The Solitary Nerd

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 10 – Finale

It’s the home stretch, everybody. After these reviews, my end of the year lists will be set and then I can actually start working on new stuff.

You guys have no idea how happy I am to share this meme right now.

The Imitation Game

I would like to start out this review by acknowledging the work of Alan Turing, without whom the machine I’m using to type and quite possibly the outlet I’m using to…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 9

To break the monotony of terrible movies, I went and saw some of the awards season movies.

After the crap I’ve been reviewing, I definitely needed to class up my interviews.

Birdman

Does this qualify as the first ever superhero art film?

From the days of Adam West and George Reeves, actors playing superheroes have had a hard time breaking away from public perception of them as that character.…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 8

Okay, to make this go by quicker, I’m going start reviewing four movies at a time.

We’ve reached crunch time, baby.

Sex Tape

Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sex comedy that felt like it was written by people who don’t know how sex works. Or anything else.

This was one of those movies that turned me off right from the trailer. It came off as a movie that wallowed in its own ignorance of how…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 7

Let’s keep this ball rolling.

Hang in there, buddy. We’re so close to being done.

Left Behind (2014)

Hoo boy, more of that sweet Christsploitation, now with 50% more Nicolas Cage.

I don’t know that much about the Left Behindnovel series other than it’s about the Revelation and what happens to those who are “left behind” and that Kirk Cameron starred in the film adaptations. So to hear that they…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 6

Am I even close to being done yet? No? Okay, I’ll keep going.

All work and no play makes Jon a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jon a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jon a dull boy.

God’s Not Dead

Hoo boy, this one’s gonna be a fun review. I should say right off the bat that as an non-practicing agnostic raised as a fairly liberally minded Catholic family (liberal for Catholics, at…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 5

No time to talk. Let’s keep this ball rolling.

There’s only 24 hours in a day, and I still can’t write these reviews fast enough!

The Giver

While this book was at the height of its popularity when I was a kid, I never actually read it. I never really knew what it was about. All I knew was there was an old man’s face with a picture of some woods in the bottom corner and that it was about a future…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 4

In order to keep up, I managed to catch a triple feature at my local dollar theater, and it sucked harder than a Hoover.

Not the movie theater, it was actually quite pleasant.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Before I get into the review, I would like to remind my readers that nothing can “ruin your childhood.” Unless something truly tragic happened to you as a child,…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 3

No time to talk. We’ve got more movies to catch up on.

Can’t sleep. Too many movies. Can’t sleep. Too many movies.

Earth to Echo

Oh joy. The first ever found footage kids movie. Because the world was demanding for a shaky cam remake of ET only not as good.

If it isn’t clear, I wasn’t looking forward to this movie coming out. I, like many people, have grown sick of the overuse of the “found…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 2

Happy New Year, everybody!

Should auld acquaintance be forget and yada yada yada.

While most people will be ringing in the new year with copious amounts of alcohol and good times with friends, I’ve got a mountain of movies to catch up on. Let’s keep this ball rollin’.

Hercules (2014)

The second of two Hercules movies that came out this past year, while The Legend of Herculeswas a total hack job…

2014 Movie Wrap-Up Part 1

With the year coming to a close, it’s time for me to catch up on the best and worst of what the year had to offer in movies. To save me some time, I’m going to forego full reviews and write down a short review for multiple movies in each post. Here we go.

Into the Woods (2014)

While I’m only somewhat familiar with the stage version of this Steven Sondheim musical, I have loved what I’ve seen and…

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

It’s over. It’s done. We don’t need to make anymore Lord of the Rings movies.

From what I hear, Peter Jackson is saying this as much as the fans are.

I think this series can go hand-in-hand with the Star Warsprequels to signify why prequel trilogies are even worse ideas than prequels. Not only are prequels hard to make as good as the original movie, to tell that story in three parts is nearly…

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Oh boy. Now comes the part of the job that’s not so fun.

As the year comes to an end, I have to catch up on movies that aren’t enjoyable to watch. The poorly made, the badly written, and the downright horribly thought out. Thankfully, this one wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good, but at least it’s not painfully bad.

InAPPropriate Comedy is still the low bar for…

Constantine Episode 3: The Devil’s Vinyl

Huh. I guess vinyl really is The Devil’s medium of choice.

Which is why I keep all my music on MP3. The compression takes out all the Satan.

Following the events in Pennsylvania, Zed followed Constantine back to his base wanting to learn more about her psychic powers. Constantine reluctantly agrees as they prepare to head for Chicago. There, a legendary acetate disc (a record used mainly in the…

Constantine Episode 2: The Darkness Beneath

Continuing on our television catchup spree, it’s time to visit our old mate John Constantine.

When last we left our petty dabbler in the dark arts, John had met with the daughter of an old friend and introduced her to the world of the supernatural, giving her the ability to scry a map of imminent threats. We also learn that John botched an exorcism and cost a young girl her soul, along with his…

Marry Me Episode 2: Move Me

From superheroes to rom coms, time to catch up on Marry Me.

While I remember enjoying the first episode of the show, I’m not digging this episode so much. They did reveal that one character was a lesbian, and Annie’s dads are still a prominent part of the show, but honestly the writing was not as tight this time around. I’m not sure if it’s something to do with the genre or the writers of this…

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Well, that escalated quickly.

Really, that got out of hand fast.

Like many people, I’m a fan of The Hunger Gamesfilms. The first one was good, despite the overuse of shakycam to hide the violence against children, and the second one was even better. Needless to say, there was plenty of hype leading up to this penultimate movie in the series. How was the film itself? It was good, for the most…

Whew. Got this one in under the wire.

The gears have been in full motion here at Solitary Nerd HQ. There’s a deal set for new artwork, a recording session for new theme music for future videos, plus I’m in the midst of switching over from WordPress hosting to self-hosting, meaning I can start profiting off of this whole endeavor….at some point. Hopefully. Maybe. At any rate, I haven’t been…