Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:00

Hey, I'm Reggie Ponder the Real Critic, and this is The Real Critics Network. I am here with my friend and co-host Katia Woods. Katia. How are you? How are you?

Kathia Woods: 0:12

I'm good. I'm still, I'm sorry. I'm still trying to have pictures of you at a screen. You would have,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:18

We should not be talking about what happened when I went to see that scary movie. What did they call it? Oh, sinners. Sinners. Yeah. We should not talk, we should not talk about that. I know. I'm

Kathia Woods: 0:29

gonna tell Victor when him comes at, I said, you gotta be Reggie's support Fred. Hold his hand.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:36

That, that is always tough. Well, let's get into it. My, my what's on my mind actually is really, I heard something that made me extremely happy. And why was that? And I, and see, I hate to even talk to you about it because you're gonna tell me you interviewed the people of that one too, but I heard that a different world is getting a reboot. I am so excited about a different world, getting a new chapter.

Kathia Woods: 1:09

I think. I think, you know what, when people hear reboot, they think we're gonna get a 2025 version of Dwayne and Whitley. I'm like no. If you are willing to go back to Hillman College and get today. Now I think what would be interesting to have Dwayne and Whitley's child, like who's, what is the child gonna be like? More like Dwayne? Is it gonna be more like Whitley? Like, it would be interesting maybe to have a girl that's a little bit more into stem, right? Because I can't imagine like that, but at the same time being bougie like Whitley, oh my goodness. So I think it's gonna be really interesting to see the second generation of like, what was Cree Summers? Character's name.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 1:57

Yeah, I can't remember. You know who I'm

Kathia Woods: 1:58

talking about? Yeah,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 1:59

absolutely. Yeah. And

Kathia Woods: 2:01

her daughter, imagine like it being like, a growing pain, she was all this liberal 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, Whitley and Duane and all them coming back to the college and being like, oh, it's gonna be so X, Y, and Z. And then getting there and being like, what happened to this? Like, we all do, when we go back to our.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 2:32

I'm looking forward to this one. As I'm reading it, they got Debbie Allen coming back. Some members of the original cast. You got Tom Werner Gina Price, Blythewood will be an executive producer.

Kathia Woods: 2:45

Oh, she was a writer.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 2:47

Yeah. She gonna do, she gonna be executive producer in this one that says and I'm excited about that. I'm excited and can't wait to see what's what will come outta that. I, sometimes I think when you do these kind of things and try to revisit them, they wouldn't work. But I don't know why. It just seems in my head that this is going to be funny. It's going to be the type of thing that I wanna watch. And I'm saying Thank you Netflix.'cause I wasn't asking for it, but I'm down for it.

Kathia Woods: 3:17

I do, I think it's gonna be a good, I think this will be a good as I said is this is gonna be Dwayne Whitley's daughter's climate and HBCU. And I think, I think this will be a good combination of being able to see, what, who's gonna have more of a dominant influence,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 3:38

for sure.

Kathia Woods: 3:38

And yeah,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 3:40

for sure. And maybe they'll get like that movie centers and just have twins and one of'em, one of'em be a little bit, that would be really smart. You'd have one of'em be a little bit like Dwayne and another one would be a little bit like Whitney. So,

Kathia Woods: 3:53

especially like I said, is this bougie? Dwayne is from Brooklyn to have that very, very like, you know him to break, but it's like, and Patty LaBelle is still with us. Bless our heart. For her to be able to have a grandchild that is like, I don't really do that. That we don't have Diane Carroll anymore.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 4:13

That, that could be really good. All right. Well, well, that's what was on my mind. We got two movies to talk about today and the first movie is G 20, and G 20 is a movie on Prime video and Katia. You said you saw it. Talk to us about it.

