4 Razors

The Fellowship of the Ring

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • IMDB: link

“One does not simply walk into Mordor.”

lotr-fellowship-of-the-ring-posterThe first film in Peter Jackson‘s trilogy adapting J. R. R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings is most viewers’ favorite of the series (although not mine). Despite being made more than a decade ago The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring holds up pretty well beginning by introducing the various races of Middle Earth as well as our main cast of characters who will volunteer for the suicidal mission of marching to Mount Doom.

Jackson slowly builds the story which begins by introducing us to the Hobbits of the Shire, particularly Bilbo (Ian Holm) and Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). The occasion of the wizard Gandalf’s (Ian McKellen) journey to the Shire for Bilbo’s 111th birthday and the discovery of the true power of the ring Bilbo found on his previous adventure leads young Frodo and his best friend Sam (Sean Astin) on an adventure with Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) which will cause the Hobbits leave the warmth and safety of the Shire for adventure and to prevent the return to power of the dark wizard Sauron.

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Person of Interest – C.O.D.

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Person of Interest – C.O.D.
  • tv.com: link

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The latest number delivered by The Machine is that of a former minor league baseball prospect turned New York City cab driver (Michael Irby) who has recently cleaned out his savings account and pawning his most valued possessions. Finch (Michael Emerson) bugs his car with sound, video, and GPS, which allows them to learn the cabbie is attempting to raise enough money to smuggle his wife and son out of Cuba. His real problem, however, has nothing to do with his money troubles and everything to do with a recent fare whose laptop might get him killed.

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Burn Notice – Best Laid Plans

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Burn Notice – Best Laid Plans
  • tv.com: link

burn-notice-best-laid-plans

Agent Riley (Sonja Sohn) arrests Maddie (Sharon Gless) to rattle her into giving up her son and learns Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) hasn’t yet left Miami. Her attempt to get Barry (Paul Tei) to put up a financial smokescreen obscuring where Michael and his team are headed only gets her in more hot water with the CIA. Meanwhile, Fi (Gabrielle Anwar) and Jesse (Coby Bell) help Schmidt (Patton Oswalt) procure an expense piece of technology from his warehouse to help pay the exorbitant fee of getting the foursome new identities and safely out of the country.

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Scandal – Happy Birthday, Mr. President

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Scandal – Happy Birthday, Mr. President
  • tv.com: link

“We’re in this together.”

scandal-happy-birthday-mr-president

The attempted assassination of President Fitzgerald (Tony Goldwyn) throws Olivia Pope’s (Kerry Washington) world into a tailspin. As Fitz fights for his life in a hospital emergency room Olivia thinks back to inauguration day and the first few days of his presidency. With the Press Secretary (Keiko Agena) seriously injured in the attack, and the Vice President’s (Kate Burton) grandstanding attempt to seize power, Olivia returns to the White House to help Cyrus (Jeff Perry) take control of the situation.

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Hitchcock

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Hitchcock
  • IMDB: link

“And that, madame, is why the call me ‘The Master of Suspense.'”

hitchcock-posterBased on the book by Stephen Rebello, director Sacha Gervasi‘s Hitchcock is more centered on director Alfred Hitchcock‘s personal life and the enormous stress of his widely unpopular decision to follow up North by Northwest with Psycho than the actual filming of the movie. The result is insanely well-cast and immensely enjoyable study of the famous director and the most important woman in his life, his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren).

The film succeeds beyond my expectations on the strength of three terrific performances. Hopkins, no stranger to throwing on prosthetics to play a larger than life historical figure (Nixon), is transformed into the famous director who is equal parts genius and spoiled child. Mirren is perfect as the loyal wife, who has never gotten her due for being Hitchcock’s most trusted collaborator, who simply wants to spend a little time with a charming old friend (Danny Huston) working on a new project. And Scarlett Johansson brings more than just a pretty face to her portrayal of Psycho actress Janet Leigh who never loses her professionalism even when the director crosses the line.

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