2.5 Razors

Lemon

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Lemon
  • IMDb: link

“I knew you were crazy. I thought it was good crazy. I liked it. I liked it a lot; I thought it was fun. Now I know you’re bad crazy.”

Lemon DVD reviewWriter/director Janicza Bravo‘s oddball dark comedy stars Brett Gelman as a thoroughly-unlikable and constantly-sullen actor and theater teacher with a blind girlfriend (Judy Greer) who wants nothing to do with him, an equally-pretentious prize student (Michael Cera sporting some insanely ridiculous hair) with whom he has a very unusual relationship, and a dysfunctional family (Fred Melamed, Rhea Perlman, Shiri Appleby, Martin Starr, Hannah Heller, and David Paymer).

It’s hard to root either for a man lacking all empathy or against such a sad sack who is little more than the butt of life’s series of jokes. Isaac’s misadventures include belittling a theater student (Gillian Jacobs), fretting about the state of his relationship, accidentally killing his friend’s birds, awkward attempts to woo a new love (Nia Long), and taking jobs as the face of sexually transmitted diseases. More than a little self-indulgent, every character and event in the movie pushes the oddball style past credulity highlighting either the humor or misery of its protagonist (often both at the same time), which makes it difficult to take either that seriously.

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Hawaii Five-0 – Kau ka ‘ōnohi ali’i i luna

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Hawaii Five-0 – Kau ka ‘ōnohi ali’i i luna
  • wiki: link

Hawaii Five-0 - Kau ka 'ōnohi ali'i i luna TV review

A cop, a police cadet, and a former head of the Yakuza walk into a bank. “Kau ka ‘ōnohi ali’i i luna” offers some unusual pairings as circumstances put Junior (Beulah Koale) and the recently-returned Adam Noshimuri (Ian Anthony Dale) as McGarrett‘s (Alex O’Loughlin) back-up after the police cadet notices something suspicious at a local bank. Heading into the bank during a robbery in progress, the threesome are too late to catch the robbers, who blow their way out through the vault, but as McGarrett follows underground the pair provide support topside.

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The Flash – When Harry Met Harry…

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Flash – When Harry Met Harry…
  • wiki: link

The Flash - When Harry Met Harry... television review

The title of the latest episode comes from the B-story as Harry (Tom Cavanagh) reaches out to other versions of himself across the Multiverse in order to aid in the search for the illusive villain DeVoe (Neil Sandilands). While it will eventually bring the Flash (Grant Gustin) face-to-face with the much-discussed character for the first time, neither the quirky versions of Wells nor Cisco‘s (Carlos Valdes) rousing friendship speech can save the groan-worthy sequences (which are given far too much screentime).

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Legends of Tomorrow – Return of the Mack

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Legends of Tomorrow – Return of the Mack
  • wiki: link

Legends of Tomorrow - Return of the Mack television review

There’s a moment when it’s revealed that Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) has kept a stake on-hand for years just on the off-chance that he runs into a a vampire that is nearly perfect. Sadly, the rest of the episode isn’t nearly as entertaining. It’s hard not to look at an episode like “Return of the Mack” and not see the series going two-steps backwards. Traveling to late 19th Century London to investigate an odd aberration which at first glance appears to be an a time-traveling vampire, the team encounters Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) on his own quest for a dangerous enemy known as Mallus. While initially choosing to work together, Hunter and the Legends part ways when Sara (Caity Lotz) refuses to allow a witch (Courtney Ford) to resurrect Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), under the Arrow logic of since it worked once let’s do the same thing again… and again… and again, while Rip wants to allow the ceremony to take place in order to draw out his real prey.

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Suburbicon

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

Suburbicon movie reviewI really wanted to like director George Clooney‘s Suburbicon. Sadly, the mix of dark comedy, murder, racial injustice, and social commentary flails about for far too much of its 104-minute running time without ever coming together. Clooney produces an only somewhat interesting film with admittedly intriguing pieces and strong performances, but sadly the film never really clicks.

The original script was written by the Coen Brothers years ago and Clooney and Grant Heslov are credited with changes. Suburbicon feels like a movie with four screenwriters as it struggles with a cohesive story and constant tone, often shifting violently one way or the next until the main plot ultimately kicks in.

Our story takes place in the all-white suburb of Suburbicon where the entire town is distraught over the arrival of the town’s first black family and far less interested in the horrific violence happening across the street to Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) and his family when two intruders break in and hold the family hostage. The fallout from that night, and the reveal of what’s really going on in Gardner’s life, provides most of the tension to follow.

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