Kathia Woods: 0:00

I'm Reggie

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:00

Ponder, the Real critic, and I am here with my co-host Kathia Woods. Kathia, how are you? How are you?

Kathia Woods: 0:08

I am good. I'm good. How are you?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:10

I'm doing good. Looking forward to some movies that we have coming down the pipe, and we'll talk about some of those. One of one of them, and you've been saying that you're gonna go see it is F1, so I'm real looking forward to that and we can talk about that a little later. Other than that, just some family things. Any good news on your front? I, other than your daughter's ready to see me when I go to the store in Philly.

Kathia Woods: 0:40

Did I tell you that? She said Ari came by the store?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 0:43

No,

Kathia Woods: 0:45

in my neighbor, they had, they have that grand race and Ari came in? Yeah, that's, I was in the store. Wow. So she got to Yeah, she's had the guy from, I don't know what he was in Philly for, but the guy, oh my God. The guy, the one guy from Games of Thrones. House of Dragons. Oh boy. They got upset when Ris like rejected him, and he's not with Allison,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 1:10

so she brought him,

Kathia Woods: 1:12

she saw him before in there too. Okay.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 1:15

All right.

Kathia Woods: 1:15

All right, so there's a couple sightings of some celebrities.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 1:21

Let's get into our first segment, which is ran. What's on my mind and what's on my mind is everybody is talking about Tyler Perry's new movie, straw. I know you haven't seen it yet, so you and I will not be reviewing the movie, but what's on my mind is how Tyler Perry is perceived. Industry as a filmmaker, I'm not talking about him as a job maker, an employer, a mover and shaker in the industry, or a philanthropist. All those things are great. I'm really talking about him as a filmmaker. What bothers me, and this is why I'm ranting and raving, is. People disrespect his craft. I understand that it might not be how you'd like to see his films. I don't like all the Tyler Perry films, but should I do, I have to, to respect his craft. I am always upset when people are writing articles like this. Tyler Perry owes the black audience more. Someone named Ari Christine wrote, someone else wrote, Tyler Perry is the worst representation for black cinema.

Kathia Woods: 2:52

I I don't know about that. I think that's some people that are worse.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 2:56

A, am I missing something? I just don't know what it is I'm missing. There are a few, there are some Tyler Perry films that really stick with me and I'll watch them over and over again. And then there's some Tyler Perry films that just don't do it for me. They don't make me laugh, cry, or whatever. They don't move me. But I respect the man as a filmmaker and. I just think he gets shafted way more than he should, and I'm gonna put forth a couple of points. The first is from a marketing perspective, we should be able to have LOWBROW movies. Highbrow movies, funny movies, silly movies. Horror movies. We should be able to have the whole spectrum of movies. Tyler Perry has found a audience that he is speaking to directly and they say, not us, not the critics, the people that he who are going to see his films. They say, you see me, you get me, you understand me. And a lot of times people say that his stuff is so buffoonery so much has so much buffoonery that. It cheapens the black experience. I'll say, I believe that most of Tyler Perry's films, even the ones with the silliness, has a message in it. And the question is, does the message obscure the silliness or does the silliness allow for the message? And I believe the latter. I am just sick and tired of the way in which people talk about Tyler Perry and. And it is not critical. It, there's no, it's not cri, it's, there's no critical analysis about his work. There's just that he is just straight trash and that's where we are. So that's my rent and ready for the day and I just don't buy it and I'm tired of it.

