SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME MOVIE REVIEW

In retrospect, it seems like it would have made more sense to record this entirely as a spoiler review. Because those anxious to avoid spoilers aren’t looking at ANYTHING that even potentially could spoil something about “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the rest of you already saw it. Some more than once. But, for those one or two of you out there that want to hear Chris, Wright, Mike, and Danni talk about this without ruining anything for you, yes, the first ten minutes or so of our review here (and even the show notes below) are meticulously spoiler-free. But then, we go hog-wild. There’s no way to have a real discussion about this incredible MCU entry without talking about ALL of it. And we do. For A WHILE. Breaking our own ‘nothing over 30 minutes’ rule was an inevitability and we’re having so much fun just dreamily praising this event film that I suspect you’re going to have a lot of fun listening to it. Honestly, we could have talked for longer than the film’s actual running time if Chris hadn’t been such a party-pooper and made us stop (eventually). Check out all the fun here.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Jon Watts

STARRING: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Rhy Ifans, Thomas Haden Church, Angourie Rice, Hannibal Buress, Martin Starr, J.B. Smoove, J.K. Simmons

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Danni Button (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

Danni’s expertise lies in comic books, superhero movies, science fiction/fantasy, horror, and cheesy dad jokes. They spent 5 years creating YouTube content about comic books for The Weirdlings, and now they’ve awoken from the Geeksleep ready to speculate about various multiverses, fandom life, and weird but adorable ‘ships.

 

 

 

Michael Riojas (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)

SANTA INC SERIES REVIEW

Merry Christmas you f****** animals! Are you ready to deck the halls with your balls(ack)? Sorry to be so vulgar… There’s this new show streaming on HBO Max called “Santa Inc.”, and oh boy… are there a lot of words that parents will have to explain to the little ones. If your virgin ears can handle a lot of cursing, and your gentle eyes can withstand elf boobs, I think you’ll do just fine with this series. Santa Inc. follows Candy Smalls (Sarah Silverman), who is tired of doing the work of a head elf, and wants to put on the fat man’s, red suit, breaking that glass ceiling! Santa (Seth Rogen), seems like an ally, at first, but the more Candy digs into the inner workings of Santa Inc., the more hypocritical Santa becomes. There’s a huge cast including Maria Bamford, Joel Kim Booster, Leslie Grossman, Craig Robinson, and Gabourey Sidibe. Look, it’s not perfect, or it is! That’s up to you. Join Mike, Tessa, and Chad on a joyous sleighride… that’s carrying… so many dildos. To the point where they are falling out as we fly overhead.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Alexandra Rushfield

STARRING: Seth Rogen, Sarah SIlverman, Leslie Grossman, Gabourey Sidibe, Craig Robinson, Nicholas Braun, Maria Bamford

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Chad Halvorsen (Screener Squad)

Chad Halvorsen currently resides in Milwaukee, WI, where he produces and edits commercials, films, and everything in between. He was always a fan of film/television growing up, spending days in the Summer, making (terrible) home movies with his brothers. Little did he know that passion would carry on into adulthood. Since 2006, Chad has worked for several agencies in various departments. Shooting, producing, editing, production management, directing, and when forced to, writing copy. In 2015, Chad decided to take the big leap and become a freelancer. Since then, he’s produced content for Lyft, AT&T, Target, and Discovery Network. His passion lies in entertaining people, making them feel better, even for a moment. All the pain and suffering of this business is worth it, if even just one person views his work. Chad is a frequent podcaster, most notably posing as a co-host for the podcast “The Film Illogical Society.”

 

Michael Riojas (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)

The man with the ever-changing nicknames. Born in Austin, Riojas was rocketed to Del Rio, Texas, a literal small ville. In his youth, he was bitten by a radioactive… okay, look. Mike is not very good at this whole “talking about himself” thing. But he has been so obsessed with comics, video games, and anime since childhood- that if one has to choose between listening to Joe Quesada or Mike over any obscure Spider-Man trivia, they go to him (or, at least Martin Thomas once said so). He is also a big fan of “Ghostbusters” (he even owns his own jumpsuit and two, that’s right, TWO proton packs!), collects toys and video games, and will defend “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” if provoked. He lives in Austin with his beloved Dachshund-Maltese and trusted sidekick, Dean. He can also be heard on RageSelect. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram.

