Nothing breeds comedy better than adversity. Making it to the top often means digging yourself out of the hole. The deeper the hole, the longer the climb, and the stronger you are when you finally make it out. Very few comedians have had to follow the light quite like Aida Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican and Dominican comedian who, at 46, released her first memoir, “Legitimate Kid,” just two years after Max debuted her comedy special, “Fighting Words.” Prior to that, Rodriguez made an impression on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” where she placed ninth out of a total of 100 up-and-coming comics.

When LATINA spoke with Rodriguez, she explained that her time in the comedy scene hasn’t just made her a better joke-writer or given her more confidence on stage. “One of the things I’ve learned,” she said, “is that a lot of these people have no idea what they’re doing.” Even now, comedians are still lunging for the low-hanging Latin fruit, like jokes about the “Fast and Furious” movies that were already out-of-date more than a decade ago. “The importance of understanding that they have no clue what’s going on is an opportunity for us to step in there and really tell our own stories,” she said.

If Latinos are frustrated with how they’re portrayed in pop culture, which many of them are, it’s because there aren’t enough of them actually writing the jokes and stories we see on-screen. “The business doesn’t know us in the way that we know us and we get so angry because they don’t,” she said, noting that she is determined to be part of the solution. “I wanted to be of service so that I could initiate some change because we’re not going to burn it down,” she said, adding, “Not yet.”

That also means getting oldheads like George Lopez on board to work on shepherding the younger generation to stardom. Fans of either him or young Latino comedian Ralph Barbosa might remember their beef from earlier this year, when Lopez said he wasn’t going to extend a hand to Barbosa because nobody did it for him. The cruel irony of it all is that Lopez owes part of his career to a similar story between him and Erik Estrada, who did the same thing to Lopez when he was still on the rise.

“There’s an education that needs to take place,” Rodriguez explained, “because the problem is that a lot of Latine people, when they ascend and they have power, they turn around and start doing to us what the white people have been doing.” Because diversity in the entertainment industry means occupying a seemingly finite number of “slots” in mainstream showbusiness, Rodriguez pointed out how established Latine comedians “don’t want us to take what they have or what they think is theirs.”

For Rodriguez, the answer was vulnerability. Where most comedy specials end with “the big joke,” Rodriguez ended hers with a short documentary about meeting her father for the first time in the Dominican Republic. “I really wanted people to see how we mine our jokes,” she said. “Specifically, those comedians who talk about family stuff and how we get to the point where those experiences become jokes.” The comedian described it as “a therapeutic process” that allows comics to process their own trauma.

Rodriguez considers herself to be a very private person. She also knew that, as a rising comedian whose entire ethos revolves around bringing genuine Latine experiences to light, she was obligated to open “one of [her] greatest wounds” for the sake of connecting with viewers who may have a similar story to tell. “I really wanted all the little children who are experiencing that, what I was experiencing when I was a kid, to see something that lets them know that they’re okay and they’re going to be okay,” she said.

Like many bright-eyed hopefuls who travel to LA in search of stardom, Rodriguez aspired to break into the business as an actor. However, she quickly realized that women who looked, talked, and acted like her weren’t exactly a hot commodity. In order to create her own roadmap to success, Rodriguez had to look back at what made her want to be an entertainer in the first place – comedy. “I’ve always admired stand-up comedy since I was a kid,” she said. “Richard Pryor was my hero. I just remember listening to him [as a kid] and saying, ‘I want to do that.’”

If there is one ambition that Rodriguez has carried with her for her entire life, it is to be funny. She explained how, when she watched Johnny Carson as a kid, “I would grab the broomstick and say, ‘I’m going to do that one day.’” Still, she faced pressure to redirect her trajectory in life. “[I was] told that [comedy is] not a feminine thing, especially being Latina, being told men don’t want a goofy wife,” she explained. Still, her days of holding the broomstick in her family’s living room came full circle. After struggling as an actor and, at one point, living in her car with her two children, Rodriguez looked to stand-up, her first love, as a way out.

