Is This Thing Still On?

I realize that it's been nearly 2 full months since our last post - YIKES! - and that this Hubby and Wifey have been harder to find than Waldo, but I promise that we have a good explanation.

2 Kids Under 3 + Starting Your Own Business = NO PERSONAL FREE TIME!!!

Ok, that may not be entirely true. I mean, we have actually watched several movies since our last review ("Blood Diamond") - 9 to be exact. We just haven't made the time to write about those experiences here.

Look, I hate excuses especially since we told ourselves that if we were going to do this we were going to do it at 110% (does anyone else hate that cliche like I do?) like everything else we do in life.

Besides, if you're taking the time to visit our humble little website then the least we could do is give you some new, fresh, and entertaining content to enjoy during your visits.

So, that being said, please visit often this week as we attempt to GET ALL 12 REVIEWS PUBLISHED ONLINE in an effrot to get back into a more regular pattern.

Thanks for your patience, time, and continued interest.

Hubby

REVIEW: Blood Diamond

This movie actually sat on our DVR for a long time before we finally got around to watching it. In fact, we recorded it months ago and it was only after my cousin piqued my interest when he soberly said that it was a powerful film. That got my attention.

Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

This movie was an eye opener. If you plan on buying a diamond any time soon watch this movie and you won’t want to get one! I thought this movie was well written and I was so shocked on how they brainwash these innocent kids into killing people.

Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) played a very powerful role as well as Salomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) who team up together to try and get the biggest diamond ever found so they can sell it and make a ton of money.

It starts with one of the main characters and his family in a small village doing nothing wrong and out of nowhere they get ambushed by some terrorists and they start shooting men, women, and children (this was a very graphic movie). After taking all the men that would be good diamond finders they take them to a river and start looking for these priceless diamonds. If you're caught stealing any diamonds and get caught they kill will kill you. The kids were taken and forced into being terrorist in the militia.

I guess this movie really moved me seeing I’m a mom and I wouldn’t know what to do if they took my children and brainwashed them into killing people for no reason at all. Danny Archer starts out being kind of a bad person and only thinking about himself, but then turns around and becomes this very passionate man, wanting to help out Salomon and his family, only to result in a very sad ending.

I really enjoyed watching this movie and would recommend this to everyone.

4 out of 5 Ben & Jerry’s for me.


HUBBY'S REVIEW

Our Anniversary is coming up and Wifey’s been bugging me for a new wedding band to match the one she already has. This is the type of movie that should keep her off my back for a bit.

We are given a glimpse of the ruthless African Diamond Trade Industry and it’s not pretty at all.

The first 10 minutes of this film will leave you absolutely speechless for it’s mind-numbing content. It’s easily one of the most disturbing works I’ve seen especially in the past year.

An excellent cast got to work with an equally excellent script for a completely unique and original story. It’s original, smart, relevant, emotionally gut-wrenching, important, and provides a social commentary without being too preachy.

However, at one point (after the film of course given the topic) I found myself almost laughing when I wondered to myself if Hollywood was trying to send the message that fits the current lifestyle of many of its inhabitants - - “Don’t get married, and, if you do, don’t do it traditionally by buying a diamond ring!” Sad, but I wouldn’t put it past them being as agenda driven as they are.

There was one line by Leonardo DiCaprio’s character that sums things up quite nicely, “In America it’s bling-bling, but here it’s bling-bang.”

Plus, I can’t remember the last time that Wifey and I watched a movie together at home without much talking between us (perhaps it was World Trade Center).

So, despite the depressing nature of this film this is exactly the type of creativity that Hollywood needs to tap into - - strong story, strong characters, strong moral message.

How did this movie not get nominated for (and win) Best Picture in 2006? It did get 5 nominations that year, but sadly failed to win a single statue.

I give it 4.5 Ben & Jerry’s, which means we have a high OMD Rating here of 4.25 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: Live Free Or Die Hard

Bruce Willis + Big Budget + Action & Adventure = An Entertaining 2 Hours. At least, that's the theory anyway, right?

Watch Trailer.

WIFEY'S REVIEW

I’ve always liked action packed movies and for all of you that have seen the Die Hard movies this is another good one!

Bruce Willis does another fine job in this movie and he resumes the role of a very funny/serious guy all packed into one.

