3.5 Razors

A Most Violent Year

  • Title: A Most Violent Year
  • IMDb: link

A Most Violent YearI’ve never been a big fan of gangster movies. Writer/director J.C. Chandor A Most Violent Year, however, is more a character study than a focus on the questionable business practices of a successful immigrant businessman (Oscar Isaac) during one the most violent winter’s of New York City’s history.

All things considered, Abel Morales (Isaac) is actually a good guy whose ambitions to enlarge the business leave him vulnerable to attacks from his competitors and investigations by the police. He also must deal with the ruthlessness of his wife (Jessica Chastain) and the mistakes of one of his drivers (Elyes Gabel).

A Most Violent Year is a well-made film that, even if it isn’t as satisfying as I’d like, has plenty to recommend. The entire film is built around Isaac’s performance which doesn’t disappoint. Chastain is scary at times in the role of Isaac’s wife and the daughter of a gangster (whose name gets dropped often but never makes an appearance leaving a large piece of the couple’s lives unexplored). Scorpion‘s Elyes Gabel is put to good use as the eager but distrustful immigrant who wants nothing more than to become Abel.

A Most Violent Year Read More »

The Flash – The Sound and the Fury

  • Title: The Flash – The Sound and the Fury
  • wiki: link

The Flash - The Sound and the Fury

“The Sound and the Fury” introduces yet another of the Flash‘s (Grant Gustin) trademark villains when the Pied Piper comes to town. In an episode that all but confirms Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) as the Reverse-Flash given his use of super-speed and absorption of the Speed Force through futuristic technology, former Star Labs golden boy Hartley Rathaway (Andy Mientus) returns to Central City seeking vengeance on Wells who he blames for the accelerator explosion and everything which came after.

The Flash – The Sound and the Fury Read More »

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Return to New York

  • Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Return to New York
  • wiki: link

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Return to New York

With Leonardo (Dominic Catrambone) finally healed the Turtles return to the Kraang-controlled New York City in hopes of finding Splinter (Hoon Lee) and Karai. Finding a near empty city with little sign of the mutate populaced, the Turtles journey back into the sewers where they find their father… but not quite how they left him. After months of the Turtles’ country exile it’s good to see the foursome back in their natural habitat.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Return to New York Read More »

Star Wars #1

Star Wars #1Over the years both Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics have released a plethora of forgettable and mediocre Star Wars comics. Over the past couple of years however Dark Horse had found a way to recapture a bit of the old Star Wars magic with a series set shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star featuring the struggling rebellion’s battles against the evil Galactic Empire. Sadly cut short due the Star Wars rights returning to Marvel, a new adventure begins (with an insane amount of variant covers) as Marvel tries their own hand at classic tales featuring Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids you most assuredly are looking for.

Writer Jason Aaron offers an issue highlighted by Chewbacca’s attempt to kill Darth Vader with a sniper rifle while his rebel pals break into a Imperial Weapons Factory. I mostly enjoy John Cassaday’s art but he struggles getting the right look of the characters in several panels that aren’t close-ups. I thought it was an interesting choice to draw Vader like he appeared in the old Marvel issues (with his mask occasionally stretched) which gave me a hit of nostalgia but also felt a bit wrong.

Star Wars #1 Read More »

The Musketeers – An Ordinary Man

  • Title: The Musketeers – An Ordinary Man
  • wiki: link

The Musketeers - An Ordinary Man

On a whim, King Louis (Ryan Gage) orders Athos (Tom Burke), Aramis (Santiago Cabrera), Porthos (Howard Charles), and D’Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) to take him out on the town under the guise of a common man to see how the little people live. What starts out as an enjoyable night at a local pub becomes something far more sinister when Louis and D’Artagnan are both snatched during a bar fight by slavers unaware just how precious their cargo truly is.

The Musketeers – An Ordinary Man Read More »