Editor in Chief, Critic, Columnist
Poison: Horror, Art House, Indies
Favorite Movie of All Time: 12 Angry Men
Favorite Actor of All Time: Henry Fonda
Felix is a freelance writer born and raised in Bronx, New York and lives in the South Bronx. Born of Puerto Rican descent, he is well versed in art history nearly garnering a scholarship and practices the craft as a hobby. He is an avid sixties buff, he loves classic rock exclusively, is a fanatic for Steve McQueen and Steven Spielberg films, and is continuing to pursue his writing career through his obsession with horror movies, pop culture, and film. He is also a lifelong hardcore Superman geek from the age of four.
Aside from writing various novels, dozens of poetry, and attempting publication constantly, Felix’s movie reviews, articles, editorials, and opinions can be read at many sites from Joblo where he contributed opinion pieces, Beyond Hollywood where he wrote columns; he wrote for Film Threat for five years, The Superman Homepage for three years, Film Fan Addict for a years, Shock Till You Drop and Fangoria Online briefly, Twitch for a year, and the massive pop culture website network Crave Online for four years.
He can also be found on Rotten Tomatoes where his reviews are posted alongside other critics such as Roger Ebert and A.O. Scott, and can also be found on the MRQE.
On his spare time he is an avid animation buff, is well read, and perfects his impressions of celebrities.
The first film I ever remember watching was ET. Some people I know don’t know if it was the first movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s the first that ever really had a true impact on me and my life, and it’s the first I remember watching. I think ET also had a hand in my love of Steven Spielberg’s movies and his works, and my admiration towards him and his career.
ET was magical when I was young; it was a beautiful film about friendship and I loved that little alien. Many of the themes in ET were resonant because it reflected Spielberg’s feelings of abandonment, alienation, divorce and friendship he never really had. Spielberg has reflected many of his views through his films and for that; I just communicate more with his movies. Of course I’ve seen plenty of other films, some magical, some not, but there came also horror films. I have a great fondness and admiration for all types of filmmaking and thus a curiosity for basically everything that draws my attention.
I love people who stimulate my mind and creativity, and the right director can do that, but very few today do so, except for M. Night Shyamalan. Back then every stimulated me because I was new to movies, but Spielberg was the first to stimulate my mind, and movies do so. The best movies have sparked my imagination, and for me, Spielberg’s films have managed to do that. The best filmmakers take us into a world, a land whether real or fantasy. Hitchcock said, “If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.” And there are very few movies that can do that, but I can name a few off the top of my head: Donnie Darko, 28 Days Later, Signs, ET, Saving Private Ryan, and Citizen Kane. Yeah, some are new, but these are films that tell a story in paper and in imagery and no director can do that in modern times.
I particularly love animation in all its forms and adore Fantasia as one of my favorite animated films of all time. That is a film that should be shown to kids at a very young age, because it has it all: the beautiful melodies of thunderous classic music, stories that are told without dialogue thus leaving the kid to decipher the events for themselves, beautiful simply incredible animation, funny characters, and magical colors and scenery to stimulate the brain. However, my all time favorite animated film of all is “The Iron Giant”. Why do I pick the “Iron Giant” a modern film instead of something more obvious like “Cinderella” or “Heavy Metal”? It’s actually very simple, because of its themes. While the films in the aforementioned sentence were good, this is such a masterpiece, and an under-appreciated one at that. The film about a robot crash landing on Earth, coming across a young lonely boy and befriending him is a universal theme because of its themes of friendship, feelings of being an outsider, and love.
Both the robot and Hogarth are aliens in their own right, but director Brad Bird stimulates the imagination with a robot that looks damn cool, hilarious characters and a script that is just great. Obviously, it is great, coming from a man who worked on “The Simpsons”, but it is such a marvelous and funny story that I couldn’t help but love it. It’s hard to find fault in that film, and I’m serious in saying it’s a masterpiece. Bird mixes computer animation and hand drawn animation flawlessly, and it’s sad this movie didn’t succeed as a commercial property because anyone who has not seen it is missing out. What instantly made the movie a piece of art is the middle where Hogarth and the robot are playing in the woods and hanging out, and they hear a gunshot, and they look through trees and see a dead deer, and then Hogarth explains the concept of death for the robot.
That one sequence should have been marked as a moment in cinema to be remembered, because it’s so beautiful watching a child explain to a child-like entity the concept of death and thus that one moment begins his corruption. The robot is a weapon of a sorts, but Bird implies that it’s not his nature to be a weapon, but it’s humanity that turns him aggressive, and that says a lot about the true purpose of the story as we watch a robot with a child-like innocence corrupted by human violence and the assumed death of his best friend which sets him off.
