New Belgium Rampant vs We Are the Millers

Beer

Brewery: New Belgium
Selection: Rampant
Style: Imperial India Pale Ale
Origin: Fort Collins, CO
ABV: 8.5%
Cost: $10.99
Website: New Belgium

Movie

Title: We're the Millers
Year: 2013
Genre: Comedy/Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 110 Minutes
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Ed Helms

IMDB: We're the Millers
Trailer: We're the Millers

Review

Tonight's selections are "New Belgium Rampant" and "We're the Millers"

Lets start with the beer first.

Beer

It pours a crystal clear, light amber color with white tight laced bubbles. It looks pretty. But, often times looks can be deceiving. It lacks any strong floral aromas, smells rather boring.  Weird.

The taste. At the front of the tongue, you definitely get a kick of bitter hop notes mixed with subtle malty sweetness.  Middle of the tongue is all bitterness.  Slight citrus, grapefruit. Finishes dry, more hops and more bitter. Delicious!

At 8.5%, this beer is ridiculously easy to drink and doesn't have that "hot" alcohol bite.  A slight aftertaste of a citrus rind. Lemon maybe.  

For those looking to push their palettes  this beer definitely does that.  Fans of IPA's who want to venture into the bigger, bolder beers of the Imperial and Double IPA varieties, this is a good choice, especially for the price.  Overall, a very very solid Imperial IPA!

Movie

We're the Millers stars Friend's Alumni Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis who you know from Hall Pass and Horrible Bosses, Emma Roberts from Scream 4 and Ed Helms from the Hangover Trilogy.

So, essentially, Jason plays the character of David, a small time dime bag slinging weed drug dealer who somehow gets robbed of his drugs while trying to rescue some gutter punk.  And so, he somehow convinces a group of unlikely people to go on a ridiculously stupid trip to Mexico to be a drug mule for the local weed kingpin.

Sound stupid?  It really is.  But, truthfully this is one of those movies that's truly about the journey, not so much the why or how's.

So, we've all seen the teaser clips in the trailers of Jennifer Aniston, who plays an aging stripper, well, stripping.  So, this begs the question, does the movie, or Jennifer deliver?  And the answer is sadly, not as much as you've hoped for.  The bright side? This movie delivers more laughs then all the best comedies in the past few years.  This movie is by far one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while.

What makes this so funny?  Truthfully, the writing is extremely well done, the movie is wonderfully acted (amongst the main characters) and is extremely well paced.

With that being said, I never want to cross country with my family in an RV EVER!  

Speaking of such things, some of you may remember a similar movie to this called RV that starred Robin Williams?  No?  Well, if you're so lucky as to not have seen that movie, good for you.  For those of you who did, like my unfortunate self, this is by far a much better movie.  Much much better!

Conclusion

This episode of Six Pack Cinema has shaped up to be a great experience. A wonderfully crafted Imperial IPA paired with a great comedy.  I strongly recommend both of these selections.

Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale vs Here Comes the Boom

Beer

Brewery: Sierra Nevada
Selection: Pale Ale
Style: Pale Ale
Origin: Chico, CA
ABV: 5.6%
Cost: $8.99
Website: Sierra Nevada

Movie

Title: Here Comes the Boom
Year: 2012
Genre: Action/Comedy
Rating: PG
Runtime: 105 Minutes
Cast: Kevin James, Henry Winkler, Salma Hayek, Joe Rogan

IMDB: Here Comes the Boom
Trailer: Here Comes the Boom

Review

Tonight's selections are "Sierra Nevada Pale Ale" and "Here Comes the Boom."

Lets start with the beer first.

Beer

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a year round offering, and, has been on the market for quite some time.  If you haven't tried this beer, you're probably incarcerated, but, fret not.  Your jugs of pruno probably taste better anyways.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a pretty golden color however, it is somewhat over carbonated.  I know this, as it was difficult to pour a 12oz bottle of beer into my 16oz beer glass without it escaping over the sides and onto my nightstand.  First strike against it.

The aroma of this beer lacks anything of interest.  Sweetness, gentle hops, bubbly coca-cola fizz. 

The taste. Well, of what taste is actually present, it's very subtle, or submissive.  It has a light hop character, balanced pretty well with the maltiness. It finishes rather sweet, and is easy to drink.  With an abv of 5.6%, it definitely doesn't taste as "strong" as it is.  However, it's all in all kind of bland.  

