Alan Rapp

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #9

/ / Comics

The recently salvaged pirate ship of Captain Black Jack Paddywhack which was shipwrecked in 1764 along with a treasure map to the pirate’s stash of gold brings out Mystery, Inc., various treasure hunters, and the Riddler. Oh, the ghost of Black Jack Paddywhack shows up as well to scare off all but the most determined of the treasure hunters, forcing Scooby and the gang to team with the villain to try and find the treasure and solve the mystery by deciphering a list of clues and riddles.

Batman only makes a cameo at the end to take the Riddler into custody, while leaving Scooby and the gang working with the super-villain for most of the issue in an unexpected twist. Daphne is able to discover the source of the ghost while Velma uncovers the trick the Riddler has played on them all, but in the end it takes all of them to find the treasure.

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Nightmare Alley

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Nightmare Alley
  • IMDb: link

Adapting the 1946 novel of the same name, Nightmare Alley is more about con men than monsters (which is usually writer/director Guillermo del Toro‘s wheelhouse). The film is split into two halves, the first involving a man running from his past joining a carnival and learning secrets to start his own clairvoyance act. The second, takes place a couple of years later with Stanton (Bradley Cooper) and his wife (Rooney Mara) putting his skills to use in higher-class surroundings by taking advantage of more wealthy marks.

Think of Nightmare Alley as Guillermo del Toro’s attempt at a David Mamet movie filled with con men and grifters, murderers and thieves, all out for their own interests, with plenty of twists and double-crosses thrown in for good measure. The result, more from the limitations of the source material than his direction, are a bit mixed.

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The Flash – Armageddon, Part 4 & Part 5

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Flash – Armageddon, Part 4 & Part 5
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

The final two episodes of “Armageddon” deal with the real villain of the arc which, to no one’s surprise, is revealed to be Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh). In “Part 4,” Barry (Grant Gustin) finds himself trapped in a timeline where he is the Reverse-Flash and Thawne has stolen his life. “Part 5” involve deciding what to do with the villain after time is rest by the Flash destroying the Earth in one timeline, thus confirming Despero‘s (Tony Curran) vision of the future.

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Found

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

Found, the documentary from Amanda Lipitz, introduces us to three American teenagers born in China, given up for adoption, and raised in the United States. Finding each other after genetic testing at 23andMe, which links them all as blood-related cousins, the three young woman connect with each other first visually and then in person when they travel to China in hopes of finding answers about their family history.

The documentary plays on themes of connection, discovery, friendship and family as we get to know a little of each of the three girls separately before putting them together on their journey to China. While the three girls aren’t the only ones Lipitz followed for the documentary, their combined story allows the director to capture their shared, but still deeply personal, journey as the search for answers (even if the film occasionally plays on the timing of revelations for a more cinematic experience).

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Alex Rider – Serpent

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Alex Rider – Serpent
  • IMDb: link

In order to follow the lead given him by the mysterious hacker, Alex (Otto Farrant) takes the place of the world’s best players of the Feathered Serpent video game, the only one of the world’s best players who hasn’t RSVP’d for  Damian Cray‘s (Toby Stephens) release party of the sequel. What Alex doesn’t realize is just how crazy Cray is and whose identity he’s assuming (which turns out to be that of an old friend). The episode is most notable for Alex playing the game in VR environment with the madman constantly raising the stakes and danger as the cocky teenager continues to out-perform his expectations. While somewhat goofy on-screen, the segment works and allows Alex to get close enough for what he’s come for.

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