Tag: miguelmikemedina

Top 15 Cinematography Films of the Last 15 Years

By Miguel Mike Medina

Cinematography is one of the most innovative and creative things ever invented in cinema. The name sounds catchy. Cinematography sounds better than Director or Photography. But that’s just my opinion. I have done Directing, Producing, Writing, and Editing, but I haven’t fully done a Cinematographer’s work. That’s next up lining up for me. 

Recently, I decided that I’ll be taking my love for cinema to a whole another level. In the last week, I have been studying and watching films from a cinematography standpoint only. In the last 15 years, we have seen some of the best cinematography films. Here are my Top 15 best cinematography movies of the past 15 years:

15) Roma – Cinematographer: Alfonso Cuaronn 

14) The Irishman – Cinematographer: Rodrigo Prieto

13) True Grit – Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

12) The Social Network – Cinematographer: Jeff Cronenweth

11) Skyfall – Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

10) Inception – Cinematographer: Wally Pfister

9) Hugo – Cinematographer: Robert Richardson

8) Dunkirk – Cinematographer: Hoyte Van Hoytema

7) The Revenant – Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki

6) Gravity – Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki

5) Birdman – Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki

4) Prisoners – Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

3) The Dark Knight – Cinematographer: Wally Pfister

2) The Tree of Life – Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki

1) Blade Runner 2049 – Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki 

As you can probably tell from this list, I love Roger Deakins and Emmanuel Lubezki. Those two are my Top 2 favorite cinematographers of all time. Robert Richardson is No. 3 on my list. Some of the current cinematographers I like to watch are Rodrigo Prieto, Hoyte Van Hoytema, Bradford Young, and Rachel Morrison.

Baby Bombers’ Era is DONE

By Miguel Mike Medina

The Baby Bomber era is doomed. It’s over. It’s finished. The Yankees have lost nine in a row. No Division lead, no wild card lead. This team isn’t going anywhere this season. This is the worst second-half performance from the Yankees since 1995. Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls we’re still alive. Although they made the playoffs as a wild-card team that year, this current roster was supposed to perform way better than this. 


The Yankees’ best years to try to win it all during the baby bomber era were from 2017 through 2019. Jose Altuve’s ALCS home run did some psychological damage to that team. They couldn’t recover from that loss. It’s time for the Yankees to rebuild. Yes! You heard me correctly. The YANKEES NEED TO REBUILD! BABY BOMBERS ARE DEAD! The group of Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, and Luis Severino has been a bust. 

Look at the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds. The Yankees don’t have a chance against those teams. Those teams have a good farm system and know how to develop their young talent. The Yankees have to make some decisions soon. 

James Harden: A Generational Talent and A Quitter

By Miguel Mike Medina

Philadelphia Sixers end trade talks about 10-time All-Star James Harden. Harden will remain with the team for the start of the season. It is a messy situation in Philadelphia. The Sixers’ breakup will be an ugly one. Joel Embiid is losing patience. Too many distractions in the organization. 

First, it was the Ben Simmons situation, and now it’s James Harden. The “beard man” strikes again with his whining and complaining. Harden recently called Sixers general manager Daryl Morey a “liar” and that he won’t play for no organization that he’s part of. Harden and Morey were together in Houston. They seemed like they were on the same page. That’s not been the case in Philadelphia. 


Harden is not happy and he didn’t get what he wanted. Harden wanted to be traded to the Clippers. Best of luck to any team that wants James Harden. Let’s take a look at James Garden’s contract situation:


– exercised $35.6 million player option for next season

-15% trade kicker (would receive $5.4 million from Sixers) 

-cannot sign an extension with Sixers or any other team

-will be an unrestricted free agent next Summer 2024 

This is not a good look. He’s not going about it the right way. It’s getting annoying to see James Harden make these kinds of headlines. He’s becoming one of the biggest laughingstocks in the NBA. I wouldn’t want him on my team. James is one of the greatest offensive players I’ve ever seen. However, over the last few years, he’s developed a reputation and it’s not a good one:


– Harden is great in the regular season but disappears in the postseason, especially in elimination games

-He doesn’t care about winning or doesn’t take losing a playoff series to heart. Great players suffer when they lose. They hate losing. Great players don’t go on vacation. They go harder in the summer to get ready to win it all the following season. In James Harden’s case, he has been spotted going out to clubs and comes into the following season out of shape

-He quits on every team that he has played for
Harden had Dwight Howard, didn’t work out. Harden had Chris Paul, didn’t work out. Harden had Russell Westbrook, didn’t work out. Harden had Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, didn’t work out. Joel Embiid and several shooters, that’s not going to end well. 


I’ll never forget when he called his former head coach and Hall of Famer Kevin McHale a “clown” after McHale said that Harden is not a “leader,” but Harden didn’t see the full clip of what McHale was trying to say. The media took a little part of what McHale said and asked James Harden about it. McHale didn’t slander James at all. He did praise him on his game and elaborated that there are different kinds of leadership. James can lead in certain aspects but not at the level of the likes of Chris Paul. 

