The Reel Critics E21: NABJ, & The Pickup

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (00:00):
I'm, Reggie Pond is the real critic

(00:01):
and this is the Real CriticsNetwork.
I'm here with Katya Woods and wetook a week off.
Not because of her, just becauseof me.
I had a lot of stuff going onand I can't even, I don't want
to tell everybody what I gotgoing on because then they be
trying to come to my house.
'cause we do, we trying to dosome renovations and I don't
need, no, I don't need anyguests.
But anyway, Katya, how are you?

(00:23):
How are you doing?

Kathia Woods (00:25):
I'm very well.
How are you?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:27):
Good, good.
So we're gonna move into ourfirst segment, which is what's
on my mind.
And I have a couple of thingsthat's on my mind.
The first one is, I don't,where's Jasper?
Everybody

is f.
Where's Jasper?
Where?
Where's Jasper?
Jasper's upstairs with his bestday Catina Woods.
He is, he's living his bestlife.
He is very happy as, as he likesto think of it, the original
four back together and no new,new new friends.
He has his whole family tohimself.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:03):
And who would be his bestie?

My daughter Catina.
So she came what day was it,child?
It was Wednesday.
Yes, it was

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (01:13):
So the dog Jasper is very, very
happy.
'cause your daughter is at home.

Yes.
He likes his family.
Sharpe are very much they likefamily and they like their
people.
So he don't like new people toomuch.
He doesn't like his routine.
He is, yes.
But so this morning he woke upand he was like.
That's what I'm talking about.
The all the peeps, the originalfour.

That was the first thing on my mind.
The second thing on my mind isthat NABJ had a phenomenal
conference.
And it was in Detroit?
No, Cleveland.
It was in Cleveland, right?
Another city that nobody wantsto go to.
No.
Ooh, I didn't say that.
But you know, Chicago andCleveland, we got a we battling

(01:59):
each other at all times.
So that's why I say that.
But I've been to Clevelandseveral times, but anyway.
How was that?

It was really, really good.
You know what?
It was my first time inCleveland, we walked off the
plane and we were welcome there.
One of the receptions, obviouslybeing in Cleveland, you would be
foolish because again, I don'tknow the way life is life and I
don't know if I will ever get achance to go to Cleveland again.
So I went to the Rock and RollHall of Fame.

(02:26):
That was a reception.
A party held at the the welcomeparty and went to the party and
that was, got a chance to seethe exhibits and everything had
a really good, I mean, Clevelandshout out to the NABJ Cleveland
chapter.
They were welcoming.
They showed out also.
The convention center is likeacross the way from where the

(02:47):
Cleveland Browns play.
So it was a little not as loudas Eagles fans.
It was a little quiet, but I gota chance to see where the Browns
play, and shut out to the foodtrucks and the vendors and, I
went out there and I supported,I bought a shirt, I bought food.
So, I love how they brought inblack businesses into the fold

(03:11):
to, and the whole, likeeverywhere we went, again, the
airport is only about yay big.
Announcing that, NABJ was there.
And as a bonus, if you know thatI have a two me suitcase that my
husband gave to me for Christmasand I've been trying to get it
stamped.
'cause I was like, I'm notemptying the bag going to the

(03:32):
mall to get it stamped.
Guess who had a stamp out of allthe team U stores in the
different airports, includingLAX International terminal?
It was in Cleveland that I gotmy bank bag finally stamped and
my bonus tag.
So shout out to the Tomi storein Cleveland.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (03:51):
I don't know what stamped is but
I'm gonna go off camera for halfa second because I think I told
you that my wife bought me thisTomi bag.
I carry it everywhere I go.

So look on, is there a place where you can get
your thing engraved?
So on the suitcases on the top,there's a label that comes off,
right?
And, excuse me, there's linkthat comes off and there's
another one.

Not this tag, not this.

No, no, no.
There's another one that youcan, that they, that comes in
the zip up thing and that's whatyou hand in at the store for
them to to stamp it.
To stamp it.
And that goes on top of yoursuitcase.
So you know how it be, becauseif we, that's my suitcase is
green, people be trying to playreindeer games and sometimes you

(04:47):
gotta push back and be like, noma'am, not today for sure.
Remember how everybody had ablack bag and you would
absolutely try to put somethinglike that.
That's mine.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel (04:55):
That's mine.
That happened

to me before when somebody reached for the bag and
I had a red band like to justdifferentiate mine.
And when I tell you this manreached for my bag and I was on
him like white on rice, I said,excuse me sir, this is not your
bag.
He is it's my bag.
And I'm like, sir.
And then we pulled back the flapand sure enough there was my
name in there and he was like,I'm sorry.

(05:16):
So I'm really glad that thehusband.
Bought me this bag in abeautiful Christmas green
because now I don't really haveto be out here fighting for my
life with people.

I I'm feeling that.
All right, so I'm gonna move onto the next thing, talking about
N-N-A-B-J.
My question is, what was theclimate like as it relates to
media and the opportunities formedia?
Because what I've been seeing alot of is a number of black
journalists outta work justoutta work and looking for work.

(05:48):
It's happening here in Chicago.
My, my niece was part of the CBSdowngrade, if you will, and it
seems like it's hard out herefor a pimp.
I mean, for a newscaster,

well, first of all, I wanna say that first of
all, she's in great hands inChicago, right?
She is in a great new city.
We know, okay, so let's talkspecifics.
They had one third lesssponsors, and it's always a
little bit harder.
We all know if they've ever beento an NA beach convention, when

(06:24):
it's a smaller city, it's easierto get money to come in.
When it's New York, it's Chicagonext year will be here in
Atlanta and people are very,very excited because Atlanta has
entertainment, sports teams, hasa lot of things going on.
There's a lot of excitement outaround Chicago.
And again, that's not a knock onBirmingham or.

(06:45):
Cleveland, the reason why NABJdoes go out of its way to make
sure that on one year it's acity like New York Chicago,
whatever you have there.
And then in another year it issome of these smaller cities in
order to give equity dollar andbusiness to some of these
smaller cities where there arepredominantly black.
I love that.

I love that.

So I will say that that is something that always
goes into play.
Birmingham was before theyrolled back DEI was a little bit
lighter than Chicago, butnevertheless, 1000 registered
and a BJ members came toCleveland, 800 voted, and this
year's NABJ election, which isup, that's 300 member more

(07:28):
members than voted at the lastone.
We have about 2000 members thatare eligible to vote.
There still needs to be morepeople voting, but the point is
people voted that participated.
So again, there was one thirdless of people supporting the,
with money.
There were less employers and itwas more scaled back because

(07:50):
again, the jobs have been cutand there's been a lot of media
swap, right?
For those that don't know forinstance, if you look at a
market like Philadelphia, NewYork those CBS stations.
Those are NBC stations are ownedby Universal, right?
Whereas Chicago, even Atlantayou look at a place like some, a

(08:14):
place like Austin, Texas, you'llhave CBS, but it won't be owned
by Universal.
It'd either be like nexstar orScripps or Gray, right?
And what has happened in some ofthese smaller markets, some of
these stations, they haveswapped stations, so there'll
still be NBC, whereas Gray tookfour of Nexstar station and then

(08:35):
Nexstar took five of theirs,right?
Just to make the market a littlebit more congruent.
In terms of ownership, there arestill jobs, but again we're
moving away from like you justbeing an anchor or you just
being a consumer reporter orwhatever.
You now are more in these smallmarkets, a multimedia
journalist.

