The Reel Critics Network S1 E7: The Oscars- Were We Right or Were We Wrong?

In this episode we recap The 97 Academy Awards and compare our predictions with what actually occurred. We talk a bit about Angie Stone and her career, Brazil and Carnival, Food and The Best Philly Cheesesteak and professionalism in Journalism. 

Chapters

• 0:53 What's On My Mind
• 14:15 The Oscars: Were We Right or Were We Wrong?
• 47:08 Rant & Rave
• 1:03:45 Closing & Contacts

Transcript

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:00

I do. And here we go. I'm Reggie ponder the real critic, and this is the real critic network. And I am here with my co host Kathia was Kathia How are you? How are you?

Kathia Woods: 0:18

I'm good. I'm good. Got some sleep, getting back into things.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:23

That's always good. We skipped a week last week and mostly because. I was so locked into award season. I am so glad it's over. We're going to get into a little bit about the awards who won. I think you and I made some predictions and some of my predictions came true to my chagrin and we'll talk about that. But first we'll move into our first segment, which is what's on my mind. And what's on my mind is the untimely sudden death of Angie stone. It really did catch me by surprise, I guess it's caught a lot of people by surprise, but it really caught me by surprise because. I was somewhere and somebody said Angie Stone died. I was like, Angie Stone died. I had to go look it up. And I said, oh my goodness, she actually really did die. Now, some people would say, what does that have to do with film? What, what does Angie Stone Have to do with film. Well, believe it or not, she was in a number of films and productions and things of that nature. Even though she's best known for her, she's best known for her music. She was in a number of films as well. And so I thought that from a film perspective, I didn't see everything. So I had to do my research. I actually had to do my research because I knew she did film, but I hadn't seen everything that she did. And the first one most people should have seen, and it was hot chick, but the hot chick, she played a madam, my booze, I think it was. She also was in the fighting temptations as Alma. She was in corn on tape as Diane. She was in pastor Brown. I forgot about that. I actually need to go back and look and see if I recognize her in pastor Brown. She, as she's also in the movie called school girls. And so she was in a number of things from a film perspective, not a lot of major roles, but she did do film as well as television. I remember seeing her on Moesha. From a television perspective, she did girlfriends, one on one, Lincoln Heights. She did R& B Divas Atlanta, and also did Celebrity Wife Swap. She played herself, and that was one episode. That was a funny episode. That whole Wife Swap thing. I can imagine. That whole Wife Swap thing. Didn't she also have a reality show? She had a, didn't she have a reality show? Was it on the Divas? Yeah, she was on the divas. She did the the R and B divas Atlanta. And she did that for two to three seasons. And she was the main fixture on that show. Her music is really what I know her for mostly. And I thought I'd bring her up because my music person, I have a co host who likes music. Yeah. What song what song hit you? The one she made about the brothers, I thought, but she was really, and she had black men brother? Yes. Where she had black men of different backgrounds and different skews, just celebrating black men, black. I thought that was very beautiful and it's still very poignant. To have something like that, do you know what I mean? And the video was really great, because I figured like everybody she called, it was one of those things where she called, sometimes you call people, hey, be in the video, and they'll be like, well, I don't know, who all going to be there? And I feel like with this, everybody was like, when you need me. And it was, it's just a really good song. I think she is one of those people cause she's done everything. She comes from hip hop. She sang background. I did not know she sang background for Lenny Kravitz, but she did. And she has this very, very like vast background, right? And obviously she had her own career. But unfortunately, she did not always get the love and support because she wasn't what people thought of classically beautiful. So people were like, Oh, you cute. You can sing these little doo wop, doo wop, but we really not putting money into you. I think that is so true. And I find it kind of weird because she, in my opinion, she was sultry. She was sexy. She was street. Oh, I see. I use my alliteration. I use three S's. Oh, I'm good. I'm good. But Reggie, you're also a grown man. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I thought she had it going on And you're right about that particular song. It, once you said it, it's playing in my head and I can't get it out. And I know I can't start playing it because we don't have the rights and they become the, getting ready to sue us and stuff like that. But yeah, I just want to say condolences obviously to the, to all of Angie Stone's friends and family. And for me, Angie Stone will surely be missed. That was my, what's on my mind. Before we get into the Oscars, do you have anything, what's on your mind? Well, I have something positive. This week for those of you, we had Ash Wednesday not that part. We don't get through that. Kevin struggles. I like my me too, but I can do this one, one time a week. we are like we're not going to do that. But this week. was Carnival in Brazil. Oh, my beloved Rio de Janeiro. Let me do my heart for those that are listening to us. I'm gonna do my heart. And it was from Sunday till Tuesday, and I would love it so much to see all the costumes and the floats. And the women, beautiful, and a lot of chocolate black women up there samba ing. I grew up in somber school culture. My mom used to do it. And my dad was a musician. Learned how to be a musician in somber school. So I have a lot of memories in being raised. One of my most fondest Halloween costumes was me being Carmen Miranda. My friend Morim, our family friend Morim, may he rest in peace, made my costume. I was very lucky. I was not a girl that bought her costumes. I had a family friend make mine and it was just really beautiful to see. The themes from 12 of the Samba Schools were centered. And Afro centric culture and for all the black people. And there's a lot of y'all that always are like, where is a blackness? Carnival is rooted in black culture, in black rhythms and black history. It is part of the Brazilian culture. And also a good portion of those displays was rooted in. God don't blame my kumba, which is African religion. I know some people like to say it's voodoo and it's, devil stuff and all of that. But we have to remember is that Christianity was forced upon us, especially in the Americas. That's why we're programming, excuse me, predominantly excuse of Latin America