Nerd in the 'Noke

The Martian (2015), PG-13, 141 minutes - I had originally hoped to see this film back in October when it first hit theaters, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I didn't have the opportunity until its recent blu-ray release.  So after having to wait (not so patiently) for that to happen, my wife (who has read the book) and I sat down this past week to see if The Martian was as good as everyone said it was. If you've read Andy Weir's book that was the source material for this film, then you already have a bit of an idea of what to expect (although my wife informs me that there are plenty of differences).  According to her, some plot points are more heavily focused on than others but fear not, the basics of the story remain intact!  If you're like me and were excited by the trailer but were too lazy to read the book first, it goes a little something like this: Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is part of the Ares III crew that comprises the first manned mission to Mars....

Steve Jobs (2015), R, 122 minutes - I saw this film a little while ago and just haven't gotten around to getting my thoughts down 'on paper' so to speak.  As is evident by its title, this film focuses on its namesake, using backstage interactions from three landmark product launches to give us insight into the man behind Apple's rise to prominence in the computer industry.   This film from director Danny Boyle is very dialogue heavy, which may be a bit worrisome if not for the fact that the screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin.  Michael Fassbender (Jobs), Kate Winslet (Joanna Hoffman), Jeff Daniels (John Sculley), Seth Rogan (Steve Wozniak), and Michael Stuhlbarg (Andy Hertzfeld) bring that screenplay to life in a very engaging manner that speeds the film along at a pace that belies its two hour run time. I was a little surprised when I saw that the entire film plays out over snippets from just three days over the course of twenty years, but it really provides ...

Dumb and Dumber To (2014), PG-13, 109 minutes - 1994's Dumb and Dumber is, to this day, one of my favorite comedies of all-time.  Friends of mine will tell you that it is one of a handful of films that are repeatedly quoted by me on an almost daily basis.  2003's prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (made by no one associated with the original) is a film the world is better off not remembering (my apologies for mentioning it here).  So when the Farrelly brothers announced that after twenty years, they would be releasing a sequel with original stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, I was curious to say the least. Dumb and Dumber To takes place twenty years after the events of the first film.  Time has passed, but Harry and Lloyd haven't changed a bit.  They embark on a quest to find Harry's up-to-know-unknown-about daughter Penny, and reunite her with her mother Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner), whom we've heard of in passing from the first film. ...

Looper (2012), R, 119 minutes - I've been hearing good things about Looper since it was released last September.  Even before that, the trailer caught the eye of both myself and my fiance.  Unfortunately, we missed it in theaters, but everything about this film (from the cast and director to the story) screamed that it was a film that I would enjoy and I knew that I wanted to add it to my collection.  Thanks to a number of factors, that didn't happen until early last month when my fiance gave it to me for my birthday.  Having finally had the opportunity to watch this sci-fi/timey wimey film from Rian Johnson (who also directed Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 2005's Brick), I can easily say that it was worth the wait. Looper is set in the year 2044.  Time travel has yet to be invented, but in the not-too-distant future it will have been.  By the year 2074 time travel has been outlawed.  In that future, the mob has worked out a system in which they send peo...