MOVIE MIKE: 2026 Oscar Predictions, Snubs and Surprises + Movie Review: Mercy + Trailer Park: Crime 101

Summary

The Bobby Bones Show: Movie Mike's Podcast

Episode: 2026 Oscar Predictions, Snubs & Surprises + Movie Review: Mercy + Trailer Park (Crime 101)

Date: January 31, 2026
Host: Movie Mike (Mike D)
Co-Host: Kelsey

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Episode Overview

This special episode centers on Movie Mike and Kelsey's lively breakdown of the 2026 Oscar nominations, including in-depth predictions, passionate debates over snubs and surprises, and personal picks. The episode also features a spoiler-free review of “Mercy” starring Chris Pratt, and a deep dive into the new trailer for “Crime 101.” The tone is energetic, candid, and deeply nerdy about film, filled with pop culture references and light-hearted banter.

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Main Segments & Timestamps

• [02:14] Oscars 2026: Predictions, Snubs & Surprises
• [38:20] Spoiler-Free Movie Review: “Mercy”
• [48:20] Trailer Park: “Crime 101”

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1. Oscars 2026: Predictions, Snubs & Surprises

[02:14 – 38:20]

Setting the Scene

• Mike and Kelsey record during a snowy Friday night, joking about their storm prep and Kelsey’s recent (not serious) driveway injury.
• They share excitement for one of the “strongest classes” of Oscar Best Picture nominees ever (since 2019), and the variety among the nominated films.

Best Picture

[04:45]
Nominees:
Begonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Train Dreams

• Mike: Praises the broad representation, especially the inclusion of both commercially successful hits ("F1," "Sinners").
  • "Was it the most novel movie? No, but was it really good and had Brad Pitt, great director, and people actually watched it." — Movie Mike [05:14]
• Snubs:
  • “Weapons,” “K Pop Demon Hunters”, “Sorry Baby” — all cited for huge cultural or box office impact, notably absent. Wicked also not nominated.
  • "K Pop Demon Hunters should have been nominated... best picture defines the year." — Movie Mike [06:15]
• Picks:
  • Mike predicts "One Battle After Another" will win: "It crushed at the Golden Globes... it also has the best team." [07:06]
  • Kelsey leans toward “Hamnet” for its “likability” and strong press tour [07:32].
  • Both would love to see “Sinners” win for its underdog story.

Best Actor

[08:24]
Nominees: Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Wagner Moura (Secret Agent)

• Notable Moment: Michael B. Jordan earns first nomination; heartwarming story about calling his mom [08:38].
• Mike predicts: Timothée Chalamet wins for central, “movie-defining” performance in Marty Supreme.
  • "Without Timothée Chalamet as Marty Supreme, that movie would not have the same impact." — Movie Mike [09:25]
• Kelsey: Wants Michael B. Jordan to win for playing two roles.
• Surprise: The Rock (“The Smashing Machine”) snubbed; Mike says “he did it just for the Oscar nom” [09:57].

Best Actress

[10:58]
Nominees: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song, Song Blue), Renata Reinsve (Sentimental Value), Emma Stone (Begonia)

• Both agree — “Easiest category.” Jessie Buckley is the clear winner for “Hamnet”.
  • "The emotional level of her performance in Hamnet is just... that's just instantly goes to her." — Movie Mike [11:34]
• Surprise: Kate Hudson's nomination for Song, Song Blue.

Best Supporting Categories

• Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro tipped for “One Battle After Another” – especially for a “limited but memorable” role and the “pulled over” scene [14:04].
• Supporting Actress:
  • Tough call. Mike’s pick: Elle Fanning for “Sentimental Value”.
  • Kelsey’s pick: Teyana Taylor (“One Battle...”).
  • Noted: Sentimental Value may “split the vote” with two nominees.

Best Director

[15:53]

• Mike wants Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”) to win, but predicts Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”). Kelsey tips Chloe Zhao (“Hamnet”).
• Discussion about the differences in Oscar strategy (“best speech” potential, campaigning).

Other Categories: Highlights

• Best Animated Feature: If “K Pop Demon Hunters does not win, we riot.” — Mike [17:51]
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Mike: “Frankenstein,” Kelsey: “Hamnet” (better than the book)
• Best International Film: Sentimental Value tipped; huge snub for “No Other Choice” [20:20].
• Costume and Makeup: Frankenstein is favorite in both categories; Mike says of “Avatar: Fire and Ash”: "That should not be in this category." [23:24]
• Visual Effects: "Easily Avatar... the movie was really good looking. Visually stunning, thematically boring." — Movie Mike [25:43]
• Cinematography: Both pick “Train Dreams” for its stunning 4:3 visuals and color grading. Mike: "You could take any single frame of Train Dreams and put it on your wall." [28:19]
• Best Original Song: If “Golden” (K Pop Demon Hunters) doesn’t win, “they have to go 2 for 2 for me to be satisfied.” — Mike [30:17]
• Best Casting (new category): Mike: “Marty Supreme” for unique mix of A-listers and viral personalities; Kelsey: “Hamnet” for the brothers and child actor’s performance.

Notable Snubs & Surprises

[33:17]

• Actors: Chase Infinity (“One Battle…”), Paul Mescal, George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Noah Baumbach
• Films shut out: J. Kelly, Superman, Sorry Baby, Materialists, After the Hunt, Wicked for Good, Kiss of the Spider Woman (J.Lo), Demon Slayer, Knives On Mystery, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
• "A clear Oscar bait movie not get any Oscars. Crazy." — Kelsey [33:49]

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2. Spoiler-Free Movie Review: “Mercy”

[38:20 – 48:20]

Premise: Chris Pratt plays a detective accused of murdering his wife. In a near-future “AI judge” scenario, he has 90 minutes to prove his innocence before being executed in his interrogation chair.

Key Review Points

• Elevator Pitch Gone Wrong:
  • "You can have a great elevator pitch... but sometimes that is a sign of a bad movie.” [38:59]
• Structure Issues:
  • Largely set in one room (“bottle episode”), reminiscent of TV-saving tactics rather than cinematic brilliance.
• Acting:
  • Chris Pratt's performance is the only redeeming element.
  • "If you did not have him in that chair with his acting abilities, it would have been so much worse." — Movie Mike [39:55]
  • Supporting cast “terribly written.”
• AI Concept:
  • “Rebecca Ferguson did a pretty good job, but... I found a lot of flaws.”
  • The AI judge premise falls apart: “She wasn’t acting, in my opinion, robotic enough. Nothing about that system made me think it was so advanced.” [40:14]
• Predictable, Poorly Written:
  • “So many things easily teed up... You knew it wasn’t going to go that way.”
  • Movie is “so predictable I had it within the first 10 minutes.” [40:39]
• Budget Versus Creativity:
  • “A Black Mirror episode cost 10% of that and I could watch the worst Black Mirror episode and leave with much more of an impact than I did leaving watching Mercy.” [41:40]
• Final Verdict:
  • “Don’t go see this movie in theaters. It is not worth your time.”
  • “For Mercy, I give it two out of five trials.” [43:43]

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3. Trailer Park: “Crime 101” — First Impressions

[48:20 – ~59:00]

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan
Plot: Heist thriller, Hemsworth is a jewel thief, Berry is disillusioned insurance broker, Ruffalo is a detective tracking the heists, Keoghan is the wild card.

