4 Razors

Safety Not Guaranteed

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Safety Not Guaranteed
  • IMDb: link

safety-not-guaranteed-poster

Time travel stories are tricky and the number of movies that intelligently discuss the topic are outnumbered by hundreds that don’t (for proof look no further than the pathetic likes of The Time Machine, Timeline, Black Knight, Freejack, and the truly awful adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s A Sound of Thunder). Thankfully, director Colin Trevorrow‘s Safety Not Guaranteed doesn’t fall into this category. Instead, it produces one of the year’s most unexpected and memorable films.

Seattle Magazine reporter (Jake M. Johnson) sells his editor (Mary Lynn Rajskub) on the idea of doing a puff piece on a man  (Mark Duplass) who posted a classified ad looking for a companion for time travel. Roping in two interns (Aubrey Plaza, Karan Soni) to do the actual work, Jeff heads to the coast for his real purpose of a paid vacation and reconnecting with his teenage girlfriend (Jenica Bergere), but the story the threesome uncover turns out to be far more interesting than they expected.

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Moonrise Kingdom

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Moonrise Kingdom
  • IMDB: link

moonrise-kingdom-posterThere is never a doubt that Moonrise Kingdom is a Wes Anderson film. From the opening credit sequence to the final shot the writer/director’s latest is filled with his voice and style. I haven’t always been Anderson’s biggest fan, as at times I think he sacrifices substance for style (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and to a lesser extent Rushmore), but I enjoyeed The Darjeeling Limited and appreciated The Fantastic Mr. Fox enough to include it on a list of my the Best Films of 2009.

Anderson’s latest is a bit of a departure as it focuses on a pair of 12 year-old characters (rather than his usual choice of an ensemble of thoroughly damaged and eccentric adults). Sam (Jared Gilman) is an orphaned Khaki Scout marooned on a small New England island with no paved roads and a group of unfriendly companions. Suzy (Kara Hayward) is the problem child of a pair of lawyers (Frances McDormand, Bill Murray) more comfortable discussing legal briefs than feelings.

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Franklin & Bash – For Those About to Rock

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Franklin & Bash – For Those About to Rock
  • tv.com: link

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After being held in contempt Jared (Breckin Meyer) is given 50 hours of community service, in small claims court, as a judge where he’s forced to rule in favor of shutting down a legendary rock ‘n roll club when the club owner (Joel David Moore) is unable to pay the rent after the unexpected disappearance of his legendary father (Peter Weller). Peter (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) convinces his friend to make right by taking the man’s case, even in that means going up against Jared’s father (Beau Bridges) in court.

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Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow #14

/ / Comics

snake-eyes-strom-shadow-14-coverAfter Zartan survived the first attempt on his life, Storm Shadow sends Snake Eyes and Rika out to finish the job. That’s only half of Zartan’s problems, however, as his insolence has perturbed the new Cobra Commander enough to allow Savane to make a name for herself in Cobra by killing him as well.

With both the Arashikage Clan and Cobra out to kill him you wouldn’t expect Zartan’s life expectancy to be very long. However, for another issue the master of disguise manages to stay one step ahead of his persuers, although his getaway plane does have a bomb onboard.

We get another glimpse at Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow’s lives as young pupils of Arashikage as well Snake Eyes knocking out Rika and sending a coded message to Helix about Zartan. We’ll have to see how long the mute ninja can keep playing both sides before someone figures out what’s really going on. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Winter Soldier #7

/ / Comics

winter-soldier-7-coverFor two months the Winter Soldier and Black Widow have tracked Leo Novokov, the third Soviet sleeper agent trained by Bucky who is loose in the world and leading the pair, and S.H.I.E.L.D. on a scavenger hunt filled with the bodies of government agents, soldiers, a doctor, a bellhop, and one of Bucky’s oldest friends.

The pair get a break with Novokov kidnaps a former Soviet scientist and member of the Red Room (the experimental science and training program that produced the Black Widow). However, Volkov has one more trick as he lures Buck and Natasha into an exploding Winnebago all to separate the two and reveal his true target.

Okay, so it doesn’t have gorillas with machine guns, but a motor home of death is still pretty cool, and Brubaker keeps the tension taught as Bucky does his impression of Sandra Bulluck from Speed. Another strong issue with a nice (if far too foreseeable) twist at the end. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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