From Paris with Love Review

From Paris with Love, it is a really sappy title but it is a VIOLENT movie.  This movie stars Johnathan Rhys Meyers as a French Ambassador agent named Reece and John Travolta as Wax, a loose cannon rebel-type spy for the US.  When I first saw trailers for this movie I didn't even recognize Travolta, he is sporting a thick beard and no hair.  Very different from other characters I have seen from him in the past.

Reece is stuck doing softball missions undercover in the French Embassy when he gets the opportunity to uncover a terrorist plot with his new partner Wax.  They travel through the slums of Paris against coked up Chinese people leaving a trail of corpses, Wax's way of doing things, only to find that the real threat was under their nose the entire time.

This is your basic bang-bang shoot'em up flick but it does have a diferent feel with the setting of Paris.  I really liked the twist at the end, it was pretty unexpected and turned the whole plot around.  Although there were times at the begining when I felt confused, since they dropped you in the middle of Reece's life, the plot worked itself out through the course of the movie.  Also something I really liked was a nod to Pulp Fiction when Wax eats a 'Royale with cheese'.  Overall I would have to give this movie a RENT IT, it wasn't bad but not a cenematic masterpiece either.

See Ya,
Razz

Heroes: Brave New World Review

The Season finale of heroes aired this Monday.  Stupid Olympics causing Heroes to end early.  Any way we saw the last of the Carnival and Samuel story to be wrapped up.   We return at Matt's house where Eli confronts Matt and tells him that Peter, Sylar and Matt are needed to stay out of Samuel's way.  Sylar incopassitates Eli so they are free to go but Matt doesn't want to see Sylar go out to the world.  Matt tries to turn Peter thoughts of Sylar around but lets him leave after looking inside his head.  After the dynamic duo leaves Matt pushes a thought in Eli and sends him out.    I really thought that for a second Matt was going to try and pull the whole mental prison thing again but I'm glad to see he let Peter and Sylar go.  Also, poor Matt in that scene having his leg broken in by the Eli gang.  I'm just happy to see them not flay him like a pork loin. Claire and Noah are still trapped underground and Noah starts to think that this is the end for him.  After Noah passes out Tracy arrives and saves both of them by making a waterway escape.  Once they meet Lauren on the surface they all take a chopper to go stop Samuel in NYC.   Hiro wakes up from his surgery and finds an 90 year old Charlie in the same Hospital, convenient right?  After telling Hiro stories about her life he decides to go back in time to save her although Ando thinks it might mess things up more.  Hiro tells Charlie he is going back to rescue her but she insists on him leaving things alone because of what would happen to her family and the life she led.  Ando gets a call from Noah saying that they both must go to the Carnival to stop Samuel.   I'm glad I'm not the only one who found it convenient that Charlie happened to be in the SAME hospital.  Talk about your plot devices.  But yeah, I honestly expected Hiro to go back to get her till her grand-daughter came in.  Then I knew Hero Hiro wouldn't go back because Charlie was happy with the life she lived. Samuel tells Emma she is going to play the Chello and just as she begins to heed Peter's warnings her body is controllled by the evil Doyle.  Things start to come together when Emma starts to play and the Heroes arrive.  Sylar goes to stop Emma but hits a speedbump when he meets Doyle. While Doyle is distracted Emma and Sylar take him out.  Claire tries to convince the carnies that Samuel is evil but they don't believe her until HRG, Edgar and Eli tell the carnies about Samuel's attack on the carnival.  As the Carnies leave Samuel starts his reign of distruction to show his power but is taken out by Peter.  Samuel is then left power less once Hiro teleports them all out of the carnival.   I feel like for a final battle we were left disappointed yet again.  All we got to see was Peter and Samuel play push the dirt pile.  When are we gonna get to see a season finale battle that blows my mind?  The closest I think we've gotten is season 2 with Adam and Peter.  At the begining of Volume 6 we see all the Heroes reccouperating from Samuel's show.  Claire is asked about the show from a news crew and shows the her ability in front of the whole world.   This was a fairly good Season Finale but I think it would have been better if Hiro was left out of it.  The whole time the Hiro and Charlie stuff was going on I kept thining, what is Samuel or Claire or Peter doing?  This would have been better if all of that was cleared up in a previous episode and all Hiro did was Teleport the carnies.  I am glad we got to see what HRG is like drunk while he was in the trailer, and he is a happy one: called it!  I can't wait to see what is going to happen next season with the whole outing the specials thing, we have the possibility of mutant hunts or registration.  I think next season Heroes is going to start to look a lot like the X-men. I have to agree with Razz for the most part.  I said my piece on how the season could have ended.  I will say that I do expect some kind of X-men/Marvel registration thing for Heroes in the near future.  The other path they could go is to bring back the Company but have them more of a public government type thing.  If season 3 taught us anything, it's that just capturing them isn't going to work at all. See Ya & Till Next Time, Mike & Razz

