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DIGITAL NOISE EPISODE 314: THE CRITICS TWO: CRITIQUE LIKE A BEAST

I’m trying to picture a W.A.S.P. satire album cover for this and my brain just shuts down from the horror. Wright and Chris review all the movies. Like, all of them. Or it only feels that way in this first of two back to back episodes with their looks at a new Criterion of a David Lynch classic, a film that they feel is both fantastic and terrible and they both love, a film where a small child helps a serial killer with love, two two witches movies, and more.

All titles were sent to Digital Noise by the distribution companies in question for the purpose of review. No other compensation was involved. The opinions here are our own.

PLEASE USE OUR IMAGE LINKS TO BUY ANY OF THESE TITLES ON AMAZON. IN FACT, PLEASE USE THEM AS YOUR STARTING POINT FOR ANYTHING YOU BUY OFF OF AMAZON. WE ARE AN AFFILIATE AND RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR PURCHASES MADE FROM OUR LINKS.

YOUR REVIEWERS

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

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

Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Trash in the Can, Audio Editor)

Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He 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.

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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EMANCIPATION MOVIE REVIEW

On January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the the Emancipation Proclamation as the United States entered its third year of the Civil War. A slave named Peter (Will Smith) on a Louisiana plantation is sold into the Confederate war effort. Taken from his family on the plantation, Peter vows to return to them as a free man and bring them all out of bondage. Escaping his Confederate work camp, Peter will have to use his cunning, blacksmith expertise, and unbreakable faith in God to survive the elements and avoid the hunters and one hunter in particular, Jim Fassel (Ben Foster); think of the Predator cloaked in a Dixie Flag. With each belaboured breath and treacherous obstacle, Peter won’t only find himself closer to the loving embrace of his family but also find himself the subject of a photo that changed the course of American history forever. Brad, Chad, Neil, and Jena discuss Will Smith back in action, the success of grandiose action set pieces in a subject about slavery, and ponder over the qualifications of a white person adapting a person of colors history.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Antoine Fuqua

STARRING: Will Smith, Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Steven Ogg, Mustafa Shakir, Timothy Hutton, Gilbert Owuor, Grant Harvey, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Jabbar Lewis, Michael Luwoye, Aaron Moten, Imani Pullum, David Denman

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.

Chad Halvorsen (Screener Squad)

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

Neil Anderson (Screener Squad)

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

Jena Perry (Screener Squad)

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

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

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

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THE WHITE LOTUS SEASON 2 SERIES REVIEW

Welcome back to The White Lotus, a crown jewel of luxury, this time nestled in Sicilian town of Taormina. There’s new faces but don’t worry, everything isn’t black and white. Speaking of White, of the Mike variety… Mike White returns to write and direct all 7 episodes and also returning is Jennifer Coolidge, who won an Emmy for season 1. There’s new faces but a lot of veteran actors including F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli, and Aubrey Plaza. There’s plenty of sex and mix em’ ups to create some genuine comedy, and like season 1, there are dead bodies to setup the murder/mystery aspect of the show. All loving season 1, Eliot, Frank, and Chad sit down and discuss their thoughts. Join us for a relaxing review on the veranda?

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Mike White

STARRING: F. Murray Abraham, Jennifer Coolidge, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy, Beatrice Grannò, Jon Gries, Tom Hollander, Sabrina Impacciatore, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, Will Sharpe, Simona Tabasco, Leo Woodall, Federico Ferrante, Eleonora Romandini, Federico Scribani Rossi, Francesco Zecca, Paolo Camilli, Bruno Gouery

YOUR REVIEWERS

Chad Halvorsen (Screener Squad)

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

Eliot Nelson (Screener Squad, Staff Writer)

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

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

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

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

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

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BABYLON MOVIE REVIEW

Director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) helms this crazy, hard-R, chaotic look at the late 20s in Hollywood just as it was transitioning into sound films. Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad, a superstar actor and party staple who has trouble keeping his romantic relationships from imploding (not that he seems to care). Margot Robbie is ingenue actress Nellie LaRoy who has arrived in Hollywood full of energy, talent, and wildness who is so sure she’s going to be big that everyone else around her is too. Diego Calva is Manny Torres, a Mexican-American production assistant who gets swept up in Nellie’s rise and becomes a major player in the scene himself. Around them is a very colorful cavalcade of characters who seem to be composites of people from the time. It’s clearly inspired from writer/director Kenneth Anger’s famous sleaze-dishing books Hollywood Babylon and even the style of filmmaking at points puts an exclamation mark on the comparison. But Chazelle is here for more than just filming crazed parties and film sets gone out of control. Never has a movie been more a love letter AND a poison pen letter to Hollywood. It’s as much declaiming the system as it is apologizing for it by praising the products it has made. And that makes it a little confusing. Chris, Wright, Marco, and Frank tell you about it’s conundrums, bizarre excess, disturbing vulgarity, delicious cinematography and performances, and weird montage ending and sum it up with a final thought.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Damien Chazelle

STARRING: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas, Max Minghella, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Olivia Hamilton, P.J. Byrne, Rory Scovel, Eric Roberts, Telvin Griffin, Chloe Fineman, Phoebe Tonkin, Troy Metcalf, Jennifer Grant, Kaia Gerber, Patrick Fugit, Pat Skipper, Marc Platt

YOUR REVIEWERS

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

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

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

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

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

By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.

