Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) (Two-Disc Special Edition DVD)

Posted on August 22, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

For Elvis fans of all kind, “That’s the Way It is: Two-Disc Special Edition” will bring about some truly good supplements, including two version of this documentary. You received the original 1970 theatrical edition, and the 2001 Special Edition, which is twelve minutes shorter, but visually restored. Elvis is pretty much like The Beatles, they’re both instantly identifiable, household names, difficult to resist, and made impacts on music that no one could ever re-capture. Pop and Rock stars will come and go, but there is only one Elvis, and the concert film “That’s the Way It Is” proves that, once and for all.

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Æon Flux (2005)

Posted on August 19, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

I was never a fan of the techno-punk, cult series “Aeon Flux” from MTV, and for good reason. While, I’m always up for an animated series about a hot woman kicking ass, “Aeon Flux” was dull, lifeless, and ached to be as entertaining as fare like “Ghost in the Shell” from day one. Thus was MTV’s prime goal back in the days: make every series hipper than the last. And with this they failed. So it was only a matter of time for a movie to be made and eventually flop. You can blame America’s hesitation to enjoy a female superhero, you can say that they mishandled the character of Aeon Flux, but whatever excuse you create, at the end of the day “Aeon Flux” is a pretty bad film, clear and simple, and worse yet, it hearkens back to the absolutely excruciating “Ultraviolet” on many occasions.

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Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme (2007) (DVD)

Posted on August 19, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

For my money, Dr. Strange is probably one of the most uneven characters in the Marvel gallery ever created, while others of his ilk are basically one sided. Spider-Man was too whiny for me, Iron Man was too weak, and Fantastic Four was much too irritating to enjoy, but Dr. Strange is a character with great potential that had a comic series that was as dull as day old bread. Yet, this character‘s appearances in other series were exciting, and his television movie from the seventies was also decent. I just hope the live action adaptation gives me a reason to enjoy the character again. For now, here‘s another direct to DVD Marvel movie, “Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme,” an unofficial prequel to the movie. “Doctor Strange” is thankfully a step in the right direction, depicting the mythos of Doctor Strange as a murky and dark world filled with eerie sights and demons.

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Universal Soldiers (2007)

Posted on August 16, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

No, this is not connected in anyway to the Van Damne turkey “Universal Soldier.” And it’s not a sequel, remake, or spin-off. It is indeed yet another rip-off from none other than Asylum, who insists it’s much better than the original. And trust me, if you’ve seen “Universal Soldier,” it is not a claim to be proud of, in any respect. In either case, it’s probably one of the most laughable attempts to mimic and blatantly steal from another established property, while also basically stealing a title.

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Random Lunacy: Videos from the Road Less Traveled (2007)

Posted on August 16, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

Very few people in life have the ability to drop everything, be rid of all sorts of city life vices, and go on the road to live the life they want to. Very few people actually have the courage to do so, and risk losing their family in the process. Poppa Neutrino is one of those people. He’s a man who isn’t rich or famous, or even that well known, but at the end of the day he can tell us that he’s lived his life how he’s wanted to, and no one can take that away from him. This is the subject of the latest documentary from the directing team of Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber.

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Right At Your Door (2006)

Posted on August 15, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

We live in alarmist times. We live in times where we’re constantly in fear of terrorism, terrorist activities and are influenced to be xenophobic to a certain extent. We are a people de-sensitized with violence, a people who always fear death at our door, and ultimately have an unspoken paralyzing fear of the apocalypse entering into our windows, and it’s reflected in our culture and pop culture. Be it through zombies, a plague or what have you, we’re in times where our fear of Armageddon is difficult to ignore, and that’s due to increasingly violent circumstances involving the realistic likelihood of some sort of bomb or toxin entering into our neighborhood and destroying everything we love.

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Apocalypto (2006)

Posted on August 12, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

You have to give it up for Mel Gibson. It’s not many Hollywood heavyweights who would set an action thriller in an Ancient Mayan civilization, and actually have his characters speak ancient Mayan. Only in Hollywood would we have polished young actors speak English in such a setting, but what Gibson has done is throw down all xenophobic and sensationalistic urges, and given us a film that actually sticks true to the concept he puts forth. And it also helps that “Apocalypto” is a genuinely exciting and enthralling action adventure, too. Mel Gibson has really become a director of his own class, a man who tells the stories he wants to tell, in spite of the backlash he receives. All in all “Apocalypto” is probably Gibson’s best film to date, because it’s almost free of any of Hollywood’s tainting.

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