July 2012

New Year’s Eve

/ / Home Video
  • Title: New Year’s Eve
  • IMDB: link

new-years-eve-blu-rayNew Year’s Eve follows the lives of an ensemble of New Yorkers, somehow each of whom find themselves in a series of cliched, sickeningly sweet entanglements or awkward situations that only bad screenwriters can dream up, in the hours leading up to Times Square’s biggest night.

The cast includes a single man (Tad Hamilton) with car trouble dreaming of the woman he met last New Year’s Eve,  a single mother (Sarah Jessica Parker) whose teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) wants to spend New Year’s Eve with a cute boy (Jake T. Austin) in Times Square, Robert De Niro as a man dying of cancer wanting to see the ball drop one last time and his doctor (Cary Elwes) and nurse (Halle Berry) who try to make his final hours comfortable, and a pair of couples (Seth Meyers, Jessica Biel and Til Schweiger, Sarah Paulson) jockeying to be the parents of the first born baby of the year.

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The Lone Ranger #7

/ / Comics

the-lone-ranger-vol-2-7-coverThe new arc “Native Ground” begins as the Lone Ranger seeks help for his severally injured friend and, through the use one of long flashback sequence (which takes up all but the opening page of the comic), Tonto‘s past is revealed. Alhough it means the masked man gets only a cameo here (the Lone Ranger appears in a total of one panel) I applaud writer Ande Parks’ choice to fill in Tonto’s backstory.

The first issue is little more than an introduction to Tonto and various members of his tribe and the foreshadowing of events that will shatter his peaceful life with his wife and son. We see the Indian as a respected leader of his people, one tired of war with the white man who wants only to live in peace for as long as possible.

Those who don’t mind picking up a comic where the title character barely makes an appearance should consider picking this issue up. I’m not sure there’s enough here to work for an entire arc, but there’s certainly enough to bring me back next month. Worth a look.

[Dynamite, $3.99]

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Magnum, P.I. – The Complete Second Season

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Magnum, P.I.
  • tv.com: link

magnum-pi-second-season-dvdThe Second Season of Magnum, P.I. includes what may be my favorite episode of the series – “Memories are Forever” which introduces the character of Michelle (Marta DuBois), Thomas Magnum’s (Tom Selleck) wife. Although Michelle would not make another appearance for five seasons her impact to the show is immeasurable.

Other highlights from Season Two include Magnum’s frustration when a suspicious woman shows interest in Higgins (John Hillerman), the arrival of Mad Buck Gibson (Darren McGavin), an old friend (Tyne Daly) from Vietnam on the trail of a dangerous story, a car accident that leaves Magnum with a gap in his memory and on the hook for murder, the introduction of (Kwan Hi Lim) as Police Lieutenant Yoshi Tanaka, an affair between Rick (Larry Manetti) and the wife (Nancy DeCarl) of Magnum’s latest client, and the rescue of a young friend (Ann Dusenberry) of Robin Masters which leads to some deadly serious problems for Magnum and his latest girlfriend (Mimi Rogers).

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To Rome with Love

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: To Rome with Love
  • IMDB: link

to-rome-with-love-posterThe latest from writer/director Woody Allen is a return to the absurdest formula from his earlier career that crafts a tale of Americans and Italians dealing with love, fame, passion, death, and dreams. Unlike most of the director’s films over the past two decades To Rome with Love is a true ensemble that grabs absurdity with both hands and runs full speed right into a brick wall, producing some glorious insanity and plenty of laughs.

Broken into four separate vignettes, which are not forced to intertwine in the film’s final act (as many Hollywood movies of this type often do), To Rome with Love focuses on the absurdity of love set against the beautiful backdrop of one of Europe’s grandest cities. Given its setting, the film will undoubtedly be compared to last year’s acclaimed Midnight in Paris, but in truth To Rome with Love is far closer to Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (although we sadly don’t get a sequence with Gene Wilder and a sheep).

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