Nerd in the 'Noke

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017), R, 1h 48min - I hadn't even been aware of this film's existence until a month or so ago when I happened upon the first trailer on YouTube.  In a year that has seen Wonder Woman dominate the box office and single-handedly breath new optimism into the future of the DCEU (DC Extended Universe), we now get this film about Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston's life and its influence on the development of his most well known creation. Marston (Luke Evans) and his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston (Rebecca Hall) - highly regarded in her own right - were both psychologists, specifically studying human interactions.  William was a firm proponent of DISC theory, believing that a person's reaction in any given situation was a combination of the following components: Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance.  He was also a supporter of the feminist movement and took an actively participated in his research.  Whi...

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 ...

Blade Runner 2049 (2017), R, 2h 44min - Prior to this past week, it had been quite a while since I had sat down and watched the original Blade Runner (1982), which was really a disservice to myself, especially when compiling my  Most Anticipated Films of 2017 post earlier this year.  On that list, Blade Runner 2049 was only an honorable mention.  Had I seen the original more recently, 2049 would likely have easily cracked the Top 10.  So prior to seeing Blade Runner 2049 yesterday afternoon, I made sure that I did my due diligence and gave the original a re-watch.  And I'm glad that I did.  Not only was I reminded of how awesome the original was, it prepared me for what was to come with my theatrical experience for 2049. Blade Runner 2049 takes place in the year 2049 (surprise!), thirty years after the events of the original film (based upon the world created by Philip K. Dick in his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ).  The Tyrell Corpo...

Wonder Woman Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 1 : Collecting Wonder Woman: Rebirth (2016) #1, Wonder Woman (2016) #1-14 When DC originally announced their Rebirth initiative, the title that I was looking forward to the most was Wonder Woman.  Greg Rucka was making a return to the character (he had already written one one highly acclaimed Wonder Woman run in the early 2000's), and artistic duties were going to be split between Liam Sharp (whose work I had not previously been familiar with) and Nicola Scott (who like Rucka, would be dancing with Diana a second time).  Many of the Rebirth titles were implementing multiple artist teams in order to keep up with the the bi-weekly shipping schedule, but Wonder Woman differed in that Rucka was going to juggle two story arcs at once, alternating issues between 'The Lies', a story set in present day (Sharp), and a 'Year One' story set in the past (Scott).  Rucka had signed on to steer the title for the first year of the Rebirt...

IT (2017), R, 2h 15min - A month ago, just a few short days before this film arrived in theaters, soon to destroy September and R-rated horror box office records, I had little to no interest in seeing this new adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel.  I had somehow managed to overlook the fact that IT had been directed by Andy Muschietti, whose feature length film debut had been one that my wife and I both enjoyed (2013's  Mama ).  Maybe this oversight was due in part to a slight name change (Muschietti had previously been credited as Andrés), or maybe I'm just a moron.  More likely, it was a combination of the two.  In any event, I found myself suddenly very interested in the film as did my wife. We decided that we would wait to rent IT so that we could avoid obnoxious crowds that often frequent horror releases.  Since we had decided to wait, I thought that I'd take advantage of that delay and familiarize myself with King's original novel. ...

Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 1  -  Collecting Starman (1994) #0-16 Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 2  -  Collecting Starman (1994) #17-29, Annual #1, Showcase '95 (1995) #12, and Showcase '96 (1996) #4-5 Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 3  -  Collecting The Shade (1997) #1-4, Starman (1994) #30-38, Annual #2, and Starman Secret Files (1998) #1 Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 4  -  Collecting Starman (1994) #39-46, The Power of Shazam (1995) #35-36, Starman 80 Page Giant (1999) #1, Starman: The Mist (1998) #1, and Batman/Hellboy/Starman (1999) #1-2 Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 5 - Collecting Starman (1994) #47-60, 1000000, All-Star Comics 80 Page Giant (1999) #1, JSA: All Stars (2003) #4, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. (1999) #0 Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 6 - Collecting Starman (1994) #61-81 Starman (1994) by James Robinson and Tony Harris (and later Peter Snejbjerg) is a series that was recommended to me by a good friend of mine years ago when these omnibus editions were first ...

Wind River (2017), R, 1h 47min - About three weeks ago, an old college buddy of mine had a post of Facebook asking if anyone he knew had seen a film called Wind River.  I had had no prior knowledge of the film, but after seeking out the trailer, I began to really look forward to seeing it.  It took a couple more weeks for it to get released in my area and yet another week before I could work it into my schedule, but yesterday I was able to check out the latest film from writer/director Taylor Sheridan, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. While tracking predators that have been killing livestock on the Wind River Indian Reservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agent Cory Fisher (Renner) discovers the body of an 18 year old girl miles away from civilization.  He instantly recognizes the remains as being Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Asbille), one of his daughter's closest friends.  Rookie FBI Agent Jane Banner (Olsen) is dispatched to determine whether or not ...

The Defenders, TV-MA, 8 Episodes - About four years ago, Marvel announced their plans to produce four series based upon street level heroes that would culminate in a crossover mini-series teaming the four heroes.  All of this would take place in the greater MCU, and all five would be distributed by Netflix.  This past Friday gave us the completion of that first phase of what has become the highly successful Marvel/Netflix partnership with the release of The Defenders. The Defenders begins with each of the solo heroes - Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) - dealing with issues in their own parts of New York City.  Little do they know, that they are poking their noses into different criminal activities of the same organization: The Hand (previously seen in Daredevil and Iron Fist).  Before they know it their investigations overlap and they unintentionally get in each other's way.  After ...

The Flash Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 1 : Collecting Flash: Rebirth (2016) #1, The Flash (2016) #1-13 I have been keeping up with a few of DC's Rebirth titles digitally over the past year (all of which I have enjoyed), but this Deluxe Edition of The Flash marks the first from DC's new line that I have picked up to add to my collection.  That is partly due to the fact that it was the first title that I wanted to grab to be released, and partly because I have really enjoyed this latest volume of Barry Allen's adventures so far. Prior to reading the The Flash Rebirth (2016) - not to be confused with the Geoff Johns mini-series from 2009 - I had not been familiar with Joshua Williamson's work, although I did recognize the name from hearing chatter about his Image title Nailbiter (which I have yet to read).  On the other had, I was familiar with prior work of primary artist Carmine Di Giandomenico as he had co-written and illustrated the Daredevil: Battlin' Jack Mu...