'Xplosion of Awesome

Hawaii Five-0 – Kupale

2012-02-22T14:00:00.002-06:00

Five-0 is called into the jungle to investigate the murder of a John Doe dressed up as a Hawaiian NaKoa warrior whose body was discovered by a tourist. Despite Max's (Masi Oka) initial theory of time travel, it turns out the victim was part of a group participating in a historical reenactment, complete with period dress and weapons, run by McGarrett's (Alex O'Loughlin) old friend Mamo (Al Harrington) .

Given the age of the artifacts and weapons involved in the murder Danny (Scott Caan) calls on Dr. Gabrielle Asano (Autumn Reeser) for help with the case as Kono (Grace Park) and Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) learn from his widow (Erin Cardillo) that the victim was an avid collector of expensive Hawaiian antiquities, one of which might have been stolen from him before his death.

The team's list of suspects include an opportunist thief (Apolo Ohno) in possession of the victim's stolen necklace, an environmental terrorist (Kaiwi Lyman) who had singled out the victim for his company's yachting business, and his business partner (Patrick Fabian) who had motive to kill his friend after the victim had recently chosen to pass on a profitable deal.

The team is able to catch the killer, and stop the victim's wife from taking her own vengeance, in time for Danny's dinner party to celebrate with his friends and introduce Grace (Teilor Grubbs) to the new woman in his life. The show feels like they've lost a little something with the departures of Lori (Lauren German) and Joe White (Terry O’Quinn), but with the focus more on the core cast each member looks like they'll be getting a little more to do in each episode. Reeser makes a nice addition in a recurring role, as well.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1

2012-02-22T11:00:00.001-06:00

I understand full well that Star Wars comics are a mixed bag. Although I'm a fan of the Expanded Universe novels that have continued the tales of Luke, Han, Leia and their children, the expanded comics stories have more misses than hits.

When I heard the idea of Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi I was intrigued by how John Ostrander would choose to tell the beginnings of the Jedi Order. I know I should have known better, but I gave it a shot.

This comic is a mess, from beginning to end. Although the art by Jan Duursema has a cinematic quality to it, and is pretty enough to look at, the story itself is a disaster that begins with a 12-page narration of the beginnings of the Jedi Order... and then moves quickly into the future to give us a story seemingly only slightly connected to the "Dawn of the Jedi."

Also troubling is the fact the series takes at the beginning but Jedi already have lightsabers? And there are Sith (who look like generic Vader wannabes)? The Force is not strong with this one. Pass.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

Psych returns next week with a super-sized premiere

2012-02-22T09:30:00.001-06:00

Ladies and gents, we are now only one week away until Psych's Supersized Premiere.

Winter Soldier #2

2012-02-22T08:00:00.003-06:00

Part of the trouble when starting a new comic is the time necessary to set-up not only the story you want to tell but the characters, the villains, their motivations and relationships, and even the world in which the comic takes place. Despite beginning with Bucky and the Black Widow taking on a gorilla with a machine gun and a jet-pack (which is pretty damn cool) the second issue of Winter Soldier gets bogged down a bit by still setting up what this comic is going to be.

Winter Soldier #2 isn't a bad read, but I'm still not quite sold on the art by Butch Guice which simply isn't my taste (although it fits well enough with the Cold War spy story the comic kinda wants to be), and the story gets a little bogged down by stopping to explain more about the Soviet assassins the Winter Soldier trained and give us a little more insight into the plans of Lucia Von Bardas.

The comic is still worth a look but I think once writer Ed Brubaker can spend less time on set-up and let the stories flow more naturally I'll be happier with the result. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

Castle - Linchpin

2012-02-21T14:00:00.002-06:00

After almost drowning Beckett (Stana Katic) and Castle (Nathan Fillion) are able to escape the watery grave Gage (David Chisum) left them in but Dr. Blakely (Timothy Carhart) is dead, they have no idea what the linchpin he was working on that could threaten the safety of the entire country, and Sophia (Jennifer Beals) is less than thrilled with the results of Beckett and Castle's investigation.

Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Esposito (Jon Huertas) track down an economics professor and two-time chess champion (Jim Turner) who spent time with Blakely before his death which lead Beckett and Castle to uncover the first domino in Blakely's theory in the form of the young daughter of an influential Chinese business man.