Kathia Woods: 5:03

I think there's two conversations to have around Tyler. There's the one where you can talk about his work, P practices. I think he, when you put something out into the world, you have to accept that it's not gonna resonate with some people. And I think he, he's accepted it too, but then he can't, for lack of a better word, you can't push back. The other part of it is that while not everything is for everybody, I do think that there is valid criticism as long as you stick with the work. Now do I think like his Madea stuff looks funny? I. Yeah, I think like his Madea stuff is like the salvage that we need, like that vacation coming up where the family is going to the wedding and they're going to the Caribbean. I think that's gonna be a good key key'cause we're going into it, knowing that it is just a key key. But I also feel like there's a valid criticism to say, Tyler, you are a man. Let a woman pen these things sometimes. There is room to tell other stories you know about us as black women and why. I understand these are the women that you know and the women that you act interacted, right? Since we're having this whole conversation about women and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, which we not gonna have here, but I think there is a valid conversation to be had. That it's a certain arrogance. Sometimes that comes across with Tyler and him not willing to allow women to speak and pen voices for women. Now, if he's like, Hey, if you want black women content that centers black women, then go follow them. That's fine. But I'm also of the mind just to go on your thing. There's certain things that I'm not attracted to wanting to see from Tyler Perry.'cause I know it. It doesn't speak to me, so I skip it. So I'm not aggravated and I don't have that, and I consume the stuff that I think is not bad. I think she's the people, which is the comedy that's on Netflix with Terry Fawn. I think that's perfectly fine. I think he's better on the comedy side, right? I think he did a decent job with six aaa. But I do think that Tyler and I get it,'cause he came from the muscle. He had to do it himself. He had to do it for himself. So I understand him being like, yo, nobody helped me. I understand that part better than some people think they do. So now that I've built this table that nobody said that I should build, that nobody said that there is an audience for. Now you all wanna tell me how to set it. You are with me when I was living in my car, when I was doing these plays and I was struggling. So again, I understand 100% the pushback, but I also feel like it's been enough time you were beyond successful, Tyler, where you've proven your point over and over. So be open to having a conversation and maybe be more open to having a conversation with somebody like Oprah or Ava Bernet, who are like his equals in terms of success. But I do agree with you at this particular point he has said he's gonna do him and either consume the stuff that you like or let it go.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 8:49

And so where I guess I'm different than you, is that I went to see the movie Waiting to Exhale, and I thought it was a good movie, but I was upset when I left as a man. I was upset with waiting to exhale, and the reason I was upset with waiting to Excel was that I felt that the male characters were overwhelmingly negative, and when I would talk to my women friends about it. They would say, well, the Gregory Hines character was a positive character. Absolutely no doubt about it. Then they would say, well, the, well, I'm forgetting his name and I'm looking, looking at his face.

Kathia Woods: 9:30

You talk about who you would talk about who's in the movie.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 9:33

Yeah. Yeah. And he slept with the. He didn't sleep with, he lied in the bed. Laid in the bed with the Angela Bassett character.

Kathia Woods: 9:45

I know you're talking about Wesley Snipes. Yeah,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 9:46

Wesley Snipes. I don't know why I'm forgetting Wesley Snipes. So then they would say to me, well, the Wesley Snipes character was good. And I would say, well, hold on a minute. Do you think that I could go home regardless of the fact that Donna was sick, that I could go home to my sick wife and say, Hey, dear. I didn't do nothing, but I slept in the bed with this other woman and she would be like, oh yeah, that's okay. You still a good man? No. You are married. You are still married. I don't consider him a good man, if you will. And most of my women friends, after I said that, they started laughing because they knew for a fact that they wouldn't say, okay, that's okay if he did that for me. So I had a problem with that movie as it relate from a man's perspective. But here's what my brother said to me. He said, got it. He said, your problem is, is that you want every black movie to be perfect. So you don't want to see that there are all these people who might represent the men's that you're embarrassed about or you don't want to see, but that they're real. And by doing so, what you are doing is denying that person their story, whatever their story is, you're denying that person their story. Ever since then. I don't criticize people on their story. I might criticize people on the fact that their story didn't work, but I don't criticize people on their story. And that brings me back to Tyler Perry as a man. I understand where Tyler Perry has come from. Many of the women that he portrays from a man's perspective I see in my mother. I see that. And so I'm not upset as a man. I understand the women that there's some women who are upset. I. But as a man, I'm not upset about the characters that he portrays because I'm like to myself like, yeah, Tyler, I saw what you saw. I saw those people too. I identify with those people too. I identify with those problems too. So I'm not gonna criticize your story, and I don't think you need to have a woman to tell your story. I think that. Obviously there must be some women who believe that that story resonates because overwhelmingly women are going to see it. So is it that we can't have a man telling a story about women from a man's point of view, is it that we can't have a man saying that this is how I saw women in my life. That he has to say, nah, I can't tell my story. I gotta go back and do it. And let some women tell that story. No, he can finance that. Finance. Some women tell, but let me tell the stories that I got. Let me tell the stories that I have. Let me tell the stories that I see. So I don't buy into that. I just don't.

