Nerd in the 'Noke

The Snowman (2017), R, 1h 59min - After I finished reading IT a few weeks back, I set my sights on this novel by Jo Nesbø, with hopes of finishing it before the movie hit theaters.  I ended up finishing the source material this past Sunday, which kept me from catching it on opening weekend.  But honestly I ended up being even more intrigued by the film after seeing that it was receiving less than stellar reviews along with its sub-par performance at the box office.  Thanks to an odd day off from work, I was able to see Tomas Alfredson's big screen adaptation yesterday afternoon, and while I feel as though the casting of characters was pretty good, the film itself is a bit disjointed and anti-climactic. The Snowman is based on the seventh of Nesbø's series of novels focusing on the exploits of Dectective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) of the Oslo (Norway) Police Department.  Hole and Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson), a recent transfer into the department, begin ...

The Rite (2011), PG-13, 114 minutes - My wife loves Halloween, so each year we tend to skew our movie viewing towards the creepy and scary during the month of October (as I'm sure many others do).  This year the first such film we watched was the Anthony Hopkins starring The Rite. While Hopkins was the big draw to this film, as can be seen by his top billing and sole inclusion on the movie poster, he's really just a supporting (albeit very important) character.  The Rite tells a story - supposedly based upon actual events - that follows an American seminary student named Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) as he travels to the Vatican to take a class on exorcism.  Kovak begins in an interesting place: he attended seminary school to appease his father (Rutger Hauer) who had given him the choice of either carrying on the family business at the funeral home or joining the ministry.  He questions his faith and plans to resign from the seminary but is blackmailed into...

So here we are, May 4th has arrived, and with it the release of The Avengers!  I am posting this earlier in the day than I have my previous entries because some of you may be seeing The Avengers as early as this evening (if you haven't seen it already - and if you have, I'm jealous).  I have some family in town this weekend and am currently planning on checking out The Avengers Sunday afternoon/evening.  If you aren't seeing it before then, be sure to check back here for my review.  Anyway, my review for Captain America: The First Avenger from last July completes my re-cap countdown and should help get you primed for Joss Whedon's adventure with Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  My personal ranking of these five Marvel 'feeder' films is posted and discussed at the end of the post. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), PG-13, 124 minutes - This new Captain America movie (there was a terrible one made back in 1990 ) checked in at #3 on my personal Most Antici...

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011), R, 127 minutes - I've been looking forward to this film for a couple months now (ever since first seeing the trailer online), looking forward to it for a couple of reasons: 1) Gary Oldman and Colin Firth are on my 'must see' list, and 2) Tom Hardy is quickly racking up a resume worthy of being on said 'must see' list.  It also doesn't hurt when you throw in John Hurt and Mark Strong for good measure. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is, as one might expect, a spy flick.  I have not read the source material (John Le Carre's novel) so I cannot compare how the film lives up to the story, but in my opinion it is a very well made 'thriller' at that.  I use quotes when I say thriller because it is actually a fairly slow moving film.  There really aren't any action sequences to speak of (unless you count one scene in which Tom Hardy's character gets punched).  It is a much more cerebral story than your typical t...

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), PG-13, 124 minutes - This new Captain America movie (there was a terrible one made back in 1990 ) checked in at #3 on my personal Most Anticipated Films of 2011 list. Cap also happens to be one of my favorite comic book characters so my hopes for this movie were pretty high. Much like Thor, I was quite satisfied with the end result. Captain America: The First Avenger, as one would expect, tells the origin story behind the character. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a scrawny young American who attempts to enlist in the Army repeatedly in 1942. He keeps getting rejected due to his size and medical history. During one attempt, he is checked out by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci). Dr. Erskine is a German scientist who defected to the United States and is overseeing the Super Soldier Project in an attempt to help the U.S. fight Hitler's Nazi's. He offers Rogers the one thing he wants: an opportunity to join the Army and fight...