MOVIE MIKE: Bobby Bones on His Top 5 Movies of the Year + Movie Review: Hamnet + Trailer Park: How To Make a Killing

Summary

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The Bobby Bones Show ⭐️

Episode: MOVIE MIKE: Bobby Bones on His Top 5 Movies of the Year + Movie Review: Hamnet + Trailer Park: How To Make a Killing
Date: December 13, 2025

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Overview

In this special episode, Movie Mike welcomes longtime friend and radio legend Bobby Bones to break down Bobby’s top five movies of 2025—marking Bobby’s unexpected return to the movie theater after years of preferring streaming at home. The episode dives into changing theater experiences, the evolution (and potential decline) of movie stardom, and memorable picks from action-packed thrillers to innovative period pieces. The show also features a spoiler-free review of Hamnet (starring Paul Mescal) with Kelsey joining in, and wraps up with Mike’s deep analysis of the trailer for the highly anticipated crime-comedy How To Make a Killing.

The conversations are candid, funny, and insightful, combining cinephile passion with Bobby’s everyman skepticism about contemporary moviegoing.

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Major Segments and Timestamps

• [03:22] Introduction & Bobby Bones’ Movie Habits
• [05:44] Bobby’s Top 5 Movies of 2025
• [09:41] Are Movie Stars "Dead"—The State of Modern Fame
• [13:40] Genre Talk, Movie Recommendations, and More Top Picks
• [21:02] The Experience & Drawbacks of Theaters vs. Streaming
• [31:58] Hamnet Spoiler-Free Review (with Kelsey)
• [47:27] Trailer Park: How To Make a Killing Analysis

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Bobby Bones’ Relationship with Movies ([05:44])

• Bobby hadn’t been to theaters in years, but his wife’s pregnancy and desire for low-effort outings pulled him back, leading to a spate of seven trips in nine weeks.

• Dislikes: people using phones in front rows, inability to pause, long movie runtimes, and excessive previews.

• He admits:
  "Did not have a good relationship (with theaters), but we're on the way back." (06:00, Bobby Bones)

• Still, he often prefers streaming over theaters:

  “I would rather wait till it streams. Most of my questions to you are always, ‘Hey, is that movie streaming yet?’ ... I just want it to be streaming.” (06:43, Bobby Bones)

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Bobby’s Top 5 Movies of the Year ([08:03])

1. Frankenstein (19:04)

• “That would be my number one movie, and it was on Netflix and I didn’t have to pay extra for it, which I love.” (20:21, Bobby Bones)
• Praised for: unexpected depth, creative structure (multiple perspectives), and standout performance by Jacob Elordi.
• “Frankenstein has depth and it shows Frankenstein learning things. … I thought he did a wonderful job of that.” (19:05)

2. Sinners (16:13)

• Surprise favorite: “I had the expectation I would not like it. And it was pretty good.” (17:56)
• Initially a non-horror fan, Bobby appreciated Sinners for subverting horror clichés and blending ‘50s–’60s southern vibes with horror elements, especially the “red” cinematic palette. Says it’s more about expectation than genre.

3. Black Bag (15:09)

• “It's a spy-type movie. … We were in a season of watching a lot of spy stuff.” (15:09)
• Enjoyed Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan; appreciated its tight runtime (1h34m) and who-done-it intrigue.
• Mike recommends Relay if Bobby likes this style.

4. Nobody 1 & 2 (12:23)

• “Very action-packed, violent, a little bit goofy. Hour and a half, you can sit down, have a good time with it. … Bob Odenkirk as the action star—those two don’t go together, but he’s awesome in it.” (12:23)
• Calls it “the Temu John Wick.” Not a family crowdpleaser but ideal for dads/guys who like pure action.

