John Leguizamo (Critical Thinking) [VIDEO]
September 25, 2020
Actor, director, producer, writer and Latinx activist, John Leguizamo joins Jack and Mike this week to discuss his directorial feature debut, ‘Critical Thinking.’ Based on the true story of a group of Brown and Black Miami chess-students, who with the guidance of their teacher (Leguizamo), forged together a friendship that would propel them from the bottom of the rankings to the National Chess Championship.
- 0:00 Intro and Trailer
- 2:03 1991’s ‘Hangin with the Homeboys’ movie, Latinx director Joseph A. Vasquez
- 2:57 Franc Reyes and ‘Empire’ film contracts
- 3:53 Critical Thinking and Stand and Deliver (1988)
- 5:39 How he directed ‘Critical Thinking’, the impact of ‘The Bellcurve’ book on his life
- 7:45 Challenges of making the film, studio said “Latin people don’t like watching Latin people”
- 11:22 Erasing Latinx from history books
- 12:42 Is there an appetite for prestige Hollywood Latinx films?
- 13:43 On Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’
- 14:33 How to achieve full Latinx identity and representation; Psycho-Social Erasure
- 17:30 Latinos for Trump
- 18:29 Animosity amongst Latinx and Blacks, amongst Latinx themselves, Yalitza Aparicio controversy, colorism on Telemundo and Univision
- 20:14 On Goya CEO praising Trump and dilemma buying Goya products
- 22:00 Working with young diverse cast; children’s books image representation (Eric Velasquez)
- 23:32 Should white filmmakers still tell Latinx/Black stories?
- 24:58 Advise for young diverse filmmakers
- 26:54 Future of ‘Latin History for Morons’; update of ‘Kiss My Aztec’
- 28:01 What kind of films does he want to do next
- 29:10 Sylvia Menéndez movie?
