Episode Transcript
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Kathia Woods (00:00):
I'm Reggie
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (00:00):
Ponder, the Real critic, and I am here
with my co-host Kathia Woods.
Kathia, how are you?
How are you?
Kathia Woods (00:08):
I am good.
I'm good.
How are you?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (00:10):
I'm doing good.
Looking forward to some moviesthat we have coming down the
pipe, and we'll talk about someof those.
One of one of them, and you'vebeen saying that you're gonna go
see it is F1, so I'm reallooking forward to that and we
can talk about that a littlelater.
Other than that, just somefamily things.
(00:31):
Any good news on your front?
I, other than your daughter'sready to see me when I go to the
store in Philly.
Kathia Woods (00:40):
Did I tell you that?
She said Ari came by the store?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (00:43):
No,
Kathia Woods (00:45):
in my neighbor, they had, they have that grand
race and Ari came in?
Yeah, that's, I was in thestore.
Wow.
So she got to Yeah, she's hadthe guy from, I don't know what
he was in Philly for, but theguy, oh my God.
The guy, the one guy from Gamesof Thrones.
House of Dragons.
Oh boy.
They got upset when Ris likerejected him, and he's not with
(01:08):
Allison,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (01:10):
so she brought him,
Kathia Woods (01:12):
she saw him before in there too.
Okay.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:15):
All right.
Kathia Woods (01:15):
All right, so there's a couple sightings of
some celebrities.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (01:21):
Let's get into our first segment,
which is ran.
What's on my mind and what's onmy mind is everybody is talking
about Tyler Perry's new movie,straw.
I know you haven't seen it yet,so you and I will not be
reviewing the movie, but what'son my mind is how Tyler Perry is
(01:44):
perceived.
Industry as a filmmaker, I'm nottalking about him as a job
maker, an employer, a mover andshaker in the industry, or a
philanthropist.
All those things are great.
I'm really talking about him asa filmmaker.
(02:06):
What bothers me, and this is whyI'm ranting and raving, is.
People disrespect his craft.
I understand that it might notbe how you'd like to see his
films.
I don't like all the Tyler Perryfilms, but should I do, I have
(02:27):
to, to respect his craft.
I am always upset when peopleare writing articles like this.
Tyler Perry owes the blackaudience more.
Someone named Ari Christinewrote, someone else wrote, Tyler
Perry is the worstrepresentation for black cinema.
Kathia Woods (02:52):
I I don't know about that.
I think that's some people thatare worse.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (02:56):
A, am I missing something?
I just don't know what it is I'mmissing.
There are a few, there are someTyler Perry films that really
stick with me and I'll watchthem over and over again.
And then there's some TylerPerry films that just don't do
it for me.
They don't make me laugh, cry,or whatever.
They don't move me.
(03:18):
But I respect the man as afilmmaker and.
I just think he gets shafted waymore than he should, and I'm
gonna put forth a couple ofpoints.
The first is from a marketingperspective, we should be able
(03:39):
to have LOWBROW movies.
Highbrow movies, funny movies,silly movies.
Horror movies.
We should be able to have thewhole spectrum of movies.
Tyler Perry has found a audiencethat he is speaking to directly
and they say, not us, not thecritics, the people that he who
(04:00):
are going to see his films.
They say, you see me, you getme, you understand me.
And a lot of times people saythat his stuff is so buffoonery
so much has so much buffoonerythat.
It cheapens the blackexperience.
(04:21):
I'll say, I believe that most ofTyler Perry's films, even the
ones with the silliness, has amessage in it.
And the question is, does themessage obscure the silliness or
does the silliness allow for themessage?
And I believe the latter.
I am just sick and tired of theway in which people talk about
(04:42):
Tyler Perry and.
And it is not critical.
It, there's no, it's not cri,it's, there's no critical
analysis about his work.
There's just that he is juststraight trash and that's where
we are.
So that's my rent and ready forthe day and I just don't buy it
and I'm tired of it.
Kathia Woods (05:03):
I think there's two conversations to have around
Tyler.
There's the one where you cantalk about his work, P
practices.
I think he, when you putsomething out into the world,
you have to accept that it's notgonna resonate with some people.
And I think he, he's accepted ittoo, but then he can't, for lack
of a better word, you can't pushback.
The other part of it is thatwhile not everything is for
(05:28):
everybody, I do think that thereis valid criticism as long as
you stick with the work.
Now do I think like his Madeastuff looks funny?
I.
Yeah, I think like his Madeastuff is like the salvage that
we need, like that vacationcoming up where the family is
(05:51):
going to the wedding and they'regoing to the Caribbean.
I think that's gonna be a goodkey key'cause we're going into
it, knowing that it is just akey key.
But I also feel like there's avalid criticism to say, Tyler,
you are a man.
Let a woman pen these thingssometimes.
(06:11):
There is room to tell otherstories you know about us as
black women and why.
I understand these are the womenthat you know and the women that
you act interacted, right?
Since we're having this wholeconversation about women and
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah, which we not gonna have
here, but I think there is avalid conversation to be had.
(06:35):
That it's a certain arrogance.
Sometimes that comes across withTyler and him not willing to
allow women to speak and penvoices for women.
Now, if he's like, Hey, if youwant black women content that
(06:55):
centers black women, then gofollow them.
That's fine.
But I'm also of the mind just togo on your thing.
There's certain things that I'mnot attracted to wanting to see
from Tyler Perry.
'cause I know it.
It doesn't speak to me, so Iskip it.
So I'm not aggravated and Idon't have that, and I consume
the stuff that I think is notbad.
(07:17):
I think she's the people, whichis the comedy that's on Netflix
with Terry Fawn.
I think that's perfectly fine.
I think he's better on thecomedy side, right?
I think he did a decent job withsix aaa.
But I do think that Tyler and Iget it,'cause he came from the
(07:37):
muscle.
He had to do it himself.
He had to do it for himself.
So I understand him being like,yo, nobody helped me.
I understand that part betterthan some people think they do.
So now that I've built thistable that nobody said that I
should build, that nobody saidthat there is an audience for.
(08:00):
Now you all wanna tell me how toset it.
You are with me when I wasliving in my car, when I was
doing these plays and I wasstruggling.
So again, I understand 100% thepushback, but I also feel like
it's been enough time you werebeyond successful, Tyler, where
(08:22):
you've proven your point overand over.
So be open to having aconversation and maybe be more
open to having a conversationwith somebody like Oprah or Ava
Bernet, who are like his equalsin terms of success.
But I do agree with you at thisparticular point he has said
he's gonna do him and eitherconsume the stuff that you like
(08:47):
or let it go.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (08:49):
And so where I guess I'm different
than you, is that I went to seethe movie Waiting to Exhale, and
I thought it was a good movie,but I was upset when I left as a
man.
I was upset with waiting toexhale, and the reason I was
upset with waiting to Excel wasthat I felt that the male
(09:11):
characters were overwhelminglynegative, and when I would talk
to my women friends about it.
They would say, well, theGregory Hines character was a
positive character.
Absolutely no doubt about it.
Then they would say, well, the,well, I'm forgetting his name
and I'm looking, looking at hisface.
Kathia Woods (09:30):
You talk about who you would talk about who's in
the movie.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (09:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And he slept with the.
He didn't sleep with, he lied inthe bed.
Laid in the bed with the AngelaBassett character.
Kathia Woods (09:45):
I know you're talking about Wesley Snipes.
Yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (09:46):
Wesley Snipes.
I don't know why I'm forgettingWesley Snipes.
So then they would say to me,well, the Wesley Snipes
character was good.
And I would say, well, hold on aminute.
Do you think that I could gohome regardless of the fact that
Donna was sick, that I could gohome to my sick wife and say,
Hey, dear.
I didn't do nothing, but I sleptin the bed with this other woman
(10:08):
and she would be like, oh yeah,that's okay.
You still a good man?
No.
You are married.
You are still married.
I don't consider him a good man,if you will.
And most of my women friends,after I said that, they started
laughing because they knew for afact that they wouldn't say,
okay, that's okay if he did thatfor me.
So I had a problem with thatmovie as it relate from a man's
(10:30):
perspective.
But here's what my brother saidto me.
He said, got it.
He said, your problem is, isthat you want every black movie
to be perfect.
