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TRON:ARES MOVIE REVIEW

Has it really been FIFTEEN years since Tron: Legacy? Disney has been trying to get a third Tron film up off the ground ever since Legacy with multiple stumbling blocks, including the cast of that film being unwilling to return for a third. So of course they go to everyone’s favorite leading man actor, Jared Leto (there’s still no sarcasm font, so apologies). Leto plays Ares, a sentient AI inside ‘the grid’ controlled by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the CEO of Dillinger Systems and the grandson of the bad guy (in both worlds) in the original film. The time has come to not be digitized and appear inside the computer world, but to take things from the computer world and digitize them here. The problem is, that anything digitized here only lasts for 29 minutes before it de-rezzes. Meanwhile, on the good guys who run a powerful competing corporation side (!) is Eve Kim (Greta Lee) who is the CEO of ENCOM, the company started by Flynn (Jeff Bridges). Both bosses are looking for the ‘permanence code’ that will make the digital creations last indefinitely in our world, ’cause what could go wrong there? Ares, eventually, realizes that he just wants to live in our world and that Julian is kinda a dick. But really, the only premise of Tron: Ares is: what would lightcycles look like racing around our world? And admittedly, that is some cool stuff. Everything else, not so much. Listen to Chris, Wright, Frank, and Nathan be grumbly old men who don’t like all this newfangled tech in their review for Tron: Ares.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Joachim Rønning

STARRING: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Bridges, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins

YOUR REVIEWERS

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Deliberations of Doom)

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 and theater 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).

Wright Sulek (The Other Boss, Trash in the Can, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, One Man’s Trash, Screener Squad)

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 co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. He currently co-hosts 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 also guests and hosts reviews on Screener Squad and Highly Suspect Reviews as well as co-hosts Digital Noise with Chris Cox. As of 2024, Wright has now been inducted into the Austin Film Critics Association as well as co-owns the One of Us network with Chris Cox.

Nathan Flynn (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)

Nathan Flynn is the resident goofball of OneofUs.Net, often found overly caffeinated, slightly stoned, and ready to unleash the hottest takes imaginable. As the resident Letterboxd Lunatic, his movie opinions are as bold as his love for Top Gun: Maverick — a film he considers less of a movie and more of a religion. When he’s not passionately defending his latest cinematic obsession, Nathan manages a comedy club in downtown Austin, where he’s somehow avoided being heckled… so far. Around here, he’s usually the punching bag, but hey, someone’s gotta do it.

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?)

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. His ultimate goal is to write a script for his boyhood crush, Michelle Pfeiffer.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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PLAY DIRTY MOVIE REVIEW

Trim the tree, put up the lights, hang the stockings with care: there’s an action film on Amazon Prime with Shane Black as writer/director…Christmas will soon be here! Inspired by the popular Parker book series by Donald E Westlake, Play Dirty starring Mark Wahlberg, is about a heist gone wrong that presents an opportunity to stop billionaires from making things worse by cooking up an even bigger heist that could go wrong in the pursuit of making everything right. Parker (Mark Wahlberg) is the lone survivor of a robbery in which the robbers got robbed. He vows to avenge his fellow crooks…who says there’s no honour amongst thieves? After a proposition from Zen (Rosa Salazar) involving a sunken ship thought to be a myth, Parker calls his old buddy from the order, Goofield (LaKeith Stanfield) who knows how to organize a crew. Together they will double cross the double crossers. Also it’s Christmas in New York! Bradly, Mike, and Ian lock and load for a twisting, turning, shoot-first heist wrapped in a caper. It’s all set to the stylish and bombastic score of Silvestri, but does Shane Black’s Play Dirty end up with silver bells? Or should we fill its stocking up with coal? Either way, the sex, violence, and action on display here propel Shane Black to the top of the Naughty list.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Shane Black

STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield. Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Gretchen Mol, Thomas Jane, Tony Shalhoub, Hemky Madera, Alejandro Edda, Claire Lovering, Chai Hansen, Sebastian Carr, Nick Russell, Byron Coll, Kat Hoyos, Michelle Ang, Peta Wilson, Yvonne Zima, Mark Cuban

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

Mike J. McAllister (Screener Squad, Staff Writer, Head Video Editor)

