Episode Transcript
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Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (00:00):
Hey, Regi, ponder the real critic and
this is the Real CriticsNetwork.
I have been busy but it has notbeen with movie stuff.
I got some constructionhappening over here.
I feel like I, was it MickeyHoward a house under new
management or something?
Love under new management.
It is.
We under new management overhere'cause we are in
(00:21):
construction in a constructionvortex.
Anyway.
I am here with my co-host, KaiaWoods.
Kaia, it is so great to just geta moment to talk to you.
I'm glad you had a little timeto talk to me, who's been busy
so it is on, it's been on me.
You
Kathia Woods (00:37):
were in the same place, Reggie.
And we, I heard you asking aquestion and then I said, well,
what happened to him just outtathere, like a house on fire.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (00:47):
I was looking for you everywhere.
I didn't see you at the movie,but I know you had like 15
invites, so you probably weredoing 15 things.
I wanna get right into itthough, because we have a lot to
talk about, a lot to cover.
And in our first segment, what'son my mind, what's on my mind is
the celebrations that theCritics Choice Association has.
(01:10):
And Birdie told me that therewas one of.
The people that I know was onthe red carpet for the
celebration of Latina Latinocinema and television.
And I just need just a tidbitjust a little bit.
Can I get a scoop?
(01:31):
I actually, I wanna scoop.
I don't even want a tidbit.
I wanna post, wanna knowsomething?
They didn't post that nobodyelse was told, but you probably
told the world since you KatiaWoods was on the red carpet.
Kathia Woods (01:44):
You can hear my voice and you can see my hand.
And the, one of the most funnyactions I had was Anthony Ramas,
who is a Jet fan.
And I told him thoughts andprayers on him being a Jet fan,
and he asked me what fan I am.
I said, we defend him Super Bowlchamps.
I said, we winning over here.
(02:04):
Now granted lately we've hadsome hiccups, but if nothing is
as bad as being a dress fan.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (02:11):
Yeah, well right now I'm getting a you
know, pop my collar'cause thebears are doing pretty well
right now.
So that's all I could say aboutthat.
Kathia Woods (02:20):
And I like to say we will circle back, come play
all time everybody's doing.
And listen, everybody doesreally well.
And then we get into the realdeal, holy field and not
everybody.
And listen, the Eagle's gottatighten up.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (02:36):
I wanna get back to this
celebration'cause we do have alot to talk about.
Yeah.
Is that so you were on the redcarpet?
Yeah.
Gimme two highlights from thered carpet for the celebration
of Latino cinema and television.
Kathia Woods (02:53):
Dolores Huerta, who is 90 plus years young, we
had a nice chat.
That was pretty cool.
And I think I would say otherthan, and then with Kla is
talking to him, he's thedirector Mendoza, he Fi Mendoza,
he's the director of the Secretagent, which is Brazil's entry
to best international film.
(03:13):
I was about to say, best foreignfilm, but they don't change that
wording.
So that's pretty good as afellow Brazilian for us to have.
Our little moment, and super,super excited for Wagner today.
Who is a double nominee, goWagner.
So I think that those were likemy personal ones.
But again, Anthony Rams.
We had ourselves a good littleKiki on the carpet,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (03:37):
and now I've asked a little bit
about the red carpet.
Talk about the power that was inthe room, the energy that was in
the room that night.
Kathia Woods (03:49):
I think, I always say this and people always think
that I'm being cliche-ish, butsome of the best movies being
made are not in English.
And I've been a champion of be,I talked about it, in our guild
and being like, oh, watch thismovie Dolores was on, on my
guild for on my ballot.
For a lot of categories, I thinkbe is one of the most important
(04:11):
movies, I think.
Be.
Speaks to everything that'sgoing on here.
It's an important movie, notjust for Latin America, south
America, but it's just animportant movie.
What the power of women and whathappens when we have our voice
stripped.
You know how this young womanfound herself being in jail and
(04:31):
she had a miscarriage this iswhere we're going, but just this
woman that made this movie thatreally stayed with me.
So I think her talking about theimportance of us as women
taking, our power and you don'thave to be famous to do that.
(04:51):
I think also, I gotta think,just overall the beauty that is
to be Latino.
The diversity in the room attoo, being on the carpet with
his mother, he's a child ofimmigrants and having her be so
emotional and having thesupport.
(05:12):
'cause this is the other thing,miss, we gotta misspell that a
lot of Latin American parentsdismiss their career children.
And here you have a woman whodrove her son to the arts and
poured into him and look atwhere it's leading.
You know what I mean?
And she just is when you leadwith love, so she's pretty.
So that was a pretty coolmoment.
(05:34):
Him and his mom.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (05:36):
That's wonderful.
Now everybody knows that ReggiePonder does not speak Spanish,
but because you went to thecelebration of Latinos cinema
and tv, say something to yourLatino compadres in Spanish
about this.
I won't know what you're saying,but that's okay.
Kathia Woods (06:13):
In other words, it's important for us to
celebrate our diversity, for usto lean into that when we are
creating our art and tocelebrate all of us, which I
think is the same thing we haveon the black side.
We gotta celebrate black peopleglobal, and get out of these di
diaspora wars, which areridiculous, and.
(06:33):
Lean in.
Yes, we have different points ofentry, but we have more in
common than we don't.
Wow.
Which is All of us started overthere on the continent.
That's where it all leads backto, I don't care if you're
British accent, I don't care ifyou're Irish or Scottish.
Our people all come from thatpart of the world.
Wow.
(06:53):
And the boat just made differentstops and some people stayed
Indian Americas and some peoplegot shipped to other parts of
the world.
And I think the moment we domore of that, I love, remember
like we were talking aboutScottish TikTok and black people
in America discovering theirblack Scots.
And then, were with Junior, wentover to Scotland and he
(07:15):
connected with some of'em andthey had a whole meetup.
That's what I'm talking abouttravel with intentions or some
black people were like, I neverthought I'm into the uk.
A gazillion times.
I didn't know we were overthere.
Okay, I'm on my way.
And people booking trips that'swhat I'm talking about.
Let's build c There's so muchgoing on.
Let's build community.
(07:36):
We don't have the energy to be,at least I,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (07:40):
one of the things that I really
love, thank you for that.
I really love that.
And one of the things that Ireally love is that the Critics
Choice Association, if not theorganization started it, but
members within the organizationsaid that we needed to have
these celebrations and that ourorganization supports that,
(08:03):
these celebrations are very,very important and I love it.
I am gonna see you, I think in afew days at the next
celebration.
Are we though,
Kathia Woods (08:13):
are you though?
That's true.
You're just gonna be dip it inlike you did at the last time.
I, last time you claim you sawme.
That not Reggie ponder in thefront row.
You
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (08:24):
can ask everybody.
I was looking for you because Iwas gonna complain to you at one
of our events that the DJ wasn'tplaying the kind of music for us
to get our groove on it.
It was like, it was okay.
I mean, it was not the sameparty.
But anyway, it's
Kathia Woods (08:40):
supposed to be well on Tuesday, I don't know.
I is, I allegedly rumor hasthat, it's supposed to be after
party, which I don't wanna saythis, I want nobody talking
about.
I said there's gonna be afterparty's gonna be this.
Don't put that on me.
I'm saying there may or may notbe.
I know Sean puts together aplaylist.
I know one year we did have adj, maybe we turned up too hard.
(09:02):
They said no more dj, but eitherwhich way.
I know one thing Reggie Potter'sgonna be on that dance floor,
like he was at the at the colorpurple.
If you wanna know, Reggie wasnot, some people are at the bar,
but Reggie's on the dance floor.
Reggie said Y'all can have thebar.
I'm ready.
I was about to sit, Donna, comeget your guy.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (09:22):
I'm like, if they're playing music,
I am trying to have a danceparty.
Let's talk about a party that'scoming up, which is the
celebration of black cinema andtelevision and there are some
really big names that are gonnabe honored.
I spoke with Sean Edwards, theexecutive producer.
I spoke with him yesterday aboutthis event and I so happen to
(09:48):
have been able to, at theChicago International Film
Festival, catch up with a coupleof these folks.
I caught up with Spike Lee.
I had a video thing with RyanCoogler and Michael B.
Jordan.
I was able to catch up withTiana Taylor.
I talked to Nia DeCosta as wellas Tessa Thompson and all of
(10:12):
those people are being honoredhere, and I just think that this
is gonna be as usual, just oneof the highlights of the year.
This is one of the events thatour whole organization, I mean,
our whole organization looksforward to, they all say, and
I'm talking about black, Latino,whatever, say, we gotta make
(10:32):
sure we make it to that one.
We coming into that one.
And I think that this is goingto be a great one.
It's going to, people will beable to see it on Stars in
January.
And I just leave it to you tosay a few words about the
upcoming celebration.
Kathia Woods (10:48):
I think we know why it's needed, we're only 13%
of the population and we're evenless when it comes to these
guilds.
We look at, I asked the questionday, I said who's the leading
black Oscar pond?
Are they even women that havethat big of a platform, right?
Other than Clayton, I thinkmaybe Clayton, but Clayton works
at a trade, but who's likeoutside created their own
(11:10):
platform.
Where is that voice?
Where are the women in thatconversation?
It's still predominantly white.
It's still predominantly male,and we know that's how the
voting goes.
There's only room for one.
It best, or we shove'em all bestsupporting.
So I think that's why you needit.
And then sometimes you havepeople, like somebody like a
Delroy Lindo that has such aresume and given us so much and
(11:33):
people always think that he'sbeen awarded.
But then when you do theknowledge 180 and you dig
around, right?
And you go oh, what?
Oh, oh, okay.
Hey, we, yeah, no.
Nope, we have not given him hisflowers, right?
It's always at the funeralprocession.
So that's what you need it.
I think you need it for someonelike a Tessa Thompson who was on
(11:55):
my ballot, who I adore, who Iwill always be rooting for,
who's beyond talented.
And we know that she haslight-skinned privilege, but if
she were white, the checks werea bit bigger, right?
It's not lack of talent.
So that's why you need it.
You need it.
So these performers know that wesee you, we see your work.
(12:17):
If no one else sees you, thecommunity sees you.
Ooh, we still, we on mute,friend.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (12:25):
I think that's beautiful.
I'm really glad that youmentioned that.
I'm gonna be on mute for aminute'cause of this
construction.
They got it going on over here.
Kathia Woods (12:33):
I took a lunch break.
Talk to me, I mean, from yourperspective, right?
Because we're around the sameage, do, are we seeing more
people getting opportunities?
We don't wanna be all doom andglue, right?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (12:48):
Yes.
I'm not seeing more peoplegetting opportunities, but I am
blessed to be in a cohort whereI see some of my friends who are
getting those opportunities andI'm very, very happy when tho
when those things happen.
So, for instance, when I talk toyou about a junket that you were
invited to be it someplace inLondon or wherever I know that
(13:10):
they're inviting theseinfluencers and those types of
people, but I am also very happywhen I can hear that, oh.
I know two or three people whoare also invited to that as
well.
I know the numbers aredwindling, but as long as we
have some people there and thefact that I am junket adjacent
(13:33):
is what my daughter would say, Iam junket adjacent because I
have friends who are out theredoing their thing that is really
positive and very inspiring bythe way.
Just so inspiring to see myfriends out there.
Getting some of thoseopportunities.
I know we are not getting allthose opportunities, but it
isn't inspiring to get some ofthose opportunities.
(13:54):
We always talk about how it's ashame when we do not get the
opportunity to talk to blacktalent about black movies or
black roles.
This celebration of black cinemaallows all of us to rub elbows
to talk and actually have thesekind of conversations that are
(14:16):
not gonna be recorded, that willnot be interviews, but will be
just some of that heartfeltstuff that you get when you just
bump into somebody and you say,Hey Ruth, I really like what you
did with those costumes, but Ididn't understand how you did
such and such.
And she'll say, you don't knowit was by Hooker, by did you
(14:38):
have these real, realconversations bumping up against
a ster a sterling or Ryan, andactually having conversations as
opposed to interviews?
These will be some beautiful,beautiful moments and I'm really
looking forward to thecelebration of black cinema and
television.
Kathia Woods (14:56):
I think we know right now our industry is on the
critic side is going through adumpster fire, but I also feel
like.
So many people.
Yes.
We know a lot of our colleagueshave left and been displaced.
But at the same time, We're allhanging out.
(15:16):
We're definitely not doing thisfor a check, but we're hanging
on because if we don't talkabout some of this talent and
some of this work, who's gonnatalk about it?
Reggie Ponder, The (15:33):
Absolutely.
And when we get to our next SECsegment, we'll be talking about
the nominations.
And I'm just gonna, and in thatsegment, we're not gonna talk
all about each movie.
We'll do that on anothersegment.
Yeah.
We're just gonna talk about ourinitial reactions about the,
those nominations and.
It the reason why we need tocontinue to be in these
(15:56):
organizations that we need tocontinue to talk about these
specific movies.
There's movies that you saw onthe Latino side that now I'm
gonna have to catch up withbecause you're talking about, oh
man, it is just so beautiful andso fantastic.
I've been a little bit behindthis year just because of some
things that are happening overhere in on the Chicago side.
(16:17):
But we need to see and talkabout these movies because if we
don't, no one will.
So with that, I like to moveinto our next segment, which is
the.
So usually we talk about a movieor two movies or maybe three
movies.
'cause you like talking aboutmovies.
(16:38):
My god.
Last, I think last episode youwanted to talk about six movies.
I'm not, I can't talk about allthese movies right now.
My head is swimming, trying totalk about all these movies.
Kathia Woods (16:48):
I'm still in recovery from Avatar Bud.
You go ahead.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (16:51):
How, however, the nominations for the
Critics Choice Awards for the31st Annual Critic Choice
Awards, which will air onJanuary the fourth.
We are, first up, we are settingthe tone.
(17:13):
Our votes matter.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's the campaign.
Yeah our votes matter.
Yeah.
Maybe we'll do that.
So let's get into the majorcategories and then any of the
smaller categories that youmight want to jump into as well.
