3 Razors

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • IMDb: link

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales movie reviewHow does a movie based off an amusement park ride end up with four sequels? Taking a page out of the book of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest entry into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise goes back to the beginning to try and recapture the magic of its best film. Although it delivers not much more than a pale imitation of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, borrowing heavily from every major plot point, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is easily the least shitty sequel in a franchise that knows something about shitty sequels.

See if any of this sounds familiar: A man (Brenton Thwaites) with a pirate father and a woman (Kaya Scodelario) too independent for her time befriend the crazy pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) while being pursued by a ship of undead cursed souls seeking a treasure that can save them and led by a captain (Javier Bardem) who hates Jack.

While all a bit too familiar, the choice to allow Jack to be more part of an ensemble rather than the central character certainly helps the film. Although even with less screentime the character grows tiresome at times.

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Brewster’s Millions

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Brewster’s Millions
  • IMDb: link

Brewster's Millions Blu-ray reviewThe 1985 comedy stars Richard Pryor as a struggling minor league baseball player who comes into a small fortune. However, there is one catch. To earn the entire estate Montgomery Brewster (Pryor) must spend $30 million within 30 days to inherit $300 million. He must not accumulate any assets, and he is also barred from telling anyone the truth about his increasingly odd behavior.

While director Walter Hill‘s film may never be quite as funny as it should be, Brewster’s Millions does deliver some wacky hijinx with Monty’s spending sprees, his interactions with his teammates and best friend (an underutilized John Candy), and the various forces working against him. Lonette McKee also stars as his accountant/love interest.

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Elementary – Hurt Me, Hurt You

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Elementary – Hurt Me, Hurt You
  • wiki: link

Elementary - Hurt Me, Hurt You TV review

Elementary‘s season finale wraps up the the gang storyline which began with the introduction of Shinwell (Nelsan Ellis). A brewing gang war between the group Shinwell hoped to take down and a rival gang has the whole city on edge. Discovering events began with the abduction and murder of the sister of a rival gang leader, Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Watson (Lucy Liu) watch as Tyus Wilcox (Stephen Rider) turns events to his advantage, cutting a deal with the District Attorney to avoid prosecution and help stop a gang war. With Holmes distracted by events he refuses to share with his partner, Watson digs deeper to find justice for Shinwell.

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Split

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Split
  • IMDb: link

Split Blu-ray reviewWhen all is said and done I’m less interested in Split than the movie it may eventually lead to (a true sequel to the writer/director’s best film). That said, M. Night Shyamalan‘s film is easily the best thing he’s created in more than a decade (although given the level of crap he’s put out over that time period that’s hardly a high bar to clear).

Set in an universe Shyamalan once said he had no interest in returning to, James McAvoy stars as a schizophrenic with at least 24 distinct personalities who kidnaps three teenage girls (Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jessica Sula) to feed the darkest of his personalities referred to only as “The Beast.” For at least three-fourths of its running time the movie lacks the tension it should, partially because we’re unsure how seriously to take McAvoy’s character, partially because Shyamalan wants to hide aspects of the man for as long as possible, and partially because the script jumps around a bit too much rather than staying focused on the girls’ dilemma.

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Red Hood and the Outlaws #10

/ / Comics

Red Hood and the Outlaws #10 comic reviewThe search for the Bow of Ra leads the Red Hood, Artemis, and Bizzao to Qurac where the team will split up. While Bizarro will be given the opportunity to play at being hero (continuing to draw the short straw while his friends get far more pages devoted to them), his two teammates’ return will force each to individually deal with demons from their past.

Feeling very much like a middle issue in a larger arc, the latest chapter of “Who is Artemis?” is memorable for reuniting Artemis with her long-lost bestie Akila, killed years ago but returned to life, the return to the desert haunts Jason as he is forced to relive this death at the hands of the Joker and come to peace with who he is today long after his own resurrection.

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