(08:55):
So if you're not comfortable.
Going from the desk to the couchfor these morning shows.
Transition.
Yeah, it's gonna be a little bitharder.
But there were people hiring.
ESPN just bought NFL network.
So ESPN was there.
So what's happening is a lot ofpeople that make bigger salaries
are being asked to do more.

(09:16):
And the people that are there'smore opportunity for people that
are in the entry level in the miand not middle, middle, but in
the upper middle, if but yourdaughter, but your niece, she's
gonna land on her feet,especially if you're producing
credit.
And does it mean she's probablygonna have, she may have to
leave Chicago probably.

(09:36):
But that's just the nature ofthe business.

I think she's doing what most
people are doing these days.
I don't even know if she'll evergo back.
She started her own productioncompany.
She's doing some thingsregarding already shot.
A pilot for one of the thingsshe's looking to sell out into
the market.
She's being a mover and shakeras opposed to shaking about

(10:00):
what's happening with theindustry.
So it looks like that that'sgonna be the trend.
You see that with some of thebig heavyweights you hear about
what Rachel Maddow and joy aredoing and trying to put some
things together.
So it looks like that a numberand particularly minority talent
are figuring out that they mighthave to go out there and produce

(10:21):
some of their own stuff and notnecessarily wait for the
industry.
We'll see how that shakes out.
But it looks like my from myniece's perspective she seems
all good and happy and excitedabout the things that she's
doing, so thanks for that updateOn that.
I'm also

gonna say, as a mentor, I'm very happy I ran
into a young lady who I'm gonnabrag on myself.
I was on two panels.
Ha ha ha your girl was bookedand busy and while I was out
there running to get food,because when you go to these
conventions, you have breakfast,you are living a, you have a
coffee cup in your hand andyou're trying to make panels,

(10:55):
you're trying to get to your ownpanel.
You just, out here, I alwayswalk like a easily 10,000 steps
at convention.
Like my watch is always goingare you working out?
Very disrespectful.
And don't you hate that?
Like you sit in the house allday, are you working out?
'cause it seems like you'retaking more steps than normally.
It's like you doing

Reggie Ponder, The Re (11:11):
something right.

Okay.
And so one of my mentees that I,that interned at NBC Universal
in New York, is now a producerat NBC in Boston.
And she was like, I really tookyour advice and it really helped
me.
And listen, that does my heartgood because, what do we tell
young people in this currentAmerican climate?
How do we keep them going?
So I'm always here for youngpeople and I got a chance to sit

(11:36):
down with some of my mentors whogave me some, NAPJ is family.
And yes, it's a littledysfunctional, but it's still
family.
And we, at our big old age, westill need to talk to our
mentors.
We still need people pouringlove into us and telling us
that, it's good to see ourfriends and just be like, Hey
friend, how are you?

(11:57):
And we need as black people, weneed those pockets of joy, of
support, of encouragement rightnow, more than ever.
So I, even if you don't have tobe a member of NABJ, I encourage
all of our listeners out thereto build community, whether it's
a women's group or, rejoiningyour grad chapter of your
fraternity, sorority, whateverit is, your critics group, like

(12:21):
lean into your community duringthese times.

I I love that.
And we probably should have alittle session to talk about
that at some point.
One one point that I would liketo make as it relates to joining
your organizations is that I'min a number of organizations,
maybe four, and that mightactually be too many because I

(12:44):
am not present for all of thoseorganizations.
And I would say don't joinorganizations just to be in
them.
Because if you're not present inthose organizations, you're
probably not getting the bestfrom those organizations.
So that's what I'll say to that.
My friend, I think I had afriend who lives in Atlanta.

(13:04):
They used to live in Philly andused to say, gold eagles.
Gold eagles.
And would admonish me about notbeing a active member of NABJ
and.
You join because you should be apart of that organization.
But then when you're not a partof that organization, you really
can't complain if you're notgetting what you need from that

(13:25):
organization.
So that's what I was, and you're

really lucky you have a great chapter in Chicago.
Brandon Pope I don't know ifhe's outgoing in his term as
president is a great presidentwho really cares and he has his
foot in some of what we do.
And again I think we needadvocacy.
We need community number.
But I agree, some of y'all justbe joining stuff just to have it

(13:47):
on resume and then be mad thatyou're not getting anything
else.
I'll be darn.
And especially in these economictimes where I'm paying a
membership fee just for me to bea background dancer.
Absolutely not.
Yeah.
We need to feel supported and weneed to be seen.
And it's also okay to come tothat space and say, Hey, I've
been a member for a minute, and.
I don't feel like my coinage isgoing anywhere.

(14:07):
Like where is, why are we notdoing the things that live up to
the creed of the organization?
So I agree with you.
Don't just join stuff just to bejoining, thinking people are
gonna knock on your door.
That's not how it works.
You gotta do a little bit ofwork.

Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
My last thing that I wanna justspeak to on what's on my mind is
I really like to hear you talk alittle bit about Danielle
Spencer.
She passed away the What'shappening, actress.
And I already know you havesomething to say on that.

We were kids when that show was on tv.
What I loved about her, she wasunapologetically smart and she
was herself, and, a lot ofpeople would say that she's
sassy, but she kept, she keptRoger on his feet.
But at the same time, there weresome great episodes where she, a
lot of people thought that shedidn't like him.
No, she was just being a youngersister and she loved her brother

(15:00):
and because he was such a goodbig brother, she would, she
didn't wanna let him, have aeasy path.
But there were several episodeswhere, you know, where she was
like, when the episode withtheir father, when he didn't
show up for them, I think it waslike one of the holidays where
he was supposed to do somethingand she was like, heartbroken
and he was like, feeling reallysome type of way as you should.

(15:23):
And in moments like this where,she was like, I'm so glad I have
you.
And then when you saw that theyreally did love each other and
because they were all they hadthe other thing too is, was
important because again, wedidn't have a lot of little
black girls on TV around thattime.
I think it was her.
Kim Fields, Janet Jackson on,on, on good times, so just to

(15:44):
see a brown skinned black girlwith pigtails, like we had, the
little outfits and, those typesof things meant everything, it's
just like I said, and even whenthey did the, a follow-up show,
what's happening now again,

yeah, they did after three and she

was the scholar.
A lot of people, she had a lifepost acting.
And again I hope this pushesreruns to be shown for people, a
whole new generation to get,discover this wonderful work
that this young woman did whobuilt a life for herself post
show business.
'cause she was a doctor.