Trailer Analysis

• Feels Familiar, But Still Tempting:
  • "Have you ever seen a trailer and thought, 'Man, I’ve seen this movie before'... but I still want to see it." — Movie Mike [48:43]
• Notable Quotes:
  • “You get Chris Hemsworth in a role that is not Thor. You get Halle Berry... it is an event.” [52:35]
• Red Flags:
  • Entire plot revealed in trailer, suggests “selling the sizzle more than the steak.”
  • “Second red flag… they are trying to sell you all these things up front.” [53:20]
• Comparisons:
  • Reminds Mike of Drive, Baby Driver, the Oceans movies, Heat, and The Place Beyond the Pines.
• MCU Connections:
  • Discusses Hemsworth and Ruffalo’s careers post-MCU and the difficulties of leaving the franchise behind.
• Big Screen Worthy?
  • Despite familiarity, the cast “gets you out to the theater,” especially Halle Berry, who only drops a major film every few years.
• Moderate Expectations, Still Excited:
  • “Even though this movie feels like it’s very familiar… I think it’s still going to be a good time at the theater, but I’m setting moderate expectations.” — Movie Mike [58:25]

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Notable Quotes (With Timestamps)

• “Best picture defines the year. I look back... and I think that is where we stood in culture in that year.” — Movie Mike [06:15]
• “Really cool for Michael B. Jordan to get his first nomination. I saw, like, he called his mom and they were crying.” — Movie Mike [08:38]
• “If K Pop Demon Hunters does not win, we riot.” — Movie Mike [17:51]
• “Elle Fanning... I think she wins. Which she is first time nominated. I think that would be huge for her.” — Movie Mike [15:39]
• “How do you nominate that movie for so many awards and have it not win?” — Movie Mike on Sinners [16:04]
• “You could take any single frame of Train Dreams and print it off and put it on your wall and it’s a great photo.” — Movie Mike [28:19]
• “Don’t go see this movie in theaters. It is not worth your time, especially if you’re thinking ‘I’m going to brave this storm’...” — Movie Mike [43:49]

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

• Mike and Kelsey are passionate, opinionated, and unafraid to challenge the Academy’s choices; they root for popular, genre, and animated films when warranted.
• The Oscar field is stronger and more culturally broad than in recent years; still, genre (horror, animation, anime) and some critical or box office hits get short shrift.
• "Mercy" is a letdown: a good premise, poorly executed, that wastes the potential of Chris Pratt and its central idea.
• “Crime 101” promises prime popcorn-heist action with a killer ensemble but might be too familiar; the cast alone will probably make it worthwhile.

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Additional Fun Moments

• Candid banter about theater accessibility: “Not even to rent sometimes or you’d have to buy it for like 20 bucks.” — Mike [29:18]
• Loving asides about costumes: “If you love costume design, you really love costume design.” — Mike [22:24]
• The trend of franchises and the challenge MCU stars face in “moving on,” including direct speculation on Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth’s next moves.

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For New Listeners

This episode offers a full sweep of expected Oscar winners, the biggest snubs, and the reasoning behind each pick—plus a spoiler-free review of one new movie (Mercy) and a preview of an upcoming heist film (Crime 101). It’s a comprehensive and opinionated Oscars primer, wrapped up in Movie Mike and Kelsey’s playful, candid style.

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For movie nerds, pop culture obsessives, and anyone making Oscar pool predictions: this episode is your ultimate cheat sheet.

Transcript

[Kelsey]

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[Movie Mike]

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[Nav Green]

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[Kelsey]

Whether it is getting swatted or just hateful messages online, there is a lot of harm and even just reading the comments.

[Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford]

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[Kelsey]

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[Movie Mike]

Hello and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I am your host, Movie Mike, joined by my wife and co host, Kelsey. How are you?

[Kelsey]

I'm great. We're recording this late on a Friday night before the snow.

[Movie Mike]

We are preparing for it. We're prepared. We were so prepared we are prepared.

[Kelsey]

I mean we don't have like a generator or anything. So we're prepared for every scenario.

[Movie Mike]

Except that we got a lot of snacks. We have so many snacks, beverages, coffee. We're good battery chargers, all the things.

[Kelsey]

Honestly shout out to my grandparents. They've given us a lot of like emergency weather gear. We have this like battery pack thing that's like so strong it could jump start a car.

[Movie Mike]

But we are here to talk about the Oscar nominations. I will give my predictions, surprises and snubs in the movie review. I went to go see before the Storm, the new Chris Pratt movie, Mercy.

[Kelsey]

Before the Storm is not the name in the movie. Before the Storm is when you went to see it. Can we also discuss what happened to me before the storm this week before our driveway is even icy?

[Movie Mike]

Yes, I.

[Kelsey]

So we have this weird driveway. It's like not a concrete. I think it's like an aggregate material is what my boss thinks it is. And it gets really slick when it rains. And so I was so careful all day. The day rained. I get back from working out and I step on the driveway wrong and I go down. I'm talking hard, like right on my elbow. I have no chance to like try to break my fall with anything. Elbow and tailbone. I come in like not fully sobbing. I think I came in pretty calm.

[Movie Mike]

Too calm.

[Kelsey]

It was the adrenaline picked me up and got me inside. And then I took a shower and cried the whole time and then I cried a lot after. My elbow's not broken. I did have to get it X rayed but it is like black and blue. Limited range of motion. Today was the first day I could like wash my hair again. But yeah, that's what I did this week. So I had to get my yearly X ray. And I say yearly cuz I have had to get an X ray every year for the past like 5 years cuz I injure myself.

[Movie Mike]

You're technically on the men now.

[Kelsey]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

Hasn't gotten worse, which is good.

[Kelsey]

Worse. My tailbone hurts too because I fell on that. So getting up, it's a bit difficult cuz I can only use like one arm. Anyways, I just needed to tell everyone.

[Movie Mike]

Be careful and then we'll wrap it up in the trailer park and talk about Chris Hemsworth's new movie Crime 101, which actually looks pretty good. Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being subscribed. Shout out to the Monday Morning Movie Crew. And now let's talk movies from the Nashville podcast. Network. This is Movie Mike's movie podcast. All right, we will get right into the list. Kelsey will read the category and the nominees and I'll give you my predictions. Let's kick it off with best picture.

[Kelsey]

All right, the nominees are Begonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme. One battle after another, Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners and Train Dreams.

[Movie Mike]

I love that there's a big variety this year.

[Kelsey]

Big variety.

[Movie Mike]

You have F1, which is. Well, Sinners did really well, but on top of that, another just really good, commercially successful movie that people have actually seen.

[Kelsey]

We were so surprised at how much we enjoyed that movie.

[Movie Mike]

Loved it. I'm glad that those movies get represented because is it the most novel movie? No, but was it really good and it had Brad Pitt, great director and people actually watched it.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

Sinners is right up there too, because a lot of people watch that movie too. And it's also just a really good movie. So you have some representation here. I do think there are some snubs. I would have liked to have seen Weapons, which also did really well, but. But probably in the eyes of the academy, not the most novel movie. They also have a hard time recognizing horror, which Sinners is all over the place. Has the most nominations of any movie now, which is awesome.

[Kelsey]

But there is some representation for Weapons later in the categories.

[Movie Mike]

Yes, there is, but I would have loved to have seen them for best picture. K Pop Demon Hunters, I also think should have been in this category. Massive movie, probably the biggest movie of the year just on streaming numbers alone. And impact as far as like just the culture, relevance, the song, everything.

[Kelsey]

I know multiple songs and I never watched the whole thing.

[Movie Mike]

I think that is worthy of a best picture because to me, best picture defines the year. I look back on the best picture winners and I think that is where we stood in culture in that year. K Pop Demon Hunters should have been nominated. Sorry Baby should have been nominated. I'm so fantastic movie. I was surprised not to see that there. And Wicked not getting anything.

[Kelsey]

Which is about to ask. Good. Remember when we all thought like Wicked didn't get like, oh, they're waiting until.

[Movie Mike]

They close us out.

[Kelsey]

Although I do think the first movie was better. Either was going to be nominated.

[Movie Mike]

I thought they would hold off until the whole thing was out. This is where you get your flowers. Did not get a nomin anything. That is crazy. But there are some really good nominees in there. I would say overall, probably the strongest class of nominees for best picture since 2019, it's really strong. But when it comes to Who I think is going to win. I'm going to say one battle after another. That is my prediction. It crushed at the Golden Globes, but even if that was not in consideration here, I just think it has the team behind it, because to win Best Picture, you also have to have a team campaigning for you to win. And I think it also has the best team.

[Kelsey]

Can I give my predictions or no? Because this isn't Hamnet.

[Movie Mike]

Just because it's just straight up, like, this is what the Academy wants. It's so artsy.

