Thanks for the Music, David. Rock on Ziggy Stardust. May you rest in peace.
Tag Archives: In Memorium
In Memory of Juan “Gory” Reyes
The horror community has lost a lot of proponents and big names in 2015, but perhaps the passing that’s hurt me the most has been the passing of Juan Reyes. To others he was known as Juan, but to his friends and colleagues he was known simply as “Gory.” I was very fortunate enough to know Juan for a few years. We’d talk about horror movies, joke about pop culture, and he was always enthusiastic about them. Juan was also a consummate musician who scoredindependent horror films like “Horno,” and was a humongous advocate of indie film.
He knew as well as many others do that indie film is where you can find real horror gems. Juan was funny, energetic, and very friendly, and I was able to cultivate a friendship with him in a few years, and was lucky to see the type of guy he really was. It’s heartbreaking Juan won’t be able to contribute to horror as he used to, but he’ll live on forever in the memories he created, the friends he made, and the good times he shared with so many people.
We were lucky enough to garner a written contribution from Gory years ago and though it was the only article he ever contributed to Cinema Crazed, we were happy to have him lend his ideas and thoughts to our readers.
We dedicate the rest of Halloween Horror Month 2015 to the memory of Gory. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Gory’s family during this terrible time. Thanks for the friendship and laughs, Gory. We’ll never forget you.
The PC Thug: Depression
I was going to make this article about Robin Williams and how much happiness he gave me, but that just didn’t seem to fit for me. Surely Robin Williams dying is painful, heartbreaking, and really tragic. I grew up with “Mork and Mindy,” “Hook,” “Good Will Hunting,” and I watched him make people happy with stand up comedy, his appearances on talk shows, and his general love for humanity all around.
What’s really kept me on the verge of tears, is the knowledge that Robin Williams was the victim of depression and likely committed suicide.
“But he was so funny! He always seemed so happy! I don’t get it.” Yes, you don’t. You really don’t. And the truth is, even victims of mental illness don’t get it. We just live with it. I suffer from a mental illness.
Five Great Paul Walker (1973-2013) Performances
I can’t say I was the biggest fan of Paul Walker’s acting, but despite his shaky career there was no doubting he was a man of great presence. He had good looks, charisma, and charm, and he was one of the few American heart throbs who kept away from the tabloids to maintain his own life.
So far the public has come to know Paul Walker, an activist, spiritualist, and man who placed his job as a father over the job as an actor and performer. Paul Walker died at the much too early age of 40, and he’s being mourned as someone who still had a long way to show us what he could accomplish as an actor. And I’m sure he had so many more things he wanted to accomplish as a father, and friend to many people in his world.
Here are five great roles featuring Paul Walker in his all too brief acting career, may he rest in peace.
A Final Bow to Roger Ebert
“I’ll see you at the movies.” – Roger Ebert’s Final Written Words.
It’s as I said in my review for “Starting Out in the Evening”: Come obscurity, irrelevance, success, or fame, a writer still has to write, regardless. In Roger Ebert’s case it was, come disease, sickness, and life altering illness, a writer still has to write. And Roger Ebert, no matter what he faced in his life, had to write. In the end, whether you agreed with him, hated his ability to raise controversy, or just had a relative indifference toward him, very few movie critics changed the world of cinema and the landscape of writing as he did. It’s with a heavy heart that I write about the passing of my favorite movie critic of all time, as Roger was a man who seemed to almost know he was dying.
The PC Thug: R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie
Dear Dwayne McDuffie,
Ever since hearing about your death, I can’t help but think what a huge loss the comic book and pop culture world has suffered. No really, I think it’s no understatement that the news of your death is leaving a giant hole in the comic book world, and since the announcement of your death my mind has shifted from “Oh that’s pretty sad… wait… man that sucks… wait… wow, that’s shitty… oh god… we’re fucked.” Because let’s face it when was the last time we had someone like Dwayne McDuffie say “Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if minorities weren’t cliches and stereotypes?” And yes, wouldn’t it be amazing if our minority heroes weren’t secondary sidekicks or poorly promoted rehashes of the same old formula we’ve seen day in and day out?