Nerd in the 'Noke

Captain Marvel (2019), PG-13, 2h 4min - I saw this film a couple weeks back on opening weekend, but a crazy schedule has kept me from getting this review together and posted until now.  At this point, most everyone with any interest in it has likely seen it as it has dominated the box office over the last two weeks.  Captain Marvel is the twenty-first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and more importantly, is the first focused on a female lead.  It also happens to be the first MCU film that acts as a prequel as opposed to continuing the current timeline. Captain Marvel is set in the late 1990's and introduces us to Vers/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), a Kree warrior who finds herself on Earth while in pursuit of fleeing Skrulls (alien shapes-hifters) after her unit's mission - to rescue a Kree asset before it falls into the hands of the Skrulls - falls apart.  Once on Earth, she begins regaining slivers of memories, leading her to question her experie...

The Avengers (2012), PG-13, 142 minutes - Wow.  I'm completely nerding out right now.  I've had high hopes for The Avengers for a while now.  Ever since the idea of cramming a bunch of super heroes into a single movie was teased with the post credits scene of Iron Man.  Hopes were raised even more when Marvel announced that Joss Whedon would direct.  That's right, Joss Whedon.  He who has an amazing resume when it comes to highly entertaining tv and film revolving around character driven stories with a large, diverse cast.  The Avengers really couldn't have been put in better hands.  But even though I had raised my hopes so high, the comic book nerd in me wondered if The Avengers would really work on the big screen.  Could you fit that many characters in a movie that wasn't five hours long?  And if you could get a script down that solved those potential problems, could you piece together a cast that could set aside egos and bring it a...