Mike J. McAllister is an award-winning creative jack of all trades, and is pretty competent with most of them. He is a writer, director, animator, video editor, and motion graphics artist. He has tried his hand at nearly every form of artistic expression at least once. He was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania where he fell in love with film, writing and special effects at an early age. His obsession with film would lead him to being locally known as a “human IMDb” and being on a first-name basis with every video store clerk in town. He would study film in Pittsburgh before taking his talents to Austin. Not letting something like Tourettes get in his way, he has produced a handful of animated short films that have won awards from film festivals all over the globe. He has also written several yet-to-be-produced screenplays and TV pilots, with some of them being recognized in screenwriting competitions. He has even created motion graphics and animations for several clients, from movie theaters to Twitch streamers. When not creating or watching films, he enjoys MST3K, classic video games and buying vinyl records. He loves dogs, dropping obscure pop culture trivia and watching travel videos. He currently resides in Austin Texas and can be followed on the Instamagrams at @ohheyitsmikejm. His body of work can be found at his homepage or you can take a gander at his somewhat-impressive IMDb listing here.

Ian Butcher (Highly Suspect Reviews, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub)

Moving all around the country growing up meant that there was only one constant in Ian’s life, the video store. Thus began a lifelong obsession with all things celluloid. While spending most of his origin story becoming a human IMDB, Ian came across a certain site called Spill.com, This discovery, combined with a need to move away from the pacific northwest and never look back, led Ian to drop out of film school and move to Austin. A general man about town, you can usually find Ian in a hole in the wall bar in east Austin, running around town with a camera pretending to be something of a filmmaker, or talking about all things movies here on OneOfUs.net and DoubleToasted.com.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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HOUSE ON EDEN MOVIE REVIEW

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray. I went to a church, and it was so spoooooky SCARY! Halloween is coming and Shudder is ready to assume its final form. Director, writer, and actres Kris Collins finds the camera and supplies the footage for a haunted house in the middle of nowhere found footage film House on Eden. Kris (Kris Collins), Celina (Celina Myers), and Jay (Jason-Christopher Mayer) are YouTube stars looking to catch a ghost on film to increase their viewership and make history. They chance upon an abandoned manor that seems completely off grid. There’s no trace of life or death within its hallowed walls. Not even a speck of dust on a bannister. The trio gets to work on trying to speak with any ghosts that dwell in the house. During their routine inspection they uncover the mysteries of Adam’s first wife, Lillith, and all the baggage that comes with mankind’s first ex. Bradly, Ian, and Jena conduct a seance of their own at the local library, give spooky quotations from long-dead writers, shout-out to film professors from the college days of yore, and give arbitrary ratings of the very first time variety on the screener squad!

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Kris Collins

STARRING: Kris Collins, Celina Myers, Jason-Christopher Mayer, Carrie Kidd, Barb Thomas

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

Ian Butcher (Highly Suspect Reviews, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub)

Moving all around the country growing up meant that there was only one constant in Ian’s life, the video store. Thus began a lifelong obsession with all things celluloid. While spending most of his origin story becoming a human IMDB, Ian came across a certain site called Spill.com, This discovery, combined with a need to move away from the pacific northwest and never look back, led Ian to drop out of film school and move to Austin. A general man about town, you can usually find Ian in a hole in the wall bar in east Austin, running around town with a camera pretending to be something of a filmmaker, or talking about all things movies here on OneOfUs.net and DoubleToasted.com.

Jena Perry (Screener Squad)

Jena Perry. Aka Luna. Aka Dion. Aka Memori. Aka Dog whisperer. Aka whiskey connoisseur. As you can see, depending on when you met this Oakland, California native, you have experienced a completely different person, each time. After finally deciding on a 13+year career choice as a Videographer and Radio Personality, Jena balances her time between pursuing her Doctorate in Philosophy, providing insightful and funny critiques on films and Television, raising her daughter and dog in Ohio, and constantly fighting off the existential dread that is being a dope black woman in America in the 20th century.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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THE MAN IN MY BASEMENT MOVIE REVIEW

Charles (Corey Hawkins) has fallen on the worst of times in the most apathetic of decades, the 90s. He doesn’t have a job, the bank is continually threatening to foreclose on his house, and he is burdened with a past full of trauma and anger. His ancestral domicile is full of relics that catch the eye of Narciss (Anna Diop) a historian and curator of sorts. She believes that rather than selling out his heritage, Charles has the opportunity to show the world his history over the decision to monetize his familial past. Desperate times calls for desperate measures and at his most desperate, Charles is approached by Anniston (Willem Dafoe) a strange eccentric who wants to live in his basement for a month and is willing to pay him a small fortune to do so. Charles reluctantly accepts the offer and in doing so accepts a thrilling high tension horror scenario that will change the lives of both men forever. Bradly, Kate, and Lewayne stumble through the confusing labyrinth of life experience and prejudice that they have never experienced nor could they. It’s all interpretation, there’s no personal revelation by our reviewers, but they struggle to do their best while praising the performances of all three leads in The Man in My Basement.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Nadia Latif

