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OLIVIA AND THE INVISIBLE EARTHQUAKE MOVIE REVIEW

The sad puppet movie of the year from Spain, takes us into lives of 12 year old Oliva and her younger brother Tim. After their mom, an actress past her prime, can’t get a new role, the family is evicted from their building and has to get used to living in the ghetto. In order to keep her brother’s spirits up, Olivia tricks him into thinking what’s going on is just a reality-show like movie. But Olivia has to deal with constant panic attacks visually represented by the entire world falling apart and her falling into the abyss. Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake is a beautiful story about dealing with poverty, community coming together, finding hope in darkest of moments, and dealing with daily injustices like racism. Although, the film is incredibly well handled and wrapped with a proper level of sensitivity, it makes Maciej question how the heck are they going to market the movie to its target audience: children.

WEBSITE

DIRECTED BY: Irene Iborra

STARRING: Emma Suárez, Elvira Mínguez, Biel Pato, Sally Jatta, Ona Bagué

YOUR REVIEWERS

Maciej Kur (Infestation)

Maciej Kur is a Polish comic and film script writer, director and reviewer, and decidedly the biggest fan and most loyal supporter of Oneofus.net. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with a master’s degree and the Academy of Film and Television. Co-creator of the comic book series Dollicious and Emilka Sza (with Magdalena Kania ) and Lil i Put, (with Piotr Bednarczyk ) and many others. Awarded in 2014 for a comic book in the spirit of Janusz Christa and awarded for “Złoty Puchar” in 2023. He wrote scripts for new comic books in the Polish cult series “Kayko and Kokosh”, as well as episodes of an animated series based on it (available on Netflix). He wrote for many other shows including “Kicia Kocia” (Kitty Kotty), “Pompik the Bison”, “Pucio”, “Hip-Hip and Hurra” and the upcoming animated movies “The Shrew of Destiny” and “Tytus, Romek and A’tomek”. He also directed a documentary about Polish animation legend “Witold Giersz”. Big lover of the art of animation and comic books.

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 Smallville. 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.

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 BEAR – SEASON 4 REVIEW

The kitchen is open, the countdown is ticking, and the heat has never been higher. After last season’s rocky launch of The Bear, the dream is still alive—but barely. Uncle Jimmy’s slapped a ticking clock on the whole operation, Sydney’s eyeing the exit, and Ritchie’s trying to plate leadership while watching his ex tie the knot. And Carmy? He’s still chasing perfection. This season isn’t just about whether the restaurant will survive—it’s about whether it deserves to. Ryan, Nathan, and T.C. are gathered at the One Of Us pickup window to discuss fine dining and finely crafted television.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Christopher Storer

STARRING: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, Edwin Lee Gibson, Jon Bernthal, Corey Hendrix, Oliver Platt, Carmen Christopher, José Cervantes, Richard Esteras, Chris Witaske, Molly Gordon, Robert Townsend, Annabelle Toomey, Will Poulter, Mitra Jouhari, Ricky Staffieri, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gillian Jacobs, Sarah Ramos, Andrew Lopez, Rene Gube, Adam Shapiro, Christopher Zucchero, Paulie James, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, John Mulaney, David Zayas, Brian Koppelman, Josh Hartnett, Rob Reiner, Danielle Deadwyler, Ario King, Kate Berlant, Brie Larson

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.

Nathan Flynn (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)

Nathan Flynn is the resident goofball of One of Us. 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.

Ryan Aleck Hill (Screener Squad, Video and Audio Editor)

Ryan is a Washington D.C. based filmmaker & video editor who loves watching and talking about movies more than just about anything. He currently works at a creative agency as a director of photography/video editor, and does freelance video editing for Anthony Fantano/TheNeedleDrop. He also has a YouTube channel (Downhill Media) where he works on a weirdo art explainer series called “Artsplained” with his partner Michelle. He was a part of the Spill.com community way back in the day, where he was cursed with an obsession for movies. In an effort to break the curse, he shows up on the Screener Squad podcast every once in a while and edits for One Of Us. Chris Cox claims that this is the only way it can be broken. You can follow him on Twitter but you’ll probably regret it.

