During the first half of “El Chicano” main character Diego is going through his brother’s belongings remembering him before he died, and flips through a couple of “Daredevil” comic books. That’s basically the head space that Director Ben Hernandez Bray is in during his crime thriller superhero movie “El Chicano.” Essentially, “El Chicano” is an urban superhero with heaps of potential to be the next big avenger against drug dealers and gangsters. A mix of “Daredevil,” “The Phantom,” and “Batman,” Ben Hernandez Bray’s action thriller is admirably ambitious and fun.
Tag Archives: Gangster
Black Gunn & The Take – Double Feature [Blu-Ray]
Mill Creek Entertainment continues to unleash their vast library of exploitation titles, and they’ve continued running down the more obscure and lesser known blaxploitation titles. While other companies are giving us stuff like “Coffy” and “Cleopatra Jones,” Mill Creek Entertainment is offering up other interesting titles for pretty good savings for the collector looking to save a buck or two.
Soul Team Six – 6 Blaxploitation Film Collection (DVD/Digital)
Mill Creek Entertainment is getting the jump on the massive library of blaxploitation action and crime thrillers with a six pack collection of some of the finest and most notorious. With many of the titles from the sub-genre being re-released, it’s only fitting that “Soul Team Six” could act as a discount basic course for the sub-genre that managed to convey a unique voice in the sixties and seventies.
Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
After years on the market being pretty hard to find Mill Creek Entertainment are making many of the films from director Andy Sidaris available on Blu-Ray. That may be a good thing to some, and an awful thing to others. I’m right there in the middle, as Andy Sidaris’ films are somewhat similar to Russ Meyer’s. They’re cheaply made, exploitative, and pretty much just softcore porn, all with the vaguest facsimiles of a narrative that unfolds somewhere. And there’s an escaped killer snake, for some reason.
Get Shorty (1995): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
I’m one of those people that always saw many of the Elmore Leonard cinematic adaptations very dull and often painfully smug in their cooler than thou attitudes (“Jackie Brown” excluded). “Get Shorty” attempts to mix gangster cinema, with Hollywood satire and neither of it is ever quite as interesting as its think it is. “Get Shorty,” even at its darkest, is never quite as clever or immensely cynical about filmmaking as Robert Altman’s “The Player.” It proves it with a climax that’s more of an ending based on a more comedic look at the filmmaking process rather than the dark world void of creativity it can be and often is.
Ben is Back (2018)
With America’s opioid crisis, much of the most acclaimed dramas involved stories about family, and two of the most interesting involved drug addiction. While “Ben is Back” completely drifted under the radar, it’s an interesting and often compelling drama about drug abuse, and how often times drug abusers can drag much of their personal demons and past in to the lives of those that they love. I won’t say that I completely loved “Ben is Back,” but I appreciated its inherent tale of a mother racing to help her son, in spite of the odds being stacked against her over and over.
The Street Fighter Collection [Blu-Ray]
It’s a wonderful time for fans of grindhouse cinema and collectors of physical media. Great studios are all rushing out to offer collectors some of the rarest and under seen movie titles of all time, including some of the best martial arts films ever made. With Arrow Video releasing the pristine Sister Street Fighter Collection on Blu-ray recently, Shout! Factory follows up from the rear unleashing the Street Fighter Collection. If you loved both series, now is the time to grab them, as they’re finally on Blu-Ray, with the original article starring Sonny Chiba in a great box set with a ton of extras and restorations.