Episode Transcript
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Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (00:00):
Hey, I'm Reggie Ponder the Real
Critic, and this is The RealCritics Network.
I am here with my co-host, Kaia.
How are you?
I hope all is well.
Kathia Woods (00:09):
I am, I am.
Count down to the birthday andjust trying to stay still for a
little bit.
What day is your birthday?
The 15th.
We're gonna be double nickel.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:20):
Girl.
Well, we let's see.
We'll have a birthday edition.
Everything we talk about isgonna be you need to make the
the agenda for the next onebirthday edition and be like
whatever you wanna talk about iswhat we gonna talk about.
Oh,
Kathia Woods (00:33):
I appreciate you.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:34):
That, that's gonna, that's gonna be
real, really good.
Let's move to our first segment,'cause I got a number of things
that I want to talk about inwhat's on my mind.
The first thing I want to talkabout is I saw your post on.
Thanking one of yourcollaborators or a person who
was helping you, allowing you tocollaborate with them and just
(00:57):
talking about how the blackwomen are coming through.
And so I just thought that was afantastic, and I'd like for you
just to expound on that for asec.
Kathia Woods (01:07):
We all have our positives and our negatives in
this industry and I think, wetalk about the negatives, but we
also gotta talk about thepositives.
And one of them is TanyaPendleton, who I met at TIFF Ali
enough, and we were both in thePhiladelphia area and asked me
to contribute to her show.
On Word.
(01:27):
And that show has been on fortwo years and we've been rocking
for two years, and she gave mean opportunity to, to raise my
brand.
And I think it's important thatwe do make, public grandiose
statues for.
Black women that have looked outfor us.
You know what I mean?
Especially in this climate wherepeople are very comfortable
(01:47):
getting on the mic and talkingcrazy about black women, and I
just am really appreciative ofher friendship and, just the
community and it's just, justwanted to say thank you to her
publicly and, for letting me andexposing me to her audience.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (02:04):
I, I love that.
I know, my friend BonnieDeshaun, and when talking about
just people allowing you to beon their platform, Bonnie is on
jam 98, which is a onlinestation, and I get to chop it up
with her.
Every week as well.
You're right the sisters they'recoming through and they're doing
their thing.
So I'm really glad that youmentioned that.
(02:25):
Thanks for that.
The next thing that's on my mindis I really wanna talk to you
about, I think somebody went toa festival, a concert where and
before we even talk about that,you get on my last nerve.
I'm absolute last nerve becauseyou're in all the spaces that I
want to be and I know that it,you're not supposed to be
(02:47):
envious, but man, can I go tothe Roots Festival too?
Kathia Woods (02:53):
This year was given a little bit Burning Man
the first day.
And I am not a girl if you knowI am a girl's girl.
I do not like mud.
Mm-hmm.
That's why I'd be looking atCoachella and I'd be like, mm, I
didn't know about that.
That don't look like I need tobe there.
Or definitely Burning man.
I was like, what?
I in the middle nowhere, like,no.
You, those of you that saw, Ican, you know, my anxiety, why
(03:15):
my anxiety was up, but.
It is just, for those that arenot from Philadelphia, are not
aware, the Roots picnic wasstarted by the roots in 2008.
They wanted to have a festivalthat had kind of like the
atmosphere of a family reunionthat had you know, good things.
(03:37):
Where I had all the componentswhere you have music, where you
have good food and people cancome together and you can sit
and have your drinks andeverything.
It used to be for those of youthat are from the Philadelphia
area, are familiar with thePhiladelphia used to be on a
waterfront.
I.
Right off of Delaware af,Columbus af, whatever you wanna
call it.
I still call it Delaware af'cause don't nobody know what
(03:59):
Columbus is, which is right bythe water.
Think the other side of thenaval yard.
And it was like a concretejungle and then you couldn't
spread it out as much.
And then I wanna say three yearsago, three years ago, it moved
to the Man, man is anamphitheater in West
(04:19):
Philadelphia.
And that is where it was had andthat's where they have, so you
have bigger grass fields andthen they can set up multiple
stages and you can kind ofspread it out more.
So this year, because again,global warming is real and there
were a lot of there was a lot ofrain.
So think grass, so it got alittle muddy, right?
(04:41):
So there's a general emissionentrance.
So people usually start likedoors open at one, people come.
Normal world, people hit thestage at two.
But because it was unsafe,because of the rain, it got
muddy.
And they don't want peopleslipping and sliding and I
certainly was not gonna be outthere like that.
(05:02):
They couldn't get into thevenue.
But the problem was they werestuck.
So even if you have VIP silver,VIP gold, and people paid a
mint, it was 1400, 7 99 forsilver.
And like 200 and some forgeneral admission, you are like
stuck to go in, and you can'tveer off.
(05:25):
So these people were stuck forseveral hours before they were
able to go in and you know,social media, what you, what
social media is people got onsocial media and let it be known
that they are not messing withthe roots crew.
But I think where the failurewas, is the failure to
communicate.
They should have said somethingin the app once they noticed and
(05:45):
looked at the weather that itwas going to be raining.
Let's push this thing back untilthree.
Also, there should have been aconversation about the people
that did get stuck in line aboutgetting the medical attention.
Water.
You have enough sponsor, youcould get, got somebody a little
granola bar, a little bit ofwater.
And then also, whether it'sporta potties or something so
(06:08):
people can go to the bathroom.
You know what I mean?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (06:10):
Yeah.
Kathia Woods (06:11):
So I think that was where the failure to
communicate, I've said thisbefore, I love the roots picnic.
I think there are a lot ofpositives about the roots
picnic, but one of the problemsis you hire a PR company that is
out of New York that doesn'tunderstand how Philadelphia
works, that doesn't hirePhiladelphia people to include,
(06:32):
to help them understand how tonavigate.
Which is 52nd and Parkside 50thand Parkside, which is West
Philly.
Then you get lost in translationbecause if Philadelphia's a
different city than New York.
And also it is people expect.
A certain level because theroots are from Philadelphia and
(06:53):
because they do love the roots.
And I think that unfortunatelythey allow social media to take
over the narrative.
So after some, many, many, manyvideos, they finally gave a
statement, apologized andeverything.
But I do think going forward youneed to communicate better.
We have social media, we have.
(07:16):
The apps, we have variousdifferent ways.
The website to communicate withpeople.
So there's, and also getting itout to the local news and radio
stations to say, Hey, beloved,we not starting this thing until
three o'clock.
But the upside is all the actswent on.
All the acts went on, includingMaxwell, who stepped in for
(07:36):
DeAngelo.
DeAngelo pulled out, Maxwelljumped in and it did happen.
It was muddy, I'm not gonna lie.
I.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (07:45):
So you know my
Kathia Woods (07:45):
question, but I was like a statue.
I was like, woo.
And then somebody, I said,please don't put hands on me
because if I fall in this mud,we gonna fight.
Right.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (07:55):
My question,'cause we do have to
move on to our next stuff, ishow was the music?
Was it good?
The music
Kathia Woods (08:01):
was great and I love, here's the upside, let's
talk about the upside.
We got to see some of our oldestare goodies.
Now I'm gonna give this, letReggie's gonna be really happy
right now.
There was an old house music,rich Medina had Crystal Waters
and C.
C Pennington on the stage.
First of all, crystal Waters is60 plus.
Crystal Waters.
Looks freaking amazing.
(08:21):
Amazing.
She looks amazing.
Was up there dancing andeverything, right?
Shout out to, to them.
Maxwell, as always is money,right?
Miguel was out there, it wasraining and Miguel was out here
in his little glory.
Lotto was great.
Shout out to Gorilla.
She may, maybe small in stature,but she's mighty.
Out there, she's the girl of themoment, also Lady Alma again,
(08:44):
getting back to house music anddance music.
So there was a lot ofPhiladelphia's talent on Jersey
talent on the stage.
I had me some Philly food'causeI had me a real pretzel'cause
you cannot get a good pretzeloutside of Philadelphia.
So I really I went a littlecrazy on the carbs, so I had me,
my, my pretzel saw my people formy funnel cake.
(09:06):
Because, we were walking, so Ihad me a good time and the music
was music Soulchild too was outthere.
RB as a whole was featured.
And of course I, the Roots crewdid their thing once, it did
take over.
The man.
So yes, you had a little bit ofChicago and Philadelphia.
I know Reggie would've beenlike,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (09:27):
I, I all the artists that you
mentioned, I would've been likeon it.
So I would've been happy.
But I am not the mud personeither.
We have this thing here that'snot African American based is
Lalapalooza and Loza.
When we get that rain and wealways, it is always rainy
during Lollapalooza.
These people are sloshing in themud.
(09:49):
They're doing stuff like, whatis that?
The slip and slide?
No, no.
People are just sliding throughthe mud, having a great time
drinking their beers and justthinking.
It's wonderful.
It's not for me.
So I totally understand your mudthing.
There was one thing that I wantto ask you before we move on,
(10:11):
and you had a pretzel.
I'm not eating meat these days,but I have not, and I'm not
trying to blow smoke here.
I have not had a good Phillycheese steak outside of Philly.
I just have not, I've not hadone and so when I was eating
meat, I would always go.
(10:33):
Get me a Philly cheese steak.
So did you have one or no?
Kathia Woods (10:38):
I didn't go full fledged.
I felt it still, the funnel cakeand the pretzels.
We did enough.
But if you are not a red meateater, go to Ishka Bibb on South
Street.
Ishka Bibb.
Not some other place.
Ishka Bibbs on South Street.
Not the one further down thelittle, the little hot sliding
(10:58):
joint.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (10:58):
Okay.
Kathia Woods (10:59):
Where you eat by the bar stools or you can have
it via the through window.
Best chicken steak.
It is so good.
I mean like I'm so glad that Eveput it out there too.
If you want a chicken steak,that is where you go and you can
get it accompanied with theboardwalk fries, which are a
(11:20):
little thicker.
That will hit the spot.
Now I'm sorry I can't help youwith the vegetarian spot.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (11:28):
That's okay.
That's okay.
Kathia Woods (11:28):
Industry, you know what I mean?
That that's okay.
I respect anybody's foodchoices.
But if you are not, if you are aperson that is not.
Red meat based.
I got you.
With the chicken steak and it'sreally good.