Beckett and Castle also finally catch up with Gage who it turns out is the fall guy for Pandora, not the man behind Blakely's death and the attempt to start WWIII. Even with Gage captured the threat isn't over as a mole within the CIA (Josh Stamberg) still plans on going through with the scheme.

Before the episode ends we'll get the explanation behind Blakely's theory and one more twist which will hit Castle close to home and leave him with more questions than answeres about the woman he once loved and the mysterious father he never knew.

The second half of the two-parter doesn't disappoint Aside from the chase to prevent a war, the episode has a couple of fun moments including Castle and Beckett's dust up over his relationship to Sofia - which takes place in front of Lannie (Tamala Jones) and Alexis (Molly C. Quinn), and Beckett and Sophia's heart-to-heart about Sophia's regrets concerning her relationship with Castle.

Puss in Boots

2012-02-21T11:00:00.005-06:00

Reprising his role from Shrek 2, Antonio Banderas returns in this prequel which explores the history and legend of Puss in Boots. The Shrek spin-off is available on Blu-ray and DVD this Friday.

Puss in Boots centers around the relationship between Puss (Antonio Banderas) and Humpty (Zach Galifianakis) whose childhood friendship was destroyed after Humpty violated Puss' trust by tricking him into becoming an outlaw.

Reunited with Humpty and his companion Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and against his better judgement, Puss agrees to help Humpty fulfill his childhood dream of climbing the beanstalk and finding the goose that lays the golden eggs. To achieve this they'll have to steal the magic beans from Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) and stay one step ahead of the murderous pair to claim the prize.

The movie does a fairly good job at keeping the pace and action constantly moving, only slowing down to give us the backstory on Puss and Humpty's childhood growing up together in an orphanage and relating the story behind the cat's trademark footwear.

After retrieving the Golden Goose, the story gives us a (far too obvious) plot twist moving the final act of the film into the story where Puss in Boots overcomes a personal betrayal and becomes a true hero by saving his town from his estranged childhood friend's nefarious scheme.

The animation is quite good; the film is the best looking of the series, although the animated characters come off better on-screen than their human counterparts. Puss in Boots is also a far more a straightforward adventure than any other entry into the Shrek franchise. There's no smart ass sidekick or a message about beauty being more than skin deep being repeatedly driven home this time around.

Although it still contains countless fairy tale winks and homages, the script doesn't get bogged down in them. The crux of the story centers around Puss' relationships with Humpty and Kitty and their wacky adventures together. And for an animated action film it works quite well with several impressive chase sequences that should keep the interest of adults as well as children.

In a solid, but far from spectacular, year for animated films, Puss in Boots stacks up pretty well against the competition. I wouldn't call it the best animated movie of 2011 (that I would save for Kung Fu Panda 2), but it's certainly in the conversation - and far more fun that I expected.

Released Friday on DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray, the extras include deleted scenes, a featurette on the voice acting in the film, and a look at the world of DreamWorks Animation. The Blu-ray also comes with a digital and DVD copy of the film, a featurette showcasing the journey of a scene from storyboard to full animation, a collection of trivia and games for kids, and a new short film entitled "The Three Diablos" starring Puss in Boots partnered with three precocious kittens to recover a ruby stolen from a princess by the notorious French thief, The Whisperer.

[Dreamworks, 3D Blu-ray $54.99 / Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.99]

Martha Marcy May Marlene

2012-02-21T08:00:00.004-06:00

Elizabeth Olsen stars in writer/director Sean Durkin's story of a woman's struggles to reassmilate with the outside world after living in a cult for two years. Durkin's tale is a slow burn thriller that jumps between flashbacks of Martha's (Olsen) time in the Catskill Mountains and her present paranoia and uncertainty now that she's left that world behind.

Out of the blue Lucy (Sarah Paulson), receives a phone call from a phone call from her younger sister and brings Martha home to live with her and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy). The longer Martha stays with the couple the more obvious it becomes that there is something seriously wrong with her.

