November 2013

Blue is the Warmest Color

  • Title: La vie d’Adèle
  • IMDB: link

Blue is the Warmest ColourAdapted from the graphic novel by Julie Maroh by writer/director Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue is the Warmest Color examines the sexual awakening of a French secondary-school student and the journey her first lesbian relationship will lead her on over the next few years.

In its best moments Keciche’s film captures the perfect mix of emotions between the young Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and the more experienced Emma (Léa Seydoux) creating a completely believable and natural love story where passions run extremely high but whose differences lead to problems down the line.

The film doesn’t immediately start with Adèle and Emma. Instead we get Adèle’s attempt at a heterosexual relationship with a cute young classmate (Salim Kechiouche). Feeling something missing, Adèle journeys into a gay bar with friends where she meets Emma for the first time.

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Glee – Puppet Master

  • Title: Glee – Puppet Master
  • wiki: link

“Did you really think I was too stupid to suspect that you would come back here under the cloak of darkness to claim your monstrous puppet bride?”

Glee - Puppet Master

Control issues are the common theme of “Puppet Master” as the School Board shows up for an inspection to judge Sue‘s (Jane Lynch) performance as principal and both Blaine (Darren Criss) and Kurt (Chris Colfer)  have trouble getting the other members of their respective muscial families to listen to their “brilliant” ideas. Blaine’s psychotic break (caused by a gas leak in the choir room which leads him to daydream living puppets of the Glee Club are singing and talking to him) leads to a performance of Queen‘s “You’re My Best Friend” and leads to the creation of his own Kurt puppet (which Sue quickly confiscates).

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Daredevil #33

Daredevil #33Daredevil‘s unusual adventure in the South continues as he finds himself shot by locals who take him for one of the monsters and then saved by the Legion of Monsters, repaying his earlier attempt to save them from a lynch mob in the last issue. However, the hero finds himself in a stand-off with the group who attack him again once they realize the dangerous information he’s after.

After coming to an understanding with the group, and finally armed with the knowledge of what the Darkhold is, Daredevil sets out to confront Lucien Sinclair, a local wizard of the Sons of the Serpent with pages from the magical totem which could cause serious problems for everyone involved (and which it appears Daredevil has his own plans).

Like the last issue, Daredevil #33 is weird and goofy adventure but I thought the humor worked better this time around. Daredevil’s right of passage to get to Sinclair works well, as does the panel showing the pissed off hero finally confronting the wizard. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

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Batman and Two-Face #25

Batman and Two-Face #25“The Big Burn” continues as Two-Face prepares to go to war with the entire city to get his hands on Erin McKillen for the murder of his wife and the acid facial that changed Harvey Dent’s life forever. Both the current storyline and the flashbacks deal with McKillen’s escape from custody, although this time around she’s got the help of Matches Malone.

The layout of the issue as it jumps willy-nilly from current to past events (all which concern the same characters and situations) isn’t as well-handled as I like. More than once while reading the issue I mistook panels for one part of the story which were actually related an entirely different series of events. That’s a problem.

On the plus-side we do get an appearance by Matches (which means the character, and Batman’s use of his identity, is part of the New 52). Despite the promise the issue will have big revelations about Carrie Kelley (which I believe I’ve already guessed) the character fails to make even a cameo here. Given the false advertising and confusing storytelling this one is very much Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $3.99]

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