Northpole (2014) (DVD)

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Part one in an apparent movie series from Hallmark Entertainment, “Northpole” is a cute film about Christmas, and trying to preserve the happiness. Literally. It’s a simple and down to Earth movie that celebrates the more entertaining aspects of the holiday, while also building on a new hero in the form of elf Clementine. Bailee Madison is the definition of adorable as the rambunctious cherubic elf, desperately trying to keep the North Pole from dying what with the happiness of Christmas fading away in a sea of unfortunate cynicism. “North Pole” depends on Madison’s enthusiastic performance, and as always, she steals the movie. “North Pole” has its fair share of silliness, but it’s a fine Christmas movie with amusing quirks that I sat through with ease.

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Why are Archers So Popular?

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Guest Contributor

While watching “Hunger Games: The Mockingjay, Part One,” my mind wandered. When Katniss Everdeen gets her new set of arrows (this is not a spoiler, is it?), some are explosive – “trick” arrows, similar to the ones used by Oliver Queen on Arrow or Hawkeye in The Avengers.

When these characters came to mind, I started to sense a pattern. In the 21st Century, people love archers: Legolas in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films; Green Arrow on both Arrow and Smallville; Hawkeye over at Marvel is experiencing great popularity both on the silver screen and in the pages of his own comic; Neytiri from James Cameron’s Avatar; Sterling Archer; Merida from Pixar’s Brave and Katniss offer girls positive role models, while Hanna maybe not so much. I think there’s also a girl who shoots arrows in the Narnia movies, but I’ve never seen those. I started to think about why these archers are so popular.

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Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It’s kind of sad that “Blood Wings” is about as good as the series ever got. Surely the first film is good just as it is, but “Blood Wings” is about the only good sequel the movie series ever received, and I’m surprised the studios never sought to deliver higher quality follow-ups. You could technically count this as the final film in the series, and one that doesn’t completely realize the concept or expand on the mythos of the pumpkinhead monster. “Blood Wings” garners a smaller scale and much less logical tale about a dad wreaking havoc on the killers of his child, and focuses more on a witch, more reckless teens, and really awful performances all around.

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Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime) (1997)

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I’m very glad to say that “Princess Mononoke” was my first real experience with Hayao Miyazaki’s amazing cinematic contributions. After its Oscar buzz in 1997, I sought out the film, and was shocked at what I’d been missing from the master director. “Princess Mononoke” is probably Miyazaki’s broadest film, but one that also conveys a meaningful alllegory about the sanctity of nature, and how the wars of men can taint the sacred lands. It’s an action packed and incredible morality tale that will win over fantasy buffs instantly. “Princess Mononoke” is set in the Muromachi Period of Japan where a local village is attacked by a vicious amorphous demon. The bow and arrow wielding warrior Ashitaka, comes to the rescue of the village, fending off the demon and defeating it after a horrific battle, but the demon manages to corrupt his body with its vile darkness.

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

The first time I ever saw “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was back in 1993 when the FOX Network in New York decided to air it one Halloween. My brother and I sat down to watch it thinking we were in for a horror movie. And we tuned in to watch the cult musical with the audience following along with every single moment on-screen. Twenty minutes in it was the first time I literally asked “What the fuck is this?” Then I turned the channel and never looked back. Many years later, while I’m not rabid for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” I do tend to appreciate it for being so entertaining and daring.

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Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Director Ron William Neill’s “Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman” is a sequel to “The Wolfman” and a prequel to “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” One of the many future crossovers for monsters, Neill’s movie is often incoherent, but at least delivers on the promise of the wolf man meeting Frankenstein. They only do battle for about four minutes in the finale, but technically they cross paths, so your expectations should be low for this sequel. The reasoning for bringing the characters together stretches all ideas of logic and suspension of disbelief. So “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” is really a process of asking the audience to willingly ignore its inconsistencies and wait for the monsters to meet up and fight.

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