3 Razors

Interstellar

  • Title: Interstellar
  • IMDb: link

InterstellarIf Christopher Nolan‘s sci-fi end-of-the-world epic feels a bit familiar it is. Borrowing obviously from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the recent success of an astronaut stranded in space in Gravity (both far better films), Interstellar showcases both Nolan’s strengths and weaknesses of the director when his subject matter lacks the originality of his best films.

An ambitious project to be sure, Interstellar‘s B-movie plot seemingly ripped straight out of 1950s sci-fi can only lead it so far. The strength of its cast can’t cover up the flaws in the nearly three-hour project whose length also effects the director’s decreasingly-effective bag-of-tricks such as the loud music blasts which may have worked in Inception but come off distracting and disorienting even obscuring dialogue in several scenes.

As a movie experience Interstellar has merit and is worth seeing. As a complete film experience I found it wanting and would compare it to the eerily similar Signs. M. Night Shamalan‘s equally ambitious project relied too strongly on performance, far-too-cute coincidences, and late twists (over a well-developed story) as well.

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The Blacklist – The Mombasa Cartel

  • Title: The Blacklist – The Mombasa Cartel
  • wiki: link

The Blacklist - The Mombasa Cartel

There’s a nice reveal in “The Mombassa Cartel,” although it has nothing to do with what is hiding behind Lizzie‘s (Megan Boone) secret door or the odd collection of characters Reddington (James Spader) sends the FBI after in the show’s latest episode. The personal reasons for which Red tasks the FBI with taking down the Mombassa Cartel responsible for animal smuggling, trafficking, and murder on a global scale isn’t revealed until late in the episode (although the pre-credit sequence does ruin the impact of the surprise a bit).

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Doctor Who – In the Forest of the Night

  • Title: Doctor Who – In the Forest of the Night
  • wiki: link

Doctor Who - In the Forest of the Night

Magic trees. In the latest episode of Doctor Who a new forest has sprung up across the world much to the surprise and consternation of the local populace. Arriving in London, The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) begins to investigate the phenomena which one of Clara‘s (Jenna Coleman) students brings to his attention. Initially ignoring the girl’s insight, the Time Lord discovers that Maebh (Abigail Eames) is unusually tuned to the odd happenstance and may be the key to understanding what is going on. The show has certainly gotten its money’s worth of introducing Clara first as a nanny and now as a schoolteacher allowing children to become involved in multiple episodes which it uses again as a strength with talented child acting.

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Transporter: The Series – Trojan Horsepower

  • Title: Transporter: The Series – Trojan Horsepower
  • wiki: link

Transporter: The Series - Trojan Horsepower

Casting Chris Vance as a stand-in for Jason Statham, Transporter: The Series follows the further adventures of Frank Martin in his role of a former British SAS operative and trained driver who sells his services to those in need of his special skill-set to have something, or someone, transported safely. In “Trojan Horsepower” Frank’s mechanic Dieter Hausmann (Charly Hübner) enlists Frank’s help for a friend (Moon Dailly) in need of transporting the only existing prototype of world-changing engine which men will kill to never see unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

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The Blacklist – The Front

  • Title: The Blacklist – The Front
  • wiki: link

The Blacklist - The Front

While Reddington (James Spader) reaches out to both an asset at the DMV (Clark Middleton) and Aram (Amir Arison) to find his missing daughter (Scottie Thompson), the FBI work to track down a cult whose leader (Michael Laurence) plans to use a sample of plague to cure the world of the evils of humanity by infecting his followers and spreading the disease across the globe. Red’s trips to the DMV provide the episode’s lighter moments while the tension of the episode comes from the plague plot which eventually is squelched but not before infecting both Lizzie and Navabi (Mozhan Marnò).

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