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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MOBLAND SERIES REVIEW

Oi, pull up a chair, mind the blood on the floor, and keep your voice down—we’re talkin’ business. Serious business. The kind with blokes in leather coats, dodgy accents, and enough bullets flying to make Tarantino blush. Lewayne and T.C. gather in the smoky One Of Us backroom, conspirin’ in hushed tones, cappuccinos in hand, pinkies very much not out, to share their thoughts on the bloody first season of this Paramount Plus crime caper: MobLand. The series stars Tom Hardy as Harry Da Souza, a fixer for the Harrigan crime family led by Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) and Maeve Harrigan (Helen Mirren). It’s Guy Ritchie doing what Guy Ritchie does best—or at least trying to. We’ve got gangsters, geezers, and gory glamour, all wrapped in one big cigar-smoke-stained package.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Ronan Bennett

STARRING: Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Anson Boon, Jasmine Jobson, Mandeep Dhillon, Daniel Betts, Helen Mirren, Geoff Bell, Janet McTeer, Jordi Mollà, Toby Jones, Antonio González Guerrero, Emily Barber, Lisa Dwan, Emmett J. Scanlan, Peter Ferdinando, Dritan Kastrati, Arnold Oceng, Bradley Turner, Teddie Allen, Luke Mably, Gemma Knight, Grégoire Colin, Steven Pacey, Nigel Lindsay, Alex Fine, Annie Cooper, Alex Jennings, Tim Delap, Tommy Flanagan, Felix Edwards, Ethan Moorhouse, Ellen Costa, Lia Williams

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.

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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A MAGNIFICENT LIFE MOVIE REVIEW

Maciej Kur is back and he is once again covering the Annecy Animation Festival in France! Spidermike joins him to take a look at some of the wild new animated films from around the world coming out soon. From Sylvain Chomet, the brilliant mind behind The Triplets of Belleville, The Illusionist, The Old lady and the Pigeons and the only good part of Joker 2 comes A Magnificent Life. Marcel Pagnol was one of France’s most celebrated stage writers, moviemakers and novelists. When an elderly Pagnol is asked to write an essay about his life, he gets a visit from his younger self who takes him on a trip into his past. Unfortunately, the movie spends more time having the characters tell us that Pagnol is important, rather than showing us why, making him the most dull person in his own story. It’s pretty baffling coming from Chomet, once the master of show-don’t-tell in his many wonderful films. A Magnificent Life is still rich in beautiful visuals, detailed-filled backgrounds, and many great caricatures of famous French cinema icons. But we had to ask why it is accompanied by a slow moving script, the plot jumping all over the place, and some questionable statements from the director about evil Americans corrupting French children, “luring them with their coca cola and hamburgers”. (editor’s note: for the record, it was not an American who wrote this intro)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

DIRECTED BY: Sylvain Chomet

STARRING: Laurent Lafitte, Géraldine Pailhas

YOUR REVIEWERS

Maciej Kur (Infestation)

Maciej Kur is a Polish comic and film script writer, director and reviewer, and decidedly the biggest fan and most loyal supporter of Oneofus.net. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with a master’s degree and the Academy of Film and Television. Co-creator of the comic book series Dollicious and Emilka Sza (with Magdalena Kania ) and Lil i Put, (with Piotr Bednarczyk ) and many others. Awarded in 2014 for a comic book in the spirit of Janusz Christa and awarded for “Złoty Puchar” in 2023. He wrote scripts for new comic books in the Polish cult series “Kayko and Kokosh”, as well as episodes of an animated series based on it (available on Netflix). He wrote for many other shows including “Kicia Kocia” (Kitty Kotty), “Pompik the Bison”, “Pucio”, “Hip-Hip and Hurra” and the upcoming animated movies “The Shrew of Destiny” and “Tytus, Romek and A’tomek”. He also directed a documentary about Polish animation legend “Witold Giersz”. Big lover of the art of animation and comic books.

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 Smallville. 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.

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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CHAO MOVIE REVIEW

Maciej Kur is back and he is once again covering the Annecy Animation Festival in France! Spidermike joins him to take a look at some of the wild new animated films from around the world coming out soon. From the innocent and unsuspecting country of Japan comes Yasuhiro AOKI’s first full-length feature ChaO that answers the essential question: What if The Little Mermaid really happened but she didn’t turn human at the end and now years later we have to deal with a futuristic society where human and fish live side-by-side. Stefan, a young worker at ship building company, gets his business into trouble. He gets approached by ChaO, a gigantic pink fish who is in love with him. She’s cute, she’s awkward and also happens to be the daughter of king Neptune (whose design is oddly enough inspired more by Chris Hemsworth then Jason Momoa). In order to save his company, Stefan is pressured to marry ChaO and we follow their romance through having to deal with paparazzi, gigantic robots and godlike in-laws. It’s the most Japanese slice-of-life movie yet!

