Hot Rods to Hell (1967)

Posted on April 23, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

“Hot Rods to Hell” is a youth gone wild, sixties morality tale about damn juvenile delinquents raising pure hell on Mr. and Mrs. Americana of the traditional Nuclear family. Before the real free revolution, “Hot Rods to Hell” was another glance at the youth tearing down good old fashioned America, and it was deemed much too risqué to play for television. Made for television, ironically, the studios shipped it out into theaters, and drive-ins and it’s quite a messy little clunker with an utterly simplistic plot. A mixture of “Beach Blanket Bingo,” “Last House on the Left,” and “Leave it to Beaver,” John Brahm’s “Hot Rods to Hell” sets down on a family called the Hills who go on a road trip to move to the desert. On the way there they come across a group of sadistic hot rodders who really want to make their lives a living hell from now on.

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Rosario Tijeras (2005)

Posted on April 21, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

Flora Martinez, aside from being absolutely beautiful and incredibly sexy, also provides a very good performance for “Rosario Tijeras” as the tragic and sometimes despicable Rosario who objectifies men the way she was objectified all of her life. She’s a being incapable of genuine love, and also seems incapable of finding true love. She’s someone who is used for her body, and carried around like a trophy, thus leads her own downfall in the face of her diminishing personal welfare. Her constant manipulation of her male counterparts is often achieved through her irresistible sex appeal, and this will often leave male audiences at a crossroads. The surefire draw should have been the lovely and vivacious Flora Martinez, who is an interesting choice for the lead of this snake of a woman. But then, at the end of it, I was pretty anxious to shut it off and move on.

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Maniac (1980)

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

“Maniac” is a different kind of slasher film, one so incredibly vile and utterly wretched that you’ll be forced to decide if you enjoyed this or not. I experienced the same conflict of decision. Did I enjoy this or not? I’m not entirely sure, but a good part of me says “yes.” At a time when the Son of Sam was still fresh on everyone’s minds, “Maniac” is the closest depiction of a madman on the streets that we’ll ever get again. We don’t just watch this madman destroy folks, we learn about him, and we get into his mind.

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29 Reasons to Run (2006)

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

I’m sick of road trip flicks, I’m sick of coming of age flicks, and with all due respect to our indie audience, I’m sick of movies about relationships with narration. “29 Reasons to Run,” however, completely made me re-think that thought process. I shouldn’t write off the road trip flick just yet. That would be unfair. Weeks’ and O’ Steen’s ambitious film raises the argument for the road trip flick and restores hope that there’s still a lot more to be done with the sub-genre. In some moments it can resemble an ABC drama, but I don’t hold that against it. “29 Reasons to Run” is about two men facing a dead end in their life, and decide they have to travel the road, which may be great for a novel “Sideways”?

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Elizabethtown (2005)

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

I always try to give my favorite directors the benefit of the doubt. Regardless of their work, I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt. What’s so wrong about a dude who met a chick, and the chick helped the dude learn how to live his life, and now the dude has a different outlook on life than the dude before him? Nothing. Nothing! I’ve been that dude, I’ve met that chick, and I say more, Cameron, more, dude! Cameron Crowe is not all about the pimple dick man being helped by a strong woman, it’s a young man learning about life from a special woman. I love that. As for Kirsten Dunst, the melon head is an actress I rather enjoy. In her high points, and utter low points, the woman is easy to look at, and easy to endure.

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Bad News Bears (2005)

Posted on April 18, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

Well, I guess every director has to have one film that’s commercial to grant them enough dough to get them through the rough times. Even one of my favorite directors of all time, Richard Linklater. It’s not that Linklater can’t do a commercial film, because “School of Rock” was great, but this is a remake. And Linklater is better than this. He’s ten times better. And he can make all the excuses he wants, but I’m still shocked the same man who created “Waking Life” was behind the camera of this remake. As usual, Linklater doesn’t do what others do. In other words, he never makes a film as everyone assumes he is. Sure, this is a remake, but this is a kick in the balls remake, just like the original was a kick in the balls kid’s film. There’s profanity, crude humor, sexual innuendos, and Billy Bob Joe Bob Thorton channels “Bad Santa” for his variation of Buttermaker. And I was pleased.

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Trouble with Men and Women (2003)

Posted on April 17, 2007 by Felix Vasquez

Okay, so last month, I finally saw “London.” I mean, I’d heard from folks that it was an awful and grueling movie to sit through, but sometimes you just have to experience it. There’s something in us that, even though we’re told being stung by a bee hurts, inspires us to seek out that bee and have that experience. It was the same thing with “London.” People were talking endlessly about this film that was utterly awful, and yet I sought it out. And it still stings. Suffice it to say, “London” was an awful and dreadful relationship drama that sought out to be such an edgy glance at romance between two fuck-ups.

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