[Kelsey]

Yeah. I mean, it already won, like, best Drama at the Golden Globes. I think, like, their press tour was really strong. And I think, like, even, like, their press after the Golden Globes, like, I just kind of feel like they have that push on, like, relatability, but, like, likability. The cast, lovable.

[Movie Mike]

I mean, I would really want Sinners to win. Like, I could see that moment just being like the moment of the night of the entire cast and crew going up there and accepting that award. But I almost feel like when you see somebody get so many nominations, that doesn't always indicate that they're going to win the big ones. Whenever Killers of the Flower Moon had, I think at the time, the record for the most so many, it didn't. It didn't win anything. Anything big going. Based upon how the Academy has voted in the past and how much I think of force that one battle after another has behind it, that is my prediction for Best Picture.

[Kelsey]

Next category, Best Actor, we have Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for one battle After Another, Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon, Michael B. Jordan in Sinners, and Wagner Mora in the Secret Agent.

[Movie Mike]

Really cool for Michael B. Jordan to get his first nomination. I saw, like, he called. He called his mom and they were crying.

[Kelsey]

So sweet.

[Movie Mike]

You kind of forget because he's been so successful for so long, is rich and famous, you think that things like this wouldn't matter to him, but it's still the pinnacle of an actor's career to be nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

And I realized that seeing that story, like, oh, this still means a lot, like, that's what they want to. It's like an athlete wanting to win the Super Bowl. That is still what they aspire to do. And he was really good in Sitters. But I think the winner here is going to be Timothee Chalamet. No, I'm predicting you don't want him to win.

[Kelsey]

But I'm like, of all the performances in that Category.

[Movie Mike]

I just think that when you look at all these movies, his performance is the most essential to that movie being good. Without Timothee Chalamet, okay, that's a good. As Marty supreme, that movie would not have the same impact. He is the driving force behind that. Leonardo DiCaprio is really good in one battle, but it's not his best performance and it doesn't drive the whole movie. He has a great supporting cast there. Michael B. Jordan does play two characters, though. He plays two people in the same movie. I feel like he is who I want to win, but I'm predicting who will win.

[Kelsey]

I'm going Michael B. Jordan.

[Movie Mike]

Okay. I would love to see that, but I still think it's going to go Timothy Chalamet. He's been. He's been wanting this for so long. He got so close with a complete unknown that I Wonka. Not quite that, but I think he wants this. The surprising thing for me here was the Rock didn't get a nomination, not because I think he deserved it, but just because I think he thinks he deserved it. And that is the whole reason I think he did the Smashing Machine was to get an Oscar nomination at the minimum. To see him not get one, it just reminds me that he's now going to do a bunch of Jumanji movies and moanas. And moanas. As much as we can crank out, because he's going to be like, oh, I tried it once. It didn't work out.

[Kelsey]

I'm disaster movies. And if you could give us another disaster movie, we haven't had a good one since, like, Skyscraper.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I would love another San Andreas. Yeah, I'll take one of those. Because whenever Black Adam didn't do well, he hasn't touched the superhero genre again.

[Kelsey]

Yeah, give me. Give me a disaster movie.

[Movie Mike]

The Rock. All right, next category.

[Kelsey]

Best actress. Jessie Buckley for Hamnet. Rose Byrne for if I had Legs, I'd kick you. Kate Hudson for Song. Song Blue. Renata Rinse for Sentimental Value and Emma Stone for Begonia.

[Movie Mike]

Really cool for Rose Byrne to get her first nomination. Love that. For her, Kate Hudson is surprising. Out of all the performances in this past year, Kate Hudson gets a nomination. Out of nowhere, Song Sung Blue. Out of Nowhere just gets one of the biggest nominations of the. That is wild to me. I think this is the easiest category I've had to pick.

[Kelsey]

Say it on the count of three.

[Movie Mike]

One, two, three.

[Kelsey]

Jesse Buckley.

[Movie Mike]

There's no way she doesn't win. There's just no way. Because I think she does outshine Paul Mescal. In that movie, which is why he didn't get a nomination at all, which is a big injustice as well. But the emotional level of her performance in Hamnet is just. That's just instantly goes to her next category.

[Kelsey]

Best Supporting Actor. Benicio Del Toro, One battle after another. Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein. Delroy Lindo, Sinners. Sean Penn, One battle after another. And Stellan Skarsgard, Cinnamon of Value, who, if he won, I could only hope it is to the tune of. Yeah. Like it was at the Golden Globes.

[Movie Mike]

The music at the Golden Globes was so weird.

[Kelsey]

I think it was like the Spotify dj. I think they just said, like, they started with one and it was just like, you know what? I got something else for you that you're going to love.

[Movie Mike]

I think they were trying to, I would say, appeal to a younger audience, but no younger kid is going to know some of the songs that they were playing.

[Kelsey]

And then they had, like, people giving, like, live comment, and you couldn't hear it.

[Movie Mike]

It was like you couldn't hear it over the music.

[Kelsey]

It was a hot mess. It was too many things.

[Movie Mike]

I think they're just trying to make the award show more appealing to people with short attention spans, sensory overload. Because they also had, like, the map that would show, like, where the person was sitting. Because historically at the Golden Globes, it takes so long for the winners to get to the stage. So they're like, how can we make this more interesting? Let's put a map. Let's blast some music from the 2000s, and then let's have two people giving commentary and random fun facts as they're walking along. Chaotic.

[Kelsey]

Also the fact that you just said some younger people wouldn't know all the music. I just felt so old. Are you talking about. Yeah, there's a generation that doesn't know that song.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I think that song is at least 20 years old.

[Kelsey]

That's like a classic.

[Movie Mike]

Probably 23 years old.

[Kelsey]

I think it is.

[Movie Mike]

That song can drink.

[Kelsey]

Can you just call me?

[Movie Mike]

For me, it's between Benicio and Jacob Elordi. I think it's a. Sometimes I just don't even know what constitutes a supporting actor, because Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein is Frankenstein Monster. Yeah. He has a whole, like, third chapter to just hit. Or maybe it's the second chapter. It's all about him. I feel like that's way bigger than a supporting actor, so I could have even seen him in the best actor category. So it's almost hard to completely rule him out. But I Love Benicio so much in one battle after another that he had such a. What I would say was limited time on screen where I wanted more of them.

[Kelsey]

He was so good.

[Movie Mike]

But when he was on screen, it was so memorable. And the entire scene of him getting pulled over, the dance, the little beers, like, that's just. That is the moment for me of 2025.

[Kelsey]

I think he gets it.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. That is who I have. I think it's between them too, but I think Benicio gets it.

[Kelsey]

All right. Best Supporting Actress Elle Fanning. Sentimental Value. Inga Ipsuder, Liliaz Sentimental Value. Amy Madigan, Weapons Woon, Mimo Saku, Sinners and Teyana Taylor. One battle after another.

[Movie Mike]

This is a tough one. There's a lot of good people in there. I think the split in Sentimental Value hurts it a little bit just because you have essentially two actors with the same force behind them splitting the vote there. Oh, this is really tough for me because Teyana Taylor is also really good in One Bet. I mean, everybody in here was really good. Amy Madigan is like next level. And Weapons, because you don't even recognize her.

[Kelsey]

Yeah, I had no clue.

[Movie Mike]

I did when I was watching it. It was just hard for me to even comprehend that that was her. I want to go her so bad, but I think it's because out of all these movies I love, I. Dang it. I just have, like a close connection to Weapons because I feel like it was underrepresented that I would like this to be the only one that they actually win. But I am also considering how they are going to vote. And my pick for winner is EL Fanning. Even though I didn't love Sentimental Value, I still think her performance in that paired with how I think the Academy is going to vote, I think she wins. Which she is first time nominated. I think that would be huge for her.

[Kelsey]

And it was really sweet how much Dakota Fanning celebrated her too.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I think she's. And yeah, she's like crushing it right now.

[Kelsey]

Crushing it.

[Movie Mike]

I haven't seen a bad role of hers in everything I saw her in the last year.

[Kelsey]

I'm gonna go Tiana Taylor.

[Movie Mike]

All right, next category, Best Director.