So you don't want to see thatthere are all these people who
might represent the men's thatyou're embarrassed about or you
don't want to see, but thatthey're real.
(10:52):
And by doing so, what you aredoing is denying that person
their story, whatever theirstory is, you're denying that
person their story.
Ever since then.
I don't criticize people ontheir story.
I might criticize people on thefact that their story didn't
work, but I don't criticizepeople on their story.
And that brings me back to TylerPerry as a man.
(11:16):
I understand where Tyler Perryhas come from.
Many of the women that heportrays from a man's
perspective I see in my mother.
I see that.
And so I'm not upset as a man.
I understand the women thatthere's some women who are
upset.
I.
But as a man, I'm not upsetabout the characters that he
portrays because I'm like tomyself like, yeah, Tyler, I saw
(11:39):
what you saw.
I saw those people too.
I identify with those peopletoo.
I identify with those problemstoo.
So I'm not gonna criticize yourstory, and I don't think you
need to have a woman to tellyour story.
I think that.
Obviously there must be somewomen who believe that that
story resonates becauseoverwhelmingly women are going
(12:02):
to see it.
So is it that we can't have aman telling a story about women
from a man's point of view, isit that we can't have a man
saying that this is how I sawwomen in my life.
That he has to say, nah, I can'ttell my story.
I gotta go back and do it.
And let some women tell thatstory.
(12:23):
No, he can finance that.
Finance.
Some women tell, but let me tellthe stories that I got.
Let me tell the stories that Ihave.
Let me tell the stories that Isee.
So I don't buy into that.
I just don't.
Kathia Woods (12:35):
Yes and no because.
And then I would say, you gottagive then Tara McMillan the same
Grace'cause Tara McMillan.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (12:45):
I did.
I did.
That's what I'm saying.
They had to, I had to learn thatthough.
I had to learn that.
Kathia Woods (12:49):
Yeah.
And but I'm saying Tara McMillanwrites, a lot of black women
don't like necessarily the TaraMcMillan's writing'cause they
feel like all the women are downand throughout.
These women are supposed to beso smart, so educated.
Why do they keep making thesevery poor decisions when it
comes to the men in their lives?
And Karen McMillan goes because.
We go into this whole how thedating world looks like for
(13:10):
black women.
Black women that are successfuland educated have to, step down
sometimes and this is the resultand this is what you get.
And same thing, how Stella gother groove back is based on her
life, right?
But, which by the way, in theLolo, I think we all knew that
her husband was.
(13:30):
A little bit of the other team.
I'm just saying nothing wrongwith that.
But we were like, somethingabout him and Al Star's husband.
We were like, now ladies, we notjudge him, but something's a
little off.
I'm just saying that she getsthe same CRI criticism and
people are like, it's givenLifetime movie.
(13:51):
So I say the same thing, youdon't read it, don't consume it.
Because it's hitting with asermon demographic.
And I will say that waiting toaccept wasn't just black women
going to see it.
I remember I worked for ahealthcare company and being at
work and there were tons ofwhite women reading, waiting to
accept.
There were types of white womenthat grabbed their girlfriends
(14:12):
and like, we're gonna go seethis movie.
This is before Angela Bassettwas Angela Bassett.
So, you know, I do think certainworks resonate.
I think what some of us aresaying.
Give us balance, give us theother half of the conversation.
Don't just give us this.
(14:33):
And I think that is a valid,very, very, very valid, the
discussion.
And I think it is a very, veryvalid point of view.
And I do think that in this dayand age, with diversity, equity,
and inclusion being revoked moreand more.
I think that we have to, youknow, we have to do a better job
(14:58):
in our community to giveourselves more nuanced and more
balanced work, and we can dothat.
I think there's room for all ofit, and I think we can have
work.
But here's a question.
The people that are complainingabout Tyler's stuff, complaining
about Terry McMillan, when theother stuff is made, you gotta
(15:19):
go out and you gotta supporthim.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (15:22):
And it's so frequently that the
other stuff is made but peoplearen't going to check it out.
It's so interesting to me and soupsetting when someone says, I
want something else.
I need to see somethingdifferent.
I.
Give me blah, blah, blah.
And then these movies come outand you don't go see them.
(15:44):
You just, you don't, and thenyou give the reason.
That's how come Tyler is smart,by the way, but then you give
the reason my life is so hard.
I can't go see these movies.
That would just substantiate thefact of how hard my life is.
I need to go to see somethingthat's light, something that's
(16:04):
funny, something that gives mesome joy, and that's how come I
can't go see these other movies.
And I hear this all the timefrom men and women alike, black
men and women alike.
Tyler's smart.
Tyler says, I understand thatyour life is hard.
So for the most part, not fornot all my movies, but many of
(16:25):
my movies are gonna have whatyou call that Kiki, that funny,
funny with a message embeddedinside of it because he knows
that the only way that you aregonna come and consume his
product is if there's some joy.
If there's some hope, if there'ssomething that's not always
(16:47):
about.
I can't make it to the nextlevel.
Now his movies still have that.
I can't make it to the nextlevel aspect, but there's always
a level of hope, and many timesthere's a.
A aspect of fun and laughter inthat I think it's not Tyler's
(17:07):
responsibility nor TerryMcMillan's responsibility after
my brother had to school me.
I don't think it's theirresponsibility to have to tell
the other half.
I think that the other halfneeds to be told by the other
half is that those people whoare out there making movies,
there is another half.
So Spike Lee's movies, for themost part, have been somewhat
(17:28):
politically charged.
They had some political messageto it.
Does he need to take away hispolitical messaging so he can
show the other half?
No.
Let somebody else show the otherhalf.
Let bless his soul.
Let John Singleton show theother half.
I don't need Spike Lee to showthe other half.
(17:49):
I had to learn that.
The question, the thing I thinkthat we have to say is that,
does this movie move us?
Is this movie complete?
Now we start talking about themovie, not about the fact that
he can't tell his story.
Does his story work?
And if his story doesn't workI'm okay with that, but don't
(18:10):
talk to me about that.
He doesn't come with a story.
And he doesn't come with thestory the way I wanna see it.
That's what I used to do.
I had to evolve and say, Ican't.
I can't do that anymore.
I can't say, you gotta tell astory the way I want you to tell
a story.
Tell a story and let me see ifit works for me.
Kathia Woods (18:31):
I also feel like.
Yeah.
I mean, there's something, Imean, we are living in a time
where there is something foreverybody to consume, right?
And it's not just coming fromthe United States, it's coming
globally.
So listen, you just gotta, yougotta hit play.
(18:52):
You gotta hit play.
You gotta buy that ticket.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (18:55):
That's where we're at.
I appreciate you engaging me inthis one.
I, there's always gonna be moreabout it because Tyler's gonna
be around for a while and.
And hopefully you'll check outthe movie Straw and we can
chitchat about it and see whatyou think.
So I hope we can do that at somepoint.
And it doesn't have to be nextweek, but watch that movie.
Kathia Woods (19:16):
Absolutely.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (19:18):
With that, we'll move into our movie
segment, and our movie segmentis a movie.
I want to see the first one, butit's a movie that you already
saw.
It's called Bride Hard.
Tell me what this movie is aboutand tell me what you thought.
Kathia Woods (19:38):
Speaking of Kiki Bride Hard is a film with a
group of bridesmaids, but with atwist.
Rebel Wilson plays a secretagent.
She's been tasked to be the maanof honor.
And she gets fired for being ama of honor because while
(19:58):
they're having the littlebachelorette thing she got, she
had to call on an assignment, soshe left and fell short of her
responsibilities, a matron ofhonor and took care of her
business.
But then when she got back, shegot fired.
So she got relegated from MatriHonor to just regular
(20:22):
bridesmaids, and even though sheand her best friend have known
each other since they were inchildhood, played by Anna
Clumsky from Veep.
So.
Here comes a wedding and Anna isall feeling sad.
And meanwhile she's also gotyelled at work'cause she went
rogue.
So she's at this wedding.
They don't mess with her so muchthat all the bridesmaids are on
(20:45):
one wing and they put Anna allthe way at the end.
Excuse.
They put rebel all the way atthe end of the hallway like
she's the lost for a child.
Spot.
Little do they know that thewedding is about to be absurd,
but an incident and Rebel comesin to save the day, but this
movie is over the top.