 

Tessa Morrison (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Unstabletop Gamers)

Well-rounded nerd and artist, Tessa Morrison grew up in the misty mountains of West Virginia and was constantly ridiculed for being a “weirdo.” Then moved to Austin in 2009 where people said the same thing, but in an endearing tone. Tessa works an office day job,

RED ROCKET MOVIE REVIEW

This new cringe comedy from the director of the lauded “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project” follows Mikey (Simon Rex). He’s an ex-porn actor, broke as a joke, and has been forced to vacate Los Angeles for reasons presumably dire and make his way to the doorstep of his ex-wife and ex-porn partner Lexi (Bree Elrod) to beg for temporary housing with her and her elderly mother. Even though both realize this guy is never anything but trouble, his silver tongue and promises of compensation eventually sway them and they agree to put him up. Of course, he’s almost immediately up to his old tricks again. Hooking up with an old weed dealer to get a cash supply again, he starts planning his return to the porn industry and glory, this time with a stunning young ingenue (Suzanna Son) under his wing he expects to be the new hot thing once he gets there. Only, she doesn’t know this is what he has planned. Or that he’s a porn actor. And he’s, like, decades older than her. I mean, cringe. But the movie is well aware of how it’s making you feel and as difficult as “Red Rocket” is to sit through at points, it’s hard to deny how well made, sometimes really funny, and kinda mesmerizing it is. Listen to Chris, Marco, Beau, and Mike give their feelings about it.

THANKS TO PODCORN.COM FOR SPONSORING THIS EPISODE OF HIGHLY SUSPECT REVIEWS. GET PAID FOR DOING YOUR OWN PODCAST AT PODCORN.COM

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Sean Baker

STARRING: Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Suzanna Son, Brenda Deiss, Judy Hill, Marlon Lambert, Brittany Rodriguez, Ethan Darbone, Shih-Ching Tsou, Parker Bigham, Brandy Kirl, Dustin “Hitman” Hart

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Marco Noyola (Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Audio Editor)

By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker,

CHUCKY SERIES REVIEW

The creator of Chucky, the doll possessed by a serial killer, created this new tv season for USA Network, that picks up right where the last film, “Cult of Chucky” left off. Back in the town where it all started, Jake is a teen with a hard home life but a desire to create oddball art and he buys a Good Guy doll at a yard sale to use for his art project. Of course, the doll turns out to be Chuckles and rather than just off the kid, Chucky has a long plan: make the kid into a killer. Or really, any kid into a killer. What’s the dealio? Does Chucky want a protégé? As the body count begins to pile up in the town, familiar faces from the previous movies roll in like Jennifer Tilly as Jennifer Tilly possessed by Tiffany, and Fiona Dourif possessed also by Chucky…don’t ask, just watch. Because this was a LOT of fun and smarter than it had any right to be. Check out Chris, Dogget, Matt, and Elliot on the review.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Don Mancini

STARRING: Zackary Arthur, Björgvin Arnarson, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Teo Briones, Brad Dourif, David Kohlsmith, Tyler Barish, Fiona Dourif, Lexa Doig, Barbara Alyn Woods, Michael Therriault, Rachelle Casseus, Carina London Battrick, Devon Sawa, Jennifer Tilly, Blaise Crocker, Christine Elise, Alex Vincent

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Danny Dogget (Screener Squad)

Hey persons, it’s your favorite canine Dogget! As many of you know, I don’t identify as a critic as much as a classy shock jock. That being said, I do my best to give all of you a well-balanced review filled with my true opinions and hopefully a few laughs. You can occasionally find me on other persons podcast like Mission Impodible (that’ll be 10 dollars Nathan). For the most part, you can find me doing reviews on Oneofus.net.

