June 2019

Yesterday

  • Title: Yesterday
  • IMDb: link

Yesterday movie reviewYesterday is a feel-good summer movie with a non-traditional leading man, an intriguing idea, and a terrific soundtrack. The film has everything it needs to succeed, but, despite being thoroughly entertaining for much of its running time, never reaches the heights it should given what it has to work with. Even enjoying Yesterday for what it is, it’s hard not to be at least a bit disappointed for what it might have been.

The set-up is simple. A struggling musician (Himesh Patel) wakes up to a world where only he remembers the Beatles. Remembering enough of their music to pass off some of their hits as his own, he finds fame and popularity for the first time while feeling the weight of his lie and the the ever-increasing pressure to continue to produce more and more of the band’s hits. Although it does corner our protagonist into only one likely outcome, leaving little room for surprises (other than one small twist involving the recurring appearance of a pair of ominous characters), when director Danny Boyle‘s film stays focused on Jack Malik’s (Patel) musical rise to stardom (and the humorous moments involved, such as trying to remember the lyrics to “Elanor Rigby“) the movie is everything you want for light summer viewing.

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Danger Man – The Brothers

  • Title: Danger Man – The Brothers
  • wiki: link

Danger Man - The Brothers television review

Our Throwback Thursday post takes us back into the Cold War spycraft of Danger Man. When an important diplomatic package is part of a downed plane’s cargo stolen by bandits, John Drake (Patrick McGoohan) heads to the coast of Sicily to find those responsible and retrieve the intelligence. Unable to directly contact the Morelli brothers (Ronald Fraser and Derren Nesbitt), Drake’s plan is to earn the confidence of a confederate by posing as a rich businessman in need of the documents for an impending deal. Helping the woman (Lisa Gastoni) escape from prison goes a long way to help sell Drake’s cover and earn enough trust for an introduction.

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Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Beast of Vargu comic reviewThe latest one-shot takes Hellboy to 1962 Romania where a series of sightings over the years, along with some recent disappearances, seem to point to some truth behind the legends of a monster tied to the Castle Vargu in the Carpathian Mountains. Any doubts Hellboy had to the legends are soon put to rest by the thorough butt-kicking he receives at the hands of the creature who is in fact devil-worshiper Costache Szilagy who returns from the pit every few years to murder and send more souls to Hell.

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Legion – Chapter 20

  • Title: Legion – Chapter 20
  • wiki: link

“Why don’t we have a time traveler?”

Legion - Chapter 20 television review

Legion opens its Third Season not with David (Dan Stevens) but with the introduction of a time traveler who we will come to know as Switch (Lauren Tsai). Going even more psychedelic and strange in the first 20 minutes, “Chapter 20” oddly becomes more linear once its storyline becomes less so as Switch travels back in time to save David’s life and the singular point-of-view splits from her to several other characters. Most of the first-half of the episode involves Switch following clues which lead to a hippie commune and an eventual meeting with David, a man she never completely trusts. The sudden attack by Division 3 on David’s compound not only leads to Switch traveling back in time in an attempt to save his life but also forces her to chose a side in a war that, until now, she didn’t even know existed.

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Usagi Yojimbo #1

Usagi Yojimbo #1 comic reviewAfter several years at Dark Horse Comics, Usagi Yojimbo finds a new home at IDW. Usagi Yojimbo #1 opens with the warrior Sasuké killing the demons of Mount Funai and being sent by the ghostly Lord Shoki to Kuroyama Mura where Miyamoto Usagi is enjoying a stage performance with similar themes. Usagi is in awe of the Bunraku puppeteers and their prowess, but as the final page foreshadows there is much more going on than meets the eye.

Fans of Usagi should enjoy the first issue as the rabbit ronin feels right at home. As fans have come to expect, the comic continues to offer tidbits of culture along with action, honor, and a bit of horror thrown in as well. Written and drawn by Stan Sakai, the issue is inked by Tom Luth offering us the first full-color Usagi story in quite some time.

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