Reels & Riddims
Welcome to Reels & Riddims!
Mikelah and Kerry-Ann, two friends and culture enthusiasts, give their eclectic mix of commentary and reviews in world of TV, Film, and Concerts. From dissecting storylines in TV and film that feature Caribbean characters, to the irresistible 'riddims' of the concerts, Reels and Riddims got you covered.
Reels & Riddims
What We've Been Watching - Winter Edition
In this episode, we explore our winter watchlists, diving into thrilling series and documentaries that capture our attention and reflect Caribbean cultural narratives. Our discussion of 'Cross' and 'Martha' showcases engaging storytelling. We also chat about creating a community around shared viewing experiences and share our excitement for upcoming releases.
Shows discussed in this episode:
- Cross on Amazon
- Martha on Netflix
- Dune Prophecy on Max
- Later Daters on Netflix
- The Madness on Netflix
- Lisa Frank on Amazon
- The Day of the Jackal on Peacock
- Harlem - season 3 on Amazon
- Watson - new series on CBS
- Survival of the Thickest - season 2 on Netflix
Connect with us:
- @reelsandriddims on Instagram
- Website | YouTube
A Breadfruit Media Production
Welcome back to another episode of Reels and Rhythms brought to you by Carry On Friends in partnership with the Style to the Vibes and Breadfruit Media. And of course, you don't know Reels and Rhythms. We bring you commentary, reviews and perspective to what's going on in the world of TV, film and concerts, with enough vibes as only Michaela and I can. And, of course, all of this is through the lens of Caribbean culture, caribbean American and immigrant and first-generation experience, because you don't know who you have to represent all around. So I am Kerri-Ann and my co-host Michaela. We have to represent all around.
Speaker 2:So I am Kerri-Ann and my co-host Michaela.
Speaker 1:She the boat Me have to the schooler because she chat out the whole thing before we hit record Because she like.
Speaker 2:Because we want to know what you watch versus what we watch and if you're watching the same things.
Speaker 1:But that is what needs to come out in the recording. Okay, all right, all right, all right, all right. So this is our winter edition, because we kick off the season with the summer edition of what we've been watching. So this is the winter edition of what we've been watching, and so we'll also have part two of uh, we call it our reels radar, which is what we are looking forward to, so releases that we're looking forward to. So, since Michaela, I run with our list Me makes you go on first, michaela. What have you been watching?
Speaker 2:I feel like we should do something List everything that you watched. Right, don't talk about it, but I want to see, like, what you've watched what versus what I've watched, and if there are anything that is similar. Anything that is similar we'll probably have more to talk about together. So that's why I was just trying to organize my thoughts and how far I can go in case you want to watch something or I want to watch something, all right, so. So mega anomalies All right, so. So I'm going to run on my list. I'm not too long, okay. All right, since you tell me to go first, right, okay, so I watched Alex Cross on Amazon Prime, the Whitney documentary on Netflix, black and Beauty on Netflix, the Lisa Frank documentary on Amazon Prime, little on Netflix Um, but that was a movie later. Daters, which is a dating series on Netflix, and Martha I think I kind of touched on Martha in a previous episode, in the shine episode, in the shine episode, okay, but Martha, yeah, we got to talk about Martha All right.
Speaker 1:So I watched Cross Dune Prophecy on HBO, max, the Madness on Netflix, martha, I started watching Jackal on Peacock. I watched a bunch of other stuff, but'm not really taught about that. Like you know, series, sitcoms or whatever is regular on tv, um, yeah, but those are the ones my one list right now and yeah, so where you want to start with first, let's start with Cross. Yeah, let's start with Cross. My gosh, my gosh, my gosh.
Speaker 1:Um, what I love about Cross and most people didn't recognize that Alex Cross the character is traditionally a Black detective there were three prior movies, two of which Morgan Freeman played Alex Cross and the third one Tyler Perry. That was one of two roles that I remember where he's not in drag and it's not a Tyler Perry movie. So it was that one and he was in Star Trek. But what I love about this iteration of Alex Cross is that Tyler Perry's portrayal and Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Alex Cross Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Alex Cross they leaned more on his forensic psychology side, whereas in this series they were masterful and able to capture him as a detective and you almost like, oh wait, yeah, he does forensic psychology, whereas in the movies you almost forgot he was a detective in the movies you almost forgot he was a detective. You thought of him as the forensic psychologist first, as Dr Alex Cross versus in the Amazon Prime.