 

 

 

Matt Foster (Screener Squad)

Matt Foster is a stand up comic,

THE UNFORGIVABLE MOVIE REVIEW

Movies about people getting out of prison usually paint a couple of pictures. One, that life on the inside can turn even the nicest person into a hardened con who will kick the crap out of anyone who crosses them. And Two, once a person gets out of prison after decades behind bars, it’s abundantly clear that they would have been better off staying locked up, because the world outside is not a world they belong to anymore. America sure doesn’t go out of their way to make freedom all that great. Almost like the prison industrial complex benefits more from people staying incarcerated than rehabilitating them. Hm, strange. And this is the world that Sandra Bullock’s Ruth Slater is returning too after twenty years behind bars for murdering a sheriff who came to evict her and her five year old sister Katie, whom Ruth was raising in their childhood home. Upon her release, Ruth gets two thankless jobs, all while searching for her estranged younger sister. Katie was sent into the foster system after Ruth’s incarceration and barely remembers anything of her life before, though she does experience memories of trauma. These memories cause Katie to be involved in a car accident, and she is forced to return to her foster parents’ home while she recovers. Katie’s foster parents worry that her memories of Ruth, as well as the fact that she may be somehow aware of her release, is what caused the accident. Meanwhile, the sons of the sheriff Ruth killed find out about Ruth’s release and begin stalking her, learning where she lives and where she works, and planning revenge. Frank, Bradley, Melina, and T.C. sit down to discuss the good and bad of this potentially great character piece that is bogged down by too many subplots and unnecessary twists and turns.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Nora Fingscheidt

STARRING: Sandra Bullock, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Richard Thomas, Linda Emond, Aisling Franciosi, Rob Morgan, Viola Davis, Emma Nelson, Will Pullen, Tom Guiry, W. Earl Brown, Jessica McLeod

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.

 

 

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

Born and raised in South Texas, Frank currently lives in Austin and has been in love with movies ever since his father showed him some Three Stooges shorts when he was five years old. Today he loves all kinds of film, regardless of era, country, budget or genre. He believes every film has an audience and is at least one person’s favorite movie. After writing for Sight & Sound and Slackerwood, he now writes for Cinapse where his increasingly random taste in all flavors of cinema (from Rashomon to Mars Attacks!) continues to thrive.

THE NOVICE MOVIE REVIEW

In Lauren Hadaway’s writing and directorial debut “The Novice”, college freshman Alex Dall (Isabelle Fuhrman) joins in her university’s rowing and is shown to be very motivated and competitive, often to physical and psychological levels of obsession to be on the top varsity boat. It’s all she cares about and that includes any interactions with her co-rowers. To put it short, this isn’t a feel-good sports film about accomplishment, it’s a story about dangerous obsession. Bradley, T.C., Jordan, and Rae hop on their boat to determine if this sports thriller sinks or swims.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Lauren Hadaway

STARRING: Isabelle Fuhrman, Amy Forsyth, Dilone, Jonathan Cherry, Kate Drummond, Jeni Ross, Eve Kanyo, Nikki Duval, Charlotte Ubben, Sage Irvine, Chantelle Bishop

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub)

Bradly Martin was born in the united states and grew up on a healthy diet of sports, films, and books. A rather shy lad who kept to himself, Bradly soon discovered the best way to know a person was to know what people liked. Throughout the years Bradly became a fan of many things and a fanatic of none. From Doctor Dre, to Doctor Strange and the who’s who of Whos. From Playstation to the Dreamcast and Marvel to DC. From LeBron James to James Bond and Lord of the Rings to Lord Palmerston (or Pitt the Elder if you agree with Wade Boggs) and is a huge fan of dad jokes and randomly obscure Simpsons references. Armed with a vast knowledge of comics, films, and pop culture. Bradly traveled the world making friends and sharing takes. As a young man Bradly married the love of his life young and grew older every year with each new child brought into the brood. If trends continue, Scientists predict that .2% of Canada (where Bradly and family reside) will be populated by Bradly’s children by the year 2029. You can hear him leading and listening to his favorite critics on the Screener Squad and Eye on the prize and maybe even provide some comments of his own.

 

 

T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.

 

 

Jordan Cobb (Screener Squad)

Born with a comic book in one hand, a camera in the other, and in front of the television as WrestleMania played out, Jordan Worth Cobb was thus birthed into this crazy world. A Digital Filmmaking major from the University of Central Arkansas, Jordan has done it all in film from directing, writing, editing, and producing in addition to skills involved in film and TV criticism, journalism, and years of podcasting experience. On any given day, her ADHD riddled brain bounces focus from film to pro wrestling to TV to superheroes to noir to v...

