September 2012

Scandal – The Complete First Season

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Scandal
  • tv.com: link

scandal-season-one-dvdCreated by Shonda Rhimes, Scandal stars Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, a former White House communications director turned professional fixer. Over the course of the season Oliva and her associates (Henry Ian Cusick, Darby Stanchfield, Columbus Short, Katie Lowes, Guillermo Díaz) will save the President’s Supreme Court nominee from a sex scandal (John Getz), defend a millionaire’s son (Michael Cassidy) accused of rape, try to save the wife of a South American dictator (José Zúñiga), and deal with a White House aide’s (Liza Weil) affair with the President of the United States (Tony Goldwyn).

The First Season also fills in Olivia’s past relationship with the President and the drama involving the mysterious disappearance of Amanda Tanner (Weil). Washington is terrific as the strong, decisive woman out for justice, and the show has several great supporting performances, my favorite being Joshua Malina as Olivia’s contentious frenemy US Attorney David Rosen.

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Romanticized Plagiarism

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Words
  • IMDB: link

the-words-posterIt’s like Inception but with all the fun, action, and humor taken out. The Words provides stories within stories within stories. After all, why settle on a single plot with one narrator, when three will do? The film by directing and screenwriting duo Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal certainly does its best to fill all the major roles with capable actors but somehow still comes off as a bland romance novel which never justifies its existence.

Dennis Quaid stars as Clay Hammond, a celebrated author who, as the film opens, is giving a dramatic reading of his latest novel. Clay’s narration introduces and concludes each of the passages as we find ourselves in a world of his imagination invoking yet another author and a story about yet another book.

Bradley Cooper stars as Rory Jansen, the main character in Clay’s novel, a struggling young author, with a wife (Zoe Saldana) who is obviously too good for him, who has finally hit the big time with his first best seller. The trouble is, Rory didn’t actually write the book that made him famous.

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Robot & Frank

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Robot & Frank
  • IMDB: link

robot-and-frank-posterRobot & Frank isn’t the kind of film that will surprise you. The story about a grump old ex-jewel thief with early onset Alzheimer’s who learns valuable lessons about life, friendship, and family is fairly predictable, and more than a little schmaltzy.

Frank Langella stars as Frank, a thief who spent the better part of his offspring’s childhood in prison creating a resentful son (James Marsden) and a loving absentee daughter (Liv Tyler). Unable to give his father the daily care he needs in the New York wilderness outside the small town, his son comes up with a solution – a personal robot.

Although initially resistant to the idea, Frank begins to soften to the robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) when Frank sees the potential to use his criminal past and the robot’s skills to resume his life of crime. As you might expect from a film like this, Frank begins to see the robot as more of a friend than a tool and the robot proves to be far more human than Frank, or the audience, is initially led to believe.

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Winter Soldier #9

/ / Comics

winter-soldier-9-coverBucky searches frantically for the Black Widow who has been kidnapped and reprogrammed by Soviet sleeper agent Leo Novokov into her former role as Russian assassin/classically trained ballerina. Of course all this leads to a big fight in the middle of a ballet performance between Bucky and Natasha, much to Novokov’s glee.

I’m not fully on board with the story arc that turns Natasha back into a brainwashed killer simply because it doesn’t go anywhere new and any fallout (such as the predictable bloody twist at the end) can be swept under the rug because Natasha isn’t responsible for any of her actions.

That said, even if I have problems with the concept, Brubaker’s execution is still well done. The comic does have a couple nice moments, my favorite being Bucky’s internal monologue as he squares off against Natasha and realizes how much she’s been holding back during their sparring sessions. Does a brainwashed Black Widow make for a dangerous adversary? Sure, but with the character currently involved in other Marvel titles I don’t see this arc having any immediate impact. For fans.

[Marvel, $2.99]

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White Collar – Ancient History

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: White Collar – Ancient History
  • wiki: link

white-collar-ancient-history

When Peter (Tim DeKay) uncovers a possible connection to a recent string of museum robberies and Neal’s (Matt Bomer) old friend Alex (Gloria Votsis) he asks Neal to suss out if she’s involved, which of course she is. While searching for the identity of the mastermind behind the crimes Peter and Mozzie (Willie Garson) become inexplicably trapped in Alex’s bathroom and Neal attempts to schmooze the truth from her downstairs.

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