Nerd in the 'Noke

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), PG-13, 150 minutes - Generally I really enjoy sword and sandal 'epics'. And generally I enjoy films directed by Ridley Scott, especially when they boast a strong cast. Unfortunately, an extremely poor 3D screening severely limited any enjoyment that could have been had with this film. I tend to avoid 3D when at all possible, but on this occasion it was the only showing that fit my schedule. At first I thought that my eyes just had to adjust. I hadn't sat through a 3D film since earlier this summer when I saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 (which happens to be an example of 3D done right). After a few minutes, nothing had changed. A person or object would be clear, but the rest of the picture still looked fuzzy as if I weren't wearing the 3D glasses at all. It didn't seem to be bothering anyone else in the theater so I figured it was just my eyes. I put up with it, disappointed but determined to try and enjoy whatever I could of ...

Ender's Game (2013), PG-13, 114 minutes - This year has been the year of the sci-fi film in Hollywood, and the latest entry to the genre is Ender's Game. Based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Orson Scott Card, it takes place on a future Earth in a time after humanity barely survived an alien invasion.  The surviving population of Earth has implemented a development program that takes young boys and girls and molds them into the soldiers of the future in hopes of discovering the next great leader who will neutralize the alien threat for good. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is the youngest of three children.  The other two of which have already been dismissed from the leadership school.  Older brother Peter (Jimmy Pinchak) is too violent, and middle sister Valentine (Abigail Breslin) is considered too compassionate.  The students are run through various battle scenarios in a programmable, zero G environment - did I mention the 'school' is in space? (think ...

Iron Man 3 (2013), PG-13, 130 minutes - Iron Man 3.  Wow.  There's quite a bit to say and I'm not really sure where to start (and that's after thinking about it all last night and this morning).  There were things that I liked and things that I didn't.  I'm not sure that I've worked it all out yet, but I do know this for sure: there will be a longer than usual spoiler section at the end of this post. Iron Man 3 starts off with a narration from Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) himself, thinking aloud, trying to figure out how to best tell the story of how he has gotten to this point in his life.  He starts once, stops, then starts again, flashing back to a technology conference held over New Year's of 2000, settling on that as the point at which everything currently happening can be traced back to.  That flashback sequence sets up some of the major players of Iron Man 3, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), and Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) as well as giving us a ...

The first teaser trailer for Iron Man 3 just hit the web in the last day or two and from this first look at the film, it appears to be more of the same Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark goodness that we've come to expect from the first two films (and from The Avengers for that matter).  Iron Man may not be my favorite Marvel Comics character (that distinction belongs to Daredevil), but judging from the success of the franchise, there is no denying that he is the character that drives the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The trailer is absolutely packed with great looking action sequences, Stark's Extremis Armor (from Warren Ellis' run on the comic), Stark's Armory, Iron Patriot, and the first sights and sounds of Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin (a classic Iron Man villain who has been brought back to the forefront in Matt Fraction's current run on the comic)! Iron Man 3 boasts an amazing cast, no different than the first two films in the franchise.  The aforementioned ...

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), PG-13, 106 minutes - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was the post HeroesCon movie this year joining the ranks of such classically mediocre films as Superman Returns, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hulk (Edward Norton), and Terminator: Salvation. It also happens to be the latest video game property to be adapted to the big screen. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead character Dastan, an orphan of the streets of Persia who became the adopted son of the King after the King witnessed Dastan stand up for a fellow orphan when the King's guard's caught him stealing. Dastan grows up to lead what is basically a special forces unit in the Persian Army. Dastan's unit is the group actually breaches the defenses of the holy city of Alamut when Dastan's brother Prince Tus decides to invade because he was told that Alamut had been supplying Persia's opposition with weapons. It is during this invasion that Dastan comes ac...