[Kelsey]

We have Chloe Zhao for Hamnet, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Yoakim Trier for Sentimental Value and Ryan Coogler for Sinners.

[Movie Mike]

I want Ryan Coogler to win. So this is a tough category. I just. How do you nominate that movie for so many awards and have it not win? Because it's against just three other what I would consider top tier movies that are right there with it. I like Ryan Coogler the best out of everybody here. But it's almost so hard to bet against Paul Thomas Anderson.

[Kelsey]

Oh, see, I was gonna say Chloe Zhao.

[Movie Mike]

Really? I mean, yeah, she's a. She has won it before.

[Kelsey]

I mean, I think it would be awesome for Cochlear to win.

[Movie Mike]

I think. I think he would be the most in awe. He would easily give the best speech, which is what I love. I love seeing somebody go up there and they talk about how much this is just completing their dream.

[Kelsey]

Don't let one of the Safdie brothers up there.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I don't see Josh Safdie even in the. I mean he is in the conversation because he is nominated obviously. But to me the conversation is between Hamnet one Battle and Sinners. Hard for me to bet against it. Even though I want Ryan Coogler. I'm going to go Paul Thomas Anderson.

[Kelsey]

And I'm going to go Chloe Zhao.

[Movie Mike]

Okay.

[Kelsey]

Best Animated Feature Film. Arco Elio, K Pop Demon Hunters, Little Emily or the character of Rain and Zootopia 2.

[Movie Mike]

Disney just always gets almost like just. I mean, Zootopia did make the most money out of any movie on this.

[Kelsey]

List and it is one of the only movies we saw twice.

[Movie Mike]

And it is really good.

[Kelsey]

It's pretty good.

[Movie Mike]

Really hard for any movie that is a sequel to win. But if you are going to win, it's going to be in the best animated because Toy Story 3 did win this category. So not impossible. I'm surprised Elio is nominated. I don't feel like that's the strongest Pixar movie in the last 10 years. But I think if K Pop Demon Hunters does not win, we riot. Yeah, like you can't. It got two nominations total.

[Kelsey]

The biggest cultural sensation. It's. It was the main attraction of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It is the number one like Halloween costume. I think it has to be that.

[Movie Mike]

The most amount of hours watched. There is such a huge disparity between 1 and 2 on Netflix. Between how many hours watched.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

That it swallows everything else on Netflix right now. So I'm going K Pop Demon Hunters.

[Kelsey]

Agreed. Next is best adapted screenplay. Begonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet One Battle After Another or Train Dreams.

[Movie Mike]

So adapted it. Meaning that it was either a book or some other work and they turn it into a screenplay, make it into a movie and I'm going to go Frankenstein. It is hard to retell Frankenstein in a way that hasn't been done before that feels fresh, that feels unique. And Guillermo del Toro is probably the only person who could still have success doing a story that is old at this point. So I'm going with Frankenstein. I think that was pretty easy.

[Kelsey]

I'm going Hamnet. Betting all of my money on Hamnet.

[Movie Mike]

Dang, I didn't know you'd go so hard on Hamnet.

[Kelsey]

I also liked the movie better than the book.

[Movie Mike]

Okay. Because I forgot you read the book.

[Kelsey]

So it is not like a fast moving story. It's not like action packed. Like there it is, there are events, but it is a bit of a slower movie, wouldn't you say? A little more contemplative.

[Movie Mike]

Yes. So much of a slow burn that if you don't like movies where you have to pay attention the whole time and really soak in the emotions, you're not going to have a good time.

[Kelsey]

And I think that story was better told on film than in a book because it's a lot of descriptive adjectives in the book and I find that easier to absorb in a visual medium.

[Movie Mike]

And so feel it. You can live in it.

[Kelsey]

And I just again, Jesse Buckley's performance and the little kid who played Amnet. So, yeah, I'm going Hamnet. I didn't expect to ride this hard for Hamlet, but here we are. Here you go, speaking to me in this moment. All right, next up, Best original screenplay, Blue Moon. It was just an accident. Marty Supreme. Sentimental value or Sinners?

[Movie Mike]

I'm going to go Sinners here. I think it's going to win maybe not all the big awards, but I think it can take some home here in the lower categories. I'm going to go with Sinners.

[Kelsey]

I agree. All right, Best international film, The Secret Agent from Brazil. It was just an accident. France, Sentimental Value. Norway. Surat, Spain. And the voice of Hindra Job, Tunisia.

[Movie Mike]

First of all, no other choice. Where is no other choice? How did that not get a nomination not only for best international film? I thought that was going to be an easy one.

[Kelsey]

We riot it.

[Movie Mike]

I thought it was worthy of getting a best picture nomination. And I was like, okay, I didn't get best picture. Maybe not that dynamic enough category was crowded. But to not get best international film, that is crazy to me. That is one of the best movies we saw in the last year. That being said, easily goes to Sentimental Value. That's it's nominated for best picture. I think that's an easy one. Sentimental Value all the way.

[Kelsey]

I agree. Next, best film editing, F1. Marty Supreme. 1 battle after another. Sentimental value or sinners.

[Movie Mike]

I think film editing is so important at. Because the hardest thing about making a movie is sometimes when you're making it, you don't know what you have yet, and you think you got it. But so much of it is in the edit, where I think some people don't realize, like, how did they not know they were making a bad movie? It all comes down to the editing. What take do they decide to use? Do they use the best one? Do they piece all the story together in a way that it was envisioned while they were making it? Sometimes it can get lost in the edit. So I think that is why I love that this category exists. I'm going with Marty supreme because I think the editing in that movie creates an incredible pacing that made that movie give me anxiety. And I think that all comes in the editing, the pacing of the action, and it always feels like it's moving forward. I think of all the movies, it had the most unique editing. So I'm going Marty Supreme.

[Kelsey]

Okay. I'm going to go F1.

[Movie Mike]

I could see that one, too. I think that was a big part of making that story feel as big as possible. And a lot of the editing when it came to the actual action in the races was also really good.

[Kelsey]

Yeah. All right. Best costume design. Avatar, Fire and Ash. Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Sinners.

[Movie Mike]

This is actually a tough category when you think about it. I love the costume design category because I love the people who win this award and go give their speech, because those people are the most passionate of anybody in this category.

[Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Movie Mike]

If you love costume design, you really love costume design.

[Kelsey]

And it tells so much of a story that you don't think about, like, how important the clothes are in a.

[Movie Mike]

Movie, the textures of clothes, the getting it right down to the time period, and all the little things. You don't realize how much perfect detail it adds to a story. And in this category, you have a lot of movies set back like Frankenstein. The wardrobe is so important. The costume is so important. Hamnet, also incredibly important. Marty supreme, also with the trousers and the old school 50s attire. Super important. In Sinners, they used, I think, a lot of the wardrobe that was meant for the blade movie. So all these movies.

[Kelsey]

Is there even costumes in Avatar? They're like.

[Movie Mike]

That is a good question.

[Kelsey]

Half naked.

[Movie Mike]

A lot of it is computer, and it's a little loincloth. So take that one out of the category.

[Kelsey]

You didn't even mention that one yet. You started at Frankenstein. Yeah, we just skipped over Avatar because.

[Movie Mike]

I didn't consider that. Well, I guess the humans in it.

[Kelsey]

What? Military.

[Movie Mike]

Military. That's it. Yeah. This. That is a misfire on fire and ash. That should not be in this category. So I think when it comes down to it, if I had to pick one that I would dress like, I'd be Marty supreme. Like, that is the wardrobe I would steal from and wear. But I think when it comes to who should win this award, I'm going with Frankenstein.

[Kelsey]

I'm also going Frankenstein for this one.

[Movie Mike]

I love it. I love that category.

[Kelsey]

Best makeup and hair styling. Again, people very passionate about what they're doing. Frankenstein, Kakuo Camp, Sinners, the Smashing Machine and the Ugly Stepsister.

[Movie Mike]

Easy. Frankenstein. That's because of Jacob Elordi sitting in that chair for hours. Total transformation.