And you gotta get the Amer,don't get the cheese with, you
gotta get the American cheeseand then have that and it's like
(11:49):
a nice chicken breast and it'sseasoned.
'cause we season our meat.
I might
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (11:53):
have to, I might have to do that.
So that's great.
Well, I wanna move.
I
Kathia Woods (11:57):
think, and also, like I said is, hey, summer
festivals, I don't know aboutanybody else.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (12:04):
Food is food.
Well, I wanna move.
Oh, I know the last question.
Food
Kathia Woods (12:06):
is a portion of that, right?
So to me it's what's the pointof being at a summer festival?
I don't care if it's food,drinks, jazz, whatever.
If you can't get some good food,some fun food, at least
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (12:17):
yes or no, yes or no answer, yes or
no answer this, all you can dois say yes or no.
Would you recommend people toattend the Roots Festival next
year?
Kathia Woods (12:30):
Yes.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (12:32):
There we go.
My, what's on my mind is reallyabout the American Black Film
Festival.
I used to go to the A BFF allthe time, and it was one of my
favorites because it was,everything was accessible.
The movies were accessible, the.
(12:53):
Stars were accessible, the funand the parties were accessible.
I always had a great time goingto the A BFF.
So for 10 years I was the redcarpet host for the A BFF and
just had a blast.
If I interviewed Kevin Hart onemore time, he probably would've
(13:13):
just put me on one of his SIR XMradio shows or something.
Dang, dang.
I wish he would have, but.
This year it's in Miami as,which is the main place that the
A BFF is, and it's from June the11th to the 15th.
I'm excited because I'm alwaysthinking about that Chicago
(13:37):
connection.
So what's the Chicago connectionthis year?
Year, this year?
They're doing a tribute to LoveJones.
Their ambassadors are Lorenz,Tate, and Nia Long, and I love,
love, love Jones.
It You always ask the question,when there's a movie set in
(13:58):
Chicago or in Philly, does itrepresent the city?
Does it, is it accurate?
More than it represented thecity.
It represented the vibe that washappening during that time and
that vibe of doing that poetryand having.
(14:19):
That environment.
Oh man, I, I felt that, I thinkI might've told you, is that it?
It's one of my favorite moviesand the reason it's my, one of
my favorite movies is because itreminds me of a time that I was
trying to be like a Loren Tate.
Now I was trying to be like aLoren Tate before a Darius
before the movie because Iproposed to my wife at a
(14:41):
speakeasy kind of place.
Very, very similar to what washappening in Love Jones.
That's what I did.
I went up there, did a couple ofpoems and all of a sudden she's
looking at me all weird.
Like, did he did it?
He, he's talking to me.
The, my friends who were therewere like, Donna, Donna, what
(15:02):
you gonna say?
She couldn't even say Yes.
I, for a minute I thought itmight, might, I might have
bombed because it might not havehappened.
So I am really excited aboutthis tribute.
To Love Jones.
And one of the things that Ilike the movie just period, but
(15:22):
one of the things, becauseyou're the music person, I
decided that we would just talkfor a minute, just for a minute
about the soundtrack.
Ooh.
And the soundtrack for LoveJones.
You just got through mentioningMaxwell and you know.
In that movie was something,something.
So something, something, notsomething, something, something,
(15:45):
something.
So there were so many goodsongs, great songs that came out
of that movie that I just wantto tell people you need to go
and listen to the soundtrack.
And in fact, you might not evenknow that these songs were on
the soundtrack.
If you've never seen the movie.
Think about, in a sentimentalmood.
(16:07):
You got Duke Ellington on there.
You had, they had the one thatNia did Nia Long did was it was
called Nina's poem.
I'm looking at music and thenyou had Darius doing his thing,
brother to the night.
Oh my goodness.
Come, come brother to the nightwas the jam.
(16:27):
The way he delivered that in thefilm.
Oh my goodness.
They had escape.
They had Kenny La Latimore andthey had groove Theory come on.
And then, you know, they had, IGot a Love Jones for you by the
refugees camp.
I'm just saying that.
(16:50):
Soundtrack was all that.
That's, I'm done.
I just want you to comment onthe music,'cause you the music
person.
Kathia Woods (16:57):
One of my favorite songs is Hopeless by Deanne
Ferris.
On that soundtrack.
I don't think, I think DeanneFerris is a artist that is so
undervalued and I feel like thelabels didn't know what to do
with her, but that is just, thatsong is so perfect, they say I'm
hopeless.
That song is just really, reallygood.
(17:18):
You
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (17:18):
know what?
That song is fire,
Kathia Woods (17:20):
isn't it?
I think that is a very a veryunique song.
And then you ha you Move me byCassandra Wilson, who is a jazz
artist.
And I think I think you openedup Pandora's Box a little bit.
We used to have.
And I'll be brief'cause I knowwe gotta get to our MO movies,
(17:41):
but we used to have in thesemovies shows, now we have a
playlist.
But we used to have specific.
Songs like and Forever, I thinkthe TV show has a beautiful
playlist, right?
But those songs weren'tspecifically creative for the
(18:03):
show.
They were like a musicaldirector picked these songs, but
I feel like we're losing in someof our black content.
I think Issa Rae did a good jobwith that, with Insecure, where
she would pick people thatweren't necessarily mainstream
artists, her team to be playedright.
But I think we are losing someof that where we used to put
(18:25):
people on via the soundtracks ofour black movies, especially r
and b, where you would havepeople that aren't necessarily,
mainstream, but I think you hitthe nail on the button.
'cause now when we think aboutthis movie, it's more than just
the story.
We also think about the musicand how it just transformed us
to these different scenes.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (18:46):
Well, I'm really glad that you
mentioned that, and I'm very,very happy that you mentioned
the song Hopeless by DionneFerris.
That song is absolutely classic.
I hope that people will go backafter listening to this and.
Just, just take a listen to thesongs that came from this movie.
(19:07):
Love Jones.
Kathia Woods (19:09):
100%.
What else you got, Reggie?
What was, that's it.
That's it?
That's
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (19:13):
it.
That's it for our long, our LongWhat's On My Mind segment, but I
had a lot, I mean, I had a lotthat I wanted us to cover.
Let's talk about movies.
Moving into our first movie.
Let's talk about the film.
The Phoenician scheme.
Kathia Woods (19:30):
I saw your video.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (19:32):
You saw you.
Okay, so you saw my social mediapost on the Phoenician scheme,
so I'm gonna let you start thisone first.
'cause if you saw my video, youknow why I'm gonna let you start
this one first.
Kathia Woods (19:49):
So the overview on this film is Wealthy Businessman
Zaza Corda, which is played byVenicio Deltoro, appoints his
only daughter or nun as soleheir to his estate as Cord
embark in a new centerpiece.
They soon become the target ofscheming tycoons foreign
terrorists and determineassassins right.
(20:10):
And Mia, I'm gonna say her namecorrectly, Mia.
Trio Plate plays Sister Liesl,his daughter.
So the way I'm interpreting thiswhen I saw it, and I have to
say, I went into this beinglike, you know what?
I've had my issues with WesAnderson films.
They haven't always worked forme, but I kind of like this one.
(20:34):
The way that I looked at thiswas like that.
Benicio who has been in a lot ofWes' movies, right?
Yeah.
Is a businessman that, that hedon't always deal in the up and
up.
So he's trying to have thisthing built right, this vision,
this thing that he wants to havebuilt.
(20:54):
And he looks at his children,first of all, and he's okay, I
think my daughter will be thebest person to help be the heir
to my empire because she has theleast like.
She has the least invested.
So she's not gonna try to, she'snot trying to, she's gonna, I'm
gonna be able to persuade her tosee things my way.
(21:15):
That's just thinking.
'cause she's a nun and she hasno vested interest in other
words, but.
In the meanwhile, in order toget his vision done, he's gotta
do business.
He has all these differentbusiness partners, and since he
is a SKYY businessman, he'strying to have them absorb a lot
(21:37):
of the costs so he can have allthe glory, but they're tired of
dealing with him and hisshenanigans.
Meanwhile, he, because of hisway of doing business, all these
people are constantly trying tokill him.
So, you know, he's been therunning joke also in this is
that he survived, I don't knowhow many, 13, 14, 15 plane
crashes.
(21:58):
Like the man won't die.
Yeah, yeah.
But I think is.
That's the gist of the story.
So as he's dealing with, ismeeting with each entity, he is
trying to figure out how to scamthem before they scam him.
And of course, they're sick andtired of his stuff.
Now the key to Wes Anderson isnumber one you gotta give it to
him even if you don't like hiscontent.
(22:20):
The cinematographer is alwaysbeautiful and interesting.
He has a certain.
Visual aesthetic, right?
It doesn't look like it evertakes place in the real world.
And I think that's done onpurpose.
It's very colorful and thecostuming is always like from
another era, right?
But it's taking place in presentday and it always, and it shout
(22:42):
out to the set designer.
So you have all of that goingon.
It's very.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (22:48):
And generally you liked it?
Kathia Woods (22:50):
I did.
I enjoyed it.
And also the other thing too isI thought I was gonna have to be
in this thing for two and a halfto three hours.
'cause sometimes, and I gotreally comfortable and then I
looked up and it was only likean hour and some change and I
was like, hallelujah, I'm gonnabe home, but before 10:00 PM
which is a win-win.
But I liked it.
I completely understand this isnot going to be a lot of
(23:12):
people's jam, but I liked it andI thought it was quirky, and I
understood for once what wasgoing on.
And, and again, I love to
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (23:24):
meet Bill Toro okay, so, you know
that I did not understand whatwas going on in my review.
I'm saying it is quirky, butit's funny, it's, there's a way,
there's a way in which while Ididn't understand it all, that
the jokes are somewhatcompartmentalized and you could
understand them.
And so I laughed.
(23:44):
I thought that the characterswere weird, but that they were
interesting.
And that the performances weresolid all the way around.
And you just spoke about thatinclu including the cameos.
I thought they did a great jobwith the cameos, which I don't
want to tell you everybody who'sgonna pop up, but they, the
performances were good all theway around.
So these are the things I like.
And, you know, anytime that theyreferenced basketball, I'm a
(24:08):
happy camper.