STARRING: Corey Hawkins, Willem Dafoe, Anna Diop, Tamara Lawrence

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

Kate Chambers (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

Kate is a certified horror fiend and Horse Girl™. Her name isn’t short for anything. A native Austinite, she graduated with a BFA in Film Production from the University of Colorado Boulder then returned to the Lone Star State to make her home amid the cinephiles of the Alamo Drafthouse and the Austin Film Society. In her spare time, you can find her either down at the barn with her noble steed Jazz, watching as many movies as possible (often at work), cuddling with her pair of black cats and writing horror scripts, or nursing a beer in any available body of water… or doing Duolingo, where she’s currently on a 1000+ day streak.

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. It also means he spends a lot of time watching movies, writing scripts for them, and trying to get them made. He lives in the middle of middle America after landing there as a child, and has remained there mainly because he hates packing.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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KILLING FAITH MOVIE REVIEW

It was a time of tumbleweeds, rawhide, and ghost towns. A time of doctors who traded in bottles of medicine to find the bottom of bottles made of dead families and glass. Ranches with too many horses in a one horse town with no name. Well, the town had a name, but the horse? You could ask them but they all say nay. (Editor: *kills himself*). Killing Faith is a road trip horror western about a pilgrimage across the plains in hopes to rid a little girl (Emily Katherine Ford) of the devil in her. Sarah (DeWanda Wise), the caretaker of the little girl, heard a rumor that a man of the cloth named Ross (Bill Pullman) could help the lame walk and the blind see. She employs the help of an army vet, Doctor Bender (Guy Pearce). The good doctor has lost all hope with the tragic passing of his family and looks to rediscover it out on the trail to redemption. Our traveling crew is also accompanied by Edward (Jack Alcott) who’s an idiot that Sarah also looks after. The journey is full of peril as is the review with Bradly, Lewayne, and Felix as they have a rip-roaring, root’n-toot’n discussion on sub-genre in filmmaking and what makes a western good, bad, or ugly.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Ned Crowley

STARRING: Guy Pearce, DeWanda Wise, Bill Pullman, Raoul Trujillo, Jamie Neumann, Jack Alcott, Joanna Cassidy, Emily Ford, Josh McDermitt, Charlie Talbert, Keith Jardine, Andrew J. West, Gail Cronauer

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

R.Felix Finch (Screener Squad)

A native of Sacramento, California, and having spent his post-pubescent years in Virginia, Nevada, Texas, and New York, Felix now finds himself pursuing his Juris Doctor at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. Nothing is more calming to Felix than the comfort of Chaos, as his time in professional wrestling and on other podcasts has demonstrated, and Felix brings a love for the most absurd outings in the realms of cinema, finding his escape in things such as the overly complex world of Jupiter Ascending and perusing the unbelievably low-budget offerings of Tubi, which Felix is fully convinced is a Psi-Op. In addition to finding Felix here on OneOfUs.net, you can Check him out on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube sharing his life in Law School as “TheBrokeLawStudent.”

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. It also means he spends a lot of time watching movies, writing scripts for them, and trying to get them made. He lives in the middle of middle America after landing there as a child, and has remained there mainly because he hates packing.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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ALL OF YOU MOVIE REVIEW

Criss Jami once wrote, “To say that one waits a lifetime for his soulmate to come around is a paradox. People eventually get sick of waiting, take a chance on someone, and by the art of commitment become soulmates, which takes a lifetime to perfect.” Beautiful, profound, and thought provoking. Does that work in a romantic comedy with a heavy heaping of drama and a sci-fi twist? Director William Bridges writes All of You with Brett Goldstein who also plays the lead protagonist Simon. Laura (Imogen Poots) is taking a specific test that’s helped thousands of millions of people find their soulmate. Simon, unbeknownst to Laura, is madly in love with Laura. The two have been best friends since their college days and Simon does not want to simply be a friend in Laura’s past. Through the course of a decade, give or take a year, we are taken on a journey through the surviving friendship of Simon and Laura while she is married to her soulmate Lucas (Steven Cree). Bradly, Neil, and Neal, discuss the romance, comedy, drama, and how it all mashes together in a sci-fi twist and if the film successfully convinces its audience of the complicated nuances of love or if it’s just another rom-com friends with benefits blunder.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: William Bridges

