Devil’s Reign #1

/ / Comics

Wilson Fisk has declared war on super-heroes. The new mini-series cross-over event gives us a pissed off former Kingpin taking on Daredevil and anyone else he can inflict harm upon as a means of revenge against the guardian of Hell’s Kitchen who he knows, but can’t prove, has messed with his mind. Using super-villains as agents of the law, the Mayor of New York is targeting heroes including Daredevil, Moon Knight, Spider-Man, other Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, and others. 

The idea of villains using politics to attack heroes isn’t a new one (most notably with DC’s Lex Luthor becoming President). By the end of the issue, Fisk has the heroes on the run as even to help pull New Yorkers out of burning buildings makes them a target for Fisk’s goon squad. The team’s solution… Tony Stark for Mayor? Um, okay?

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Silent Night

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Silent Night (2021)
  • IMDb: link

At the end of the world, we come together and celebrate with those we love. That’s the basic idea behind the dark comedy Silent Night which sees old friends reunite for Christmas as the whole world is slowly being enveloped in a deadly gas cloud. Governments have given up and have provided suicide pills for their citizens, to avoid the more painful death brought on by the gas (which, if the children are to believed, may either be caused by environmental factors or the Russians).

The hosts for the Christmas party are Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode) along with their twin boys (Hardy Griffin Davis and Gilby Griffin Davis) and younger son Art (Roman Griffin Davis) who is one of the few guests not so keen on mixing suicide and yuletide cheer. The other guest who is anti-pill is the younger wife (Lily-Rose Depp) of another member of the group (Sope Dirisu) who has recently discovered she is pregnant.

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The Big Leap – We Make Our Own Light

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Big Leap – We Make Our Own Light
  • IMDb: link

The Big Leap closes out the season with the long-awaited performance of Swan Lake, which despite the obstacles and drama (and some of the cast falling through a trap door on stage and getting lost during the live performance) comes off well. The finale plants several seeds to cultivate if the show would be renewed for a second season (cluing us in on which characters would likely come back). The Big Leap worked better than expected telling a self-contained story involves several characters who likely couldn’t be brought back including Piper Perabo who turns out to be the beating heart of the second-half of the season. I think anything more would offer only diminishing returns. That said, the season (and perhaps the series) goes out in style.

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Agnes

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Agnes
  • IMDb: link

Agnes is an odd film. Actually, it’s two odd films strung together loosely by a single thread, neither of which leaves the audience with any kind of resolution (although one could argue that’s the point of the second storyline). In some ways it’s the most frustrating film of 2021 as so much is wasted on a bi-polar tale that at times seems as lost as the nuns themselves.

The first-half of the film is a delightful exorcism plot of a priest (Ben Hall) who is facing damning charges of inappropriate behavior with children, but also with experience in the act of exorcism, but who doesn’t really believe in the rights or demons, and a neophyte (Jake Horowitz) who has not yet taken his vows, sent to a nunnery where Sister Agnes (Hayley McFarland) has shown signs of possession. We also get a defrocked priest (Chris Browning) turned sleazy celebrity for his work in the field, added to the mix when our overwhelmed priest turns to him for help.

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Batman #118

/ / Comics

After stopping a few of his foes from crashing a Bat-Villain themed party for the Billionaire’s Ball, Batman heads overseas where a number of Batman, Inc. heroes have been arrest for the murder of a super-villain called Abyss, a murder Batman believes they committed. The question is why?

Batman #118 ushers in a new creative team, a mystery for Batman outside of Gotham City, and, once he touches down in Badhnisia, a change into the Batman, Inc. costume for our Caped Crusader. I’ve got to say I’m happy to have the Bat-Symbol back on our hero, but the lack of trunks (plus the unnecessary seams) means we still are denied Batman’s classic look as DC seems incapable of providing more than half of a good costume for our hero. As for the mystery, it seems Batman may have an ally (of sorts) in… Lex Luthor?

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