Will We Ever Love Movie Theaters Again? Hollywood's Struggle and How We'd Fix It

Remember when you couldn't drive through Los Angeles without encountering film crews working on the next big production? Those days seem increasingly distant as Hollywood undergoes a seismic transformation that's reshaping not just how movies are made, but how we experience them.

The economic reality is stark. Productions have fled traditional hubs for places like Georgia and Canada, where generous tax incentives make filming significantly cheaper. This exodus leaves behind empty studios, unemployed crew members, and communities that once benefited from industry spending. Even schools that hosted craft services have seen donations dry up, revealing how deeply the industry's health affects local economies.

Meanwhile, the theater experience itself faces unprecedented challenges. With ticket prices soaring ($15-24 per person) and concessions adding substantially more, a family outing easily costs $100. When the same content appears on streaming platforms within weeks, many viewers simply opt to wait. This convenience comes at a cost, though – we've lost the communal joy of experiencing stories together. From "Who Shot J.R.?" to passionate post-Black Panther discussions, those shared cultural moments created connections that streaming's personalized schedules can't replicate.

Industry biases persist as well. Quality films like "G20" starring Viola Davis go directly to streaming despite their theatrical potential, while marketing for original content often pales compared to franchise installments. Yet there's hope in filmmakers like Ryan Coogler, whose "Sinners" demonstrates the enduring power of original storytelling.

What would bring you back to theaters? Is it possible to recapture the magic of communal viewing in a streaming world? Join our conversation about finding joy in cinema, however you choose to watch it – because embracing quality storytelling remains essential, whether on the big screen or your living room TV.

Thank you for stopping by. Please visit our website: All About The Joy and add, like and share. You can also support us by shopping at our STORE - We'd appreciate that greatly. Also, if you want to find us anywhere on social media, please check out the link in bio page.

Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth


DISCLAIMER: As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast. Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance.

Episode Transcript

Carmen Lezeth (00:00):
Hey everyone, welcome to All About the Joy.
The private lounge In the houseis Cynthia Rick Mario Alma.
How you guys doing Hello?

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (00:13):
I'm doing.

Alma Dawson (00:15):
Okay, I'm loving the shirt.
I am, oh, thank you.
Yes, I'm on spring break, soI'm doing great.

Carmen Lezeth (00:25):
Oh, okay, cool, cool.
I see, like the mellowness, themellowness.
So I wanted to talk a littlebit about your thoughts on
Hollywood and the changes thatare happening.
I know that you guys, alma andMario, live here, so you
probably have noticed there'snot a lot of filming going
around at all, like there was atime when you would go anywhere

(00:45):
and there would be film crews orwhatever.
Like every you would drive,there'd be traffic and you would
know so-and-so was filming orwhatever.
It would just be kind of cool.
But I haven't seen that in along time.
And we had the strikes writers,actor strikes but even before
that Hollywood was changing abit right Because of the
streaming services.
So I just wanted to get yourinitial opinions on Hollywood

(01:08):
and then we could get down intothe nitty gritty of what you
think the problems might be.

Maurio Dawson (01:11):
They suck.
No, I'm just joking.
No, you know what, Like yousaid, living here, especially
where we live.
You saw film you mentioned.
You see film crews everywhere.
I did see one film crew overhere in Santa Monica, off Bundy,

(01:34):
just this past week.
A lot of the actors anddirectors are really pushing for
film and television to comeback to Los Angeles because a
lot of people are losing theirjobs here Now, mind you, Georgia

(01:57):
and Las Vegas and Nevada.
They're giving a lot of taxcredits and incentives to come
to their states and people likeTyler Perry, who have built
large stages and making bigstrides for Black artists and
directors and producers, whichis great for them, and he has an

(02:21):
amazing studio there whereMarvel has taken all their
filming and that's a big chunkof a lot of media cinema right
now.

Carmen Lezeth (02:33):
Well, a lot of cinema also is being filmed
overseas.
Yeah, that's kind of the otherpart of it too, like Canada, you
know anything made it onHallmark, by the way, is all in
Canada yeah.
London overseas.
Yeah, Even all in Canada,London overseas.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (02:47):
Even here in Boston, like last year, we used
to see a lot of trucks andtrailers.
You always see the signs on thecrew and set up this way and
crew this way, and I haven'tseen any in a while.

Rick Costa (03:00):
There's a lot in Canada, though.
Isn't there Like Stargate?
Wasn't that in Canada?

Carmen Lezeth (03:04):
Oh yeah, that's been going on for a long, long
time, yeah in a while.

Alma Dawson (03:07):
It's a lot in Canada, though, isn't it Like
Stargate?

Carmen Lezeth (03:09):
wasn't that in Canada?
Oh, yeah, there's.
Yeah, that's been going on fora long, long time.
Yeah, I mean right, it wasalways like another, like I
always say that because whenyou're like an avid fan of
Stargate SG1, they always comethrough the wormhole or whatever
, it is no different angle ofthe same forest.

Alma Dawson (03:28):
For me, the way that I've noticed it is, a lot
of the film crews tend to liketo use the schools for craft
services and to use theirparking lots and things like
that, or to film school scenes,you know, even in the schools.
So we would get a lot of thattraffic and then we'd get like a
donation at the end so theywould rent it through the city

(03:52):
of la la films or whateverthat's who does all the
contracts and all of that stuff.
But then at the end the film,you know, the actual company,
would do a donation to theschool for hosting them.

Carmen Lezeth (04:04):
For people who don't know what craft services
is.
It's how everyone on a crewgets food.
It's how they get to eat.
Sorry, I just want to make sure, because not everybody knows
the lingo.

Alma Dawson (04:14):
That's how that's how we've noticed, because a lot
of those donations have driedup because there's not a lot of
filming going on.
So then you know, it is atrickle.
You know, like I said, trickledown, it really does trickle
down because even though youwould see them filming in the
communities and you're like, oh,they're just using that house,
no, they actually, you know, usethe, the schools, any places,

(04:38):
the parks, sometimes it's at thechurches, sometimes it's at the
schools.
It just, you know, it alldepends, and then in the end,
they also go ahead and do adonation to wherever it is.

Carmen Lezeth (04:52):
And the reason why it matters too is because if
you're filming in San Franciscoor you're filming anywhere in
you know, chino Hills orsomething, the whole crew will
stay there.
They'll have dinner there,they'll you know, maybe they'll
grab a movie when they have, youknow, a nighttime off or
something.
So all the businesses end uplosing out too, all the
restaurants, you know, all theother little places in whatever

(05:14):
place they're in.
And I know that Gavin Newsom,the governor of California, is
trying to get the legislation toadd some more tax incentives.
But I think I want to bring itdown to us.
As you know, someone asked methe other day what would it take
to get you back into the movietheater?
And I'm like Mara and Alma, I'mlike I go to the movie theater,
I love being in the movietheater.

(05:36):
But what they meant was whyaren't people going to the movie
theaters anymore?
And I think it's a combinationof things, but I wanted to know
what maybe you guys thought,rick.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (05:48):
Cynthia, honestly, I think ever since
COVID, you know, a lot of peoplekind of social distance
themselves and now it's likethey're like, oh well, if I can
stream it at home, I pay, youknow, $15, $20 to go to the
movies.
I can see it in my own houseand be comfortable and not have
to worry about getting sick fromanybody else.