However, as an older Latina Rodriguez found that she needed to work twice as hard to get half as far as some of her contemporaries. “I wanted to talk about being a brown woman who’s not 20, and explore the ageism and sexism that I experienced,” she explained. “I don’t want to do tropes. I don’t want to perpetuate the stereotypes. I want to find the way in, to tell that story in a way that resonates and that’s clever.” Eventually, the stories behind the jokes became as relevant to Rodriguez’s career as the jokes themselves.

In the process of writing her next special, Rodriguez wrote a memoir which distinguishes itself from her material — it’s not particularly funny. “The thing about a joke is the joke has a certain rhythm. There’s a structure to the joke. It also has an allotted time,” she said. “There are a lot of times where, when you tell a joke, people love the joke. They love that bit for a moment. But I like to tell the story behind it, underneath it, where it comes from.” Naturally, she jumped at the opportunity to put some of those stories on the page.

“I don’t have punchlines in the book. I wrote it just as a literary piece separate from my comedy and I invite people who want to see me be funny to come see me on stage.” The book, however, is an earnest attempt to tell her life story without the added pressure of adding a comedic spin to everything. That said, fans of Rodriguez’s comedy should expect some new material in the near future, including a potential TV show that the comedian has been shopping around Hollywood for the last few years.

“I’ve been working on [the show] for seven years,” she said. “Three production companies and two networks later, I’m in development now.” As someone who is hellbent on bucking stereotypes whenever and wherever possible, Rodriguez’s motivation behind the series is, like her comedy, rooted in honesty. “I just really want to do a show so people can see the world that we come from. And I don’t want to specifically make it [a Puerto Rican-Dominican show].” Rodriguez thinks that, in an attempt to distinguish each Latin American culture as an independent entity, “The colonization rains down on us and now we have remnants of that in the way we interact with each other.”

To hear Rodriguez say it, Latin Americans are definitely not a monolith, but there are commonalities among all of us worth exploring. “We’re magic across the board, from the Caribbean to Central America to South America to here in North America,” she said. “We are magic and we are the wildest dreams of our ancestors. And I just want to be able to tell those stories.”

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Josef Rodriguez is a writer, filmmaker, and film critic living in New York City.

We have made it to the twelfth, final, and best month of the year. As the first real post-pandemic year since 2020, these last twelve months of cinema were very different from a lot of what we’ve seen in the last few years. Writers, directors, actors, and just about everyone else on the call sheet came back in full force, giving audiences some of the most passionate, and even divisive, projects they’ve ever worked on.

There was a certain no-holds-barred, shake off the cobwebs attitude to movies in 2023 that we desperately needed. We’re taking a bit of a break this month, with just two Film Fridays instead of the usual four. But we won’t be done shouting out the films worth watching in 2023 until the stroke of midnight on January 1st.

“Silent Night” (In Theaters)

This Christmas, legendary action director John Woo is gifting us a new shoot-em-up thriller, this time with an interesting twist. Similarly to the slapstick comedies of the 20s and 30s, Woo’s new film – which follows a man hellbent on revenge after a brutal assault leaves his family dead and his vocal cords completely destroyed – is almost entirely silent. No need for that pesky dialogue in Woo’s film. Instead, the story unfolds through broken bones, gunfire, pure mayhem, and probably a couple of dirty looks, too.

“Godzilla Minus One” (In Theaters)

Following a series of Godzilla movies produced by American studios, the iconic monster is returning to Japan for a new story set just after World War II. This mid-40s Godzilla tale brings the character back to his roots, as a metaphor for the nuclear devastation Japan endured during the war. According to longtime fans, this new Godzilla film is one of the best ever, which is really saying something considering there are literally 38 of them.

“RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ” (In Theaters)

As if the Taylor Swift concert film weren’t enough, another generation-defining pop artist is releasing a concert film of her own. Performed and directed by the woman herself, Beyoncé’s new film is a celebration of the Renaissance tour and every single person who made it possible. The film incorporates concert footage, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage to offer audiences an immersive look behind the curtain.

