September 23, 2024 • 49 mins
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Mike shares his list of movies that are essential to celebrate Mexican-American life. He shares the stories that were most impacted on his life and represented what it was like for him growing up and struggles he had to face as a 1st generation American. In the Movie Review, Mike talks about Transformers One. It’s an animated origin story about how Optimus Prime and Megatron went from being best friends to mortal enemies. It starts out before they were Transformers and before they were even known by those names. Mike talks about how Chris Hemsworth did as Optimus Prime, why Scarlett Johansson felt out of place, but how the movie's shift in tone made it feel like something special for both kids and adults. In the Trailer Park, Mike talks about the new thriller Magpie starring Daisy Ridley. It’s about a married couple who see their lives "begin to fracture when their daughter is cast alongside a glamorous movie star. Mike talks about why Daisy Ridley is having an amazing year and gives his 3 movies of hers you should watch if you want to dive into her latest work.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike, and on this episode, I
am celebrating the month of my people. It is Hispanic
Heritage Month, and I have what I believe is the
Mexican American movie starter Pack. If you're Mexican American like myself,
or if you just want to learn more about our culture,
I have the movies you need to see. In the
movie review, we'll be talking about the new animated prequel
(00:23):
Transformers one, and we'll answer the question am I aged
out of this movie? And in the trailer park a
new thriller from Daisy Ridley that looks fantastic. Why she
has entered my top five favorite working actors right now
would take a deep dive into that. Thank you for listening,
Thank you for being subscribed, shout out to the Monday
Morning Movie crew. And now let's talk movies.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast,
one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like
never before in a movie podcast, A man with so
much movie knowledge. He's basically like oh walking IMTB with
glasses from the Nashville Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
This is movie Mike Movie podcasts.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
It is Hispanic Heritage Month, and growing up, I always
struggled with what I defined myself as. The reason I
have Hispanic kind of forced upon to me is because
whenever I would take one of those standardized tests back
in the day, that is the box I would check.
I feel almost that Hispanic was assigned to me by
(01:30):
the government to categorize my people. And really what Hispanic
means is anybody from a Spanish speaking country. I think
right now more people like being called Latino, which actually
means anybody from Latin America. There are a lot of
words used to describe my people that are kind of
used interchangeably. I typically just refer to myself as Mexican American.
(01:54):
I just feel that that really defines me the best.
That is what I like being called my My parents
are both from Mexico, so I am first generation. They
moved here as teenagers.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I came here.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
My dad started working really odd and random jobs that
I love when he talks to me about. But whenever
he first moved here, I think one of his first
jobs was cleaning escalators.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Moved on and that was seen as.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
A huge upgrade from working the fields in Mexico, where
you make sense if that my mom came here, raised
my older brother and sister, and both of my parents
became citizens in the late nineties, I think nineteen ninety seven,
maybe nineteen ninety eight. I have early memories as a kid,
I was probably seven eight years old of my parents
(02:42):
going to these classes on the weekends where they studied
for the test, which is a really hard test. Even
as an American now, I think some people would struggle
with all that you have to learn in order to
become a citizen, and my parents studied so hard for
it in preparation to take the test, and I was
so proud of them even as a kid, because I
(03:02):
remember they passed it on the very first try, which
is a really hard thing to do. A lot of
my other uncles and aunts really struggled with this test,
took it three, four, sometimes five, six, seven times because
it is that difficult. And my dad, if you met
him now, you maybe wouldn't assume that he has all
this knowledge and a love for America. His favorite thing
(03:22):
to do is vote because he came to this country,
sacrifice so much, studied so hard. The fact that he
can vote now is an American citizen. That all of
his kids are American citizens is probably the thing that
he is the most proud of. Same with my mom
and growing up in the late nineties early two thousands.
The thing I struggled with, it didn't realize it was
(03:44):
a struggle at the time, is that I never really
saw our culture portrayed anywhere in media. I would watch
movies and it didn't really occur to me that there
could be Latino actors in these roles because they just
didn't exist. We were oftentimes type cast in movies in Hollywood,
and this happens in a lot of cultures. I just
(04:05):
heard John Luguizamo speaking at the Emmys, and everything that
he said really hit close to home, talking about how
actors that are white playing roles that were meant for
Latinos and how representation is really important, and it really
didn't settle into my brain, probably even until the late
twenty tens, where I started to realize, oh, we aren't
(04:27):
getting the roles that we should be getting, and that's
why I decided to put this episode together. These are
movies that I feel growing up Mexican American really resonated
with me. Very specific moments and examples that I want
to share with you that even if you're not Mexican American,
you can still probably relate to some of these moments,
and that is what I think is very important about filmmaking.
(04:50):
It's making people feel something. I'll also go through these chronologically,
so we're starting back in the eighties with one of
my favorite movies of all time. The first one in
this starter pack has to be La Bamba, which is
the biopic of Richie Vallens. He was the first Mexican
American superstar and he sadly passed away just eight months
(05:12):
after his big breakthrough, so his entire career was less
than a year. And as a kid, this movie was
so impactful to me because, like Richie Vallens, I wanted
to be a rock star and seeing somebody who has
brown skin be in that role of rock star was
so inspiring to me. That is what I wanted to do.
(05:33):
Before I was doing podcasting, before I was doing radio,
I was playing in bands, singing and playing guitar, and
I'd always think back of this movie and think, oh, man,
I want to look cool like Richie Vallens. And I
think now as an adult, it is inspiring to me
to think about the time that he did this in
back when there were not people at all who look
like him, at the top of the radio charts, playing
(05:56):
on television, selling albums the way he did, and pushing
the envelope the way he did at that time, his
biggest song being La Bamba. To think at that time
having success with this song to go on to be
his signature song. You would even struggle right now in
twenty twenty four putting out a song with Spanish lyrics
(06:19):
and have it be a crossover pop hit. I think
the last major song to really do that that I
can remember is that Spasito from twenty seventeen, which became
a crossover hit largely due to Justin Bieber's involvement in
that song. You could maybe argue a couple of bad
Bunny songs that have crossed over, and I do feel
right now there is kind of this resurgence and interest
(06:42):
in Mexican American music on the Billboard chart. You look
at artists like Best of Bluema who are really pushing
that boundary of creating the sound that is not only
huge and popular in Mexico but also here in the
United States. Where he's touring selling out arenas. But again,
that is right now in the twenty twenties. Think back
in the nineteen fifties, somebody doing that. How a rock
(07:04):
and roll, how punk rock is that? It is so
inspiring to me. And one of the scenes and moments
in this movie that really resonated with me was Richie
Vallen's decision to change his name to be more appealing
to this American audience. Here's that moment from LaBamba.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Your professional name from now on, it's Richie with the
T ri tchie. I got a new last name for you, too,
Valence with an S, Richie Vallens. As I grab you,
I don't like it, that's for sure, man.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I mean, Valenzuela was our dad's last name. You can't
just cut it in half. It's no big deal.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
People in this business they changed their names like they
change wives.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Even me.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
My last name is Koon.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I kind of did this in school without thinking about
it because Mike isn't my real name, and growing up
I was called Mikey. My family actually gave me the
nickname Mikey because of a movie. Obviously, ten Mutant Ninja Turtles.
You have Mikey aka Michelangelo, and we were all huge
fans of that movie as a family, so everybody just
(08:08):
called me Mikey growing up. Eventually, I thought, I don't
want to be called Mike anymore. I don't want to
be an adult in college of people called me Mikey.
So I dropped a y and went by Mike. And
then I developed a stage name because I was working
in radio and there are so many mics. My last
name for being a Mexican is pretty common. If you
(08:29):
search it, you get so many results. And also my
decision to change my name to give me kind of
an alter ego was something I did just because I
felt my name was common. But I also feel like
if you see the name Mike on paper, you don't
know what you're getting. And I don't know if that
has had some impact on some of the opportunities I've
(08:50):
been given over the years, because you hear the name
Mike Distro and you don't really know what I am.
Some people assume I'm Ittallion. But I just created the
name because I felt it was unique, and because I
felt that I could get that name on every single
social media platform, which I have to this day. Mike
Cadestro on all socials, but in turn it has become
(09:13):
a bit of an alter ego, and much like Richie Valens,
changed it in order for people to be able to
digest his name a little bit better, because you hear
Valenzuela and you think, I don't want to listen to
this guy. And that is something that a lot of
people who were starting out in the fifties, sixties, even
seventies struggled. Even look at country artists like Charlie Pride,
(09:35):
and they wouldn't put his photo on his albums, on
his singles when they would send it out to radio
stations because they didn't want audiences to know that he
was black. And again, this was me making this decision
over ten years ago. Now, this was probably two thousand
and nine when I gave myself this name, Mike Diestro.
And maybe I would have a different approach if I
(09:57):
were just starting out in my career now, maybe I
would I kept my last name. But it was seeing
this represented in La Bamba that eventually led to my
decision of wanting to switch my name and create a
stage name where you hear it and you don't assume
anything about me. Maybe at times that has worked to
my advantage. And I like the name, so the history
(10:17):
of me changing my name all goes back.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
To La Bamba.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
That is why I consider this movie to be an
essential for Mexican Americans. Next up is another movie featuring
Lou Diamond Phillips, Stand and Deliver from nineteen eighty eight.
The movie is based on a true story, and I
think that is why it was so impactful to me
growing up. And I watched this movie I was probably
ten to eleven years old, so even before I went
(10:41):
into high school, I feel like it gave me an
idea of.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
What to expect.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It follows the life of Hymen Escalande, played by Edwards
James Olmos, who was all over movies like this in
the late eighties, early nineties, even late nineties. He plays
a math teacher who helps a group of inner city
students succeed in a very advanced math class, from the
basics all the way to calculas. That's a joke in
the movie if you haven't seen it, and the movie
(11:06):
really teaches you about perseverance, dedication, and the power of
education to people that otherwise by the school system would
have been written off. You see a group of students
like this, and you assume they're never going to use
this in their life. They're going to end up working
in mechanics shops, working at salons, working in factories, doing landscaping.
(11:28):
That is typically what people assume of us, and I
believe they are very noble jobs. Some people look down
on those jobs. I don't whatsoever. I still have a
lot of family working in those roles, and it's probably
more of an American thing to look down on people
working in construction making your food. I don't see that whatsoever.