Because there are so manycategories that we can't get
through all of them in thisshow.
But let's go through the firstone, which is best picture,
(17:35):
which everyone wants to know.
So you got your list, Katia?
I got my list.
Alright.
So who made it?
Who made it in the top 10?
Kathia Woods (17:44):
Frankenstein.
Which, okay.
I feel like sometimes we havesinners.
We have one battle Now one Ineed you to explain to me,'cause
I'm really confused by this onebogo.
Okay.
I don't, I'm very confused bythat.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (18:07):
So we, so I'm gonna list them off
before you talk about beingconfused.
Yes.
Hold on.
We got gon We have
Kathia Woods (18:11):
gon Frankenstein Hamnet j Kelly, Marty Supreme,
which is another one I'm notcrazy about.
One bad after another.
Sentimental values, sinner,train Dreams and Wicked for
good.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (18:24):
And I will tell you I don't wanna
say who shouldn't be on thislist yet because I can't, I,
because there's a couple,there's two here that I haven't
seen yet.
But what I do wanna say is thatthere was a movie that blew me
that, that blew me away.
They kept me captivated, that Ilike, that's not on this list.
(18:45):
And it's heda heda for me.
I really like what Nia DeCostadid for that film and am very
shocked, almost.
That this film didn't make it.
I can't tell you which onesshould drop off.
I can't not right now, but I cantell you that heda for me I
(19:06):
liked Wicked for Good, by theway, but I take Heda over Wicked
for Good.
I'm just saying I would, I agreewith you on that one.
I take head over j Kelly.
Kathia Woods (19:18):
I gave Wicked for Good a six, which made it like
fresh, slightly fresh.
It's only because of Cynthia andArianna, the rest of the movie.
I said this in my review.
Sean Chu did not make a caseother than cash grab for
(19:39):
Universal on why we needed apart two.
He, I would've just wished hemade a longer movie, but we did
not need a part two.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (19:49):
Yeah it dragged a, it
Kathia Woods (19:50):
dragged very much and it looked like, you know
what?
It looked like a lazy layout.
And this is why, to me, he didnot, he does not deserve to be
on the best director list.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (20:02):
We'll get to that next, but for you, I
mentioned one that I felt, Iguess would be a snub because
Heda really should have been onthis list, in my opinion.
I think what Nia did with thisfilm was innovative.
It made us interested in thisaristocratic kinda upper class
(20:24):
life that maybe we'll never,ever touch, but made me still be
interested in that show.
But is there a movie for youthat you'd like to see on this
list?
Kathia Woods (20:32):
We already talked about when I would bump off.
Right.
I, uh, but we have a, Iunderstand, I just learned this.
We have a rule that if you getnominated in best picture, you
can't get nominated ininternational picture.
We have this rule.
Okay.
(20:52):
So you can't have, you can't bea double nominee.
So for me, I would've liked toif we didn't have that rule,
then I would like to have seenBelen get in here.
I'd like that movie that much,but I still think if we're going
to go oh, dear God, if we'regonna go mainstream, bulia is
(21:16):
just one of those movies whereI'm just like.
I just, it does not scream bestpicture, you know?
And
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (21:25):
I'm okay with it not screaming.
Best picture.
I need you to tell me who elseis gonna, you would put in
there.
Don't tell who you gonna takeoff.
Who would you have had in here?
Katia Woods.
You're getting on my nerve.
I
Kathia Woods (21:36):
were, I would've said, you know what, we, I gotta
think if I had legs I wouldkick.
Oh, okay.
You did tell me.
I'll say that that is a moviethat surprised me because at
first when it starts, and alsoAAP Rocky is in this movie.
When it starts, I'm like, whatis happening?
Why do we never, why does ittake so long for us to see the
(21:57):
husband?
But I thought it is such a,we've had a lot of strong movies
on motherhood this year.
We had left-handed girl, we havethis.
I just think it really shows youa picture.
What women deal with when youhave no support and you trying
(22:18):
to keep it all together and youare trying to be like, just a
shame and just how you, it'simportant to give women support.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (22:27):
And interestingly is that if you
look, when you talk aboutmotherhood, you look at Hamnet,
you look at one battle afteranother.
Yeah.
You look at sinners.
Yeah.
All three of them touch on theissue of motherhood in very,
very interesting ways.
I hadn't thought about thatuntil you just mentioned it, but
(22:49):
I'm sure some of these otherones do do as well.
But a really great comment, Iguess we can move on to our next
segment.
I mean, our next.
Nominations, and that's bestactors.
And for best actor, we haveTimothy Chalamet for Marty
Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio forone Battle after another.
We have Ethan Hawke for BlueMoon.
(23:11):
We have Michael B.
Jordan for Sinners.
And then we have Wagner Maurafor the Secret Agent.
The, again, I am not, you and Iare gonna have a whole nother
show about who should, who, whoshould drop off.
And you can say it now, who youthink should drop off, but we
are gonna dig deeper into thatlate.
Kathia Woods (23:30):
I I like, I believe it or not, I don't have
a problem with any of the nameson the list.
I've been talking about JoeEggerton for the longest time,
for Trained.
I said, first of all, he'sanother one.
Been doing the Good Lord's work,been doing the Good Lord's work,
been really like really, really,really doing that work.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (23:51):
I'm not mad at this list.
It is great.
Michael b Jordan's at the top ofmy list this year.
I'm just gonna say,
Kathia Woods (23:57):
I mean, he made the cut, but I'm saying to you,
is he, and I think he'll makethe cut on Monday for Golden
Globes, but I'm saying to you,This is a good list.
This is not a bad list.
Yeah I agree
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (24:14):
with you.
I agree with you.
So that means we can move on tothe next, to best actress.
So
Kathia Woods (24:19):
I'm not be honest with you, the surprise and first
of all, once again, it, no shadeto Emma Stone but Emma Stone,
this movie, no, ma'am.
And the other one that don'tbelong in here is Amanda Sifri.
I'm not crazy about that.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (24:35):
You, see guys, that, that we, if
you've been listening to ourpodcast, you know that Katya
Woods is opinion opinionated andshe can't even wait for us to
tell you who got nominated.
She's hot.
Kathia Woods (24:50):
I'll tell you.
Okay, this is, I'll say thelist.
Jesse Buckley for Hamnet Roseby, if I had legs I'd kick you
to.
Absolutely.
But she did in that movie.
If Jesse Buckley wasn't having ayear that she was having, I
would say Rose is the frontrunner here.
I like.
I think Chase Infinity.
(25:10):
I don't have a problem withthat, but she benefited by the
movie getting a lot ofnominations.
So I think a lot of people wenttop down, which is nothing
wrong.
This is a tricky one for me,Renata Refe for sentimental
value, because again, this, butit is a movie that talks about,
it's not talking about motherdaughter, but it's talking about
(25:31):
father-daughter relationship,right?
Again, Amanda Siegfried, who issuper, super sweet and I've
interviewed her before, and Ilike her talent.
It's just this movie is nothitting for me.
And same thing with Emma Stone,but I also get, Emma Stone is an
award, Starling.
So sometimes people getnominated because people like
them as a talent believe thatthey're this modern day
(25:53):
Catherine Hepburn, which hurtssome of these other
performances, right?
People are talking about KateHudson.
This is what we get into thesestudios.
Try to wait until the lastminute to roll out the film or
to give you access to it,thinking it's gonna be the
freshest in your mind, andtherefore you're gonna vote for
it.
But it can also hurt thembecause if you wait too much to
(26:17):
the last minute, like Disneywaited too long to make Zootopia
available, and it kind of didn'ttell people that was only gonna
be on the platform for like asecond.
And then when people thought,oh, I had time like we do with
all these other movies, theywent to go see it.
It was gone.
So I think in this
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (26:33):
I'm one of those, I'm one of those I
miss Zootopia.
So Yeah.
And
Kathia Woods (26:37):
I think like you, you can't be doing that, that,
that, Ooh, how do that?
And I get it, it's a strategythat has worked in the past.
But the problem is boys andgirls, in this particular case,
if you, if they felt they had anaward contender or she should
have been considered for thismovie.
Then you should have rolled itout a little bit earlier.
(26:58):
You shouldn't have seen it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (26:59):
I couldn't agree with you more.
Kathia Woods (27:01):
I, and also you get fatigue.
I mean, people also gottaunderstand, right?
I say this, I had a really luckyyear.
I started all, some of thesemovies I saw January, February,
and then in May, I caught a lotof these foreign films.
Sandra, falling, sentimentalValue, Sierra, and all of those,
right?
Your secret agent.
(27:22):
So if you didn't go to filmfestivals and you don't have
screenings in your backyard ofthese movies, and you're not
getting these screenings earlyenough, but mind you, it's
happened on over Thanksgivingweekend.
So you got family, you got allthis other nonsense going on,
right?
Stuff is gonna fall through thecrack.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (27:41):
And some things absolutely fell
through the cracks.
I wanna ask you about bestactress.
My question is there an AfricanAmerican actress that you feel
was left out on this list?
Kathia Woods (27:55):
I just, I think the movie is, there's nothing
wrong with the movie.
I think Amazon and Tessa alwaysmakes herself available.
I just feel like she needs abigger budgeted film to get her
(28:18):
over the top.
Tessa Thompson, it's not thework.
The work is there.
It's not lack of talent.
She understands how to play thegame.
It's that the work, it's, sheneeds something bigger like
this.
Remember we talking about, thiswas
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (28:34):
big to me.
No, I don I don't reallyunderstand that comment.
Ka I know,
Kathia Woods (28:40):
I it's, here's the thing, is the game is rigged for
black women.
We know that for black women, wecan't do the indie thing like oh
girl did with, and Nora, that isnot a path that helps them.
We have to have people, we needthe machine behind us and
(29:02):
there's nothing, and I get whatyou're saying, but you need the
$25 million 30 campaign.
That's what you need.
Okay.
And look at what happened withCynthia.
Now, the problem with Cynthia, Idon't wanna say the problem with
Cynthia.
I think the challenge, Iwouldn't say it's a problem
'cause there's nothing wrongwith Cynthia.
The challenge is the movie gotvery mixed reviews, especially
(29:25):
from the critics.
So I didn't think she was gonnamake the cut once those reviews
came out.
I didn't think.
And some people, this is moreAriana's movie, even though
Cynthia still had great moments.
It's almost like I fit.
I feel like if they would'veswitched and had Ariana be lead.
In this and then made Cynthiasupporting.
(29:45):
I feel like Cynthia would'vemade it.
But also I think there's alsobacklash on how Universal has
handled their marketing.
Leaning more towardsinfluencers.
So critics are like, why are wevoting for your movie?
I know that sounds petty, butit's also part of the business,
right?
The politics.
So I think in this case you, shehad the machine, but there were
(30:06):
some missteps and the moviewasn't as well liked.
Okay.
Whereas I feel like if Tessa hadthe big, big machine and they're
wonderful people at work, Iwanna be very clear.
In Amazon, MGM, however youneed, it's like running for
office, right?
I keep explaining this topeople.
You can be an amazing candidateand we know there are some
(30:26):
amazing candidates, but if youain't got no money and you don't
got the right campaign manager,your campaign ain't going
nowhere.
And that's what happens,unfortunately.
So I think both Tessa's youngenough, she's in her thirties.
I think it will happen for her,where the intersection of her
talent, her tenacity, theproject and the money will all
(30:48):
meet
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (30:49):
here.
Here's what I think.
I think that you are probablyright.
It'll meet, but when it meets,it may not be her best work that
she's gonna get.
Kathia Woods (30:57):
That part, that part
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (30:59):
she's gonna get it as
Kathia Woods (31:02):
consolation wise,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (31:04):
as a, what do you call it?
A, an lifetime achievementAlmost award, because this right
here, heda, this right here.
It is everything that you wouldwant from an actress.
The way in which she embodiesthis character, how she
orchestrates the chess board ofpeople.
(31:27):
She just did a masterful jobhere and I, I.
I, I feel like when Denzel gotit for training day, everybody
knows that Denzel should havereceived it for Malcolm X.
Some, a couple of people argueme at that point, but I think
what Denzel did in Malcolm X wasso false.
Oh,
Kathia Woods (31:43):
it, it was so much better.
And I think he also lost tosomebody that should have won
for another role.
'cause they gave it to him forlike, also like a catchup award,
right?
Yeah.
And I think, here's the thing Iwish if I had a magic wand, I,
Tessa was number one on myballot.
Yeah.
I adored a performance and Ivoted.
(32:07):
I know a part of me was like,I'm voting with my heart.
But I said, but that's how Ifeel.
So I'm gonna vote.
I'm not gonna be strategic.
But I do want people to know usbeing in the room helps our
talent.
Like Wood Harris would not havebeen on that ballot if it wasn't
for black critics in CriticsChoice.
No, I can say thatunequivocally.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (32:26):
No.
He not
Kathia Woods (32:26):
have made the cut.
He wouldn't have even beenthought of the show, wouldn't
have been thought of, you
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (32:31):
know.
No, no doubt about it.
Let's move on to a bestsupporting actor.
We have Benicio Deltoro for oneBattle after another.
We have Jacob El Lord.
I don't even know how to say hisname.
Where,
Kathia Woods (32:44):
where are we?
Hold on.
Jacob
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (32:46):
el Lordy la Lordy.
Kathia Woods (32:48):
Mm-hmm.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (32:49):
For Frankenstein, Paul Mezcal for
Hamnet.
Sean Penn for one Battle afteranother.
Adam Sandler for j Kelly.
And Ste Scars guard forsentimental value.
I will tell you that.
I am happy to see Adam Sandleron that list.
I really am.
The j Kelly wasn't my favoritemovie, but Adam Sandler, he
(33:12):
brought a really goodperformance here, and he can
Kathia Woods (33:16):
act.
We've been saying that foryears.
Do not let the happy Gilmoresdistract you from the fact at
the end of the day, he can act.
Yeah.
He's a, he's giving youSpanglish, he's giving you gym
cuts.
