Episode Transcript
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Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (00:00):
Hey, I'm Reggie Ponder the Real
Critic, and this is The RealCritics Network.
I am here with my friend andco-host Katia Woods.
Katia.
How are you?
How are you?
Kathia Woods (00:12):
I'm good.
I'm still, I'm sorry.
I'm still trying to havepictures of you at a screen.
You would have,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (00:18):
We should not be talking about what
happened when I went to see thatscary movie.
What did they call it?
Oh, sinners.
Sinners.
Yeah.
We should not talk, we shouldnot talk about that.
I know.
I'm
Kathia Woods (00:29):
gonna tell Victor when him comes at, I said, you
gotta be Reggie's support Fred.
Hold his hand.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:36):
That, that is always tough.
Well, let's get into it.
My, my what's on my mindactually is really, I heard
something that made me extremelyhappy.
And why was that?
And I, and see, I hate to eventalk to you about it because
you're gonna tell me youinterviewed the people of that
(00:57):
one too, but I heard that adifferent world is getting a
reboot.
I am so excited about adifferent world, getting a new
chapter.
Kathia Woods (01:09):
I think.
I think, you know what, whenpeople hear reboot, they think
we're gonna get a 2025 versionof Dwayne and Whitley.
I'm like no.
If you are willing to go back toHillman College and get today.
Now I think what would beinteresting to have Dwayne and
Whitley's child, like who's,what is the child gonna be like?
(01:32):
More like Dwayne?
Is it gonna be more likeWhitley?
Like, it would be interestingmaybe to have a girl that's a
little bit more into stem,right?
Because I can't imagine likethat, but at the same time being
bougie like Whitley, oh mygoodness.
So I think it's gonna be reallyinteresting to see the second
generation of like, what wasCree Summers?
(01:56):
Character's name.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (01:57):
Yeah, I can't remember.
You know who I'm
Kathia Woods (01:58):
talking about?
Yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The (01:59):
absolutely.
Yeah.
And
Kathia Woods (02:01):
her daughter, imagine like it being like, a
growing pain, she was all thisliberal and then having a child
that is very like, conservative,that would be like very
interesting.
But I do think that I think,yeah, I think that can be done,
the challenges, them, Whitleyand Duane and all them coming
back to the college and beinglike, oh, it's gonna be so X, Y,
(02:24):
and Z.
And then getting there and beinglike, what happened to this?
Like, we all do, when we go backto our.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (02:32):
I'm looking forward to this one.
As I'm reading it, they gotDebbie Allen coming back.
Some members of the originalcast.
You got Tom Werner Gina Price,Blythewood will be an executive
producer.
Kathia Woods (02:45):
Oh, she was a writer.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (02:47):
Yeah.
She gonna do, she gonna beexecutive producer in this one
that says and I'm excited aboutthat.
I'm excited and can't wait tosee what's what will come outta
that.
I, sometimes I think when you dothese kind of things and try to
revisit them, they wouldn'twork.
But I don't know why.
It just seems in my head thatthis is going to be funny.
(03:09):
It's going to be the type ofthing that I wanna watch.
And I'm saying Thank youNetflix.
'cause I wasn't asking for it,but I'm down for it.
Kathia Woods (03:17):
I do, I think it's gonna be a good, I think this
will be a good as I said is thisis gonna be Dwayne Whitley's
daughter's climate and HBCU.
And I think, I think this willbe a good combination of being
able to see, what, who's gonnahave more of a dominant
influence,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (03:38):
for sure.
Kathia Woods (03:38):
And yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (03:40):
for sure.
And maybe they'll get like thatmovie centers and just have
twins and one of'em, one of'embe a little bit, that would be
really smart.
You'd have one of'em be a littlebit like Dwayne and another one
would be a little bit likeWhitney.
So,
Kathia Woods (03:53):
especially like I said, is this bougie?
Dwayne is from Brooklyn to havethat very, very like, you know
him to break, but it's like, andPatty LaBelle is still with us.
Bless our heart.
For her to be able to have agrandchild that is like, I don't
really do that.
That we don't have Diane Carrollanymore.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (04:13):
That, that could be really good.
All right.
Well, well, that's what was onmy mind.
We got two movies to talk abouttoday and the first movie is G
20, and G 20 is a movie on Primevideo and Katia.
You said you saw it.
Talk to us about it.
Kathia Woods (04:31):
I did.
I saw it.
It starts Viola Davis as thepresident, Anthony Anderson as
the first gentleman.
We coulda had a first gentlemanwhen we not gonna go there.
We have Mars Martin as thedaughter.
And we have Christopher as theson.
(04:53):
They're the first family.
They're going to South Africafor a G 20 summit, hence G 20 is
the name of the film.
I love the fact that is RamonRodriguez is playing the secret
agent, secret service agent tothe press and Viola Davis.
And I just really, here's thething.
And also our guy, Anthony Starr,who plays Rutledge, the bad guy
(05:17):
from the, if Anthony from theboys, right?
He's lovely.
And I had a chance to speak toAnthony Marsai and Christopher.
So basically the first familygoes to the summit.
Marsai is a rebel rebellious,tech savvy teen daughter.
Anthony is the husband and he'sprotective dad.
(05:37):
And also Viola Davis isex-military.
She was in the military prior tobecoming president.
So you have all these folks thatare in South Africa with all
these world leaders andAnthony's got a little, not
Anthony Anderson, but AnthonyStarr as Rutledge has a little,
he's a little ax to grime and hedecides he wants to take these
(05:58):
people hostage.
I think this is a fun popcornmovie.
