Mike McAllister Archives -

OBEX MOVIE REVIEW OBEX, the latest film from multi-hyphenate artist Albert Birney, is set in the pre-internet days of the 1980s. In addition to writing and directing, Birney also stars as Conor, a computer nerd and shut-in who lives alone with his dog Sandy. One day, intrigued by an ad, Conor orders a copy of […]

BEST OF 2025 PART THREE Chris and Wright gather a different lineup of regulars and friends to discuss more of the best movies and tv shows of 2025 that MAYBE aren’t the things you’ve heard everyone else talking about. Things have gotten a little looser on this second (in person, third overall) segment as the […]

ANACONDA MOVIE REVIEW If you’ve ever seen the 1997 horror film Anaconda starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz, you know that it’s not exactly a masterpiece of the genre. And yet, it stubbornly exudes a weird cultural fascination that only comes with movies that are very bad yet oddly […]

JAY KELLY MOVIE REVIEW Netflix’s Jay Kelly arrives as a quiet, contemplative drama about success, friendship, and the uneasy space between who you were and who you’ve become. Noah Baumbach uses his career-long craft of telling stories that explore themes of success, sacrifice, loss, and existential dread to get George Clooney and Adam Sandler Golden […]

THE CHAIR COMPANY TV REVIEW It seems like cringe comedy has evolved quite the bit over the past decade. Some would say that both the UK & US The Office really kicked off the trend. But now with comedians like Nathan Fielder and Tim Robinson, they’ve taken the comedic style to a whole new level […]

KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR MOVIE REVIEW Quentin Tarantino’s tribute to all his favorite geeky things Kill Bill Volume 1 originally came out in theaters in 2003, with Volume 2 following in 2004. They reached the highest gross of a Tarantino release at that point and were largely critically acclaimed. His original cut for […]

BUNNY MOVIE REVIEW There are so many songs about New York from all kinds of artists. From crooners to rappers, the adulation of the big apple can be heard world wide, but the best kind of harmonies that make up the most memorable stories are from the voices of the communities within the city itself. […]

THE RUNNING MAN MOVIE REVIEW The Stephen King adaptations won’t stop coming of late and we’ve gotten some pretty good ones like The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk. Now, Paramount is going back to the well with The Running Man, which had a somewhat successful 1987 adaptation as an Schwarzenegger film. Problem with […]

NOUVELLE VAGUE MOVIE REVIEW In 1959, film critic Jean-Luc Godard set out to direct his first feature, “À bout de souffle” or Breathless as it is known in English. Following Godard’s oft quoted dictum that ‘All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun’, Breathless tells the story of a louche […]

BLACK PHONE 2 MOVIE REVIEW Based on a Joe Hill short story, 2021’s The Black Phone was a surprise late-pandemic success, a modestly budgeted supernatural horror film that found a sizable audience despite not having any big stars, or recognizable IP. With success comes expectations – and sequels – so director Scott Derrickson and frequent […]

HAUNTED HOTEL SERIES REVIEW Whenever I check into a hotel I know I’m in good hands when I see that delicious mint on my pillow. Chocolate and fresh breath? I am loved. Worst case scenario? Cold water showers, paper thin walls, no mints, and a diabolical room 1408 situation. For those of you that haven’t […]

PEACEMAKER SEASON 2 REVIEW Who would have guessed that a D list superhero like Chris Smith AKA Peacemaker would be the cornerstone of DC Comics latest cinematic universe, or that the role would offer former wrestler turned actor John Cena the meatiest role of his career, thus far? Nobody, that’s who. And yet here we […]

PLAY DIRTY MOVIE REVIEW Trim the tree, put up the lights, hang the stockings with care: there’s an action film on Amazon Prime with Shane Black as writer/director…Christmas will soon be here! Inspired by the popular Parker book series by Donald E Westlake, Play Dirty starring Mark Wahlberg, is about a heist gone wrong that […]

THE TOXIC AVENGER MOVIE REVIEW The janitor becomes the hero, the mop becomes the weapon, and the toxic sludge becomes… well, a makeover. The Toxic Avenger returns in a reimagined reboot of the cult classic, telling the story of Winston (Peter Dinklage), an everyman who finds himself transformed into a grotesque but oddly noble vigilante […]

