Nerd in the 'Noke

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...

Lucy (2014), R, 90 minutes - I don't know about anyone else, but when I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought to myself 'that sounds like Limitless with Scarlett Johansson instead of Bradley Cooper'.  Of course Cooper's character willingly took drugs whereas Johansson's does not, but with Lucy, director Luc Besson explores the same basic concept of a person becoming able to access the entirety of their brain functions. Lucy (Johansson) begins the film as an American student in Taipei.  After a crazy night out with her new boyfriend Richard (Pilou Asbaek), she's forced into being a drug mule for his employer Mr. Jang (Min-sik Choi).  Mr. Jang is planning on distributing a new synthetic drug across Europe.  CPH4 increases the user's ability to access their brain's functions (the average human only accesses about 10% normally).  Before she is able to get her flight out of Taipei, an altercation causes the bag of CPH4 in her belly to rupture, f...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), PG-13, 130 minutes -  As I began writing this review, I was surprised when I realized that I had never reviewed 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. So here it is in short: I really enjoyed Rise. I felt as though it worked well as either a prequel to the original franchise or as a franchise reboot (which is the route actually being taken by these newer films). Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a direct follow up, beginning with a prologue filling in the events immediately following the end credit sequence of Rise when the infected neighbor had a nose bleed at the airport, beginning the global spread of the 'simian flu' virus caused by ALZ-113.  We then jump ahead about ten years to a time when the majority of humanity has died as a result of the flu. The ape population led by Caesar (Andy Serkis) out of San Francisco has flourished in the wild. They've begun building their own civilization and their intelligence continues ...

The Host (2006), R, 119 minutes - After thoroughly enjoying Snowpiercer the other day, I decided to look into Joon-ho Bong's other films.  I figured what better place to start than with The Host (not to be confused with the 2013 Stephanie Meyer novel-based film of the same name), the film that he was working on when he first discovered Le Transperceneige (the graphic novel inspiration for Snowpiercer). The Host revolves around the appearance of an amphibious monster years after the illegal dumping of formaldehyde polluted Seoul, South Korea's Han River .  The Park family runs a food stand along the banks of the river and during the monster's first public attack, their youngest, Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko) is swept up by the monster and taken back to it's lair in the sewers beneath the Wonhyo Bridge.  Hyun-seo's father Gang-doo (Kang-ho Song) was one of the people who came in contact with the monster in the effort to fight it off.  After the government swoops in and q...

Snowpiercer (2013), R, 126 minutes - Earlier this year I stumbled upon a trailer for a dark and gritty dystopian thriller starring Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, and Ed Harris.  It was listed as having been released in 2013 but I hadn't seen or heard anything about it before.  How could I have missed a film like that?  After a little digging, I learned that the film - Snowpiercer - was a project of well regarded South Korean director/writer Joon-ho Bong that was released in South Korea last August and was scheduled to make its American debut this summer. The film opens with a prologue of newscaster voice overs that explain that on July 1, 2014, after seven years of debate, seventy nine countries across the globe agree to launch a substance known as CW-7 into the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere in order to combat the effects of global warming.  The counter effects of CW-7 were underestimated and shortly after its dispersal,...

22 Jump Street (2014), R, 112 minutes - I think that everyone can agree that 2012's 21 Jump Street was a surprisingly successful reboot of the Johnny Depp starring television show that aired between 1987 and 1991.  In my mind 22 Jump Street is almost as surprising, primarily because of the way it goes about continuing the buddy cop story of Officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum). Oftentimes a sequel - especially in the comedic genre - will try so hard to duplicate the successes of the film before it that it becomes formulaic and repetitive.  22 Jump Street actually wholeheartedly embraces this but manages not to overdo it.  Following a bust that goes wrong at the beginning of the film, both Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) and Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) remind Schmidt and Jenko that they got where they are because they didn't do the same old thing, that they need to stick to what they know and go about things they way they did on their previous as...

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), PG-13, 165 minutes  - Why do I continue to subject myself to these films?  I always get my hopes up, just to have them dashed by a film that can't live up to my expectations for an franchise based upon one of my favorite childhood toys/cartoons.  I did enjoy the initial film from back in 2007 although calling it a guilty pleasure may be a better way to describe it these days.  2009's  Revenge of the Fallen  was so disappointing that it not only inspired an hour and a half long airing of grievances with friends in the parking lot immediately following our seeing it, but it was also the inspiration for what was probably the most negative review I've written.  2011 saw  Dark of the Moon , which fell into the 'pleasantly surprising' category for me.  Having threatened to swear off the franchise after Revenge of the Fallen, I found this promising in itself.  Between my renewed sense of hope for t...

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), PG, 102 minutes - I hadn't realized it until a couple of days ago, but this review is an anniversary post of sorts.  Not only was the original How to Train Your Dragon the first review posted here on the blog, but as it turns out, that was also five years ago! How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes place five years after the events of the first film, a time in which the people of Berk have learned to co-habitate with dragons and work together to build a thriving society.  Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) has become well respected and his father Stoic (Gerard Butler) the village chief has named him his successor.  Along with his dragon Toothless, Hiccup still likes to roam, explore, and map out previously uncharted territories surrounding Berk.  On one of their scouting trips, they come across what could be considered a dragon oasis.  Along with this exciting discovery, Hiccup uncovers the whereabouts of two people from Berk's past.  ...

Edge of Tomorrow (2014), PG-13, 113 minutes - Have you ever wondered what a sci-fi/alien invasion version of Groundhog Day might look like?  No?  Well, to be perfectly honest I haven't either, but with Edge of Tomorrow that's exactly what we get.  Based on the 2009 Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (which has also been adapted to manga), Edge of Tomorrow deals with the United Defense Force's attempt to thwart the invasion of Earth by an alien race known as Mimics (think of a cross between a lion and the sentinels from The Matrix). Major Cage (Tom Cruise) is a U.S. military public relations desk jockey that is thrown onto the front lines by General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) of the United Defense Force (UDF) after a disagreement the night before what will become the final battle.  Thrust into action with no battle experience, Cage last's longer than most of the rest of J Company and even manages to kill a large Mimic as it impales him...

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), R, 116 minutes - First things first: A Million Ways to Die in the West is a raunchy raunchy comedic western.  This isn't the sort of 'R' rated film you take your kid to.  For anyone familiar with writer/director Seth MacFarlane's work that may not be much of a surprise.  For those that aren't, the trailer - even the non-red band trailer seen below - gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. This is MacFarlane's first theatrical project since 2012's Ted, the surprise comedic hit from that summer.  A Million Ways to Die in the West follows suit with loads of MacFarlane-brand humor.  Albert Stark (MacFarlane) is a paranoid, down on his luck sheep herder from the western frontier town of Old Stump, Arizona in 1882 and believes that pretty much anything can and will go wrong in the wild west.  Examples of which are illustrated throughout the film, some more ridiculous than others. I always have difficulty writin...