Not only does Martha not understand basic boundaries (like not coming into her sister's room and laying down on the bed when Lucy is having sex with her husband), but she's also haunted by memories of the cult, which she will not discuss with her sister, and feels increasingly suspicious that they are still watching her and laying in wait to bring her back into their family.

Olsen is terrific in a role that asks the actress to display conflicted and complex emotions, often in the same scene. Paulson and Dancy are put in the difficult role of wanting to help the troubled young girl but becoming increasingly concerned about her behavior and their own safety. It would be easy, given that each will eventually give up on Martha, to hate them. And although Dancy's character does come off at times like an inconvenienced jerk, it's obvious that the couple's final decision in regards to Martha is the only one they can make.

John Hawkes is quite convincing as the charismatic leader of the polygamous cult with an ability to charm his flock into doing whatever he wishes, even if that means convincing the young women to take part in sexual or violent activities. Hawkes is controlling and menacing, but it's obvious he cares for his flock (at least until they start to bore him).

Because the film is presented almost entirely from Martha's point of view we're never sure exactly how much of her paranoia is real, and how much is her imagination. Is the cult really after her, and are they closing in? This choice leads to several tense moments but also a somewhat unsatisfying ending that leaves it up to the audience to not only decide if Martha will ever get the help she needs but what level of danger she is actually in as the film comes to a close.

Although the movie does a good job at showing how the cult has stunted the young woman's ability to live life in the outside world, the level of depravity (from what accounts we know of such groups) is far tamer than I expected. This is never more evident than in the reveal of the event which finally caused Martha to leave the group which, though brutal, doesn't quite have the impact I felt it should.

Even with some minor quibbles Martha Marcy May Marlene is an easy recommendation, for the right audience. Given its subject matter its certainly not a film for everyone, but it works quite well as a dramatic thriller bolstered by several strong performances.

Released today on Blu-ray and DVD, extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and the film's trailer. The Blu-ray also includes a featurette on Olsen, the "Marcy's Song" music video, a conversation with the filmmakers, and additional featurettes including a look at creating the psyche of the cult for the movie.

[20th Century Fox, Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.98]

Monday with Marion

2012-02-20T18:15:00.001-06:00

Daredevil #9

2012-02-20T14:00:00.003-06:00

Matt Murdock heads underground (after a rather lame joke as Foggy notices Matt wearing his Daredevil boots under his clothes) to discover what has happened to his father's body and several others that have been stolen from the cemetery where he was put to rest.

I've never been a fan of the Mole Man. The me the Silver Age Fantastic Four villain is better left in the 60's. So maybe it's that the latest issue of Daredevil is a Mole Man storyline, or perhaps its the fact that Matt Mudrock's wild night with the Black Cat isn't directly addressed (other than one or two thought panels and a momentary hesitation by the thief robbing him), or maybe it's because so much of this issue felt like LOTR (a ton of walking before we get to any action), but I didn't think this issue #9 was as good as I expected.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the issue, and I'm sure writer Mark Waid's explanation into the Mole Man's behavior is a good one. I'm just hoping the arc ends quickly and get back to the Black Cat and the mysterious FF artifact everyone is after. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

Tower Heist

2012-02-20T11:00:00.005-06:00

Director Brett Ratner hasn't had what I would call a distinguished career. Other than the fun, but increasingly dumb, Rush Hour series the director's filmography mostly contains movies which are best left forgotten.

However, at least for me, the true highlight of Ratner's career was a heist film he made back in 2004 starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, and Don Cheadle. After the Sunset isn't a great film by any definition, but it is a pretty good heist flick that's far more fun than it has any right to be.

When I heard Ratner was going to try his hand at another heist film I was cautiously optimistic. Sadly, Tower Heist, even with a pretty good cast and relatively low expectations, is something of a disappointment.

The movie stars Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Michael Peña, and Gabourey Sidibe as workers at a high-rise luxury apartment building in Central Park West. When Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), one of the buildings tennants and the man in charge of investing the workers' pensions, is arrested by the FBI for running a ponzi scheme it hits close to home for everyone who works at the Tower. The fact that the man who has stolen their life savings has been sentenced to house arrest in his cushy penthouse (where they will have to continue serving him) does nothing to calm them.

