Out of all the vampire properties in pop culture today from “True Blood,” to “Twilight,” to Anne Rice’s books, “The Vampire Diaries” is the least annoying franchise of the bunch mainly because since its premiere and evident take off in to longevity, Warner Bros. has completely undersold the series and snuck it under the radar in spite of its solid ratings. “The Vampire Diaries” is essentially like “Twilight” with a girl afflicted by tragedy, a series of vicious murders in her town, and a new student who sneaks in to her school with the obvious love for blood who begins stalking and romancing her. Sure Stefan looks like he could be well in to his thirties, but when you’re a vampire I guess you can get in to any place without trouble. Especially since the series makes note of pointing out that these vampires have mind-control abilities. A la “Gossip Girl,” most of the characters keep diaries of their thoughts and wants and desires.
Tag Archives: Fantasy
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010)
If “Ginger Snaps” was a hard flaming shot of vodka in a neighborhood bar, Nickelodeon’s counterpart “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” is a Virgin Fruit Colada in an outdoor cafe. While this movie is meant as mere Halloween filler while simultaneously working as a vehicle for Nickelodeon’s key star Victoria Justice, “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” ends up being a surprisingly solid family horror comedy that isn’t as soapy or girly as I originally assumed it would be. Within the pandering to preteens salivating after Justice, there is also a solid however flawed and derivative story and some wicked special effects. Sure the flick rips off of “Spider-Man,” and “Young Frankenstein,” but it’s still an entertaining time filler with potential to be a franchise or new series, which Nick seems to be going for in the goofy final scene.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Whether we like it or not, from here on in Marvel Comics and Marvel Entertainment is officially owned by Disney Studios. What effect this will have on the comics and characters as a whole has yet to be fully realized, but many can agree one of the positive outcomes of this new ownership has been “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” a full fledged action adventure series starring all of the heroes we know and love fighting as one super team against Earth’s most impossible foes.
After a very disastrous animated attempt in the late nineties many fans recall with disgust, Disney has rebooted the animated franchise including all of our favorite heroes the aforementioned series failed to include and have considerably gone all out creatively and artistically. While the series will satisfy fans of the actual title, the intent of the series is to garner brand new fans of the titles and characters being pushed on a kids channel geared toward boys and will undoubtedly win over a brand new generation of true believers.
E-Pigs (2009)
I don’t know what I finished watching after seeing “E-Pigs,” but I know that the director makes a great effort in creating as much whimsy as humanly possible in fifteen minutes and it fails spectacularly. I sat in front of my computer throughout the entirety of this fantasy thriller wondering what the whole point of it was and what it meant, and decided in the end that it was just being quirky for the sake of being quirky. It’s a bizarre and surreal little fantasy thriller that is just a fifteen minute filler of pointless ridiculous imagery for no purpose or statement.
The Wolfman (2010)
Universal’s “The Wolfman” has always been another of the great horror movies that fans have secretly wanted to see remade for the modern era but only for morbid curiosity. We’re a fickle bunch, but the fact is that “The Wolfman” has been a long time coming mainly because we’ve seen countless adaptations of Universals banner monsters but never the Wolfman. We came close with the stellar “Wolf,” but that wasn’t an actual remake. Joe Johnston creates what I can define as a rather above par remake, one that really pays respect to the classic monster movies and horror movie tropes while also cutting its own path in to the mythos. While I’ll agree with many that the movie isn’t a masterpiece, it certainly is a cut above all the rest of the remakes in the market and dabbles in excellence more often than not.
Return to Halloweentown (2006)
I’m not sure why, but Kimberly J. Brown is nowhere to be found in this final film of the “Halloweentown” series. I read an interview online from Kimberly J. Brown that explains she never got a call to come back to the movies, even though she was more than willing. I peg it to the fact that Sara Paxton was then blossoming to be tailored for Disney Channel stardom, thus they kicked out the very adorable and quite talented Brown in exchange for the more streamlined and younger Sara Paxton. The difference is immensely noticeable as the character seems completely different from the original Marnie. Paxton is a good actress, but she’s not as charming or soft spoken as Brown was, thus there’s an element missing from this final film. Also, Debbie Reynolds is nowhere to be found, another sad fact considering she was a key element to the formation of Marnie. She was her Obi-Wan. Without her, Marnie is just another heroine.
Big Tits Zombie (Kyonyû doragon: Onsen zonbi vs sutorippâ 5) (2010)
Normally I’m not a fan of the Asian horror comedy movies since about half of them are really god awful, but I just couldn’t resist “Big Tits Zombie.” Not only is the title absolutely brilliant, but it has zombies, and I just recently discovered Sola Aoi on the internet, thus I couldn’t pass up a chance to see her fighting zombies and jiggling every which way. The fact remains that if I have to sit through another zombie movie, I should at least watch hot Asian women with gorgeous busts bringing them down. It’s a fair compromise.