January 2011

All Good Things

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: All Good Things
  • IMDB: link

Although the film is based on the real events surrounding the life of Robert Durst, the main problem with the screenplay by Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling is how ridiculous the events appear when recreated on film.

What starts as a love story and tense drama about a troubled son of a real estate broker devolves into a thriller. Then the thriller turns into the kind of cinematic disaster nobody wants on their resume. All Good Things may be based on a real story but it plays like bad fiction.

There’s something off about David Marks (Ryan Gosling) the first time we meet him, but that’s not enough to stop the charming Katie (Kirsten Dunst) from falling for him. Needled by his father’s (Frank Langella) disapproval David and Katie leave the tranquil health food store in Vermont so David can act as the bagman for the family business collecting cash from various seedy Times Square enterprises which the Marks famly owns.

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Batman: The Dark Knight #1

/ / Comics

I don’t know that we need another Bat-title, but as long as its not penned by Grant Morrison I’m not going to complain too loudly at Batman getting another monthly comic.

David Finch does double duty here as both writer and artist and I must say this isn’t a bad first issue. We get appearances by two classic Bat-villains as well as the introduction of a figure from Bruce Wayne’s past. I appreciated Finch’s decision to let us view Dawn Golden only through the eyes of the young Bruce before the death of his parents. Although the story centers the missing troubled young woman, who may have come to a gruesome end, the only relation we make to the character is the same one Batman does.

Finch does a good job of jumping Bruce back into the saddle of Batman but still showing some rust (such as his confrontation with Killer Croc in the dark alley). I don’t know that I’m ready for the “terrible ramifications” this story is meant to have on Batman’s life, but it’s a strong beginning. Worth a look.

[DC $3.99]

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Gotham City Sirens #18

/ / Comics

Selina Kyle knows Bruce Wayne is Batman. That’s a problem. But is it a big enough problem to justify wiping her memories surrounding Batman’s true identity from her mind?

The issue is really more about Zatanna and her struggle with the implications of changing someone’s memories, even for the greater good, than Catwoman herself. There’s also a B-story with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn trying to pry the truth from their friend while Talia al Ghul and Zatanna attempt to keep them away.

Although the outcome is cheapened a bit by a late twist (which sets up the conflict for next month’s issue), I actually really liked what writer Peter Calloway does here by wrapping the entire issue around a moral dilemma that has no easy answer. He also breathes some life into Zatanna who is much more vibrant her than in her own series.

While I’m not the biggest fan of how the issue uses Talia, at least it’s better than what Grant Morrison did with the character. This title has had some uneven stories lately but this one is worth a look.

[DC $2.99]

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The Trial of Captain America Begins

/ / Comics

The trial of Bucky Barnes begins here, and if this first issue is any indication most of the story is going to take place outside the courtroom.

The current Captain America only makes a brief appearance here as most of the issue deals with the recently Steve Rogers and the Falcon trying to track down the escaped Sin and dealing with the fallout of her leaked tape to try and discredit Bucky-Cap by claiming he was a willing soldier for her father, the Red Skull.

Far from a traditional super-hero story this issue, as fans of the title have come to expect from writer Ed Brubaker, this issue sets the tone for the next story arc well. I would have liked to have seen more of Bucky-Cap here, but the one scene we do get (the prison guards reacting to the news he’s a Nazi traitor) is one of the best sequences.

I thought the handling of the Winter Soldier’s past being disclosed to the public was pretty shoddy (not to mention rushed), now we’ll get to see if Brubaker can pull things back and give us the first big super-hero trial we’ve had in years.

[Marvel $3.99]

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