(11:49):
I see people working hard, trying to support their families
and doing the things they need to survive. And that
is what my dad taught me growing up. Of all
the things he taught me, the one that is stuck
with me the work ethic. You got to show up,
you gotta work, and you gotta do the things sometimes
that other people don't want to do. And I know
he didn't want me to take the same path as him,
(12:10):
being a truck driver working a job like that. He
wanted me to go to school, get a degree, and
have a better life than he did. That is why
he came here, and I think that is the message
of stand and deliver.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
We can break that cycle. We don't have to take
all the things.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Available to us just because they're part of tradition, they
are part of the line of work our family has
already been in. There can be more for you. And
there's one scene in particular where the teacher Jim is
frustrated with the student who wants to quit because he
now has an opportunity to take on a job that
can allow him to make money. Jima uses it as
(12:48):
an opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
My uncle offered me a job operating a fork with
Saturdays and Sundays of him making time and a half.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
So what two years in the union and I'll be.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Making more than you, Domon.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
I don't want to let you down.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Put the money I've been making well, buy me in transam.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
No one cruises through life, pundship. Wouldn't you rather be
designing these things? I've been burying them? Right or left?
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Where are we going?
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Right or left?
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Go right?
Speaker 6 (13:18):
All you see is the turn. You don't see the
road ahead.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That quote right there has stayed with me for so long.
See the turn, but you don't see the road ahead.
You see this quick opportunity that you could take and
start making money.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
But you don't think.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
About the life that one decision is going to cause
a chain reaction to, and sometimes you had to make
hard decisions. I think there was a point in my
career where I had one of these decisions. My dream
was to have the job I have now working on
the Bobby Bone Show. And there were some other opportunities
that came in there that I could have taken because
(13:53):
they were available, they would have been a steadier paycheck,
but I knew that wasn't the dream. One opportunity in
particular that somebody told me, like, why aren't you taking this?
This is an easy decision. You have been trying to
get a job in this field. They don't just grow
on trees. They couldn't believe that I wasn't taking this opportunity,
and I had I don't know what kind of state
(14:16):
of mind I was in that I just had this
tunnel vision that I knew where I wanted to be.
I knew where I wanted to end up here in
Nashville working on the Bobby Bone Show. That I thought,
if I take that, it's going to send me on
an entirely different path that doesn't lead where I want
to go. And I thought back to this scene, you
only see the turn and you don't see the road ahead,
and that stuck with me. It was an actual lesson
(14:38):
that I thought about because I saw that that was
a turn. But I really wasn't looking just to make
money right then. I always invested in myself and did
all the things to get me to the place I
really wanted to be long term, not where I wanted
to be temporarily. So I didn't take that opportunity, and
it ended up being the right decision because it led
(14:59):
me to be able to move to Nashville and get
the job I wanted.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
You.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So that is what this movie taught me. It's also
a great blend of drama. There's some comedy in there too,
some great performances, an excellent ensemble cast. That's why I
put Stand and Deliver in my Mexican American movie starter pack.
We'll get out of the eighties now, and next up
on the list, I have from nineteen ninety seven Selena,
(15:24):
which is the story of the life and tragic death
of Selena quintaniapeties. She was a Mexican American singer who
rose to fame in the early nineteen nineties, and obviously
the movie serves as a biopic. What I feel that
this movie does a great job of is showing what
it's like to be a Mexican American artist in a
(15:47):
predominantly white industry and how you struggle to maintain your
heritage while also trying to achieve mainstream success, and Selena's
case specifically being a Mexican American who does it primarily
speak Spanish. And there's a scene where her dad, again
played by Edward James, almost we've had a recurring theme
(16:07):
a link in all these movies. It went from lou
Diamond Phillips being in both movies to now e Jo
being in both movies. But there is a moment where
he is describing that struggle of having to live in
both of these worlds and be twice as perfect.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Being Mexican American is tough. Anglos jump all over you
if you don't speak English perfectly. Mexicans jump all over
you if you don't speak Spanish perfectly. We gotta be
twice as perfect as anybody else. I mean, we gotta
know about John Wayne and Phil and fun thing. We
gotta know about Frank Sinatra and Augustine Lada.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
We gotta know about Oprah.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
And Christina, and we got to prove to the Mexicans
how Mexican we are, and we gotta prove to Americans
how American we are. We gotta be more Mexican than
the Mexicans and more American than Americans both at the
same time.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
It's exhausting.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I would quote that line all the time. It's exhausting,
which it is. Experience this a lot, not just on
a professional level, but just on a personal level. Of
those times when I would go to Mexico to visit
my family there and they look at you differently because
they know, oh, your parents may be from here, but
you are an American, and they are over criticizing your Spanish.
(17:20):
They make you feel that you're kind of a sellout
for speaking English, dressing the way that you do, thinking
that you're better than them because you're wearing American brands.
They'll call you names, they'll make fun of you if
you don't know all the slang. You better not be
caught dead speaking English in Mexico because they will grill you.
(17:41):
And then you come back to the United States and
you have to speak perfect English. And let me tell you,
if you grew up speaking Spanish or any other language
that is not English, it is a very difficult language
to learn. The English language makes no sense. And I
was lucky that my older and older sister had already
(18:01):
learned English, even though they came here and they learned
Spanish first, and they learned English by watching TV a lot,
watching movies. Even my mom watching Sesame Street with me
as a kid, she would learn English from that, and
obviously in her job now has had to learn English.
My dad knows English, even though they still prefer to
speak Spanish. They knew that living in the United States,
(18:24):
it was going to be difficult for them if they
did not learn it. But there is this pressure from
both sides that you have to be the best of
both worlds because if not, you're seen as being a sellout,
you're seeing as being an outcast. And for me, that
is really the message that this movie drove home. Also
obviously showcasing the music of Selena and how impactful her
(18:45):
career was, how quickly she rose to fame, and how
sad her story is, which sadly, all those stories about
Mexican and American musicians don't und will spoiler alert, but
Selena is a classic. That's why I included it as
the third movie on my Assay Cents list. I have
two more movies to talk about, had to include something
in animation. You don't know how excited I was to
(19:08):
finally have a Mexican Pixar character, even though maybe twenty
seventeen is.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
A bit late.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Coco is heavily influenced by Mexican culture and traditions. The
celebration of family focuses largely on the Eddelos morthlos and
honoring the memory of your loved ones that have passed.
But the part of the movie I wanted to talk
about that I feel really represents Mexican American life is
the way the movie handles the idea of crossing the border.
(19:38):
And the movie uses a physical border, much like the
US Mexico border to separate the dead from the living.
And in order to cross the border, your loved ones
have to have a picture up of you, and that
is essentially your green card, your papers, your birth certificate,
much like it was for my family. Here's that scene
from Coco, No.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Funto on a friend, No crossing the bridge, You know what.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I'm just gonna zip right over you wondn't even.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
Know I'm got.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Bridge.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I don't know what I do if no one would
have my photo archery.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Look the bag of meals. Anything to declare, I said,
might at a fuck?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yes, anything to declare is the phrase that sends chills
down my spine. I was terrified as a kid to
cross the border. It felt like this really ominous task,
and we would usually cross the border at night, because
we would try to drive through Mexico primarily during the
(20:43):
day and leave crossing the border at the very end,
so by the time it was nighttime, we'd cross and
they would be in the United States where it's a
little bit more safe. And I always had this anxiety
that would come over me as we would cross the border,
even though everybody in the car where America and citizens.
My mom and dad had passports. I think we were
(21:04):
still a little bit young at the time, so we
crossed with our birth certificates. But I was always worried
that they weren't going to let us pass, that they
were going to throw us into jail. And that is
the anxiety I had as a kid, still have it
to this day because for some reason, my name still
keeps coming up that I'm some wanted criminal, and I
always have to go through this interrogation where I have
(21:26):
to prove to them that I am not the person
that they are looking for. And it's at this point
where am I do I tell them beforehand that Hey,
I know it's going to come up on there that
I'm somebody that I'm not, But I feel like that
would create more confusion and more tension. So I still
have this same anxiety anytime I have to go out
of the country trying to get back into the United States,
(21:48):
and it is a stress on people, and I would
get freaked out about the things we were bringing back.
Sometimes we would bring back Mexican snacks because Mexico has
the best snacks that are far superior than America.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
They just taste better.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Mexican cheetos, Mexican pepsi because pepsi is more prevalent in
Mexico than it is in the United States. Here, everybody
wants coke, diet coke, doctor pepper, and Mexico. It's all
about the pepsi products because they just taste so much better.
Mexican pepsi and a glass bottle. Ooh, far superior over there.
The chips are so much better. So we'd bring back
(22:23):
Cheetos Sabritas. Mexican candy goes hard. But obviously you couldn't
bring back fruits or vegetables. That is what they were
always looking for. I don't know why, but I think
it was just the presence of a border patrol agent
while crossing the border. I remember them expecting our truck
going around, putting a flashlight in our face, asking us
or you an American citizen, and me rehearsing it into
(22:45):
my head. Okay, when he says, are you an American citizen? Yes,
I'm an American citizen? Or do I say see? Or
do I say yes? Or do I say The President
is George W.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Bush.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
And in the scene in Coco, they are using facial
recognition to determine who is clear across the border. That
was that process I faced to them, taking everybody's paperwork
and making sure you were an American citizen. And sometimes
just for no real reason, they would have you turn
into a stall to inspect the entire truck and we'd
(23:13):
all have to get out. They would go through our luggage,
they'd bring the dog and have them sniff all the
way around the truck. And that was so so terrifying
as a kid, because again, even though we didn't have
anything on us, it's much like going through tsa now,
even though you know you don't have anything on you,
it's that fear of what if I forgot something?
Speaker 3 (23:33):
What if I do have.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
A bunch of tomatoes and mongos in my suitcase? What
are they gonna do to us? And I'd never really
seen that process showcased in an American movie, much less
a Disney pick Star movie. So obviously Coco celebrated a
lot of Mexican traditions, heavily rooted in the music aspect,
with all the manyachi music in Coco. But for me,
(23:56):
it was that scene in particular. That's why I included
it on this Central's list. I have one more to include.
