Movie Review – Pottersville

Pottersville (2017)
Written by Daniel Meyer
Directed by Seth Henrikson

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Maynard runs one of the few stores that’s not been boarded up in downtown Pottersville, a small upstate New York town. One day he decides to get off work early and surprise his wife only to find her caught in a compromising situation with a fellow member of the Furry club. Despondent, Maynard drowns his sorrows in moonshine, eventually donning a gorilla costume and running around the town. As he recovers from his hangover the following morning, the man discovers he was mistaken for a Bigfoot, and now the news is spreading across the globe. A pompous television monster hunter shows up ready to exploit this mystery, and the people of Pottersville are eager to cash in on the newfound fame. But Maynard knows the truth will eventually come out.

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Movie Review – Ingrid Goes West

Ingrid Goes West (2017)
Written by David Branson Smith & Matt Spicer
Directed by Matt Spicer

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Ingrid Thorburn is a mentally unstable woman who seems to have little human contact outside of online social media, notably Instagram. She is released from a mental health facility and returns to her recently deceased mother’s home, still in grief about that loss and deep into her ongoing psychological issues. That is when she comes across an article on Taylor Sloane, a new social media tastemaker. Taylor fills her Instagram with accounts of the food she eats, the clothes she wears, and the activities she and her husband get up to living in Venice Beach. Ingrid decides that Venice Beach is where she needs to be and cashes out her inheritance to go there with the chance of running across Taylor. Eventually, this chance meeting occurs and Ingrid’s problems only compound from there.

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Comic Book Review – The New Teen Titans Volume 2

The New Teen Titans Volume 2
Written by Marv Wolfman & George Perez
Art by George Perez & Romeo Tanghal

The_New_Teen_Titans_Vol._2_TPBThe Titans begin to form stronger bonds in this second collection of Wolfman and Perez’s legendary run. There are two core story arcs presented here: Donna Troy’s temptation at the hands of the Titans of Myth & Changeling’s quest to avenge the fallen Doom Patrol. Both stories set in stone a lot of future Titans mythos, particularly the Doom Patrol storyline. This volume also serves to further connect the Titans with the DC Universe, and it’s very complicated history.

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Comic Book Review – Nightwing Rebirth Volume 1

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Nightwing Volume 1: Better Than Batman
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Javier Fernandez

nightwingvol1Dick Grayson has existed in many forms over the years. Acrobat in Haly’s Circus, sidekick to Batman, leader of the Teen Titans, independent crime fighter, secret agent, but now he returns to his Nightwing identity. Grayson has gone undercover in the Parliament of Owls, a secret cabal that has worked against the Bat-family since the New 52 relaunch. The Owls believe Grayson has switched sides and partner him up with Raptor, an acrobatic assassin to take care of some problems started by the terrorist cult Kobra. Grayson must feign villainy while trying to access the Owls’ most guarded secrets to bring them down.

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Movie Review – The Book of Henry

The Book of Henry (2017)
Written by Gregg Hurwitz
Directed by Colin Trevorrow

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Henry Carpenter is an 11-year-old boy living in the Hudson Valley who is practically perfect in every way. He wows his schoolteacher, his mom, and pretty much everyone he comes across. He has taken over managing the family’s money while his mother works part-time as a waitress and writes/illustrates children’s books. But Henry has also discovered a terrible secret about the girl next door. She is in an abusive situation, and Henry feels as if he is the only person who can do something about this. So Henry begins to devise a plan.

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Movie Review – Kuso

Kuso (2017)
Written by Flying Lotus, David Firth, & Zack Fox
Directed by Flying Lotus

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An earthquake has struck Los Angeles somehow leading to the mutation of the inhabitants of the city. Through four segmented short films, we explore the absurd, body horror that is created as a result. Gallons of excrement and seminal fluids are splattered across the screen in a very singular work that screams with the intent of unsettling its audience.

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Comic Book Review – Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth Volume 1

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Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Volume 1: Who Is Oracle?
Written by Julie & Shawna Benson
Art by Claire Roe and Roge Antonio

BGBOPWO_CVRBarbara Gordon has lived through many phases in her relatively young life. She started out as Batgirl, a partner to Batman and Robin. The cruel actions of the Joker left her wheelchair-bound, but Barbara rose above her depression to become Oracle, a voice in the ear of the Justice League giving them vital information about dire situations. After years of physical therapy, she walked again and took back the mantle of Batgirl. However, there is a new Oracle out there, and Barbara wants to know who is masquerading as her. She teams up with her old partner Black Canary but the two cross paths with the vengeful new Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. This trio seeks to find a solution to their respective problems.

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Comic Book Review – Green Arrow Rebirth Volume 1

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Green Arrow Volume 1: The Death and Life of Oliver Queen
Written by Benjamin Percy
Art by Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra

green arrow vol1Green Arrow is on the hunt for a cartel of human traffickers preying on Seattle’s homeless population. He crosses paths for the first time with fellow crimefighter Black Canary, and there is an immediate spark between the two. Together they learn about the Underground Men, disfigured monstrous beings living beneath the city who are rounding up the homeless and shipping them to a nightmarish facility in the international waters of the Pacific. Green Arrow learns that they are directly tied to his family’s company and are a direct result of his neglect of this legacy. Machinations from behind the scenes quickly turn the entire city against the hero, and he must bring down this evil cabal with help from some wayward friends.

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Book Review – Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier

Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier
Flatiron Books, 2017
Written by Mark Frost

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The final piece of Twin Peaks, for the time being, has been released. This comes in the form of co-creator Mark Frost’s meta-novel The Final Dossier. The Final Dossier continues the investigation of Tamara Preston from The Secret History of Twin Peaks. In the previous volume, she is pouring through an archive of documents about events in the Twin Peaks area dating back to the time of Lewis and Clark. In The Final Dossier, she has remained behind in the town after the events of the finale to debrief Director Gordon Cole on what has become of the townspeople and her own thoughts on what exactly happened. Beneath the surface, I read this as co-creator Mark Frost’s personal interpretation of the series. David Lynch is known for creating incredibly enigmatic art that he wants everyone involved from the actors to the viewers to interpret for themselves. It’s not too big of a jump to assume even though Frost contributed to The Return he may have different readings of what happened in the show.

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Movie Review – Bone Tomahawk

Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Written & Directed by S. Craig Zahler

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A strange drifter finds his way into the small town of Bright Hope. He arrival is followed by the murder of a stable boy and the abduction of two citizens. All that is left behind is an arrow with a head made from bone. A local native explains this belongs to a tribe of men who are not “Indians” but from some other breed of man. Sheriff Hunt takes off with a trio of men, each with their own reason to follow the trail, to rescue their fellow townspeople. They encounter the hazards of the wilderness along the way not knowing that an ancient horror awaits them in the Valley of the Starving Man.

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