Let me just say up front that in any and all action films I have a really hard time telling who's who seeing they move so fast so I don’t know if I’m rooting on the good guys or the bad guys. This one was easier for me to folow.

It's all based on cyber skills and hacking into the government's databases. This is a real nail biting film.

The only downfall was that 50 minutes into this movie you had no clue what they were after because all you knew was that Matt Ferrell (Justin Long) was a very important kid who new a lot about the cyber world. And nothing could happen to him and it was up to Detective John McClane to get this kid to safety and he had a lot of obstacles to go through!

I had to stop and think how scary it would be if there were people out there that could successfully hack into the government's system and take everything down.

At times during this film I had to laugh because the logic they used was not smart, some of the stunts where so unrealistic that I could of thought of something better to use! (Hubby, help me out on this one you know what I mean.)

Overall, I enjoyed this movie and would rate it a 3.75 out of 5 Ben & Jerry’s.


HUBBY'S REVIEW

“Yipee Kiyeah Mother%$#*@!!!” Yes, John McClane is back in this 4th installment of this action-packed series and this time the threat is cyber terrorism.

While I thought the premise was very timely and creative there were a few instances late in the film where the plot begs you to suspend disbelief a little too much for my taste.

Don’t get me wrong, the action was phenomenal and entertaining (you certainly get what you expect from this franchise!) and there was even one of the most bad-ass scenes I’ve ever seen from a “tough guy” character in a movie, but it just got too smart for its own good and left some big holes in the storyline.

Plus, I didn’t like the fact that - - once again - - Hollywood decided to go with the “home-grown terrorist” character to avoid political controversy when having some foreign national play that role would’ve been more believable. I mean, when was the last time a White Male Terrorist from the U.S. attacked this country and it’s people on such a grand scale and in such terrifying fasion?

And if you tell me Timothy McVeigh I'll respectfully ask you to try again given the fact that new evidence is making it clear that foreign terrorists were most likely involved as well. Besides, even if they weren't, that's ONLY ONE case in the past 40 years of "mainstream" terrorism. Exactly.

But hey, CCR’s “Fortunate Son” closed out the film and led us to the credits so all’s well that ends well I guess.

Since Wifey likes giving ratings in fractions of points I'll give it a 2.5 bringing a total OMD Rating to 3.125.

On a side note, anyone else find it tastefully ironic that the guy from the "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" commercials was a central character in a fi;m about cyber-terrorism?

REVIEW: 3:10 To Yuma

Boy, have we been slacking on staying current on this site! To our few loyal readers - - THANK YOU for your patience! We actually watched this movie back on February 9th so you do the math.

Watch Trailer.

WIFEY'S REVIEW

We originally started this movie at 9:20pm, but realized that our fish (swimming in a fish tank that's just below our TV on the entertainment center) had some problems and with my OCD I had to fix our floating sideways fish! Now, with that problem out of the way, we started our movie at 10:20pm instead of an hour earlier as planned.

Westerns aren’t my thing, but everyone we talked to said that this movie was a must see! They are so hard to follow in my opinion seeing as how you really don’t know who the good guys vs. the bad guys are!

Ok, so Russell Crowe being Ben Wade is the bad guy. Wade is in a lot of trouble with the law and finally it catches up to him and he gets caught by the marshals. Dan Evans (Christian Bale) needs to get some cash for his farm and family so he decides to help transport Mr. Wade to the 3:10 train to Yuma (hence the title of the movie)!

The movie really begins when they try to trick Wade's group by switching hats to throw them off and now they have to travel by horse to the train station and that forces them to overcome lots of obstacles without getting killed by Wade's group.

Talk about a lot of shooting, it was like every 5 minutes somebody was getting killed (I guess that’s what Westerns are all about).

Dan’s son comes to the rescue at one point when Wade highjacks one of the guns along the way just about the point when Wade is going to go free he shows up and saves the day! It’s amazing how family is always important no matter how rich you are or how poor you are!

Ok, one other thing that I had to laugh about was how money was so different back in those days, seeing how Dan was so happy to get $200 and that would put food on their table, buy a couple of livestock, and rebuild their barn.

Anyway, the movie was hard to follow for me, but thanks to Hubby he kept me up to speed with it!

