Nick Cavuoti
Bio
An avid movie watcher, and I have been writing short stories and novels on the side for years now. Hoping to hone my craft here on Vocal!
Stories (61)
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A New Titans
Previously, the dark take on Teen Titans was an exclusive television show to the streaming service known as DC Universe before it was all taken on by HBO Max. On DC Universe the show was largely a mixed bag as it suffered from an identity crisis at times along with some serious issues on the page. The series would lose any traction by frequently going back in time to allow characters to catch up along with the main plot, it would be very jarring most of the time. Beyond that, it clearly wanted to be an ensemble but the focus would almost always be on Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, which is certainly the highlight of the show as his portrayal of the fan favorite is pitch perfect. The show, however, struggled with characters such as Anna Diop's Starfire and Teagan Croft's Raven. At times even it seems as if the writers didn't know what to do with them, and would have been better off simply making a show focused singularly on Dick. So far, in this new season under the HBO Max umbrella, Titans seem to have a much bigger focus on Dick as the show even has moved from San Francisco to Gotham as they are even beginning to adapt the famous comic book storyline, A Death in the Family. It goes without say, but there will be spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the first three episode of the season.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Me, Myself and I
In light of the challenge to write about ourselves I took time to think about it. Writing about myself and my journey can bring up a whole host of emotions as it would for any individual person. So here it goes, my foray into allowing the readers to know a little more about me. Welcome to my world!
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Humans
Review: "The Suicide Squad"
James Gunn had crafted arguably one of the most successful franchises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and outside of that he has seen success in smaller films so when it was announced that he had jumped ship to do The Suicide Squad there was a good bit of hype behind the film. The Suicide Squad was largely butchered in it's previous installment with poorly written characters as well as a poor and uneven plot that was ruined probably by studio pressure. The marriage of Gunn and Suicide Squad on the surface seemed like a perfect pairing as his eye for comedy and off-beat characters fit the bill really well for the franchise. Unlike a majority of DC films as of late, The Suicide Squad doesn't miss the mark. Gunn has crafted one of the best films to date and possibly the most purely enjoyable films to have released so far this year.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Crazy
“I keep seeing…” The man stopped and shook his head side to side knowing what he was about to say was crazy, but he had to say it anyway. He had been coming to this doctor for the past few months slowly opening up to his psychiatrist about his inner demons and fears. This dull lit office with a light blue painting around the walls had become his home away from home where he felt somewhat safe, if not crazy at the same time. “I keep seeing a bull. Every time I dream, it is there constantly chasing me. Anytime it gets close I wake up, but I feel this incredible amount of dread wash over me as if something is still right around the corner waiting for me. I know it’s crazy”
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Fiction
Review: "No Sudden Move"
Steven Soderberg has crafted many brilliant films to date and No Sudden Move is more of the same. Like many of his films, it stars a brilliant cast brimming with talent. No Sudden Move is an American noir period crime thriller crafted with heart and plenty of intelligence. Frankly the film is a bit of a throwback as well and a phenomenal genre exercise as it is a bit of an old fashioned film. Filming was set to begin back in April of 2020 right as the pandemic was in full swing and inevitably of course it was delayed while also forcing some actors such as Sebastian Stan, George Clooney and John Cena to walk away from the project. Luckily, such delays and losses didn't negatively affect the film as it is truly captivating. Soderberg's talents behind the camera shines brightly as do the two main stars in Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro. No Sudden Move is also an HBO Max Original as it only appears on the streaming app and currently cannot be found in many movie theaters.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Review: "The Empty Man"
After news broke of Disney's merger with the likes of 20th Century Fox, it was inevitable for some of Century Fox films to be affected in a negative way unfortunately. For evidence of that look no further then The Empty Man. This project was largely inspired by the graphic novel that bared the same name, but the differences between the two are massive. The Empty Man went on to become the last film with the Century Fox logo and in return only had one day in theater with no advertisements leading up to that day. Not to mention, as of writing this review it does not have a DVD or Bluray copy available. The studio heads that had writer/director David Prior's back along the way in creating this psychological/ supernatural horror were gone after the merger and his passion project was largely abandoned. Thew new people that came in charge, viewed the film as a massive undertaking that was borderline unmarketable as it is a 132 minute film, which is abnormal for a horror film, thus they asked him to cut it down to 90 mins only to see that it tested horribly leading them to throw it out like garbage. It is something that we will likely not see again within the film industry as Century Fox originally gave Prior tons of money as they believed in his vision all to be thrown away in the last second. By all purposes it is an oddity that has developed a bit of a cult following after its release on HBO Max for streaming, and rightfully so.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Review: "Infinite"