So the fact that they had toshoot a couple of hoops to make
a deal was pretty funny to me.
And I liked that.
Then to your point about lookinggood on a big screen, the colors
on this, they really do jumpout.
But there was some things that Ididn't like about this film.
(24:31):
The first one is, it'sconfusing.
It really is confusing the plot.
It's not just a plot, which isvery, very convoluted because
it's, you're talking about fixedprices, there's shell
corporations, there's closingthe gap in terms of trying to
figure out how he is gonna payfor it, and so on and so forth.
So all of that's confusing.
But the other piece is whyshould the viewer care?
(24:52):
They didn't do enough, in myopinion, to make it where you
should care about these.
These characters like, okay,they got a scheme going on.
It's kind of funny, but itdoesn't relate to anything that,
for me, the film is so expansivebecause it's going all to all
these different places that, forme, it really doesn't have a
(25:13):
clear focus.
They're going all around theworld, so to stay in our music.
Our music groove.
Can I just modify LisaStansfield quote and stand and
say is they were been around theworld and they can't find the
meaning.
I could not find the meaning forthis one.
Now, don't get me wrong again, Ilaughed at this, at things.
(25:34):
I, lot of things I didn'tcompletely understand.
I thought that the characterswere too removed from reality,
but not close enough to purefantasy.
Kind of placing it in thatmiddle, making it curious, but
not complete.
And if you don't understand whatI mean, don't worry about it.
'cause I didn't understand whatI meant either.
Is that it?
(25:54):
It's fascinating to watch.
It really is.
It's a fascinating movie towatch, but difficult to fully
connect with.
So my rating is that I felt likethis is entertaining, but it was
bewildering, it was funny, andit really didn't have too much
of a meaning on my scale of fourreels.
I'm giving it a two that ifyou're curious enough to want to
(26:15):
go check it out, cool.
But, and if you want to see thisand see it on the big screen,
cool.
But then would I pay the moneyto go see it?
Uh, I don't think so.
I saw it for free.
That's my thought.
Kathia Woods (26:33):
I would see it.
I would pay to see it.
I think it's a good key key.
And again, if you go, I think ifyou go in there with no
expectation, you're gonna bepleasantly surprised.
I thought it was quirky, it wasfun.
I thought Anderson finally puttogether something where it's
not just for his fan base, butpeople that normally are
(26:55):
skeptical, you know, skeptical,skeptical about his work, are
able to enjoy this because alsoit's not super, super long and
super, super complicated.
And there are some terrificcameos.
And again, Benizio loved that heleans into this really quirky
(27:18):
off kilter man.
The dialogue is very witty.
I really enjoyed it.
And again, I normally, when itcomes to Wes Anderson, I'm like,
Ooh, this is about to be.
It's, this is gonna be a toughone.
You know what I mean?
And, okay.
I actually, I laughed throughit.
(27:39):
I enjoyed it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (27:41):
I am not telling people to go to
not go see it, but I'm nottelling people to go see it.
Th that, that's where I am.
All right.
Let's move on to our, let's moveon to our next movie.
We got one person recommendingit and then one person being too
shaky to say no or yay, or nay.
So, that's me.
Let's move on to our next movie,and that next movie is a movie
(28:04):
that actually, that I am reallylooking, was really looking
forward to seeing, and I wasreally looking forward to seeing
it for a number of reasons.
And it is, the movie is from theworld of John Wick.
Ballerina.
So what's it about?
Well, in the world of John Wick,during the third installment,
Eve McCarroll, played by AnnaDiarist witnesses, her father
(28:26):
being murdered, and is taken inand trained by the Russ Roma,
led by the director, played byAngelica Houston Eve just cannot
get over the brutal murder.
And although she has beenforbidden, I mean forbidden by
the director to seek revenge.
Eve uses all that.
She's learned to track down thismysterious and elusive group of
(28:47):
murderers.
Who's in it?
Well, I told you a couple folks.
We got Anna Dees, we gotAngelica Houston.
We got Gabriel Bryan, we haveLance Reddick Lina Sino Moreno.
We have Norman Redis.
And then we have Sharon DuncanBrewster, Ian Mcsa, and Keanu
Reeves.
(29:08):
So for me, what was it to like.
Many times franchises have tolook really, really hard to
extend their narrative.
But the makers of John Wickreally didn't have to look far.
The writers explored this richlandscape that they have in John
Wick and it, and this landscapeis rich.
In fact, last week we weretalking about how Halle Berry's
(29:29):
character could have had, had amovie.
So it's a rich landscape.
They got plenty of people thatthey could focus in on, and it
makes sense.
So Eve after witnessing herfather's murder is a perfect
instrument to continue the bloodin mayhem and her hunt for the
chancellor played by GabrielBryan is delightfully ruthless.
(29:50):
If you are looking for that JohnWick stuff, it is ruthless and
unrelenting and on top of thatit has that John Wick style and
creativity.
We just talked about how WesAnderson has a style.
John Wick has a style and youknow it's John Wick when you see
it.
And in fact their style, peopleare trying to duplicate it, but
(30:12):
they can't duplicate it.
So John Wick is not only knownfor killing, he is known for how
he kills and Eve does him andthe franchise proud.
There are certainly manycasualties along the way, which
certifies Eve as a bonafidebeast, but the way she disposes
of her opponents is brutal.
And sometimes cringeworthy.
Y'all know me.
(30:32):
I'm already a scary cat, sothere are some kills in this
that I was like, oh snap.
We got the guns, we got knives,we got ice skates.
I'm not spoiling anything'causethat's in the trailer.
We got grenades, we gothand-to-hand combat.
So lovers of this franchise willnot be disappointed and will be
(30:52):
on the edge of their seat.
For me, the battle choreographyhas the graying style of, excuse
my pun, a ballerina, and thecinematic style of that makes
every confrontation visuallyarresting and worth watching.
And if you thought you might notlike this film without John wit,
(31:13):
don't worry.
Reeves Reprises, his role tosatisfy that craving and the
filmmakers battle.
The need to have John Wick inthe film with the mindset that
Eve could be, I'm just saying,could be the new franchise of
this film.
I mean new face of this, offranchise, and you get WIC and
Eve, they got a Showdown.
Showdown in the film.
(31:34):
I won't tell you what happens,but WIC does get to be wic and
Eve gets to learn what it meansto try to follow in his
footsteps.
I think that this movie does anexcellent job of giving us our
favorite characters whileintroducing us to some new ones.
Most notably Reddick gets to isthere one more time?
And we get to see him.
And it's a delight to see himmaster his craft as he does.
(31:59):
It's bittersweet, but it'sabsolutely a delight to see him
do that.
That's all the things that Iliked about the film.
There's some new folks.
You got Gabriel Bryan, you, yougot Sharon a Brewster.
I liked all the new people thatthey put in there, and then they
got the little girl who playsElla Ava, Joyce McCarthy.
And I think that they got a lotmore to say beyond this
(32:20):
installment, and it looks likethey, they might.
Have a future in the John Whifan franchise.
Anyway, so I like this film.
I enjoyed it a lot, but I willtell you, it is not for
everybody.
It is not, it is really brutal.
I mean, it's, it is a brutalfilm.
So that's, those are mythoughts.
I took a long time on it, but Ilike this one.
Kathia Woods (32:43):
Alright.
To.
Oh, go ahead.
For me, I didn't love it as muchas I do the John Wick films I
literally wrote in my review,you need to go on and look at
this as its own entity.
You can't go in wanting it to beon the level of the John Wick
(33:05):
film.
I thought that Anna did what sheneeded to do.
I thought it was smart that theyadjusted the choreography to a
woman assassin, not having hertry to fight like a man because
her strengths are different.
I thought some of the bestfights scenes, sorry, Jesper
just walked in.
Some of the best fight sceneswere the ones where she was in
(33:26):
the town with all of theassassins, where literally
everybody in that town is likean assassin, which is crazy
when.
She's like using a frying pen, apick, and all these different
things to fight the people.
One of my favorite sequences wasthe beginning of the movie with
David, the guy who played herfather Javier.
(33:48):
As they're coming across aroundthe corners, those fight
sequences, the tight ones wherehe's doing the hand to hand.
Brilliant.
Now, where it goes a little forme is the story.
I thought the story was a littlelackluster, and I know people
are like, it's an action field.
The reason we care about JohnWick is because of his story,
(34:10):
right?
He went on this whole thing,somebody killed his dog and he's
trying to balance.
And rectify being this killer.
But at the same token, hedoesn't want that life anymore.
Like he's trying to get out ofthis organization and they just
will not let him.
Every time he turns get out,they're pulling him in.
There is a whole situation herewith who he is.
(34:33):
I get the whole ballerinabackdrop, that's the guys they
use in order to train these kidsand house them and whatever you
have there.
But I just felt like the storywas not as enticing.
And I feel like sh heradversaries were not as enticing
as with John.
You have Danny Yin, who's likethe blind assassin who's getting
(34:54):
his own series and he's gonnadirect it, and I'm really
excited about that.
Also the whole Asian component.
We kind of like lost that alltogether with ballerina.
But I think as a, as part of theuniverse, I feel like it's not
adding to the John Wickuniverse.
It's not no say, it ain't.
(35:14):
So for me, it's not adding, Idon't think you need it.
Because it's supposed to betaking place.
In between three, three andfour.
After three and four.
And I'm just like, how and why?
But I think if you look at it asits own entity, then yes, but I
do think it is, it's okay.
(35:34):
You know what I mean?
It's like a six out of 10 forme, and I really wanted to love
it more because I love JohnWick, like I'm here.
It doesn't bother me that thebrutality of it, because these
are really bad people.
Like you can't be like, thesepeople will cut off your finger
and everything.
Also Gabriel Byrne as the badguy.
(35:55):
Mm.
Don't know I would like to havemore screen time with Angelica
Houston.
Also Norman Ritas, who playedPie, the first person that she's
in there.
But the little girl who we knowfrom Walking Dead, I think he
deserved a little bit more.
I just and I did think it wasthe part where you had John in
(36:16):
there was cool, but overall alltogether, it was a little.
It was a little flims.
I think she deserved a betterstory.
We don't get a lot of assassinfilms with women.
Leading and being in that.
I just felt they did her alittle.
