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Novocaine (2025) Review

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 "No, not the fingernails!" -Nathan Caine Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), the assistant manager at a credit union, has an amazing date with his co-worker, Sherry (Amber Midthunder).  The next day, the credit union is robbed and Sherry is taken as a hostage.  Nathan decides to rescue her himself and embarks on a violent, rescue mission.  Nathan has one advantage over the hardened criminals; he can't feel any pain. There will be spoilers below.  My non-spoiler review is that this movie is a lot of fun, but has some structure issues and I don't love the 3rd act, but this is still worth seeing. What Works: I love Jack Quaid.  He's just so charismatic, even when he's playing a villain.  In Novocaine , he gets to play the most likable role I've ever seen him in.  Nathan is super relatable and easy to root and throwing in Quaid's chemistry with Midthunder, this is a movie that's very easy to get invested in. The premise of this movie is fantastic and used ver...
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Community: Season 1, Episode 23 "Modern Warfare" Review

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 "Come with me if you don't want paint on your clothes." -Abed Nadir "Modern Warfare" picks up with the study group getting fed up with Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta's (Gillian Jacobs) constant bickering.  Abed (Danny Pudi) explains that their sexual tension is driving the rest of the groups nuts, while Pierce (Chevy Chase) suggests they sleep together, get it over with, and move on.  The Dean (Jim Rash) interrupts by announcing a game of Paintball Assassin will be happening later with a yet to be determine prize.  When the group tries to turn the conversation back to Jeff and Britta, Jeff leaves to go take a nap in his car. Jeff wakes up from his nap to find the campus deserted and nearly apocalyptic with paint everywhere.  He discovers Garrett (Erik Charles Nielsen) also covered in paint, who explains that when the Dean announced the prize the game quickly got out of hand with everyone turning on each.  Leonard (Richard Erdman) appears and tries...
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Survivor 48, Episode 4 "The House Party's Over" Gameplay Analysis

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 "I hate water." -David Kinne Ugh.  Once Lagi lost the Immunity Challenge, I knew this episode was going to be a bummer.  I really liked everyone on the tribe, but someone had to go and, of course, it had to be my winner pick.  That said, this was a fun episode.  There was some excellent gameplay and I really enjoyed the dynamics on all of the new tribes.  So let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: We'll start on the new Civa tribe.  Cedrek, Mitch, and Chrissy all came together and could take complete control of the tribe if they want to.  Obviously the conversation between Cedrek and Mitch about their speech impediments was a great moment and I could see it creating an unbreakable bond between them.  And while Chrissy and Mitch should have formed a strategic relationship of some kind long before this episode, at least neither of them ever burned a bridge with the other.  They may not be close, but they can still ...
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Survivor 48, Episode 3 "Committing to the Bit" Gameplay Analysis

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 "A skull is a very scary thing to see in this game." -Kamilla Karthigesu Wow, that was certainly an episode of Survivor!   Two major notes here.  First off, I hate that the players who were sent on the Journey in this episode were forced to play the game.  I really wish they had been given the opportunity to back out, especially since it was just a game of chance.  Secondly, I think Cedrek's flip at Tribal Council is one of the worst moves we've ever seen in the premerge.  I'd love to hear some other potential contenders for worst premerge move of all time.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: We'll start over on the Civa tribe.  Kamilla took the hero spot in the Immunity Challenge and won it for her tribe, so good for her.  If you're going to take the hero spot, you'd better deliver, and she did.  She also managed to get an Extra Vote, but that was 100% luck. I really liked the conversation between Kyle and ...
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Mickey 17 (2025) Review

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 "Even on my seventeenth go-around, I hate dying." -Mickey 17 Desperate to get off of Earth to avoid a murderous loan shark, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) agrees to become an Expendable on a mission to colonize the planet Niflheim.  An Expendable's job is to do dangerous and deadly tasks and if they die, a clone with most of the same memories and personality can simply be printed off and put back to work.   What Works: Robert Pattinson is the highlight of the film and plays multiple versions of Mickey.  Yes, he's playing the same person each time, but some of the Mickey's have different quirks in their personality.  The two main Mickey's, 17 and 18, are actually very different from each other and Pattinson brings both of them to life very distinctly.  I love the way they interact with each other and the different ways they deal with their problems.  Mickey 18 may be aggressive and violent, but goddamn is he relatable. Mickey 17 and 18 are very ...
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Community: Season 1, Episode 22 "The Art of Discourse" Review

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 "Well, excuse me for trying to sneak you into heaven!" -Shirley Bennett "The Art of Discourse" picks up with Jeff (Joel McHale) celebrating getting a B in Nutrition while Britta (Gillian Jacobs) knits an eye-patch for her newly adopted cat.  A group of high-schoolers, who are getting some college credits, start insulting Jeff and Britta's life choices, calling them "Shmitty," and repeating every retort that Jeff and Britta respond with, but adding "duh" at the end.  Both Jeff and Britta are affected by the teens and Jeff ends up lashing out at Pierce (Chevy Chase) for playing guitar. Abed (Danny Pudi) smashes Pierce's guitar and reveals he is trying check some things off his list for having the quintessential college experience.  Troy (Donald Glover) offers to help Abed and Troy pantses him in response.  Troy responds by pantsing Abed, who reveals both events were on his list.  Pierce wants to get in on the fun and pantses Shirley (Yvett...
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Survivor 48, Episode 2 "Humble Traits" Gameplay Analysis

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 "Doesn't everybody clean their belly button with Q-tip?" -Chrissy Sarnowsky Sigh.  We were so close.  If only Cedrek had kept quiet.  I would have loved to see Sai go home tonight.  It would have been so great.  Alas, it was not to be.  Even though I wish the outcome had been different, I still enjoyed this episode, so let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: We'll start over on the Civa tribe.  Charity has gone from having zero allies to one, so that's an improvement at least.  And Mitch won the Immunity Challenge for his tribe and got himself a Vote Blocker.  I don't think he should have told his tribe about it, but I'll still give him a net positive for the episode. Kyle managed to find the Beware Advantage with David near him and Kamilla solved the puzzle to get Kyle the Idol and his vote back.  If they stick together, their alliance can do some damage. Moving over to Lagi, everyone knows about Star findi...
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