Carmen Lezeth (06:06):
That's interesting.
Was it happening before COVID?
I don't even remember.
Yeah, streaming was alreadyhappening, but it just hadn't
taken off like it did, likeduring COVID.
Yeah, I don't even remember.

Rick Costa (06:18):
One big thing is a lot of people complain it's so
expensive.

Maurio Dawson (06:23):
I'm not going.
You're hungry.

Rick Costa (06:24):
No, you're already paying all this money for the
ticket, and now you won't.
No, it's expensive.
If you have a family, that'seven worse.
The more kids you have, themore you spend Like $100 for one
night.
I'm like, oh my God.

Carmen Lezeth (06:36):
That's not even an exaggeration.

Rick Costa (06:38):
No, I have friends with families.
They're like it's $100 when yougo to booths.
But I think one other issue istoo many remakes.
Give me something new andoriginal.
Snow White bombed.
Sorry, but they did not do well.

(06:59):
How about the remakes?

Maurio Dawson (07:03):
Come up with new original stuff.

Carmen Lezeth (07:05):
Well, Sinners is a brand new movie.

Maurio Dawson (07:07):
Yes, it is Top to bottom Written and directed
100% Rotten Tomatoes, and it isgetting critical acclaim, even
though it is considered a horrormovie.

Carmen Lezeth (07:18):
I'm not going to see it, but I support it, but I
support it.

Maurio Dawson (07:22):
But they're saying there's so many subplots
to the film that you have to seeit in the theater people always
say.

Carmen Lezeth (07:32):
People always say I want something new and fresh,
but and then they don't go tothe movie.

Maurio Dawson (07:36):
And then I'm gonna see it but he did
something really great and it'sdoing really well so far this
weekend have you guys seen italready?
I have no desire.

Carmen Lezeth (07:45):
Oh yeah, I know yeah yeah, I'm interested
because I mean, I think that'sthe part thing, the the thing
that's really important is he'sbeen promoting it.
He's been on tiktok, he's beenon all these interviews, he's
been talking about it, he's beenshowing, and someone sent us on
linkedin they said I'm gonna gosee this just because he's
showing um kind of I forget whatit's called, but the background

(08:05):
, how he does it.

Maurio Dawson (08:07):
Yes.

Carmen Lezeth (08:07):
Like how he's filming it or whatever.
So he's showing all these otherparts.
That's making people reallyintrigued to the making.

Alma Dawson (08:14):
That's what I'm trying to come up with.
I'm going to go see it, but ithas to be daytime when I walk
out.

Carmen Lezeth (08:19):
I'm not going to go see it until you guys tell me
how scary it is, then I'll go,because you know I'm like no, no
, it's not my genre, but I wantto support it.

Rick Costa (08:27):
Ryan Coogler right, he's the one that made that
thing, and Michael B Jordan youdon't know who he is, you know
who he is.
Not everybody knows who he is.
Oh my.

Carmen Lezeth (08:37):
God, I thought you were quite I was about to
kick.

Rick Costa (08:40):
Rick knows who Ryan Coogler is.
I mean, if I didn't know who hewas, duh.

Carmen Lezeth (08:43):
Did you hear how he said it?
He said is it Ryan Coogler?

Maurio Dawson (08:50):
Sorry, I had a little hot flash For those who
are listening, who don't know.
Ryan Coogler directed BlackPanther Fruitvale Station well,
actually all the Black Pantherfilms, but he did Creed with
Michael B Jordan, so he I didn'teven realize that, that I did
not know that before.

Carmen Lezeth (09:10):
During Black Panther I found out.
I did not know that at all.

Rick Costa (09:16):
Yeah, they have a long history.
Did he do Get Out too?
No, he did not.
No, that was Jordan Peele.

Maurio Dawson (09:20):
That was.

Rick Costa (09:21):
Jordan Peele oh, that's right.

Carmen Lezeth (09:24):
Yeah, I think it'll be interesting.
I actually think the changes toHollywood is something that
can't be stopped.
I think part this is just myopinion.
I think this idea that they canforce people to go back into
the theaters and not be in theirhome theaters, you know, is
kind of a I don't know like abulldozer that's that everyone's

(09:48):
trying to jump in front of youknow, and complaining about it,
and I'm like I think you'regoing to have to make it
important for me to go to themovie theater Not just me,
because I'm an avid moviegoer,but people who never used.
And you have to make it cheaper,you have to make it accessible,
like, I think here's a greatexample.
I used to go to the Bay theater, which is here in the Palisades

(10:08):
, one of my favorite theaters togo to.
But every time you go there youhave to find parking, and it's
not that easy to find parking inthe Palisades, you know.
But they do have kind of this,um, you know, like one of these
big, huge parking things and youpay like five bucks or whatever
.
That's not normal in mostplaces, you know.
But that's another addition.
It's not just the food orwhatever, it's also finding

(10:29):
parking and not making it easyso you don't have to walk 10
blocks, you know.
So I think they have to make ita whole different experience.

Maurio Dawson (10:38):
But just to go to a matinee was.
I went to the matinee by myselfand it was $15 for a matinee
and I was like wait, and then ifyou go for an evening show,
you're talking about $23 to $24.

Carmen Lezeth (10:54):
Just for one person.

Maurio Dawson (10:56):
For one person I'm having fun until nighttime.

Alma Dawson (10:59):
That's not the dine-in.

Rick Costa (11:00):
That's not even the dine-in.
If you want to do the dine-in,that's another $10 to $15.

Alma Dawson (11:04):
Right, right, yeah, dine-in If you want to do the
dine-in, that's another $10, $15.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (11:07):
Right, wow, there you go.
That's why people watch it athome, they're like I'm going to
cook a meal and I'm going to eatit in front of my TV and be
comfortable for free.

Alma Dawson (11:16):
How about I can Uber eat the meal and still be
cheaper, watching it from home.

Maurio Dawson (11:22):
How about I pay that same $20 to stream it and
have a whole house full ofpeople who can watch it?

Carmen Lezeth (11:27):
Yep, Yep, that's the thing too.
That's for real.
And now that the movies comeout, you know they're.
They're on screen for a weekand then they're on streaming
the week after.

Rick Costa (11:39):
That's kind of dumb on their part, like they should
make it exclusive to the theateronly for a longer period of
time, exactly before it used tobe in the movie theaters.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (11:49):
For what like three, four months before?
You would even get it onpay-per-view, right that's
because it had legs, right.

Carmen Lezeth (11:56):
so that's part of that industry thing that people
were going in to see them.
If nobody's going into themovie theater to see the movie,
they're trying to do likestraight to video, right?
You remember back in the daythat movies that would go
straight to video because theywould fall in front of whatever.
So it's kind of the same thingLike if the box office.
So I used to work for this guy,paul Garabedian all they do is

(12:18):
box office numbers and he's apretty big deal now, right, and
I mean he always was.
But it's just so funny.
I said we used to work for thatmean guy, but all they do is
box office numbers and it's kindof interesting to see his
charts and everything that hedoes all the time and how he
talks about the movie industryand what's happening with the
box office numbers.

(12:38):
But that's what happens,cynthia.
If they put out a movie and itdoesn't have legs, they put it
on streaming because they knowyou'll watch it on streaming
because you've already paid yoursubscription.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (12:49):
Right.
You know, so or you've watchedeverything on Netflix already.
You're like, oh, let me justwatch this low budget movie.
You know see what this is abouttype of thing.