And this is the from thedirector that comes from that
(36:38):
did the underworld for KateBecken saw.
And if you ever watched theUnderworld, that's fire.
If you really like that type ofstuff and you like women leading
and that type of stuff, I justfelt she deserved something with
little bit more me.
But Anna did what she needed todo with what she was given.
So for me, it's a six out of 10.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (37:00):
Wow.
So I disagree with you so muchon this, that that's okay.
The way in which they fashionedthe story was more substantial
than a dog.
I know that, that Jasper justwalked in, but come on.
Are you going to be more upsetif they kill Jasper or if they
(37:24):
kill a husband?
I don't want you to answer that.
Don't an don't answer.
Don't answer that question.
Don't, don't, don't, don'tanswer that question.
'cause Kevin is listening, so Ido.
Do not.
I'm, they killed my dad.
They killed my father.
That's more than enough for herto do what she's doing.
(37:47):
John, they killed your dog, man.
Come on you upset.
'cause it's a dog.
You's just a dog.
That made a little funny, but Ireally feel for Eve's character.
They killed my daddy.
That's enough story for me rightthere.
So I do think that maybe theywent with a lot more action
(38:09):
maybe, but I think they neededto do that too, because from a
man's perspective, we don'tsupport.
Women in movies like thisenough, in my opinion, we don't
support them enough like this.
I think that she did everythingthat she needed to do for men to
(38:30):
say, yes, I want to go see thisfilm because men are a big
audience for these types ofmovies.
And I just think that they didthe choreography well, that.
They gave me all the action thatI'd want to see.
I gave this three and a half outof four.
(38:50):
I really liked it and I thoughtthat they did a pretty good job.
So we just gonna, we're justgonna have to agree to disagree.
However, I will say for peoplewho are looking for more of a
story, I think you're rightthere If you are looking for a
story driven thing because wejust get that her dad is killed
and she's looking for revenge.
(39:11):
But if you looking for a lotmore story in there, you're
right.
I agree with you that they couldhave shown some of these other
characters a little bit more aswell, but I think that's gonna
come in some of these otherinstallments.
I think that they set it up.
For us to see that.
But this film is not foreveryone.
It's not for the faint of heart.
No it is a slow build story andit's not really for that reality
(39:32):
seeker if you are looking forthis to be reality.
It's not that I think this is akiller's paradise and this time
wig didn't have to do all thekilling.
It's vivid, it's vicious, and Ithink it is victorious.
Kathia Woods (39:46):
I do think, I think that part of the story I
get her, but the sister and someof this other stuff, that's
where it got a little Yankee forme.
Do you know what I mean?
What does that have to do withthem coming?
Like why?
Did they kill her father?
Like what was that reasoning?
(40:06):
We never really got a clarity onit, right?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (40:08):
We did.
And I can't say here we did.
They told us why they killedhim.
Kathia Woods (40:13):
Yeah, but did you think I just felt like, wait a
minute, we doing all of this,like you sending everybody in
the kitchen sink.
Because,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (40:21):
because just like John Wick, you can't
get out.
We cannot allow you to get out.
Once you're in, you're in.
There's no, give me a coin, andyou get out of the game people
to trying to get outta the game.
Kathia Woods (40:36):
I, I hear you.
It's just, like I said, it's forme, I wanted, my expectations
were so high because I do lovethe John Wick film so much and I
love.
All of that.
I just felt like they could havegiven her more.
But you know what?
Depending on how the movie does,and hopefully the movie is
successful, maybe we'll get alittle bit more.
(40:59):
It will get flushed out inBallerina too.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (41:01):
Well, that's it for our movies.
Now we move into our lastsegment, and our last segment is
Rant and Rave, and here it is.
This is, I don't even know ifI'm ranting or raving.
I just have a question for you,Patia.
Kathia Woods (41:15):
Got it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (41:17):
I'm headed to New York and I can't
watch the screenings that thecritics have here in Chicago
'cause I'm in New York.
I'm actually in New Jersey.
So I can go from New Jersey toPhilly to watch screenings, or I
can go from New Jersey to NewYork to watch screenings and I'm
(41:37):
doing both, but I have aconflict, not which city to go
to.
Because the movie I'm going togo see in, in Philly I have to
bring up my calendar.
The movie that I'm gonna go seein Philly is F1, so I'm gonna go
to Philly to watch F1.
But the movies that I have achoice of, and I need your
(42:01):
opinion, should I go see 28years later on Tuesday?
Or because they're at the sametime, or Elio, which movie
should I go see?
Kathia Woods (42:18):
Okay, wait a minute.
So Elio and 20, I would go seeElio because you are a little
bit of a scared dec cat.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (42:31):
Oh.
So I reached out to both of the.
Reps for each movie.
They both tried to work magicand say, Hey, these movies you
can go see them and this is it.
So let us know.
So now I'm on the hook for bothand I can't go to both.
(42:51):
So I'm going to piss somebodyoff and you're telling me to go
ahead and piss off the Sony.
I think it's the, is it the Sonypeople?
For 28 days later.
Kathia Woods (43:02):
I just, yeah, I think they'll understand.
Just say it, you can't be in twoplaces and I do think that,
yeah, I think that's
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (43:10):
so I wanna throw another, I throw
another wrench in here.
Oh, boy.
Is that 20?
You are absolutely right.
I am a scaredy cat.
I don't know if I could take.
28 days later, I'm not reallysure if I go by myself, I'm in a
different city.
I'm by myself that I'm not sureI can do this, but 28 days later
(43:31):
has set a record for advancedticket sales.
So this is probably going to beone of the most talked about
movies and you're telling me notto go see it, and I think
rightfully because I think Ilike, like your suggestion, but
I'm just throwing that wrench inthere that.
It's setting a record for apresales, and it's not even out
(43:52):
yet.
Kathia Woods (43:55):
Well, okay, I know you, and if you sit through 28
days without going like this,Ooh, what?
Woo, what?
What?
And also, I would suggest yougo, see, I would suggest you
look at this trailer too and askyourself, are you being gonna
feel comfortable sitting throughthat?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (44:16):
I don't think I am.
I don't think I am, but I neededsome help.
Kathia Woods (44:20):
Are you gonna spend half the time in the
theater?
Are you gonna bring a littleblanket and you're gonna be
like, Ooh, ooh.
And then you're gonna, I,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (44:27):
I, I am I need to choose wisely.
I will tell you that because Iwill have to catch a train from
Jersey to New York, get on thesubway, get it.
Deals
Kathia Woods (44:38):
with exposure and infection.
That means, you know.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (44:42):
Get, get that's, but I still have to
catch a train to go to Philly,so Stop it.
Kathia Woods (44:46):
Stop it.
It's, is it a epidemic?
Woo.
It's getting into some stuff,you know, bodily fluid.
When,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (44:53):
When I go to Philly, I'm gonna go, I
don't even know where this is.
So You might as well.
I, firstly, thank you.
Thank you for your advice.
And the last thing I'll talkabout is the theater or where
I'm going to in Philly and I'mgoing to the fashion district to
see F1.
Do you know where that is?
9 0 1 Market Street.
Kathia Woods (45:14):
Yeah.
Gonna be right.
You'll be downtown because youtake the train into downtown,
you'll be at 30th Street and youcan either, if you're feeling
really adventurous, you can takethe subway into the fashion
district, which used to be thegallery, and then just walk
over.
Or just take it to city hall andthen walk down, and then you can
do, it's gonna be a one-twopunch.
(45:35):
That's that right downtown you,it's not like you gotta go and,
you know what I mean?
Wow.
But I'm just saying F1 is gonna,I'm looking forward to F1.
I think F1 is gonna be reallyamazing.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (45:45):
Yeah.
I'm looking forward to F1 too.
See, what I would have done is Iwould've called a friend who
lives in Philly asking to pickme up and then go to, I would've
Kathia Woods (45:52):
done it, that I've done it.
Like, come on now.
Don't do.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (45:59):
Your daughter's still in Philly.
She can come pick me up.
What's up?
What's up?
Kathia Woods (46:03):
You know what you should stop by.
I'm gonna tell her that youshould stop by you should stop
by the Nike store'cause sheworks at the Nike store in the
fashion district.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (46:14):
All right I'll stop by and try to
say hi to her.
Well anyway, that's it.
That's all we got.
Did you write about the RootsFestival?
I.
Kathia Woods (46:22):
Yes, I did.
You can see it.
You can go to the Philly, it'sphilly trip.com and you can see
not only my words, but mypictures.
A girl does have some skills.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (46:33):
All right.
All right.
We you did the full coverage,huh?
Kathia Woods (46:36):
Yes,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (46:36):
I did.
All right.
And where else can people checkyou out?
You can,
Kathia Woods (46:41):
Check me out at the Sacramento Observer, and of
course, couple Soul show.com.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (46:47):
Well, you can check me out at
vocalo.org.
That's V-O-C-A-L-O, and you canalso check me out with Bonnie at
Bonnie's Eye on film on Jam 98,which is a online radio station,
as well as indigo do com.
That's our show.
We had some fun.
(47:08):
Thank you so much, Kaia.
I hope you, you can get a littlebit of rest and, and think about
the question that I asked you.
Is it Jasper or is it Kevin?
Think and think long.
Think long.
Kathia Woods (47:20):
And me as my Gemini friend's laying here on
the on the floor and it's like,Reggie, I thought we were
friends.
Why are you, why are you tryingto, why are you trying to have
me give up my spot?
As he's comfortably,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (47:37):
I am not trying to get you to give
up your spot, Jasper.
Kathia Woods (47:40):
He's gonna be like, I thought we were cool
friend.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (47:43):
I'm not trying to get you to give up
your spot, obviously, willSmith.
And his movie was worried abouthis dog over his family too.
So, whatever.
I guess the dogs prevail.
It's a dog eat dog world.
That's our show.
There's two critics, twoopinions, and one mission where
dialogue engages, educates,entertains, and occasionally
(48:03):
escalates.
'cause we escalated it this time'cause I do not agree with Katia
on ballerina, but it is what itis.
That's our show and we'll see.
We just agreed
Kathia Woods (48:12):
on the Ian, she and that's okay.
That's why we have both of us,you know.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (48:17):
That is true.
That's our show and we'll seeyou guys next time.
Kathia Woods (48:21):
See you next time.
