Thank You, Paul Reubens (1952-2023)

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Felix Vasquez

I was born in 1983, so I was at that point in time where the eighties was just on its way out as I was growing in to adolescence, but I very fondly remember a lot of the decade. I remember how much I loved the comedy of the decade mainly because I grew up around a dad who exclusively lived on a diet of comedy. So I watched Weird Al, and Ernest, and Elvira, and Alf, and Robin Williams. Most of all I watched Pee Wee Herman. Pee Wee Herman played a huge role in my life as a comedy fan and a fan of just entertainment in general. There was a period in the eighties and early nineties where Herman was just an massive icon. I didn’t really catch his stand up material.

But I was there for “Pee Wee’s Playhouse.”

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tOuch Kink (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Felix Vasquez

I’ve always maintained that, as long as its legal and consensual, we should embrace our sexuality and kinks no matter how unusual it may seem to others. Kinks and fetishes are a form of human expression as much as they are about desire, and they can be important in deciding who we are and how we can operate on the outside. Sexuality shouldn’t be vilified it should be openly explored and embraced. “tOuch Kink” is a refreshing documentary that, while about sex and erotica, is also about humanity. It’s about our inner desires and how they can be a catharsis and even therapeutic.

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A Disturbance in the Force (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Felix Vasquez

When I think about it, it’s pretty shocking that no one has made a movie about “The Star Wars Holiday Special” yet. It’s an untapped corner of the “Star Wars” fandom that has remained mainly a running joke and mythical hurdle a fan must endure as a rite of passage. Director Jeremy Coon and Steve Cozak team up to deliver what is one of the breeziest, interesting and most entertaining “Star Wars” documentaries of all time. Likely to be regard as a classic fandom documentary, “A Disturbance in the Force” chronicles the making of “Star Wars” and how the pop culture climate took a fairly straight faced science fiction adventure movie and transformed it in to a disco variety show.

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The Slumber Party (2023)

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Felix Vasquez

I imagine the board meeting at Disney Channel went “What if we did “The Hangover”–but G rated?” And what we got was “The Slumber Party.” Director Veronica Rodriguez lays all of her influences out for the audience from minute one, even involving a small group of friends that make a pact that results in a night that neither of them can recall. It’s almost verbatim sans any and all adult content. Not that that’s a bad thing in particular, as thankfully “The Slumber Party” is quite good. The fact it’s blatantly derivative of the aforementioned movie is outweighed by the charisma of its cast, and its lively energy.

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The Bootleg Files: Bailey’s Comets

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 838: “Bailey’s Comets” (1973-74 animated television series).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived reissue value.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

The other week, I saw a posting in a Facebook group devoted to old-time television about a Saturday morning cartoon series called “Bailey’s Comets.” I knew that I watched that program when it was first aired in the 1973-74 season, and while I sort of recalled part of the show’s bouncy theme song I could not remember anything remarkable about the series itself.
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Haunted Mansion (2023)

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Felix Vasquez

I never had the pleasure of riding the famous Disney attraction but I know enough about it to understand the particulars of the story and its appeal. After the somewhat awful 2003 attempt with Eddie Murphy, Disney takes another crack at adapting one of their most iconic attractions. In the end it amounts to a very entertaining and heartfelt horror comedy that I imagine will allow for a good gateway for budding horror fans. I won’t proclaim it as a masterpiece, but when all was said and done, I was so much more satisfied than I was with the 2003 first attempt.

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