Open Tabs

This episode was a journey! After three attempts at uploading we are finally able to share this review of the 1992 Eddie Murphy and Reginald Hudlin classic (regardless of what the critics said at the time!) Boomerang. Robin Givens and Halle Berry light the screen up and David Alan Grier and Martin Lawrence bring the comedy along with a young Chris Rock and a screen chewing John Witherspoon. Our sp...

The hits keep on coming y'all. As the temperature rises and we approach the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by Derrick Chauvin it's about the time for us to discuss Spike Lee's finest work, 1989's Do The Right Thing. One day in the lives of a group of New Yorkers of various walks of life that becomes increasingly tense as the day goes on. Stellar performances by Ossie Davis, Giancarlo Es...

At #theopentabspodcast we know that there are movies we love and then there are movies that are beloved. This film falls into the latter category. They teach elements of this movie in B school. Eddie Murphy's second film, filmed while he was 21 years old no less, is Trading Places. It teams he and John Landis for the first time and costars Dan Akroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis and it holds up amazingly...

On this episode of #theopentabspodcast we have our very first returning guest. Like Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn in Major League, our man Reese Hendrix, proprietor of SurlyShirts.com joins us to talk about the cultural phenomenon that is 1995's Waiting To Exhale. Forest Whitaker's feature film debut starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon and a KILLER soundtrack prod...

On this episode of #theopentabspodcast we uncork our favorite bottle of wine and take a trip up the coast of California to Santa Barbara and head over the hitching post to discuss Alexander Payne's 2004 film Sideways. Starring the great Paul Giamatti (snubbed by oscar!!!), Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh, and Virginia Madsen; this film deals in all sorts of "adult themes". Anxiety, wine, duplicity,...

We return on #theopentabspodcast ​ with a very special guest tonight our dear Morehouse Brother In Arms, Faraji Whalen, to discuss one of our favorite films. On this episode we discuss the action classic, 1989's Road House. Directed, in Raj's words, "by a man named Rowdy Herrington" Road House holds up amazingly well and leave it to Raj to make a quite cogent argument about how before it's time th...

On this episode of #theopentabspodcast we cover Michael Bay's Feature Debut starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, 1995's Bad Boys. Mike Lowrey and fake Mike Lowrey's adventures protecting a Kar...I'm sorry a witness to a horrific drug related crime. Family and procedural buddy cop hijinks ensue. Also featuring the great Joe Pantoliano, Theresa Randle, and the aforementioned Tea Leoni, this film...

It's been a long time....okay so it was only a week off but #theOpenTabsPodcast is back with a new episode. A little different from our norm. Tonight we start out talking a bit about the tragic loss to the culture with the death of Dark Man X, Earl Simmons. Then we spend the bulk of the show discussing a favorite "hot take" of Calvin's. We talk about whether the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has age...

On this edition of #theopentabspodcast we cover the GRANDADDY OF THEM ALL. Francis Ford Coppola's epic story of family and the descent into corruption, The Godfather. Universally loved and agreed upon as one of the best films of all time, The Godfather had a ton at stake and came through when it was absolutely needed. Let us know your thoughts as we discuss this beloved film. Like us, rate us, rev...

On this episode of #TheOpenTabsPodcast we welcome our special guest Christian Nwachukwu Jr. to talk about one of our all time favorite television shows, a show that was revolutionary, HBO's monumental mob saga, The Sopranos. We talk about just about everything (except Pine Barrens...oops...hot take it was overrated). It's our longest episode yet, so listen or watch on 1.5X if you must, but you mus...

Tonight we react to the announcement of the nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards. And yes we wore tuxes because why wouldn't we! Tonight we have our Morehouse (2000) brother and award winning writer and director and executive director of Ghetto Film School; Chicago's own Derrick Cameron joining us to talk all things Oscars. We talk about snubs this year and snubs all time. We talk about our most m...

We are doing a 2 for 1 tonight and Chinatown is our film for film buffs! A true classic in every sense of the word, Roman Polanski’s 1974 masterpiece starring Jack Nicholson is perfectly made. Featuring a great plot twist (and we DO spoil it so you’ve been warned if you listen without seeing the movie) and a truly deplorable villain, Chinatown is essential viewing. And yes it does continue Calvin’...

