Author Archives: Felix Vasquez

Richard Donner (1930-2021): My Top Five Films from the Director

Posted on by

Richard Donner was one of the great action directors, a man who could tackle almost any movie and add his own distinct flavor to it. Although mostly a film titan in the eighties, Donner continued a long and illustrious career directing genre films well in to his eighties and left behind a humongous legacy of iconic films, hit films, and films that will live on for many, many years in the hearts of movie buffs everywhere.

In remembrance of the cinematic titan, I thought I’d list my five favorite films from his humongous oeuvre.

What are your favorite Richard Donner films? Let us know in the comments!

Continue reading →

Fear Street, Part 1: 1994 (2021)

Posted on by

One of the many aspects of “Fear Street” that always set them apart from the “Goosebumps” books is that RL Stine relied a lot on folklore. With the “Fear Street” series, it depended a lot on the folklore and urban legend aesthetic, exploring more universal themes usually found there. There were always ideas about revenge, and mystery killers, and inherent terrifying nature of Halloween, and yes, even vampires. Fear Street always had something new to offer readers, and the movie carries that tradition.

Continue reading →

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital HD]

Posted on by

Celebrating its 50th anniversary June 30th of 2021, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” is a movie that hasn’t aged since 1971 and shows no sign of aging any time soon. Even with the Tim Burton second adaptation and the upcoming prequel, Mel Stuart’s cinematic version of the Roald Dahl fantasy book still remains on the top of the heap. Even looking at it without nostalgia lens, the Gene Wilder fantasy is excellent in every sense of the word, while Wilder’s titular performance is unrivaled.

Continue reading →

F9 (2021)

Posted on by

The only thing worse than a bad action movie is a boring one; even with the “Fast and the Furious” series now reaching that point where it’s becoming self-aware and self-satirical, Justin Lin’s penultimate entry in to the long running movie series is terrible. I rarely see action movies with so much noise and activity that put me to sleep, but lo and behold, “F9” pulls it off. This is a movie that throws everything but the kitchen sink at audiences, bringing in the cast from “Tokyo Drift,” Helen Mirren and Kurt Russell for brief walk on roles, and jumping through hoops to explain away the big plot holes with something vaguely resembling logic.

Continue reading →

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021) [Blu-Ray/Digital]

Posted on by

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never actually read Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “The Long Halloween” before, so I was very interested in seeing what the movie would bring fans. Even as a non-Batman fan, “The Long Halloween” is probably one of the best animated Batman movies I’ve seen in a long time. While most of the previous Batman animated movies have zeroed in on non stop action and little story, “The Long Halloween” is very much about Batman being a detective.

Continue reading →

“Black Summer” Season 2 Delivers the Horrifying Reality of Humanity

Posted on by

In 2020, America came to a halt ending most television series, and “Black Summer” was also stalled. Thankfully after a long hiatus it returns and with season two returning  with a deafening bang, there couldn’t have been a better time for it to premiere on Netflix. “Black Summer” Season 2 is a follow up season that doesn’t pull any punches. While the first season explored everyday people fighting to escape, the sophomore season digs deep in to every day people fighting each other (and zombies) to survive.

Continue reading →

You Have to See This! The Florida Project (2017)

Posted on by

We often tend to classify fantasy movies as movies with monsters, or elves, or space battles. Sometimes fantasy movies can be as simple as a narrative about the world that children can invent in their minds. In the darkest times and most cynical of realities, a child can find beauty and awe in their environment, and Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” is every bit a fantasy as it is a rich art house drama. It’s hard to imagine anything as measuring up to Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” from 2017.

Continue reading →