If you go into it and you don'thave in like leave all your
realistic expectations.
Everybody grab your favoritepart of the couch, get your
snacks together, hit play.
This is a good movie thateverybody in the family can see.
Like not when I say everybody inthe family, I mean of school
(06:19):
age.
I don't mean like your4-year-old, but I think this is
really fun and I think, ViolaDavis said it best.
She wanted to do a movie, herand her husband.
Produced this.
She wanted to make a movie thatdidn't have, that, didn't have
to be this deep thinking, thisdeep thing necessarily awards
movie.
She just wanted to make apopcorn movie, and I believe she
(06:41):
accomplished that with this.
This is just a fun ride.
And over the top action movie,think like, air Force One along
those sides,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (06:52):
Or Olympus has fallen white House
down a movie.
Like,
Kathia Woods (06:56):
yeah, the president is a hundred years
old, but is out there kickingbutt and taking names,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (07:00):
kick kicking butts and take and
taking names.
There were a couple things thatI liked about the film.
The first, and you mentioned it,was that it's a black family.
It's a black family in the WhiteHouse.
Not that we haven't seen itbefore, but we have a woman
leading it all and.
And I like that Viola does, thatshows that there is this woman
power out there and that a womancan lead a action film because
(07:24):
we don't get to see that a lotwhen we talk about, this is not
by any means a Oscar film, butwhen we talk about black women
being nominated for leadingroles, you don't see that we,
you see that we, there's justnot a lot of leading roles for
black women.
So she made a role, she made arole for herself, and it's a fun
(07:47):
role.
If you take it too seriously,you'd be like, ah, nah that,
that'll never happen.
But do you do that with theseother films again, like, Olympus
what is Olympus Fall?
I'm starting to get'em confused,but.
No, you don't.
You are like, oh man, that wasgreat.
So I like the fact that it was ablack family in the White House.
I actually really love thefamily interaction between the
(08:08):
husband, the wife, and the kids.
I will say, and I usually saywhat I don't like till the end,
but I will say that the son, inmy opinion, was just a throwaway
that it was not used as, as wellas all the other characters.
In, in, in my opinion.
I, I did like that mother anddaughter tension in the plot
because that, that helped set upsome other things that you're
(08:31):
gonna see a little later.
And I love how it was set inSouth Africa.
For me, this was a real majorpoint.
So I'd really like to know whatyour thoughts are on this,
Katya.
Is that they made sure thatthose South Africans weren't
punks.
Oh, for sure.
I love
Kathia Woods (08:46):
that.
The fact that you found out oh,they're not the help.
And that's what I mean.
I love how they were like, wellyeah, we gonna be the helper.
'cause no one ever thinks thatthe black people could be part
of the kickass group.
Right.
So that was a perfect disguise.
I do think they could have giventhe son a little bit more to do.
(09:06):
Right.
Where I think obviously'causeMuste is the bigger name.
I also liked how the familymatched skews.
Like you got dark-skinned mama,brown-skinned daddy,
brown-skinned kids.
Like sometimes I'm like, wellthe math is not math in here
folks.
Right.
But I do think I love that.
And I also think that you cantell that Marsai and Anthony
(09:27):
have worked previously togetherand they had great chemistry.
I love the fact that you hadthis girl power with the
daughter as well.
Like she was like, mom, and Iliked the fact that it was set
in South Africa, which I hopethey were down there and got,
gave them some money, somecoinage for filming in that
country.
And again I, again, this is apopcorn film, not listen, we
(09:50):
both are film critics and welove our award season deep
films, right?
And even sometimes those werelike, this ain't saying what you
think it's saying, right?
Part of going to the movies is,especially in this climate or
seeing a movie at home, is thefun of being able just to tune
out, just to be able to, andjust enjoy a movie.
(10:12):
Not everything has to be thesecond meaning of life.
And I think.
Being able to cheer for Viola,is she gonna make it as she's at
her and her little ragtag crewwith Oliver and the Russian
lady?
Are they gonna make it out ofthere?
Right.
And I think, the old heads,that's a different type of mo
hero.
The old heads are fightingagainst, the young gunners, so I
(10:35):
think this is and we see some ofour favorite TVs, like I said,
Ramon, who is in who plays WillTrent on NBC Anthony, who's in
the Boys, which is also on Primevideo, being able to see some of
our favorite TV people thatwe've gotten to love and know
from the TV side, seeing them onthe film side,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (10:55):
I, what I liked is that there that,
you're right, this is a popcornfilm is, but you have to make a
popcorn film work.
And for me, what made it work isthat the tension in this film
was one of the things that makeyou stay with the film there,
you, and that the fact that theyshowed us that there will, there
are some casualties that madeyou say Uhoh who, of our group,
(11:20):
the people we're rooting for whowill be able to make it to the
end of this movie and the blackpeople made it.
Say that again.
The black people made it and sothat, that and the Latino a
Absolutely, and I also like the,I guess back and forth between
(11:40):
Viola's character and the PrimeMinister because
Kathia Woods (11:44):
Oh yeah, that's what I'm saying.
The old head crew.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (11:46):
Right, right.
Like the
Kathia Woods (11:46):
people, the Raban crew were pe old people over the
40.
Normally you see them beingrescued, but they had to fend
for themselves.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (11:54):
So, so o overall I liked it.
I will tell you though, that thefilm.
I was able to predict a littlebit more than I wish that I
could have.
And I always like it when youthrow a little curve ball in
there.
But there were a couple ofthings that I could tell you,
but I will not say here, therewere at least three things that
I said, oh, this is gonnahappen.