Alma Dawson (12:58):
I was going to say we just watched.
What was it?
G20?

Maurio Dawson (13:01):
Yes.

Alma Dawson (13:03):
And we watched it on streaming.
It's Viola, oh Viola.

Maurio Dawson (13:06):
Davis Good it was excellent.

Alma Dawson (13:09):
We were like we would have watched this at the
movies.

Maurio Dawson (13:11):
I would have gone to the movies to see that.

Carmen Lezeth (13:13):
Where is it on?
What streaming is it on?

Maurio Dawson (13:15):
Amazon Prime.

Carmen Lezeth (13:16):
I don't have that either now.

Maurio Dawson (13:17):
What's it called?
It's called G20 with ViolaDavis.

Rick Costa (13:21):
Anthony.

Maurio Dawson (13:22):
Anderson Marseille, martin Okay, with
Viola Davis.
Anthony Anderson Marseille,martin Okay the gentleman.

Carmen Lezeth (13:28):
She's the president, or something right?

Maurio Dawson (13:29):
Yes, she is the president and he's the first
gentleman.
But, rick, do you watch theBoys?
Okay, the gentleman who playsHomelander.

Rick Costa (13:40):
Okay, yeah, anthony Starr.

Maurio Dawson (13:42):
Yes, he is the villain in this story.
He's a great villain.
You know he plays a greatvillain, so it's a great
storyline.
It was.
It was good.

Carmen Lezeth (13:53):
So I wonder why it was on Prime and not promoted
, as Because you just saidsomething that's really
important.
You're like I would have seenthis in the movie theater.

Alma Dawson (14:02):
I rarely hear anybody say that the storyline
was good, it was action, it wassuspenseful.
I was like, oh, this was reallygood.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (14:10):
Yeah that's another thing that they do,
though, but they make thingsjust for Prime, or just for Hulu
, just for Paramount.
Instead of putting it out inthe movie theater to see how it
does, they just put it directly,just on the streaming sites.

Maurio Dawson (14:22):
Can I be perfectly honest.
They didn't put it in a movietheater because there's a Black
woman who was a lead and I'mgoing to be perfectly honest.

Rick Costa (14:32):
And a president and I got to meet her.
She was like a female blackRambo.
She is.

Maurio Dawson (14:39):
She's a superhero she basically that sounds just
like Viola Davis.

Carmen Lezeth (14:43):
Anyways, I just want to say she is badass.

Maurio Dawson (14:47):
Yeah, I love her she kicked ass and took names
and her back.
It was a fully developedbackstory for her character as a
president is it just a movie oris it a series?
It's just a movie or is it aseries?
It's just a movie.

Alma Dawson (15:00):
That's horrible, it was really really well made.

Maurio Dawson (15:03):
It was really good and it's number one on
Prime.
That doesn't surprise me.

Carmen Lezeth (15:10):
But what surprised me is what you said,
because I know you're right.
I don't want to live in thatworld, but you're right, it's
the reality.
That is so sad, because I trustyour judgment when like I'm,
I'm gonna see it.
Um, I'll pay for it and see it.
I just feel like you saidsomething before that struck me,
that I've never heard someonesay I would watch that in the

(15:33):
movie theater.
I have never heard someone saythat when they're watching it on
their own home theaters.

Maurio Dawson (15:37):
You know yeah, it was that.

Carmen Lezeth (15:39):
It was that good that is so sad that racism is
just continuously prevalent.
But I think you're right.
I don't think people would havegone to the movie theater now.
They would have if it wasdenzel.
Right, people would have goneto see a movie if it was denzel
opening it no, not like, not,not for this and not because

(16:00):
he's the president.

Maurio Dawson (16:01):
I, absolutely I don't agree because of the
social climate we're in rightnow.
I think the time oh, you meanbecause of the social climate,
when, right now, yeah, I thinkif if it came out three years
ago, okay, it would have donewell.
I think it would have done well.
But I think that I think it wasa it was a political move to do
it that way, and that's kind oflike what we're doing in the

(16:22):
film industry as well.
Film industry has politicsunderneath it as well.

Carmen Lezeth (16:27):
Everything does.

Maurio Dawson (16:28):
Yeah, and I'm not trying to bring it to politics,
but I'm talking about we can doit no, no, I don't want to.
We're in the private room youcan say whatever you want it's,
but in the private room you cansee it's dollars and cents.
It's really about dollars andcents and it's just about what
makes sense to the industry inthe moment.
Um, and I understand theyreally want to recover because

(16:48):
we're not making the hollywoodis not making the same type of
money they used to they're nevergoing to make the kind of money
they used to never, things havechanged, that's yeah, that's my
whole point.

Carmen Lezeth (16:59):
Like I, you know, I'm sad.
You know, to me viola davis isstar power personified.
You know, like I would thinkanything that she does you would
go and see in the movie theateryou know like wouldn't even
question it and uh, yeah, thatjust makes me sad.

Rick Costa (17:20):
I was going to say, unless the theaters in Hollywood
figures out what they need todo to adapt, they're going to
become blockbuster videoBlockbusters.
No, we're not going to dostreaming.
Imagine if they went into thatthey would have been so rich.
But they're like no, we're notdoing that.

Maurio Dawson (17:41):
Well, now you're gone yeah, I had to say, um, the
other thing with, uh, ryancoogler with this movie he he
shopped his film around.
He didn't go with disney and,even though he's worked with
marvel and stuff like that inthe past, warner Brothers was
the only studio that gave himfull proprietorship of his

(18:02):
material in terms of getting itback, like after it, after it
does his rounds, all of thatstuff goes back to him Cause
they were the only studio thatwas willing to give him his own
material back.
Everybody else wanted to takeit from him.
Yeah, you can write or produceit, but we're going to own it.

(18:22):
Warner Brothers was the onlyone to say no, it's yours, we'll
work as a distributor for yourfilm, get our money back, get
your money, but you own it.
And that's important nowadays.

Carmen Lezeth (18:39):
I mean it's important and I agree with you.
I think that's part of theproblem, right.
It's like so back in the dayand I'm not defending the
studios, but I'm saying back inthe day the studios owned things
, so they promoted things andthey even had stars attached to
their studios so you would seethe same star over and over and

(18:59):
over again in the same movies.
It's kind of like in a way I'mnot comparing the two, but if
you notice, if you watch anyhallmark movies right there,
they have the same stars in thesame.
It's the same show over andover and over again, but people
watch it and it's the same starsbecause those stars are
attached to that network andthey in the way it's kind of old

(19:21):
hollywood way.
So I think you know there'sthat problem with it too.
I hope he succeeds and I thinkhe will thank god.

Maurio Dawson (19:29):
I mean I hope he does I'm sure to what extent um
I might just buy a ticket andnot go see it, but just to
support it.

Carmen Lezeth (19:36):
Oh you, don't like horror films.
I don't like horror, butthere's things I won't.
I just go see it, but just tosupport it, oh, you don't like
horror films.

Maurio Dawson (19:39):
I don't like horror, I just want to go see it
.

Carmen Lezeth (19:43):
Look at Alma Alma's like I will be seeing
that movie.