He's giving you this, the guycan act, he can do it straight.
He doesn't have to be in the
Reggie Ponder, The Re (33:34):
costumes.
I'm so happy that, so of thepeople, I'm so happy to see him
there.
Of the people who are, who's notthere.
Oh I'm, let me say this too.
I'm very happy to see Sean Pennand Benicio del Toro on this
list because they are both Inow,
Kathia Woods (33:49):
every time I see Benicia del Toro, I'm gonna be
thinking Bob.
Right,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (33:54):
right, right.
But both of them were absolutelydeserving.
The time in which the you keeptalking about the telephone gag.
So the telephone gag, when hefinally comes to the the
telephone gag is just absolutelyhilarious to me, where he's
like, just give me the password.
(34:14):
Just give me the password.
I, I really like what whatLeonardo had to go through on
that telephone call.
But Benicio, what he did in thisfilm by being that sensei, he
had this calm through the chaos,and it was so good.
I'm so happy that he's there.
And Sean Penn was on anotherlevel that walk, that talk, that
(34:40):
persona that he had, heabsolutely deserves to be on
this list.
Now, who's not on this list?
Which is a shocker.
And you mentioned it earlier,it's a guy who was in, let's
see, what movie was that?
Oh, sinners.
I don't know how he didn't makeI just don't understand that.
(35:04):
He was so good.
He wasn't.
Okay.
And so when you talk about themovie One Battle after another
and they just went down theline, how come you just wouldn't
go down the line for Sinner?
I,
Kathia Woods (35:19):
you know, what I wanna say is they brought Ryan
and Michael back out and theybought ti out for one battle
after another.
Warner Brothers.
They needed to bring out Delroy,'cause Delroy was on the cusp.
I feel like they brought outpeople to get in front of the
(35:39):
people that were.
Not on the cusp.
Tiana was always gonna make it.
Michael and Ryan were gonna makeit.
Delroy was on the bubble and itshows,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (35:53):
And he, and it cost, he shoulda made
it.
Kathia Woods (35:55):
And he needed that extra push.
Again, not for you and me.
We good.
We don't We got you.
We see you, sir.
It's for those other people.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (36:04):
Yeah.
We're gonna do three morecategories and then we'll have
to reconvene.
Kathia Woods (36:09):
You see what I'm saying?
The campaign, you gonna be like,okay, you can't just have Gavin
Newsom and this guy here.
We know everybody knows who theyare.
We need the guy over here inthat small little county that's
running for mayor of town 1, 2,3.
He needed that extra coin, thatextra, you know.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (36:28):
Yes.
No doubt about it.
No doubt about it.
Let's move on to best supportingActress, and you can take this
one.
Who do we have nominated?
Kathia Woods (36:36):
Well.
This one is pretty much onesurprise, right?
L fanning.
That is a surprise for me.
It's a sentimental value.
Ariana Grande, Inga ip, Lillia,sentimental value.
Really got a lot of love.
That's probably, those are mytwo.
Amy Madigan for weapons.
(36:57):
Wmi for Sinners, very happyabout that.
And then Tiana Taylor.
Now I will say this, I'm goingto, I don't like to predict the
whole thing.
I like to pick one or two.
I think as much as people liketo push out Ariana Grande, I
(37:18):
feel like Warner's is gonna winthat race.
I think Warner's is gonna winthat race.
I just feel like they have thewind beneath their sail right
now.
And I, in my mind.
Even though all this stuff isgoing on, on the business end,
they got the coins in the coffinand they got the soldiers to get
(37:41):
it done.
Yeah.
So let, we're gonna circle back,especially if she makes the cut
on Monday.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (37:49):
If who makes the cut?
Kathia Woods (37:51):
Tiana, I think this, yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (37:53):
I think Tiana
Kathia Woods (37:54):
to me feels like
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (37:55):
a, a front runner.
She feels like a front runner.
Kathia Woods (37:57):
Yes.
I will tell you her race to win.
And also the other thing too is,here's the thing.
People that don't know her,don't know her work when they
meet her, she's so infectious.
And also people, you know,they're a little bit more, how
can I put it?
They're a little bit more givingwith our girls in the supporting
(38:19):
category.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (38:23):
Yeah.
Oh, it's always the case.
I will tell you this, is that ifee were to win, it wouldn't be
like, no, they gave it to herbecause without her, in that
movie I said this to Ryan andMichael, I said, the James Brown
(38:45):
lyric is, it's a man's world,but it wouldn't be nothing,
nothing without a woman or agirl.
And Ryan was like, you ain'tnever said, you ain't never said
nothing right there, becausewithout the women in this film,
and they particularly referencedNIE and her performance that
everybody looked to her for thestrength, for the direction, for
(39:08):
all of that.
So I think Taylor.
Could be a front runner here butman, ley, she was fantastic.
Kathia Woods (39:17):
I just think she is another one of those
actresses because she's so goodin everything.
People too think, oh she's just,she's out here just getting all
these offers.
And I also love that she talkedabout being seven months
postpartum when she made thismovie.
And I'm like, girl, you had yourwomen's body you look beautiful.
(39:39):
You know?
And I'm like, girl, I can't saythat though.
I said, we all go, we, I said,we all going through stuff after
we have a baby, right?
And the fact that you be onscreen, I said, who are we?
I said, difference is we hideout in the house, Brielle.
I said, we hide out in thehouse.
You know what I mean?
And I just, I think she'sstunning.
(39:59):
I think she's stunning, but Ican't say that.
Right.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (40:01):
I can't, I I can't say that.
Kathia Woods (40:03):
I mean, listen, that's between you and Donna.
But I, she's stunning.
And I think she is beyondtalented,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (40:11):
be beyond just,
Kathia Woods (40:13):
and then, like I said, it's, Emma would not be
mad that night.
She gets up there and she getsTink T Award.
And I think Tiana too.
But I love this for Tiana,because you know what?
People try to play in thatlady's face.
People try to play with her.
People try to say that shewasn't a real deal, holy field.
And with her music, everythingcame later.
But she also said she's gladit's happening now because she
(40:35):
appreciates it more.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (40:38):
Yeah.
I love the fact that you saidshe's glad
Kathia Woods (40:39):
and she said she's glad she's the most.
In my conversation with her, shesaid what she's most proud of is
that her daughters.
And then that kind of, that hithome for me.
It hits different when yourdaughter say, mommy, you did a
good job.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (40:55):
Yeah.
I'm glad you said the real deal,Holyfield, because she's a
fighter right there.
That's what I'm gonna say.
Yeah, she's,
Kathia Woods (41:01):
and you know what?
This award thing, you see somepeople, you're like, Ugh, dude.
You know what I mean?
They just feel like, it looks,they look like their teeth are
being pulled, and I really wannabe like, I hope, and she is the
opposite.
She's having fun with it.
She's having a good time.
(41:21):
She
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (41:22):
is having fun with it.
When I did a Zoom call orinterview with her, and girl was
relaxed.
She was laying back.
She wasn't even sit, she wasn'teven sitting up.
She was like, look, let me tellyou how I think about this film.
So that was great.
I wanna get through two morecategories before we, we wrap
up.
And the two categories is thebest.
(41:42):
Young actor, actress.
I like the fact that as aorganization, we do that one and
we have Everett Blanc from theplague.
Miles, Caton for sinners.
Carrie Christopher for weapons.
Shannon Mahena Gorman for rentalfamily.
Jacoby Jew for Hamnet and ye forleft-handed Girl.
(42:05):
I have a feeling you are gonnawant it to be Nee Knee.
Ye, but I will tell you that Ilove what Miles did I, the fact
that he came, I'm gonna behonest
Kathia Woods (42:15):
with you, you got me a little wrong in this one.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (42:18):
I love what he did, but Jacob j
that was one of my choices rightthere.
Jacob Jew.
What he did at Hamnet I wasmesmerized by what was done
there.
So my two would be Jacob Ju andMiles Katon.
And I loved what Jacob Ju did inhim.
Kathia Woods (42:42):
Did you do what I did?
You, we had to start Googlingpeople's ages.
Well, the kids are obvious.
I did.
I did.
But when you're like, is it ateenager?
Is it this, is it that?
When I just tell you what, thefirst thing I put down was
Miles.
As soon as I learned he was 20.
Done 20.
Because the other two were easy.
They were kids.
But I was like, miles and here.
(43:06):
Done.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (43:07):
I only have one last category that
I want to get in.
Get in with you.
And I'm gonna let you read offthe nominees for that one.
And that's for best director.
Kathia Woods (43:16):
Okay.
Not surprised.
But Paul Thomas Anderson fromBomb Bed after to another Ryan K
for Sinners.
Gilead Mototo for Frankenstein.
Little surprised by this Josh Tyfor Marty Supreme, but the
Wright Ty brother got nominated.
Joaquin Tri for SentimentalValue and Chloe Z for Hamnet.
Not Surprised by Chloe.
(43:37):
Surprised by Joaquin.
And, but I also do, but I dothink the right Ty brother got
it.
Yes.
'cause we, you know, somebody haI said it yesterday and somebody
got mad at me.
They said, oh, they'repredicting that The Rock.
I had a lovely chat with theRock and he is always gracious
and always loving.
But sir, in a year where we hadthe male performances that we
(44:01):
had, and if you didn't startincluding some of these smaller
films, you start includingforeign films.
It was a hard road for theRockstar.
I don't see it.
I can see him maybe slipping infor Golden Globes'cause they
have six two and they have comYou know what I mean?
They have Yes, yes.
Visible stuff.
But baby this was a, this wouldprobably, it probably would've
(44:23):
been easier for him to stand outthere and on the highway in LA
make traffic stop.
Because this was just a uphillroad.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (44:31):
I wanna ask you about two films
and both of them are aboutwomen.
Obviously this not here for bestdirector is neither the Costa
and then the Man, now I'mblanking out on the Netflix film
with Idris.
Kathia Woods (44:46):
What?
Netflix.
Oh, you're talking about Houseof Dynamite.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (44:49):
H.
House of Dynamite.
So thoughts on only one womandirector being a nominated here.
And I'm not saying like wealways have to have a woman.
Kathia Woods (45:01):
No, no.
I think half Bigelow, if themovie would've been received
better, probably would've slidin there.
But, you know, it's tough.
It's tough, tough, tough.
I think this is her win.
She's won before Glory.
This is her nod.
She's not gonna win.
I think it's amongst the boys.
It's between Ryan and Paul.
(45:23):
I will say also this,'causesince I'm feeling predictable
today, Ryan Kogler is going towin an Academy Award.
I'm gonna say he, it may not bein Best Director, but he's going
to walk away that night with hisFirst Academy Award and it may
be for best original screenplay.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (45:40):
All right, we got it.
Now there are categories we didnot get through.
We will come back, we will talkabout more.
There's best originalscreenplay, adaptive Screenplay.
Best Casting Ensemble.
Best Cinematography.
All of those categories.
And I know there are important,but we are not gonna put it all
in one show.
(46:01):
So just hold.
No,
Kathia Woods (46:01):
no.
But I think it's okay.
So what surprised you to mouth,let me ask you that.
'cause you always ask me stuff.
So this morning when you got thething in the email, right?
And you looked down, were youlike, oh, or were you like, oh.
I was like, oh, I thought it wasgonna be the honoraria.
(46:22):
I'll let you go first.
What did you, what surprised youthe most?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (46:25):
I was like, oh, because I've
already said this to you.
Heda for me has to be in this,in these nominations somewhere,
somewhere.
If you don't have best picture,you have to have best actress.
If you don't have best actress,then you have to have best
director there.
I just don't see how the, thisheader gets shut out.
(46:49):
Yes, shut out.
There's not a nomination forthat movie, and our job is to
compare movies.
It's tough sometimes becausethey're different.
Subject matter, different timeperiods, different pacing,
different ways of looking at it.
(47:09):
Sometimes it's comedy, sometimesit's drama.
And so I understand why some ofthe other organizations have a
drama category and a comedycategory.
So it is tough to do this, butit's not tough for me to say the
head, it should have been inhere.
And when I looked all the way upand down the list.
And when I looked up and downthe list and did not see Heda, I
was like, huh, for real.
Kathia Woods (47:31):
I knew it was in a bubble.
We'll get it at afca, we'll getit at the image awards.
We'll get it at these otherthings.
But let's circle back.
Let's take Heda off the tablefor a minute.
What did you think in terms oflike the big boys?
Did you think it went, it wasgonna go the way it went?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (47:53):
I think you brought up a really
good point about the machinehelping somebody like a Tessa
Thompson.
And when I saw, because let mesay this.
When I saw the list for BestPicture, the first thing I did
is say Uhhuh.
(48:13):
These are the pictures thatVariety listed as most of these
pictures are the movies thatvariety listed as the front
runners, the campaigns thatthese organizations had.
So Begonia, I was not surprisedthat it was there because they
had a campaign.
(48:34):
Frankenstein not surprised thatit was there.
There was a campaign Hamnet.
I wasn't surprised that it wasthere.
Firstly, I liked it.
But secondly, you were rattingand raving about it coming out
of Tiff.
Reggie, you gotta go see Hamnet.
You need to see Hamnet j Kelly.
I like this movie, but did Ithink that this was the Oscar
(48:56):
level movie?
I did not.
I don't think Who,
Kathia Woods (49:00):
we didn't talk about two, I'm sorry to
interrupt you.
The Brad Bradley Cooper moviereally was like people gave that
no luck.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (49:09):
And I don't understand that, in
fact, because maybe because I'mmarried this film spoke to me.
I really liked what Laura dur,by the way, what she did in this
one and how she played off ofAdam Sandler and j Kelly.
She had two movies out therethat she did a really good job.
I'm like, Laura, go ahead girl.
(49:29):
I'm, I really like what she didthere.
So you're right.
Is this thing on, but becausethere's two of these films that
I haven't seen, that's why Ididn't wanna say what films
didn't belong there.
So when once I watch these othertwo films, I'll be better
prepared to say, yeah, is thisthing on should have been here
before?
Sentimental value.
