09/16/22
This week: Comedy for LA people, a 21-year old film worth revisiting, billionaire news we can get behind, and a magical short rooted in real life.
TRENDS THIS WEEK:
Youtube Jay Wheeler & Zhamira Zambrano - DICELO
Letterboxd NOPE
Spotify Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52
Netflix THE IMPERFECTS
Twitter #HispanicHeritageMonth
Trailer BABYLON
Shopify It’s Been A Week
Life & Culture
Scientists just found what may be the one of the best preserved dinosaurs ever. It’s a juvenile duck-billed Hadrosaur. “It's so well preserved you can see the individual scales, we can see some tendons and it looks like there's going to be skin over the entire animal," Brian Pickles, a paleontologist, told USA Today. "Which means, if we're really lucky, then some of the other internal organs might have preserved as well.” Pickles thinks the dino might be preserved so well because it was immediately covered with sand and silt in the river it appears to have died in.
In a rare case of good news on the subject of climate change, Patagonia’s founder made the coolest decision any billionaire ever has. On Wednesday, Yvon Chouinard announced that he and his family are transferring the ownership of their company (valued at $3 billion (!!!)) to a trust and nonprofit org that will ensure all of the company’s profits will be used to combat climate change—forever. I am so wildly pumped about this news and hope that it inspires other billionaires to follow suit.
It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! And across the country, there are a ton of amazing and different ways you can celebrate. If you’re near D.C., the Smithsonian has a new exhibit opening tomorrow. “¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States,” is the first permanent space on the National Mall that’s dedicated to American Latinos. If you’re in Southern California, the Museum of Latin American Art is free every Sunday, and this Sunday it has a day full of festivities, including food trucks, workshops, and performances. And if you’re near New York City, check out the New York Latino Film Festival this weekend. The festival has full-length features, shorts, documentaries, and panels.
—Darlene Kenney, Director of Brand Marketing
Also! If you follow us on Instagram, you've seen us posting about our commission series, PS10 Ideas, where we gave nine creative individuals $1K to create their dream projects. And they were creative and smart and wildly different...check 'em all out here. And finally, it's time to share the winner of the series (and of a $10K grant).
Drumroll please….it's DAVE. Created by Matt Post, the three-part video series follows a time traveler who arrives in the Cretaceous period to die, and then meets a talking T-rex. It’s a heartwarming, beautiful piece of art. Check it out here!
TikTok
I’ve been absolutely loving every time that @cinema.joe comes up on my TikTok For You page. Joe makes meticulously curated videos all about films. He often makes lists, ranking specific categories like the best movie from each state, stop motion films and movies that he’ll only watch once. He also reviews current movies (like this take on BARBARIAN) and discusses different phenomena in filmmaking (like this dive into "Twin Films”). I fully respect his taste and have watched quite a few movies just because he sold me on them. Give him a follow if you’re ready for some educated and unique film recommendations in your scroll.
This week, I also loved this video of a family who has the only appropriate response to a Bad Bunny song coming on, this video of Selena Gomez roasting her ONLY MURDERS costars at the Emmys, and this video of the cutest little Tasmanian creature that I’ve never seen in action before.
—Darlene Kenney, Director of Brand Marketing
Film
There is no doubt that Alfonso Cuaron is incredible. He’s made great movies including ROMA, GRAVITY and HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (my fave of the entire saga).
But my favorite movie from Cuaron has to be Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (trailer here), co-written with his brother, Carlos Cuaron. The film earned them a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination back in 2003. It’s a coming-of-age and self-discovery journey of two 17-year-olds, Tenoch and Julio, who embark on a road trip in rural Mexico with Luisa, a woman in her late 20s. Apart from the astonshing cinematography, the story itself is what made this film successful and made a lot noise in a time when it was controversial to openly speak about topics involving sexual openness and masculinity—in a culture where machismo was heavily ingrained at the time. It was brave of the Cuaron brothers to bring this story to life in such a tumultuous time in Mexico, and as Maribel Verdu (who plays Luisa) said in an interview: “On that front the movie was ahead of its time. It shows things that no one did back then. No one dared.” And I couldn’t agree more. Go watch it if you haven’t already. And if you did watch it nearly two decades ago, I promise you it’s worth a rewatch.
