3 Razors

Cyrus

  • Title: Cyrus
  • IMDB: link

At a time when lo-fi music is getting a lot of attention from critics and listeners alike, it’s not surprising to find a similar movement emerging from film. Dubbed “Mumblecore,” these movies forsake high production value for handheld, affordable cameras and a production style that emphasizes improvisation – whether it be camera angles or dialogue. The posterboys for Mumblecore are Jay and Mark Duplass, two brothers that have gotten some attention for their movies including Baghead, and last year’s Humpday (both of which are availible of Netflix Streaming.) They’ve come far enough that, despite taking advantage of low-budget limitations to inform their films’ style, their newest film, Cyrus, was actually financed by a major studio.

Whereas you can easily imagine filmmakers doing totally different things with their budgets when they expand from five to seven digits, it turns out that Cyrus keeps the same aesthetic. The only difference here is that, instead of using themselves and their friends as actors, Cyrus has some pretty well-known talent in front of the camera.

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Covert Affairs – Pilot

  • Title: Covert Affairs – Pilot
  • tv.com: link

First days on the job can be hard, especially if you’re a spy. In Covert Affairs Piper Perabo stars as FBI Agent Karen Sympathy…wait, that was something else. Perabo stars as CIA trainee Annie Walker who gets thrown into the field for a special assignment. Christopher Gorham and Anne Dudek also star. Although the Pilot is a little rough in spots, I could do without the jealousy of Annie’s boss (Kari Matchett) to her husband (Peter Gallagher), and I’m still very much on the fence of the mysterious love angle, there’s definite promise. If you like the short clip take a gander at the rest.

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Secret Six #23

secret-six-23-coverWhat can you say about a comic where Bane rips off a man’s arms and beats him to death with them, Catman goes back on the hunt, Rag Doll eats off a man’s face, and Deadshot shoots down a chopper with a single bullet?

Fun? Yeah, fun.

Guest writer John Ostrander’s tale of the Six being hunted on an island is an intriguing one, but it lacks some of nuance and twisted glee Gail Simone usually provides. And personally I wasn’t a fan of the (almost pretty) art by RB Silva & Alexandre Palamaro which didn’t seem to fit the scruffy and gruff nature of the story.

Even if it’s not quite as good as usual there’s plenty of mayhem and madcap action that makes this issue worth a look.

[DC $2.99]

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Shadowland #1

  • Title: Shadowland #1 (of 5)
  • Comic Vine: link

The descent of Matt Murdock contiues in this new mini-series from Andy Diggle. Daredevil has built a monument, a fortress, in the middle of Hell’s Kitchen from which the Hand my strike swift vengeance on those would dare cause trouble within its borders. And he’s got himself a spiffy new costume. Pretty good stuff all around including a necessary scene among the Avengers discussing concern over Murdock’s new role.

As to the final scenes between Bullseye and Daredevil all I can say is I’ll believe the outcome is real when I see it. Diggle has played the sleight-of-hand once too often in recent months for me to take Daredevil’s apparent use of lethal force seriously (especially when of of the tie-ins coming out next month is titled Shadowland: Bullseye).

Odds are we’ll be seeing Bullesye again. Even if it’s another bait-and-switch the storyline of pushing Murdock down the dark path seems to be in full swing. And if it’s real…well, that’s a hell of a hard first step down a path of no redemption for the hero of Hell Kitchen to take in the first issue of this five month long event. Either way it should be an interesting few months for Daredevil readers.

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Superman #700

superman-700-coverTo be honest I haven’t been a regular reader of Superman for a very long time. Much like Batman #700 this issue gives us three tales, though here they are unrelated.

The first guest-stars the Parasite in the long awaited reunion of the Man of Steel and Lois Lane. The last is a grief stricken woman laying a planet-sized guilt trip on our hero causing him a level of introspection that seems odd given the length in his history (you’d think he’d have come to grips with such circumstances decades ago).

But it’s the middle story, guest-starring a young Dick Grayson as Robin, that works best. There are some fun moments including Superman trying to save Dick from Bruce’s wrath by quickly doing his homework and the Batman’s message to Clark in the epilogue. Worth a look.

[DC $4.99]

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