Kathia Woods (49:49):
I will say this to you.
This is what I thought.
One battle after another wasgonna get more than sinners.
When I saw that sinners got themost and don't get it twisted.
The below the line.
I keep saying this to people.
(50:10):
Movie making is a team sport.
Everything gotta be considered.
The below the line I feel reallyhelped the above the line.
Now I'm not talking about actor,I'm not talking about best
supporting.
I'm talking about like some ofthese in between.
(50:31):
That's a good thing.
So now it's got some windbeneath its sail.
The Warner Brothers team can'ttake their foot off the gas.
They gotta make these calls thisweekend as Golden Globes does.
You know what I mean?
And where it gets a little sagwhen it comes to movies like
Sinner Sag is the one thatthrows a little loop in there,
(50:53):
right?
Remember they didn't nominateRegina King, but Fred, not black
people.
Remember I told y'all we, she'sstill gonna win.
And she did win Oscar Knight.
But I do think, and I said thisbefore, best picture is still
one is gonna be in-house.
Warner Brothers is, I hope theyhave a cute little competition
going on.
The two different awards teamwithin Warner Brothers.
(51:15):
Somebody, whoever wins bestpicture gotta pick up dinner or
something like that, right?
Or gets to have bragging rightsor whatever they wanna call it.
I have no doubt on Oscar Knightit is going to be a Warner
Brothers picture.
It just will be like, who?
As night is going Right, whichis kind of, it's gotta be like a
fun little thing for them.
(51:36):
I feel like Frankenstein isprobably out of all Netflix
offerings their best.
But I think right now with thispurchase of Warner Brothers,
there's something about Netflixand people think Netflix is so
anti theaters.
I don't think they're gonna giveit to Netflix.
I don't, I think it's gonna be along time, especially with this,
(51:58):
before they give Netflix bestpicture.
I even within CAI don't see it.
They, they think, I think, youknow, it's not, the problem with
Netflix is not that they don'tput out good movies, they put
out good movies.
It's just there is, they gottado some hands across America.
They gotta get some people who.
You know what I mean?
(52:18):
They gotta have a come to Jesuswith some people.
But I think this is warn thosebrothers game to win.
And I also, like I said, is thismorning I look sinners is
leading the pack.
I'm not mad at that, but Ithought it was gonna be one bad
off than the other.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (52:31):
Well, I will say this I will say this
as I, as my closing comment forthis SEC segment is that ne
Netflix is gonna win any way itis now with that purchase.
And it was really funny when wewere gonna talk about our next
segment, rent and Rave, but I'mgonna skip it just because we've
gone a little bit over time.
I was gonna talk about thatpurchase for.
Kathia Woods (52:53):
I think we need to talk about it.
I think we do need to add thison because here's the thing,
somebody said it too, like, youknow, we all peak at social
media.
Somebody said, well, Netflixfinally won.
Its bought itself a best picturewin.
Right?
But I don't think they want itthat way.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (53:07):
No.
I don't think they want it thatway.
Oh, absolutely.
Kathia Woods (53:10):
They want it in-house.
They want it to be one of theirnuts, the bolts.
They don't wanna, oh, we, we gotit.
You inherited your dad's goldmedal because he left it to you
in the will.
Like that's not yours.
I mean, yeah, it's yours, butit's not yours.
You didn't earn
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (53:25):
it.
It's true.
It is true.
And I will tell you, I alwayswant to earn my championship
trophy, however.
If I some kinda way become theowner of the Los Angeles Lakers
and I get one of those rings.
I'm gonna wear that ring.
That's all I'm gonna say.
I know
Kathia Woods (53:42):
you would, Reggie, you would probably not only wear
the ring, but you probably wouldhave a matching little necklace
and that would be on your chestand you would be like, when you
speak to me, recognize,
Reggie Ponder, The R (53:54):
recognize.
'cause I have one of thoserings.
But I agree with you.
I do think that they didn'twanna win it or don't wanna win
it that way, but I just thinkthat they're run up against some
stronger competition.
What centers and one battleafter another.
And it's crazy when you look ata movie like one battle after
another because it's a frenetic,crazy, kinda wild out there
(54:17):
movie and.
It's just not your traditionalmovie fair.
And that also can be said ofsinners.
The fact that Warner Brotherstook a chance on two movies that
are so kind of different.
It's kudos to them.
Kudos.
Kathia Woods (54:37):
I also think that the worry, and I get it right,
is we, there won't be movieslike Sinners and one Battle of
Another.
These are two original ips thatmade a lot of money at the box
office.
I always say Wicked was, we knewit was gonna make money.
It had the cheat code, it has a20 year commercial going around,
(55:00):
around the country, around theglobe and on Broadway right now.
That is work that people know.
It's like the Lion King.
Lion King's always gonna makemoney.
We've grown up with that.
And that's nothing to take awaywith the people associated with
the movie.
No,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (55:12):
no.
Kathia Woods (55:12):
But you had a winning product.
It wasn't like you came out ofnowhere.
Whereas I feel like in terms ofmusicals, we always knew Kids of
a Spider Moron's road was alwaysgonna be harder because it's not
as well known of a musical.
It's not as well liked of amusical.
That's right, that's right.
So you have a bigger be.
Same thing with West Side Story.
This is something that's love.
People know the song.
(55:33):
People may not like every partof it, your little heads up
popping.
I'm
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (55:36):
just thinking we gonna have a rumble
tonight.
That's all I'm thinking about.
I'm, I know, but I'm saying
Kathia Woods (55:39):
to you is, so you have these things, but I feel
like I do understand people'sconcern.
I also, and I wanna hear yourthoughts on this'cause,'cause
you know you are my friend andyou're gonna tell me the truth.
I feel like sometimes whenpeople are so fixated on the
theater experience they'retalking about seeing the thing
(55:59):
on the big screen, and maybe I'mbougie girl over here, but to me
the theater experience is gas.
I gotta put in my car.
Is it worth it for me to go tosaid theater only to have my
feet sticking to the floor,having these stale ass pretzel
bites that aren't really good,but that godawful cheese is, it
(56:23):
doesn't make any sense that I'mpaying$7 for gummy bears when I
know I can get'em a target forthree.
I am not, does not mix part,then I'm not.
This is before I even sit in myseat that I got to select.
But then when I try to leanback, thing is broken.
I can't lean back.
The heat thing isn't workingright.
(56:43):
So to me it's like we haveforgotten that the experience,
you can't keep charging people,in other words,$30 and say you
are paying for the thing on thescreen, but my guy, I can't
enjoy it'cause my chair isbroken.
Or in some cases I've been inmovies, a little friend ran
across the thing.
So now I'm really paranoid.
(57:03):
So I'm saying all of this tosay, Reggie.
Where, and people are like we'resad for the distributors, but
what has happened, in myopinion, the prices have gone
up.
I get it, inflation, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah, blah.
But what are you doing to makepeople feel like they, the
harder money that they spent onthis, for a family of four,
(57:25):
which can run anywhere frombetween a buck 50 to 200,
depending on where you're seeingit, but what are you doing to
have people say, you know what?
I not only enjoyed the movie,but I felt welcomed in.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (57:39):
Okay.
I think two things can be rightat the same time, you are not
wrong about there being a needto elevate the overall
experience.
However, the other people whoare saying this needs to be seen
on the big screen.
They're not wrong either.
There are just some movies thatjust don't hit the same way
(58:02):
Sinners.
I watched it at home.
I watched it twice in the movietheater, and it hits
differently.
I agree.
It's, it is such a sensoryexperience watching that movie
on the big screen and actuallyone battle after another does
(58:22):
too.
When I'm watching out on the bigscreen, that little car chase
scene on the big screen, it justhits differently.
So I understand when people sayyou have to see this movie on
the big screen, and in fact, Iprefer a many of the times to
see movies on the big screen.
I don't think you need to see jKelly on the big screen.
(58:44):
I don't
Kathia Woods (58:45):
think so.
I think there's some moviesbecause we are getting away from
Romcom studios producing.
For theater release Romcoms.
I also think if we're reallyabout that life of wanting to
preserve the theater experience,a MC and Regal and all them
folks, you need to get ittogether.
'cause some of your theaters areshabby.
(59:06):
It's, you all have, it's true.
Some of these theaters, some ofthese bathrooms are looking a
hot mess that's got nothing todo with Netflix or stay at home.
Right?
It, it does, it does not likeyou be able to take your baby to
the bathroom and not be like,well in second thought, can you
hold it until you get home?
'cause this is a crap show.
But at the same token, whatstreamers are doing is the
romcoms, those internationalfilms.
(59:29):
They're also taken, forinstance, for a MC plus.
A lot of those shows like DarkWinds, gangs of London interview
with a vampire because peopleare not subscribed and not
willing to pay for a MC.
A whole new audience once theyhit the Netflix platform is
supporting and getting to seethese shows and therefore
extending the shelf life.
I and again, we also have tounderstand as much as we are a
(59:53):
little biased,'cause we do getto go to movies for free, but at
the same token, how many timeshave we seen something that we
got to see for free?
Now let's take sinners and onebat off another off the table.
But a lot of stuff we've seenlately we're like, if I had to
pay for this, I'm not too sure Iwould.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (01:00:11):
No absolutely.
But I think that's just becauseof the shift in viewing habits
Yeah.
Is that I would stay at homewith Donna to watch is this
thing on because I feel likeit's a personal movie that she
and I could sink into togetherthat we don't need the crowd and
all the people to see it.
(01:00:31):
I think that's sad that I wouldsay that because those types of
movies.
There is a crowd aspect to themthat you miss when you're
walking out of the theater andyou're hearing people saying
stuff like, no, if I was her, Iwouldn't do that.
And if I was him, I wouldn'thave got back with, yeah.
(01:00:53):
There, there is that discussionthat happens and part of that
discussion happens in thetheater as we're talking back to
the screen and saying, Uhuh,girl, that ain't the right
thing.
I don't know why you going backwith him.
The theater experience is morethan the seat, the sticky floor,
(01:01:16):
the little rat that runs overyour foot.
That would make me scared whenI'm watching Sinner because I
jumped up, I jumped 15 timeswhen I was watching Sinner.
By the way, I knew somebody wasgonna bite somebody in the neck.
Why?
Why did we have to have that?
No.
I just think two things can betrue at the same time, these
(01:01:37):
theaters do need to up theirgame also.
It is so much fun to watch amovie in the theater.
Now I'm coming to Atlanta soon.
I will not be seeing you whenI'm there'cause I got a lot of
things, a lot of people to see,a lot of places to go.
But if you could hurry up andbuild your home theater so that
(01:01:59):
next time I'm there, Donna and Iwill come and share a evening of
movies with you.
Kathia Woods (01:02:06):
But I also, I do like the fact right.
And I, because also you and Iare of that generation where we
all know who the first familythat got a color TV or when your
family got a color tv.
Right.
A big deal.
It was right.
Big deal.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:02:23):
Big deal.
Or
Kathia Woods (01:02:23):
if you were friends with the people that got
the first color tv.
I remember that Sony TV that wegot, the remote was a little
smaller too.
And what happened, I do rememberif you were friends, you were
like, Ooh, you prob for youReggie, you probably go, Ooh, I
get to see the game and color.
I get to actually see theuniform, the shorts, the sneaks
and all this other stuff.
(01:02:44):
A lot of our first impression ofmovies that we love, were not
necessarily the movie theater.
So I hate when people go thatare That's true.
I was like those cowboy andIndian movies we did not see in
a movie theater.
Stop it.
You saw that on the color tv, onthe black white TV at your
grandparents' house because youhad no say in what was getting
seen on the tv.
(01:03:04):
So you either watched what theywere watching or you went
outside.
No, it's true and I feel likestreaming is like the new
version.
If it introduces people to somefilms that they would've
otherwise not seen, I do thinkit's not an either or, but I
agree that what sinners and onebattle after another shown,
there is an audience out therefor good keyword, good, bold,
(01:03:28):
for good original thoughts formovies that aren't, fast
nefarious 3000.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (01:03:35):
We're gonna have to leave it at that.
I agree.
You will leave it at that.
We actually did our segment rentand rave.
'cause you saw us Rent and Ravenand even though we didn't say we
were doing that, so No, but
Kathia Woods (01:03:45):
I always wanna know what your thoughts are on
that because we are of a similarage and when I said color TV, I
didn't have to go into the wholeGoogle explanation.
You immediately understood whatI was saying.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (01:03:56):
I did.
I did.
I think ours was a zenith, butanyway, we gonna have to get
outta here.
I wanna thank you guys forchecking us out.
Katia.
Where can people check out allthe stuff that you've been
doing?
Because that red carpet stuff, Iknow you got a lot of stuff out
there.
So where can people check youout?
Kathia Woods (01:04:11):
You can see the red carpet stuff at the Critic
Choice Latin Cinema.
Instagram.
Oh, dear God.
You can read my work at thePhiladelphia Tribune.
You can also read it at theSacramento Observer as well as
see some of my videos.
And if for everything else youcan go to cuppa soul show.com,
what we have in ourselves a goodold time.
And I really wanna take thisopportunity and thank
(01:04:32):
everybody's been watching theYouTube channel.
We are about to have anothervideo, another interview of mine
to go to 30 K views.
And that is insane.
That is, and we've had likethree videos this month that
went over between last month andthis month we're finishing our
strong that are over 15 K.
(01:04:53):
And also, wanna thank you all,we have an additional 300
subscribers.
So y'all rock.
Thank you for rocking
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:04:59):
me.
Oh that's fantastic.
We'll get this up this weekendso we won't be so late.
Kathia Woods (01:05:04):
and I'll let y'all know if Reggie.
We'll rendezvous and check ifReggie is gonna be Hollywood on
Tuesday.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:05:10):
I'm gonna do something.
I'm gonna do something.
You could check meout@indigo.com, sometimes at the
Chicago Sun times@vocalo.org andother places that you can find
Reggie Ponder hat.
And with that, we're gonna saywe'll see you guys next time.
We're out
Kathia Woods (01:05:28):
you next time.