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

DIRECTED BY: Yasuhiro AOKI

STARRING: Ouji Suzuka, Anna Yamada, Yūichirō Umehara, Ryota Yamasato, Kavka Shishido, Cookie!, Kenta Miyake, Shunsei Ota, Anna Tsuchiya

YOUR REVIEWERS

Maciej Kur (Infestation)

Maciej Kur is a Polish comic and film script writer, director and reviewer, and decidedly the biggest fan and most loyal supporter of Oneofus.net. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with a master’s degree and the Academy of Film and Television. Co-creator of the comic book series Dollicious and Emilka Sza (with Magdalena Kania ) and Lil i Put, (with Piotr Bednarczyk ) and many others. Awarded in 2014 for a comic book in the spirit of Janusz Christa and awarded for “Złoty Puchar” in 2023. He wrote scripts for new comic books in the Polish cult series “Kayko and Kokosh”, as well as episodes of an animated series based on it (available on Netflix). He wrote for many other shows including “Kicia Kocia” (Kitty Kotty), “Pompik the Bison”, “Pucio”, “Hip-Hip and Hurra” and the upcoming animated movies “The Shrew of Destiny” and “Tytus, Romek and A’tomek”. He also directed a documentary about Polish animation legend “Witold Giersz”. Big lover of the art of animation and comic books.

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 Smallville. 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.

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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I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER MOVIE REVIEW

With the Scream franchise on temporary (but probably not VERY temporary) hiatus, Hollywood in their quest for continuing the trend of 90s nostalgia is forced to turn to some of the not-even-as-close-to-as-good horror franchises of the time. Naturally, you’d first go to the one by the same writer, 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer with it’s two sequels and a tv show. It’s decades later in the same town as the original and a new group of young people are (barely) complicit in the death of a man. When they decide to not tell anyone they witnessed it happening, they start receiving the titular message and people around them start dying at the hands of a killer in a fisherman’s slicker with a giant hook. Round and round we go, where we stop…is pretty ridiculous. Chris, Wright, Nathan, and Ben discuss this unimpressive requel and hope that it spells the end of the continuing saga of last summer.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

STARRING: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Joshua Orpin

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, 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.

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.

Nathan Flynn (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)

Nathan Flynn is the resident goofball of One of Us. 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.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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EDDINGTON MOVIE REVIEW

No matter how much some of us may want it, Ari Aster seems to be done with horror for now. He certainly isn’t done with horrifying though. His latest film Eddington reteams him with Joaquin Phoenix, this time playing Joe Cross, the sheriff of the titular small town in New Mexico. When the Covid lockdown begins, Joe isn’t having it. He doesn’t want to wear a mask, he isn’t sure the virus has come there or if there even is a virus…you remember. The town’s Mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) falls under the more left-leaning side, encouraging everyone to distance, wear masks, etc. A long-simmering rivalry between the two men, based on Ted having dated Joe’s wife Louise (Emma Stone) before they got together explodes as Joe decides to challenge Ted for the mayoral seat in a typically loud and ignorant fashion, festooning his police vehicle with misspelled conspiratorial posters and aggressively chasing accusations that Ted is taking payola to allow for the development of a large tech facility nearby that will potentially kill the town’s water supply. While this so far sounds pedestrian (and familiar) enough that you could imagine almost anyone directing it, don’t worry, things do indeed get violent, weird, and fantastical in Ari Aster fashion. The problem seems to be how long it takes to get there. Chris, Wright, Kate, and Mike come to different conclusions about how they overall felt about Eddington, but the film’s lagging pace is at least one issue they shared.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Ari Aster

STARRING: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Amélie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann, Rachel de la Torre, Landall Goolsby, Robyn Reede, Elise Falanga, Robert Mark Wallace

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, 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.

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.

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.