It is absurd and it's absurd onpurpose.
(21:09):
The absurdity is to really makeyou to be over the top.
And if you are looking for amovie that has a deep plot and
has some academy award-winningacting, that's, this is not it,
but if you are looking to for amovie that's going to make you
laugh out loud and just kick keyand, haha, this is the film.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (21:30):
So we got two this.
There are two Annas in this.
There's Anna Camp and Anna kcls.
How do Anna
Kathia Woods (21:37):
Ksky?
Anna Camp is the bride, theblonde hair.
Anna k Clumsky.
The girl from Veep is the girlthat takes over as, excuse me,
as a, the bride's made and sheis ready.
She goes a little, she goes alittle crazy.
She got a whole itinerary'causeshe feels she should have been
matron of honor to begin withsince she felt as though Rebel's
(22:00):
character was not doing what sheneeded to do.
So when Rebel got demoted, shewas like, I'm ready.
I volunteered to be the tribute,you know that.
And that was Anna, Anna Clumsky.
She was like, when?
When Old Girls said you arefired.
Would you like to be so and so?
Would you like to be my mentor?
And she goes, oh my God, yes,yes, yes.
(22:22):
She goes, first task.
And I can say this.
I need you to hold my hair outtamy face because I've been
drinking it.
Party.
She goes, I'd be on your tube,runs over and grabs her hair and
we know what the restinsinuates.
But I just laughed at thismovie.
And again, if you looking forsomething deep, this ain't it.
But if you are looking for justa good time, a good Kiki, where
(22:45):
you can laugh out loud, grabyour girlfriends and a couple
margaritas.
If you've ever been part of awedding party that's gone all
the way south, I.
You'll lean into it and also ithas a little bit of action for
the fellows if you're going on adate Movie a side note, divine
Joy.
Randolph is also in this film.
I'm going to ask
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (23:04):
you about her.
Is she the token or does shehave a role in this one?
Kathia Woods (23:11):
No, she has a role in it.
She's a friend.
You know that She's not the onlyperson of color.
Gigi is, I believe, of SoutheastAsian.
I wanna say she plays Zoe,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (23:21):
right?
Kathia Woods (23:21):
Yeah.
So, no, but they all playfriends and they don't know that
she's a secret spy, but they'reall on her.
They're like, girl, you droppedthe ball.
You, yeah.
You weren't a good friend, youknow?
So, yes, it was hilarious.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It, I think it's, but theseinteresting times, you know, the
(23:42):
fact
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (23:42):
that you enjoyed it means that this
is a girl's night out film.
Yes.
Is this a Donna drag Reggie tothe movie.
Film?
Kathia Woods (23:58):
Yeah.
Because I think both of y'allwill just laugh and be like,
this can't get any more sillier.
And you'll be like, and I'll belike, yes, it can hold my beer.
Hold my beer.
It
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (24:10):
can't.
Rebels seems to revel inphysical comedy and this is what
we're getting here.
Kathia Woods (24:19):
Absolutely.
And I think also in the, I knowsome people were like, she is,
as she's not the same way.
Is she still fun?
I'm like a person that's funny,is funny, funny is funny.
Do you know what I mean?
She's still funny, so I don'tnecessarily understand.
(24:40):
When people make these comments,oh, is she still funny?
Is she still that?
Yeah.
And again, this is what shedoes.
She does absurdity to the bestof her ability and I think she
is really good in this film.
And she's funny.
And again, sometimes you justwanna go to the movies and tune
out.
And she did that
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (25:00):
And while I really respect that,
that sometimes you just want togo to a movie and just let loose
and have a good time.
I.
Movies are more expensive thesedays, so people are being very
picky, if you will, with whatmovies they'll pay to go to the
box office.
This film seems like a goodpiece of counter programming
(25:23):
from some of those bigblockbuster movies.
We have already entered thesummer season.
Is this good counterprogramming?
Kathia Woods (25:33):
Yeah, because it is also not very long.
It's extremely silly and I thinksometimes you just, I don't
know.
Sometimes you just want to besomewhere and just laugh and
just not take yourself tooserious.
You know what I mean?
I do.
So I'm just, I feel like this isthat type of movie.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (25:53):
All right.
Well, there you have it.
Bride hard, not die hard, bridehard.
This one is being recommended byKaia.
So Great.
Then our next movie is How ToTrain Your Dragon, and if you
think you've heard this titlebefore, if you think you saw
(26:16):
this movie before, you'rebasically right.
The difference is that you sawit in animation and now there's
the live action piece.
This is a trend people, so justget over it, that whenever they
can, they've been trying to, themovie makers, they bring back
everything, of course, but thenthey try to see if a live action
(26:39):
version will work.
And so that's the question here.
What is this one about?
The big thing that you need toknow is that the story, they
don't deviate from the originalstory that you get from
animation.
And so Hiccup who was played byMason Thames is the son of Chief
Stoic, the vast, played byGerard Butler, but he's not the
(27:04):
warrior his father is, and it'sdisappointing for his father.
Hiccup says he wants to be inthe fight, but really doesn't
know how to be in the fight, sohe is a disappointment.
But he has his own ways and endsup meeting a dinosaur, I mean a
(27:27):
dinosaur a dragon, andbefriending that dragon.
And that sets off a wholedifferent world in which these
vikings live in.
What's interesting is theVikings are there to kill the
dragons, and the dragons arethere to steal from the vikings
(27:48):
and kill them as well.
So there's always been thisfighting among them, and the two
shall never be friends, shallnever meet, shall never work
together, but hiccup changes atall.
I think that, number one, from alive action CGI perspective.
(28:09):
This looks good.
I like the way it looked.
I didn't even think in my mindthat the dragon he met named
Toothless was not real.
How?
How they melded the two togetherbetween Hiccup and Toothless.
I just thought they did a reallygood job from a CGI perspective.
(28:32):
The filmmakers already have abuiltin audience because the
story is already there.
I saw with loads of kids, and Iwill tell you that these young
people were very engaged andvery excited about this film.
They were so excited that, hmm,they actually got me excited
along the ride.
(28:52):
I think this film is funny.
But it also has some realmessages throughout.
There's the message about afather and a son, the
expectations of a father and theaspirations of a son.
There's the message abouttradition and following
tradition.
(29:13):
There's the message about.
Two different groups of peoplehaving perceptions about that
other group, but not ever reallyknowing them.
And I think that these messagesfor me came across loud and
clear.
Overall, I think this film has alot for young and old alike,
(29:36):
that if you are dragged to thetheater by your youngsters.
You'll enjoy it and see somethings and might even learn some
things or reconsider somethings.
And I know that the young peoplewould like it as well.
I enjoyed this.
It was a fun ride.
I particularly liked the actionthat the, you know, that I guess
I'm stereotypical as it relatesfrom a man perspective, but I
(29:57):
like this overall.
What say you, Kathia Woods.
Kathia Woods (30:01):
I like this movie.
I kinda, I'm pulling up the D soI can speak intelligently.
I like mild mason themes ashiccup, right?
I thought that they cast thekids perfectly, right?
That the kids that think they'reso cool, like Julian Denison is
perfectly cast.
(30:22):
I thought Gerard Butler, who didthe voice.
Is also in the life action,right?
I think that is really, reallycool and I just think this is a
fun movie.
This is a story that kids canrelate to, living to the
expectations of your fatherfeeling like you don't fit in.
And then finally, here comesthis dragon that gives you
(30:43):
purpose and lets you be the heroat the end of the day.
It's also about misinformation.
It's also, it's got somethingfor the adults where it's about
conspiracies, where they createdthis enemy that truly is not
their enemy, right?
That's just to keep thingsgoing.
(31:03):
But overall, I feel like this isa film that the kids as well as
the adults can enjoy
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (31:09):
and.
There is, there are two lovestories here.
There's the love story aboutfathers and sons, not just
between Hiccup and his father,but yeah, between others.
And there's the love storybetween Hiccup and Astrid,
played by Nico Parker.
And if people don't know NicoParker is Fatty Newton's
(31:32):
daughter.
And I heard that there was some.
Uproar to have someone of colorplay that role because in the, I
guess the original that itwasn't, I hadn't heard about
that, but my daughter Bobby toldme that there was some uproar
about her Nico Parker beingcast.
I think that was cute.
