Nerd in the 'Noke

Cars 3 (2017), G, 109 minutes - Over the years, Disney/Pixar has proven to be the cream of the crop when it comes to animated films.  While I would argue that Pixar's overall library ranks above-average to excellent, there have been a couple of missteps in recent years.  This film's predecessor, 2011's Cars 2, being one of them.  That film suffered from its attempt at making Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), a wonderful supporting character, into the star of the film. Cars 3 returns Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) to the spotlight, and rights the ship for one of Pixar's most recognizable franchises. Over the years, Lightning McQueen has risen to dominance of the Piston Cup circuit.  More often than not, either he or one of his buddies takes home the checkered flag, with the winner enjoying the spoils, and the others taking pride in playing pranks on the winner.  One day seemingly out of the blue a rookie, Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), takes the field by surprise...

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), PG-13, 142 minutes - Somewhat surprisingly, this film didn't quite make my Most Anticipated Films of 2014 list.  It was however, a part of my honorable mention.  The second film of the Spidey reboot - which began with 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man  - continues to build on elements introduced throughout that film and includes a good dose of action along with strong character development, making it a pretty entertaining kick-off for the official summer blockbuster season. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens much the same way its predecessor does, flashing back to Peter's youth and elaborating more on just what happened with his parents.  The film is brought into the present day by a typical Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) sort of problem: getting caught up fighting crime, causing him to miss his girlfriend Gwen Stacy's (Emma Stone) valedictorian speech, and almost miss graduation entirely.  It really is a great way to open the...

The Town (2010), R, 120 minutes - The Town is Ben Affleck's sophomore outing as a director and with it he proves that the ability he showed behind the camera on Gone Baby Gone was not a fluke. Like Gone Baby Gone, The Town is a crime drama/thriller based in Affleck's hometown of Boston. This time around, Affleck focuses primarily on the criminals, their lives and their motives. Affleck joins Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as one of two primary characters who are both best friends and partners in crime. Doug MacRay (Affleck) and James Coughlin (Renner) are residents of Charlestown, MA, which the opening of the film claims has the highest bank/armored car high jacking rate in the country. After one job, James takes a hostage (the bank's assistant manager - Claire Kessey, played by Rebecca Hall). He let's her go unhurt, but decides after wards that she may need to be 'taken care of' as it turns out she is a local resident. He's afraid that she may be ...