3.5 Razors

Sherlock – The Abominable Bride

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Sherlock – The Abominable Bride
  • IMDb: link

Sherlock - The Abominable BrideTaking place almost entirely in 1895, the natural habitat for Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Doctor Watson (Martin Freeman), “The Abominable Bride” is an unusual episode that allows the modern retelling of the detective’s adventures to journey back to his original hunting grounds. After a brief reintroduction the characters, things start in earnest when Lestrade (Rupert Graves) brings the pair an unusual case of a suicidal bride whose ghost has appeared multiple times to wreak havoc.

The holiday special works fairly well until its final act where it stalls trying to incorporate the show’s current storyline with the unsolved mystery (rather than just allowing the tale to exist on its own).

Available on both Blu-ray and DVD, extras include an extended featurette on the episode and the series, a Q&A about the series, a production diary, and shorter featurettes on the show’s writing and various aspects of recreating the look of 19th Century London for the episode.

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Dark Passage

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Dark Passage
  • IMDb: link

Dark PassageThe weakest of the four movies starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Dark Passage is more memorable for its set-up than its film noir story. Bogart stars as wrongly-convicted murderer Vincent Parry who escapes prison in the opening scene. “Star” might be a bit of a stretch as Bogart isn’t seen in the first third of the film, and when he does show up his face is under heavy bandages for another 10 minutes.

After his escape is helped by an unlikely source (Becall), Parry is directed to a plastic surgeon (Houseley Stevenson) who helps the supply the man on the run with a new face allowing the movie to move away from the first-person point-of-view of the first 40-minutes and allow Bogart to appear on-screen.

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Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

/ / Comics

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1Marvel’s new Captain America series is getting press for one huge reveal, but we’ll get to that in a second. For those who haven’t been paying attention, Steve Rogers has spent the last several months rapidly aged to a senior citizen with the Falcon taking over the role of Captain America. With Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 Steve is back in action along with the Falcon (still also Captain America, but not in this comic), and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents including Agent 13, Jack Flag, Free Spirit, and Rick Jones.

So Cap’s back in action with a questionable costume redesign and new shield, to take on a new Hydra controlled by his old nemesis the Red Skull. Of course the original Hydra, controlled by Baron Zemo, is also still around. Writer Nick Spencer layers the story well juggling flashbacks and several characters (one of whom won’t make it out of the comic alive) while hiding the big reveal until the end.

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Arrow – Schism

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Arrow – Schism
  • wiki: link

Arrow - Schism

Just once I would like Arrow to end a season without Star City in flames. Is that too much to ask? “Schism” wraps up the season-long arc of Oliver Queen‘s (Stephen Amell) battle with Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) for control of Star City. Despite his bunker being destroyed, Darkh reacquires A.R.G.U.S.‘ missle technology with plans to start a nuclear holocaust to wipe out all civilization on the planet. Without a plan, Oliver makes a plea to the city to prevent it from tearing itself apart its final hours. It’s that small kernel of hope which Green Arrow uses to turn the entire city against Darkh.

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Preacher – Pilot

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Preacher – Pilot
  • wiki: link

Preacher - Pilot

Very much a product of its time, writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon‘s series Preacher fit the time and tone of 90s comics (viewed mostly as a dark time by most comic readers) with its hyper-stylized violence and edgy storytelling. Hollywood has been attempting to adapt their work for years, and AMC has finally succeeded in bringing the tale of of a small town preacher possessed with god-like powers thrown into the middle of an epic battle between good and evil to the small screen. While I think other shows, such has Carnivale, may have beat Preacher to explore similar themes I’m sure fans of the comic are cautiously optimistic that AMC can do for Preacher what it has done for The Walking Dead.

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