Retro Grade Podcast

“YOUR BABY IS THE MIRACLE THE WHOLE WORLD HAS BEEN WAITING FOR.”

Very rarely does a film come along that can entertain with amazing action set pieces but also engage with real world issues. On this week's episode, we go into Children of Men, a 2006 science fiction film directed by future Academy Award Winner Alfonso Cuaron.

We talk about the our first viewings of the film, and how the theatrical experience can enhance the experience of most film, even if it isn't the first time you've seen the film. We talk about how multiple viewings of a film can help bring even more insight into the inspiration, themes, and references of the film and how every department can help to bring those ideas into the viewer's mind.

After re-watching the film, we go into the technical aspects of the film, including the hidden editing of the film, to the cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki, who would go on to win 3 Oscars back-to-back-to-back for Gravity, Birdman, and the Revenant. We breakdown the multiple long take shots in the film and how they were achieved. Lastly, we go over why a film so celebrated by critic and audiences would go on to be a box office disaster and the dangers of large studio film productions.

So enjoy this week's special episode of Retro Grade, as we wish a special Happy Birthday to both Jorge and Alfonso Cuaron.

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“YOU JUST CAN’T GO AROUND KILLING PEOPLE!“

This episode we talk about one of the greatest action films ever made, Terminator 2, directed by the one and only James Cameron! We talk about our childhood memories of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the D.A.R.E. program, and the time Jorge almost burned down his school.

We get into the fact that this is one of the first mainstream movies to feature a cop in uniform as the main antagonist and whether or not James Cameron was trying to say something about the police in 1991. Intentional or not, what does a modern day viewing of T2 say to us? We also talk about the blend of revolutionary computer-generated effects, innovative practical effects, and the amazing performance by Robert Patrick all worked together to bring the T-1000 to life and straight to the top of any Top Movie Villain list that matters.

We also get into how vital Linda Hamilton was to the franchise, find out what happened to the child star, Edward Furlong, and just what kind of money it took to get this movie made in the first place. (Spoiler alert: it was more than any movie had cost to make ever before.) ENJOY!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“I AM THE WRITING ON THE WALL. THE WHISPER IN THE CLASSROOM. WITHOUT THESE THINGS I AM NOTHING.“

Happy Halloween! On our first (of many) horror movies, we picked 1992’s Candyman, directed by Bernard Rose. It’s a “slasher“ film that is actually a lot more intellectual and sophisticated when you think about it, or at least that’s the case that Austin tries to make. We give a brief backstory to the location the film takes place: the Cabnrini-Green homes of Chicago, and why that place was significant. You can find links to the sources we used on our website under the Candyman episode blog post!

We also talk about our personal encounters with bees. Hope you enjoy!

PS: On this show we talk about the real life crimes that have taken place in Cabrini Green that include murder and sexual assault. We don’t go into graphic detail, but we do mention them so this is a friendly heads-up.

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“SHUT UP GRANDMA, DRINK YOUR PRUNE JUICE!”

On this episode we cover a Michael Bay’s Transformers. One of Jorge’s favorites and one of Austin’s least favorites. This is one of the first movies covered on the podcast where we actually remember seeing it in the theater! Remember those?

Remember when movies could get away with portraying racial stereotypes for laughs? That’s pretty much where half of the comedy comes from in this movie from 2007. We talk about why the narrative choices don’t hold up very well, why the action sequences do, and why it had so many sequels.

We hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for our Halloween episode!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“SON, YOUR EGO IS WRITING CHECKS YOUR BODY CAN’T CASH.“

On this episode we go back to 1986 and talk about the highest grossing movie of that year, Tony Scott’s TOP GUN. Jorge talks about the origin of his Tom Cruise fandom and Austin talks about ANOTHER long lost unlicensed board game.

In addition to catapulting Tom Cruise’s Hollywood Career as a lead, it also changed the way movies were made (not necessarily for the better,) and a potential reason why it took over 30 years to make a sequel. This is a long one, but we promise you it is worth it!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“DON’T FEED THE PLANTS!“

In this episode we talk about Frank Oz’s adaptation of the off-Broadway musical (based off of the Roger Corman film,) Little Shop of Horrors! Austin loves this movie and his it firmly placed in his loose assortment of”Top 10’s,” and Jorge has never seen it, or even heard much about it at all. In fact, Jorge doesn’t really like musicals. However, by the end of the episode maybe his feelings about them change?

We learn about the amazing, unprecedented use of puppetry used to create the films talking/singing plant, Audrey 2, how this film has transcended the medium, and how great the music is and how we feel about Warner Brothers’ new version that they are developing.

SPOILER ALERT: The meat of our episode is about the “intended ending” and why they had to change it for theatrical release. We will be talking about both endings at length so if you haven’t seen the alternate, “inteded” ending don’t worry we will walk you through it.

Also. Jorge almost passes out from anger in this episode.

Half of this episode was recorded in a podcasting booth located in Undercity Comics in Whittier before the pandemic. On occasion, you might hear some beeping from the store's front door or other people walking around the store, so apologies in advance! Thank you for listening!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“THIS RACE IS FULL OF CHEATERS.“

In this episode we talk about a movie we both love, but it seems like the rest of the world hates. The movie? The Wachowskis’ Speed Racer from 2008! The Speed Racer that opened a week after Marvel Studios’ Iron Man. The world was not ready for something as wacky, colorful, and emotionally powerful as Speed Racer. We talk about how long the film took to be made, who was almost a part of it, and why it’s an incredibly underrated cinematic masterpiece.

In case you aren’t familiar with Speed Racer, we give a crash course of history of the original Japanese anime, the American dub, and what changes were made to the 2008 film, and a brief summary of the film so that you don’t have to see the movie (but you really, really should) to understand the episode.

Most of this episode was recorded in a podcasting booth located in Undercity Comics in Whittier before the pandemic. On occasion, you might hear some beeping from the store's front door or other people walking around the store, so apologies in advance! Thank you for listening!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

"WELCOME TO EARTH."

In this episode we talk about Roland Emmerich's Independence Day from 1996. Jorge loves it, Austin thinks "Mars Attacks!" was the better movie of this year. We talk about how this movie's aggressive, revolutionary marketing campaign, talk how the movie is so similar to (or derivative of) Star Wars, and how good/bad the special effects were for the time.

The second part of our episode was recorded in a podcasting booth located in Undercity Comics in Whittier before the pandemic. On occasion you might hear some beeping from the store's front door or other people walking around the store, so apologies in advance! Thank you for listening!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

This is the first episode we ever recorded for the show. We talk about Jorge's childhood trauma associated with this movie and how politically and socially relevant this film was back in '87 and today.

Sorry in advance for the uneven audio issues, we are still learning and hopefully the next episode will sound better. Thank you for listening!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in future episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

Welcome to Retro Grade!

In this episode we introduce ourselves. We talk about some of our favorite movies and shows so you get a bit of our taste profiles.

We also talk about how we met. While we sound like good friends now, this was not always the case..

We also talk about what we do on the show, and why.

Thank you for giving us a listen.

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in future episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o