Kathia Woods: 4:31

I did. I saw it. It starts Viola Davis as the president, Anthony Anderson as the first gentleman. We coulda had a first gentleman when we not gonna go there. We have Mars Martin as the daughter. And we have Christopher as the son. They're the first family. They're going to South Africa for a G 20 summit, hence G 20 is the name of the film. I love the fact that is Ramon Rodriguez is playing the secret agent, secret service agent to the press and Viola Davis. And I just really, here's the thing. And also our guy, Anthony Starr, who plays Rutledge, the bad guy from the, if Anthony from the boys, right? He's lovely. And I had a chance to speak to Anthony Marsai and Christopher. So basically the first family goes to the summit. Marsai is a rebel rebellious, tech savvy teen daughter. Anthony is the husband and he's protective dad. And also Viola Davis is ex-military. She was in the military prior to becoming president. So you have all these folks that are in South Africa with all these world leaders and Anthony's got a little, not Anthony Anderson, but Anthony Starr as Rutledge has a little, he's a little ax to grime and he decides he wants to take these people hostage. I think this is a fun popcorn movie. If you go into it and you don't have in like leave all your realistic expectations. Everybody grab your favorite part of the couch, get your snacks together, hit play. This is a good movie that everybody in the family can see. Like not when I say everybody in the family, I mean of school age. I don't mean like your 4-year-old, but I think this is really fun and I think, Viola Davis said it best. She wanted to do a movie, her and her husband. Produced this. She wanted to make a movie that didn't have, that, didn't have to be this deep thinking, this deep thing necessarily awards movie. She just wanted to make a popcorn movie, and I believe she 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 Critic: 6:52

Or Olympus has fallen white House down a movie. Like,

Kathia Woods: 6:56

yeah, the president is a hundred years old, but is out there kicking butt and taking names,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 7:00

kick kicking butts and take and taking names. There were a couple things that I liked about the film. The first, and you mentioned it, was that it's a black family. It's a black family in the White House. Not that we haven't seen it before, but we have a woman leading it all and. And I like that Viola does, that shows that there is this woman power out there and that a woman can lead a action film because we don't get to see that a lot when we talk about, this is not by any means a Oscar film, but when we talk about black women being nominated for leading roles, you don't see that we, you see that we, there's just not a lot of leading roles for black women. So she made a role, she made a role for herself, and it's a fun role. If you take it too seriously, you'd be like, ah, nah that, that'll never happen. But do you do that with these other 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 was great. So I like the fact that it was a black family in the White House. I actually really love the family interaction between the husband, the wife, and the kids. I will say, and I usually say what I don't like till the end, but I will say that the son, in my opinion, was just a throwaway that it was not used as, as well as all the other characters. In, in, in my opinion. I, I did like that mother and daughter tension in the plot because that, that helped set up some other things that you're gonna see a little later. And I love how it was set in South Africa. For me, this was a real major point. So I'd really like to know what your thoughts are on this, Katya. Is that they made sure that those South Africans weren't punks. Oh, for sure. I love

Kathia Woods: 8:46

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, well yeah, we gonna be the helper.'cause no one ever thinks that the black people could be part of the kickass group. Right. So that was a perfect disguise. I do think they could have given the son a little bit more to do. Right. Where I think obviously'cause Muste is the bigger name. I also liked how the family matched skews. Like you got dark-skinned mama, brown-skinned daddy, brown-skinned kids. Like sometimes I'm like, well the math is not math in here folks. Right. But I do think I love that. And I also think that you can tell that Marsai and Anthony have worked previously together and they had great chemistry. I love the fact that you had this girl power with the daughter as well. Like she was like, mom, and I liked the fact that it was set in South Africa, which I hope they were down there and got, gave them some money, some coinage for filming in that country. And again I, again, this is a popcorn film, not listen, we both are film critics and we love our award season deep films, right? And even sometimes those were like, 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 the fun of being able just to tune out, just to be able to, and just enjoy a movie. Not everything has to be the second 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 crew with Oliver and the Russian lady? Are they gonna make it out of there? Right. And I think, the old heads, that's a different type of mo hero. The old heads are fighting against, the young gunners, so I think this is and we see some of our favorite TVs, like I said, Ramon, who is in who plays Will Trent on NBC Anthony, who's in the Boys, which is also on Prime video, being able to see some of our favorite TV people that we've gotten to love and know from the TV side, seeing them on the film side,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 10:55

I, what I liked is that there that, you're right, this is a popcorn film is, but you have to make a popcorn film work. And for me, what made it work is that the tension in this film was one of the things that make you stay with the film there, you, and that the fact that they showed us that there will, there are some casualties that made you say Uhoh who, of our group, the people we're rooting for who will be able to make it to the end of this movie and the black people made it. Say that again. The black people made it and so that, that and the Latino a Absolutely, and I also like the, I guess back and forth between Viola's character and the Prime Minister because

Kathia Woods: 11:44

Oh yeah, that's what I'm saying. The old head crew.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 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 being rescued, but they had to fend for themselves.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 11:54