[Kelsey]

Cynthia Erivo didn't.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Kelsey]

Even, like, Wicked get for best makeup and hairstyling. She was turned green every day. That's crazy.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Kelsey]

And like, Ariana Grande's hair is Glinda the Good.

[Movie Mike]

And I mean, the Smashing Machine got it because of the prosthetics they used on the rock to make him look a little bit different.

[Kelsey]

Didn't make the movie any better.

[Movie Mike]

But then by the end of it, he looks exactly the same because he shaves his head. I'm going with Frankenstein.

[Kelsey]

All right, Best visual effects, Avatar, fire and ash. F1. Jurassic World, Rebirth. Sorry, didn't laugh there. The Lost Bus and Sinners. I just wasn't expecting Jurassic World in that category.

[Movie Mike]

The Last Bus to get a nomination is kind of cool.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

I thought that was a good movie. But I also know that we love disaster movies.

[Kelsey]

Yeah. I was a little disappointed when I found out how much. Okay. Not how much they embellished because, like, I didn't want real people to go through, like, the trauma. But then you're like, this based on a true story. And then you're like, oh, the part. Parts that were the most, like, harrowing. So I had mixed feelings about that. But yes, cool to get a nomination.

[Movie Mike]

But did have a lot of good visual effects.

[Kelsey]

The visual effects were stunning.

[Movie Mike]

That made the movie Sinners. I mean, good. But I don't think Oscar worthy. Jurassic World, Rebirth. No way. I don't know how. I mean, I think this is kind of like. Okay, let's.

[Kelsey]

This was a paid nomination by Snickers. If you know. You know from Snickers, the dinosaurs didn't.

[Movie Mike]

Even look that good in that movie.

[Kelsey]

The only good visual effect was Jonathan Bailey and his. As the Internet took to calling them.

[Movie Mike]

Slutty little glasses and F1, I don't see the visual effects being as dynamic as Avatar. I'm going with Avatar.

[Kelsey]

I was gonna say you also skipped Avatar again. You didn't even mention it.

[Movie Mike]

I like to go back to it, but I think it's easily Avatar because, yeah, the movie was really good looking.

[Kelsey]

Visually stunning. The thematically boring.

[Movie Mike]

Last year, the only movie we went to go see that I truly felt like seeing it on the big screen impacted it the most because it really looked different. It looked like a video game.

[Kelsey]

Yeah. The beginning, it had, like, so much motion and we didn't even see it in 3D that I was like, I'm going to be sick. So, like, visual.

[Movie Mike]

It looked like we were watching, like, the highest quality screen, even though it was just our normal screen. Was it imax? Was it anything different? So for that reason, I'm going Avatar, Fire and Ash.

[Kelsey]

I would agree with that one. All right, best sound. F1. Frankenstein. One battle after another. Sinners, Surat.

[Movie Mike]

F1. I'm going right off the bat because that sound design was so good. In F1 wouldn't put you in, like.

[Kelsey]

Thinking you were at an actual Formula one race.

[Movie Mike]

The sounds of the cars and the tires and the engines.

[Kelsey]

The pit crew, like, just like when they pull in and you're, like, quickly taking tires off. Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

And how they took out, like, all the other sound at times. Like, there was no crowd noise. There was no score or music playing. It was so raw and put you right in that seat with Brad Pitt that if ever I talk about the sound during a review. And I think out of all these movies, that was the really only one that I brought that up. That means it has to win. I'm going with F1.

[Kelsey]

All right, best cinematography. Frankenstein. Marty Supreme. One battle after another. Sinners or Train Dreams.

[Movie Mike]

I love cinematography and this is a really stacked category, but there's one that we watched it. Yeah.

[Kelsey]

And you said you think you're going to take. It's going to take it because.

[Movie Mike]

Frankenstein, really good. Marty Supreme. Probably the weakest out of this entire category. One battle after another. Really good. Like, there's some really greatly framed shots and just ways that the camera is set. Also the types of camera that they used to create such amazing depth. Sinners, also really good. Had some fantastic shots. I think one of the best shots of the year with Michael B. Jordan and Preacher Boy at the very end with the flames in their eyes. Like, there are specific moments from all these movies that are just set in my head as photographs, but the one movie I watched and I was immediately knew this was going to be my pick. Train Dreams.

[Kelsey]

It has to win.

[Movie Mike]

It's in the 4, 3 aspect ratio, which is the square, which I love because anytime a movie is in that ratio, that means it's committing to an art style.

[Kelsey]

And.

[Movie Mike]

And you could take any single frame of Train Dreams and print it off and put it on your wall and it's a great photo.

[Kelsey]

The color saturation, the, like tone of the film. Beautiful.

[Movie Mike]

Best color grading I've seen in a Netflix movie ever.

[Kelsey]

Stunning.

[Movie Mike]

That even though the movie is a slower burn.

[Kelsey]

Oh, it's so.

[Movie Mike]

It's so good and such a visual treat because it's so comforting and looks so good the entire time.

[Kelsey]

Very sad movie.

[Movie Mike]

Yes, it is very sad. It's just the story about a guy in the early 1900s just living his life and some trying to make a.

[Kelsey]

Living as a logger.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. So if you haven't seen that one, it's also the most accessible movie because it is on Netflix. That's the other thing that I don't like whenever these nominations come out is it's not always the easiest to watch them all because some of them come out in, like, small theater runs. I wish they were all available to watch.

[Kelsey]

My younger brother Major is not happy about.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, it's tough.

[Kelsey]

He's like, none of these are like, on streaming. And he's like, they're not playing it like the Cinemark down the road.

[Movie Mike]

Not even to rent sometimes or you'd have to buy it for like 20 bucks.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

So, yeah, I'm going with Train Dreams on that one. We have a couple more categories here.

[Kelsey]

All right. Best original song, Dear Me by Diane Warren from Diane Warren Relentless golden by EJ Mark Sonnenblick, Jungkook Yu Han, Lee Hee Dongnam, Jung Hoon sun and Teddy park from K Pop Demon Hunters, I lied to you by Raphael Siddiq and Ludwig Goranson from Sinners, Sweet Dreams of Joy by Nicholas pike from Viva Verdi and Train Dreams by Nick Cave and Bryce Desner from Train Dreams.

[Movie Mike]

I would love Ludwig to win. He's one of my favorite musicians. He's done things for like the Mandalorian. He was Childish Gambino's guitar player on tour for a long time, and I saw him a couple of times. I just like him as a person. But we've been talking about this movie on this episode. If golden does not win for best original song, they have to sweep both of their categories. They have to go 2 for 2. For me to be satisfied.

[Kelsey]

I feel like Train Dreams had to be, like, a best score.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Kelsey]

Not an original song.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, the original song. It was more of the score. Yeah. I'm gonna go golden. I think that's an easy one.

[Kelsey]

All right. And the final one, a new category this year, Best casting, which is a great category. I know it's like a fun category, but it's like, who got the more popular people in a movie?

[Movie Mike]

Okay. Not necessarily. We'll talk about it.

[Kelsey]

Hamnet, Marty Supreme. One battle after another. The secret agent and Sinners.

[Movie Mike]

See, my pick for this one is Marty supreme because it has a mix of a listers like Timothee Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow. But then you have so many out of the box People like Mr.

[Kelsey]

Wonderful from Shark Tank. I just, like, wasn't. I saw online that he was in it, but I saw it as, like, a cameo. So I was thinking just, like, short role. So then when he popped up on screen, I, like, couldn't place him, but he started talking, and I was like, kevin o' Leary from Shark Tank.

[Movie Mike]

And then you have Tyler, the creator. You have Ted Williams, the guy who went viral for having the golden voice, Tyler, the creator.

[Kelsey]

At one point, I leaned over to you, and I'm like, who is that? And you looked at me.

[Movie Mike]

I was so offended.

[Kelsey]

Like, you wanted to maybe serve me divorce papers in that theater. Because I. And I was like, you said, tyler, the creator. And I was like, okay. I was just making sure. I promise I knew that's who it was. I should have said, is that Tyler, the creator? I didn't phrase it well. Yes, please forgive me.

