Guilty Pleasure – Action Jackson

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Action Jackson
  • IMDB: link

Action Jackson1988’s attempt to turn Carl Weathers into an action star leading man fizzled with both audiences and critics making less money than Funny Farm, Short Circuit 2, or Ernest Saves Christmas. The premise of the film was to cast Weathers as the toughest cop in town (who we know is tough because various supporting members of the cast keep telling us that Jackson is such a bad ass).

The storyline involved Detroit Detective “Action” Jackson taking a second run at a powerful local businessman (Craig T. Nelson) Jackson knew, but was unable to tie, to the deaths of several union members who worked for the man’s company. When Dellaplane’s wife (Sharon Stone) comes forward to offer Jackson the proof he needs to take the man down, the auto magnate frames the cop for her murder forcing Jackson to rely on the help of Dellaplane’s heroin-addicted mistress (Vanity) and a hairdresser (Armelia McQueen), to prove his innocence and set things right.

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The Newsroom – One Step Too Many

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Newsroom – One Step Too Many
  • tv.com: link

The Newsroom - One Step Too Many

The highlights of “One Step Too Many” are a series of conversations and questionable choices among various members of the cast as the show also delivers the final piece of “Operation Genoa” in the taping of an interview from a retired general (Stephen Root) giving  the news byte Jerry Dantana (Hamish Linklater) needs to push the news story onto the air (although he certainly helps things along by editing the raw footage to get the on-air confirmation he desperately needs in order to stop a story he has chased for seven months from dying in a rundown meeting). Although the interview, Jerry’s impassioned argument for the story, and his choice to edit the tape are the big takeaways for the season’s arc, it’s the smaller conversations between various pairs of characters that carry the episode.

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Astro City #3

/ / Comics

Astro City #3Astro City #3 continues the story of Marella Cowper, a computer systems major who works secretly for the Honor Guard Emergency Contact Line. At the end of issue #2, Marella realized she had made the wrong call on a cry for help that had blown up into a full-scale war zone in a small village in Ecuador. Whereas last issue was Marella’s wild-eyed wonder at discovering the Contact Line and the time it took her to grow into her place in the system, this issue focuses on her attempts to rectify her mistake.

Astro City #3 plays very much on the themes of what it means to be a hero as a call center worker goes above and beyond to rectify a mistake that no one else is blaming her for. Using the door technology, Marella travels back and forth to Ecuador bringing supplies and volunteering at various aid stations, all while searching for the little girl whose call began her involvement in the crisis.

Although it may not be as good as Astro City #2 (which is easily one of the best comics I’ve read this year), it’s a joy to see a comic delve into this side of super-hero comics again. Must-read.

[DC, $3.99]

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Beware the Batman – Toxic

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Beware the Batman – Toxic
  • wiki: link

Beware the Batman - Toxic

The show introduces a second member of the Outsiders, although Katana (Sumalee Montano) doesn’t appear in this episode, as “Toxic” offers the origin story of Metamorpho (Adam Baldwin) – a security guard exposed to a dangerous experiment by Simon Stagg (Jeff Bennett) who didn’t want the man dating his daughter Sapphire (Emmanuelle Chriqui). I’ve never been the biggest fan of Metamorpho and thought it strange when Justice League an entire two-part episode to his origins a decade ago. We’re pretty much given the same treatment here as Batman (Anthony Ruivivar) is forced to deal with the out-of-control monster while attempting to find a cure.

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