Nerd in the 'Noke

After skipping a Top 10 list last year because I don't think I had even seen ten films (due to the second job era), this post marks the return of this feature to nerdinthenoke.com !  I transitioned the content of the blog a bit in 2017, but even so I saw and reviewed more than enough films to compile this list which is pretty exciting.  What I didn't realize was how difficult it was actually going to be to pick out just ten films as I really enjoyed most of what I saw this past year. I've compiled such a list five of the past seven years, so those of you familiar with the blog may remember the stipulations I use when putting this list together, but for those who are not, here are a couple of quick points before we get started: The list is pulled only from the movies released in 2017  that I actually saw  (a second list comprised of the films from 2017 that I would still like to see appears after my Top 10). These are the films that I  enjoyed or appreciated the most  w

Captain America by Mark Waid, Ron Garney & Andy Kubert Omnibus - Collecting Captain America (1968) #444-454, Captain America (1998) #1-23, Iron Man/Captain America Annual (1998) #1, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (1998) #1-12, material from Captain America: The Legend (1996) #1, and material from Captain America: Red, White, and Blue (2002) OGN The combination of Mark Waid and Captain America is probably one that sounds familiar thanks to Marvel's recent Legacy initiative (along with artist Chris Samnee).  As you may know, Waid's current Legacy work is actually his second run on Captain America, his first being collected in this omnibus.  His initial stint with the character is a bit unique as it book-ended Marvel's Heroes Reborn era from the late 1990's (brought about by the events of Onslaught).  The creative team of Waid and artist Ron Garney had already churned out eleven issues when the Reborn experiment interrupted things, but fortunately when Marve

The Shape of Water (2017), R, 2hr 3min - Writer/Director Guillermo del Toro has long been one of my favorite directors.  I've enjoyed all of his projects that I have seen, with  Pan's Labyrinth  (2006) topping the list.  Since then, he's gone on to work on bigger films (and countless other projects that have not seen completion for a variety of reasons), so when I first saw the trailer for The Shape of Water, I was very excited.  It appeared as though del Toro was taking a step back from the big budget world and giving us another adult fairy-tale period piece, a feel that helped make Pan's Labyrinth as great as it was. The Shape of Water takes place in Baltimore during the 1960s Cold War era, and revolves around Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), a mute woman (due to a childhood neck injury) who works as a janitor at a secret government facility.  She lives alone in an apartment above an old movie theater and only interacts with her neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins) an

I'm generally not very good at looking back on the previous year and reflecting on what took place.  It's just not the way my brain is wired.  I try not to live in the past so to speak.  But when I sat down on this first morning of 2018, I couldn't help but realize just how much this blog evolved over 2017. Free of the time suck that was the part-time job in 2016 that severely limited my free time, 2017 allowed me to get back to the fun.  The time off did have its benefits though as it gave me the chance to really think about additions/improvements that I wanted to make.  When I got back to it a year ago I had the perfect opportunity to implement those ideas (seen below in list form because lists are fun). An official Nerd in the 'Noke logo was created by Josh Ginter of  Blue Monkey Studios .  I had been toying with the idea of a logo for quite a while and I couldn't be happier with what Josh came up with.  Be sure to go check out his work! Nerd in the 'N