3 Razors

Pain & Gain

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Pain & Gain
  • IMDB: link

Pain & GainBased on a somewhat unbelievable true series of events, Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne “It’s Okay to Call Me The Rock Again” Johnson, and Anthony Mackie star as a trio of bodybuilders who decide to kidnap and rob a local businessman (Tony Shalhoub). Played to the hilt, the insane over-the-top Pain & Gain embraces the ridiculousness of the situation to deliver some truly funny sequences. Sadly, it delivers almost as many groan worthy moments and some disturbing violence that doesn’t always mesh well with the zany tone of the movie. The true story the film is based on is so unbelievable director Michael Bay even stops the film at times to remind the audience that (some form of) these events really occurred.

The characters, who don’t seem smart enough to remember to breathe, aren’t even caricatures so much as full-blown cartoons. There’s a scene from Michael Bay’s first awful Transformers flick where a group of giant robots tiptoe around a suburban house hoping no one will see or hear them. That plan is near genius compared to those of Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) and his confederates.

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Fables #128

/ / Comics

Fables #128An incensed Bigby Wolf returns home to find his wife a prisoner in the castle tower and vile Prince Brandish still claiming Snow White as his own. As one might expect, this leads to disagreement between Snow White’s husbands.

Although we get a couple of pages dealing with the B-story of Beast and the Lady of the Lake, working on the details of Geppeto‘s possible marriage to the Blue Fairy (a subplot that, as yet, has still yet to bear fruit), most of Fables #128 deals with the duel between Brandish and Bigby (who is unaware that any damage he does the infuriating scoundrel falls on his wife).

By the end of the issue Brandish’s many magical defenses prove to much for Bigby who is transformed into a glass statue by the Prince’s magical sword. This leaves a wounded Snow White to stand-up for herself (’bout time) in next month’s final issue of the (somewhat disappointing) arc. For fans.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures #7

/ / Comics

Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures #7The six-issue mini-series continues as Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures returns with a new arc. The Good: The mix of short stories, all drawn by different artists has been replaced with a single ongoing and artist. The Bad: As the storyline focuses on a much younger version of Tesla we don’t even the hint of Atomic Robo.

Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures #7 has a consistent look and feel and gives the reader a closer examination and the pre-Atomic Robo days of Nikola Tesla. In this issue two of Tesla’s inventions are stolen from a demonstration by a shadowy new enemy who plans to use the scientist’s teleautomatic control unit in their effort to overthrow the United States Government.

Even without Atomic Robo, writer Brian Clevinger still delivers a fun (if somewhat unmemorable) adventure. I like Erica Henderson’s art, but at times felt like an odd choice for the tone of the comic. That said, I’m still likely to pick up the next issue. For fans.

[Red 5, $2.75]

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G.I. JOE: The Cobra Files #1

/ / Comics

G.I. JOE: Cobra Files #1The newest of IDW’s G.I. JOE titles centers around Chameleon, a former agent of Cobra now working for the good guys in an usual JOE team which includes Flint, Lady Jaye, Clockspring, and another former member of Cobra who tried to kill Chameleon several times in the past – Tomax.

Based out of Tomax’s casino the group works covertly to take out Cobra threats around the world. In this first issue the JOEs successfully liberate enslaved children in Vietnam and then, based on Tomax’s intel, turn their attention to the former head of Cobra’s amphibious assault squadron – Copperhead. This mission doesn’t go according to plan when the Chameleon is forced to kill Copperhead and almost dies herself from the wrong end of a shotgun held by the former Cobra agent’s son.

G.I. JOE: Cobra Files assembles an unusual assortment of characters for this team. I’m not sure there’s enough to keep me coming back every single month, but I may pop in from time to time to see how Chameleon and her team are fairing. For fans.

[IDW, $3.99]

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XIII – Defender

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: XIII – Defender
  • tv.com: link

XIII - Defender

Framed by his mysterious double for both the bombing of Synequanon and the attempted murders of both Vargas (Bruce Ramsay) and Jones (Aisha Tyler), the former who is being tortured for information by the U.S. Government while the later is in surgery to save her life as episode opens, XIII (Stuart Townsend) is unable to convince Betty (Roxane Mesquida) or the other surviving members of The Veil of his bizarre story of brainwashing, doppelgangers, and an elaborate frame that has him hunted by Synequanon and the U.S. Government. Searching for XIII, Amos (Greg Bryk) begins looking into Betty, her murdered brother, and the stolen Synequanon documents that got him killed.

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