3.5 Razors

Batgirl #18

/ / Comics

batgirl-18-coverHere’s something you may have not known: Stephanie Brown tastes like Christmas. Not surprising mind you, just food for thought. This Valentine’s issue pairing of Batgirl and Klarion the Witch Boy out to stop his familiar from a murder spree while it searches for true love isn’t exactly you average Batgirl tale. It’s not every day our heroine finds herself shrunk and trapped in a magic snow globe.

What works here is how Stephanie Brown is immediately put on the defensive by dealing with a magic user – not something that comes up regularly in her patrols on the streets of Gotham. Still, Stephanie adapts and agrees to help the Witch Boy after Klarion returns her to normal size (dashing her dream of fighting lice alongside the Atom in what would surely be an epic team-up).

Of course this includes dimension jumping, trying to prevent herself from being burned at the stake, fighting off a Witch Boy’s cat (which turns out to be a man-sized vicious were-cat), and even kissing Witch Boy in front of her friends. Weird, but also worth a look.

[DC $2.99]

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The Deadly Art of Science

/ / Comics
  • Title: Atomic Robo Vol. 5 #3 (of 5)
  • Comic Vine: link
  • Writer: Brian Clevinger
  • Artist: Scott Wegener

“The Deadly Art of Science” continues as Atomic Robo learns from vigilante Jack Tarot (somewhat successfully), fights a giant robot (less successfully), and learns a few things from Jack’s daughter Helen (smoochie-smoochie!).

Although Tarot has little respect for out hero’s ability in the field (he’d rather work with a gorilla), Tarot is impressed with his scientific knowledge and astounded when Robo helps make a break in the case. What else can the vigilante do but reluctantly agree to train the troublesome robot?

A very enjoyable issue all around punctuated with Tarot’s increasingly short-temper towards all of Atomic Robo’s “help.” And aside from giving or hero his first kiss, Helen also teaches him a lesson about family which gives us a nice closing sequence between Robo and his creator Nikola Tesla that brings the pair’s confrontation earlier in the issue full circle. Worth a look.

[Red 5, $3.50]

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The Whole Nine Yards

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Whole Nine Yards
  • IMDb: link

whole-nine-yards-poster

His role of Friends aside, I’ve been largely unimpressed with Matthew Perry (Serving Sara and Three to Tango come to mind). It’s really a shame he’s made such bad choices on scripts because when you watch this flick you realize how good he could actually be in motion pictures. 

The idea of a comedy starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry might not inspire much confidence, but what we get turns out to be pretty darn good. The Whole Nine Yards is a quirky, fun, occasionally dark, entertaining little movie. Full of odd characters and terrific comic sequences, most notably from Perry. And it provides not one but two love stories.

Nicholas ‘Oz’ Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is trapped. He’s living in Montreal with a horrible wife (Rosanna Arquette) who has made his life miserable for years. He continues to work at the dental practice he started with his father-in-law whose debt from an embezzlement scheme he is forced to pay off. 

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The Holiday

/ / Movie Reviews, Theme Week
  • Title: The Holiday
  • IMDB: link

the-holiday-posterDirector Nancy Meyers gives us a great Christmas present – a fun romantic comedy, a chick-flick that guys can actually tolerate and enjoy. Who would have thought it possible? Merry Christmas everyone!

Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) have two things in common: neither has good taste in men, and both are depressed and alone at Christmas. The two complete strangers decide to swap lives for two weeks.  And so movie trailer maker Amanda finds herself in a small British town in a cozy home with a stack of books, and Iris ends up in a posh L.A. mansion with a host of DVD’s.

As each explores their new surroundings they meet new people. Amanda falls immeadiately for Iris’ roguishly handsome brother (Jude Law), and Iris cultivates two friendships – the first with an elderly screenwriter (Eli Wallach), and the second with a composer (Jack Black) who has as much luck in love as she does.

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While You Were Sleeping

/ / Home Video, Theme Week
  • Title: While You Were Sleeping
  • IMDB: link

while-you-were-sleeping-posterLucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) lives alone with her cat, carries an empty passport around in her coat pocket, and works long hours as in a subway booth taking tokens from strangers.  One bright spot in her dreary existence is when Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher) walks by every morning even though they’ve never met. 

On Christmas morning he’s mugged and falls onto the tracks.  Lucy jumps on the tracks and saves his life and through a miscommunication at the hospital is believed to be Peter’s fiancé.  When Peter’s large family arrives to find him in a coma they thank Lucy for saving his life and immediately embrace her into the family.  The whole thing happens so fast Lucy doesn’t get a chance to tell them the truth and, after a few days with the family, doesn’t want to.

Aside from funny misunderstandings and odd coincidences the film is basically about relationships.  Lucy’s only confidant is her boss (Jerry Bernard) who Lucy tells the story to and is both amused and annoyed at her situation. 

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