Author: Eduardo Orozco

Weekly Watchlist: Week 3

Eduardo Orozco Leave a Comment
weekly watchlist

Weekly Watchlist Week 3: Lots of films in this edition; a few of them are Marvel movies as I have started a binge chain ahead of Avengers: Endgame. I didn’t watch many classics this week but next article will include a few Criterion Collection films and more movies in theatres again.

So here’s what I watched this time around.

Monday (3.11.19)

Captain Marvel (2019) – 2/5

  • Marvel story structure + throwaway Star Wars characters – any substance whatsoever = this movie. Honestly a disappointed on this one because it was fairly hyped up and not very good; props to Marvel for finally making a female led movie.

Tuesday (3.12.19)

The Kid (2019) – 2.5/5

  • Not really as great as I had hoped it would be; Ethan Hawke kills it but that’s about it; the other performances kind of annoyed me (especially the title character) but Chris Pratt did fine as a villain. Not enough yeehaws in this western.

Alien (1979) – 4/5

  • My professor was the 1st Assistant Director on this movie and clearly made it known when he screened it in class; other than that, this movie has really nice lighting, nice set design and just some really advanced stuff for 1979. The movie itself was not all that scary and it was semi-predictable but it wasn’t necessarily cheesy.

Wednesday (3.13.19)

I’m Not Here (2017) – 2/5

  • This movie had nice casting but I feel like this idea has been way overdone; it just felt like a super long PSA about alcoholism. Also, I’m not sure what made me sicker: J.K. Simmons bare as cheeks or the overpriced movie nachos.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2019) – 3.5/5

  • I really love the dialogue in this; the writing is very nice and feels natural/real. The casting was really well done and I think each actor gave a pretty good performance. Other than that, the cinematography was adequate and that’s about it.
  • I really love the dialogue in this; the writing is very nice and feels natural/real. The casting was really well done and I think each actor gave a pretty good performance. Other than that, the cinematography was adequate and that’s about it.

Friday (3.15.19)

Iron Man (2008) – 3.5/5

  • Don’t think I’ve seen this since it came out in theatres and I was 9 years old. The CGI looks shit but back then it was new technology so it’s kinda cool to see how far we’ve come. Gwyneth Paltrow was kind of annoying in this; everyone else is pretty good; this movie makes you highly dislike Jeff Bridges but he’s a king.

Saturday (3.16.19)

The Incredible Hulk (2008) – 2/5

  • This movie was not very good; not very Hulk. Glad they changed the lead role to Mark Ruffalo; Edward Norton was a little stale in this.

Sunday (3.17.19)

Iron Man 2 (2010) – 2.5/5

  • If you haven’t noticed, I’m doing a Marvel binge in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame. Very glad they replaced the James Rhodes character and brought on Don Cheadle; he kills it; excited to see how these characters develop in the 2 following phases of the MCU (or at least rewatching it).

Tuesday (3.19.19)

Thor (2011) – 2.5/5

  • Alright the cinematography in this is really really bad. It is not good. Literally 60% of all shots are dutch angles and it just does not fit the story…It’s fairly cheesy and Lord of the Rings-esque (if it took place in space) but that’s okay considering its a superhero origin film. It was funny to read and find out that the director of this is the guy who voiced Miguel in The Road to El Dorado (2000).

Wednesday (3.20.19)

Climax (2019) – 4/5

  • So, Act I consists of sexual dancing party; Act II consists of sexual dance party banter; Act III consists of every nightmare and fear you;ve ever imagined but it’s not scary, just super uncomfortable. It’s worthy noting that there are heavy Suspiria (1977) influences sprinkled everywhere and soundtrack reminiscent of Good Time (2017). This song is a heavily experimental visual experience that I recommend and also forewarn that it might not be your type; it’ll probably be pulled from theatres soon anyway because Us (2019) is coming out.

Thank you for reading along for this week; I hope these comments offer insight into your choice of what to watch and what to avoid.

Make sure to check in next week to see what I watch.

Written by: Eduardo Orozco

Weekly Watchlist: Week 2

Eduardo Orozco
weekly watchlist

Weekly Watchlist. Week 2.

For this week’s “Weekly Watchlist”, I have to give a shoutout to AMC A-List. I worked for AMC for almost 3 years until I moved on to better things; but in my time there, I saw almost every movie that came out. After moving onto a different job, I no longer had access to countless free movies whenever I wanted. Just recently, I purchased AMC A-List and it’s the closest thing to seeing as many movies as I want. (3 movies a week, $24/month). I definitely am getting my money’s worth as I have been attending various showings of movies that never even appealed to me.

Time to list what I watched now.

