March 2018

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #1

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #1 comic reviewThe new seven-issue mini-series from Dark Horse Comics starts not with our title character but with a chase through town, death, and a theft which will present a new mystery for Inspector Ishida and Miyamoto Usagi to solve. The introduction of Usagi and Ishida comes fairly late in this first issue, but it does help to begin frame the reasoning for a pair of murders and new policies from the Shogun to ferret out those with dangerous religious ideas.

Given the extended set-up, one thing we do learn is that Japan has begun to take a dim view of Christians within its borders. Just how much this theme will play into the investigation is yet to be seen.

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Are You Ready Player One for Pop Culture the Movie?

  • Title: Ready Player One
  • IMDb: link

Ready Player One movie reviewReady Player One is cotton candy, but it’s really good cotton candy. Based on Ernest Cline‘s 2011 book of the same name, the latest film from director Steven Spielberg takes us to the near future where life in the real world pales in comparison to the virtual reality of the OASIS where some go to play, some go to hide, and nearly all go to in order to avoid real life. Think of the OASIS as a virtual smorgasbord mashup of MMOs like World of Warcraft on steroids, mixed with every nostalgic 80s icon which can fit on a screen (and the film could get the rights for).

Following the death of the OASIS’ creator, there has been competition to decipher the clues left behind which promise the winner full control over the world’s most profitable enterprise. Our protagonist is lovable outsider Wade (Tye Sheridan) who goes by the handle Parzival. Not part of any clan, Parzival works with his best-friend Aech (Lena Waithe) to solve the riddles before the IOI corporation, led by the evil Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), can gain control of the OASIS.

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Legends of Tomorrow – I, Ava

  • Title: Legends of Tomorrow – I, Ava
  • wiki: link

Legends of Tomorrow - I, Ava TV review

The latest episode gets its title from the storyline of Gary (Adam Tsekhman) showing up looking for his missing boss and traveling with Sara (Caity Lotz) and Ray (Brandon Routh) to a forbidden time period where they learn something quite unexpected about Ava (Jes Macallan). Discovering the locked time period includes hundreds of Ava clones, Ava (who follows the group) turns out to be just as baffled by events as the Legends. With clones, actors hired to play Ava’s parents, and single year that doesn’t seem to make much sense blacklisted to all time travelers (did people the very next year simply forget?), there’s plenty of craziness going on. While I don’t doubt there is (at least some) reasoning for all this, the episode raises several questions about why Ava was plucked out the this time period, given fake memories and a fake family, and just why she is needed at the Time Bureau.

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