Rick Costa (19:48):
It's all in her face .
You buy it for Cynthia'stheater, and then there you go.

Maurio Dawson (19:52):
I'll buy your ticket, Cynthia, and I'll send
it to you Wait, wait, wait.

Carmen Lezeth (19:57):
She's going to go anyway, so we want to support
him.
So we have to buy the ticketanyways.

Maurio Dawson (20:01):
I'll buy one ticket.
I'll buy somebody's ticket.
They can bring friends.

Carmen Lezeth (20:07):
They can bring friends right.
I just yeah.
What about the audienceinfluencing Hollywood?
Or is Hollywood dictating whataudiences want?
So earlier you guys weretalking about I think it was
Rick who was saying somethingabout, you know, repetitive
movies that are sequels orwhatever, right?

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (20:27):
I think Hollywood is kind of deciding,
because now it's like Disney isa good example, you have the
Lion King, you have Snow Whiteand they're doing all these live
actions.
They're just remaking the samemovie, just in a live action,
and some of them are good, someof them are not.
And same with horror movies.
Horror movies now are not thesame as before.

(20:47):
You know what's going to happen.
I know Carmen hates horrormovies.
I'm not saying it weird.
You kind of already know what'sgoing to happen in each horror
movie.
You know like it's like nothing.

Carmen Lezeth (21:03):
nothing is new but do you have?
Do you seek new?

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (21:08):
like there's so many indie films nobody
watches yeah, that is true, thatis true, but I think they're
not marketed?

Carmen Lezeth (21:15):
I think they're not marketed well, like if you
want me to see something I needto know it's out there.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (21:21):
Absolutely yeah.
It's like when we watch, likeall these golden globes and
Oscars and stuff like that andthey talk about all these
international films, it's likewhere do they play on?
Who saw them?
Everybody but us.

Carmen Lezeth (21:34):
Exactly.
And then they send you the, the, the DVDs or CDs or all the
those so that we can stream them.
And then I have to sit andwatch like nine stupid films,
you know, half of them withsubtitles.
And I say stupid because that'sthe worst way to watch it in a
rush, because you have to vote.
You know what I mean.
Like that's the worst way towatch a film.
And where am I doing it?
On my computer or on my littleTV, not in the movie theater.

(21:57):
Or on my little TV, not in themovie theater.
You know, I was having aconversation with somebody the
other day.
I think I told Rick this too.
I think it would be a greatidea, and he came up with this
idea, not me.
He said would you go into themovie theaters and watch like
old school movies that youhaven't seen in a long time in
the movie theaters, like inIndiana Jones or Star Wars or

(22:18):
whatever?

Alma Dawson (22:18):
I'm going to have to do it tomorrow, oh when are
you?

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (22:20):
going to go see it.

Alma Dawson (22:21):
Pride and Prejudice .
It's like their 20thanniversary.
I'm going into the theater togo watch it.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (22:27):
Yeah, it's a good movie.

Maurio Dawson (22:33):
Not after watching it 25 times.

Carmen Lezeth (22:38):
Time pieces.
Time period pieces.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (22:41):
I know what I do in them.

Carmen Lezeth (22:46):
I'm not trying to take away from it.

Alma Dawson (22:48):
And we went to go see Purple Rain.
I made him go see WhiteChristmas with me.
You know just all of the, so wedo do that.

Carmen Lezeth (22:59):
We will go see right so he was saying what if
they did like a huge, big, youknow, like they, they promoted
it too, like there's going to bewould people go back to them?
I'm like you got to dosomething, because if you want
the theaters to survive, well,you have to market it to us and
let us know.
You know, know, I think part ofthe problem is is the reason
why we don't see indie films.

(23:20):
I never hear and I live here,I'm in the industry I never hear
about these indie films untilthe nomination come out.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (23:31):
I'm even part of, like the Sony
screenings and the GoFoBoscreenings.
So once in a while I'll getemails and say, oh you, you know
you're invited to come see ascreening of, let's say, sinners
yeah on this day and time, likethey should do that, like with
you, carmen, while they send youthe dvds, why don't they pick a
theater and say, hey, we'regoing to have a screening of

(23:52):
this movie on this day and time,so you guys can actually watch
it in the theater, not at homeor on your computer?

Carmen Lezeth (23:59):
I'm saying, you know, countrywide.
Like I'm saying if theypromoted the film they said
listen, like you'll seecommercials, you'll see it on
the bus, right, you'll seewhatever that you know.
I don't know whatever movie itis.
Indiana Jones is going to be inthe theater, blah, blah, blah
blah.
Or the Color Purple, whateverit is, you know, out of Africa

(24:20):
remastered blah, blah blah.
Two days or this weekend only,or something.
I wonder if it would bring back.
I think it would bring back GenX people to the theaters.
You know what I mean.
It might do that.
I thought it was a great idea.
But I told him he needs to callthe Academy, because the
Academy is the one who owns andholds all those films.
There's a reason why they'renot doing it.

Maurio Dawson (24:39):
They don't want to spend marketing dollars
honestly Of course not.

Carmen Lezeth (24:42):
But they don't want to spend money to make
money.
So I don't know what to tellthem.

Rick Costa (24:46):
I just had another idea, so I just saw a trailer
for another.
I think it's the third one Tronmovie.
I saw that Insane.
But why don't, before that onecomes out, put on those first
two?

Alma Dawson (25:02):
do you know?
All the people that don't knowyeah, you know how I see do that
all the time.
I think it's regal, regaltheaters will do that all the
time because I remember when itwas, uh, indiana jones, when
they were going to put that, thenew one out, they did a whole
like week of all of the old.
You know lost arcs, the wholething.

(25:25):
You know they had a wholemarathon.
You could buy the buy the wholemarathon or you could pick which
ones you wanted to go to beforeyou went to go see the.
The new, the new one.

Carmen Lezeth (25:35):
I kind of miss it , I miss, I, I miss.
I said it a million times thelast time I had so much fun in a
movie theater was Endgame.
I've seen movies since thenthat I enjoyed or whatever, but
Endgame it just felt likeeverybody was that communal
feeling.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (25:52):
Into it, yes , you were an Avenger.

Carmen Lezeth (25:58):
Just the crying and the whatever it's true.

Alma Dawson (26:01):
That's what it was like when we went to go see
Black Panther Same thingEveryone was here.
It was so good.

Maurio Dawson (26:07):
Cheering.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (26:12):
That's what we're talking about, and not to
bring up horror movies again.
You can bring up horror movies.
You just can't force me andMario to go see them.
But the movie Halloween Likethere are so many versions of
Halloween, but I've seen them inthe movie theaters and it's
like anytime you see Jamie LeeCurtis, come on, you hear

(26:33):
everybody clapping Like she'sabout to kick ass.
You know what I mean.
Like it's that whole likecommunity know what I mean.

Carmen Lezeth (26:40):
It's that whole community feeling.
I didn't realize Jamie LeeCurtis was in those movies.

Alma Dawson (26:43):
Yeah.

Maurio Dawson (26:46):
She's the OG screen queen.
I can't.

Carmen Lezeth (26:51):
She's the one in the movie.
I didn't know.
I've never seen them.
Why would I know?

Maurio Dawson (26:56):
You know who else is in that movie.

Alma Dawson (26:58):
For anyone who can't see I roll my eyes as a
kid, I'm sorry, what, mario.

