‘Westworld’ 1.09 “The Well-Tempered Clavier” Review

Layer by layer, “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” the ninth episode of Westworld‘s first season, was engrossing, with urgency and stakes that earlier hours were missing. The hour highlighted what is best about the show – its intent, the intersection of memory, reality, and identity – while also calling attention to its occasionally weak dialogue and sometimes idiotic character turns. Thankfully, it’s easier to forgive the dumber narrative decisions when performers of this caliber are giving  some real emotional heft to this metaphorical sci-fi yarn.

The episode, helmed by Michelle MacLaren (famous for helming seminal episodes of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones and was briefly attached to direct next summer’s Wonder Woman), is the first with a script without a writing credit of either co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan or Lisa Joy. It’s named after a collection music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, a clavier simply being a fancy word for keyboard instruments.

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1. Bernard’s session with Ford
2. Maeve’s rebellion begins
3. The Man in Black goes to meet Wyatt
4. William crosses a black line
5. Dolores finishes the Maze
6. Stubbs is as stupid as Elsie

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2016 Superhero Films Ranked From Worst To Best

2016 was an extremely interesting year for Superhero films. It was the first year of the beginning of the DCEU, Marvel had their annual two films, and Fox released two films from their X-Men Universe. There was a lot of interesting releases and a lot of controversy, but this year has marked a new age in the recent trend of shared universes.  It’s been a big year not only for us as a site, but also for all of you who get to see all of our favorite heroes come to the big screen in big and exciting ways. With the year winding down it’s a good time to look back at the films that came out this year and see which one stands at the top. While I enjoyed almost all of them there were films I found to be better than others. So without further ado onto the list!

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‘The Flash’: ‘Killer Frost’ Review

The Flash ended on a big cliffhanger last week as Savitar, the God of Speed, made his debut and confronted Barry as he and the team was trying to take down Doctor Alchemy. The episode picks up right where they left off as Barry and Savitar have a speedster fight, but Savitar, being the God he is, almost ends Barry.

Caitlin is forced to get out there and help Barry stop Savitar temporarily before he escapes. While Caitlin may have helped Barry, her mother’s warning is once upon reminded as the ice within her begins to take her over. As things begin to get colder and messier for her, she tries to seek Alchemy down and get him to take her powers away before it’s too late.

But because her cold side is in control, she begins to cross lines, including against her friends. At one point, she gets Julian hurt after kidnapping him and forcing him to help her find Alchemy or Savitar. As Caitlin begin to go all Killer Frost on everyone, she reveals to the team what their lives were like before Barry caused Flashpoint, which causes friction between Cisco and Barry.

Team Flash tries to figure out what the situation with Wally is as he is still inside the cocoon after he touched the Philosopher Stone last week. Eventually, Joe decides to take care of the situation as he forces the cocoon to open and the result is surprising. Barry tries to get Julian to not give Caitlin up as he stresses that she needs help. He agrees to keep the secret, but on one extreme condition.

With the big focus that both Savitar and Doctor Alchemy had in this episode, “Killer Frost” concludes with one major post-credit scene as it answers several questions and brings up new ones. Given everything that happened in tonight’s episode, there is a lot we want to break down and discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the important moments and highlights of The Flash season three episode: “Killer Frost”

#5: Wally West Becomes A Speedster

#4: Winter Arrives As Killer Frost Rises

#3: Flashpoint Consequences

#2: Barry Makes A Major Sacrifice

#1: Doctor Alchemy & Savitar Ending

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’Supergirl’: ‘The Darkest Place’ Review

Supergirl dealt with secrets and reveals to a big extent this week after Mon-El got kidnapped by Lillian Luthor and Project Cadmus in the previous episode. As Kara discovers that Mon-El has been taken by Cadmus, she goes to rescue him only to become a captive herself.

Lillian, who hates both her and Superman for what her son, Lex, had to go through, begins to torture Mon-El and threatens to kill him if Supergirl doesn’t collaborate. She forces Kara to use her super-heat-vision so that she becomes human temporarily and proceeds to steal Kara’s blood for mysterious reasons.

J’onn begins to feel weird after being saved by M’gann who, despite not wanting to, had to go through a transfusion to save him. As the team discovers that his cells are turning into those of a White Martian, J’onn realizes that M’Gann has been lying this whole time and that she is in fact a White Martian.

After making his debut as National City’s new vigilante Guardian, James (and Winn) listens to harsh reactions by their friends. However it gets worse as someone tries to pose as Guardian and ruin his reputation. To clear his name, James eventually discovers who the copycat is and goes after him.

The episode concludes with Cyborg Superman invading the Fortress of Solitude thanks to Kara’s blood and demands to learn everything about a certain project. With so much happening in this incredibly packed episode, there’s a lot that we want to break down and discuss. So let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Supergirl Season 2 episode: “The Darkest Place”

#5: Team Supergirl Reacts To Guardian

#4: J’onn Discover M’gann’s Secret

#3: Hank Henshaw Lives – Enter Cyborg Superman

#2: Alex & Maggie Deal With Last Week’s Events

#1: Lillian Luthor’s Bigger Plan Revealed

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’Gotham’: ‘Time Bomb’ Review

Gotham is turning up the heat in their ongoing season as people begin to declare war between each other in this week’s episode of the Batman prequel series. As Nygma has been trying to avenge Isabella’s death, we discover that he has kidnapped Butch and Tabitha. Through hours of torture, when things get really crazy, as Butch tries to save Tabitha, it becomes very clear to Nygma that he had nothing to do with Isabella’s death.