is Roman Catholic. Although evangelicals are rising, but predominantly it's still Roman Catholic. And to see that culture celebrated. Now, some people did get their feathers in the web. Why is everything our ways in African culture? And I was really happy to see a lot of white commentators saying this. The summer schools go back to 1910 1920s 1930s with that culture being established. It used to run into scent, and I'm going to date myself through the center of Rio de Janeiro, where it was more accessible. To the common man where everybody could see it, right? You would just like you would when you go see a parade, you get there early enough. You have your spot and your snacks and you're in like Flynn. But now unfortunately is at that stadium where ticket prices can be. Absolutely outrageous, right? And the way that they succumb that is they do the technical, they do a technical rehearsal in the summer dome, obviously, so they can get the floats and the spacing and everything organized because you only have a certain amount of time to do your what they call you to feel your display. So they do. technical rehearsals in the summer and all of the summer schools are centered and headquartered in the favelas in the black, predominantly black and brown communities where the working class people live and they do rehearsals and things like that. But I just want to say as a black Brazilian, it gave me immense proud to have The carnival director say we are going to present carnival centered in black culture, black Brazilian culture, we're going to celebrate a kind of the least roots are the least roots are presently like the direct route will be to Angola. Hence they also speak Portuguese. We know why colonization, but it's just, I love that they were like, we don't care how you feel. Y'all got all this other stuff, right? This time of year, we're doing us. It's going to be black. We're going to talk about black people. Manguera talked about same phenomena that's happening in America where every 23 minutes in Rio, in the poverty stricken areas, a young black boy is murdered. You do the math, but again, it's just a joy and the beauty and the different skews of blackness Sizes, we're just celebrating ourselves and for four days You have unity you have peace And you have exaltation. And also mother nature said, come on through with the sun, come on through with the heat. So it was beautiful weather. So you can go to YouTube and you can see it. But that was like, you know what, why Rome was burning and the state of the union was going on. And I said, not today, Satan, I'm going to watch my summer schools. So this is going to be like the only time, the only time between you and me. You and I that I am not going to say anything negative about Brazil. I am going to let you have this moment because have told the truth. It is absolutely beautiful to see the festivities, the culture, all of that just It's so exciting and it actually really warms the heart when you look at it. So this is going to be the time. But when we start going back to the soccer and basketball, it's going to be a lot, it's going to be a rough road when we'll come, I also want to add one thing, families. Like I just said, I was raised in it because of my parents were in it. There are families, you see kids, you see elders, generations and everything, and shout out to the singer for Beja flow, who's been with the summer school for 50 years, the summer school one first place, and he's retiring after 50 years of being the voice of the summer school. He sang through it when he was fighting cancer and everything. May God bless him. And may he have a happy retirement. But the one thing that always gets me is wow, the women are always so naked. Why do they have this and that? Nudity in the other parts of the world, right? Nudity does not always mean sexuality. I'm trying to keep it cute because we do try to keep it cute. People being comfortable in their skin, in their bodies. When you go to the beach in Brazil and you see women in bikinis or whatever, they're there with their families. It's generation. It's mom, dad, aunties, everything. It's not looked at as sexual. Yeah. It's a hot climate. It's like that in Latin America, people are very comfortable. You're not taught to be ashamed of your body. You're not taught to ashamed of nudity. So I think, in America, we're a little bit more repressed. And the moment somebody like, listen, we literally had theses of young blue Ivy being in a dress, having a little bit of makeup. And people said that her boobs are hanging out. That girl was 12 at the time. What boobs did she have at 12? So I do want, need people to understand is. Your discomfort should not be pushed at other people's discomfort, and not everything is sexual. So it's really interesting. And we may have a separate discussion about this, not only as it relates to overall culture, but as it relates to the movies and our culture in the movies and what we show. So we might be able to come back and visit that. My daughter, Bobbi always gets on me with my, because I'm somewhat of a prude in that regard. So I'm like, don't do this, don't do that. And yeah. Absolutely puts forth what you just said is that it's not about me being sexual is me being comfortable in my skin and the way in which the rest of the world looks at partial nudity and even nudity is just different than the way in which we look at. I think that's a really good point. Let's revisit that at some point because I think it plays itself in the way in which we see films and people in the films as well. That's it for what's on our mind and this segment is Were we right or were we wrong? We're gonna talk about the oscars and we're gonna go through maybe Five or six categories. I know, I know, I know you heard us talk about the Oscars before so we'll try to make it as short as possible, but there's some, I have some problems with what happened at the Oscars this year. And so we'll start with the granddaddy of them all, because that's really where it all emanated from, and I had some issue. So my question is, or my comment is. Was Anor really the best movie of the year? No. I, this is, I, the best example I always bring up is when Out of Africa beat The Color Purple. It won all the awards. Who do you know, sitting at the house going, I need to see Out of Africa? And I'm saying across the board. Black, white, young, old. But we all remember The Color Purple. And we got to also remember it did not win one Academy Award, the original color purple and but the best movies, the best movies don't always win the top award. Like Sean Baker, and I said this, and I stand by this, I don't know the man, I don't dislike the man, I've been very honest about it, that his work doesn't speak to me, and that's okay. But you mean to tell me in the world of Spike Lee, that gave us the movies that he gave us? That has never had a studio home where a studio said, Spike, you will get a hundred million dollars to film your next four movies. In a world of Martin Scorsese, they, you