Heroes: The Wall Review

This week we have the second to last episode of Heroes for this season.  We see what happens after Peter goes into Sylar's head and the aftermath of Samuel's Carnival hunt.   We return with Peter and Sylar both inside Sylar's head, which looks a lot like LA, who knew.  They are both working to try to get out to go save Emma at the Carnival but for some reason Peter's ability won't work.  After a month or so trapped they find the "wall" in Sylar's mind that is trapping them in there.  They both work for days to try to destroy the wall and finally have a heart to heart talk about their pent up anger about Nathan. Peter tells Sylar he needs the anger to keep Nathan alive.  Peter finally forgives Sylar and they are able to break out.  On their way out to the carnival they run into Eli who is ordered by Samuel to stop them.    I liked these parts of the episode.  We got sarcastic Sylar and no nonsense Peter going back in forth with banter followed by a heart felt moment that leads to a resolution to a problem that started at the beginning of the episode.  Wait, I just explained a sitcom's episode....oh well.  I think Peter and Sylar should get an apartment after this and have wacky hijinks.  Or that could just be me.... Samuel takes Claire to her father after he tries to sway her devotion to Noah.  Claire is shown Noah's memories of his past 25 years from his first wife who was killed by a TK to his first kill to him meeting Thompson and joining the company.  And Claire also sees HRG threatening Gretchen to bring Claire back from the carnival.  Samuel catches Lauren in the carnival and he talks to her about his plan to take the world with the power of the carnival.  After an argument with Samuel Claire goes to free her father from a trailer but before they can escape Samuel buries them in the ground.  Samuel then pulls up stake and goes to central park where he will reveal the carnival.   I feel like this was some good back story for Noah.  Who would have thought that he would have been previously engaged and pregnant?  It really shows the beginning of what is the transformation of Noah to HRG. This episode did a lot of setting things up for next weeks finally which looks to be one of the better season finales.  The Sylar and Peter stuff was kind of Corny but it is always a little bit awkward when those two have a scene together and they aren't trying to kill each other.  Samuel is really getting more and more desperate which causes him to get more evil.  So watch next week's episode and see what happens with the carnival.   See Ya & Til the Next Time Mike & Razz

Community: Interpretive Dance Review

This week our two stories center around Jeff, Brita, and Troy. At the beginning of the episode after a little bit of banter from the group Britta notices that Jeff has several long, brunette hairs on his coat. Jeff then tells the group that it's the same woman he intends to meet up with later, and that causes the group to almost worry that Jeff might have himself a relationship. Soon after the Annie mentions moving the study groups time from 5pm to 4:30 so that they can get in through the side door that locks at 5. Both Troy and Britta refuse, and give very vague (and poorly thought out) excuses as to why they have to have the time open.


I also like that when Pierce is late they all go to the possibility that he might be dead.  We also have classic Annie being ignored when she tries to change the meeting time.



With Jeff's story we soon find out that he is in fact with someone, and that someone is Ms. Slater, his old statistics professor. After a quick (but interrupted) make out session the dean talks to them about how dangerous a student/faculty relationship is and that they need to watch out because they're on the "Hot Student/Faculty" list the dean made up. Later Ms. Slater and Jeff try to make out in the library but Jeff just knows that if they start then the rest of the gang will see them and rat them out. Ms. Slater tells him the odds are next to none, and doing what all good students go by listening to his professor, they kiss for a few seconds before Jeff looks to see --You guessed it! The rest of the gang is watching from outside. So now that the gang knows, Jeff swears them not tell. Soon after, the dean arrives and gets Ms. Slater and Jeff to go to his office after finding out about their relationship from a certain grey haired group member.