The things that I want to add is
that.
She actually had some reallyrough patches while she was on
what's happening.
She had an, she was in a caraccident with her stepfather who
died, and she was in a coma forthree weeks.
Then she suffered some setbacksyears later based on that

(16:43):
accident, was in a wheelchair,had to learn how to walk again.
Then she just passed away fromcancer.
So you could tell that she was afighter, a absolute fighter.
In fact, she was looking tostart to study medicine and she
was looking to study medicineand I think she left school for
two years and then she wentback.

(17:05):
Absolutely a fighter was I wannasay one of the, at least
pioneers for our generation asit relates to young girls on TV
and, rest in peace.
That's what I'll say with that.

Absolutely.
And again let's, you know how Ifeel about giving people their
flowers once they're longer.
Let's start giving people theirflowers while they're still
above ground.
Let's go through the list,right?
We don't have to wait forKennedy Center Honors or,
lifetime Achievement.
Let's start going through thelist now and letting people know
we see you before they're in theground,

Reggie Ponder, The (17:38):
absolutely.
All right, let's head intotalking about movies.
The first movie I want to talkabout, not in depth because you
didn't see it.
I wanna know what's the story.
Gimme the story.
Gimme the scoop.
It's the Spike Lee, it's theSpike Lee joint.
And that movie is called Highestto Lois.

(17:59):
And my friend who seeseverything before me, gets every
interview before me.
Did not see it.
So I don't understand.
And this I'm not even upsetEvery time she gets something
over me, before me.
I'm so excited.
I'm like, at least I'm close tosomebody who's close to
somebody.
So what happened?
Katya Woods.

Okay, so as some of me know, I could have seen
this at Khan and I said, no, Iwanna see it in America with my
peoples.
And as I was at convention, so,I said that to the studio,
right?
And I said, Hey, I am going tobe at NABJ.

(18:40):
Is there a virtual option?
I had been mentioning that Iwanted to do the junket and the
Denzel Washington was on my listof people I had interviewed.
Spike, I'd, interviewed Jeffrey,and the list goes on and on and
reindeer games are played.
So I said, okay, I'm gonna go toconvention.
I'm gonna lean in.
I am not gonna be.

(19:01):
Better Betty, and I was planningto see it on Wednesday.
However, as I'm scrolling to theTikTok, the Instagram, I'm
seeing a virtual, I'm seeingpeople interviewing them
virtually, and I'm like, Hmm.
I did ask if there was a virtualoption.

(19:22):
Then when the peopleinterviewing, I'm like, hold up
a minute.
So you are telling me that Icouldn't have gone to a
screening in Cleveland, Ohio,where I was at a convention with
buku journalists who probablywould've joined me.
I could have easily, and I'mbeing polite conservatively, we
could have had 20 people at thescreening, but No, but you had

(19:45):
the screening in Virginia Beach,Virginia.
What are we doing?
So I was like, then they'relike, oh, you can see it on
Wednesday and we'll set up aninterview with you to speak with
the young woman that played hiswife.
And I was like, you know what?
No thank you.

(20:05):
I was like, I really said, thishas been an ongoing thing with
the studio A 24.
I said, it's not the Applecomponent because I interview
people on Apple all the time.
I said, I kept up, I kept sayinghere let's work something out.
You didn't never mention thatthere was a virtual option.

(20:26):
You made it seem either I'm inNew York or whatever and I said,
I'm really come to theconclusion it has nothing to do
with numbers and whatever.
I said, we've been having thisconversation back and forth for
three years and every time Ithink we're having progress.
And I was very clear.
I wanna be very clear, no oneowes you access, right?
However.

(20:47):
I don't owe you coverage.
This idea of where I havecontinued to written reviews,
continuously done stuff for 8 24projects where they have
literally played in my face.
I just was at point I'm like,I'm not arguing with you.
I'm fed up.
Like I'm done.
Like clearly I just said in anemail, I said, you know what?
And I was, I went to bed onTuesday night with the plans of

(21:09):
going to see it on Wednesday.
But when I tell you, and Italked to my husband about this
ad nauseum, and I'm even gonnaget just emotional everything
within my being said, I don'twant to do this.
I don't want to continue givingpeople grace and constantly
being like, I'm going to dosomething.

(21:29):
In order for me to get half theeffort, I'm gonna cont, I'm
always gonna bend the knee.
I'm always gonna be the personto say, okay, let me be the
bigger person and I'm not.
And it's not even one of thosethings where I was like arguing
with people and I really waslike.
I couldn't even sleep.
I was like, everything within mewas like, I don't wanna do this
because for what if interview.

(21:51):
So I go see it and there's noguarantee or there was no time
confirmation, nothing was givenon their end that me going outta
my way to see this.
And mind you, my daughter flewin so I would've had to go pick
her up, come back home, thencome all the way back into
Atlanta for what if, or kind of.
And I very politely woke up andsaid, and I sent an email and I

(22:13):
said, listen, I, first of all, Iappreciate the conversation.
I made sure I read the emailback to my husband.
'cause I wanted to make surethat my tone was professional
and not perceived as me beingpetty or spiteful.
And I'd sit very politely.
I said, I am going to have todecline.
That I said I just feel like theconversation there was no

(22:36):
meeting me in the middle.
You went outta your way tofacilitate virtual interviews
for others to set up screeningsin cities that were much smaller
than the one that I'm in.
And this seems to be acontinuous experience that I'm
having with the studio.
And I said at this particularpoint, I am just under the
impression that you don't wantto do business, which is within
your right.

(22:56):
So I'm withdrawing my requestand I will not be attending the
screening as much as it pays mebecause I'm a huge fan of both.
And I'll just catch it when itcomes to Apple TV plus, which I
happen to have.
And I said, I wish you muchsuccess with the film.
Well, baby that's spawn into aphone call.

(23:17):
And I really, and I wanna hearyour thoughts on this because we
do this work.
Why is it that it takes usmaking a stand or somebody
having to do a Twitter post or avideo, or you have to go
full-fledged revolutionary inorder for there to be respect or
for us to be heard?

(23:38):
'cause I'm really, I'm notarguing with people anymore.
I'm not fighting, I'm notyelling with you.
This is just how I'm gonnahandle it.
If you don't wanna give mesomething that I want to do
right, and I'm beingprofessional about it, I'm gonna
ex I'm gonna come under theassumption you don't want to do
business.
And that's okay.
Because again, no one owesanybody anything.

