4 Razors

Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood

  • Title: Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
  • IMDb: link

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood movie reviewThe latest from writer/director Quentin Tarantino includes all the trappings that fans have come to expect over the past two decades. Overly talky, in need of a little editing, with a few too many shots of his characters’ feet, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood is still quite entertaining and easily the best film Tarantino has made since 2009’s Inglourious Basterds. Most comparable with Death Proof, Once Upon a Time offers a slow build-up focused on character and snappy dialogue before jumping headfirst into an explosive finale.

Set in 1969 Hollywood, the plot follows the exploits of western star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) on the downside of his career, his friend and stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his new neighbor Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), and the Manson Family. The separate threads will eventually intertwine late in the film’s final act on one fateful night in the Hollywood Hills, but for most of the film Tarantino takes his time with each, featuring the Dalton/Booth friendship most prominently with plenty of inserts of the the actor’s glory days as the star of Bounty Law which came to an abrupt end after he started chasing a movie career.

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Elementary – The Latest Model

  • Title: Elementary – The Latest Model
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Elementary - The Latest Model television review

“The Latest Model” offers two cases for Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Watson (Lucy Liu). First, Odin Reichenbach (James Frain resurfaces with a case involving a potential killer. As he proposed to Holmes, he offers the detectives a chance to prove to the billionaire that his system isn’t correct in identifying and eliminating the man prior to his crime. The case here involves a podcaster (Roderick Hill) whose idea was stolen by a filmmaker who has turned it into fame and fortune while prolonging lawsuits to bankrupt the podcaster from ever seen a dime. As Reichenbach suggests, evidence does seem to point to the man committing crime that would injure both the guilty party and several bystanders. Holmes comes to an alternate solution to prevent the crime from occurring, and seems on the brink of pushing the billionaire into a less violent solution to the would-be criminals he identifies, but given the events at the end of the episode I’d say there is little chance for collaboration between Odin and the detectives (or any reason to suggest him changing his methods).

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Legion – Chapter 24

  • Title: Legion – Chapter 24
  • wiki: link

“I am Legion!”

Legion - Chapter 24 television review

As Legion moves one-step closer to its series finale the show dispenses with several supporting characters. Once again, several members of David‘s (Dan Stevens) flower child army are used as canon fodder but the episode is also notable for several other deaths including Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) and Clark (Hamish Linklater). The former, distraught over recent events, takes her own life while Clark becomes one of many casualties when David attacks Division 3’s air ship in search of Switch (Lauren Tsai). During the attack Syd (Rachel Keller) also manages to use her powers and take control of David’s body, although she’s unprepared for the numerous other split personalities still walking around his head as the show’s title is uttered by the left-over shards of David’s conciousness.

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Batman #75

Batman #75 comic reviewBatman #75 feels very much like an Elseworlds story as we open to a Gotham City where Hugo Strange is the Police Commissioner and the Joker and Riddler are police detectives on the beat involving a double-homicide committed by Two-Face. Although there is a Batman working the streets, it’s the alternate version of Thomas Wayne whose back-up isn’t Robin but Gotham Girl. This is Gotham City, as designed by Bane.

I’ll admit I haven’t kept up to date on this Batman title recently, but piecing together what we see here it looks like Bane had used the Psycho-Pirate to take control of the city and make the various Bat-villains his stooges in keep control of things. As bizarre a concept as it is, the set-up is intriguing (even if I can’t really figure out how Thomas Wayne fits into this?).

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Killjoys – Run, Yala, Run

  • Title: Killjoys – Run, Yala, Run
  • wiki: link

Killjoys - Run, Yala, Run TV review

Sometimes the heroes lose. It’s a brave new world in Killjoys‘ Fifth Seeason premiere. After escaping the Green, the Lady (Lily Gail Reid) has begun reshaping Westerly to suit her needs. While D’avin (Luke Macfarlane) remains a Killjoy, albeit without any memories of his friends or family, Johnny (Aaron Ashmore) and Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) are living life as a married couple blissfully unaware of the truth… until Dutch begins to wake-up. The Lady has turned the world topsy turvy recasting those to fit her whims (and to keep the dangerous at arm’s length). There are certainly questions here, such as who is lurking behind the scenes to help trigger Dutch’s memory? And, now that her first attempt has failed, what kind of shock will Dutch need to force on her friends to try and awake them again?

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