I was surprised by Ms. Slater's return to the show because I figured we were through with her after the first part of the season.  But I guess when student 2 and professor 7 get together, passion ignites!  It was also hilarious that the group came from the other side to catch them making out instead of watching them through the window.  Jeff also has it right when he says sleeping with someone every night makes them your best friend ever.  Pierce using twitter, HA!


With Brita and Troy, we soon find out that both of them are in dance classes that the rest of the group doesn't know about. When they find out about the other, they decide to tell the group by inviting them to a dance recital on Friday. Unlucky for Brita, when she tells everyone about her tap dancing, Troy leaves her to hang as soon as everyone talks about how ironic it is for Brita to be doing something so feminine.


This was hilarious and Troy was a great dancer, really funny.  I agree with Troy girls have parts that jiggle so that they were meant to dance.


For the climax, we see everyone at the dance recital hoping to see Brita dance. Instead, we see Brita freeze when she notices that Jeff and Mrs. Slater holding hands and generally being boyfriend and girlfriend (which is odd to both Brita and Jeff). As Brita freezes on stage, Troy realizes that only he can help her. So doing the right thing, Troy rips off his clothes (for what is like, the third time) and saves Brita before getting alienated by the gang. Then we get a moment with Jeff and Brita where it becomes obvious that Brita does have feelings for Jeff. Poor Brita, if only she were honest to herself instead of being so up tight, but what can you do?

Jeff has a girlfriend awww...  I do agree with pierce on one thing, man that was one wierd tap dance show, until Troy showed up then it actually got entertaining.  Brita and Troy are great BSers to come up with that dance off the cuff.  Brita gets jealous at Jeff who would have thought that?  I guess we'll see where this leads down the road.


See Ya & Till Next Time,
Mike & Razz

Heroes: Art of Deception Review

Ok this episode of Heroes started out really slow and was becoming one of my least favorite of the season until the twist at the Carnival.  After that I could not believe what Samuel did but it made a great story.   Peter starts dreaming of Emma at the Carnival and discovers that Sylar might be the one to save her.  after a failed confrontation with Angela he goes to California to find Sylar.   Parkman comes home to discover Sylar there with Janice and they start "catching up".  Sylar tells Matt that he wants all his abilities gone to rediscover his humanity.  After a failed attempt Sylar threatens Janice so Matt will do it.  Matt finally traps Sylar in his own unconcious body and begins to brick him in the basement.  Peter comes to find Sylar and goes inside his head to bring back Sylar.   This was a great moment for Parkman in my opinion.  It was dark and it looked like Parkman is taking a lesson from his old man.  Too bad Peter has to play hero and is now trying to get Sylar back.  Douche.... Claire is debating telling Noah about Sylar and when she gets to the apartment she discovers HRG's plan to take down Samuel.  Noah jumps to take action before Claire has a chance to stop his plan and sets up outside the Carnival.   Samuel talks to Lydia about his outburst at the town and Samuel tells her that he WILL win back the respect of the carnival.  Claire finds Samuel and tells him that he needs to surrender himself in order to keep the rest of the carnival safe and so that she can be sure that Noah won't overreact and kill innocent people.  As Samuel is about to leave shots come from Noah's hill and a lot of people get hurt including Samuel, Claire, Lauren, and Lydia who dies.  Noah finds out it is an Eli clone and gets framed for the shooting after being knocked out by the real Eli.  Samuel then manipulates the carnies saying he needs to remain to protect the Carnival from "villains".  When Lauren cannot stop Eli she calls the emergency number to tell Tracy about the incident.    I really enjoyed this.  Finding out that Samuel took a bullet just to get people on his side.  It proves how much of a villain he really is in the series.  I can't wait to see what he meant by "showing the world"what they really are.  I assume it'll be similar to Magneto and the Brotherhood.  I just hope that our "X-Men" aren't just Peter and Sylar trying to save the world. So this was one kickass episode because of one literary device, Plot twists. Thank you sooo much!  I did not see this coming, at first I thought Noah snapped but once Claire got shot I knew it was not him and it made it all the better that it was all Samuel's plan.  I really liked Matt's Edgar Allen Poe-like way of dealing with Sylar by bricking his body inside a room. Also we get the return of Tracy, some one we haven't seen in a long time.  By the way if you are not reading the Heroes Graphic Novel on nbc.com you should start with this week because you find out what Tracy has been up to and how she can help Noah and Claire.   I agree here.  The twist with Samuel blew me away watching the Cask of Matt Parkman was enjoyable.  Only a few more left, so I don't know about anyone else, but I'm excited. See Ya & Til the Next Time Mike & Razz