It is the most recent entry, as we've been going
chronologically from the eighties to the nineties, the twenty tens,
and now the most recent entry is Blue Beetle, which
came out in twenty twenty three. This movie means a
(24:16):
lot to me, and I know some people did not
enjoy this movie. It also came out at a weird
time last year during the writers' strike, and I feel
like this movie had kind of an unfair battleground because
none of the cast was able to promote it. It
also came in on the tail end of the DCEU
at a time where everybody was really already checking out,
(24:38):
knowing that James Gunn was going to take over and
change everything, and made it feel like Blue Beetle, along
with movies like The Flash, didn't really matter because this
entire chapter was gonna go caput at the end of
the year. But the movie was groundbreaking. It was the
first superhero film led by a Latino character. Scholo made Luenna,
(24:58):
who did a fantastic job, directed by an Hilmanuel Soto,
who I've actually had on the podcast, and it was
groundbreaking when it came to showcasing how Mexican American families are,
how important being together is, the identity struggles, staying true
to your Mexican American roots in a world that doesn't
want you to hold on to them. And for me,
(25:20):
I believe this was one of the most authentic representations
of showing how Mexicans actually dress, how Mexicans in the
United States actually speak to each other inside of their families,
even though sometimes I do feel like it's over emphasized
a little bit, but that's any time you use Spanish
in an American movie, you have to amplify it just
a little bit. But showing what Mexicans listen to, what
(25:44):
Mexicans eat, even the houses where we live and things
that would be on our walls, the jobs that we have.
The dad in this movie wearing his work jacket gave
me strong vibes to my dad. It was hearing them
listening to artists like Lostukanas that the I Juana, watching
El Chapolin Colorado and thinking to myself, these are all
(26:04):
things that I listened to and watch growing up, and
now they are being showcased in this movie. And it
was also the fact that the movie really committed to
the use of Spanish, which I felt was a huge
risk as a viewer and I was Mexican American. But
when I had the director on talking about it, he
said he didn't see it as a risk.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
No, nocus, that's my life, that's our life. When we
were doing it, we had the blessing I wanted to
have more Spanish because the truth is all those actors,
especially like Alberto regez Zo da Casa and Agena Barrasa.
Their main language is Spanish. When you speak from the heart,
doesn't matter where you are, You're going to speak from
(26:45):
the language that you can better communicate.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
So I love that it makes the movie to me
feel more authentic because when I talk to my parents now,
we do this. We go back and forth speaking English
and Spanish, sometimes senates for senates, sometimes every other word
is in a different language. Just because there are certain
words I feel more comfortable getting my message across in English.
But there are words in Spanish that sometimes I don't
(27:08):
even know what they mean. I've been saying them for
so long that if I had to translate them, it
takes me a second to think, I don't know. I've
just been using these words since I was a kid,
and they're just embedded in my head that they mean
something to me in one language. But I don't think
they would hit the same way if I translated them
into English. Therefore, when I talked to my parents, I
just use the Spanish word, so it would be very
(27:29):
confusing to some people to hear the way are some
of our conversations go down because it is back and
forth a lot of the time, and that is what
they did in Blue Beetle. The other moment that I
felt truly showcase the struggle of Mexican Americans was the
scene in the movie where Hymen, the main character who
eventually becomes the Blue Beetle, goes for a job interview
(27:49):
and has this interaction.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I it's nice to meet you.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Deliveries are downstairs.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Oh no, no, no, my name is Himejime. I'm here
to see Jenny Cord.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Do you have an appointment, Jamie t I met right, I.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Mean, yes, I do have an appointment. She said, to
drop by some stress.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
Oh you can stand back, okay.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Why don't you have a seat Jamie, Okay, thank you.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
A couple of things there.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
You know how many times I've been confused for a
worker at a restaurant, at the mall, even one time
at a station event. One time I had somebody at
an event I was at for the radio station give
me their trash because I was standing on like the
bottom floor where all these people were seated towards the back,
(28:38):
trying to find my seat. So maybe I was looking
a little bit confused of not knowing where I was
supposed to go, but I was dressed in like a
nice white button down with black slacks, and looking back
on it, now, yeah, maybe what some people would assume
a server would be dressed like. But to me, I
was like, oh, look at me, you're dressing up fancy
for this event. And the person thought I was working
the event and gave me their trash to throw it away.
(29:01):
So it's moments like that of our people being confused
for workers even though we're not, because you think, oh,
you can't possibly be here for a job interview. You're
looking for deliveries. Go round back man. The other part
of that clip is her. Even though he says his
name is Hymen in the way that he speaks my
(29:21):
name is Hymen, she calls them Jamie.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
This is also something I.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Struggled with growing up because my real Mexican name, I
hated the way people would pronounce it and it didn't
feel like that was the name that my parents gave me. Therefore,
just going by Minkey was so much easier. And I
hope that Sholoamadi Duenna still gets to play the role
of Blue Beetle. James Gunn has said that he wants
(29:47):
to keep the character and all that he's building with DC.
I think a Blue Beetle two would probably be a
lot to ask for just because it wasn't seen as
a commercial success, but it is available on Max. If
you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. That is
my list of essential Mexican American movies for Hispanic heritage months.
(30:09):
I do have some honorable mentions. There are some movies
that I watch growing up that I feel other people
would probably include on this list. But the reason I
feel they aren't entirely essential is because some of them
are a little bit more violent, are rated, and I
feel that generally I wouldn't include like that on an
essentials list. But American Me, also starring Edward James, almost
(30:30):
is about his rise to power in the Mexican Mafia.
Some pretty brutal scenes in that movie. Another one that
I've probably watched at too young of an age along
those same lines is Blood and Blood Out, which my
cousins love growing up. It's the story of three cousins,
which is probably why. That's a story about trying to
be in a gang while also is trying to maintain
your family. One that I enjoyed that I don't really
(30:52):
believe is essential is Sicatio, just because it portrays what
some border towns are like, probably to a bit of
an extreme, and I think as Americans we think some
of these towns, like Wwadas are war zones.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Which they are dangerous.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
My parents had to go to Wattas in order to
get my grandma papers to come to the United States,
and I just remember being so stressed out knowing that
they were going there. They were on very high alert.
So the movie does take it to a bit of
an extreme, but it does showcase what some of these
places are like. Another movie I bonded with my mom
over was under the same Moon, also goes by the
(31:28):
title Lamism Luna, which means the same thing. It came
out in two thousand and seven, and it's about a
kid crossing the border to reunite with his mom. It
has that two thousands drama vibe that maybe doesn't age perfectly,
but I feel like a little bit more of a
fluffy drama that is a good one that also shows
the struggle of having family in the US and in Mexico.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
So that is the list.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
I'll come back and give my spoiler free review of
Transformers One.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Let's get into it now.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
A spoiler free movie review a Transformers one. I wanted
to know my aged out of this movie. And Transformers
spans a lot of generations. I think probably the biggest
generation that it affected because it came out when it
was brand new, was the eighties. My older brother grew
up in the eighties and he was a huge Transformers fan.
They had the toy line, obviously paired with the comic
(32:23):
book line that they would promote the toys in that
turned into the animated series. There was an animated movie
back in the eighties, so Transformers dipping into animation isn't
anything new by any means, but this movie is introducing
it to an entirely new generation. You have those people
back in the eighties. Then you have fans like me
who became a fan in two thousand and seven with
(32:45):
the Michael Bay movie shild Above Megan Fox. That entire run,
even into the twenty tens with the Mark Wahlberg was
and even coming back now with Anton. It almost Transformers
have been a constant in American entertainment since the eighties,
but now you have an animated movie that is going
to be what that was in the eighties. To kids now.
So going into this movie, I wanted to know, how
(33:08):
is it going to walk that line of being appealing
to kids now thinking they're cool, getting them.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Invested in the characters.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Also, the point of any movie, especially Transformers movies, to
inspire a kid to go see this movie and then
want to run to Target, run to Walmart, tell their
parents I need this optimist Prime now.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Because he was so cool in the movie.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
How is it going to be inspiring to those kids
but also appease the fans from the eighties and the
two thousands. How is it going to walk that line?
As far as the tone and I will say, in
the first thirty minutes of this movie, I thought I'm
aged out of this. This isn't going to be for me,
because in the first thirty minutes it felt like the
(33:49):
script was written by Ai, that all these little comedic
moments were made for kids maybe four.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Or five, six years old, and it.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Felt like that superhero humor of like I can't believe it.
He's standing right behind me, isn't he. There were a
lot of those moments that thought we were going to
be in for a lot of that throughout the movie,
and I worried in those first thirty minutes and what
this movie is about. It is the origin story of
Optimist Prime and Megatron, before they were known by that
there were just two dudes working as minors, Orion Packs
(34:21):
and D sixteen Orion Packs. Who goes on to be
Optimist Prime is voiced by Chris Hemsworth. D sixteen is
voiced by Brian Tyree Henry he goes on to be Megatron.
You also have Keegan Michael Key, Scarlett Johansson rounding out
this crew. And I just think it was the animation
style and the overall interaction between all of the characters
that I really didn't become fully invested until the late
(34:43):
second and third act. And I think it was the
fact that I started to feel that they miscast some
of these voices. I really had to lean into hearing
Chris Hemsworth be Optimist Prime and have to play that
character much differently in the beginning because he not really
Optimist Prime yet. And it felt like almost all their
(35:04):
voices didn't really go together well, like they didn't have
this chemistry. And I've never really felt that way during
an animated movie because obviously I don't expect and it
rarely ever happens that all of these actors are together
in a room while making these movies. Chris Hemsworth did
this entire movie at his house and at times his
kids would run in, so I kind of started to
feel that so much so that it felt like Scarlett
(35:26):
Johansson was completely removed from this movie. And I think
out of everybody from this main cast, she was the
one who felt the most miscast. And Scarlett Johansson is
a fantastic actor and voice actor, because her work in
her should have earned her at least an Oscar nomination,
But to me, it felt like her role in this.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Movie was much more of we need big names.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
At the top of this poster to get people to
go want to watch it. It just didn't really feel
like her voice fit that character, and I could just
really see her sitting in a recording booth recording these
lines and sending them off and not really feeling any
connection there. So maybe that's just me as an adult.
I don't think a kid watching this movie would have
really felt that. I also felt like early on the
(36:11):
animation looked very flat and cold, which I was kind
of hoping that they would pull some inspiration from the
early cartoons, even the early comics to design these characters.
