Land of The Nerds: 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Imitation Game Review

So I Wanna Know....What's The Name Of The (Imitation) Game?

Depicting people with Asperger's Syndrome in media has always been a bit of a difficult challenge, which is a disappointing to me as a person with Asperger's. Most shows fail to even pinpoint characters who display tendencies of Asperger's as actually having that symptom, rather nothing them as "special" or "funny" in order to avoid offending any specific groups if the portrayal comes off as a subpar. That tactic, which is utilized for the main character, Alan Turing, in The Imitation Game, can be put to good use, as this feature demonstrates.

My Current Best Acting Nominee Predictions!! (December 30, 2014 Edition)

Well, the nominations for the next Academy Awards ceremony will be released two weeks from this Thursday.So let's take a look at my current predictions for the two main acting categories, Best Actor and Best Actress, at the ceremony!

My Current Best Picture Nominees Predictions!! (December 28, 2014 Edition)

Well, the nominations for the next Academy Awards ceremony will be released two weeks from this Thursday.So let's take a look at my current predictions for the largest category of the ceremony, Best Picture.

Into The Woods Review

Come, Read This Review For A Spell

If you've been around me for more than five seconds, you're bound to know I'm a big fan of musical theater. Aside from appearing in small parts of performances of Annie and Little Shop of Horrors (I played the first customer who buys Audrey II, thus dooming humanity), I'm seen countless musicals on stage and in cinemas. Into The Woods is one I wasn't a huge fan of, though that was more due to me having only seen the first act of the show than a statement on the quality of the production itself.

Unbroken Review

Don't Go Unbroken My Heart

I find movies that have the elements of greatness and fail to utilize them far more frustrating than an outright terrible film like God's Not Dead or Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Not even Wes Anderson could have made Trans4mers compelling, whereas Unbroken has all the ingredients of being terrific right at it's feet. The story of Louie Zamperini is an astonishing one full of courage and bravery ripe for an effective cinematic depiction, and sadly, Unbroken just doesn't utilize it.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Is The Epitome Of Both Storytelling And Christmas

Peanuts is a fundamental part of my life, to put it lightly. Charlie Brown was the first fictional character I encountered who understood and expressed melancholy emotions, someone who assured me I wasn't alone in feeling like an outsider. He stills remains a terrific and relatable character, and each year I eagerly await watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, a special that never fails to compel me.

My Most Terrifying Cinematic Experience? Why, The Polar Express Of Course!

Here's another exciting entry in this Holiday themed column, 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

We all have that one movie we watched as kids that terrified the living hell out of us. When you're 6, it's terrifying, but when you're older it's not only good material for a compelling yarn but a testament to the kind of power film can have over a person. Some have The Goonies, my brother has Gremlins, but me? I've got the scariest movie of them all: The Polar Express.

Fast Five Director Justin Lin Will Go Where No Man Has Gone Before....To Direct Star Trek 3!!

A shortlist was released recently for directors who could potentially direct the third entry in the series of Star Trek movies started by J.J. Abrams 2009 reboot. Among the names was Rupert Wyatt, rumored to be the favorite for the job. Well, it looks like Justin Lin, another name in that shortlist, is getting the job, as he's officially onboard to direct Star Trek 3.

Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb Review

Exhibiting Traits Of Quality

It's...not awful. In fact, it's surprisingly entertaining. Those may sound like statements that are solely damning with faint praise, and they mostly are, but I must admit that with all the elements working against Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb, it turns out OK. A five and a half year long gap since the second movie, sloppy visuals and a middling plot are prominent flaws, but there's at least some moments of redeeming value.

Whiplash Review

Those Who Can't Do, Teach

Devoting oneself to a particular craft is a tremendous challenge. I've dedicated myself to writing about pop culture, while others may devote themselves to the world of acting or painting. It is the world of music, specifically drumming, that drives Andrew (Miles Teller) to push himself far far beyond his limits. His quest to be one of the greats, to make an impact as a drummer is the focus of one of the years best movies, Whiplash.