HAPPY GILMORE 2 MOVIE REVIEW Creed, Maverick, The Colour of Money. All defined in film terms as “The Legacy Sequel”. Whether it’s an entirely new Star Wars trilogy or Ridley Scott milking his ideas before a big fan of the franchise on the come-up in tinseltown does it for him. The legacy sequel is front-loaded […]

WHAT WE HIDE MOVIE REVIEW When it comes to raising a family there’s a lot hidden from the children as they come of age, and a lot to teach about what we hide from others when it comes to maintaining innocence and the beauty of childlike wonder. Easter eggs in the spring or the messiness […]

FIXED MOVIE REVIEW Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed plays like the result of a studio willing to fund the juvenile machinations of a middle school kids’ dare. At its center is Bull (Adam Devine), a gentle dog who learns he’s slated for neutering the next morning. Facing the end of his manhood, he sets off on a […]

NOBODY 2 MOVIE REVIEW Just give us the Bob Odenkirk & David Cross action team-up already! The team that brought you John Wick and The Fall Guy are back with their follow up to their hit actioner Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk. After the events of the first film, Hutch (Odenkirk) constantly finds himself on high […]

KING OF THE HILL – SEASON 14 REVIEW From 1997 to 2010, The Hill family has comforted audiences with heart warming and thought provoking episodic adventures about a propane salesman who also sells propane accessories, navigating work life, marriage, and raising a boy that ain’t right. No matter what was thrown at Hank Hill (Mike […]

ET TU MOVIE REVIEW Lou Diamond Phillips is Brent – a miserable director forced to endure weeks of his own awful community theater production of Julius Caesar. Worse still, he suspects his wife is having an affair with his dim-witted leading man. But when the theater’s janitor reveals a dark secret, Brent may finally have […]

RICK AND MORTY – SEASON 8 REVIEW Since Rick and Morty debuted in 2013 (yes, it’s really been that long), it has grown from an absurd sci-fi comedy into a layered, multiverse-spanning saga full of emotional depth, dark humor, and some surprisingly tight continuity. Rick has evolved from a detached god-complex genius to a man […]

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 […]

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 […]

SUPERMAN MOVIE REVIEW Most audiences no longer have a problem ‘believing a man can fly’ in movies. Now the challenge is, ‘believing anyone can make a Superman movie that brings us even half of the quality of the original Christopher Reeve film’. There certainly seems to be a lot of confidence, both at DC/Warner Brothers […]

DOGMA 25TH ANNIVERSARY MOVIE REVIEW Jesus was beaten, bled, died for your sins and if ye so believe in him thou will be saved. Guilt, shame, and discipline are the blessings on the path to righteousness. These doctrines served the purpose of frightening kids and adults into attempting a life of virtue for years to […]

FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN MOVIE REVIEW 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 […]

THE SURRENDER MOVIE REVIEW If the Conjuring series has taught major studios anything, it’s that the best time to release a scary film is summer time. In The Surrender,  Megan (Colby Minifie) has returned home but not under the best circumstances. Her father Robert (Vaughn Armstrong) has one foot in the grave and the other […]

HUNT THE WICKED MOVIE REVIEW Lewayne, Mike, and T.C. enter the One Of Us lair to square off against one another while discussing this new Chinese martial arts crime drama about a brilliant narcotics detective and a mysterious criminal mastermind, as they clash in a crime-ridden city. The cops are doing everything they can, while […]

FIGHT OR FLIGHT MOVIE REVIEW Following a raid on a hideout in Bangkok, an elusive hacker simply called “The Ghost” manages to escape. A government sect, led by Agent Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) manages to acquire enough information to locate the Ghost’s escape route, via a flight to San Francisco. Due to a lack of field […]

TRIGGER HAPPY MOVIE REVIEW In a world where you must buy a gun in order to get health care, where the number one show on television is an infomercial for a sponge and the most watched kids program is about a dino-gun character named Tricera-Glock, one man struggles to escape the inescapable mundanity of suburban […]

CLEANER MOVIE REVIEW When Die Hard needs to Die Hard but in a new Die Hard that is a lot like Die Hard but not the exact same Die Hard, you would hope that Martin Campbell, director of Casino Royale, GoldenEye, and The Mask of Zorro, would be the right guy to Die Hard. Mike, […]

