Disney has had a hot streak. Zootopia, Jungle Book and Civil War all winners. Alice Through the Looking Glass may end up overshadowed by them, but it’s still great. I’m surprised Lewis Carroll didn’t write more sequels. Wonderland has infinite possibilities. Go back to that well! But hopefully the movies can visit Wonderland more than […]
I seem to like all the X-Men movies that the fans hate. Maybe if I had a longstanding attachment to the specific characters, I would have the same issues. But as a casual fan of superhero movies, I liked The Last Stand. It told a story of a team more so than individuals, but that […]
The record breaking biggest R-rated superhero movie of all time is now available to own on Blu-ray, and it is worth it. First of all, the movie looks great in HD. You can see all he detail in the Deadpool face makeup, the scuffs on Colossus, and all the debris on the freeway and shipyard. […]
When Ip Man 3 came out in January, I got to interview Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson. I didn’t have time to write my review before I left for Sundance, so now I get to review the Blu-ray. The third in Yen’s saga of the master kung fu teacher reaches a long-awaited point, yet remains […]
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is sort of the sequel you get when you give the director of the grindhouse original some resources, but not really because it’s still Cannon Films. Even with Cannon, it’s clearly more resources than Tobe Hooper had on the 16mm original. On Blu-ray the sequel looks like a polished studio […]
Creed is why I’m Franchise Fred, because time adds layers to stories. What was a plot device for Rocky IV now paved the way for the story of a son’s struggle for identity, forgiveness and allows him to make an impact on a legend. Spoilers for Rocky IV follow, but I didn’t want to put […]
The Toxic Avenger was an essential franchise for Franchise Fred growing up. I remember when I discovered there was not only Toxic Avenger II, but Toxic Avenger III on VHS. Then when I first became a journalist, Troma released Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV and I met Lloyd Kaufman, Toxie and Sgt. Kabukiman in […]
The X-Men movies had actor Daniel Cudmore play Colossus. Cudmore is a big, imposing figure, but when you see Colossus in the Deadpool movie, it’s a whole new Colossus. Now larger than human, this Colossus was created as a visual effect using performance capture. Greg LaSalle was the performance capture artist who performed the actions […]
Spectre is the Daniel Craig 007 movie I’ve been waiting for since Casino Royale. I was concerned that they were still trying to tell an origin story in his fourth movie, as the continuing origin of Skyfall was already too much for me. Spectre actually gives the Craig films a continuity that moves them forward […]
I have been waiting for Ip Man 3 for a long time. Ip Man is a great character for Donnie Yen to play because he is gracious and modest, yet the world’s greatest fighter when pushed. Ip Man told the story of how he survived Japanes occupation in World War II, while Ip Man 2 […]