Speaker 1:It was a lot of action. It was like he's a police guy, he's a detective, but he got the little brain skills. So I really loved it. I think Aldous Hodge was perfect the first five 10 minutes of episode one. You got it locked. We're not going to tell nobody about it, you just have to experience it. And it was just like you know, like any Jamaican person. After the scene done, you go boop, boop, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes, I was definitely hooked. I had to watch the, the whole thing. I couldn't like stop watching it. I just had to get through it.
Speaker 1:We watched it and then, um, for Thanksgiving, you know the usual thing about what are we watching. So I told my sister-in-law like, okay, this is what we're gonna watch. Started watching it all over again, right, because after we were six episodes in, started watching it again Thanksgiving night into the next day. Don't watch the series, and I mean I don't know about you, but when we are watch, sure we're gonna pause it. All right. How much minutes left? All right, all right, you know, cause you figure out what's gonna happen at the end of this episode. And a lot of times yo, like Nico, was so emotive through this whole series Like yo, what kind of little box that our little cut, that stab up the kid is like.
Speaker 2:It makes sense because it's like a, it's a family mystery as well as he's solving for another case at the same time. So that's what I, that's what I I really liked. I've heard of the previous movies and I think I caught a glimpse of the tyler perry one, like one time when someone else was watching it. Um, if I'm not mistaken, uh, cecily tyson played his mom in that. I don't remember that, but the one no, I don't remember that. Maybe.
Speaker 1:Maybe it's not that, maybe I'm mixing up um so the one with morgan freeman, ashley, judd, because it was kiss the girls and along came the spider, okay, um. So I I remember those, like I I loved watching it.
Speaker 2:It was just like wow um, so those weren't called alex cross, the one with Morgan Freeman.
Speaker 1:No, but Morgan Freeman's character is Alex. Cross but the movie is called. I don't remember which came first Kiss the Girl and Along Came the Spider. So they were kind of like sequels, I just don't remember which one came first, got it, got it, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I like that they had two kind of mysteries going on at the same time. I'm pretty sure you thought you had it figured out early. Was it who you expected in the end? Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Well, well, not All right, I don't think it's clear what happened with the family, but for the whole thing, before we even knew the face of the killer, we watched it. I would say it's Tom, and, and so my niece was like who's Tom? Mr Tom from Reddington, from Blacklist. From the minute we saw his face because I don't know did, he was in Blacklist and so he played Reddington's daughter.
Speaker 2:If we make it less, complicated, so once you see him, you associated him with a previous role that he played.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he was very sneaking and we just immediately looked at him and said if Tom in there, tom no good From his role in Reddington.
Speaker 2:I didn't think it was the person who it was until that person offered up their space for them to come stay. I was like that's a little.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, no, no, no. That's when we all said yeah, and then she's like oh, there's no.
Speaker 2:I thought it was. I did think it was someone close to him, but I thought it was someone different for a completely different reason.
Speaker 1:Where you thought that person was involved. That's when all of us was like my sister-in-law, my quarter. What a way she convenient, I thought miss it. What a way she convenient, I thought, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And then the place now have no wi-fi, no nothing, and a desk of your one go I don't, I'm like now you, you were better off keeping your kids close to you at that point. Um, but me never like when I'm dealing with him, friend or you remember?
Speaker 1:he is the guy who used to be the old spice um spokesman.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It was an interesting series.
Speaker 2:When they got face-to-face like this, I was like and the girl, the short black girl, was like you guys go to your corners. She was just trying to fill them up. It was so funny. Definitely a good series and especially if you enjoy like murder mystery type and even even the serial killer that they were solving. I mean, I picked that up pretty early too, but I'm just like who?
Speaker 1:You know that the black guy as a serial killer is fictional. There's no such serial killer as the black guy they made him up for.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:The partner?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, which partner? No, well, he was a partner to the other serial killer. Huh, so the white guy and the black guy? That's what you're talking about. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:So remember the first kill that we know was Amir, whatever Right.
Speaker 2:That wasn't the killer, he was the victim.
Speaker 1:He was the victim. But what I'm saying? The actual killer who he's mirroring is not an actual serial killer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no. I didn't, I didn't know that, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a made up serial killer, but all the other serial killers are real serial killers. Yes, oh, ok, ok, that one. They made him up and made him fictional for the show, but I didn't even realize that those were real serial killers yes, they were all okay, all right yeah um
Speaker 1:I realize yeah, you know, like when we don't watch movie, we involve, we invested, we want to know who else in it but the other thing I noticed it's like thriller seasons. Almost everything that's out right now is categorized as a thriller, because even the madness which we watched it's considered a thriller. But as I was watching it, I was like the girl you look familiar, right? So the main character it's um, what's his name?