mean Sean Baker has more Academy Awards than Steven Spielberg, then Sean, then Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee. No black man has ever won, no black person, forget black man, has ever won best director. This is where people tune out. This is why people look at the Academy Awards and go, this is just y'all, this is like a country club, right? Because we're really, if we're really, and also, we've said this time and time again, when they do the talk to the anonymous voters, right? And I really would like to be that person when I go why aren't you watching all the movies? Don't you feel you have a responsibility as a voter to watch all the movies? I do. Do I love all the movies? Did it take me a hope and a prayer to get through the Brutalist and Queer? Absolutely. But I got through it. Do you know what I mean? And when you know, was I watching like, Anora and going like, this seems like a knockoff. Sopranos, you know what I mean? It is just, it's very, very different. You know what I mean? And also I want to point something out, like just it's preposterous. Does this man won four Oscars and why not? That's insane. You know what I mean? But also I want to also say that. Sean Baker talked about it cost him 8 million to make this movie. And he's movies are not, movies, this is a little indie movie, but the Oscar campaign that Neon put it out cost 18 million. So while you guys made a movie for 8 million, they invested 18 million in making sure That the right people saw it. So what's really interesting about that is that neon did the film with did the film that I think, didn't they do the film that Ava DuVernay wasn't they did that, right? Yes. And the criticism back then was, is that Neon is such a small kind of boutique organization that they didn't really know what to do with it. They didn't really put some money behind it and Origin went nowhere. So the fact that you would put 18 million behind that movie versus Origin is just, it's crazy. Where did the money come from, beloved? Absolutely. So I'm a couple more mentions on for me as we relate as it relates to best picture. It's my opinion, but the rule is was better. The complete unknown was better. Conclave was better, Doom Part 2 was better, Amelia Perez was better, I'm Still Here was absolutely better, Nickel Boys was better, The Substance maybe not, and Wicked was better. Eight of the other films, in my opinion, were better, and my choice for the best movie of the year was not even in there, and that was Sing Sing. I think a movie has to move you. I'm not talking about you're in the film. In the theater and you're like, Oh, that was cool. But when you get out, my question is, will you be talking about that movie? And then after you're out, will you say to yourself, I'll go back and see it again? Just wasn't that movie for me, but I'll rest it on that and move on to the next categories. And since we're talking about a Nora, huh? Who were the nominees for best actress? Cynthia Erivo, Carla Gasson. Fernanda Torres, Demi Moore, and Mickey Madison. And Mickey Madison won. And I said, and I stand on that, because I own what I say, the Academy pulled a real life substance. Explain that one for me. Well, because in the substance, Demi Moore's character was discarded for being too old for a younger girl, right? So she went and she took the medicine to make herself younger, right? Mm hmm. And she was the younger girl version, like the fame and everything. So she basically killed off, the older version. So in this particular case, the academy said. It's you're cute what you did, but we're gonna go with the younger upstart. So hence life imitated art. You pushed all the old ladies to the side for the young girl. Now, I think with Cynthia, the issue is not that she didn't do a phenomenal job because that opening, she wants to get improved. That she's the real deal. I don't care how you feel about Cynthia. You can talk about her hate her look, say that she ran her mouth about God knows well, but you cannot say she can't sing. That is a boldface lie. You a hater if you say that. And you cannot say that she brought more than singing to the table. Yeah. And because she did, she brought, she did. She brought. singing to the table. And when you talk about nuance and depth and all that type of stuff, as it relates to her performance, it's there. Oh, absolutely. We care about Elphaba in the movie because of Cynthia. And I think the thing with Wicked is because there's a part two, the Academy is like, well, let us see what part two looks like, because part one was really good. Is part two going to be as good as part one? I don't buy that. But I don't buy that. I do think that's how they work, though. But no, that is not how they work. Look at what happened with Dune part one. It won six. It won six. Now, it didn't win in the major categories. It won in some of the technical categories but Wicked won nothing. It won this. It was Dune part one. It won costume. It won costume. That's what it won. You do have to acknowledge Paul's way. Oh, no doubt. But yeah, no doubt. That was huge, by the way, because Paul absolutely killed it. And I couldn't get my interview with Paul. I'm so upset because that, Of all the people that I wanted to talk to, Paul was my guy. You're going to get a shot with round two, but go ahead, Reggie. Because he was absolutely phenomenal. So thank you for the correction. It did win something. I just don't buy it because Doom part one, won six Oscars. But we got to acknowledge though, right? Again, this is where the Academy becomes, very hypocritical. They don't acknowledge films like that. They acknowledge the technical aspect. They don't acknowledge any of the acting or the direction that it takes to make a movie like that because it is a big movie and it made a ton of money. Academy sometimes has a problem with projects and things that make money. There's no doubt. Which is crazy, right? No doubt. When you look at it though, I do think Wicked is getting the Lord of the Rings treatment. One, two, we're nominated for a slew of awards, and then three, finally the last chapter at one. Now I do think it's DeLulu. That you're going to nominate a picture for best picture, but not the director. Did it direct itself? No. That's crazy. Like you're acknowledging that this is a best picture. You're acknowledging that the talent that was directed had great direction to bring out the very best in itself, but you're not acknowledging the director. Make it make sense. Like you sound crazy. And I understand about spreading the love, but I do think that somebody like a Dennis DeLure Who made Dune and I love Dune, and I also think he was the recipient of making this type of film where the technology was there, but the earthworm scenes, him riding the thing, all of that is freaking spectacular, like you can't throw special effects in there and expect it to, so there's an ignorance, just like there's an ignorance with horror films that needs to be. Overcome. You know what I mean? So I do think that and I do