WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN? EPISODE 7 – “Della” and “Where Love Has Gone”
“You have devoted your life to mud and filth.”
In our 7th episode, we go camping with Bette & Joan in a pair of projects that aimed for artful drama but quickly devolved into exercises in laugh-out-loud camp. While the two actresses couldn’t seem to escape the grande dame guignol horror label, both Davis & Crawford attempted to distance themselves by taking on films they would have done a decade or so before. Although both 1965’s Della, starring Joan Crawford, and 1964’s Where Love Has Gone, starring Bette Davis, aimed to tell stories about complicated mothers and daughters, both can’t help but come across as overly dramatic and dated at the time they were made. Host of the podcast Window Dressing, Madelaine Jane Aubel, joins me as we witness Bette & Joan sink their teeth into their parts.
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.
Take one professional matchmaker for the rich and superficial (Dakota Johnson), one ex-boyfriend with all the looks and personality but no money (Chris Evans), and one absurdly rich dude who is that rare one that doesn’t seem to be a total schmuck (Pedro Pascal), and you get the love triangle that makes up A24’s latest film Materialists. Marketed as a ‘romantic comedy’, one of the things Chris, Marco, Kate, and Wright DO agree on is that it’s definitely a romantic drama with only bits of humor. Johnson is a top-level matchmaker but her shizz gets shook when one of her clients is sexually assaulted by the date she set her up with. Meanwhile, she’s being pursued by Pascal who she keeps trying to convince that she’s not good enough for, since he is, by her words, completely perfect. But is he perfect for her? In the background and always there to be a friend, but who clearly wouldn’t mind a second chance, is Evans. He may not ever have much money, and on paper it makes no sense that he and Johnson should be together, but, well, you get the idea. Our thoughts ranged from ‘loved it’ to ‘a film as shallow as its unlikable protagonist’ but results do vary. We’ll be curious to see what you think, but listen to our review first before you make up your mind on Materialists.
STARRING: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoë Winters, Marin Ireland, Dasha Nekrasova, Louisa Jacobson, Sawyer Spielberg, Eddie Cahill, Joseph Lee, John Magaro
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.
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.
After proving he understands the Predator franchise better than anyone else with 2022’s incredible Prey, Dan Trachtenberg returns with an animated anthology film of action, gore, thrills and kills. Told in three chapters, we get to see Predators battle a Viking warrior out for revenge against the warlord who slayed her father, a Japanese samurai who has spent his life preparing to face his brother, and a World War II fighter pilot mechanic who dreams of being up in the air. But while these men and women face the demons of their own making, they have one of the universe’s greatest hunters stalking them from the shadows and smoke. And Melina, Lewayne, and T.C. are here for it. Beautifully animated, Predator: Killer of Killers proves that there is not only still blood in this franchise’s veins, but there is a whole world – a whole universe – waiting to be explored. Is this a good prep for the November release of Predator Badlands? The Screener Squad is here to answer that.
STARRING: Lindsay LaVanchy, Cherami Leigh, Louis Ozawa, Rick Gonzalez, Michael Biehn, Doug Cockle, Damien Haas, Lauren Holt, Jeff Leach, Piotr Michael, Andrew Morgado, Alessa Luz Martinez, Felix Solis, Britton Watkins
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.
Melina Eames (Screener Squad)
Melina first discovered that she carried the nerd gene at the tender age of four following her exposure to a little film called A New Hope. In the twenty-some years that followed, Melina continued to grow into her geek identity through the discovery of Batman, Mst3k, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and The Mandalorian. But perhaps her most significant discovery came at the age of fourteen when a night of YouTube mining led her to the review site of Spill.com. Melina became a devoted follower whose fandom did not end with the site’s demise. By then, it had worked its dark magic and left her with a love and appreciation for film criticism that she has yet to shrug.
Lewayne White (Screener Squad)
Lewayne’s earliest memories are of watching movies and reading comics, which instilled in him a sense of wonder, a vivid imagination, and unrealistic expectations. 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.
In December of 2022, The Last of us Part 2 was the undisputed game of the year, and fans and haters alike took to the internet to express their joy and disdain. On March 5, 2023 in the TV adaptation first season finale, Joel concluded the first game’s storyline by destroying the world in order to save his own. Now present day, the second season has concluded and fans of the show and the games can start the process of loving, hating, and healing once more, until Season 3. It’s been 5 years since Joel (Pedro Pascal) rescued Ellie from the Fireflies in Salt Lake city, looked her dead in the eyes, and lied to her face about what went down. Ellie and Joel are drifting apart, Joel is seeing the town therapist Gail (Catherine O’hara) while Ellie is throwing herself into patrols with Jesse (Young Mazino) and Dina (Isabel Merced). It’s a simple life full of community and routine in the compound that Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Maria (Rutina Wesley) have cultivated. Five years and hundreds of miles away just isn’t enough time and distance from a past wrought with violence though. Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) knows what really went down in Salt Lake city, and with a militia on hand is set to track down Joel and bring him to justice with a side of vengeance. Bradly, Kate, and Lewayne are the one of us tackling The Last of Us Season 2 with none of us experts on the game and one completely diving into the dark. The three navigate a river of amazing performances, unsettling themes, and violence that could be too messed up to share with anyone else. Does Pedro Pascal maintain his hot dad status with the portrayal of Joel or are some choices impossible to forgive?
