5 Razors

Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat and Kid #4

/ / Comics

Part 2 of “Blood Wings,” Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat and Kid #4 opens with Miyamoto Usagi captured by the Komorai Ninja as the rabbit ronin attempts to dissuade them from attacking the gold shipment. Usagi’s bluff that the village knows of their attack gains him the necessary time to escape and Usagi decides to warn the village rather than the caravan carrying the gold who he is already too late to save.

…

Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat and Kid #4Read More »

Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat and Kid #4 Read More »

Drive My Car

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Drive My Car
  • IMDb: link

Movies find you in interesting ways. Drive My Car is the film I’d been searching for through all of 2021, a true cinematic experience that enveloped me, taking me on a completely unexpected journey built on strong storytelling and great performances.

Adapting Haruki Murakami‘s short story, writer/director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi delivers a beautiful look at loss, moving on, and the unexpected relationships that form when you least expect them. Our main character is Yûsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a stage actor and director. The script spends more than a half-hour developing his relationship to his wife Oto (Reika Kirishima), including some shocking discoveries by Kafuku, which works as backstory for the main film still yet to come, but is still presented with such care it could easily have been fleshed out into its own film.

…

Drive My CarRead More »

Drive My Car Read More »

The Human Target #3

/ / Comics

I can’t say enough about how much I am loving this comic that continues to mix a dying detective’s noir search for his own killer with just the right notes of Justice League International nostalgia. The Human Target #3 not only gives us Guy Gardner, who shows up to throw a hissy fit after discovering Ice is spending time with Christopher Chance, but also more of Ice and Chance together, and Chance talking to another former JLI member in full self-promotion mode.

We get Booster Gold in almost all his glory (sadly, no Elvis collar) along with Gardner, and Ice are all put to great use here. The cherry on top here is an unexpected final cameo of the one person who could get Guy to back off which. Aside for being a pitch perfect nod to the comic history Tom King is playing in, it further illustrates how smart and innovative Chance is, even if he remains far from finding his killer.

…

The Human Target #3Read More »

The Human Target #3 Read More »

The Human Target #2

/ / Comics

The Human Target continues to surprise as the second issue introduces the dying Christopher Chance to the Justice League International‘s Ice in something of a femme fatale role who charms Chance into spending the day with her (using up one of his 11 remaining) while offering her help on the case and attempting to convince him that her best friend, despite strong motives, isn’t responsible for the attempt on Lex Luthor’s life.

Ice, rather than Fire, is an interesting choice for this role which seems far removed from her role within the JLI but still fits within the established character while offering something new. She mesmerizes Chance who notes both her coldness and the warmth of her charms. Chance accepts Ice’s help, and a late reveal gives an interesting spin on their entire day together, but our dying hero can’t help but speculate if he’s already met his killer.

…

The Human Target #2Read More »

The Human Target #2 Read More »

Summer of Soul

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
  • IMDb: link

Summer of Soul movie reviewIn the same summer as Woodstock, the Harlem Cultural Festival held a series of concerts to celebrate African American music and culture. The more than 40 hours of concert footage has been sitting around for decades and now can finally be seen.

Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson weaves the performances together with a cultural narrative and interviews from surviving performers and attendees. Along with the numerous great performances, Summer of Soul also captures the immense crowds present at the events only to see the concert be lost to time. Until now.

…

Summer of SoulRead More »

Summer of Soul Read More »