OLD GUY MOVIE REVIEW An old hitman is tasked to train a young up and comer in the action comedy Old Guy written by Greg Johnson and directed by Simon West. Danny Dolinski (Christoph Waltz) has busted so many caps into so many of his targets for so many years that he’s got chronic pain […]

THE MONKEY MOVIE REVIEW Director/writer Osgood Perkins is on a roll. Not long after making the horror movie everyone was talking about (good or bad) Longlegs, Perkins is back already with an adaptation of the Stephen King story The Monkey, but this time he’s playing with splatstick comedy-horror. Theo James plays twin brothers Hal and […]

WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL MOVIE REVIEW From Aardman studios and presented by Netflix, the stop motion sensation from across the pond is back in Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. The feature length film is a sequel to the original classic Wallace and Gromit adventure The Wrong Trousers. A diamond thief penguin named […]

THE BEST FILMS OF 2024 PART TWO Our best of 2024 film list continues with double the speed and that many more films for us to gush about. Come sit around the round table with the One Of Us Austin crew and see if we can turn you on to some stuff you may have […]

THE BEST FILMS OF 2024 PART ONE This more accurately should be titled, the best films of 2024 that we haven’t already talked about (largely). Because we are not talking about Anora, The Brutalist, or The Substance here. We did those reviews. We’re primarily talking about the other greatest films that we didn’t get to […]

Y2K MOVIE REVIEW Some of us are old enough to remember New Year’s Eve as we went from 1999-2000. There was a big scare dubbed Y2K that was about fears that all computerized devices were going to shut down (or something) because their internalized clocks were not set up to deal with that calendar change. […]

GET AWAY MOVIE REVIEW Boring families go on vacations to well known attractions surrounded by fellow tourists and the safety of park security. An adventurous family, like Richard (Nick Frost), Susan (Aisling Bea), Sam (Sebastian Croft), and Jessie (Maisie Ayres), prefer something a little more off the beaten path. They take a vacation to a […]

YOUR MONSTER MOVIE REVIEW Thomas Fuller once said “abused patience turns to fury”. Adapted from a short film by writer director Caroline Lindy and coming to a theater near you is the rom-com horror film, Your Monster. Breaking up is hard to do, or at least you’d think so when your partner is diagnosed with […]

HERETIC MOVIE REVIEW Just because Halloween is over, that doesn’t mean random young people won’t come knocking on your door; only this time they aren’t asking for candy, they’re asking if you have a moment to talk about their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That’s right, we’re talking about Mormon missionaries. When Sister Barnes (Sophie […]

Saturday Night Movie Review In the midst of its 50th season on television, Saturday Night Live is without question a staple in American comedy. It’s hard to imagine that the comedy juggernaut was almost an impressive disaster right up until it aired on October 11th, 1975. Saturday Night, directed by Jason Reitman, tells the story […]

AZRAEL MOVIE REVIEW Some time after the Rapture, we find civilization in disarray and no one can speak. Azrael follows the titular character (Samara Weaving) and her partner Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), as they escape imprisonment from a female-led community of religious zealots. As she’s recaptured, she is due to be sacrificed by an evil entity, […]

KITE MAN: HELL YEAH! SERIES REVIEW When you are a villain that’s mocked by the C-list and even ridiculed by the most obscure Robins, sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. Kite Man (Matt Oberg) is an off-again never-again romantic interest from the Adult Swim DC dark comedy show Harley Quinn. With a […]

KAOS SERIES REVIEW The thing about prophecies is that they tend to come true in spite of a person’s best efforts to stop them, and when it involves the gods, it is often mortals who suffer the consequences. With Prometheus acting as guide, the stories of Orpheus and Eurydice, Caeneus, and Ariadne are woven together […]

THE 4:30 MOVIE FILM REVIEW Kevin Smith is one of the defining Gen X filmmakers. Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy inspired countless storytellers from the 90’s to today. He’s also the guy who made Cop Out and Yoga Hosers. The guy’s had a mixed bag of a career. So, it comes as a wonderful surprise […]