want to say one more thing about this whole Demi Moore thing. For us movie buffs. Remember Demi Moore made a movie called striptease, right? She was at the time she made this movie the highest paid actress She made I want to say 10 million dollars something like maybe 20 million dollars in between those two and she was Lamented for that. She did not get the support It was considered she was running for the money right because she took her clothes off in a movie. It was considered cheap, right? And then fast forward, she's now 62 years old and a 25 year old is getting an award for playing a stripper. And I don't have a problem with sex workers or anything like that. But I do think the hypocrisy, something that other woman did was considered cheap. And now you have a younger version of herself playing someone like that, and she's considered a dreamer. We're using all types of nice adjectives. Unbelievable. To say that it's earth shattering. We stay telling on ourselves. Yeah, I just didn't think that it was earth shattering. Let's move on to best actor. So in that best actor category, I thought it would be Adrian Brody and it was Adrian. We had Adrian Brody, Timothy Chalamet for a complete unknown, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing. By the way, he looked fabulous. Always Ray fines for conclave. And then we had Sebastian Stand for The Apprentice. I felt that Adrian Brody was gonna win and good for them. Good for them. The Brules three and a half hours, that is a long film. I just. Need a potty break if you're going to make a movie that long. That's all I'm asking. Well, it's also, okay. Can we also talk about, I think Adrian Brody is a good actor. Never going to say he's not, but it's the same type of role that he won for the piano, right? So you're basically rewarding him for playing similar characters, right? And I get it was two different films. And again, people did not watch Sing Sing cause you cannot tell me what Coleman did. And I think the issue is once again, When we humanize ourselves as black people, as minorities, underscore bold, flashing lights. Then they have a hard time now, if he would have been beaten and kicked down the steps and all this other stuff in prison, they would have been with it. There is a bias there right now. I think Timothy is young. He has time. I think he's a good actor, but not for this movie. Do you know what I mean? I don't think this movie showcase what it was trying to do. And I don't agree with that. I think it's showcase. Yeah, I'm just saying, I think it's showcase what we're trying to do with the question where I might agree with you is that was this the best performance for him? And I think I do think what Sebastian standard is also more impressive because he took a man that is very divisive. very troublesome that we're still dealing with now. And he gave a different perspective and he could have went really tacky and cheap and you have to be careful not to make a character, but he didn't. And again, a great example of somebody that came to prominence and fame via superhero movie. But he has range and I thought, I would have been okay with him winning. But again, I just think it's We vote for what we're comfortable with and it shows that we're not watching black films. Oh, I think that that is absolutely the case. Well, Adrian Brody has won and that's for best actor. Let's look at best supporting actress. I thought this was the lock with me. I thought, okay, this is what I thought. I thought everybody, and we talked about it a little bit, right? I think people were fed up with Carla and her antics. Fed up, they, they weren't feeling this movie to begin with and she gave them the out, right? I think that movie probably would have won best picture, but when she did all of that, they were like, we weren't feeling that. A lot of voters have issues with Netflix and they said, Oh, there's our excuse. We don't look bad if we don't vote for it, but they're like, we can't punish Zoe for her foolery. So the votes went, so you had, so it won for best song and it won for best supporting actress. Do you know what I mean? But I also noticed that Zoe, when she said, I think my past was very Intentive with her words because Of you know who, because really you should have pointed out the lead. You should, I mean, normally. But you cannot, you cannot do that. It was really interesting in the beginning, a monologue that, that Conan said that she was here. She's like, Oh, she's here. I was like, Oh, wow. And made a little, made a little jokey joke. I found out for him though, because it's like the elephant in the room. She didn't walk the carpet, which I didn't think she would. And I'm pretty sure that Netflix was like, don't you dare step on that carpet. You done ran your mouth enough. Nothing you have on is that amazing that we need to talk about it on the carpet. I didn't even know she did pictures. So she got there, took her seat. And also, Pay attention where they seated her. That's how you knew she wasn't going to win. Cause all the other best actresses were a little closer. Zoe seat was closer, right? He was like in the middle. She wasn't like, they were like, girl, just take your seat. Cause we know you not winning. So she's probably look. I gotta go to the Oscars. Come on now. I'm nominated. Oh yeah. She was gonna go I knew she was gonna go, even if she would've had to fly coach and take 16 flights. I, she would go I gotta go. So I knew that Zoe would win. You said Zoe would win. And then when you look at the competition on this. for me, maybe the outside person would have been Ariana, yeah. And you know what? And Clayton from variety said that is about, I say Isabelle's not winning. It's about in that movie for three minutes, that movie is dominated by the voices of the men. She got her SAG award, go take that and put that on a mantle. But I was like, they weren't voting for her. If anything, I would have thought like you. If they felt so fed up with this whole nonsense, they would have gone Ariana, but they weren't voting for Isabella. So when we moved to best supporting actor, Karen Culkin won up against Yuri Borisov, Edward Norton, Guy Pearce and Jeremy Strong. I thought that Karen was going to win because if you looked at every other award, very, very similar to what happened with Zoe Saldana they swept, they swept the award. So I didn't think this was a surprise at all. Kudos to Karen and you got any comments on that? No. It was very underwhelming. I was like, just give the man his award and just keep it pushing. And so then we moved to best director. We can already talked about it. Sean Baker won for Nora and he won over the brutalists of Bradley Corbett. James Mango for a complete unknown. Jack, I do art or Amelia Perez. And your girl, Coralie Farragut, is that how you pronounce her name? For the Substance. We're just gonna say, oh girl, for who directed The Substance. Yeah, there we go. So he won, we already talked about what we felt about Sean Baker. So I do want to mention a couple of categories. And then the last category I want to talk about is costumes, so we can spend a little time there. The one that I was surprised at, so I'm going to watch Flo, is I was surprised that Flo won. The Wild Robot was the movie that moved me this year. It, and when I say it moved me, it really did. When I left that theater in Toronto, at TIFF, I was filled. It had the message about programming people, connection and growth and all the other things that it said just resonated with me. I was surprised to flow one. Any thoughts there? No. Okay. I think flow is a very good movie. It was like between flow and the wild world, but I think the wild world, but I think there was something now you want to talk about a little independent movie. That is flow. That is flow. And it just spoke to people. And also the fact that it was also believe nominated for best picture. So I do think I was okay with that. You know what I mean? I thought the wild world was going to win, but it wasn't one of those things where you're like, eh, Yeah, but you're like, you know what? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you're right with that. You're right It wasn't one of those things where I was mad, but it was one of those things like wow, okay I exactly what you said. I will be repeating what you said. So absolutely and then The other two that I want to mention before we get into costume design, cause we'll end our Oscar discussion on costume design is best original screenplay and best adapted screen. So for best original screenplay, you had a Nora, the brutalist, a real pain, September five, and the substance. I felt, I think I said this in our last podcast. I felt that Anora would probably win this. Is that, that they were, they, even if it didn't win best picture, I thought they would split the baby and give it to a Nora for best original screenplay. They just didn't split the baby. They just said the baby gets milk. gets the baby, gets everything. The baby needs the pacifier, gets the pacifier, gets the milk, and gets the crib. Any thoughts on Best original. No, I would have liked Ben. No, no, it just, it is, and then the last one that I want to talk about before we get to costume is Best Adapted Screenplay. And that was won by Conclave. And I'm happy, however, I was rooting for Nickel Boys or Sing Sing for this one. I was hoping they would actually split the baby. They did because they gave it to conclave. I just thought that the pedestal that everybody was putting Romell on as we related to nickel boys, that he should have won something. And I was really hoping that they're very similar. I was just hoping that he, that he might win that. And then sing, sing, of course, I, it would have been really cool to see Clarence Macklin. Winning an Oscar. I like there as well. I got to talk to him a couple of times on the red carpet and interview him. I like Greg. What was such a lovely soul, man, Clarence Macklin winning a Oscar would have just, it just would have warmed my heart. Absolutely. I didn't think they were going to win because I don't think they watched the movie. Do you know what I mean? And I would have loved for Nickel Boys to win, but I'm glad Conclave did win because Conclave was a good movie. It was, it really was. And it was able to keep the secret. You know what I mean? Absolutely. And it did well. And also we got a, we talk about set design and things like that. They recreated the Vatican. Like that, it wasn't like they popped a tent and threw a CGI screen and inserted all that. They recreated the Vatican. So to me, it's like in a, that is, talk about a dialogue driven film, right? It does not work if you don't have great dialogue, you got to have the Vatican and all the gowns and everything. And we were sitting to our edge of our seats. And there is a person that has seen that film, that I know, that loves good dialogue, that isn't at the end going like, What? I love stuff like that where you have twists and turns. When I tell you, when I was sitting there in that theater at TIFF, The way the whole like people, you know how people can't shut up or can't get off their phones or whatever for that one. People were locked in and it is just, it's one of my favorite films and it's a film that I have seen more than once. And I can honestly tell you for me, it can come on cable or whatever the thing is with streaming and I will absolutely sit there and watch it again. I'm in total agreement with that because actually you missed some stuff with the dialogue there. There's so many, I guess what you would call Easter eggs in the dialogue that the second time I saw it, I was, Oh, I missed that. I did. Oh, they were referring to this just very, very smart, a very, very smart piece of dialogue. And it's also a good discussion, like the discussion in there is so current, but I do think, I think, it's one of my favorite films. I, as I said, Conclave as I've dubbed as fans of Conclave, Conclave Hive. I think we talked about this, but the other dialogue film that I liked a lot this year was. Heretic. I really doesn't acknowledge horror. Horrible. Say that again. They don't acknowledge horror. Heretic was really good. And I thought if we lived in a real just world, Hugh Grant would have been nominated because he was phenomenal in that. If he wouldn't have done what he did, like he made it scarier he really did, but he didn't just make it scarier because he was scary. He also made it scary because the dialogue, the dialogue was the kind of dialogue that we ask ourselves about religion. And then we brush away some time. We question ourselves, why are we doing this? And do we really believe this? And will we go to the ends of the earth for this? And that dialogue brought all the questions that either you have asked yourself individually or somebody has asked you challenging, why are you a believer? And it was brilliant to me. It was really, it's really good. But again, type of movie we're going to look at again, we're going to know the twists and turns. It's crazy. We're going to sit there and cover our eyes. We're going to be like, Oh my God, girl, don't do it. Don't you knock on that door, right? And because it is, it takes you there and because you like you said, it says Easter eggs and you're trying to understand like when should the girls really left other than not knocking the door or when he said, when did, when should they have realized that he's, that ain't the house to be. There's no pie. There's no pie. But talking about brilliance, moving on to our last category. is best costume. I'm a let's I'm give you the floor for this one because you go to Broadway plays. You watch all of the movies and the live things that the Paul Taswell has done. This is something that you, I paid attention to it too, but I know for a fact Kathia Woods paid attention to this. Listen, we need to do a better job as media covering the below the line talent, and I even hate that whole terminology below the line, meaning cinematography, set design, costuming, hair and makeup, because without it, you