Bye bye.
Hey, Regi, ponder the real critic and
this is the Real CriticsNetwork.
I have been busy but it has notbeen with movie stuff.
I got some constructionhappening over here.
I feel like I, was it MickeyHoward a house under new
management or something?
Love under new management.
It is.
We under new management overhere'cause we are in
(00:21):
construction in a constructionvortex.
Anyway.
I am here with my co-host, KaiaWoods.
Kaia, it is so great to just geta moment to talk to you.
I'm glad you had a little timeto talk to me, who's been busy
so it is on, it's been on me.
You
Kathia Woods (00:37):
were in the same place, Reggie.
And we, I heard you asking aquestion and then I said, well,
what happened to him just outtathere, like a house on fire.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (00:47):
I was looking for you everywhere.
I didn't see you at the movie,but I know you had like 15
invites, so you probably weredoing 15 things.
I wanna get right into itthough, because we have a lot to
talk about, a lot to cover.
And in our first segment, what'son my mind, what's on my mind is
the celebrations that theCritics Choice Association has.
(01:10):
And Birdie told me that therewas one of.
The people that I know was onthe red carpet for the
celebration of Latina Latinocinema and television.
And I just need just a tidbitjust a little bit.
Can I get a scoop?
(01:31):
I actually, I wanna scoop.
I don't even want a tidbit.
I wanna post, wanna knowsomething?
They didn't post that nobodyelse was told, but you probably
told the world since you KatiaWoods was on the red carpet.
Kathia Woods (01:44):
You can hear my voice and you can see my hand.
And the, one of the most funnyactions I had was Anthony Ramas,
who is a Jet fan.
And I told him thoughts andprayers on him being a Jet fan,
and he asked me what fan I am.
I said, we defend him Super Bowlchamps.
I said, we winning over here.
(02:04):
Now granted lately we've hadsome hiccups, but if nothing is
as bad as being a dress fan.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (02:11):
Yeah, well right now I'm getting a you
know, pop my collar'cause thebears are doing pretty well
right now.
So that's all I could say aboutthat.
Kathia Woods (02:20):
And I like to say we will circle back, come play
all time everybody's doing.
And listen, everybody doesreally well.
And then we get into the realdeal, holy field and not
everybody.
And listen, the Eagle's gottatighten up.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (02:36):
I wanna get back to this
celebration'cause we do have alot to talk about.
Yeah.
Is that so you were on the redcarpet?
Yeah.
Gimme two highlights from thered carpet for the celebration
of Latino cinema and television.
Kathia Woods (02:53):
Dolores Huerta, who is 90 plus years young, we
had a nice chat.
That was pretty cool.
And I think I would say otherthan, and then with Kla is
talking to him, he's thedirector Mendoza, he Fi Mendoza,
he's the director of the Secretagent, which is Brazil's entry
to best international film.
(03:13):
I was about to say, best foreignfilm, but they don't change that
wording.
So that's pretty good as afellow Brazilian for us to have.
Our little moment, and super,super excited for Wagner today.
Who is a double nominee, goWagner.
So I think that those were likemy personal ones.
But again, Anthony Rams.
We had ourselves a good littleKiki on the carpet,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (03:37):
and now I've asked a little bit
about the red carpet.
Talk about the power that was inthe room, the energy that was in
the room that night.
Kathia Woods (03:49):
I think, I always say this and people always think
that I'm being cliche-ish, butsome of the best movies being
made are not in English.
And I've been a champion of be,I talked about it, in our guild
and being like, oh, watch thismovie Dolores was on, on my
guild for on my ballot.
For a lot of categories, I thinkbe is one of the most important
(04:11):
movies, I think.
Be.
Speaks to everything that'sgoing on here.
It's an important movie, notjust for Latin America, south
America, but it's just animportant movie.
What the power of women and whathappens when we have our voice
stripped.
You know how this young womanfound herself being in jail and
(04:31):
she had a miscarriage this iswhere we're going, but just this
woman that made this movie thatreally stayed with me.
So I think her talking about theimportance of us as women
taking, our power and you don'thave to be famous to do that.
(04:51):
I think also, I gotta think,just overall the beauty that is
to be Latino.
The diversity in the room attoo, being on the carpet with
his mother, he's a child ofimmigrants and having her be so
emotional and having thesupport.
(05:12):
'cause this is the other thing,miss, we gotta misspell that a
lot of Latin American parentsdismiss their career children.
And here you have a woman whodrove her son to the arts and
poured into him and look atwhere it's leading.
You know what I mean?
And she just is when you leadwith love, so she's pretty.
So that was a pretty coolmoment.
(05:34):
Him and his mom.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (05:36):
That's wonderful.
Now everybody knows that ReggiePonder does not speak Spanish,
but because you went to thecelebration of Latinos cinema
and tv, say something to yourLatino compadres in Spanish
about this.
I won't know what you're saying,but that's okay.
Kathia Woods (06:13):
In other words, it's important for us to
celebrate our diversity, for usto lean into that when we are
creating our art and tocelebrate all of us, which I
think is the same thing we haveon the black side.
We gotta celebrate black peopleglobal, and get out of these di
diaspora wars, which areridiculous, and.
(06:33):
Lean in.
Yes, we have different points ofentry, but we have more in
common than we don't.
Wow.
Which is All of us started overthere on the continent.
That's where it all leads backto, I don't care if you're
British accent, I don't care ifyou're Irish or Scottish.
Our people all come from thatpart of the world.
Wow.
(06:53):
And the boat just made differentstops and some people stayed
Indian Americas and some peoplegot shipped to other parts of
the world.
And I think the moment we domore of that, I love, remember
like we were talking aboutScottish TikTok and black people
in America discovering theirblack Scots.
And then, were with Junior, wentover to Scotland and he
(07:15):
connected with some of'em andthey had a whole meetup.
That's what I'm talking abouttravel with intentions or some
black people were like, I neverthought I'm into the uk.
A gazillion times.
I didn't know we were overthere.
Okay, I'm on my way.
And people booking trips that'swhat I'm talking about.
Let's build c There's so muchgoing on.
Let's build community.
(07:36):
We don't have the energy to be,at least I,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (07:40):
one of the things that I really
love, thank you for that.
I really love that.
And one of the things that Ireally love is that the Critics
Choice Association, if not theorganization started it, but
members within the organizationsaid that we needed to have
these celebrations and that ourorganization supports that,
(08:03):
these celebrations are very,very important and I love it.
I am gonna see you, I think in afew days at the next
celebration.
Are we though,
Kathia Woods (08:13):
are you though?
That's true.
You're just gonna be dip it inlike you did at the last time.
I, last time you claim you sawme.
That not Reggie ponder in thefront row.
You
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (08:24):
can ask everybody.
I was looking for you because Iwas gonna complain to you at one
of our events that the DJ wasn'tplaying the kind of music for us
to get our groove on it.
It was like, it was okay.
I mean, it was not the sameparty.
But anyway, it's
Kathia Woods (08:40):
supposed to be well on Tuesday, I don't know.
I is, I allegedly rumor hasthat, it's supposed to be after
party, which I don't wanna saythis, I want nobody talking
about.
I said there's gonna be afterparty's gonna be this.
Don't put that on me.
I'm saying there may or may notbe.
I know Sean puts together aplaylist.
I know one year we did have adj, maybe we turned up too hard.
(09:02):
They said no more dj, but eitherwhich way.
I know one thing Reggie Potter'sgonna be on that dance floor,
like he was at the at the colorpurple.
If you wanna know, Reggie wasnot, some people are at the bar,
but Reggie's on the dance floor.
Reggie said Y'all can have thebar.
I'm ready.
I was about to sit, Donna, comeget your guy.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (09:22):
I'm like, if they're playing music,
I am trying to have a danceparty.
Let's talk about a party that'scoming up, which is the
celebration of black cinema andtelevision and there are some
really big names that are gonnabe honored.
I spoke with Sean Edwards, theexecutive producer.
I spoke with him yesterday aboutthis event and I so happen to
(09:48):
have been able to, at theChicago International Film
Festival, catch up with a coupleof these folks.
I caught up with Spike Lee.
I had a video thing with RyanCoogler and Michael B.
Jordan.
I was able to catch up withTiana Taylor.
I talked to Nia DeCosta as wellas Tessa Thompson and all of
(10:12):
those people are being honoredhere, and I just think that this
is gonna be as usual, just oneof the highlights of the year.
This is one of the events thatour whole organization, I mean,
our whole organization looksforward to, they all say, and
I'm talking about black, Latino,whatever, say, we gotta make
(10:32):
sure we make it to that one.
We coming into that one.
And I think that this is goingto be a great one.
It's going to, people will beable to see it on Stars in
January.
And I just leave it to you tosay a few words about the
upcoming celebration.
Kathia Woods (10:48):
I think we know why it's needed, we're only 13%
of the population and we're evenless when it comes to these
guilds.
We look at, I asked the questionday, I said who's the leading
black Oscar pond?
Are they even women that havethat big of a platform, right?
Other than Clayton, I thinkmaybe Clayton, but Clayton works
at a trade, but who's likeoutside created their own
(11:10):
platform.
Where is that voice?
Where are the women in thatconversation?
It's still predominantly white.
It's still predominantly male,and we know that's how the
voting goes.
There's only room for one.
It best, or we shove'em all bestsupporting.
So I think that's why you needit.
And then sometimes you havepeople, like somebody like a
Delroy Lindo that has such aresume and given us so much and
(11:33):
people always think that he'sbeen awarded.
But then when you do theknowledge 180 and you dig
around, right?
And you go oh, what?
Oh, oh, okay.
Hey, we, yeah, no.
Nope, we have not given him hisflowers, right?
It's always at the funeralprocession.
So that's what you need it.
I think you need it for someonelike a Tessa Thompson who was on
(11:55):
my ballot, who I adore, who Iwill always be rooting for,
who's beyond talented.
And we know that she haslight-skinned privilege, but if
she were white, the checks werea bit bigger, right?
It's not lack of talent.
So that's why you need it.
You need it.
So these performers know that wesee you, we see your work.
(12:17):
If no one else sees you, thecommunity sees you.
Ooh, we still, we on mute,friend.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (12:25):
I think that's beautiful.
I'm really glad that youmentioned that.
I'm gonna be on mute for aminute'cause of this
construction.
They got it going on over here.
Kathia Woods (12:33):
I took a lunch break.
Talk to me, I mean, from yourperspective, right?
Because we're around the sameage, do, are we seeing more
people getting opportunities?
We don't wanna be all doom andglue, right?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (12:48):
Yes.
I'm not seeing more peoplegetting opportunities, but I am
blessed to be in a cohort whereI see some of my friends who are
getting those opportunities andI'm very, very happy when tho
when those things happen.
So, for instance, when I talk toyou about a junket that you were
invited to be it someplace inLondon or wherever I know that
(13:10):
they're inviting theseinfluencers and those types of
people, but I am also very happywhen I can hear that, oh.
I know two or three people whoare also invited to that as
well.
I know the numbers aredwindling, but as long as we
have some people there and thefact that I am junket adjacent
(13:33):
is what my daughter would say, Iam junket adjacent because I
have friends who are out theredoing their thing that is really
positive and very inspiring bythe way.
Just so inspiring to see myfriends out there.
Getting some of thoseopportunities.
I know we are not getting allthose opportunities, but it
isn't inspiring to get some ofthose opportunities.
(13:54):
We always talk about how it's ashame when we do not get the
opportunity to talk to blacktalent about black movies or
black roles.
This celebration of black cinemaallows all of us to rub elbows
to talk and actually have thesekind of conversations that are
(14:16):
not gonna be recorded, that willnot be interviews, but will be
just some of that heartfeltstuff that you get when you just
bump into somebody and you say,Hey Ruth, I really like what you
did with those costumes, but Ididn't understand how you did
such and such.
And she'll say, you don't knowit was by Hooker, by did you
(14:38):
have these real, realconversations bumping up against
a ster a sterling or Ryan, andactually having conversations as
opposed to interviews?
These will be some beautiful,beautiful moments and I'm really
looking forward to thecelebration of black cinema and
television.
Kathia Woods (14:56):
I think we know right now our industry is on the
critic side is going through adumpster fire, but I also feel
like.
So many people.
Yes.
We know a lot of our colleagueshave left and been displaced.
But at the same time, We're allhanging out.
(15:16):
We're definitely not doing thisfor a check, but we're hanging
on because if we don't talkabout some of this talent and
some of this work, who's gonnatalk about it?
Reggie Ponder, The (15:33):
Absolutely.
And when we get to our next SECsegment, we'll be talking about
the nominations.
And I'm just gonna, and in thatsegment, we're not gonna talk
all about each movie.
We'll do that on anothersegment.
Yeah.
We're just gonna talk about ourinitial reactions about the,
those nominations and.
It the reason why we need tocontinue to be in these
(15:56):
organizations that we need tocontinue to talk about these
specific movies.
There's movies that you saw onthe Latino side that now I'm
gonna have to catch up withbecause you're talking about, oh
man, it is just so beautiful andso fantastic.
I've been a little bit behindthis year just because of some
things that are happening overhere in on the Chicago side.
(16:17):
But we need to see and talkabout these movies because if we
don't, no one will.
So with that, I like to moveinto our next segment, which is
the.
So usually we talk about a movieor two movies or maybe three
movies.
'cause you like talking aboutmovies.
(16:38):
My god.
Last, I think last episode youwanted to talk about six movies.
I'm not, I can't talk about allthese movies right now.
My head is swimming, trying totalk about all these movies.
Kathia Woods (16:48):
I'm still in recovery from Avatar Bud.
You go ahead.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (16:51):
How, however, the nominations for the
Critics Choice Awards for the31st Annual Critic Choice
Awards, which will air onJanuary the fourth.
We are, first up, we are settingthe tone.
(17:13):
Our votes matter.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's the campaign.
Yeah our votes matter.
Yeah.
Maybe we'll do that.
So let's get into the majorcategories and then any of the
smaller categories that youmight want to jump into as well.
