Director Josef Rodriguez’s short horror film “Take it Back” feels more experimental than a narrative when all is said and done. Given its short run time and atmosphere, it could use a ton of exposition and about five more minutes of back story. That said, in spite of its inherent faults, Rodriguez is definitely on to something in the horror realm, as “Take it Back” is interesting and definitely creepy.
Author Archives: Felix Vasquez
The State of Cinema Crazed Address – 2013! Or How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Change
2013 was a year of big change. I think that’s what everyone at one time or another aspires to at the beginning of every single year. They want big change for the better. For a long time I subscribed to the theory that if it ain’t broke, just don’t fix it.
For a long time I stuck with my HTML Cinema Crazed website. Frames, thumbnails, windows, oh my! For a while I was like a guy driving a solid and comfortable automobile. It took me to work everyday and I had no problems with it whatsoever, so I never thought it was necessary to upgrade the automobile.
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
While director Ron Howard’s “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is by no means as wretched as “The Cat in the Hat,” it’s definitely a grim sign of things to come for the legacy of one of the greatest authors that ever lived. Typical of the Hollywood factory, the studios take a simple and meaningful story and bloat it to obscene proportions, turning it in to a ridiculous facsimile of the source material.
Take it Back (2013)
Director Josef Rodriguez’s short horror film “Take it Back” feels more experimental than a narrative when all is said and done. Given its short run time and atmosphere, it could use a ton of exposition and about five more minutes of back story. That said, in spite of its inherent faults, Rodriguez is definitely on to something in the horror realm, as “Take it Back” is interesting and definitely creepy.
All Hallow’s Eve (2013)
Ever since “The Collective” got together to make their own anthology series revolving around demonic VHS tapes, every indie director has been attempting to cash in on the formula. “All Hallow’s Eve” is yet another take off on the concept, except it’s set around Halloween! A hot nanny (Katie Maguire) and two of the worst child actors in history have come back from trick or treating, and the nanny discovers an odd unmarked VHS tape in one of her charge’s trick or treat bags.
After Earth (2013)
You have to give it to Will Smith. For a man prone to taking the spotlight and eating it up like a gluttonous child, he really is comfortable playing second fiddle in “After Earth.” Clearly just nothing but a vanity project for Smith and his son, he literally passes the torch on to his son Jaden to take up the role of the action hero. Smith meanwhile stays in a space ship for the duration of the film as the Maguffin leading his son to the film’s second Maguffin. It’s all for naught though since Jaden Smith has no screen presence, zero charisma, and can’t act to save his life.
Highway to Heaven: The Complete First Season (DVD)
There was an unusual rise of Christian based television shows in the mid to late eighties, and my absolute favorite as a child was “Highway to Heaven.” I already was a huge fan of Michael Landon in “Little House on a Prairie,” so as a young boy I tuned right in to see Landon team up with old co-star Victor French in what was one of the best hours of television during my youth. Even as an atheist, “Highway to Heaven” can be appreciated for being an interesting and entertaining drama as Landon plays the enigmatic Jonathan Smith.