(23:59):
So I'm just gonna put my effortsinto the people that do want to
do business.
So it's a phone

call.
So it's sponsor to a phone calland the gist.

The gist is now they wanna fix the relationship.
They are like, please tell uswhat you wanna do for tip.
Apparently that had a wholenother meeting.
I had a whole nother emailtoday, but I stood firm.
I was like, this phone call isnot gonna make me go see this
movie because at the end of theday is, it shouldn't have taken
me to say the things that yousay in order for you to take me

(24:31):
serious.
Again, I do appreciate theconversation.
I'm always willing to have theconversation, but I shouldn't
have to be like, I'm not doingthis.
I'm not supporting this.
And I also said, I said I willbe watching it because I vote on
award shows and I am one personthat prides herself in making
sure I make informed decisions.
I'm not.

(24:51):
Going to, pretend like the moviedidn't exist, but I stood on
business and said, I'm not doinga review and I'm not doing stuff
for what if.
So that is why yours truly hasnot seen it.
But I do want to hear yourthoughts on why is it we have
to, and I'm okay with the peoplethat are like, you wanna let it

(25:11):
rip, you wanna yell at somebody.
I'm not here to judge youbecause I understand where the
frustration comes from, but whyis it that we have to be on some
Martin Luther King thing whenour counterparts don't have to
do that?
It is, they just get theinterview.

It, so here's my wow we moving to
the ran or rave section.
Maybe we're not in the, in, inthe movie review section.
So we'll put this in the Ran andRave section.
Here's my ran and rave, is thatI'm actually really tired.
Just extremely tired of fightingthe industry.
I'm very tired.

(25:47):
Me too.
So, so tired in, in a way thatpart of me wants to stop doing
what I'm doing.
That's how tired I am.
I tried to get an interview withDenzel and Spike, and I was told
that there were all theserequests and that I couldn't get
one.
I'm gonna respect that and moveon.
I told the person, thank youvery much and hopefully we'll

(26:09):
meet again down the road.
Tiff didn't receive anythingfrom the people to say, I didn't
get accreditation.
Don't understand that becausethat's okay.
If you just sent me somethingand said, no, you were not
approved.
This type of thing happens sofrequently.
I sent a message to the peopleat a 24 because my people in

(26:35):
Chicago seem to never be able toget me.
Reggie ponder interview.
Now because I feel so blessed inmy life, I try not to
internalize that.
I try not to let that get me orwhatever, but I have to be
honest with you, I'm tired.
I am really tired of fightingfor access and begging for

(27:00):
interviews.
When the interviews are going tothe benefit for me is that I get
paid.
But the benefit for you is thatall of your readers and all of
your fans and audience, allthose people get to learn more
about your movie, your project,all you might actually get more
benefit than me because if Itold you what I get paid for

(27:22):
that interview, it's nothing, itdoesn't sustain my life.
So I.
I'm tired, but at the same time,there's a part of me that likes
what I do.
So because I like what I do, Icontinue to do what I do, and I

(27:43):
try to let it just kind of rolloff.
But then when I have to speak tocertain people who might have
lived in Philadelphia and thenmove to Atlanta, and then they
be telling me that they got someissues, they make me mad because
I was already mad.
I ain't need no help.
I didn't need no kerosene, no,no lighter fluid to to burn the
fire because there is that halfof me that says, no, come on.

(28:06):
Now, do we have to roll?
Do we really have to roll likethat?
Do I have to try to pull a, somekind of Trump card just to get a
interview and to get somecoverage?
That's my rent and rave.
I don't think I'll be quitting'cause I've been doing this for
30 years and I feel blessed tobe able to do the things that I

(28:27):
do.
But I do recognize that it isvery, very difficult and that
the studios are more difficultthan then they really need to
be.
But the other point that youmake, and we won't go into it,
is that, that the internetpeople are their people these
days.
So I'm not the social mediainternet person, I am a

(28:53):
journalist.
So we do seem to, these days,get the end of the shaft.
The last thing I'll say to thatis that I just got a, I just got
a what do you call it?
I just got an invite to a movieand it says, please let me know
if you want to see this moviefor review consideration only.

(29:18):
Okay, I've already said this tothem, but you are basically
saying that the only way I cancome see the movie is if I'm
going to review it.
Then at the end of the year,you're gonna be pushing me to
see this movie, to ask me, whatdid I think about this movie?
You're gonna send me gifts aboutthe movie and maybe a album, or

(29:41):
I do like albums, by the way.
But you're gonna say vinyl.
Vinyl.
That sounds good.
You're gonna send all this stuffto me, but I may not be able to
see it.
Or you are going to crowd myviewing experience where I can't
view the movie in a de at adecent pace.
If you understand what I'msaying.

(30:02):
When we get to the end of theyear, if there are 15, if there
are 30 movies that I couldn'tsee because I didn't do a review
for, that's gonna beproblematic.
'cause I'm not gonna be able tosee all the movies.

So, I mean it's, I think also, see you and I talk
like this is, I need people alsoto understand is, yes, we do
this podcast'cause we love filmsand obviously we have a good
time and we're take time out ofour lives to do it.
If we're not, like we all haveresponsibilities and stuff, but
at the same token, people haveto understand is we're not just

(30:37):
coworkers, colleagues, whateveryou have there in these
organizations, we're alsofriends.
So I'm like, okay, so myquestion then is, so what is the
criteria, right?
If you, like you said is we'rejoining an organization, what's
the criteria?
Because you tell us onecriteria, right?
Okay, you need whatever, it's,and you have this many
followers, you need to havethis, you need to write for

(30:58):
this, whatever the thing is,right?
But then we, again, we are allconnected because of social
media and the internet and thenyou go, but hold up Reggie and
Ka, were told we need to do X,Y, and z.
But this person over here justneeds to exist.
And again, I'm not saying thatwhite people, I wanna be very

(31:21):
clear, shouldn't interview ourtalent.
Absolutely not.
Because I also don't believethat black people should only
interview black people and blackthings.
But if they're not constrictedright, because of the color of
their skin, then why are we, andthen when it is something that
is supposedly for the communityand we are of that community, we

(31:45):
still have a hard time.
Like it's just it's way too,like it don't make no dangone
sense.
And Reggie, you just get tiredat some point and you have to
utilize your only weapon thatyou have.
And you have to say, no, youcannot take out my spa, my
pages, not with my name attachedto it.
Like somebody else wants to doit and go on, be great.
But sometimes you just gotta belike, you know what?