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies Review

Big Battle Brings Brilliance Only Briefly

So now it ends, at least until Peter Jackson manages to convince the Tolkien estate to give him the rights to make a trilogy of movies focusing on Smaug as a student in college. With The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, Jackson concludes his trilogy of movies based on The Hobbit, and I must say I've found both of the previous films enjoyable, particularly The Desolation of Smaug. Alas, this one is easily the weakest Hobbit film, a middling affair spiced up by one or two good performances and some nice action moments.

My 12 Favorite Movie Trailers Of 2014

You won't see a ton of "Best of 2014" lists on this site at this time of the year, mainly because a good chunk of notable 2014 movies (Inherent Vice, Selma, American Sniper) won't come to a theater near me until mid-January. Expect lists revolving around my favorite 2014 features around that time, but I'll still toss a few retrospective lists in the next few days, starting with the one, which covers my 12 favorite 2014 trailers.

You Asked For It; Alvin And The Chipmunks 4 (Yes, FOUR) Gets New Release Date And Director

With Kung Fu Panda 3 moving out of its Christmas 2015 release date, there's no family movie in that lucrative time of the year now. 20th Century Fox, which distributes KFP3, has now announced Alvin And the Chipmunks 4 will move up form 2016 to December 23, 2015, taking it's release date on the schedule.

The Simpsons, The Most Influential TV Show In History, Turns 25 Today

Pop culture can have a tremendous impact on a person, the kind of impact one can't fully comprehend right away. That's The Simpsons for me, a show whose first episode (Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire) aired today twenty-five years ago. Yep, it's been a quarter of century since that yellow clan entered our lives, and it's truly unimaginable to think of a world without this wonderful family.

Frosty The Snowman Is Simple, But Charming

God that's a creepy image.

Like Rudolph, Frosty The Snowman was a song long before it was TV special, but it's this 1969 cartoon that many identify as the ultimate incarnation of the frosty fellow. The special, turning 45 this year, is a special that isn't quite perfect, but does manage to find itself some moments of quality, albeit moments have more than an ounce of cheesiness to them.

Today, another development in the Sony hacking scandal occurred, this time with threats of violence involved. The terrorist group that hacked Sony is now threatening movie theaters showing The Interview and people who see the film, saying those who show or watch the movie will suffer a "bitter fate" , that on Christmas Day (when the movie is released) "The world will be full of fear" and then note their attacks will remind people of 9/11.

I've focused on the Epic Rap Battles Of History YouTube program before, but as a major cinema fan, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to highlight their most recent endeavor, which pits Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock and other famous movie directors against each other in a truly epic rap battle. Check it out below!

There is graphic language ahead, just so ya know.

The Trailer For Terrence Malicks New Movie, Knight Of Cups, Has Christian Bale Doing Things

When I saw Tree Of Life in 2011, it was the first Terrance Malick film I'd ever seen. I had no idea what to expect, except for dinosaurs, I knew dinosaurs were in it. Well, I got the dinos, but nothing much else of substance. The film was ambitious, I'll give it that, and the cinematography was beautiful. But it felt like it was trying too hard to be impactful without doing anything actually impactful. It sort of became blur of visuals after a while.

Kung Fu Panda Continues To Defy Expectations With Its Christmas Special

Kung Fu Panda shouldn't work. On any level. But the entire endeavor made one crucial decision that changed everything; they got Jack Black to play the titular kung fu warrior. Black plays Po with undying eagerness that's always fun to watch, especially when his exuberance has to be used against tremendous antagonists. Even after two movies (the second of which hadn't come out when the subject of this review came out) that were excellent, a Christmas special should have simply a cash grab, not a reaffirmation of the franchises quality.

Top Five Review

Top Five Is Alive!

Whenever one hears about celebrities having problems, it can be easy to brush off such problems by thinking their large wealth means their problems are inconsequential. But the likes of Tom Hanks and Angelina Jolie can have everyday quandaries and worries; they are human beings after all, and human beings are naturally going to have problems to face. This kind of scenario is at the crux of Top Five, a feature written, directed and starring Chris Rock that's surprising in it's depth and effectiveness.

