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RESPECT MOVIE REVIEW
Aretha Franklin was, no question, the Queen of Soul, one incredible lady who had to deal with a LOT during her life to become the incredible legend she was. She hand-picked actress/singer Jennifer Hudson to portray her in this new biopic and honestly, we couldn’t imagine anyone else taking on this role; not just for Hudson’s singing chops (which are…significant) but for her acting ability as well. All that being said, this movie which scans across a few decades of the singer’s life over two hours and twenty-five minutes, despite it’s roster of solid talent, like Forest Whitaker playing her preacher father, Marlon Wayans as her slick but abusive first husband, and Marc Maron as influential producer Jerry Wexler, never comes together. Chris, Ben, Beau, and Marco take a trip down boredom lane and keep trying to remind themselves how much they love Aretha and Hudson’s portrayal of her, over the length of this long, long, movie.
DIRECTED BY: Liesl Tommy
STARRING: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Tate Donovan, Mary J. Blige, Kelvin Hair, Heather Headley, Lodric D. Collins
YOUR REVIEWERS
Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)
Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, in 1992 Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas, 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 paradise you see before you. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.
Ben Glasthal (Highly Suspect Review, Screener Squad, Breakfast Pub, Unstabletop Gamers, Video and Audio Editor, Assistant Site Manager)
Born in Boston, then ending up in Dallas, Texas in the early 2000s, Ben has always had a passion for film. He started in film school not long after where he launched MovieReelizations.com where he still writes reviews to this day. He’s since moved to Austin where he has been also hopping on podcasts and both editing and shooting videos for One of Us. A fan of films from almost all genres, and many that predate him more than makes sense, he is anything if not eclectic in what he’s watching at any point. For the rest of his free time, he can be found biking, drinking craft beer, being an amateur photographer, and playing video games by himself or on Twitch. He’s best found on Instagram or Twitter as @MovieReelBen.
Marco Noyola (Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Audio Editor)
By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.
“You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody!”
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.
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