Alan Rapp

Take Two – Taken

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Take Two – Taken
  • wiki: link

Take Two - Taken television review

Sam (Rachel Bilson) and Eddie’s (Eddie Cibrian) vastly different histories with a night club owner create conflict when they accept the case to find the club’s missing DJ (who turns out to be the mobster’s illegitimate son). The case includes your usual amount of twist and turns, giving mystery a very Castle-esque feel (even if the dialogue and character interactions fail to measure up), before the pair recover the missing DJ and uncover the identity and motive of the kidnapper. The episode also offers more interaction between the assistants as Berto (Xavier de Guzman) and Monica (Alice Lee) try unsuccessfully to pump each other for information about their bosses’ secrets. I think there’s something worth tapping here, but it’s still a bit unclear just big a part of the show these two will be. There’s also some team building between the partners and Bilson in a ridiculous pizza costume in a subplot that would only make sense pre-Internet.

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Captain America #1

/ / Comics

Captain America #1 comic reviewIf my math is right, this is the eighth relaunch of a Captain America title in the last 10 years. The latest finds a country broken and divided thanks to Hydra’s recent takeover. It’s not spelled out here exactly how Steve Rogers isn’t responsible for being a Hydra agent, etc. (but, as no evidence is presented to the contrary, I’m just going to assume that some Web-Head made another deal with Mephisto). While setting up a new threat in Russia, most of the comic deals with Captain America and the Winter Soldier fighting the tail end of a battle in Washington D.C. by taking down some shitty wannabes idolizing an evil shittier original character.

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A Nero Wolfe Mystery – The Doorbell Rang

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: A Nero Wolfe Mystery – The Doorbell Rang
  • IMDb: link

“Does she lie?”
“Certainly.”

A Nero Wolfe Mystery - The Doorbell Rang TV review

Today’s Throwback Tuesday post takes us back to the mid 20th Century New York and the private detective offices located at 454 W. 35th Street. Adapted from Rex Stout‘s original mysteries, A Nero Wolfe Mystery ran for two seasons on A&E. With a small set cast and recurring actors filling in various different roles from week to week, it quickly became one the highest rated and most critically acclaimed series on the cable network. The first episode of the series, adapted Stout’s novel The Doorbell Rang, finds Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) hired by Mrs. Rachel Bruner (Debra Monk) who offers the detective an exorbitant amount of money to pressure the FBI from any further harassment. Over the course of the investigation, Wolfe’s legman Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton) would uncover a recent murder which may or may not involve the FBI and will allow Wolfe to fulfill the obligations of his contract and close an unsolved case for the New York Police Department as well.

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The Death of Stalin

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Death of Stalin
  • IMDb: link

The Death of Stalin DVD review

Very often, comedy comes from tragedy. The Death of Stalin is an unusual film. The political satire set during the days immediately before and after Joseph Stalin‘s (Adrian McLoughlin) death in Russia, the film follows the infighting and backstabbing among Stalin’s most loyal subordinates who maneuver to control Russia following the party leader’s death.

Rather than assemble a Russian cast, director Armando Iannucci brings together a group of primarily English and American actors (including Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, and Michael Palin), allowing each to perform in his natural accent. The result only increases the absurdity of the proceedings which is counter-balanced by the darkness of Stalin’s policies.

While being one of my favorite forms of comedy, satire is hard which is the reason so few are made compared to the glut of physical and romantic comedies. Part satire, part political drama, and part farce, The Death of Stalin is an amazing and improbable piece of filmmaking that must be seen to be believed.

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The Death of Stalin Read More »