Believing Shaw to have squirreled away some cash in his apartment, and taking a piece of advice from an FBI agent (Téa Leoni) in a way far from how it was intended, Josh Kovacs (Stiller) recruits his coworkers, a childhood acquaintance turned professional thief (Eddie Murphy), and a tenant (Matthew Broderick) of the apartment facing eviction, to rob the man who has stolen their life savings.

What follows is an occasionally interesting botched heist flick as the group of normal people try to stage one of the biggest heists the city has ever seen. Murphy's involvement as the petty ante thief thrown up on a pedestal by a group of guys who have never even taken someone's lunch money provides one or two funny moments, but ultimately underachieves (like so much of the film).

The robbery itself, which takes place during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, is by far the film's best sequence. Sadly, even after the successful heist, the script finds a way to undercut the fun of a few normal working stiffs taking it to a Wall Street swindler with an anti-climactic final showdown between Stiller's character and the FBI.

Tower Heist isn't a bad film, but it is a below average heist flick that wastes far too much of its running time on the interactions between characters we're never really given any reason to care about. Once the heist gets underway things start to pick up, but the film simply takes far too long to get going.

Released tomorrow on DVD and Blu-ray, the extras include two alternate endings, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the film with interviews from the cast and crew, and commentary with Ratner, editor Mark Helfrich, and screenwriters Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson. The Blu-ray also includes the DVD and a digital copy of the film, Ratner's video diary, BD Live bonus features, and Universal's Second Screen features (allowing you to interact with the film through a tablet or computer) to learn more about the script, music, and storyboards used for the movie.

[Universal Pictures, Blu-ray $34.98 / DVD $29.98]

Comic Rack 166

2012-02-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

It’s a new week so it must be time to talk about comics! Welcome to the RazorFine Comic Rack boys and girls. Pull up a bean bag and take a seat at feet of the master as we offer you this quick list of all kinds of comic book goodness set to hit comic shops and bookstores this week from all your favorite publishers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Archie, Dynamite, Image Comics, and others.

This week includes Aquaman, American Vampire, Archie, Avengers Academy, Blackhawks, Cobra, Deadpool, Fantastic Four, The Flash, Godzilla: Legends, Incorruptible, Jennifer Blood, The Mighty Thor, Morning Glories, New Mutants, Prophet, The Sixth Gun, Superman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Titans, Uncanny X-Force, X-Men Legacy, the first issues of Last Zombie: Neverland, Nazi Zombie, No Place Like Home, Witchblade/Red Sonja, and the final issues of Avengers Solo, Infestation 2: Dungeons & Dragons, and Magneto: Not A Hero.

Enjoy issue #166

Nightwing #6

2012-02-19T14:00:00.002-06:00

While Haly's Circus travels across the country Nighwing spends his free time beating up thugs for any information about Saiko. But when Raya informs Dick the circus will be returning to Gotham for the anniversary of his parents' death, Dick knows exactly when his mysterious enemy will choose to strike.

Here's another New 52 storyline that has been dragged out far too long. At the end of the sixth issue the villain is revealed (which may shock Grayson but does nothing for the reader as we still have no idea who Raymond is or what his insane grudge against Dick is).

There are some nice moments including Raya wavering on her part of Raymond's plan and an uncoonected scene involving a cops retreiving one of Nightwing's batons from a murder scene. Whether this is frame job is part of Raymond's plan, or something else, we'll just have to wait and see. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

The Mentalist - War of the Roses

2012-02-19T11:00:00.003-06:00

Although Lisbon (Robin Tunney) thinks it's a terrible idea, Jane (Simon Baker) is intrigued when he is contacted by one of the murderers he helped put away, Erica Flynn (Morena Baccarin), who believes she can help CBI solve the latest murder of a woman (Christine Garver) who was once her client.

In return for temporarily letting her out of prison, and into the care of the CBI, Erica agrees to help the team track down the killer. The initial suspects include an abusive counselor (Greg Serano) at the charity the victim worked, a troubled teen (Felix Ryan), and the married man (Ian Bohen) with whom the victim was having an affair.

Understanding his love of theatrics and white lies, Erica's antics go hand-in-hand with Jane's, and she even agrees to help him in his elaborate unveiling of the killer (Joe Spano) who was embezzlement scam with the non-profit the victim was working for.