I was then introduced to horror by my mother. I know you’re saying, “Dear lord”, but actually I chose this lifestyle as a horror fanatic. My mom is a horror buff and watches everything horror-oriented, and I became engrossed in the genre, and she gladly indulged me. Comedy has become a true liking for me in the movie era; as one who takes pride in being witty and funny and perfecting impressions of celebrities (What an ego, eh?), I love comedy of all kind, and I gladly watch anything that has the possibility to make me laugh. My favorite though, my favorite comedy team of all time are “The Marx Brothers”.
These four goofballs are just so much fun to watch and the funniest comedy team to ever star in films. Groucho, Zeppo, Chico, and Harpo are the funniest men in cinema history because they cover all facets of comedy. Groucho with his utterly hilarious comebacks, put downs, and replies, Zeppo as the straight man, Chico as the hardly comprehendible foreigner ladies man, and Harpo with his physical comedy and miming. These four men are just funny, and I dare you not to laugh while watching “Animal Crackers”, “Duck Soup”, or “Horse Feathers”. Then there’s Charlie Chaplin. I admit I wasn’t a fan upon first viewing “Gold Rush”, but I am a fan of many of his movies that are both very funny and very sad. How the “little tramp” ever committed those physical feats during the film is baffling. Take for example the automatic eating machine sequence in “Modern Times”, that is shocking to watch, because it’s a wonder how he did it without losing a beat.
If I’m able to find a movie these days that stimulate my imagination then I consider myself truly lucky, so I’m always looking for the most unconventional movies instead of the usual big budget pieces of shit studios shovel out week after week. The unconventional is where the genius lies and I’m always looking for something difference in films. I love independent movies because most of the time they offer something truly unconventional, and good or bad, it’s almost always original in its concept. For example “Donnie Darko”, “The Station Agent”, and “Lost in Translation”, three of the best examples of the unconventional meet the genius.
Movies are magical to young kids so it’s important to take them to the right ones instead of the ones that just exploit them. Movies like “Yu-Gi-Oh” or “Pokemon” don’t dazzle the kids; they’re just artificial shallow marketing ploys to make money. Look for movies that will stimulate your children’s minds while giving them creative influence. Movies that left me in awe, and continue leaving me in awe were films like “Wizard of Oz” a young girl’s journey into another land with colorful scenery, characters and great musical numbers, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” a young boy’s journey into a land made of candy with the hilarious Gene Wilder as the mad capped Willy Wonka who teaches lessons of “greed” and “Gluttony” with every child, “Monster Squad” a very funny and scary movie with kids as the heroes fighting the infamous movie monsters of the past, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” a beautiful movie about aliens, family with great music, dazzling scenery, and aliens that will invoke the imagination, and inevitably “Star Wars” a fantasy adventure with great characters, great action, and a story that everyone will enjoy.
With “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” I still get chills whenever the ship begins playing the signal music with the loud roaring bass. I want you to connect your television to your stereo and put this up loud and you’ll discover how magical this movie is, and who can forget when Richard Dreyfuss’ character comes face to face with the alien’s white face and beady black eyes? Beautiful filmmaking and still brings tears to my eyes.
For me movies are an escape, a doorway to other places, and are a lot like comfort food that never fails to satisfy. Some people smoke to relax, some people drink, but I prefer to watch movies; good or bad I always hide in a movie and it helps to relax me. Good movies can tell a story and create a world that envelopes us into its characters and plot. Movies these days are just products, long commercials, never are they works of art, or stories waiting to be told. For me movies are an obsession, an obsession I’m proud to be involved in; movie buffs are some of the most intelligent people in the world (and the most pompous) and I enjoy nothing more than discussing films with someone.
I created this film site in 1998 when I was first given this computer; as I got older my writing improved thankfully and I do my best to bring people high quality and informative movie reviews. I think reviewing movies is not just watching a movie and writing about what you thought. I think reviewing a movie is like exposure, it has to be like an assignment for school, it should require research about the material. A film reviews shows how in sync you are with a film, it exposes your personality, and it exposes your writing skills. I think you have to involve yourself in a movie and research it then you talk about it and express your own feelings about what you thought of it which is what I try to bring to the table when I write a review, I drown myself in the film, good or bad, and then I attempt to bring some readable film reviews for people to read; I post them not just to expose myself as a writer but to show people how passionate I am about films.