(12:15):
This is the person who'sinvolved, and people might not
think they're involved.
So I do wish that I couldn'ttelegraph some of those things a
little bit.
And there was one other pointthat I want to make about about
the film and it the SouthAfrican piece.
When I was telling you that I, Idid like that they didn't make
them punks.
(12:37):
I I really liked that.
I it wasn't just a little piece.
I was like, okay, yes, you aregonna come into this country and
there's, there you are gonnacome into this country and you
gonna think that we don't have alittle something that we could
bring to the table.
I like the fact that they usedthat and in fact, there was a
Wakanda reference in the filmthat was funny.
(12:59):
This is a fun film.
It's a popcorn film.
I'm giving this one, two and ahalf out of four, and I think
that they put it on the rightkind of platform.
It's a streaming.
This for me was a streamingmovie and I enjoyed it overall.
I
Kathia Woods (13:11):
agree, Reggie, on the rating, and I think again,
instead of you, us old heads,instead of you going to
Blockbuster on a Friday night,this is your Blockbuster movie
right there.
Everybody grab a pizza on thecouch, get your snacks, your
favorite drink, and let's justlean in and leave all realistic
expectations out, and you'rejust gonna be entertained,
something there for the men, theaction, the women, the kids.
(13:35):
It's just, that's what it is.
Reggie Ponder, The R (13:37):
Excellent.
Nothing along
Kathia Woods (13:38):
with that.
Reggie Ponder, The R (13:39):
Excellent.
So let's move on to our nextmovie.
This movie is The Amateur.
And I wanna tell you that I loveRami Malick.
I just do.
So I was looking forward to thisand really want to see if this
would work for me.
And so who's in it?
You have Ro, Rami Mallick,Lawrence Fishburne, Rachel
Brosnahan, and John Bertha.
(14:01):
And.
Romney plays Charlie, a decoderfor the CIA, who is very good at
his job.
He's introverted and he's alittle weird actually, but his
wife is killed in a Londonterrorist attack and he wants to
see his wife's murderer pay fortheir horrific acts, and he's
really not satisfied with theCIA's response.
(14:24):
He wants them to get on it.
Like, come on, you know who theyare, you know what they did.
Let's do something about it.
They didn't do what he wantedthem to do.
So Charlie takes Madison to hisown hands to find and met out a
violent br brand of justice.
But the big thing is Charlie isnot a trained to be a killer.
(14:45):
He doesn't know what he isdoing, so it really puts him in
extreme danger.
What I really liked about thisis that.
I think that the amateur does areally good job of establishing
how Charlie's love for his wifefrom the very beginning.
And the film doesn't stop therebecause we consistently see
these flashbacks of theirrelationship as well as these
(15:07):
touching visions of love,reminding us of the reason that
he's doing this doing all thethings that he's doing.
And for me, that keeps the filmfrom being just another revenge
or espionage offer offering, butone that's embedded in a deep,
loving relationship.
And I think that's that in andof itself is what makes this
film works for me.
Kathia Woods (15:27):
I agree.
I think he's an anti-hero.
He's not a traditional hero, andI like the fact that they're
like, he does not have to leaninto his traditional, into
tradition.
There's more than one way toskin a cat.
And he relies on, he's ameticulous stu and he's patient.
(15:49):
'cause his job requires that.
So he is like, I don't need todo, kill them the traditional
way.
You know what I mean?
I can figure out a way wheretheir weaknesses are.
And because nobody suspects meas a killer, that's my other
additive.
Right?
And I do like the action, I dolike the, how they move through
(16:11):
this.
Do you know what I mean?
And I think that is a great wayto carry this.
Do you know what I mean?
And it was giving, like, givingJason Bourne type of syndrome.
And again is it a perfect, doesit have some moments where it's
a little bit touchy?
But again it isn't, is it isShely a entertainment film for
(16:34):
people who like, it's also basedon a book.
Do I wanna say that?
But it's, this movie is Shelyfor people who.
Aren't that hero not to be in atraditional form, you like a
little cook and dagger.
That's what I would say
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (16:47):
about that.
And for people who are lookingfor something just a little bit
different.
Yeah, because it we get thesemovies all the time, and so the
fact that it's embedded in love,I know you'll, you might say,
well, look at the, some of theseother movies where the child was
kidnapped and he's going off tosave his child.
Yeah.
Maybe you could find somesimilarities there, but make no
(17:11):
mistake, this is a revengemovie.
He is cons, Charlie is consumedwith finding and making the
people responsible pay and.
The twist in this is for, andit's not given away a lot, is
that Charlie has stumbled upon ablack ops operation by the CIA
that could disrupt the agencyand expose illegal activity.
So this puts him in the crosshairs of his superiors.
(17:34):
And that's where, when you saythat it's like a born ish, like
a Jason Bourne.
I agree.
In fact, I think it has elementsof Jason Bourne and elements of
John Wick.
The elements of Jason Bourne isthat I.
He can't fight like JasonBourne.
(17:54):
He can't fight like a John Wickand we don't
Kathia Woods (17:56):
want him to,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (17:57):
But we like that.
He's nerdy, but he's smart.
Like Jason Bourne, understandinghow to use the skills that he
has to evade people, to sneak upon people, all that.
And then from a killperspective, I'm saying John
Wick, because when you, we arewatching John Wick, we get to
see like people die in so manycreative ways.
(18:18):
It is crazy.
And that's what happens in thisfilm is that Charlie, he founds
some real creative ways to catchup to his wife.
Oh, he got
Kathia Woods (18:28):
him.
He got him good.
I like that.