(32:06):
It's like you said it was so youcan, I can only come because I'm
on Rotten Tomatoes because youneed, you want the numbers to go
in your favor, which is arrogantto assume that I'm just gonna
love your movie.
And then if you say no, thenit's well look, I invited him to
stuff and he's saying, and no.
Tell the whole story though.
Whole tell the don't say thelook just apart.
So again, I'm just at the pointwhere also, I don't know if you

(32:29):
are the same way, but whensomething is like every fiber of
my being, my instincts aregoing, don't do something I
don't know about you.
Every time I go against that, itturns out to be a crap show.
It turns out to be.
And then I stand there and I go,see, I should have listened to
myself.
I should have listened to myintuition.
I should have just said, youknow what, girl, don't do it.
I had an opportunity to do ajunket this week for a movie.

(32:52):
I'm not gonna say who's allinvolved, but one of the people
directing the situation has beenaccused.
Of harming children or beinginappropriate with certain
members in this business whenthey were minors.
And I'm saying to myself, Hmm, Ican't do it.
There's some cool peopleattached to it, but the person

(33:13):
who put all of it together, Ican't do it.
It's just, I can't do it as amom.
I can't do it As a woman, I,there's so many check boxes that
I can't do it because I don'twant anybody saying, I'm
co-signing that behavior.
And there's a reason why they'rehaving a hard, and also, as a PR
company, you cannot tell me didyou did not know about this.

(33:35):
And again, I'm not, Hey, getyour money, but understand who
your client is and why you'regonna have a hard time getting
reviews and interviews.
Do you understand what I mean?
I do like as soon as I likesomething said, you know what?
And then they looked it up and Ihad to tell them, I said, oh,
I'm sorry.
This person that's overseeingthe whole situation, I said, I
can't do it.

(33:56):
And I said, even if I wanted to,I'm pretty sure my editor is
gonna be like, absolutely not.

So that's where we're at.
We do have to stand on businessand I guess you just gave me an
opportunity to vent because I'mnot happy that I did not get an
interview.
I don't see why it shouldn'thave been.
And they

could have done it because they did it for Nickel
Boys, they did it for colorPurple.
Right?
Whereas they were like, oh, we,and we were there.
We were in Los Angeles, right?
We got to go to the premier.
You and I sat next to eachother.
They were like, Hey, we don'thave any slots this way, but you
can hop on virtually.
You said, say less.
Let me go to my room and turn onthese cameras and let's make it

(34:37):
work.
Let's make it shake.

Let me make it happen and let me try
to be a part.
Well, we did a couple ofsessions.
We are only gonna do one movietoday.
The movie we're gonna do iswe're gonna do the pickup.
I'm not even gonna talk aboutthe other movie in support of my
friend.
So we are gonna do one movie.
We're gonna talk about thepickup, and I'm gonna let you,
I'm a, I'm gonna allow you topick it up.

You know what I'm gonna say this, the movie's
perfect for the medium that it'son, which is.
On Prime video, right?
First of all, Eddie Murphy's,Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murphy's
always gonna give you something,right?
I also love that Eddie islisten, I'm older.
You not about to have me runningpast cars and doing all of this.
Respect the fact that we gottado old man action for me.

(35:25):
I think he did what he needed todo as the older elder statement
and let Pete Davidson be theyoung guy, right?
I think this is probably themost, I like Pete Davidson in a
movie, which I don't know whatit says about him, but it is
right.
I felt like he actually played acharacter.
Is it like a stretch for him?

(35:45):
No, but I felt like he did.
I felt like he held his ownbecause it is gotta be
intimidating when you look atthe sides and you go, Ooh, wait
a minute, I'm in this movie andmost of my scenes are with Eddie
Murphy.
When you're like, Ooh, no.
Also love that Andrew Deiss Claypopped up in there as the
dispatcher.
Again, I love that we werereaching back to old comedians

(36:06):
and I really do Andrew DiceClay, and that was perfect for
him.
At Blast from the past Googlehim for our Gen Zers.
Out of all the people that I waslukewarm on, Hmm.
It pains me to say it was Kiki.
Don't ta say that I didn't hateit, but I just felt I just

(36:26):
didn't all the way by hercharacter, right?
I mean, her and Pete, I waslike, girl, we now we stretching
a little bit, a little bit,right?
Oh, man.
And I'm like, so on the one handshe's playing this badass, and
then when you find out why she'sdoing what she's doing, I'm
like, Ugh, ugh.

(36:47):
Eh, you lost me a little bit.
But I do think, in my words, Ithink it's a good Kiki on a
Friday where everybody grab,grab your snacks.
We have a snack cabinet at myhouse.
We got places on the sofa.
We all like to set, go do that.
You know what I mean?
Okay.
If you like if the core niche isa little tight for you to a

(37:09):
party of five or six to go tothe movie theater, you done paid
the prime video, went thatpayment, went through, go and
enjoy.
Go grab your favorite spot inthe couch or media room or the
basement and the hip play you.
That is, I think it's a goodfun, Kiki, Reggie.

All right.
I usually don't start with myverdict first, but I will
because you talked about it andthe first thing you said is you
thought that this was great forthe platform.
It's on.
My verdict is the pickup is asolid streaming movie.
It's a streaming movie.

(37:49):
It's exactly what it is.
It's not one of those films,like the film that you did not
go see and will not be mentionedon this show anymore.
It's not like that where itshould be in the theaters longer
than two weeks and then it'sgonna go to streaming.
That doesn't even make anysense, but it is what it is.

(38:09):
This movie is absolutely a solidstreaming movie.
I like the number of things onthis one.
I liked what you said aboutEddie.
This wasn't Eddie's movie to bethe star.
He might get top billing, buthe, this wasn't that movie where
he was supposed to be the crazyone that he had to initiate all

(38:30):
the jokes that he was the focalpoint of the film.
It was a buddy film whereDavidson did, in my opinion, a
lot of the heavy lifting thatthe jokes and the stick, if you
will, came from Davidson.
And I thought he did a reallygood job of doing that.
Eddie did what he needed to do.

(38:50):
He didn't have to try to befunny said and the difference in
life stage lifestyle and lifeoutlook where Murphy is a older
guy looking to retire andDavidson is another, is a
younger guy hoping to get on thepolice force.
That juxtaposition it all, itworked for me and.
Again, from a streamingperspective, I would sit down on

(39:10):
the couch and watch this moviewith Donna, and I know we would
have a nice laugh and have fun.
Where I differ from you, Ithought Kiki, I thought this was
actually Kiki's movie that sheseemed to elevate the film for
me.
She was funny.
I didn't think that she, there'ssometimes when I see her in a

(39:35):
film and I think that she'sstretching and you could tell
she's stretching.
I didn't feel like that here.
I felt like she fit in with thethree, she was sexy, she was
funny.
She was able to provide thetypes of things that we needed,
and I thought it was hilarious.
The love connection between herand p Davidson's character.

(39:58):
So I liked it.
Did I love it?
No, I, I didn't, but I thoughtshe was sexy in her criminality.
I thought she owned the film asif she was the main attraction.
And it didn't seem like she wasscared of the fact that she was
there doing a film with theiconic Eddie Murphy.
So I, I thought the pickup wascute.
It's funny and smart and itdidn't try too hard and had just

(40:19):
the right elements to make thisa add fun home popcorn
attraction.
So that was my thought.