[Movie Mike]

And then even the guy who plays, like, his business partner in the movie was just a random guy that Josh Safdie saw give, like, a viral TikTok interview after a Knicks game. I think Josh Safdie is one of those guys who just finds really random people to put in his movies next to these amazing stars. So I think out of all the castings for this movie, even though Sinners has also has a really great cast, One Battle has a great cast. Since it is a new category, I don't know how they're gonna vote because I don't know what they're looking for. Is it variety? Is it the biggest star because One battle has Leonardo DiCaprio, or is it just, like, the caliber of actor? I don't know how they're gonna vote in this. So I'm thinking of it of just who has the most unique cast and had probably the hardest time getting all these people in One movie. I'm going to go Marty Supreme.

[Kelsey]

I'm going Hamnet for the brothers that were in it. Yeah, the younger brother plays Hamnet and then the older brother is in a theater production.

[Movie Mike]

It's also probably really hard to find kid actors who can act on that level. Can you imagine the process in that?

[Kelsey]

One of the most stunning performances I've ever seen from a younger actor.

[Movie Mike]

Truly, I haven't showed that much emotion in my entire life. That kid showed in one movie, one performance.

[Kelsey]

And then Joe Alwyn, gotta say, was pretty good.

[Movie Mike]

He was good in that.

[Kelsey]

Pretty good. And obviously Paul Moscow and Jesse Buckley, like phenomenal together. Have you seen the video that Chloe Zhao released of them all dancing?

[Movie Mike]

Oh, yeah.

[Kelsey]

The last day of filming of just like that emotional release.

[Movie Mike]

You're like, oh, there's some good from this movie.

[Kelsey]

Yeah. So yeah, I'm going to go Hammond.

[Movie Mike]

It there some more snubs that we maybe didn't mention. Chase Infinity not getting a nomination for one battle after another. I thought she would get one there. We mentioned Paul Mescal not getting one. J. Kelly was pretty much shut out. George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Noah Bombach didn't get any nominations there. Major films that did not get any Oscar nominations.

[Kelsey]

Can I read these?

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Kelsey]

All right. J. Kelly, Superman. Sorry, baby. Materialists. After the Hunt.

[Movie Mike]

Oh, yeah. I thought that was.

[Kelsey]

Did kind of feel like Oscar bait.

[Movie Mike]

That's exactly what it felt like. A clear Oscar bait movie. Not get any Oscars. Crazy.

[Kelsey]

28 years later, the Long Walk. No other choice. Wicked for Good. The Testament of Ann Lee. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Is that the one with JLo?

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Kelsey]

Demon Slayer. Infinity Castle.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, we need an anime representation.

[Kelsey]

Wake Up. Dead Man. And Knives on Mystery.

[Movie Mike]

That was good.

[Kelsey]

It was good. And Mission Impossible. The Final Reckoning.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, that probably could have got sound or visual effects.

[Kelsey]

Longest Running Tom Cruise franchise, but that is the list.

[Movie Mike]

Those are my predictions. The Oscars are going down on March 15th. I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be good.

[Kelsey]

It's always fun night in this house.

[Movie Mike]

Conan is hosting and then eventually the Oscars are going to move straight to YouTube.

[Kelsey]

I forgot about that.

[Movie Mike]

Which I think will be fine. I mean, it really doesn't change how we watch them. We watch them on a streaming service anyway.

[Kelsey]

But do we have to like get like premium YouTube?

[Movie Mike]

No, just regular YouTube.

[Kelsey]

Okay.

[Movie Mike]

Makes it easy. I'll come back and get my spoiler free review of Mercy.

[Nav Green]

This show contains information subject to but not limited to personal takes, rumors not so accurate stats and plenty more. What's up, man? This your boy Nav Green from the Broken Play podcast? Look, it's the end of the season. The playoffs are here. But guess what? It ain't the end of your season. You can always tune in with Broken Play podcast with Nab Green on the Black Effect Podcast network. Another team who ain't going to the playoff? The Chiefs. What's a wrap? It's time to rebuild. Who your MVP right now then Drake May up there.

[Movie Mike]

Josh Allen up there still.

[Nav Green]

Oh, my boy Matthew Stafford.

[Kelsey]

Where did Nicks at?

[Movie Mike]

He ain't too far behind.

[Kelsey]

He did all this talking.

[Nav Green]

Hey, what Matthew Stafford is doing statistically bro is crazy. Bro, you know I ain't no Josh Allen fan, but Matthew Staff forgot better web Caleb Williams.

[Kelsey]

Hey, he should be in that conversation. In what conversation?

[Nav Green]

He should be in it. Listen to Broken Play with Nav Green from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford]

The moments that shape us often begin with a simple question. What do I want my life to look like now? I'm Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford and on Therapy for Black Girls we create space for honest conversations about identity, relationships, mental health and the choices that help us grow. As cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart Gloucester reminds.

[Kelsey]

Us, we are in a divisive time where our comments are weaponized against us. And so what we find is a lot of black women are standing up and speaking out because they feel the brunt of the pain.

[Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford]

Each week, we explore the tools and insights that help you move with purpose, whether you're navigating something new or returning to yourself. If you're ready for thoughtful guidance and grounded support, this is the place for you. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kelsey]

The more you listen to your kids, the closer you'll be. So we asked kids, what do you want your parents to hear? I feel sometimes that I'm not listened to. I would just want you to listen to me more often and evaluate situations with me and lead me towards success. Listening is a form of love. Find resources to help you support your kids and their emotional well being. @sounditouttogether.org that's sounditouttogether.org brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal. You can accomplish a lot in a decade. You could earn a bachelor's degree and.

[Movie Mike]

A master's degree back to back.

[Kelsey]

You could compete in two separate consecutive Olympic Games well, we made my favorite murder. I spent two 10 years of true crime, 10 years of conversation, and 100 years of swearing. Here's the thing, everyone. Politeness. Go yourself. Is this when someone sneezes? From now on, we have something for everyone. Advice, support, and a safe space for your feelings. This is terrible. Keep going. Triflers need not apply. Stay out of the forest. You're in a cult. Call your dad. Don't worry, it gets worse. Talks about toxic masculinity, ruins the party again. I said, dad, what the hell? What are we gonna do?

[Movie Mike]

And he goes, I don't. What the hell?

[Kelsey]

I don't know. We're gonna sally forth. Sally. We're gonna sally forth. You guys stay sexy. Don't get murdered. Elvis, do you want a cookie? A cookie? Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Goodbye.

[Movie Mike]