Of course Erica's inevitable attempt to escape is thwarted by Jane, but then the show throws in one last twist which may mean we haven't seen the last of Baccarin's character after all. And that is a good thing as Baker and Baccarin have some great chemistry together on-screen.

The episode also includes a B-story involving Wayne (Owain Yeoman) and Sarah (Jillian Bach) starting a childbirth classes and even a proposal. Although nothing special, Sarah's well-reasoned answer to his proposal does work well.

Sunday with Sarah

2012-02-19T08:00:00.007-06:00

Red Hood and the Outlaws #6

2012-02-18T14:00:00.003-06:00

The latest issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws takes a look back at the first meeting between Jason Todd and Starfire months before the events of the first issue. Writer Scott Lobdell has taken quite a bit of heat for the current version of Starfire and this month's comic is obviously an attempt to try and molify some of the criticism the title has garnered.

You can certainly argue Lobdell's writing has been lacking in how he has expressed the character's redesign on the page, but I'm actually like the idea of expanding on the character's existing alien look at emotional and physical relationships. In more than one way Kory saves Jason Todd in this issue, first from his wounds and later by offering her friendship and a simple view of the world that at least begins to put him on a better path.

Would I like this version of Kory to be a little more sentimental and care about the past? Sure. But as a concept her current outlook fits not only the redesign of the character but also the comic and relationship with Todd she finds herself in.

The issue is also memorable for giving us a flashback of Todd as the snotty Boy Wonder and a New 52 tweaked design of the old Nightwing costume. I'll admit I like the costume (although the flashback itself is far too much a hamfisted reminder of why Todd was killed off in the comics so long ago). Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

Person of Interest - Blue Code

2012-02-18T11:00:00.000-06:00

Reese (Jim Caviezel) goes undercover as part of a smuggling ring to protect the latest person of interest, a police officer (Michael Aronov) working undercover as part to take down the leader of the gang (José Zúñiga) and the shadowy man behind the scenes (Michael Berresse) in charge of the entire operation.

Besides the undercover operation Reese can't let on he knows about, things are further complicated when Finch (Michael Emerson) learns the group is connected to the dirty cops that allowed Elias (Enrico Colantoni) to put a hit out on Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson), and they have just tipped off Vargas (Zúñiga) that he has a cop in his crew. A couple of nice twists later (one seeing Reese shot and locked in the trunk of a burning car) Reese is able to help the cop get his man, even if the system will make sure he's never prosecuted.

Fusco (Kevin Chapman) gets a new assignment, and not one that he wanted. In protecting the undercover cop's identity he finds his life and career in danger. The only way out for him is to pretend to still be the dirty cop he used to be and become Reese's man inside the group of dirty cops known as HR. We'll have to see how this story progresses over the rest of the show's first season.

The episode also includes flashback from one of Reese's final missions with Snow (Michael Kelly) and Cara Stanton Annie Parisse in New York and the temptation to reach out to someone from his past. Although not as well connected to the episode's main story as the previous flashbacks, it is nice to get a little more information on Reese before he went to work for Finch.

Super Dinosaur #8

2012-02-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

As Doctor Dynamo and his team learn the Exile has taken control of Squidious' former soldiers and is working on gaining access to inner-Earth Derek must also deal with the gravest threat to his world - a homeschool evaluation.

Derek's quandary over taking part in the mission and reporting to Miss Finkle for his grade school exemption is solved by doing both at the same time, with the help of an android duplicate. Of course when things get too crazy in the field and the android malfunctions Derek finds himself under fire from two sides.

Although the idea of Derek fighting off monsters underwater while controlling the android from thousands of miles away is an interesting (if highly implausable) one, the reveal doesn't work as well as it should.

There's plenty of actions, and a couple of fun moments, but I'm a little afraid Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard's latest comic (much like Astounding Wolf-Man) may have peaked too soon. Here's hoping next issue ramps up the zany fun. Worth a look.

[Image, $2.99]

The Help: The Musical

2012-02-17T17:45:00.001-06:00

From Joe and Al Kaplan (the brains behind Conan the Barbarian: The Musical, The Thing: The Musical, Predator: The Musical, Rocky IV: The Musical, Commando: The Musical, and Total Recall: The Musical) comes Octavia Spencer's showstopping performace from The Help: The Musical.

Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X #5 (of 5)

2012-02-17T12:00:00.003-06:00

It's always fun to get to the final issue of an Atomic Robo series and see how writer Brian Clevinger will tie things together and what crazy climax artist Scott Wegener will save for each series' finale.

Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X has given us a trips to space and Nebraska (which more action-packed than you might initially expect), and Japan, a well-financed shadowy government conspiracy, and a convoy of truckers (for science!). The final issue reveals who has been behind the attacks on Atomic Robo's life, and why. And as the title states it's a ghost... well kinda. It's a computer ghost.

Under Hashima Island, Japan, Atomic Robo discovers an "Automatic Learning Algorithm Network" built by Dr. Alan Turning in 1951. The program has been running unsupervised since Turning lost security clearance the following year. Over time the artifical intelligence has used beureaucrazy, secrecy and telecommunications to influence the world and predict the collapse of human civilization.

Since the 50's the robot ghost has created master plan to survive the end of civilization by creating an autonomous interstellar ark built to learn, study, and explore the universe. Sounds cool right? On the other hand its launch would kill 95% of the earth with radioactive fallout. (I didn't say it was a nice computer ghost.)

Understanding that Atomic Robo would survive such and event and eventually come after the person (or computer ghost) responsible, the artificial intelligence came up with a complicated scheme to try to our metal-plated science hero.

What works so well here is Clevinger's insidious creation which needed Cold War bureaucracy in place to thrive. In order to get its plans through various governments of the past decades it needed to feed the paranoia that would make it far less likely for someone to question the orders. Even for a computer ghost, that's a real dick move. Atomic Robo is taken aback but the cold, calculating manner which the computer ghost has used and horded knowledge for its own ends.

As comic book plots go that's pretty damn ingenious. And let's not forget, it's fun! Who doesn't want to see a standoff between a robot scientist/adventurer and a computer ghost?! The final battle finds Atomic Robo victorious (if a bit scratched, burnt, and blasted), but still at a loss for how the computer could have used that many decades and that much technology and never even considered the option to help the advancement of mankind. In the end it's the robot's humanity that saves the day. Must-read.

One final note: I struggled to find a comic in any local comic shop around Kansas City. I mentioned this to Brian Clevinger via Twitter and was almost instantly granted a review copy to enjoy. Thank you! You're a class act, sir, and I can't wait to read Volume 7 (and I'm already super-excited for the news that Dr. Dinosaur will return in Volume 8). As long as you and Scott Wegener keep making Atomic Robo comics I (and a whole bunch of comic nerds everywhere) will very, very happily keep reading them.

[Red 5, $3.50]

The Rothman Disintegration

2012-02-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

When a professor is forced to retire Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Kripke (John Ross Bowie) fight over which one of them will get his office (which not only gives us the return of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock but the worst game of one-on-one basketball has ever seen). Meanwhile Penny (Kaley Cuoco) struggles to tell Amy (Mayim Bialik) she doesn't like her unexpected gift (a hideous painting of the two of them together).

Unconcerned with the who moves into the vacated office, President Siebert (Joshua Malina) allows Kripke and Sheldon to settle the matter on their own. Although Sheldon is eventually victorious he discovers the spoils of war aren't exactly what he expected as it offers a few challenges the scientist hadn't anticipated.

The on-court battle between Kripke and Sheldon is fun (even if it is a little too over-the-top), and Sheldon's realization about the office, and his unwillingness to vacate, is a nice touch. The painting subplot has a fun introduction, and several humorous comments from Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) about Penny's masculine appearance, but doesn't really lead anywhere. And, despite what the final scene shows, I have a hard time believing the painting will show up in next week's episode.

Young Justice #13

2012-02-16T14:00:00.002-06:00

In the sewers below Gotham City the Young Justice team tracks and fights the new character of Clayface (who was introduced in last month's issue). The team soon discovers the difficulty in fighting a villain who can assume the shape and mannerisms of anyone he comes into contact with.

With Aqualad distracted with thought of Atlantis and the team divided Clayface takes them down one-by-one. It's only the arrival of Batman that saves complete disaster.