don't have a movie, right? Especially these types of movies. Like we leaned in because hair, makeup, costuming, in this particular case, the costuming was beautiful, right? And this man has been doing the good Lord's work for a very, very long time. Like he is not the guy that, that has been out here. He color purple, Hamilton, Memphis, those are Broadway show. Ain't too proud to beg. He gave us those costumes, and I am happy that he won. Let's also dissect the fact. The Academy has been around for almost 100 years. There have been two black costume designers that won. Ruth Carter won twice for Black Panther and Wakanda Forever, and now Paul Taswell. A hundred years, beloved, a hundred years, which goes to show you the bigger problem is that there are not enough black costume designers in the guild. We talk about this all the time. People say, why isn't there more hair and makeup people? Because they make it next to impossible and very expensive for you to get into the guild. But Paul Tazewell said something else that I thought it was important. He said, I tried to be for others. What I didn't have coming up, right? And when I, when you look at the shows that I listed right now, what are those shows? They are predominantly black shows. It was black creatives that said, we're going to hire this black man or black and Brown creators. Cause Lin Manuel is with Hamilton and he also did in the Heights. I'm going to get the black guy to do it. Because he is amazing and he happens to be black. So I think when he said that, I think that went over some people's head. I was also covering the Oscar, so I was in the press room. But when he said, I try to be for others what I didn't have coming up. And that's the same thing Ruth Carter is. It's so important to see someone doing something. So you can believe that you can do it too. And it's important to see this beautiful, elegant, elegant black man up there, tailored to the tease with his statue. And it doesn't mean that he needed the statue to validate his work cause you don't, but the kids watching the clips and the tick tocks or whatever you ask you have there of Glinda in her gown and also Bob in that Cape and everything. That came from a black creative space and it's and I love that he said that and I pray. That it opens up more opportunities for more black and brown people to be in that space because him when I tell you walked into the room, the room was like, yeah, we were all like, yeah, and I hope you felt the love that is absolutely beautiful. I have to mention. That if you don't know about his work, I'm going to do it here. I'm just going to say a few other things that he's worked on. The first that I took notice was Lackawanna blues. I Lackawanna blues. If you think about. The costuming and the beauty in that film, it is stunning. But then you get to the whiz live, you get Jesus Christ superstar live. Now, when we talk about Jesus Christ superstar, and that was one of those first plays on Broadway that everybody was talking about, that it is quintessential. It is the coup de gras, if you will. It is the one. And he did for that. He did Harriet. He did Hamilton. This guy, he did West Side Story. When you think about his body of work, you're like, this guy is amazing. And you were mentioning that only two black folks have won. Three have actually been nominated. You had Ruth Carter being nominated three times. really happy that Ruth E. Carter, excuse me, was nominated for Malcolm X as well. She was nominated for Malcolm X in Amistad in the set in 1992 and 1997. So for four times she's been nominated, but then Sharon Davis was nominated for Ray and for dream girls. And then now Paul Tazwell is, has won. As a African American man. So just thought I'd mention that. Hundred years, almost you had three. Three, three and two, one, right? And again, like we gotta, I'm happy. I'm, but also don't give you, you get no points for me because you gave, it took you almost a hundred years to give. Acknowledgement to somebody. Cause we as black people before we get any type of Tink Tink award, we, our resume gotta be like 800 credits. And Paul Tazewell has touched every part of entertainment from TV to stage. That's why I want, that's why I want to mention that just to know that this wasn't a DEI hire. So again, it's more than like I tell people, like I saw the display of the costumes at CinemaCon last year. If you really, if you have an opportunity to ever see these costumes up close, and I hope that when this run is done, they take them to the Smithsonian or Fashion Institute or the Metropolitan Museum and put them behind the glass. The exquisite, exquisite detail. This is not something thrown together because the man, like you can tell the thought, and even in an Elsa boss costuming, because she's wearing black and sometimes you don't see it in the movie. There are details into her corset that are within that, to show the differentiation between the two characters. And I think, it's just, again, this beautiful and again, elegant, elegant black man out there. No doubt about it. That's it for our Oscar talk. We actually went a little long on our Oscar talk, but we won't have to talk about award season. We'll probably mention it cause we'll probably mention it but so we're going to move into our last. category, which is rent and rave. I don't know what you had for rent and raise. So I'm going to, I'm going to kick off our rent and raise segment. And in the rent and raise segment for me, it's all about food. I talk about my daughter, Bobbi a lot. Not that I don't talk about my daughter, Carri but I get to see my, my, my daughter, Bobbi on a regular basis. And that means that she is always in my business. Always in my business and Lent is a began and for Lent she comes into my office and she says to me, Dad, what you're going to give up for Lent? Nothing. I'm not giving up anything. You got to give up something, you know, you need none. And she goes through this whole thing and I'm giving up some things for Lent. So I'm giving up juice. Pop. We call it pop. Y'all call it soda. I don't even understand you East coast people, but anyway, it's pop here in Chicago. So I'm giving up juice and pop, meaning that basically all I can drink is water. So that's going to be very, very interesting. It's been two, three days and I'm already fiending for something else other than water. I'm giving up candy. I am a candy person. If you know me, if I'm going to a movie, I'm sneaking candy in, I'm walking candy in, I'm eating candy, and I'm giving up dairy. Now, I'm vegan ish, so I'm not doing a lot of dairy, but I like cheese, so I was not giving up my cheese. So I've given up all of those things for Lent, and I am just not a happy camper. Since it's all about food and you used to be a Philadelphia person and I'm giving up cheese. My question to you is this, when you came to Chicago, I took you to the Chicago spots. This is the best place to get this. This is the best place to get that, whatever. I'm not going to have it for Lent. But what's the