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[Nerdspresso] Down the Black Hole: 45 Years in the Dark with Disney’s Sci-Fi Misfire
I saw my first rated PG movie in 1979. Let me rephrase, I saw my first rated PG movie without my parents in 1979. I was a little kid and it kind of happened by accident. Normally, my folks would never let me go see a movie unchaperoned if the MPAA said it wasn’t a…
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[Nerdspresso] An Elegy for Rutger Hauer
Cool. Clever. Cunning. These are the words that come to mind when I think of the legendary Rutger Hauer. We lost this awesome dude five years ago and perusing some of his titles on the streamers recently got me thinking about his cinematic legacy. The dude had some memorable roles: Nighthawks, Blade Runner, LadyHawke, The…
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[Nerdspresso] Alien: Romulus Honors Earlier Films with Fast, Creepy Thrills
Ridley Scott’s Alien is one of the best movies ever made. A visually stunning, paranoid, and intense sci-fi thriller was groundbreaking and terrifying in 1979…but I didn’t see it until about 10 years later. I was a little kid in 1979 and there was no way my parents were taking me to a graphic R-rated…
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[Nerdspresso] Borderlands Provides Popcorn-Munching Fun
The time between early July and mid-August is commonly known as the “dog days of summer.” It’s named the dog days because Sirius, the dog star, rises in the morning sky during this time. Not that Sirius has anything to do with the summer heat, but its rising was seen by the ancient Egyptians as…
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[Nerdspresso] Tough Girls Rule! Furiosa and Other Movie Ladies Who Could Beat Me Up
So Furiosa, the prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, has already come and gone from movie theaters. It rolled out earlier this summer with expectations that it would dominate the box office, but it fell short. Like The Fall Guy, another recent good movie that flamed out too soon, Furiosa is now relegated to video…
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[Nerdspresso] Deadpool & Wolverine: Cinematic Jumper Cables
Once upon a time, we didn’t have a lot of superhero movies. There was 1978’s Superman, 1989’s Batman, 1998’s Blade and then some really bad low-budget Marvel movies starring Dolph Lundgren but the good stuff was sparse. Hollywood worried that people wouldn’t take the genre seriously. Studios thought the movies should divorce themselves from the…
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[Nerdspresso] Kiss and Tell: Rom Coms That Don’t Suck
Whatever happened to the big screen romantic comedy? They were a cinematic staple when my wife and I were dating in the early 2000’s. Theaters were full of titles with Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Katherine Heigl meeting cute and finding love. Now it seems that the rom com as we know it has been…
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[Nerdspresso] No Shame in My Ryan Gosling Bromance
I have a confession, my friends. I have something of a bromance going on with Ryan Gosling. But I’m not talking about that “Hey Girl” Notebook Dreamboat or that Fractured Blue Romance in the Tall Pines dramatic ACTOR, but the guy who conquered the Oscars with a wink and a smile. Gosling is that goofball…
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[Nerdspresso] It’s Hot Outside, but Movies are Always Cool
Well, bust out the hot dogs and the sunscreen, it’s summertime! School is out, the temps are hot and according to that old song, it’s summertime and the living is easy. For those who celebrate, summertime is vacations, swimming pools and movie stars. And for those that don’t, it just means going to work when…
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[Nerdspresso] Once Upon a Dark Knight: Memories of Batman ’89
While sitting in traffic the other day, a song came streaming over the radio which I haven’t heard on the airwaves in decades. My soundtrack to the afternoon gridlock was Prince’s “Batdance.” I’m not making this up. The Purple One’s musical tribute to the caped crusader was blasting in my car as I inched my…
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[Nerdspresso] Killer Sharks Take a Bite Out of French Movies with “Under Paris”
When I think of French movies, I think of Jean-Luc Goddard, Francois Truffaut, kids with red balloons, guys named Jules and Jim and that girl Amelie with an impish grin. I don’t envision killer sharks cruising the River Seine. Under Paris has subverted all my my preconceptions about French cinema. It’s not all kissing in…
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[Nerdspresso] Can’t Forget Dabney Coleman. Or Remember Bad Ronald!
The legendary Dabney Coleman passed away recently at 92, leaving behind a legacy of unforgettable roles. His patented brand of snark and bravado will be missed. Coleman was THE character actor in the ’80’s, spicing up genial comedies by playing obnoxious jerks and misanthropes. He was the misogynistic boss in 9 to 5, the sleazy…
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