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Comics DVDs/Blu-rays Reviews TV

“WandaVision: The Complete Series” 4K, Blu-Ray Review

 

One of the many highlights of The Marvels was getting to spend more time with Monica Rambeau, the grown-up version of “Lieutenant Trouble” from Captain Marvel. But it wasn’t the first time we had the pleasure, as the adult Monica was actually introduced in the Disney+ show WandaVision.

Newly available on 4K and Blu-ray, WandaVision: The Complete Series presents all 9 episodes of this engaging and inventive show, as well as some cool extras. Which makes it as good for people who loved it on Disney+ as those who haven’t had the pleasure.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“RoboCop: Rogue City” Review

 

Back in the days when every big action movie got a corresponding video game, one of the unspoken rules was that even if it was a bad game, fans of the film might still enjoy it if it’s true to the movie.

Which is where we find the dystopian sci-fi first-person RoboCop: Rogue City (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), which is set up as a sequel to the iconic movie series. While shooter fans will quickly quit in frustration, people who loved the movies — and who can be forgiving where certain aspects of the titular character are concerned — will enjoy this as mindless fun.

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PC PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Alan Wake II” Review

 

It’s always risky when the hero of a video game series hands the reigns to someone else. For every time it’s worked (Marvel’s Spider-Man 2), there are just as many when it didn’t (Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty).

Thankfully, the third-person survival horror game Alan Wake II (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/SPC.) falls squarely in the former category by being just as much fun when Mr. Wake is missing as it is when he’s around.

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Reviews Switch Video Games

“Borderlands 3: Ultimate Edition” (Switch) Review

 

Four years after being released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Stadia, and three since it came to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, the sci-fi first-person shooter / action role-playing game Borderlands 3 is finally coming to the Switch as the Borderlands 3: Ultimate Edition. And while it doesn’t add anything that would warrant owners of the previous versions to consider buying this edition as well, people who missed it the first time around — and, of course, enjoy deep sci-fi shooters with snarky sensibilities — would be well advised to pick this up.

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Comics PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2″ Video Game Review (PS5)

 

Since his first appearance in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man has been shot, stabbed, poisoned, punched, kicked, cloned, married, teamed with an alien symbiote, joined nearly every superhero team in the Marvel universe, and had more adventures than anyone could possibly have in sixty-one years unless they were also a fictional character on a monthly schedule.

And yet, the core of the character remains the same. He’s a person, with foibles, failings, and feelings; he swings from a web with the greatest of ease; he’s strong, and he can kick; and he always tries to do the right thing.

It’s why I wasn’t bothered that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (PlayStation 5) isn’t all that different from Spidey’s previous games — 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales — since that means it’s just as much fun.

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Music Reviews

Ivo Perelman, Nate Wooley: “Polarity 2” Review

 

It’s funny, while sequels are common in movies and video games, it’s not something musicians usually do, especially jazz ones. Sure, Meatloaf made Bat Out Of Hell II Back Into Hell, and Metallica followed “The Unforgiven” with “The Unforgiven II” and “The Unforgiven III,” but Miles Davis never made Bitches Brew II or Miles Smiles 2 or Round About Noon.

But that’s exactly what free jazz adjacent tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and trumpet player Nate Wooley have done with Polarity 2 (CD, digital), their sequel to 2021’s Polarity. Well, sort of. Polarity 2 doesn’t answer all of the unanswered questions from Polarity. Nor does it continue the story or build upon the gameplay from the first one. Or give us another adventure for the superhero named Polarity. But it does do a good job of giving us some rather horn-y jazz instrumentals.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“High On Knife” Review

 

Among the many interesting characters in the comedic sci-fi first-person shooter High On Life was Knifey, a sentient and psychotic knife who could be used to get around like the grappling hook from Halo Infinite or Horizon Forbidden West. During actual combat…well, we all know the cliché about bringing a knife to a gunfight. It’s probably why, despite the name, Knifey isn’t the main weapon you use in the first add-on for Life, High On Knife. But while Knife may not turn Life into a hack & slash action game, that doesn’t mean Knifey isn’t at the center of this game.

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DVDs/Blu-rays Reviews TV

“Loki: The Complete First Season Collector’s Edition” 4K, Blu-ray Review

 

It’s always interesting when someone makes a big story out of a small moment in another story. Like how Rogue One: A Star Wars was born from Vader mentioning that the Death Star plans were stolen. It’s also how we got the first season of Loki, the Disney+ TV show that follows the titular Asgardian after he grabbed the Tesseract and disappeared in Avengers: Endgame. Or, how it shall henceforth be known, the show on the 4K and Blu-ray collections Loki: The Complete First Season Collector’s Edition, which follows the titular Asgardian…well, you know.

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PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways” Review

 

Like seconds of a good meal, add-ons for video games can sometimes be more of a good thing, sometimes just more of the same, and sometimes just too much. Thankfully, it’s the former category that we find Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways, an add-on for the recent and excellent remake of Resident Evil 4.