Again, I didn't hate her in it, but it just, it
was just, it was okay for me.
Okay.
It was okay for me.
But again, like a lot of thingsI feel like I think,

hold on, hold up, hold up.
You don't like a lot of thingsfrom Chicago and so whenever
somebody from Chicago is doingsomething, it always seems to be
a problem.
You, it's Kiki, you don't likeher.
It is common.
You don't like him.
It's chance you don't like him.
It is Dwayne Wade.
You don't like him.
I mean, it's always seems to besomething about the Chicago

(40:57):
people and I think I can't.
I came with you.
I can we just end our segmentand just go home?

First of all, Reggie, why are you getting on
somebody's internet line likethis?
I like you.
And you're from Chicago.

I think you just think that I'm
from Mississippi by way of mymother.
No, you're

from Chica.
Oh, trust me.
I know you from Chicago.
Absolutely.
You're the type of person who,if somebody, if you are abroad
and somebody said, where are youfrom?
You don't say America, you justgo straight to Chicago.
You don't, you want'em to know,don't get it confused.
I am specifically from Chicagoand from the south side.

(41:36):
You would even break it downsome more.
I was having this conversationwith my daughter when Americans
abroad and people go, where areyou?
Or why are you, they're nottalking about your complain.
Reggie's the type of person tobe like, let me be specifically
clear.
I'm not just American but I amChicagoan.
Don't get me messed up with someof the craziness, but I don't

(41:56):
know why Reggie gets on this appand tells these tall hills.
Anyhow.
Also, Vic Mensa is from Chicagoand I like Vic Mensa a lot as a
artist and I like what he, theevolution of where, how he's
growing as a young man, 100%.
So I don't know why Reggie comeson here.
And I had just got done talkingabout how amazing of a time I

(42:19):
had in Chicago for NABJconvention and was mad at myself
because I wish I would've stayedan extra day or came in a day
early because I had such a goodtime.
But we would've fun, usual.

We would've fun for

usual, right?
When you are in a place whereyou are like, man, see, next
time I'm in Chicago, anything ispopping in Chicago, I'm gonna
add a couple days so I canreally hang out with my friend
Reggie and I again we won't takein a ball game.
'cause I know that's not a hardthing to tell Reggie to go.

(42:53):
It has to specifically bebasketball.
I don't know if we can get himto a football game.
He might go

under the

rest.

You can get me to a football game.
You just, I dunno.
I was

like, we wa I said, well, we're a soldier
field.
And Reggie was like, it's overthere.
It's over not.

The reason it was not

as enthusiastic as where the Bulls play.

The reason is he was pointed

and he said, it's over there.
I'm like, Reggie,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel (43:16):
there's a couple of reasons.
One, you can't remember whenwe've won a championship.
It is been in my lifetimethough.
Every team in Chicago has won achampionship in my lifetime.
So I am a very happy camper.
The Cubs won, the White Sox won.
The black haw won multipletimes.
Bears won.
That's the only one though.
In eight 85 the, you were alive

to see it though.
You were alive and you didn'tneed hearing aid and some
binoculars.

I saw it.
The Chicago Sky one the man wonthe tops

one within your lifetime.
The

fire, the fire one.
Every team here in Chicago haswon a championship in my
lifetime, but the last time wewon a championship in football
has been a really long time.
That's number one.
Number two, I wanted to get youout to the Obama Center.
That's why I had to just wave atthe social group.

(44:10):
It was a

very weak wave.
But also, not to mention though,one of the films, I don't know.
You and I are close in age.
One of the reasons I know somuch about football and
baseball, first of all, we onlyhad a couple channels and the
parents used to control theremote.
So you either watch what theywanted to watch or you had to
figure out something else to do.
Or if there was a secondary tv,you had then had to mess around

(44:33):
with the antenna and pray thatwas something on, this was pre
cable.
One of the things that my dadused to like to watch is NFL
Films.
The classic, the Rotunda and oneof the teams that was always on
NFL films were the Chicago fairsbecause of their legendary
defenses before the 85 team formy Gen Zers.

(44:56):
And you saw like the old GreenBay Packers.
That's right.
All of that.
Chicago has a tremendoushistory.
Why they may not have won a lotof championships.
They produced some grade adefenses Hall of Famers.
And again, so the stadium initself is a legendary stadium.

(45:17):
So you have a lot of greatfootball history.
Now Virginia could be worse.
You could have been raised andgrew up in Cleveland.
You really would've been crying.
Them folks would give anythingto have your type of football
team.

Yeah.
So that's, those are the tworeasons.
But the third reason is that Iwould not be caught dead in
soldier field.
After November the third, you'renot, you're, there's no way I'm
going to a football game in thecold.
I did it once and it was theworst experience ever, I think

(45:52):
in my life.
Sitting on those benches, doingshivering, trying to watch a
game.
And you're in

Chicagoan, I imagine everybody else and
there's people out there withthe shirts off.
Of course they are.
But Reggie, they have been,they've been having partaking
'cause no person that is sayingthat has not been partaking is
taking their shirt off.

They are, they come and spell with it
is four of'em together, I meanfive of'em together, B-E-A-R-S
and having a very great timeplaying.
So I, I do kid about you notliking Chicago, but back to the
movie.
I will say this, I, it reallyworks for me as a streaming film
and that's okay.
Okays.
If this were a movie that was inthe theaters, I don't know that

(46:39):
this would've been one that Iwould run out to go see.
I would probably say, let's waitfor it to come on streaming.
And I think the people are gonnawatch it at home to what you
just said.
It's at, it's on the perfectplatform.
So this one works for me.
I'm recommending people check itout again, the only way you can
check it out is at home.

(47:00):
So I'm recommending that.

I will also say this right when we see these
things as this is great forstreaming.
We gotta recognize thatstreaming is here.
It's not going away.
It is again, it's a gr I don'thave a problem with stream
movies that are on the platformbecause it is a way for people

(47:24):
that economic ma, it makes moviegoing more, I will die on this
hill.
I'm so tired of people, ourgeneration, talking about these
movies.
I fell in love with movies byonly going to the movie theater,
stop it.
The Great Western, the John FordWesterns.

