Nerd in the 'Noke

Big Hero 6 (2014), PG, 102 minutes - Big Hero 6 is the latest film from Walt Disney Animation Studios and is based on the Marvel property of the same name created by Man of Action in the late '90's. It marks the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel characters since it acquired the comic/film company back in 2009. Hiro Hamada is a young robotics genius who has taken up entering and betting on underground robot fights because he is bored by the usual activities of a fourteen year old kid. In an effort to push Hiro in a more productive direction, his older brother Tadashi convinces him to apply to his university where he is a student in the robotics department. In order to gain admission, Hiro must enter the robotics exhibition, from which only the most impressive inventors are accepted into Professor Callaghan's program. Hiro's microbot presentation earns rave reviews and he is accepted. As Hiro, Tadashi, and their friends Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and F...

Frozen (2013), PG, 102 minutes - Although I really enjoy animated features, for a variety of reasons Frozen was not a film that I caught in theaters (despite its very lengthy theatrical run). This past week, my wife and I finally had the opportunity to see what all of the hubbub has been about. Aside from the original teaser trailer with Olaf (Josh Gad) the snowman and the reindeer, I somehow managed to know virtually nothing about the film other than its apparently having quite an infectious soundtrack. For those late to the Frozen party like myself, it revolves around a pair of Princesses, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) who grow up in seclusion in their kingdom's castle after a childhood accident involving Elsa's magical freezing power nearly kills Anna and causes Elsa to ostracize herself for fear of losing control of her abilities again. When Elsa comes of age and is pronounced Queen of the Kingdom, the two girls get their first dose of social contact in...

42 (2013), PG-13, 128 minutes - I've had a love for the the game of baseball for as long as I can remember.  And because of that, I've been looking forward to this film since last winter when I saw the teaser trailer about one of baseball's most legendary figures: Jackie Robinson.  It has been my experience that just about everyone knows the name and why he was significant, but for those that don't, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of Major League Baseball back on April 15, 1947. Much like Lincoln last winter, 42 is a biopic that focuses on a short period of Robinson's life, from late 1945 through the end of the 1947 season.  It opens with Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) declaring his intent to 'bring a negro to the Dodgers'.  His reasoning is simple he says, money isn't black or white, it's green and it all spends the same.  He realizes how shocking this move will be to not only the league but the country and begins pouring over scouting r...

42 (2013) – Not only is this a historically based period piece, but it is the story of one of the greatest athletes who ever lived.  There have been films made about Jackie Robinson before, but it never hurts to have a new and current retelling of his journey to becoming the first African American player in Major League Baseball.  I also like the idea of Harrison Ford playing Dodger executive Branch Rickey.  I’m not familiar with Chadwick Boseman (playing Jackie Robinson), but the cast also includes Alan Tudyk, Christopher Meloni,  Lucas Black, and John C. McGinley so it should be fairly strong.  42 is scheduled for an April 2013 release, so it will beat the big summer rush and will hopefully find a nice audience.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), PG-13, 157 minutes - I'm just going to go ahead and get this out of the way: Dark of the Moon was much better than anticipated and those of you who told me as much were right. I'd also like to point out that I never said this looked bad, just that I wasn't wicked excited about it after the disappointment that was Revenge of the Fallen. Dark of the Moon might be the best of the three Transformers films. The origin story is out of the way and the plot gets back to story aspects from the original Generation 1 cartoon from the 1980's. Megatron is the plotting/scheming villain that he was always meant to be, and the soldier side of Optimus Prime comes out (this time believably), after he no longer feels he can trust the intel provided by his human allies. The short version of the plot: the space race of the 1960's was fueled by the crash landing of an Autobot ship known as The Arc on the moon. Lost in the wreckage was Senti...