We love surprising you all with pop up episodes and what better movie to surprise you with than one of the most beloved hood classics, Mario Van Peebles 1991 Classic starring Wesley Snipes, Ice T, and Chris Rock; New Jack City. We can’t believe it’s been 30 years! It still holds up! We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed talking about it. Like us, subscribe, rate, and review. Check out our You...

Note we had some technical difficulties with this episode toward the end. Thanks for bearing with us! Tonight we tackle Michael Mann’s classic 1995 film Heat! We discuss it all from the face off between Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro to the straight ROBBERY of the film when award season rolled around. We were bound to finally run into some technical issues but even still this is a great one! Like and...

On this episode we bring in a very special guest, one of Calvin's Med School classmates and fellow cinephiles, Dr. Geoff Jones, to talk about Quentin Tarantino's third film, 1997's Jackie Brown. This ode to blaxploitation slash minor heist meets love story (maybe) gets the deep dive it deserves. From the performances (which didn't get enough award love) to the dialogue itself to the music to the l...

Okay everyone buckle up, because this is a long one! No one is going to cover A Different World like #TheOpenTabsPodcast is going to cover A Different World, we guarantee it! Join Joe and Calvin as we discuss the show that introduced so many of us to college life. For many of us, the very reason we attended the colleges we attended. We talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of A Different Worl...

We've been anticipating this episode for a long long time. One of our favorite Morehouse brothers and supporters of the show from day one, Reese Hendrix the man behind the viral shirts at surlyshirts.com joins us to talk about John Singleton's 4th film, 2001's Baby Boy starring Tyrese Gibson, Taraji P Henson, Ving Rhames, and Omar Gooding. We talk about everything you think we'll talk about from L...

Season 2 is going to go down in history and speaking of history it’s Black History Month and we are starting with a bang on #TheOpenTabsPodcast . Joe and Calvin discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s initially maligned, probably underrated, and MASTERFULLY redone, The Cotton Club: Encore. The original release has so much history behind it, kidnapping and murder (sorry Reese we didn’t mention that), you na...

Today we have a special surprise episode just for Groundhog Day with a true Groundhogger Joe’s Brother Jordan Carlos, on his birthday no less!! Join us as we discuss another Bill Murray classic! Sometimes we get spontaneous! Like us, rate us, review us and subscribe! Let us know what you think!!

On this edition of The Open Tabs Podcast, Joe and Calvin house the party. We go ALL the way in on Reginald Hudlin’s 1990 Sundance Award winning teen classic, House Party. Starring Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Martin along with the late great Robin Harris, Tisha Campbell, Martin Lawrence, Full Force, former Miss Maroon and White A.J. Johnson, and even the OTHER A.J. Johnson (Ezell...

We are so excited about this one for so many reasons. First we are talking about a Wes Anderson film! Second we have a guest who is one of our favorite people on the planet Rev Dr John J Cox, our Morehouse brother and fellow cinephile and Wes Anderson devotee. Finally we make our YOUTUBE debut on this episode. We are excited to announce the Open Tabs Podcast has made it to video!! You can see Joe’...

Everybody we are back for the long awaited (1 day is a long time in the pandemic) episode on 2002’s Minority Report directed by the great Steven Spielberg and starring the incomparable Tom Cruise. The adaptation of Philip K Dick’s short story was a smash hit and we talk all about this game changing Sci Fi neo-classic. Like us, rate us, review us, and subscribe. Tell a friend to tell a friend! We l...

We are back and we are so excited to expand our focus to another form of media! Our first episode about a television series and what a show to start with NBC’s The Office!! We switched the format up to handle this monster of a show, 9 seasons 201 episodes!! We give you all a comprehensive view of this CLASSIC sitcom! Also we are proud to present our Instagram page!!! @TheOpenTabsPodcast follow us!...

Happy Festivus! We hope you are enjoying your holiday season! We are back with Calvin’s favorite! 1983’s A Christmas Story which may actually be on a 24 hour loop right now! Right as soon as we published I remembered two things I forgot to mention! The fact that kids ACTUALLY DO SHOOT THEIR EYES OUT! Ralphie’s mom was right! And the battle over the leg lamp (let us have it Reese!!!). Otherwise it’...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas y’all!!! We finally got around to talking about a a movie featuring one of our shared favorite actors, the indomitable Bill Murray. Joe tells us all about why Scrooged is his favorite Christmas movie. Calvin slept on this movie initially but has a new found great appreciation for it! Enjoy this episode guys. Rate us review us like us and subscribe!!!