun and WTF

Published by under Games

My kids and wife love this game, and I will admit I have fun watching them play it. I can safely admit I play it at times too b/c hey it’s fun to play with the kids (and the Mrs.) and it’s a good way to get a decent work out too! But, the problem is the way my living room is downstairs, b/c with the hardwoods down there it seems like when I am trying to flail around like an uncoordinated monkey, half the house shakes.

Either way the Just Dance franchise is a good one and this will sell pretty much like hotcakes no matter what. But the list is still decent. They have done the usual sampling from all genres thing, and also thrown some campy fun songs like the old time-y fun “Land of a 1000 dances” which you might not know by name but you will know when you hear it! So here’s the list for you! Enjoy and dance your heart out…

1. 2 Unlimited – “No Limit”
2. a-ha – “Take On Me”
3. Anja – “Dance All Nite”
4. Bananarama – “Venus”
5. Black Eyed Peas – “Pump It”
6. Bollywood Rainbow – “Kurio ko uddah le jana”
7. Cee Lo Green – “Forget You”
8. Countdown Mix Masters – “Beautiful Liar”
9. Daft Punk – “Da Funk”
10. Danny Elfman – “This is Halloween”
11. Donna Summer – “I Feel Love”
12. Dr. Creole – “Baby Zouk”
13. Duck Sauce – “Barbra Streisand”
14. Girls Aloud – “Jump (For My Love)”
15. Groove Century – “Boogie Wonderland”
16. Gwen Stefani – “What You Waiting For”
17. Inspector Marceau – “The Master Blaster”
18. Janelle Monae – “Tightrope (Solo Version)”
19. Jessie J featuring B.o.B – “Price Tag”
20. Brahms by Just Dance Classical Orchestra – “Hungarian Dance No. 5”
21. Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg – “California Gurls”
22. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”
23. Konshens – “Jamaican Dance”
24. African Ladies – “Pata Pata”
25. Latino Sunset – “Mamasita”
26. Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up (Giddy On Out)”
27. Lena Meyer-Landrut – “Satellite”
28. LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock – “Party Rock Anthem”
29. Madness – “Night Boat To Cairo”
30. MIKA – “Lollipop”
31. Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland – “Promiscuous”
32. Pointer Sisters – “I’m So Excited”
33. Queen – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
34. Reggaeton Explosion – “Boom”
35. Rita Mitsouko – “Marcia Baila”
36. Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – “Somethin’ Stupid”
37. Scissor Sisters – “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin'”
38. Sweat Invaders – “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”
39. Taio Cruz – “Dynamite”
40. The Buggles – “Video Killed The Radio Star”
41. The Chemical Brothers – “Hey Boy Hey Girl”
42. The Girly Team – “Baby One More Time”
43. The London Theatre Orchestra & Cast – “Think”
44. The Sugarhill Gang – “Apache (Jump On It)”
45. Tommy Sparks – “She’s Got Me Dancing”
46. Wilson Pickett – “Land of 1000 Dances”

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Aug 18 2011

Red Box Review The Eagle #redbox #MOVIEREVIEW

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

The Eagle (2011–114 mins) C. Tatum, J. Bell

“The Eagle” centers on a former Centurion, Marcus Aquila (Tatum)  from the Roman army and his search for the truth about a regiment of 5000 Roman soldiers who vanished into thin air. The soldiers were lead by his father, and the vanishing of so many under his lead has left Marcus’ family with a dishonorable name. His only companion is a slave rescued by Marcus from his death, Esca (Bell). To find the truth he will have to pass some personal tests and learn a lot about both himself, the Roman army and what freedom really means.

The movie is shown to us in previews as a bit of a normal Medieval romp, but it’s more of a character driven story then war-action film. Sure, as you would expect there is some action/fighting/adventure to it but there is more under the surface of the story. I really liked how the movie showed the changing of power in the duo’s relationship and how each dealt with the co-dependance of each other. It’s a good movie that’s only fault, in my mind, is the unnecessary bloating to the time with some story points that don’t help the story enough and yet bring it closer and closer to a 2 hour running time. Usually, a war/adventure epic like this will have enough stories and twists and turns to need a 2 hour run time, but this isn’t one of them. You only really have one underlying linear story and they spend too much time setting it up. The whole first act of showing that Marcus is a brilliant soldier and wounded/rewarded just takes entirely too much time to get on it’s feet. By the time they even introduce us to Ecsa the movie should be well into it’s stride, whereas here it’s barely even beginning to get us into the whole story.