Heroes: Pass/Fail Review

Hey guys sorry this is going up later than usual but I have been swamped this week.  I know I liked this episode so lets just talk about Pass/Fail.

 

Mohinder recreates the compass so Noah can be able to find the carnival and then leaves to go back to India.  I am also glad we get a definitive answer about how the compass can only work in the hands of someone with abilities.  Hiro collapses from his Tumor an wakes up in a Trial for his life with many past characters such as Adam and Kaito.  Adam plays the prosecuting attorney and brings up instances in Hiro's life to prove he used his powers selfishly.   Hiro is proved to be guilty after Sylar is brought as a witness as proof that Hiro let him go free for Charlie's life and also Samuel's deal that lost Charlie in time.  On his way to death he changes his plea to guilty realizing he was irresponsible.  In the midst of death Hiro fights for his life and wins, which leads him to be healed by his mother.

 

I really enjoyed seeing all these dead characters come back, at least for the episode.  I really enjoyed Adam as the prosecuting attorney, it just kinds of make sense for him to be in that role.  I was surprised he didn't put himself as a witness to how Hiro abused his powers, but I'm ok with what I got.

We see Claire with Gretchen looking pretty down, I can see why after every thing that happened.  Claire goes to study only to find Sylar there to figure out why he needs her.  Surprisingly Claire is not really gung ho about helping Sylar, however he says he kidnapped Gretchen so her hand is forced.  After getting nowhere with her he decides to take what he wants through using Lydia's ability, weirdest Heroes kiss anyone!  Claire then stabs Sylar in the eye to finally get away from him.  She finds Gretchen and the two hide from Sylar (who is closing in), they have a conversation and Claire takes what she learned from Sylar to try to repair that relationship with Gretchen.  They talk about abilities and how they are excuses for your humanity and that maybe Sylar needs to purge his abilities to regain his humanity/ability to kill.  Gretchen turns into Sylar and Claire leaves to find the real Gretchen and takes what she learned to heart. 

 

I thought this was a good dynamic that Claire and Sylar had throughout their storyline.  Granted, when most of their "bonding" time was done Sylar was disguised as Gretchen, they both learned something about the other.  Like Sylar learned that Claire likes to follow up making out with stabbing you in the eye and Sylar likes to be a teenage girl at times.

Vanessa wakes up at the Carnival and is still kinda p/oed about being held at the carnival.  We see Samuel trying to woo her again and win her over.  It seems to be working for a little bit and Samuel takes her to their dream house which they dreamed about when they were younger.  However she rejects Samuel saying that it is just a dream and it is his dream.  This makes him heartbroken and angry/crazy, he goes out and destroys a town with a sinkhole.

 

It's good to see Samuel show a little more of a human side around Vanessa.  I liked seeing him happy, even though it was a false happiness.  I almost have to wonder if he knew that she wasn't going to go for all of what Samuel was preaching.  Though seeing the new, almost heartless Samuel destroy that poor little city almost drew a tear to my eye.

I gotta say I enjoyed this episode, I can feel it gearing up for the finale.  I really liked the Sylar and Claire stuff even though I am not usually a big Claire fan.  Their conversation is what they both needed to hear to get themselves back on track.  We see at the end the really bad, jaded Samuel, I think from now on he is going to be pure evil because it appears that any good intention he had went out the door with Vanessa.  I also liked seeing the old characters in Heroes trial, we even get allusions to everyone in season 1 that Sylar killed.  But I liked the fight between Adam and Hiro which ended with the same way that Hiro stabbed Sylar in Season 1.  Ok here is my theory about how Sylar gets to Matt, I believe that he owns a magical teleportation device that automatically lets him travel to California any time (remember the beginning of season 3?)

