Nerd in the 'Noke

Black Panther (2018), PG-13, 2h 14min - Until recently, I had very little working knowledge of Black Panther's comic book history.  I have always been aware of the character, but was not familiar with his non-Avengers exploits.  Considering his fifty two year history (created in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), I have still only scratched the surface.  However, the material that I read leading up to this film's release is highly regarded - Christopher Priest's run from the late '90s and the beginning of Ta-Nahesi Coates' current run on the title (review to come) - both heavily influencing what we see on the big screen.  Despite my prior lack of familiarity with T'Challa's history, this film recently topped my Most Anticipated Films of 2018 list and it didn't disappoint! We were first introduced to T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, when we learned the basics of the character: he is the King of ...

12 Years a Slave (2013), R, 134 minutes - I saw this film a week ago and it has taken me a few days to figure out how I felt about it, and I'm still not sure.  Actually, that's a lie.  I know that it sickened me.  It sickened me on a number of levels.  Not because it isn't a well made film - it is, it's one of the best I've seen this year - but because the content it brings to life is just that appalling. 12 Years a Slave is based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free man in a pre-Civil War United States who was abducted from his home and family in upstate New York and sold into slavery.  Just hearing a story like that is disturbing enough, but then you see the circumstances in which it occurred it is that much more sickening.  Solomon wasn't taken from his home in the middle of the night, he was conned.  An able musician, he thought that he was entering into a business arrangement with two men, Brown (Scoot McNairy) and Ham...