Author Archives: Felix Vasquez

Happily Ever After (2016)

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Director Joan Carr-Wiggin’s “Happily Ever After” is like a nice slice of pound cake. It’s inoffensive, kind of bland, but still has a sweet spot every so often. Carr-Wiggin’s film is a mixture of Cameron Crowe, “Lady Bug,” and “Beautiful Girls” in where a nearing thirty year old comes back to their home town to find everything is the same as when they left it. Or perhaps maybe it isn’t. For Heather, she’s spent her life giving up looking for her happily ever after, and has found that she has come home to a town of people that are seeking their happy ending, and can’t quite admit that they’re unhappy in their current lives. When Heather goes to visit her ailing father in the hospital, she crashes in to old school mate Sarah Ann. She’s a bubbly blond classmate who is devoted to getting married and building the typical Rockwellian life of a picket fence house and comfortable marriage.

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Supergirl: Worlds Finest

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I admit as a former hater of the character that I’ve taken a real shine to “Supergirl” over the course of its first season, and that’s mainly due to Melissa Benoist. She’s the embodiment of Supergirl, from the girl next door appeal, the charisma, the glowing personality, and the sense of heroism. Let’s face it, Benoist is the definitive Supergirl; boy, she is such a doll. After being doused with red kryptonite, Supergirl underwent a transformation that involved alienating everyone and back stabbing certain people in her job. This also involves getting co-worker Siobhan fired. Anxious for revenge, her secret power is revealed after nearly dying and she discovers by her aunt that she is a part of a curse involving banshees.
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We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo (2016)

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Director Matthew Ramirez Warren’s “We Like it Like That” is a masterpiece of musical cinema. It’s a long overdue exploration at the beginning and unfortunate ending of Latin Boogaloo, a musical hybrid that helped to shape a generation and has also lived on in the hearts of younger generations. It’s clear by Ramirez Warren’s enthusiastic direction and approach that he love Latin Boogaloo, and he instills within the subject a unique and bold energy that will educate eclectic music lovers on one of the major influences in modern latin influenced pop and hip hop. As a guy who grew up in the Bronx, I spent many parties sitting alongside relatives that grew up with Boogaloo, and it was always a guarantee that music would be played before the night was up.

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

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Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman” is a prequel to “Justice League,” a spiritual reboot for his version of Ben Affleck’s love child iteration of Batman, and just one big amalgam of “Watchmen” and “The Dark Knight Rises” in one big messy unpleasant plate. Basically, Superman is Doctor Manhattan and Ozymandias, while Batman is Rorschach and Nite Owl. Snyder doesn’t really have to pull much footwork with his clashing of the titans, as he just instills a lot of the same themes and ideas from Alan Moore’s graphic novel, while spending the duration of the movie riffing on Moore’s work, along with Frank Miller, Alex Ross and everyone else he can. This results in a tonally uneven, and virtually fun free movie that has no respect for the Superman lore and an obsession with Batman’s, and it’s apparent from minute one. Did we really have to see Batman’s origin again?

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Geek Mutiny: Daze of Future’s Past

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In episode four of “Geek Mutiny,” Felix and Brian discuss Ecto Cooler, Crystal Clear Pepsi, Foods we want back, The Best and Worst Video Game movies, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies, and their own history with the X-Men! Brian also displays an affection for a particular duck named Howard.

Tune in to listen and share your own thoughts in the comments!

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Point Break (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

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pointbreak2015Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 action film “Point Break” was never really anything resembling a masterpiece, but one thing you could never call it was boring. It’s garnered something of a cult following over the years, for a reason. It’s a silly, goofy, and fun bromance where Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze bring their A game in one of the most sexless male romance action films of all time. It’s a camp classic despite its major failings. “Point Break” 2015 takes the 1991 original and saps out all of the fun and inherent camp, transforming it in to a tedious, overlong action thriller without a lick of humor about itself. Even “Fast and the Furious,” which copied “Point Break” shamelessly, had a sense of humor about itself and embraced its silly trappings and ridiculous plot line. Coming ten years too late, “Point Break” comes along after about fifteen retreads, and doesn’t really do anything except inspire the viewer to check out the original action film.

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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Duology (2012, 2013)

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For better and for worse “The Dark Knight Returns” duology is a loyal adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel. Both films are very ugly and violent, not to mention incredibly grim to the point where any and all sense of entertainment value is absolutely gone. Miller’s tale of Batman is violent and grotesque, painting Batman more as an avenger of the people while Superman is a despicable asshole working as a fascist tool to help restore order for a president whose lust for violence is very laissez faire. “The Dark Knight Returns Part I” is actually quite riveting with brilliant animation, as Bruce Wayne experiences a mental crack in the vein of his past foes, and uses his insanity as a form of instilling justice. Even Commissioner Gordon has somewhat given in to his baser urges and turned to Batman as a means of hope by putting in jeopardy all of his beliefs, and completely dismissing the establishment altogether.

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