Nerd in the 'Noke

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019), PG, 1h 44 min - The third installment of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise has been out for a few weeks already and while I saw it myself a week or two back, I've been dragging my feet a bit in regards to getting my review together.  You see, my review for the original How to Train Your Dragon (2010)  was the first post I ever made to this blog.  That just so happened to have been nine years ago this week (April 10th to be exact).  So I couldn't help but sandbag a little and make this a 9th Anniversary post of sorts. The Hidden World continues to follow the life and adventures of the inhabitants of Berk, a viking settlement that has embraced dragons and given them a safe haven after having been feared and hunted for years.  Their outlook and appreciation for dragons has changed dramatically over the series of films.  If you have not seen the first two movies, I highly recommend that you do so befo...

Thor: Ragnarok (2017), PG-13, 2h 10min - Of all of the characters that Marvel Studios has introduced into their cinematic universe (MCU), Thor may be the most diverse.  Thor: Ragnarok is the third Thor-centric film in the ever-expanding MCU, and each has had a very different tone to it.  Ragnarok is a sharp departure from the prevailing gloom of Thor: The Dark World , bringing a much lighter, humorous tone to the action-adventure nature of the character while he combats another end-of-the-world-level threat. The events of Thor: Ragnarok begin with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in a very precarious position: being held captive by classic Thor comics villain Surtur, (who is voiced by Clancy Brown) and talking to his long-dead cellmate about how he came to be in said tough spot.  It's an amusing way to bring us up to speed with what Thor has been up to since the events of 2015's  Avengers: Age of Ultron  (the last time we have seen either he or the Hulk).  ...

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), PG-13, 144 minutes  -Originally subtitled 'There and Back Again', 'The Battle of the Five Armies' marks the final installment in director Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. This portion of the story shows the events surrounding the party of dwarves - led by heir to the dwarven throne Thorin Oakenshield - reclaiming and then defending their homeland, the Lonely Mountain of Erebor. We are thrust into the action as 'The Battle of the Five Armies' picks up right where 'The Desolation of Smaug' ended, with the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacking the people of Laketown. Smaug's vacating the Lonely Mountain allows Thorin (Richard Armitage) and his crew, including Bilbo (Martin Freeman) to re-enter the mountain and begin searching for the Arkenstone, the crown jewel of the dwarven treasure. As the search lengthens, Thorin is increasingly afflicted with 'dra...

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), PG, 102 minutes - I hadn't realized it until a couple of days ago, but this review is an anniversary post of sorts.  Not only was the original How to Train Your Dragon the first review posted here on the blog, but as it turns out, that was also five years ago! How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes place five years after the events of the first film, a time in which the people of Berk have learned to co-habitate with dragons and work together to build a thriving society.  Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) has become well respected and his father Stoic (Gerard Butler) the village chief has named him his successor.  Along with his dragon Toothless, Hiccup still likes to roam, explore, and map out previously uncharted territories surrounding Berk.  On one of their scouting trips, they come across what could be considered a dragon oasis.  Along with this exciting discovery, Hiccup uncovers the whereabouts of two people from Berk's past.  ...

The Monuments Men (2014), PG-13, 118 minutes - Everything about this film screamed 'Tim you need to see this!'.  It's a war flick, a period piece, it tells a little known WWII story, and it sports a George Clooney gathered ensemble cast. This film is based on the non-fiction book titled  The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and tells the story of a World War II platoon made up of museum curators, artists, and historians who are tasked with recovering art stolen by the Nazi's before Hitler orders it all to be destroyed as the Reich falls.  This is easier said than done as the Nazi's stashed their stolen goods in the most random of places: mines. The platoon consists of Frank Stokes (Clooney), James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), and Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban). ...

Blue Jasmine (2013), PG-13, 98 minutes - I'll get this out of the way right off the bat - I'm not much of a Woody Allen fan.  Outside of 2011's Midnight in Paris (which I didn't even see until my wife had me watch it), I can't think of a film of his that I truly enjoyed.  To be honest, the only reason I sat through Blue Jasmine was because Cate Blanchett's performance as Jasmine is grabbing all of the Best Actress awards this year. Jasmine is a New York socialite and the widow of a very wealthy man (played by Alec Baldwin), who finds herself moving into her sister's apartment in San Francisco until she can get back on her feet.  That actually sounds like a pretty decent place to start a story but as the film goes on, we learn more and more about how and why Jasmine got to be in the situation she's in and it becomes about impossible to like or feel for the character.  Her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) on the other hand is someone the viewer can conne...

Robin Hood (2010), PG-13, 140 minutes - The latest Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe collaboration is not the Robin Hood story we've all grown up with. Instead it's an alt continuity story of how Robin Hood became the outlaw that robs from the rich and steals from the poor that we are all familiar with. When you get right down to it, Ridley Scott's version is a prequel that mixes up character's histories while they still filling the same roles within the story. Russell Crowe stars as Robin Longstride. That's right, Longstride. Not Loxley as in previous incarnations. Longstride actually poses as Robert Loxley at Sir Walter Loxley's (Robert's father) request after Robert and his fellow knights were killed in an ambush as they attempted to return the recently deceased King Richard's crown back to the palace (he was killed in battle). It seems like an odd request, but Sir Walter (Max von Sydow) knows that if news of his son's death reaches the public, t...