I really didn’t enjoy this movie so I would rate it only 1 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

Traditionally, I’m not a big fan of Westerns. I’m like the only man who’s never seen a Dirty Harry movie and the extent of my exposure to these acquired tastes include Young Guns, and, most recently, Deadwood. Simply put, I guess I was born without the gene that allows you to appreciate these types of movies.

Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by this one! The Christian Bale character is phenomenal as he’s a principled man, a man of good character, a strong husband and a father. In other words, a man after my own heart.

He is in direct contrast with the character played by Russell Crowe and there’s something to be said for the Western genre in that they always seem to do an excellent job of clearly defining right and wrong. Rarely is there any middle ground and there are definitely consequences for every decision and action.

At times, both characters seem to resemble the extreme polar opposite of the other and it’s this duality that creates a dramatic tension throughout the film. As the story develops, we see that they are actually quite similar in a lot of ways or, at least in the ways that really matter.

In a strange way, both men share a mutual respect for one another even though they’ve chosen vastly different lifestyles.

In the end, I found myself engrossed in this film and pulling for both characters as they neared their fates.

The question we are left with at the moment of truth, the final judgment is what’s more important - - the lives of others or our lives?

Sometimes the answer depends on determining first what’s the “right” thing to do and what’s the “wrong” thing to do.

I give it 3 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5 giving this an OMD Rating of 2 thanks to Wifey's insanely low score.

Pat Boone Sounds Off On Oscars

We have a few movie reviews lined up that should be posted over the weekend.

Until then, enjoy this sobering piece from legendary singer/actor Pat Boone on this year's crop of Oscar contenders.

What's that? You forgot the Academy Awards were on this weekend? Maybe you knew that and just didn't care. I mean, after all, Hollywood is worried that viewership will be way down this year to historic lows.

Hollywood and Hockey

Contrary to popular belief, OMD is not a one-trick pony that is simply just all about the Film Review and Critical Analysis.

Au contraire mon ami! That's French-Canadian in case you're wondering (this is a hockey post, get it?)

We here at OMD like to report on just about anything and everything we find interesting online that has to do with movies.

So, without further adieu (French-Canadian again) we give you this entertaining commentary from Barry Melrose Rocks on "The Best Hockey Scenes in Non-Hockey Movies."

For further reading, you might also want to check out this list of "The Top 5 Hockey Movies of All-Time" as submitted by Fan Boom.

REVIEW: March of the Penguins

You read that correctly. We actually decided to write a review on a documentary and one about animals no less!

Ok, so sitting here trying to come up with something witty to say about birds that can't fly isn't working so let's just get right to it.

Watch Trailer.

WIFEY'S REVIEW

Wow this one was a hard one to watch seeing it was a documentary. It was cute, but how much penguins can you stand to watch?

I really liked the fact that you got to see what they go through during the really harsh weather. Seeing the father take care of the little egg was so cute, but it was so sad to see that a lot of the babies didn’t make it, but watching the transfer go between the mom and the dad with the egg was very intriguing.

Another thing that amazed me was how many days penguins go without eating, and then when they do eat they then come back to the pack and regurgitate their food to give to the mother or the babies.

I wouldn’t want to be one of those filmers seeing how cold it was in the artic. Well, there’s really not much more to say about this film.

I would rate this one 3 out of 5 Ben & Jerry’s.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

Quite possibly the shortest review on this site to date by Wifey! I think she was really caught off guard when she heard I was writing a review about this one. I mean, we didn't rent the thing or even plan to watch it. Actually, the kids were being crazy one afternoon and the "cute lil pengins" were on TV so we watched it to keep them quiet!

To be perfectly honest, I didn't have a real problem with this one. It was kinda strange that Morgan Freeman was the narrator too. Where was the voice of the adult Kevin Arnold from Wonder Years when you need him? That would've been much better!

Best line in Wifey's review? "I really liked the fact that you got to see what they went through DURING THE REALLY HARSH WINTER."

Man, what a heartless woman! These poor little birdies already can't fly, they can only walk for so many miles forcing them to slide on their bellies, they don't eat for months, they lose their unborn babies to the ice and wind (and sometimes crazy mommy penguins who want more babies for themselves) and what does she say except that she enjoys watching these creatures suffer.