 

Monday (2.18.19)

Greenbook (2018) – 3.5/5

  • Mixed feelings; hesitant to watch at first but it was pretty nice actually; character development was great and it was interesting to see how 2 complex characters from different backgrounds bonded together. Was originally 4/5 stars, but they won Best Picture at the Oscars over “Roma” and it didn’t really deserve it.

 

(Please mind the week long gap of no movies as my parents were in town visiting me for the first time ever. Note: The next movie has nothing to do with how their vacation went.)

 

Sunday (2.24.19)

Fighting with My Family (2019) – 3/5

  • Looks silly in trailers and advertising, but it’s not as bad as it seems. It’s also not as good as it seems though. The cinematography was bland; the pacing/editing are mediocre; the acting was pretty decent for the most part. The story itself though was very unique and based off a true story; a female wrestler breaking into the WWE; I’m not really a wrestling type guy but it wasn’t terrible.

Monday (2.25.19)

Isn’t It Romantic (2019) – 3/5

  • Thought this was gonna be a dumb musical-esque Rebel Wilson comedy; turned out to have pretty damn nice/funny writing; editing is great and hilarious. It’s incredibly cliche but on purpose. The cinematography is ass though.

Tuesday (2.26.19)

The Usual Suspects (1995) – 4/5

  • I was fortunate enough to watch this in my film classics class but I sadly fell asleep for some part due to slow beginning; pretty cool though and great film I hope to rewatch soon.

Wednesday (2.27.19)

Glass (2019) – 1.5/5

  • The writing was honestly one of the worst I’ve seen in a long while. The cinematography was questionable and the lighting/coloring was probably the only thing this had going for it. It is to my understanding that the guy who played Bruce Willis’ son was the same kid from the 2000 “Unbreakable” movie, but the dude can’t act at all and has got to end his career soon hopefully. It’s cool that M. Night Shyamalan made an attempt to create a superhero-like world, but it just doesn’t work.

Friday (3.1.19)

Greta (2019) – 2.5/5

  • I have some extremely mixed feelings about this movie. Saw it opening weekend, so the audience was pretty full, but the script was so extremely bad that the entire theatre was laughing at some parts; mind you this was supposed to be “Drama/Thriller”. Also saw this with a film friend of mine and it was just funny exchanging banter about the movie afterwards. This is not the worst movie in existence, but it’s not good in any aspect really. I disliked the cinematography, but the lighting was pretty nice though. I only recommend seeing this movie in a crowded theatre so you can know for sure that you are not the only one who finds some scenes hilariously bad.

Monday (3.4.19)

Minding the Gap (2018) – 5/5

  • Kinda pissed they didn’t include a warning in the beginning for emotional viewers that connect too heavily with the story. Thought this was a fun/cool documentary about skateboarding, but it turned out to be a heartfelt look into how skateboarding is an escape for people’s shitty lives. Doesn’t help when the director interviews his foreign mother who has trouble with English about how he was raised; hits the feels. The best documentary I’ve seen in a long time.

Tuesday (3.5.19)

Zombieland (2009) – 3/5

  • This movie is creative and fun for 2009, but it is 10 years later now and it’s just a little too cheesy and fake deep for me to enjoy; cool cast but I didn’t really like it all that much; very hyped up (and there’s another coming out this year oh boy)

Wednesday (3.6.19)

Apollo 11 (2019) – 4/5

  • Grateful to have seen this in IMAX; the visuals are extremely amazing; the score is chilling and so good. The editing is extremely well done but I can only imagine how long it took to sort through the hours and hours of footage they had to work with. As for the space mission itself, the amount of physics that goes into something like this blows my mind and scares the s**t out of me (I was not good at physics in high school).

 

Thank you for reading along for this week; I hope these comments offer insight into your choice of what to watch and what to avoid.

Make sure to check in next week to see what I watch.

SwuM & TVBOO at Music Box

Eduardo Orozco

The SwuM/TVBOO show at Music Box was a bass thumping, energy-inducing high of good-vibing music.

Held at the Music Box in downtown San Diego, the show catered to people of all ages, but targeted the young in the community (18+, although I did see a couple 12 year olds running around). Although the advertising mainly promoted SwuM & TVBOO, there were several opening acts consisting of talented/young DJ’s & musicians who are breaking into the industry. I am proud and honored to say that not one, but two of my coworkers performed that night and amazed myself and the audience with their immense skill.

Doors opened around 7pm and people flooded in ready to experience a great environment.

The venue itself had a bar for those who were of age, and a merchandise shop to pull in some extra revenue. While there was little to no sitting room (not including VIP), it was not really needed as the crowd preferred a more open area to jump along to the bumping music.