But I feel in order to make it a little
bit more appealing to kids now, they have to look
a little bit more slick, a little bit more like
they were made in twenty twenty four and not back
(36:31):
in the eighties. But I think it was just feeling
that they were really trying to make moments comedic that
weren't really working. And what this movie is really trying
to teach the kids, to teach to even some adults
who need to hear it, is that questioning your worth,
your role in the world, and having that feeling that
you're destined to be something better, because that is what
Orian Packs is dealing with, working in that mind, knowing
(36:54):
that you know, I think there's something out there for me.
And the thing you have to know about these miners
is they're not to transform. They don't have the ability
to turn into cars to be super strong, and there
are other people living in their world that do, so
they desire to have that, to be as good as
their superiors, and trying to show that just because they
(37:16):
are miners working down there doing the grunt work, that
they are also destined to be something great if they
want to seek that out, and that is what Orion
Pax wants to do. D sixteen is very much the
opposite and wants to maintain the status quo, doesn't want
to break protocol, wants to keep his head down, work hard,
and hopefully eventually be rewarded for that, but doesn't want
(37:37):
to make any ways. And Orion Pax kind of makes
the decision for him that no, we're gonna do something different.
We're gonna go try to find this energy source and
prove that we're not just miners and there's actual meaning
to our life. And as they go on this journey
trying to find this energy source and at the same
time trying to find their purpose in life, there is.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
A big shift in the movie.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
And in that late second and it's especially third act,
I feel like something switched in the script and it
became an entirely different movie.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
And that second half.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Is totally geared more towards the early eighties fans and
those two thousands fans, and it started not to feel
like a movie meant for kids anymore. And it's the
only time I've realized that happening. As I'm watching something
It reminded me much like the first teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles live action movie, where even though that was based
on a kid's comic book, that entire movie had much
(38:33):
more of an adult tone.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Very serious.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
There were some real high stakes in that movie. People
died in that movie, and I almost feel like they
took some inspiration from that to create this story where
they were no longer downplaying it to kids. And I
love movies that do that because kids are smart. You
can put things in movies that have a little bit
more of an adult theme. There's some fighting in here,
(38:57):
there's some betrayal, there's a lot of things that go
and you think, oh, that would go over some kids'
heads that are maybe five, six, seven, eight years old.
But I think when you make movies like that and
you don't make everything like the first half of this
movie have those cheesy moments, those kung Fu pandem moments
where character farts or something, you can really give kids
something special that they are going to remember.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
I feel like that is going to be this movie.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
In ten twenty years that people who are doing a
podcast in twenty forty think back to the time where
their dad or their mom took them to go see
Transformers one in theaters and it changed their life. That
is when something special really starts happening. I wish it
did it earlier on in the film, but I understand
the impact it had later in the movie, where I
(39:41):
felt it totally changed and I really started to enjoy it.
That is when I started to feel as an adult
that something special was happening before my eyes and it
was a Transformers movie like I didn't expect to see.
And I think it's going back to I hate the
term going back to its roots and animation, but that's
what it.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
It went back to owning.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
That world and doing things that the live action movie
couldn't do. Live action Transformers movies always have a little
bit of a constraint because they rely so much on
the special effects the human interaction.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
But when you take that out and really get to.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Explore their world, it becomes entirely different, less about the
whole robots in disguise and more about being more than.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Meets the eye.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
That's really the only way I can describe it, because
it's not so much about them hiding from anything yet
it's about them showing off their powers and their abilities.
And also their desire for one side to do evil
things and one side to do the noble, heroic thing.
And overall, I thought Chris Hemsworth did a really good
job as Optimist Prime. You can hear the evolution of
(40:48):
his voice throughout this film, which I think early on
in the movie, I was like, why is he just
talking normally like Chris Hemsworth? And then it starts to
make sense, and I think it's putting together all those
pieces and how this really connects with the live action
movies because this Transformer's one movie does serve as canon,
and I feel like, I don't know how many of
(41:09):
these movies they are going to make, but it's going
to lead up to what we saw back in two
thousand and seven, and that is exciting to me. And
even though I didn't love the entire film, how this
movie ended makes me feel that the next one is
going to be magnificent because it ends on a high
note and now the stage is set with all our
characters in play. I think the better action is going
(41:30):
to be in Part two and Part three if they
get there. The only thing this movie was really missing
was that Lincoln Park song playing at the end. Boom,
directed by Michael Bay. Credits roll Yeah. Transformers movie without
the big Michael Bay explosions was an interesting experience. So
even though it took a while to get there, I
found myself really enjoying the movie. But I can't deny
(41:52):
that those first thirty forty minutes I felt.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
A little bit bored by.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
And I get that's obviously because I'm thirty three years old.
I wasn't the key demographic and what I feel was
Act one and the most of Act two. But I
think the next movie is going to be one that
I can get fully behind. But for Transformers one, I
give it three point five out of five sword Hands.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
It's time to head down to movie.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Mike Traylor Paul dai Z Ridley gets twisted in a
new thriller called mac Pie. I have been waiting for
this movie to come out. It premiered earlier this year
at south By Southwest, had fantastic reviews. I've just been
refreshing my Google searches trying to find out when this
movie was going to come out. Daisy Ridley just shared
(42:39):
this trailer at the end of last week on Instagram
and I was like, finally, I think dai Z Redley
right now is entering the prime of her career. I
think most people still know her as Ray from the
Star Wars movies. She is going to be in another
upcoming Star Wars movies. Could be multiple there, I said movies.
(42:59):
It could just be wanted the moment that has been announced.
But she gets so much hate from Star Wars fans
because of what her character did to what people believe
is the worst trilogy in Star Wars, and they don't
want to see her be in anymore Star Wars movies.
But I think what is going to happen to her
in the world of Star Wars is much what is
(43:20):
happening right now to Hayden Christensen, who is now getting
his flowers and being celebrated from the prequels that everybody
hated in the late nineties early two thousands. Now it's
all the people that grew up with those movies and
that was how they were introduced to Star Wars and
they love him. Now we're gonna have that in maybe
fifteen twenty years with those movies. Mark my words, I'm
(43:41):
still doing this podcast. In twenty years, I'll come on
here and be like I told you, I was right.
But after that movie, she took on other big, what
I would call stereotypical Hollywood movies that maybe felt to
her and maybe her management that this is the next
step you need to take to be this big star.
At her now husband while working on Murder on the
(44:02):
Orient Express in twenty seventeen, they actually wrote this movie together.
Her and Tom Bateman wrote the script to Magpie, which
is about a couple who finds their lives turned upside
down when their daughter is cast alongside a controversial star
in a movie. The trailer looks good, The poster looks good.
I want to tell you all about Magpie, but first
(44:24):
here's just a little bit of the trailer. Nice to
meet youa really nice to meet you.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
You too, big fan. Lysia sounds nice. She's amazing.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
I have a terrible tasting.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Men, we have you done?
Speaker 1 (44:48):
So what it looks like In this movie? Daisy Ridley
plays a character named Annette who is married to a
guy named Ben. Their daughter, Matilda, gets cast in this movie,
and it appears that her her husband has some kind
of an affair with this controversial actress and quite possibly
gets her pregnant and has a baby. I'm not exactly
(45:09):
sure of all the details. I've read what I can
find about this movie, and I've watched the trailer multiple times,
but it starts out with Daisy Ridley's character having a
bit of a breakdown, and you hear a baby crying,
and it kind of made me feel that she steal
this baby?
Speaker 3 (45:23):
What is going on?
Speaker 1 (45:25):
So she's in this car trying to get her seat
belt on, obviously not in a clear state of mind,
and you just hear this baby crying from the back seat,
and I wonder how that baby comes into this picture.
Is it a result of the affair that her husband
has with this actress? Does she herself become pregnant again
(45:46):
with her husband? And just muddies the entire situation. But
something leads me to believe that something not great is
going to happen to that baby. Because this movie is
being described as being very shocking. There's a line in
the trailer where the husband's like, what did you do?
And I have to imagine there has to be something
(46:07):
pretty shocking. At one point, you see Daisy Ridley staring
into a mirror and break it either with her fist
or her hand. In the next scene, she is watching
this cut in the scene can.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
You See Blood Everywhere?
Speaker 1 (46:19):
She becomes infatuated with this controversial actress that her husband
may or may not be having an affair with. She's
googling her, she has all these pictures pulled up. Looks
like she confronts her at one point, if I had
to predict it, the husband ends up having a baby
with this actress. They get divorced, she steals the baby
and hopefully hopefully doesn't do any harm to the baby.
(46:42):
But I feel like this movie has to have some
kind of an edge, some kind of major moment to
make it shocking, because that is what they are saying
about it, that it's going to be satisfying and something
new for audiences. So I think if there's anybody who
could pull off a role like this is Daisy Ridley,
who does dramas really well, who does thrillers really well.
(47:03):
Mentioned earlier The March King's Daughter. I thought she was
fantastic in and she does a really good job of
walking the line of drama but also pushing the boundaries
when it comes to making a very engaging thriller. She
is a very versatile actor, obviously probably learning a lot
from doing the Star Wars movies and working on movies
that are so big, larger than life. I feel like
(47:25):
her scaling down and going back to just great storytelling
with great direction. I feel like she's able to use
all those tools to make a movie like this really great.
The scene of her rocking the baby just gives me
this real, menacing, ominous feeling. You see a car being flipped,
looks like somebody is held hostage at some point. This
(47:47):
movie looks to me to have all the ingredients that
I love. But again, the movie is coming out on
October twenty fifth. It is rated R. I cannot wait
for Magpie. If you want to do a Daisy Ridly
deep dive, I would probably start with The marsh King's Daughter.
You can watch that one on Hulu. Then I would
go from earlier this year Young Woman in the Sea.
(48:08):
You can watch that one on Disney Plus. And then
if you like romance indie dramas, sometimes I think about dying.
I don't think it's for everybody. It's kind of depressing.
It's a bit of a bummer overall, a little bit
more low key of a movie. And it's also not
on a streaming service, so you do have to pay
to rent it. It's like four bucks. But that movie
(48:29):
is one of my favorites from this year. That is
why I'm looking forward to Magpie, Three Daisy Really movies
in one year.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
I'm all about it at that for was.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
This week's edition of Movie b Framer par.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
And that is going to do it for another episode
here of the podcast. But before I go, I got
to give my listeners shout out of the week this week.
