Synchronicity (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

Jacob Gentry’s “Synchronicity” is the kind of film I really do enjoy. It’s non-linear, it has a taste of noir within it, and it’s filled with existentialist themes about parallel worlds and wormholes that dare to challenge its audience. “Synchronicity” is the kind of challenging fiction that will spark conversations among its audience and leave them pondering on the bigger questions that it poses right through to the end. I didn’t quite understand what was happening in the film for the first half, but Gentry really brings all of the narrative together making what seems like a scattershot series of events feel like one giant master plan. It’s a film in the tradition of “Memento” sparking brilliant visuals and a vivid world where nothing is ever really what it seems.

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Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on August 1, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

Peter Pau and Zhao Tianyu’s “Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” is nothing short of a mesmerizing and surreal romance epic. It’s a marvel for the eyes, and the ears, and provides one of the most engrossing tales of good versus evil I’ve seen in a long time. “Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” has a meaty narrative that requires a lot of back tracking and flashbacks, but thankfully the sharp writing prevents the narrative from falling apart by the second half. I was worried I was losing track of the story but the movie would always come full circle and really explain a lot of the twists, leaving no loose ends.

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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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I, Madman (1989) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Tibor Takács’ “I, Madman” kind of snuck up on me when I first saw it twenty years ago. I was primarily invested in the movie for the whole idea of fiction coming alive. I had no idea it would evolve in to a gruesome slasher and Giallo. That’s not a set back for me, but it’s really surprising how “I, Madman” looks and flows like a living comic book, but is never shy about grue and gore.

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Sexy Warriors (2014)

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Say what you want about softcore porn, but it serves its purpose if you’re in the mood to ogle hot women without the nastiness of hardcore stuff. “Sexy Warriors” definitely lives up to its title, supplying a foursome of really sexy women, all of whom indulge audiences in an Amazonian fantasy. This time around the really gorgeous Jazy Berlin is a warrior woman named Diana from the land of Lesbos who uses a magic orb to go to the future. Why she chooses LA is anyone’s guess, but she warps there. She’s followed by red headed bombshell Athena who is looking for her, and the two find that the future holds various pleasures. This is kind of like 2011’s “Thor” if Thor were a sexy Amazonian lesbian.

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