Nerd Nuptial

We finally got a sequel to our beloved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo! Sort of ... not really.Opening weekend we got to see Sony's follow up to their 2011 release of Dragon Tattoo. Except it was 7 years later and with a different cast and different director so ... hooray? In this episode, we talk what worked and to a larger extent what didn't. Like how Lizbeth shouldn't be Batman or James Bond.We start the show with our review of Outlaw King staring Chris Pine on Netflix. We also feature a Nerd Party exclusive interview with Chris Pine himself.

House of Cards Season 6 ReviewWe are huge House of Cards fans, it was our all-time favorite show. Sadly, we have to emphasize "was". Seasons 1 and 2 contain stellar content. Season 3 was a misstep. Season 4 is one of the best seasons of television ever. Season 5 was a complete waste and here we are at season 6. We all know the drama behind the scenes with season 6 and the exit of the lead. They had to rewrite, reshoot, and remake a lot of the season AND on a shortened timeline. A hard thing to ask of any creative team. Did they pull it off? Listen to hear our thoughts on the show's final bow.

Halloween 2018 reviewWith a franchise that all spawned from one film that premiered in 1978, this new sequel ignores everything but the original. Much like what Neil Blomkamp wanted to do with Aliens, David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis do with Halloween. 40 years later Michael Myers breaks out of the hospital and goes after Laurie Strode once more. But this time, Laurie is ready. The Girl and Tristan aren't really into horror films but the original Halloween holds a special place in their hearts. Listen as they talk about the franchise and how much fun this current iteration was to watch.

Our Review of First Man with Ryan GoslingWe got to see First Man opening weekend and it was quite the immersive experience (especially when you're forced to sit in the front row). It was interesting to see the director and lead actor team up again since La La Land but did it always hit its mark?On top of our review, we discuss the new media we've been exploring this week including DC's streaming exclusive "Titans", the new season of "Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father", "Death of Superman", and the home release of Marvel's "Ant-Man and the Wasp".

Star Trek, Aquaman, Forever, A Star Is BornWe talk and review a whole bunch this week. Star Trek: Discovery released a new trailer for Season 2 at New York Comic-Con and it introduces the new Spock. Aquaman had a 5 minute extended look released around the same time. "Forever" on Amazon Prime was a pleasant surprise starring Maya Rudolph. We round out the show with Lady Gaga's and Bradley Cooper's smash hit "A Star is Born" remake. Listen to hear us take in all the new and exciting media.

We discuss the Joaquin Phoenix "Joker" news as well as give a spoiler-free review of Netflix's "Maniac"These past few weeks have been pretty exciting in regards to geek news and at the top of that last for us has been the images and video released in regards to the new "Joker" film. We know that Joaquin Phoenix will be our new Joker and that he starts out as "Arthur". The film will be directed by Todd Phillips, the director of the Hangover Trilogy, but don't let that turn you off, lets give him the benefit of the doubt.We end the show with our review of Netflix's "Maniac" which had every episode directed by Cary Fukunaga. This show stared Emma Stone and Jonah Hill and gave a very interesting (yet respectful) look into mental illness and the lengths people will go to find relief.

We celebrate the 25th anniversary of The X-Files, discuss The Girl watching Star Trek, and talk #NerdGoals The day of this episode release is the 25th anniversary of The X-Files. It's absolutely insane that much time has passed and technically the show is still going on; for better or worse. We reminisce about our first memories of the show and how it was the first show we watched together from pilot to finale.Long time listeners will remember that The Girl is not the biggest Star Trek fan but lately it has been her idea to watch some Next Gen. Truly beautiful to behold. We round out the show with our "Nerd Goals". Nerdy things in life we haven't achieved yet or accomplished. Like doing the LOTR walking tour or watching all of AFI's top 100 movies.What are some of your nerd goals? 

We caught up on a lot of television and let you know if these shows are worth giving a shot. Ozark Season 2 with Jason Bateman and Laura Linney dropped this weekend on Netflix and Jack Ryan with John Krasinski from The Office dropped on Amazon Prime. Before that happened, Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams finished its run on HBO. We had to take off last week due to illness but that gave us the chance to catch up and explore all this television and a whole lot more.Take the time to listen to our spoiler-free review of each show. We also do a retro review of Dan Harmon's Community.

Why do we cry for imaginary people? Why does fiction stir our emotions? As nerds, we spend a lot of our personal time invested in people who aren't real. We watch lives unfold that have never been lived. We cry over the deaths of people who have never been born. Why?In this episode, we discuss the times we have been emotionally invested in fictional characters as well as how it can be a powerful stress reliever as well as an unhealthy substitute for life. This conversation takes a lot of twists and turns and you might not guess where it ends up.Have you ever found yourself emotionally invested in fictional characters? 

The Sir Patrick Stewart announced at Star Trek Las Vegas that he is reprising his role of Captain Picard The last time we saw Captain Jean-Luc Picard was in 2002 with Star Trek: Nemesis. That was the last time we visited the 24th century and ever since then, we've only gotten prequels in the franchise. This past weekend, it was announced that we are heading back to that era with old baldy himself: Picard. All that we know is that it will be set 20 years after Nemesis, Picard is no longer a captain, and the events of his life has changed him. Whatever that means.In this episode, we talk about our reactions to this news as well as this current revival culture that we're living in. What do you think of a new Picard series?