5. Top Gun: Maverick (08:25)

• Finally watched after massive hype: “It did not live up to it, but it got pretty close. It was pretty corny, but I think it was made corny.” (08:28)
• Acknowledges the movie’s importance for theaters’ post-pandemic recovery.
• Tom Cruise: “Still a great action star. … The guy runs on screen really well.” (09:19)

Honorable Mention: Roofman

• “I did like Roofman.” (08:10)

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The State of Movie Stardom ([09:41])

• Movie stars aren’t dead, but “fame is fractured”—way more actors, projects, and platforms dilute classic stardom.
• “It's hard to be massive because you have to cover so many categories.” (10:56)
• DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, a handful of others clear the star threshold today.
• The Rock’s arc: “He was just trying to prove he can sell a movie because he's just a wrestler. … Now he actually wants to be appreciated for the work he's doing on screen.” (11:38)
• Mike: “We’re leaning more toward directors now. … The actual movie star might kind of go away in the next couple of years.” (10:56)

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The Theater vs. Streaming Experience ([06:40], [20:26])

• Bobby prefers streaming for flexibility, pausing, and watching in parts: “I don’t like to be told when I can watch a movie, then have to watch the whole movie at that time.” (20:31)
• But recognizes the shared experience in theaters—crowd laughter, collective reactions—

  “The crowd in the theater laughed out loud a couple of times. So because that happened, it felt a little less like a drama.” (23:02)

• Mike: “That’s why I like going to the theater. Like, hearing other people laugh makes me enjoy it more.” (23:33)
• Bobby watched more movies in 2025 than in the last 15 years combined, partly due to foot surgery recovery:

  “I had surgery on my foot, so I watched like three of them recently because I can't go anywhere. … I got to the end of all good shows on Netflix.” (23:58)

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Industry Observations and Movie Release Realities ([24:24])

• Movies come to streaming faster now, especially if they underperform in theaters.
• Frankenstein had only a limited theatrical run for Oscar eligibility.
• “A lot of those straight-to-streaming movies, to me, you can tell it's like the bad version of a big actor.” (25:32)
• Change from VHS/DVD days:

  “You want to see Jurassic Park 1 … you're gonna watch it at home on a VHS in, like, 2004. Like, that's how long it would take.” (24:37)

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Movie Recommendations and Missed Mentions ([26:03])

Bobby and Mike discuss additional notable 2025 releases:

• Relay (“You would love it… 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.” [16:06])
• Weapons, Begonia (Bobby: “Jesse Plemmons, my favorite actor now.” [26:17])
• F1 (Mike: “Brad Pitt’s awesome in it. … And he’s like 60 years old.” [26:31])
• Mark Wahlberg’s recent streaming projects regarded as lower quality.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I just don't want to be told what time I have to watch a movie, and I don't want to be told I have to watch it all in one setting.” (23:39, Bobby Bones)
• “Even though I emptied my bladder right before, it was still good. I understand why it's up for all the awards.” (21:38, on One Battle After Another)
• Mike: “That scene—a chase scene in it—one of the best in the last decade, I would say.” (21:23)
• “I think genres have kind of shifted a lot, like comedy is a very broad term now, but it does have a lot of elements that are funny.” (23:25, Mike)

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[31:58] Spoiler-Free Review: Hamnet (with Kelsey)

- Book vs. Movie:

• Kelsey read the book: “Very slow burn ... It was like required reading to finish it before the movie.” (32:14)
• Movie improves on the book: “Very rare occasion where the movie was better than the book.” (33:57)
• The film delivers the story with more emotion, less "stare longingly" filler.

- Paul Mescal/Acting:

• Mike: “Paul Mescal and his slutty little earring ... he just acts on an entirely different level.” (33:06)
• Both Mescal and Jesse Buckley praised for intensity and chemistry.

- Emotional Moments:

• Mike: “There are moments that got me a little bit choked up. But the girl next to us ... brought a roll of toilet paper.” (35:33)
• Kelsey: “It wasn't. It didn't feel slow. And that was my concern going into it.” (39:00)
• Children actors “next level” and crucial to emotional impact.

- Direction:

• Mike: “Any other director besides Chloe Zhao ... this movie could have been a total snooze fest.” (37:57)
• Modern sound design and fluid pacing make it accessible—even to those with “15-second attention spans.”

