The Quite Nerdy Blog

While I still hold the belief that it wasn't such a great year for films, this has been a fantastic year for TV. I'm not sure if it's due to my increased awareness of TV, the rise in quality streaming platforms (there are 7 entries here just from Netflix) or some unknown third factor but there are many shows on here that have never been talked about before on my blog. Some are new properties whereas others are just new discoveries but every show on here is worth a watch. As always with these lists, honourable mentions first. Stranger Things Season 1 The 80's throwback that no one saw coming, Stranger Things was simply a delight. The soundtrack was great, the story intrigued and the young actors amazed by being actually good. Such an easy watch, you can (and probably will) do it in a day It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia Season 11 TV's longest running show that no one watches, Always Sunny showed that shows can actually go on as long as they want a

2016 is thankfully coming to an end now and it has not been the greatest year for anything, films included. There have still been some gems though, even if they haven't quite hit the highs of last year. I would be remiss to say that there were no fantastic films this year and that means a hefty list of honourable mentions to start. Captain America: Civil War One of the greatest Marvel films in years, Civil War proved that superhero fatigue isn't a real thing, as long as you have films made well by truly talented people who care about what they are doing and then gave us one of the best fight scenes in any superhero movie. Zootopia In one of two Disney animated hits, Zootopia manage to address racism, sexism and the general toxicity of society while still having time for hilarious jokes, an interesting plot and a Shakira song to remind people she has had work after Hips Don't Lie. The Nice Guys Having seen some of his other films since, The Nice Guys do

Why I am doing this to myself? The Star Wars Holiday Special is technically not a movie, it was made for TV and also is awful. I mean, just awful, a real piece of shit but I'm reviewing anyway because there's only so much content in the world and I think I'm starting to test those limits. Anyway, it's set after A New Hope, entirely with Chewbacca's family. They're waiting for him to come home from a mission but at one point, Imperial forces come in and mess the place up. It's all a poor plot to give way to a series of bizarre performances by dancers and artists and some oddly out of place sketches, including one that seems to include blackface. By the way, I know I've said the plot is an excuse before but it's never been anything like this, there is no purpose to any event that happens in this film. It's all trying to show off impressive CG only it was designed to be impressive for the TV in the 70's and therefore it feels like someone is

Office Christmas Party is one of those films that is less a film and more a collection of people who you like and people you recognise from that thing you think you quite liked. There is a story though and it's that a company must put on the Christmas party of a life time to bring in a potential partner who can keep the business afloat. As you may be able to guess, things spiral out of control and it all goes a little overly serious in an attempt for some action sequences that are meant to be good because they reference the Fast and Furious films. As I said, the story is only there to provide the funny people funny things to do. The thing is, you just have to make sure those things are actually funny. You may have realised by now that for a film like this to work, what you need are performances that are hilarious. Unfortunately, what you actually get are funny actors and actresses who aren't giving good performances here. I'll just run through the cast and briefly men

God damn it Disney, you did it again Moana is the new Disney film but is quite different to the last few, in that it's quite similar to the classic Disney princess films. It's the story of Moana, the daughter of the island chief, who wants to explore the ocean, despite the worries of her father. She is forced out into the ocean though when her island is brought under threat and she must seek out the demi-god Maui (Johnson) to help restore balance to the sea. When it comes to structure, don't expect anything spectacular here, what you are getting is definitely the Disney princess movie. You know where it's going, you know the story beats and you know it has a happy ending but as long as you know that and you're fine with it, you'll have no problems with the story. Acting is never the biggest of deals in animated films but there are some great performances here. In terms of big Hollywood names, the only one is Dwayne Johnson, my hero and babe to everyone in

Christmas is nearly here again which we probably should have seen coming due to it being annual and all but it still surprised us. Anyway, I wasn't sure what Christmas themed Top 7 to do as I've already done films in general and Christmas themed TV episodes. As you've probably worked out from the title, I chose unconventional films because Christmas is all well and good but it's fun to mess with the concept sometimes. 7. Gremlins Let's start with a real classic. Gremlins is technically a horror, although the fact that I can watch it probably disqualifies it as such. This is one of those movies that is for children but properly treats them maturely. This has a great story with some properly emotional moments, some great dark humour and fantastic violence that children are allowed to watch because that blood flying everywhere is green so it's comic violence. There are many fantastic moments in the film only possible due to the Christmas setting, although my

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first part of a new five part series based on a 120 page encyclopedia from the Harry Potter universe. It follows New Scamander as he comes to New York with some Fantastic Beasts, loses some of them and then has to work out where to find them. There is more to the plot obviously, it's also a story about people who think witches might be among them and don't like that one bit in a very Crucible way. There's also this bad guy called Grindlewald who has a very distinctive haircut and that will be a problem when it comes to big reveals. Of all the places to go in the Harry Potter universe, I'm not entirely sure why they chose here but they make a story out of the film and it works, even if I feel like saying there's four more coming after this is more than a little bit of a preposterous stretch. I'll get to acting because it's my favourite bit of the film. This isn't because the film contains real powerhous

Arrival is a film by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario) and it stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. It's the story of 12 alien ships landing at seemingly random points on the earth. Amy Adams is called in to help decode their language as she's one of America's best linguists. They will have to cooperate with the aliens and especially the other people on Earth to try and work out what these aliens want. First off, I want to say that this is the kind of story we need right now as it's about how co-operation can actually save the world, something we all need to look around and remember. Other than that. it's an incredibly impressive story to watch unfold. It has a narrative complexity that seems overwhelming when it's finally laid clear but after thought, it's a story that makes genuine sense and addresses fascinating concepts that I'm not sure I've seen addressed in a sci-fi film before, definitely not in this depth. There's