1. We Own the Night
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, and Robert Duvall
Directed by: James Gray

Robert Green (Phoenix) is a successful nightclub owner who keeps suspicious company, while his brother Joseph is a police captain. Robert’s life has isolated him from his brother and his Deputy Chief of Police Father (Duvall). However, Robert gets a chance at redemption when his father and brother become mob targets.
This boring “blood is thicker than water tale” is as laughable as its title. The two leads are fine actors, but even they can’t breathe life into this weak script. The action scenes are fairly impressive, but not nearly enough to save the film. We Own the Night is a completely forgettable film experience.

2. Gone Baby Gone
Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Amy Ryan. And Ed Harris
Directed by: Ben Affleck

A cocky private investigator is hired by a distraught family to help find a missing child in modern day Boston.
In his debut as a feature length director, Ben Affleck showcases skill and precision rarely seen in his acting roles; Mr. Affleck makes many insightful decisions that prove to be very effective. There are no simple answers to be found in Gone Baby Gone, just complex questions that are sure to stay with the audience long after the film’s final moments have been shown. Gone Baby Gone is gritty, realistic, and one of the very best films on the year. Read Rusty's entire review here.

Also being released: Tyler Perry’s Why Did I get Married and Becoming Jane

On Wednesday, February 8th, we threw our very first movie party at RGRS.

I feel a bit silly calling it a "movie party". It makes me feel like I'm wearing pajamas laying on a palette that my mother just made for me with my friends in the living room drinking massive amount of Dr. Pepper and eating Cool Ranch Doritos, further destroying my kidneys. It's definitely not one of those types, but we couldn't think of another name to call it.

Think of it more of a promotions thing. We see a film, like it, and get the chance to throw a party where we pass out free merchandise from the film and give friends the chance to win reserved seats to the screening. You don't have to wait in the long line and can just wonder in last minute to nestle in your comfortable seats with a sign that states, "RESERVED FOR (blank)."

Wednesday's attendance to One Night in Bruges (honoring Paris Hilton) was overwhelming. With staff included, we managed to bring in 165 friends throughout the entire night. That type of support means more than anything.

I am known to have a bit of social anxiety (I know) when it comes to big crowds and I kind of zone out, but luckily I have two of the greatest comrades, Cameron and Rusty, to take care of business when business needs to be taken care of.

We would like to thank Focus Features for all the cool gear, Shep and the staff at Rubber Gloves for helping us make this a successful event and putting up with my anxiety when first arriving. We also would to thank She's the Worst for giving us music all night long, Benjamin Shawver and Jason Bauer for shooting everyone in the face when needed, Chipotle for the chips and salsa, and most importantly everyone that came out to support us. We hope you enjoyed this event, and we'll see you February 20th at Hailey's for Slam Drunk, our promotional Semi-Pro event!

If you know you had your photo taken and it's not in the set, e-mail me at [email protected]. Over 500 photos were taken and we tried to not to add duplicates.

Click HERE for pics from Wednesday night!

Where is Bruges? A question many people might wonder as they prepare to watch the new film, In Bruges. You quickly learn from the film’s opening monologue, which features Colin Farrell’s somber voice playing over various shots of the town that Bruges is in Belgium.

The monologue explains that a job has gone bad and now two hit men have been sent to hide in the quaint town of Bruges. The two temporarily exiled men are the amusing and pouting Ray (Colin Farrell) and the fatherly Ken (Brendan Gleeson). In Bruges doesn't expose the horribly depressing details of the botched job or examine the resulting consquences until later in the film, giving the audience plenty of time to have fun with the two main characters as they try to deal with their present situation in different ways.

Ray has the attitude of a disinterested teenager towards Bruges. He is young and is not concerned with the old-fashioned town. However, Ken approaches Bruges and Ray much like a well meaning but doomed father. The harder Ken tries to convince Ray that Bruges and its history is interesting the less Ray cares, creating many great exchanges between the two over the town. There is a particularly funny scene where Ken is explaining the history of a church and how it is believed to posses actual drops of Jesus Christ’s blood. As Ken continues to explain why Ray should care, Ray just continues to point out plainly that he doesn’t.

The film’s humor is in fact stronger than most might expect. The last time I remember an audience laughing so hard was during the hit comedy Knocked Up. Many of the film’s comedic moments come from the clueless Ray. Ray’s earnestness continually gets him into troublesome situations while he is suppose to be keeping a low profile. Ray has two very memorable interactions with fellow tourists. One exchange involves an overweight American trying to punch Ray because of a candid comment he made and the other one ends in assault at an upscale restaurant. In Bruges also possesses many witty and very quotable lines, with a good amount, but not all, of them containing the F word. The dialogue is sharp, which is not surprising when you learn that the film’s Writer and Director Martin McDonagh, is a very successful and award winning playwright.

The very entertaining and fresh characters of In Bruges are made even greater by the quality of the actors playing them. Colin Farrell has finally found a role perfectly suited for him in the well meaning but reckless Ray. Brendan Gleeson brings a great amount of warmth to the role of Ken, Ray’s counterpart and babysitter. Farrell and Gleeson’s talent helps the audience care about two men who are paid to kill for a living.

In Bruges’ tone shifts dramatically when the film begins to focus on why exactly the two men are hiding. As the details of the job are revealed, Ray’s inner torment surfaces on the screen. It turns out that Ray accidentially shot and killed a young boy. Despite being a paid killer, Ray's genuine sorrow and torment will derive sympathy, not contempt from the audience. Of Course, Ken attempts to convince Ray to use this experience as a lesson, as Ken puts it: "save the next little boy." This examination causes In Bruges second half, while mostly entertaining, to become convoluted and melodramatic at times. However, In Bruges' final moments do successfully achieve the film's purpose by displaying the necessity of forgiveness and acceptance in a big and bloody way.

In Bruges is director Martin McDonagh’s feature length film debut. Mr. McDonagh has already achieved a large amount of success as a playwright, and his ability to create such clever and memorable dialoge along with enganging film characters makes one hope that he will continue to spend time in the filmmaking realm.