Nerd in the 'Noke

Kong: Skull Island (2017), PG-13, 120 minutes - I actually saw this film a few weeks ago when it was first released, but due to a number of life situations, haven't had the chance to get my review together. Admittedly, I had been a little leery when Kong: Skull Island was first announced.  I knew that it was completely independent of the last big screen outing for everyone's favorite giant ape (2005's King Kong), but I was very underwhelmed by that film so I suppose my thoughts on a franchise reboot of sorts were negatively skewed.  I came around a bit after learning who was involved in the project: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, and John C. Reilly.  All of whose work I generally tend to enjoy.  Trailers and images began to be released and it became more and more obvious that this wasn't going to be a rehash of the King Kong films of yesteryear. Kong: Skull Island is an origin story of sorts for the giant ape.  In the wake o...

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), PG-13, 165 minutes  - Why do I continue to subject myself to these films?  I always get my hopes up, just to have them dashed by a film that can't live up to my expectations for an franchise based upon one of my favorite childhood toys/cartoons.  I did enjoy the initial film from back in 2007 although calling it a guilty pleasure may be a better way to describe it these days.  2009's  Revenge of the Fallen  was so disappointing that it not only inspired an hour and a half long airing of grievances with friends in the parking lot immediately following our seeing it, but it was also the inspiration for what was probably the most negative review I've written.  2011 saw  Dark of the Moon , which fell into the 'pleasantly surprising' category for me.  Having threatened to swear off the franchise after Revenge of the Fallen, I found this promising in itself.  Between my renewed sense of hope for t...

The Monuments Men (2014), PG-13, 118 minutes - Everything about this film screamed 'Tim you need to see this!'.  It's a war flick, a period piece, it tells a little known WWII story, and it sports a George Clooney gathered ensemble cast. This film is based on the non-fiction book titled  The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and tells the story of a World War II platoon made up of museum curators, artists, and historians who are tasked with recovering art stolen by the Nazi's before Hitler orders it all to be destroyed as the Reich falls.  This is easier said than done as the Nazi's stashed their stolen goods in the most random of places: mines. The platoon consists of Frank Stokes (Clooney), James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), and Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban). ...

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), R, 104 minutes - Over the years, the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) have carved out their own little corner of the film making world.  One in which they show us glimpses of lives that could be our own and as is often the case in life, can be viewed with a certain sense of humor, albeit oftentimes a dark one.  Inside Llewyn Davis is their latest work, providing a look at a few days in the life of a struggling folk singer in 1961. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is the surviving half of a folk duo.  His partner committed suicide and he is now trying to make a career as a solo act.  He struggles between gigs, bouncing from one friend's couch to another, refusing to try anything else because he says that music is his career.  The problem being but he rarely shows the passion for it that he claims to have.  He's a defeatist who lets his frustration build up and lash out at those who do support him.  That probably doesn't really s...

Monsters University (2013), G, 104 minutes - Monsters, Inc. continues to be one of my favorite Disney/Pixar films, right up there with The Incredibles, and Toy Story 3.  So revisiting the Monsters world was something that I was looking forward to.  Instead of making a sequel as they did with the Toy Story and Cars franchises, Disney/Pixar decided instead to turn back the clock and show us how Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) came to work at Monsters, Inc. The film begins with an elementary school-aged, outcast of a monster (Mike) participating in a class field trip to Monsters, Inc. to see learn how the power for the monsters world is generated (by harvesting the scream energy created by scaring children in the human world).  He is completely blown away by the experience and decides then and there that he wants to be a scarer when he grows up.  Cut to a few years later as Mike steps off the bus and onto the campus of Monsters University for the firs...

Argo (2012), R, 120 minutes - I know that I begin quite a few of my reviews with a statement about how much I was anticipating the film. I’d love to tell you that I’m not going to do that this time around, but that would be a lie. Not only does Argo have an amazing and intriguing story on which it is based, but it also marks the third directorial outing from Ben Affleck. When I first saw the trailer for Argo, I thought to myself that it was a film that needed to be seen. When I realized that it was directed by Affleck, in my mind it became a can’t miss based on my enjoyment of his previous directorial efforts Gone Baby Gone and The Town.  So yeah, I was quite looking forward to Argo.   (Side note: Gone Baby Gone predates this blog, but my review has been re-posted below.  My review for The Town can be seen here .) Argo is based on actual events surrounding the 1980 joint CIA/Canadian exfiltration of six American diplomatic personnel from the Canadian Ambassador’s ...