I Am Thor (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Emilie Black

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

Are you familiar with the 80’s metal band THOR? Yes? No? Do you need some inspiration to never give up? Of course you do! Then you need to see the documentary about Jon Mickl Thor and his band called I Am Thor. It follows his attempt at a comeback over many years though the losses and the wins, the failures and the accomplishments the man was put through and got while keeping his dream of rocking alive. In this documentary, the history of Jon Mickl Thor and eventually of the band THOR is shown in clips and through retellings by the lead singer and those close to him. It’s at times uplifting, at times infuriating, touching and inspiring.

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Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (2014) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

You really have to appreciate the blunt honesty of the Python crew at their age and why they decided to team together after three decades to tour once again. They needed the money. After a brutal court battle over the creative rights of “The Holy Grail,” they were all left generally low on cash, so they decided to launch a stage show tour of their best bits to garner some quick cash and help seal their debts. There’s no fluff on a documentary that loves the Python crew. They love their fans, they love their work, but they need the money, and I respect the hell out of that.

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Tig (2015)

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Tig Notaro has led something of a life that would crush anyone weaker than her. She learned she had a disease that would eat her from the inside out if not treated, then her mother died, then she discovered she had breast cancer. Normally this would be the time where someone would lay down and die and moan about how unfair the world is. But Tig Notaro sought comfort in friends and her craft of comedy and prevailed until the very end. Tig Notaro is one tough SOB, a woman who doesn’t ask for pity or sympathy during the documentary “Tig.”

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Jersey Boys (2014) [Blu-ray/DVD/Digital]

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Director Clint Eastwood has to work with one of the most popular stage musicals in a long time and really has no vision for bringing it to the big screen. I love Frank Valli and his music, and on film his work is still stunning. But “Jersey Boys” is only a mediocre adaptation of the stage musical. Eastwood doesn’t seem to want to give the movie a wider scale at any point, and then in the closing credits just tacks on a final number that recreates the musical. For all intents and purposes, “Jersey Boys” gives Frankie Valli a much deserved nod to his fans and legendary music, but director Clint Eastwood simply has no idea how to work it in to a dynamic biographical drama with its own unique flavor.

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Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

What’s most striking about director Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Dallas Buyer’s Club” is the way AIDS is depicted. From the moment Ron Woodroff is told he has terminal AIDS and thirty days left to wrap up his affairs, his life is literally running down on a timer, and he’s literally scrambling back and forth for a way to preserve it. And what begins as a means of self-preservation transforms in to a very eye opening exploration of the world and how AIDS is a very unbiased disease that isn’t restricted to the homosexual community that it’s been used to demonize for many years.

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Rocks in My Pockets (2014)

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Director Signe Baumane’s animated film about her family history and mental illness exemplifies how difficult it is to fight what’s been so sewn in to a family bloodline. While inherent traits and gifts can be passed down genetically, mental illness can also carry with it a vicious legacy that can be carried in to every generation. Baumane’s “Rocks in my Pockets” confronts a topic all too familiar, in which she tries to piece together the history of the women in her family, and how mental illness affected them, since she feels the pressing weight of the illness on her shoulders. “Rocks in my Pockets” feels more like a power point presentation more than a film.

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The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story (2014)

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Movies about celebrity scandal, even pseudo-celebrity scandal are pretty much bullet proof and critic proof. They’re trashy on purpose, deliberately badly acted, and perhaps about ten percent of what we see claimed is true. Likely less. The same could be said for “The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story,” which is not so much trashy as it is forgettable and kind of dull. If not based on accounts and centered on actual people, the movie would just be another goofy tale of the perils of fame. Hedonism, egomania, love triangles, scandals, resentment, it’s all here, and there’s nothing remotely shocking about what transpires. Mainly it’s just a goofy dramatic moaner devoted to how battered and misunderstood Dustin Diamond was, more than the conception of the show and its influence on teenage America. Unless you consider Gosselaar dying his hair frantically behind stage as scandalous and worth talking about.

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