- Final Ratings:

• Kelsey: “4 out of 5 swords.” (41:56)
• Mike: “4.5 out of 5 hawks. … It was not boring.” (42:06)

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[47:27] Trailer Park: How To Make a Killing

• Mike unpacks the trailer for How To Make a Killing starring Glenn Powell and Margaret Qualley.
• Explores why culture is increasingly drawn to antiheroes and whether we romanticize villainy.
• Plot: Powell plays an exiled heir, urged to kill his family to secure his inheritance—“between myself and $28 billion.” (51:27)
• Margaret Qualley's character eggs him on; comparisons are made to American Psycho.
• Director: John Patton Ford, praised for crime anxiety in Emily the Criminal.
• Mike: “I just have found myself struggling with this idea of rooting for a villain, especially one as charismatic as Glenn Powell.” (54:25)

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Listener Shout-out & Streaming Interface Rant

• Mike gives a “listener shout-out of the week” to Shan for agreeing that Disney+ has the worst streaming interface and laments Hulu’s upcoming merger. (57:27)

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Final Thoughts

The episode’s casual, honest tone—anchored by Bobby Bones’ everyman approach and Movie Mike’s thoughtful criticism—makes it both accessible for mainstream audiences and rewarding for cinephiles. Bobby’s list features genuinely unexpected picks and the hosts’ willingness to debate the state of movies and streaming provides refreshing perspective.

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Quick-Access Timeline

• [05:44] Bobby’s Movie-Going Reluctance & Newfound Openness
• [08:25] Bobby’s Top 5 (Maverick, Nobody, Black Bag, Sinners, Frankenstein)
• [09:41] Movie Stars Dead?
• [13:40] Crowdpleasers, Recommendations
• [16:13] Bobby’s #2: Sinners
• [19:04] Bobby’s #1: Frankenstein
• [21:02] “One Battle After Another” (Movie Experience, Awards)
• [23:39] Theater vs. Streaming
• [24:24] Release-Windows, The Past
• [31:58] Hamnet Review
• [47:27] How To Make a Killing Trailer Park
• [57:27] Listener Shout-Out

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Notable Bobby Bones quotes are attributed with timestamps above.

Transcript

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[Movie Mike]

There hello and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I am your host, Movie Mike. Today I'm sitting down with my friend Bobby Bones, who for the first time in a long time went back to movie theaters and I want to know his top five movies of the year. In the movie review we'll be talking about Hamnet starring Paul Mescal. Is this going to be Best Picture at the Oscars next year? Kelsey will hop in on that review because she also read the book. And in the trailer park we'll be talking about how to Make a Killing starring Glenn Powell and Margaret Qualley. It's about his character who is the heir to a multi billion dollar fortune, except he basically has to kill his entire family who are in line ahead of him to get all that money. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being subscribed. If you are not over on my YouTube channel, YouTube.com mike dro to check out individual movie reviews and it would mean a lot to me if you go over there and subscribe. But you get brand new episodes here every single Monday. You can always find the links to all that and my social media in the podcast description notes. But now let's talk movies from the Nashville Podcast Network. This is Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I sat down with my friend Bobby Bones. If you are a listener of this podcast, you probably already know who he is, let's face it. But if for some reason you don't, he is the host of the Bobby Bones show, the Bobby Cast, 25 Whistles. All these podcasts that is in some way or another I'm probably associated with as well. But what you may not know is Bobby and I have known each other now for 15 going on 16 years. We met after I messaged him on MySpace asking him for advice on how to start a podcast. I think that was in 2010. That is how we met each other. He replied to me and said just come up, watch how we do the radio show and you'll get all the know how you need. From there I went up, I visited the show, I saw all the other interns working and thought I want to do that. And and from that moment where I got that internship, I never left. Started working there with him in Austin, eventually moved here in Nashville, and now here we are 15 years later, still doing it. And he is historically a person who does not like going to the movie theater. But this year, we'll talk about why he ventured back into the theater and his top five movies of 2025, and what he thinks about movie stars and if they're dying out. Let's get into it now with Bobby Bones. All right, we're here talking about your top five movies of the year. Before we get into that, what was your relationship even go into the movies before this year?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't think I'd been in years. My wife wanted to go at the time she was starting to be pregnant, if that's an actual medical diagnosis. And so there was stuff that she was like, I feel good, but not so good that I want to go do anything active. So let's find something to do where I don't have to be active at all. And so we would go to the movies, and we watch, like, Fantastic Four. We did, like, seven weeks out of nine, I think five weeks in a row and seven out of nine. That probably match my total movie intake ever in the history of my life and also was the first time I'd been in forever. So I don't like the theater very much because people get on their phones, and I don't mind people being on their phones if they're to the side or behind me. But when they're in front of you and they're on their phone, it's just a big light in the theater, and you can't help but then look at their phone. I feel like people are now, though, honestly, more respectful in theaters than they even were five or six years ago. And I think a lot of that, too, is just the chairs are bigger, you can lean back. But did not have a good relationship. But we're on the way back.

