Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection “F” (2015)

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

“Dragon Ball Z” is back and it’s about as niche as ever! Which is to say that only hardcore fans of the series will love with “Resurrection ‘F’” has to offer them; everyone else will likely just appreciate the animation. It’s a truncated and very fast paced feature length film and one that I quite enjoyed. While I’ve always been hard on the series over the years, “Resurrection ‘F’” was a slimmed down and very breezy action film that reminded me why I was a fan such a long time ago. It also has a really good sense of humor about itself with folks like Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan settled in their domesticated roles, forced in to combat with a superior foe.

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Big Match (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

Director Choi Ho’s “Big Match” is probably one of my favorite action movies of the year. It’s a wonderful amalgam of action, comedy, and thrills acting on a fast pace with a multi layered story of a man running against the clock. Choi Ik-ho is a man kicked out of professional soccer for rough housing and enters in to MMA to get his aggression out. With the help of his big brother Young-ho, Choi Ik-ho has become one of the greatest fighters of modern times. He’s kept under tight supervision by his big brother, a retired MMA fighter. But when he suddenly disappears, Ik-ho is suspect number one. Young-ho is suspected of being murdered, and Ik-ho is arrested.

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Pixels (2015)

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

“Pixels” was a creative and eerie short film that took the concept of video games and turned them in to actual threats on reality. In the proper hands, the adaptation could have been “Scott Pilgrim” meets “Ghostbusters” with a hint of “Attack the Block.” Sure it’d have been silly, but it also could have been a lot of fun. Perhaps even a classic. The first thing to remember is that “Pixels” is an Adam Sandler movie first and foremost, so the viewer has to wade through a ton of Sandler nonsense to get to the actual point of the narrative. Sandler is a man child, as always, who attracts the attention of a beautiful woman out of his league and has a connection to children. He hangs out with his childhood friend who also happens to be the president of the united states. A lot of the juicy roles handed to Sandler’s friends, while Sandler himself seems lethargic through most of it.

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Assassination Classroom (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

It’s not often such a weird movie manages to win me over, but lo and behold “Assassination Classroom” really did. I doubt I will be back for the sequels unless I have to, but for almost two hours I was thoroughly entertained by such a richly developed and fun action movie. It avoids almost all of he clichés of an action movie, while also diving head first in to them, and sets up a bunch of storylines within its one hundred and ten minute duration. Based on the hit manga of the same name, “Assasssination Classroom” tries to fit in a bunch of threads in its run time and succeeds for the most part. The premise is so daffy and off the wall I could only gaze in sheer disbelief as two screenwriters approached this with sincerity.

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Batman: Season 2 Part Two (DVD)

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Part two of the Adam West Batman series is probably my favorite installment so far, as it includes the famed crossover between The Green Hornet and Kato with the Caped Crusader. I always considered Green Hornet to be the superior series, so it’s a blast watching the pair of superheroes team up to stop what is a considerably lame villain. Granted, I would have loved to see them tackle the Joker, but beggars can’t be choosy.

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Batman: Season 2 Part One (DVD)

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

The alternative to buying the two hundred buck Blu-Ray set is back once again, as Warner releases Batman Season two, Part One on DVD. Same bat time, same bat channel, just with lesser definition. I can definitely tolerate it not being blu-ray quality, and for folks looking for a less expensive alternative to owning the series, Warner is ensuring that they get their money’s worth by releasing every season in two separate parts. The series is about as good as ever, and depends on two factors: Either your nostalgia for the show, or your threshold for camp.

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Crimson Whale (2014) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

I was completely mixed with “Crimson Whale” as a feature, because when you get down to it, it feels like it pads its run time. It’s only seventy minutes in length, and a lot of it feels like its treading water to get to the inevitable confrontation with its titular foe that happens to be anomaly of nature. “Crimson Whale” isn’t the worst anime film I’ve ever seen. It just isn’t all that good. It gets the distinction of being middle of the road mainly because it’s just so damn gloomy and mean spirited. It’s violent, and dark, and definitely does not thrive on supplying a happy ending. It barely has an ending, when you cut to the chase.

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