Nerd in the 'Noke

Wind River (2017), R, 1h 47min - About three weeks ago, an old college buddy of mine had a post of Facebook asking if anyone he knew had seen a film called Wind River.  I had had no prior knowledge of the film, but after seeking out the trailer, I began to really look forward to seeing it.  It took a couple more weeks for it to get released in my area and yet another week before I could work it into my schedule, but yesterday I was able to check out the latest film from writer/director Taylor Sheridan, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. While tracking predators that have been killing livestock on the Wind River Indian Reservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agent Cory Fisher (Renner) discovers the body of an 18 year old girl miles away from civilization.  He instantly recognizes the remains as being Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Asbille), one of his daughter's closest friends.  Rookie FBI Agent Jane Banner (Olsen) is dispatched to determine whether or not ...

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), PG-13, 141 minutes - What does one do to follow up a film that becomes a global phenomenon and banks more than one billion dollars at the box office? If you're Joss Whedon, you co-create a television series within the shared universe (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) then take the reigns of the follow up film; taking the Avengers on a romp around the world, neutralizing another global threat, and officially solidifying them as Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Not having to worry about introducing the world to these characters, Whedon throws us right into the fray as the Avengers: Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) - lay siege to a H.Y.D.R.A. stronghold under Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's (Thomas Kretschmann) command. A mission that uncovers the artificial intellige...

Godzilla (2014), PG-13), 123 minutes - It seems that just about once a year, a movie comes out that really makes me wish that we had an IMAX theater here in Roanoke.  This year, that film is Godzilla.  I mean, the King of Monsters should be seen on as big of a screen as possible right? There have been a number of Godzilla films produced since 1954, mostly by Japan's Toho Company, but also including a handful of American productions (the most recent of which was 1998's Roland Emmerich directed, Matthew Broderick starer which is not very highly regarded).  This latest attempt at rebooting and building a potential monster movie franchise capitalizes on a recognizable cast (Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Juliette Binoche), today's advancements in CG effects, and a basic yet compelling story line to produce a very entertaining summer blockbuster. The film begins in 1999 with scenes in both the Philip...

Silent House (2011), R, 86 minutes - This will be fairly short and quick as I wasn't a big fan of this flick.  I did think that Elizabeth Olsen was surprisingly good for a movie of this genre.  Not too often does an actor/actress really portray absolute terror, but she does the job well in Silent House.  So well that even though I didn't necessarily buy into the plot, there were a couple of points where her character was so beside herself that she could barely breath and that feeling got to me as well. Olsen plays Sarah, a teenage girl who is helping her father and uncle clean up their family's old lake house so that it can be sold.  The house is old, cluttered, and creepy but are the events she's experiencing real or in her head?  Silent House is not one of the better thriller/horror movies that I've seen, but Olsen's portrayal of fear and paranoia make it worth a look.  The disturbing back story that comes to light towards the end helps to make up fo...