The Best Christmas Song Of All May Just Be Same Old Lang Syne

I've talked about a lot of Christmas songs in this column, but here's the tune I'd consider the best of all Holiday songs without hesitation; Same Old Lang Syne. I remember hearing this bad boy, sung by Dan Fogelberg, at a young age, and it left an impression on me even way back then. It's melancholy tone stood out in a sea of chipper holiday tunes, and resonated with me since I always found Christmas to be a difficult time of the year (having Asperger's Syndrome in a time of the year thriving on social interactions is a pain in the ass).

What Exactly Is The Year Without A Santa Claus?

Among the Rankin-Bass holiday specials (which included, but are not limited to, Rudolph, Frosty The Snowman, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town), a few specials remain on the obscure side. The likes of Pinocchio's Christmas and Nester, The Long Eared Donkey are lucky to have a 6 AM showing on ABC Family while their kin flourish in primetime on one of the four major networks.

Exodus: Gods And Kings Review

All About That Exodus, Exodus, No Treble

I went into Exodus: Gods And Kings with some skepticism. You see, I played Moses in a VBS sketch for my Church group this summer and I was dubious to say the least that Christian Bale could match my acting chops. Sure, he had a $140 million budget and director Ridley Scott at his disposal, but did he have a snake puppet to utilize like I did? As it turns out, Bale is missing more than just a snake toy in his performance, as he and the movie itself feel lacking as a whole.

Which Grinch Is Best? (The Answer Is Obvious)

I've gotten really addicted to Patton Oswalts standup this week, the dudes just hilarious in his comedy. One great bit is where he talks about how a primary flaw with the Star Wars prequels is that they feel compelled to talk about the origins of beloved characters like Boba Fett and Darth Vader, which Oswalt likens to someone give you the starting ingredients for Ice Cream and saying it's just delicious as that confection.

Stephen Colbert's final episode as the host of The Colbert Report (before he takes over for David Letterman in 2015) airs next week, but luckily his final episode will air just in time so he can still celebrate the release of the final Hobbit movie. As a man who happily announces his love for the world of Middle-Earth, Colbert celebrated the movies release last night by having none other then Smaug the dragon as a guest on his show. Watch his interview with the beast below!

Spongebobs Optimistic Absurdity Matches Beautifully With Christmas

Here's a shocking secret; Spongebob is a perky person. The absorbent fella is rarely without a smile on his face and something upbeat to say. In the first three seasons of his show, Spongebob Squarepants, Spongebob was an irresistible lead that was always fun to watch and enjoy. In the second season episode, Christmas Who?, what really made SpongeBob such a captivating program is on full display.

The ship seen here is...well, you all know what it is and what it did in the Kessel Run.

Secrecy has covered the entirety for Star Wars Episode VII for ages now, but once a title (The Force Awakens) was revealed in early November, details have been coming out at an exciting rate. A trailer arrived two weeks ago, became one of the biggest trailers ever to grace the internet, and now Entertainment Weekly has gotten the honor of unveiling the names of several pivotal characters in the feature!!

In case you weren't aware, awards season is in full swing, as the announcement of the Golden Globes this morning very much reaffirmed. Check out the list of nominations below!

Snoopy's Christmas Reiterates How Well Peanuts And Christmas Work Together

Don't worry folks, I'll be getting to A Charlie Brown Christmas towards the end of this series, but there's another piece of pop culture that proves how much high quality emerges when Charles M. Schulz creations collide with Christmas. This time, it's a song, Snoopy's Christmas, instead of a television special, with this one focusing on Snoopy's World War I flying ace persona as he takes on The Red Baron on Christmas Eve.

If any movie really made any impact at this years Comic-Con, it had to be Max Mad: Fury Road. That thing showed off footage for the first time and blew everyone's minds. It looked incredible, and now Warner Bros. has released a new trailer that reminds all of us that that Comic-Con presentation was no fluke; Mad Max: Fury Road looks incredible. Check out the trailer below!

We're in the thick of awards season now, with tons of awards outlets announcing their nominations for various awards designed to give praise to the best in 2014 cinema. This morning, the Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations for various awards in the realm of acting. Let's take a look at those nominations and how they impact this years Academy Awards race, shall we?