Nice.

Trust me, it was fascinating to see how much these penguins are like humans in the way they bond with one another, put their family first and work together for the greater good.

Besides, any animal that can withstand freezing temps as low as -100+ degrees is worthy of my praise. Keep on rockin' in your little tuxedos my feathered friends.

As documentaries go, I give this one a 3 out of 5 Ben & Jerry's. That gives us an OMD Rating of 3 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: Deja Vu

Next up is another recent film and non-AFI List selection known simply as Deja-Vu. You know, that thing you experience where you feel as though what you're experiencing has already happened before (the Matrix was the last popular movie to comment on this phenomenon).

Next up is another recent film and non-AFI List selection known simply as Deja-Vu. You know, that thing you experience where you feel as though what you're experiencing has already happened before (the Matrix was the last popular movie to comment on this phenomenon).

Watch Trailer. Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, this movie just freaked me out right from the beginning! It starts with everyone on this big ferry boat and a little girl loses her doll by it falling off the boat, but it’s done in such slow motion that it looks like a real kid falling from it so needless to say all the shots in this movie are very detailed and dramatic.

Denzel is the main character who I really enjoyed and he hasn’t aged a day in his life and always plays the good guy who has to figure out how to stop a crime before it happens. Val Kilmer is also in here and he looks so old and decrepid!

Now it really confused me when they could look at someone who you think is dead when they use this contraption they invented and somehow they can sense you're looking at them as well. Confused? So was I!

Watching this movie really puts into perspective how many times per day you are video taped without knowing it. The scene where they use the goggles to follow the murderer was very intense seeing you didn’t know what was going to happen seconds from what your seeing. The movie was outstanding but the ending got a little to confusing and too smart for anyone to figure out. Like how is Denzel with this girl if she’s supposed to be dead and is he stuck in the past?

I really enjoyed it and would rate this movie 5 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

This is the first feature film we've watched and reviewed starring Denzel Washington. That got me thinking. Have I ever seen a "bad" Denzel Washington movie?

I had to think long and hard about it, but the only one that came to mind was Devil in a Blue Dress.

In any event, you get my point. I knew we were probably in for an entertaining thrill ride and boy was I right!

First things first. T-H-E Val Kilmer (Iceman from Top Gun!) is in this movie and man did the guy put on some serious weight. I didn't recognize him at first that's how different he looked.

Billing itself as a sci-fi thriller I wasn't quite sure how this was going to play out. I mean, any time you make a movie that has to do with time travel there's bound to be some confusion (for example, see Donnie Darko for an excellent case study).

However, true to form, Mr. Washington chose to be in a movie that was just the opposite for its genre - - to an extent.

This was a smart, thinking man's movie or what I would call plausible sci-fi. That's to say, everything made sense along the way and I understood everything as they were explaining it. More importantly, there didn't appear to be too many (if any) holes in the storyline, which can be all to common in these types.

Yet, for as smart and engaging as it was the movie just got too smart for its own good in the end.

Ultimately, Denzel lost me!

Still, a very good movie and one that will keep you interested until the very end. Still, a very good movie and one that will keep you interested until the very end.

MY rating is 2.5 Ben & Jerry's for a total OMD Rating of 3.75 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: Spider-Man 3

Are you noticing a trend here? It's been several weeks (and reviews) since we last watched a movie that came from the AFI Top 100 list (the reason for doing this in the first place!). At this pace, we'll probably be here until Luke and Amelia graduate from High School.

The next movie up was Spider-Man 3 or the final movie in the big screen adaptation of the classic Marvel comic book series.

Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, if you haven’t seen the first 2 movies and you want to then don’t read this review. If you know you’re not going to see the first 2 movies then read away!

This movie introduces a lot of new characters like an Ex-Convict, a black crawly thing named Venom, some big Green Guy, and Sandman! This sequel is a lot more of a love story than an action-packed one that we are used to.

Poor Spiderman gets his ass kicked a lot right from the beginning.

The first 50 minutes, holy cow, so slow I thought I was going to fall asleep and not because it was way past 11pm. Ok, so at one point during this flick the Sandman was beating the crap out of everyone. If only they were thinking they would have just poured water on him to make him turn to mud!