I like the fact that we, hesaid, oh, so you're not gonna
gimme what I need.
All right.
And they're thinking he's gonnacome up with the gun now.
My man got the one person reallygood.
He found out.
And I think that's a worst wayto go.
I'm like, she was in therestruggling.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (18:51):
Well, well the one that to not give
away, because you will see it onthe trailer, is the one where
the guy is swimming in theswimming pool and the trailer
shows this one.
And he says, Hey, are you gonnagimme what you what I need?
And they's like, nah, I'm notgonna give it to you.
It was like, well, you betterswim pretty fast.
'cause if you don't swim prettyfast this pool is gonna crack.
(19:13):
And it, it was just interestingin that way that they found
these other ways to go.
Now what we haven't talked aboutis Lawrence Fishburne and I
think that was a nicerelationship, but I think that.
I think that Lawrence Fishburnedid a fine job with what he was
given, but I think he wasunderused here.
I think that his skills and hisacting, all of that was
(19:35):
underused, but I don't thinkthat's from him.
I just think that's just fromthe writers, is that he just
didn't have enough to make thismovie that next level from the
role that he was given, in myopinion.
Kathia Woods (19:50):
Oh, I agree.
He was totally underused.
He's a second big name.
He's a second big draw.
And you're, so, you using him inthe poster, using him here and
there, so you expect more so tosee him so underused, you're
like, what?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (20:04):
Yeah.
I that, that was disappointingfor me because I, again, I don't
think that there was anythingthat he did that was, oh man, he
didn't handle his role.
He handled the role that he wasgiven, but.
Man I would've liked to haveseen more there.
But it was funny watching fishBurn's character start off not
(20:24):
respecting Charlie, and then endup having a mutual respect for
each other.
So it was fun watching thatwatching that aspect of the
film.
Kathia Woods (20:35):
Oh, absolutely.
AB 100%, and I, again it's, ithas some moments where you're
like, but overall, I thinkagain, if you're going for the
Entertainment Valley, you willbe entertained.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (20:47):
I think you absolutely will be
entertained.
I think this is a fun movie.
I, our last episode we talkedabout the movie centers, and I
think center is more thanentertains.
Is that movie will make youthink, make you talk, make you,
make people like Reggie hide hisface while he is watching it.
(21:07):
This one will make you be like,oh man, that was a nice little,
that was a nice ride.
It was fun to go along for theride.
So
Kathia Woods (21:13):
Reggie's saying it wasn't scary, so Reggie sat
through it, but I closing hiseyes.
You good to go?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (21:18):
It was not scary.
Not one bit.
But it was fun.
It was one of those movies that,that was fun.
I think it's also gonna be oneof those movies.
I haven't looked to see what ithas done at the box office, but
I think that it's probably gonnabe one of those movies that will
have a sequel.
Kathia Woods (21:36):
I think so.
I think you left the door openfor him to, we can't kill off
another it's doing okay.
It's doing okay.
It left the door open for him toutilize his skillset.
I can see him being like someprofessor somewhere, and then
being like, like Allo Jack,Ryan, we need your expertise.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (21:57):
Right, right, right, right, right.
Absolutely.
I could see that if it doesn'tget a sequel that all of a
sudden we're watching a eightpart series on some streaming
service.
So, so for sure.
I think that overall that thisfilm was far from incompetent
and Inept, did a smart, engagingexploration of husband's love
and ultimately his rage.
(22:18):
I think you will leave a bitenergized, but you might also
feel that these matters thatCharlie took undertook might be
better left to theprofessionals.
Kathia Woods (22:28):
I agree.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (22:30):
But I
Kathia Woods (22:30):
agree.
I don't want you thinking thatyou can use your laptop to solve
crimes.
Don't do it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (22:36):
Right, right, right.
Might be better left to theprofessionals but I'm
recommending this one I think isfun.
It's even.
It has enough suspense.
It's not at Jason Bourne's levelevery Bourne movie, except I
think the Gerald Butler one forme.
I'm putting that a at a 4.5, andmy skill is four.
I love Jason Bourne, but, sothis is not quite at that level,
(22:59):
but it is enjoyable and I wouldrecommend that people go check
it out.
Kathia Woods (23:03):
I also recommend it.
I would have it more at like a3.75, but it's still enjoyable.
And again, we like a good nerdyhero.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (23:13):
We do.
That's it.
For this week.
We had two movies.
We got one that you can justcheck out at home, which we're
calling the popcorn movie, andthat's G 20, so check it out at
home.
That's on Prime video.
Then the other that's in thetheaters, which is the amateur,
and we're saying, we're bothsaying check that out as well
and think that you'll have agood time, nice suspense and a
(23:36):
good twist on that kind of spyespionage film.
I'm on Twitter.
I'm on Twitter, Instagram andYouTube at the Real Critic.
That's REEL.
And I always forget to say BlueSky, but I'm gonna start posting
on Blue Sky'cause the sky's thelimit.
Kathia, where can people findyou?
Kathia Woods (23:53):
You can find me everywhere with Kathia,
K-A-T-H-I-A Woods, except on theTwitter, where it's just my
first name, N 70 the year I wasborn.
But we still have a good time.
We still be getting our Kiki inthere,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (24:08):
no, no doubt about it.
Well, that's our show, as I sayall the time.
We got two critics.
That's me, and that's her withtwo opinions, but one mission.
And that's really where dialogueengages, educates, entertains,
and occasionally escalates.
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you guys next time.
Kathia Woods (24:31):
Yay.
And Reggie's back.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (24:33):
I'm back.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you my friend.