(31:54):
Anna was funny because theydidn't like each other or they
were competitors in thebeginning.
Kathia Woods (32:00):
Oh, because she felt like this was her arena.
That's right.
She thought she was gonna comein there and shine and she was
gonna get this prize, and thenshe's like, wait a minute.
What?
How?
How?
Wait a minute.
This guy who acquiescedeverything.
Yeah.
So it is really that type ofthing where they're like, no way
(32:21):
you, I know you lying.
So I think so she felt some typeof way, but I think.
I don't have time for thesepeople that constantly got
problems with people of colorplaying make leaf characters
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (32:35):
always.
It's always, it is alwayssomething.
Now, I did have some problemswith the film, but it wasn't
that, and the problems I hadwith the film aren't problems
that make the film a film that Iwouldn't go watch.
I'd go watch this one again, butI will have to mention at the
beginning, Gerard Butler, itfelt like he was playing a
character.
He seemed to settle into thatrole as you got.
(32:58):
Maybe into the second third ofthis film, his
Kathia Woods (33:05):
accent to.
Playing this man now in acostume,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (33:12):
right, in a costume.
His accent and the wholepresentation, the right in that
beginning piece just felt like,Ooh, is he on point?
But afterwards, I think that hedid a good job after the movie
got going a little bit.
But I'm also amazed, and justfrom a storytelling perspective,
I'm always amazed at characters,especially young kids who are as
(33:36):
characters who traveled throughthe world without a care and no
street smarts and hiccup is thatcharacter going into the woods,
into the wilderness with noarmor whatsoever.
In, in, in some cases, sometimeswith some armor.
And I just like, maybe as aparent, I'm thinking to myself,
(33:56):
my kids better not do that.
You.
I told you it's dangerous outthere.
At least take something toprotect yourself.
Bobby, my headstrong daughter,says, but Daddy, that's what
made hiccup special is that hedidn't really want to or
understand that whole battlepeace, and because he didn't, he
(34:19):
was able to connect with thisdragon.
Otherwise, he either would'vebeen eaten or the dragon
would've had to.
Would have had to have beenkilled.
And I'm gonna say, okay, Bobby,but the character there, there
was something about Hiccup justbeing too carefree.
That bothered me a little bit.
(34:39):
And the last thing that I'll sayis that at the end of the movie,
and maybe you can call this aspo Spoiler Alert.
Hiccup calls Toothless a pet.
And I have a problem with thatbecause the Dragons had a
community, a life of their own.
So if they're co companions,then that works.
(35:04):
But if they're pets, then thatmeans that they're subject to
now the life that.
The humans have made for them.
And I just think that the way inwhich the dragons were portrayed
was that they were smarter andmore than just pets.
And that terminology justbothered me a little bit.
(35:25):
Again, none of those things haveanything to do with whether this
film was fun because it is fun.
It's also funny.
It's fantastical you'll be takenthrough that ride.
And I think it's somewhatforward thinking, especially as
it relates to relationshipsbetween FA parents and their
children.
Kathia Woods (35:44):
100% agree.
And I think also it's visuallyreally fun to look at,
especially as they're bonding asrider and dragon.
I do agree with you that he ismore than a pet.
He's his friend.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (36:05):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm recommending it for sure.
I tell a little secret here.
I would go see this by myself
Kathia Woods (36:14):
I saw for free and something, when you see
something for free at aconvention early in the morning,
you're like, Hmm.
But I also was like, you knowwhat, this is fun.
This is really fun.
This is a good time.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (36:30):
It is.
I would absolutely go check thisone out.
I gave it three out of fourreels and I'm recommending it.
I know the young people willenjoy it, but forget the young
people.
I enjoyed this film.
It was a lot of fun.
I felt in some cases that I wason a rollercoaster ride as
Hiccup and toothless were flyingthroughout the movie, there's
(36:53):
action in the film.
There's some scares in the filmand actually there's some, also
some tender moments in the film.
So I just think that thewriters, that the producers all
came together and put together avery solid offering, and we know
that there will be another onebecause
Kathia Woods (37:12):
they already said it.
That's two sequels in the works.
They said it, they said it.
When was it?
In March.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (37:20):
So we know we are gonna see more of
these characters and I'm not madat it at all.
With that, we'll move into ourlast segment, which is Rant and
Rave.
Did you perhaps, I mean, justmaybe.
Did you perhaps see the Tonys?
We did.
(37:41):
And would you have seen aChicago company win a Tony or
two for a play that has purpose?
Kathia Woods (37:55):
That's the name of the play, Reggie.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (38:01):
Chicago was in the house.
That's all I, no, that's not allI wanna say.
Chicago was in the house.
I saw purpose here in Chicagoand Glen Davis and Crew did a
phenomenal job.
Lescher Rashad was the.
(38:22):
Director here in Chicago and dida phenomenal job and then took
that thing on to Broadway andthey won a Tony in the first
year.
Congratulations to my people,Harry Lennox.
Come on.
Chicago was in the house.
That's all I want to say to you,Kathia.
(38:43):
Will you always wanna saysomething about Philly, but you
not Philly anymore, so you can'tclaim Philly.
You gotta just go and startclaiming.
Like Hot Atlanta.
You not Philly no more.
Kathia Woods (38:56):
Chicago is
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (38:56):
killing it.
Kathia Woods (38:58):
I mean, yes.
I will say though, I thinkNicole did a good job, but I
feel like Audrey should havewon.
That's my take on that, huh?
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
I feel like Nicole Sherzingerwon for Best actress in a
musical.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (39:15):
Yeah,
Kathia Woods (39:16):
but I feel like order should have won, period.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (39:19):
I.
I, I am going to see her inGypsy this weekend and I'm
totally looking forward to it.
And you saw her in Gypsyalready?
Kathia Woods (39:29):
I have not, but I just know she just is.
Come on.
She's a whole movement also.
For all my Hamilton hive, it wasnice to see the reunion, those
of us that love Hamilton.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (39:40):
It, it really was.
I'm headed off to Broadway.
I'm gonna see three plays atleast.
The first one is off Broadwayand it's called In the Lights,
the Net King Cold Story.
So I'm gonna go see that.
Then I'm gonna go see Purpose,and after that Gypsy I'll see
one each day and I'm excited toget out there to see it.
(40:04):
That's my, that's.
Part of my rent and rave.
And then my last part of ourrent and rave is, I can't wait
to see F1.
You must have inter, see you getall the interviews, so you must
have Yeah,
Kathia Woods (40:19):
I know that's say that, but I do.
Okay.
I do.
Okay.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (40:23):
You must have interviewed the F1
people already.
Kathia Woods (40:26):
I have not.
I'm going to speak to Idris'cause I fought for it.
Boy did I have to give up afirst child firstborn, but.
But there's something else youcan need to do before we log
off, my dear son.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (40:41):
Oh.
Kathia Woods (40:43):
I have a birthday on Sunday.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (40:45):
Oh, that's right.
You have a birthday on Sunday,so that means next week's show
we have to do everything aboutyou make the show.
You have to send me the list.
So I know what movie we talkingabout?
What's, what are we talkingabout in the first segment,
which is what's on my mind?
(41:06):
What's our rant and rave?
It is all you.
All birthday.
It's gonna be the birthdayedition, Katia Woods.
Kathia Woods (41:14):
All right.
But listen, it's always fun tocome in here and talk movies and
to talk things, although I feellike you know these days we all
need a nap.
The world is, but it's nice totake the time out from the
madness and talk movies.
So Reggie, I'm gonna be you fora minute.
(41:35):
Where can the people find you?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (41:37):
You can find me NDIGO.com.
That's NDIG o.com.
I have my review up for straw,so go check that out.
You can also check me out at.
The Garfield Lawndale voice, myreview is up for that, for How
(41:59):
to Train Your Dragon, and youcan check me out on vocal
load.org.
And I'm not sure which reviewI'll be submitting.
I'll have to do that by tonight,but I'll have something up for
them as well.
So those are my major spots.
So Kathia, where can we findyou?
Kathia Woods (42:21):
You can find me on cup of Soul show.com, the
Sacramento Observer, and ofcourse, the Philadelphia
Tribune.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (42:32):
That's our show.
Thanks for joining us.
We appreciate you guys, andwe'll see you next time.
