3.5 Razors

Nightmare Alley

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Nightmare Alley
  • IMDb: link

Adapting the 1946 novel of the same name, Nightmare Alley is more about con men than monsters (which is usually writer/director Guillermo del Toro‘s wheelhouse). The film is split into two halves, the first involving a man running from his past joining a carnival and learning secrets to start his own clairvoyance act. The second, takes place a couple of years later with Stanton (Bradley Cooper) and his wife (Rooney Mara) putting his skills to use in higher-class surroundings by taking advantage of more wealthy marks.

Think of Nightmare Alley as Guillermo del Toro’s attempt at a David Mamet movie filled with con men and grifters, murderers and thieves, all out for their own interests, with plenty of twists and double-crosses thrown in for good measure. The result, more from the limitations of the source material than his direction, are a bit mixed.

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The Flash – Armageddon, Part 4 & Part 5

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Flash – Armageddon, Part 4 & Part 5
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

The final two episodes of “Armageddon” deal with the real villain of the arc which, to no one’s surprise, is revealed to be Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh). In “Part 4,” Barry (Grant Gustin) finds himself trapped in a timeline where he is the Reverse-Flash and Thawne has stolen his life. “Part 5” involve deciding what to do with the villain after time is rest by the Flash destroying the Earth in one timeline, thus confirming Despero‘s (Tony Curran) vision of the future.

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Alex Rider – Serpent

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Alex Rider – Serpent
  • IMDb: link

In order to follow the lead given him by the mysterious hacker, Alex (Otto Farrant) takes the place of the world’s best players of the Feathered Serpent video game, the only one of the world’s best players who hasn’t RSVP’d for  Damian Cray‘s (Toby Stephens) release party of the sequel. What Alex doesn’t realize is just how crazy Cray is and whose identity he’s assuming (which turns out to be that of an old friend). The episode is most notable for Alex playing the game in VR environment with the madman constantly raising the stakes and danger as the cocky teenager continues to out-perform his expectations. While somewhat goofy on-screen, the segment works and allows Alex to get close enough for what he’s come for.

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Spider-Man: No Way Home

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Spider-Man: No Way Home
  • IMDb: link

Because there’s so little plot in Spider-Man: No Way Home it’s hard to discuss the film without revealing its many secrets. What writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers tee-up for fans is a loose structure that allows for the film to throw everything but the kitchen sink, with an almost overwhelming amount fan service (admittedly pretty good fan service), into a single film. While it doesn’t measure up to the film that obviously inspired it, Spider-Man: No Way Home turns out to be a pretty fun ride. 

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is fucked, and his friends (Zendaya and Jacob Batalon) are paying for his mistakes. In classic Spider-Man fashion, Peter’s attempts to rectify that situation caused by Mysterio revealing his identity to the world only make it worse. After finding a wizard and loophole to set things right, Peter’s interruption of  Doctor Strange‘s (Benedict Cumberbatch) spell to prevent anyone in the world from remembering he is Spider-Man backfires opening up cracks to the Multiverse allowing anyone who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man from any other reality to bleed through. Let the chaos begin.

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Suicide Squad #10

/ / Comics

The Suicide Squad‘s space mission comes to an end after a battle with Thanagarians, getting captured by Sojourner Mullein, and getting locked up in exactly the prison where Waller knew they would be taken. Making their way back to Earth with the package Waller wanted the issue ends setting up the confrontation between Waller’s squad and that of Rick Flag. May the best squad win.

The issue is a fair middle issue to a larger arc with the lowest body count so far (unless you count Culebra, who survives death yet again). It is notable for several cameos, more of Ambush Bug‘s fourth-wall-breaking narration, cementing Major Force as the most dickish member of the team, and making good on the romantic tension between Match and Nocturna (how exactly will this play out?).

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