Media Querencia (Spring 2025 vol.2 music & movie recommendations)

jesseillanes
Feb 24, 2025
3 min read

Originally published by The Daily Sundial of California State University, Northridge on February 24, 2025. This was made for our Spring 2025 magazine issue vol 2. featuring an empowering theme. Link to the original publishing here

Claire Geriak and Jesse Illanes

February 24, 2025

Cantando

MUSIC:

Alright – Kendrick Lamar

From Lamar’s quintessential “To Pimp a Butterfly” album, “Alright” features lyrics about a person’s life caught up in constant strife but in the end “we gon’ be alright.” With lyrics from Lamar and production from Pharrell Williams & Sounwave, “Alright” is practically a modern-day, hymn-sounding song regarding heavy and real-world situations.

Luv (Sic.) Part 3 – Nujabes ft. Shing02

The late Lofi hip-hop producer Nujabes mixed an orchestral jazz song featuring piano and violins with a hip-hop beat. Rapper Shing02 backs this with heartbreaking lyrics about failing to achieve true love multiple times, but “putting times in perspective” leads to a beautiful piece of music.

Nobody Loves You Like Your Mother – Theo Katzman

In the 2023 album “Be The Wheel” by Theo Katzman, the closing song, “Nobody Loves You Like Your Mother,” is a sentimental and moving song demonstrating the gift of motherly love. From cleverly crafted verses to the raw emotions of the recording, this composition provides a beautiful finish to the record.

Shadows and Light – Joni Mitchell

In 1979, Joni Mitchell and her astonishing band of jazz giants took to the stage of the Santa Barbara Bowl, creating a live-recorded album titled “Shadows and Light.” In this collection of songs throughout various of Mitchell’s albums, the audience is transported from the streets of Paris through dark desert highways through her lyrical imagery throughout time.

Matador Marquee

MOVIES:

Hard Boiled (1992)

A “hard-boiled” police inspector seeks revenge after his partner gets killed in a shoot-out involving Triad gun smugglers. The story begins with Inspector “Tequila,” as the Triad gang attempts to rule Hong Kong’s underworld, while Tequila gets help from an undercover cop rising in the ranks of this ruthless gang.

Police Story (1985)

Sergeant Chan Ka-Kui leads an undercover sting operation to arrest a crime boss. The mission escalates into witness protection, high-speed car chases and a shocking frame-up that makes Ka-Kui appear guilty of murdering police officers. Comedy, action and thrills fill this film, all under the guise of Jackie Chan’s spectacular filmmaking.

Lady Bird (2017)

Throughout Greta Gerwig’s 2017 film “Lady Bird,” Gerwig captures teenage moments from finding one’s identity to an important song with a significant memory. There are moments of continuous dialogue, then moments of prolonged silence. Gerwig’s choice to have the audience sit alongside these characters in intimate moments is compelling and moving.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The mixed distorted time and overwhelming emotions are just a few formative factors in Michel Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” It captures grief and regret in a new unseen light and shows an intimate look inside Joel Barish, played by Jim Carrey, in a moving and emotional mastery. The film allows viewers to explore the imagery of altered perceptions of life, love and loss.