I'm going over to x Skip Skoggin's you are this
week's listener shout Out of the Week. Skip hit me
up about my episode on eighties movies I think need
sequel and said Born in Eist Delay was one of
(49:02):
my favorite childhood movies. Really enjoyed hearing you give it
some love. I do feel like that is a movie
people forget about. I always like sharing those movies on
the podcast that I feel are these little hidden gems
that one probably also could have made the list I
made earlier in the episode. I just don't feel it's
that essential to our culture. But I feel what I
love more about that movie is the comedy. So appreciate
(49:23):
you Skip for listening to that episode. Appreciate you now
listening wherever you are, and until next time, go out
and watch good movies and I will talk to you
witer
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike, and on this episode, I
am celebrating the month of my people. It is Hispanic
Heritage Month, and I have what I believe is the
Mexican American movie starter Pack. If you're Mexican American like myself,
or if you just want to learn more about our culture,
I have the movies you need to see. In the
movie review, we'll be talking about the new animated prequel
(00:23):
Transformers one, and we'll answer the question am I aged
out of this movie? And in the trailer park a
new thriller from Daisy Ridley that looks fantastic. Why she
has entered my top five favorite working actors right now
would take a deep dive into that. Thank you for listening,
Thank you for being subscribed, shout out to the Monday
Morning Movie crew. And now let's talk movies.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast,
one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like
never before in a movie podcast, A man with so
much movie knowledge. He's basically like oh walking IMTB with
glasses from the Nashville Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
This is movie Mike Movie podcasts.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
It is Hispanic Heritage Month, and growing up, I always
struggled with what I defined myself as. The reason I
have Hispanic kind of forced upon to me is because
whenever I would take one of those standardized tests back
in the day, that is the box I would check.
I feel almost that Hispanic was assigned to me by
(01:30):
the government to categorize my people. And really what Hispanic
means is anybody from a Spanish speaking country. I think
right now more people like being called Latino, which actually
means anybody from Latin America. There are a lot of
words used to describe my people that are kind of
used interchangeably. I typically just refer to myself as Mexican American.
(01:54):
I just feel that that really defines me the best.
That is what I like being called my My parents
are both from Mexico, so I am first generation. They
moved here as teenagers.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I came here.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
My dad started working really odd and random jobs that
I love when he talks to me about. But whenever
he first moved here, I think one of his first
jobs was cleaning escalators.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Moved on and that was seen as.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
A huge upgrade from working the fields in Mexico, where
you make sense if that my mom came here, raised
my older brother and sister, and both of my parents
became citizens in the late nineties, I think nineteen ninety seven,
maybe nineteen ninety eight. I have early memories as a kid,
I was probably seven eight years old of my parents
(02:42):
going to these classes on the weekends where they studied
for the test, which is a really hard test. Even
as an American now, I think some people would struggle
with all that you have to learn in order to
become a citizen, and my parents studied so hard for
it in preparation to take the test, and I was
so proud of them even as a kid, because I
(03:02):
remember they passed it on the very first try, which
is a really hard thing to do. A lot of
my other uncles and aunts really struggled with this test,
took it three, four, sometimes five, six, seven times because
it is that difficult. And my dad, if you met
him now, you maybe wouldn't assume that he has all
this knowledge and a love for America. His favorite thing
(03:22):
to do is vote because he came to this country,
sacrifice so much, studied so hard. The fact that he
can vote now is an American citizen. That all of
his kids are American citizens is probably the thing that
he is the most proud of. Same with my mom
and growing up in the late nineties early two thousands.
The thing I struggled with, it didn't realize it was
(03:44):
a struggle at the time, is that I never really
saw our culture portrayed anywhere in media. I would watch
movies and it didn't really occur to me that there
could be Latino actors in these roles because they just
didn't exist. We were oftentimes type cast in movies in Hollywood,
and this happens in a lot of cultures. I just
(04:05):
heard John Luguizamo speaking at the Emmys, and everything that
he said really hit close to home, talking about how
actors that are white playing roles that were meant for
Latinos and how representation is really important, and it really
didn't settle into my brain, probably even until the late
twenty tens, where I started to realize, oh, we aren't
(04:27):
getting the roles that we should be getting, and that's
why I decided to put this episode together. These are
movies that I feel growing up Mexican American really resonated
with me. Very specific moments and examples that I want
to share with you that even if you're not Mexican American,
you can still probably relate to some of these moments,
and that is what I think is very important about filmmaking.
(04:50):
It's making people feel something. I'll also go through these chronologically,
so we're starting back in the eighties with one of
my favorite movies of all time. The first one in
this starter pack has to be La Bamba, which is
the biopic of Richie Vallens. He was the first Mexican
American superstar and he sadly passed away just eight months
(05:12):
after his big breakthrough, so his entire career was less
than a year. And as a kid, this movie was
so impactful to me because, like Richie Vallens, I wanted
to be a rock star and seeing somebody who has
brown skin be in that role of rock star was
so inspiring to me. That is what I wanted to do.
(05:33):
Before I was doing podcasting, before I was doing radio,
I was playing in bands, singing and playing guitar, and
I'd always think back of this movie and think, oh, man,
I want to look cool like Richie Vallens. And I
think now as an adult, it is inspiring to me
to think about the time that he did this in
back when there were not people at all who look
like him, at the top of the radio charts, playing
(05:56):
on television, selling albums the way he did, and pushing
the envelope the way he did at that time, his
biggest song being La Bamba. To think at that time
having success with this song to go on to be
his signature song. You would even struggle right now in
twenty twenty four putting out a song with Spanish lyrics
(06:19):
and have it be a crossover pop hit. I think
the last major song to really do that that I
can remember is that Spasito from twenty seventeen, which became
a crossover hit largely due to Justin Bieber's involvement in
that song. You could maybe argue a couple of bad
Bunny songs that have crossed over, and I do feel
right now there is kind of this resurgence and interest
(06:42):
in Mexican American music on the Billboard chart. You look
at artists like Best of Bluema who are really pushing
that boundary of creating the sound that is not only
huge and popular in Mexico but also here in the
United States. Where he's touring selling out arenas. But again,
that is right now in the twenty twenties. Think back
in the nineteen fifties, somebody doing that. How a rock
(07:04):
and roll, how punk rock is that? It is so
inspiring to me. And one of the scenes and moments
in this movie that really resonated with me was Richie
Vallen's decision to change his name to be more appealing
to this American audience. Here's that moment from LaBamba.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Your professional name from now on, it's Richie with the
T ri tchie. I got a new last name for you, too,
Valence with an S, Richie Vallens. As I grab you,
I don't like it, that's for sure, man.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I mean, Valenzuela was our dad's last name. You can't
just cut it in half. It's no big deal.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
People in this business they changed their names like they
change wives.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Even me.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
My last name is Koon.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I kind of did this in school without thinking about
it because Mike isn't my real name, and growing up
I was called Mikey. My family actually gave me the
nickname Mikey because of a movie. Obviously, ten Mutant Ninja Turtles.
You have Mikey aka Michelangelo, and we were all huge
fans of that movie as a family, so everybody just
(08:08):
called me Mikey growing up. Eventually, I thought, I don't
want to be called Mike anymore. I don't want to
be an adult in college of people called me Mikey.
So I dropped a y and went by Mike. And
then I developed a stage name because I was working
in radio and there are so many mics. My last
name for being a Mexican is pretty common. If you
(08:29):
search it, you get so many results. And also my
decision to change my name to give me kind of
an alter ego was something I did just because I
felt my name was common. But I also feel like
if you see the name Mike on paper, you don't
know what you're getting. And I don't know if that
has had some impact on some of the opportunities I've
(08:50):
been given over the years, because you hear the name
Mike Distro and you don't really know what I am.
Some people assume I'm Ittallion. But I just created the
name because I felt it was unique, and because I
felt that I could get that name on every single
social media platform, which I have to this day. Mike
Cadestro on all socials, but in turn it has become
(09:13):
a bit of an alter ego, and much like Richie Valens,
changed it in order for people to be able to
digest his name a little bit better, because you hear
Valenzuela and you think, I don't want to listen to
this guy. And that is something that a lot of
people who were starting out in the fifties, sixties, even
seventies struggled. Even look at country artists like Charlie Pride,
(09:35):
and they wouldn't put his photo on his albums, on
his singles when they would send it out to radio
stations because they didn't want audiences to know that he
was black. And again, this was me making this decision
over ten years ago. Now, this was probably two thousand
and nine when I gave myself this name, Mike Diestro.
And maybe I would have a different approach if I
(09:57):
were just starting out in my career now, maybe I
would I kept my last name. But it was seeing
this represented in La Bamba that eventually led to my
decision of wanting to switch my name and create a
stage name where you hear it and you don't assume
anything about me. Maybe at times that has worked to
my advantage. And I like the name, so the history
(10:17):
of me changing my name all goes back.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
To La Bamba.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
That is why I consider this movie to be an
essential for Mexican Americans. Next up is another movie featuring
Lou Diamond Phillips, Stand and Deliver from nineteen eighty eight.
The movie is based on a true story, and I
think that is why it was so impactful to me
growing up. And I watched this movie I was probably
ten to eleven years old, so even before I went
(10:41):
into high school, I feel like it gave me an
idea of.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
What to expect.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It follows the life of Hymen Escalande, played by Edwards
James Olmos, who was all over movies like this in
the late eighties, early nineties, even late nineties. He plays
a math teacher who helps a group of inner city
students succeed in a very advanced math class, from the
basics all the way to calculas. That's a joke in
the movie if you haven't seen it, and the movie
(11:06):
really teaches you about perseverance, dedication, and the power of
education to people that otherwise by the school system would
have been written off. You see a group of students
like this, and you assume they're never going to use
this in their life. They're going to end up working
in mechanics shops, working at salons, working in factories, doing landscaping.
(11:28):
That is typically what people assume of us, and I
believe they are very noble jobs. Some people look down
on those jobs. I don't whatsoever. I still have a
lot of family working in those roles, and it's probably
more of an American thing to look down on people
working in construction making your food. I don't see that whatsoever.