Hey, I'm Reggie Ponder the Real
Critic, and this is The RealCritics Network.
I am here with my co-host, Kaia.
How are you?
I hope all is well.
Kathia Woods (00:09):
I am, I am.
Count down to the birthday andjust trying to stay still for a
little bit.
What day is your birthday?
The 15th.
We're gonna be double nickel.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:20):
Girl.
Well, we let's see.
We'll have a birthday edition.
Everything we talk about isgonna be you need to make the
the agenda for the next onebirthday edition and be like
whatever you wanna talk about iswhat we gonna talk about.
Oh,
Kathia Woods (00:33):
I appreciate you.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:34):
That, that's gonna, that's gonna be
real, really good.
Let's move to our first segment,'cause I got a number of things
that I want to talk about inwhat's on my mind.
The first thing I want to talkabout is I saw your post on.
Thanking one of yourcollaborators or a person who
was helping you, allowing you tocollaborate with them and just
(00:57):
talking about how the blackwomen are coming through.
And so I just thought that was afantastic, and I'd like for you
just to expound on that for asec.
Kathia Woods (01:07):
We all have our positives and our negatives in
this industry and I think, wetalk about the negatives, but we
also gotta talk about thepositives.
And one of them is TanyaPendleton, who I met at TIFF Ali
enough, and we were both in thePhiladelphia area and asked me
to contribute to her show.
On Word.
(01:27):
And that show has been on fortwo years and we've been rocking
for two years, and she gave mean opportunity to, to raise my
brand.
And I think it's important thatwe do make, public grandiose
statues for.
Black women that have looked outfor us.
You know what I mean?
Especially in this climate wherepeople are very comfortable
(01:47):
getting on the mic and talkingcrazy about black women, and I
just am really appreciative ofher friendship and, just the
community and it's just, justwanted to say thank you to her
publicly and, for letting me andexposing me to her audience.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (02:04):
I, I love that.
I know, my friend BonnieDeshaun, and when talking about
just people allowing you to beon their platform, Bonnie is on
jam 98, which is a onlinestation, and I get to chop it up
with her.
Every week as well.
You're right the sisters they'recoming through and they're doing
their thing.
So I'm really glad that youmentioned that.
(02:25):
Thanks for that.
The next thing that's on my mindis I really wanna talk to you
about, I think somebody went toa festival, a concert where and
before we even talk about that,you get on my last nerve.
I'm absolute last nerve becauseyou're in all the spaces that I
want to be and I know that it,you're not supposed to be
(02:47):
envious, but man, can I go tothe Roots Festival too?
Kathia Woods (02:53):
This year was given a little bit Burning Man
the first day.
And I am not a girl if you knowI am a girl's girl.
I do not like mud.
Mm-hmm.
That's why I'd be looking atCoachella and I'd be like, mm, I
didn't know about that.
That don't look like I need tobe there.
Or definitely Burning man.
I was like, what?
I in the middle nowhere, like,no.
You, those of you that saw, Ican, you know, my anxiety, why
(03:15):
my anxiety was up, but.
It is just, for those that arenot from Philadelphia, are not
aware, the Roots picnic wasstarted by the roots in 2008.
They wanted to have a festivalthat had kind of like the
atmosphere of a family reunionthat had you know, good things.
(03:37):
Where I had all the componentswhere you have music, where you
have good food and people cancome together and you can sit
and have your drinks andeverything.
It used to be for those of youthat are from the Philadelphia
area, are familiar with thePhiladelphia used to be on a
waterfront.
I.
Right off of Delaware af,Columbus af, whatever you wanna
call it.
I still call it Delaware af'cause don't nobody know what
(03:59):
Columbus is, which is right bythe water.
Think the other side of thenaval yard.
And it was like a concretejungle and then you couldn't
spread it out as much.
And then I wanna say three yearsago, three years ago, it moved
to the Man, man is anamphitheater in West
(04:19):
Philadelphia.
And that is where it was had andthat's where they have, so you
have bigger grass fields andthen they can set up multiple
stages and you can kind ofspread it out more.
So this year, because again,global warming is real and there
were a lot of there was a lot ofrain.
So think grass, so it got alittle muddy, right?
(04:41):
So there's a general emissionentrance.
So people usually start likedoors open at one, people come.
Normal world, people hit thestage at two.
But because it was unsafe,because of the rain, it got
muddy.
And they don't want peopleslipping and sliding and I
certainly was not gonna be outthere like that.
(05:02):
They couldn't get into thevenue.
But the problem was they werestuck.
So even if you have VIP silver,VIP gold, and people paid a
mint, it was 1400, 7 99 forsilver.
And like 200 and some forgeneral admission, you are like
stuck to go in, and you can'tveer off.
(05:25):
So these people were stuck forseveral hours before they were
able to go in and you know,social media, what you, what
social media is people got onsocial media and let it be known
that they are not messing withthe roots crew.
But I think where the failurewas, is the failure to
communicate.
They should have said somethingin the app once they noticed and
(05:45):
looked at the weather that itwas going to be raining.
Let's push this thing back untilthree.
Also, there should have been aconversation about the people
that did get stuck in line aboutgetting the medical attention.
Water.
You have enough sponsor, youcould get, got somebody a little
granola bar, a little bit ofwater.
And then also, whether it'sporta potties or something so
(06:08):
people can go to the bathroom.
You know what I mean?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (06:10):
Yeah.
Kathia Woods (06:11):
So I think that was where the failure to
communicate, I've said thisbefore, I love the roots picnic.
I think there are a lot ofpositives about the roots
picnic, but one of the problemsis you hire a PR company that is
out of New York that doesn'tunderstand how Philadelphia
works, that doesn't hirePhiladelphia people to include,
(06:32):
to help them understand how tonavigate.
Which is 52nd and Parkside 50thand Parkside, which is West
Philly.
Then you get lost in translationbecause if Philadelphia's a
different city than New York.
And also it is people expect.
A certain level because theroots are from Philadelphia and
(06:53):
because they do love the roots.
And I think that unfortunatelythey allow social media to take
over the narrative.
So after some, many, many, manyvideos, they finally gave a
statement, apologized andeverything.
But I do think going forward youneed to communicate better.
We have social media, we have.
(07:16):
The apps, we have variousdifferent ways.
The website to communicate withpeople.
So there's, and also getting itout to the local news and radio
stations to say, Hey, beloved,we not starting this thing until
three o'clock.
But the upside is all the actswent on.
All the acts went on, includingMaxwell, who stepped in for
(07:36):
DeAngelo.
DeAngelo pulled out, Maxwelljumped in and it did happen.
It was muddy, I'm not gonna lie.
I.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (07:45):
So you know my
Kathia Woods (07:45):
question, but I was like a statue.
I was like, woo.
And then somebody, I said,please don't put hands on me
because if I fall in this mud,we gonna fight.
Right.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (07:55):
My question,'cause we do have to
move on to our next stuff, ishow was the music?
Was it good?
The music
Kathia Woods (08:01):
was great and I love, here's the upside, let's
talk about the upside.
We got to see some of our oldestare goodies.
Now I'm gonna give this, letReggie's gonna be really happy
right now.
There was an old house music,rich Medina had Crystal Waters
and C.
C Pennington on the stage.
First of all, crystal Waters is60 plus.
Crystal Waters.
Looks freaking amazing.
(08:21):
Amazing.
She looks amazing.
Was up there dancing andeverything, right?
Shout out to, to them.
Maxwell, as always is money,right?
Miguel was out there, it wasraining and Miguel was out here
in his little glory.
Lotto was great.
Shout out to Gorilla.
She may, maybe small in stature,but she's mighty.
Out there, she's the girl of themoment, also Lady Alma again,
(08:44):
getting back to house music anddance music.
So there was a lot ofPhiladelphia's talent on Jersey
talent on the stage.
I had me some Philly food'causeI had me a real pretzel'cause
you cannot get a good pretzeloutside of Philadelphia.
So I really I went a littlecrazy on the carbs, so I had me,
my, my pretzel saw my people formy funnel cake.
(09:06):
Because, we were walking, so Ihad me a good time and the music
was music Soulchild too was outthere.
RB as a whole was featured.
And of course I, the Roots crewdid their thing once, it did
take over.
The man.
So yes, you had a little bit ofChicago and Philadelphia.
I know Reggie would've beenlike,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (09:27):
I, I all the artists that you
mentioned, I would've been likeon it.
So I would've been happy.
But I am not the mud personeither.
We have this thing here that'snot African American based is
Lalapalooza and Loza.
When we get that rain and wealways, it is always rainy
during Lollapalooza.
These people are sloshing in themud.
(09:49):
They're doing stuff like, whatis that?
The slip and slide?
No, no.
People are just sliding throughthe mud, having a great time
drinking their beers and justthinking.
It's wonderful.
It's not for me.
So I totally understand your mudthing.
There was one thing that I wantto ask you before we move on,
(10:11):
and you had a pretzel.
I'm not eating meat these days,but I have not, and I'm not
trying to blow smoke here.
I have not had a good Phillycheese steak outside of Philly.
I just have not, I've not hadone and so when I was eating
meat, I would always go.
(10:33):
Get me a Philly cheese steak.
So did you have one or no?
Kathia Woods (10:38):
I didn't go full fledged.
I felt it still, the funnel cakeand the pretzels.
We did enough.
But if you are not a red meateater, go to Ishka Bibb on South
Street.
Ishka Bibb.
Not some other place.
Ishka Bibbs on South Street.
Not the one further down thelittle, the little hot sliding
(10:58):
joint.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (10:58):
Okay.
Kathia Woods (10:59):
Where you eat by the bar stools or you can have
it via the through window.
Best chicken steak.
It is so good.
I mean like I'm so glad that Eveput it out there too.
If you want a chicken steak,that is where you go and you can
get it accompanied with theboardwalk fries, which are a
(11:20):
little thicker.
That will hit the spot.
Now I'm sorry I can't help youwith the vegetarian spot.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (11:28):
That's okay.
That's okay.
Kathia Woods (11:28):
Industry, you know what I mean?
That that's okay.
I respect anybody's foodchoices.
But if you are not, if you are aperson that is not.
Red meat based.
I got you.
With the chicken steak and it'sreally good.
