2 Razors

Bones – The Diamond in the Rough

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Bones – The Diamond in the Rough
  • tv.com: link

“You were a gigolo for 30 bucks an hour.”

Bones - The Diamond in the RoughAnd the season of increasingly quirky plotlines continues. (Seriously, I’m waiting for an episode that involves a ventriloquist dummy at this point.) In the latest episode Bones (David Boreanaz) and Booth (David Boreanaz) go undercover on dance competition reality-TV show to investigate the murder of a professional ballroom dancer just days before her audition. Sweets (John Francis Daley) is surprised and amused to learn Booth put himself through college as a dance instructor, making him the perfect choice for the case.

Suspects in the case include a rival dancer (Sarah Scott) and her overbearing mother (Marta DuBois), the victim’s dance partner (Dmitry Chaplin) and the victim’s replacement (Leslie Augustine). Meanwhile Wendell (Michael Grant Terry) asks Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) for help with removing the minerals and gems fused to the bones of the victim during its decay in the quarry where it was found. The problem turns out to be tricky, but the King of the Lab finds the solution which allows Wendell to discover the dancer was slowly poisoned over the course of a year.

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Hyde Park on Hudson

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Hyde Park on Hudson
  • IMDB: link

hyde-park-on-hudson-posterHyde Park on Hudson has two main focal points, which is at least one too many for a movie unsure of whether or not it wants to be taken seriously. The film examines both the relationship between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his distant cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley (Laura Linney) as well as the momentous meeting between the President and the King (Samuel West) and Queen (Olivia Colman) of England on the eve of World War II at Roosevelt’s childhood home in Hyde Park, New York.

Either would make for a fine focus of a small independent film, but attempting to do both simultaneously leaves Richard Nelson‘s script without a split focus that serves neither storyline. The result is a pet project that spirals completely out the control of director Roger Michell and ultimately fails to impress.

Murray is an odd choice for the role of FDR and one of the main obstacles with taking the story seriously. (Several over-the-top supporting performances don’t do the film any favors, either.)

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The Good Doctor

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Good Doctor
  • IMDB: link

good-doctor-dvdPeople who work in hospitals are the most awful human beings. I don’t think that’s the message screenwrieter John Enbom and director Lance Daly set out to make with The Good Doctor, but it’s the one constant theme of the entire film.

The troubles begin for first-year resident Dr. Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom), sporting a Matthew Broderick hairdo)  with a quarrelsome nurse (Taraji P. Henson) who is willing to threaten the life of a patient to prove her dominance. The ramification of her actions put him, not the nurse, in hot water with his superiors.

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Ted

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Ted
  • IMDB: link

ted-blu-raySeth MacFarlane‘s Ted is an interesting idea that runs out of steam well before the final credits start to roll. Mark Wahlberg stars as manchild John Bennett. As a lonely child John wished his teddy bear would come to life and be his best friend. After his wish was granted and the notoriety and celebrity of a talking child’s toy has worn down Mark continues to live with Ted (MacFarlane) almost 30 years later, much to the displeasure of John’s current girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis).

For all the uniqueness of crafting a story centered around a walking, talking teddy bear, Ted is fairly pedestrian in what the script sets out to do. Ted is nothing more than the average bad influence the girlfriend wants to get her boyfriend away from to start a legitimate life together. The story doesn’t quite work because John is wholly responsible for Ted’s existence, something Kunis’ character should, but never quite does, understand.

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Batman #15

/ / Comics

Batman #15In the only comic that has really been focused on the Death of the Family crossover, writer Scott Snyder gives us an awkward standoff between Batman and the Joker and an even more unnecessary rehashing of events with the entire Bat-Family over whether or not the Joker knows who they all really are and why Batman would keep that from them.

The comic picks up from the end of the last issue with Batman trapped by the Joker who keeps flirting with the Dark Knight about knowing all the Bat-Family’s identities without ever proving it. Batman’s escape includes the Dark Knight Detective removing his gloves (off-panel, and for no logical reason shown or discussed in the comic) which allows the Joker to dose Batman with Joker toxin and make his escape.

The New 52 version of the Bat-Universe, in nearly every way from Harley Quinn‘s makeover to the gritty feel of every story, has screamed Arkham Asylum ripoff. I guess it’s fitting then that this is exactly where Snyder was headed all along. The Joker in recent months has taken over the asylum and has been preparing it for a very special party.

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