THE KING’S MAN MOVIE REVIEW

We’re curious. Why would you make the third film in a reasonably successful franchise a prequel that doesn’t actually include any of the cast from the first two? We’re guessing it was to keep the IP topical while they put all the necessary ducks in a row for the third actual installment (apparently currently in the works). Unfortunately, this ill conceived film might just bury the IP instead. Ralph Fiennes plays Orlando Oxford, a former soldier now pacifist who is trying to protect his overeager son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) from joining the fight in WWI. What almost no one knows is that he and two of his “servants” (Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou) have a secret organization of domestic staff around the world who report back to him and they try to nip terrible stuff in the bud before it happens. It’s not “The Kingsmen” but it’s kinda-sorta a proto-Kingsmen. But when tragedy strikes, will Orlando break his own vows and get directly involved against a shadowy cabal trying to destroy England? Chris, Harmoni, Mars, and Sarah are now officially a shadowy cabal trying to destroy this film with their review. Check it out but you don’t need to keep it a secret.

THANKS TO PODCORN.COM FOR SPONSORING THIS EPISODE OF HIGHLY SUSPECT REVIEWS. GET PAID FOR DOING YOUR OWN PODCAST AT PODCORN.COM

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Matthew Vaughn

STARRING: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Alexander Shaw, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Aaron Vodovoz, Todd Boyce, Branka Katic, Valerie Pachner, Olivier Richters, Stanley Tucci, Neil Jackson, Joel Basman, Ross Anderson, Alison Steadman, Robert Aramayo, Alexandra Maria Lara, Tiago Martins

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Harmoni Anderson (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Unstabletop Gaming)

PEN15 SEASON 2 PART 2 REVIEW

Remember how amazing and non-dramatic middle school was? Neither does the Screener Squad. Take a squeamish and heart-rending stroll down memory lane with Wright, Tessa, Eliot, and Bob as they review Pen15 season 2, part 2 (and check out their review for part 1 right here). Will the show that dedicated itself to the maelstrom of hormones, identity, sexuality, and friendship that we call growing up pull off a satisfying ending? Will Mya and Anna be, like, be ok? Listen now to hear why our reviewers gave it a 10/10 and think you will, too. And if you don’t we are telling Mom!

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman

STARRING: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Mutsuko Erskine, Richard Kam, Taylor Nichols, Melora Walters, Taj Cross, Dallas Liu

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Audio Editor)

Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He’s co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. His current hosting gig is with longtime friend, Eric Samaniego, where they talk shop about the grimiest, trashiest, lost gems of movies on their show, ‘Trash in the Can’. Wright is also hosting reviews with Screener Squad and editing reviews as well.

 

Tessa Morrison (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Unstabletop Gamers)

Well-rounded nerd and artist, Tessa Morrison grew up in the misty mountains of West Virginia and was constantly ridiculed for being a “weirdo.” Then moved to Austin in 2009 where people said the same thing, but in an endearing tone. Tessa works an office day job, creates puppets and fiber art, cosplays, models for gaming and animation studios, and volunteers for various organizations. One of which is the Other Worlds Film Festival, Austin’s first SciFi film fest, working in the capacity of Outreach Director and programmer. Another is local DIY-comedy-wrestling league, Party World Rasslin’, where Tessa scrambles around stage-handing and doing art department nonsense. Wrote and contributed to website and magazine Strange Kids Club for five years reviewing films, video games, and Halloween candy. Co-hosted a Public Access show called Ladies of Fandom. Previously guested on podcasts Blood Over Texas, Threequel Club, Trash in the Can, Retro Movie Roundtable, and Nerds with Mics.

 

Eliot Nelson (Screener Squad, Staff Writer)

Soaked in the soggy rains of Seattle, Eliot developed a love of sci-fi, movies, cartoons, heavy metal, and all of geekdom. Pursuing his passion for the written word, he got his BA from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He has since worked exclusively in the foodservice industry, like any liberal arts major worth their salt. Eliot wiles away the hours listening to movie reviews, writing his epic sci-fi novel, and consuming as much media as possible. His favorite movies include The Lord of the Rings, City of God, Dawn of the Dead, and Groundhog Day. When not rambling to himself about the ineptness of entertainment executives, Eliot posts infrequently on Twitter and squawks regularly on his podcast The Debasement Tapes.

