Nerd in the 'Noke

The Way Way Back (2013), PG-13, 103 minutes - I saw the trailer for this film earlier this year but missed it once it was released.  I was able to catch it on the plane on the flight back from our honeymoon and it made two hours of the nine hour flight quite entertaining. The Way Way Back is a 'coming of age' story, but it manages to do so without seeming run of the mill.  It uses the same formula that made Little Miss Sunshine the darling of a film that it was: a great cast, funny dialogue (despite some very serious moments), and a strange family dynamic.  Bear in mind, these components make it difficult to mix correctly, but The Way Way Back gets it right. Duncan (Liam James) is on a summer 'family' trip with his mother Pam (Toni Collette), her boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell) and his daughter Steph (Zoe Levin).  He's a shy kid and is completely out of place.  He doesn't trust or like Trent and feels increasingly outcast in this home away from home. ...

Identity Thief (2013), R, 111 minutes - When I first saw the trailer for Identity Thief, my initial reaction was that it struck me as the kind of movie that used up all of its funniest material in the trailer.  Good news is, it didn't.  Bad news is, most  of the funny parts were in the trailer. The story is basic enough, Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is the victim of identity theft.  Of course, he learns this at the worst possible time, just as he's beginning a new company with some co-workers after being fed up with the political b.s. they deal with on a daily basis at the large financial firm they are employed at.  Funny thing how poor financial standing doesn't look so great to one's employer when working in the financial industry.  The police aren't much help in this case either, saying that the culprit would virtually have to be standing in front of them before they could do anything because the questionable purchases were not made in their juri...