9 Movie Geeks You Just Have to Love ...

1. Steve Rogers in Captain America

Captain America is about a young boy in the 40s who wants to join the army to fight off Hitler, but he is not allowed as he is too scrawny and unhealthy. It is impossible not to love him as he struggles to compete with the other soldiers, and the movie is full of heartfelt moments such as when he outwits the other soldiers by unhooking the flag pole, or when he throws himself on what he thinks is an active grenade. A true hero is one who is brave and honorable, even when he so weak he cannot save himself, never mind the world--yet this king of movie geeks never stayed down or stopped trying. He is even sweet, polite and honest when he is turned into an ultra-strong super soldier, being prepared to die for his country all the way to the end (watch past the credits for the twist).

2. Hermione Granger in Harry Potter

Hermione is the female star of the Harry Potter series, and the classic girl geek counterpart to the male geeks in the movies. It is a story of a young boy and his magical friends. The same young boy who can defeat the greatest evil the magical world has ever known, but somehow cannot cure his own myopia. It is hard not to love the geeky Hermione throughout the series, even as you watch her grow up through the movies. Hermione has to be one of the most bookish movie geeks ever!

3. Garth Algar in Wayne's World

Socially awkward and disastrously inept with women, he is one of the most lovable movie geeks of all time. Wayne’s World is about a pair of misfit teens who start their own TV show in their basement and become minor celebrities. At this point, the adult world is forced upon them and they have to navigate it with smatterings of charm, teenage grit and old fashioned luck. Garth would love to stay out of the limelight if only life would let him. Try to stop yourself laughing when he tries to subdue one of his inventions--with a wooden mallet.

4. Shaun in Shaun of the Dead

Buttoned-down Shaun has to deal with the world coming to an end, when all he wants to do is get on with his life, get his girlfriend back and go to the pub with his best mate. Instead he has to deal with a gaggle of haphazard friends and an army of zombies. In a movie where Simon Pegg plays a carbon copy of modern movie geeks, and yet another straight-man to other peoples comedy, he is so full of innocent charm and sincerity that he is hard not to love.

5. Dr. Raymond Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler and Louis Tully in Ghostbusters

There are plenty of geeks in the movies that made the 1980s bearable. In this movie when two geeky nerds called Doctor Stantsz and Doctor Spengler discover a way to detect and trap ghosts. They are joined by a third smart mouthed parapsychologist but Bill Murray as Dr. Venkman never quite descends into the realm of geekdom. The geeky threesome is made with the addition of a client (and their future accountant) Louis. All three are comically geeky, nerdy, socially awkward and utterly loveable in every sense, with the possible exception of Doctor Spengler when he takes the bunny away from the baby.

6. Chekov in Star Trek (2009)

After seeing the new Star Trek 2 (2013) it is clear that JJ Abrams got very lucky when he made the fantastic first one, since he clearly could not repeat the performance. Yet, in both the first and second movie, it is the geeky Mr. Chekov who is the unsung hero. He is a fresh faced 17 year old nerd who has trouble signing into his console because of his accent, yet he saves Kirk and Sulu’s life in the first one, and Kirk and Scotty’s life in the second. His most lovable moment is the look on his face when he is told to wear the red shirt in the 2013 movie. It was a wink to the fans of the first movie, since people in red shirts are usually the first to die.

7. Scully in the X Files Movie

Since there are too few women on this list, it only seems fair to mention Scully in the X Files movies. Played by the FHM’s 2006 hottest women on the planet Gillian Anderson, she takes the role of the ever suffering hyper-intelligent skeptic, who likes to think before jumping to a conclusion. She is the thinking man’s pin up and loved by TV and movie geeks around the world. She becomes deeply embroiled in the conspiracy that her FBI partner Mulder is investigating, to the point of being abducted by the government and stashed in the Arctic Circle. Unlike many females in the movies, she is given credit for her great mind and loyalty, instead of credit for how quickly she can get down to her undies in a scene. Although, this movie is the first time you get to see Scully in something other than her usual buttoned down wardrobe or FBI suit.

8. Wikus Van Der Merwe in District 9

This movie was a shocking hit that came from nowhere, whilst was also riding on a very powerful social message. Wikus is everything that classic geeks in the movies often tend to be, but he has a geeky attitude that feels more organic to real life geeks. Wikus is nothing but a geek the entire way through, and at the beginning it even looks like he may be the bad guy, until he has to walk a mile in alien feet (not literally). At that point we begin to see how lovable this guy is by the fact he is not a soldier, or a superhero, and does not have the capacity to cope with all that is happening to him. He strikes a final lovable note near the end when he subtly makes contact with his distraught wife. When will there ever be a sequel for this epic movie?

9. Columbus in Zombieland

Poor Columbus tries to play by the rules, even though he is being led by the mad man Tallahassee, who is well played by Woody Harrelson. Jesse Eisenberg often plays movie geeks or nerds, and it is hard to feel one way or the other about him, until he meets a woman who is completely unsuitable for him. After getting his ass kicked repeatedly by the type of girl his mother warned him about, he slowly becomes the lovable geek we all knew he was in our heart of hearts.

That’s it – my list of movie geeks. Now, I know you are all going to have plenty to say on this. Who did you disagree with being included? Who should have been included? The floor is open – over to you!