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DC Comics Super Villains: The Joker’s Last Laugh

  • Title: DC Comics Super-Villains: Justice League Masterminds of Crime
  • wiki: link

DC Comics Super Villains: The Jokers Last LaughDC Comics Super Villains: The Jokers Last Laugh collects Joker-centric episodes from Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and the three-part “World’s Finest” cross-over from Superman: The Animated Series featuring Batman and Superman teaming up to take down the Joker and Lex Luthor.

Collected on two-discs, highlights include the first appearance of Mark Hamill as the Joker, and Harley Quinn spending some time away from Mr. J with her new gal-pal Poison Ivy and with the Dark Knight Detective.

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Allegiant

  • Title: Allegiant
  • IMDb: link

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AllegiantAfter learning their entire civilization is nothing more than a science experiment, first-half of the final book in the Divergent series follows Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Christina (Zoë Kravitz), and Peter (Miles Teller) over the wall, through the desolate wasteland and into an advanced city run by the Bureau of Genetic Welfare (which, you guessed it, turns out to be as equally corrupt as the society they fashioned in an attempt undo centuries of genetic manipulation).

Allegiant follows the same predicable patterns of the first two films, including a major supporting character’s death early on, before uniting the faction-less Chicago (which has broken into mob rule since learning the truth about the outside world) under a common purpose for next year’s series finale. While finally offering a reason for the bizarre society of single-characteristic factions, Allegiant still doesn’t make the premise any easier to swallow. Jeff Daniels (who I’m assuming must have a daughter who likes these books) is slumming it here as the leader of the genetic zealots behind the curtain.

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Super-Villains: Justice League Masterminds of Crime

  • Title: DC Comics Super-Villains: Justice League Masterminds of Crime
  • wiki: link

Super-Villains: Justice League Masterminds of CrimeDC Comics Super-Villains: Justice League Masterminds of Crime collects four two-part animated episodes and five single standalone episodes from Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Batman Beyond in this two-disc set.

The set includes the Justice League taking on Amazo and the android’s return to Earth, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, and the Martian Manhunter fighting Despero on his homeworld, Lex Luthor putting together a Secret Society of super-villains, Grodd forming the Legion of Doom, a future Justice League adventure from Batman Beyond, and – my favorite of the collection – an episode where the Flash and Lex Luthor’s brains are switched causing trouble for both the Justice League and the Legion of Doom.

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iZombie – The Complete Second Season

  • Title: iZombie – Season Two
  • wiki: link

iZombie - The Complete Second SeasoniZombie‘s Second Season continues the always entertaining misadventures of zombie assistant medical examiner Liv Moore (Rose McIver) eating brains, having visions, and helping to close unsolved murders. Ongoing stories include Liv and Major (Robert Buckley) giving their relationship a second chance, the search for tainted Utopium, and Blaine (David Anders) going from zombie and human and back again (and back again).

Highlights of Season Two include Major (Robert Buckley) reverting to a zombie and being outed as the Chaos killer, Liv on horny librarian, frat boy, and stripper brains, murder on a zombie television show, Liv thrown in prison, the return of Peyton (Aly Michalka), and the season finale where all hell breaks loose at Max Rager‘s big bash.

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The Finest Hours

  • Title: The Finest Hours
  • IMDb: link

The Finest HoursDespite being based on true events concerning the Coast Guard rescue of SS Pendleton, The Finest Hours feels every bit an exaggerated movie script. Over and over during the film, the small boat under the command of Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) completes such a litany of “impossible” tasks that their actions are actually undercut by the movie’s script. It also doesn’t help that every other person in the movie is a damn fool than other than Bernie or his fiance Meriam (Holliday Grainger) who at one point “teaches” a sailing community to leave their car lights on to help the sailors find the shore.

The script from screenwriters Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson also struggles with scale. Until Bernie and his men find the Pendleton we have no comparison between the small rescue boat and the sinking tanker. Even spending much of the film with the crew of the lost ship, a questionable decision which splits the focus of the film, The Finest Hours struggles with even the most basic aspects of storytelling.

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