Kathia Woods: 12:35

Yes and no because. And then I would say, you gotta give then Tara McMillan the same Grace'cause Tara McMillan.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 12:45

I did. I did. That's what I'm saying. They had to, I had to learn that though. I had to learn that.

Kathia Woods: 12:49

Yeah. And but I'm saying Tara McMillan writes, a lot of black women don't like necessarily the Tara McMillan's writing'cause they feel like all the women are down and throughout. These women are supposed to be so smart, so educated. Why do they keep making these very poor decisions when it comes to the men in their lives? And Karen McMillan goes because. We go into this whole how the dating world looks like for black women. Black women that are successful and educated have to, step down sometimes and this is the result and this is what you get. And same thing, how Stella got her groove back is based on her life, right? But, which by the way, in the Lolo, I think we all knew that her husband was. A little bit of the other team. I'm just saying nothing wrong with that. But we were like, something about him and Al Star's husband. We were like, now ladies, we not judge him, but something's a little off. I'm just saying that she gets the same CRI criticism and people are like, it's given Lifetime movie. So I say the same thing, you don't read it, don't consume it. Because it's hitting with a sermon demographic. And I will say that waiting to accept wasn't just black women going to see it. I remember I worked for a healthcare company and being at work and there were tons of white women reading, waiting to accept. There were types of white women that grabbed their girlfriends and like, we're gonna go see this movie. This is before Angela Bassett was Angela Bassett. So, you know, I do think certain works resonate. I think what some of us are saying. Give us balance, give us the other half of the conversation. Don't just give us this. And I think that is a valid, very, very, very valid, the discussion. And I think it is a very, very valid point of view. And I do think that in this day and age, with diversity, equity, and inclusion being revoked more and more. I think that we have to, you know, we have to do a better job in our community to give ourselves more nuanced and more balanced work, and we can do that. I think there's room for all of it, and I think we can have work. But here's a question. The people that are complaining about Tyler's stuff, complaining about Terry McMillan, when the other stuff is made, you gotta go out and you gotta support him.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 15:22

And it's so frequently that the other stuff is made but people aren't going to check it out. It's so interesting to me and so upsetting when someone says, I want something else. I need to see something different. I. Give me blah, blah, blah. And then these movies come out and you don't go see them. You just, you don't, and then you give the reason. That's how come Tyler is smart, by the way, but then you give the reason my life is so hard. I can't go see these movies. That would just substantiate the fact of how hard my life is. I need to go to see something that's light, something that's funny, something that gives me some joy, and that's how come I can't go see these other movies. And I hear this all the time from men and women alike, black men and women alike. Tyler's smart. Tyler says, I understand that your life is hard. So for the most part, not for not all my movies, but many of my movies are gonna have what you call that Kiki, that funny, funny with a message embedded inside of it because he knows that the only way that you are gonna come and consume his product is if there's some joy. If there's some hope, if there's something that's not always about. I can't make it to the next level. Now his movies still have that. I can't make it to the next level aspect, but there's always a level of hope, and many times there's a. A aspect of fun and laughter in that I think it's not Tyler's responsibility nor Terry McMillan's responsibility after my brother had to school me. I don't think it's their responsibility to have to tell the other half. I think that the other half needs to be told by the other half is that those people who are out there making movies, there is another half. So Spike Lee's movies, for the most part, have been somewhat politically charged. They had some political message to it. Does he need to take away his political messaging so he can show the other half? No. Let somebody else show the other half. Let bless his soul. Let John Singleton show the other half. I don't need Spike Lee to show the other half. I had to learn that. The question, the thing I think that we have to say is that, does this movie move us? Is this movie complete? Now we start talking about the movie, not about the fact that he can't tell his story. Does his story work? And if his story doesn't work I'm okay with that, but don't talk to me about that. He doesn't come with a story. And he doesn't come with the story the way I wanna see it. That's what I used to do. I had to evolve and say, I can't. I can't do that anymore. I can't say, you gotta tell a story the way I want you to tell a story. Tell a story and let me see if it works for me.