(11:49):
I see people working hard, trying to support their families
and doing the things they need to survive. And that
is what my dad taught me growing up. Of all
the things he taught me, the one that is stuck
with me the work ethic. You got to show up,
you gotta work, and you gotta do the things sometimes
that other people don't want to do. And I know
he didn't want me to take the same path as him,
(12:10):
being a truck driver working a job like that. He
wanted me to go to school, get a degree, and
have a better life than he did. That is why
he came here, and I think that is the message
of stand and deliver.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
We can break that cycle. We don't have to take
all the things.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Available to us just because they're part of tradition, they
are part of the line of work our family has
already been in. There can be more for you. And
there's one scene in particular where the teacher Jim is
frustrated with the student who wants to quit because he
now has an opportunity to take on a job that
can allow him to make money. Jima uses it as
(12:48):
an opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
My uncle offered me a job operating a fork with
Saturdays and Sundays of him making time and a half.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
So what two years in the union and I'll be.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Making more than you, Domon.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
I don't want to let you down.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Put the money I've been making well, buy me in transam.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
No one cruises through life, pundship. Wouldn't you rather be
designing these things? I've been burying them? Right or left?
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Where are we going?
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Right or left?
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Go right?
Speaker 6 (13:18):
All you see is the turn. You don't see the
road ahead.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That quote right there has stayed with me for so long.
See the turn, but you don't see the road ahead.
You see this quick opportunity that you could take and
start making money.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
But you don't think.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
About the life that one decision is going to cause
a chain reaction to, and sometimes you had to make
hard decisions. I think there was a point in my
career where I had one of these decisions. My dream
was to have the job I have now working on
the Bobby Bone Show. And there were some other opportunities
that came in there that I could have taken because
(13:53):
they were available, they would have been a steadier paycheck,
but I knew that wasn't the dream. One opportunity in
particular that somebody told me, like, why aren't you taking this?
This is an easy decision. You have been trying to
get a job in this field. They don't just grow
on trees. They couldn't believe that I wasn't taking this opportunity,
and I had I don't know what kind of state
(14:16):
of mind I was in that I just had this
tunnel vision that I knew where I wanted to be.
I knew where I wanted to end up here in
Nashville working on the Bobby Bone Show. That I thought,
if I take that, it's going to send me on
an entirely different path that doesn't lead where I want
to go. And I thought back to this scene, you
only see the turn and you don't see the road ahead,
and that stuck with me. It was an actual lesson
(14:38):
that I thought about because I saw that that was
a turn. But I really wasn't looking just to make
money right then. I always invested in myself and did
all the things to get me to the place I
really wanted to be long term, not where I wanted
to be temporarily. So I didn't take that opportunity, and
it ended up being the right decision because it led
(14:59):
me to be able to move to Nashville and get
the job I wanted.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
You.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So that is what this movie taught me. It's also
a great blend of drama. There's some comedy in there too,
some great performances, an excellent ensemble cast. That's why I
put Stand and Deliver in my Mexican American movie starter pack.
We'll get out of the eighties now, and next up
on the list, I have from nineteen ninety seven Selena,
(15:24):
which is the story of the life and tragic death
of Selena quintaniapeties. She was a Mexican American singer who
rose to fame in the early nineteen nineties, and obviously
the movie serves as a biopic. What I feel that
this movie does a great job of is showing what
it's like to be a Mexican American artist in a
(15:47):
predominantly white industry and how you struggle to maintain your
heritage while also trying to achieve mainstream success, and Selena's
case specifically being a Mexican American who does it primarily
speak Spanish. And there's a scene where her dad, again
played by Edward James, almost we've had a recurring theme
(16:07):
a link in all these movies. It went from lou
Diamond Phillips being in both movies to now e Jo
being in both movies. But there is a moment where
he is describing that struggle of having to live in
both of these worlds and be twice as perfect.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Being Mexican American is tough. Anglos jump all over you
if you don't speak English perfectly. Mexicans jump all over
you if you don't speak Spanish perfectly. We gotta be
twice as perfect as anybody else. I mean, we gotta
know about John Wayne and Phil and fun thing. We
gotta know about Frank Sinatra and Augustine Lada.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
We gotta know about Oprah.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
And Christina, and we got to prove to the Mexicans
how Mexican we are, and we gotta prove to Americans
how American we are. We gotta be more Mexican than
the Mexicans and more American than Americans both at the
same time.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
It's exhausting.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I would quote that line all the time. It's exhausting,
which it is. Experience this a lot, not just on
a professional level, but just on a personal level. Of
those times when I would go to Mexico to visit
my family there and they look at you differently because
they know, oh, your parents may be from here, but
you are an American, and they are over criticizing your Spanish.
(17:20):
They make you feel that you're kind of a sellout
for speaking English, dressing the way that you do, thinking
that you're better than them because you're wearing American brands.
They'll call you names, they'll make fun of you if
you don't know all the slang. You better not be
caught dead speaking English in Mexico because they will grill you.
(17:41):
And then you come back to the United States and
you have to speak perfect English. And let me tell you,
if you grew up speaking Spanish or any other language
that is not English, it is a very difficult language
to learn. The English language makes no sense. And I
was lucky that my older and older sister had already
(18:01):
learned English, even though they came here and they learned
Spanish first, and they learned English by watching TV a lot,
watching movies. Even my mom watching Sesame Street with me
as a kid, she would learn English from that, and
obviously in her job now has had to learn English.
My dad knows English, even though they still prefer to
speak Spanish. They knew that living in the United States,
(18:24):
it was going to be difficult for them if they
did not learn it. But there is this pressure from
both sides that you have to be the best of
both worlds because if not, you're seen as being a sellout,
you're seeing as being an outcast. And for me, that
is really the message that this movie drove home. Also
obviously showcasing the music of Selena and how impactful her
(18:45):
career was, how quickly she rose to fame, and how
sad her story is, which sadly, all those stories about
Mexican and American musicians don't und will spoiler alert, but
Selena is a classic. That's why I included it as
the third movie on my Assay Cents list. I have
two more movies to talk about, had to include something
in animation. You don't know how excited I was to
(19:08):
finally have a Mexican Pixar character, even though maybe twenty
seventeen is.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
A bit late.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Coco is heavily influenced by Mexican culture and traditions. The
celebration of family focuses largely on the Eddelos morthlos and
honoring the memory of your loved ones that have passed.
But the part of the movie I wanted to talk
about that I feel really represents Mexican American life is
the way the movie handles the idea of crossing the border.
(19:38):
And the movie uses a physical border, much like the
US Mexico border to separate the dead from the living.
And in order to cross the border, your loved ones
have to have a picture up of you, and that
is essentially your green card, your papers, your birth certificate,
much like it was for my family. Here's that scene
from Coco, No.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Funto on a friend, No crossing the bridge, You know what.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I'm just gonna zip right over you wondn't even.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
Know I'm got.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Bridge.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I don't know what I do if no one would
have my photo archery.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Look the bag of meals. Anything to declare, I said,
might at a fuck?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yes, anything to declare is the phrase that sends chills
down my spine. I was terrified as a kid to
cross the border. It felt like this really ominous task,
and we would usually cross the border at night, because
we would try to drive through Mexico primarily during the
(20:43):
day and leave crossing the border at the very end,
so by the time it was nighttime, we'd cross and
they would be in the United States where it's a
little bit more safe. And I always had this anxiety
that would come over me as we would cross the border,
even though everybody in the car where America and citizens.
My mom and dad had passports. I think we were
(21:04):
still a little bit young at the time, so we
crossed with our birth certificates. But I was always worried
that they weren't going to let us pass, that they
were going to throw us into jail. And that is
the anxiety I had as a kid, still have it
to this day because for some reason, my name still
keeps coming up that I'm some wanted criminal, and I
always have to go through this interrogation where I have
(21:26):
to prove to them that I am not the person
that they are looking for. And it's at this point
where am I do I tell them beforehand that Hey,
I know it's going to come up on there that
I'm somebody that I'm not, But I feel like that
would create more confusion and more tension. So I still
have this same anxiety anytime I have to go out
of the country trying to get back into the United States,
(21:48):
and it is a stress on people, and I would
get freaked out about the things we were bringing back.
Sometimes we would bring back Mexican snacks because Mexico has
the best snacks that are far superior than America.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
They just taste better.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Mexican cheetos, Mexican pepsi because pepsi is more prevalent in
Mexico than it is in the United States. Here, everybody
wants coke, diet coke, doctor pepper, and Mexico. It's all
about the pepsi products because they just taste so much better.
Mexican pepsi and a glass bottle. Ooh, far superior over there.
The chips are so much better. So we'd bring back
(22:23):
Cheetos Sabritas. Mexican candy goes hard. But obviously you couldn't
bring back fruits or vegetables. That is what they were
always looking for. I don't know why, but I think
it was just the presence of a border patrol agent
while crossing the border. I remember them expecting our truck
going around, putting a flashlight in our face, asking us
or you an American citizen, and me rehearsing it into
(22:45):
my head. Okay, when he says, are you an American citizen? Yes,
I'm an American citizen? Or do I say see? Or
do I say yes? Or do I say The President
is George W.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Bush.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
And in the scene in Coco, they are using facial
recognition to determine who is clear across the border. That
was that process I faced to them, taking everybody's paperwork
and making sure you were an American citizen. And sometimes
just for no real reason, they would have you turn
into a stall to inspect the entire truck and we'd
(23:13):
all have to get out. They would go through our luggage,
they'd bring the dog and have them sniff all the
way around the truck. And that was so so terrifying
as a kid, because again, even though we didn't have
anything on us, it's much like going through tsa now,
even though you know you don't have anything on you,
it's that fear of what if I forgot something?
Speaker 3 (23:33):
What if I do have.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
A bunch of tomatoes and mongos in my suitcase? What
are they gonna do to us? And I'd never really
seen that process showcased in an American movie, much less
a Disney pick Star movie. So obviously Coco celebrated a
lot of Mexican traditions, heavily rooted in the music aspect,
with all the manyachi music in Coco. But for me,
(23:56):
it was that scene in particular. That's why I included
it on this Central's list. I have one more to include.
It is the most recent entry, as we've been going
chronologically from the eighties to the nineties, the twenty tens,
and now the most recent entry is Blue Beetle, which
came out in twenty twenty three. This movie means a
(24:16):
lot to me, and I know some people did not
enjoy this movie. It also came out at a weird
time last year during the writers' strike, and I feel
like this movie had kind of an unfair battleground because
none of the cast was able to promote it. It
also came in on the tail end of the DCEU
at a time where everybody was really already checking out,
(24:38):
knowing that James Gunn was going to take over and
change everything, and made it feel like Blue Beetle, along
with movies like The Flash, didn't really matter because this
entire chapter was gonna go caput at the end of
the year. But the movie was groundbreaking. It was the
first superhero film led by a Latino character. Scholo made Luenna,
(24:58):
who did a fantastic job, directed by an Hilmanuel Soto,
who I've actually had on the podcast, and it was
groundbreaking when it came to showcasing how Mexican American families are,
how important being together is, the identity struggles, staying true
to your Mexican American roots in a world that doesn't
want you to hold on to them. And for me,
(25:20):
I believe this was one of the most authentic representations
of showing how Mexicans actually dress, how Mexicans in the
United States actually speak to each other inside of their families,
even though sometimes I do feel like it's over emphasized
a little bit, but that's any time you use Spanish
in an American movie, you have to amplify it just
a little bit. But showing what Mexicans listen to, what
(25:44):
Mexicans eat, even the houses where we live and things
that would be on our walls, the jobs that we have.
