Challengers (2024) [Blu-Ray/Digital]

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Felix Vasquez

Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.

Luca Guadagnino is a talented filmmaker, one that knows how to handle genre films well, but so far he feels so out of his element with “Challengers.” For all intents and purposes, “Challengers” is a very good movie, it’s just so ill fitted for Guadagnino’s abilities as he struggles between directing a film that bounces back and forth between dark suspense and darkly comedic drama. “Challengers” is a lot of ways about the passion of sports and the lengths we’re willing to go through to remain married to it, even when our prime has passed. “Challengers” isn’t so much a love triangle, as it is a dark drama about three people willing to be as cut throat as possible to remain in the game.

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Slay (2024)

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Felix Vasquez

Now Streaming Exclusively on Tubi.

If you’ve seen the trailer or read about “Slay,” then yes, it is exactly the movie that you think it is. If you took “Priscilla Queen of the Dessert” and mixed it with “From Dusk Til Dawn” then you have what is essentially “Slay.” No more, no less. The thing about “Slay” though is that it is a siege horror comedy with vampires and drag queens it at least takes time to make up some of its own rules for vampire. This is a creative move despite the fact it’s also a trick use to cover up the movie’s obviously low budget. And I can’t complain, because the movie makes lemonade out of lemons.

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The Importance of Christian in “Clueless”

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Felix Vasquez

It was 1995 and I’d seen “Clueless” five times by now. My dad had rented it from the video store for us and I’d seen it a lot over the course of a weekend, even though I didn’t care much for it. It’s a fine movie, but it never managed to click with me like “Heathers” or “Mean Girls” ever did. From these viewings, though, I did pick up a few things.

Number One: I definitely was going to be a good husband to Alicia Silverstone. I’d be supportive of her career, and even not be a geek around other celebrities.

Number Two: Christian is definitely not in to women.

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Gaga Chromatica Ball (2024)

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Felix Vasquez

Now Streaming Exclusively on MAX. “Chromatica” is now Available.

After the successful push of the Eras tour with Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga followed in kind with her own pretty raucous concert film. Titled “Chromatica Ball,” Gaga, the jack of many trades, wows with two hours of some of her biggest hits, while also delivering on a very entertaining visual show filled with excellent set design and some fun costumes (including custom pieces from Gareth Pugh, Alexander McQueen, and Vex Latex). While I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore fan of Lady Gaga per se, I do admire her talents, and think she’s a very entertaining singer and artist altogether.

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Queen of the Deuce (2023) [Make Believe Film Festival 2024]

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Felix Vasquez

There’s nothing better than a great documentary and “Queen of the Deuce” manages to be one of the best I’ve seen this year. Valerie Kontakos’ biography about NYC figure Chelly Wilson is one of the more excellent documentaries I’ve seen that covers an array of topics from family, LGBTQ politics, and the ever lasting effects of the holocaust. More so it’s a brilliant time capsule of the Deuce, 42^nd Street in New York which, at one time, was considered a virtual breeding ground of violence, sex, drugs and all other kinds of depravity.

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Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Felix Vasquez

Now in Wider Release Exclusively in Theaters.

Rose Glass’s crime thriller is a rotten and often grotesque neo-noir that kept me glued to the screen from beginning to end. Like more neo-noir’s, Glass’s film centers on morally gray protagonists doing battle with amoral characters, all of whom are couped up in such a small town. Corruption and violence is never too far away and “Loves Lies Bleeding” centers on Lou and Jackie, both of whom are desperate to escape their confines. More and more their lives feel like prisons, with their whole source of misery pointed toward domestic dysfunction.

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