Infinite is another in a long list of films that were delayed for theatrical release due to the Covid-19 pandemic only to find itself being digitially released on a streaming platform and features a rather impressive cast alongside a very accomplished director in Antoine Fuqua. While the film has a lot going for it in talent, the script and logic behind it is very frequently missing. The film does however feature some rather impressive action sequences but it lacks any real impact or weight among the audience.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Magna's Magnolias
In the small quaint town of Easttown people got along well and everyone knew everyone, as it goes with people in a small town. There wasn’t much to do, nor was there much in terms of commerce as the population was so low, there wasn’t a need for many stores, just the essentials. However, there was a flower shop that sat on the outskirts of the town that was seldom ever visited. The owner freaked out some of the townsfolk, mostly just because no one had gotten to know her and for the most part the people of Easttown would keep to themselves and those that they knew. Inside the flower shop known as Magnolias was always the owner, Magna, who lived on the second floor. After her late husband had passed she turned the ground floor into a flower shop, it was something she had always wanted to do and being in her later years she figured now was the time. She had her troubles being on her own but she kept a loving spirit through it all and tending to the flowers helped her physically and mentally even if people didn’t exactly come around too often.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Fiction
Review: "Blood Red Sky"
Netflix new horror film, Blood Red Sky, has an incredibly fun premise but feels incredibly disjointed at times. The film itself doesn't seem like it knows whether or not it wanted to be a foreign film, or an American horror story for one and the dialogue is so jarring that it easily takes you out of the experience. The premise and feel of the film will make many people think back to genre hits such as "From Dusk till Dawn", "Snakes on a Plane" and even at times "30 Days of Night." That is some high praise as all of those films are fairly well received and I suspect Blood Red Sky will be as it is a rarity to find a decent monster horror film these days.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Review: "Lisey's Story"
Stephen King is well known for his stories and scaring readers all around, but his adaptations for the big screen and television have been rather hit or miss. Enter Lisey's Story, a small screen adaptation from his 2006 novel of the same name that focuses on a widow that endures a series of resurgent memories from her marriage to famed author Scott Landon, including memories that she had long locked away. The book itself was very well received but the miniseries here is very hit or miss fitting alongside that of many other dramatic adaptations that King has seen before.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Review: "Old"
M. Knight Shyamalan can be rather hit or miss with his films ever since he hit gold way back in 1999 with The Sixth Sense. He has had some great success since then, dispersed with complete, almost career ruining films. Truly, he is a divisive filmmaker, people either love his work or hate it. I suspect that will again be the case with his new film, Old. Here Shyamalan chooses to adapt the 2010 graphic novel, Sandcastle and largely he takes some massive liberties and the only similarity between the two is that people age rapidly on a beautiful beach. Old is a very serious film with it's premise, and in it's attempt to be so it is rather unintentionally funny at times. For his usual film, it is very predictable which is very unlike Shyamalan.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
Spotlight: Shang Chi
With the Master of Kung Fu, Shang Chi coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and being a lesser known character, it is time to look into his character and who exactly he is. In fact, despite being regarded as one of the top hand to hand fighters in Marvel Comics, he is also one of the least popular characters. More then likely, after September that will quickly change as the trailer Marvel had realized of his upcoming movie looks like it breaks the typical Marvel Studios mold and may end up being one of the more unique films in their ongoing catalog. In the 70's, Marvel created the character largely out of the boom in popularity of kung fu films and more importantly Bruce Lee. At the time, Marvel had the rights to the character of Fu Manchu and made Shang Chi his son. Fu Manchu would hold his son in his Honan Retreat where he would be rigorously trained in both the mental and marital arts by Manchu's most trusted senseis and the end result pleased him. Fu Manchu even goes on to tell his son that his intellect and skill rivals the best of the outside world and more importantly, he is a living weapon. More or less, he became a much more annoying version of Netflix' Iron Fist who constantly felt a need to tell his enemies that he is, "Shang Chi, the son of Fu Manchu." He is then given the task of killing an evil man known as Doctor Petrie. Shang Chi felt that over the course of studying various philosophies have shown him that killing is an act only to be abhorred, but he felt that his father was an honorable and truthful man so he set out to do so only to find that Doctor Petrie was an old feeble man. Ultimately, his training in obedience to his masters took over and despite his best intentions, he killed the weakened Petrie.
By Nick Cavuoti4 years ago in Geeks