[Movie Mike]

How do you feel about the experience now? Are you still anti movie theater?

[Bobby Bones]

I would rather wait till it streams.

[Movie Mike]

Still.

[Bobby Bones]

Most of my questions to you are always, hey, is that movie streaming yet? And if it's yes, then I'll go watch it. Like, I just watched Roofman, and I just waited to watch Roofman because I was waiting on you to tell me when it was finally out. So, yeah, I want it to be streaming. I don't know if it's because we have a big TV or it's just because I get annoyed or if it's because I have to watch the whole thing when I go to the theater because I can't pause it and come back in the theater, where in some of the movies that we'll talk about, I watched it in like two different sittings because movies are way too long. They're like two and a half hours long. And I have trouble sitting for 45 minutes. So I think that probably affects it as well.

[Movie Mike]

So you don't find it more memorable by going to the theater, like, oh, I took that movie in differently than I just watched it at home, either on my laptop or on my tv. That's fascinating.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't think so. I don't. I think I'd take it in worse because I have to. I'm told when I can watch it, I have to sit for 30 minutes before to watch the previews. And at this point, I know when the movie is going to start according to when the previews start. However, I still, just in case, will still get there early in case they decide for on this movie, they're going to cut the previews way short. So, yeah, the experience of the movies I don't like.

[Movie Mike]

I do think they need to cut that down. Like 30 minutes of previews is insane for people going to the movies who have never. Haven't been in a while. And then they're like, why do I.

[Bobby Bones]

Gotta watch 30 minutes? Yeah, it's crazy.

[Movie Mike]

All right, let's get into your list. Your number five movie of the year.

[Bobby Bones]

So these are movies that I watch. I'm not even sure they all came out this year.

[Movie Mike]

Okay.

[Bobby Bones]

And because I said Roofman, I didn't put it on the list because I didn't think about it until I said I just watched Roofman. So if I were going to put as a. As an honorable mention, I'd put Roofman, because I did like Roofman. And that was a 2025 movie, right?

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, it came out a few months ago.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay. I put a number five Top Gun, the new one.

[Movie Mike]

You just watched it?

[Bobby Bones]

I just watched it and there was a lot of hype. I thought there's no way to live up to it. It did not live up to it, but it got pretty close. It was pretty corny, but I think it was made corny.

[Movie Mike]

I think it's better than the original.

[Bobby Bones]

I also didn't watch the original until like three or four years ago.

[Movie Mike]

So you're totally new to Top Gun.

[Bobby Bones]

Like I've known of it. I just never got into Top Gun. I didn't hate on it kind of like Star Wars. I don't hate on it. I just never got into it. And probably if I got into it, I would have liked it.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

But.

[Bobby Bones]

But I will say that the action on Top Gun was really cool.

[Movie Mike]

I love the way that movie was filmed, the way it made you feel. I do think that is an issue now with how I overhype movies when they first come out. It's never going to live up to that standard because I love that movie in theaters. I would say it probably saved the movie industry that year. It came out because it got people actually going back. But you build it up so much and then you watch it at home and it's like, it's all right.

[Bobby Bones]

I only watched it at home and it had gotten so hyped up that I started tearing it down. So it was the perfect meet in the middle. I enjoyed it. I put that at number five. I think Tom Cruise is still a great action star. Even though he. He's a great runner in movies.

[Movie Mike]

He does run really well from like.

[Bobby Bones]

Mission Impossibles and Top Guns. Like the guy runs on screen really well when running can be a really awkward thing.

[Movie Mike]

If I said that Hollywood stars are dead now, what would you say?

