November 2017

A Ghost Story

  • Title: A Ghost Story
  • IMDb: link

A Ghost Story movie reviewWriter/director David Lowery offers up an unusual ghost story focused on loss and longing. We open with Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara as a loving couple never referred to by name. After tragedy strikes, he returns from the grave in the form of a traditional ghost (complete with a white sheet from the morgue and two black eye-holes). Silent and unseen, our ghost watches life move on without him as he can only occasionally have minimal effect on his environment.

The film is mostly silent, other than for a few flashback scenes where the actors attempt to out-mumble each other and later dialogue by other occupants of the house. We never get a sense of just how much the ghost knows or understands. He is searching for something, but how much of his life does he remember? Is it a feeling? A distinct memory? Or more? Presented from the ghost’s point-of-view, A Ghost Story is far more than a traditional haunted house tale. That alone makes it worth a look, although I can see it annoying some viewers.

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Darth Vader #8

Darth Vader #8 comic reviewSometimes it’s hard to be a Dark Lord of the Sith (especially after you’ve murdered most of your friends, choked out your wife, and had your best friend cut off your legs and leave you to burn in a pool of lava… okay, that last one he probably deserved).

Darth Vader #8 picks up with a bored Darth Vader getting the chance to stop terrorizing Imperial officers and direct his attention elsewhere. While the arc also focuses a bit more on the Emperor‘s Inquisitors, we don’t see much of them here as the two halves of the story are split between Vader and Jedi Master Jocasta Nu who returns to the Jedi Temple to safeguard hidden Jedi relics from the Sith.

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Legends of Tomorrow – Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4

  • Title: Legends of Tomorrow – Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4
  • wiki: link

Legends of Tomorrow - Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4 TV review

The four-part crossover concludes with the death of one of the Legends (helping the show write off the character of Firestorm which it never learned to use properly), the arrival of the other Legends (better late than never), and our heroes’ return to Earth-One for a final confrontation with the Earth-X invaders. Keeping half the Legends in reserve until the final episode does help boost our heroes numbers in the final episode, but is a disservice to Ray (Brandon Routh) who, given his tenure in the Arrowverse, certainly draws the shortest straw this time around. The death of Stein (Victor Garber) is hardly surprising, but how he is kept alive from his critical wounds at the beginning of the episode, and his sacrifice, both work well.

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The Flash – Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3

  • Title: The Flash – Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3
  • wiki: link

The Flash - Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3 TV review

Things are looking pretty bleak for our heroes at the beginning of “Part 3” (and aren’t a whole hell of a lot better by the end). Most of our leads are captured and imprisoned on Earth-X, the Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh) is preparing to carve out Supergirl‘s (Melissa Benoist) heart, and Cisco (Carlos Valdes), Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), and the Arrow B-team are trapped in the particle accelerator. Enter Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller). Well, a new version at least (complete with his comic book trademark glasses the previous Earth-One Cold was too cool to wear). We also get a new hero in the Ray (Russell Tovey), a grizzled General Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan), and a last-ditch plan for our heroes to make it back to their Earth before it is too late.

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