Movies in 2019

Movies I watched in 2019 

I joined Letterboxd in late 2018 and decided to log all my watched movies in 2019. So here it goes my year in movies! 

January

01 GET ON THE BUS - Dir. Spike Lee 1996 ☆☆☆☆

07 MANHATTAN - Dir. Woody Allen 1979 ☆☆☆☆☆(rewatch)

11 ALL NIGHT LONG - Dir. Basil Dearden 1962 ☆☆☆☆

12 PERSONAL SHOPPER - Dir. Olivier Assayas 2016 ☆☆☆☆

12 A DOG'S WAY HOME - Dir. Charles Martin Smith 2019 ☆☆

13 THE FRESHMAN - Dir. Andrew Bergman 1990 ☆☆☆☆(rewatch)

13 TORCH SONG TRILOGY - Dir. Paul Bogart 1988 ☆☆☆

18 MAMMA ROMA - Dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini 1962 ☆☆☆☆

19 ROMA - Dir. Alfonso Cuaron 2018 ☆☆☆☆(

25 IRMA VEP - Dir. Olivier Assayas 1996 ☆☆☆☆(rewatch)

27 THE BIG CHILL - Dir. Lawrence Kasdan 1983 ☆☆☆ 

30 KRAMER VS KRAMER - Dir. Robert Benton 1979 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)

February

08 THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART - Dir. Mike Mitchell 2019 ☆☆1/2
09 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT - Dir. Norman Jewison 1967 ☆☆☆☆
13 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE - Dir. Wong Kar-Wai 2000 ☆☆☆☆☆(rewatch)
15 MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS - Dir. Wong Kar-Wai 2007 ☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
16 LATE AUTUMN - Dir. Yasujiro Ozu 1960 ☆☆☆☆
23 PHILADELPHIA - Dir. Jonathan Demme 1993 ☆☆☆☆ 

March
05 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - Dir. Bryan Singer 2018 ☆☆
09 A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY - Dir. Edward Yang 1991 ☆☆☆☆☆
10 CHARULATA - Dir. Satyajit Ray 1964 ☆☆☆☆1/2
11 MIKEY & NICKY - Dir. Elaine May 1976 ☆☆☆☆ 
12 PARIS, TEXAS - Dir. Wim Wenders 1984 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
12 THE IN-LAWS - Dir. Andrew Bergman 1979 ☆☆☆1/2
13 UHF - Dir. Jay Levey 1989 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)
14 A SERIOUS MAN - Dir. Joel Coen 2009 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
15 BURN AFTER READING - Dir. Joel Coen 2008 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
15 WONDER PARK - Dir. Dylan Brown 2019 ☆☆
17 INHERENT VICE - Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson 2014 ☆☆☆1/2
19 ANNIE HALL - Dir. Woody Allen 1977 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
24 BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME - Dir. Drew DeNicola & Olivia Mori 2012 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
30 CAFE SOCIETY - Dir. Woody Allen 2016 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)

April
04 LIGHTS IN THE DUST - Dir. Aki Kaurismaki 2006 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)
05 MYSTERY TRAIN - Dir. Jim Jarmusch 1989 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
13 MISSING LINK - Dir. 2019 ☆☆1/2
20 PATERSON - Dir. Jim Jarmusch 2016 ☆☆☆☆ 
21 A SERIOUS MAN - Dir. Joel Coen 2009 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
25 HANNAH AND HER SISTERS - Dir. Woody Allen 1986 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
26 BARCELONA - Dir. Whit Stillman 1994 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
28 BLACKKKLANSMAN - Dir. Spike Lee 2018 ☆☆☆☆1/2
28 CHI-RAQ - Dir.  Spike Lee 2015 ☆☆☆ 

May
03 CHUNGKING EXPRESS - Dir. Wong Kar-Wai 1994 ☆☆☆☆1/2
04 HARD BOILED - Dir. John Woo 1992 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
10 MODERN ROMANCE - Dir. Albert Brooks 1981 ☆☆☆☆
16 CHUNGKING EXPRESS - Dir. Wong Kar-Wai 1994☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
16 13 MOST BEAUTIFUL... SONGS FOR ANDY WARHOL'S SCREEN TESTS - Dir. Andy Warhol 2009 ☆☆☆☆1/2
18 A DOG'S JOURNEY - Dir. Gail Mancuso 2019 ☆☆☆1/2
23 DON'T LOOK BACK - Dir. D.A. Pennebaker 1967 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
24 WELCOME TO MARWEN - Dir. Robert Zemeckis 2018 ☆☆1/2
29 WANDA - Dir. Barbara Loden 1970 ☆☆☆1/2

