Nerd in the 'Noke

Aquaman (2018), PG-13, 2h 23 min - Live action DC films have had a very spotty track record over the last few years.  Previously, last year's  Wonder Woman  had really been the only one that had been well received.  I personally feel that Aquaman will be the second.  The funny thing is, it has more than a couple similarities with Wonder Woman: an outside the box director for a big, superhero film (in this case horror/thriller aficionado James Wan), a lead actor who didn't necessarily seem right when first announced (Jason Momoa), and a script/story that was allowed to stand on its own as opposed to being shoe horned into some greater, expanded universe plan.  I certainly don't mean to bash any of the other DCEU films (I probably enjoyed them more than most, even considering their downfalls), but I have always felt like WB/DC rushed the expanded universe concept in an attempt to catch up with the record breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe.  As a resul...

Rabbit Hole (2010), PG-13, 91 minutes - I have already seen all ten of this year's Oscar nominees for Best Picture, so I have also seen most of the Best Actor/Actress nominees. One nominee that I had not yet seen was Nicole Kidman's performance in Rabbit Hole. It came to the Grandin a week or so ago so I jumped on the chance to knock another nominee off of the 'need to see before the Oscars' list. Rabbit Hole shows us the story of a couple (Becca and Howie, played by Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) just eight months removed from the tragic death of their young son (he chased the family dog into the street and was hit by a car), and how they are - or more importantly in Becca's case, how she isn't - coping with their loss. You also see how this effects those around them - the neighbors who invite them to a neighborhood cookout, the younger sister who just found out that she's pregnant, the mother who has also experienced the loss of a son (albeit an older, n...