Michael Bubles Take On Santa Baby Is Nothing Short Of Brilliant

When I was talking about Last Christmas yesterday, I mentioned the insane amount of covers the tune has produced. Why that number baffles me (aside from the dubious quality of the song itself) is that none of the covers that I've heard brought anything new or interesting to the table. They were just singing a song for the hell of it. Santa Baby is another Christmas song that;s been endlessly covered, but Michael Buble brings something absolutely amazing to the table when putting his spin on it.

Man, do I love disaster movies. Loved 'em when I was 12, still do now. The likes of Armageddon, 2012 and Independence Day entranced me with their spectacle and depictions of people doing courageous things under tremendous circumstances. Now, Dwayne Johnson gets to star in one of these kinds of features in San Andreas, a Summer 2015 movie that just got it's first trailer, which you can watch below.

Look, Luke Bryan was never some gold standard for country music. But back in the day, there was some hope the dude could conjure up some kind of quality music. All My Friends Say is fun to listen to, while Do I and We Rode In Trucks show off his gift at delivering quality songs with a more melancholy tone. It's actually around the time of Do I that Bryan became a superstar, with that tune starting a trend where every single one of his singles (sans his two most recent efforts) have achieved Gold status, with all but two of those managing to reach platinum status.

The Best Christmas Carol Adaptation Involves None Other Than Mickey Mouse

Is there any other story more utilized in media than A Christmas Carol? Being in the public domain means the Charles Dickens book can be used with ease, and it's characters have such broad personalities its easy to fit any given cast of any show and fit them into the roles of the spirits or Bob Cratchit. My first exposure to the practice of well known characters reenacting this beloved tale is perhaps the best retelling of the story; Mickeys Christmas Carol.

Horrible Bosses 2 Review

A Horrible Waste Of A Trio

Comedy sequels have grown more popular in recent years, thanks to the success The Wolfpack had back in 2011 with their first successive adventure. It received dismal reviews, but managed to make more than enough money to make studios fall in love with the idea of making more sequels to entities like Dumb And Dumber and Horrible Bosses. The latter's sequel, Horrible Bosses 2, is the subject of this review, and from a quality perspective doesn't exactly make compelling case for more Bosses movies down the road.

The Epic Saga Of Last Christmas

I have many traditions during the holiday season, but perhaps my favorite is one between me and my Mother. We always like to count how many times we hear one particular Christmas song on the radio. Now, it's common, even expected, for Christmas tunes to be repeated on the radio, at truth be told, that's mostly fine. The exception to that rule is Last Christmas, a song played so many times over the course of Christmas time that me and my Mother conjured up the tradition of counting how many times we hear it each year in order to avoid insanity.

Weird Al's The Night Santa Went Crazy Merges Bloodshed And Yuletide Festivities

Part of the joy of enjoying a specific musicians work is seeing what happens when that singer tries out new genres or tones for their music. That's partly why Weird Al is so much fun as a singer; many of his songs are parodies of popular tunes. and that gives him the chance to explore many different musical genres by lampooning the songs of Coolio, Michael Jackson and Iggy Azalea. It was only a matter of time before he tackled Christmas, and in The Night Santa Went Crazy (an original tune, not a parody song), Al puts his own talent to great use in this holiday creation.

Rudolph's Quality Endures To This Day

Welcome to 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer had existed since 1939 as a book, and then became a Christmas Carol in 1949, but it wasn't until 1964 arrived that this holiday critter achieved true fame. Ya see, that was the year the Rankin-Bass Christmas special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer arrived. The special started a tradition of massively successful specials for Rankin-Bass, as well as cementing a monumental part of any holiday season.

With Paramount Pictures announcing today that The Gambler will go into wide release on Christmas Day, that means the amount of movies opening in wide release between now and Christmas Day is nine. A week before the first of that large amount of movies opens, I think it's time to take a look at how these movies will far at the box office, don't you?

Aaaaaannnnnnd It's Official! Benedict Cumberbatch Is Doctor Strange!!