Speaker 2:Domingo Huh, the X-Y, not the X -Y, the X-Yy. So did you watch the madness I started, while I'm like two episodes in all, right, so the x wife with with our blonde here yeah, yeah, she's in a lot of movies. She's the mother and brother yes, she is.
Speaker 1:she is the good, good up Jamaican actress who is in Brother and also the director of at least four of the episodes, and producer is the same producer from Brother. Got it Big up to the Jamaican them Big up, clap for them, clap for them. One girl with her blood on her shantier Clap for them.
Speaker 2:And you know, yes, I love Domingo. I think he's such a great talent and I've watched him on Fear of the Walking Dead for a while and his character has been so interesting in terms of his development, so I've liked him since watching that series, yeah. And then I've seen him in other things. We've talked about a few projects that he's been in. So, yeah, I'm still watching the Madness, so don't give it away.
Speaker 1:I started the Jackal that have Lashana in there. Lashana works with MI6 or something like that. Oh, okay, it's been interesting. I'm not done watching it. I needed a break from all of the thrillers because you know, it's all of this suspense. It's like Lord, make me watch it. Oh God, you know you anticipate the move when they come. Look how they're going to get chopped, look how they're going to get Like. I just need a break from anticipating what will happen. But I've also been enjoying Dune Prophecy.
Speaker 2:Is that a series?
Speaker 1:It's a series, a spin-off series from Dune. It's about the women Bene Gesserit, women who can do all sorts of things, so I've enjoyed that.
Speaker 2:I haven't seen dune, but I've. It's like a sci-fi, isn't it like a trilogy, a sci-fi trilogy, and then they did a spin-off.
Speaker 1:I have I know it's three, so there's two oh, there's one, and the movies came out one and two. Okay, um, there's probably something else, but then this series, dune, prophecies a spinoff just following this particular group of women.
Speaker 2:Listen, people just extend the content. All which we is the storyline is long.
Speaker 1:Then we have Martha.
Speaker 2:Martha, martha, as we call her. What did you think? What did you?
Speaker 1:think it was interesting. I think I think what they did in the preview was show that that one line where he's like if a man cheats on you he's stupid and all of this stuff right. But I'm like Martha, you're just done. Married a man a year, kiss one stranger in a duomo. You're not think I give bun. You give the man bun. She didn't think that that was cheating. She didn't think that was cheating. I didn't feel nothing.
Speaker 2:I was like what you mean?
Speaker 1:you have to feel nothing. You're not supposed to do it, period like what but the?
Speaker 2:the funniest part was when she was talking about divorcing her husband and the and she had been dating somebody and she was still married. And then the guy was like, I guess the husband, the husband doesn't appear in the documentary, but the funniest part is she was just like, yeah, but I didn't do anything that would have jeopardized my marriage.
Speaker 1:Huh, I was just like what.
Speaker 2:Same thing. I was like left, I wouldn't have left, and I felt betrayal because it was somebody that was next door that I put up. I not, I not, I not.
Speaker 1:Bonar, I not Bonar, I not Bonar. Yeah yeah, I not put up on anybody. Yeah yeah, you're moving somebody upon your property and while you're upon your property, them are boogie-oogie down the road like you know, but proximity, proximity yeah she, she kissed. First of all, she's up on her honeymoon, left the man in the hotel room going to the duomo but like, oh you know, it was just such a experience.
Speaker 2:I was just like what really get this emotionally moved over?
Speaker 1:art no, no, like. So that was one. Then she's like yeah, I met this irish man and you know he was just you know he was handsome he was just handsome. I wasn't gonna break up my marriage for him, you know, yeah, yeah, but you still get the man. Bon, what are you talking about?
Speaker 2:yeah, that was. That was funny. I also didn't realize you know she was the uh, first female to have a company on new york stock exchange, um, and then I think we kind of talk about um branding all the time. It's just like I don't know that her brand would have been successful without her tied to it. I also wasn't aware of the insider trading case, like what exactly it was, and I do feel like they wanted to use her as a scapegoat a bit to kind of like.
Speaker 2:Like Martha's personal life was probably like a hot mess, right, and I don't think that she shied away from that. But as a business person she had a lot. She had a lot to go through with being one of the few and the first and I do give her credit for that and she kind of did it with just this Like I think the the the part where they're showcasing her personality. I think she had a difficult personality to work with because she was like why would you use this small knife to cut this big thing? And it reminded me of when you're in Jamaica, my dad tell you if you do something and you do it and you're not doing it the way, she want you to do it and you do it wrong, and you're like it's just want you to do it and y'all do it wrong because? And you're like it's just a knife, it doesn't matter, but no, this is the proper knife, you for you.