Tatum and Bell do a great job of playing their own roles. Separated by class, thinking and views they portray the picture of opposites even down to the body types and body language. Great jobs and great job picking them out for their roles.

Verdict–> I enjoyed the film for the 1st viewing but I doubt I would sit through it again or bring it up for a watch with the wife. It’s just a bit too drawn out and long to enjoy in a date atmosphere, and I don’t think Mrs Geekjock would like it much. However, I think those people who like films from this period, or want to see a character drama and have the time then go for it. Again, don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the movie it’s just not one I would look to buy or bring into a double feature or date night. A mid level recommendation for sure, when you have watched all the headliners in the box and looking for a good movie to watch (and the time to watch it– one movie night).

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Aug 18 2011

Red Box Review Cougars Inc. #Redbox #moviereview

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

Cougars Inc. (2011–81 mins) K. Gallner, J. Belushi, K. Morris, D. Richards

Yep, you read that right. Not only is there a B-Movie named “Cougars Inc.” but I did grab it from the Red Box and I actually did laugh at it and think it wasn’t half bad either. Granted, it’s not great and it goes against my cardinal sin of movie releases… ALL (non-child) MOVIES MUST BE 90 MINUTES!!!!. But don’t look at this as a feature film, look at it more as a movie that should be a cinemax or showtime late night movie. No it’s not soft core porn or anything but it is a good throwback to the T and A movies of the 80’s and 90’s.

Sam (Gallner) is a misfit high school kid who has been in and out of schools b/c of one reason or another but now finds himself in yet another boarding school being run by headmaster Fox (Belushi). A cool guy himself, Fox, gives Sam a chance and takes him under his wing. Yet, when his mother flakes out as usual, Sam has to figure out a way to pay for his schooling. After he picks up an older woman and she “tips” him, he gets the bright idea that he (and his friends) can provide services/partying for a certain cougar crowd. Sure, it’s a funky premise and yes I know “cougars” are all the rage but it’s kinda smart and funny. I liken it to a combo of “Juno” and “Napoleon Dynamite” writing and a few hot chicks thrown in. I am not sure when the extremely pale yet strangely hot as hell Kathryn Morris became a cougar, but it’s no doubt that Denise Richards has tried to embrace the label these days. They both embrace the unconventional roles and just roll with it with some nice gusto. Belushi also seems to be right at home in the slap sticky part to which he started his career and should get back into. He’s much better then that mediocre sit-com he was in for those years and I think I liked him the most in the whole cast.

Verdict–> It’s not going to win any awards or get much play on basic cable but I can’t but laugh when I think about most of the movie. It’s a pizza and beer guys movie so I wouldn’t advise it for a date unless it’s with your wife and she’s got a decent sense of humor about her movies. I liked it tho well enough and it was well worth the 1$ I paid for it. Grab some beers, grab some buddies and laugh a bit. What’s the worst that can happen? You laugh a bit and only are out 1$ and 81 mins!

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Aug 18 2011

Red Box Review– Source Code #redbox #moviereview

Published by under Movies,Red Box Reviews

Source Code (2011– 93 mins) J. Gyllenhaal, M. Monaghan, V. Farmiga

Source Code is another movie in a long line of movies I didn’t really want to see, and I didn’t want to like, but was actually pretty good. Looking at the trailer it looks to be a bit formulaic, long drawn out race against the clock conspiracy film. Instead sure it might be a bit formulaic but it’s not overly long, but the premise and execution is original and entertaining to watch.

Gyllenhaal is Colter Stevens, an ex-soldier who wakes up in an other person’s body, in an experimental program designed to re-live 8 mins of a past event over and over in order to figure out who bombed a train. Finding this out will help to thwart a subsequent bomb attempt in the middle of the city of Chicago. The whole idea of this reminded me of a action-y “Groundhog Day” and thus I wasn’t too keen on watching it. However, it was a bit of a requested movie for red box night at work and when you watch 12 movies a month from the box any new main stream movie is a bit inviting, so it was a choice. Yet, once the movie got going you realize it’s not just a movie about waking up day after day in the same hotel, it’s got a bit of depth to it.

Farmiga has quietly become one of my favorite female actresses out there right now. She’s got a subtle beauty and delivers lines with a way that is wispy, quiet and can bring mystery or sexiness about her in a way you are not sure which one she is trying to portray. Sounds odd, but watch this and “Up in the Air” and you will know what I mean.

Verdict–> I think this is a great movie for a weekend rental. It’s got some action smart writing and is only right around 90 mins. You could pair it with a 90 min rom-com for a perfect sat. night. Top level recommendation that I think you will enjoy.

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