The 25th Hour (2002)

Posted on February 15, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

“The 25th Hour” delves with the question of: If you only had one day left of freedom what would you do? Where would you go? Whom would you spend your last hours with. For Monty Brogan, it’s something he must face as he quickly looks out onto his seven year sentence in jail after being discovered by DEA agents for storing a kilo of drugs. But, as his last hour draws upon him he decides to tie up old wounds with his friends and family and discover who squealed on him to the DEA, what he inevitably discovers will shock him and make him question his life. From the opening scenes symbolic of New Yorkers and the events of 9/11 to the heart-wrenching finale, this thought provoking character study which dares to answer that question of what a man would do on his last days free. It’s also symbolic asking the audience watching, what would you do on your last day of freedom?

Continue reading →

The Life of David Gale (2003)

Posted on February 15, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

“The Life of David Gale” is yet another Hollywood film preaching for a cause. I wouldn’t have much of a problem with such a concept if this film orchestrated it the right way without such a ridiculous turn of events in the last segment of the film. “The Life of David Gale” portrays capital punishment abolitionists not only as melodramatic, but as despicable, self-righteous, under-handed, hypocritical, smug, and sleazy. Not only is it an unfair and inaccurate portrayal of people who are anti-capital punishment but it contradicts the theme supposedly revealing that it’s for capitol punishment and supporting people who feel this way when it’s completely contradictory.

Continue reading →

Crush (2001)

Posted on February 5, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

Kate (Andie MacDowell) is a lonely respectable forty year old head mistress at a boarding school who gets together every week with her friends to tell horrible stories about their week and discover who is the saddest. Then Kate meets Jed an ex-pupil whom she begins to have an affair with. Soon the affair begins to turn into a relationship and she is no longer sad. Jed, her romance isn’t charismatic nor is he charming or likeable and is simply a one-dimensional character who we never get to know much of, so we never care when something happens to him.

Continue reading →

The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting (2003)

Posted on January 25, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

Out of all the films out there “The Hitcher” wouldn’t be my first choice for a sequel, as a matter of fact, there’s not really a need for sequels these days, yet Hollywood continues to pull them out despite big budget or small budget as is revealed in this inferior straight to video sequel to the eerie chiller from 1986. It’s hard to set up a story for a sequel that wasn’t really necessary; we have B queen Kari Wuhrer as C. Thomas Howell’s girlfriend Maggie, Howell’s character Jim from the original film is now grown-up and sports a bad five ‘o clock shadow and a scratchy deep voice to better accentuate his manly persona, Kari Wuhrer plays the inept girlfriend to Howell’s Jim whom is never truly informed on Jim’s horrible past, but urges him to seek professional help… why would she suggest he get personal help when she doesn’t know what happened to him?

Continue reading →

Dracula II: Ascension (2002)

Posted on January 25, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

When a coroner brings in a charred body, he and a doctor named Elizabeth discover that the body is that of Dracula. When they get a mysterious offer from a buyer who will offer them millions of dollars for his body, they and a group of college students decide to take it upon themselves to discover what makes Dracula immortal while hoping to extract the evil from within the essence but when Dracula becomes too hot to handle, a mysterious knife wielding priest is on the hunt for them and will stop at nothing to take Dracula down.

Continue reading →

Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)

Posted on January 25, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

I’m a fan of the “Hey Arnold!” television animated series. I grew up with it. It’s one of Nickelodeon’s banner television shows about growing up. Sadly, what we see in “the movie,” is just a glorified three part TV special that’s mashed in to a movie. And it’s a god awful closer for such a great show. What the animated series thrived on was the large cast of magnetic characters from the neighborhood, but this fails to bring anything truly magnetic to audiences to watch. “Hey Arnold! The Movie” is a half-assed effort that does no justice all around to a truly entertaining cartoon. What many of the executives at Nickelodeon do with their products when making them into feature films is completely take away what made the cartoon so likable to begin with.

Continue reading →

The Good Girl (2002)

Posted on January 14, 2004 by Felix Vasquez

I was rather intrigued by watching this movie, because it received a ton of critical acclaim and rave. Jennifer Aniston is the title character in this independent movie and this is possibly her best film out of her entire career. Jennifer manages to stray from her corky persona that made her career into a more complex and interesting individual. Throughout the entire movie, we feel her misery as her go-nowhere life is deteriorating her spirit so rapidly it’s painful. Jennifer is excellent in this movie expressing great sympathy from her audience and giving off much depth. I loved this character out of the entire movie and even in scenes that make her unlikable, you can’t help but feel for her.

Continue reading →