4.5 Razors

Castle – Target

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Castle – Target
  • tv.com: link

“Don’t promise me you’ll find her unless you can do it. Because I’ll never forgive you.”

Castle - Target

While investigating a murder of a 24 year-old University of Colombia Freshman with a a full armory, military training, and professional surveillance gear, Beckett (Stana Katic) and Castle (Nathan Fillion) discover the kidnapping of the daughter (Karen David) of a wealthy Middle Eastern business man (Bernard White). The case takes a very personal turn when Castle discovers Alexis (Molly C. Quinn) was with the missing young woman at a science lecture the night of the abduction and hasn’t been seen since.

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Amour

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Amour
  • IMDB: link

amour-posterIf you have any personal experience with watching a loved one suffer a stroke or face the slow and debilitating end-of-life process writer/director Michael Haneke‘s Amour is likely to hit closer to home than you may like. Haneke’s tale is as simple as it is heartfelt, showcasing the strain of a stroke on the lives and the marriage of an elderly couple in their final months together.

Although there are cameo roles which include the couple’s daughter (Isabelle Huppert) and a former piano student (Alexandre Tharaud), Amour is really centered around the performances of Jean-Louis Trintignant as George and Emmanuelle Riva as his wife Anne. The entire film never leaves the walls in which the pair have made their home together which slowly becomes a prison for both of them when Anne suffers a second stroke.

Despite its success overseas, and several awards to its credit on this side of the Atlantic, Amour is only now slowly being released in the United States. You may have to search to find it, but despite its difficult subject matter it’s worth the wait.

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Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow #21

/ / Comics

Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow #21I’m going to miss this series. As IDW prepares to reboot their entire G.I. JOE franchise with new titles and new collaborative teams, writer Chuck Dixon and artist Robert Atkins provide one final Snake Eyes comic for us to enjoy. In honor of Larry Hama‘s own silent issue of G.I. JOE #21, Dixon and Atkins provide a final Storm Shadow tale that needs no words to tell.

The story involves both the Hard Master and Storm Shadow’s attempts to retrieve a priceless Arashikage blade discovered in the rubble of a construction site. There’s tons of action here including a final staredown between Storm Shadow and the Hard Master as they former teacher and student, at long last, come to an understanding.

Although given recent events there is plenty for the student and teacher to hash out, the comic needs no words to tell the story. Dixon even leaves us with a nice final surprise from our other title character who doesn’t make an appearance here but whose absence is felt in every panel. Must-read.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Batman and Robin Annual #1

/ / Comics

Batman and Robin Annual #1This is more like it. As the Bat-books continue to be mired in Death of a Family we get a short reprieve here with this annual that’s a breath of fresh air. After Damian arranges a scavenger hunt to keep Bruce Wayne and Alfred busy overseas for a few days, Robin creates his own Batman costume (a nod to the future adult version of Damian as Batman presented in Batman #666) and heads out to defend Gotham on his own as Batman.

What’s great about this story is nothing is wasted. Bruce’s trip isn’t a complete waste of time only to get him out of the way as Damian has put the time and the thought into crafting a very emotional journey for his father which should only bring the pair closer together.

And as for a pint-sized Batman ruling the night in Gotham, it’s a blast! Damian truly works in brutal, but Batman-like efficency, and never becomes the isipid murderous twerp some writers use as his fallback setting. I know I have been hard on the Bat-books recently, but this is a perfect example of what they can be when a little joy is inserted into the equation. Must-read.

[DC, $4.99]

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Legends of Awesomeness – Shifu’s Back

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness – Shifu’s Back
  • tv.com: link

Legends of Awesomeness - Shifus Back

After two months of being cooped up in the Jade Palace unable to perform Kung Fu for without permits lost in a bureaucratic nightmare caused by the new regulations instigated by superintendent Woo (Ken Jeong), Po (Mick Wingert) and the Furious Five are finally granted permission to return to duty and deal with increased crime rate that has grown in their absence.

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