Get on Up (2014)

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Guest Contributor

Get on Up is the latest Hollywood biopic and this one follows the life and times of the godfather of soul, the hardest working man in show business, James Brown. He is played brilliantly with great energy, enthusiasm, and electricity by 42’s Chadwick Boseman, who also played Jackie Robinson. He IS James Brown and he is the lifeblood of the movie. Every moment he’s on screen, you are captivated by his performance and what he brings to the table. While he doesn’t sing the original songs himself, as he is lip synching, he does bring the dance moves and overall essence of James Brown to the big screen.

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CBGB (2013)

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

How do you make a movie about CBGB in the structure of a routine narrative? Where do you start? Why do we have to see the origins of CBGB through a comedy lens? “CBGB” is what Hollywood envisions the origins of CBGB were. It’s clean, it’s sanitary, it’s inoffensive, and it paints some of the most iconic bands in rock music as mere footnotes in the world of the iconic New York club. To make things worse, its star looks really bored with the material, almost as if he’s slogging through a character and a script that he doesn’t quite understand.

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The Temptations (1998)

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

One of the highlights of growing up with parents that loved classic soul and R&B, was listening to some of the greatest bands of all time. My favorite of them all was The Temptations, a wonderful group of singers with one of the more compelling back stories of all time. Though I’m usually not a fan of biography films about bands or musicians in general, “The Temptations” garners an immense cast of strong actors, all of whom help fuel what is a tale about fame, greed, and clashing egos. It’s just a shame that the movie breezes through some crucial details.

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Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I’d be lying if I said I was a Billy Crystal fan. I always found him tolerable at best, in the realm of cinema, as an Oscar host, and comedian. I’d also be lying if I told you I had any intention to watch “700 Sundays.” My viewing of it was accidental and suffice it to say, I was shocked that “700 Sundays” ended up being so entertaining. Normally I detest the one man shows and find them the epitome of self indulgence, but Crystal has surely earned his chance to stage a one man show about his life. And while he does have a chance to perform a show about his Hollywood experiences, he instead discusses much of his life, and how his comedy career were merely a footnote in an unusual life.

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Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

The highlight of “Jodorowsky’s Dune” is the sheer enthusiasm of Alejandro Jodorowsky who viewed his acquisition of Frank Herbert’s Dune as less of a film project and more as a life changing event. He is very excited and joyous whenever he discusses how he wanted to change the world, and even insisted on changing the cast he recruited for his adaptation. He refers to his cast and crew as “spiritual warriors,” and is never afraid to admit that he was intent on giving audiences something to take away beyond a mere science fiction space opera. He wanted to build a world, and he was willing to do whatever he could to achieve what he considered a master mold of cinema. He’s a very likable and charming personality who more or less became a burden on his “spiritual warriors,” managing to travel the world in search of the perfect crew to bring his vision to life.

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The History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports Entertainment [Blu-ray]

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It’s surprising how “The History of WWE” feels less like a documentary and more like a press kit for the WWE organization. There’s only about two hours of a film here, and most of the more important facets of the organization are completely glossed over. I really would have loved to learn more about the WWF, why and when it became the WWE, and for the filmmakers to feature many more wrestlers in their profile. Surely, Hulk Hogan helped revive the popularity of the WWE for the eighties, but there were also folks like Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, and Stone Cold, all of whom really helped bring the WWE in to the new generation.

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Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Roger Corman’s contributions have been unmatched by most Hollywood directors, and sadly he’s become a mostly unappreciated presence in filmmaking. As viewed in “Corman’s World,” Roger Corman is one of the most ambitious but very money conscious filmmakers that’s managed to build an entire legacy out of creating entertainment on low budgets, while discovering some of the best filmmakers of all time. From giving Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdonavich their breaks, to teaching Ron Howard how to direct around limited resources, Roger Corman has been a wizard of giving studios what they want, and doing it his way.

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