Nerd in the 'Noke

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), PG-13, 2h 15min - Of all of the Star Wars films to date (of which this is the tenth overall, and second anthology entry), this was easily the one that I was the least excited about (yes, that includes the prequel trilogy when they first hit theaters). I liked the premise: a Han Solo origin story, but the film encountered a number of obstacles during production (including a director change) and I wasn't terribly thrilled with the casting of Alden Ehrenreich as the younger version of the iconic character (I didn't feel like he could carry a film based on what little I had seen of him previously). On the other hand, I felt like Donald Glover was born to play a young Lando Calrissian, and after seeing the likes of Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and Paul Bettany in the trailer I was cautiously optimistic. But even then I just didn't have the excitement and urgency that I usually do leading up to a new Star Wars film. That's the long wa...

Terminator Genisys (2015), PG-13, 126 minutes - Yes, they are still making Terminator films.  Despite the fact that they haven't been able to recapture the franchise's magic in the time since 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator Genisys now marks fifth film in the franchise. Genisys begins in line with the story we all know: in a war torn future where Skynet has all but taken over, John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to the early 1980's in order to protect his mother Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) from a Terminator attack.  But when Reese arrives, things are not as he expects.  Sarah is already aware of the existence of Terminators.  Not only that, but she is collaborating with one she calls 'Pops' (Arnold Schwarzenegger).  This allows for a bit of role reversal as Sarah drops the 'come with me if you want to live' line as they attempt to evade a T-1000 (Byung-hun Lee). With all of the time travel and attempts a...