Hey, I'm Reggie Ponder the Real
Critic, and this is The RealCritics Network.
I am here with my friend andco-host Katia Woods.
Katia.
How are you?
How are you?
Kathia Woods (00:12):
I'm good.
I'm still, I'm sorry.
I'm still trying to havepictures of you at a screen.
You would have,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (00:18):
We should not be talking about what
happened when I went to see thatscary movie.
What did they call it?
Oh, sinners.
Sinners.
Yeah.
We should not talk, we shouldnot talk about that.
I know.
I'm
Kathia Woods (00:29):
gonna tell Victor when him comes at, I said, you
gotta be Reggie's support Fred.
Hold his hand.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (00:36):
That, that is always tough.
Well, let's get into it.
My, my what's on my mindactually is really, I heard
something that made me extremelyhappy.
And why was that?
And I, and see, I hate to eventalk to you about it because
you're gonna tell me youinterviewed the people of that
(00:57):
one too, but I heard that adifferent world is getting a
reboot.
I am so excited about adifferent world, getting a new
chapter.
Kathia Woods (01:09):
I think.
I think, you know what, whenpeople hear reboot, they think
we're gonna get a 2025 versionof Dwayne and Whitley.
I'm like no.
If you are willing to go back toHillman College and get today.
Now I think what would beinteresting to have Dwayne and
Whitley's child, like who's,what is the child gonna be like?
(01:32):
More like Dwayne?
Is it gonna be more likeWhitley?
Like, it would be interestingmaybe to have a girl that's a
little bit more into stem,right?
Because I can't imagine likethat, but at the same time being
bougie like Whitley, oh mygoodness.
So I think it's gonna be reallyinteresting to see the second
generation of like, what wasCree Summers?
(01:56):
Character's name.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (01:57):
Yeah, I can't remember.
You know who I'm
Kathia Woods (01:58):
talking about?
Yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The (01:59):
absolutely.
Yeah.
And
Kathia Woods (02:01):
her daughter, imagine like it being like, a
growing pain, she was all thisliberal and then having a child
that is very like, conservative,that would be like very
interesting.
But I do think that I think,yeah, I think that can be done,
the challenges, them, Whitleyand Duane and all them coming
back to the college and beinglike, oh, it's gonna be so X, Y,
(02:24):
and Z.
And then getting there and beinglike, what happened to this?
Like, we all do, when we go backto our.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (02:32):
I'm looking forward to this one.
As I'm reading it, they gotDebbie Allen coming back.
Some members of the originalcast.
You got Tom Werner Gina Price,Blythewood will be an executive
producer.
Kathia Woods (02:45):
Oh, she was a writer.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (02:47):
Yeah.
She gonna do, she gonna beexecutive producer in this one
that says and I'm excited aboutthat.
I'm excited and can't wait tosee what's what will come outta
that.
I, sometimes I think when you dothese kind of things and try to
revisit them, they wouldn'twork.
But I don't know why.
It just seems in my head thatthis is going to be funny.
(03:09):
It's going to be the type ofthing that I wanna watch.
And I'm saying Thank youNetflix.
'cause I wasn't asking for it,but I'm down for it.
Kathia Woods (03:17):
I do, I think it's gonna be a good, I think this
will be a good as I said is thisis gonna be Dwayne Whitley's
daughter's climate and HBCU.
And I think, I think this willbe a good combination of being
able to see, what, who's gonnahave more of a dominant
influence,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (03:38):
for sure.
Kathia Woods (03:38):
And yeah,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (03:40):
for sure.
And maybe they'll get like thatmovie centers and just have
twins and one of'em, one of'embe a little bit, that would be
really smart.
You'd have one of'em be a littlebit like Dwayne and another one
would be a little bit likeWhitney.
So,
Kathia Woods (03:53):
especially like I said, is this bougie?
Dwayne is from Brooklyn to havethat very, very like, you know
him to break, but it's like, andPatty LaBelle is still with us.
Bless our heart.
For her to be able to have agrandchild that is like, I don't
really do that.
That we don't have Diane Carrollanymore.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (04:13):
That, that could be really good.
All right.
Well, well, that's what was onmy mind.
We got two movies to talk abouttoday and the first movie is G
20, and G 20 is a movie on Primevideo and Katia.
You said you saw it.
Talk to us about it.
Kathia Woods (04:31):
I did.
I saw it.
It starts Viola Davis as thepresident, Anthony Anderson as
the first gentleman.
We coulda had a first gentlemanwhen we not gonna go there.
We have Mars Martin as thedaughter.
And we have Christopher as theson.
(04:53):
They're the first family.
They're going to South Africafor a G 20 summit, hence G 20 is
the name of the film.
I love the fact that is RamonRodriguez is playing the secret
agent, secret service agent tothe press and Viola Davis.
And I just really, here's thething.
And also our guy, Anthony Starr,who plays Rutledge, the bad guy
(05:17):
from the, if Anthony from theboys, right?
He's lovely.
And I had a chance to speak toAnthony Marsai and Christopher.
So basically the first familygoes to the summit.
Marsai is a rebel rebellious,tech savvy teen daughter.
Anthony is the husband and he'sprotective dad.
(05:37):
And also Viola Davis isex-military.
She was in the military prior tobecoming president.
So you have all these folks thatare in South Africa with all
these world leaders andAnthony's got a little, not
Anthony Anderson, but AnthonyStarr as Rutledge has a little,
he's a little ax to grime and hedecides he wants to take these
(05:58):
people hostage.
I think this is a fun popcornmovie.
If you go into it and you don'thave in like leave all your
realistic expectations.