best place to get a Philly cheesesteak? I just need to know. Come on, Tati. First of all, I need us to avoid the tourist traps of Genos and Pats. That's for them other people. Beloved. I like Max's, which is on broad and eerie, you saw it in the movie Creed, I think at Max's for a chicken steak. I also don't mind Della Sandra's Della Sandra's is on the other side of Matt neon Coe Rocksboro, which is not the bougie side, but it's still good. I think for a chicken steak, Ishka Bibbles on South street, you can't miss it. Like you get that and you get the boardwalk fries. I'm also old school. I do not like cheese whiz on my cheese steak. I like American cheese. I like fried onions and ketchup. I know I'm not necessarily a big person on mayonnaise, but you know what? And Jim's steak is back. So if you do for a late night, Jim's steak will hit, you're out late and you had a couple of drinks. You need to soak up your stomach and hit up Jim's steak plenty of time. But, even when Eve said that, Eve was like, for chicken steak ish kabobbles. And as soon as she said that, immediately saw, and I'm not talking the little sit down joint that they have, I'm talking about the little That you have to slide in behind the counter, you have to eat at the counter because they got the stools and then the window on South Street that is chef's kiss, the other thing too is probably just like in Chicago, do not get in line and not know what you're going to why you're in line, look over the menu, get your order together. Don't be over there being like, Ooh, what, when and why? Because you will get yelled at. People are like, We don't got time. It's like when you go to Lorenzo's for a slice, number one, they don't take a card. They only take cash, which is crazy in 20. The slice is like this big. Those of you that know on South street, right? The line goes out the door, they don't let you in late night, and it's like one, two people can be in that little space, you gotta order. While you in that line, decide what you want on the freakin slice. Don't be up there and be like, ooh, what do you have, cause people on the outside don't be like, sir, you've been in line for 40 minutes, cause you know how Philadelphia is. But I do. Yes. And so I, so here's my, you gave a lot there, but I only can go to one place. I only can go to one place. I want a chili cheese. I mean, I'm Philly cheese. And if we were in Philadelphia together, I'd be like, let's go, let's go support the black people over there at Max's and get our order. And you also got to get some hot peppers. If you like a little cake, get the peppers and put that in there. Or you can fight in it. And it just is, yeah it's not, and that's something you should have every day, but it, once in a while you got to live a little dangerously and treat yourself. Now there are some places for those of you, I don't live that life. I like me bless you. If you're vegan, vegan associated, vegetarian, if you know a place, that's where I gotta go. I have to go these days. There is, there are spots that do a salmon cheesesteak. I can ask around. That is not my ministry. Love that for y'all, but we're gonna leave it at that. We're gonna leave it at that. So that was my that's that was my rant and rave. It was all about food. I have to give up something. But I can't wait to get back to something. I don't know what your rant and rave is about today. So what do you got? What you got? We're in this crazy space of journalism. I don't know if y'all saw it, but Vanity Fair does a regular Oscar party. We love it. And there were two ladies that were on a, that are on a show. With whatchamacallit on Bravo called Summer House. It's a reality show. Your young girls will probably know what it is. We a little bit too old to be. And everybody and their mama that is not on that doesn't go to the main award show. There's several parties. There's the Elton John party. There's several parties around town. The Carters do their gold party, which is like the last party of the night. And there are gazillion events, right? And so Vanity Fair throws one of the biggest ones. It's a lot of press and Meg the Stallion went to that one, right? And Meg looks. Beautiful. And people had things to say, but Hannah. So Vanity Fair hired Hannah Burner and her, they, they have a podcast called giggles, right? That came out of, and I get it. Hannah is a comedian. She made her and page to several, her own page were their red carpet host. But they meet Megan and they say to her, and I quote I stare my day with you and only you know, your music has literally, when I want to fight someone, I listen to your music. That's what they said to Meg, because you want to throw that fighting ish out the window and you want to get cute and be a bad. When people are talking ish, I go turn on Meg Thee Stallion, burner at it. Now, mind you, not only did she say that, but Meg said, no, she turned it around. She said, I don't really make music like that. I do make more like turnout music. But the other thing is, so you're asking her these questions and they're not giving her an opportunity to answer. It's like the moment. Was all about them and Meg became the co star in their shtick. It would be different if she was in on the shtick, but she wasn't. And it just created a very awkward, micro aggressive, and dare I say, in a little bit a racist moment, even though it's not intentional, because we know that aggression and black women are two words that always get thrown around. Now, here's me. Number one is you blame Vanity Fair because you hired this crap show. You know that these two girls are not trained also the producer, because you're not going to let these two girls just roam free. The producer standing there should have been like, no, like somebody should have hit up a sign and be like, course, correct something or whispered something in their ear and be like, you need to wrap this up because this is looking back. And then number three is there is this need for companies like vanity fair. And I get it. Cause right now journalism is the hunger game to hire these influencers with it. Any type of training. But even if there was training and this is what happened, that's really bad, right? But this idea, because they have a following and they're trying to get a younger crowd, that that crowd is going to watch these two girls on the carpet. And because they see them doing something with Vanity Fair. Therefore, that crowd, which is Gen Z ers, is going to stay and start supporting and reading Vanity Fair. And we know that it doesn't work like that. Our kids are not, you and I both have kids in their 20s. They're not sitting around the house saying, I need to know what's going on over there at Vanity Fair. No, they watched the train wreck. They're not even watching this live. There's just worse. They're watching it on the YouTube channel and they're fast forwarding. They're wanting to see the controversy. They're watching the tick tocks and then they're going back to their lives. So there's no rhyme or reason why those