Basic Instinct

  • Title: Basic Instinct
  • IMDb: link

It’s hard to describe how big director Paul Verhoeven‘s stylish neo-noir was when it hit theaters in 1992. Splitting audience and critics, the controversial erotic thriller cashed in big at the box office (providing a boom for the genre that was never quite duplicated, despite many imitators) while stirring up controversy for from both the left, for its depiction of a bisexual woman as a nymphomaniac serial killer, and right with the kind of explicit sexuality usually reserved for softcore porn shown late at night on Cinemax. The film made Sharon Stone a star moving her on to bigger and better projects including being the rare woman to headline a western in The Quick and the Dead and a supporting role in Casino both just three years later.

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Daredevil – Straight to Hell

  • Title: Daredevil: Born Again – Straight to Hell
  • wiki: link

“Straight to Hell” ends rather than concludes the first season revival of Daredevil. Using both Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) being at large and Matt Murdock‘s (Charlie Cox) heroically saving his life as an excuse, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) cracks down on the city giving him a chance to silent his detractors and impose his order on the city. Murdock escapes the hospital before the assassin (Arty Froushan) comes for him, and joins a (suddenly motivated) Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) on the streets. We also get the return of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) which, like the Punisher’s involvement, feels more like a setup to Season Two than a big moment in and of itself (although the pair’s snooping does lead to a revelation concerning the motive for Foggy‘s death).

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Batman #159

The Hush sequel (which is unfortunately being referred to as H2SH) continues here. Hush has returned and has put Batman in a situation to go to extraordinary lengths to save the life of the Joker (who after getting emergency treatment by Dr. Leslie Thompkins gets his own gurney in the Batcave). On the plus side, the story features Batman adorned with the classic Bat-Symbol (although sadly not the Bronze Age utility belt) and cameos aplenty (like the original) with Batgirl, Nightwing, the Riddler, and the Red Hood (back in the original helmet).

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Leverage: Redemption – The Scared Stiff Job

  • Title: Leverage: Redemption – The Scared Stiff Job
  • IMDb: link

In “The Scared Stiff Job” the crew tackles a greedy businessman (Sam Witwer) targeting dying patients offer cryonics which bankrupts the families they leave behind, and, when the bills can’t be paid, sells off the body parts for an even larger profit. The solution to their problem is a bit goofy, running a form of A Christmas Carol in attempting to make him believe he is waking up in the future to new owners of the business even less scrupulous than him. A bit of gaslighting later, and proving to his over-the-moon secretary he doesn’t care for her at all, and the team racks up another win for the little guy. The episode is similar to, although not as effective nor memorable as, “The First Contact Job.”

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G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero – Silent Missions (Spirit)

Honoring the original “Silent Interlude” issue from G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #21 from 1984, Image and Skybound are putting together a series of silent issue one-shots featuring different characters. G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero – Spirit #1 features Spirit and Freedom looking into mysterious disappearances in the forest which lead them to a Cobra (possibly Revanche?) factory in a cleared area in the middle of the woods.

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