Meanwhile, Barbara is trying to locate her friends on her own and as she discovers that Nygma has them captive, she learns about Penguin’s secret that he is in love with Nygma. But not only that, she also puts two and two together that Penguin killed Nygma’s beloved Isabella. As she rescues Butch and Tabitha from Nygma, she decides at the hospital while Tabitha is getting help, to reveal to Butch that she is going to put the Penguin and Nygma against each other.

Bruce, Selina and Ivy are staying safe at the Wayne Manor after the events of last week’s episode, with the mysterious key in their possession that is revealed to be a Court of Owls key. When the criminal gang kidnaps Ivy and demands the key in exchange, Bruce and their leader Volk discover that they are both aiming to take down the Court. Bruce also questions Selina why she isn’t willing to acknowledge their relationship for what it is at this point.

Mario Falcone isn’t having the best day either as he becomes the target of the Court, but during an encounter with them, he begins to show his more violent colors. Towards the end of the episode, it’s revealed that he has also been infected by the Tetch virus after seeing Leslie leaving Gordon’s place before heading to the rehearsal dinner.

As usual, a lot happened in this week’s episode of Gotham that we want to break-down and discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Gotham Season 3 episode: “Time Bomb”

#5: Trouble In Paradise For Bruce & Selina

#4: New Answers To The Court Of Owls

#3: Nygma’s Torture Fest With Butch & Tabitha

#2: The Glory That Is Barbara Kean

#1: Mario Falcone Reveals His New Color

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‘Westworld’ 1.08 “Trace Decay” Review

With only two episodes left, Westworld is closing with some real momentum. It was on display in full in tonight’s eighth episode “Trace Decay,” which admirably dealt with the twist at the end of last week’s episode “Trompe L’Oeil,” making the big William=MiB fan theory either obvious or the grandest red herring ever, and furthering Maeve’s nascent robot rebellion. We also got more Man in Black backstory, after the self-styled supervillain was absent for an episode.

Click Next to begin or select which part of the review you wish to start with.

1. Ford’s session with Bernard
2. Post-murder breakdown
3. Dolores and William’s mutual journey of self-discovery
4. Maeve’s escape plan deepens
5. Teddy interrogates the Man in Black

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Eddie Redmayne Calls ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Sequels “A Dream”

J.K. Rowling’s Wizardly World, which originally started with the Harry Potter franchise, continues this weekend with the highly anticipated release of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The film is one of five movies currently planned by Warner Bros, all of which, are to be directed by David Yates. The latest movie stars Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmayne as the lead character, Newt Scamander, a wizard who brings his magical beasts to New York City in the 1920s, only for them to run amuck throughout the growing town.

Redmayne is joined by Colin Farrell, Justice League‘s Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler and Katherine Waterston, who will next be seen in Alien: Covenant. In a new interview with the Oscar winner, Redmayne discussed the sheer size of a franchise like Harry Potter, and where the sequels will likely go:

“As an actor, if it’s your dream to tell stories, getting to tell stories within the imagination of one of the greatest storytellers in the world is all you can hope for, really. Long may that continue.”

Originally, the franchise was only meant to be three films long, however, when Rowling looked at the films as a whole, she and Yates felt two additional films would bring the series full circle. When asked why Redmayne signed on for the other two movies, the actor kept it short and simple:

“I love[d] who she’d written.”

Redmayne then revealed an awesome story about how he landed the gig of a lifetime:

“It came to me in a wonderfully top-secret way. I got a call, saying David Yates wanted to meet me about an unknown project. We met in a pub called Blacks, which is in Soho in London. As I went to this place, it was pouring rain, and downstairs in the basement, there was a fire and David. The whole thing had a Diagon Alley vibe to it. He started telling me this story that J.K. Rowling was writing, and he talked about Newt and the case. I had taken a suitcase that I had. As he talked more about the case, I gently pushed my case back. I had this embarrassment that I looked like one of those actors that turned up dressed for the part.”

When asked if Redmayne went back and watched the Harry Potter films the actor responded:

“I didn’t. They are always on. I did watch moments, like the wand stuff. There is a sense that every actor is like, “One day, I’ll get my wand moment.” I got my wand moment, and I got stage fright. I got awkward. I didn’t know what to do with it. In the end, I watched Dan Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, and Emma Watson. I definitely stole, and thieved.”

What do you guys think? I actually just got home from seeing the movie, and, as someone who was not too fond of the original Harry Potter films, Fantastic Beasts won me over. The movie is a huge blast. You can check out the full interview over at Variety, in which the actor also discusses some components of the audition process involving other actors.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is in theatres now.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars in the central role of wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter blockbusters. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

Source: Variety (Via Comicbook.com)

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