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 ...

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 Dark Knight Rises (2012), R, 164 minutes - The final installment to director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is one that I have been waiting for since I walked out of the theater in 2008 after my first viewing of The Dark Knight .  It was also easily the number one flick on my personal  Most Anticipated films of 2012 list, and for good reason.  Nolan shows once again that he is a master at his craft, deftly piecing together character building, story beats, and action sequences to create what just may be the best trilogy finale of any franchise. The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight.  Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has locked himself away in the rebuilt Wayne Manor and retired the Batman persona. Gotham has experienced an unprecedented time of peace as Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) has taken full advantage of the Dent Act (named after former District Attorney Harvey Dent) and the power it allows him in locking up ...

Below is my review for The Dark Knight, the second installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  It was written back in the days when myspace was the prominent social networking site (and was actually the penultimate review posted there before I deleted my account).  Before cutting ties with myspace completely, I archived all of the review posts that I had made.  So, as a companion to my review to the newly released The Dark Knight Rises, I share with you my thoughts from four years ago (edited only to fix grammatical errors, the content remains the same): The Dark Knight (PG-13), 2008, 152 minutes - I'm not sure that I remember the last time that a movie has received this much hype for this long. The last six months have been filled with non-stop buzz and anticipation for this latest installment in the Batman franchise. Unfortunately a lot of that chatter has revolved around the all-to-early passing of Heath Ledger back in January due to an accidental prescrip...

The Fighter (2010), R, 115 minutes - Another 'based on a true story' movie, The Fighter, while chronicling the trials and tribulations and the rise of Mickey Ward to the world light welterweight championship, is really more about one's family and the drama they can create. Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is the younger half brother of Dickey Eklund (Christian Bale), who's 15 minutes of fame came when he knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down in a match. In the time since, Dickey has let fame go to his head and has become a washed up, strung out shell of his old self. He acts as Mickey's trainer and their mother Alice (played by Melissa Leo), Mickey's manager. While claiming to help Mickey rise through the boxing ranks, the family is really still hung up on Dickey's previous exploits and his supposed come back. The entire family is even being followed around by HBO for a story about Dickey's come back (or so they think). After Dickey ends up in jail due to so...