2.5 Razors

Transcendence

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Transcendence
  • IMDB: link

TranscendenceThe question about Transcendence isn’t if its eventual flaws will eventually cause you to lose interest but when. I’ll admit I was surprised, despite the ridiculous nature of what screenwriter Jack Paglen‘s script considers science, that by relying on some intriguing ideas and a solid cast the film kept me interested far longer than I expected. Of course that was before the movie went completely off the rails and crashed in a hideous and head-scratching mess.

Putting human intelligence in a machine is hardly anything new. Well before the invention of computers and the Internet sci-fi and horror authors were playing on the idea. The premise Paglen begins with is sound enough as several of the leaders in artificial intelligence are attacked by an a quasi-religous, sorta anti-technology (but not really) terrorist group. Although Will Caster (Johnny Depp) survives the initial attack, with only months left to live his wife (Rebecca Hall) and best friend (Paul Bettany) use their combined research to create an artificial intelligence out of his mind.

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Daredevil #1.50

/ / Comics

Daredevil #1.50Feeling more than a little unnecessary and out of place for a comic that just relaunched with a brand new issue last month, and feeling more like an annual or special than part of the ongoing continuity, the over-sized Daredevil #1.50 is 50th Anniversary celebration of the character which takes a look forward rather than back with what Mark Waid has in mind for the character going forward.

Split into three separate tales, each of which take place years in Matt Murdock’s future introduces us to Matt Murdock‘s son Jack and the villain Jubula Pride who turns most of the city of San Francisco in order to push Daredevil out of retirement to confront a villain who he, but not the reader, knows all too well.

Featuring back-up stories of Murdock’s wife by Brian Michael Bendis by and artist Alex Maleev and wacky fake twin storyline in homage to the character’s goofier period by writer/artist Karl Kesel, Daredevil #1.50 is a curiosity more than anything else offering a glimpse of what Waid might do with the character given no constraints and several decades. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel, $4.99]

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All-New X-Men #25

/ / Comics

All-New X-Men #25The “monumental” 25th issue of All-New X-Men feels much more like a forgettable annual rather than an important issue of an ongoing comic. Centered around the Beast‘s conversations with an over-talkative Watcher, the framework is a relatively weak excuse to bring in a variety of artists to give takes on their version of various X-Men characters in the present and possible futures (including Magik as Sorceress Supreme) all put in jeopardy by McCoy’s decision to bring the younger versions of his friends into the present.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s some very nice artwork here (highlighted for me by Bruce Timm’s showcasing Jean Grey in her various forms), some of it quite funny, but as a fan of the original idea of The Watcher as a silent observer I’m less than satisfied with this verbose version that even goes so far as to insult the X-Man after speaking his mind. For such a momentous issue All New X-Men #25 can easily be skipped by those not willing to pay $5 for a story that doesn’t do much of anything to further ongoing stories and whose absence won’t be felt going forward if you choose not to read it. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel, $4.99]

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The Blacklist – Milton Bobbit

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Blacklist – Milton Bobbit
  • wiki: link

The Blacklist - Milton Bobbit

While Reddington (James Spader) sends the FBI after another member of The Blacklist who turns mentally-unstable terminally-ill patients into contract killers, he and Lizzie (Megan Boone) also begin investigating Tom (Ryan Eggold). As the villain of the week the over-the-top Milton Bobbit (Damian Young), complete with his own detachable nose and bizarre apartment, is one of the more ghoulish (but least interesting) so far in the show’s attempt to skirt the horror genre as it has from time to time over the course of its First Season. Eventually finding a connection between how he chooses his assassins leads the FBI to their killer who is even less interesting once we learn his bizarre practice of unusual assassination is all for the singular purpose of revenge.

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2004 – Walking Tall

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Walking Tall (2004)
  • IMDB: link

Walking TallOn this date ten years ago Dwayne “It’s Okay to Call Me The Rock Again” Johnson‘s remake of 1973’s Walking Tall hit theaters. Loosely based on real events, the simple premise finds war hero Chris Vaughn (The Rock) return home to find his home town at the mercy of an unscrupulous businessman (Neal McDonough) and old high school rival who keeps a stranglehold on the small Washington town with a shady business dealings and rigged casino.

Discovering the man’s total disrespect for the law, and after being assaulted and almost killed by the man’s hired thugs, Vaughn finds no help from the local police which causes the former Army Special Forces ass-kicker to bust-up the casino with only his fists and a two-by-four before running for office on the platform of cleaning up the town.

Along for the ride the film casts Johnny Knoxville in the role of comic relief as Vaughn’s idiot best-friend and Ashley Scott as a childhood friend turned stripper turned love interest.

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