[Bobby Bones]

That there's a few. I think fame is fractured in general and I think Hollywood is just a version of what we're all experiencing with fame to. Whereas there are 800 actors doing 800 different projects that 800 people are watching all differently. I don't think we live in an attention economy to where everybody goes to anything anymore. But I think the traditional Hollywood stars, what it was Even in the 90s and early 2000s, I think it's way different because when there's a lot more of something, there aren't as many significance of something. So you still have the ones that have been around which are I think a DiCaprio for sure. I think of now. Who's the guy that played Bob Dylan?

[Movie Mike]

Timothy Chalamet.

[Bobby Bones]

That's one of them. I think there's five, four, five. So I think if we're comparing it to 10, 15 years ago, yes, I think there are a lot of stars, but it's just harder to cut through because there are so many projects. There are so many movies coming out on Netflix. There are just so many ways to get movies. So therefore there are so many more actors. I think the height, like to be a massive star is so much harder to be. Because it's hard to be massive because you have to cover so many categories. I don't know. That's a terrible answer. But Yeah, I don't think it's dead. I think it's just different.

[Movie Mike]

I think we're leaning more towards directors now. I think it's. We're chasing original ideas. I think that's what's really cut through this year. So I think the actual movie star might kind of go away in the next couple of years. When you see people like the Rock do a smaller movie and not be able to bring in as much money.

[Bobby Bones]

With the Rock, though, don't you think? A little bit. He reads what people say about him. He's just a money maker that plays the same person over and over and over again. He's fighting dinosaurs, he's fighting dragons. Like he's that action hero. He's swinging off buildings. But I think after a while, when you have plenty of money and you're not going to get any more famous, even if you do another three of them, you start to want to have your peers recognize you.

[Movie Mike]

You want the Oscar.

[Bobby Bones]

I feel like that's what the Rock at this stage of his acting career is. He wants to be appreciated for what he's doing. More so than the appreciation. Just be financial or just be celebrity. Because at first, I'm sure that's what it was. He was just trying to prove he can sell a movie because he's just a wrestler. And now it's. He sold movies. Now he actually wants to be appreciated for the work he's doing on screen, if it's television or if it's. I guess he doesn't do a lot of tv, but I think Netflix, I think just Billions. Because he did like the red. What was the red the movie did on Netflix?

[Movie Mike]

The Red. Notice something? Yeah, he did a couple of red movies.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Yeah. I think the Rock wants to be appreciated now for all the work he's put in. So he's changed it up a little bit because of that. But I agree with you.

[Movie Mike]

Your number four movie, well, I put.

[Bobby Bones]

Nobody one and two.

[Movie Mike]

Okay.

[Bobby Bones]

Watch them both this year. These are very action packed, violent, a little bit goofy. Hour and a half, you can sit down, have a good time with it. Don't take it too serious type of movie. It has Bob Odenkirk as the action star. Those two don't go together. When you think action Star, you think of the Rock or Jason Statham. You don't think of Bob Odenkirk, who played Saul in Better Call Saul, but he's awesome in it because he's not supposed to be that guy and he's an assassin and he's not assassin anymore. He's, like, at home now with his family. And he kind of gets called back in. And I didn't know Nobody one existed until I was at the movies in my run when I. When I saw a preview for Nobody 2. And I thought, Nobody 2. I've never heard of Nobody 1. So I went home and watched Nobody 1. It was 90 minutes. I freaking loved it. I've compared it to Temu, John Wick. Cause they didn't put near as much money into it. I love John Wick. And so watch Nobody one at home. And as soon as Nobody two came out, I just streamed it, like a week ago. I loved them both. There should be no expectation because there's nothing there. I think that's what makes it great. It's just a bunch of fighting. Also in the movie from Back to the Future, the old guy.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, Doc.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, whatever his name is. In real life. Yeah. From Taxi as well. That guy's been on TV forever. Yeah. I put Nobody one and two at my number four spot.

[Movie Mike]

Would you say if you have, like, a parental figure or like a father figure in your life, that's a good movie you can put on and then just like. Because I find that that's always the hardest person to find, like, to watch a movie for. Like, if you're watching over the holidays. Like, we just need a kind of crowd pleaser that guys will like, too.

