Author Archives: Felix Vasquez

Congo (1995)

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I’ll just come out and say it. I’m one of the five people in the world that really enjoys “Congo.” I don’t care how smug it makes me sound, but I’m genuinely shocked that it’s so reviled by many movie fans since I never thought it was terrible. I won’t lie, for years I’ve always thought of “Congo” as nothing more than a B grade adventure film about maniacal monkeys and diamonds, but I’m shocked it’s so trashed by a majority of movie buffs and critics alike. I think there are much worse movies out there. Sure, there’s a monkey drinking a martini, but come on, is “Congo” really awful? I don’t think so.

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Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

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What’s most striking about director Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Dallas Buyer’s Club” is the way AIDS is depicted. From the moment Ron Woodroff is told he has terminal AIDS and thirty days left to wrap up his affairs, his life is literally running down on a timer, and he’s literally scrambling back and forth for a way to preserve it. And what begins as a means of self-preservation transforms in to a very eye opening exploration of the world and how AIDS is a very unbiased disease that isn’t restricted to the homosexual community that it’s been used to demonize for many years.

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Blended (2014) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

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“Blended” is part old school Adam Sandler and new school Adam Sandler. It has the same dumb, pointless, physical humor, with the modern “family is everything, you’re nothing if you’re single” sentimentality that’s permeated like self righteous stink through his later comedies. To make the affair even more grating he teams up with Drew “nails on a chalkboard” Barrymore for a third time. The cynical side of me thinks that they teamed up again to complete a trilogy of pairings for a potential special edition release of their comedies. But the obvious seems to be Sandler re-visiting the well hoping for another hit. It’s just sad that never translates in to memorable entertainment. “Blended’ is a family oriented dramedy that’s never original, nor does it pose any sense of Sandler thinking outside the box in his early films.

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L3.0 (2014)

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l30The directing team of Alexis Decelle, Cyril Declercq, Vincent Defour, and Pierre Jury at Isart Digital really turn the whole lonely robot formula on its head. The five minute silent short entitled “L3.0” is filled with heavy implication and immense back story, based solely on what we see, and not what we’re told. L3.0 is a lonely robot that spends most of its days looking for other beings, and sending out paper airplanes in to Paris. When he finds a butterfly, he might have found a new friend.

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The Dead 2 (2014) [Blu-Ray]

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While I did enjoy “The Dead,” I also admit that it spooked me a bit, if only for the Ford Brothers’ ability to depict the walking dead as a truly horrifying, a talent that’s tough to accomplish with our current glut of zombie films dominating pop culture. “The Dead 2” isn’t a far departure, sticking to what made the first film such a success, while switching elements around to regard it as another chapter in the epic continent trotting tale of the zombie apocalypse. There still hasn’t been much of an explanation of the particulars of the zombie virus and where it originated, but that’s irrelevant once the dead are knocking down doors.

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Godzilla (2014) [Blu-ray/DVD/Digital]

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Warner Bros. Pictures were wise to hire Gareth Edwards to film what is essentially a reboot of the Godzilla series for American audiences. Director Edwards displays a knack for depicting giant monsters as forces of nature that affect civilization, and he carries a lot of the sensibilities from “Monsters,” over in to the reworking of “Godzilla.” His version of “Godzilla” is less monsters stomping around and fist fighting, and more of a disaster film with a slew of human beings affected by the chaos that two monsters inflict when they rise from their gestation to feed on radiation around the world and wreak pure chaos. “Godzilla” is a sterner and dramatic approach to the lore, offering a very interesting dynamic between characters, all of whom carry through the themes of family and unity among the human race. Particularly fatherhood.

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Z Nation, Episode 1: Puppies and Kittens

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Watching “Z Nation” is almost like someone took the most annoying parts from 2013’s “World War Z” and the 2004 “Dawn of the Dead” remake, turned it in to a FPS video game, and then the Asylum adapted it in to a TV show. I can just imagine the Asylum structured “Z Nation” purposely for the crowds that find “The Walking Dead” too wordy and serious, and just want bad ass apocalypse survivalists killing zombies. And surely, “Z Nation” delivers in that respect. It’s the very definition of zombie porn with limited focus on its human protagonists.

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