Speaker 1:So I just brought yeah, I went to the garden. She's like listen, you got to go down there.
Speaker 1:You know it's called reading out like yes, but she said it right she's like her father liked her because she was so much like the father exact, yes and exact. But also that level of exactness played a role in her success. And I think someone said, like a man, if she was a man it wouldn't have been a problem. It's because she was a woman being yes that way it became a problem. But also I was as Sonika and I was watching it and I was like I remember this era because I moved back from college and I was working on Broadway and Bleeker and the Kmart was at Astor Place and we would go up there and everything was Martha Stewart living and I remember maybe at one point I applied for a job at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. So I was very aware of what that meant. But I think what was more insightful was, you know of the time she was at school and she said the girl was driving at the Rolls Royce, just go up and say I think you should date my brother.
Speaker 1:So I did really go back in like that simple, was that simple and then her really deciding to to go up to Turkey Hill and, you know, redo everything and you know how she was shut out because she was making her stuff too cheap at Kmart and all of these things. So it was just. It was just very interesting to see that side of it as well. But also, I think, her rebranding herself with Snoop. It was just like even the other day when I was watching the Voice, you know, she came out there with some some version of some eggnog drink and she's like, yeah, snoop doesn't do eggnog, he does like gin and juice or something like that. So everybody else get that.
Speaker 1:That's actually my special thing for Snoop. But also, just, you know how them being opposites have worked. And I think, if anything, there are lessons you can learn from Martha Understanding that Martha Stewart is our brand, and I can see that in the example Remember, we were reading that article with Bobbi Brown and the makeup and how Bobbi Brown now can't even use her own name on products because she sold the brand. So I think these are just very, for us geeking out on business and stuff, just very interesting. Um, definitely a lot of lessons.
Speaker 2:Yeah, even, um, what was interesting, like you were talking about, she could have went upscale, or I think she didn't perceive herself as like this upscale person she did. I love how they described what she did as simple, like every accessible, like she uses flowers from her garden for her tablescape. It's not that, but she knows how to grow a garden and so, essentially, while it looks like this beautiful, extravagant, and we now live in the opulence and the luxury of having people set up you know, extravagant birthday and event planning and that sort of thing, it was really women who were entertaining their husbands, families, their wives, I mean their significant others and people in the neighborhood, and that's how a lot of this decor really came about and she really built a business off of that and I think to me she didn't come across and even I knew her brand. It was very simple and very basic.
Speaker 2:So, while other people um, kind of had her at this perfectionism thing, it's just like, just cause she wants to eat at a really nice table, does it make her perfect? You know, like they gave, they gave her this perception that she thought she had to live up to, and it's very telling because we now live in an age with social media, where people thinking that they have to be perfect and always on in order to appeal to a massive and really like it says something about us as society and in our reflection of that successful person and what she's bringing to the table, that she never saw herself as perfect, but her, her community saw her as that way and she had to kind of feel like she had to live up to that.
Speaker 1:I have another angle. I think you know what she did and how she did it. Some people are like, oh my God, that's good, I would like to do that. And some people thought of it as a deficiency on their part that they're not able to do this and like I'm not trying to be a mother's daughter, I don't care what she wants to do, like I'm not trying to and I don't think of myself less as a woman because I don't grow my own flowers or I don't grow my own herb or whatever in my backyard. I don't think of myself less as a woman because I don't think of myself that way.
Speaker 1:From the comments and the press I can see how people feel like how she does things make them feel less about themselves, and it doesn't have to be someone on the level of Martha Stewart. This could be in your everyday life. If you're good at something or you do something very well, you feel like you know you and I have heard it in mommy blogging right, we've seen it how you know moms are able to do all of these things. And for working moms you're like but it doesn't make me less of a mom. So it's whatever insecurities people are dealing with? Yeah, I thought it was, but it doesn't make me less of a mom, so it's whatever insecurities people are dealing with. Yeah, I thought it was a little short, but you know, martha going to prison and schooling people, martha know how to make something out of it.
Speaker 2:She's a apparently I make something out of it, you know what I mean. Like that, that was her story. She was always making some and she always had that thought process of hey, she was always making some and she always had that thought process of hey, you know, she was a risk taker in that, in that regard, and she kind of paved the way, unbeknownst to her really, for a lot of women in media and in the influencing space. And I enjoyed it. Martha's hilarious.