No matter how difficult you think it may be for Beyoncé to do her Renaissance performance night after night, it’s probably even more grueling than you could imagine. “RENAISSANCE” is all but a concrete confirmation that she is one of the hardest working entertainers in the world right now. More importantly, she puts on one hell of a show.

“The Sweet East” (In Theaters)

This directorial debut from longtime cinematographer Sean Price Williams looks like another charming, lowkey indie movie, the kind that seemed to fall out of favor at some point in the mid-2010s before making a comeback over the last couple of years. Following a high school student who gets lost during a class field trip, “The Sweet East” stars a handful of notable up-and-comers and even premiered at Cannes earlier this year despite Williams’ struggle to find funding during pre-production.

BONUS ROUND:

We’ve got a few more you might be interested in checking out this weekend!

“Everyone Will Burn” (In Theaters)

“In Water” (In Theaters)

“Shayda” (In Theaters)

“Don’t Suck” (In Theaters/VOD)

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Josef Rodriguez is a writer, filmmaker, and film critic living in New York City.

This is maybe the quietest weekend we’ve ever covered during our run of Friday Film Roundups. Sometimes, there are two, even three, big movies coming out in one weekend. Sometimes, there’s only one. But then there’s the rare weekend, like this one, where nothing coming out looks like a movie that audiences will show up for in droves. There is, of course, Sofia Coppola’s new Priscilla Presley film, but even that seems like a pretty niche offering. That doesn’t mean these movies aren’t good! Quite the contrary. It’s just that they’re not going to draw the same crowds as, say, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” did last weekend.

Seriously, though, an $80 million opening weekend? That’s pretty wild.

“Priscilla” (In Theaters)

Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” has been in the works for a while. And no, it’s not in any way tied to the “Elvis” movie that came out last year. This is a different take on the story entirely, and maybe one that’s a bit less flattering to Mr. Presley. The film utilizes Coppola’s characteristically ethereal approach to tell the story of Priscilla Presley
, the teenage girl who married the biggest rock star the world has ever seen. Coppola’s latest follows a trend of recontextualizing powerful and well-known women throughout history, getting to the core of who they were, what they wanted, and how the men in their lives made learning more about those first two things very difficult.

“Radical” (In Theaters)

Eugenio Derbez has this wonderful habit of reminding us, usually about once a year, that he’s actually a phenomenal actor. Not that his longtime fans need any reminding, but the American audiences who know him best from goofy comedies like “Overboard” or “How to Be a Latin Lover” must have a little whiplash when he shows up in something like “CODA” and blows everyone else out of the water.

His latest dramatic turn, “Radical,” is inspired by the true story of a Mexican high school teacher who takes a, you guessed it, radical approach to his lesson planning, focusing more on the needs of the students than the standards of the pre-approved curriculum. Despite the deteriorating social and economic conditions that continue to worsen throughout the neighborhood – as well as the added pressure from his school’s administrative staff – the kids need his unorthodox teaching methods more than ever to unlock their true potential.

“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” (In Theaters)

There’s really no succinct way to describe what “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” is about. And that’s kind of the point. The debut feature from writer-director Raven Johnson is the year’s ultimate tone poem, a movie that doesn’t move forward so much as it does run downstream like water, dispersing itself every which way until all that’s left for you to do is go with the flow.

All you need to know is that this movie is about a life. Not a particularly special or extraordinary life. But a life, nonetheless. That’s why we all go to the movies in the first place, to see a life that is not our own and to embrace the idea that everyone’s experience is somehow unique and universal.

“What Happens Later” (In Theaters)

Meg Ryan is back, ladies and gentlemen! After an extended hiatus away from Hollywood, the most beloved romcom star of the 90s returns to the big screen with “What Happens Later,” a film that she co-wrote, directed, and starred in alongside David Duchovny. There’s nothing too special about the setup – two exes spend the night together in an airport when they happen to run into each other after both of their flights are canceled.

However, what makes “What Happens Later” unique is that Ryan and Duchovny are the only people in it. So what we have here is a low-budget, two-hander romcom starring two of the genre’s veterans that looks like a breezy, engaging 100-minute love story set in an empty airport. Yeah, count us in.

