3.5 Razors

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #17

/ / Comics

Buffy Summers‘ world gets even more complicated by the arrival of Illyria who uses her mostly restored powers to rip the Slayer from her battle with zompires (forcing Billy and Detective Dowling to make do on their own) and transporting Buffy to a gathering of magical beings.

As Buffy meets with a council of magically-imbued creatures trapped in this dimension (including D’Hoffryn), Billy’s faith in his new profession is shaken, Dowling is almost killed, and back at home Xander‘s anger is out of control and Dawn is felled by some unseen force.

Unaware of what is happening with her friends, Buffy agrees to help the council stop Severin whose power continues to grow. She even accepts the help of Illyria and Koh, neither of whom Buffy is sure she can trust as the powerful threesome walk right into Severin’s trap.

A good issue and I’m happy to see Illyria, although her account of her recent activities does seem to contradict Angel After the Fall. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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Scandal – One For the Dog

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Scandal – One For the Dog
  • tv.com: link

scandal-one-for-the-dog

With Huck (Susan Pourfar) being held and tortured under the Patriot Act for what the CIA believe is his part in the attempted assassination of the President (Tony Goldwyn), Justice Thornton (Debra Mooney) comes clean with Olivia (Kerry Washington) about trading Huck to protect herself. The Supreme Court Justice also calls an emergency meeting of their secret council where she tells Olivia, Cyrus (Jeff Perry), and Mellie (Bellamy Young) her suspicions that Hollis Doyle (Gregg Henry) is the man actually behind the planned assassination.

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Samsara

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Samsara
  • IMDB: link

samsara-blu-rayNearly five years in the making, director Ron Fricke‘s attempt to capture the Buddhist idea of samsara (the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth) on 70mm is an intriguing proposition. Filming in more than 25 countries across five continents, Fricke and his team captured shots across the globe of nature, temples, ruins, cityscapes, their various inhabitants, and more.

Samsara doesn’t have a narrative structure in the conventional sense, but the amazing amount of timelapse footage from Fricke and his team paints a beautiful (and occasionally creepy) picture of our planet and its inhabitants sometimes set to music and sometimes set only to the natural sounds of the surroundings.

As as a cinematic achievement Samsara is impressive, however some viewers may find the film’s lack of structure or more coherent message disappointing.

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The Mentalist – Days of Wine and Roses

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Mentalist – Days of Wine and Roses
  • wiki: link

the-mentalist-days-of-wine-and-roses

The CBI is called in to investigate the murder of a rising young model who was killed in the park after sneaking out of a California rehab center. Meanwhile, Lisbon continues her investigation into Tommy Volker (Henry Ian Cusick), who has gotten away with a pair of murders including a witness she promised to protect.

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The Mentalist – Days of Wine and Roses Read More »

The Flash #15

/ / Comics

the-flash-new-52-15-coverAs Grodd and his gorilla army continue their assault on Central City the Rogues continue to do their best to fight back and Patty Spivot discovers the truth about Barry Allen.

I wouldn’t call the third issue of “Gorilla Warfare” filler, but does feel like The Flash is taking a bit of a breather before setting up the rest of the arc. The Flash spends nearly the entire comic comatose, his mind racing through the Speed Force showing him glimpses of the past and possible futures.

The art of these future-glimpsing splash pages is great, as we’ve come to expect from writer/artist Francis Manapul, but it does mean we get a little less content than usual. By the final panel of the comic our hero finally awakens, with the knowledge of the only way he can save his home is to turn himself over to Grodd.

With two issues left in the arc our hero is back on his feet with an impeding conversation with Patty, and a gorilla army to stop. Oh yeah, and Iris is still lost in time. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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