The Movie Paradise

Welcome to this week's Nerd Round-Up. Essentially what we do here is we take a look at all things circulating in the world of nerdom. We break down these down, anything ranging from superheroes to Star Wars, and every other geek-centric thing in between. We analyze the smaller bits of news that weren't big enough stories to necessarily warrant an entire article, but are still significant and important and worthy of discussing. Perhaps it's casting news, a contract detail, a set image, or something else that's more on the minor side, but is still definitely worth talking about. This is a time and place for all of us unabashed nerds to come together and talk about the things that we love so much in the movie-sphere. So, without further ado, let's get started with this week installment of Nerd Round-Up.

Collider has unveiled a previously unreleased image from George Miller's failed Justice League Mortal movie. It featured such actors as (then unknown) Armie Hammer…

With every new weekend comes more new movies to go see in the theaters. The movie theater is easily the best place to see a film. As good as your setup may be at home, nothing will ever come close to the magic of the movie theater. And getting to go see a movie on a Friday or Saturday night after a long hard week is simply euphoric. Now, not every movie that opens in theaters is a winner. We've all been tricked by a film that we thought would be good and it ended up being horrible. On the flip side, we've also all avoided a movie that we thought looked bad but it ended up being really good. It's tricky to know exactly what to see and what not to see. So, in this new weekly series, I break down what new movies are opening in theaters, what the critics are saying about them, and I state whether or not I think they are worth seeing. On that note, let's look at what's opening this weekend. 
Pacific Rim: Uprising- 3,708 Theaters

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 45%
Directed…

Deadpool 2 cannot get here fast enough! Aside from Avengers: Infinity War, this is my most anticipated movie of the year. What Ryan Reynolds and company did with the first film was just spectacular. They really got lightning in a bottle with that one, which makes doing a sequel all the more challenging. John Wick co-director and Atomic Blonde helmer David Leitch is stepping in for original director Tim Miller, and I have become less and less nervous about this switch with each passing day. I loved what Leitch did with Atomic Blonde, and as long as he delivers on the action-- with Reynolds and his writers handling the comedy-- I think we could get something really special with Deadpool 2. Now, rumors have been going around that Deadpool 2 had poor test screenings and they were going back to reshoot large parts of the film. That has since been debunked. The test screenings for Deadpool 2 have actually gotten even more positive reactions than the first one, and the reshoots are minor and…

Run Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes Rating: RDirected by: Alex GarlandStarring: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar Isaac
With his directorial debut, Ex Machina, Alex Garland delivered on a fabulously fresh science fiction film. It dealt with strong issues concerning artificial intelligence and, even beyond that, it talked about the capacity of human love. Garland came out guns blazing with that film, so a lot of attention has since been drawn to his sophomore effort, Annihilation. The movie stars Natalie Portman as Lena, a widowed biologist whose husband (Oscar Isaac) disappeared while stationed overseas. She later learns the truth about his involvement in a government expedition into the Shimmer, a mysterious environmental disaster zone of extraterrestrial origins. Lena subsequently signs up to be part of the next expedition, this time consisting of all scientists, as they set out to figure out what exactly the Shimmer is. And that question is never quite answered. Annihilation ha…

Welcome to this week's Nerd Round-Up. Essentially what we do here is we take a look at all things circulating in the world of nerdom. We break down these down, anything ranging from superheroes to Star Wars, and every other geek-centric thing in between. We analyze the smaller bits of news that weren't big enough stories to necessarily warrant an entire article, but are still significant and important and worthy of discussing. Perhaps it's casting news, a contract detail, a set image, or something else that's more on the minor side, but is still definitely worth talking about. This is a time and place for all of us unabashed nerds to come together and talk about the things that we love so much in the movie-sphere. So, without further ado, let's get started with this week installment of Nerd Round-Up.

Selma and A Wrinkle in Time director Ava DuVernay has signed on to direct The New Gods for Warner Bros. There are conflicting reports as to whether this will be set in…

Run Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes Rating: PG-13Directed by: Roar UthaugStarring: Alicia Vikander, Walton Goggins, Dominic West
There has yet to be a really good video game movie adaptation. Many have tried, and none have succeeded. Even ones with outstanding talent behind it, such as Assassin's Creed, have fallen completely flat on their face. And with each upcoming video game movie, we all hope it will be the one to break the curse. For a while, I thought Tomb Raider could be the one. It stars Alicia Vikander, who won an Oscar for her performance in The Danish Girl. She plays Lara Croft, the daughter of a missing adventurer. When signing her father's will, Croft discovers a clue that leads her on a mission to an island where she must stop Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins), the leader of a mysterious evil organization called Trinity. The more trailers I saw, the less enthusiastic I became for Tomb Raider, but still I held out hope that it would at least be entertaining. And the film i…

Avengers: Infinity War is without a doubt the biggest comic book movie to ever hit theaters, if not one of the biggest event films ever in cinematic history. If you thought the previous Avengers movies had big casts, you're in for it with this one! If I were to list everyone in this movie, I wouldn't have any space left to talk about the actual trailer. But suffice to say, this is a packed film, and it's going to be an experience to watch. We don't know for sure that it will be good. I do have my reservations, mainly with how many characters there are for the Russo Brothers to juggle. But between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and especially Captain America: Civil War, the Russos have not only never failed us with their Marvel movies, but they have also proven their ability to handle large casts of characters. If anyone can pull off Infinity War and make it all work, it's them. I thought the first trailer for the movie was phenomenal. It gave us a great sense …

Run Time: 2 hours, 19 minutes Rating: RDirected by: Francis LawrenceStarring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons
Jennifer Lawrence is a rather versatile actor. Whether she's playing the leader of a revolution in The Hunger Games or a metaphorical Mother Nature in mother!, Lawrence is known for being as much of a chameleon with her acting as her character of Mystique is in the X-Men franchise. With Red Sparrow, Lawrence portrays Dominika, a desperate woman looking to take care of her sick mother, and will do this by any means necessary. The means are becoming a Red Sparrow, a special Russian operative who uses his or her body in order to seduce people for the betterment of the country. Dominika's task is to get close with an American CIA agent, played by Joel Edgerton. But it is never quite clear as to which side she is truly on, as she expertly plays both sides in this increasingly tense battle over intelligence between the two countries. Led by her Hunger Games dir…