JACKPOT! MOVIE REVIEW In the dystopian future of 2030, former child actor, Katie Kim (Awkwafina), is trying to restart her career in Hollywood. After unknowingly entering and winning the California Grand Lottery, Katie finds herself in a fight for her life as everyone in the city, from biker gangs to yoga teachers, comes out of […]

EXPLODING KITTENS SERIES REVIEW This new Netflix series comes from humble kickstarter origins and the twisted mind of The Oatmeal‘s webcomic creator Matthew Inman. It’s inspired a card game, an NSFW version, Plushie merch, and even a pinball table. Now with co-creator Shane Kosakowski, Netflix presents a nine episode animated series based on Exploding Kittens. […]

DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE MOVIE REVIEW Deadpool is finally in the MCU for real. He made the cut. He gets his third movie. But this time he’s bringing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine with him on an adventure to save their universes from the ‘sacred timeline’ wiping them out (re: the MCU). So, we gotta reference the Time […]

MAXXXINE MOVIE REVIEW Even if you’re not a fan of the films, you’ve got to hand it to director/writer Ti West: no one has ever made a horror trilogy in the fashion that the X series is constructed. Each one distinctively different in style, and believe me, style is in charge here, but ultimately with […]

HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON MOVIE REVIEW What do you do when you’re a vampire, and the thought of biting someone’s neck puts you in a moral quandary? This is the dilemma of Sasha, a young teenager of the vampyric persuasion who, despite her family’s pressure, is unable to bring herself to hunt down […]

INSIDE OUT 2 MOVIE REVIEW Riley is now a teen, and as we all know, a BUNCH of new emotions come out of nowhere with puberty, few of them terribly pleasant but all of them rather insistent. Thus have things changed inside Riley’s head with a group of new feelings suddenly taking the controls such […]

IN A VIOLENT NATURE MOVIE REVIEW What do you get when you combine Friday the 13th, the serene cinematography of Terrence Malick, and the brooding dread of It Follows? Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature of course! The film, literally, follows the undead murderer Johnny on a slow and methodical rampage through the woods. He […]

KNUCKLES SERIES REVIEW It’s been thirty years since Knuckles made his Sega Genesis debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Now the chaotic mascot races onto Paramount Plus in a 6 episode mini series before Sonic The Hedgehog 3 lands in theaters this December. The master emerald has been protected and the evil Doctor Robotnik has […]

I SAW THE TV GLOW MOVIE REVIEW The director of experimental art-horror hit from last year, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Jane Schoenbrun, returns with their latest experimental art-scifi hit, I Saw the TV Glow. The film follows Owen, who first we meet in 7th grade (briefly played by Ian Foreman). He is […]

UNFROSTED MOVIE REVIEW Jerry Seinfeld presents Unfrosted, his feature length directorial debut that offers a fictionalized account of 1963 Michigan business rivals Kellogg’s and Post competing to create a crusted fruit pastry that could change breakfast forever. This is the origin of the Pop Tart. Told as though it were as important and as dramatic […]

BOY KILLS WORLD MOVIE REVIEW Take one part chiseled action hero, one part post-apocalyptic ‘Running Man‘ wasteland, and the 3rd project Sharlto Copley has been in this year. What do you get? Boy Kills World starring our ever favorite Pennywise the clown, Bill Skarsgard! Skarsgard stars as Boy, a deaf-mute man riddled with grief and […]

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM SEASON 12 After 24 years and 12 seasons, the other show about nothing has come to an end. This creation of Larry David gave us the cringiest of comedy as Larry navigated his life and relationships in Los Angeles, often revolving around his incessant need to speak his mind without filter. The […]

ABIGAIL MOVIE REVIEW Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have directed several films together, often referring to themselves and their team of collaborators as Radio Silence. Having hit the ground running with arguably the best segment in the original V/H/S “10/31/98”, they went out to become a big hit with 2019’s Ready or Not and then […]

CIVIL WAR MOVIE REVIEW Director/Writer Alex Garland is known for his not exactly optimistic but deeply intelligent sci-fi films, like Ex-Machina and Annihilation. It seemed surprising for him to veer so distinctly political with his latest, Civil War, and very near future at that. Needless to say, there has been no small amount of ‘why […]