And you gotta get the Amer,don't get the cheese with, you
gotta get the American cheeseand then have that and it's like
(11:49):
a nice chicken breast and it'sseasoned.
'cause we season our meat.
I might
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (11:53):
have to, I might have to do that.
So that's great.
Well, I wanna move.
I
Kathia Woods (11:57):
think, and also, like I said is, hey, summer
festivals, I don't know aboutanybody else.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (12:04):
Food is food.
Well, I wanna move.
Oh, I know the last question.
Food
Kathia Woods (12:06):
is a portion of that, right?
So to me it's what's the pointof being at a summer festival?
I don't care if it's food,drinks, jazz, whatever.
If you can't get some good food,some fun food, at least
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (12:17):
yes or no, yes or no answer, yes or
no answer this, all you can dois say yes or no.
Would you recommend people toattend the Roots Festival next
year?
Kathia Woods (12:30):
Yes.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (12:32):
There we go.
My, what's on my mind is reallyabout the American Black Film
Festival.
I used to go to the A BFF allthe time, and it was one of my
favorites because it was,everything was accessible.
The movies were accessible, the.
(12:53):
Stars were accessible, the funand the parties were accessible.
I always had a great time goingto the A BFF.
So for 10 years I was the redcarpet host for the A BFF and
just had a blast.
If I interviewed Kevin Hart onemore time, he probably would've
(13:13):
just put me on one of his SIR XMradio shows or something.
Dang, dang.
I wish he would have, but.
This year it's in Miami as,which is the main place that the
A BFF is, and it's from June the11th to the 15th.
I'm excited because I'm alwaysthinking about that Chicago
(13:37):
connection.
So what's the Chicago connectionthis year?
Year, this year?
They're doing a tribute to LoveJones.
Their ambassadors are Lorenz,Tate, and Nia Long, and I love,
love, love Jones.
It You always ask the question,when there's a movie set in
(13:58):
Chicago or in Philly, does itrepresent the city?
Does it, is it accurate?
More than it represented thecity.
It represented the vibe that washappening during that time and
that vibe of doing that poetryand having.
(14:19):
That environment.
Oh man, I, I felt that, I thinkI might've told you, is that it?
It's one of my favorite moviesand the reason it's my, one of
my favorite movies is because itreminds me of a time that I was
trying to be like a Loren Tate.
Now I was trying to be like aLoren Tate before a Darius
before the movie because Iproposed to my wife at a
(14:41):
speakeasy kind of place.
Very, very similar to what washappening in Love Jones.
That's what I did.
I went up there, did a couple ofpoems and all of a sudden she's
looking at me all weird.
Like, did he did it?
He, he's talking to me.
The, my friends who were therewere like, Donna, Donna, what
(15:02):
you gonna say?
She couldn't even say Yes.
I, for a minute I thought itmight, might, I might have
bombed because it might not havehappened.
So I am really excited aboutthis tribute.
To Love Jones.
And one of the things that Ilike the movie just period, but
(15:22):
one of the things, becauseyou're the music person, I
decided that we would just talkfor a minute, just for a minute
about the soundtrack.
Ooh.
And the soundtrack for LoveJones.
You just got through mentioningMaxwell and you know.
In that movie was something,something.
So something, something, notsomething, something, something,
(15:45):
something.
So there were so many goodsongs, great songs that came out
of that movie that I just wantto tell people you need to go
and listen to the soundtrack.
And in fact, you might not evenknow that these songs were on
the soundtrack.
If you've never seen the movie.
Think about, in a sentimentalmood.
(16:07):
You got Duke Ellington on there.
You had, they had the one thatNia did Nia Long did was it was
called Nina's poem.
I'm looking at music and thenyou had Darius doing his thing,
brother to the night.
Oh my goodness.
Come, come brother to the nightwas the jam.
(16:27):
The way he delivered that in thefilm.
Oh my goodness.
They had escape.
They had Kenny La Latimore andthey had groove Theory come on.
And then, you know, they had, IGot a Love Jones for you by the
refugees camp.
I'm just saying that.
(16:50):
Soundtrack was all that.
That's, I'm done.
I just want you to comment onthe music,'cause you the music
person.
Kathia Woods (16:57):
One of my favorite songs is Hopeless by Deanne
Ferris.
On that soundtrack.
I don't think, I think DeanneFerris is a artist that is so
undervalued and I feel like thelabels didn't know what to do
with her, but that is just, thatsong is so perfect, they say I'm
hopeless.
That song is just really, reallygood.
(17:18):
You
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (17:18):
know what?
That song is fire,
Kathia Woods (17:20):
isn't it?
I think that is a very a veryunique song.
And then you ha you Move me byCassandra Wilson, who is a jazz
artist.
And I think I think you openedup Pandora's Box a little bit.
We used to have.
And I'll be brief'cause I knowwe gotta get to our MO movies,
(17:41):
but we used to have in thesemovies shows, now we have a
playlist.
But we used to have specific.
Songs like and Forever, I thinkthe TV show has a beautiful
playlist, right?
But those songs weren'tspecifically creative for the
(18:03):
show.
They were like a musicaldirector picked these songs, but
I feel like we're losing in someof our black content.
I think Issa Rae did a good jobwith that, with Insecure, where
she would pick people thatweren't necessarily mainstream
artists, her team to be playedright.
But I think we are losing someof that where we used to put
(18:25):
people on via the soundtracks ofour black movies, especially r
and b, where you would havepeople that aren't necessarily,
mainstream, but I think you hitthe nail on the button.
'cause now when we think aboutthis movie, it's more than just
the story.
We also think about the musicand how it just transformed us
to these different scenes.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (18:46):
Well, I'm really glad that you
mentioned that, and I'm very,very happy that you mentioned
the song Hopeless by DionneFerris.
That song is absolutely classic.
I hope that people will go backafter listening to this and.
Just, just take a listen to thesongs that came from this movie.
(19:07):
Love Jones.
Kathia Woods (19:09):
100%.
What else you got, Reggie?
What was, that's it.
That's it?
That's
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (19:13):
it.
That's it for our long, our LongWhat's On My Mind segment, but I
had a lot, I mean, I had a lotthat I wanted us to cover.
Let's talk about movies.
Moving into our first movie.
Let's talk about the film.
The Phoenician scheme.
Kathia Woods (19:30):
I saw your video.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (19:32):
You saw you.
Okay, so you saw my social mediapost on the Phoenician scheme,
so I'm gonna let you start thisone first.
'cause if you saw my video, youknow why I'm gonna let you start
this one first.
Kathia Woods (19:49):
So the overview on this film is Wealthy Businessman
Zaza Corda, which is played byVenicio Deltoro, appoints his
only daughter or nun as soleheir to his estate as Cord
embark in a new centerpiece.
They soon become the target ofscheming tycoons foreign
terrorists and determineassassins right.
(20:10):
And Mia, I'm gonna say her namecorrectly, Mia.
Trio Plate plays Sister Liesl,his daughter.
So the way I'm interpreting thiswhen I saw it, and I have to
say, I went into this beinglike, you know what?
I've had my issues with WesAnderson films.
They haven't always worked forme, but I kind of like this one.
(20:34):
The way that I looked at thiswas like that.
Benicio who has been in a lot ofWes' movies, right?
Yeah.
Is a businessman that, that hedon't always deal in the up and
up.
So he's trying to have thisthing built right, this vision,
this thing that he wants to havebuilt.
(20:54):
And he looks at his children,first of all, and he's okay, I
think my daughter will be thebest person to help be the heir
to my empire because she has theleast like.
She has the least invested.
So she's not gonna try to, she'snot trying to, she's gonna, I'm
gonna be able to persuade her tosee things my way.
(21:15):
That's just thinking.
'cause she's a nun and she hasno vested interest in other
words, but.
In the meanwhile, in order toget his vision done, he's gotta
do business.
He has all these differentbusiness partners, and since he
is a SKYY businessman, he'strying to have them absorb a lot
(21:37):
of the costs so he can have allthe glory, but they're tired of
dealing with him and hisshenanigans.
Meanwhile, he, because of hisway of doing business, all these
people are constantly trying tokill him.
So, you know, he's been therunning joke also in this is
that he survived, I don't knowhow many, 13, 14, 15 plane
crashes.
(21:58):
Like the man won't die.
Yeah, yeah.
But I think is.
That's the gist of the story.
So as he's dealing with, ismeeting with each entity, he is
trying to figure out how to scamthem before they scam him.
And of course, they're sick andtired of his stuff.
Now the key to Wes Anderson isnumber one you gotta give it to
him even if you don't like hiscontent.
(22:20):
The cinematographer is alwaysbeautiful and interesting.
He has a certain.
Visual aesthetic, right?
It doesn't look like it evertakes place in the real world.
And I think that's done onpurpose.
It's very colorful and thecostuming is always like from
another era, right?
But it's taking place in presentday and it always, and it shout
(22:42):
out to the set designer.
So you have all of that goingon.
It's very.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (22:48):
And generally you liked it?
Kathia Woods (22:50):
I did.
I enjoyed it.
And also the other thing too isI thought I was gonna have to be
in this thing for two and a halfto three hours.
'cause sometimes, and I gotreally comfortable and then I
looked up and it was only likean hour and some change and I
was like, hallelujah, I'm gonnabe home, but before 10:00 PM
which is a win-win.
But I liked it.
I completely understand this isnot going to be a lot of
(23:12):
people's jam, but I liked it andI thought it was quirky, and I
understood for once what wasgoing on.
And, and again, I love to
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (23:24):
meet Bill Toro okay, so, you know
that I did not understand whatwas going on in my review.
I'm saying it is quirky, butit's funny, it's, there's a way,
there's a way in which while Ididn't understand it all, that
the jokes are somewhatcompartmentalized and you could
understand them.
And so I laughed.
(23:44):
I thought that the characterswere weird, but that they were
interesting.
And that the performances weresolid all the way around.
And you just spoke about thatinclu including the cameos.
I thought they did a great jobwith the cameos, which I don't
want to tell you everybody who'sgonna pop up, but they, the
performances were good all theway around.
So these are the things I like.
And, you know, anytime that theyreferenced basketball, I'm a
(24:08):
happy camper.
So the fact that they had toshoot a couple of hoops to make
a deal was pretty funny to me.