Because there are so manycategories that we can't get
through all of them in thisshow.
But let's go through the firstone, which is best picture,
(17:35):
which everyone wants to know.
So you got your list, Katia?
I got my list.
Alright.
So who made it?
Who made it in the top 10?
Kathia Woods (17:44):
Frankenstein.
Which, okay.
I feel like sometimes we havesinners.
We have one battle Now one Ineed you to explain to me,'cause
I'm really confused by this onebogo.
Okay.
I don't, I'm very confused bythat.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (18:07):
So we, so I'm gonna list them off
before you talk about beingconfused.
Yes.
Hold on.
We got gon We have
Kathia Woods (18:11):
gon Frankenstein Hamnet j Kelly, Marty Supreme,
which is another one I'm notcrazy about.
One bad after another.
Sentimental values, sinner,train Dreams and Wicked for
good.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (18:24):
And I will tell you I don't wanna
say who shouldn't be on thislist yet because I can't, I,
because there's a couple,there's two here that I haven't
seen yet.
But what I do wanna say is thatthere was a movie that blew me
that, that blew me away.
They kept me captivated, that Ilike, that's not on this list.
(18:45):
And it's heda heda for me.
I really like what Nia DeCostadid for that film and am very
shocked, almost.
That this film didn't make it.
I can't tell you which onesshould drop off.
I can't not right now, but I cantell you that heda for me I
(19:06):
liked Wicked for Good, by theway, but I take Heda over Wicked
for Good.
I'm just saying I would, I agreewith you on that one.
I take head over j Kelly.
Kathia Woods (19:18):
I gave Wicked for Good a six, which made it like
fresh, slightly fresh.
It's only because of Cynthia andArianna, the rest of the movie.
I said this in my review.
Sean Chu did not make a caseother than cash grab for
(19:39):
Universal on why we needed apart two.
He, I would've just wished hemade a longer movie, but we did
not need a part two.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (19:49):
Yeah it dragged a, it
Kathia Woods (19:50):
dragged very much and it looked like, you know
what?
It looked like a lazy layout.
And this is why, to me, he didnot, he does not deserve to be
on the best director list.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (20:02):
We'll get to that next, but for you, I
mentioned one that I felt, Iguess would be a snub because
Heda really should have been onthis list, in my opinion.
I think what Nia did with thisfilm was innovative.
It made us interested in thisaristocratic kinda upper class
(20:24):
life that maybe we'll never,ever touch, but made me still be
interested in that show.
But is there a movie for youthat you'd like to see on this
list?
Kathia Woods (20:32):
We already talked about when I would bump off.
Right.
I, uh, but we have a, Iunderstand, I just learned this.
We have a rule that if you getnominated in best picture, you
can't get nominated ininternational picture.
We have this rule.
Okay.
(20:52):
So you can't have, you can't bea double nominee.
So for me, I would've liked toif we didn't have that rule,
then I would like to have seenBelen get in here.
I'd like that movie that much,but I still think if we're going
to go oh, dear God, if we'regonna go mainstream, bulia is
(21:16):
just one of those movies whereI'm just like.
I just, it does not scream bestpicture, you know?
And
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (21:25):
I'm okay with it not screaming.
Best picture.
I need you to tell me who elseis gonna, you would put in
there.
Don't tell who you gonna takeoff.
Who would you have had in here?
Katia Woods.
You're getting on my nerve.
I
Kathia Woods (21:36):
were, I would've said, you know what, we, I gotta
think if I had legs I wouldkick.
Oh, okay.
You did tell me.
I'll say that that is a moviethat surprised me because at
first when it starts, and alsoAAP Rocky is in this movie.
When it starts, I'm like, whatis happening?
Why do we never, why does ittake so long for us to see the
(21:57):
husband?
But I thought it is such a,we've had a lot of strong movies
on motherhood this year.
We had left-handed girl, we havethis.
I just think it really shows youa picture.
What women deal with when youhave no support and you trying
(22:18):
to keep it all together and youare trying to be like, just a
shame and just how you, it'simportant to give women support.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (22:27):
And interestingly is that if you
look, when you talk aboutmotherhood, you look at Hamnet,
you look at one battle afteranother.
Yeah.
You look at sinners.
Yeah.
All three of them touch on theissue of motherhood in very,
very interesting ways.
I hadn't thought about thatuntil you just mentioned it, but
(22:49):
I'm sure some of these otherones do do as well.
But a really great comment, Iguess we can move on to our next
segment.
I mean, our next.
Nominations, and that's bestactors.
And for best actor, we haveTimothy Chalamet for Marty
Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio forone Battle after another.
We have Ethan Hawke for BlueMoon.
(23:11):
We have Michael B.
Jordan for Sinners.
And then we have Wagner Maurafor the Secret Agent.
The, again, I am not, you and Iare gonna have a whole nother
show about who should, who, whoshould drop off.
And you can say it now, who youthink should drop off, but we
are gonna dig deeper into thatlate.
Kathia Woods (23:30):
I I like, I believe it or not, I don't have
a problem with any of the nameson the list.
I've been talking about JoeEggerton for the longest time,
for Trained.
I said, first of all, he'sanother one.
Been doing the Good Lord's work,been doing the Good Lord's work,
been really like really, really,really doing that work.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (23:51):
I'm not mad at this list.
It is great.
Michael b Jordan's at the top ofmy list this year.
I'm just gonna say,
Kathia Woods (23:57):
I mean, he made the cut, but I'm saying to you,
is he, and I think he'll makethe cut on Monday for Golden
Globes, but I'm saying to you,This is a good list.
This is not a bad list.
Yeah I agree
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (24:14):
with you.
I agree with you.
So that means we can move on tothe next, to best actress.
So
Kathia Woods (24:19):
I'm not be honest with you, the surprise and first
of all, once again, it, no shadeto Emma Stone but Emma Stone,
this movie, no, ma'am.
And the other one that don'tbelong in here is Amanda Sifri.
I'm not crazy about that.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (24:35):
You, see guys, that, that we, if
you've been listening to ourpodcast, you know that Katya
Woods is opinion opinionated andshe can't even wait for us to
tell you who got nominated.
She's hot.
Kathia Woods (24:50):
I'll tell you.
Okay, this is, I'll say thelist.
Jesse Buckley for Hamnet Roseby, if I had legs I'd kick you
to.
Absolutely.
But she did in that movie.
If Jesse Buckley wasn't having ayear that she was having, I
would say Rose is the frontrunner here.
I like.
I think Chase Infinity.
(25:10):
I don't have a problem withthat, but she benefited by the
movie getting a lot ofnominations.
So I think a lot of people wenttop down, which is nothing
wrong.
This is a tricky one for me,Renata Refe for sentimental
value, because again, this, butit is a movie that talks about,
it's not talking about motherdaughter, but it's talking about
(25:31):
father-daughter relationship,right?
Again, Amanda Siegfried, who issuper, super sweet and I've
interviewed her before, and Ilike her talent.
It's just this movie is nothitting for me.
And same thing with Emma Stone,but I also get, Emma Stone is an
award, Starling.
So sometimes people getnominated because people like
them as a talent believe thatthey're this modern day
(25:53):
Catherine Hepburn, which hurtssome of these other
performances, right?
People are talking about KateHudson.
This is what we get into thesestudios.
Try to wait until the lastminute to roll out the film or
to give you access to it,thinking it's gonna be the
freshest in your mind, andtherefore you're gonna vote for
it.
But it can also hurt thembecause if you wait too much to
(26:17):
the last minute, like Disneywaited too long to make Zootopia
available, and it kind of didn'ttell people that was only gonna
be on the platform for like asecond.
And then when people thought,oh, I had time like we do with
all these other movies, theywent to go see it.
It was gone.
So I think in this
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (26:33):
I'm one of those, I'm one of those I
miss Zootopia.
So Yeah.
And
Kathia Woods (26:37):
I think like you, you can't be doing that, that,
that, Ooh, how do that?
And I get it, it's a strategythat has worked in the past.
But the problem is boys andgirls, in this particular case,
if you, if they felt they had anaward contender or she should
have been considered for thismovie.
Then you should have rolled itout a little bit earlier.
(26:58):
You shouldn't have seen it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (26:59):
I couldn't agree with you more.
Kathia Woods (27:01):
I, and also you get fatigue.
I mean, people also gottaunderstand, right?
I say this, I had a really luckyyear.
I started all, some of thesemovies I saw January, February,
and then in May, I caught a lotof these foreign films.
Sandra, falling, sentimentalValue, Sierra, and all of those,
right?
Your secret agent.
(27:22):
So if you didn't go to filmfestivals and you don't have
screenings in your backyard ofthese movies, and you're not
getting these screenings earlyenough, but mind you, it's
happened on over Thanksgivingweekend.
So you got family, you got allthis other nonsense going on,
right?
Stuff is gonna fall through thecrack.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (27:41):
And some things absolutely fell
through the cracks.
I wanna ask you about bestactress.
My question is there an AfricanAmerican actress that you feel
was left out on this list?
Kathia Woods (27:55):
I just, I think the movie is, there's nothing
wrong with the movie.
I think Amazon and Tessa alwaysmakes herself available.
I just feel like she needs abigger budgeted film to get her
(28:18):
over the top.
Tessa Thompson, it's not thework.
The work is there.
It's not lack of talent.
She understands how to play thegame.
It's that the work, it's, sheneeds something bigger like
this.
Remember we talking about, thiswas
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (28:34):
big to me.
No, I don I don't reallyunderstand that comment.
Ka I know,
Kathia Woods (28:40):
I it's, here's the thing, is the game is rigged for
black women.
We know that for black women, wecan't do the indie thing like oh
girl did with, and Nora, that isnot a path that helps them.
We have to have people, we needthe machine behind us and
(29:02):
there's nothing, and I get whatyou're saying, but you need the
$25 million 30 campaign.
That's what you need.
Okay.
And look at what happened withCynthia.
Now, the problem with Cynthia, Idon't wanna say the problem with
Cynthia.
I think the challenge, Iwouldn't say it's a problem
'cause there's nothing wrongwith Cynthia.
The challenge is the movie gotvery mixed reviews, especially
(29:25):
from the critics.
So I didn't think she was gonnamake the cut once those reviews
came out.
I didn't think.
And some people, this is moreAriana's movie, even though
Cynthia still had great moments.
It's almost like I fit.
I feel like if they would'veswitched and had Ariana be lead.
In this and then made Cynthiasupporting.
(29:45):
I feel like Cynthia would'vemade it.
But also I think there's alsobacklash on how Universal has
handled their marketing.
Leaning more towardsinfluencers.
So critics are like, why are wevoting for your movie?
I know that sounds petty, butit's also part of the business,
right?
The politics.
So I think in this case you, shehad the machine, but there were
(30:06):
some missteps and the moviewasn't as well liked.
Okay.
Whereas I feel like if Tessa hadthe big, big machine and they're
wonderful people at work, Iwanna be very clear.
In Amazon, MGM, however youneed, it's like running for
office, right?
I keep explaining this topeople.
You can be an amazing candidateand we know there are some
(30:26):
amazing candidates, but if youain't got no money and you don't
got the right campaign manager,your campaign ain't going
nowhere.
And that's what happens,unfortunately.
So I think both Tessa's youngenough, she's in her thirties.
I think it will happen for her,where the intersection of her
talent, her tenacity, theproject and the money will all
(30:48):
meet
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (30:49):
here.
Here's what I think.
I think that you are probablyright.
It'll meet, but when it meets,it may not be her best work that
she's gonna get.
Kathia Woods (30:57):
That part, that part
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (30:59):
she's gonna get it as
Kathia Woods (31:02):
consolation wise,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (31:04):
as a, what do you call it?
A, an lifetime achievementAlmost award, because this right
here, heda, this right here.
It is everything that you wouldwant from an actress.
The way in which she embodiesthis character, how she
orchestrates the chess board ofpeople.
(31:27):
She just did a masterful jobhere and I, I.
I, I feel like when Denzel gotit for training day, everybody
knows that Denzel should havereceived it for Malcolm X.
Some, a couple of people argueme at that point, but I think
what Denzel did in Malcolm X wasso false.
Oh,
Kathia Woods (31:43):
it, it was so much better.
And I think he also lost tosomebody that should have won
for another role.
'cause they gave it to him forlike, also like a catchup award,
right?
Yeah.
And I think, here's the thing Iwish if I had a magic wand, I,
Tessa was number one on myballot.
Yeah.
I adored a performance and Ivoted.
(32:07):
I know a part of me was like,I'm voting with my heart.
But I said, but that's how Ifeel.
So I'm gonna vote.
I'm not gonna be strategic.
But I do want people to know usbeing in the room helps our
talent.
Like Wood Harris would not havebeen on that ballot if it wasn't
for black critics in CriticsChoice.
No, I can say thatunequivocally.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (32:26):
No.
He not
Kathia Woods (32:26):
have made the cut.
He wouldn't have even beenthought of the show, wouldn't
have been thought of, you
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (32:31):
know.
No, no doubt about it.
Let's move on to a bestsupporting actor.
We have Benicio Deltoro for oneBattle after another.
We have Jacob El Lord.
I don't even know how to say hisname.
Where,
Kathia Woods (32:44):
where are we?
Hold on.
Jacob
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (32:46):
el Lordy la Lordy.
Kathia Woods (32:48):
Mm-hmm.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (32:49):
For Frankenstein, Paul Mezcal for
Hamnet.
Sean Penn for one Battle afteranother.
Adam Sandler for j Kelly.
And Ste Scars guard forsentimental value.
I will tell you that.
I am happy to see Adam Sandleron that list.
I really am.
The j Kelly wasn't my favoritemovie, but Adam Sandler, he
(33:12):
brought a really goodperformance here, and he can
Kathia Woods (33:16):
act.
We've been saying that foryears.
Do not let the happy Gilmoresdistract you from the fact at
the end of the day, he can act.
Yeah.
He's a, he's giving youSpanglish, he's giving you gym
cuts.
He's giving you this, the guycan act, he can do it straight.
