Monsters University (2013)

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

With Pixar’s “Monsters University,” the company has its heart in the right place once again, except it’s in a different spot this time around. With their prequel, Pixar creates a respectable and fun companion piece to “Monsters, Inc.” Pixar’s dabbling in to the ever heinous prequel works as a part of the mythology of Sullie and Mike Wazowksi and how they became companions. If Mike isn’t a scarer why does he work at Monsters, Inc? And how did Sullivan become such a great scarer? It’s because of the bond that the pair share; and the prequel gives us a wider back story on the core characters of the monsters series.

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Out of the Vault Halloween Collection (DVD)

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

I can’t think of a better way to spend Halloween than with classic Nickelodeon shows. And no, I don’t mean the yellow talking sponge, either. I mean classice nineties Nickelodeon, a time where the series were just more innocent and creative. Shout! treats fans of classic Nickelodeon this year with a compilation of scary and Halloween based episodes of some of Nickelodeon’s best animated series, and it’s almost four hours of spooky fun! Featured are choice episodes of “Hey Arnold!,” “The Angry Beavers,” “Aah! Real Monsters,” “Rocko’s Modern Life,” and “Cat Dog.”

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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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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Much like anyone that grew up in the nineties, “Alexander and the Terrible Horrible…” was a childhood favorite. It’s a really good and funny book about bad luck and how we make our own. Surely Alexander looks like a boy who is perpetually cursed, but really if he hadn’t been so careless the night before, perhaps his day would have been better. My expectations for the film adaptation were slim, considering the book is only about thirty two pages long. Much like “Liar Liar,” the film is based on a slight touch of fantasy, and unfolds like a less menacing and violent “Three O’Clock High.”

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Poltergeist (2015)

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

They left the title but they moved the scares! They left the title but moved the scares! Why?! Why?! Now that I’ve had my little Craig T. Nelson outburst, I’m pretty surprised how ordinary “Poltergeist” is. It’s not the worst remake of all time, but it’s just ordinary. It’s bland, lifeless, vanilla, and feels like what the Lifetime Channel in America would do to a remake of the Tobe Spielberg classic haunting film. I think the only reason Gil Kenan was hired for this movie was because the movie is based around a monster house and he depicted a monster so well in his last film that the job only seemed like a no brainer. The problem is Kenan forgets to produce likable characters and interesting scares during the process of producing an evil possessed house.

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Inside Out (2015)

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

It’s remarkable how Pixar continues to top themselves in the arena of family entertainment that’s artistic, pleasing, and so multifaceted. “Inside Out” is that rare family film that demonstrates originality by appealing to its audience and tries to understand the experience of being a child in the modern age, rather than condescend or berate. “Inside Out” is one of Pixar’s greatest films to date; its complex, it’s heartbreaking, it’s sweet, and damn it, it should go down in the annals of animated Disney masterpieces.

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