4 Razors

The Man with One Red Shoe

/ / Home Video, Theme Week
  • Title: The Man with One Red Shoe
  • IMDB: link

man-with-one-red-shoe-posterI have a confession to make; my favorite Tom Hanks movie isn’t Forrest Gump, Big, Philadelphia, Apollo 13, The Terminal, Splash, or Sleepless in Seattle.  My favorite Hanks film is 1985’s The Man with One Red Shoe.  Now, I’d never argue it’s his best movie, but for my money its sheer enjoyment value is off the charts. A great farce, fun suspense, Jim Belushi losing his mind, Carrie Fisher in a leopard print bikini, and an off-beat love story make this a great addition to anyone’s DVD collection.

Richard Drew (Tom Hanks) is a concert violinist who is sleeping with his best friend Morris’s (Jim Belushi) wife Paula (Carrie Fisher).  Richard leads a boring life of concerts and violin lessons. 

That’s all about to change as CIA director Ross (Charles Durning) sets up a trap to catch the illegal operations of a competing CIA boss Cooper (Dabney Coleman).  Ross plants a fake story about having a witness to Cooper’s activities and sends his top man Brown (Edward Herrmann) to pick a man at random realizing that Cooper will take a run at him and then they will have him. 

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The Man with One Red Shoe Read More »

Finally, a Real Love Story!

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Lars and the Real Girl
  • IMDB: link

“The search for true love begins outside the box.”

Hollywood loves contrived love stories with insane stipulations and “humorous” misunderstandings.  Well I’ve got a little love story for you that knocks off the conventions of today’s chick flicks and presents an engaging, sweet, and enduring love story (between a man and his sex doll no less!).

Karin (Emily Mortimer) and Gus (Paul Schneider) are expecting a new baby, but the person Karin is most concerned with is Gus’s shy and awkward younger brother Lars (Ryan Gosling) who keeps everyone at arms length and seems to have trouble with intimacy and with social gatherings.  And who is terribly lonely, whether he admits it or not.

Out of the blue Lars announces he has met a girl on the Internet who has come to visit.  Bianca is a beautiful, smart, and kind paralyzed Danish-Brazilian missionary.  She’s also a Real Doll (a lifelike and anatomically correct sex doll made of silicone) who Lars bought online.  Now, given the state of gross-out humor popular today, you might think you know where the film is going, but you would be wrong.

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Finally, a Real Love Story! Read More »

Secret Six #30

/ / Comics

secret-six-30-coverScandal Savage and Liana decide to arrange Bane‘s first date by hooking him up with one of the other dancers at Liana’s strip club. The results are BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

The Secret Six take on the Doom Patrol in the middle of a river that’s home to a mutated half-man/half-fish creature. And then there’s the story of a full-time loser with nothing is left a destiny by his dying grandfather – a particle cannon and the seed of idea to bring glamor and style back to the world of crime. That, and a secret hideout inside a exploded volcano (which may not be as dormant as he believes).

The first-half of a two-part crossover with the Doom Patrol, this one’s got it all (even a team of sexy parachuting female suicide bombers). Manic action from the first page to the last, writer Gail Simone shoots from both barrels here with both dark humor and the kind of ass kicking only the Secret Six can deliver. Must-read.

[DC $2.99]

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The Stuff Dreams are Made Of

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Science of Sleep (Science des reves, La)
  • IMDB: link

science-of-sleep-posterWriter/director Michel Gondry‘s film is a wild ride through a uique and fascinating world.  The film exists in two worlds, reality and the dreams of the main character, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which.

Promised a creative job by his mother, Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal) moves back home to the apartment house.  Once there he discovers two things.  The first is the job is nothing more than mindless office work.  The second happens when he meets a young woman who lives across the hall and discovers, to his amazement, he loves her.

Now things are going to get complicated, so stay with me.  Stephane meets his neighbor Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her friend Zoe (Emma de Caunes).

For no real reason the relationship begins in lies.  Stephane, more attracted to Zoe than Stephanie, says he lives across town, and the girls both lie about thier jobs.  Slowly he realizes that it is Stephanie who is the real prize.

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The Stuff Dreams are Made Of Read More »

New Avengers #8

/ / Comics

new-avengers-8-coverWhen Brian Michael Bendis is good he’s really good. First, let me just say this is the best explanation of Doombots I’ve ever seen.

Issue #8 is centered around Luke Cage and Jessica Jones having dinner together, something they don’t often do (Cage even idly wonders if this is their first real date). The pair seriously discuss and playfully bicker over the topic of whether or not she plans to put back on the tights as an Avenger. There’s plenty of laughs including Cage’s suggestion of a possible new super-hero name for his wife which doesn’t go over anywhere near as well as he hoped.

The dinner is interrupted by Ms. Marvel, a falling object and Dr. Doom all crashing into the street across from the restaurant. (That’s Marvel’s New York for you.) What follows is a husband and wife takedown of what is actually a Doombot before the other New Avengers arrive, followed by a group meal, Jones’ decision about being a hero, and Spider-Man getting in the last word at Cage’s expense.

[Marvel $3.99]

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