3.5 Razors

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is the Belle of the ball

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Belle
  • IMDB: link

BelleInspired by the 1779 painting of mixed-raced aristocrat Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) beside her white cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon) with whom she was raised by her uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), Belle is an interesting look at a woman who grew up in lavish luxury but still searched long and hard for her true place both within her family and the wider world to whom she was seen as (at best) an outcast.

With no diary to draw directly from and only scattered reports of what the woman’s life would have been like under her uncle’s roof (such as not being allowed to dine with guests), screenwriter Misan Sagay certainly takes liberties with the story. At its best Belle is a strong character drama although it also devolves at several points into a time-period-specific romance novel. The rougher moments of Sagay’s tale are saved by the terrific performance of Gugu Mbatha-Raw who infuses the character with passion, strength, and a dogged determinedness which serves her well (but also gets her into spots of trouble).

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Rocky & Bullwinkle #3

/ / Comics

Rocky & Bullwinkle #3Rocky and Bullwinkle head to the moon in the latest issue of IDW’s new comic adventures of the moose and squirrel. Set in the 1960s, Pottsylvania announces they have claimed the moon and demand payment from anyone who mentions or makes use of the celestial object (including even a werewolf). With no one accepting the word of the Moon Men that the Pottsylvanians have never landed on the moon, Rocky and Bullwinkle are sent to discover the truth. Of course Boris and Natasha are sent after them to stop Moose and Squirrel from destroying the country’s lucrative lie.

This month’s intermission tale features Snidley Whiplash‘s new get-rich scheme by selling worthless merchandise with a “double your money back guarantee” realizing most customers are too lazy to take advantage of the deal. Sadly for the villain Dudley Do-Right isn’t most people and soon bankrupts the Snidley’s entire business with his circular logic. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Magneto #3

/ / Comics

Magneto #3Magneto‘s wandering and search for the source of the new Sentinels leads him to an underground facility where several low-budget versions of the anti-mutant weapons are being created. However, the true purpose of the sentinels and the facility itself turns out to be something not dissimilar to the path Magneto himself walked not that long ago.

Comparing Magneto’s own attempts to create a safe haven for his people on Genosha, Magneto #3 showcases humans doing the same thing in an attempt to create a bubble safe from mutants and the outside world. Although the comic skirts the issue a bit, Magneto’s response to the facility (and his own attempts on Genosha) seem to admit a failure of his own long-held beliefs in favor of those of his recently-deceased frenemy Charles Xavier about an integrated world shared by humans and mutants.

With Cyclops‘ team also searching for the truth behind the new Sentinels it will be interesting to see if the two comics converge and what Magneto’s response from, and to, his old team might be. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Hawaii Five-0 – O ka Pili’Ohana ka ‘Oi

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Hawaii Five-0 – O ka Pili’Ohana ka ‘Oi
  • wiki: link

Hawaii Five-0 - O ka Pili'Ohana ka 'Oi

The Season Four finale of Hawaii Five-0 brings a pair of villains back to the island and hard choices for both McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Grover (Chi McBride). Just as McGarrett learns Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos) has broken out out of a maximum security prison in Colorado and is making his way back to the island Grover is contacted by Ian Wright (Nick Jonas) who kidnaps the officer’s daughter (Paige Hurd) and demands Grover help him steal $100 million in recently recovered drug money.

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The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman
  • wiki: link

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman

After struggling to find a cure to return both April‘s (Mae Whitman) father and Master Splinter (Hoon Lee) into humans, Donatello (Rob Paulsen) succeeds in creating two doses of Retro-Mutagen. However, before the Turtles can save April’s father they are attacked by the newly mutated Baxter Stockman (Phil LaMarr) whom the Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson), tired of the scientist’s many failures, has mutated into a giant insect.

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