“You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody!”

Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Trash in the Can, Audio Editor)

Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He 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.

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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TRASH IN THE CAN: RICH LITTLE’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Celebrate the holiday season with a star-studded holiday special that could only afford one star! Baylor Johnson returns for a retelling of A Christmas Carol as only a borderline talented Canadian impressionist can deliver. Come for Liza Minnelli having a seizure and stay for the Kennedy assassination. We watched the forgotten (with good reason) holiday special, Rich Little’s A Christmas Carol!

YOUR HOSTS

Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Trash in the Can, Audio Editor)

Wright hails from the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His passion for filmmaking brought him to Austin to study and make movies. Since then he’s had his hand in acting, writing, and directing his own short films with numerous like-minded film geeks he’s met along his journey. His newest interest has brought him into the podcasting world. He 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.

Eric Samaniego (Trash in the Can)

Eric is a multi-award show watching, sometimes comedian, sometimes writer that began life as a Muppet and 1930’s screwball comedy obsessed goon and continues to carry a torch for all things felt and funny. With a passion for genre films, poor taste, and whiskey, he and co-conspirator, Wright Sulek, indulge in the best/worst films the world has to offer with One of Us’s podcast, ‘Trash in the Can’. When not podding, Eric works as an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

You can subscribe to the Trash in the Can podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/trashinthecan/ 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 PERIPHERAL SERIES REVIEW

Peripheral: relating to or situated on the edge or periphery of something. Cyberpunk: A genre of science fiction set in a lawless subculture of an oppressive society dominated by computer technology. Amazon Prime presents the William Gibson sci-fi classic created for television by Scott B. Smith The Peripheral. Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz) is the youngest member of her family but also burdened with all the eldest responsibilities. Flynne is taking care of her chronically ill and legally blind mother (Melinda Page Hamilton) and watching out for her war veteran older brother Burton (Jack Reynor) while working a dead end job at the 3D printing shop in the lovely middle of nowhere North Carolina. For extra scratch, Bruton plays VR gaming for billionaires outsourcing their gaming characters to expert players. That’s the front anyway. It’s Flynne who is the champion of VR gaming, racking up points and making mucho dinero under the guise of her brothers handle. As wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey hijinks would have it, the siblings receive a new headset with technology not yet patented and instructions from a very private client. What unfolds for Flynn is a gaming experience out of this world, or should I say, not of this timeline!? The past and future collide in a sci-fi epic pitting mega wealthy corporations against blue collar families. Bradly and the Nighthawks, Matt and Trevor, lay out their knowledge of the sci-fi legend William Gibson, discuss the real life motivations behind the science fiction spectacle presentation, and ponder the reality of their own existence in this universe and the next.

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Scott Smith, Jonathan Nolan, and Lisa Joy

STARRING: Chloë Grace Moretz, Gary Carr, Jack Reynor, JJ Feild, T’Nia Miller, Louis Herthum, Katie Leung, Melinda Page Hamilton, Chris Coy, Alex Hernandez, Julian Moore-Cook, Adelind Horan, Austin Rising, Eli Goree, Charlotte Riley, Alexandra Billings, David Hoflin, Hannah Arterton, India Mullen, Miles Barrow, Gavin Dunn, Moe Bar-El, Chuku Modu, Harrison Gilbertson, Duke Davis Roberts, Claire Cooper, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Amber Rose Revah, Ned Dennehy, Ben Dickey, Anjli Mohindra

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.

Matt Foster (Screener Squad)

Matt Foster is a stand up comic, podcaster, and movie critic currently living in the greater Salt Lake City area. His lifelong love of genre film began early, when he realized they freaked out his mom. He performs (epidemics permitting) regularly on Dungeons and Comedy, a DND live play with standup comedians, and is the slightly less mustache-y half of the Nighthawks Podcast, a cinema-centric discussion cohosted by Trevor T. Trujillo.