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Rutina Wesley, Robert John Burke, Spencer Lord, Tati Gabrielle, Ariela Barer, Danny Ramirez, Catherine O’Hara, Noah Lamanna, Jeffrey Wright, Alanna Ubach, Josh Peck, Ben Ahlers, Hettienne Park, Tony Dalton, Joe Pantoliano
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.
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.
You know what they say about successful trilogies with satisfying conclusions? They gotta make another one now. After the huge success of R. L. Stine’s Fear Street trilogy adaptation on Netflix in 2021, it was only a matter of time before Netflix tried again to adapt the greatest YA horror author of all time with Fear Street: Prom Queen. It’s the 80’s and all the teens are gearing up to go to prom. Lori Granger (India Fowler) is ready to step out of the shadow of her family’s dark history and into the lights from a disco ball to a brighter future; A future with some hot arm candy and the tiara of prom queen royalty adorning her brow. Mean girl Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza) who’s always had an irrational hatred for the Granger’s and their history is doing everything she can to make Lori feel small. What’s much worse is that a murderer in a red raincoat and a mask is on the loose killing prom queen candidates! Talk about a buzz kill. Bradly, Frank, and Mike praise the works of Stine and pan the horror prom nights of the past while discussing this whodunnit murder mystery with plenty of 80’s injected into it. Also in a rare occurrence, Bradly put down the editing scissors and left in a flub of words that resulted in complimenting a beloved member of the one us crew, but which of us is the one.. OF US?
STARRING: India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Chris Klein, David Iacono, Ella Rubin, Ariana Greenblatt, Lili Taylor, Katherine Waterston, Darrin Baker, Rebecca Ablack, Ilan O’Driscoll, Damian Romeo, Dakota Taylor, Eden Summer Gilmore, Brennan Clost, Cecilia Lee, Dale Whibley
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.
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.
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.
The latest Stephen King adaptation isn’t a horror movie, although there is an apocalypse underway and a LOT of existential dread in the first (or third, as marked) act. No, it’s a feel-good, tear-jerker, ‘enjoy your life because it doesn’t last forever’ inspirational film. It’s also told in reverse order and is filled with internal easter eggs and puzzles to decipher. Sound confusing? It’s directed and the screenplay written by Mike Flanagan, and if you’re familiar with his work (Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House) you probably can sorta kinda get an idea of what I’m talking about here in terms of presentation. But ultimately, it’s the story of a life. The Life of Chuck. Tom Hiddleston plays the titular role, although outside of extensive advertisements featuring him and proclaiming “39 Great Years! Thanks Chuck!” that are appearing everywhere, he doesn’t physically enter the story until the second act, which is dominated by an extensive and fun dance number. Even more confused? Good. Now just go see it and strap in. While it’s emotional content seems to hit everyone in different ways, even among our critics Chris, Wright, Marco, and Spidermike, we all definitely liked it. Except Marco but only as far as he doesn’t like misinterpretations of the meanings of Walt Whitman line readings. Make sure if you see him to tell him he contains multitudes.
STARRING: Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Annalise Basso, Mia Sara, Matthew Lillard, Carl Lumbly, Samantha Sloyan, Harvey Guillén, Kate Siegel, Nick Offerman, Q’orianka Kilcher, David Dastmalchian, Rahul Kohli, Heather Langenkamp, Michael Trucco, Molly C. Quinn, Antonio Raul Corbo, Trinity Bliss, Violet McGraw, Taylor Gordon, Hamish Linklater, Lauren LaVera, Carla Gugino, Matt Biedel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Scott Wampler
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.
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.”
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.
The thing about Wes Anderson films is, you’re either here for all of them, no matter what, or maybe just a few (probably early ones). His 2025 entry, The Phoenician Scheme, features (as usual) a metric ton of actors, many of them legendary. But the story tightly focuses on only a few. Everything revolves around Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) an industrialist, arms dealer, and a bad guy in every sense you’d associate with being an ultra-rich business man. However, not only does he have financial problems, due to a secret business group that has united to fix prices and damage his wealth, but also someone keeps trying to assassinate him and they are getting very close. He decides to bring his oldest child and only daughter, Liesel (Mia Threapleton), back into his life to make her his sole heir and teach her about the grand and dangerous business plan he is putting together. However, she wants nothing to do with this situation, and believes that he had her mother killed. Also, she’s about to take her vows as a nun. But it’s next to impossible to say no to Korda and he takes her with him, along with Bjørn (Michael Cera) a Norwegian bug enthusiast and tutor for Korda’s many children and eventually his administrative assistant. They go to visit his major business partners/enemies/rivals around the world to try to get them to swallow part of the cost of his giant deal he wants to put together. While all this sounds a bit dry, it’s filled with the expected amount of symmetrical, dead-pan, Anderson oddness that fans will almost certainly eat-up. Chris, Wright, Beau, and Ben comment on his latest and compare it to the rest of his output and we try to keep Beau from dying.