STARRING: Brett Goldstein, Imogen Poots, Zawe Ashton, Steven Cree, Jenna Coleman, Éva Magyar

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

Neil Anderson (Screener Squad)

I first got hooked on movies when I saw Star Wars at a drive-in theater as a kid. Growing up in a small, rural town meant not having access to a lot of movies. In college, that all changed. I couldn’t get enough. I love it all — flicks, films, movies, and cinema. I still have that wide-eyed wonder of that kid watching movies from the back of a pick-up truck at the drive-in.

Neal Fowler

Born and raised in Austin, Neal has a lifelong passion for movies, anime video games, and media analysis and discourse. He has been writing film reviews for his personal blogs and social media for over five years and is now contributing to The Afternoon Tune on YouTube and OneofUs.net. He appreciates great film and art no matter the genre, budget, or form it takes. While not reviewing movies, he enjoys reading comic books, hiking the outdoors, and indulging in good food. Remember one thing though: he’s Batman.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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ANEMONE MOVIE REVIEW

Nepotism is alive and well! Daniel Day-Lewis has come out of retirement to co-write and star in his son’s (Ronan Day-Lewis) feature film debut with Anemone. The film follows Jem Stoker (Sean Bean) as he travels far and wide to find his estranged brother Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis) who’s become a hermit over the past 17 years. Once Jem locates Ray in the middle of the forest, what follows is a somewhat calm exploration of Ray’s psyche stemming from past traumas. With occasional sweeping monologues from Day-Lewis, Anemone‘s pacing is deliberate and at times abstract. The director uses intense imagery to parallel Ray’s inner turmoil, but said imagery doesn’t necessarily sell the full weight of what he’s going through. Sean Bean does what he can with acting against Day-Lewis with a calm and calculating performance. The film also jumps back to the mainland where we watch Jem’s wife (Samantha Morton) navigate their adopted son’s (Samuel Bottomley) own budding trauma that is directly affected by Ray’s absence. Listen as Wright, Frank, Marco, and Ben discuss the powerhouse performance by Day-Lewis and debate if the story is really worth the effort from the first time director.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Ronan Day-Lewis

STARRING: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley, Safia Oakley-Green

YOUR REVIEWERS

Wright Sulek (The Other Boss, Trash in the Can, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, One Man’s Trash, Screener Squad)

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 co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. He currently co-hosts 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 also guests and hosts reviews on Screener Squad and Highly Suspect Reviews as well as co-hosts Digital Noise with Chris Cox. As of 2024, Wright has now been inducted into the Austin Film Critics Association as well as co-owns the One of Us network with Chris Cox.

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?)

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. His ultimate goal is to write a script for his boyhood crush, Michelle Pfeiffer.

Ben Glasthal (Highly Suspect Review, Screener Squad, Breakfast Pub, Unstabletop Gamers, Video and Audio Editor)

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.
“I’m not a film critic. I just play one on the Internet.”

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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ALIEN: EARTH SERIES REVIEW

The common online geek response to a hyped up writer/director being giving the reins to a beloved classic sci-fi franchise is “get away from her you bitch!”. With a track record that includes the Legion and Fargo TV Series, at least some geeks were excited to give Noah Hawley a crack at the Alien franchise with the brand new Hulu series Alien: Earth. A prequel to the first Alien movie, Alien: Earth begins in a world with massive intergalactic corporations battling for the right to monopolize their own personal brand of immortality. Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) is developing a conscious transition from the human brain into a synthetic one. On Prodigy island, children who are dying from incurable conditions are used as guinea pigs to further Boy Kavalier’s technology and create the perfect synthetic model. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) is his most prized possession and successful product. When a spaceship owned by a rival corporation (the always in the mix Weyland-Yutani) crashes into a city that Boy Cavalier owns, he sees this as a perfect opportunity to test his band of lost children in the bodies of synths in a retrieve and rescue situation. Wendy wanted this adventure to happen because she recognized her biological brother Joe (Alex Lawther) at the crash site while watching footage of it. Unfortunately for Earth, the ship that crashed has a bunch of gnarly aliens and a cyborg survivor named Morrow (Babou Ceesay) who’s working overtime for Yutani. Bradly, Kate, and Lewayne praise the incredibly expensive and Hollywood blockbuster look of the sets and the rugged good looks of Timothy Olyphant playing a synth named Kirsh. Then they dive into their own existential crisis that every franchise prequel can’t avoid: questioning the purpose of its own existence.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Noah Hawley

