Date Night

Goolphipp Award: 3.75 (See the Cheap Matinee)

Goolsby:
Tina Fey and Steve Carell as husband and wife, throw in some Mark Wahlberg and James Franco and you can count me in. I went into this movie with pretty high expectations given the two leading roles. I wasn't disappointed, but I think I would have appreciated it more if I wasn't single. This movie is general enough for all people, but I'm sure it really hits home for long-time couples and married people.

This movie had quite a few random moments in there. At times the supporting cast stole the show. Which is understandable considering you've basically got a shirtless (actually insistently shirtless) Wahlberg. James Franco and Mila Kunis were great paired together. I loved the volatile chemistry between them.

The action scenes... believable I guess. You don't examine them that much considering this is a comedy movie. This movie covered all your comedic bases though - physical, mildly crude, and dry sarcastic.

Goolsby overall: 3.5
Good laughs.

Phipps:
I have not run into a person that hated this movie. Date Night is built on chemistry: Tina Fey and Steve Carell, James Franco and Mila Kunis, Fey and Wahlberg and Carell. And the banter was stellar - and believable. I shouldn't be surprised, since Tina Fey is the queen of banter. Because I am unmarried, I can't really comment on the portrayal of a married couple, but I have a feeling that it's pretty close to reality (sometimes, anyway). You go through all this crap, but at the end of the day, it's worth it - which really is the end message. And apparently getting chased by dirty cops all night revives a struggling marriage. I just loved Fey and Carell together. Overall, this movie is pretty clean. Full of "dad" jokes. And I think a bunch of jokes related to New York City culture, which of course, went right over my head. One inconsistency drove me batty - Tina Fey's ridiculous high heels. One minute they are off - because they were running through the park - and no one appears to be holding them...and the next minute she's running on concrete with them on. Come on, ladies, you know we would have ditched the shoes...and they would have stayed ditched. I'm guessing it won't be long before this is running on TV. It's pretty mainstream. It's a complete package. I'd watch it with my parents. I'd peg the audience for 14+. If your kids watch The Office, they can watch this.

Phipps overall: 4
For Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

The Lovely Bones

Goolphipp Award: 4.4 (No Peanuts Chucked)

Phipps:
The Lovely Bones made me tear up and made my chin wobble. Let me be honest, I haven't read the book, so I don't know if Peter Jackson did it justice, but I do know that his version, however different it is from the novel, is a movie worth seeing. The blurring of heaven and earth, called the "in-between," where the spirit of Susie lived, was done well - cohesive and interesting. All the necessary parts were foreshadowed in an balantly obvious way, but the pieces couldn't be put together until we (and Susie) were ready.

Performances in this movie were just wonderful. The very Irish Saoirse Ronan brought Susie Salmon to life, and did a phenomenal job with the range of emotion expected of her. Susan Sarandon stole all of her scenes as the grandmother, who smokes and drinks throughout. Stanley Tucci. What can you say about him? He was nominated for a Golden Globe for this role, and it is well-deserved. He was the perfect serial killer. In fact, I think all the performances were great.

As a whole, this movie is intense. I walked out of the theater overwhelmed and discombobulated. It is an experience. I came to care about the Salmon family, and I wanted to see Stanley Tucci take a long walk off a short pier. I don't know if I'll ever watch this movie again, because it's so intense and emotional, but I don't think I'll ever forget it.

In fact, the only thing I have against the movie is that the climax of the movie is a kiss, which is more of a book issue anyway.

Phipps overall: 4.75
My chin actually wobbled...doesn't happen for just anything.

Goolsby:
I wasn't as excited for this movie as Phipps. I was curious, but that's about it. That being said, I went in pretty blank. I think Mark Wahlberg plays a great father role in this movie. he brought just the right amount of emotion for his fallen daughter. On the other hand I thought Rachel Weisz was missing the "it" factor. She did a good job, but I didn't feel her performance matched her on screen husband's performance.

What I really like about this movie was the score and music selection. I thought the music added a nice cherry on the top for the movie. It was perfectly woven in and the main song really reflected the "in-between" world.

Maybe someday I'll read the book. Imagine how hard it would be to write the "in-between" world. Oi.

Goolsby overall: 4
I welled up, didn't spill over though. Commanding, but not the full hype.

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