Nerd in the 'Noke

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), PG-13, 136 minutes - Writer/Director James Gunn's original Guardians of the Galaxy became a pop culture phenomenon three years ago when he took relatively little known characters from the cosmic corner of Marvel's comic book universe and created a fun, humorous, heartfelt, space opera with a nostalgic soundtrack.  The film was so successful that within days of its release, it was announced that Gunn would immediately begin working on a sequel.  This weekend that sequel has hit theaters and despite the three year build up of hype, it has proven to be well worth the wait. Volume 2 takes place about a year after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy and picks up with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) fighting off a space monster on behalf of the Sovereign, a genetically engineered 'perfect' race led by Ayesha (Elizabeth D...

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), PG-13, 121 minutes - After being fairly successful at avoiding spoilers on the internet (or from others who beat me to seeing it), I was able to check out Guardians of the Galaxy yesterday afternoon.  Most people are probably wondering 'who the hell are they?' or 'what on Earth is going on with a talking raccoon and tree?'.  To be honest, my previous exposure to these characters is lower than normal when it comes to the Marvel films.  What I do know is that what little I've read was well written and very entertaining.  From the time Marvel announced that Guardians of the Galaxy would be joining their Cinematic Universe (MCU), I've been very excited (it landed on my Most Anticipated Films of 2014 list ).  Since the Guardians have never been even remotely mainstream (until the last year or so), a theatrical adaptation of their adventures posed the biggest question mark of any Marvel project to date and rightfully so.  B...

Um, can you say 'AWESOME!'?  Because that's what the first trailer for this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy looks like.  Guardians appears to basically be Marvel's attempt at a true sci-fi/space opera (a la Star Wars) within their cinematic universe.  Based on the group of the same name from their comics, Marvel has positioned this rag-tag group of characters to be a comedic and entertaining expansion beyond the nine realms already seen and mentioned in Marvel's films (including Earth of course). A co-worker asked me who the Guardians of the Galaxy were the other day, and the simplest answer I could give was that they are the Island of Misfit Toys equivalent of space-based comic book characters.  You have Star Lord (Peter Quill, an human/alien hybrid), Gamora (daughter of Thanos - yes, that Thanos), Drax the Destroyer (originally human, his spirit now inhabits a more powerful alien body), Rocket Raccoon (a bipedal raccoon-looking alien who isn't actual...