After months and months of rumors, it was reported in late October that Benedict Cumberbatch had been locked into play Doctor Strange. However, Marvel didn't confirm this news....until now that is! Benedict Cumberbatch is officially set to play the Sorcerer Supreme in his debut feature arriving November 4, 2016.

Text Me Christmas Embraces Modern Technology In A Timeless Manner

There's a recurring tendency to put seeming hip above quality in any form of media that deals with modern technology. The title alone of Text Me Christmas should make one wretch, longing for the days when Bing Crosby crooned Yuletide tunes. However, this song manages to subvert one's expectations of a song that leans so heavily on 2014 technology to create a surprisingly sweet song.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to put forth the next part of it's massive plan to expand ever onward; that part consists of four TV shows to debut new superheroes on Netflix individually before they all meet up for a miniseries event called The Defenders. The first Netflix show is Daredevil, set to be aired in May, and the next one has apparently gotten its lead actress ready to go.

Terminator hasn't had the best of luck with it's modern day installments. The third one did decently at the box office, but Terminator: Salvation disappointed in 2009. Now, a new movie attempts to take the franchise in a new direction. by recasting most of the well-known characters from the original and bring Arnold Schwarzenegger back to the franchise. That film is Terminator: Genisys, and the first trailer for it just dropped, and you can catch it below.

Oh man, did I love Skyfall. Now, frankly, James Bond was the one cinematic entity I didn't grow up surrounded by, and I freely admit many older James Bond films have escaped my viewing. But I know a good film when I see one, and Skyfall more than fit the bill. An excellent feature that more than whetted my appetite for my Bonds mayhem, which on the way for next November!

The Toy Story Gangs First Christmas Special Has Its Problem, But Remains Entertaining

With Toy Story 4 on the inevitable horizon, PIXAR has utilized the form of the holiday special to guarantee the world of Woody and Buzz remains an active one storytelling wise. The first, Toy Story Of Terror!, was a surprisingly enjoyable effort, and though Toy Story That Time Forgot doesn't quite match that ones quality, it still remains an entertaining enough half hour of television.

Full Suicide Squad Cast, With Tom Hardy, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie and Will Smith, Announced

The first post-Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice project for DC's new cinematic universe will be the David Ayer directed feature Suicide Squad, which centers on a group of supervillains hired by the government to embark on dangerous assignments. Rumors of casting had abounded for a while now, but the official cast has just been announced!!

The Theory Of Everything Review

When Theory Met Sally

Eddie Redmayne was a super memorable part of Les Miserables, to the point where I thought to myself "That kids gonna be a star one day" as I left the theater. Well, now he's making good on my thought, as his turn as Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything is generating tons of praise, as it should. Redmayne gives a great performance, though he's held back by a movie that's more dull than interesting.

Home Alone Is Mildly Inconsistent, But Surprisingly Effective Yuletide Cinema

I see a lot of people talking about how movies were better "back in the day", which always makes my eyes roll. People have always wanted good storytelling when they go to the cinema, that's never changed. Frankly, I'd actually say the years top movies are indeed better than they used to be. The past few years top features have included The Avengers, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Dark Knight and Toy Story 3, all excellent films. Bizarrely, the biggest movie of 1990 was not Goodfellas or Awakenings, but rather Home Alone.

Fred Claus Is A Mean-Spirited Misfire Of Gigantic Proportions

The success of Tangled begat Frozen. The success of Shrek begat Puss In Boots. When a movie studio finds financial favor in a certain property, original properties taking cues from that successful feature are just as common as sequels. So it's not hard to imagine Warner Bros. taking one look at all the money fellow Time Warner owned movie studio New Line Cinema made with Elf and wanting their own family Christmas movie with a big comedian. They decided to also take a cue from 2005 smash hit Wedding Crashers by reuniting Vince Vaughn with that movies director, David Dobkin.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Friday, December 26, 2014

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Monday, December 22, 2014

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Friday, December 19, 2014

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Monday, December 15, 2014

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Monday, December 8, 2014

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Friday, December 5, 2014

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Monday, December 1, 2014