Once again DC Comics advertises a throwdown between titans that doesn’t totally deliver. True, the two teams of old and young battle, but it’s under wild circumstances, and it’s only a two minute bout at best. Sam Liu’s film should have been called “Teen Titans” and been done with it, but how else to cash in on “Batman v Superman,” I guess? The film is primarily centered around the building of the Teen Titans and their dynamics as a whole. The movie channels both the original animated series, and the cult classic “Young Justice” to offer up a movie that I wish would begin a new series of more exciting movies, showing how these teens have to work and fight in a world dominated by basic gods. That said, “Justice League vs. Teen Titans” isn’t a bad film, despite the criticisms and observations. It’s a very fine action adventure that focuses on the interesting interplay between Robin and Raven.
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
VHS Massacre: Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media (2016)
For other documentaries about the VHS resurgence and the nearing end of physical media, a lot of directors have spent their time trying to figure out where it all began and celebrate the idea of the VHS boom of the modern era. “VHS Massacre” seems to be standing in ground zero of the end of physical media and trying to figure out where it’s all going, rather than where it all began. For many of us that have reveled in the new wave of VHS appreciation, we all know how it began. VHS won over Beta, despite the latter have more quality simply because VHS had more appeal to its product. It cost less, the tapes stored more footage, and porn became almost exclusive to the format. But with the rise of digital media, VHS has gone the way of the dodo, now relegated to good will bins and mom and pop stores deep in small towns and counties.
The Phoenix Incident (2016)
On March 13th 1997, mass hysteria and dozens of conspiracy theories followed the sighting of a massive series of lights over the city of Phoenix Arizona. Known as “The Phoenix Lights,” said sighting has been a hot topic for UFO enthusiasts for years, and remains a mystery that the government has been very vague about discussing since. Director and writer Keith Arem has a good idea on his hands with “The Phoenix incident” and dares to combine various filmmaking formats including found footage, documentary, and action thriller. While it doesn’t amount to a flawless science fiction thriller, Arem’s ambition and concept is still pretty admirable when you step back and soak in the entire experience.
Space Cop (2016)
The team from Red Letter Media, a small group of some of the best online movie critics and comedians finally get together to put the superhero movie through the wringer. “Space Cop” is a mixture of superhero movies, crime noirs, and classic Golan Globus stinkers where our hero is a testosterone junkie prone to shooting a lot of people and then asking questions later. In this instance we follow the futuristic space cop from 2058 who spends his time shooting down bad guys and royally destroying his city in an attempt to halt operations from disgruntled criminals. When he’s home, he indulges in an addiction to hot dogs and beer.
Star Wars Rebels: Twilight of the Apprentice
It’s going to be a long wait until season three of “Star Wars: Rebels,” my friends. And if you had to peg where the finale falls under, I’d say this is the “Empire Strikes Back” of all “Star Wars Rebels” season finales as it is an amazing close to what has been a turbulent sophomore season. Not only have our heroes experienced a massive loss, but the empire is more certain than ever, there might be a female sith lord, and our young hero Ezra has no lightsaber and is strongly considering becoming a sith lord. It’s almost too easy for Ezra to be seduced to the darkside because, like Anakin, he’s desperate to prove himself and feels his master Kanan doesn’t have confidence in him.
Monsters (2015)
Steve Desmond’s short horror film “Monsters” is kind of briliant in that you know it’s going somewhere, and you thankfully want to see where. Desmond’s premise is pretty unique, as we meet a normal family that have holed up in an underground bunker during what is apparently the apocalypse. Despite their youngest daughter Jenn insisting she can scavenge in the world above alongside her big brother and parents, she’s forbidden from ever stepping outside and kept inside to keep herself distracted.
Supergirl: Worlds Finest
I admit as a former hater of the character that I’ve taken a real shine to “Supergirl” over the course of its first season, and that’s mainly due to Melissa Benoist. She’s the embodiment of Supergirl, from the girl next door appeal, the charisma, the glowing personality, and the sense of heroism. Let’s face it, Benoist is the definitive Supergirl; boy, she is such a doll. After being doused with red kryptonite, Supergirl underwent a transformation that involved alienating everyone and back stabbing certain people in her job. This also involves getting co-worker Siobhan fired. Anxious for revenge, her secret power is revealed after nearly dying and she discovers by her aunt that she is a part of a curse involving banshees.
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