4.5 Razors

Doctor Who – The Sounds of Drums / Last of the Time Lords

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Doctor Who – The Sounds of Drums / Last of the Time Lords
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

“Martha Jones, you saved the world.”

Doctor Who - The Sounds of Drums / Last of the Time Lords tv review

For Throwback Thursday we turn our attention back to the two-part finale of the Third Season of Doctor Who. Reintroducing one of The Doctor‘s (David Tennant) most feared enemies in the previous episode, “The Sound of Drums” and “Last of the Time Lords” focus on The Master (John Simm) biggest victory over The Doctor. Having just been elected Great Britain’s new Prime Minister, The Master uses the stolen TARDIS to create a paradox machine which allows him to turn over the Earth to the Toclafane, steal The Doctor’s regenerative energy, cage his rival, and bask in the knowledge of his victory and mastery (so to speak) over the Earth. The only thing he didn’t count on was Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman).

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Gleason

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Gleason
  • IMDb: link

Gleason DVD reviewOriginally intended as a video diary for Steve Gleason‘s unborn son, director Clay Tweel takes audiences along for the ride on the heart-wrenching journey of Gleason’s slow decline after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Going from a local football hero who helped rejuvenate the New Orleans Saints football team in the season following Hurricane Katrina to a man fighting to speak, move, and even breathe on his own is often difficult to watch. Refusing to give in, Gleason and his wife Michel continue to fight the incurable degenerative disease every step of the way including forming their own foundation to support others in need.

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Nocturnal Animals

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Nocturnal Animals
  • IMDb: link

Nocturnal AnimalsFrom the unconventional opening credits to the crushing final scene, Nocturnal Animals is a tour-de-force you won’t be able to take you eyes off of. Using a story within a story to reveal the truth about his characters, writer/director Tom Ford delivers a taut psychological thriller involving art gallery owner Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) whose blasé hoity-toity life is shaken by the arrival of a manuscript by her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal). Shown in three interlocking tales, we are witness to Susan’s current timeline and marriage to husband number two (Armie Hammer), flashbacks of her marriage to Edward (Gyllenhaal), and the fictional tale which unfolds in brighter tones and more visceral glee than anything in her current life, rocking Susan to her core.

Of the three, it’s Edward’s manuscript which turns out to be the most impressive on film. Also casting Gyllenhaal as a husband and father whose family (Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber) is harassed and attacked late one night on a empty stretch of road in west Texas by a group of hoodlums (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Karl Glusman, Robert Aramayo), we’re given a front-row seat to the tragic consequences of that night.

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Manchester by the Sea

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Manchester by the Sea
  • IMDb: link

Manchester by the SeaWritten and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea is a simple story that provides surprising depth. Following the death of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), the less-reliable Lee (Casey Affleck) is given custody of his Joe’s teenage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges) forcing him to leave his dreary life in Boston and return to the home he abandoned in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts years before.

Affleck and Lonergan thread a difficult needle here as Lee comes off as immediately unlikable, unreliable, and by all accounts the worst choice to be his nephew’s guardian, while still leaving the door open for our opinion to change as we learn more about his troubled past. It’s a good role for Affleck who knows just how to play the moody loneliness of the character while foreshadowing that there’s something far more complex going on with Lee under the surface. A stark contrast to his mopey uncle, Hedges is is a charismatic lightning bolt everyone seems to gravitate to (such as his multiple girlfriends who include Kara Hayward and Anna Baryshnikov). More together than Lee, most of the time it’s a little unclear who is taking care of who following his father’s death.

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The Flash – The Present

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Flash – The Present
  • wiki: link

The Flash - The Present television review

For its Christmasy mid-season finale The Flash pulls out all the stops and delivers the best episode of the season so far. Along with Barry (Grant Gustin) and company discover Julian‘s (Tom Felton) secret, the episode enlightens the viewers on who Savitar is and why it seems he’s targeted Barry. With Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Barry burying the hatchet during the Invasion! crossover, here Barry and Julian are able to make peace as well, and finally all of Team Flash gets on-board with Wally joining the family business. God bless us, everyone! All that plus a guest-appearance from as Jay Garrick, and even a cameo from Mark Hamill, what more could you want for Christmas?

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