4.5 Razors

Tough Love

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Lust, Caution
  • IMDb: link

lust-caution-poster

Not totally unlike his last work, Ang Lee‘s Lust, Caution is a love story lead down the wrong path thanks to forlorn circumstances.  And although Lee’s movie about gay cowboy’s may have worked more thoroughly, there’s still a lot to this Mandarin-language film worth checking out.

Taking place in a World War II China when the Japanese were posing a threat, Lust, Caution focuses on a group of theater students who decide to stop putting on patriotic plays and start killing those Chinese sons a bitches who turned coat to the east, using a young woman (Wei Tang) to infiltrate one such traitor household.  They find out their task is much easier said than done after their target, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung), disappears across the country suddenly and without notice.  All the hard work and planning of six young nationalists goes down the drain.

…

Tough LoveRead More »

Tough Love Read More »

The Sword

/ / Comics

At more than 600 pages, and weighing-in over seven pounds, the Complete Deluxe Hardcover (complete a slipcase cover and all 24 issues and covers from the series) isn’t for the casual fan. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a must-read.

The Luna Brother’s tale of Dara Brighton and her quest for vengeance against the immortal beings who murdered her family over a mystical sword is a great read. This hardcover oversized edition captures all the gore, pain, and triumph of the series in the way only these oversized editions (similar to DC’s Absolute Editions) can.

…

The SwordRead More »

The Sword Read More »

Inception still dreamy on DVD

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Inception
  • IMDB: link

“All that we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream.”
–Edgar Allen Poe

I thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Nolan‘s Inception in theaters earlier this year (read the review). His exploration of dreams within dreams and a journey of one tortured soul (Leonardo DiCaprio) to make his way home by implanting a single idea into the dream of a stranger (Cillian Murphy) resonates as well on DVD as it did on the big screen. Out next week on DVD and Blu-ray it’s a great addition to your library.

The one-disc DVD is a little scant on extras (to put it midly). It does contain four short featurettes (averaging three minutes a piece) which include snippets from Nolan, DiCaprio, production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas, editor Lee Smith, cinamatopraher Wally Pfister, and stunt coordinator Tom Struthers, examining the aspect of dreams and the possibilities of the human mind, the japanese castle sequence, the paradoxical pemrose stairs, and the freight train barreling down the the middle of a busy street. Each of these is quite good but not quite enough to satisfy.

…

Inception still dreamy on DVDRead More »

Inception still dreamy on DVD Read More »

Red Robin #17

/ / Comics

I love almost everything about this issue. The epilogue to “The Hit List” gives us a little of everything that’s made Red Robin such a great read in the absence of Bruce Wayne along with a promise that things aren’t going to change.

We get the both the return Cassandra Cain and Batman in his fancy new costume as well as a Tim making a difficult decision to trust Lynx (perhaps not entirely made with his brain). To’s art is terrific (I honestly can’t pick out a favorite panel: the hug? the kiss? the discussion about Damian?), and Fabian Nicieza once again delivers yet another strong story without trying to rewrite the character of make some grand statement (something Grant Morrison could learn).

My only real complaint with the issue is the obvious slight to Stephanie Brown in Tim offering the role of Bagril back to Cassandra. Aside from the fact it’s not his to give, it’s just one hellova a dick move to make. I’m glad to see her pass on the opportunity, and it seems like there may be a new role for the character in the expanding Bat-family that feels more her own. Must-read.

[DC $2.99]

Red Robin #17 Read More »