Alan Rapp

Queen & Slim

  • Title: Queen & Slim
  • IMDb: link

Queen & Slim movie reviewWriter/director Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim examines how one night can change your life. Driving Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) home after their unsuccessful first date, Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) is pulled over by a racist cop looking for any excuse to escalate the situation. Two gunshots later, the pair are on the run relatively oblivious to how their story will spread across the country.

The film is built on the backs of Kaluuya and Turner-Smith whose unusual first date leads the to unexpected destinations including a family reunion, a city-wide protest in their honor, and a drive towards freedom. Slim’s even demanor is a nice match for Queen’s more fiery moments, and it’s where the pair come together that Queen & Slim ultimately succeeds.

Matsoukas provides a stylish racially-charged tale of fugitives on the run that does begin to drag on during its final half-hour. While the decisions the pair make after killing a cop in self-defense are questionable at best, the script focuses on their perspectives, and life experience, to make the best choices they can given other equally bad alternatives.

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Why Joker is the Most Overrated Movie of the Year

  • Title: Joker
  • IMDb: link

Joker movie reviewAlthough it has been phenomenally successful at the box office, writer/director Todd Phillips‘ film focused on the origins of the most famous Bat-villain has divided critics. Forgetting for a moment that attempting to rationalize and explain one of the most inexplicable characters ever created is a terrible, terrible idea doomed to failure, Phillips’ choices over the course of Joker leave much to be desired.

Stealing its plot from two different Martin Scorsese films (Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy) and adding a layer of DC Comics on top which acts more of a fuck you to fans than celebration of the character (purposely making claims that fly in the face of 80 years of comic writing), Phillips offers a script to explain the creation of the Joker. The movie isn’t a descent into madness, our lead character is already far gone by the time we meet him. Instead, Joker examines how a shitbag like our protagonist became the most famous villain in Gotham. And, in one of the film’s most troubling aspects, excuse that behavior by re-purposing the blame of the Joker’s actions on society itself. The Joker doesn’t kill people, society kills people.

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Supergirl – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One

  • Title: Supergirl – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One
  • wiki: link

Supergirl - Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One television review

Supergirl kicks off the crossover The CW has been building towards for years as an anti-matter wave is approaching all Earths, threatening to wipe out all of existence. The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) pulls heroes from various locations, bringing them to Supergirl‘s Earth-38 to make a stand. While the show’s current storyline’s are mentioned, most notably Lena (Katie McGrath) villain turn, the focus is on Crisis as all hands are on deck (even Lena) to find a way to evacuate the Earth should Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), White Canary (Caity Lotz), the Atom (Brandon Routh), Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), Mia (Katherine McNamara), Batwoman (Ruby Rose), and the Flash (Grant Gustin) fail.

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Comic Rack

Comic RackIt’s a new week so it must be time to talk about comics! Welcome back to the RazorFine Comic Rack boys and girls. Pull up a bean bag and take a seat at feet of the master as we offer you this quick list of all kinds of comic book goodness set to hit comic shops and bookstores this month from all your favorite publishers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Archie, Dynamite, IDW, Image Comics, and others.

This week includes Deadly Class, Detective Comics, Ghost Rider, Hellmouth, Rai, Robotech: Remix, Robyn Hood: Vigilante, Savage Sword of Conan, Superman, X-Force, Yondu, the first issues of Alien vs. Predator: Thicker Than Blood, Basketful of Heads, Criminal Macabre: The Big Bleed Out, Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child, Dejah Thoris, Doom 2099, Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides, Dying is Easy, Lucy Claire: Redemption, Marvel’s Avengers Iron Man, Red Mother, Spider-Man 2099, Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality, and the final issues of Age of Conan: Valeria, Doctor Mirage, and Star Wars: Target Vader.

Enjoy issue #288

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