3 Razors

Suicide Squad #11

/ / Comics

The big throwdown between teams assembled by Amanda Waller and Rick Flag is put off for one more issue (which does kill some of the momentum of the ongoing arc) as Flag waits for Peacemaker to try and convince Bloodsport to join their side and Waller sends her team to Earth-8 to fight a variety of odd-ball characters like the Retaliators as some form of audition to prove they have what it takes to be part of her team going forward (but with Flag’s team now assembled and hitting her secret base, it doesn’t look like she has much of a choice).

The issue continues Ambush Bug‘s narration which has some fun moments, especially during the introduction of the various Earth-8 characters and we also get more of the turmoil within Waller’s team which includes those loyal to Flag’s point of view.

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Batman #119

/ / Comics

Batman‘s investigation in Badhnisia continues as he has a run in with Lex Luthor but as Batman and Bruce Wayne. After buying up Batman, Inc., now incarcerated for the murder of the villain Abyss (who it turns out is far from dead), Luthor has a preposition for Batman. One our hero doesn’t exactly take all that well.

The issue is notable for the Batman/Luthor confrontations (and planting the idea of Batman working for Luthor – God, this broke Batman shit is dumb), and Batman’s first run-in with Abyss who leaves our hero blind and bleeding out in a not-too-friendly police station as the comic comes to a close. Yeah, I’m sure Bruce Wayne has had better vacations.

The issue also includes an unrelated back-up story involving Mia Mizoguchi to try and justify the higher price and page-count. 

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Elektra: Black, White & Blood #1

/ / Comics

Elektra becomes the latest comic character to get her own black-and-white mini-series featuring separate tales of the comic character, and, like both Red Sonja and Deadpool, hers will have a splash of red.

My favorite of the three tales, mainly for the art by Mark Bagley, “Red Dawn” offers a tale of Elektra left for dead and turned by vampires but still with enough strength to fight back against the urge to become one of them.

In “Not the Devil” Elektra hunts down and kills minions of the Kingpin from the shadows but momentarily hesitates after hearing the pleas of a young girl. And in the final story, “The Crimson Path” offers a more metaphysical tale of Elektra and her fight against evil and monsters which leave their mark on her.

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The Tender Bar

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Tender Bar
  • IMDb: link

Adapted from the memoir of J. R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar is a comfortable warm sweater wrapping up the childhood and college life of JR (played by Tye Sheridan and Daniel Ranieri) and his colorful family, most notably his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck) in whose bar he learned as much about life as four years at Yale.

Directed by George Clooney, The Tender Bar isn’t great drama, nor outrageous comedy, but it’s a light and breezy look at a young man’s life who would be raised by his mother (Lily Rabe), in the often-overflowing home of his grandfather (Christopher Lloyd), and his uncle who would instill in him a love of books leading to his eventual profession. With solid performances and some witty narration by Ron Livingston as an older, and perhaps wiser, version of JR, The Tender Bar doesn’t ask much of the audience other than to enjoy a good story.

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The Nowhere Inn

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Nowhere Inn
  • IMDb: link

The Nowhere Inn has one of my favorite opening scenes of the year as American musician Annie “St. Vincent” Clark, playing herself, is being driven by a confused limousine driver (Ezra Buzzington) with no idea who his latest passenger is, or why she’s famous, only to stop in the middle of a desolate highway and disappear. Seeds of the larger themes of the film are planted here, even if it never reaches the same heights.

The film’s plot involves Annie hiring her friend Carrie, also playing herself, to make a documentary about the band which the pair hope will help both of them reach wider audiences. What Carrie soon discovers, however, is life on the road isn’t all that interesting off-stage for the band. Carrie’s attempts to find an interesting hook for the story and Annie drastically changing her behavior slowly devolve into a situation where neither Carrie nor Annie can differentiate what is actually real.

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