WHAT IS RETRO GRADE?
The TL;DR version: We are a movie podcast that talks about how “older” movies were made, received, and whether or not they still hold up.
By “older” movies, we mean movies from 2008 and before. We talk about movies that have left an impact in pop culture. Movies that are referenced daily. Movies that changed the way movies were made. Movies that, as children, meant a great deal to us from all kinds of genres. Movies like: Terminator 2, Star Wars, RoboCop, Mean Girls, Little Shop of Horrors, Candyman etc.
Every movie has a story behind how it was made. There are battles fought behind the scenes that we don’t really know much about just watching the movie. You’d be surprised the lengths that filmmakers will go (or not go) to get a scene to work, and when you find out it changes your appreciation of the film, for better or worse.
We talk about the historical context that the films were released in to try and figure out why certain films were as popular, unpopular, critically acclaimed, or critically torn apart. The collective conscious of today, is very different from the collective conscious of ten years ago. To understand these films better, we try to look back and try to put ourselves in the shoes of the audience of the film on opening day.
After we watch these films again, research how they were made, and go through the historical context, we try to see if the films still hold up. Can we still enjoy these films today without feeling bad about “that one scene?“ Is there still something to admire from the dated craftsmanship of these films? Does the film say something that still rings true today? We try to answer those questions towards the end of each episode, but Retro Grade’s hosts don’t always agree..
WHo is retro Grade?
Austin
Multi-racial, leftist, movie nerd. Star Wars, video games, pro-wrestling, Funko pops… that’s my jam. And cats. Cats are cool.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. I always loved movies. It was a way that my family spent time together. Every Friday night, we would rent movies from our local Hollywood Video. On top of that, my dad taught me how to use the VCR to record movies airing on TV. I started getting curious about different kinds of movies.. the kind that weren’t so family-friendly…and when I saw David Lynch’s Eraserhead, my dumb teenage boy brain was blown. Movies would never be the same.
I started getting into video editing and experimented with my own video projects and got my bachelor’s degree in Film and Media studies at UC Irvine. After I graduated I made the move to Los Angeles and with the help of a fellow graduate, got a job in film market research and started getting paid to watch movies and figure out what people like/dislike about movies months before release.
Now I am one of your co-hosts for Retro Grade!
JORGE
From the way my mother would describe me when I was a kid, there was no zoo trainer in the world that could have controlled me. In class, I couldn’t sit still and listen, and in the playground, you couldn’t pull me away from the monkey bars. I hated school, couldn’t stand sitting in church, and I can’t even begin to describe how deranged I got being at the dentist. The only thing that seemed to keep me momentarily relaxed was watching TV. And not just relaxed, but also excited, because whenever Saturday would come around, I would be the first one to wake up, go to the backroom and start watching ABC kids, the WB, and Fox Kids, and rotate between all those channels.
In high school, I managed to become much more focused in school. I became an altar boy at my church, and I finally stopped crying at the dentist. The biggest change, however, was just how much my love for TV and films grew. I started watching films my family normally wouldn’t watch, I read interviews with actors and directors, and I wanted to learn more. When I went to the University of California, Irvine, I joined a film club on campus, and we started making films. And making these shorts got me through those four years. Making films and meeting the people on these sets got me through breakups, midterms, finals, boring math lectures, a grocery store job with long hours, and not having my friends and family around. After graduating, I would start working at a marketing research company where we tested upcoming movies, and where I also ran into my future co-host, Austin.
It’s hard to say where I’m headed in this journey of film making. I might never get to make my dream feature film, or I might. But regardless, there are two things that I love now and will always love until the day I peace out from this world: watching movies and talking about them. And I just so happen to have a co-host that can tolerate my hot takes.
I’m Jorge, and I’ll be one of your co-hosts for Retro-Grade