—Eri Taira, Graphic Designer
TV
Since THIS FOOL (trailer here) premiered on Hulu last month, I have been obsessed. The half-hour comedy is set in South Central Los Angeles and follows 30-year-old Julio (played by co-creator Chris Estrada) who works at Hugs Not Thugs, a fictional gang rehabilitation non-profit. His older cousin Luis (played by the incredible Frankie Quinones) has just been released from prison and not only moves in with Julio’s family, but also joins the Hugs Not Thugs program to get his life back on track. The LA-specific jokes are top-tier (Knott’s vs Magic Mountain for example), but the rivalry and evolving relationship between the cousins is what kept me literally laughing out loud and coming back for more.
—Rosemary Brennan, Marketing Consultant
It's been 3 long years since LOS ESPOOKYS (trailer here), the left-of-center Julio Torres-led Spanish-language horror comedy graced our screens back in 2019. Set in a nondescript surreal Latin American country, the series follows a group of friends who specialize in staging horror scenes for various clientele. From a fake exorcism to a gruesome quinceañera, our friends embark on a bizarre mission every episode that leaves us wondering if part of their spooky endeavors aren't just a performance. It takes serious skill to create a world this strange and endearing and I haven't seen anything come close to its eccentric tone in our current TV landscape. I will be waiting patiently on my couch tonight for the premiere of the second season, which will drop at 11pm EST on HBO Max. I have a feeling the sophomore season will be worth the wait!
—Lisa Ramon, Manager, Television
Filmmaker
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending a screening and Q&A for IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME, the Sundance award-winning short film from Walter Thompson-Hernández. The short follows a father-son duo, Big Ant and Lil Ant, who navigate a dreamlike version of the Imperial Courts projects in Watts. Lil Ant spends his days watching planes pass over his home and yearning to fly. While the short heavily leans on magical realism, the story is inspired by a real event, in which Delta airlines spilled thousands of gallons of jet fuel across neighborhoods and schools in southeast LA in 2020. In the Q&A, Thompson-Hernández explained that many kids like himself grew up with a fascination of flying because they lived under this flight path, but the 2020 event recast that fascination for him—and allowed him to reflect on the environmental racism that his community faces. Walter Thompson-Hernández draws inspiration from his community not only as a filmmaker, but also in his podcasts, articles, and books. His 2020 podcast CALIFORNIA LOVE walks listeners through his neighborhood and love for Los Angeles. The same year, he published the book THE COMPTON COWBOYS, which highlights the history and stories of the Compton Cowboys from the riders themselves, and currently he has a film adaptation in the works from Prentice Penny. A talented multi-hyphenate, Walter Thompson-Hernández approaches his work through a very personal lens and an honest love for southeast LA. And the overcrowded screening for IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME in his local Huntington Park theater seems to be a strong indication that southeast LA loves him back. You can catch the next screening at the GuadaLAjara Film Festival in Downtown LA on September 29th!
—Ellen Amare, Office Coordinator
Music
Yesterday marked the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month, and also the beginning of EL TINY, which is part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Series (which is also maybe my favorite music video series ever). NPR’s show ALT LATINO, hosted by Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre, curates the series, currently in its second iteration. Artists featured this month include Omar Apollo, Girl Ultra, Susana Baca, and Jessie Reyez. In the first concert, which came out yesterday, Omar Apollo brought in a mariachi band for a very beautiful performance that’ll get you hooked on his music immediately.
—Darlene Kenney, Director of Brand Marketing
Have a great weekend! And as always, be kind, stay healthy, and stay creative. ツ