[Bobby Bones]

I think it's really a guy movie, though. Like, my wife didn't like it because it's just action. There's not a lot of plot.

[Movie Mike]

There's no love, really. It's family. The second one's more family.

[Bobby Bones]

It's just action. It's just a vehicle for them to.

[Movie Mike]

Shoot each other and blow things up.

[Bobby Bones]

That's it. So I don't know that it's a family movie. But if you're just bored and you want something on or you're trying to kill 90 minutes, I think that's it.

[Movie Mike]

You're number three.

[Bobby Bones]

I saw this on Amazon Prime. I don't know if it was even in the theater. Was Black Bag in theater?

[Movie Mike]

It was in theaters, yeah. Earlier this year.

[Bobby Bones]

So I watched Black Bag and as Michael Fassbender. Michael Fassbender is somebody that I guess was introduced to me through the show the Agency, which is on Hulu, where he plays a spy. And so my wife and I devoured that series. And after we finished it, you know, it just feeds you what you like. So Black Bag pops up and it's like you may also like this. And so we watched on Amazon, and it's quirky, it feels a bit European. But it's a spy type movie. And we were definitely in a season of watching a lot of spy stuff because the Agency is kind of spy, CIA, FBI type stuff. He plays a similar type character. Also, Cate Blanchett's in it. She's always great. I think she's. She's been a superstar for a long time, right?

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, she's been around a while.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I really like that. And it also wasn't that long. I don't feel. I don't. I'm looking it up here. Hour, 34 minutes. That's the perfect time. I thought Black Bag was really good. It's a who done it? Type of thing. You're trying to figure out who did the thing that they're doing. And I thought it paid itself off. Great. Pierce Brosnan was in it, who not only played Bond, but was like Remington Steele back in the day. So it was good. That's my number three movie.

[Movie Mike]

I'm going to give you a movie to watch if you really like that one. If you like spy movies, you should watch a movie called Relay. It's about this guy who is, like the in between between, like, corrupt situations. Like, it's about this lady who wants to call out her company for doing some shady, unethical things.

[Bobby Bones]

It's called the Relay.

[Movie Mike]

It's called Relay. It's one of those movies that came out earlier, not a whole lot of people saw.

[Bobby Bones]

Is it streaming?

[Movie Mike]

Yes, it is streaming, but I think you would love it because he is the in between negotiations between the evil corporation and the person they did wrong. And he uses, like, this communication device where he's, like, completely hidden, like, totally off the radar.

[Bobby Bones]

It's got an 82% of rotten tomatoes. That would pass the wife's test to watch it.

[Movie Mike]

I think if you both enjoyed Black Bag, you'll love Relay.

[Bobby Bones]

All right, we're in. I made a note. We're gonna watch Relay. My number two movie is Sinners. I don't really watch horror movies. This turns into a horror movie, but it doesn't feel like one for the first half. It just feels like a 1950s or 60s kind of music in the South. Like, what the vibe was.

[Movie Mike]

Don't you struggle with period pieces, though? You felt. Did you feel that?

[Bobby Bones]

I didn't mind the colors so much like the colors in. Because I don't want to spoil my next ones, but my next movie, I don't know. I feel like, they did a good job. There's something about movies. If they're, like, too green in those, maybe it's the greens of period pieces. I don't like it. I thought Sinners was kind of red feeling.

[Movie Mike]

I could see that. I think also Ryan Cooler, the director, does a really good job at making movies feel modern, even though they're set in older times. Like with Michael B. Jordan, he doesn't really. He feels like he's from today, even though he's in old clothes.

[Bobby Bones]

I think with this movie, I did not have an expectation at all. I actually didn't expect to like it. And I was only watching it because they were like, hey, if you like this, the director will come on the show. And I think they ran some ads or something, or maybe it was just to get him on the show. And so I got an advanced copy of it and I just put it on on the treadmill and was like, I'm gonna watch the first 30 minutes of this, and if I'm not feeling it, we're good. And I thought the first 30 minutes was good. And so then, well, let me just jump on in, watch the whole thing. Thought it was great. And it doesn't get vampirey until way later in the movie because I don't like horror.

