Detective Comics #873
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Jock
DC Comics
Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 26, 2011

One of the best storylines going on in comics today, The Black Mirror, wraps up in this week’s Detective Comics #873. I’ve been a fan of almost every single Detective Comics story for quite some time now, although there definitely have been shifts in style/quality of storytelling, but what Scott Snyder and Jock, with Francesco Francavilla (albeit not on this issue), have been doing with their recent run on Detective is easily the best storyline since Greg Rucka’s Batwoman story arc, and it’s one of the best ongoing series right now.

This issue continues directly after Detective #872 when Dick Grayson was undercover at a less than scrupulous auction called Mirror House, in which artifacts from some of the most nefarious villains of Gotham City are sold at outlandish prices to “bored rich people.” It shows a growing darkness within Gotham City though the fact that the people who were there to purchase these items were not criminals that were just collecting tools of the trade, but that it was the socialites of Gotham City. Mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons are the ones who are interested in collecting these items, and I am sure that we will see more of this in future stories.

Archer
Season 2, Episode 1 – A Swiss Miss
Starring: H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Aisha Tyler, Adam Reed and Jessica Walter
FX Network
Air date: January 27, 2011

I’ll admit, I didn’t watch much of the first season of Archer. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the show or anything of the sort, I just… didn’t watch it. However, the season two premiere of Archer reminded me of what I loved about the episodes I had seen and made a lot of headway in selling me on the rest of the season.

For those unfamiliar, Archer is a spy parody that focuses on the day to day life of a group of spies at the International Secret Intelligence Service or ISIS which is run by Archer’s mother, Malory Archer (Jessica Walter), but with the humor and great animation style of Adam Reed (creator of Frisky Dingo and Sealab 2021).

We’ve heard a great deal about the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith‘s alternate history novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but have been waiting to find out who exactly would be playing Honest Abe.

According to reports, the list had come down to five names: Adrien Brody, Josh Lucas, James D’Arcy, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Benjamin Walker. Now comes word that a choice has been made, and Walker is the man for the job.

Walker was originally set to play Beast in Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, but stepped away from the role to continue portraying another president in the Broadway production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

Amazon is currently running a sale on the Undeclared: The Complete Series DVD box set, available now for only $22.99 (that’s 54% off the list price of $49.98).

Today’s the last day to get in on this deal, as it expires tomorrow, Saturday, January 29, 2011.

The DVD box set contains all 17 episodes of the television series created by producer Judd Apatow, which aired on FOX from 2001-2002. The series starred Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, and Monica Keena, with guest stars like Amy Poehler, Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass, Smallville‘s Tom Welling, rocker Ted Nugent as himself, and many more.

PIRANHA
DVD/Blu-ray/3D
DIRECTED BY: Alexandre Aja
WRITTEN BY: Pete Goldfinger, Josh Stolberg
STARRING: Steve R. McQueen, Elisabeth Shue, Jessica Szohr, Jerry O’Connell, Adam Scott, Christopher Lloyd, Ving Rhames, Paul Scheer, Richard Dreyfuss
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: January 11, 2011

Back in 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws struck pure fear into the souls of moviegoers, creating a phobia of the ocean in many people who saw it. Obviously over the years we’ve learned through countless nature docs and Shark Week binges that sharks — dangerous as they might be — aren’t quite the man-eating monsters we all thought they were. Even so, the recipe behind Jaws is pretty failproof, and it makes sense for filmmakers to use the same basic foundation for other films.

Enter Piranha, a remake of the 1978 movie of the same name that uses just this very same formula. During Spring Break in the town of Lake Victoria, Arizona, an earthquake opens a giant crack in the bed of the lake, creating entrance to a whole new section that had been locked away for millions of years. Even worse, a breed of prehistoric piranhas have thrived in this underwater tomb all along, and when the earthquake gives them access to the surface once again, they come out in droves seeking blood.