The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Director Francis Lawrence’s “Catching Fire” is set directly after the events of the first serviceable installment of “The Hunger Games,” and sadly Katniss has not emerged victorious. After her attempt to end her life with Peeta, incapable of fighting to the death, the pair became celebrities. Rather than be wounded by their violation of the rules of the Hunger games, the Capital took advantage of this moment. Katniss and Peeta are now a celebrity couple and the world wide sensation, and the capital has done everything they can to exploit this opportunity. Katniss and Peeta started a revolution when they agreed to a suicide pact, and now they have to once again maintain their image.

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The Hunger Games (2012)

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I guess at the end of the day, you could find worse entertainment than “The Hunger Games.” Most of the concept has been nothing but hype that leads in to narrative that’s entertaining in its own right, but is nowhere near being a masterpiece. I wouldn’t even call it a great movie, when pressed. It’s been touted as violent and disturbing for a PG-13 film, but when the centerpiece of the film involving teens and preteens slaughtering one another at the start of the Hunger Games approaches, it’s all so tame. It’s off-screen blood splatter, and suggestive brutality, all softened by a dizzying shaky cam that renders it impossible to make any of the chaos coherent for the viewer.

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Horse Feathers (1932)

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

One of the aspects of “Horse Feathers” that I love is that it introduced me to the sheer radiance that is Thelma Todd. Sure, I ride on a bunch of modern beauties, but out of the slew of reasons why I keep going back to “Horse Feathers,” it’s because of Todd who I’ve managed to have a crush on since I first saw this Marx Bros. comedy masterpiece. Many years ago I viewed this for the first time on VHS and understood why the Marx Brothers were immortal. Suffice it to say I was not let down by “Horse Feathers.” At their prime, the Marx Brothers were unstoppable in the realm of comedy, and delivered laughs at a rapid fire pacing.

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Hocus Pocus (1993)

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I remember the summer of 1993 fondly. It was the year I went to see the “Coneheads” movie and recall thinking back to the release of “Hocus Pocus” wondering why it wasn’t slated for an October release. Disney is usually smart with release dates, and “Hocus Pocus” ended up becoming one of the most revered holiday classics of all time. For Disney-philes, “Hocus Pocus” has enough menace to be considered a horror movie, but not so much where it’s impossible for the kids to watch. Twenty years later, “Hocus Pocus” is that classic horror film for kids that has yet to show its age at all, even when you consider adorable Thora Birch turned in to a gorgeous woman many years later. “Hocus Pocus” hearkens back to the most entertaining element of the Halloween season: the threat of witches.

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Halloween II (1981)

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

There was no need for a sequel. I don’t care how good Michael Myers was as a character, there was no need to further the misadventures of Michael and Laurie. I would have loved to see what the writers would have mustered up with their idea for a “Halloween” anthology movie series, but sadly, we were given “Halloween II.” As a sequel it’s not a bad film, by any means. It just takes the opposite direction of the original film by turning Michael in to a hack and slash killer, rather than a force of nature. Instead of Michael receding in to the night to await his next rumble with someone tasked by fate, Michael is not quite done with Laurie just yet.

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Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I really love that if producers were planning on engaging us in an anthology of horror films that they’d include elements from the holiday to incorporate in to a movie. I think with enough out of the box thinking, there could have been at least six movies about the horrors of Halloween or Samhain. But then this was the eighties. Audiences didn’t want out of the box. They liked it all boxed up and easy to consume. “Halloween” had a Halloween masked killer stalking babysitters during Halloween night. And here’s “Halloween III” about the idea of sacrifices and samhain all thanks to an… evil Halloween mask maker. And his army of robots.

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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

After the enormous disaster of “Season of the Witch,” Moustapha Akkad and co. basically rebooted the Halloween storyline by completely remaking the first film. While it does offer some new elements, “The Return of Michael Myers” is a partial reboot and a partial remake. It’s also the start of the parallel story arc involving Michael and his evil mark of Thorn. After the hospital explosion in the sequel, Michael has been in a coma for a long time and is kept under strict guard in a hospital. During a transfer, Michael finally awakens and murders all of the guards managing to escape his binds. Dr. Loomis is back and investigates the ambulance crash Michael was involved with. While the authorities are convinced Michael died in the crash, Loomis is certain Michael is still alive and lurking around.

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