4 Razors

Kajillionaire

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

Kajillionaire DVD reviewThe latest from writer/director Miranda July borders at times at being too quirky for it’s own good, but it’s also a surprisingly sweet story about one hell of a dysfunctional family and finding love in the most unexpected places. Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, and Evan Rachel Wood star as a family of low-rent con artists in a perpetual desperate need of cash. When the latest attempt to bilk $1,500 out of the airlines fails to earn them the quick score to pay for one of the oddest apartments in the history of cinema, it also introduces the family to a new friend (Gina Rodriguez) on the return flight.

The script takes some twist and turns, as various cons go awry in ways that lead the absurdly named Old Dolio (Wood) to finally come to terms with who her parents are while finding friendship, and perhaps more, in Melanie (Rodriguez). While taking the place of a student (Rachel Redleaf) in a positive parenting class, Old Dolio begins to start to see the world differently while also becoming jealous of the attention her parents are showing Melanie (although they have ulterior motives).

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Black Cat #2

/ / Comics

Black Cat #2 comic reviewA tie-in to Marvel’s “King in Black” storyline which involves Knull arriving on Earth and sending an army of symbiotes to take down Earth’s heroes in New York, Black Cat #2 features a mission for the Marvel Universe’s best thief – steal one of Knull’s most valuable prisoners from underneath the God’s nose.

While rescuing Doctor Strange may not be as fun as stealing from him, the issue does present interesting challenges for Felicia Hardy and still offers a strong build up to the heist. Black Cat #2 is a solid issue that fits into a larger storyline without forcing readers to track down other issues in order to make sense of things (which is good because I have no interest in reading any more about Knull than I need to).

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The Dissident

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Dissident
  • IMDb: link

The Dissident movie reviewThe Dissident examines events surrounding the government-sanctioned murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist and dissident living in Turkey and working for The Washington Post who entered the Sauadi Embassy one day and never emerged. Director Bryan Fogel provides a compelling narrative, outlining Khashoggi’s work as a state-run journalist in his home country before being pressured to leave his family and start a new life abroad. In examining Saudi Arabia targeting Khashoggi, and other dissidents, the film explores frightening levels Big Brother technology. The film also, not so subtly, points out how Donald Trump, ignoring facts brought to light and sanctions from his own Congress, chose to turn a blind eye to the shocking events.

Fogel’s presentation isn’t without some curious choices starting with a bombastic score better suited to a thriller, or Christopher Nolan film, and some narrative choices which rearrange events out of order (such as Khashoggi’s short-run television program). Such jarring choices undercut the natural tension of events which are shocking enough without the need of additional help.

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Mank

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

Mank movie reviewMank tackles one of cinema’s most legendary controversies about who should get credit for the script of what many believe to be the greatest film ever made. By the name of the film, the friendly nickname given to writer Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), you can guess which side director David Fincher takes. Using the screenplay from his father Jack Fincher, Mank delivers a story from the perspective of the writer hired by Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to anonymously write the screenplay for a thinly-veiled take on William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) which would become Citizen Kane.

The script glosses over early discussions between Wells and Mankiewicz, and ignores the numerous rewrites Wells made to the script while depositing the narrative that Welles was seemingly only nominally aware that a script was even being written. Despite some beautiful cinematography from Erik Messerschmidt, punchy dialogue from the elder Fincher, and solid performances from all involved, Mank is a bit uneven. The first hour, largely focused on introducing Mank’s over-the-top personality, is nearly flawless, but as the second-half of the film attempts to get more dramatic things get maudlin and melodramatic.

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Perry Mason – The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Perry Mason – The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece
  • wiki: link

Perry Mason - The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece television review

Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the courtroom of Perry Mason. “The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece” has a little of everything. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is initially hired to help with a messy divorce when a busman’s unscrupulous partner (John Archer) conspires with the man’s soon-to-be ex-wife (Hillary Brooke) to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, when a member of the household is killed in a way that resembles an earlier sleepwalking incident (one that opens the episode), Mason is soon defending his client (John McNamara) against murder charges.

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