So, so o overall I liked it. I will tell you though, that the film. I was able to predict a little bit more than I wish that I could have. And I always like it when you throw a little curve ball in there. But there were a couple of things that I could tell you, but I will not say here, there were at least three things that I said, oh, this is gonna happen. This is the person who's involved, and people might not think they're involved. So I do wish that I couldn't telegraph some of those things a little bit. And there was one other point that I want to make about about the film and it the South African piece. When I was telling you that I, I did like that they didn't make them punks. I I really liked that. I it wasn't just a little piece. I was like, okay, yes, you are gonna come into this country and there's, there you are gonna come into this country and you gonna think that we don't have a little something that we could bring to the table. I like the fact that they used that and in fact, there was a Wakanda reference in the film that was funny. This is a fun film. It's a popcorn film. I'm giving this one, two and a half out of four, and I think that they put it on the right kind of platform. It's a streaming. This for me was a streaming movie 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 the couch, get your snacks, your favorite drink, and let's just lean in and leave all realistic expectations out, and you're just gonna be entertained, something there for the men, the action, the women, the kids. It's just, that's what it is.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 13:37

Excellent. Nothing along

Kathia Woods: 13:38

with that.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 13:39

Excellent. So let's move on to our next movie. This movie is The Amateur. And I wanna tell you that I love Rami Malick. I just do. So I was looking forward to this and 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. And. Romney plays Charlie, a decoder for the CIA, who is very good at his job. He's introverted and he's a little weird actually, but his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack and he wants to see his wife's murderer pay for their horrific acts, and he's really not satisfied with the CIA's response. He wants them to get on it. Like, come on, you know who they are, you know what they did. Let's do something about it. They didn't do what he wanted them to do. So Charlie takes Madison to his own hands to find and met out a violent br brand of justice. But the big thing is Charlie is not a trained to be a killer. He doesn't know what he is doing, so it really puts him in extreme danger. What I really liked about this is that. I think that the amateur does a really good job of establishing how Charlie's love for his wife from the very beginning. And the film doesn't stop there because we consistently see these flashbacks of their relationship as well as these touching visions of love, reminding us of the reason that he's doing this doing all the things that he's doing. And for me, that keeps the film from being just another revenge or espionage offer offering, but one that's embedded in a deep, loving relationship. And I think that's that in and of 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, and I like the fact that they're like, he does not have to lean into his traditional, into tradition. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And he relies on, he's a meticulous stu and he's patient.'cause his job requires that. So he is like, I don't need to do, kill them the traditional way. You know what I mean? I can figure out a way where their weaknesses are. And because nobody suspects me as a killer, that's my other additive. Right? And I do like the action, I do like the, how they move through this. Do you know what I mean? And I think that is a great way to carry this. Do you know what I mean? And it was giving, like, giving Jason Bourne type of syndrome. And again is it a perfect, does it have some moments where it's a little bit touchy? But again it isn't, is it is Shely a entertainment film for people who like, it's also based on a book. Do I wanna say that? But it's, this movie is Shely for people who. Aren't that hero not to be in a traditional form, you like a little cook and dagger. That's what I would say

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 16:47

about that. And for people who are looking for something just a little bit different. Yeah, because it we get these movies 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 these other movies where the child was kidnapped and he's going off to save his child. Yeah. Maybe you could find some similarities there, but make no mistake, this is a revenge movie. He is cons, Charlie is consumed with finding and making the people responsible pay and. The twist in this is for, and it's not given away a lot, is that Charlie has stumbled upon a black ops operation by the CIA that could disrupt the agency and expose illegal activity. So this puts him in the cross hairs of his superiors. And that's where, when you say that it's like a born ish, like a Jason Bourne. I agree. In fact, I think it has elements of Jason Bourne and elements of John Wick. The elements of Jason Bourne is that I. He can't fight like Jason Bourne. He can't fight like a John Wick and we don't

Kathia Woods: 17:56

want him to,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 17:57

But we like that. He's nerdy, but he's smart. Like Jason Bourne, understanding how to use the skills that he has to evade people, to sneak up on people, all that. And then from a kill perspective, I'm saying John Wick, because when you, we are watching John Wick, we get to see like people die in so many creative ways. It is crazy. And that's what happens in this film is that Charlie, he founds some real creative ways to catch up to his wife. Oh, he got

Kathia Woods: 18:28

him. He got him good. I like that. I like the fact that we, he said, oh, so you're not gonna gimme what I need. All right. And they're thinking he's gonna come up with the gun now. My man got the one person really good. He found out. And I think that's a worst way to go. I'm like, she was in there struggling.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 18:51

