Nerd in the 'Noke

Spy (2015), R, 119 minutes - Our rental of The Gallows  Friday night earned us a freebie from Redbox, so last night my wife and I decided to change things up a bit with this comedy starring Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Allison Janney, and Miranda Hart.  The aptly named Spy is probably the best mockery of the super spy genre since Austin Powers, although it doesn't quite go full-parody.  It finds itself more in the homage/parody range similar to films like Hot Fuzz (2007) or 21 Jump Street (2012). Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is an analyst working in the 'basement' of the CIA.  She acts as eyes and ears for super secret agent Bradley Fine (Law) when he's in the field.  A mission mis-hap by Fine leads to the death a weapons dealer who knows the location of a stolen portable nuclear bomb.  In an attempt to right his wrong, Fine tracks down the dealer's daughter Rayna Boyanov (Byrne).  Cooper believes that finding Boyano...

Furious 7 (2015), PG-13, 137 minutes - It's been fourteen years since 2001's The Fast and the Furious launched what has now become a seven movie strong franchise.  If you had told me at the time that it would grow into what it is today, I would have told you that you were nuts.  The fact that that small action film, equal parts fast cars, crazy action scenes, good looking cast, and outlaw lifestyle has spawned six sequels and morphed into a big budget, action packed, global spy-like force at the box office is truly incredible. This latest - and possibly last - installment finds Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and their crew trying to track down Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), before he finds them and exacts revenge for his younger brother's death (Fast & Furious 6 villain Owen Shaw).  The plot is actually pretty convoluted, with Dom's crew having to pull off Mission: Impossible-like missions in order to obtain a surveillance program that will allow them to ...

The Mechanic (2011), R, 93 minutes - The Mechanic is the latest entry into the Jason Statham library of action flicks as well as being a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film of the same name. I haven't seen Bronson's original so I won't be able to compare and contrast (although I am curious to see it now). Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a hitman, an assassin, but prefers to be called a 'mechanic' because he 'fixes problems'. He works for an organization that employs many mechanics that carry out assignments that range anywhere from personal grudges to political gain. After one job, Arthur takes his mentor's (Harry McKenna played by Donald Sutherland) lost and underachieving son Steve (Ben Foster) under his wing. He teaches Steve what it takes to be a mechanic and even let's Arthur carry out one of his assignments. Steve develops a taste for a mechanic's work and begins helping Arthur with jobs, which the organization that Arthur works f...