(47:45):
Let's just take that.
The ones where, you know JohnWayne is walking around while
everybody's riding and he'swalking up the hill, being the
hero of the day.
Those were not seen in a movietheater by our generation.
Those were our Sunday movies ofthe evening.
Remember when we used to havethose classic movies before you

(48:06):
had the miniseries becomingsomething, right?
We used to have Saturday night,you used to have classic movies
and those were the type ofmovies you saw and you gathered
around as a family to watch themon your color tv.
I'm also of the generation, wewent from black and white TVs.
It was a big deal when you wereone of the families on your

(48:28):
block that got the color TV andyou were really flourishing when
you had a beta.
We had a beta video accordingbefore we switched to VHS later.
But we have beta first.
So I really need people to stopwith this nonsense.
Like our introduction Wizard ofOz, the 1939, we did not see

(48:50):
that in the movie theater.
We used to see that a specialtime of year of where I used to
go.
It used to be a whole commercialleading up to it, telling us to
watch it.
So I don't understand when Ihear people that are in our age
group talking about, we saw it.
Yes.
Star Wars Jaws, et those wereour movie experiences.

(49:10):
But we're talking classicmovies, things we grew up on,
like The Wizard of Oz, the 10Commandments, those were movies
that came on a special time ofthe year.
So I don't understand, andagain, I do, I do.
We watched it on the whateverthe size.
I understand though, you boughtthe console tv.
Did, who was there to tell youthat you were wrong for enjoying

(49:32):
the Wizard of Oz in your livingroom?
Nobody.
Let

me just say this.
I do understand it though.
I understand it really in a verymajor way.
Going to the movies was a treat.
And you remember going to themovies more than you remember
staying at home.
You just do, because whathappens there, when my father

(49:56):
took me to see Stir crazy, I'llnever forget that he made us
Skip Church to go see Stircrazy.
Him and I.
That is a cherished memory thatyou can't replicate with the
nine of us or the 10 of ussitting around the little small
tv.
So I'm not this agreeing withyou about these classic movies.

(50:17):
You're absolutely right.
But the indelible imprint inyour mind and in your head is, I
went to the movies to see thatand people can't get away from
that.
I always say that a great movieis not only.
What was on the screen, but it'salso when you saw it and who you
saw it with.

And I agree with you on that.
I just need people tounderstand, and I think what I'm
trying to say, maybe I'm notdoing a clear enough job with
that.
No, you're, I understand.
I need us to understand is thatthere are different points of
entry for people.
And if it wasn't for this mediumof television, a lot of us would

(50:59):
not have been introduced toclassic movies and we wouldn't
have been able to understandwhy.
And I'm not, we are not gettinginto the politics of people, why
Bob Stanrich was a big deal.
Why Betty Davis was such a bigmovie theater, a movie star
Jimmy Stewart.
Why?
Jimmy Stewart, I can't evenbelieve Judy Garland.

(51:19):
Like for Meet me in St.
Louis.
And A Star is born to, of courseThe Wizard of Oz.
You know why this Will Fred asSteer and Ginger Rogers, we
would not have experienced thosemovies if it wasn't for
television.
Absolutely.
I fell in love with Americancinema because of the musicals

(51:40):
and the lot of musicals that Ilove were made before 1950 on
the town.
I can sing all the songs.
I can tell you That's okay.
All the different things, right?
An American in Paris who doesnot love an American in Paris.
So I'm just saying.
Why like you, I absolutely havememories.
I always talk about how I, starWars was the first movie where I
was really leaned in as a littlekid and that was my choice.

(52:02):
Whereas like family and stufflike that, my mom chose for me
and where I was like, this issomething I want to see and I
begged my mom to take me.
So I think you can have both.
Yes.
And I feel like streaming is theopportunity, it's also giving an
opportunity for this generationof kids who think of an old
movie.
And I get it and I wanna giveGrace'cause I was young once

(52:24):
too.
They think of an old movie of1980.
They don't quite, they haven'tmade the connection that there
are great movies.
Prior to 19 70, 19 60, 19 50,right?
You just have to allow yourselfto go on that journey.
So I do think for kids whosefamilies can't afford for places

(52:45):
that are very remote, and let'snot act like there are movie
theaters and everybody's town,and even if they are, there
might be two or three screensand they may not be getting the
movie the first weekend it comesout because of their location,
right?
'cause they're not an EMC.
They too deserve to see newmovies.
They deserve to have theconversation.
Absolutely.

(53:05):
They deserve to be transported.
So while you can make thechoice, if you prefer to only go
to theater only movies, which isyour right, it's your money.
Do what you want.
Stop making it seem that thepeople who are enjoying this
content at home.
Don't love movies, that theydon't deserve to be a part of
the conversation.
That's what I'm trying to say.

And you're saying that, well, I just
think the two things can exist.
I really did understand why peopthere are some people who put
the movies at the theater on apedestal because there is
nothing like a movie goingexperience.
It doesn't matter whether youwatch it at home, because when
you see it in the big screen,there's just something that

(53:49):
overwhelms you to see it in thebig screen.
However, on the flip side, ourscreens are bigger these days
and the little small screen thatwe looked at, I don't even know
how I watched the baseball gameon that because I.
Could follow the ball and nowI'm looking on this big screen
that I have and I still can'tfollow the ball.
I'm like, where did it go?
Who?
Who hit it where?

(54:10):
So I think that both of thosethings can exist and I think
what the streaming companies aredoing, so we might be actually
paying a disservice by sayingwhat we said, that it's good.
It's a good streaming moviebecause what these streaming
services are doing, they'rewinning Oscars.
They're winning best films.
They're doing the same kind ofquality films.

(54:31):
I'm just saying that when I saythey saved us

during the pandemic, they gave us
community.
We were able to have that.
Right?

Reggie Ponder, The (54:39):
Absolutely.
And I'm saying that when I saythat it is a good streaming
movie, what I really mean isthis, is that if you have
already paid for thatsubscription, it just makes
sense to maximize thatsubscription and watch that
film.

And maybe we need to do as a segment on the
podcast, because I feel like,and it I do it too, you know how
you have a subscription service,and I think one of the ones that
is that a lot of people don'tenjoy the content, even though
you get a year free when youhave an iPhone, right?
They don't really, obviously theTed Lassos of this world, that's

(55:20):
a easy layup, right?
And that obviously we're alltuning in for that.
But there are other shows onthere and they don't remove the
content from Apple TV plus, likeHBO Max, whatever they're
calling themselves these days,or Prime video, right?
They keep it on there so youhave time.
There's some really great showsand great films on there.

(55:42):
So I do think if you are goingto pay something, don't just
stay, like for instance, ifyou're paying for HBO Max, don't
just pay for, to see, gilded Ageor to see just like that or
Games of Thrones, right?
That, that's easy thing.
But there are greatdocumentaries on there.
There are other movies that,that you might have missed in
the Phoenician scheme is on HBOMax.

(56:05):
I can't huh Ian scheme.
What did you say, Ian Scheme DePaul, was it the Anderson movie?
So you may have missed that in amovie theater, or maybe that
might be a movie where you go, Idon't know about this.
This is seeming very weird.
The whole situation, right?
You're like, I don't know if Iwanna dedicate like$20 to go see
that, but it pops up on your HBOMax.

