Alan Rapp

Eddie and the Cruisers Double Feature

  • Title: Eddie and the Cruisers / Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link

“I want to be remembered for the music or not at all.”

Eddie and the Cruisers Double FeatureReleased in 1983 Eddie and the Cruisers was a box office bomb despite a hit soundtrack that got the film a second theatrical release the following year. A rock and roll mystery, the film told the story of frontman Eddie Wilson (Michael Paré) through flashbacks and interviews with the other members of the band (primarily the keyboard player played by Tom Berenger) by a reporter (Ellen Barkin) hot on the story of the band’s missing second album and questions as to what really happened to Eddie Wilson. Despite it’s lack of response from both theatrical audiences and critics the movie has become a cult hit that even spawned a sequel in 1989.

Where the first film focused on the fallout of Eddie’s disapperance to those he left behind, Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! picks up the threads of the first film finding Eddie Wilson alive in Canada pushed to give music a second chance thanks to the release of the Cruisers lost “A Season in Hell” and an Eddie Lives! campaign by the studio that ruined his life.

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Once Upon a Time – Sympathy for the De Vil

  • Title: Once Upon a Time – Sympathy for the De Vil
  • wiki: link

Once Upon a Time - Sympathy for the De Vil

The last of the three new mid-season villains gets her own episode as “Sympathy for the De Vil” explores the past of Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit) and her past with the Author (Patrick Fischler) which helps Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) move one step closer to seeing his plan come to fruition. By the end of the episode one character will be saved, one will be dead, and Emma (Jennifer Morrison, who from the looks of things spent her time between takes sniffing large amounts of glue) will have taken a large step on a dark path the season has been teasing us about for several episodes.

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Astro City #22

Astro City #22The latest issue of Astro City offers readers a brief look back at the life of the cosmic hero Starfighter near the end of his career. Touching more on his life outside of the tights than inside (as is the comic’s long-running custom) Astro City #22 offers a beautiful character study of a man who found love on an alien world and a purpose through the use of scrolling mysterious symbols unlocking knowledge and power to allow him to play the hero on Earth and throughout space for decades.

Jesús Merino steps in seamlessly to provide the art for an issue that looks and feels very much like any other in the current run of the series.

As with most of these one-off stories writer Kurt Busiek creates a beautiful tale that leaves us wanting more. From the man’s life as a cosmic hero, a very John Carter-ish father and husband on an alien world, to life on Earth as a sci-fi author, there are many facets to Starfighter I certainly wouldn’t mind be explored more in future issues. Worth a look.

[Vertigo, $3.99]

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First Look – Batman V. Superman

  • Title: Batman V. Superman
  • IMDb: link

Leaked online last week, we now have an official clean-up version of the first teaser for next year’s court case, I mean super-hero flick, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck star as the Man of Steel and Dark Knight Detective who will be pitted against each other in the upcoming film. Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, and Gal Gadot also star. Zack Snyder‘s film opens in theaters on March 25, 2016.

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Scandal – I’m Just a Bill

  • Title: Scandal – I’m Just a Bill
  • wiki: link

Scandal - I'm Just a Bill

Rowan‘s (Joe Morton) return sets up the season’s final three episodes as Olivia‘s (Kerry Washington) father gives the D.C. fixer 48 hours to stop her friends from dragging the secrets of B613 to light… or else. Choosing justice over loyalty, to her estranged father or to the man she loves (who will be implicated should the secret organization be revealed), Olivia chooses truth which will cost one supporting cast member their life and reveal the season’s worst kept secret about which new recurring character is actually one of Rowan’s men.

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