Morning Reel

Wong Kar-wai could be your introduction to Hong Kong cinema and his "Chungking Express" is the keys to it. If you dig crime and romance with quirky moods, this is the film. I briefly explain how Kar-wai sets mood with music and visuals such as rolling back shutter angle, something simple that can be set on your camera. Imagine that? It's incredible to see a film like this because it really didn't require much, the actors with their intimate settings brought life on the screen.

XG joins me on this episode reviewing "Brokeback Mountain" directed by Ang Lee, a LGBTQ/romance masterpiece. It almost felt like I was watching Wong Kar-wai's "Happy Together" where the complexities of same-sex relationships hits the heart. XG and I discuss the impact of this film because of its story-telling, how tame it really is compared to cinema today when it comes to sex and relationships, and how the representation was done right especially the bigotry that affected the gay movement at that time.

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Dan Mazer gives us his version of the trials and tribulation of marriage especially in the first year of it. "I Give It A Year" is written and directed by Mazer. I gave it a chance and I did enjoy it and as much as I enjoyed it, I wouldn't say I would do the things these characters do in this film but MAN they do give great performances. I wish I can say the same about the screenplay overall. The characters are much smarter than their decision making but oh well, that's life goes, I GUESS.

In this episode, Eric Bobo and I talk about Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash" about a college student's dedication of achieving success in his jazz program lead by a perfectionist of a band leader. He gives, blood, sweat, and tears and sometimes that's not enough. Perhaps your dignity? Bobo gives us insight of the road a musician can possibly go journy through and it's never an easy one. This film in particular sheds a lot on the subject of success, respect and dedication for your passion. I admired the film based on the subject and certain edited cuts mimics the intensity of jazz and the sequences the actors give. It's a war of one's self against the war. How will you take it?

Pedro Almodovar's "Parallel Mothers" is the Mother's Day treat because it highly puts representation of motherhood between two generations. It shows no matter at what age you are, mother instincts kick in, some more than others. I dug the writing and how the characters brought it out so well it makes you feel like you're in the scenes. The use of red as always is so good. The mixture of the concept of ancestry could have been more balanced but I understood the point of it all.

Federico Fellini's "8½" is the perfect film that was requested by Luis from the suggestions that I have offered to anyone who listens to this podcast. To briefly describe it here, I enjoyed the film very much to the point where I call it "the perfect film". I could have said so much about the film that I forgot to talk about my favorite shot about the film. There's so much to learn about live and this film delivers it in a way no one could have thought of especially during the early '60s in the Italian film industry. I briefly talk about how we can all relate to the story of the film, especially our own arrogance to just life without fear. The visuals and flashbacks play a lot on the character and the way Fellini gives us wild moments to look and swallow, the writing and the actors speak for themselves. Brilliant.

Estevan Oriol put Los Angeles hip hop on the map with this documentary called "Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain". What I mean by that really is that from the generation he participated during, he documented Los Angeles culture. In this doc, he reflects his time during touring and managing Cypress Hill and their impact in Hip Hop. He does very visually with archives of different kinds of mediums, it's very impressive and it does show passion from Oriol.

"Nightcrawler" is the perfect film and the perfect neo-noir film as well with it's exciting plot and its hilarious way it goes about especially Jake Gyllenhaal's character of Louis who is determined to not only go broke but to give perfection and what more motivation do you need. Even though it was written & directed by Dan Gilroy, this is the film that Michael Mann would have made because it does fit those night time aesthetic, finding the next lead because "if it bleeds, it leads". I briefly explain how these elements in filmmaking make "Nightcrawler" a thorough watch.

I saw "The Blind Side" a couple of days before reviewing it. I was watching it and I said to myself, why not review it. It's a pretty good film based on the life of Michael Oher who grew up troubled and was taken in by a loving and caring family who didn't really see race based on why they took him in. He was in need and they did the right thing. But they seem like the perfect family and that's one thing I talk about in the film, I wish they were more a bit more complex. But granted, you can't discredit where the film was going in its theme of family, humanism and Sandra Bullock's acting.

"Marriage Story" was all the talk of the town especially in New York and Los Angeles, respectively and I can see why as to watching it the other day. I can see how people can connect to the characters to the film whether they themselves have been married or not. I'm not a fan of Noah Baumbach but the writing in this film is great and I explain why. I also talk about the strengths of acting and how the main characters depicted marriage especially that they're in the world of "The Arts" as one would call it. Effective overall, I'd watch it again and once again, I explain as to why.