It's not a terrible beer, it's easy to drink, and, works well as an introduction into ale beers, but, is quickly forgettable.  Not a whole lot going on.

Movie

Here Comes the Boom stars Kevin James as the leading man.  I'm a fan of his, everything from King of Queens to Hitch.  It also stars Salma Hayek who I swear has some mystical anti-aging powers, or pills or an expensive doctor on-call, because she still looks just as good as she did in Desperado.  It also stars Henry "The Fonz" Winkler as the music teacher.

I didn't realize this movie was "PG" until after I finished it and did some research on it.  For a movie that centers around, arguably the most violent sport, to catch a PG rating is impressive.

The movie is well acted, which is to be expected from such seasoned leading characters.  And, moves along quickly, not leaving you bored, but, not exactly captivating you either.  It has a tendency to be extremely predictable, and, has a couple areas where "suspending disbelief" becomes difficult.

While I love underdog stories, this movie is so cookie cutter it's hard to really get inspired or truly invested in this movie. Don't get me wrong.  Like all sports movies I watch I imagine myself quitting my job and taking up whatever sport it is the movie is trying to sell me, but in truth, Here Comes the Boom felt too generic and, while I was entertained, I almost felt insulted by the sheer lack of originality or anything resembling a movie of real, cinematic merit. Plus, I kept waiting for Henry Winkler's character to get attacked by the ghost face killer from Scream.  What? 

Conclusion

While I found it amusing in one of the earliest scenes that what looked to be a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottle was being consumed, I found the movie to be as thin and forgettable as the beer I chose to drink while watching it.  For those fans of UFC or MMA, this movie truly lacks any realism in the sense that a 42 year old, out of shape science teacher would have any real chance of winning any MMA fight ever let alone make any kind of waves in the sport.  If you want to watch a good MMA movie, check out Warrior.  Leave this DVD on the shelf and probably the beer as well.

Cheers!

Welcome to Six Pack Cinema

Hello Internet, and welcome to the home of Six Pack Cinema.

What is Six Pack Cinema, besides an awesome name that may become increasingly difficult to pronounce correctly after one has consumed a six pack of beer?  Well, it's like this.

Six Pack Cinema is little more then a review blog.  A review blog of two things.  What two things?  Well, if your lager laced brain hasn't quite figured it out, I shall make this simple for you.

I review beer.

I review movies.

I will drink a six pack of the beer I am reviewing while I watch the movie I am reviewing.

Once I have visually consumed the movie, and physically consumed the beer, I shall tell you what I thought of them.

Sounds fun and simple right?  Yep. It's my dream job.  Maybe one day, I'll get paid for this.  Until then, drinking great beer and watching great movies is a dream come true all on its own.

Okay, so what exactly am I going to review?

Easy.  As far as movies, I am mostly going to stick with Streaming (Netflix/HBO Go/Etc) as these are typically the easiest (and cheapest) ways to watch movies.  HOWEVER.  I am a bold motherfucker (yes, this is an R-Rated Blog and I will cuss) and may sneak a six pack into the theatre with me.  In which case, you'll get reviews of current, in theatre movies as well.

The beer?  Well, that's simple too.  I am going to review a very broad spectrum of beer.  From Macro-brews (Miller/Coors/A.B.) to local micro brews (San Tan/Four Peaks/Nimbus) to any other awesome craft beer I can get a hold of.  And, bravo to those who googled San Tan and Four Peaks to see where I live (Arizona) to make it easy for you.

The idea behind this?  Well, I love beer.  I love movies.  I am opinionated about both, so, figured I combine the two things I love the most and see if I can't entertain and enlighten you, and possibly myself, in the process.

A little background about me.  I am not a college graduate, however, I did take some college classes in Videography.  I've worked in the Movie Theatre Business, but other then being a hobbyist filmmaker, I have no movie critic experience or credentials.  Also, I am a home brewer and make my own beer, however, I am not a beer critic either.   So basically, I'm just like you.  So, you'll get reviews that are real, uninhibited and hopefully helpful.

With that in mind, please feel free to comment on my reviews.  Let me know what, if anything, I can do to improve them.  Ask questions.  Suggest movies or beers. Or whatever.  This place is supposed to be kick back and fun.

Cheers!