4 Razors

NCIS: Origins – Blue Bayou

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: NCIS: Origins – Blue Bayou
  • wiki: link

More than the cold shoulder that Gibbs (Austin Stowell) from Dominguez (Mariel Molino) after returning from Mexico over events which aren’t discussed, “Blue Bayou” stands out for filling in more of Gibbs’ backstory following his murder of Pedro Hernandez and what exactly the former Marine was doing with himself before Franks (Kyle Schmid) hired him. In what’s been a theme of the show introducing characters who helped save his life after the death of his family, we see the unlikely friendship that not only helps Gibbs get through the months following his Mexican mission of revenge but ultimately puts him on a path to NIS forever changing the course of his life.

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Doctor Who – Joy to the World

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Doctor Who – Joy to the World
  • wiki: link

While the larger story of “Joy to the World” involves a the creation of a man-made star capable of destroying the Earth being handed off to innocents transformed into brainwashed couriers, the latest Doctor Who Christmas episode is most notable for the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) being force to stop running, for an entire year, and wait. The episode plays on similar themes to “The Power of Three” when the Doctor (Matt Smith) stayed with Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) for an extended period on Earth, but this time the Doctor is forced to make his own fun with some Christmas trappings thrown in as well.

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Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas
  • IMDb: link

Released in 1977, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas introduced us to the struggling family of Emmet (Jerry Nelson) and his mother Alice (Marilyn Sokol) who have been scraping by since the death of Emmet’s father. As Christmas rolls around both struggle to get the other a gift. Each separately latches on to the idea of earning money by winning the local talent contest. However, to meet the needs of the show, each must trade the other’s prized possession with Alice hocking Emmet’s toolbox and Emmet putting a hole in his mother’s washtub.

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Conclave

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Conclave
  • IMDb: link

Far less silly than Angels & Demons (at least until its final ten minutes), and with less conspiracy and murder, Conclave tackles the election of a new pope by the sequestered College of Cardinals. Our main protagonist throughout events is Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) who despite his recent religious struggles finds himself in charge of the proceedings where he sides with the more modern liberal candidates (Stanley Tucci and Lucian Msamati) for the open position over other candidates (John Lithgow and Sergio Castellitto).

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Hundreds of Beavers

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Hundreds of Beavers
  • IMDb: link

Basically a live-action WB cartoon whose plot could easily star Porky Pig or Daffy Duck mixed with a bit of low-budget gameplay, the slapstick Hundreds of Beavers introduces us to an applejack salesman turned fur trapper after the factory is destroyed by beavers. Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) is forced to reinvent himself as he learns, with much trial and error, to survive the wilderness, hunt rabbits and beavers, outsmart racoons, and avoid wolves (all of which are played by humans dressed in mascot costumes walking around on their hindlegs which help give the film its unique charm).

The film is wacky nonsense from beginning to end, but director Mike Cheslik‘s bizarre little film (shot in black-and-white on a shoestring budget) is an incredibly creative and enjoyable bit of wacky nonsense.

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