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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • IMDB: link

The Amazing Spider-Man 2Building on the groundwork laid two years ago in The Amazing Spider-Man, the sequel returns all the core members of the first film (minus the Lizard) while continuing the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and the harsh lessons which frame Spider-Man’s mythology.

Although needing to spend the time setting up two different villain origin stories, one of the aspects of the sequel I most enjoyed was the fact that it never lost focus that this is primarily Peter Parker’s movie. Jamie Foxx is adequate as Electro, a super-villain with the power to absorb and control electricity, even if he’s given a rushed paint-by-the-numbers origin that relies on the introverted electrical engineer going from confused super-powered freak just trying to understand what has happened to him and deal with his new taste for all things electric to full-on super-villain a little too quickly for my tastes. The same could be said for Harry Osborne (Dane DeHaan) whose relationship with Peter doesn’t have enough time to develop and deteriorate to the point that the script needs to earn its eventual payoff.

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Samurai Jack #7

/ / Comics

Samurai Jack #7With Samurai Jack and the Scotsman both turned into females by the Leprechauns the pair’s two-issue gender-bending adventures continue as Samurai Jacqueline and the Scotswoman seek to complete their bargain with the devious imps and confront the giant Cuhullin the Cruel.

Only after confronting the massive creature in battle do Jack and the Scotsman uncover just how much they’ve been played by the evil imps and decide to do what they can to set things right. With the spell broken due to the giant’s wailing breaking the music of the curse (which is only slightly less awkward than it sounds), the restored Jack and Scotsman come up with a plan to help Cuhullin and teach the Leprechauns a much-deserved lesson.

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2004 – Walking Tall

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Walking Tall (2004)
  • IMDB: link

Walking TallOn this date ten years ago Dwayne “It’s Okay to Call Me The Rock Again” Johnson‘s remake of 1973’s Walking Tall hit theaters. Loosely based on real events, the simple premise finds war hero Chris Vaughn (The Rock) return home to find his home town at the mercy of an unscrupulous businessman (Neal McDonough) and old high school rival who keeps a stranglehold on the small Washington town with a shady business dealings and rigged casino.

Discovering the man’s total disrespect for the law, and after being assaulted and almost killed by the man’s hired thugs, Vaughn finds no help from the local police which causes the former Army Special Forces ass-kicker to bust-up the casino with only his fists and a two-by-four before running for office on the platform of cleaning up the town.

Along for the ride the film casts Johnny Knoxville in the role of comic relief as Vaughn’s idiot best-friend and Ashley Scott as a childhood friend turned stripper turned love interest.

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Samurai Jack #6

/ / Comics

Samurai Jack #6In the beginning of a new gender-bending arc, Samurai Jack is surprised by the arrival of The Scotsman (who isn’t so much a Scotsman anymore as a Scotswoman). Learning his friend has been cursed, the samurai sets out to right the wrong which gets more complicated by the fact that The Scotsman wasn’t completely forthcoming with the series of events that led him to show up at Jack’s campsite in a dress.

Finding the leprechauns responsible, and learning that the curse was their reprisal for his friend’s drunken rampage, Samurai Jack agrees to deal with the leprechauns’ enemy Chullin the Cruel if they will agree to remove the curse. Although a deal is struck, it is not entirely to Jack’s liking as until he fulfills his half of the bargain he, along with The Scotsman, will be trapped in a woman’s body.

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I Feel No Need, No Need for Speed

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Need for Speed
  • IMDB: link

“This ain’t just about racing.”

Need for SpeedNeed for Speed is no Cannonball Run II. You could even argue it’s no Speed Zone (which replaced Burt Reynolds and company with SCTV vets John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty along with a host of lesser-known stars for a forgettable third Cannonball Run film). Loosely based on the popular video game franchise, Need for Speed stars Aaron Paul as kick-ass small-time racer and mechanic Tobey Marshall whose rivalry with his old girlfriend’s (Dakota Johnson) new boyfriend (Dominic Cooper) ends with him serving two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Recently released, and with the help of his friends (Scott Mescudi, Rami Malek, Ramon Rodriguez) and a new love interest (Imogen Poots) providing a top-grade car, Tobey will try to settle the score on the road by breaking parole (and dozens of traffic laws) to earn a spot in a super-secret race on the West Coast held annually by a reclusive millionaire (Michael Keaton). To get there, however, he and Julia (Poots) will have to survive the trip across country after his rival posts a bounty to make sure Tobey never makes it to the starting line.

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