Let's spoiler free movie review of Mercy, starring Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson. Chris Pratt plays a detective. He is on trial for the murder of his wife. And he claims, I didn't do it, but not that simple. Takes place in the near future, and he stands before an AI judge. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence, or else he will be killed right there in the chair that he's being interrogated in. He is alone in this room, and everything around him is AI. And the thing about him sitting in that chair, it's a little bit ironic because he is the person who was the proponent of using this system, this justice system that is supposed to be the most perfect way to sentence criminals. Because AI has no bias. AI can look at all the data and it doesn't make decisions based on emotions. It only makes them based on the facts. And that is what this movie is trying to tell us. It's trying to have a really big message of should you have any lenience when it comes to somebody suspected of a murder as heinous as killing their wife? Or do you just need to look at data? And is all the proof you need in phone records and text messages and ring cameras, which is what this movie does because Chris Pratt is essentially sitting in one location the entire time in order to prove his innocence. He has an entire database at his use at his fingertips. Even though he is strapped into this chair, he can make FaceTime calls, he can look up phone records, and he is trying to show this AI judge a little bit of his character. And you learn a lot about his backstory, his relationship with his wife. I would like to say this movie had more twists and turns, but really a very narrow plot. And it is a movie that can get you to the theater on that plot alone because it's really enticing. I often find when you can give a really great elevator pitch to a movie where it's just down packed, you can have it down in one sentence, maybe two. Sometimes that is a sign of a bad movie. It could be a movie that just got greenlit because it checked all the right boxes. You have a big A list Star with Chris Pratt where they put them at the front and center of every poster. And that is how they are selling this movie. And it is essentially Chris Pratt versus Rebecca Ferguson the entire time. And everybody else in the cast is really just lower level kind of support here and there. That is where you spend your money. The movie only costs $60 million, which is on the lower end of a mid range budget movie. So it's not $100 million big Hollywood blockbuster. You also have to consider coming out in January, which means maybe they don't believe a whole lot in it also happened to come out at the time of recording this. Going into a weekend where most of the country, at least millions and millions of people around me, are all going to be affected by this big ice storm rolling through. So you have to imagine not a whole lot of people are even leaving their houses right now unless they're going to the grocery store to get milk, eggs and bread. So when I rolled up to the theater on a Friday afternoon, which is normally a little bit more full, it was so empty. There was more salt in that parking lot than there were cars. I don't think I needed to see this movie on the big screen to really experience it. And I just got flashbacks, you guys, flashbacks to the worst movie of last year that I talked about recently, War of the Worlds with Ice Cube. Because what you have here is in tv, what they call a bottle episode, where you don't want your characters to leave one scene because you can't really afford it. So if you're watching an episode where normally they go to a lot of different locations, but for some reason they have a plot contained entirely in one room, it's because they were trying to save money. One of my favorite comedies, Community, did a whole episode about this, making fun of the bottle episode. But in movies it's a little bit different. We do have at times really great movies that take place primarily in one location. But in the case of Mercy, they are pleading guilty because this was not it. And I knew within the first 10 minutes what I was going to get. And I tried to have a little bit more optimism going into it because I was enticed by the plot. I am not a Chris Pratt hater, and especially when you see him coming off of movies like the Jurassic World franchise, coming off of Guardians of the Galaxy, his star is still super bright, but in this case, it's not his name alone that is going to make this movie any better. It was so predictable that I had it within the first 10 minutes. And I don't like to be that person who is so annoying trying to figure out movies like this and find so much satisfaction in it. But the writing was terrible, awful. Every character was so poorly written. I will give it to Chris Pratt. If you did not have him in that chair with his acting abilities, it would have been so much worse because he was the only one conveying any kind of real emotion that made you believe any aspect of the story. All the supporting characters were terribly written. His daughter, everybody bad. Rebecca Ferguson did a pretty good job, but I overall found a lot of flaws with her character and of being this AI system that is supposed to be without bias. And that was the entire premise of this movie, that it is this judge who is only looking at the facts. And I found so many plot holes because she wasn't acting, in my opinion, robotic enough. Nothing about that system made me think it was so advanced in tracking down criminals. So it was even hard for me to believe this world that they created and that's all they had to do was play within their own rules. And it just did not make sense. There were so many plot holes and so many things that were just easily teed up to start getting you to think one certain way. But you knew it wasn't going to go that way. And if you pay attention to all the characters, you, like, me, can figure it out so quickly. And by the third act, which it's not even that long of a movie, and I think that's even how they sold the whole thing of he has 90 minutes to figure it out. Well, the movie just happens to be 90 minutes, so it doesn't even happen in real time, which is the other weird thing. But everything just seemed too convenient. All of the performances were so stiff. I was so aware that it was just Chris Pratt sitting in a room with a blue or a green screen. Mercy just felt like a really poorly written Black Mirror episode, which if you look at how greatly produced a Black Mirror episode is compared to something like this, which if you just compare the budgets of a Black Mirror episode to what this entire movie took to make it is wild and shows you that it's so much more about direction and creativity to creating a captivating story. It's not about having a big budget or an A list movie star. It comes down to having a vision. And Mercy had no vision. At $60 million, it might as well have just put all that money in a room and set it on fire. Because a Black mirror episode cost 10% of that. And I could watch the worst Black Mirror episode and leave with much more of an impact than I did leaving watching Mercy. At no point was I ever engaged in the story or sold on that it was going to win me back at the end. Sometimes I can tell from the very beginning just by how many studio logos play before the movie starts, because that just happens to be another random indicator of if a movie is going to be bad or not. If there are six studio logos, which I think in this case there were only four, maybe five before a movie plays, that is kind of a red flag. Unless it's just a super independent movie that needed a lot of studios and a lot of production companies involved. If a movie has multiple at the beginning, which it is an MGM movie. So it will be on Amazon probably in 90 days or so, and you won't think any different of it because a lot of Chris Pratt's movies just happen to go on Amazon and it's going to feel like just another thumbnail up there. I think ultimately this movie did not read the Room and thought they could really just put out a mediocre movie with a somewhat decent premise and get people interested in it. But I think the bar has been raised so high when it comes to a story like this. A man accused of murdering his wife is, I think, a topic that a lot of people would be interested now. Want to listen to a podcast about. Want to watch a miniseries? And it's not like it's a new concept. I hate to compare it to one of the best movies in this category, but the Fugitive. We've been doing this song and dance for a while now. So if you're going to make a movie like this and give it a modern spin of, okay, everybody's fascinated with AI right now, how it's going to change our lives, how it's going to impact things that we never thought it would impact, like the justice system and whether or not a person lives or not, that is a big thing. That is something that is a sexy topic and should have made for a great movie. Instead, it was such a snooze fest. I'm glad I took my own coffee with me into the theater. Otherwise I probably would have fallen asleep. I had that caffeine running through my veins and. And even that couldn't get me excited in this movie. It was still full on nap material. Don't go see this movie in theaters. It is not worth your time. Especially if you're thinking, man, I'm really going to brave this storm and try to make it to my local cinema to go watch Chris Pratt in this new movie. Don't do that. If you really love Chris Pratt, which I think he is the only redeeming quality of this, he tried his hardest. He tried so hard. Give it maybe 20 minutes. Give it 20 minutes. And if you are still wanting to figure out what exactly happened, finish it to the end when it comes out on streaming. Otherwise it is going to be a movie you put on and think, what is this? This feels so low budget for mercy. I give it two out of five trials. It's time to head down to Movie Mike's Trailer Park. Have you ever seen a trailer and thought, man, I've seen this movie before. I know this is a new movie. It's not a remake. Even though in this case it is based on a book or a novella by the same name. It feels so familiar in every way, Checks every single box. And even though it feels like, okay, they just made a movie that feels so much like a movie, we've all been there before, I still want to see it. That is how I feel about the Crime 101 trailer. Because the cast is amazing. And I think that is what is drawing me to want to go see this movie in theaters. Because you have Chris Hemsworth, Thor himself, Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo, AKA the Incredible Hulk. So we have a bit of an MCU connection here. You also have Barry Keegan and what the movie is about. You have an LA detective played by Mark Ruffalo, who is trying to catch this thief that leaves behind no trace of DNA, no fingerprints. He's in and out within minutes of all these robberies. The only thing he has to connect them is that he operates on the 101 freeway in LA. That's all he knows. So he has to track down this guy using all these little small details. It is his mission as a detective to find this guy. Chris Hemsworth just happens to be really good at his job. He is a jewel thief. He is after money and shiny things. And he happens to find Halle Berry at a crossroads where she is working as an insurance broker. She is not happy in her position. So right place, right time for her to meet a guy like Chris Hemsworth and use him to her advantage to take some things from her employer that she believes she is earned pulling off this big heist. And then you have Barry Keegan, who is just kind of the wild card in this story who is going to come out of nowhere and try to rip off the people trying to rip off the insurance plate. So that is the stage they are setting in this movie. There are a couple of big red flags in the trailer, but I'm going to look past those. We will talk about them. But before I get into more, here is just a little bit of the Crime 101 trailer. I came here to make you a business proposition. Worked at the Same company for 11 years.

[Kelsey]

You're a VP when you should be.

[Movie Mike]

A partner with high value items your company insures might make them disappear.

[Nav Green]

Start by handing me your phone.

[Kelsey]

So you're a thief.

[Movie Mike]

What's the security setup?

[Kelsey]

There's a courier carrying watches and gems looking at $11 million in one room. Of which I want three. Let him rob the courier and then you'll rob him.