June
03 LOVE & MERCY - Dir. Bill Pohlad 2014 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
06 SHUTTER ISLAND - Dir. Martin Scorsese 2010 ☆☆☆☆
11 COFFEE & CIGARETTES - Dir. Jim Jarmusch 2003 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
13 WEEKEND - Dir. Andrew Haigh 2011☆☆☆☆
14 THE DEAD DON'T DIE - Dir. Jim Jarmusch 2019 ☆☆☆
14 THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH - Dir. Hal Hartley 1989 ☆☆☆☆
18 SUMMER HOURS - Dir. Olivier Assayas 2008 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
20 TOY STORY 4 - Dir. Josh Cooley 2019 ☆☆☆
27 BLACK CAESAR - Dir. Larry Cohen 1973 ☆☆☆
27 BILLY BRAGG & WILCO: MAN IN THE SAND - Dir. Kim Hopkins 1999 ☆☆☆
29 A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY - Dir. Edward Yang 1991 ☆☆☆☆1/2  (rewatch)
29 THE LADY VANISHES - Dir. Alfred Hitchcock 1938 ☆☆☆☆☆
29 TAIPEI STORY - Dir. Edward Yang 1985 ☆☆☆☆
30 DO THE RIGHT THING - Dir. Spike Lee 1989 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)

July
01 BEFORE MIDNIGHT - Dir. Richard Linklater 2013 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
03 JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN - Dir. Julien Temple 2007 ☆☆☆1/2
04 SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME - Dir. Jon Watts 2019 ☆☆☆☆
05 NIGHT ON EARTH - Dir. Jim Jarmusch 1991 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
07 STRANGER THAN PARADISE - Dir. Jim Jarmusch 1984 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
07 LENINGRAD COWBOYS MEET MOSES - Dir. Aki Kaurismaki 1994 ☆☆☆
08 INSIANG - Dir. Lino Brocka 1976 ☆☆☆☆
09 CLOSE-UP - Dir. Abbas Kiarostami 1990 ☆☆☆☆1/2
09 HELP! - Dir. Richard Lester 1965 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
10 MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul 2000 ☆☆☆1/2
14 THE HARDER THEY COME - Dir. Perry Henzell 1972 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)
14 YESTERDAY - Dir. Danny Boyle 2019 ☆☆☆
14 NIGHT MOVES - Dir. Kelly Reichardt 2013 ☆☆☆1/2
14 ANIMA - Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson 2019 ☆☆☆
19 ANYTHING ELSE - Dir. Woody Allen 2003 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
20 YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER - Dir. Woody Allen 2010 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
20 TO ROME WITH LOVE - Dir. Woody Allen 2012 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)
22 WHILE WE'RE YOUNG - Dir. Noah Baumbach 2014 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)
31 LOST IN AMERICA - Dir. Albert Brooks 1985 ☆☆☆

August
01 BURNING - Dir. Lee Chang-dong 2018 ☆☆☆☆
02 CLOSE-UP - Dir. Abbas Kiarostami 1990 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
05 THE FAVORITE - Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos 2018 ☆☆☆
05 LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE - Dir. Abbas Kiarostami 2012 ☆☆☆☆
06 CAFE SOCIETY - Dir. Woody Allen 2016 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
07 WINGS OF DESIRE - Dir. Wim Wenders 1987 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
11 ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD - Dir. Quentin Tarantino 2019 ☆☆☆☆1/2
18 THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2 - Dir. Thurop Van Orman 2019 ☆☆1/2
20 JEANNE DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE 1080 BRUXELLES - Dir. Chantal Akerman 1975 ☆☆☆☆
23 THE HATEFUL EIGHT - Dir. Quentin Tarantino 2015 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
25 MODERN ROMANCE - Dir. Albert Brooks 1981 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
31 MISTRESS AMERICA - Dir. Noah Baumbach 2015 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)

September
01 VANYA ON 42ND STREET - Dir. Louis Malle 1994 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
06 YI YI - Dir. Edward Yang 2000 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
06 BROADCAST NEWS - Dir. James L. Brooks 1987 ☆☆☆☆ 
07 KICKING AND SCREAMING - Dir. Noah Baumbach 1995 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
08 BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - Dir. Gurinder Chadha 2019 ☆☆☆☆ 
13 ROCKETMAN - Dir. Dexter Fletcher 2019 ☆☆☆1/2
14 I HEART HUCKABEES Dir. David O. Russell 2004 ☆☆☆☆1/2  (rewatch)
28 PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM - Dir. Herbert Ross 1972 ☆☆☆1/2  (rewatch)

October
03 MANHATTAN - Dir. Woody Allen 1979 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
09 THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO - Dir. Woody Allen 1985 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
11 VANYA ON 42ND STREET - Dir. Louis Malle 1994 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
12 VAGABOND - Dir. Agnes Varda 1985 ☆☆☆☆
20 OLD JOY - Dir. Kelly Reichardt 2006 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
27 STILL WALKING - Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda 2008 ☆☆☆☆
27 TRUE STORIES - Dir. David Byrne 1986 ☆☆☆1/2