two on the carpet and now the whole conversation is not about how great the party is, how great everybody looks. The conversation is about what happened. And to me, it's such an affront because we have so many amazing entertainment journalists that are freelancers that lost their jobs that would have killed for this opportunity and really done something with it. And also they probably could have gotten them. This is the sad part for less money because these two weren't going to do it for a hope and a prayer. fee, which is what they give us. And it goes to the bigger question. Just because somebody has a following doesn't mean they should do a job. And I keep saying this and you and I both have work carpets. I'm doing one today, tonight. for the Housewives of Atlanta. Pray for me at this. Everybody like social media and YouTube and tick tock or whatever the freaking thing is of the moment. They think that being on the carpet is just looking cute and just being there like tonight. I have to be there by 5 45. Talent allegedly is not coming until 6 30. We know it's probably going to be closer to seven, right? So you're going to be out there and. You got to look great. You got to be prepared. This is a job. Yes, we get to have fun. We get to do some amazing. It is some fun, but to your point, you also don't know who's going to be on the carpet. You think, you know, the main folks are going to be on the conference. I was just on the carpet and I'm like, who is that person? And the publicist didn't come up to me and tell me who they were. So now I'm fumbling. Right. You have to be on your P's and Q's. How do you get that person in without saying, I don't know who you are. Oh I didn't have questions for you or whatever it is because I didn't know you were going to be on the red carpet. I mean, it's also, like I said it's learning, know how to pivot. I'm like, if nothing else go with the. Every day. Hey, Meg, you look beautiful. Can you, your dress is very, your dress is a fashion statement. Who made your dress? Cause her dress was very different, right? She could talk about the collaboration between her and a designer. I want to fight, but I was like, everybody knows, even if you don't listen to. Makes music her whole brand is hot girl hot girl. We're gonna be hot girl back hot girls when she was getting her a degree from southern she goes, you know We're gonna be hot girl students because we're getting our education everything about meg is empowering and then it's also is be conscious of the fact that She was shot. She had to go through this whole situation with Tory Lanez. The last thing that woman is advocating for is violence. When she had violence done upon herself. It's like read the room. And then also I'm like, I said, somebody else, she went on tour. Gorilla opened up for her and Gorilla right now is really, really hot. As far as female rappers. They have songs together on Glorilla's album. It's like, Hey, talk a little bit about that. Again, this is where you're pulling in your demographic, Gen Zers, right? And nothing else. It's, we're celebrating movies. Talk about, Hey Meg, it's been such a great, amazing year. for women and movies like we're seeing women like Demi Moore getting their flowers. You see somebody like Mickey Madison. Is there a particular performance that spoke to you this year? Now it may be a little boring. It may be a little humdrum, but you know what? It opens the door for a conversation and she may mention a movie to you that is not in the purview and now you have a really good conversation. But these things I tell people all the time. Experience teaches you how to pivot. The more you do it preparation and taking the assignment seriously and not being. And most importantly, I say this all the time. And again, nobody is checking for you. Boo us the interviewers. You know how we elevate our brand by doing a good job by making it a positive experience for the talent. Because then what happens is when you're back out on the carpet and talent sees you. They're gonna come over and walk over to you and talk to you because they're like, you know what? The last time I spoke to so and so I remember, I know people that remember me from my hairstyle remember me from something that I wore, or just the fact that I was actually asking them about them. There's something when it comes to certain influencers that think that they're supposed to be part of the STAR package, no. Your job is to illuminate the talent. And you can still illuminate your brand. You're in the shop, beloved, but you have to understand is you're here to me and be respectful. No doubt. That was absolutely a rant and a rave. Thank you so much because I wasn't part of that. I'll ask you real quick because we're a little over, but did you hit any parties yourself? I did. And listen, I feel like I went through enough. I went, you and I was at AFCA awards. I was at CCA awards. I was at I went to Hollywood Alliance with my friend, Felipe, I went to a lot of FYC. I went to the Suits LA party premiere. I mean, I have done my share of parties this year. Your girl was outside, right? And I think the nice thing, it's always, first of all, it's nice to see you in person outside of the box. It's nice to see our friends. Also was it the celebration of black cinema at Latin cinema? So I have been outside this award season and like I said, it's always nice to see people. It's always nice to connect with talent and just to enjoy what we, I always say, what we get to do is in spite of all the headaches and up and down, I'm extremely grateful that we get to do something that we love. And oftentimes the benefit, the cherry on top, we get to do it with people we like, like I get to do this with you and we get, we built this friendship and camaraderie because of this work. And so there is so much positive that comes out of this and we're all tired and Oscar night is always long, sir. I'm so glad they moved it up to start at seven so we can be in bed by midnight. But I do think that I try to always remember that, it could be worse. We get to talk about movies and we get to see movies for free in a time when movies are expensive to go to for a lot of people. So I try to lean on the side of being grateful and appreciative and say, we got to see some really amazing work and looking forward to 2025 bringing us some more. Well, I am appreciative of you. Thank you so much. This is the Real Critic Network. That is Kathia Woods. Kathia where can they find you? You can find me everywhere at K A T H I A underscore Woods. It's all across social media. You can read my work at cupofsoulshow. com. You can read it at the Philadelphia Tribune and the Sacramento Observer. Hey, hey, hey. Well, you can check me out at NDIG.Com Vocalo. org The Garfield Lawndale voice here in Chicago and a couple other places. Uh with that, this is two critics Two opinions and we had those opinions but one mission. That's where dialogue engages educates and entertains and it Occasionally escalates with that. We will see you guys next time