The Mask of Zorro (1998)

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As a fictional character, Zorro is the original superhero. He inspired Batman, The Shadow, and the like, a masked man with a dark persona who uses his wits and wily cunning to win battles in a world where evil men rule. Zorro is a man whose entire origin resembles Bruce Wayne, The Batman. An aristocrat by day, Don Diego is a playboy who lives in the period era of California who hobnobs with yuppies of his ilk and authorities. By night he’s a masked man with a faithful servant who wields swords and weaponry alike to fight crime and take on bandits and warlords of all kinds.

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The Avengers (2012)

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What Joss Whedon has done is quite spectacular. He’s managed to take what could have been a complete clusterfuck of a movie and compacted every single hero and their mythos within two and a half hours, while also being able to introduce new heroes we can root for in the process. “The Avengers” is a true accomplishment of not only studio ambition but comic book cinema, a true masterpiece of the fantasy genre that piles together Marvel’s greatest heroes for a film many comic book fans have dreamed of having for decades. “The Avengers” incidentally is one of the many variations of Akira Kurosawa’s unparalleled masterpiece “Seven Samurai.” In “The Avengers” much like Kurosawa’s masterpiece, a thuggish villain rears his ugly head prepared to take down a land of innocent people for their own selfish purposes. Only when seven mismatched and unique heroes join forces and put aside their egos to defend the land does the villain meet his match. Ultimately while “The Avengers” is in fact an ambitious project that’s been planned from the get go, the film feels very meticulously crafted.

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Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (2011)

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lego-star-wars--the-padWow. That’s all I can say right now. Wow. “Lego Star Wars” is good. Really good. In fact it’s quite great. It’s funny. It’s witty. It’s clever. And in many ways it’s brilliant. Sure it’s Lego propaganda meant for the kids, but there’s so much humor that will be accessible to Star Wars geeks, that it’s tough not to enjoy this. This is one of the finest examples of “Star Wars” satire that I’ve seen since “Robot Chicken.” Basically, the premise is as simple as it can get. Yoda is on a field trip with a group of Jedi Padawans and on their last stop of the trip, they visit the Galactic Senate to see how the political system works.

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Archetype (2012)

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These days in an effort to get movies off the ground, indie filmmakers are prone to creating short films that exposit the concept of their feature film for the audience allowing them a chance to expand upon it should they be offered a chance by studios. That’s the basic reasoning for “Archetype.” Made for a little money, “Archetype” is actually quite excellent for such a short film that works as a prologue for the premise of Aaron Sims’ film. What happens when artificial intelligence becomes so intelligent it’s convinced it led a past life? And what happens when the corporation that created the AI finds little ability to convince them otherwise?

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UHF (1989)

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uhfIf you’re ever wondering what pure untapped “Weird Al” would look like onscreen, you need look no further than “UHF.” As a kid I spent many a years encountering this movie in small doses but never actually sat down to watch it whole. “UHF” is one of the most creative and original outputs of the eighties featuring Weird Al Yankovic who not only becomes an every man hero, but also manages to show off his own brand of off the wall comedy. “UHF” is still a head trip to this day as a film that stands on its own in comic delivery and just outright surreal storytelling.

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Roseanne: The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)

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r4Season Four is the darker times of the series where the characters would all learn to take more serious roles in their lives. While “Season Four” is the darker more dramatic time of the series, it’s still one of the best times of the show where the reality of owning a business in this economy would soon rear its ugly face and affect the Conners, leaving a giant rift between them by the time season five will roll around. This time around Darlene develops from a rambunctious tomboy in to a depressed high schooler who is trying to find her way in the world.

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Roseanne: The Complete Third Season (DVD)

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Roseanne_S3It’s no secret that “Roseanne” is one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, and it’s a plus to finally have all twenty five episodes of season three on DVD. From Mill Creek Entertainment, season three includes some of the best episodes of the series, it’s a time where the series was beginning to finds its footing not only on television but in its premise focusing on a genuine working class family trying to get by day by day. Some of my favorite episodes are in season three where the writers flex not only their ability to cast perfect characters that can mix it with the original cast, but their ability to cast brilliant actors in the roles as the supporting cast.

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