Kathia Woods (42:39):
See you next time.
I'm Reggie
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (00:00):
Ponder, the Real critic, and I am here
with my co-host Kathia Woods.
Kathia, how are you?
How are you?
Kathia Woods (00:08):
I am good.
I'm good.
How are you?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (00:10):
I'm doing good.
Looking forward to some moviesthat we have coming down the
pipe, and we'll talk about someof those.
One of one of them, and you'vebeen saying that you're gonna go
see it is F1, so I'm reallooking forward to that and we
can talk about that a littlelater.
Other than that, just somefamily things.
(00:31):
Any good news on your front?
I, other than your daughter'sready to see me when I go to the
store in Philly.
Kathia Woods (00:40):
Did I tell you that?
She said Ari came by the store?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (00:43):
No,
Kathia Woods (00:45):
in my neighbor, they had, they have that grand
race and Ari came in?
Yeah, that's, I was in thestore.
Wow.
So she got to Yeah, she's hadthe guy from, I don't know what
he was in Philly for, but theguy, oh my God.
The guy, the one guy from Gamesof Thrones.
House of Dragons.
Oh boy.
They got upset when Ris likerejected him, and he's not with
(01:08):
Allison,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (01:10):
so she brought him,
Kathia Woods (01:12):
she saw him before in there too.
Okay.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:15):
All right.
Kathia Woods (01:15):
All right, so there's a couple sightings of
some celebrities.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (01:21):
Let's get into our first segment,
which is ran.
What's on my mind and what's onmy mind is everybody is talking
about Tyler Perry's new movie,straw.
I know you haven't seen it yet,so you and I will not be
reviewing the movie, but what'son my mind is how Tyler Perry is
(01:44):
perceived.
Industry as a filmmaker, I'm nottalking about him as a job
maker, an employer, a mover andshaker in the industry, or a
philanthropist.
All those things are great.
I'm really talking about him asa filmmaker.
(02:06):
What bothers me, and this is whyI'm ranting and raving, is.
People disrespect his craft.
I understand that it might notbe how you'd like to see his
films.
I don't like all the Tyler Perryfilms, but should I do, I have
(02:27):
to, to respect his craft.
I am always upset when peopleare writing articles like this.
Tyler Perry owes the blackaudience more.
Someone named Ari Christinewrote, someone else wrote, Tyler
Perry is the worstrepresentation for black cinema.
Kathia Woods (02:52):
I I don't know about that.
I think that's some people thatare worse.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (02:56):
A, am I missing something?
I just don't know what it is I'mmissing.
There are a few, there are someTyler Perry films that really
stick with me and I'll watchthem over and over again.
And then there's some TylerPerry films that just don't do
it for me.
They don't make me laugh, cry,or whatever.
They don't move me.
(03:18):
But I respect the man as afilmmaker and.
I just think he gets shafted waymore than he should, and I'm
gonna put forth a couple ofpoints.
The first is from a marketingperspective, we should be able
(03:39):
to have LOWBROW movies.
Highbrow movies, funny movies,silly movies.
Horror movies.
We should be able to have thewhole spectrum of movies.
Tyler Perry has found a audiencethat he is speaking to directly
and they say, not us, not thecritics, the people that he who
(04:00):
are going to see his films.
They say, you see me, you getme, you understand me.
And a lot of times people saythat his stuff is so buffoonery
so much has so much buffoonerythat.
It cheapens the blackexperience.
(04:21):
I'll say, I believe that most ofTyler Perry's films, even the
ones with the silliness, has amessage in it.
And the question is, does themessage obscure the silliness or
does the silliness allow for themessage?
And I believe the latter.
I am just sick and tired of theway in which people talk about
(04:42):
Tyler Perry and.
And it is not critical.
It, there's no, it's not cri,it's, there's no critical
analysis about his work.
There's just that he is juststraight trash and that's where
we are.
So that's my rent and ready forthe day and I just don't buy it
and I'm tired of it.
Kathia Woods (05:03):
I think there's two conversations to have around
Tyler.
There's the one where you cantalk about his work, P
practices.
I think he, when you putsomething out into the world,
you have to accept that it's notgonna resonate with some people.
And I think he, he's accepted ittoo, but then he can't, for lack
of a better word, you can't pushback.
The other part of it is thatwhile not everything is for
(05:28):
everybody, I do think that thereis valid criticism as long as
you stick with the work.
Now do I think like his Madeastuff looks funny?
I.
Yeah, I think like his Madeastuff is like the salvage that
we need, like that vacationcoming up where the family is
(05:51):
going to the wedding and they'regoing to the Caribbean.
I think that's gonna be a goodkey key'cause we're going into
it, knowing that it is just akey key.
But I also feel like there's avalid criticism to say, Tyler,
you are a man.
Let a woman pen these thingssometimes.
(06:11):
There is room to tell otherstories you know about us as
black women and why.
I understand these are the womenthat you know and the women that
you act interacted, right?
Since we're having this wholeconversation about women and
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah, which we not gonna have
here, but I think there is avalid conversation to be had.
(06:35):
That it's a certain arrogance.
Sometimes that comes across withTyler and him not willing to
allow women to speak and penvoices for women.
Now, if he's like, Hey, if youwant black women content that
(06:55):
centers black women, then gofollow them.
That's fine.
But I'm also of the mind just togo on your thing.
There's certain things that I'mnot attracted to wanting to see
from Tyler Perry.
'cause I know it.
It doesn't speak to me, so Iskip it.
So I'm not aggravated and Idon't have that, and I consume
the stuff that I think is notbad.
(07:17):
I think she's the people, whichis the comedy that's on Netflix
with Terry Fawn.
I think that's perfectly fine.
I think he's better on thecomedy side, right?
I think he did a decent job withsix aaa.
But I do think that Tyler and Iget it,'cause he came from the
(07:37):
muscle.
He had to do it himself.
He had to do it for himself.
So I understand him being like,yo, nobody helped me.
I understand that part betterthan some people think they do.
So now that I've built thistable that nobody said that I
should build, that nobody saidthat there is an audience for.
(08:00):
Now you all wanna tell me how toset it.
You are with me when I wasliving in my car, when I was
doing these plays and I wasstruggling.
So again, I understand 100% thepushback, but I also feel like
it's been enough time you werebeyond successful, Tyler, where
(08:22):
you've proven your point overand over.
So be open to having aconversation and maybe be more
open to having a conversationwith somebody like Oprah or Ava
Bernet, who are like his equalsin terms of success.
But I do agree with you at thisparticular point he has said
he's gonna do him and eitherconsume the stuff that you like
(08:47):
or let it go.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (08:49):
And so where I guess I'm different
than you, is that I went to seethe movie Waiting to Exhale, and
I thought it was a good movie,but I was upset when I left as a
man.
I was upset with waiting toexhale, and the reason I was
upset with waiting to Excel wasthat I felt that the male
(09:11):
characters were overwhelminglynegative, and when I would talk
to my women friends about it.
They would say, well, theGregory Hines character was a
positive character.
Absolutely no doubt about it.
Then they would say, well, the,well, I'm forgetting his name
and I'm looking, looking at hisface.
Kathia Woods (09:30):
You talk about who you would talk about who's in
the movie.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (09:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And he slept with the.
He didn't sleep with, he lied inthe bed.
Laid in the bed with the AngelaBassett character.
Kathia Woods (09:45):
I know you're talking about Wesley Snipes.
Yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (09:46):
Wesley Snipes.
I don't know why I'm forgettingWesley Snipes.
So then they would say to me,well, the Wesley Snipes
character was good.
And I would say, well, hold on aminute.
Do you think that I could gohome regardless of the fact that
Donna was sick, that I could gohome to my sick wife and say,
Hey, dear.
I didn't do nothing, but I sleptin the bed with this other woman
(10:08):
and she would be like, oh yeah,that's okay.
You still a good man?
No.
You are married.
You are still married.
I don't consider him a good man,if you will.
And most of my women friends,after I said that, they started
laughing because they knew for afact that they wouldn't say,
okay, that's okay if he did thatfor me.
So I had a problem with thatmovie as it relate from a man's
(10:30):
perspective.
But here's what my brother saidto me.
He said, got it.
He said, your problem is, isthat you want every black movie
to be perfect.