Everybody grab your favoritepart of the couch, get your
snacks together, hit play.
This is a good movie thateverybody in the family can see.
Like not when I say everybody inthe family, I mean of school
(06:19):
age.
I don't mean like your4-year-old, but I think this is
really fun and I think, ViolaDavis said it best.
She wanted to do a movie, herand her husband.
Produced this.
She wanted to make a movie thatdidn't have, that, didn't have
to be this deep thinking, thisdeep thing necessarily awards
movie.
She just wanted to make apopcorn movie, and I believe she
(06:41):
accomplished that with this.
This is just a fun ride.
And over the top action movie,think like, air Force One along
those sides,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (06:52):
Or Olympus has fallen white House
down a movie.
Like,
Kathia Woods (06:56):
yeah, the president is a hundred years
old, but is out there kickingbutt and taking names,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cr (07:00):
kick kicking butts and take and
taking names.
There were a couple things thatI liked about the film.
The first, and you mentioned it,was that it's a black family.
It's a black family in the WhiteHouse.
Not that we haven't seen itbefore, but we have a woman
leading it all and.
And I like that Viola does, thatshows that there is this woman
power out there and that a womancan lead a action film because
(07:24):
we don't get to see that a lotwhen we talk about, this is not
by any means a Oscar film, butwhen we talk about black women
being nominated for leadingroles, you don't see that we,
you see that we, there's justnot a lot of leading roles for
black women.
So she made a role, she made arole for herself, and it's a fun
(07:47):
role.
If you take it too seriously,you'd be like, ah, nah that,
that'll never happen.
But do you do that with theseother films again, like, Olympus
what is Olympus Fall?
I'm starting to get'em confused,but.
No, you don't.
You are like, oh man, that wasgreat.
So I like the fact that it was ablack family in the White House.
I actually really love thefamily interaction between the
(08:08):
husband, the wife, and the kids.
I will say, and I usually saywhat I don't like till the end,
but I will say that the son, inmy opinion, was just a throwaway
that it was not used as, as wellas all the other characters.
In, in, in my opinion.
I, I did like that mother anddaughter tension in the plot
because that, that helped set upsome other things that you're
(08:31):
gonna see a little later.
And I love how it was set inSouth Africa.
For me, this was a real majorpoint.
So I'd really like to know whatyour thoughts are on this,
Katya.
Is that they made sure thatthose South Africans weren't
punks.
Oh, for sure.
I love
Kathia Woods (08:46):
that.
The fact that you found out oh,they're not the help.
And that's what I mean.
I love how they were like, wellyeah, we gonna be the helper.
'cause no one ever thinks thatthe black people could be part
of the kickass group.
Right.
So that was a perfect disguise.
I do think they could have giventhe son a little bit more to do.
(09:06):
Right.
Where I think obviously'causeMuste is the bigger name.
I also liked how the familymatched skews.
Like you got dark-skinned mama,brown-skinned daddy,
brown-skinned kids.
Like sometimes I'm like, wellthe math is not math in here
folks.
Right.
But I do think I love that.
And I also think that you cantell that Marsai and Anthony
(09:27):
have worked previously togetherand they had great chemistry.
I love the fact that you hadthis girl power with the
daughter as well.
Like she was like, mom, and Iliked the fact that it was set
in South Africa, which I hopethey were down there and got,
gave them some money, somecoinage for filming in that
country.
And again I, again, this is apopcorn film, not listen, we
(09:50):
both are film critics and welove our award season deep
films, right?
And even sometimes those werelike, this ain't saying what you
think it's saying, right?
Part of going to the movies is,especially in this climate or
seeing a movie at home, is thefun of being able just to tune
out, just to be able to, andjust enjoy a movie.
(10:12):
Not everything has to be thesecond meaning of life.
And I think.
Being able to cheer for Viola,is she gonna make it as she's at
her and her little ragtag crewwith Oliver and the Russian
lady?
Are they gonna make it out ofthere?
Right.
And I think, the old heads,that's a different type of mo
hero.
The old heads are fightingagainst, the young gunners, so I
(10:35):
think this is and we see some ofour favorite TVs, like I said,
Ramon, who is in who plays WillTrent on NBC Anthony, who's in
the Boys, which is also on Primevideo, being able to see some of
our favorite TV people thatwe've gotten to love and know
from the TV side, seeing them onthe film side,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (10:55):
I, what I liked is that there that,
you're right, this is a popcornfilm is, but you have to make a
popcorn film work.
And for me, what made it work isthat the tension in this film
was one of the things that makeyou stay with the film there,
you, and that the fact that theyshowed us that there will, there
are some casualties that madeyou say Uhoh who, of our group,
(11:20):
the people we're rooting for whowill be able to make it to the
end of this movie and the blackpeople made it.
Say that again.
The black people made it and sothat, that and the Latino a
Absolutely, and I also like the,I guess back and forth between
(11:40):
Viola's character and the PrimeMinister because
Kathia Woods (11:44):
Oh yeah, that's what I'm saying.
The old head crew.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (11:46):
Right, right.
Like the
Kathia Woods (11:46):
people, the Raban crew were pe old people over the
40.
Normally you see them beingrescued, but they had to fend
for themselves.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (11:54):
So, so o overall I liked it.
I will tell you though, that thefilm.
I was able to predict a littlebit more than I wish that I
could have.
And I always like it when youthrow a little curve ball in
there.
But there were a couple ofthings that I could tell you,
but I will not say here, therewere at least three things that
I said, oh, this is gonnahappen.
(12:15):
This is the person who'sinvolved, and people might not
think they're involved.
