2.5 Razors

The Blacklist – The Cyranoid

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Blacklist – The Cyranoid
  • wiki: link

The Blacklist - The Cyranoid television review

It’s been a couple of years since I sat down and watched and episode of The Blacklist. Honestly, I was a bit surprised it was still on. Built on deceptions, secrets, swerves, the battle of wills, and half-truths, the show long ago outlived the original plotline and has attempt to continue to morph in able to keep things going while struggling to still keep its storyline at least marginally plausible. “The Cyranoid” is good example at how ridiculous things have gotten. Mara Davi guest-stars as a stand-in for Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone who doesn’t appear on camera), an agent with a camera and microphone following Keen’s instructions which include proposing a partnership with Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers) and committing murder in the black site of the FBI. While primarily focused on the search for Keen, the episode also features an ongoing storyline about Raymond Reddington‘s (James Spader) fear the FBI is closing in on an asset who still has an important role to play in his larger byzantine schemes.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Faith

/ / Comics

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Faith comic reviewI’ll admit, I fell off a bit with my reading of rebooted Buffy and Angel comics with the whole Hellmouth crossover. I’ve picked up a bit here and there, and that’s what made me notice this new 40-page one-shot centered around Faith. The issue offers a glimpse of Faith prior to her introduction in Sunnydale but after she became noticed by the Watchers Council as a potential Slayer (Or became a Slayer? It’s confusing).

The mix of a rebooted universe where you are not sure how much history has carried over, the hit-and-miss schedule I’ve taken recently with the various comics, and not knowing exactly where the comic fits in to the overall timeline all added to my overall confusion here. The story is relatively simple, the Watchers are fucking with Faith, testing her in a movie theater against vampires, wiping her mind, and starting over.

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Superman & Lois – Heritage

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Superman & Lois – Heritage
  • wiki: link

Superman & Lois - Heritage television review

Two episodes in, it’s becoming pretty clear that the name of the show should be Superman & Lois & Jonathan & Jordan as the show continues to divide its focus to the various Kent family members. As expected, Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) becomes the more sullen of the two brothers after the family’s relocation and his trouble fitting in with the Smallville football team. Jordan‘s (Alex Garfin) momentary good humor about spending time with his dad and visiting the Fortress of Solitude is quickly dashed when his hologram grandfather suggests that he doesn’t have enough Kryptonian DNA to ever develop true powers. Holo Jor-El (Angus Macfadyen), what a jerk. (Also, did anyone else think it odd that somehow Jor-El was able to capture footage of Kal-El’s escape and Kryptonian’s destruction which, you know, he didn’t live through or have time to be able to program into a computer?) As for the Kents, I may be able to stomach one moody Kent sibling, but two is going to get tiresome rather quickly.

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The Equalizer – Judgment Day

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Equalizer (2021) – Judgment Day
  • IMDb: link

The Equalizer - Judgment Day television review

“Judgment Day” offers a convoluted storyline involving Team Equalizer hired by the defense attorney of an escaped convict (Joe Perrino) who was unjustly put in prison by a District Attorney who is now a judge (Amy Hohn) who has hired thugs out to kill anyone who might reveal her secret. Keeping an innocent man out of prison, and getting justice for the crimes he’s accused of, means working with both Detective Marcus Dante (Tory Kittles) and an Assistant District Attorney (Jennifer Ferrin). The episode’s B-story involves some teenage drama between Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) and a friend drifting apart which means more to Robyn (Queen Latifah) than her daughter. The B-story feels mostly like filler pulled from a afterschool special, albeit one without a point, while the main story proves to be the weakest of the show so far.

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On the Rocks

/ / Home Video
  • Title: On the Rocks
  • IMDb: link

On the Rocks movie reviewI’m a huge fan of Sofia Coppola, but On the Rocks is easily her weakest film to date. It doesn’t help that the repairing of Coppola with Bill Murray reminds us of the far superior Lost in Translation. For a writer/director that has most often looked to tackle stories from a dramatic point-of-view, On the Rocks‘s broader comedy is unexpected.

While Coppola was able to pull some terrific comic moments out of social commentary for The Bling Ring, the wacky adventures of a middle-aged woman (Rashida Jones) and her father (Murray) hoping to catch her husband (Marlon Wayans) having an affair sputters along not unlike the ridiculous sports car Murray’s character drives around New York City. Murray certainly provides some charm, and all of it is needed to save the film from completely floundering.

Jones is fine in the role of Laura, but the character is little more than her questionable insecurity. I wouldn’t go so far to call On the Rocks a bad film, but it’s average to the point of being completely unremarkable (something I wouldn’t have expected given the talent assembled here).

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