3.5 Razors

Carol

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

CarolMuch like Brooklyn, Carol is a beautifully rendered period piece about a young woman’s awakening highlighted by the performance of its lead actress. Sadly, much like Brooklyn, Carol also has the same deficiencies and the performances overshadow, but don’t obscure, the script’s weaknesses.

Although she plays the title character in the film, Cate Blanchett is not Carol‘s leading lady. That honor goes to Rooney Mara as shopgirl and aspiring photographer Therese Belivet whose head is turned by the glamorous older woman who she immediately connects with in a ways she has never been able to with her longtime boyfriend (Jake Lacy).

I’m not sure if Therese is a lesbian, bisexual, or just sexually curious, but then again I’m not the only one as the script itself seems unsure about who its leading character is and what she wants. Because Therese doesn’t know who she is (something characters in Phyllis Nagy‘s script directly point out at least three separate times) the movie struggles to understand her true motivations. And if the movie doesn’t know who she is, how can we?

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Star Wars #13

/ / Comics

Star Wars #13The “Vader Down” crossover continues with both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader stranded on the desolate planet of Vrogas Vas with others searching for them both. While Luke falls victim to Aphra and her droids, leaving Han and Chewbacca to ride to the rescue, the Dark Lord of the Sith fights his way through every obstacle the Rebellion throws his way letting nothing deter him from finding young Skywalker.

Star Wars #13 not only reminds us of a classic Han Solo quote from the original Star Wars about why one should never upset a Wookiee but it also provides some nice back-and-forth between Aphra and Han until Luke regains consciousness.

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Elementary – The Cost of Doing Business

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Elementary – The Cost of Doing Business
  • wiki: link

Elementary - The Cost Of Doing Business

Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) is drawn into his father’s world when Morland Holmes (John Noble) shows up on his doorstep asking for Sherlock’s help to look into a sniper attack that left four dead and five wounded that the elder Holmes believes was committed by an acquaintance (Jakob Von Eichel) of his. It’s not long into the investigation before the younger Holmes summizes that the attack was far from random and the other injuries and deaths were all used to carefully cover up the specific murder of a single victim.

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Green Lantern #47

/ / Comics

Green Lantern #47The latest issue of Green Lantern takes a break from Hal Jordan‘s space adventures and his investigation into the disappearance of the Green Lantern Corps as Hal returns home for some momentary rest and relaxation with his family. That isn’t the only surprise in the issue as writer Robert Venditti not only provides some local trouble for Jordan to solve but also reveals the identity of the villain lurking just behind-the-scenes.

I’ve actually enjoyed Green Lantern’s return to more space-centric title, but Green Lantern #47 works in allowing Hal to reconnect with his family (and get a much needed makeover). I expect the trouble at the fair to wrap up quickly. The bigger issue for our hero is the appearance of Parallax whose existence creates all kinds of questions (I’m guessing this is some sort of fallout from DC’s Convergence storyline). Whatever the cause, an universe with both a good and evil lanterned-powered Hal Jordan probably spells trouble for everyone involved.

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The Wrecking Crew

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Wrecking Crew
  • IMDb: link

The Wrecking CrewFilled with interviews, classic clips, stills, and tunes, the documentary from director Denny Tedesco (whose father was part of the group now known as “The Wrecking Crew”) takes a look back at the Los Angeles studio and session musicians that played anonymously on many records in the 1960s for The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, Bing Crosby, Elvis, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Vee, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, Jan & Dean, the Mamas & the Papas, the 5th Dimension, the Association, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Cher, John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel, the Grass Roots, and Nat King Cole.

Likely more appealing to music geeks than those not already interested in the topic, the documentary includes a great collection of music while discussing the unheralded studio musicians who helped create the songs. Available on Blu-ray and DVD, The Wrecking Crew includes over six hours of outtakes from musicians, artists, engineers, and producers, additional music, and more.

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