Carmen Lezeth (27:05):
I couldn't hear you because Alma was dissing me
with her eyes.

Maurio Dawson (27:08):
Kyle Richards, kyle Richards from Housewives
and all that shit.
Oh yeah, yeah yeah.
She's the original kid withJamie Lee Curtis in the original
Halloween film.
I, the original kid with JamieLee.

Carmen Lezeth (27:18):
Curtis in the original Halloween.
I've never.
I'm telling you, the other dayI was watching a rerun of
something and and it got me madbecause this is one thing I
don't like they put reallyhorrible horror commercials,
trailers in between, like I'mwatching the fucking golden
girls, and then there's likesome horror thing coming on or
whatever in between, promotingsome scary thing or whatever,

(27:40):
and I just I like turn it mute,I walk away.
I am really like chicken shitor whatever you want to call it.
I don't like anything horror.
Oh my god, you know.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (27:50):
I'm just saying her mom was in one of the
movies with her yeah.
Jamie Lee Curtis' mother, yeah,who played in Psycho.
Yeah, you know hersister-in-law, jennifer her.

Carmen Lezeth (27:59):
Yeah, yeah, who played in Psycho?
Yeah.

Maurio Dawson (28:00):
Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Carmen Lezeth (28:02):
I had to see Psycho in film school, but I
really didn't watch it.

Maurio Dawson (28:08):
She's like royalty.
Jennifer Jason Leigh is her mom, not Jennifer Jason Leigh,
janet Leigh, janet Leigh andTony Curtis.

Carmen Lezeth (28:17):
I know who she is .
What's his name?
Tony Curtis from back in theday.
Right, that's her father.

Alma Dawson (28:24):
But I just I've never seen Halloween that makes
me think of a question.

Rick Costa (28:30):
Now, compared to like even 25 years ago, does the
term movie star carry the sameweight that it used to?

Carmen Lezeth (28:38):
me it does.
I live here, so I don't knowwhy people I don't know about
movie star the same weight thatit used to me it does.
So I live here, so I don't knowwhy people so mad about movie
star.

Alma Dawson (28:42):
I think it's more celebrity now.
It's not really, but there aresome movie stars yeah, right
yeah, because denzel is a moviestar.

Carmen Lezeth (28:51):
Yeah yeah, yeah, viola davis is a movie star.
No, I do.
I, I think there was.
I mean, I think there is a,there's celebrity, and I don't
think there's anything wrongwith either one of those
terminologies.
I know people.
I think what's gettingconfusing, or what's making it
harder, is, first of all, allthe negativity in this country
about anything to do with peoplewho have any fame is weird,

(29:15):
like we want to blame everythingon rich people.
We always want to blame it onthe wrong rich people.
You know what I mean?
Um, and then the other thingI'll say is I think content
creation, right, the contentcreation world, which is
different from hollywood, right,which is like the.
What's his name, mr?
What's the?
What's the guy's name?
I can't remember his name oh,the one that's the he's, he's,

(29:36):
yeah, you know what I'm talkingabout anyway, all the content
creators who are big you'retalking about, mr beast.
Right, right, I'm really havinga head fart in the I can't
remember, but all of them, youknow, like there's all this
weird kind of like you becomeinstantly famous on tiktok or
youtube or whatever and that'smuddying the waters.

(29:56):
But to me I still think there'sHollywood royalty.
And you know, movie star, Idon't know, I still have that
dream of the.
You know, I see certain people,like you said, denzel, viola
Davis, I think, meryl Streep, Ithink it was old school people.
You know what I mean?
Old school, what's her name?

(30:17):
Who's in?
Uh, the?
I think she's lovely selenagomez, is that her name?

Maurio Dawson (30:22):
uh, yeah, um, you know, I think she's a movie
star, but I see her as acelebrity because she's
celebrity.
I see her on tv, then moviestar.

Carmen Lezeth (30:32):
I don't see movie star right, well, I, I was just
gonna say, like I see up andcoming, like this possible
sendaya, I see people who havethis possibility.
You know what I mean Becausethey're talented.
Ariana Grande, like we could.
Like I see possibilities intheir talent and the way in
which they present themselves.
And you know, like I, I see allthat.
So I'm just saying I think it'sstill there.

(30:54):
I think we're losing a lot insociety because we're very
skeptical and negative andblaming and we don't.
You know, I'm not trying to sayit, but we don't have a lot of
joy anymore.

Maurio Dawson (31:05):
So I think, celebrities.
They lost their mystiquebecause of social media and
because of TMZs and all thegossip.
Well, the gossip rags used todo this.
They've always been there, butit was more mystique because you
didn't know for sure.

Carmen Lezeth (31:26):
You weren't positive.
Now you can double check.

Maurio Dawson (31:28):
So it's like, hmm , and it gave you fodder for
conversation.
You know what I'm saying, butbut like you just didn't know,
like the doris days and in inall of those people, even way
back when jay, different time.
Yeah, jimmy stewart's, thecharlton charleston, charleston,

(31:50):
heston yeah, and they just andthat's a legend and the thing,

Alma Dawson (31:56):
is that they knew.
I will say they knew their role.
They knew when they came out oftheir house they presented
themselves a certain way, youknow, and now it's like, oh,
whatever, they come out in theirsweats and their whatever.
They look like a hot mess Doing, you know.

Maurio Dawson (32:14):
A hot boiling mess.

Alma Dawson (32:15):
Yes, so it's definitely you know.

Carmen Lezeth (32:18):
It's also just a different time.
I mean, I agree with you Likewe've lost a lot of that in just
our world in general.
Like I can't remember the lasttime I put on a suit to go to
work I don't you know what Imean.
Like when you just said sweats,I'm like I wore sweats today
Into the office, you know.
But yeah, so, and again I agreewith you, I miss the old school

(32:43):
Hollywood.
But when I see somebody likeZendaya, am I saying her name
right?
I feel like I'm saying it wrong.

Maurio Dawson (32:48):
Zendaya.

Carmen Lezeth (32:49):
Zendaya, right, I'm doing the Teresa thing,
which is like saying it inSpanish.
We know somebody that everytime she meets somebody like
somehow their name becomesSpanish, even if they're not.
It's cute, it's cute.

Rick Costa (33:06):
Do you do the?

Carmen Lezeth (33:06):
same thing, but yeah, like I see all the
possibilities and the eleganceand maybe that's what it is.
Hollywood celebrities, you know, now become not just a given
just because you're in the movie.
Celebrities, you know, nowbecome not just a given just
because you're in the movie, um,but now it really is more of a
rarity, you know.
And maybe the rest of justcelebrities, you know, like
there's the hollywood fanfareand then there's, you know, that

(33:28):
was one of my questions- theyused to have media training and
they used to have um trainingabout how you present.

Maurio Dawson (33:35):
Like I'm gonna say, how you present yourself
when you go out in public.
You had a script, you stuck toit and you know.
And then you go in the houseand mind your business.

Carmen Lezeth (33:48):
You know and and then people would talk about you
behind your back, right.

Maurio Dawson (33:52):
But that was fine , because you didn't know for
sure.

Carmen Lezeth (33:54):
But then there were.
So there were pros and cons tothat right.
So I'm going to push back alittle bit, because then you had
things like people having tohide themselves from who they
really were, like rock hudson orright or you.