November
03 A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME - Dir. Errol Morris 1991 ☆☆☆☆
16 JOJO RABBIT - Dir. Taika Waititi 2019 ☆☆☆☆
16 THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE - Dir. Yazujiro Ozu 1952 ☆☆☆☆1/2
22 ELEGY - Dir. Isabel Coixet 2008 ☆☆☆☆
23 A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - Dir. Richard Lester 1964 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
23 LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD - Dir. Alain Resnais 1961 ☆☆☆☆1/2
27 STOLEN KISSES - Dir. Francois Truffaut 1968 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
27 BED AND BOARD - Dir. Francois Truffaut 1970 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
27 LOVE ON THE RUN - Dir. Francois Truffaut 1979 ☆☆☆ (rewatch)
28 ANTOINE AND COLETTE - Dir. Francois Truffaut 1962 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
28 XTC: THIS IS POP - Dir. Charlie Thomas and Roger Penny 2017 ☆☆☆1/2
28 THE RULES OF THE GAME - Dir. Jean Renoir 1939 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
29 THE MUSIC ROOM - Dir. Satyajit Ray 1958 ☆☆☆☆

December
06 CERTIFIED COPY - Dir. Abbas Kiarostami 2010 ☆☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
14 TOO LATE BLUES - Dir. John Cassavetes 1961☆☆☆
17 OLD JOY - Dir. Kelly Reichardt 2006 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
21 STAR WARS: RISE OF SKYWALKER - Dir. JJ Abrams 2019 ☆☆☆☆
21 TO BE OR NOT TO BE - Dir. Ernst Lubitsch 1942 ☆☆☆☆ 
23 ECHO IN THE CANYON - Dir. Andrew Slater 2018 ☆☆☆
24 METROPOLITAN - Dir. Whit Stillman 1990 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
25 WITHNAIL AND I - Dir. Bruce Robinson 1987 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
28 THE DAYTRIPPERS - Dir. Greg Mottola 1996 ☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
29 SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT - Dir. Ingmar Bergman 1955 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
29 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SEX COMEDY - Dir. Woody Allen 1982 ☆☆☆1/2 (rewatch)
29 BROADWAY DANNY ROSE - Dir. Woody Allen 1984 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)
30 THE SQUID AND THE WHALE - Dir. Noah Baumbach 2005 ☆☆☆☆☆ (rewatch)

Back to Hutchins

Back to Hutchins

In the summer of 2016, Steve Circeo and I, as Hot Like The Desert Productions, conceived and shot HUTCHINS to submit to the 2016 San Antonio Neighborhood Film Project, a small film competition whose mission was to produce films that highlight various San Antonio neighborhoods and the citizens in them. In retrospect, it might have been wise to produce a short that featured a trendy or newsworthy neighborhood such as Dignowity Hill or to perhaps tackle, more overtly, important issues such as gentrification or poverty. However, we took the opportunity to send me back to my childhood neighborhood on Hutchins and Zarzamora, which hadn't changed much, to walk around and ramble on selfishly about my childhood. It's a wonder we didn't win anything, right?!

HUTCHINS became one of my favorite of the Hot Like The Desert short films, for a couple of reasons. First of all, because it's relatively speaking, autobiographical. Secondly, because we shot it "cinema-verite" style: hand-held, improvised, and with the exception of the color sequences, in one uninterrupted shot. Well if you wanna get technical, two I guess.

I wrote the first draft of the script in one sitting (probably about an hour) and sent it to Steve for edits. We got together to shoot the following weekend but we were rained out, though we had a nice Japanese lunch after the rain hit. The following weekend we got together to shoot again.

Steve and I met for coffee that morning to rehearse the script and about halfway through the second read-through we decided to just scrap the script and ad-lib all the dialogue which gave it that really natural documentary feel. That was probably the best decision we made during that entire production.


We shot the little girl sequence first with little Evie Enriquez-Sanders and she did so great. She was just about perfect and exactly matched what I conceived when I wrote it. After her scene was done, Steve and I walked up and down the block twice and filmed two entire run-throughs of the rest of the short and we called it a day.

It was nice seeing it on the big screen a few weeks later at the Carver Community Center. There was a little reception with cookies, cheese, and punch which made it feel pretty legit. The audience was pretty quiet throughout the whole thing though. There weren't any laughs in the places I thought would get them. Also, we had to edit it down to reach the time limit allowed which, in my opinion, made the film less effective. I don't know, perhaps the audience just wasn't ready for a self-indulgent autobiographical piece about a nobody And what's more, one that didn't have music cues, fancy lighting, or even a clearly defined genre to cling to. In any event, I love it and am proud to share it again here, in its full uncut glory.

Click here to watch HUTCHINS!