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Foreigna I'm back with a new mini episode of Pod Force One. This feature is a little more topical and relevant to my day job as a columnist for the New York Post. Today I have some fun teasing the nasty, know it all movie critics about the fact that despite their best efforts, the First Lady's documentary Melania has had a record breaking box office haul in its opening weekend. Out there in the real America, the audience just loves it. I also delve into the hidden messages and serious intent in the lavishly produced movie. In a big blow to the Trump deranged community, Melania Trump's eponymous movie knocked the lights out on its opening weekend. It came in at number three overall, and its $8 million box office takings in three days is almost unheard of for a documentary. Melania is crushing it on Rotten Tomatoes too, with a 99% audience score on the Popcornometer, easily besting the sneering critics 10% on the Tomatometer ratings like everything to do with Donald Trump's two presidencies. Whatever the leftist media's opinion, the American public thinks the opposite. The inverse media ometer is one of the most reliable gauges of public sentiment in this country. To say that Melania is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies, sniffed the Hollywood Reporter. Variety called the movie a shameless infomercial. The first lady is a quote preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda, snarled the Independent. The Guardian trashed the movie as gilded trash and and two hours of pure endless hell. Huh? Haters gonna hate. But that's not what the 99% said in hundreds of glowing audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Absolute class act documentary, wrote Glynis. Highly, highly recommend. Such a pleasure to see real class return to the White House, wrote Deborah T. She is so classy, passionate and truly the most accomplished woman and first lady ever, wrote Susan. A view of the FLOTUS that the network media and national publications refused to acknowledge, wrote Kevin. Melania Trump is circumspect, a useful quality to have in Slovenia while it withered within the repressive Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, wrote the legal Aid. But perhaps equally valuable in today's political landscape. It was absolutely wonderful to finally see some of the wonderful things our first lady has been involved with on, or even initiated, wrote Robyn. Would not see that on mainstream media. End quote. The lavishly filmed scenes of Melania take us behind the scenes of the First Lady's life in the 20 days leading up to the inauguration. We See inside the gilded walls of Mar A Lago and Trump Tower, a whirl of limos and private jets as the first lady glides inscrutably between Palm Beach, New York and Washington, D.C. occasionally we see a flash of private quarters, like the dressing room off the bedroom at Mar A Lago where Joe Biden's DOJ sent FBI agents to rummage through her underwear drawer. Melania doesn't mention that unfortunate incident, although no doubt it was on her mind when she allowed the cameras in. You also see a little of the pokey living room of the White House residents upstairs from the grandeur of the staterooms, she beckons the camera into the tiny kitchen at 2am After a whirlwind of inaugural balls, staff can be seen pulling a dinner from the fridge for the new president to eat. As Trump heads out of the living room, presumably to enjoy his meal in private, he jokes to the camera before saying goodnight. She's very difficult, but there's nobody like her, he says. Then he laughs and says she's not too difficult. Melania laughs while she maintains the disciplined poker face of the model she once was. In every close up, when she's interacting with other people, especially her husband, you get a glimpse of a warmer, less foreboding person. The first couple hold hands and he sings her praises. She represents the country so beautifully, he says at one point, griping that she doesn't get enough credit. The documentary comes across more like a lush extended music video with crowd favorites like the Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter, which underscores the opening scene, a close up of Melania's floral stilettos as she clip clops across marble floors. From a woman who curates every aspect of her life down to the finest detail, there's no doubting she wants us to take Mick Jagger's words literally. Ew, a storm is threatening my very life today as she steps into a limo en route to her new life as first lady the second time around. Like her husband, Melania seems to like to communicate through music. In one droll segment, the soundtrack switches to opera as the Trumps escort the Bidens out of the White House to the departing helicopter on Inauguration Day as Marine One lifts off with the Trumps, watching the rousing overture of Giacchino Rossini's opera La Gazza Ladra has has a clear message in English. The title is the Thieving Magpie. No accident there. Aside from the in jokes and glamorous scenes, there is serious intent in the movie over footage of Donald Trump swearing in at the Capitol, melania says. People wanted to murder him, incarcerate him and slander him, and here he is. I'm so proud. The camera pans to her standing nearby with two Bibles, tall and strong in a severe dark navy coat dress and matching flat brimmed hat that shades her eyes. The outfit is unmistakably an armour she has donned to signal that things are different. This time she won't be trifled with, as she was in Trump's first term when the media buzzed with nasty leaks from her office and vicious commentary about everything from her clothes to her Christmas decorations. She worked hard to do everything right, but nothing suited the media. The portrayal of Melania was that she was either a trapped princess desperate to escape a loveless marriage, or a Slovenian gold digger with a shady past who shared her husband's vile worldview. As if to rub it in, the minute a Frumpia first lady arrived in the form of Jill Biden, they fawned over her and put her on the COVID of Vogue four times. Melania withstood the insults stoically, never complaining, never explaining until now. Her riposte is this movie, a manicured middle finger to her media tormentors who were wrong about everything. She decided to take full control of her image and present herself to the American public in a way that showcases the dignity and grandeur of the Office while casting her in a positive light. While theaters in Manhattan and LA might have been empty, there were sold out crowds in Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Miami, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Las Vegas and Cleveland over the weekend. And they loved what they saw, with Deadline reporting that exit reports for Melania are a on CinemaScore, 5 stars on screen engine, post track and an 89% definite recommend quote unheard of for any movie, says deadline. The first lady made a reported 20 million plus from Amazon for her input, and she has launched a personal brand which likely is worth many multiples of that in the future. You can tut tut all you like about the commodification of the Office, but those eyeballs which are lapping up every moment of Melania could have been had for free by the news media if they had not been so unjust to her. Melania is their just desserts. Don't forget to come back this Wednesday for the latest episode of Pod Force 1 when we speak to Paul Atkins, the crypto crusader who's shaking up Wall street in his role as chairman of the securities and Exchange Commission. I hope you can tune in and have a wonderful, Sam.