3.5 Razors

Astro City #13

/ / Comics

Astro City #13The latest issue of Astro City weaves around loosely-tied tales of a bank teller falling for a robber, a troubled romance, Jack-in-the-Box, and a robotic dog named Rover all through the reappearance of a celestial entity known as the Dancing Man. Although I think it’s a good issue, exploring themes of current civilization bottled up and asleep to the musical rhythms it once knew, it’s easily my least favorite of the current Astro City run.

Despite his appearance on the cover Jack-in-the-Box is really only on hand for a cameo as his thread of the story feels the most forced (and largely unnecessary) of the bunch. With the focus split in so many directions we learn less about any of the individuals like Gundog who we’re meeting for the first time than you might expect.

Although similar themes have certainly been developed and explored in more depth elsewhere, Astro City #13 still works by playing with the lives of normal characters and larger-than-life entities who don’t always have the same needs or desires. Worth a look.

[Vertigo, $3.99]

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All-New X-Men #28

/ / Comics

All-New X-Men #28The X-Men’s battle with Xavier and the Future Brotherhood of Mutants continues as the son of Charles Xavier sets his sights on Jean Grey believing her death will pave the way for Xavier to wipe out the X-Men once and for all.

Intercut through the various battle scenes with the school and Jean Grey’s mind, we’re given future flashbacks involving Xavier recruiting the Beast to his cause and explaining his hatred of the X-Men. It seems Xavier believes their continued existence after Professor X’s death is a mockery rather than a memorial to their former teacher (which honestly makes Xavier come off more like a whiny emo punk than kick-as super-villain).

Faced with a serious threat in Xavier and his team, All New X-Men #28 continues the trend of showcasing Jean Grey as the pivotal figure on the team whose power continues to surprise even those who know her all too well. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
  • IMDB: link

Jack Ryan: Shadow RecruitPulled from it’s plumb Christmas Day scheduled release date to be dumped in the middle of the graveyard of January and February, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit came and went without much fanfare. Although pulling in more than $135 million worldwide the movie underachieved based on its original planned release and met with mixed reaction from both critics and fans.

Rebooting the long-dominant Jack Ryan series, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit cast Chris Pine in the role of Jack Ryan. I enjoyed the film, and found it more memorable than either of Harrison Ford‘s offerings or the Ben Affleck 2002 attempt to reboot the franchise.

Bringing in Keira Knightley as Ryan’s girlfriend, Kevin Costner as his CIA mentor, and Kenneth Branagh to do double duty both as the film’s villain and director, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit offers a solid cast for an old school thriller.

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The Pretender – The Paper Clock

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Pretender – The Paper Clock
  • wiki: link

The Pretender - The Paper Clock

Jarod (Michael T. Weiss) becomes a junior associate in a big law firm to save a wrongly convicted mentally-deficient man (Christian J. Meoli) on his last attempt at an appeal for the murder of a woman in his apartment building. A little digging by Jarod discovers that the head of the firm (Lawrence Pressman) purposely botched the defense to hide the fact that his high priced client (Jon Bruno), who was having an affair with the victim, was actually responsible for the murder.

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Wander Over Yonder – The Time Bomb

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Wander Over Yonder – The Time Bomb
  • wiki: link

wander-over-yonder-the-time-bomb

Wander (Jack McBrayer) attempts to help Syliva (April Winchell) conquer her unfilled goal of winning the Galactic Conjunction 6000, a race across a galaxy where once a year the planets align to create the course. Always failing in the past when she let her temper and need to win get the best of her, this time Wander tries his best to stop his best-friend from exploding to offer her a chance to win the race.

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