3.5 Razors

The Shannara Chronicles – Reaper

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Shannara Chronicles – Reaper
  • wiki: link

The Shannara Chronicles - Reaper

Amberle‘s (Poppy Drayton) quest to take the seed to the Bloodfire gets off to a rocky start when the company is taken captive by the Rovers. Leaving Wil (Austin Butler) and the soldiers to die, Cephelo (James Remar) takes the Elf Stones and the Elven princess as his payment for Eretria‘s (Ivana Baquero) freedom. Eretria’s betrayal of her father figure marks an important turning point for her character choosing to become part of the quest (while also saving the series from going down a dark path given the desires of the Rovers’ leader). Despite his assistance later in the episode, it’s hard to forgive or forget Cephelo’s attempted rape of Amberle.

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Family Fun Collection: Hotel Transylvania / Monster House

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Hotel Transylvania / Monster House
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link

Hotel Transylvania / Monster HouseAvailable in both DVD and Blu-ray, the Family Fun Collection double-pack of Hotel Transylvania and Monster House collects two good (but not great) recent Halloween-themed animated movies. Of the pair, I enjoyed Hotel Transylvania, the adventures of Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) and his 118 year-old daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) in their hotel from monsters, more. Some younger children might find Monster House, the adventures of three kids (Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke) battling a local haunted house intent on devouring innocent trick-or-treaters, a bit too scary.

As with most collections of this sort the extras are paired down from what you would get buying each separately on either Blu-ray or DVD. I’m not sure you save enough for that to be worth it (although at this time you might struggle to find Monster House in the format you prefer in stores), but if you only want the movies, and don’t care about the extras, this collection would suit your needs. For more on each movie, read my full review of Hotel Transylvania and my full review of Monster House.

[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD $19.99 / Blu-ray $25.99]

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Marvel’s Agent Carter – The Lady in the Lake

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Agent Carter – The Lady in the Lake
  • wiki: link

Marvel's Agent Carter - The Lady in the Lake

One of my biggest complaints with the First Season of Agent Carter was the show spent so much time putting Peggy (Hayley Atwell) in her place as a woman in a man’s world that it often forgot to have any actual fun. This trend led to such an inconsistent freshman season that I thought long and hard whether or not it was even worth giving the show a second chance. Hayley Atwell, by far the show’s greatest strength, was enough to bring me back for the premiere where, for at least a single episode, the show lessons the sexist themes of the first season and allows the heroine to soar by transplanting Peggy to California to work under new West Coast Chief Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) to help investigate a bizarre murder involving a victim frozen in the middle of the lake in the middle of Los Angeles.

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Arrow – Blood Debts

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Arrow – Blood Debts
  • wiki: link

Arrow - Blood Debts

Arrow returns from mid-season hiatus with both good and bad news for Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) fans. Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) attack has left some serious challenges for Oliver Queen‘s (Stephen Amell) girl Friday to overcome, but on the bright side Felicity is not the one buried at the grave site in the near future that the show teases us with a glimpse of once again. Although it looks like Felicity will have to struggle through her paralysis (be it temporary or permanent) for the remainder of the season, she isn’t the loss we see Oliver mourning over (which narrows the possibility down to a very small number).

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Anomalisa

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

AnomalisaBased on his play, Charlie Kaufman‘s stop-motion feature focuses on depressed self-help author (David Thewlis) in a Cincinnati hotel the night before the latest stop on his book tour. Alternatively charming and tedious, Anomalisa delivers a collection of mundane and awkward experiences and conversations highlighted by the author, who hears everyone he’s ever met speaking in Tom Noonan‘s voice, meeting an insecure young woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) whose voice breaks the self-help guru out of his melancholy.

Centering a film around a lonely puppet with questionable sanity who hears the world in monotone makes for an unique film experience. That said, Anomalisa is a film I could never quite wrap my arms around and embrace. Kaufman and co-director Duke Johnson certainly tap into some real human emotion, but with the focus on the boredom, monotony, and depression of the life of our schmuck of a protaganist all Kaufman really has to explore is that same boredom, monotony, and depression with no end in sight. Dragging its way through several scenes, Anomalisa is a 90-minute film that often feels quite a bit longer.

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