STARRING: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Bill Murray, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Stephen Park, Alex Jennings, Jason Watkins, Donald Sumpter, Scott Shepherd, Karl Markovics, Tonio Arango, Stéphane Bak, Aysha Joy Samuel, Mohamed Chahrour, Imke Büchel, Anna Bardorf, Imad Mardnli, Jaime Ferkic, Beatrice Campbell
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.
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.
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.
What’s scarier than being trapped on a boat with a serial killer? How about a serial killer whose fetish is watching you die by shark? Jai Courtney is the killer in question, Tucker. He has a nice little fishing boat in Australia but he is fishing for young girls to abduct, torment for awhile, and then film their horrible deaths. Unfortunately for him, he just abducted the wrong girl. Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is a drifter looking for the perfect wave but when she becomes Tucker’s latest abductee, one way or another she’s gonna get out of this situation. Directed by Sean Byrne who brought us the horror classics The Loved Ones in 2009 and The Devil’s Candy in 2015, we should have been ready for this film to be as fun as it was. But a shark+serial killer seems like a bit of a hat on a hat situation. Chris, Wright, Drew, and Ben were happy that they were wrong.
STARRING: Hassie Harrison, Josh Heuston, Jai Courtney, Rob Carlton, Ella Newton, Liam Greinke
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.
Drew Tinnin (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Deliberations of Doom)
Drew Tinnin is a Rondo Award nominated interviewer and critic who has worked at SiriusXM’s Fangoria Radio and Fangoria magazine in NYC, as well as the London-based Dazed Digital. Currently a regular contributor to the Dread Central Network, he’s excited to join up with some old friends and other film fans on One of Us as a new contributor to Screener Squad.
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.
Who knew with the kick-ass but (compared to what was to come) low-key John Wick releasing in 2014 that 11 years later it would be a 4-movie, 1-spinoff, 1 tv series franchise with more obviously yet to come? The first spin-off is Ballerina, taking place between the films John Wick 3 and 4. Ana de Armas is Eve Macarro (originally played briefly by Unity Phelan in JW 3). After her father, an assassin himself, was murdered by a shadowy cult when she was a child, she was brought up as an assassin herself inside the Ruska Roma clan, led by The Director (Anjelica Huston). When she encounters some killers with X-marks on their hands, she is warned off from confronting them, even though they were the same clan who killed her father. But, of course, she isn’t going to listen, and with the help of some familiar faces from the Wick franchise, she goes rogue. Her quest for vengeance cuts a bloody swath across Europe and eventually to the home of the chaotic murder cult themselves, led by the creepy and decidedly bad parent The Chancellor, played by Gabriel Byrne as if Dean Keaton actually turned out to be Keyser Söze. Chris, Wright, Ben, and Drew strap on their dancing shoes and tap out the rhythm of Ballerina in their review.
STARRING: Ana de Armas, Victoria Comte, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reddick, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Choi Soo-young, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Jung Doo-hong, David Castañeda
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.
Drew Tinnin (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Deliberations of Doom)
Drew Tinnin is a Rondo Award nominated interviewer and critic who has worked at SiriusXM’s Fangoria Radio and Fangoria magazine in NYC, as well as the London-based Dazed Digital. Currently a regular contributor to the Dread Central Network, he’s excited to join up with some old friends and other film fans on One of Us as a new contributor to Screener Squad.
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.
Once in a great while, a hero emerges from the shadows and shows the world that nothing is impossible. All it takes is…a little rehearsing. Nathan Fielder is back with season 2 of The Rehearsal and sheds light on an issue that could affect us all. Airplane crashes. More specifically the lack of communication in tough situations between a pilot and their co-pilot. With the success of the first critically acclaimed season and even Fielder’s acting in The Curse, HBO gives him seemingly unlimited resources to not only recreate an airport, but even put on a fake American Idol-esque show to give co-pilots the confidence to give bad news when needed. The show glides through the main plot which is Fielder working on rehearsing life-or-death situations with co-pilots to prepare for the real thing with their pilots while uncovering more personal aspects of Fielder’s life. The moments where we delve deeper into Fielder’s psyche is absolutely hysterical, from his professional relationship with Paramount Plus, to accidentally finding out he may be autistic. The show culminates in a grand spectacle of a death defying stunt that would make Tom Cruise proud. Listen as Wright, Ryan, and Nathan (not Fielder) discuss this incredible sophomore season of The Rehearsal.
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.
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.
