Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: Richard D. Zanuck

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Richard Zanuck is a man who spent most of his life living under the shadow of his father Darryl F. Zanuck, and what is most peculiar and quite riveting about Richard Zanuck’s story is that rather than trying to step out of his dad’s shadow, he embraced his father’s status and used it to his advantage. Often times we hear of someone chastising their own status as a wealthy successor, but Richard Zanuck used this fact as a means of bettering himself, and carving his own niche in the Hollywood business.

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Defiance

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Syfy really wants another “Battlestar Galactica,” since the series itself was one of the most compelling and unique pop culture landmarks in the 21st century. But with “Defiance” I really doubt they’ve caught lightning in a bottle twice. In face one of the main caveats of “Defiance” is that it’s so heavy handed in its pursuit to explore racism and prejudice, that it becomes the bases for the entire series. So far with a two hour pilot movie, and two one hour episodes, as well as a game, “Defiance” has proven to be a well produced, and beautifully constructed science fiction epic that when watched is just… okay. It’s by no means a lemon of a science fiction offering, but I’m not going to be following its mythos any time soon, either. In fact, I had a hard time remembering any of the characters’ names, even after three episodes.

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The Ten Worst Movies Ever Aired on TNT's Monstervision

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

“Monstervision” ran for five years here in the US on the TNT cable station late on Saturdays and Fridays. Often times you could find it at midnight, but often it would be on late in the night thanks to whatever sports game or special TNT decided to air that night. Joe Bob Briggs is one of the last gasps of great cable television where he migrated from The Movie Channel to TNT to hose “Monstervision” for many years. During that time, he hosted many movies of the cult variety, and some mainstream stuff, mostly due to TNT’s demands. Though the show was called “Monstervision” Briggs was pretty much obligated to air movies like “Love Potion No. 9,” and “Twins” while Briggs was able to mostly air his kind of movies like “Shaft,” “From Beyond,” and “The Return of the Living Dead.” Throughout the span of the series, Monstervision aired some truly terrible movies that could only be appreciated with commercial breaks for the sake of the audiences sanity. And Briggs’. These are ten of the worst movies ever aired on Monstervision.

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Zombieland: The Series

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

“Zombieland” seeks to be the antidote for folks still clamoring for a zombie television series, but hate the drama and politics of “The Walking Dead.” Where as Robert Kirkman’s pop culture smash is more of an adult take, “Zombieland” takes all of the best road trip movies and adds some zombies for good measure. Folks claiming this is an attempt to market off of “The Walking Dead” are half right. Originally “Zombieland” was pitched to every studio as a weekly series, but when it was turned down left and right, it was transformed in to a horror comedy feature film that would hopefully transform in to a movie series. When Woody Harrelson pulled out of ever playing hero Tallahassee again while stars Emma Watson and Jessie Eisenberg’s careers took off, the hopes of having a “Zombieland” movie series collapses.

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"Bates Motel" Pilot Review

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Much like “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” was much more about the journey of Sarah Conner rather than the life of John Conner, “Bates Motel” is much more about the psychosis and sheer lunacy of Norma Bates, rather than the origin of Norman Bates.

The series, from what the pilot alludes, is very much going to lead in to the descent in to madness that Norman Bates takes. And it’s all thanks to his mother. She’s a very crafty and manipulative woman who seems to know so much more than she lets on.

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