I'm going to agree with Razz, at least about it feeling like the finale is upon us.  With Samuel ready to bury the world under his feet for happiness and Sylar now on a quest to find his humanity through Matt, it all looks like it's going to build up to something that I hope is great.

Later & Til Next Time,

Mike & Razz

Heroes: Close To You Review

Last night we got a new episode of Heroes and it seemed to fall flat but we did get a few plot points that needed to happen with Hiro, Matt, and HRG.  so let's go then shall we?

 

The Hiro Story line is finally played out after 3 episodes of flash forwards with the rescuing of Suresh.  Ando admits Hiro who is able to find out where and who Suresh is so they can break him out.  They all three escape from the mental hospital with a drugged up Ando.  Knowing they can't keep running from the Stormtroopers and their Ewoks forever, Ando decides to shock Hiros mind back to normal. And that works?!?

 

At this point I'm just happy that for the most part, Hiro is fixed.  I would also like to comment that I enjoyed Mohinder in this episode.  I usually am anti Mohinder mostly due to the fact I feel his character has over stayed his welcome in the series, but to see him be the voice of reason and man up some made me kind of happy.

We begin with Bennett and see him becoming obsessed with locating Samuel and the carnival.  When he finds Samuels love, Vanessa he goes to California to get answers from her.  This brings him to seek help from Matt who has become a stay at home dad guy/ recluse after his ordeal with Sylar.  Vanessa explains how she knows Samuel and tells Bennett she can Bring Samuel to her.  However Bennetts plans go awry when Samuel takes(kidnaps) Vanessa back to the carnival.  Matt eventually just tells him that he has to go back and patch things up because his methods aren't working.  Bennett also gets to Matt too and makes him realize that he needs to do more with his life than stay at home and make Ratatatoille.  Bennett goes back to Claire and tries to patch things up which is kinda something we have already seen in past seasons.  He also starts to build up his relationship with Lauren but is interuppted by the Three Muskateers teleporting in from Florida.

 

I don't know about you guys, but having Matt back was great.  As you know from last time, I was mad at the fact we had a 2hr premier that didn't have him involved in any way.  So as happy as I was to see Matt back, I was more excited to see HRG get it on with Lauren right before the Three Stooges came teleporting in.  The one time that he gets some action in God knows how long, and those three come barging in.

We get several scenes with Peter begining with Lydia saying that he could become the next Joseph.  I feel like this was so out in the open that something might happen with Peter and the carnival between now and the finale.  He briefly meets with Emma, who is improving, her Siren Song, and starts putting together that Samuel might be involved in some bad stuff.  Angela walks in on their Conversation and tells Peter that Emma was responsible for killing a lot of people.  I really like Peters lecture to Angela telling her that she has to quit lying because they are the only two left.  Peter takes her power and has a dream of Emma going crazy with her Chello.  Which of course makes him go Buckwild on the Chello, like any sane person would do.  After that I think we are pretty much done with their possible relationship.

 

I have to agree with Razz here on most parts.  I don't think that Emma will want much to do with Peter after going rock star on her Chello like he did.

This was kind of an eh episode for me but it was saved because we got a lot of stuff accomlished with Bennett changing his strategy, mohinder being freed, peter starting to get wise to the whole situation and finally Hiro getting his mind back.  So all of these things made it fairly entertaining.  It was nice to see the return of Matt since he has been lost in Cali after Sylar breaks free.  By the way does any one believe Ando, with no medical experience could shock Hiro's brain back to the way it was?   Also since I always have to find something to nit pick, Peter says to Emma, "I'll call you later" once she leaves his apartment.  Just something to think about.

 

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that heard him say that!  I thought the first time I heard it, "No way did he say that."  So I replayed it and yep, he did.  He really told the deaf chick he would CALL HER.

See ya & Till the next time

Mike & Razz