Although it's a bit of a letdown after a terrific Batman and Robin issue and well-done Talia al Ghul issue that introduced the character of Clayface, Young Justice #13 continues to define this new version of Clayface and bring Aqualad's indecision to the forefront as the team is bested far too easily by this new enemy. It will be interesting to see if Aqualad's story plays out in similar fashion to the similar arc on the television show or if the comic takes a different path beginning next month. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

Teen Titans return as part of Cartoon Network’s DC Nation

2012-02-16T12:30:00.000-06:00

Honestly, other than the catchy theme song I was never a big fan of Cartoon Network's Teen Titans which was far too anime in style for my tastes. However, the idea of updating the characters and returning the New Teen Titans in shorts as part of DC Nation (the new DC programming block on Cartoon Network which premieres March 3rd) is an intriguing one.

Glee - Heart

2012-02-16T11:00:00.003-06:00

It's Valentine's Day and love is in the air as Sugar (Vanessa Lengies) throws a Valentine's Day bash at Breadsticks and Mr. Shue (Matthew Morrison) challenges the Glee Club to perform some of the world's greatest love songs as a final tune-up before Regionals.

We also finally meet fathers Berry as Rachel's gay dads (Jeff Goldblum, Brian Stokes Mitchell) show up to (at least on the surface) support Rachel (Lea Michele) and and Finn's (Cory Monteith) upcoming nuptials. In truth, however, their feelings are mixed on the teen marriage much like those of the the Glee Club.

Other stories include Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) coming down on Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany (Heather Morris) for kissing in the school hallways, Kurt (Chris Colfer) surprised to discover his secret admirer isn't Blaine (Darren Criss) but Karofsky (Max Adler), Rory (Damian McGinty) and Artie (Kevin McHale) fight over who will take Sugar to her party.

This week also sees Mercedes (Amber Riley), Sam (Chord Overstreet), Quinn (Dianna Agron), and new home schooled student Joe Hart (Samuel Larsen), reunite the Christian Club known as the "God Squad" and perform vocal valentines around the school (including Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts," and a "Cherish" mashup blending the two songs by The Association and Madonna).

Other music numbers include Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) performing a duet of Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E," Artie sings Mario's "Let Me Love You," Rory sings Michael Bublé's "Home," Rachel and her fathers perform "You're the Top" from Anything Goes at a dinner party with Burt (Mike O'Malley) and (Romy Rosemont), Blaine, Brittany, Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes sing The B-52's "Love Shack," and in oddly timely performance (given Whitney Houston's death this past weekend) Mercedes sings "I Will Always Love You."

Although the return of the "God Squad" and their moral dilemma is an interesting plot development, neither the story nor the resolution is all that well handled. And if Rory and Sugar weren't bad enough it seems the show has saddled itself with yet another one-note character in Joe.

I've been waiting to see Rachel's fathers for awhile and the show does a fun job with casting but it looses some steam with their nefarious scheme (especially when the scheme itself fizzles out without any definite conclusion). Although the episode's is packed with plot too often it goes for easy answers instead of letting some of these threads play out more naturally.

Even with some story issues the Valentine's Day episode entertains and includes quite a few performances. Mercedes' rendition of "I Will Always Love You" steals the show, and not only because of Houston's recent passing. At least musically the show seems full-steam ahead to Regionals.

Cost of Living

2012-02-16T10:00:00.001-06:00

Check out this short film from writer/director BenDavid Grabinski. Cost of Living stars Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, Chuck) Bret Harrison (Reaper) as two security guards having one hell of a bad night deep in the bowels of a genetics laboratory. Mary Elizabeth Winstead provides the voice over the intercom.

COST OF LIVING via You Bent My Wookie

Keira Knightly shows off her Dangerous Method to British GQ

2012-02-16T08:00:00.005-06:00

In the March issue of British GQ actress Keira Knightley sits down with Oliver Franklin to talk about the S&M scenes in her latest movie A Dangerous Method, duelling with directors, what it's like to spanked by Michael Fassbender, why she secretly hated working on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, her return to Los Angeles, and the fun in proving all the doubters wrong. She also took the time to pose for a cover shoot. You can find the rest of the pics after the jump.