He doesn't have to be in the
Reggie Ponder, The Re (33:34):
costumes.
I'm so happy that, so of thepeople, I'm so happy to see him
there.
Of the people who are, who's notthere.
Oh I'm, let me say this too.
I'm very happy to see Sean Pennand Benicio del Toro on this
list because they are both Inow,
Kathia Woods (33:49):
every time I see Benicia del Toro, I'm gonna be
thinking Bob.
Right,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (33:54):
right, right.
But both of them were absolutelydeserving.
The time in which the you keeptalking about the telephone gag.
So the telephone gag, when hefinally comes to the the
telephone gag is just absolutelyhilarious to me, where he's
like, just give me the password.
(34:14):
Just give me the password.
I, I really like what whatLeonardo had to go through on
that telephone call.
But Benicio, what he did in thisfilm by being that sensei, he
had this calm through the chaos,and it was so good.
I'm so happy that he's there.
And Sean Penn was on anotherlevel that walk, that talk, that
(34:40):
persona that he had, heabsolutely deserves to be on
this list.
Now, who's not on this list?
Which is a shocker.
And you mentioned it earlier,it's a guy who was in, let's
see, what movie was that?
Oh, sinners.
I don't know how he didn't makeI just don't understand that.
(35:04):
He was so good.
He wasn't.
Okay.
And so when you talk about themovie One Battle after another
and they just went down theline, how come you just wouldn't
go down the line for Sinner?
I,
Kathia Woods (35:19):
you know, what I wanna say is they brought Ryan
and Michael back out and theybought ti out for one battle
after another.
Warner Brothers.
They needed to bring out Delroy,'cause Delroy was on the cusp.
I feel like they brought outpeople to get in front of the
(35:39):
people that were.
Not on the cusp.
Tiana was always gonna make it.
Michael and Ryan were gonna makeit.
Delroy was on the bubble and itshows,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (35:53):
And he, and it cost, he shoulda made
it.
Kathia Woods (35:55):
And he needed that extra push.
Again, not for you and me.
We good.
We don't We got you.
We see you, sir.
It's for those other people.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (36:04):
Yeah.
We're gonna do three morecategories and then we'll have
to reconvene.
Kathia Woods (36:09):
You see what I'm saying?
The campaign, you gonna be like,okay, you can't just have Gavin
Newsom and this guy here.
We know everybody knows who theyare.
We need the guy over here inthat small little county that's
running for mayor of town 1, 2,3.
He needed that extra coin, thatextra, you know.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (36:28):
Yes.
No doubt about it.
No doubt about it.
Let's move on to best supportingActress, and you can take this
one.
Who do we have nominated?
Kathia Woods (36:36):
Well.
This one is pretty much onesurprise, right?
L fanning.
That is a surprise for me.
It's a sentimental value.
Ariana Grande, Inga ip, Lillia,sentimental value.
Really got a lot of love.
That's probably, those are mytwo.
Amy Madigan for weapons.
(36:57):
Wmi for Sinners, very happyabout that.
And then Tiana Taylor.
Now I will say this, I'm goingto, I don't like to predict the
whole thing.
I like to pick one or two.
I think as much as people liketo push out Ariana Grande, I
(37:18):
feel like Warner's is gonna winthat race.
I think Warner's is gonna winthat race.
I just feel like they have thewind beneath their sail right
now.
And I, in my mind.
Even though all this stuff isgoing on, on the business end,
they got the coins in the coffinand they got the soldiers to get
(37:41):
it done.
Yeah.
So let, we're gonna circle back,especially if she makes the cut
on Monday.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (37:49):
If who makes the cut?
Kathia Woods (37:51):
Tiana, I think this, yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (37:53):
I think Tiana
Kathia Woods (37:54):
to me feels like
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (37:55):
a, a front runner.
She feels like a front runner.
Kathia Woods (37:57):
Yes.
I will tell you her race to win.
And also the other thing too is,here's the thing.
People that don't know her,don't know her work when they
meet her, she's so infectious.
And also people, you know,they're a little bit more, how
can I put it?
They're a little bit more givingwith our girls in the supporting
(38:19):
category.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (38:23):
Yeah.
Oh, it's always the case.
I will tell you this, is that ifee were to win, it wouldn't be
like, no, they gave it to herbecause without her, in that
movie I said this to Ryan andMichael, I said, the James Brown
(38:45):
lyric is, it's a man's world,but it wouldn't be nothing,
nothing without a woman or agirl.
And Ryan was like, you ain'tnever said, you ain't never said
nothing right there, becausewithout the women in this film,
and they particularly referencedNIE and her performance that
everybody looked to her for thestrength, for the direction, for
(39:08):
all of that.
So I think Taylor.
Could be a front runner here butman, ley, she was fantastic.
Kathia Woods (39:17):
I just think she is another one of those
actresses because she's so goodin everything.
People too think, oh she's just,she's out here just getting all
these offers.
And I also love that she talkedabout being seven months
postpartum when she made thismovie.
And I'm like, girl, you had yourwomen's body you look beautiful.
(39:39):
You know?
And I'm like, girl, I can't saythat though.
I said, we all go, we, I said,we all going through stuff after
we have a baby, right?
And the fact that you be onscreen, I said, who are we?
I said, difference is we hideout in the house, Brielle.
I said, we hide out in thehouse.
You know what I mean?
And I just, I think she'sstunning.
(39:59):
I think she's stunning, but Ican't say that.
Right.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (40:01):
I can't, I I can't say that.
Kathia Woods (40:03):
I mean, listen, that's between you and Donna.
But I, she's stunning.
And I think she is beyondtalented,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (40:11):
be beyond just,
Kathia Woods (40:13):
and then, like I said, it's, Emma would not be
mad that night.
She gets up there and she getsTink T Award.
And I think Tiana too.
But I love this for Tiana,because you know what?
People try to play in thatlady's face.
People try to play with her.
People try to say that shewasn't a real deal, holy field.
And with her music, everythingcame later.
But she also said she's gladit's happening now because she
(40:35):
appreciates it more.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (40:38):
Yeah.
I love the fact that you saidshe's glad
Kathia Woods (40:39):
and she said she's glad she's the most.
In my conversation with her, shesaid what she's most proud of is
that her daughters.
And then that kind of, that hithome for me.
It hits different when yourdaughter say, mommy, you did a
good job.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (40:55):
Yeah.
I'm glad you said the real deal,Holyfield, because she's a
fighter right there.
That's what I'm gonna say.
Yeah, she's,
Kathia Woods (41:01):
and you know what?
This award thing, you see somepeople, you're like, Ugh, dude.
You know what I mean?
They just feel like, it looks,they look like their teeth are
being pulled, and I really wannabe like, I hope, and she is the
opposite.
She's having fun with it.
She's having a good time.
(41:21):
She
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (41:22):
is having fun with it.
When I did a Zoom call orinterview with her, and girl was
relaxed.
She was laying back.
She wasn't even sit, she wasn'teven sitting up.
She was like, look, let me tellyou how I think about this film.
So that was great.
I wanna get through two morecategories before we, we wrap
up.
And the two categories is thebest.
(41:42):
Young actor, actress.
I like the fact that as aorganization, we do that one and
we have Everett Blanc from theplague.
Miles, Caton for sinners.
Carrie Christopher for weapons.
Shannon Mahena Gorman for rentalfamily.
Jacoby Jew for Hamnet and ye forleft-handed Girl.
(42:05):
I have a feeling you are gonnawant it to be Nee Knee.
Ye, but I will tell you that Ilove what Miles did I, the fact
that he came, I'm gonna behonest
Kathia Woods (42:15):
with you, you got me a little wrong in this one.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (42:18):
I love what he did, but Jacob j
that was one of my choices rightthere.
Jacob Jew.
What he did at Hamnet I wasmesmerized by what was done
there.
So my two would be Jacob Ju andMiles Katon.
And I loved what Jacob Ju did inhim.
Kathia Woods (42:42):
Did you do what I did?
You, we had to start Googlingpeople's ages.
Well, the kids are obvious.
I did.
I did.
But when you're like, is it ateenager?
Is it this, is it that?
When I just tell you what, thefirst thing I put down was
Miles.
As soon as I learned he was 20.
Done 20.
Because the other two were easy.
They were kids.
But I was like, miles and here.
(43:06):
Done.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (43:07):
I only have one last category that
I want to get in.
Get in with you.
And I'm gonna let you read offthe nominees for that one.
And that's for best director.
Kathia Woods (43:16):
Okay.
Not surprised.
But Paul Thomas Anderson fromBomb Bed after to another Ryan K
for Sinners.
Gilead Mototo for Frankenstein.
Little surprised by this Josh Tyfor Marty Supreme, but the
Wright Ty brother got nominated.
Joaquin Tri for SentimentalValue and Chloe Z for Hamnet.
Not Surprised by Chloe.
(43:37):
Surprised by Joaquin.
And, but I also do, but I dothink the right Ty brother got
it.
Yes.
'cause we, you know, somebody haI said it yesterday and somebody
got mad at me.
They said, oh, they'repredicting that The Rock.
I had a lovely chat with theRock and he is always gracious
and always loving.
But sir, in a year where we hadthe male performances that we
(44:01):
had, and if you didn't startincluding some of these smaller
films, you start includingforeign films.
It was a hard road for theRockstar.
I don't see it.
I can see him maybe slipping infor Golden Globes'cause they
have six two and they have comYou know what I mean?
They have Yes, yes.
Visible stuff.
But baby this was a, this wouldprobably, it probably would've
(44:23):
been easier for him to stand outthere and on the highway in LA
make traffic stop.
Because this was just a uphillroad.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (44:31):
I wanna ask you about two films
and both of them are aboutwomen.
Obviously this not here for bestdirector is neither the Costa
and then the Man, now I'mblanking out on the Netflix film
with Idris.
Kathia Woods (44:46):
What?
Netflix.
Oh, you're talking about Houseof Dynamite.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (44:49):
H.
House of Dynamite.
So thoughts on only one womandirector being a nominated here.
And I'm not saying like wealways have to have a woman.
Kathia Woods (45:01):
No, no.
I think half Bigelow, if themovie would've been received
better, probably would've slidin there.
But, you know, it's tough.
It's tough, tough, tough.
I think this is her win.
She's won before Glory.
This is her nod.
She's not gonna win.
I think it's amongst the boys.
It's between Ryan and Paul.
(45:23):
I will say also this,'causesince I'm feeling predictable
today, Ryan Kogler is going towin an Academy Award.
I'm gonna say he, it may not bein Best Director, but he's going
to walk away that night with hisFirst Academy Award and it may
be for best original screenplay.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (45:40):
All right, we got it.
Now there are categories we didnot get through.
We will come back, we will talkabout more.
There's best originalscreenplay, adaptive Screenplay.
Best Casting Ensemble.
Best Cinematography.
All of those categories.
And I know there are important,but we are not gonna put it all
in one show.
(46:01):
So just hold.
No,
Kathia Woods (46:01):
no.
But I think it's okay.
So what surprised you to mouth,let me ask you that.
'cause you always ask me stuff.
So this morning when you got thething in the email, right?
And you looked down, were youlike, oh, or were you like, oh.
I was like, oh, I thought it wasgonna be the honoraria.
(46:22):
I'll let you go first.
What did you, what surprised youthe most?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (46:25):
I was like, oh, because I've
already said this to you.
Heda for me has to be in this,in these nominations somewhere,
somewhere.
If you don't have best picture,you have to have best actress.
If you don't have best actress,then you have to have best
director there.
I just don't see how the, thisheader gets shut out.
(46:49):
Yes, shut out.
There's not a nomination forthat movie, and our job is to
compare movies.
It's tough sometimes becausethey're different.
Subject matter, different timeperiods, different pacing,
different ways of looking at it.
(47:09):
Sometimes it's comedy, sometimesit's drama.
And so I understand why some ofthe other organizations have a
drama category and a comedycategory.
So it is tough to do this, butit's not tough for me to say the
head, it should have been inhere.
And when I looked all the way upand down the list.
And when I looked up and downthe list and did not see Heda, I
was like, huh, for real.
Kathia Woods (47:31):
I knew it was in a bubble.
We'll get it at afca, we'll getit at the image awards.
We'll get it at these otherthings.
But let's circle back.
Let's take Heda off the tablefor a minute.
What did you think in terms oflike the big boys?
Did you think it went, it wasgonna go the way it went?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (47:53):
I think you brought up a really
good point about the machinehelping somebody like a Tessa
Thompson.
And when I saw, because let mesay this.
When I saw the list for BestPicture, the first thing I did
is say Uhhuh.
(48:13):
These are the pictures thatVariety listed as most of these
pictures are the movies thatvariety listed as the front
runners, the campaigns thatthese organizations had.
So Begonia, I was not surprisedthat it was there because they
had a campaign.
(48:34):
Frankenstein not surprised thatit was there.
There was a campaign Hamnet.
I wasn't surprised that it wasthere.
Firstly, I liked it.
But secondly, you were rattingand raving about it coming out
of Tiff.
Reggie, you gotta go see Hamnet.
You need to see Hamnet j Kelly.
I like this movie, but did Ithink that this was the Oscar
(48:56):
level movie?
I did not.
I don't think Who,
Kathia Woods (49:00):
we didn't talk about two, I'm sorry to
interrupt you.
The Brad Bradley Cooper moviereally was like people gave that
no luck.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (49:09):
And I don't understand that, in
fact, because maybe because I'mmarried this film spoke to me.
I really liked what Laura dur,by the way, what she did in this
one and how she played off ofAdam Sandler and j Kelly.
She had two movies out therethat she did a really good job.
I'm like, Laura, go ahead girl.
(49:29):
I'm, I really like what she didthere.
So you're right.
Is this thing on, but becausethere's two of these films that
I haven't seen, that's why Ididn't wanna say what films
didn't belong there.
So when once I watch these othertwo films, I'll be better
prepared to say, yeah, is thisthing on should have been here
before?
Sentimental value.
Kathia Woods (49:49):
I will say this to you.