“The Marsh King’s Daughter” (In Theaters)

Last but not least, we have an adaptation of a popular novel about a woman who tries to hunt and kill her former kidnapper before he’s able to abduct her child. The film features “Star Wars” actor Daisy Ridley alongside Ben Mendelsohn and Garrett Hedlund. If you’ve ever seen a movie about impoverished southerners who turn to crime to get out of their situation, you’ve probably seen these two at some point in your lives and you know that Mendelsohn and Hedlund are the best guys for the job. In fact, the performances are probably the best reason to see this one. The story isn’t anything special, but the cast certainly is.

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Josef Rodriguez is a writer, filmmaker, and film critic living in New York City.

There was a bittersweet undertone to this year’s Bushwig festival back in early September. The yearly celebration of the local drag community was started in Brooklyn more than a decade ago by queens Horrorchata and Babes La Beija. The organizers were inspired by another, now-defunct drag festival called Wigstock. Eventually, they decided to start a festival of their own after realizing that nothing quite like it still existed in New York.

Drag as an art form has faced opposition by conservative groups. There are currently two states, Montana and Tennessee, that have passed legislation specifically targeting drag performances. Another four states — North Dakota, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida — have implemented bans restricting certain forms of “adult” entertainment, functioning more as a backdoor ban to crack down on shows and events.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, twenty-two states have banned gender-affirming care. This was not lost on anybody attending Bushwig this year. And if it was, the organizers, hosts, and performers made sure to remind us. Of course, the sweet outweighed the bitter thanks to the dedicated, talented, and charismatic performers who took the stage.

New York-based performer Nicky O was one of the MC’s at Bushwig’s closing night on September 10th. The event was hosted at the Knockdown Center on Flushing Avenue in Queens, recognized by many New Yorkers as the top floor venue that covers Basement, a popular queer club tucked away in a mostly residential area just north of Ridgewood.

On Sunday evening, performer Qhrist Almighty, with their signature orange hairdo, completely commanded the room. Shia Ho followed with a “Kill Bill”-inspired performance, dressed as Lucy Liu’s iconic character, O-Ren Ishii. Ho performed in character to a couple of tracks off the “Kill Bill” soundtrack, including Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” which has become so associated with the film that you might think it was created specifically for it.

The next act, courtesy of Linda Felcher, was arguably the most unexpected of the entire night. Typically known for their unsettling mask, the performer instead came out dressed as a giant green M&M, using their entire body to operate a mouth made of two large halves of fabric, with black lips painted in the center. By pure happenstance two successive performers did a routine to “It’s Raining Men,” and the audience was happy to give all of their love to both.

Celebrity guests included budding queer icon Julio Torres, who is gearing up to release his directorial debut, “Problemista,” with A24. Aaron Jackson — a popular correspondent for Comedy Central’s “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper” — was also in attendance. Queer vendors from all over the city congregated in various corners of the cavernous venue to show off their creations. There was homemade jewelry, racks of clothing, and even a table hawking classic gay porn films on VHS.

There was also no shortage of Latinas, on stage and in the audience. In fact, the lineup seemed to consist almost entirely of Latin American performers, including the night’s big headliner, Jessica Wild. Performances from queens like Basüra, Flower Tortilla, Roxie Chanel, and Privilege received warm, enthusiastic responses from the crowd. Later, Robert Garcia, who recently appeared on MTV’s “Help! I’m in a Secret Relationship,” grounded the proceedings with an original composition that brought just about everyone to tears.

And then, there was Jessica Wild. The “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” star took the stage just before 8pm for the first of two performances, bringing with them an almost indescribable level of stage presence. Wild dedicated their performance to all of the Latinos in the room.

This year’s Bushwig was a joyous and thoughtful celebration of an art form that will always provide a space for queer people. The communal effort that makes Bushwig possible acts as a pitch-perfect example of what queer communities across the country continue to do for each other, day after day and year after year. The art of drag will always outlive those who seek to stop it.