So you don't want to see thatthere are all these people who
might represent the men's thatyou're embarrassed about or you
don't want to see, but thatthey're real.
(10:52):
And by doing so, what you aredoing is denying that person
their story, whatever theirstory is, you're denying that
person their story.
Ever since then.
I don't criticize people ontheir story.
I might criticize people on thefact that their story didn't
work, but I don't criticizepeople on their story.
And that brings me back to TylerPerry as a man.
(11:16):
I understand where Tyler Perryhas come from.
Many of the women that heportrays from a man's
perspective I see in my mother.
I see that.
And so I'm not upset as a man.
I understand the women thatthere's some women who are
upset.
I.
But as a man, I'm not upsetabout the characters that he
portrays because I'm like tomyself like, yeah, Tyler, I saw
(11:39):
what you saw.
I saw those people too.
I identify with those peopletoo.
I identify with those problemstoo.
So I'm not gonna criticize yourstory, and I don't think you
need to have a woman to tellyour story.
I think that.
Obviously there must be somewomen who believe that that
story resonates becauseoverwhelmingly women are going
(12:02):
to see it.
So is it that we can't have aman telling a story about women
from a man's point of view, isit that we can't have a man
saying that this is how I sawwomen in my life.
That he has to say, nah, I can'ttell my story.
I gotta go back and do it.
And let some women tell thatstory.
(12:23):
No, he can finance that.
Finance.
Some women tell, but let me tellthe stories that I got.
Let me tell the stories that Ihave.
Let me tell the stories that Isee.
So I don't buy into that.
I just don't.
Kathia Woods (12:35):
Yes and no because.
And then I would say, you gottagive then Tara McMillan the same
Grace'cause Tara McMillan.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (12:45):
I did.
I did.
That's what I'm saying.
They had to, I had to learn thatthough.
I had to learn that.
Kathia Woods (12:49):
Yeah.
And but I'm saying Tara McMillanwrites, a lot of black women
don't like necessarily the TaraMcMillan's writing'cause they
feel like all the women are downand throughout.
These women are supposed to beso smart, so educated.
Why do they keep making thesevery poor decisions when it
comes to the men in their lives?
And Karen McMillan goes because.
We go into this whole how thedating world looks like for
(13:10):
black women.
Black women that are successfuland educated have to, step down
sometimes and this is the resultand this is what you get.
And same thing, how Stella gother groove back is based on her
life, right?
But, which by the way, in theLolo, I think we all knew that
her husband was.
(13:30):
A little bit of the other team.
I'm just saying nothing wrongwith that.
But we were like, somethingabout him and Al Star's husband.
We were like, now ladies, we notjudge him, but something's a
little off.
I'm just saying that she getsthe same CRI criticism and
people are like, it's givenLifetime movie.
(13:51):
So I say the same thing, youdon't read it, don't consume it.
Because it's hitting with asermon demographic.
And I will say that waiting toaccept wasn't just black women
going to see it.
I remember I worked for ahealthcare company and being at
work and there were tons ofwhite women reading, waiting to
accept.
There were types of white womenthat grabbed their girlfriends
(14:12):
and like, we're gonna go seethis movie.
This is before Angela Bassettwas Angela Bassett.
So, you know, I do think certainworks resonate.
I think what some of us aresaying.
Give us balance, give us theother half of the conversation.
Don't just give us this.
(14:33):
And I think that is a valid,very, very, very valid, the
discussion.
And I think it is a very, veryvalid point of view.
And I do think that in this dayand age, with diversity, equity,
and inclusion being revoked moreand more.
I think that we have to, youknow, we have to do a better job
(14:58):
in our community to giveourselves more nuanced and more
balanced work, and we can dothat.
I think there's room for all ofit, and I think we can have
work.
But here's a question.
The people that are complainingabout Tyler's stuff, complaining
about Terry McMillan, when theother stuff is made, you gotta
(15:19):
go out and you gotta supporthim.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (15:22):
And it's so frequently that the
other stuff is made but peoplearen't going to check it out.
It's so interesting to me and soupsetting when someone says, I
want something else.
I need to see somethingdifferent.
I.
Give me blah, blah, blah.
And then these movies come outand you don't go see them.
(15:44):
You just, you don't, and thenyou give the reason.
That's how come Tyler is smart,by the way, but then you give
the reason my life is so hard.
I can't go see these movies.
That would just substantiate thefact of how hard my life is.
I need to go to see somethingthat's light, something that's
(16:04):
funny, something that gives mesome joy, and that's how come I
can't go see these other movies.
And I hear this all the timefrom men and women alike, black
men and women alike.
Tyler's smart.
Tyler says, I understand thatyour life is hard.
So for the most part, not fornot all my movies, but many of
(16:25):
my movies are gonna have whatyou call that Kiki, that funny,
funny with a message embeddedinside of it because he knows
that the only way that you aregonna come and consume his
product is if there's some joy.
If there's some hope, if there'ssomething that's not always
(16:47):
about.
I can't make it to the nextlevel.
Now his movies still have that.
I can't make it to the nextlevel aspect, but there's always
a level of hope, and many timesthere's a.
A aspect of fun and laughter inthat I think it's not Tyler's
(17:07):
responsibility nor TerryMcMillan's responsibility after
my brother had to school me.
I don't think it's theirresponsibility to have to tell
the other half.
I think that the other halfneeds to be told by the other
half is that those people whoare out there making movies,
there is another half.
So Spike Lee's movies, for themost part, have been somewhat
(17:28):
politically charged.
They had some political messageto it.
Does he need to take away hispolitical messaging so he can
show the other half?
No.
Let somebody else show the otherhalf.
Let bless his soul.
Let John Singleton show theother half.
I don't need Spike Lee to showthe other half.
(17:49):
I had to learn that.
The question, the thing I thinkthat we have to say is that,
does this movie move us?
Is this movie complete?
Now we start talking about themovie, not about the fact that
he can't tell his story.
Does his story work?
And if his story doesn't workI'm okay with that, but don't
(18:10):
talk to me about that.
He doesn't come with a story.
And he doesn't come with thestory the way I wanna see it.
That's what I used to do.
I had to evolve and say, Ican't.
I can't do that anymore.
I can't say, you gotta tell astory the way I want you to tell
a story.
Tell a story and let me see ifit works for me.
Kathia Woods (18:31):
I also feel like.
Yeah.
I mean, there's something, Imean, we are living in a time
where there is something foreverybody to consume, right?
And it's not just coming fromthe United States, it's coming
globally.
So listen, you just gotta, yougotta hit play.
(18:52):
You gotta hit play.
You gotta buy that ticket.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (18:55):
That's where we're at.
I appreciate you engaging me inthis one.
I, there's always gonna be moreabout it because Tyler's gonna
be around for a while and.
And hopefully you'll check outthe movie Straw and we can
chitchat about it and see whatyou think.
So I hope we can do that at somepoint.
And it doesn't have to be nextweek, but watch that movie.
Kathia Woods (19:16):
Absolutely.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (19:18):
With that, we'll move into our movie
segment, and our movie segmentis a movie.
I want to see the first one, butit's a movie that you already
saw.
It's called Bride Hard.
Tell me what this movie is aboutand tell me what you thought.
Kathia Woods (19:38):
Speaking of Kiki Bride Hard is a film with a
group of bridesmaids, but with atwist.
Rebel Wilson plays a secretagent.
She's been tasked to be the maanof honor.
And she gets fired for being ama of honor because while
(19:58):
they're having the littlebachelorette thing she got, she
had to call on an assignment, soshe left and fell short of her
responsibilities, a matron ofhonor and took care of her
business.
But then when she got back, shegot fired.
So she got relegated from MatriHonor to just regular
(20:22):
bridesmaids, and even though sheand her best friend have known
each other since they were inchildhood, played by Anna
Clumsky from Veep.
So.
Here comes a wedding and Anna isall feeling sad.
And meanwhile she's also gotyelled at work'cause she went
rogue.
So she's at this wedding.
They don't mess with her so muchthat all the bridesmaids are on
(20:45):
one wing and they put Anna allthe way at the end.
Excuse.
They put rebel all the way atthe end of the hallway like
she's the lost for a child.
Spot.
Little do they know that thewedding is about to be absurd,
but an incident and Rebel comesin to save the day, but this
movie is over the top.
It is absurd and it's absurd onpurpose.
