3.5 Razors

Downsizing

  • Title: Downsizing
  • IMDb: link

Downsizing movie reviewDownsizing is an odd film with an intriguing premise and unusual concept that gets a little lost along the way as the film takes a hard-right turn leaving you unsure, exactly, where the story is ultimately heading. Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig star as a couple who decide to take part in an unusual scientific adventure which will shrink them to only a few centimeters tall. Initially created as a way to preserve the world’s dwindling resources, downsizing gains popularity as a middle-income family like the Safraneks can live like kings for only a fraction of the price in ritzy miniature communities. Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned.

Director and co-writer Alexander Payne has delivered some strong films over the years (The Decendants, Sideways, and Nebraska), but despite a promising set-up, Downsizing never reaches its full potential. That said, there’s some fun to be had (even if the ecological preachiness doesn’t match the offbeat humor). Without giving away the twist, the film explores the miniature world through Paul’s eyes focusing on the odd characters he meets (such as Hong Chau and Christoph Waltz) as he learns to look at life from a different perspective that really doesn’t have much to do with his relative size.

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Star Wars #40

Star Wars #40 comic reviewStar Wars #40 finds Luke, Leia, and Han on Jedha (the planet used to test the Death Star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). Jedha was decimated by the Death Star’s blast which destroyed Jedha City and left the rest of the world in shambles. They aren’t the only ones who have returned to the planet as the Empire is hard at work mining any Kyber crystals which may have survived the attack.

Along with the remnants of Saw Gerrera‘s Rebel cell, our heroes work together to destroy the mining operation, prevent any more harm to the planet’s survivors, and deny the Empire its prize.

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Stronger

  • Title: Stronger
  • IMDb: link

Stronger Blu-ray reviewJake Gyllenhaal stars as Jeff Bauman whose life changes in an instant when he loses his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing. Based on Bauman’s real experiences, the screenplay by John Pollono follows the man’s struggle to deal with his loss while an entire city embraces him as the symbol for “Boston Strong.”

Stronger spends a little more time on Bauman the screw-up and less on the man’s finding the strength to work through his accident (mostly shrunken down into a couple of montages) than expected. Post-accident, when the film focuses on Bauman’s struggle and that of his girlfriend (Tatiana Maslany) the film’s focus is clear, although the amount of side characters, including Miranda Richardson as Bauman’s mother and a host of friends and family (none of whom seem to understand what the man is going through, but are happy to cash in on his celebrity), aren’t nearly as strong or compelling.

[Lionsgate, Blu-ray $24.99 / DVD $19.98]

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Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #34

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #34 comic reviewThe latest arc of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps has reintroduced the characters known as the Controllers, a faction that split off from the race that would become the Guardians of the Universe. Unlike their more peaceful brethren, who created the Green Lantern Corps to keep order in the universe, the Controllers have a more proactive stance to destroy all evil in the universe rather than simply prevent it. Abducting the remaining Guardians, the Controllers hope to use their shared genetic heritage to usher in a new age of their vision for the universe (even if it means killing of the last of the Guardians to do so).

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Hawaii Five-0 – I Ka Wa Ma Mua, I Ka Wa Ma Hope

  • Title: Hawaii Five-0 – I Ka Wa Ma Mua, I Ka Wa Ma Hope
  • wiki: link

Hawaii Five-0 - I Ka Wa Ma Mua, I Ka Wa Ma Hope TV review

Picking up the loose thread of the previous episode in which most members of Five-0 were exposed to a dangerous bioweapon, “I Ka Wa Ma Mua, I Ka Wa Ma Hope” opens with McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), Danny (Scott Caan), Junior (Beulah Koale), and Tani (Meaghan Rath) still stuck in the hospital’s isolation ward. When a suicidal gunman arrives to place a bomb on the door, before shooting Danny and then himself, Five-0 will work swiftly to save Danny’s life while Grover (Chi McBride) and the bomb squad will work to find a safe way into the room before the detective’s time runs out.

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