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Josef Rodriguez is a writer, filmmaker, and film critic living in New York City.

Alright, everybody, we made it. Halloweekend is here and, unsurprisingly, there are a slew of horror movies coming out, big and small. Shudder, the streaming service dedicated to horror, is having a field day this weekend, releasing two of the most exciting genre offerings we’ve seen all year. Elsewhere, we have an adaptation of one of the most popular horror games of all time, one that terrified an entire generation of players and will probably continue to do so for years to come.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” (In Theaters and on Peacock)

Is it just us, or is there not enough Josh Hutcherson anymore? It seemed like he was in everything around the time that “The Hunger Games” came out in 2012. However, over the last few years, he’s kind of faded from the spotlight, doing mostly supporting roles in film with a couple of significant TV roles in the mix. And it’s not because he isn’t talented (he is) or because he’s not still handsome (he definitely is). Maybe he just needs a new agent. Regardless, his big-screen return in “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” the cinematic adaptation of the beloved horror game, is almost as exciting as the movie itself.

Because the game has such a straightforward premise, the movie does, too. A guy gets hired as the overnight security for a creepy arcade with animatronic animals that closely resemble the Chuck E. Cheese characters who used to scare the s*** out of us as kids. The only difference is, at Freddy’s, the seemingly robotic animals do actually come to life and kill you. Based on the trailer, the film will incorporate some of the deeper lore from the games, and flesh out the central character. But we’re not here for explanations. We’re here for scares. And it seems like “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has more than a few to spare.

“When Evil Lurks” (Shudder)

During its limited theatrical release earlier this month, “When Evil Lurks” gained a bit of a cult reputation for being one of the best underground horror films of the year. Now, it’s making its small-screen debut on Shudder, the streaming service all about horror. This one comes courtesy of “Terrified” director Demián Rugna, the brilliant Argentine filmmaker who seems to just get better and better with each subsequent film.

The film centers around a demon who goes on a terror spree against an entire town of people, hunting them down one by one, with an insatiable appetite for death and destruction. There are echoes of movies like “Bird Box” or “The Happening,” where an invisible force possesses people to kill themselves or those around them, but “When Evil Lurks” really does seem like something we’ve never seen before.

“Pain Hustlers” (Netflix)

Netflix’s campaign against the pharmaceutical industry continues with “Pain Hustlers,” a new original production starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans. The movie is basically “The Wolf of Wall Street” but instead of selling flimsy stocks, Blunt’s character doles out pills like they’re breath mints. The character quickly sees the fruits of her labor in the form of an ungodly amount of money, but is forced to confront the havoc she’s wreaked on families across the country as she becomes more and more embroiled in unethical practices that amount to a pretty serious federal crime.

“Suitable Flesh” (Shudder)

Shudder is really killing it this weekend. In addition to “When Evil Lurks,” a new Shudder original called “Suitable Flesh” is also opening this weekend. Based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, the film follows a psychiatrist (played by Heather Graham) who becomes completely consumed by one of her patients. Turns out, her obsession may be linked to a curse that goes back centuries, a curse that may be coming for her next.

If you’ve seen any of Graham’s work, you’ll know she’s one of the most fearless actors working today. She always gives 100% of herself to every role and never disappoints. “Suitable Flesh” is no exception. Judging by the trailer, there’s definitely a classic, almost campy vibe to this one, as opposed to the modern, slick style of “When Evil Lurks.” Regardless, it seems like a Shudder double feature is in order.

“Four Daughters” (In Theaters)

Last but not least, we have a fascinating new documentary following a family of Arab women coping with loss by reenacting critical moments in their lives in pursuit of some kind of closure. Of the four daughters mentioned in the title, two of them decided to forsake their faith and pursue modernity, while the other two continued to live at home with their mother. The film’s director then introduces two actors to play the two daughters who left home, giving everyone an opportunity to have the conversations they wish they could have had before they left.

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Josef Rodriguez is a writer, filmmaker, and film critic living in New York City.