Nerd in the 'Noke

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), R, 142 minutes - On this date twenty years ago, my favorite movie of all time quietly hit theaters across the country. The funny thing is, like most people, I never saw The Shawshank Redemption in the theater and would have no idea that it would have a lasting effect on me until almost three years later when I first encountered it.  In October of 1994, I was a sophomore in high school and a substantial amount of my time was taken up by basketball or just about any other sport that caught my attention for longer than five minutes.  I was the backup point guard on the JV team that year.  I hadn't yet discovered my love for film and my love of sports dominated my free time. Looking back, my discovery of Shawshank a couple of years later was the result of a unique set of events that explain my initial draw to the film and how it has grown to become so important to me over time. "Since I am innocent of this crime, sir, I find it decidedly i

Daredevil (2015), Netflix, 15 Episodes  - I've mentioned in some of my reviews of Marvel's films in the past that Daredevil is my favorite comic book character.  So as one may expect, I have been extremely excited about this series since it was announced a year ago.  This live action series marks Marvel's efforts in adapting one of their most critically acclaimed characters since they regained the film rights to the property from Fox in early 2013. You may remember that Fox released a Daredevil film back in 2003 starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner among others.  That film is widely considered as one of the low-points in the ever-improving genre of comic book films.  Oddly enough, that film holds a small and dear place in my heart.  At the time I really enjoyed it.  It piqued my curiosity in the character and led me to explore his comic book history.  In the time since, I have read every issue from Daredevil's fifty year publishing history (over 560 issues), and

Gone Girl (2014), R, 145 minutes - My wife and I have been extremely busy with all of the things that come with buying and selling a house.  And while we're very excited about it, the process has put a bit of a damper on our usual weekend routine (including my theater hopping habit).  Things are moving along nicely and by the end of the month we should be getting settled in our new home.  A midst all the house related craziness, I was able to sneak some time yesterday to see Gone Girl, the new David Fincher directed thriller based on Gillian Flynn's best selling novel from a couple of years ago. I had heard great things about the book and started reading it about a month ago.  I'm not the world's fastest reader and I wanted to be sure to give myself enough time to finish it before the movie came out.  I shouldn't have worried.  The novel was every bit as good as I had been told and I blew through it in a week (slowed only by life's responsibilities such as