The dad in this movie wearing his work jacket gave
me strong vibes to my dad. It was hearing them
listening to artists like Lostukanas that the I Juana, watching
El Chapolin Colorado and thinking to myself, these are all
(26:04):
things that I listened to and watch growing up, and
now they are being showcased in this movie. And it
was also the fact that the movie really committed to
the use of Spanish, which I felt was a huge
risk as a viewer and I was Mexican American. But
when I had the director on talking about it, he
said he didn't see it as a risk.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
No, nocus, that's my life, that's our life. When we
were doing it, we had the blessing I wanted to
have more Spanish because the truth is all those actors,
especially like Alberto regez Zo da Casa and Agena Barrasa.
Their main language is Spanish. When you speak from the heart,
doesn't matter where you are, You're going to speak from
(26:45):
the language that you can better communicate.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
So I love that it makes the movie to me
feel more authentic because when I talk to my parents now,
we do this. We go back and forth speaking English
and Spanish, sometimes senates for senates, sometimes every other word
is in a different language. Just because there are certain
words I feel more comfortable getting my message across in English.
But there are words in Spanish that sometimes I don't
(27:08):
even know what they mean. I've been saying them for
so long that if I had to translate them, it
takes me a second to think, I don't know. I've
just been using these words since I was a kid,
and they're just embedded in my head that they mean
something to me in one language. But I don't think
they would hit the same way if I translated them
into English. Therefore, when I talked to my parents, I
just use the Spanish word, so it would be very
(27:29):
confusing to some people to hear the way are some
of our conversations go down because it is back and
forth a lot of the time, and that is what
they did in Blue Beetle. The other moment that I
felt truly showcase the struggle of Mexican Americans was the
scene in the movie where Hymen, the main character who
eventually becomes the Blue Beetle, goes for a job interview
(27:49):
and has this interaction.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I it's nice to meet you.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Deliveries are downstairs.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Oh no, no, no, my name is Himejime. I'm here
to see Jenny Cord.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Do you have an appointment, Jamie t I met right, I.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Mean, yes, I do have an appointment. She said, to
drop by some stress.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
Oh you can stand back, okay.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Why don't you have a seat Jamie, Okay, thank you.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
A couple of things there.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
You know how many times I've been confused for a
worker at a restaurant, at the mall, even one time
at a station event. One time I had somebody at
an event I was at for the radio station give
me their trash because I was standing on like the
bottom floor where all these people were seated towards the back,
(28:38):
trying to find my seat. So maybe I was looking
a little bit confused of not knowing where I was
supposed to go, but I was dressed in like a
nice white button down with black slacks, and looking back
on it, now, yeah, maybe what some people would assume
a server would be dressed like. But to me, I
was like, oh, look at me, you're dressing up fancy
for this event. And the person thought I was working
the event and gave me their trash to throw it away.
(29:01):
So it's moments like that of our people being confused
for workers even though we're not, because you think, oh,
you can't possibly be here for a job interview. You're
looking for deliveries. Go round back man. The other part
of that clip is her. Even though he says his
name is Hymen in the way that he speaks my
(29:21):
name is Hymen, she calls them Jamie.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
This is also something I.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Struggled with growing up because my real Mexican name, I
hated the way people would pronounce it and it didn't
feel like that was the name that my parents gave me. Therefore,
just going by Minkey was so much easier. And I
hope that Sholoamadi Duenna still gets to play the role
of Blue Beetle. James Gunn has said that he wants
(29:47):
to keep the character and all that he's building with DC.
I think a Blue Beetle two would probably be a
lot to ask for just because it wasn't seen as
a commercial success, but it is available on Max. If
you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. That is
my list of essential Mexican American movies for Hispanic heritage months.
(30:09):
I do have some honorable mentions. There are some movies
that I watch growing up that I feel other people
would probably include on this list. But the reason I
feel they aren't entirely essential is because some of them
are a little bit more violent, are rated, and I
feel that generally I wouldn't include like that on an
essentials list. But American Me, also starring Edward James, almost
(30:30):
is about his rise to power in the Mexican Mafia.
Some pretty brutal scenes in that movie. Another one that
I've probably watched at too young of an age along
those same lines is Blood and Blood Out, which my
cousins love growing up. It's the story of three cousins,
which is probably why. That's a story about trying to
be in a gang while also is trying to maintain
your family. One that I enjoyed that I don't really
(30:52):
believe is essential is Sicatio, just because it portrays what
some border towns are like, probably to a bit of
an extreme, and I think as Americans we think some
of these towns, like Wwadas are war zones.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Which they are dangerous.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
My parents had to go to Wattas in order to
get my grandma papers to come to the United States,
and I just remember being so stressed out knowing that
they were going there. They were on very high alert.
So the movie does take it to a bit of
an extreme, but it does showcase what some of these
places are like. Another movie I bonded with my mom
over was under the same Moon, also goes by the
(31:28):
title Lamism Luna, which means the same thing. It came
out in two thousand and seven, and it's about a
kid crossing the border to reunite with his mom. It
has that two thousands drama vibe that maybe doesn't age perfectly,
but I feel like a little bit more of a
fluffy drama that is a good one that also shows
the struggle of having family in the US and in Mexico.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
So that is the list.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
I'll come back and give my spoiler free review of
Transformers One.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Let's get into it now.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
A spoiler free movie review a Transformers one. I wanted
to know my aged out of this movie. And Transformers
spans a lot of generations. I think probably the biggest
generation that it affected because it came out when it
was brand new, was the eighties. My older brother grew
up in the eighties and he was a huge Transformers fan.
They had the toy line, obviously paired with the comic
(32:23):
book line that they would promote the toys in that
turned into the animated series. There was an animated movie
back in the eighties, so Transformers dipping into animation isn't
anything new by any means, but this movie is introducing
it to an entirely new generation. You have those people
back in the eighties. Then you have fans like me
who became a fan in two thousand and seven with
(32:45):
the Michael Bay movie shild Above Megan Fox. That entire run,
even into the twenty tens with the Mark Wahlberg was
and even coming back now with Anton. It almost Transformers
have been a constant in American entertainment since the eighties,
but now you have an animated movie that is going
to be what that was in the eighties. To kids now.
So going into this movie, I wanted to know, how
(33:08):
is it going to walk that line of being appealing
to kids now thinking they're cool, getting them.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Invested in the characters.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Also, the point of any movie, especially Transformers movies, to
inspire a kid to go see this movie and then
want to run to Target, run to Walmart, tell their
parents I need this optimist Prime now.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Because he was so cool in the movie.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
How is it going to be inspiring to those kids
but also appease the fans from the eighties and the
two thousands. How is it going to walk that line?
As far as the tone and I will say, in
the first thirty minutes of this movie, I thought I'm
aged out of this. This isn't going to be for me,
because in the first thirty minutes it felt like the
(33:49):
script was written by Ai, that all these little comedic
moments were made for kids maybe four.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Or five, six years old, and it.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Felt like that superhero humor of like I can't believe it.
He's standing right behind me, isn't he. There were a
lot of those moments that thought we were going to
be in for a lot of that throughout the movie,
and I worried in those first thirty minutes and what
this movie is about. It is the origin story of
Optimist Prime and Megatron, before they were known by that
there were just two dudes working as minors, Orion Packs
(34:21):
and D sixteen Orion Packs. Who goes on to be
Optimist Prime is voiced by Chris Hemsworth. D sixteen is
voiced by Brian Tyree Henry he goes on to be Megatron.
You also have Keegan Michael Key, Scarlett Johansson rounding out
this crew. And I just think it was the animation
style and the overall interaction between all of the characters
that I really didn't become fully invested until the late
(34:43):
second and third act. And I think it was the
fact that I started to feel that they miscast some
of these voices. I really had to lean into hearing
Chris Hemsworth be Optimist Prime and have to play that
character much differently in the beginning because he not really
Optimist Prime yet. And it felt like almost all their
(35:04):
voices didn't really go together well, like they didn't have
this chemistry. And I've never really felt that way during
an animated movie because obviously I don't expect and it
rarely ever happens that all of these actors are together
in a room while making these movies. Chris Hemsworth did
this entire movie at his house and at times his
kids would run in, so I kind of started to
feel that so much so that it felt like Scarlett
(35:26):
Johansson was completely removed from this movie. And I think
out of everybody from this main cast, she was the
one who felt the most miscast. And Scarlett Johansson is
a fantastic actor and voice actor, because her work in
her should have earned her at least an Oscar nomination,
But to me, it felt like her role in this.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Movie was much more of we need big names.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
At the top of this poster to get people to
go want to watch it. It just didn't really feel
like her voice fit that character, and I could just
really see her sitting in a recording booth recording these
lines and sending them off and not really feeling any
connection there. So maybe that's just me as an adult.
I don't think a kid watching this movie would have
really felt that. I also felt like early on the
(36:11):
animation looked very flat and cold, which I was kind
of hoping that they would pull some inspiration from the
early cartoons, even the early comics to design these characters.
But I feel in order to make it a little
bit more appealing to kids now, they have to look
a little bit more slick, a little bit more like
they were made in twenty twenty four and not back
(36:31):
in the eighties. But I think it was just feeling
that they were really trying to make moments comedic that
weren't really working. And what this movie is really trying
to teach the kids, to teach to even some adults
who need to hear it, is that questioning your worth,
your role in the world, and having that feeling that
you're destined to be something better, because that is what
Orian Packs is dealing with, working in that mind, knowing
(36:54):
that you know, I think there's something out there for me.