[Movie Mike]

So that is the plan. Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry are gonna team up to rip off her employer. Barry Keegan somehow gets a hold of this information. You see him driving around LA on a motorcycle. He is going to try to rip off Chris Hemsworth as they steal the money from the insurance broker who is protecting a lot of jewels. There is one room that they're going to hit that has $11 million and all Halle Berry wants out of that is $3 million. So you have your set pieces and underneath that, Mark Ruffalo is trying to figure out who Chris Hemsworth is. The biggest red flags in this trailer is one, they show you the entire movie in this a little over 2 minute trailer. If you watch it from beginning to end, you know all the beats of this story. You know what is going to happen. Me being able to explain it like that. I already know what I'm going to get into. So I think in this case the second red flag that tells me by them showing the entire plot is they are trying to sell the sizzle more so than the steak. They just want to show you all these things that you're gonna get right up front. You get Chris Hemsworth in a role that is not Thor. You get Mark Ruffalo, maybe in a way you've seen him recently. If you watch Task on hbo. Max which was fantastic. Him as a detective, I think, working in any kind of law enforcement. I'm in. Sign me up for that. You have Halle Berry in this. Who? You don't really get a Halle Berry movie every single year. Maybe every four or five years. So for that reason, it is an event. So they are selling you the cast here because they show you the entire plot of the movie and hope that by giving you so much and telling you all these people in it that you will still go pay money to watch this movie in theaters. And I think if there's somebody who's going to get you out to the theater out of anybody in this cast, it is going to be Halle Berry. Because to me, that does feel like an event. But those are the major red flags sticking out to me. And it also feels very familiar. Even though this isn't a reboot of anything. It is based on a novella by the Same name, Crime 101. But to me, it feels a little bit like Drive with Ryan Gosling, A little bit of baby driver in there as well, just because you see Chris Hemsworth looking really cool in a car. Also, Place beyond the Pines, another Ryan Gosling movie, because this movie is about just one last heist, and it always is about one last heist. A criminal like this will never be satisfied because they need to keep stealing more and more to feed their appetite. And I think just by looking at Chris Hemsworth's character in this, it's not so much about having enough money. It'll never be about that. It looks like he actually enjoys this. He enjoys being so elusive and getting away. So we have that aspect of it. It also reminds me, of course, of the Ocean's movies. Anytime you have a heist movie like this, it just has those vibes to me. And of course, one of the greatest movies of all time, Heat. I'm also getting those vibes as well, which they are making a Heat, too. This kind of feels like all the people who weren't good enough or maybe did not get cast in Heat too, which that cast looks really impressive. Leonardo DiCaprio is a part of that. Whoever didn't get cast in Heat 2 got Crime 101 as kind of, okay, you can go do this movie. I mean, that's probably not the case, but that's just what it feels like to me. Interesting thing about this cast is you see the connection between the Marvel universe, where Chris Hemsworth is returning later this year in Doomsday. Mark Ruffalo is not returning later this year in Doomsday he confirmed it pretty recently that he's not going to be a part of that movie. However, he is confirmed to be in Spider Man Brand New Day. So that leaves me asking a lot of questions. Does that mean he's a little bit over the MCU where he doesn't want to do another Avengers movie? Or is something going to happen to the Hulk in Spider Man Brand New Day, which, first of all, I love that casting. I feel like the Hulk has been underutilized in the mcu, where I want fully unleashed Hulk like he is in the comic books, like the character that I grew up loving. The character I know can be the most dominant superhero out of anybody, be the strongest in the room at all times. But for some reason in the MCU has always had a bit of a comedic feel to him, aside from the first Avengers movie, which I loved him in that. But once we got to Professor Hulk and she Hulk, he became a little bit more of the comic relief. And we saw a lot more of Mark Ruffalo, who I do love, and I think he is a great Bruce Banner, but we saw more of him not Hulked out. I don't know if it's because there's something that's going to happen to his character in Spider Man. Maybe he dies, maybe something happens where he completely goes away, or Mark Ruffalo is kind of trying to move past the mcu, which I thought a lot more of these actors were going to do. And I think at one point that was the case. But since the last one came out in 2019 and they've done some cameos here and there, some movies here and there, but haven't done another Avengers movie and have had time to branch out a little bit and try these other movies, like Hemsworth has done with action movies like this, that I feel like he's really just gravitated to because maybe it's the easiest thing for him to flow into, but maybe that hasn't gone the way that they've all expected. And at the end of the day, it is hard to pass up that MCU money. And not only do you make the money, but you also get all the love again of people being excited to have you back, which those trailers got over a billion views online, so there is still that demand for it. So to be in a position where you can still go back to that and lean on that, even though you kind of wanted to set yourself apart from it, I have to imagine that is a really hard thing to do. And just being able to turn that down is probably one of the most impossible things you can do as an actor. Now I see them coming back for Doomsday. I definitely see a lot of them coming back, unless some of them die in Doomsday in Secret Wars. After that, I think is where we get a full reboot and we kind of have to let go a lot of these characters, which has been really hard for people to move on because eventually they're going to age out of these roles and then we'll really have to move on, and then we're not going to be showing enough attention to all the new Avengers, all these other people that we've introduced and never brought back into the equation. Then we're going to have an even harder time to bounce back and compete with DC. But Ruffalo, at 58 years old, I feel like him in his 60s, he's done with the Hulk. Chris Hemsworth at a healthy 42, I think if he really wanted to, could play it well into his 50s. But I think he is trying to move past that a little bit. And seeing him in crime 101 looking very comfortable in this role and not just shoot him up action movie that we've seen him in, like Extraction, this feels like a really good lane for him. And even though this movie feels like it's very familiar, like I'm gonna go into it knowing exactly what I'm gonna get out of it, I think it's still going to be a good time at the theater, but I'm just setting moderate expectations. Crime 101 comes out in theaters next month on February 13th. And that was this week's edition of Movie Mike's Trailer Park. And that is going to do it for another episode here of the podcast. But before I go, I got to get my listener shout out of the week. How do you get a listener shout out? You can DM me on Instagram, comment on my TikTok or my YouTube page, YouTube.com/Mike Distro also have a Facebook. You can find all the links in the episode notes of this podcast every single week. So whatever you like. Or if you want to email movie mike dmail.com but this week I'm going over to my Instagram, pulling up a recent comment I got on the video Kelsey and I did back on her birthday, where she went to the bookstore, had five minutes to pick out any book she wanted in the store. And the only rule was as long as she could carry it, she could get any book she wanted. And you can go watch that video if you missed it. That video was a while back, but if you go to my Instagram and you missed that, you can check that out. Fun game that we do every year. But I'm shouting out Gina, who commented on that video and said thanks for the end of the year review, Kelsey, I am a bit behind on the podcast and just listened. Also thanks for the validation on audiobooks. My husband and I started listening to books on long trips. It's now a favorite pastime that we enjoy on shorter trips and just while eating dinner after a long, stressful day. So along with that video, we also did an entire podcast where Kelsey did her top 10 books of the last year. So there's a video on my Instagram and the full podcast that we did. So if you need some book recommendations, you can go check out. That episode came out back at the beginning of the year on January 2nd. If you want to go back here on the feedback. But thank you Gina and to anybody who's been catching up on the podcast, if you're listening now and it's way in the future, because this one will come out in January, but maybe if you're listening in February or March, let me know when you're getting caught up, just be like, hey, I know it's March already, but I'm listening to the episode back in January where you're like, hey, if you're getting caught up, let me know in the future. So this is a message to all future listeners of this podcast. Maybe some aliens, I don't know, maybe an alien gets this speed in like another 3, 000 years and they're like, hey, just catching up on the podcast, even though I'd be long gone by then. But thank you Gina. And because I did mention books update on my book of reading Project Hail Mary, I'm still chugging along since last time I read, I think another two chapters. So I'm well over a fourth of the way through, I think now. Now I'm getting close to that halfway mark. Not quite there yet, but that is my next goal to get halfway through the book until March. So that is this week's book update. If you want to start project Hail Mary 2, I think you still have enough time if you want to hop on, start reading it so we can all go watch the movie together in March and be those people that say, ah, the book was so much better than the movie, but thank you for listening and until next time, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.

[Kelsey]

This is an I Heart podcast guaranteed human.