Trevor Trujillo (Screener Squad)

Trevor T. Trujillo is a One Of Us contributor in addition to being the co-host, co-founder, and co-producer of the Nighthawks Podcast. Trevor’s 17-year media career spans multiple arenas including television, radio, podcasting, and online journalism; and he is currently the editor-in-chief for a regional online news provider in the Rocky Mountain West. Often a nomad, Trevor has found himself “at home” in places like Austin, Texas; West Hollywood, California; and throughout central and southeastern Wyoming. Get the pause button ready, Trevor also manages to pop up in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them featured extra roles in Nickelodeon’s FRED, TruTV’s OPERATION REPO and the Todd Rohal/Zack Carlson short THE SUPLEX DUPLEX COMPLEX.

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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DIGITAL NOISE EPISODE 313: THE USUAL AVATARS

Our theme this week is Avatar. I mean, no, not really, but we do have some fun at its expense along the way. What we’re really here is to review some new home releases like two classic thrillers on 4k, the biggest movie of 2022, Arrow introducing us with joy to a subgenre of horror we hadn’t found until now, Anthony Hopkins and the horrors of reincarnation, and much more.

All titles were sent to Digital Noise by the distribution companies in question for the purpose of review. No other compensation was involved. The opinions here are our own.

PLEASE USE OUR IMAGE LINKS TO BUY ANY OF THESE TITLES ON AMAZON. IN FACT, PLEASE USE THEM AS YOUR STARTING POINT FOR ANYTHING YOU BUY OFF OF AMAZON. WE ARE AN AFFILIATE AND RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR PURCHASES MADE FROM OUR LINKS.

YOUR REVIEWERS

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

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

John Gholson (Digital Noise)

John Gholson is a writer and cartoonist with bylines at Movies.com, Moviefone, and Vice and illustration work for GQ and Fandango. As an actor, John can be seen in Zero Charisma, Hidden America With Jonah Ray, and The Suplex Duplex Complex. He writes and performs sketch comedy regularly at The New Movement Theater. John currently lives in Austin with his beloved comic book collection and a cat named after Peter Cushing.

You can now subscribe on iTunes (or the podcast service of your choice that accepts RSS feeds) to just the Digital Noise Podcast! Either search for Digital Noise on your podcast service or use our RSS URL https://oneofus.net/feed/weekly-video-review-podcast

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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GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO MOVIE REVIEW

Guillermo is having a good year and clearly a productive relationship right out of the starting gate with Netflix. First we get his superlative Cabinet of Curiosities, and now this (some would say) shoo-in for Best Animated Feature. This stop-motion animated musical fantasy takes a grimmer look than Disney did at the fairytale and does a lot of new invention with it. Especially in terms of the character designs which feel straight out of del Toro’s monster creation history (they were based on the art of Gris Grimly). With a terrific voice cast, bizarre stylistics, and a number of sizable tweaks to the original tale, Pinocchio is something to see, but will it appeal to you? Chris, Frank, Ben, and Marco didn’t all exactly see eye-to-eye on this one. Listen to their review to get the scoop. And also congratulate Chris for never making a pun about ‘wooden acting’.

WATCH HERE

DIRECTED BY: Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson

STARRING: Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Burn Gorman, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Tom Kenny

YOUR REVIEWERS

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

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

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

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

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

Born in Boston, then ending up in Dallas, Texas in the early 2000s, Ben has always had a passion for film. He started in film school not long after where he launched MovieReelizations.com where he still writes reviews to this day. He’s since moved to Austin where he has been also hopping on podcasts and both editing and shooting videos for One of Us. A fan of films from almost all genres, and many that predate him more than makes sense, he is anything if not eclectic in what he’s watching at any point. For the rest of his free time, he can be found biking, drinking craft beer, being an amateur photographer, and playing video games by himself or on Twitch. He’s best found on Instagram or Twitter as @MovieReelBen.

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

By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.

“You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody!”

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AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER MOVIE REVIEW

It’s over a decade later (both in terms of the original film’s release and in the storyline) and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have enjoyed a peaceful era, settling down with three children of their own, an adopted human child, and one ‘miracle baby’ or maybe ‘rape baby’…the movie quickly steers away from the question. But peaceful times are coming to an end as the colonizing humans are back in force and largely the same as last time, only now the dead baddies from the first film have had their pre-saved consciousnesses put into Na’vi avatars. Jake knows that their leader Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is out for his blood specifically so he takes the fam and flies out to another part of Pandora where the Na’vi evolved to be more water-oriented. So Jake and fam have to adjust to the new culture and learn ‘the way of water’ while the ever-looming of threat of the colonists looms. Chris, Marco, and Wright take on this movie and are not all on the same page about it. Here’s where you learn that the clickbait article titles about how EVERYONE loves the new Avatar movie aren’t 100%.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: James Cameron

STARRING: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, CCH Pounder, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Chloe Coleman, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans Jr., Matt Gerald, Alicia Vela-Bailey, CJ Jones, Jack Champion, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, Giovanni Ribisi, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement