The Devil’s Double is the disturbing tale of Latif Yahia, a well to-do Iraqi man who is forced to become the body double of Uday Hussein, the sadistic elder son of dictator Saddam Hussein. Despite a strong first half, this is a very uneven film, one that goes from an interesting character study of two wildly different men to an unnecessary action film by the third act.
Generation Hope #9 is ”the one where we’re using the X-metaphor to talk about teenage gay suicide.” It's not a story where they "deal with" teenage gay suicide, of course; that would imply some sort of satisfactory resolution, if not an outright happy ending.
The sixth episode of True Blood's fourth season is entitled "I Wish I Was the Moon" for the Neko Case song that plays at the end of the episode and into the credits. The episode itself begins and ends with Erik Northman and Sookie Stackhouse locked in a long awaited, barely clothed embrace, and as for episode structure - that's about it. "I Wish I Was the Moon" has some stellar moments, some moments worthy of the misspent potential of the series, but when taken as a whole, the episode struck me as listless and disorganized - as much of this season has been.
With two movies, a long running spin off and countless one-shots, Hellboy is the gold standard for what creator-owned comics can be when there is that perfect combination of epic storytelling and emotionally rich characters involved. Yet like many other comic fans who know of the title, I don’t read it on a regular basis. If you are like me in this respect, you need to immediately pick up Hellboy: The Fury #1.
Despite numerous betrayals, spilled secrets and a long-awaited hook up, True Blood didn’t really get my blood pumping this week with its fifth episode ”˜Me & the Devil’. Not surprising for mid-season of course, but still not saying much if this episode was a yawner despite there being a double murder. At least this week Alan Ball dialed back the inbreeding and has yet to find a cure for Eric’s shirt allergy. As Marnie would say, thank Goddess!
If a man in a giant bat costume can be rationalized – intensely and dramatically – then so too can a man named Captain America. The name alone makes my skin crawl; it’s filled with so much camp and pomp. When I imagined what such a film would feel like I thought of Independence Day . With that as my prejudice, this movie had some challenges to overcome in the battle of authenticity versus believability. However, I am happy to report that Captain America: The First Avenger nailed it.
Gil and Inez are on a trip to Paris, tagging along with her parents. It's evident from the start that their personalities clash. He is a successful Hollywood screenwriter in the middle of writing his first original novel, while she scoffs at her fiancé's new occupational wishes. After a less than cordial dinner with some new acquaintances, Gil goes for a walk around the city, finally stopping at an nondescript staircase. As a nearby clocks chimes midnight, an old-fashioned car pulls up and a stranger beckons Gil inside.
Just the other day I was contemplating the current television landscape when it occurred to me that ”” save for Game of Thrones ”” there just isn't enough incest on cable. Looks like Alan Ball agrees because family lovin' seems to be the theme of the latest episode of True Blood called 'I'm Alive and On Fire'.
For fans, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two has been a moment we’ve been both waiting for and dreading simultaneously. To see the end of something that, for those of my age group and level of dedication, has lasted for over a decade is obviously bittersweet. That’s a long time to have really loved and been invested in something.
The thing I really love about True Blood is that it's not only entertaining, it's also educational. In this week's episode 'If You Love Me,Then Why Am I Dyin' we learned that entrapment doesn't count as a defense in Vampire law, Mexico makes the best viagra and virtually any relationship problem can be solved with hypnosis. All valuable lessons that can be applied to our everyday lives.
The Torchwood team returns and heads stateside in the fourth series of the BBC sci-fi show. A mix of British sci-fi geekiness with US action, it's a solid follow-up to the brilliant 'Children of the Earth'.
Horrible Bosses does a great job at being good, despite an underwhelming premise. It is one of those films that succeeds by virtue of its casting. Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, and Jason Bateman have made a living playing funny straight men: people who want to be normal but their environment won’t let them. They play three middle aged guys who have a typical complaint: they hate their bosses. These bosses, however, are not just annoying kind, but the life destroying kind.
Having never been to London, what I know of it comes from television and film: fish and chips, strawberries and cream; a love for tennis and football. They have funny accents and use weird words like 'bobby' instead of 'policeman', 'boot' for 'trunk', and 'shag' for 'sex'. And now, after watching Attack the Block , I know not to fuck with their inner city youth - especially if you're from another planet.
This week True Blood season four continues to bring on the drama in 'You Smell Like Dinner', which makes for a great episode title and hopefully an effective pick-up line once I've launched my line of bacon scented perfume.
I will keep it brief since Transformers: Dark of the Moon director Michael Bay can't seem to do it himself. Do you just want to see some shit blow up? If you answered in the affirmative, then you will probably greatly enjoy this film a whole lot more than the second entry in the franchise since you will actually be able to SEE what is happening for a change. Everyone else looking for anything more than that can look elsewhere because that is all you are going to get from this astoundingly pretty, but astoundingly empty, incoherent, nonsensical and excessive film.