Speaker 1:I could see why her and Snoop get along yeah, but also the relationship with the last guy was like, yeah, you know yo he just like stopped talking to her when she went to prison. Yeah, it was just like I found that interesting.
Speaker 2:I found that interesting, oh, yeah, yeah, her relationships are just very interesting alright, so switching gears, reels, radar.
Speaker 1:What are you looking forward to? New seasons are. Come out, make a list.
Speaker 2:I'm looking forward to Get Millie Black. I have been purposely ignoring anything that in my timeline so that I can listen and and watch with fresh eyes, but that's high on my radar. Well, that's the only one I got.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But also by the time, by the time, by the time this comes out, get Millie black.
Speaker 1:We'll be our next. It's going to be already done, yeah, yeah. So we'll be our next review.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I don't, it's going to be already done. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it will be our next review, so yeah, I don't, I don't have anything that far out. Yeah, so my list is run the list, your list is long. Yeah, harlem is. By the time this this come out, harlem season three is probably going to be out. Survival of the thickest is coming out soon. Also, by the time this airs, dr watson is going to be out with maurice chestnut and I'm excited because I really liked him in rosewood where he played beaumont rosewood where he played the the autopsy doctor, yeah and they were based in miami.
Speaker 1:So I really like maurice chestnutnut in these detective type roles. I think he does them very well. And then Cross Season 2 is already locked in for November 2025. And I'm hoping we can get this to 2025, but I don't think it's going to happen. Reasonable Doubt Season 3.
Speaker 2:I don't think we're going to get it in 2025.
Speaker 1:I don't know the dates for those? Yeah, but for Cross we definitely know, because-.
Speaker 2:Is it in the works? It's 2025?
Speaker 1:Yeah because, from what I understand, they renewed it for season two before season one was even done, and so season two is November 2025. When I told Nico, I said it makes sense. You never tell me at all. I'm like, okay, dr Watson, by the time this year is, dr Watson might be already out. That's slated for January 26th, harlem is also January, and Survival of the Thickest may be a spring release. Okay, yeah, so that's what I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, of course, get Millie Black by the time this airs. I've already watched it. I've been very disciplined and we're going to have a guest for that, because she texts me and everybody texts me. They're like hello, mawarika, this is Nol. I'm going to say you can join Michaela and I I won't spoil it for the audience Just tune in to that review and you will see this person has been on the show before.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we're excited about Get Millie Black. So this is what we've been watching, this is what we're looking forward to and, um, we're hoping for the next review, you know, which is Get Millie Black. So if you haven't watched it yet we're on, go watch it so you can keep up with we hunting and then let us know what you thought about the other shows that we've watched. You know, are you watching them? Have you watched them? You should watch them. I, I mean cross, come on, watch it, my gosh watch it, and watch it with friends. You know, watch it by yourself. You know, cross is the type of thing where you want to watch with a whole heap of people.
Speaker 2:If you watch with a lot of people, you have to rewind a lot too. No, because you have to miss certain parts, because people are chatting, chatting, chatting through the whole thing.
Speaker 1:No, no, In our household we pause. That's why it takes so long.
Speaker 2:You're probably on the trigger finger. Yes, because when somebody says something, you pause it.
Speaker 1:Listen, any little movement. Even if they open the crackers bag, you know they're going to pause it. Hurry up and fold up the bag and lock it and one person that control the pause lock it. You're done. You're like, all right, good, and the other thing we have to be doing now is watching it with the closed caption. Because you say, because I realized that, depending on the platform, the volume just modulates like yeah, big swings, like what am I saying? And then when the ads chippy and then load, and then you have to turn it down and when the show come back on you have to book the show. I'm just like we need to, we need to figure out how I place and normalize this volume across the show and the ads. Then what am I wrong? But that's a whole other story.
Speaker 1:But let us know what you've been watching anything on. We didn't say that you think we should watch. We don't watch things up on TV, but we're not calling. Maybe we'll do a TV edition. No, I don't really watch TV. No, when I mean TV, this season of Abbott Elementary, you know I've been watching that. That's the only thing I watch. Yeah, and I've watched the new Matlock, but Dr Watson, matlock return.
Speaker 1:It's an interesting twist on Matlock. So yeah, as soon as he murdered Sherwood, because Dr Watson is a TV series that's going to be on CBS. So you know, it's going to be interesting. So, yeah, alright, and so that was it. That's what we've been watching the winter edition, we'll have a spring edition and you'll hear whatever else come out. Right, tete and alright until next time later.
Speaker 2:Bye guys.
