The Phoenix Incident (2016)

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

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.

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We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo (2016)

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Director Matthew Ramirez Warren’s “We Like it Like That” is a masterpiece of musical cinema. It’s a long overdue exploration at the beginning and unfortunate ending of Latin Boogaloo, a musical hybrid that helped to shape a generation and has also lived on in the hearts of younger generations. It’s clear by Ramirez Warren’s enthusiastic direction and approach that he love Latin Boogaloo, and he instills within the subject a unique and bold energy that will educate eclectic music lovers on one of the major influences in modern latin influenced pop and hip hop. As a guy who grew up in the Bronx, I spent many parties sitting alongside relatives that grew up with Boogaloo, and it was always a guarantee that music would be played before the night was up.

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Blackfish (2013)

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

The willful ignorance and glaring stupidity of the American public is ultimately was contributed to the fate of the poor sea life held hostage at Sea World. “Blackfish” is another instance of a major corporate entity lying boldfaced to their consumer and exploiting someone to make a profit. While it would be easy to completely blame Seaworld for being cruel and vicious captives of the Killer Whale species, its their customers and supporters own inability to distinguish between fact and fiction that contributed to the sheer cruelty and violence that has constantly plagued Seaworld since its inception. Seaworld has gone through decades of covering up the deaths of trainers that have fallen victim to the wrath of Orcas, all of whom have acted upon their natural predatory instinct. Seaworld also exploited the Orcas, convincing their paying public that these wild animals were capable of being tamed and transformed in to lovable beasts we can play with.

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I Am Street Fighter: 25 Years of Inspiration (2012)

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

I have nothing but love for “Street Fighter,” one of the greatest, if not the greatest fighting video game ever made. My first contact with it was during my elementary school days when I’d pass by the arcade cabinet residing outside of a local auto shop. There was always someone playing it, but I would look over their shoulder and see what the game was. Later on I learned to love the “Street Fighter II” on the Super Nintendo and I’ve had an interest in its universe for many years. “Street Fighter II” set the template for pretty much every fighting game ever consumed by mass audiences, and is still a brilliant fighter based around strategy and quick timing.

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Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973)

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

There was different energy behind David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust that ensured you were in for a whole other wild experience unlike any before it. Director D.A. Pennebaker keeps the mystique and wild tone of Ziggy Stardust alive from the opening title and then is quick to jump right in to the line outside Ziggy Stardust’s concert zooming in on the type of lovable oddities and weird wonders that worshiped Bowie and his adored his music, bringing us in to the full arena of the kind of minds and hearts David Bowie touched.

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Our 5 Choice Indies of 2015

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Cinema Crazed is pretty much a one man operation, so as always, we weren’t able to watch every single film sent to us this year. We have so much to do, and so little time to do it in, but we try our damndest to watch everything that comes down our pipe. The year has been good for indie filmmaking, as Hollywood are taking more and more chances on indie filmmakers and budding storytellers.

As with every year, this is a list of the five best Indies we saw in 2015. While there were many A+ Indies, these five stood out and stuck with us for a long time.

While a few of these movies can be viewed online legally for free, we encourage you to buy these films. Buying them helps the filmmakers, it helps them go on to make another movie you might enjoy, and it helps the small companies that are funding these directors and excellent storytellers. The indie film community needs as much support as it can muster up. Without Further ado… Continue reading →

Batkid Begins (2015) (DVD)

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

2013 saw the immense and sudden popularity of The Make a Wish Foundation and the wish they granted, which promised young Miles Scott, a Leukemia patient, he could be Batman for the day. What started out as a silly premise for a public interest news item transformed in to the feel good story of the year, and thankfully it’s still a cute take about the lengths humans can go to give one another happiness and fulfillment. I’m still not sure if it warranted a full length documentary, but “Batkid Begins” is a fine ode to Batman and the human condition.

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