Blade Squad (1998)

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

1998 was a big year for FOX television. Despite handing audiences turkey after turkey (Nick Fury Agents of Shield, anyone?), you have to appreciate their relentless pursuit to deliver genre fare. “Blade Squad” is one of the many failed attempts to build a show out of a TV movie that works as a glorified pilot. As a kid I spent a lot of time in front of the television, and I caught “Blade Squad” one dull Friday night. Suffice it to say despite its interesting concept, “Blade Squad” is a missed opportunity and really dull execution. It’s also a really unique artifact of a decade obsessed with futuristic punk and neon colored dystopias.

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Turbo Kid (2015)

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

It’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” meets “Mad Max” with what is one of the most entertaining and fantastic indie films of the year. The trio of François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell channels the magic of nostalgia to create a world that’s both perilous but compelling. “Turbo Kid” is painted as a love letter to all things eighties and nineties, but thankfully never loses itself in the winks and nods. It implements pop culture to create a well rounded world and they succeed beautifully. Through and through it’s a soulful and very exciting coming of age tale set in the post apocalypse.

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

It’s a good thing that “The Hunger Games” has so much interesting story and undertones about the power of the media and propaganda behind it. It skirts dangerously close to a movie that’s nothing but set up to the second half of the final film. It’s padded and filled with a lot of discussion that seemingly goes nowhere, but through its flaws, I appreciated where it brought the story of Katniss Everdeen. It doesn’t hurt that Jennifer Lawrence single handedly keeps the movie from diving in to the deep end with her powerful turn as the reluctant heroine. As I mentioned, “The Hunger Games” dealt with various stages of Katniss’s life as a celebrity. She built a revolution in the first movie, had to maintain her celebrity status in the second movie, and here she’s now a pawn for a rebellion.

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Insurgent (2015)

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

We were so close to having a nearly good new movie series with the “Divergent” adaptation. While the first movie was admittedly mediocre with some entertaining aspects to it, “Insurgent” takes that big leap in to pure abysmal depths and never quite comes up for air. “Insurgent” begins on a high note and never quite recovers, transforming in to a mind bending journey through the consciousness that is dull, monotonous, and painfully tedious. I was bored senseless through “Insurgent,” which is a feat because almost anything starring Shailene Woodley grabs my attention.

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LEGO Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

A flying Hall of Justice?! I want one! I want two! “Attack of the Legion of Doom!” is pretty much one of the more endearing glorified LEGO commercials Warner has released this year. Surely, it’s an ad for all their neato DC Comics toys, but it also is a fun and really funny comic book animated movie that has a blast with its characters. While these movies may not be for the more hardcore DC fanatics, they’re definitely wonderful entrance points for young aspiring comic buffs that want to figure out who among the Justice League is their favorite.

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Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

If you can forgive the lack of compelling story, “Monster Mayhem” really is a fun animated Batman adventure with a unique elseworlds Batman universe. It has the kid like appeal of “Brave and the Bold” with the Bruce Timm sensibility, and this amalgamation works for the most part. Mainly, “Monster Mayhem” is a toy commercial, as everything in the movie is purely toyetic, from Batman’s robot wolf that transforms in to a bat cycle, right down to the Joker’s slick motorcycle. It pretty much comes with the territory with almost any animated series, since every company (especially Warner) wants to sell toys along with tell a good story.

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Kuffs (1992)

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

I have a long history with “Kuffs.” Back when I was a kid I didn’t have cable so I watched movies on local television. “Kuffs” was one of my favorite movies as a child. It was that kind of kick ass crime thriller and buddy comedy that I loved. I must have seen it a thousand times as a child, and I loved how bad ass Christian Slater was in it. He was just so cocky and charismatic that it always kept me coming back again and again. Yeats later, watching “Kuffs” without the nostalgia glasses on, it’s a movie that’s just… pretty okay. It’s not a masterpiece, but it has its merits.

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