January 2021

The Hardy Boys – Of Freedom and Pleasure

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Hardy Boys – Of Freedom and Pleasure
  • wiki: link

The Hardy Boys - Of Freedom and Pleasure TV review

With each continuing to separately investigate different threads of the same mystery, the Hardy Boys hit the carnival in “Of Freedom and Pleasure” which offers the return of the Tall Man (Stephen R. Hart) and J.B. Cox (Atticus Mitchell). Frank (Rohan Campbell) gets a history lesson from the carnival’s psychic Anya Kowalski (Joan Gregson). Meanwhile, Joe (Alexander Elliot) discovers what the thief hid in his room, and even more importantly what was hidden inside the bust which somehow seems to improve Joe’s luck at carnival games and allow him to survive being pursued by the Tall Man. It’s only at the end of the episode that Joe and Frank come to realize they know things which could help the other, suggesting that we might finally see the Hardy Boys work together to solve the mystery about the odd artifact and how it relates to the murder of the boys’ mother.

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Firefly: Blue Sun Rising #1

/ / Comics

Firefly: Blue Sun Rising #1 comic reviewFirefly: Blue Sun Rising #1 concludes the Blue Sun arc that gave fans a look at the operations of the Blue Sun Corproation which was set-up in the television show’s original run but never fully developed. The arc, which takes place before the events of Serenity, also sets up the location of Haven as this issue marks the departure of Shepherd Book from Serenity as well of the temporary departure of several other members of the crew.

Despite not reading the issues prior, Firefly: Blue Sun Rising #1 is easy to follow as it sticks to the show’s standard set-up. The storyline involves Malcolm Reynolds and company picking a fight with Blue Sun. As the comic opens, Serenity is dead in space thanks to Blue Sun’s technology powering several of the ship’s systems. Only a quick fix allows for the survival of the ship and crew thanks to borrowing parts from one of the ship’s passengers.

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The Stand – Pocket Savior / Blank Pages

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Stand – Pocket Savior / Blank Pages
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

The Stand - Pocket Savior / Blank Pages television review

The second and third episodes of CBS’ new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand focus on introducing more of the novel’s long list of characters. Here we get musician Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo) who spends some time with the tragic Rita (Heather Graham) before continuing west on his own and coming across Nadine (Amber Heard) and Joe (Gordon Cormier). We also meet Lloyd Henreid (Nat Wolff) who is the first character we see approached and successfully recruited by Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård) for his community in Las Vegas and the deaf-mute Nick Andros (Henry Zaga) who refuses Flagg’s offer and becomes Mother Abagail‘s (Whoopi Goldberg) voice in Colorado. We also see the first meeting of Stu Redman (James Marsden) and Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) and Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young) on the road which doesn’t turn out as Stu planned, but he does make another acquaintance in Glen Bateman (Greg Kinnear).

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Bacurau

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Bacurau
  • IMDb: link

Bacurau Blu-ray reviewSet in the near future, the small Brazilian village of Bacurau suddenly disappears from maps, satellites, and cell towers not long after the death of the community’s matriarch and the return of another member of their community (Bárbara Colen). Far off the beaten path, no one outside the village seems to notice.

While already dealing with a water crisis caused by a crooked politician (Thardelly Lima), tensions begin to rise. As the community slowly becomes aware something is wrong, there is also an odd appearance by a UFO and attacks on both a water truck and at a nearby farm.

Without giving too much away, Bacurau centers around two groups – those in the village and a second group who is slowly revealed to be the cause of Bacurau’s recent problems. While the town looks to local heroes (Thomas Aquino and Silvero Pereira) to protect them, we learn about what the other group led by Udo Kier is after, ultimately leading to a climactic conflict in the village.

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MacGyver – Eclipse + USMC-1856707 + Step Potential + Chain Lock + Ma

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: MacGyver (2016) – Eclipse + USMC-1856707 + Step Potential + Chain Lock + Ma
  • wiki: link

MacGyver - Eclipse + USMC-1856707 + Step Potential + Chain Lock + Ma television review

When one of their own (Henry Ian Cusick) is kidnapped by Leland (Tobin Bell) and Ramon (Zach McGowan), Team MacGyver is blackmailed into breaking a murderous psychopath turned pacifist (Joe Pantoliano) out of prison to exchange. Pantoliano is fun here in an otherwise forgettable episode, although MacGyver (Lucas Till) creating a makeshift bazooka out of a telescope in the unrelated opening sequence is a highlight. Although Leland and their kidnapped prisoner both manage to escape (apparently not earning any animosity to the Phoenix Foundation from any other agency), a discovery of what Leland was ultimately after provides Team MacGyver with valuable information to halt a possible resurgence of Codex. Their time alone with the reformed killer offers MacGyver and Desi (Levy Tran) a chance to deal with the lingering issues for their stalled relationship.

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