Maurio Dawson (34:05):
You couldn't be who you were but the backlash of
that also backed into.
Then you have the britneyspears.

Alma Dawson (34:11):
Yeah, I think it's fun too much the other way,
where, oh, we want to see themas real people, we want to know
that they're real people, wewant to know that they're real
people, we want to know thatthey're relatable, that they're
approachable, that they're this.
So then it went all the way theother way and it's never kind
of, you know, it's not evergoing to self-correct itself.

Carmen Lezeth (34:30):
No, it's not, Because it's part of our society
.
Now, it's the way we all are.
So, man, tomorrow I'm going toget up and wear a nice suit to
the office because I'm feelinggood.

Alma Dawson (34:40):
I want a selfie, I do Wow.

Carmen Lezeth (34:45):
Do you wear suits when you go to the office?

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (34:48):
No, I'm just saying it's been a long time I
wear yoga pants and a T-shirt.
Really, really.

Alma Dawson (34:56):
Okay, well, I'm not that bad.

Carmen Lezeth (34:58):
Really Okay?
Well, I'm not that bad.
The schools is just being, youknow, presentable for the
children.
Nothing, you know that's goingto be.
They're not wearing like littletassels and like a thong right.

Alma Dawson (35:13):
But I mean, I think the only place they really have
a, a dress code, is at the mainoffices, at the main
headquarters, I'll say People inbanks still dress up.

Maurio Dawson (35:28):
Still, If you walk into a bank, which is very
rare that you do that- I knowright.
I was just going to say that,yeah, but when I do, because I
have a mother who still likes todo it old school so I have to
go on the daycare.
But even when you go in thetellers and the managers,
they're all still Monday throughThursday.
They're going to have a tie on,they're going to have trousers,

(35:50):
they're going to have a blazer.
They might not have a tie on,but they will have everything
else on.

Carmen Lezeth (35:55):
Maybe we need to bring it back.

Maurio Dawson (35:57):
No, I'm good.

Carmen Lezeth (35:58):
Yeah, me, neither everything else.
Maybe we need to bring it back.
No, I'm good.
Yeah, I mean somebody said thatabout playing.

Alma Dawson (36:00):
They were like people used to dress up to get
on a plane like you used tosmoke on a plane too, and I'm
good with that yeah, no, and Iwould tell you now, because of
all the you know, especially ifyou're in a union, if they want
to have a dress code, then theyhave to give you an allowance.
I like that.
So then it's you know.

(36:21):
So it's all dollars and centsagain Again.

Carmen Lezeth (36:26):
Yes, that's so sad.
I'm going to dress up in a suittomorrow.
Actually, I do have a big lunchdate tomorrow, so I'm going to
be dressed up anyway.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (36:34):
Yeah, look at you and be like what's wrong
with you, carmen?

Carmen Lezeth (36:39):
I don't dress bad , I guess I don't, I mean I
don't really.
I guess I don't.
I always wear nice slacks, butI always have on a t-shirt
forever, a really nice t-shirtbut a t-shirt and I have the
same.
Sorry we're talking about this,but I do have like I have like
20 black t-shirts.
They're all the same.
I wear them all the time.
It's just easier.

Alma Dawson (36:59):
That happened because of COVID, remember you
didn't have to get on your Zoom.
The Simon Powell of All Aboutthe Joy.

Carmen Lezeth (37:06):
Is that what he does?
Oh, shoot.

Alma Dawson (37:09):
Oh, I got to change it.
Now that's going to be yournickname.
Nobody's happening.

Rick Costa (37:14):
I noticed that with some podcasters.
At first I didn't pick it up.
Not that dude wears the samecolor shirt every single time.

Carmen Lezeth (37:26):
I do it on purpose.
I do it so that I don't have tofirst of all be worried about
it, and it happened during COVID.
You'd have to be on all theseZoom calls with all these
different people all day long,and then you realize, like you
know what?
I'm just going to wear the sameshirt.
And then I was like okay, Ican't be wearing the same shirt,
so I just bought.
So it was just you know, becausethen you have people who would
just dress like halfway, andthen they would get up and

(37:48):
they'd have on shorts or Yep.

Maurio Dawson (37:52):
Or no pants at all.
Okay.

Carmen Lezeth (37:53):
Yeah, well, now we're going into a whole other
avenue.

Alma Dawson (37:57):
We're veering away from the topic now.

Carmen Lezeth (38:00):
That's okay, it goes where it's going to go.
Yeah, let me see if I have anyother.
Do you think streaming servicesare hurting movies in Hollywood
?
I think, they're hurting TVmaybe I don't know.

Maurio Dawson (38:18):
I think they're hurting television but not
movies, because if you're goingto go to the movies, you're
going to go to the movies.
But streaming.
I'm here for streaming forreality stuff and a good series
because, like elma and I arestuck right now on the wheel of
time so good.

Carmen Lezeth (38:38):
What's the wheel of time?
Where's it's like?

Alma Dawson (38:40):
sci-fi fantasy yeah no but where is it streaming?

Carmen Lezeth (38:46):
Prime.

Alma Dawson (38:48):
So good.

Maurio Dawson (38:50):
And I'm stuck.
I'm stuck on stupid because I'mright there.
I'm like wait, we're in themiddle of season two.

Carmen Lezeth (38:59):
How many seasons does it have?
Three so far.
Is it a new show?

Maurio Dawson (39:05):
It's relatively new, I'm just catching that.

Carmen Lezeth (39:08):
Rick, have you already seen it?

Rick Costa (39:11):
I just started season two.
So, you're right, I'm busywatching.
This Is Us.

Carmen Lezeth (39:18):
That was worth every minute Wait did you finish
?
This Is Us.

Rick Costa (39:22):
I'm on the fourth season.

Carmen Lezeth (39:25):
You gotta get faster.
So I have a question.
So I have a question.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (39:30):
So, with streaming, do you prefer the
entire season to come out all atonce or do you prefer it to be
like two episodes?
Wait till next week.
One episode, you know.

Alma Dawson (39:42):
I like it when they do chunks, so they'll put out
like two or three, and then youwait, and then they'll put out
like two or three, and then youwait, and then they'll put out
another two or three, and thenyou know, I like it that way.

Maurio Dawson (39:53):
But if they won't do it that way, if they're
making me wait week to week,then I will wait until they're
all out and then I'll watch it,so you know it depends on the
show, Cause, like I'm watchingdaredevil, like they give you
first, they gave you the firsttwo and then they pulled me.
Because I'm watching Daredevil,they give you the first two and
then they pull me in and I'mwaiting for the next week.
So I'm going right back becauseI got through the first two.

(40:16):
I'm like, okay, now I've got tofind out what's going on now.
So yeah, it just depends.

Carmen Lezeth (40:19):
See story matters .
Story matters yeah the storyreally matters and the
characters really need toconnect with people, and I think
that's the other part of it.
No-transcript, none of us needto go see that movie.

