The PC Thug: Bidding an Exasperated Goodbye to “Warehouse13”

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

“Warehouse 13’ was one of the last science fiction oriented scripted series of the Syfy channel in America, and it’s finished its run. Airing on a network that now only cares about making and saving money at the expense of quality by pushing more unscripted fare, “Warehouse 13” was given an unfair eviction notice; one not deserving of a series so entertaining, rich in character and mythos, and filled with a flawless ensemble cast. “Warehouse 13” was a light hearted mix of “X-Files” with “Friday the 13^th: The Series” and a touch of “Moonlighting” for good measure.

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Mail-Order Mysteries: Delightful Treasures from Vintage Comic Book Ads [Hardcover]

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Kirk Demarais takes a novel idea and turns it in to an original book about—well—novelties! I grew up an avid comic book reader, and in almost every comic book from the eighties I read, there was a humongous page of novelties, gadgets, and tricks that the company in the ads offered to buyers. These seemingly magical prizes ranged in prices of anywhere between five cents, to five dollars, tops. Often times, these massive ads could also be found in hobby magazines, youth oriented magazines, and their promises were huge.

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The PC Thug: Re-Visiting the Weekenders

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

The constant about kids animated programming is that we almost always see children going to school. From “Hey Arnold!” and “Rocket Power,” we always see them going to school. Heck, eventually “Ed, Edd, and Eddy” began featuring its core cast going to school. What was so fun about “The Weekenders” is that every episode took place during the weekend and only the weekend. Hence, the title. In 1999, Disney helped create the antidote to the wildly popular animated series “Recess,” which centered on kids going to school, and instead focused on a show about a group of friends whose weekends were almost always wild or eventful.

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The PC Thug: Image Comics and Spawn

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I was glad to see the documentary “The Image Revolution.” Seriously, if you grew up during the nineties, you’ll fondly remember how Image dominated pop culture for a while. They were so popular even Marvel and DC began imitating them, even though Image primarily trotted out Marvel clones when they ran out of ideas. Which is not a statement meant to devalue their influence or impact, but come on.

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The PC Thug: What is “Lilo and Stitch’s” Appeal?

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Okay, I have to ask what the hell is the appeal of “Lilo and Stitch”? Every person I’ve come across in the last fourteen years has had something positive to say about those stupid movies. Even people that don’t like it, just find it lukewarm Disney crapola. This is the studio that gave us “The Incredibles” and “Wall E,” and they were clearly not even trying to deliver quality entertainment for their audiences. They made a movie to create a toy line pure and simple. It’s a movie created for merchandise. It’s their predecessor to “Cars, if you will.

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Fond Nostalgia for “Charles in Charge”

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It’s funny that even today when my taste is a lot more discerning, I’m very prone to experimenting with television shows. I’m extremely judgmental towards reality shows, but when it applies to sitcoms or animation, I’m very open minded. If you’ve ever seen an “original” sitcom from Nickelodeon’s Nick at Nite line up, you’ll know that you really have to be experimental to watch what they feed their audience. Their sitcoms are shockingly safe, often very bland, and have yet to really break any ground in entertainment. We had a claymation family show, a show about a step mother, and “See Dad Run” which was Scott Baio doing sitcoms again. The show was pretty mediocre all things considered, and I’m not too shocked it’s being cancelled by Nick at Nite.

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Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector (2013)

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Dan M. Kinem and Levi Peretic really manage to pay amazing respect to VHS collectors with “Adjust Your Tracking,” an entertaining and raucous documentary that chronicles the joys and pitfalls of VHS collecting. Kinem and Peretic are the founders of one of my favorite websites “VHShitfest” and put their rabid love for the VHS format to use by profiling some of the most hardcore VHS collectors in America. The interviews and glimpses in to the collecting of the arguably defunct format never lull, and directors Kinem and Peretic manage to really give audiences a look at why this is such an appealing past time.

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