Nerd in the 'Noke

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), PG-13, 137 minutes - Four years after the first Hunger Games adaptation hit the big screen with overwhelming success, we have come to the end of the franchise.  I remember feeling a bit apprehensive when they first announced that the trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins would become four films.  I was worried that the decision was a money grab by the studio.  That feeling was alleviated last year after seeing how Mockingjay - Part 1 played out and now, after seeing the finale that is Mockingjay - Part 2, I must admit that my worries were unfounded. Much like previous installments, Mockingjay - Part 2 picks up moments after the previous film ended, jumping immediately into the next chapter and not looking back.  Mockingjay - Part 1 set up the budding revolutionary forces of districts two through thirteen and Part 2 sees that revolution play out.  Feeling that Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) - the Mockingjay and living...

Still Alice (2014), PG-13, 101 minutes - Each year I try to see as many of the Oscar nominated films as possible before the night of the awards.  Due to its release schedule and the winter weather we have had in the area this past week, Still Alice ended up being the last of these films that I was able to take in, and I'm glad that I did. Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) is a renowned linguistics professor at Columbia who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's after experiencing some disorientation and intermittent memory loss.  Her husband John (Alec Baldwin and grown children Anna (Kate Bosworth), Tom (Hunter Parrish), and Lydia (Kristen Stewart) are all very supportive of Alice, but everyone's anxiety level rises when they learn that her Alzheimers has been classified as 'familial', meaning that it is genetic and may have been passed on.  The film shows Alice's slow mental deterioration and her efforts to combat it. Julianne Moore gives a spectacular ...

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014), PG-13, 123 minutes - Those familiar with the books know that The Hunger Games was originally a trilogy, the third installment of which was Mockingjay.  Shortly after the monumental success of the first film in 2012, it was announced that not only would they be completing The Hunger Games story on the big screen, but that the final chapter would be split into two films (which seems to have become a popular trend in recent years).  At the time of the announcement, I was a little disappointed.  Being a fan of the books, I didn't feel as though splitting Mockingjay was necessary.  It just seemed like a greedy Hollywood move.  Having seen Mockingjay - Part 1, I have to admit that I now understand why they made the split. Mockingjay - Part 1 takes place shortly after the end of last year's Catching Fire.  Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) awakens in the care of the District 13 facility which was previously believed to ...