STARRING: Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adarsh Gourav, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Jonathan Ajayi, David Rysdahl, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El, Adrian Edmondson, Timothy Olyphant, Sandra Yi Sencindiver, Kit Young

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

Kate Chambers (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

Kate is a certified horror fiend and Horse Girl™. Her name isn’t short for anything. A native Austinite, she graduated with a BFA in Film Production from the University of Colorado Boulder then returned to the Lone Star State to make her home amid the cinephiles of the Alamo Drafthouse and the Austin Film Society. In her spare time, you can find her either down at the barn with her noble steed Jazz, watching as many movies as possible (often at work), cuddling with her pair of black cats and writing horror scripts, or nursing a beer in any available body of water… or doing Duolingo, where she’s currently on a 1000+ day streak.

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. It also means he spends a lot of time watching movies, writing scripts for them, and trying to get them made. He lives in the middle of middle America after landing there as a child, and has remained there mainly because he hates packing.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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DEAD OF WINTER MOVIE REVIEW

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said “Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak”. Had he ever been to Minnesota during ice fishing season? Dead of Winter is the story of Barb’s (Emma Thompson) solo pilgrimage through northern Minnesota. It’s an annual trip she used to take with her husband but after his death, this time she sets out alone to say goodbye. If the elements weren’t bad enough, she stumbles upon a kidnapping plot of a teenage girl named Leah (Laurel Marsden). Abducted and held captive by a strung out woman (Judy Greer) and her lover/ accomplice (Marc Menchaca), with no formal combat training, no weapons, and no major experiences with dangerous criminals, Barb uses the powers of a good samaritan. Will it be enough to save the young woman and herself? Bradly, Frank, and Lewayne praise the use of the Die Hard formula only with a wild twist. No cop, no special forces, no hidden past of violence. Just a single woman doing what’s right because it’s the right thing to do. Also, there’s a nice bit of education on what type of equipment is needed on a lake fishing trip. Plus they react to another twist: Emma Thompson hasn’t been American this whole time?

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Brian Kirk

STARRING: Emma Thompson, Gaia Wise, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, Brian F. O’Byrne, Lloyd Hutchinson

YOUR REVIEWERS

Bradly Martin (Screener Squad Boss, 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 maybe even providing some comments of his own.

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?)

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. His ultimate goal is to write a script for his boyhood crush, Michelle Pfeiffer.

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. It also means he spends a lot of time watching movies, writing scripts for them, and trying to get them made. He lives in the middle of middle America after landing there as a child, and has remained there mainly because he hates packing.

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.

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INFESTATION: FANTASTIC FEST 2025 – MARTIN AND GUINEVERE THOMAS WEIGH IN

In what is becoming a Fantastic Fest tradition at Oneofus.net, we invite our good friend Martin Thomas in to discuss some of the films he got to see and loved but Wright and Chris didn’t get to. Only this time, in a first for us and them, Martin attended the entirety of the fest in the company of his daughter Guinevere, a budding film director herself currently working out of Hollywood. It was great to get to see Guinevere again (we are SO proud of her) and the four of us had a great conversation, discussion the films Luger, Decorado, Shelby Oaks, One Battle After Another, and more.

YOUR REVIEWERS

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Deliberations of Doom)

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 and theater 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).

Wright Sulek (The Other Boss, Trash in the Can, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, One Man’s Trash, Screener Squad)

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 co-hosted a few different movie related podcasts such as ‘And Now This’ and ‘The Match Cut’. He currently co-hosts 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 also guests and hosts reviews on Screener Squad and Highly Suspect Reviews as well as co-hosts Digital Noise with Chris Cox. As of 2024, Wright has now been inducted into the Austin Film Critics Association as well as co-owns the One of Us network with Chris Cox.

Martin Thomas (Highly Suspect Reviews, The Original Gentlemen)

In addition to having been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king…Martin Thomas has also been a professional comic book artist (Marvel, DC, First Comics, etc.), a TV personality (The Reel Deal), and a cartoon character (“Leon” from Spill.com). Currently, he can be found podcasting up a storm at DoubleToasted.com when he’s not one of “The Original Gentlemen.”

You can subscribe to the Highly Suspect Reviews and Screener Squad series of podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/theatrical-movie-review-podcast/ and please leave us a review!

Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.