Movie Loteria Is A Game Night For El Paso’s Movie Buffs And Film Lovers

It's 106 degrees in El Paso, I got a quarter tank of gas, a pocket full of googly eyes, it's Friday... and I’m playing Movie Loteria. 

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Last Friday night I finally got to experience Movie Loteria, it was everything I’d hoped and nothing I expected. From the moment I walked in I could tell this was a space for true movie lovers; for the self proclaimed movie buffs, the ones dubbed film nerd, movie geek, cinephile, film freak!! For those of us who live and die by the reel, and no I am not talking about the Instagram reel. For the ones who worship the holy light shining out through projectors as they cast out darkness and replace it with the stunning glory of FILMS!!! 

EPCC’s Papagayo teams up with different members of the community to highlight really amazing people who do stuff like Movie Loteria. Papagayo really doesn't discriminate either! The group hosts; dance classes, cooking classes, film lectures, writing workshops, lectures from dating coaches or experts in technology, local or out of state authors and artists, literally anything you can think of -- Papagayo has probably done it or will do it in the future. Honestly, that's a whole other article for later but for now, thank you Papagayo for bringing Movie Loteria to EPCC’s Little Temple. 

Grizz

Movie Loteria Blew Me Away

Pablo and Carlos have been running Movie Loteria for a year and some change now. Clearly, judging by the amount of people who came by and the amount of people who had been there before, Movie Loteria is loved. The event has definitely found a home for many regulars who seem to feed off the energy of the space. The duo create a welcoming and playful environment that really feels satisfying when you know your stuff. I walked in and could literally spot the movie paraphernalia from a mile away. 

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Each table had a fun movie prop from all over movie history. From the iconic ones like the red Swingline stapler from Office Space or Wilson from Castaway to the ones that could be tougher to spot like a lone raptor claw from Jurassic Park or the single disembodied hand representing Thing from The Addams Family.

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Some were maybe even more obscure, like the glowing briefcase from Pulp Fiction which held the googly eyes you use to cover your loteria card which of course were from Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

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We also have to talk about the loteria cards themselves, because they are beautifully hand drawn portraits of various celebrity heads from past and present. Drawn by your host for the evening, Pablo Adriel Martinez or The Pablam himself, who also happens to be one of the community's very talented artists.. I was so excited to see how much love was put into everything, even the walls were lined with a few racks of actual VHS tapes of classic flicks. I was truly and absolutely among my own. 

Grizz

Playing Movie Loteria And Trivia At The Same Time

Now, aside from the ambiance that Pablo and Carlos craft, the game itself is always clearly a labor of love. Movie Loteria combines loteria and movie trivia. The game alternates between the two which sounds complicated at first but feels natural and fun once it all starts! You use the googly eyes to cover the various celebrity heads as Pablo lists off movie titles or character names associated with the actors. For example, instead of just saying ‘Tom Hanks,’ Pablo will say something like ‘Woody from Toy Story 4’ and you might wonder why specifically Toy Story 4 -- but that's part of the fun. 

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Once someone wins loteria and gets whatever prize is up for that round, everyone clears their cards and grabs a piece of paper to start the first 5 questions in a 15 question movie trivia game. After each round of loteria, another 5 questions are asked and once you hit 15 your papers are collected and calculated by Carlos while you play the final round of Movie Loteria. 

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The trivia questions are a lot of fun and the main topic changes every month, this month it was literary films! So movies based on books or comics, all scattered into some fun topics that were cleverly named. Stephen King was a category as well as Shakespeare, movies about poets, movies people don't know are adapted from books, and a few more that were all thrown on a spinning wheel and chosen at random for each question.

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Carlos reads the question, displaying a slide from a projector on a screen, which can take the form of a little movie clip as well. All of which are created by Carlos himself. Once it's all said and done, someone takes home a wonderful little trophy letting them know they are the Reel Deal! 

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Movie Loteria In El Paso Is Awesome

I didn't go into Movie Loteria expecting anything more than a chill spot to play a fun game based on something I love, but I instead found a place created by movie lovers who aren't afraid to show it. Pablo and Carlos have crafted a corner for themselves in El Paso that genuinely feels welcoming and full of an appreciation that both movie lovers and loteria/trivia lovers will enjoy. 

Grizz

Movie Loteria is a new way to play the game, made by people who clearly love what they're doing. Check out the full gallery below with all the pics I grabbed of the cool setup and the prizes up for grabs!