Kate Chambers 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 ONE We always try to do something a little different every year with our Best Of The Year shows. This year, we decided to get together just the Austin-based folks for a sorta mini-Gathering series of podcasts to take on the best of TV, Film, and Videogames of 2025. The conceit […]

NE ZHA 2 MOVIE REVIEW Ne Zha, the story of a rebellious and powerful child deity in Chinese mythology with origins in Buddhist lore, has been interpreted and adapted throughout the centuries through word of mouth, written folk lore, and like all the best myths, adapted to the silver screen. Therefore it is no surprise […]

WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY MOVIE REVIEW The greatest detective of the 21st century is back with a new mystery, once again written and directed by Rian Johnson and starring Daniel Craig as the quirky Benoit Blanc. This time, he is looking into a ‘locked room’ murder; an arrogant and narcissistic priest […]

WICKED: FOR GOOD MOVIE REVIEW The most anticipated movie of the year (by studios hoping to pay for the rest of the year’s screwups by this paying for it) is here. The celebrated musical adapted from a book which was a reimagining of the movie which was based on a book has now concluded (?) […]

BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER MOVIE REVIEW Did you know that there are other casinos in the world and Las Vegas doesn’t corner the market on gambling? It’s true! Also the tables offer more than poker and blackjack. That’s right, sometimes the cards are used for a game called baccarat. It’s a simple game in […]

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE MOVIE REVIEW Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide. John Woo’s Broken Arrow. Heck, even Michael Bay’s The Rock. What do these films have in common? Bad men have THE BOMB and they are threatening to launch. Okay, Gene Hackman as a bad man in Crimson Tide is sort of debatable but that’s what […]

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE MOVIE REVIEW In the 1992 film The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, fictional character Peyton Flanders said “When your husband makes love to you, it’s *my* face he sees. When your baby’s hungry, it’s *my* breast that feeds him. Look at you! When push comes to shove… you can’t […]

STAY MOVIE REVIEW One of the most famous and spooky scary EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) ever documented was the phrase “Get out of my house”. Often a haunted house tale is a story of a restless spirit that doesn’t want anyone in its space and someone figuring out why it’s so restless. Move on? I […]

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 […]

THE MAN IN MY BASEMENT MOVIE REVIEW Charles (Corey Hawkins) has fallen on the worst of times in the most apathetic of decades, the 90s. He doesn’t have a job, the bank is continually threatening to foreclose on his house, and he is burdened with a past full of trauma and anger. His ancestral domicile […]

ALIEN: EARTH SERIES REVIEW The common online geek response to a hyped up writer/director being giving the reins to a beloved classic sci-fi franchise is “get away from her you bitch!”. With a track record that includes the Legion and Fargo TV Series, at least some geeks were excited to give Noah Hawley a crack […]

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 […]

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 […]

STRANGE HARVEST MOVIE REVIEW When it comes to successful harvesting, all you need is a strong work ethic, a team of farmers dedicated to the crop, and a handful of teachers with patience to cultivate the next generation of harvesters. This is community, this is life. Every once in a while though that community turns […]

HELL MOTEL SERIES REVIEW It’s a dark and stormy night and you’ll never make it to your final destination on these roads. Better check into a motel for the night. It would be quite unfortunate if that was your final destination after all! What you never know about these seedy looking places just off the […]

MONSTER ISLAND MOVIE REVIEW Secluded island paradise? Yes please? Oh wait a sec, it’s in the middle of WWII and instead of a getaway you’re a marooned castaway, chained to an enemy soldier. Maybe not such a great vacation. What could be worse than that? How about a creature from the black lagoon? Monster Island […]

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 […]

F1 MOVIE REVIEW In this day and age of trademarked products being made into gigantic Hollywood films, it’s at least a little surprising that Formula 1 Racing took this long to get into the act. At least since 2013’s Rush anyway, but never quite so proudly branded as F1 (and to a great deal, paid […]

THE UNHOLY TRINITY MOVIE REVIEW Death looms over a town with a sketchy past drowned in whiskey from high noon to midnight saloon time with ladies of the evening. A stranger appears by the name of Henry Broadway (Brandon Lessard) who has local family ties…and he’s out for vengeance against the man who wronged his […]

MATERIALISTS MOVIE REVIEW 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 […]

THE LAST OF US SEASON 2 REVIEW 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 […]

NOVOCAINE MOVIE REVIEW Full disclosure: This was our first experience seeing a film in 4DX, which are, as Beau puts it, massage chairs that kick the crap out of you. Some of us loved the experience. Some of us had to gag a few times. But either way, it definitely affected our experience of watching […]

THE QUIET ONES MOVIE REVIEW In August of 2008, the biggest heist in the nation of Denmark’s history went down. Though names have been changed and dramatic liberties taken, The Quiet Ones brings the robbery to life. Our story features a struggling boxer named Kasper (Gustav Giese). He’s got big plans to be the champion […]

THE BUILDOUT MOVIE REVIEW Frank Zappa once said the only difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of real estate they own. Out in the middle of the desert, far from prying eyes and cell phone signals is a woman who refers to herself as Cleric Kanner (Natasha Halevi). Through a mysteriously […]

LOVE HURTS MOVIE REVIEW It was so great to see the return of actor Ke Huy Quan in the sublime Everything Everywhere All At Once in 2022. Having retired from acting for a very long time, Quan is known to Americans for his roles as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom […]

PRESENCE MOVIE REVIEW Certainly writer David Koepp seems like a safe bet for a haunted house film (if you’ve never seen it, Stir of Echoes is great) but Steven Soderbergh as director? As one of our critics put it, “He just wanted to shoot an entire movie like his buddy Spike Jonze shot Beastie Boys […]

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 […]

MOANA 2 MOVIE REVIEW It’s not usually a good sign when an animation company repurposes a planned tv series into a sequel film to one of their hits. I mean, I think. It’s happened before, right? Regardless, that’s the case with Moana 2. We were nervous because of that, Lin-Manuel Miranda not returning to do […]

THE SHADOW STRAYS MOVIE REVIEW You like the John Wick movies? How about The Raid movies and a touch of Taken? Action. Violence. Extreme violence. And like, a Ninja Scroll amount of blood? The Shadow Strays might be exactly what you need to satisfy your masochist cinematic action itch. It certainly did for the One […]

WE LIVE IN TIME MOVIE REVIEW Who knew that what the world needed right now is the ridiculous amount of charisma of Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in a romance? Directed by John Crowley (Brooklyn, Boy A), We Live In Time tells the story of Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) and how their car crash-cute […]

THE PARAGON MOVIE REVIEW One day you’re crossing the street and the next day you’re eating blue gloppy glippy gloop, going through intensive montage training to stop a conspiracy that transcends the dimension you thought you knew, and befriending a conspiracy theorist that looks like she does her occult make up on a moving train. […]

SPEAK NO EVIL MOVIE REVIEW The Danish horror film Speak No Evil was much discussed in horror circles as being one of the bleakest and most frightening films of 2022. Now here comes Blumhouse Films to soften it up for American audiences. And while there is no denying that they did exactly that, is it […]

DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE BEGINS MOVIE REVIEW Lyall Watson once said “Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner experience. Poetry and music exist in time. Painting and architecture are a part of space. But only the dance lives […]

Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) is a grieving teen who can't really deal with the death of her mother. Being not quite 18, she reluctantly moves with her father (Marton Csokas), stepmother (Jessica Henwick) and mysteriously...