So I do wish that I couldn'ttelegraph some of those things a
little bit.
And there was one other pointthat I want to make about about
the film and it the SouthAfrican piece.
When I was telling you that I, Idid like that they didn't make
them punks.
(12:37):
I I really liked that.
I it wasn't just a little piece.
I was like, okay, yes, you aregonna come into this country and
there's, there you are gonnacome into this country and you
gonna think that we don't have alittle something that we could
bring to the table.
I like the fact that they usedthat and in fact, there was a
Wakanda reference in the filmthat was funny.
(12:59):
This is a fun film.
It's a popcorn film.
I'm giving this one, two and ahalf out of four, and I think
that they put it on the rightkind of platform.
It's a streaming.
This for me was a streamingmovie and I enjoyed it overall.
I
Kathia Woods (13:11):
agree, Reggie, on the rating, and I think again,
instead of you, us old heads,instead of you going to
Blockbuster on a Friday night,this is your Blockbuster movie
right there.
Everybody grab a pizza on thecouch, get your snacks, your
favorite drink, and let's justlean in and leave all realistic
expectations out, and you'rejust gonna be entertained,
something there for the men, theaction, the women, the kids.
(13:35):
It's just, that's what it is.
Reggie Ponder, The R (13:37):
Excellent.
Nothing along
Kathia Woods (13:38):
with that.
Reggie Ponder, The R (13:39):
Excellent.
So let's move on to our nextmovie.
This movie is The Amateur.
And I wanna tell you that I loveRami Malick.
I just do.
So I was looking forward to thisand really want to see if this
would work for me.
And so who's in it?
You have Ro, Rami Mallick,Lawrence Fishburne, Rachel
Brosnahan, and John Bertha.
(14:01):
And.
Romney plays Charlie, a decoderfor the CIA, who is very good at
his job.
He's introverted and he's alittle weird actually, but his
wife is killed in a Londonterrorist attack and he wants to
see his wife's murderer pay fortheir horrific acts, and he's
really not satisfied with theCIA's response.
(14:24):
He wants them to get on it.
Like, come on, you know who theyare, you know what they did.
Let's do something about it.
They didn't do what he wantedthem to do.
So Charlie takes Madison to hisown hands to find and met out a
violent br brand of justice.
But the big thing is Charlie isnot a trained to be a killer.
(14:45):
He doesn't know what he isdoing, so it really puts him in
extreme danger.
What I really liked about thisis that.
I think that the amateur does areally good job of establishing
how Charlie's love for his wifefrom the very beginning.
And the film doesn't stop therebecause we consistently see
these flashbacks of theirrelationship as well as these
(15:07):
touching visions of love,reminding us of the reason that
he's doing this doing all thethings that he's doing.
And for me, that keeps the filmfrom being just another revenge
or espionage offer offering, butone that's embedded in a deep,
loving relationship.
And I think that's that in andof itself is what makes this
film works for me.
Kathia Woods (15:27):
I agree.
I think he's an anti-hero.
He's not a traditional hero, andI like the fact that they're
like, he does not have to leaninto his traditional, into
tradition.
There's more than one way toskin a cat.
And he relies on, he's ameticulous stu and he's patient.
(15:49):
'cause his job requires that.
So he is like, I don't need todo, kill them the traditional
way.
You know what I mean?
I can figure out a way wheretheir weaknesses are.
And because nobody suspects meas a killer, that's my other
additive.
Right?
And I do like the action, I dolike the, how they move through
(16:11):
this.
Do you know what I mean?
And I think that is a great wayto carry this.
Do you know what I mean?
And it was giving, like, givingJason Bourne type of syndrome.
And again is it a perfect, doesit have some moments where it's
a little bit touchy?
But again it isn't, is it isShely a entertainment film for
(16:34):
people who like, it's also basedon a book.
Do I wanna say that?
But it's, this movie is Shelyfor people who.
Aren't that hero not to be in atraditional form, you like a
little cook and dagger.
That's what I would say
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (16:47):
about that.
And for people who are lookingfor something just a little bit
different.
Yeah, because it we get thesemovies all the time, and so the
fact that it's embedded in love,I know you'll, you might say,
well, look at the, some of theseother movies where the child was
kidnapped and he's going off tosave his child.
Yeah.
Maybe you could find somesimilarities there, but make no
(17:11):
mistake, this is a revengemovie.
He is cons, Charlie is consumedwith finding and making the
people responsible pay and.
The twist in this is for, andit's not given away a lot, is
that Charlie has stumbled upon ablack ops operation by the CIA
that could disrupt the agencyand expose illegal activity.
So this puts him in the crosshairs of his superiors.
(17:34):
And that's where, when you saythat it's like a born ish, like
a Jason Bourne.
I agree.
In fact, I think it has elementsof Jason Bourne and elements of
John Wick.
The elements of Jason Bourne isthat I.
He can't fight like JasonBourne.
(17:54):
He can't fight like a John Wickand we don't
Kathia Woods (17:56):
want him to,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (17:57):
But we like that.
He's nerdy, but he's smart.
Like Jason Bourne, understandinghow to use the skills that he
has to evade people, to sneak upon people, all that.
And then from a killperspective, I'm saying John
Wick, because when you, we arewatching John Wick, we get to
see like people die in so manycreative ways.
(18:18):
It is crazy.
And that's what happens in thisfilm is that Charlie, he founds
some real creative ways to catchup to his wife.
Oh, he got
Kathia Woods (18:28):
him.
He got him good.
I like that.
I like the fact that we, hesaid, oh, so you're not gonna
gimme what I need.