And the thing you have to know about these miners
is they're not to transform. They don't have the ability
to turn into cars to be super strong, and there
are other people living in their world that do, so
they desire to have that, to be as good as
their superiors, and trying to show that just because they
(37:16):
are miners working down there doing the grunt work, that
they are also destined to be something great if they
want to seek that out, and that is what Orion
Pax wants to do. D sixteen is very much the
opposite and wants to maintain the status quo, doesn't want
to break protocol, wants to keep his head down, work hard,
and hopefully eventually be rewarded for that, but doesn't want
(37:37):
to make any ways. And Orion Pax kind of makes
the decision for him that no, we're gonna do something different.
We're gonna go try to find this energy source and
prove that we're not just miners and there's actual meaning
to our life. And as they go on this journey
trying to find this energy source and at the same
time trying to find their purpose in life, there is.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
A big shift in the movie.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
And in that late second and it's especially third act,
I feel like something switched in the script and it
became an entirely different movie.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
And that second half.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Is totally geared more towards the early eighties fans and
those two thousands fans, and it started not to feel
like a movie meant for kids anymore. And it's the
only time I've realized that happening. As I'm watching something
It reminded me much like the first teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles live action movie, where even though that was based
on a kid's comic book, that entire movie had much
(38:33):
more of an adult tone.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Very serious.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
There were some real high stakes in that movie. People
died in that movie, and I almost feel like they
took some inspiration from that to create this story where
they were no longer downplaying it to kids. And I
love movies that do that because kids are smart. You
can put things in movies that have a little bit
more of an adult theme. There's some fighting in here,
(38:57):
there's some betrayal, there's a lot of things that go
and you think, oh, that would go over some kids'
heads that are maybe five, six, seven, eight years old.
But I think when you make movies like that and
you don't make everything like the first half of this
movie have those cheesy moments, those kung Fu pandem moments
where character farts or something, you can really give kids
something special that they are going to remember.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
I feel like that is going to be this movie.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
In ten twenty years that people who are doing a
podcast in twenty forty think back to the time where
their dad or their mom took them to go see
Transformers one in theaters and it changed their life. That
is when something special really starts happening. I wish it
did it earlier on in the film, but I understand
the impact it had later in the movie, where I
(39:41):
felt it totally changed and I really started to enjoy it.
That is when I started to feel as an adult
that something special was happening before my eyes and it
was a Transformers movie like I didn't expect to see.
And I think it's going back to I hate the
term going back to its roots and animation, but that's
what it.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
It went back to owning.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
That world and doing things that the live action movie
couldn't do. Live action Transformers movies always have a little
bit of a constraint because they rely so much on
the special effects the human interaction.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
But when you take that out and really get to.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Explore their world, it becomes entirely different, less about the
whole robots in disguise and more about being more than.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Meets the eye.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
That's really the only way I can describe it, because
it's not so much about them hiding from anything yet
it's about them showing off their powers and their abilities.
And also their desire for one side to do evil
things and one side to do the noble, heroic thing.
And overall, I thought Chris Hemsworth did a really good
job as Optimist Prime. You can hear the evolution of
(40:48):
his voice throughout this film, which I think early on
in the movie, I was like, why is he just
talking normally like Chris Hemsworth? And then it starts to
make sense, and I think it's putting together all those
pieces and how this really connects with the live action
movies because this Transformer's one movie does serve as canon,
and I feel like, I don't know how many of
(41:09):
these movies they are going to make, but it's going
to lead up to what we saw back in two
thousand and seven, and that is exciting to me. And
even though I didn't love the entire film, how this
movie ended makes me feel that the next one is
going to be magnificent because it ends on a high
note and now the stage is set with all our
characters in play. I think the better action is going
(41:30):
to be in Part two and Part three if they
get there. The only thing this movie was really missing
was that Lincoln Park song playing at the end. Boom,
directed by Michael Bay. Credits roll Yeah. Transformers movie without
the big Michael Bay explosions was an interesting experience. So
even though it took a while to get there, I
found myself really enjoying the movie. But I can't deny
(41:52):
that those first thirty forty minutes I felt.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
A little bit bored by.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
And I get that's obviously because I'm thirty three years old.
I wasn't the key demographic and what I feel was
Act one and the most of Act two. But I
think the next movie is going to be one that
I can get fully behind. But for Transformers one, I
give it three point five out of five sword Hands.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
It's time to head down to movie.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Mike Traylor Paul dai Z Ridley gets twisted in a
new thriller called mac Pie. I have been waiting for
this movie to come out. It premiered earlier this year
at south By Southwest, had fantastic reviews. I've just been
refreshing my Google searches trying to find out when this
movie was going to come out. Daisy Ridley just shared
(42:39):
this trailer at the end of last week on Instagram
and I was like, finally, I think dai Z Redley
right now is entering the prime of her career. I
think most people still know her as Ray from the
Star Wars movies. She is going to be in another
upcoming Star Wars movies. Could be multiple there, I said movies.
(42:59):
It could just be wanted the moment that has been announced.
But she gets so much hate from Star Wars fans
because of what her character did to what people believe
is the worst trilogy in Star Wars, and they don't
want to see her be in anymore Star Wars movies.
But I think what is going to happen to her
in the world of Star Wars is much what is
(43:20):
happening right now to Hayden Christensen, who is now getting
his flowers and being celebrated from the prequels that everybody
hated in the late nineties early two thousands. Now it's
all the people that grew up with those movies and
that was how they were introduced to Star Wars and
they love him. Now we're gonna have that in maybe
fifteen twenty years with those movies. Mark my words, I'm
(43:41):
still doing this podcast. In twenty years, I'll come on
here and be like I told you, I was right.
But after that movie, she took on other big, what
I would call stereotypical Hollywood movies that maybe felt to
her and maybe her management that this is the next
step you need to take to be this big star.
At her now husband while working on Murder on the
(44:02):
Orient Express in twenty seventeen, they actually wrote this movie together.
Her and Tom Bateman wrote the script to Magpie, which
is about a couple who finds their lives turned upside
down when their daughter is cast alongside a controversial star
in a movie. The trailer looks good, The poster looks good.
I want to tell you all about Magpie, but first
(44:24):
here's just a little bit of the trailer. Nice to
meet youa really nice to meet you.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
You too, big fan. Lysia sounds nice. She's amazing.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
I have a terrible tasting.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Men, we have you done?
Speaker 1 (44:48):
So what it looks like In this movie? Daisy Ridley
plays a character named Annette who is married to a
guy named Ben. Their daughter, Matilda, gets cast in this movie,
and it appears that her her husband has some kind
of an affair with this controversial actress and quite possibly
gets her pregnant and has a baby. I'm not exactly
(45:09):
sure of all the details. I've read what I can
find about this movie, and I've watched the trailer multiple times,
but it starts out with Daisy Ridley's character having a
bit of a breakdown, and you hear a baby crying,
and it kind of made me feel that she steal
this baby?
Speaker 3 (45:23):
What is going on?
Speaker 1 (45:25):
So she's in this car trying to get her seat
belt on, obviously not in a clear state of mind,
and you just hear this baby crying from the back seat,
and I wonder how that baby comes into this picture.
Is it a result of the affair that her husband
has with this actress? Does she herself become pregnant again
(45:46):
with her husband? And just muddies the entire situation. But
something leads me to believe that something not great is
going to happen to that baby. Because this movie is
being described as being very shocking. There's a line in
the trailer where the husband's like, what did you do?
And I have to imagine there has to be something
(46:07):
pretty shocking. At one point, you see Daisy Ridley staring
into a mirror and break it either with her fist
or her hand. In the next scene, she is watching
this cut in the scene can.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
You See Blood Everywhere?
Speaker 1 (46:19):
She becomes infatuated with this controversial actress that her husband
may or may not be having an affair with. She's
googling her, she has all these pictures pulled up. Looks
like she confronts her at one point, if I had
to predict it, the husband ends up having a baby
with this actress. They get divorced, she steals the baby
and hopefully hopefully doesn't do any harm to the baby.
(46:42):
But I feel like this movie has to have some
kind of an edge, some kind of major moment to
make it shocking, because that is what they are saying
about it, that it's going to be satisfying and something
new for audiences. So I think if there's anybody who
could pull off a role like this is Daisy Ridley,
who does dramas really well, who does thrillers really well.
(47:03):
Mentioned earlier The March King's Daughter. I thought she was
fantastic in and she does a really good job of
walking the line of drama but also pushing the boundaries
when it comes to making a very engaging thriller. She
is a very versatile actor, obviously probably learning a lot
from doing the Star Wars movies and working on movies
that are so big, larger than life. I feel like
(47:25):
her scaling down and going back to just great storytelling
with great direction. I feel like she's able to use
all those tools to make a movie like this really great.
The scene of her rocking the baby just gives me
this real, menacing, ominous feeling. You see a car being flipped,
looks like somebody is held hostage at some point. This
(47:47):
movie looks to me to have all the ingredients that
I love. But again, the movie is coming out on
October twenty fifth. It is rated R. I cannot wait
for Magpie. If you want to do a Daisy Ridly
deep dive, I would probably start with The marsh King's Daughter.
You can watch that one on Hulu. Then I would
go from earlier this year Young Woman in the Sea.
(48:08):
You can watch that one on Disney Plus. And then
if you like romance indie dramas, sometimes I think about dying.
I don't think it's for everybody. It's kind of depressing.
It's a bit of a bummer overall, a little bit
more low key of a movie. And it's also not
on a streaming service, so you do have to pay
to rent it. It's like four bucks. But that movie
(48:29):
is one of my favorites from this year. That is
why I'm looking forward to Magpie, Three Daisy Really movies
in one year.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
I'm all about it at that for was.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
This week's edition of Movie b Framer par.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
And that is going to do it for another episode
here of the podcast. But before I go, I got
to give my listeners shout out of the week this week.
I'm going over to x Skip Skoggin's you are this
week's listener shout Out of the Week. Skip hit me
up about my episode on eighties movies I think need
sequel and said Born in Eist Delay was one of
(49:02):
my favorite childhood movies. Really enjoyed hearing you give it
some love. I do feel like that is a movie
people forget about. I always like sharing those movies on
the podcast that I feel are these little hidden gems
that one probably also could have made the list I
made earlier in the episode. I just don't feel it's
that essential to our culture. But I feel what I
love more about that movie is the comedy. So appreciate
(49:23):
you Skip for listening to that episode. Appreciate you now
listening wherever you are, and until next time, go out
and watch good movies and I will talk to you
witer
Host
Mike D
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.