Nerd in the 'Noke

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), PG-13, 136 minutes - Writer/Director James Gunn's original Guardians of the Galaxy became a pop culture phenomenon three years ago when he took relatively little known characters from the cosmic corner of Marvel's comic book universe and created a fun, humorous, heartfelt, space opera with a nostalgic soundtrack.  The film was so successful that within days of its release, it was announced that Gunn would immediately begin working on a sequel.  This weekend that sequel has hit theaters and despite the three year build up of hype, it has proven to be well worth the wait. Volume 2 takes place about a year after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy and picks up with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) fighting off a space monster on behalf of the Sovereign, a genetically engineered 'perfect' race led by Ayesha (Elizabeth D...

American Sniper (2014), R, 132 minutes - I've said it here many times, but it probably bears repeating for those new to the blog: I grew up in a house of Clint Eastwood fans.  His numerous westerns are some of the earliest films I can remember watching on television with my parents.  As I've grown older and my love for movies has increased, so has my appreciation for his work both in front of and behind the camera.  I have also found myself becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Bradley Cooper over the last couple of years as he's strung together a handful of Oscar nominated performances.  In short, there was no doubt that American Sniper was a must see film for me. American Sniper is based on the autobiography of United States Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in United States military history, having racked up 160 confirmed kills.  It's a fascinating story of a confident but humble man who was instilled with a strong set of values at a young age a...

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), PG-13, 121 minutes - After being fairly successful at avoiding spoilers on the internet (or from others who beat me to seeing it), I was able to check out Guardians of the Galaxy yesterday afternoon.  Most people are probably wondering 'who the hell are they?' or 'what on Earth is going on with a talking raccoon and tree?'.  To be honest, my previous exposure to these characters is lower than normal when it comes to the Marvel films.  What I do know is that what little I've read was well written and very entertaining.  From the time Marvel announced that Guardians of the Galaxy would be joining their Cinematic Universe (MCU), I've been very excited (it landed on my Most Anticipated Films of 2014 list ).  Since the Guardians have never been even remotely mainstream (until the last year or so), a theatrical adaptation of their adventures posed the biggest question mark of any Marvel project to date and rightfully so.  B...

Um, can you say 'AWESOME!'?  Because that's what the first trailer for this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy looks like.  Guardians appears to basically be Marvel's attempt at a true sci-fi/space opera (a la Star Wars) within their cinematic universe.  Based on the group of the same name from their comics, Marvel has positioned this rag-tag group of characters to be a comedic and entertaining expansion beyond the nine realms already seen and mentioned in Marvel's films (including Earth of course). A co-worker asked me who the Guardians of the Galaxy were the other day, and the simplest answer I could give was that they are the Island of Misfit Toys equivalent of space-based comic book characters.  You have Star Lord (Peter Quill, an human/alien hybrid), Gamora (daughter of Thanos - yes, that Thanos), Drax the Destroyer (originally human, his spirit now inhabits a more powerful alien body), Rocket Raccoon (a bipedal raccoon-looking alien who isn't actual...

American Hustle (2013), R, 138 minutes - What do you get when you combine an Oscar nominated director, six Oscar nominated/winning actors and actresses, and a con-man story that takes place in the 1970's?  American Hustle, a David O. Russell film that juggles so many people conning one another that it's almost hard to believe the line that opens the film: 'Some of this actually happened.' The framework for American Hustle's story is this: Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a con-man who owns a small chain of dry cleaners and deals some counterfeit art on the side.  He also runs a phony loan scheme.  Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) enters his life when they both attend the same party and connect over their mutual love of Duke Ellington.  Eventually Irving tells Sydney the truth and asks her to join in on his scheme.  To his surprise, she accepts his offer and creates the identity of a British woman with royal lineage and banking connections in London.  Tog...

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), R, 140 minutes - Back in 2010, Derek Cianfrance, who had previously directed television documentaries broke through with the critically acclaimed film Blue Valentine.  Now he is back with his latest project: The Place Beyond the Pines, which just so happens to be generating its own fair share of acclaim. I first saw the trailer for Pines a couple of months ago and was instantly interested.  I was curious to see what came next from Cianfrance, especially considering the cast he was working with: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Bruce Greenwood.  All have been in films that I've really enjoyed.  As I learned more about the film, I found out that it is set in Schenectady, New York.  A good friend of mine grew up in Schenectady and I had the chance to visit there when I went to his wedding a few years back.  That's a fairly small tie to a place I know, but it still added to my interest in ...

The Words (2012), PG-13, 102 minutes - Towards the end of last summer and into the beginning of fall two trailers for films starring Bradley Cooper started making the rounds.  Both looked to have intriguing plots and excellent casts.  The first to catch the eye of my fiance and I was this film, The Words, in which Bradley Cooper plays a writer tackling some ethical problems.  The second turned out to be Silver Linings Playbook (you can see my review here ), and as we all know that didn't turn out too badly for Mr. Cooper. I've been sitting here writing and re-writing this review for almost two hours now and am still having a hard time not spoiling the heck out of the film.  There's no crazy plot twist but it is presented in a way that makes it difficult to discuss without giving away key story points.  So I'm ditching the long, drawn out overview of the film that I had previously and I'm going to keep it short and sweet and hope that in doing so, I'm able t...

Silver Linings Playbook (2012), R, 122 minutes - Last weekend I finally had the opportunity to see Silver Linings Playbook.  I was actually amazed that it was still in theaters here as it first arrived back during the week of Christmas along with Django Unchained.  That's right, it has been in theaters here in the Roanoke area for three months!  The screening I saw it at was pretty well attended for a mid-day Sunday showing of a movie in its twelfth week in release. Silver Linings Playbook was written/directed by David O. Russell and focuses on Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) as he moves back into his parents' home after a stint in a mental institution following an incident stemming from his discovery of his wife cheating on him.  He is convinced that he is going to get his life straight and that he and his wife will get back together.  Everyone else feels like he is just getting his hopes up and will be crushed again.  While having dinner at his fr...

The Hangover Part II (2011), R, 102 minutes - A few months ago when I first heard that a sequel to The Hangover was being made, I was very leery. How would they follow up the original? It was a classic adult comedy that told a fairly stand alone story. As teasers and trailers for the new film were released, I became less leery and even began looking forward to the follow up. Well, the answer to my question was answered. The answer? You follow up The Hangover by making the sequel in almost exactly the same way. The story beats are virtually identical. The only difference is that Part II sports some even more adult, more crude humor than the first one. Don't get me wrong, The Hangover Part II is a fun hour and forty minutes, it just doesn't bring anything new to the table. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis are up to more of their old shenanigans and those looking for more Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) will be pleased. There is a humorous look into how Alan see...

The A-Team (2010), PG-13 - Like many people my age, I grew up watching The A-Team on tv. It started in 1983 and ran for 5 seasons. Outside of a few random re-runs seen during my college years, I'm pretty sure I haven't re-watched any of those old episodes. Having said that, I was still fairly leery of this big screen adaptation going into it. Could a movie made almost 30 years later possibly hit on the same things that made the tv show so popular without destroying the fond memories of the show from my childhood? Quite surprisingly, the answer is yes. The plot isn't anything ground breaking, but it does the job. The A-Team is comprised of 4 Rangers who complete special missions (quite often of the black-ops variety) for the Army. After an operation goes bad, they are wrongly accused, striped of their ranks and imprisoned. The movie then follows their shenanigans as they break out and proceed to attempt to clear their names by proving their innocence. The c...