Author Archives: Felix Vasquez

Late Night with the Devil (2024)

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Coming to UK Cinemas on March 22nd.

Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes’s “Late Night with the Devil” might prove to be one of the best horror movies of 2024 and one of the best movies, period. In a year that’s been tough on horror so far, in swoops what is a wonderful amalgam of found footage, analog horror, and possession cinema. “Late Night with the Devil” carries the torch from gems like “Ghostwatch” and “WNUF Halloween Special” as a truly stellar mock documentary that places a great emphasis on dread and a larger narrative rather than cheap scares and gimmick.

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Ǝvolution (2023) [CineQuest 2024]

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At only a minute in length, Romina Schwedler’s short experimental film is more of a montage of events and significant occurrences that side steps any kind of story. Centered mostly on an eye witnessing these events, Schwedler bases the entire screenplay on this singular shot, which is what carries the movie to its finish line.

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The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout (2024) [Cinequest 2024]

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“Of the 220 people that were constantly on location shooting in Utah, 91 came down with cancer…”

“The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout” is an important documentary, and one that warrants a mass audience with as many people as possible, if only to view how Hollywood can often become the folly of the rich and powerful as well as how one man’s hubris can destroy so many lives in one fell swoop. Although William L. Nunez’s documentary is very much about the calamity that was “The Conqueror,” the Howard Hughes and John Wayne vanity project that amounted to a massive epic scale shooting that ended with an abysmal often derided biographical film, it’s also about the corruption of the American government.

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Wonka (2023) [4K UHD/Digital]

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Now Streaming on Digital and Available on Physical Media.

What made the 1971 screen version of Willy Wonka so entertaining was that while he was an idealist, he was also a well-worn cynic who hated people as much as he loved them. While he made candy for people, he also understood how ravenous and cut throat they could be. He approached everyone entering his factory with a sense of caution and quiet observation. Even with Charlie he saw something special in the boy but was quick to write him off at a moment’s notice. What’s missing from Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka is that sense of misanthropy; that sense that deep down while he likes people, he understands how nasty that they can be.

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Mean Girls: The Musical (2024)

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Now Available on Digital Streaming.

Despite the flack that it received this year from a lot of anti-musical individuals that transformed “Mean Girls: The Musical” in to a tik tok meme, at the end of it all Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr’s film ended up being much ado about nothing. It can’t be that narratives can’t translate in to musicals since “Hairspray” was excellent. But when all was said and done “Mean Girls: The Musical” ended up being an okay movie. It wasn’t what I’d call awful, but it’s by no means in the upper echelons of musicals like “Grease” or even “Teen Beach Movie.”

It’s a just fine, pretty okay movie that just made me want to rewatch the original classic.

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Geographies of Public Sex [LA&M Film Fetish Forum]

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Playing at the LA&M Film Fetish Forum Saturday, March 16th at 7pm EST; It Will Be Co-Presented by Henry Hanson of Full Spectrum Features.

“Geographies of Public Sex” is a series of eight short films curated by Henry Hanson, most of which revolve around the Gay experience and accounts of the gay lifestyle. It’s a mixed bag, admittedly, but an interesting gallery of shorts, nevertheless. 2021’s “Trade Center” from Adam Baran is the best of the bunch; it’s a fascinating documentary about cruising in the seventies and eighties, and the amount of sites in New York City where men could have sex with one another any time of the day.

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The Brave Locomotive (2023) [Cinequest 2024]

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Andrew Chesworth’s animated adventure is a neat and adorable tribute to the likes of Disney and classic Merrie Melodies tunes. It’s that classic tale about friendship, and commitment and loyalty above all else. While I was originally assuming this would be about a lot more, “The Brave Locomotive” keeps its intentions firmly planted in the more innocent side with a story about wicked companies and sticking to what works.

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