 

 

THE POWER OF THE DOG MOVIE REVIEW

Jane Campion (“The Piano,” “Top of the Lake”) returns to filmmaking after a twelve year hiatus with her newest poetic epic “The Power of the Dog.” Adapted from the book by Thomas Savage, the story focuses on the Burbank brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons). They run one of the largest cattle empires in 1920’s Montana, with George managing the financial affairs while Phil continues to work down and dirty with the other ranchers. While resting at a town during a fateful cattle drive, George is smitten by a woman named Rose (Kirsten Dunst), a recently widowed innkeeper. George marries Rose shortly after, a none-too-happy Phil makes it his life’s mission to not only torment her, but to also torment her effeminate son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Is there a way to satiate the hotheaded Phil to help everyone get along? Is it even worth trying to help such a toxic individual? It’s not the most complicated plot in the world, but, in the hands of a master filmmaker like Campion, it lays the foundation for a story dripping with subtext and thematic discussion about the nature of masculinity. Justin, Beau, and Marcos discuss one Netflix biggest Oscar candidates and whether it truly lives up to the ecstatic hype it has received so far.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Jane Campion

STARRING: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy, Peter Carroll, Alison Bruce, Sean Keenan, Adam Beach, Maeson Stone Skuccedal, Alice Englert

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Justin Zarian (Screener Squad, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub, Assistant Site Manager)

Justin’s fate as a movie fanatic was written in the stars when his birth forced his parents to cancel their planned Oscar viewing party. While growing up in California, he was often seen in front of the television watching and re-watching Star Wars, Jurassic Park, classic Disney movies and a steady stream of animated shows. This eventually led to a B.A. in Film at Brigham Young University and an Outstanding Student Teacher Award for displaying a level of film knowledge so insane that even his fellow film students couldn’t compete. He received his M.A. from Syracuse University and is currently pursuing a teaching certificate, but still volunteers at One of Us every so often for the fun of it. His hobbies include non-stop film conversations, wondering how Mass Effect 3’s ending went so wrong, espousing the joys of shooting guns (but not hunting, as he’s quick to note), writing the next great American television show in his head, and anything else entertainment related. You can find him on Facebook once in a blue moon.

 

 

Beau Paul (Highly Suspect Reviews, The Original Gentlemen, Screener Squad)

Beau Paul is an Austin native, an actor, and a writer. Sometimes all at once! Previously he has attempted to be an internet entertainer (the funny ha-ha kind, not the naked moneymaking kind) at Spill.com, and now here on OneOfUs.net. You can read his pithy witticisms and the retweeted material of funnier, cleverer people on Twitter or Facebook, and can buy him stuff on Amazon.

 

 

 

Marcos Lira (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

Me? I come from the South, Out there, beyond the horizon by the big river. Out there where the bandits formed cities, and the gambling is legal. I got into movies like most nerds by watching Tarantino but fe...

ENCOUNTER MOVIE REVIEW

Riz Ahmed plays a soldier back from the war but who is on the run. Alien microbes have weaponized Earth’s mosquito population and they are biting people and injecting these microbes which lead to the people being controlled by the aliens. To do, I don’t know, alien stuff. Regardless, he’s not having it and so loaded up with bug spray, he makes his way to the home of his ex-wife, who he believes has been taken over, to rescue his two small children and abscond with them to a safe place. But where is safe? Is HE safe? Is any of this really happening with the aliens or is it all in his head? You get it. Chris, Melina, and Lewayne study the facts and come up with their own conclusions as to the quality of this conspiracy tale.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Michael Pearce

STARRING: Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Janina Gavankar, Rory Cochrane, Lucian-River Chauhan, Aditya Geddada, Shane McRae, Misha Collins, Stefan Sims, Brennan Keel Cook, Bill Dawes, Keith Szarabajka, Antonio Jaramillo, Kennedy Chrisette, Robert Morgan

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Melina Eames (Screener Squad)

Melina first discovered that she carried the nerd gene at the tender age of four following her exposure to a little film called A New Hope. In the twenty-some years that followed, Melina continued to grow into her geek identity through the discovery of Batman, Mst3k, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and The Mandalorian. But perhaps her most significant discovery came at the age of fourteen when a night of YouTube mining led her to the review site of Spill.com. Melina became a devoted follower whose fandom did not end with the site’s demise. By then, it had worked its dark magic and left her with a love and appreciation for film criticism that she has yet to shrug.

 

 

Lewayne White (Screener Squad)

Lewayne’s earliest memories are of watching movies and reading comics, which instilled in him a sense of wonder, a vivid imagination, and unrealistic expectations.