(40:47):
We know what's going to happen.
We all none of us need to gosee that movie.
We know what's going to happenright right, but it was, it's
the characters or whatever andget connected to it and you want
to be the hero, you want to bethe person that's in the know.
I think what I miss with all ofthis kind of binge watching
type of thing is and you alreadyknow what I'm going to say
because we've talked about itbefore is you used to watch an

(41:09):
episode and talk about it, andthen the following week it would
come out, and so, for thechildren who are listening to
our show, possibly, we used tohave three channels NBC, abc and
CBS.
You'd have PBS and whatever theother channels were.
If you watch Spanish channels,you have the Spanish channel
Right the Spanish channel butyou would watch like everybody

(41:33):
collectively would pretty muchwatch the same things,
especially if they were popularand you'd go the next week Like
I remember X-Files, that was abig deal.
Oh my gosh, I love X-Files.
Oh my gosh, yes, oh, my goshNow.
I think, it's kind of horrorlike some of it is because I was

(41:54):
in love with that.
What's happening?
I am old, oh yeah.
No, I've always hated horror.

Alma Dawson (41:59):
I've been saying that is not horror.
Do you not see the gray hair?
Do you see mine?
But that is not horror okay letme okay wait, let's talk.

Carmen Lezeth (42:08):
Okay, we're gonna have an argument there are.
We're gonna have our we need tohave an argument, because that
will bring people in.
So here it is what I lovedabout x-files.
First of all, I was in lovewith david ducovny.
I'm just gonna say it straightup.

Rick Costa (42:20):
I knew it but I did.

Carmen Lezeth (42:21):
I loved him so because I I used to watch him on
twin peaks I don't know if youever watched it, okay.
And then he was on X-Files andI loved it and I love the kind
of whole sci-fi part of it.
You know, I love the whole deepthroat-esque thing, blah, blah,
blah.
What I didn't like was some ofthe horror.
I'm calling them horror.
Do you remember?
It sticks in my head.
Do you remember the brothersthat lived in the house?

(42:44):
And there was the one under thebed on that roller thing and he
was like that's horror.
That's still in my head to thisday.
It's been like 30 years.
It's still in my head.
That is horror.
So they had moments and thenthey had those satanic ones.
Remember when people yeah,that's what I'm saying.
So they had sections of it,alma, that were horror.

(43:06):
Yes, mario, I never want you towatch those because I
understand the sense you had togo see the movies with me.

Alma Dawson (43:13):
No, I didn't the movies weren't horror, though
the movies were not.

Maurio Dawson (43:18):
I respectfully decline.
It was not me.

Carmen Lezeth (43:21):
Okay, but the movies aren't horror.
The movies are not horror.

Maurio Dawson (43:26):
I don't like it.
No, that's not my horror.

Carmen Lezeth (43:27):
I don't like it.
You didn't like X-Files.

Maurio Dawson (43:29):
No, that's not my jam.
I remember I was in collegewhen it was coming on and I used
to hear the theme song and itirritated me and I just left the
room.
It's good just the horrorepisodes are bad, I'm okay.

Carmen Lezeth (43:44):
Because there's a difference between suspense and
the horror part.

Rick Costa (43:47):
No, I'm good, I'll put my two cents in.
Mostly weird, very alien-ish alot of times, but there were
some gross stuff that seemedhorror-esque.

Carmen Lezeth (43:59):
I'm going to do it this way.

Alma Dawson (44:02):
Alma, alma.

Maurio Dawson (44:05):
I saw gore and gook.

Carmen Lezeth (44:07):
There was gore and gook in some of those.
I walked by the TV and I'm likeI'm not and Gook.
There was Gore and Gook in someof those.

Maurio Dawson (44:09):
I walked by the TV and I'm like I'm not watching
this shit.
I kept walking.

Carmen Lezeth (44:15):
But a lot of the show is really about the kind of
alien idea of the governmenthiding it, yeah, but no, it's
not the same it's suspenseful,it's suspenseful, it's
suspenseful.
There's a difference, but thereare horror episodes.
Thank you, rick.

Alma Dawson (44:34):
I appreciate you.

Rick Costa (44:36):
I think what I liked most was the dynamic between
Scully and Mulder Characterdriven Good writing.

Carmen Lezeth (44:44):
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, it was good.
It was kind of like TwilightZone in a lot of ways.
There was a lot of kind ofinteresting because you could
watch some standalone episodes.
So like it was like TwilightZone, suspenseful, interesting,
made you think you know it waskind of like Black Mirror, like
sort of no, not really.
I don't know if you would saylike Black Mirror, would you?

(45:06):
It's a little bit more wellBlack Mirror.

Maurio Dawson (45:08):
it gives me Twilight Zone feels and vibes
too, but I think X-Files is moresanitized than Black Mirror.

Carmen Lezeth (45:16):
Do you know what I mean?
It's a little bit easier totake.
It also was like 1996 we'retalking about.
You know what I mean?
I don't even know if that wasthe exact year, but it was like
93, 94.
93, 94.
Yeah, so, but yeah, I think, Imean, look, I think the movies
are easy, because the reason whythe movies I thought were not

(45:39):
well done at all is because theytried to explain it to the
general public, whereas the restof us had already seen
everything.
We didn't need an explanation.
And see, I didn't need anexplanation, exactly.

Maurio Dawson (45:48):
And see, I didn't like the show, so therefore I
was not interested in the filmsI was like I'm good.

Carmen Lezeth (45:55):
So, Mario, did you not like X-Files?
I'm not sure we got thatclarity.

Maurio Dawson (46:00):
It was my favorite show.
I could not miss an episode.
I'll never I have to go bingewatch it again because I loved
it so much.
Oh my God.

Rick Costa (46:11):
And they tried to do a spinoff and it totally bombed
.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (46:13):
Of X-Files?
Yeah, I think so.

Rick Costa (46:16):
I think so.
No, the movies were not thatgreat.

Carmen Lezeth (46:20):
I don't know, there wasn't a spinoff of
X-Files Really.
I think there was.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (46:31):
I would have never even bothered which,
clearly, why are we doing thisagain?
I can't even leave you for that.
That was really good don'tencourage him I know right that
was good.

Carmen Lezeth (46:45):
The y file, no, look.
I think what we're kind ofreally saying is that story and
character matter and that wewill go to the movie theater and
we will watch it on streamingif it's good.
And part of the problem iswe're not marketing the good
stuff or the things that maybewe should be seeing, which are

(47:05):
indie films, because indie filmsdon't have marketing budgets
because, they're not usuallysupported by the studios, no,
and lower pricing of tickets.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (47:16):
I don't think that's going to happen.

Carmen Lezeth (47:17):
It's kind of saying you want lower ticket
prices at Disney.
That's never going to happeneither.
We're here now.

Rick Costa (47:24):
Well, now it's like we're in a catch-22 because not
as many people.
We need to make more money tomake up for not as many people.
So how can they do that?

Carmen Lezeth (47:31):
Well, you know where movie theaters make most
of their money, right, it's notfrom the ticket sale.
It's the food Concession whichis weird.
Yeah, that's where they maketheir money.
It's kind of like when you goto a restaurant Most restaurants
, doesn't matter which one it is.
They don't make their money offthe food, they make money off
the wine.
You buy, the liquor.

Maurio Dawson (47:51):
Well, and now they're serving alcohol at AMC.
Shout out to AMC for the liquor.

Carmen Lezeth (47:54):
I only go to the movie theaters when I have to
see a movie in the theater.
I will go see his movie.
No, I won't, because you guyshave to tell me about how bad it
is horror-wise.

Maurio Dawson (48:04):
Yeah.