Kathia Woods: 18:31

I also feel like. Yeah. I mean, there's something, I mean, we are living in a time where there is something for everybody to consume, right? And it's not just coming from the United States, it's coming globally. So listen, you just gotta, you gotta hit play. You gotta hit play. You gotta buy that ticket.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 18:55

That's where we're at. I appreciate you engaging me in this one. I, there's always gonna be more about it because Tyler's gonna be around for a while and. And hopefully you'll check out the movie Straw and we can chitchat about it and see what you think. So I hope we can do that at some point. And it doesn't have to be next week, but watch that movie.

Kathia Woods: 19:16

Absolutely.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 19:18

With that, we'll move into our movie segment, and our movie segment is a movie. I want to see the first one, but it's a movie that you already saw. It's called Bride Hard. Tell me what this movie is about and tell me what you thought.

Kathia Woods: 19:38

Speaking of Kiki Bride Hard is a film with a group of bridesmaids, but with a twist. Rebel Wilson plays a secret agent. She's been tasked to be the maan of honor. And she gets fired for being a ma of honor because while they're having the little bachelorette thing she got, she had to call on an assignment, so she left and fell short of her responsibilities, a matron of honor and took care of her business. But then when she got back, she got fired. So she got relegated from Matri Honor to just regular bridesmaids, and even though she and her best friend have known each other since they were in childhood, played by Anna Clumsky from Veep. So. Here comes a wedding and Anna is all feeling sad. And meanwhile she's also got yelled at work'cause she went rogue. So she's at this wedding. They don't mess with her so much that all the bridesmaids are on one wing and they put Anna all the way at the end. Excuse. They put rebel all the way at the end of the hallway like she's the lost for a child. Spot. Little do they know that the wedding is about to be absurd, but an incident and Rebel comes in to save the day, but this movie is over the top. It is absurd and it's absurd on purpose. The absurdity is to really make you to be over the top. And if you are looking for a movie that has a deep plot and has some academy award-winning acting, that's, this is not it, but if you are looking to for a movie that's going to make you laugh out loud and just kick key and, haha, this is the film.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 21:30

So we got two this. There are two Annas in this. There's Anna Camp and Anna k cls. How do Anna

Kathia Woods: 21:37

Ksky? Anna Camp is the bride, the blonde hair. Anna k Clumsky. The girl from Veep is the girl that takes over as, excuse me, as a, the bride's made and she is ready. She goes a little, she goes a little crazy. She got a whole itinerary'cause she feels she should have been matron of honor to begin with since she felt as though Rebel's character was not doing what she needed to do. So when Rebel got demoted, she was like, I'm ready. I volunteered to be the tribute, you know that. And that was Anna, Anna Clumsky. She was like, when? When Old Girls said you are fired. Would you like to be so and so? Would you like to be my mentor? And she goes, oh my God, yes, yes, yes. She goes, first task. And I can say this. I need you to hold my hair outta my face because I've been drinking it. Party. She goes, I'd be on your tube, runs over and grabs her hair and we know what the rest insinuates. But I just laughed at this movie. And again, if you looking for something deep, this ain't it. But if you are looking for just a good time, a good Kiki, where you can laugh out loud, grab your girlfriends and a couple margaritas. If you've ever been part of a wedding party that's gone all the way south, I. You'll lean into it and also it has a little bit of action for the fellows if you're going on a date Movie a side note, divine Joy. Randolph is also in this film. I'm going to ask

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 23:04

you about her. Is she the token or does she have a role in this one?

Kathia Woods: 23:11

No, she has a role in it. She's a friend. You know that She's not the only person of color. Gigi is, I believe, of Southeast Asian. I wanna say she plays Zoe,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 23:21

right?

Kathia Woods: 23:21

Yeah. So, no, but they all play friends and they don't know that she's a secret spy, but they're all on her. They're like, girl, you dropped the ball. You, yeah. You weren't a good friend, you know? So, yes, it was hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It, I think it's, but these interesting times, you know, the fact

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 23:42

that you enjoyed it means that this is a girl's night out film. Yes. Is this a Donna drag Reggie to the movie. Film?

