4.5 Razors

2004 – Spartan

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

“Where’s the girl?”

Spartan

Ten years ago today David Mamet‘s thriller Spartan opened in theaters starring Val Kilmer (in one of his best roles) and a relatively unknown actress (Kristen Bell) only months away from her career breakthrough as a spunky teen detective. Although my favorite Mamet scripts are his satires (State and Main, Wag the Dog), Spartan is an underrated gem that received neither the box office nor critical success it deserved.

Kilmer stars as a member of Delta Force tasked with finding the President’s daughter (Bell) before anyone realizes the young woman is missing. As with other Mamet thrillers, the plot offers twists and turns in a slowly unraveling mystery involving white slavery, kidnapping, family secrets, and questionable orders that costs several good people their lives and careers.

As you would expect from a Mamet film, the supporting cast is top-notch including Derek Luke as Kilmer’s junior partner, Clark Gregg, William H. Macy, Tia Texada, and Ed O’Neill.

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Psych – 1967: A Psych Odyssey

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Psych – 1967: A Psych Odyssey
  • wiki: link

“Whatever it takes.”

Psych - 1967: A Psych Odyssey

Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson, who also directed the episode) returns to Santa Barbara to say goodbye by announcing she’s taken a new position in San Fransisco. One group hug later, Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) rounds up Shawn (James Roday), Gus (Dulé Hill), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), and Henry (Corbin Bernsen) to investigate an unsolved 1967 homicide in order to impress Mayor Swaggerty (John Kapelos), whose uncle was the victim, and become the SBPD’s next Chief of Police. The cast does double duty by playing various roles in 60s flashbacks (including Hill performing as the lead singer of the lounge band) as Lassiter attempt to piece together the case with the help of the remaining living witnesses (Loretta Devine, Peggy Lipton) while becoming increasingly obsessed with solving the crime.

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Ender’s Game

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Ender’s Game
  • IMDB: link

Ender's GameA longtime fan of Orson Scott Card’s book, I was pleased enough with the recent adaptation of Ender’s Game to the big screen to find a spot for it on my Top 13 Movies of 2013. The movie holds up well on Blu-ray as we follow young Ender Wiggin‘s (Asa Butterfield) story as child prodigy sent to Battle School to transform him into to humanity’s best hope in their war against the ant-like race known as Formics.

Adapted and directed by Gavin Hood, the script streamlines Ender’s journey while ignoring large subplots from the book including that of Ender’s siblings (Abigail Breslin, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak) on Earth after his departure. What the film does deliver on is the complicated character study of a child genius striving to understand the aggression both in himself and the enemy he will be ordered to destroy, all set inside a collection of amazing effects and production design. For more on the film check out my original review.

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Star Wars #14

/ / Comics

Star Wars #14The second-half of Ensign Nanda‘s five days with Darth Vader on a secret mission of revenge concludes with Vader collecting Tag Rogaren from the asteroid fields of Alderaan and swiftly dealing with the elite Stormtroopers who decide they’d rather turn in the man for a bounty than see him returned to the Empire.

The final piece of the puzzle locks into place when Vader and Nanda head to Bircher‘s homeworld and discover the traitor’s connection to Mon Mothma whose family home the Dark Lord of the Sith obliterates from low orbit with Nanda as the only silent witness to his actions.

I’m sorry to see what has been the best arc of the series so far come to and end. Although Nanda survives her two days with the most dangerous man in the known universe, and even gets what was promised to her, we see how the emotional scars left from the five days will last a lifetime. Best of the Week.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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Pretty Little Liars – Shadow Play

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Pretty Little Liars – Shadow Play
  • wiki: link

Pretty Little Liars - Shadow Play

Snooping for evidence that may prove Ezra (Ian Harding) is A, the Liars find Alison‘s (Sasha Pieterse) missing diary in the teacher’s desk. While watching and old movie and going over the diary and the various other evidence she’s gathered late that night, and still popping the Uppers like Tic-Tacs, Spencer (Troian Bellisario) hallucinates herself into a black-and-white noir where the shadows hold as many questions as answers. Making the most of the look, lighting, and style, Pretty Little delivers a terrific-looking episode whose hidden truths and unclear motives fit naturally into the world of a noir tale.

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