James Harden is not a championship player. You can’t win with him. He’s a generational talent but a notorious quitter. The GOAT of quitting in the NBA. He cares more about his money than about winning. 

Saturday Hockey News with Miguel

By Miguel Mike Medina

Vince Dunn signed a four-year, $29.4 million contract with the Seattle Kraken. The defenseman had NHL career highs in goals, assists, points, plus-minus and power-play points.

Nashville Predators signed veterans Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn. The Predators are trying to make a playoff push for next seasons

The Steve Harvey Show (1996-2002)

By Miguel Mike Medina

The Steve Harvey Show is one of those sitcoms that’s known but at the same time feels underappreciated. The show ran for six seasons on ‘The WB Network’ which at the time was one of my favorite TV networks growing up. I miss the WB. So many great shows and animated series. The Steve Harvey Show had so many fun cast of characters. The show had great storylines and on-screen chemistry duos: Steve and Regina, Lovita and Cedric, Romeo and Bullethead, and Steve and Cedric.
The chemistry between Steve and Cedric is natural because they are real-life friends. They both became household names when they were part of Def Comedy Jam. Steve and Regina’s love story has been so many ups and downs but they finally got together in Season Five during the show. 
The show went through changes during Seasons 1 and 2, but they got better as the seasons went by. Adding Lovita Jenkins (Cedric’s love interest and then wife) was a genius move on the production team. When she came in Season Two, it changed the culture of the show. 
Overall, the legacy of The Steve Harvey Show should forever be remembered. I can speak about the show and break down some of my favorite episodes but I’ll save that when I make a video about it on The MMM Journal YouTube channel. 

Marlins’ Offensive Explosion on the 4th of July

By Miguel Mike Medina

The Miami Marlins offense was in total control against the St Louis Cardinals on the Fourth of July. Jesus Sanchez and Garrett Cooper led Marlins offense and the team finished the game with 15 runs. The Marlins scored three runs in the first inning, three runs in the fourth, and four runs in the seventh and eighth inning. Those are the innings they did the most damage.

Jesus Sanchez got the offense started when he hit one out of the ballpark in the first inning. Sanchez went 3-for-6 with a home run and four RBIs. First baseman Garrett Cooper went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo had a good outing. He finished the game with eight strikeouts and zero earned runs through six innings.

Marlins won 15-2. They are playing exceptionally well. The team from South Florida improved to 50-37 in the season. 

LSU Must Vacate Wins

By Miguel Mike Medina

The NCAA Independent Accountability Resolution Panel has dropped the hammer on LSU Football. LSU will have to vacate all the wins they accumulated from 2012 through 2015. 

Photo Credit to: Crescent City Sports Staff


As a person who has been watching sports for 24 years, It never made sense to me that you are making teams vacate their wins and championships. I don’t think you gain anything from it because the games were already played. The only person I see this affecting is LSU head coach Les Miles. The current LSU football players shouldn’t suffer for something that happened a decade ago. I’m saying this just in case if NCAA wants to take things into deeper measures.

Photo Credit to: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


With that being said, coach Les Miles will probably not make it to the College Football Hall of Fame and won’t be eligible. In those four years, the Tigers will have to erase 37 wins including two bowl games. Mike’s’ head coaching winning record will drop from 145 wins to wins. 

Kevin Costner, A24’s ‘Priscilla’ Teaser

By Miguel Mike Medina

Kevin Costner’s marriage story continues to get messy. Christine, Costner’s estranged wife, is not happy. She’s not happy with the way things were handled about their kids finding out about their split. Christine is taking deeper measures by requesting $248k a month in child support. First, Kevin Costner leaves the hit show ‘Yellowstone’ and now he’s dealing with this nightmare. Are marriages worth any more? Why does it have to come down to money, especially from Rich public figures? 

Money is not everything. It’s important but it doesn’t bring you happiness. Things are getting out of hand in this Costner family. We hope they can come to an understanding at some point because there are kids involved. 

A24 just released the first teaser for Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ film.

https://youtu.be/gxbZyvCJc6U

It is based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir ‘Elvis and Me.” The movie is set to be released on October 2023. This is Sofia’s first directed and written project since her 2020 comedy-drama film, On the Rocks, which is on Apple TV+. 

Miguel’s Top Christian Music to Listen in 2023

By Miguel Mike Medina

Christian music brings a lot of joy and heals the soul. What would life be without Christian and Worship music? I’m so glad that I began listening to Christian music since last Summer, when I became more of a spiritual person.

In this video that’s on “The MMM Journal,” I mention several Christian songs to listen for 2023. Hit the link to see the FULL video:

Subway Series Recap

By Miguel Mike Medina

The two-game Subway Series is over. Yankees won the first game. The Mets won the second game. This Subway Series felt like a playoff atmosphere. Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso were not in the lineup due to them being in the injury list.

I collaborated with a passionate Mets fan twice this week to talk about the Subway Series. His name is Anthony Rivera. He’s the creator and host of ‘Subway to Shea’ Podcast.

Listen and watch the Subway Series recap video with special guest Anthony Rivera on our YouTube channel. The video premieres at 7pm.