And I liked that.
Then to your point about lookinggood on a big screen, the colors
on this, they really do jumpout.
But there was some things that Ididn't like about this film.
(24:31):
The first one is, it'sconfusing.
It really is confusing the plot.
It's not just a plot, which isvery, very convoluted because
it's, you're talking about fixedprices, there's shell
corporations, there's closingthe gap in terms of trying to
figure out how he is gonna payfor it, and so on and so forth.
So all of that's confusing.
But the other piece is whyshould the viewer care?
(24:52):
They didn't do enough, in myopinion, to make it where you
should care about these.
These characters like, okay,they got a scheme going on.
It's kind of funny, but itdoesn't relate to anything that,
for me, the film is so expansivebecause it's going all to all
these different places that, forme, it really doesn't have a
(25:13):
clear focus.
They're going all around theworld, so to stay in our music.
Our music groove.
Can I just modify LisaStansfield quote and stand and
say is they were been around theworld and they can't find the
meaning.
I could not find the meaning forthis one.
Now, don't get me wrong again, Ilaughed at this, at things.
(25:34):
I, lot of things I didn'tcompletely understand.
I thought that the characterswere too removed from reality,
but not close enough to purefantasy.
Kind of placing it in thatmiddle, making it curious, but
not complete.
And if you don't understand whatI mean, don't worry about it.
'cause I didn't understand whatI meant either.
Is that it?
(25:54):
It's fascinating to watch.
It really is.
It's a fascinating movie towatch, but difficult to fully
connect with.
So my rating is that I felt likethis is entertaining, but it was
bewildering, it was funny, andit really didn't have too much
of a meaning on my scale of fourreels.
I'm giving it a two that ifyou're curious enough to want to
(26:15):
go check it out, cool.
But, and if you want to see thisand see it on the big screen,
cool.
But then would I pay the moneyto go see it?
Uh, I don't think so.
I saw it for free.
That's my thought.
Kathia Woods (26:33):
I would see it.
I would pay to see it.
I think it's a good key key.
And again, if you go, I think ifyou go in there with no
expectation, you're gonna bepleasantly surprised.
I thought it was quirky, it wasfun.
I thought Anderson finally puttogether something where it's
not just for his fan base, butpeople that normally are
(26:55):
skeptical, you know, skeptical,skeptical about his work, are
able to enjoy this because alsoit's not super, super long and
super, super complicated.
And there are some terrificcameos.
And again, Benizio loved that heleans into this really quirky
(27:18):
off kilter man.
The dialogue is very witty.
I really enjoyed it.
And again, I normally, when itcomes to Wes Anderson, I'm like,
Ooh, this is about to be.
It's, this is gonna be a toughone.
You know what I mean?
And, okay.
I actually, I laughed throughit.
(27:39):
I enjoyed it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (27:41):
I am not telling people to go to
not go see it, but I'm nottelling people to go see it.
Th that, that's where I am.
All right.
Let's move on to our, let's moveon to our next movie.
We got one person recommendingit and then one person being too
shaky to say no or yay, or nay.
So, that's me.
Let's move on to our next movie,and that next movie is a movie
(28:04):
that actually, that I am reallylooking, was really looking
forward to seeing, and I wasreally looking forward to seeing
it for a number of reasons.
And it is, the movie is from theworld of John Wick.
Ballerina.
So what's it about?
Well, in the world of John Wick,during the third installment,
Eve McCarroll, played by AnnaDiarist witnesses, her father
(28:26):
being murdered, and is taken inand trained by the Russ Roma,
led by the director, played byAngelica Houston Eve just cannot
get over the brutal murder.
And although she has beenforbidden, I mean forbidden by
the director to seek revenge.
Eve uses all that.
She's learned to track down thismysterious and elusive group of
(28:47):
murderers.
Who's in it?
Well, I told you a couple folks.
We got Anna Dees, we gotAngelica Houston.
We got Gabriel Bryan, we haveLance Reddick Lina Sino Moreno.
We have Norman Redis.
And then we have Sharon DuncanBrewster, Ian Mcsa, and Keanu
Reeves.
(29:08):
So for me, what was it to like.
Many times franchises have tolook really, really hard to
extend their narrative.
But the makers of John Wickreally didn't have to look far.
The writers explored this richlandscape that they have in John
Wick and it, and this landscapeis rich.
In fact, last week we weretalking about how Halle Berry's
(29:29):
character could have had, had amovie.
So it's a rich landscape.
They got plenty of people thatthey could focus in on, and it
makes sense.
So Eve after witnessing herfather's murder is a perfect
instrument to continue the bloodin mayhem and her hunt for the
chancellor played by GabrielBryan is delightfully ruthless.
(29:50):
If you are looking for that JohnWick stuff, it is ruthless and
unrelenting and on top of thatit has that John Wick style and
creativity.
We just talked about how WesAnderson has a style.
John Wick has a style and youknow it's John Wick when you see
it.
And in fact their style, peopleare trying to duplicate it, but
(30:12):
they can't duplicate it.
So John Wick is not only knownfor killing, he is known for how
he kills and Eve does him andthe franchise proud.
There are certainly manycasualties along the way, which
certifies Eve as a bonafidebeast, but the way she disposes
of her opponents is brutal.
And sometimes cringeworthy.
Y'all know me.
(30:32):
I'm already a scary cat, sothere are some kills in this
that I was like, oh snap.
We got the guns, we got knives,we got ice skates.
I'm not spoiling anything'causethat's in the trailer.
We got grenades, we gothand-to-hand combat.
So lovers of this franchise willnot be disappointed and will be
(30:52):
on the edge of their seat.
For me, the battle choreographyhas the graying style of, excuse
my pun, a ballerina, and thecinematic style of that makes
every confrontation visuallyarresting and worth watching.
And if you thought you might notlike this film without John wit,
(31:13):
don't worry.
Reeves Reprises, his role tosatisfy that craving and the
filmmakers battle.
The need to have John Wick inthe film with the mindset that
Eve could be, I'm just saying,could be the new franchise of
this film.
I mean new face of this, offranchise, and you get WIC and
Eve, they got a Showdown.
Showdown in the film.
(31:34):
I won't tell you what happens,but WIC does get to be wic and
Eve gets to learn what it meansto try to follow in his
footsteps.
I think that this movie does anexcellent job of giving us our
favorite characters whileintroducing us to some new ones.
Most notably Reddick gets to isthere one more time?
And we get to see him.
And it's a delight to see himmaster his craft as he does.
(31:59):
It's bittersweet, but it'sabsolutely a delight to see him
do that.
That's all the things that Iliked about the film.
There's some new folks.
You got Gabriel Bryan, you, yougot Sharon a Brewster.
I liked all the new people thatthey put in there, and then they
got the little girl who playsElla Ava, Joyce McCarthy.
And I think that they got a lotmore to say beyond this
(32:20):
installment, and it looks likethey, they might.
Have a future in the John Whifan franchise.
Anyway, so I like this film.
I enjoyed it a lot, but I willtell you, it is not for
everybody.
It is not, it is really brutal.
I mean, it's, it is a brutalfilm.
So that's, those are mythoughts.
I took a long time on it, but Ilike this one.
Kathia Woods (32:43):
Alright.
To.
Oh, go ahead.
For me, I didn't love it as muchas I do the John Wick films I
literally wrote in my review,you need to go on and look at
this as its own entity.
You can't go in wanting it to beon the level of the John Wick
(33:05):
film.
I thought that Anna did what sheneeded to do.
I thought it was smart that theyadjusted the choreography to a
woman assassin, not having hertry to fight like a man because
her strengths are different.
I thought some of the bestfights scenes, sorry, Jesper
just walked in.
Some of the best fight sceneswere the ones where she was in
(33:26):
the town with all of theassassins, where literally
everybody in that town is likean assassin, which is crazy
when.
She's like using a frying pen, apick, and all these different
things to fight the people.
One of my favorite sequences wasthe beginning of the movie with
David, the guy who played herfather Javier.
(33:48):
As they're coming across aroundthe corners, those fight
sequences, the tight ones wherehe's doing the hand to hand.
Brilliant.
Now, where it goes a little forme is the story.
I thought the story was a littlelackluster, and I know people
are like, it's an action field.
The reason we care about JohnWick is because of his story,
(34:10):
right?
He went on this whole thing,somebody killed his dog and he's
trying to balance.
And rectify being this killer.
But at the same token, hedoesn't want that life anymore.
Like he's trying to get out ofthis organization and they just
will not let him.
Every time he turns get out,they're pulling him in.
There is a whole situation herewith who he is.
(34:33):
I get the whole ballerinabackdrop, that's the guys they
use in order to train these kidsand house them and whatever you
have there.
But I just felt like the storywas not as enticing.
And I feel like sh heradversaries were not as enticing
as with John.
You have Danny Yin, who's likethe blind assassin who's getting
(34:54):
his own series and he's gonnadirect it, and I'm really
excited about that.
Also the whole Asian component.
We kind of like lost that alltogether with ballerina.
But I think as a, as part of theuniverse, I feel like it's not
adding to the John Wickuniverse.
It's not no say, it ain't.
(35:14):
So for me, it's not adding, Idon't think you need it.
Because it's supposed to betaking place.
In between three, three andfour.
After three and four.
And I'm just like, how and why?
But I think if you look at it asits own entity, then yes, but I
do think it is, it's okay.
(35:34):
You know what I mean?
It's like a six out of 10 forme, and I really wanted to love
it more because I love JohnWick, like I'm here.
It doesn't bother me that thebrutality of it, because these
are really bad people.
Like you can't be like, thesepeople will cut off your finger
and everything.
Also Gabriel Byrne as the badguy.
(35:55):
Mm.
Don't know I would like to havemore screen time with Angelica
Houston.
Also Norman Ritas, who playedPie, the first person that she's
in there.
But the little girl who we knowfrom Walking Dead, I think he
deserved a little bit more.
I just and I did think it wasthe part where you had John in
(36:16):
there was cool, but overall alltogether, it was a little.
It was a little flims.
I think she deserved a betterstory.
We don't get a lot of assassinfilms with women.
Leading and being in that.
I just felt they did her alittle.
And this is the from thedirector that comes from that
(36:38):
did the underworld for KateBecken saw.