We got to see Mission Impossible: Fallout starring Tom Cruise on opening weekend and here is our review! In preparation for the release of Mission Impossible's sixth outing, we marathoned all of the previous ones (except for two because who needs that?). Sitting high at an unbelievable 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, Fallout was a hell of a thrill ride. But before you think we're just going to fawn over it like every single other outlet you've seen in the past week, think again. This movie was a lot of fun but there are some definite things to discuss in terms of cinematography, timing, and above all: runtime. ?What did you guys think of Mission Impossible: Fallout??

Harrison Ford had his 76th birthday recently and Nerd Nuptial wanted to celebrate.Ford was a big influence on both Tristan and The Girl's pop culture lives as well as media tastes. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Blade Runner, just to name a few. The man owned the box office in the 80s. This week they discuss how they grew up on his movies and what his performances mean to them.They start the show talking about Sharp Objects, It (2017), and A Quiet Place.

We discuss our experience seeing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play Star Wars: A New Hope Live This week Tristan and The Girl share their experience with seeing Star Wars with a live orchestra for the first time. Tristan fooled The Girl into thinking they were going to a work cocktail party and she was pleasantly surprised. They start the show with listener mail/reviews and discuss how the nerd community brings us together and exposes us to issues we wouldn't otherwise see.

What is the media you HAVE to have before you switch over to Airplane Mode? After taking two weeks off, Nerd Nuptial is back on the airwaves. Tristan was traveling and that screwed up the schedule. However, that did get both of them thinking about what you keep in your nerd wallet on an airplane.As we all know, you have to have your devices in Airplane Mode while in the air. So that means you have to download your books, movies, comics, music, and TV BEFORE that happens. Tristan and The Girl discuss what are the musts before a flight.What do you always have on you when you fly?

We do another "AMA" and talk desert island movies, favorite books, and marriage challengesThis is our one-hundrenth episode! We are so excited to bring you this episode, not only because our listeners are fantastic and made this possible, but because we also get to answer your questions.This is our second "Ask Me Anything" session. You submitted the questions and we answered. We talk about many things including how life has changed now that we're parents, what our "nerd-cation" would be, and what challenges our marriage has faced.We start the episode with our reactions to Arrested Development Season 5 and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4.

Our review of Disney owned Lucasfilm's second standalone "Solo: A Star Wars Story" After Disney bought Lucasfilm, everyone was scared that we were going to get some watered down versions of that galaxy far far away. That didn't happen right away, we got divisive films but definitely watered down. Once Rogue One dropped, people saw the callbacks as just that, callbacks. A love letter to the fans saying "we paid attention". After Solo came about and there was even more callbacks as well as connectivity, the Disney influence was made clear with a Marvel model of connectivity. After a disappointing box office weekend, people are speculating if it was because of the fan rage after The Last Jedi or because this is a story that nobody asked for. Was this our First Avenger or our Ant-Man? Listen to find out what we think. 

The Merc with a Mouth is back along with our review of Deadpool 2 We loved the first Deadpool and so we were pretty sure that we were going to enjoy the sequel. Even though it took me (Tristan) a second watch to fully get on board, that was the case with this one. Cable was announced to be in the sequel even before the first film was over. Josh Brolin has been working hard this year with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Sicario 2 coming out later this year. He brings some gravitas to the Deadpool universe and while interesting, might be a little misplaced. If you like the first one then you'll love this one. If you didn't get onboard with Deadpool from the get-go, this won't change your mind. We start the show talking about our first CMX theater experience and how Deadpool was the best testing ground.

Riding High on Infinity War, We Talk Spoilers and the People Who Spoil We enjoyed Infinity War so much that we've been feeling a Marvel high even a week afterward. We did a review last week so we won't be doing that again but it did get us thinking about spoilers. Thankfully, neither one of us got spoiled with Avengers but we know a lot of people who did. What is it about people who do this on purpose? Also, where is the line? Are people too sensitive? Is it worse with our over-connected world? Listen as we swap stories and theories.What was the worst spoiler you ever heard?

Ten years of Marvel has lead us to Avengers: Infinity WarIf you haven't been living under a rock then you have heard about the latest Marvel installment in the MCU: Avengers: Infinity War. It has broken box office records by having the best weekend return ... ever. We saw it opening night and was on the edge of our seats the entire time. The opening of the show is spoiler free and then halfway through the episode, we hit spoiler territory. You will be warned so feel free to listen even if you haven't seen the film.What do you think of the latest Avengers? Where is it on your MCU list?

Isle of Dogs, Lost in Space, and The Greatest Showman ReviewWe had the grand opportunity of finally being able to see Wes Anderson's "Isle of Dogs" now that it is in wide release. There were a lot of disappointed kids in the theater who thought they were going to see a happy go lucky minion-esque comedy. To be honest, that made it even funnier. No subterfuge, this was a great and beautiful film. Listen to our thoughts and to why we thought this was one of the director's better outings.We open the show with our review of Netflix's "Lost in Space" reboot and "The Greatest Showman" on home release.