The special effects were amazing as everything was thought out in such detail. The Sandman was the best! Well, in the end it was an ok ending, but I would have plotted it out a little better to get the audience more excited.

I also came to the conclusion that Mary Jane played by Kirsten Dunst is a very needy girl. If I was Spiderman I would have ditched her along time ago.

I did enjoy how the two joined and became friends again to help defeat the bad guys in the end.

Oh yeah, and I felt really bad for Sandman because all he wanted to do the whole movie was to help his little girl get better.

Anyway, I think I would only rate this movie a 2.5 out of 5 Ben & Jerry’s.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

I'm a nerd who used to collect comics throughout High School so I love it anytime Hollywood tries to put my favorite superhero characters up on the big screen.

Plus, the first two Spidey flicks were great so I was pretty charged up for this one.

Unfortunately, this is one movie I'd like to forget. That shouldn't be too hard because it was so lackluster that I barely remember anything about it! Luckily, I took some notes while watching it.

There's a very slow set-up to this film. I'm all for character-driven dramas, but we already knew the back-story from the previous two editions. Besides, I'm a big believer that if you want to show a person's character put them in situations that will get them to demonstrate who they are instead of telling us outright through the words of other characters what that person's been acting like lately. Boring.

Once it did get going the action scenes were just as good as those in the previous versions.

I also love that the Sandman character was played by a former Wings character. Stan Lee makes his usual cameo (he's the guy who created Marvel Comics).

Some very good fight scenes between Spidey, Venom and Sandman. All in all, not as good as the first two.

I give it a 2 out of a 5 (and only because it is the last film in the trilogy, which wraps up the storyline).

That means the OMD Rating for this one is 2.25 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: The Kingdom

The next film up is The Kingdom. Even though there have been 2 OMD reviews posted this month this was actually the first film we watched in 2008.

What? You're surprised it took Hubby and Wifey a few weeks to write and publish our reviews? Yeah, I know what you mean, me too (he types with sarcastic fingertips).


WIFEY'S REVIEW

This movie was going to be good seeing that it had Jennifer Garner and Jamie Fox in it. Also it is based on a true story. It was very interesting in the very beginning seeing as how it showed real clips from local TV shows for the first couple of minutes.

The first 5 minutes was a lot of shooting/killings from the terrorists. The talking in the movie was hard to hear from being muffled. There were a lot of intense parts during this film. One thing that I had a really hard time with was trying to figure out who was the good guys vs. the bad guys seeing they all looked, talked, and prayed to the same god Allah.

Watching this movie and seeing all these little kids wanting to act like their fathers and wanting to become a terrorists makes me sick. But on the flip side they did add a little humor into the movie seeing that a majority of it was such a downer!

Most of it was just evil. At one part of the movie the terrorist took one of the FBI Agents and was going to use him as bait and torture him. Talk about a nail biting scene when the rest of the team came looking for him - - WOW! I would recommend this movie to everyone!

I rate it 5 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

This is another smart, edgy film by Michael Mann who also gave us The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, Ali, Collateral, The Aviator, Miami Vice and (a little known favorite of mine from the '80s) Band of the Hand.

This is the true story of the events surrounding a terrorist attack on Americans living in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, a team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.

I cannot imagine putting my life on the line like these people do on a daily basis in the name of preserving democracy and justice.

The acting was fantastic (casting even better!) and there were quite a few good action scenes. Although, when you stop to think about it, it feels a little strange being entertained by "action scenes" that are merely a retelling of what happened to these innocent people as well as those trying to hunt down such barbaric human beings.

That leaves me with one final comment. This was an extremely powerful, engaging, emotional film aside from the director's moral equivalency commentary at the very end this movie.

I won't give it away, but needless to say, it mad me angry. Peter Berg (the Director) manages to exact a similar fate on the viewing audience as the terrorists do on their innocent victims.

He highjacks us and preaches to us at the very moment our raw emotions are exposed and the whole experience makes one feel used and duped. It made this reviewer angry.

In essence, I maintain that this movie is a reality check for those who don't understand the true nature of the world we live in as well as the enemy we are fighting.

God bless our troops and their families for the sacrifices they've made (and will continue to make) on my behalf.

3.5 Ben & Jerry's out of 5, which makes this film's OMD rating 4.25.