All right.
And they're thinking he's gonnacome up with the gun now.
My man got the one person reallygood.
He found out.
And I think that's a worst wayto go.
I'm like, she was in therestruggling.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (18:51):
Well, well the one that to not give
away, because you will see it onthe trailer, is the one where
the guy is swimming in theswimming pool and the trailer
shows this one.
And he says, Hey, are you gonnagimme what you what I need?
And they's like, nah, I'm notgonna give it to you.
It was like, well, you betterswim pretty fast.
'cause if you don't swim prettyfast this pool is gonna crack.
(19:13):
And it, it was just interestingin that way that they found
these other ways to go.
Now what we haven't talked aboutis Lawrence Fishburne and I
think that was a nicerelationship, but I think that.
I think that Lawrence Fishburnedid a fine job with what he was
given, but I think he wasunderused here.
I think that his skills and hisacting, all of that was
(19:35):
underused, but I don't thinkthat's from him.
I just think that's just fromthe writers, is that he just
didn't have enough to make thismovie that next level from the
role that he was given, in myopinion.
Kathia Woods (19:50):
Oh, I agree.
He was totally underused.
He's a second big name.
He's a second big draw.
And you're, so, you using him inthe poster, using him here and
there, so you expect more so tosee him so underused, you're
like, what?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel C (20:04):
Yeah.
I that, that was disappointingfor me because I, again, I don't
think that there was anythingthat he did that was, oh man, he
didn't handle his role.
He handled the role that he wasgiven, but.
Man I would've liked to haveseen more there.
But it was funny watching fishBurn's character start off not
(20:24):
respecting Charlie, and then endup having a mutual respect for
each other.
So it was fun watching thatwatching that aspect of the
film.
Kathia Woods (20:35):
Oh, absolutely.
AB 100%, and I, again it's, ithas some moments where you're
like, but overall, I thinkagain, if you're going for the
Entertainment Valley, you willbe entertained.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Criti (20:47):
I think you absolutely will be
entertained.
I think this is a fun movie.
I, our last episode we talkedabout the movie centers, and I
think center is more thanentertains.
Is that movie will make youthink, make you talk, make you,
make people like Reggie hide hisface while he is watching it.
(21:07):
This one will make you be like,oh man, that was a nice little,
that was a nice ride.
It was fun to go along for theride.
So
Kathia Woods (21:13):
Reggie's saying it wasn't scary, so Reggie sat
through it, but I closing hiseyes.
You good to go?
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (21:18):
It was not scary.
Not one bit.
But it was fun.
It was one of those movies that,that was fun.
I think it's also gonna be oneof those movies.
I haven't looked to see what ithas done at the box office, but
I think that it's probably gonnabe one of those movies that will
have a sequel.
Kathia Woods (21:36):
I think so.
I think you left the door openfor him to, we can't kill off
another it's doing okay.
It's doing okay.
It left the door open for him toutilize his skillset.
I can see him being like someprofessor somewhere, and then
being like, like Allo Jack,Ryan, we need your expertise.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (21:57):
Right, right, right, right, right.
Absolutely.
I could see that if it doesn'tget a sequel that all of a
sudden we're watching a eightpart series on some streaming
service.
So, so for sure.
I think that overall that thisfilm was far from incompetent
and Inept, did a smart, engagingexploration of husband's love
and ultimately his rage.
(22:18):
I think you will leave a bitenergized, but you might also
feel that these matters thatCharlie took undertook might be
better left to theprofessionals.
Kathia Woods (22:28):
I agree.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (22:30):
But I
Kathia Woods (22:30):
agree.
I don't want you thinking thatyou can use your laptop to solve
crimes.
Don't do it.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel (22:36):
Right, right, right.
Might be better left to theprofessionals but I'm
recommending this one I think isfun.
It's even.
It has enough suspense.
It's not at Jason Bourne's levelevery Bourne movie, except I
think the Gerald Butler one forme.
I'm putting that a at a 4.5, andmy skill is four.
I love Jason Bourne, but, sothis is not quite at that level,
(22:59):
but it is enjoyable and I wouldrecommend that people go check
it out.
Kathia Woods (23:03):
I also recommend it.
I would have it more at like a3.75, but it's still enjoyable.
And again, we like a good nerdyhero.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Crit (23:13):
We do.
That's it.
For this week.
We had two movies.
We got one that you can justcheck out at home, which we're
calling the popcorn movie, andthat's G 20, so check it out at
home.
That's on Prime video.
Then the other that's in thetheaters, which is the amateur,
and we're saying, we're bothsaying check that out as well
and think that you'll have agood time, nice suspense and a
(23:36):
good twist on that kind of spyespionage film.
I'm on Twitter.
I'm on Twitter, Instagram andYouTube at the Real Critic.
That's REEL.
And I always forget to say BlueSky, but I'm gonna start posting
on Blue Sky'cause the sky's thelimit.
Kathia, where can people findyou?
Kathia Woods (23:53):
You can find me everywhere with Kathia,
K-A-T-H-I-A Woods, except on theTwitter, where it's just my
first name, N 70 the year I wasborn.
But we still have a good time.
We still be getting our Kiki inthere,
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (24:08):
no, no doubt about it.
Well, that's our show, as I sayall the time.
We got two critics.
That's me, and that's her withtwo opinions, but one mission.
And that's really where dialogueengages, educates, entertains,
and occasionally escalates.
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you guys next time.
Kathia Woods (24:31):
Yay.
And Reggie's back.
Reggie Ponder, The Reel Cri (24:33):
I'm back.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you my friend.
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