Star Wars Rebels: Twilight of the Apprentice

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It’s going to be a long wait until season three of “Star Wars: Rebels,” my friends. And if you had to peg where the finale falls under, I’d say this is the “Empire Strikes Back” of all “Star Wars Rebels” season finales as it is an amazing close to what has been a turbulent sophomore season. Not only have our heroes experienced a massive loss, but the empire is more certain than ever, there might be a female sith lord, and our young hero Ezra has no lightsaber and is strongly considering becoming a sith lord. It’s almost too easy for Ezra to be seduced to the darkside because, like Anakin, he’s desperate to prove himself and feels his master Kanan doesn’t have confidence in him.

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Hustle, Loyalty, Respect: The World of John Cena [Hardcover]

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If you’re a fan of one of the most iconic wrestling stars of all time, you’re in for a big treat with “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” from DK Books. It’s the literal encyclopedia of John Cena, chronicling everything from his early life, his childhood, and there’s even a look at the evolution of his character. Cena is one of the most dynamic and charismatic performers from the WWE, as well as one of the most charitable, and he garners a much deerved massive collectible book that provides everything you need to know about the man without marrying him. Delivered to fans in a hardcover book, fans are given a collectible wrist band with the book, and are allowed to read about everything Cena has been through in his entire sports career.

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Monsters (2015)

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Steve Desmond’s short horror film “Monsters” is kind of briliant in that you know it’s going somewhere, and you thankfully want to see where. Desmond’s premise is pretty unique, as we meet a normal family that have holed up in an underground bunker during what is apparently the apocalypse. Despite their youngest daughter Jenn insisting she can scavenge in the world above alongside her big brother and parents, she’s forbidden from ever stepping outside and kept inside to keep herself distracted.

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Happily Ever After (2016)

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Director Joan Carr-Wiggin’s “Happily Ever After” is like a nice slice of pound cake. It’s inoffensive, kind of bland, but still has a sweet spot every so often. Carr-Wiggin’s film is a mixture of Cameron Crowe, “Lady Bug,” and “Beautiful Girls” in where a nearing thirty year old comes back to their home town to find everything is the same as when they left it. Or perhaps maybe it isn’t. For Heather, she’s spent her life giving up looking for her happily ever after, and has found that she has come home to a town of people that are seeking their happy ending, and can’t quite admit that they’re unhappy in their current lives. When Heather goes to visit her ailing father in the hospital, she crashes in to old school mate Sarah Ann. She’s a bubbly blond classmate who is devoted to getting married and building the typical Rockwellian life of a picket fence house and comfortable marriage.

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Supergirl: Worlds Finest

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I admit as a former hater of the character that I’ve taken a real shine to “Supergirl” over the course of its first season, and that’s mainly due to Melissa Benoist. She’s the embodiment of Supergirl, from the girl next door appeal, the charisma, the glowing personality, and the sense of heroism. Let’s face it, Benoist is the definitive Supergirl; boy, she is such a doll. After being doused with red kryptonite, Supergirl underwent a transformation that involved alienating everyone and back stabbing certain people in her job. This also involves getting co-worker Siobhan fired. Anxious for revenge, her secret power is revealed after nearly dying and she discovers by her aunt that she is a part of a curse involving banshees.
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We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo (2016)

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Director Matthew Ramirez Warren’s “We Like it Like That” is a masterpiece of musical cinema. It’s a long overdue exploration at the beginning and unfortunate ending of Latin Boogaloo, a musical hybrid that helped to shape a generation and has also lived on in the hearts of younger generations. It’s clear by Ramirez Warren’s enthusiastic direction and approach that he love Latin Boogaloo, and he instills within the subject a unique and bold energy that will educate eclectic music lovers on one of the major influences in modern latin influenced pop and hip hop. As a guy who grew up in the Bronx, I spent many parties sitting alongside relatives that grew up with Boogaloo, and it was always a guarantee that music would be played before the night was up.

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Enragés (Rabid Dogs) (2015)

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A group of four bank robbers run into trouble while attempting to escape.  Their simple plan of robbing a bank and getting away goes terribly awry when one of them is killed and the others take hostages.  They eventually get on their way to possible freedom with a father and daughter as well as a woman; however, the road to this freedom is littered with obstacles and violence. Enragés is a new adaptation of the short story “Man and Boy” by Michael J. Carroll which was previously adapted by Mario and Lamberto Bava in 1974.  Here the screenplay is written by Yannick Dahan, first time writer and director Eric Hannezo, and actor (yet not in this film) Benjamin Rataud.

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