Kastro opened the evening as the venue opened to the public, and introduced us to the wonderful evening and mood that would be set for the evening. My coworker, Domoniqxe, went on next and showcased some amazing original compositions that the crowd really enjoyed. She then handed the floor to Lydon (another coworker of mine) & Zuma who really got the crowd moving with some bass-heavy mixes. Both of them served as DJ’s as well as MC’s and worked well with one another. From there, there were a few more wonderful openers before the main acts came on stage. SwuM is notorious for the lo-fi genre and catered to audience seamlessly.

TVBOO is a more hype edm/dubstep type artist and was saved for later in the night. Some people only went for the latter of the two as TVBOO creates a different atmosphere than SwuM. Having the two perform in the same night was a good move though because electronic artists have such a wide variety of fans that can vibe together.

All in all, it was a wonderful show made possible by talented artists, dedicated people, and a great venue. I hope to see everyone artist again in the future, maybe even on a bigger stage.

A major shoutout is also in order for Lydon & Domoniqxe as they publicized the event to a large majority of San Diego State University students.

Written by: Eduardo Orozco
Pictures by: Eduardo Orozco

Weekly Watchlist: Week 1

Eduardo Orozco Leave a Comment

This is Weekly Watchlist. Weekly, (or bi-weekly, depends on how many movies I’ve seen), I will be posting an article detailing the movies I’ve watched during the week.

Why peruse the Weekly Watchlist? Because I’m a film major, *shrugs shoulders* I watch movies almost everyday, and I’ve got some things to say about them. Some are really nice, while others are trash; my job is to help you, the reader, avoid the trash. 

Before we get into anything, I need to give a shoutout to the app Letterboxd. Letterboxd is a free app where you can log the films you’ve watched, rate/review them, and see what your friends think of films. I use this to keep track of everything I watch and this series is loosely based off their online process.

Monday (2.11.19)

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – 3.5/5

  • A fistful of Clinty Beastwood & some pretty nice/old-style cinematography; watched this for a film classics course I’m enrolled in and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for Wild West films and will sit through one no matter how slow it is sometimes.

Tuesday (2.12.19)

The Lobster (2015) – 4.5/5

  • An extremely interesting and unique story created by Greek film director Yorgos Lanthimos; this is his first feature film in all American-English and he does a marvelous job. The plot is so well written and obscure; the acting is well-executed by the great cast. The cinematography was done by frequent collaborator Thimios Bakatakis and was extremely impressive. 4.5/5 stars.

The Social Network (2010) – 4.5/5

  • I’ve wanted to see this for the longest time but unfortunately it’s not on any streaming sites. Fortunately, I found it on 123Movies and was able to watch it with only mildly sh**ty audio. Extremely interesting and amazing acting all around. Makes the world realize how much of an a**hole Mark Zuckerberg is.

Wednesday (2.13.19)

The Snowman (2017) – 1/5

  • Honestly did not expect it to be good in any way. But I also did not expect it to be this bad… Gave it 1 out of 5 stars because it seems that everyone involved genuinely thought they were making something good. Horrific editing, stupid and confusing story, and a rather waste of time. But plenty of memes can come from this

Thursday (2.14.19)

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) – 3/5

  • Not nearly as prolific as the original or the Lego Batman movie but better than the Lego Ninjago movie. Expected more from the pilot LEGO film sequel as it had a star studded cast and an exponential amount of ways the plot could’ve gone. The story was not nearly as great and it didn’t really impress me but I think it deserves a 2nd viewing.

Friday (2.15.19)

The End of the Tour (2015) – 4/5

  • Extremely introspective and offers a deeper analysis through a second viewing (that I probably won’t do). Well made and really interesting; the cinematography actually surprised me as to how well it was shot; the writing was also extremely nice. This movie made me want to actually read the 1,000+ page book that David Foster Wallace actually wrote. Heads up there’s an ending credit scene for some reason.

Saturday (2.16.19)

The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015) – 3/5

  • I first learned about this experiment in my high school psychology class; subsequently, this film came out in theatres in the same semester. My teacher recommended it to everyone but it wasn’t until this week that I finally sat down and watched it. The most interesting part is the character development (which is obviously the point of the experiment/film). Through watching, I found that the film did not really depict the horrors that the boys faced to the fullest extent. I read and researched far worse things than what was depicted in the film. Felt a little slow at times but this was full of young promising talent and fairly well done acting.

Sunday (2.17.19)

Pulp Fiction (1994) – 4.5/5

  • Put this on to watch a few iconic scenes but ended up just watching the whole damn thing. I don’t think I really need to go in depth as to how or why this movie is great and a classic that everyone knows. You can probably find 5,000+ word analysis’ of this film somewhere honestly.

Thank you for reading along this week’s Weekly Watchlist; I hope these comments offer insight into your choice of what to watch.

Make sure to check next week to see what I watch.

Written by: Eduardo Orozco