MONKEY MAN MOVIE REVIEW Dev Patel has his directorial debut and co-writes and leads the cast of this new bloody revenge action film. He plays Kid, a scrappy pit fighter with the identity of “Monkey Man” who wears an ape mask and regularly takes the fall for cash at the hands of the fighting emcee […]

RICKY STANICKY MOVIE REVIEW Every once in a while, a filmmaker grows so far beyond the types of movies that they began their career with, it’s amusing to look back over their filmography and see how much they’ve matured. A director like Adam McKay can start his cinematic career with Anchorman and then win an […]

ORION AND THE DARK MOVIE REVIEW All tucked into the One Of Us bunk beds, Mike, Chad, and T.C. have a whispered conversation about the newest Netflix/Dreamworks animated film Orion and the Dark. Orion is a severely anxious 11-year-old kid with an endless list of irrational fears, including toilets overflowing, public speaking, getting beat up […]

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS MOVIE REVIEW What do you do if you’re in the middle of a road trip in a rental (or a ‘drive-away’ in this case) and discover that hidden in your car is some bizarre contraband and some real bad dudes are after you to get it? If you’re Jamie and Marian, apparently you […]

TRUNK – LOCKED IN MOVIE REVIEW Trunk – Locked In is a new thriller streaming on Amazon Prime Video. A German film, this movie is relentless in its pacing. Right out of the gate we meet Malina, in a trunk, dazed and confused. Someone has abducted her for reasons that are unclear but through a […]

LISA FRANKENSTEIN MOVIE REVIEW Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) has a problem. It’s not that she’s had trouble fitting in with others at school. She prefers the company of the dead, at least as far as hanging out in an old abandoned cemetery in the woods and talking to one grave in particular as her confidant. […]

FARGO SEASON 5 REVIEW It’s cold outside, murder and mayhem are afoot, and everybody is “Minnesota nice”…must be a new season of Fargo. Noah Hawley’s highly acclaimed anthology series returns in the highly problematic year of 2019, where we find Dot Lyon (Juno Temple) in a bit of a pickle. In the midst of a […]

ARCHER SEASON 14 REVIEW In 2008 the highly anticipated James Bond sequel to Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, premiered to much negative scrutiny. Long gone were the days of Roger Moore running across alligators while dead panning at the camera. The spy genre was now immersed in self seriousness with a tortured Daniel Craig more […]

DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS MOVIE REVIEW Welcome to January, or as the industry likes to call it “dump month.” Basically this time of year, studios release their lower budget fair that may not do well during Summer or Holidays, but hey… studio needs to make some money back, or leave it to die so it can […]

SILENT NIGHT MOVIE REVIEW It’s hard to believe but it’s been 20 years since Hong Kong action maestro John Woo directed a Hollywood film. While Woo retains his taste for melodrama, his latest bullet ballet trades in his usual operatic flair for a grittier, more grounded approach to violence. Shot in Mexico City on a […]

POOR THINGS MOVIE REVIEW Greek writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos brings with him a certain level of prestige, as among his many awards he has Best Director/Picture for the 2018 The Favourite. But he also brings something else…some seriously weird stories. His latest, Poor Things, returns more to the form of his earlier work in that sense, […]

THE BOY AND THE HERON MOVIE REVIEW In what seems likely to be master animator and storyteller Hayao Miyazaki’s final film (the man is 82), The Boy and the Heron returns to dark and surreal fantasy and I suspect long-time fans will be beside themselves happy about it. The story follows Mahito, a 12 year […]

SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF SERIES REVIEW What’s up subspace travelers? If you don’t know who Scott Pilgrim is, stop reading this, pick up the comics and watch Edgar Wright’s movie… Are you finished? Did you get all the plot points? Great, now forget everything you just learned because Scott Pilgrim Takes Off has nothing to […]

DREAM SCENARIO MOVIE REVIEW For some people, Nicolas Cage is the man of their dreams. But with the new film, Dream Scenario, Nicolas Cage is the man of everyone’s dreams! Nic Cage stars as Paul Matthews in Kristoffer Borgli’s new film. He plays  a mild-mannered, put upon, nebbish college professor. All of a sudden people […]