(21:09):
The absurdity is to really makeyou to be over the top.
And if you are looking for amovie that has a deep plot and
has some academy award-winningacting, that's, this is not it,
but if you are looking to for amovie that's going to make you
laugh out loud and just kick keyand, haha, this is the film.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (21:30):
So we got two this.
There are two Annas in this.
There's Anna Camp and Anna kcls.
How do Anna
Kathia Woods (21:37):
Ksky?
Anna Camp is the bride, theblonde hair.
Anna k Clumsky.
The girl from Veep is the girlthat takes over as, excuse me,
as a, the bride's made and sheis ready.
She goes a little, she goes alittle crazy.
She got a whole itinerary'causeshe feels she should have been
matron of honor to begin withsince she felt as though Rebel's
(22:00):
character was not doing what sheneeded to do.
So when Rebel got demoted, shewas like, I'm ready.
I volunteered to be the tribute,you know that.
And that was Anna, Anna Clumsky.
She was like, when?
When Old Girls said you arefired.
Would you like to be so and so?
Would you like to be my mentor?
And she goes, oh my God, yes,yes, yes.
(22:22):
She goes, first task.
And I can say this.
I need you to hold my hair outtamy face because I've been
drinking it.
Party.
She goes, I'd be on your tube,runs over and grabs her hair and
we know what the restinsinuates.
But I just laughed at thismovie.
And again, if you looking forsomething deep, this ain't it.
But if you are looking for justa good time, a good Kiki, where
(22:45):
you can laugh out loud, grabyour girlfriends and a couple
margaritas.
If you've ever been part of awedding party that's gone all
the way south, I.
You'll lean into it and also ithas a little bit of action for
the fellows if you're going on adate Movie a side note, divine
Joy.
Randolph is also in this film.
I'm going to ask
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (23:04):
you about her.
Is she the token or does shehave a role in this one?
Kathia Woods (23:11):
No, she has a role in it.
She's a friend.
You know that She's not the onlyperson of color.
Gigi is, I believe, of SoutheastAsian.
I wanna say she plays Zoe,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (23:21):
right?
Kathia Woods (23:21):
Yeah.
So, no, but they all playfriends and they don't know that
she's a secret spy, but they'reall on her.
They're like, girl, you droppedthe ball.
You, yeah.
You weren't a good friend, youknow?
So, yes, it was hilarious.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It, I think it's, but theseinteresting times, you know, the
(23:42):
fact
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (23:42):
that you enjoyed it means that this
is a girl's night out film.
Yes.
Is this a Donna drag Reggie tothe movie.
Film?
Kathia Woods (23:58):
Yeah.
Because I think both of y'allwill just laugh and be like,
this can't get any more sillier.
And you'll be like, and I'll belike, yes, it can hold my beer.
Hold my beer.
It
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (24:10):
can't.
Rebels seems to revel inphysical comedy and this is what
we're getting here.
Kathia Woods (24:19):
Absolutely.
And I think also in the, I knowsome people were like, she is,
as she's not the same way.
Is she still fun?
I'm like a person that's funny,is funny, funny is funny.
Do you know what I mean?
She's still funny, so I don'tnecessarily understand.
(24:40):
When people make these comments,oh, is she still funny?
Is she still that?
Yeah.
And again, this is what shedoes.
She does absurdity to the bestof her ability and I think she
is really good in this film.
And she's funny.
And again, sometimes you justwanna go to the movies and tune
out.
And she did that
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (25:00):
And while I really respect that,
that sometimes you just want togo to a movie and just let loose
and have a good time.
I.
Movies are more expensive thesedays, so people are being very
picky, if you will, with whatmovies they'll pay to go to the
box office.
This film seems like a goodpiece of counter programming
(25:23):
from some of those bigblockbuster movies.
We have already entered thesummer season.
Is this good counterprogramming?
Kathia Woods (25:33):
Yeah, because it is also not very long.
It's extremely silly and I thinksometimes you just, I don't
know.
Sometimes you just want to besomewhere and just laugh and
just not take yourself tooserious.
You know what I mean?
I do.
So I'm just, I feel like this isthat type of movie.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (25:53):
All right.
Well, there you have it.
Bride hard, not die hard, bridehard.
This one is being recommended byKaia.
So Great.
Then our next movie is How ToTrain Your Dragon, and if you
think you've heard this titlebefore, if you think you saw
(26:16):
this movie before, you'rebasically right.
The difference is that you sawit in animation and now there's
the live action piece.
This is a trend people, so justget over it, that whenever they
can, they've been trying to, themovie makers, they bring back
everything, of course, but thenthey try to see if a live action
(26:39):
version will work.
And so that's the question here.
What is this one about?
The big thing that you need toknow is that the story, they
don't deviate from the originalstory that you get from
animation.
And so Hiccup who was played byMason Thames is the son of Chief
Stoic, the vast, played byGerard Butler, but he's not the
(27:04):
warrior his father is, and it'sdisappointing for his father.
Hiccup says he wants to be inthe fight, but really doesn't
know how to be in the fight, sohe is a disappointment.
But he has his own ways and endsup meeting a dinosaur, I mean a
(27:27):
dinosaur a dragon, andbefriending that dragon.
And that sets off a wholedifferent world in which these
vikings live in.
What's interesting is theVikings are there to kill the
dragons, and the dragons arethere to steal from the vikings
(27:48):
and kill them as well.
So there's always been thisfighting among them, and the two
shall never be friends, shallnever meet, shall never work
together, but hiccup changes atall.
I think that, number one, from alive action CGI perspective.
(28:09):
This looks good.
I like the way it looked.
I didn't even think in my mindthat the dragon he met named
Toothless was not real.
How?
How they melded the two togetherbetween Hiccup and Toothless.
I just thought they did a reallygood job from a CGI perspective.
(28:32):
The filmmakers already have abuiltin audience because the
story is already there.
I saw with loads of kids, and Iwill tell you that these young
people were very engaged andvery excited about this film.
They were so excited that, hmm,they actually got me excited
along the ride.
(28:52):
I think this film is funny.
But it also has some realmessages throughout.
There's the message about afather and a son, the
expectations of a father and theaspirations of a son.
There's the message abouttradition and following
tradition.
(29:13):
There's the message about.
Two different groups of peoplehaving perceptions about that
other group, but not ever reallyknowing them.
And I think that these messagesfor me came across loud and
clear.
Overall, I think this film has alot for young and old alike,
(29:36):
that if you are dragged to thetheater by your youngsters.
You'll enjoy it and see somethings and might even learn some
things or reconsider somethings.
And I know that the young peoplewould like it as well.
I enjoyed this.
It was a fun ride.
I particularly liked the actionthat the, you know, that I guess
I'm stereotypical as it relatesfrom a man perspective, but I
(29:57):
like this overall.
What say you, Kathia Woods.
Kathia Woods (30:01):
I like this movie.
I kinda, I'm pulling up the D soI can speak intelligently.
I like mild mason themes ashiccup, right?
I thought that they cast thekids perfectly, right?
That the kids that think they'reso cool, like Julian Denison is
perfectly cast.
(30:22):
I thought Gerard Butler, who didthe voice.
Is also in the life action,right?
I think that is really, reallycool and I just think this is a
fun movie.
This is a story that kids canrelate to, living to the
expectations of your fatherfeeling like you don't fit in.
And then finally, here comesthis dragon that gives you
(30:43):
purpose and lets you be the heroat the end of the day.
It's also about misinformation.
It's also, it's got somethingfor the adults where it's about
conspiracies, where they createdthis enemy that truly is not
their enemy, right?
That's just to keep thingsgoing.
(31:03):
But overall, I feel like this isa film that the kids as well as
the adults can enjoy
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (31:09):
and.
There is, there are two lovestories here.
There's the love story aboutfathers and sons, not just
between Hiccup and his father,but yeah, between others.
And there's the love storybetween Hiccup and Astrid,
played by Nico Parker.
And if people don't know NicoParker is Fatty Newton's
(31:32):
daughter.
And I heard that there was some.
Uproar to have someone of colorplay that role because in the, I
guess the original that itwasn't, I hadn't heard about
that, but my daughter Bobby toldme that there was some uproar
about her Nico Parker beingcast.
I think that was cute.
(31:54):
Anna was funny because theydidn't like each other or they
were competitors in thebeginning.
Kathia Woods (32:00):
Oh, because she felt like this was her arena.
That's right.
She thought she was gonna comein there and shine and she was
gonna get this prize, and thenshe's like, wait a minute.
What?
How?
How?
Wait a minute.
This guy who acquiescedeverything.
Yeah.
So it is really that type ofthing where they're like, no way
(32:21):
you, I know you lying.
So I think so she felt some typeof way, but I think.
I don't have time for thesepeople that constantly got
problems with people of colorplaying make leaf characters
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (32:35):
always.
It's always, it is alwayssomething.
Now, I did have some problemswith the film, but it wasn't
that, and the problems I hadwith the film aren't problems
that make the film a film that Iwouldn't go watch.
I'd go watch this one again, butI will have to mention at the
beginning, Gerard Butler, itfelt like he was playing a
character.
He seemed to settle into thatrole as you got.
(32:58):
Maybe into the second third ofthis film, his
Kathia Woods (33:05):
accent to.
Playing this man now in acostume,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (33:12):
right, in a costume.
His accent and the wholepresentation, the right in that
beginning piece just felt like,Ooh, is he on point?
But afterwards, I think that hedid a good job after the movie
got going a little bit.
But I'm also amazed, and justfrom a storytelling perspective,
I'm always amazed at characters,especially young kids who are as
(33:36):
characters who traveled throughthe world without a care and no
street smarts and hiccup is thatcharacter going into the woods,
into the wilderness with noarmor whatsoever.
In, in, in some cases, sometimeswith some armor.
And I just like, maybe as aparent, I'm thinking to myself,
(33:56):
my kids better not do that.
You.
I told you it's dangerous outthere.
At least take something toprotect yourself.
Bobby, my headstrong daughter,says, but Daddy, that's what
made hiccup special is that hedidn't really want to or
understand that whole battlepeace, and because he didn't, he
(34:19):
was able to connect with thisdragon.
Otherwise, he either would'vebeen eaten or the dragon
would've had to.
Would have had to have beenkilled.
And I'm gonna say, okay, Bobby,but the character there, there
was something about Hiccup justbeing too carefree.
That bothered me a little bit.
(34:39):
And the last thing that I'll sayis that at the end of the movie,
and maybe you can call this aspo Spoiler Alert.
Hiccup calls Toothless a pet.
And I have a problem with thatbecause the Dragons had a
community, a life of their own.
So if they're co companions,then that works.
(35:04):
But if they're pets, then thatmeans that they're subject to
now the life that.
The humans have made for them.
And I just think that the way inwhich the dragons were portrayed
was that they were smarter andmore than just pets.
And that terminology justbothered me a little bit.
(35:25):
Again, none of those things haveanything to do with whether this
film was fun because it is fun.
It's also funny.
It's fantastical you'll be takenthrough that ride.
And I think it's somewhatforward thinking, especially as
it relates to relationshipsbetween FA parents and their
children.
Kathia Woods (35:44):
100% agree.
And I think also it's visuallyreally fun to look at,
especially as they're bonding asrider and dragon.
I do agree with you that he ismore than a pet.
He's his friend.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (36:05):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm recommending it for sure.
I tell a little secret here.
I would go see this by myself
Kathia Woods (36:14):
I saw for free and something, when you see
something for free at aconvention early in the morning,
you're like, Hmm.
But I also was like, you knowwhat, this is fun.
This is really fun.
This is a good time.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (36:30):
It is.
I would absolutely go check thisone out.
I gave it three out of fourreels and I'm recommending it.
I know the young people willenjoy it, but forget the young
people.
I enjoyed this film.
It was a lot of fun.
I felt in some cases that I wason a rollercoaster ride as
Hiccup and toothless were flyingthroughout the movie, there's
(36:53):
action in the film.
There's some scares in the filmand actually there's some, also
some tender moments in the film.
So I just think that thewriters, that the producers all
came together and put together avery solid offering, and we know
that there will be another onebecause
Kathia Woods (37:12):
they already said it.
That's two sequels in the works.
They said it, they said it.
When was it?
In March.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (37:20):
So we know we are gonna see more of
these characters and I'm not madat it at all.
With that, we'll move into ourlast segment, which is Rant and
Rave.
Did you perhaps, I mean, justmaybe.
Did you perhaps see the Tonys?
We did.
(37:41):
And would you have seen aChicago company win a Tony or
two for a play that has purpose?
Kathia Woods (37:55):
That's the name of the play, Reggie.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (38:01):
Chicago was in the house.
That's all I, no, that's not allI wanna say.
Chicago was in the house.
I saw purpose here in Chicagoand Glen Davis and Crew did a
phenomenal job.
Lescher Rashad was the.
(38:22):
Director here in Chicago and dida phenomenal job and then took
that thing on to Broadway andthey won a Tony in the first
year.
Congratulations to my people,Harry Lennox.
Come on.
Chicago was in the house.
That's all I want to say to you,Kathia.
(38:43):
Will you always wanna saysomething about Philly, but you
not Philly anymore, so you can'tclaim Philly.
You gotta just go and startclaiming.
Like Hot Atlanta.
You not Philly no more.
Kathia Woods (38:56):
Chicago is
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (38:56):
killing it.
Kathia Woods (38:58):
I mean, yes.
I will say though, I thinkNicole did a good job, but I
feel like Audrey should havewon.
That's my take on that, huh?
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
I feel like Nicole Sherzingerwon for Best actress in a
musical.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (39:15):
Yeah,
Kathia Woods (39:16):
but I feel like order should have won, period.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (39:19):
I.
I, I am going to see her inGypsy this weekend and I'm
totally looking forward to it.
And you saw her in Gypsyalready?
Kathia Woods (39:29):
I have not, but I just know she just is.
Come on.
She's a whole movement also.
For all my Hamilton hive, it wasnice to see the reunion, those
of us that love Hamilton.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (39:40):
It, it really was.
I'm headed off to Broadway.
I'm gonna see three plays atleast.
The first one is off Broadwayand it's called In the Lights,
the Net King Cold Story.
So I'm gonna go see that.
Then I'm gonna go see Purpose,and after that Gypsy I'll see
one each day and I'm excited toget out there to see it.
(40:04):
That's my, that's.
Part of my rent and rave.
And then my last part of ourrent and rave is, I can't wait
to see F1.
You must have inter, see you getall the interviews, so you must
have Yeah,
Kathia Woods (40:19):
I know that's say that, but I do.
Okay.
I do.
Okay.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (40:23):
You must have interviewed the F1
people already.
Kathia Woods (40:26):
I have not.
I'm going to speak to Idris'cause I fought for it.
Boy did I have to give up afirst child firstborn, but.
But there's something else youcan need to do before we log
off, my dear son.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (40:41):
Oh.
Kathia Woods (40:43):
I have a birthday on Sunday.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (40:45):
Oh, that's right.
You have a birthday on Sunday,so that means next week's show
we have to do everything aboutyou make the show.
You have to send me the list.
So I know what movie we talkingabout?
What's, what are we talkingabout in the first segment,
which is what's on my mind?
(41:06):
What's our rant and rave?
It is all you.
All birthday.
It's gonna be the birthdayedition, Katia Woods.
Kathia Woods (41:14):
All right.
But listen, it's always fun tocome in here and talk movies and
to talk things, although I feellike you know these days we all
need a nap.
The world is, but it's nice totake the time out from the
madness and talk movies.
So Reggie, I'm gonna be you fora minute.
(41:35):
Where can the people find you?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (41:37):
You can find me NDIGO.com.
That's NDIG o.com.
I have my review up for straw,so go check that out.
You can also check me out at.
The Garfield Lawndale voice, myreview is up for that, for How
(41:59):
to Train Your Dragon, and youcan check me out on vocal
load.org.
And I'm not sure which reviewI'll be submitting.
I'll have to do that by tonight,but I'll have something up for
them as well.
So those are my major spots.
So Kathia, where can we findyou?
Kathia Woods (42:21):
You can find me on cup of Soul show.com, the
Sacramento Observer, and ofcourse, the Philadelphia
Tribune.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (42:32):
That's our show.
Thanks for joining us.
We appreciate you guys, andwe'll see you next time.
Kathia Woods (42:39):
See you next time.
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