Well, well the one that to not give away, because you will see it on the trailer, is the one where the guy is swimming in the swimming pool and the trailer shows this one. And he says, Hey, are you gonna gimme what you what I need? And they's like, nah, I'm not gonna give it to you. It was like, well, you better swim pretty fast.'cause if you don't swim pretty fast this pool is gonna crack. And it, it was just interesting in that way that they found these other ways to go. Now what we haven't talked about is Lawrence Fishburne and I think that was a nice relationship, but I think that. I think that Lawrence Fishburne did a fine job with what he was given, but I think he was underused here. I think that his skills and his acting, all of that was underused, but I don't think that's from him. I just think that's just from the writers, is that he just didn't have enough to make this movie that next level from the role that he was given, in my opinion.

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 in the poster, using him here and there, so you expect more so to see him so underused, you're like, what?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 20:04

Yeah. I that, that was disappointing for me because I, again, I don't think that there was anything that he did that was, oh man, he didn't handle his role. He handled the role that he was given, but. Man I would've liked to have seen more there. But it was funny watching fish Burn's character start off not respecting Charlie, and then end up having a mutual respect for each other. So it was fun watching that watching that aspect of the film.

Kathia Woods: 20:35

Oh, absolutely. AB 100%, and I, again it's, it has some moments where you're like, but overall, I think again, if you're going for the Entertainment Valley, you will be entertained.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 20:47

I think you absolutely will be entertained. I think this is a fun movie. I, our last episode we talked about the movie centers, and I think center is more than entertains. Is that movie will make you think, make you talk, make you, make people like Reggie hide his face while he is watching it. 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 the ride. So

Kathia Woods: 21:13

Reggie's saying it wasn't scary, so Reggie sat through it, but I closing his eyes. You good to go?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 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 one of those movies. I haven't looked to see what it has done at the box office, but I think that it's probably gonna be one of those movies that will have a sequel.

Kathia Woods: 21:36

I think so. I think you left the door open for him to, we can't kill off another it's doing okay. It's doing okay. It left the door open for him to utilize his skillset. I can see him being like some professor somewhere, and then being like, like Allo Jack, Ryan, we need your expertise.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 21:57

Right, right, right, right, right. Absolutely. I could see that if it doesn't get a sequel that all of a sudden we're watching a eight part series on some streaming service. So, so for sure. I think that overall that this film was far from incompetent and Inept, did a smart, engaging exploration of husband's love and ultimately his rage. I think you will leave a bit energized, but you might also feel that these matters that Charlie took undertook might be better left to the professionals.

Kathia Woods: 22:28

I agree.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 22:30

But I

Kathia Woods: 22:30

agree. I don't want you thinking that you can use your laptop to solve crimes. Don't do it.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 22:36

Right, right, right. Might be better left to the professionals but I'm recommending this one I think is fun. It's even. It has enough suspense. It's not at Jason Bourne's level every Bourne movie, except I think the Gerald Butler one for me. I'm putting that a at a 4.5, and my skill is four. I love Jason Bourne, but, so this is not quite at that level, but it is enjoyable and I would recommend that people go check it out.

Kathia Woods: 23:03

I also recommend it. I would have it more at like a 3.75, but it's still enjoyable. And again, we like a good nerdy hero.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 23:13

We do. That's it. For this week. We had two movies. We got one that you can just check out at home, which we're calling the popcorn movie, and that's G 20, so check it out at home. That's on Prime video. Then the other that's in the theaters, which is the amateur, and we're saying, we're both saying check that out as well and think that you'll have a good time, nice suspense and a good twist on that kind of spy espionage film. I'm on Twitter. I'm on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube at the Real Critic. That's REEL. And I always forget to say Blue Sky, but I'm gonna start posting on Blue Sky'cause the sky's the limit. Kathia, where can people find you?

Kathia Woods: 23:53

You can find me everywhere with Kathia, K-A-T-H-I-A Woods, except on the Twitter, where it's just my first name, N 70 the year I was born. But we still have a good time. We still be getting our Kiki in there,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 24:08

no, no doubt about it. Well, that's our show, as I say all the time. We got two critics. That's me, and that's her with two opinions, but one mission. And that's really where dialogue engages, educates, entertains, and occasionally escalates. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you guys next time.

Kathia Woods: 24:31

Yay. And Reggie's back.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 24:33

I'm back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you my friend.