As a lifelong native of the Bronx and New York, the older you get the more you begin to hear about the city and how there is an entirely different dimension behind the neighborhoods you see on a daily basis. If you look beyond Manhattan where the landmarks have all turned in to Disney attractions, if you look past the subways that create the illusion of sanitary conditions and safety, you’ll discover within the shadows and crevices of every construct that there is a hidden society beneath your feet.
The Green Hornet (2011)
Yes, I’m sure when Bruce Lee came to America, he dreamed of having the American remake machine take what was once a dignified television property that made his career and turn it in to a bonafide vanity project for someone like Seth Rogen. I’m sure he’d love the fact that rather than take his entire project seriously and transform the Green Hornet in to a truly adult and complex superhero epic like “The Dark Knight,” it would instead become another version of “Rush Hour.”
Easy A (2010)
![easya[1]](https://www.cinema-crazed.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/easya1.jpg)
Hi there, this is me. Felix Vasquez. In the minority. Again. It’s a comfortable place, I’ve built an ass groove, and everything. Anyway. “Easy A” is one of the most smug movies of 2010, and when I mean smug, I mean every single inch of dialogue is so intent on being clever and some sort of bon mot, that there’s simply no humanity to the story. For a movie that purports to be a comedy, it is so focused on being funny, it fails to be remotely humorous, and every character spouts at least four or five one-liners in succession, moving along a story that is supposed to be as in vogue and hip as a normal MTV show. Continue reading
Suicide Girls Must Die! (2010)
I think deep down Sawa Suicide just assumed that horror fans alike would universally embrace “Suicide Girls Must Die” for the simple fact that it’s a horror movie with a lot of hot girls from the actual website. Granted, I am a huge fan of the Suicide Girls (seriously, these women are insanely beautiful) but just because something is even slightly popular, it doesn’t mean it warrants a movie. And you can hide all of the flaws and cheese behind the fact that it’s a horror film, but even so. The fact that anyone assumed this would be even the least bit entertaining is beyond me and displays a bit of hubris in the notion that the Suicide Girls attachment would mean rave reviews.
A Tribute to Superman: The Superman Movie Report Card
From the best and worst from the Superman mythos, I mull over all of The Man of Steel’s cinematic offerings including his DC Universe Animated films, and beyond. Superman has the distinction of being one of the very first superhero movies that became a blockbuster showing critics and skeptics alike that a superhero movie can depict the lore of its character with an adult tone and dramatic tension. With a fine director like Richard Donner at the helm, and a cast like Marlon Brandon, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, and Christopher Reeve, “Superman: The Movie” was the start of something big, and also showed what could happen when a studio lost sight of its goals for franchise success. Beyond the live action films there were also the mixed animated efforts that were hit or miss for most fans, but still gave us the man of steel in all of his glory. With “All Star Superman” on the way, we hope for big things and yet another fantastic depiction of the Last Son of Krypton.
The Cape
It’s almost as if someone from NBC got together with writers and thought “Okay, we tried superheroes as real world individuals and we all saw how that worked out. Now how about we just drop the pretenses and dive head first in to the superhero genre?” And that’s exactly what happened. Even I as a major “Heroes” fan in the day–and trust me “Heroes” was all I talked about during the first season–can admit that after the season finale of season one, the show fizzled and deflated with startling speed. So it is only natural NBC would want to go for the superhero fad yet again, but this time diving in to the cheese without the attempts to recreate the success of “Lost.”
A Tribute to Superman
In anticipation of the much anticipated animated adaptation of “All Star Superman” in stores this year, and the upcoming Zack Snyder/Christopher Nolan re-boot of the Bryan Singer re-boot “Superman Returns,” we have taken the time to voice our love for the character Superman and ponder on his more unique and endearing aspects that will surely be ignored in favor of the man of steel lifting tanks and destroying buildings with one force of breath. We hope Zack Snyder can invoke much of what made “Watchmen” so excellent and stow what made “300” so absolutely vapid and dunderheaded. Or at least find a balance. With that we continue to our “Superman Tribute.”
There was a journalist over five years ago who wrote an article about Superman who mocked the Man of Steel openly, and oh so sternly explained that among Superman’s fans, you’d be hard pressed to find any who would openly admit to being a fan of Superman in public. Oh how wrong he was and how wrong he continues to be. I’ll admit as a fan of Superman, that he is not the most popular hero in modern pop culture. In a world of cynicism, violence, and dread, the more enduring characters are all the darker ones with demons and shades of turmoil, all donning Bat costumes, garnering giant white skulls on their chests, or waving around claws from their knuckles.