August 2019

LEGO DC: Batman – Family Matters

  • Title: LEGO DC: Batman – Family Matters
  • IMDb: link

LEGO DC: Batman - Family Matters DVD reviewThe latest LEGO DC straight-to-video offers two storylines intertwined by the common theme of family. The more interesting of the two centers around the sudden appearance of the Red Hood (Jason Spisak) who picks off the Bat-Family one-by-one while enlisting the help of several other Bat-Villains including the Penguin (Tom Kenny), Riddler (André Sogliuzzo), Killer Croc (Nolan North), and Scarecrow (Steve Blum). Less deadly in LEGO form, the Red Hood still works fairly well as DC LEGO takes more family-friendly approach to the former Robin becoming a super-villain.

The other storyline involves Batman (Troy Baker) growing weary of being Bruce Wayne and deciding to sell off the company whose new invention Brother Eye falls into the hands of Two-Face (Christian Lanz) and becomes a problem the Bat-Family, with the Red Hood’s help, will need to solve. Just as Jason Todd will reconsider his revenge and reclaim a role within the Bat-Family, Batman will reconsider the importance of his alter-ego to Gotham City.

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Guilty Pleasure – Coyote Ugly

  • Title: Coyote Ugly
  • IMDb: link

Coyote Ugly DVD reviewThrowback Thursday takes us back to… wait, has it really been 19 years? Piper Perabo stars in 2000’s Coyote Ugly as aspiring songwriter Violet Sanford who leaves the comfort of her sleepy New Jersey suburb to move to New York City and become a singing barmaid at a trendy bar known for its attractive waitresses dancing on the bar.

While not what one would call objectively good (sappy and predictable are both apt descriptions), the movie does work as a guilty pleasure mostly for Perabo’s lead performance, the high energy from her often scantily-clad co-stars (Izabella Miko, Bridget Moynahan, Tyra Banks), and the film’s soundtrack sporting four songs written by Diane Warren (which proved more successful than the film itself).

The larger supporting cast includes Maria Bello as the bar’s gruff owner with a heart of gold, Adam Garcia as Violet’s love interest (who is thrown together with Violet in a sickeningly-sweet meet-cute), and John Goodman as Violet’s disapproving father, both of her move to New York and how she spends her nights.

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Batman Beyond – Dead Man’s Hand

  • Title: Batman Beyond – Dead Man’s Hand
  • wiki: link

“One night always makes a difference.”

Batman Beyond - Dead Man's Hand TV review

Today’s Throwback Thursday takes us back to the future for another episode of Batman Beyond. During a break with Dana (Lauren Tom), Terry (Will Friedle) meets Melanie Walker (Olivia d’Abo), a new girl in town. The two make an instant connection and seem to understand what each is going through. At the same time a new Royal Flush Gang arrives in Gotham City led by a King (George Lazenby) with a grudge to settle against Batman for breaking up an earlier version of the family years before. The reason Melanie understands Terry so well is that she too spends nights in spandex under the gruff leadership of an older, driven man.

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Ghost-Spider #1

Ghost-Spider #1 comic reviewWhile not quite as quick-witted as the final issues of Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider, the new series centered around Spider-Gwen leaving her own dimension to come to college and fight crime in New York gets a solid opening. If the first issue is any indication, it looks like the comic will split time between Gwen exploring her new home and events back in her dimension (which may eventually effect her new life).

Spider-Man guest-stars here playing the older brother, helping Gwen get into college, and offering a friendly shoulder when she needs it. However, unlike his appearance in the final issue of the previous series (where the comic had fun with his life being nearly as screwed up as Gwen’s) here Peter is a bit more in control and recast in more mentor than friend. (And the giant rat, while funny, is no swarm of Nazi dinosaur bees.)

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