Director James Gunn commits to a very interesting fear in avoiding the third film curse by shifting a lot of the focus for his odyssey of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Rather than continue on the journey of Peter Quill, Gunn focuses on the more problematic characters that have entered in to the Marvel Universe. Throughout the trilogy we’ve only know a bit about Nebula and Rocket Raccoon. We know that they’re in essence hard heroes to understand and cope with and Gunn gets down to the nitty gritty and give us compelling back stories. Along the way their back stories allow us to garner a further understanding as to why they relate to the other characters as they do.
Author Archives: Felix Vasquez
Blame (2018)
It’s hard to believe that “Blame” is a debut feature, as Quinn Shephard manages to develop a drama that’s so richly layered and filled with so many themes about consent, sexual abuse, and the boundaries between mentors and their protégés. “Blame” is by no means a perfect drama, but as a debut it sure manages to be a compelling character study through and through. Quinn, who also writes, edits, and stars, manages to explore the whole dynamic involved in grooming and the inherent power play that arise from them. “Blame” is a lot about the idea of groomers and the entire interplay between adults and younger people that can tend to cross lines often.
The Third Saturday in October: Part I (2023)
Hey even if you don’t like the experiment that Jay Burleson has concocted, you have to give “The Third Saturday in October” its credit for being so ambitious. The movies seem to have been made on a very modest budget, but director Burleson has an obvious adoration for slasher movies of all kinds. “Part I” of the series is a love letter to John Carpenter’s “Halloween” and seventies slasher films in general, and while embracing slasher tropes, he does a rare thing and gives us an African American movie maniac. Not just that, but a horrifying African American movie maniac.
The Third Saturday in October: Part V (2023)
There’s a ton of creativity and fun to be had behind writer and director Jay Burleson’s pair of slasher films. With the pair of movies you have what is an admirably constructed mythology, along with a cast of performers that are the absolute highlight of the movie. Even the more irritating characters eventually won me over, and that’s saying a lot. In spite of the warts and all, Burleson gets creative from the outset with a pair of films that have to be appreciated and experienced backward.
So, you have to watch “Part V” before you can even watch “Part I.”
Women Talking (2022)
“What follows is an act of female imagination.”
Sarah Polley has always been a wonderful actress who turned in to an Oscar worthy director. It’s just a shame she’s yet to be recognized as one by the Academy. “Women Talking” is a potent indictment of modern civilization where women are gradually losing not only bodily autonomy, but the clear power to punish those that do harm to their bodies. “Women Talking” and its release does not seem like an accident, as Polley, a staunch activist manages to create a very tense tale of women grappling with their duties to themselves, their community, and their faith.
Superman I-IV 5-Film Collection (1978-1987) [4K UHD/Blu-ray/Digital HD]
2023 was the 85th anniversary of the first appearance of Superman in the comics, and Warner Bros has released two coveted box sets featuring the Donner and Salkind era of “Superman” movies. For folks that consider themselves strictly fans of the Christopher Reeve Superman films, this set is very much in your wheelhouse. Thankfully the movies still hold up very well, even though the box set leaves so much to be desired.
“Iron Man” Fifteen Years Later: The Tech Superhero We Didn’t Know we Wanted
Recently I was on Tik Tok, and I came across a comic book content creator who was under fire from commenters who took issue with his claim that before he became a big screen hero, Iron Man was not at all popular. It’s quite the comical turn of events because if you were a fan of comic books in the late eighties throughout the nineties, Iron Man was not popular. Out of all the superheroes running during that time, Iron Man was at best a third tier superhero.
While The Punisher, Spider-Man, and X-Men were selling huge for Marvel Comics, Iron Man was low on the totem pole in terms of status and popularity. His series was constantly cancelled, rebooted, and restarted, while his alternate War Machine became the more celebrated of the pair. While he was respected as one of the Avengers’ founders, he just wasn’t a popular or even appealing character.