Kathia Woods: 23:58

Yeah. Because I think both of y'all will just laugh and be like, this can't get any more sillier. And you'll be like, and I'll be like, yes, it can hold my beer. Hold my beer. It

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 24:10

can't. Rebels seems to revel in physical comedy and this is what we're getting here.

Kathia Woods: 24:19

Absolutely. And I think also in the, I know some people were like, she is, as she's not the same way. Is she still fun? I'm like a person that's funny, is funny, funny is funny. Do you know what I mean? She's still funny, so I don't necessarily understand. When people make these comments, oh, is she still funny? Is she still that? Yeah. And again, this is what she does. She does absurdity to the best of her ability and I think she is really good in this film. And she's funny. And again, sometimes you just wanna go to the movies and tune out. And she did that

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 25:00

And while I really respect that, that sometimes you just want to go to a movie and just let loose and have a good time. I. Movies are more expensive these days, so people are being very picky, if you will, with what movies they'll pay to go to the box office. This film seems like a good piece of counter programming from some of those big blockbuster movies. We have already entered the summer season. Is this good counter programming?

Kathia Woods: 25:33

Yeah, because it is also not very long. It's extremely silly and I think sometimes you just, I don't know. Sometimes you just want to be somewhere and just laugh and just not take yourself too serious. You know what I mean? I do. So I'm just, I feel like this is that type of movie.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 25:53

All right. Well, there you have it. Bride hard, not die hard, bride hard. This one is being recommended by Kaia. So Great. Then our next movie is How To Train Your Dragon, and if you think you've heard this title before, if you think you saw this movie before, you're basically right. The difference is that you saw it in animation and now there's the live action piece. This is a trend people, so just get over it, that whenever they can, they've been trying to, the movie makers, they bring back everything, of course, but then they try to see if a live action version will work. And so that's the question here. What is this one about? The big thing that you need to know is that the story, they don't deviate from the original story that you get from animation. And so Hiccup who was played by Mason Thames is the son of Chief Stoic, the vast, played by Gerard Butler, but he's not the warrior his father is, and it's disappointing for his father. Hiccup says he wants to be in the fight, but really doesn't know how to be in the fight, so he is a disappointment. But he has his own ways and ends up meeting a dinosaur, I mean a dinosaur a dragon, and befriending that dragon. And that sets off a whole different world in which these vikings live in. What's interesting is the Vikings are there to kill the dragons, and the dragons are there to steal from the vikings and kill them as well. So there's always been this fighting among them, and the two shall never be friends, shall never meet, shall never work together, but hiccup changes at all. I think that, number one, from a live action CGI perspective. This looks good. I like the way it looked. I didn't even think in my mind that the dragon he met named Toothless was not real. How? How they melded the two together between Hiccup and Toothless. I just thought they did a really good job from a CGI perspective. The filmmakers already have a builtin audience because the story is already there. I saw with loads of kids, and I will tell you that these young people were very engaged and very excited about this film. They were so excited that, hmm, they actually got me excited along the ride. I think this film is funny. But it also has some real messages throughout. There's the message about a father and a son, the expectations of a father and the aspirations of a son. There's the message about tradition and following tradition. There's the message about. Two different groups of people having perceptions about that other group, but not ever really knowing them. And I think that these messages for me came across loud and clear. Overall, I think this film has a lot for young and old alike, that if you are dragged to the theater by your youngsters. You'll enjoy it and see some things and might even learn some things or reconsider some things. And I know that the young people would like it as well. I enjoyed this. It was a fun ride. I particularly liked the action that the, you know, that I guess I'm stereotypical as it relates from a man perspective, but I like this overall. What say you, Kathia Woods.