This is what I thought.
One battle after another wasgonna get more than sinners.
When I saw that sinners got themost and don't get it twisted.
The below the line.
I keep saying this to people.
(50:10):
Movie making is a team sport.
Everything gotta be considered.
The below the line I feel reallyhelped the above the line.
Now I'm not talking about actor,I'm not talking about best
supporting.
I'm talking about like some ofthese in between.
(50:31):
That's a good thing.
So now it's got some windbeneath its sail.
The Warner Brothers team can'ttake their foot off the gas.
They gotta make these calls thisweekend as Golden Globes does.
You know what I mean?
And where it gets a little sagwhen it comes to movies like
Sinner Sag is the one thatthrows a little loop in there,
(50:53):
right?
Remember they didn't nominateRegina King, but Fred, not black
people.
Remember I told y'all we, she'sstill gonna win.
And she did win Oscar Knight.
But I do think, and I said thisbefore, best picture is still
one is gonna be in-house.
Warner Brothers is, I hope theyhave a cute little competition
going on.
The two different awards teamwithin Warner Brothers.
(51:15):
Somebody, whoever wins bestpicture gotta pick up dinner or
something like that, right?
Or gets to have bragging rightsor whatever they wanna call it.
I have no doubt on Oscar Knightit is going to be a Warner
Brothers picture.
It just will be like, who?
As night is going Right, whichis kind of, it's gotta be like a
fun little thing for them.
(51:36):
I feel like Frankenstein isprobably out of all Netflix
offerings their best.
But I think right now with thispurchase of Warner Brothers,
there's something about Netflixand people think Netflix is so
anti theaters.
I don't think they're gonna giveit to Netflix.
I don't, I think it's gonna be along time, especially with this,
(51:58):
before they give Netflix bestpicture.
I even within CAI don't see it.
They, they think, I think, youknow, it's not, the problem with
Netflix is not that they don'tput out good movies, they put
out good movies.
It's just there is, they gottado some hands across America.
They gotta get some people who.
You know what I mean?
(52:18):
They gotta have a come to Jesuswith some people.
But I think this is warn thosebrothers game to win.
And I also, like I said, is thismorning I look sinners is
leading the pack.
I'm not mad at that, but Ithought it was gonna be one bad
off than the other.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (52:31):
Well, I will say this I will say this
as I, as my closing comment forthis SEC segment is that ne
Netflix is gonna win any way itis now with that purchase.
And it was really funny when wewere gonna talk about our next
segment, rent and Rave, but I'mgonna skip it just because we've
gone a little bit over time.
I was gonna talk about thatpurchase for.
Kathia Woods (52:53):
I think we need to talk about it.
I think we do need to add thison because here's the thing,
somebody said it too, like, youknow, we all peak at social
media.
Somebody said, well, Netflixfinally won.
Its bought itself a best picturewin.
Right?
But I don't think they want itthat way.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (53:07):
No.
I don't think they want it thatway.
Oh, absolutely.
Kathia Woods (53:10):
They want it in-house.
They want it to be one of theirnuts, the bolts.
They don't wanna, oh, we, we gotit.
You inherited your dad's goldmedal because he left it to you
in the will.
Like that's not yours.
I mean, yeah, it's yours, butit's not yours.
You didn't earn
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (53:25):
it.
It's true.
It is true.
And I will tell you, I alwayswant to earn my championship
trophy, however.
If I some kinda way become theowner of the Los Angeles Lakers
and I get one of those rings.
I'm gonna wear that ring.
That's all I'm gonna say.
I know
Kathia Woods (53:42):
you would, Reggie, you would probably not only wear
the ring, but you probably wouldhave a matching little necklace
and that would be on your chestand you would be like, when you
speak to me, recognize,
Reggie Ponder, The R (53:54):
recognize.
'cause I have one of thoserings.
But I agree with you.
I do think that they didn'twanna win it or don't wanna win
it that way, but I just thinkthat they're run up against some
stronger competition.
What centers and one battleafter another.
And it's crazy when you look ata movie like one battle after
another because it's a frenetic,crazy, kinda wild out there
(54:17):
movie and.
It's just not your traditionalmovie fair.
And that also can be said ofsinners.
The fact that Warner Brotherstook a chance on two movies that
are so kind of different.
It's kudos to them.
Kudos.
Kathia Woods (54:37):
I also think that the worry, and I get it right,
is we, there won't be movieslike Sinners and one Battle of
Another.
These are two original ips thatmade a lot of money at the box
office.
I always say Wicked was, we knewit was gonna make money.
It had the cheat code, it has a20 year commercial going around,
(55:00):
around the country, around theglobe and on Broadway right now.
That is work that people know.
It's like the Lion King.
Lion King's always gonna makemoney.
We've grown up with that.
And that's nothing to take awaywith the people associated with
the movie.
No,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (55:12):
no.
Kathia Woods (55:12):
But you had a winning product.
It wasn't like you came out ofnowhere.
Whereas I feel like in terms ofmusicals, we always knew Kids of
a Spider Moron's road was alwaysgonna be harder because it's not
as well known of a musical.
It's not as well liked of amusical.
That's right, that's right.
So you have a bigger be.
Same thing with West Side Story.
This is something that's love.
People know the song.
(55:33):
People may not like every partof it, your little heads up
popping.
I'm
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (55:36):
just thinking we gonna have a rumble
tonight.
That's all I'm thinking about.
I'm, I know, but I'm saying
Kathia Woods (55:39):
to you is, so you have these things, but I feel
like I do understand people'sconcern.
I also, and I wanna hear yourthoughts on this'cause,'cause
you know you are my friend andyou're gonna tell me the truth.
I feel like sometimes whenpeople are so fixated on the
theater experience they'retalking about seeing the thing
(55:59):
on the big screen, and maybe I'mbougie girl over here, but to me
the theater experience is gas.
I gotta put in my car.
Is it worth it for me to go tosaid theater only to have my
feet sticking to the floor,having these stale ass pretzel
bites that aren't really good,but that godawful cheese is, it
(56:23):
doesn't make any sense that I'mpaying$7 for gummy bears when I
know I can get'em a target forthree.
I am not, does not mix part,then I'm not.
This is before I even sit in myseat that I got to select.
But then when I try to leanback, thing is broken.
I can't lean back.
The heat thing isn't workingright.
(56:43):
So to me it's like we haveforgotten that the experience,
you can't keep charging people,in other words,$30 and say you
are paying for the thing on thescreen, but my guy, I can't
enjoy it'cause my chair isbroken.
Or in some cases I've been inmovies, a little friend ran
across the thing.
So now I'm really paranoid.
(57:03):
So I'm saying all of this tosay, Reggie.
Where, and people are like we'resad for the distributors, but
what has happened, in myopinion, the prices have gone
up.
I get it, inflation, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah, blah.
But what are you doing to makepeople feel like they, the
harder money that they spent onthis, for a family of four,
(57:25):
which can run anywhere frombetween a buck 50 to 200,
depending on where you're seeingit, but what are you doing to
have people say, you know what?
I not only enjoyed the movie,but I felt welcomed in.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (57:39):
Okay.
I think two things can be rightat the same time, you are not
wrong about there being a needto elevate the overall
experience.
However, the other people whoare saying this needs to be seen
on the big screen.
They're not wrong either.
There are just some movies thatjust don't hit the same way
(58:02):
Sinners.
I watched it at home.
I watched it twice in the movietheater, and it hits
differently.
I agree.
It's, it is such a sensoryexperience watching that movie
on the big screen and actuallyone battle after another does
(58:22):
too.
When I'm watching out on the bigscreen, that little car chase
scene on the big screen, it justhits differently.
So I understand when people sayyou have to see this movie on
the big screen, and in fact, Iprefer a many of the times to
see movies on the big screen.
I don't think you need to see jKelly on the big screen.
(58:44):
I don't
Kathia Woods (58:45):
think so.
I think there's some moviesbecause we are getting away from
Romcom studios producing.
For theater release Romcoms.
I also think if we're reallyabout that life of wanting to
preserve the theater experience,a MC and Regal and all them
folks, you need to get ittogether.
'cause some of your theaters areshabby.
(59:06):
It's, you all have, it's true.
Some of these theaters, some ofthese bathrooms are looking a
hot mess that's got nothing todo with Netflix or stay at home.
Right?
It, it does, it does not likeyou be able to take your baby to
the bathroom and not be like,well in second thought, can you
hold it until you get home?
'cause this is a crap show.
But at the same token, whatstreamers are doing is the
romcoms, those internationalfilms.
(59:29):
They're also taken, forinstance, for a MC plus.
A lot of those shows like DarkWinds, gangs of London interview
with a vampire because peopleare not subscribed and not
willing to pay for a MC.
A whole new audience once theyhit the Netflix platform is
supporting and getting to seethese shows and therefore
extending the shelf life.
I and again, we also have tounderstand as much as we are a
(59:53):
little biased,'cause we do getto go to movies for free, but at
the same token, how many timeshave we seen something that we
got to see for free?
Now let's take sinners and onebat off another off the table.
But a lot of stuff we've seenlately we're like, if I had to
pay for this, I'm not too sure Iwould.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (01:00:11):
No absolutely.
But I think that's just becauseof the shift in viewing habits
Yeah.
Is that I would stay at homewith Donna to watch is this
thing on because I feel likeit's a personal movie that she
and I could sink into togetherthat we don't need the crowd and
all the people to see it.
(01:00:31):
I think that's sad that I wouldsay that because those types of
movies.
There is a crowd aspect to themthat you miss when you're
walking out of the theater andyou're hearing people saying
stuff like, no, if I was her, Iwouldn't do that.
And if I was him, I wouldn'thave got back with, yeah.
(01:00:53):
There, there is that discussionthat happens and part of that
discussion happens in thetheater as we're talking back to
the screen and saying, Uhuh,girl, that ain't the right
thing.
I don't know why you going backwith him.
The theater experience is morethan the seat, the sticky floor,
(01:01:16):
the little rat that runs overyour foot.
That would make me scared whenI'm watching Sinner because I
jumped up, I jumped 15 timeswhen I was watching Sinner.
By the way, I knew somebody wasgonna bite somebody in the neck.
Why?
Why did we have to have that?
No.
I just think two things can betrue at the same time, these
(01:01:37):
theaters do need to up theirgame also.
It is so much fun to watch amovie in the theater.
Now I'm coming to Atlanta soon.
I will not be seeing you whenI'm there'cause I got a lot of
things, a lot of people to see,a lot of places to go.
But if you could hurry up andbuild your home theater so that
(01:01:59):
next time I'm there, Donna and Iwill come and share a evening of
movies with you.
Kathia Woods (01:02:06):
But I also, I do like the fact right.
And I, because also you and Iare of that generation where we
all know who the first familythat got a color TV or when your
family got a color tv.
Right.
A big deal.
It was right.
Big deal.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:02:23):
Big deal.
Or
Kathia Woods (01:02:23):
if you were friends with the people that got
the first color tv.
I remember that Sony TV that wegot, the remote was a little
smaller too.
And what happened, I do rememberif you were friends, you were
like, Ooh, you prob for youReggie, you probably go, Ooh, I
get to see the game and color.
I get to actually see theuniform, the shorts, the sneaks
and all this other stuff.
(01:02:44):
A lot of our first impression ofmovies that we love, were not
necessarily the movie theater.
So I hate when people go thatare That's true.
I was like those cowboy andIndian movies we did not see in
a movie theater.
Stop it.
You saw that on the color tv, onthe black white TV at your
grandparents' house because youhad no say in what was getting
seen on the tv.
(01:03:04):
So you either watched what theywere watching or you went
outside.
No, it's true and I feel likestreaming is like the new
version.
If it introduces people to somefilms that they would've
otherwise not seen, I do thinkit's not an either or, but I
agree that what sinners and onebattle after another shown,
there is an audience out therefor good keyword, good, bold,
(01:03:28):
for good original thoughts formovies that aren't, fast
nefarious 3000.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (01:03:35):
We're gonna have to leave it at that.
I agree.
You will leave it at that.
We actually did our segment rentand rave.
'cause you saw us Rent and Ravenand even though we didn't say we
were doing that, so No, but
Kathia Woods (01:03:45):
I always wanna know what your thoughts are on
that because we are of a similarage and when I said color TV, I
didn't have to go into the wholeGoogle explanation.
You immediately understood whatI was saying.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (01:03:56):
I did.
I did.
I think ours was a zenith, butanyway, we gonna have to get
outta here.
I wanna thank you guys forchecking us out.
Katia.
Where can people check out allthe stuff that you've been
doing?
Because that red carpet stuff, Iknow you got a lot of stuff out
there.
So where can people check youout?
Kathia Woods (01:04:11):
You can see the red carpet stuff at the Critic
Choice Latin Cinema.
Instagram.
Oh, dear God.
You can read my work at thePhiladelphia Tribune.
You can also read it at theSacramento Observer as well as
see some of my videos.
And if for everything else youcan go to cuppa soul show.com,
what we have in ourselves a goodold time.
And I really wanna take thisopportunity and thank
(01:04:32):
everybody's been watching theYouTube channel.
We are about to have anothervideo, another interview of mine
to go to 30 K views.
And that is insane.
That is, and we've had likethree videos this month that
went over between last month andthis month we're finishing our
strong that are over 15 K.
(01:04:53):
And also, wanna thank you all,we have an additional 300
subscribers.
So y'all rock.
Thank you for rocking
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:04:59):
me.
Oh that's fantastic.
We'll get this up this weekendso we won't be so late.
Kathia Woods (01:05:04):
and I'll let y'all know if Reggie.
We'll rendezvous and check ifReggie is gonna be Hollywood on
Tuesday.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (01:05:10):
I'm gonna do something.
I'm gonna do something.
You could check meout@indigo.com, sometimes at the
Chicago Sun times@vocalo.org andother places that you can find
Reggie Ponder hat.
And with that, we're gonna saywe'll see you guys next time.
We're out
Kathia Woods (01:05:28):
you next time.
Bye bye.
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