(56:28):
You might be like, you knowwhat?
Lemme go check that out.
So it gives life also to somemovies that you may be on the
fence about, because you'relike.
Do I go see Superman and give my$20 to that?
Or do I go see this and yourightfully so.
You probably are like, oh.
And now you're sitting at thehouse, Saturday, Friday night,

(56:50):
you not going out, you going,oh, all right, I'll hit play.
So it does give life to somethings.
And I agree with you and I thinkmaybe there's a better way to
say it.
I feel like this is a greatmovie for everybody in the
family to be able to tune in.
'cause that's the otherdifficult thing, right?
There are a lot of movies thatare very, I feel like niche,

(57:13):
right?
And I had somebody who watchedSuperman with me and they came
out and they go, I was really,really lost.
Because we all assume thateverybody knows Superman's
origin when they came out andthey go.
I gotta do the interview, but Iam so confused.
I don't know why, and why arethese people beefing and why is
this, is the dog always been apart of it?

(57:33):
So we do have to give people alittle bit of grace to
understand that not everybody,everything is for everybody.
So the streaming allows somemovies that may have gotten lost
in, in a lot of what's going onright now to revisit people.

And it also allows for us to have
more content so that there'smovies that might not have
gotten made in the past, butbecause each streaming service
needs to have content, all of asudden they're trying to figure
out what are we gonna put there?
So now we're seeing Nigeriansoap operas and things from

(58:16):
other countries.
Which is really, really good.
So I want to say that lastthing.
Go ahead.
You made me think of when youmentioned Ted Lasso, because we
haven't talked about this andthis will be the last thing we
talk about.
We're not even doing Rat andRave because we did Rat and rave
earlier, is Sarah Nows is havinga year.

Yes, she's Sarah.
Yes.
She's talk about it.

Sarah Nows is having a year, she's the
mother in F1.
She's in the movie Heads Estate.
She's also in the Fantastic Fouras a head of state.
She is having a moment and I amso freaking excited

when I saw her in that little flip off Bob and
Fantastic Four.
I said, I know that's right.
I said, I know that's right andI'm happy for her.
Because like you said it, she'sdoing all these different things
and it's no role is like thesame.
And we see her as soon as I sawher, I said, come on, miss Mamas

(59:30):
love that for

her and no role is the same because
when you look at the role sheplays in Ted lasso, you wouldn't
think that was the same personin the F1 movie.

100%.
And I think first of all, again,like we talk about this all the
time, sometimes it is better tohave a smaller part in a good
movie than to be the lead andsome mess.

And now she is in the Marvel
universe, so you know, she'sgonna pop up again.
She has to pop up again.
So I just wanna say hats off toSarah now.
I think that's our show.
What do you have out yet?
What?
Where can we read something?
What's out?

Kathia Woods (01:00:15):
I have I have an interview with the cast of
Butterfly, with my guy DanielDay Kim, who I absolutely adore.
That's on Cap of Soul Show andalso you can see it on a YouTube
channel.
I have interviews coming outwith the people behind the
documentary for Magic City andyeah, including Jermaine Dupree,
who looks like he's live fromthe closet, and he didn't turn

(01:00:38):
his phone.
Don't you hate that?
You just like what's happeninghere, friend?
So I have that coming up and andI'm working on some stuff for
Tiff.
What do you got going on,Reggie?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (01:00:48):
I am, I'm not working on anything
for Tiff.

But you have Chicago Film Festival coming up,
but he's gonna be out there.
Listen, Reggie says that, andthen we gonna see him pop up,
which I love for him all over,'cause he is Chicago.
He's gonna be all over theChicago Film Festival.
You see Reggie got a wholesetup.
Don't let him lights, camera.
Action.

I am, I have an interview out with
Troy Pryor on indigo.com.
It's N-D-I-G-O'cause peoplealways spell it
wrong@indigo.com.
And Troy Pryor is the founder ofXL Fest in Chicago, which brings
together industry professionalsproviding an immer, a immersive

(01:01:34):
experience.
And this festival has I don'twanna say everybody, but it has
so many people.
They're partnering with the Tatebrothers, so that's Lorenz and
his two brothers.
This weekend.
You got Vivic Fox, MichaelBeach, George Tillman, Bob Tidal
Vanessa e Williams, MelindaWilliams, Tari Nalton, Malcolm d
Lee.

(01:01:55):
All these people are here.
Chuck D is here.
And I don't want to bedisrespectful to Lorenzo's
brothers.
You got Lamar Tate and LaurenTate.
You got Kevin on stage.
All these folks are here forthat festival and it starts
today and it runs through the23rd.
I will be trying to peek my headin on some of the seminars, some

(01:02:20):
of the movies they have.
I love the shorts when I go tofestivals, by the way, I love
going, seeing the shorts.
Maybe it's because you can seefive movies in a short period of
time, and you really can see thedifference in short movie making
as it relates to feature film,movie making.
I know everybody wants to do afeature, but those short.

(01:02:40):
Filmmakers have to do a lot in alittle bit of time, and this
particular festival has a numberof short films, so I hope to get
out there to see that as well.
But my interview with Troy againcan be seen on indigo.com.
You can also check out my reviewof the movie that I will not
mention because my friend didnot participate.

(01:03:02):
But it's if you were up, up, upand down, down, down.
So it's up to down is what I'mgonna say.
And that movie review, now it'shighest to law and that movie
review can be found.
Right now it's up on Indigo, soyou can see what I thought about
that.
And that's it.
That's our show.

Oh, I'm gonna correct myself.
The Ian scheme.
You can see on Peacock, I knew Iwas on one.
One of them things.
I'm one of those people, well, Igotta at least tap in, but if
I'm paying for this stuff, soyes.
So if you miss that in the movietheater, and Reggie obviously
loved it, he's gonna sit downright tonight on just to see it.

Reggie Ponder, The Re (01:03:39):
Actually, I must say this because I said
it before and I don't want togive the wrong impression.
It was curiously entertaining.
It was not my cup of tea, but itwas curiously entertaining that
when you leave you're kind oflaughing and you're like, Hmm,
what did I just see?

(01:04:01):
It's not a bad job, it's justnot my kind of film.
I think that they did a good jobwith that film.
So it might be your cup of teaand go check it out.
I'm gonna go check out sometennis because Coco golf is
playing in a little bit, so I'moutta here, Kati.
I hope you have fun with numberone.
And yes

I do.
Yes, we will.
And listen again, don't letReggie Reggie be out there at
the US open all these differentplaces, but I'm not mad at him.
So if you, if there's a tennistournament right, and you see a
familiar face, there's a prettygood chance that Reggie's out
there living his best life.

I am definitely trying to do that.
Part of living that best life isbeing able to have these
discussions with you.
So I thank you my friend, and weare out.
We will see you guys next time.

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