Kathia Woods: 30:01

I like this movie. I kinda, I'm pulling up the D so I can speak intelligently. I like mild mason themes as hiccup, right? I thought that they cast the kids perfectly, right? That the kids that think they're so cool, like Julian Denison is perfectly cast. I thought Gerard Butler, who did the voice. Is also in the life action, right? I think that is really, really cool and I just think this is a fun movie. This is a story that kids can relate to, living to the expectations of your father feeling like you don't fit in. And then finally, here comes this dragon that gives you purpose and lets you be the hero at the end of the day. It's also about misinformation. It's also, it's got something for the adults where it's about conspiracies, where they created this enemy that truly is not their enemy, right? That's just to keep things going. But overall, I feel like this is a film that the kids as well as the adults can enjoy

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 31:09

and. There is, there are two love stories here. There's the love story about fathers and sons, not just between Hiccup and his father, but yeah, between others. And there's the love story between Hiccup and Astrid, played by Nico Parker. And if people don't know Nico Parker is Fatty Newton's daughter. And I heard that there was some. Uproar to have someone of color play that role because in the, I guess the original that it wasn't, I hadn't heard about that, but my daughter Bobby told me that there was some uproar about her Nico Parker being cast. I think that was cute. Anna was funny because they didn't like each other or they were competitors in the beginning.

Kathia Woods: 32:00

Oh, because she felt like this was her arena. That's right. She thought she was gonna come in there and shine and she was gonna get this prize, and then she's like, wait a minute. What? How? How? Wait a minute. This guy who acquiesced everything. Yeah. So it is really that type of thing where they're like, no way you, I know you lying. So I think so she felt some type of way, but I think. I don't have time for these people that constantly got problems with people of color playing make leaf characters

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 32:35

always. It's always, it is always something. Now, I did have some problems with the film, but it wasn't that, and the problems I had with the film aren't problems that make the film a film that I wouldn't go watch. I'd go watch this one again, but I will have to mention at the beginning, Gerard Butler, it felt like he was playing a character. He seemed to settle into that role as you got. Maybe into the second third of this film, his

Kathia Woods: 33:05

accent to. Playing this man now in a costume,

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 33:12

right, in a costume. His accent and the whole presentation, the right in that beginning piece just felt like, Ooh, is he on point? But afterwards, I think that he did a good job after the movie got going a little bit. But I'm also amazed, and just from a storytelling perspective, I'm always amazed at characters, especially young kids who are as characters who traveled through the world without a care and no street smarts and hiccup is that character going into the woods, into the wilderness with no armor whatsoever. In, in, in some cases, sometimes with some armor. And I just like, maybe as a parent, I'm thinking to myself, my kids better not do that. You. I told you it's dangerous out there. At least take something to protect yourself. Bobby, my headstrong daughter, says, but Daddy, that's what made hiccup special is that he didn't really want to or understand that whole battle peace, and because he didn't, he was able to connect with this dragon. Otherwise, he either would've been eaten or the dragon would've had to. Would have had to have been killed. And I'm gonna say, okay, Bobby, but the character there, there was something about Hiccup just being too carefree. That bothered me a little bit. And the last thing that I'll say is that at the end of the movie, and maybe you can call this a spo Spoiler Alert. Hiccup calls Toothless a pet. And I have a problem with that because the Dragons had a community, a life of their own. So if they're co companions, then that works. But if they're pets, then that means that they're subject to now the life that. The humans have made for them. And I just think that the way in which the dragons were portrayed was that they were smarter and more than just pets. And that terminology just bothered me a little bit. Again, none of those things have anything to do with whether this film was fun because it is fun. It's also funny. It's fantastical you'll be taken through that ride. And I think it's somewhat forward thinking, especially as it relates to relationships between FA parents and their children.

Kathia Woods: 35:44

100% agree. And I think also it's visually really fun to look at, especially as they're bonding as rider and dragon. I do agree with you that he is more than a pet. He's his friend.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 36:05

Yeah. Yeah. I'm recommending it for sure. I tell a little secret here. I would go see this by myself

Kathia Woods: 36:14

I saw for free and something, when you see something for free at a convention early in the morning, you're like, Hmm. But I also was like, you know what, this is fun. This is really fun. This is a good time.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 36:30

It is. I would absolutely go check this one out. I gave it three out of four reels and I'm recommending it. I know the young people will enjoy it, but forget the young people. I enjoyed this film. It was a lot of fun. I felt in some cases that I was on a rollercoaster ride as Hiccup and toothless were flying throughout the movie, there's action in the film. There's some scares in the film and actually there's some, also some tender moments in the film. So I just think that the writers, that the producers all came together and put together a very solid offering, and we know that there will be another one because

Kathia Woods: 37:12

they already said it. That's two sequels in the works. They said it, they said it. When was it? In March.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 37:20

So we know we are gonna see more of these characters and I'm not mad at it at all. With that, we'll move into our last segment, which is Rant and Rave. Did you perhaps, I mean, just maybe. Did you perhaps see the Tonys? We did. And would you have seen a Chicago company win a Tony or two for a play that has purpose?

