Nerd in the 'Noke

Darkest Hour (2017), PG-13, 2hr, 5min - I was able to knock Darkest Hour off of my 'Movies from 2017 I Still Want to See' list last week, just a couple of hours after publishing my Top 10 of 2017 post.  This film has been nominated for six Oscars this year, and if I had seen it a day earlier than I had, I likely would have paired it with Dunkirk  a number nine on that list (more on that in a bit). Darkest Hour is set in the early to mid-1940's during World War II.  Nazi Germany's forces have made significant advances across Europe towards the Atlantic Ocean.  The resignation of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) is being called for as he has not provided the authority in leadership that Great Britain needs in order to fend off Germany's impending invasion attempt.  Chamberlain resigns, and Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman), who has a spotty political record but has proven to be correct in his beliefs that Adolf Hitler is a danger to e...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), PG-13, 130 minutes -  As I began writing this review, I was surprised when I realized that I had never reviewed 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. So here it is in short: I really enjoyed Rise. I felt as though it worked well as either a prequel to the original franchise or as a franchise reboot (which is the route actually being taken by these newer films). Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a direct follow up, beginning with a prologue filling in the events immediately following the end credit sequence of Rise when the infected neighbor had a nose bleed at the airport, beginning the global spread of the 'simian flu' virus caused by ALZ-113.  We then jump ahead about ten years to a time when the majority of humanity has died as a result of the flu. The ape population led by Caesar (Andy Serkis) out of San Francisco has flourished in the wild. They've begun building their own civilization and their intelligence continues ...

RoboCop (2014), PG-13, 108 minutes - I'm not sure when it started, but a trend has come to my attention over the last couple of years.  That of movie studios dropping macho-centric flicks over Valentine's Day weekend.  Last year it was A Good Day to Die Hard and this year it was this reboot of the RoboCop franchise.  I see what they are trying to do, but I'm not sure it has been all that successful.  Although, I suppose that could be in part because neither of the films mentioned were all that spectacular.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this reboot, but it wasn't Earth-shattering enough that I would have been able to talk my wife into seeing it over something more romantic!   To be honest, this new version of RoboCop was better than I expected.  The same basic idea of the original was kept in place: in the not-too-distant future (2028) a private defense firm (OmniCorp) is developing drones to help combat crime and must find a way to 'humanize' t...

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...

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011), R, 127 minutes - I've been looking forward to this film for a couple months now (ever since first seeing the trailer online), looking forward to it for a couple of reasons: 1) Gary Oldman and Colin Firth are on my 'must see' list, and 2) Tom Hardy is quickly racking up a resume worthy of being on said 'must see' list.  It also doesn't hurt when you throw in John Hurt and Mark Strong for good measure. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is, as one might expect, a spy flick.  I have not read the source material (John Le Carre's novel) so I cannot compare how the film lives up to the story, but in my opinion it is a very well made 'thriller' at that.  I use quotes when I say thriller because it is actually a fairly slow moving film.  There really aren't any action sequences to speak of (unless you count one scene in which Tom Hardy's character gets punched).  It is a much more cerebral story than your typical t...

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), PG, 90 minutes - Three years ago, Kung Fu Panda was a pleasant surprise. It was an extremely well animated, well told, ridiculous story of a fat slob of a panda becoming part of a team of Kung Fu masters. Luckily, this follow up provides more of the same fun. Jack Black returns as Kung Fu Panda Po, and the Furious 5 are also back with their original voice actors (Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, and David Cross). The best addition to this sequel is the character of Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman. Shen is a peacock who is the overzealous heir to the ruling family of Gongmen City. After having been banished for years, he returns not only to take his rightful place on the throne, but to expand his rule across all of China. Po and the Furious 5 battle Lord Shen and his army of wolves (led by Wolf Boss voiced by Danny McBride) in an attempt to keep China free of Shen's rule. Kung Fu Panda 2 is a good follow up and builds on the ch...