And if you ever watched theUnderworld, that's fire.
If you really like that type ofstuff and you like women leading
and that type of stuff, I justfelt she deserved something with
little bit more me.
But Anna did what she needed todo with what she was given.
So for me, it's a six out of 10.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (37:00):
Wow.
So I disagree with you so muchon this, that that's okay.
The way in which they fashionedthe story was more substantial
than a dog.
I know that, that Jasper justwalked in, but come on.
Are you going to be more upsetif they kill Jasper or if they
(37:24):
kill a husband?
I don't want you to answer that.
Don't an don't answer.
Don't answer that question.
Don't, don't, don't, don'tanswer that question.
'cause Kevin is listening, so Ido.
Do not.
I'm, they killed my dad.
They killed my father.
That's more than enough for herto do what she's doing.
(37:47):
John, they killed your dog, man.
Come on you upset.
'cause it's a dog.
You's just a dog.
That made a little funny, but Ireally feel for Eve's character.
They killed my daddy.
That's enough story for me rightthere.
So I do think that maybe theywent with a lot more action
(38:09):
maybe, but I think they neededto do that too, because from a
man's perspective, we don'tsupport.
Women in movies like thisenough, in my opinion, we don't
support them enough like this.
I think that she did everythingthat she needed to do for men to
(38:30):
say, yes, I want to go see thisfilm because men are a big
audience for these types ofmovies.
And I just think that they didthe choreography well, that.
They gave me all the action thatI'd want to see.
I gave this three and a half outof four.
(38:50):
I really liked it and I thoughtthat they did a pretty good job.
So we just gonna, we're justgonna have to agree to disagree.
However, I will say for peoplewho are looking for more of a
story, I think you're rightthere If you are looking for a
story driven thing because wejust get that her dad is killed
and she's looking for revenge.
(39:11):
But if you looking for a lotmore story in there, you're
right.
I agree with you that they couldhave shown some of these other
characters a little bit more aswell, but I think that's gonna
come in some of these otherinstallments.
I think that they set it up.
For us to see that.
But this film is not foreveryone.
It's not for the faint of heart.
No it is a slow build story andit's not really for that reality
(39:32):
seeker if you are looking forthis to be reality.
It's not that I think this is akiller's paradise and this time
wig didn't have to do all thekilling.
It's vivid, it's vicious, and Ithink it is victorious.
Kathia Woods (39:46):
I do think, I think that part of the story I
get her, but the sister and someof this other stuff, that's
where it got a little Yankee forme.
Do you know what I mean?
What does that have to do withthem coming?
Like why?
Did they kill her father?
Like what was that reasoning?
(40:06):
We never really got a clarity onit, right?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (40:08):
We did.
And I can't say here we did.
They told us why they killedhim.
Kathia Woods (40:13):
Yeah, but did you think I just felt like, wait a
minute, we doing all of this,like you sending everybody in
the kitchen sink.
Because,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (40:21):
because just like John Wick, you can't
get out.
We cannot allow you to get out.
Once you're in, you're in.
There's no, give me a coin, andyou get out of the game people
to trying to get outta the game.
Kathia Woods (40:36):
I, I hear you.
It's just, like I said, it's forme, I wanted, my expectations
were so high because I do lovethe John Wick film so much and I
love.
All of that.
I just felt like they could havegiven her more.
But you know what?
Depending on how the movie does,and hopefully the movie is
successful, maybe we'll get alittle bit more.
(40:59):
It will get flushed out inBallerina too.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (41:01):
Well, that's it for our movies.
Now we move into our lastsegment, and our last segment is
Rant and Rave, and here it is.
This is, I don't even know ifI'm ranting or raving.
I just have a question for you,Patia.
Kathia Woods (41:15):
Got it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (41:17):
I'm headed to New York and I can't
watch the screenings that thecritics have here in Chicago
'cause I'm in New York.
I'm actually in New Jersey.
So I can go from New Jersey toPhilly to watch screenings, or I
can go from New Jersey to NewYork to watch screenings and I'm
(41:37):
doing both, but I have aconflict, not which city to go
to.
Because the movie I'm going togo see in, in Philly I have to
bring up my calendar.
The movie that I'm gonna go seein Philly is F1, so I'm gonna go
to Philly to watch F1.
But the movies that I have achoice of, and I need your
(42:01):
opinion, should I go see 28years later on Tuesday?
Or because they're at the sametime, or Elio, which movie
should I go see?
Kathia Woods (42:18):
Okay, wait a minute.
So Elio and 20, I would go seeElio because you are a little
bit of a scared dec cat.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (42:31):
Oh.
So I reached out to both of the.
Reps for each movie.
They both tried to work magicand say, Hey, these movies you
can go see them and this is it.
So let us know.
So now I'm on the hook for bothand I can't go to both.
(42:51):
So I'm going to piss somebodyoff and you're telling me to go
ahead and piss off the Sony.
I think it's the, is it the Sonypeople?
For 28 days later.
Kathia Woods (43:02):
I just, yeah, I think they'll understand.
Just say it, you can't be in twoplaces and I do think that,
yeah, I think that's
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (43:10):
so I wanna throw another, I throw
another wrench in here.
Oh, boy.
Is that 20?
You are absolutely right.
I am a scaredy cat.
I don't know if I could take.
28 days later, I'm not reallysure if I go by myself, I'm in a
different city.
I'm by myself that I'm not sureI can do this, but 28 days later
(43:31):
has set a record for advancedticket sales.
So this is probably going to beone of the most talked about
movies and you're telling me notto go see it, and I think
rightfully because I think Ilike, like your suggestion, but
I'm just throwing that wrench inthere that.
It's setting a record for apresales, and it's not even out
(43:52):
yet.
Kathia Woods (43:55):
Well, okay, I know you, and if you sit through 28
days without going like this,Ooh, what?
Woo, what?
What?
And also, I would suggest yougo, see, I would suggest you
look at this trailer too and askyourself, are you being gonna
feel comfortable sitting throughthat?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (44:16):
I don't think I am.
I don't think I am, but I neededsome help.
Kathia Woods (44:20):
Are you gonna spend half the time in the
theater?
Are you gonna bring a littleblanket and you're gonna be
like, Ooh, ooh.
And then you're gonna, I,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (44:27):
I, I am I need to choose wisely.
I will tell you that because Iwill have to catch a train from
Jersey to New York, get on thesubway, get it.
Deals
Kathia Woods (44:38):
with exposure and infection.
That means, you know.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (44:42):
Get, get that's, but I still have to
catch a train to go to Philly,so Stop it.
Kathia Woods (44:46):
Stop it.
It's, is it a epidemic?
Woo.
It's getting into some stuff,you know, bodily fluid.
When,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (44:53):
When I go to Philly, I'm gonna go, I
don't even know where this is.
So You might as well.
I, firstly, thank you.
Thank you for your advice.
And the last thing I'll talkabout is the theater or where
I'm going to in Philly and I'mgoing to the fashion district to
see F1.
Do you know where that is?
9 0 1 Market Street.
Kathia Woods (45:14):
Yeah.
Gonna be right.
You'll be downtown because youtake the train into downtown,
you'll be at 30th Street and youcan either, if you're feeling
really adventurous, you can takethe subway into the fashion
district, which used to be thegallery, and then just walk
over.
Or just take it to city hall andthen walk down, and then you can
do, it's gonna be a one-twopunch.
(45:35):
That's that right downtown you,it's not like you gotta go and,
you know what I mean?
Wow.
But I'm just saying F1 is gonna,I'm looking forward to F1.
I think F1 is gonna be reallyamazing.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (45:45):
Yeah.
I'm looking forward to F1 too.
See, what I would have done is Iwould've called a friend who
lives in Philly asking to pickme up and then go to, I would've
Kathia Woods (45:52):
done it, that I've done it.
Like, come on now.
Don't do.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (45:59):
Your daughter's still in Philly.
She can come pick me up.
What's up?
What's up?
Kathia Woods (46:03):
You know what you should stop by.
I'm gonna tell her that youshould stop by you should stop
by the Nike store'cause sheworks at the Nike store in the
fashion district.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (46:14):
All right I'll stop by and try to
say hi to her.
Well anyway, that's it.
That's all we got.
Did you write about the RootsFestival?
I.
Kathia Woods (46:22):
Yes, I did.
You can see it.
You can go to the Philly, it'sphilly trip.com and you can see
not only my words, but mypictures.
A girl does have some skills.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (46:33):
All right.
All right.
We you did the full coverage,huh?
Kathia Woods (46:36):
Yes,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (46:36):
I did.
All right.
And where else can people checkyou out?
You can,
Kathia Woods (46:41):
Check me out at the Sacramento Observer, and of
course, couple Soul show.com.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (46:47):
Well, you can check me out at
vocalo.org.
That's V-O-C-A-L-O, and you canalso check me out with Bonnie at
Bonnie's Eye on film on Jam 98,which is a online radio station,
as well as indigo do com.
That's our show.
We had some fun.
(47:08):
Thank you so much, Kaia.
I hope you, you can get a littlebit of rest and, and think about
the question that I asked you.
Is it Jasper or is it Kevin?
Think and think long.
Think long.
Kathia Woods (47:20):
And me as my Gemini friend's laying here on
the on the floor and it's like,Reggie, I thought we were
friends.
Why are you, why are you tryingto, why are you trying to have
me give up my spot?
As he's comfortably,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (47:37):
I am not trying to get you to give
up your spot, Jasper.
Kathia Woods (47:40):
He's gonna be like, I thought we were cool
friend.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (47:43):
I'm not trying to get you to give up
your spot, obviously, willSmith.
And his movie was worried abouthis dog over his family too.
So, whatever.
I guess the dogs prevail.
It's a dog eat dog world.
That's our show.
There's two critics, twoopinions, and one mission where
dialogue engages, educates,entertains, and occasionally
(48:03):
escalates.
'cause we escalated it this time'cause I do not agree with Katia
on ballerina, but it is what itis.
That's our show and we'll see.
We just agreed
Kathia Woods (48:12):
on the Ian, she and that's okay.
That's why we have both of us,you know.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (48:17):
That is true.
That's our show and we'll seeyou guys next time.
Kathia Woods (48:21):
See you next time.
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