Kathia Woods: 37:55

That's the name of the play, Reggie.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 38:01

Chicago was in the house. That's all I, no, that's not all I wanna say. Chicago was in the house. I saw purpose here in Chicago and Glen Davis and Crew did a phenomenal job. Lescher Rashad was the. Director here in Chicago and did a phenomenal job and then took that thing on to Broadway and they won a Tony in the first year. Congratulations to my people, Harry Lennox. Come on. Chicago was in the house. That's all I want to say to you, Kathia. Will you always wanna say something about Philly, but you not Philly anymore, so you can't claim Philly. You gotta just go and start claiming. Like Hot Atlanta. You not Philly no more.

Kathia Woods: 38:56

Chicago is

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 38:56

killing it.

Kathia Woods: 38:58

I mean, yes. I will say though, I think Nicole did a good job, but I feel like Audrey should have won. That's my take on that, huh? Mm-hmm. Hmm. I feel like Nicole Sherzinger won for Best actress in a musical.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 39:15

Yeah,

Kathia Woods: 39:16

but I feel like order should have won, period.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 39:19

I. I, I am going to see her in Gypsy this weekend and I'm totally looking forward to it. And you saw her in Gypsy already?

Kathia Woods: 39:29

I have not, but I just know she just is. Come on. She's a whole movement also. For all my Hamilton hive, it was nice to see the reunion, those of us that love Hamilton.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 39:40

It, it really was. I'm headed off to Broadway. I'm gonna see three plays at least. The first one is off Broadway and it's called In the Lights, the Net King Cold Story. So I'm gonna go see that. Then I'm gonna go see Purpose, and after that Gypsy I'll see one each day and I'm excited to get out there to see it. That's my, that's. Part of my rent and rave. And then my last part of our rent and rave is, I can't wait to see F1. You must have inter, see you get all the interviews, so you must have Yeah,

Kathia Woods: 40:19

I know that's say that, but I do. Okay. I do. Okay.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 40:23

You must have interviewed the F1 people already.

Kathia Woods: 40:26

I have not. I'm going to speak to Idris'cause I fought for it. Boy did I have to give up a first child firstborn, but. But there's something else you can need to do before we log off, my dear son.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 40:41

Oh.

Kathia Woods: 40:43

I have a birthday on Sunday.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 40:45

Oh, that's right. You have a birthday on Sunday, so that means next week's show we have to do everything about you make the show. You have to send me the list. So I know what movie we talking about? What's, what are we talking about in the first segment, which is what's on my mind? What's our rant and rave? It is all you. All birthday. It's gonna be the birthday edition, Katia Woods.

Kathia Woods: 41:14

All right. But listen, it's always fun to come in here and talk movies and to talk things, although I feel like you know these days we all need a nap. The world is, but it's nice to take the time out from the madness and talk movies. So Reggie, I'm gonna be you for a minute. Where can the people find you?

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 41:37

You can find me NDIGO.com. That's NDIG o.com. I have my review up for straw, so go check that out. You can also check me out at. The Garfield Lawndale voice, my review is up for that, for How to Train Your Dragon, and you can check me out on vocal load.org. And I'm not sure which review I'll be submitting. I'll have to do that by tonight, but I'll have something up for them as well. So those are my major spots. So Kathia, where can we find you?

Kathia Woods: 42:21

You can find me on cup of Soul show.com, the Sacramento Observer, and of course, the Philadelphia Tribune.

Reggie Ponder, The Reel Critic: 42:32

That's our show. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate you guys, and we'll see you next time.

Kathia Woods: 42:39

See you next time.