Carmen Lezeth (48:10):
Sinners, yeah, sinners, yeah, I would go see it
because of him, or any blackmovie I'll go see in the movie
theater because I want tosupport.
It's true, sorry, yeah, I'mreally bummed.
What you said about the violadavis thing, though, in this
movie.

Maurio Dawson (48:19):
Did you ever?
Did you go?
I don't know I watched.
Did you ever watch the documentdocumentary about movie?

Carmen Lezeth (48:27):
No.

Maurio Dawson (48:28):
You have to go and take the time to watch that
documentary MoviePass.
I don't remember you guys.
Back in the day we used to getthe little.
It used to look like a littlecredit card and you can go to
the movies.
And this was before we hadStubs Club and all that stuff.
You could use your MoviePass atany movie theater to buy your
ticket for less value, for acheaper cost.

Alma Dawson (48:50):
Actually, we would pay $10 a month.
And you could go to a movie.
It was levels, so $10 a month.
You could go once a week anymovie, any time.
It didn't have to be a matinee,whatever it could be first run,
whatever, and you would justswipe your card and go to the
movie.

Maurio Dawson (49:10):
So okay go ahead and it went under.
But it was started by two blackmen and it was then.
It was then stolen and now he'strying to get it back and it's
a great story of what streaming,how really streaming kind of
started.
They really are kind of thecatalyst, but they had a great

(49:36):
strategy, bad planning and theybecame millionaires on stock
market and lost it all becauseit was stolen from them.
And I really suggest anyonereally take a look at the
documentary.
It's called Movie Pass thedocumentary and it was very
insightful, not only aboutstreaming, about these

(50:01):
memberships, and also aboutmarketing and the film business
and how they were kind of theyjust didn't think it through,
but it was the start ofsomething great but just didn't
have the right foundation, ifthat's the best way to say it.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (50:18):
Yeah, it reminds me of a movie called
Founder.
It's on Netflix and it's aboutMcDonald's and how it started
with two brothers and it wasstolen from them.

Maurio Dawson (50:31):
Same thing with movies, yeah, so take a listen
or take a watch.

Carmen Lezeth (50:38):
I'm so sad.
Now that's your topic, ma'am.
No, no, no, no.
Well, I didn't think we'd solvethe problem, but it just bums
me out.
You know, racism seems to seepthrough into so many, into every
part of our lives, and it just.
You know.
It's hard to find joy in that.

(51:00):
You know, and I know we don'twant to talk about it, but
that's part of what's happening.

Maurio Dawson (51:04):
The joy is go to the movies.
Support Ryan Coogler.
That's part of what's happening.

Alma Dawson (51:09):
The joy is go to the movies.
Support.

Maurio Dawson (51:10):
And support and try to get these films back in
California.

Carmen Lezeth (51:15):
Gavin Newsom has to.
I mean, that's why he's workingon that right.

Maurio Dawson (51:18):
He's trying.

Carmen Lezeth (51:19):
We have to have tax incentives.
I don't understand why thatwasn't, why we wouldn't do that
anyways.
But you know, if it's cheaperfor me to make something in
another state, I'm going to gomake it in another state, right,
you know?
So we have to have the taxincentives here and he's working

(51:40):
on it, and so you want to makesure that you support
legislators who are supportingthat.
But yeah, go to the movies.

Rick Costa (51:47):
Oh, you know what To answer a question.
Cynthia asked earlier aboutbinging or not, or weekly.
For me, if it's something thatI know nobody I know is going to
watch I'm not going to talkabout, but nobody, I definitely
going to binge.
I'd rather binge it because I'mnot going to talk about it with
.
But if it's something peoplecan we talk about a lot, then

(52:07):
yeah, I'd rather watch week toweek, because then you have to
let it breathe a little bit,talk about it, think about it,
see your eyes I missed.

Carmen Lezeth (52:13):
I missed that part of our lives.
Though I know this is how Iknow I'm old, I really do miss
like watching a show in the nextday at work with your friends,
and when you pick up the phoneyou're like did you see what
happened?

Alma Dawson (52:26):
I'm not talking about that.
And don't miss it, don't belate, don't forget to record it.

Carmen Lezeth (52:36):
And everybody else is talking about it.
You remember who shot JR thatwhole time?

Maurio Dawson (52:41):
We had to wait for months, for months.

Rick Costa (52:46):
I remember one place I worked at.
They had a cafeteria andeverybody went to the cafeteria
before they started working.
It was a cool place.
I would get to the table wheremost of my people were and I'd
sit down.
Let me guess You're talkingabout the Sopranos.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (52:59):
Yes.

Carmen Lezeth (53:00):
Yes.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (53:00):
Sopranos.

Carmen Lezeth (53:02):
Yes, I mean, I do miss it and think that's why
we're all so isolated.
It's not just social media,it's just everything we do is so
solitary.
There's no communal.
The thing about movies that'sgreat is that you do go into a
theater with strangers and youenjoy something together, and
there's something just uniquelybeautiful about that.

(53:25):
What about with your?

Maurio Dawson (53:27):
friends and then having dinner and talking about
it afterwards, because that'sthe thing we used to love to do
Like a group of us.
We would all say, hey, you wantto go to the movies and go to
dinner, or yeah, it was alwaysmovie and then dinner.
We'd do an early movie, enjoythe movie and go to have dinner
and talk about the movie andthen laugh and catch up about

(53:48):
everything else you've been.
We don't do that.
Our friends don't do thateither, but we still have our
friend group, but it's just notthe same the last time I did
that which was really fun wasafter.

Carmen Lezeth (53:57):
Black Panther, too was like this kind of we all
got together just talking, oh,you couldn't have shut.
I mean I'm glad I went and sawBlack Panther, first by myself,
then I went and saw it withJuliana, and then I went and saw
it with a whole bunch of Blackfriends.
So you know those are threedifferent experiences, very
different experiences.

Maurio Dawson (54:21):
Yes, I remember our friends.
They all went and dressed up togo to see Black Panther.

Carmen Lezeth (54:26):
I didn't do that, but that's nice.

Maurio Dawson (54:28):
Yeah, they all had their African garb on their
kente claws all that stuff andthey were all ready, and you
know, I didn't do all of that.
I didn't do all that either,but I appreciate it.
I appreciated it too, yeahespecially on social media.

Carmen Lezeth (54:43):
You can just like Amazing yeah.
Yeah Well, all right.
Well, thank you so much, guys.
I appreciate you guys hangingout in the private lounge and
that was fun.
I'm not sure we fixed anything,but maybe we gave people some
hope and some homework.

Maurio Dawson (54:59):
We solved world hunger tonight.
You did that, we did that, wedid.
We solved world hunger.
We fed some people, we starteda conversation.

Carmen Lezeth (55:06):
That's right, of course we did.
We did the big things.

Maurio Dawson (55:09):
We did the big things.
We threw up some water tonight,it was great I was going to say
, find the joy, however youwatch your content.

Carmen Lezeth (55:18):
Oh, I love this for us.
Okay, thank you everyone.
Good night everyone, andremember, at the end of the day,
it really is all about the joy,all about the joy.

Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (55:27):
Bye.

Carmen Lezeth (55:28):
Bye.
Thanks for stopping by.
All About the Joy Be better andstay beautiful.
Folks.
Have a sweet day.