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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MURDERBOT MOVIE REVIEW

They Might be Giants once rocked out to the lyrics “Robot parade, robot parade, wave the flags that the robots made”. As any Sci-Fi fanatic knows, the overthrow of man by the cold steel hands of a robot all begins with that first step into the land of free will. Adapted from the award winning novel All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Apple Plus has created the tv series, Murderbot. A security unit (Alexander Skarsgård) or SecUnit for short, working for a major corporation only known as “The Company”, has been tasked to protect the five explorers who seem more like hippies than Starfleet. What his clients and the company don’t know is that SecUnit has hacked itself and now has free will. Its first act was giving itself a name: Murderbot. Murderbot must now navigate this free will without being discovered as a rogue SecUnit which could lead to it being decommissioned. The appointed captain of the expedition, Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) has a heart of gold and massive anxiety. With empathy and compassion she directs the crew to treat the SecUnit like all life should be treated: with respect and with an open mind. Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) is suspicious of the SecUnit but only due to deep rooted suspicions of The Company. With special augmentations, he’s the biggest threat our SecUnit protagonist has at being discovered. Bradly, Rae, and Dogget discuss the abundance of Sci-Fi via Apple Plus and other streamers, how this series set itself apart, and the relatable protagonist, who despite being a robot can be seen as just another cog in a wheel of a machine we call being gainfully employed when all that cog wants to do is go home and binge their favorite television program.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Paul and Chris Weitz

STARRING: Alexander Skarsgård, Noma Dumezweni, David Dastmalchian, Sabrina Wu, Akshay Khanna, Tamara Podemski, Tattiawna Jones, John Cho, Clark Gregg, Jack McBrayer, DeWanda Wise, Anna Konkle, Amanda Brugel, David Reale

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.

Lyrae Anderson (Screener Squad)

You can call me Rae. You can also call me a film lover. I’ll watch it all — small screen; big screen, and everything in between. I have attended and worked for Fantastic Fest and South by Southwest for many years. I married a film geek as well. While we don’t agree on everything, we agree on our love of movies.

Danny Dogget (Screener Squad)

An avid defender of modern tv from olds. Shamer of hate watchers. Eager beaver pleaser for anyone who just wants a laugh.

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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ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY MOVIE REVIEW

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road, but what if time didn’t grab you by the wrist and direct you where to go? What if time violently chucked you 20 years into the future every time you sneezed? Written and directed by Yang Li, Escape from the 21st Century is a story about the future every young adolescent wants, the future we deserve, the future we get, and the future worth fighting for. Three friends spend their summer vacation saying goodbye to childhood things and embarking on a journey of self discovery and wibbly wobbly timey wimey shenanigans. Whang Zha, our bright eyed protagonist and narrator (Ruoyun Zhang and Yichen Chen) Paopao, the overweight underachiever looking to leave his mark (Leon Lee and Qixuan Kang) , and Wang Chenyong, the too cool for school rebel of the group (Yang Song and Zhuozhao Li), are gifted with time traveling powers during an altercation with some bullies. They must decide whether to use the powers for selfish desires, or for the good of all mankind. Bradly, Kate, and Mike discuss the Wes Anderson-like presentation with pinches of Edgar Wright and full on homages to Stephen Chow. It’s Looney Tunes meets Howard Hughes, or perhaps if you’re not a film buff cinephile, it’s the most original and unique coming of age story you’ll see all year.

You can also check out our review from Fantastic Fest 2024 right here.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

DIRECTED BY: Yang Li

STARRING: Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu, Leon Lee, Zhengrong Wen, Liang Shi, Yichen Chen, Zhuozhao Li, Qixuan Kang, Fanding Ma, Marina Malaia

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.

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.

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.

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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WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN? EP.9 – NIGHT GALLERY & SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY

“It occurs to me I’ve never seen your face.”

In this episode, I’m joined by the hosts of Televised: The TV Movie Story as Bette & Joan make their TV horror debuts. In 1969’s Night Gallery, Joan plays what screenwriter Rod Serling termed as “an imperious predatory dowager,” while Bette warns a college student of the darkness in her household in 1973’s Scream, Pretty Peggy. TV movie horror was in, and both stars seemed game to get in on the trend, particularly Joan whose collaboration with first-time director Steven Spielberg is wonderfully captured here. Listen as the three of us discuss which title still holds up, and which one might’ve been better staying in that room above the garage.

IG: @betteandjoanpod

YOUR HOST

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.

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.