[Movie Mike]

I don't.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't like jump scares. I don't mind zombies. But vampires. Is that weird go between?

[Movie Mike]

It's kind of like a zombie style that you're into.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I liked it. I put that as my number two movie. But probably a lot of that's based on expectation. I had the expectation I would not like it. And it was pretty good.

[Movie Mike]

So no nightmares after it?

[Bobby Bones]

Not that I can remember, no. I did have nightmares after Twilight back in the day, reading that book.

[Movie Mike]

Also. Vampires. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Number one. I have Frankenstein.

[Movie Mike]

Fantastic.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Again, I had no expectation. I didn't want to like it because when I turned it on, the colors were green. It was that kind of color period piece. The clothes are weird. I didn't like it. And I don't really have a love for Frankenstein or the story in general. I know it. I mean, I kind of know it. The scientist creates the big monster. The monster's got the bolts in his neck. Like, we all know that the Munsters, you know, because the main character in the Munsters was Frankenstein, basically. So I have all of that. So I really wasn't going into it going, I want to love this movie. But you had seen it and said it was good. Eddie had seen it and said, it was good. So I liked how they split that up into different parts, like they do. Perspectives. The perspective of the scientist, the perspective of some other people, the perspective of Frankenstein. And so you're watching three different versions of the same story, and I thought, the Jacob Elordi. Is that his name?

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

That was awesome in it.

[Movie Mike]

Really good.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. And that's really not a role you expect someone to have to be awesome in. But I thought he did a great job in that movie because Frankenstein has depth and it shows Frankenstein, like, learning things. So I thought he did a wonderful job of that.

[Movie Mike]

Does that make you emotional at all? Like, some of the dialogue he said where he's like, I've never really lived, but I never really died?

[Bobby Bones]

No, I don't think so. I was mostly like. Because I'd seen the video of how he had to take eight hours every single day to put all of the. The makeup on. I was like, I would just think about that all the time. Like, that must have sucked to have to sit every day and put that on. And then I would think, man, you really. After you put all this time into something, you don't know how it's going to turn out. You just go and you shoot this thing and hope that the edit works out, that the story's good, the script is good, that everything is to have a hit. Everything has to kind of work right. Because there's so many movies that come out that I'm sure on script look great, but maybe the acting wasn't great, or maybe some of the change in writing didn't turn out right, or maybe the editing was bad or the music. But everything kind of has to hit right in order for it to be wonderful.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

And.

[Bobby Bones]

And after you work on a project for that long, because I've had projects like television shows, I've recorded the whole show. And you're like, I wonder what this is going to look like once it gets out of my hands and it comes back and you're like, oh, that's pretty good. Or really good to do that with a movie where you had to sit and make up eight hours every day. I was kind of like, man, I hope this guy's happy, because it really paid off sitting there for eight hours every day.

[Movie Mike]

But I liked it.

[Bobby Bones]

It was really good. That would be my number one movie, and it was on Netflix and I didn't have to pay extra for it, which I love.

[Movie Mike]

So next year, not going back to the theater at all. It's full streaming.

[Bobby Bones]

I would have never chosen to go to the theater, not even once. So I didn't, like, have a change in how I operate other than I've made a change in how I operate, wherein I respect my wife and what she wants to do. So I'm good. Never going to theater again. I'll wait a month. I'm perfect again. I don't like to be told when I can watch a movie, then have to watch the whole movie at that time. But I did have some good experiences. We did watch the one battle.

[Movie Mike]

One battle after another.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. And I see why it's nominated for everything.

[Movie Mike]

One.

[Bobby Bones]

It's completely original. So it's not a prequel, it's not a sequel, it's not a reboot. Completely original with a massive star. DiCaprio, who acts the crap out of it. He's awesome in it. There were some times too, while they were shooting that movie, I thought this feels really original. This, that scene. There's a chase scene in it.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, one of the best in the last decade, I would say.

[Bobby Bones]

While that was happening, I even thought, and I'm not good at movies, so I really can't spot great acting. I thought, this is really cool how this is shot. And when I left, I thought that was a long movie.

[Movie Mike]

Two and a half hours.

[Bobby Bones]

It felt very long. I thought it was a long movie. I did have to get up and go to the bathroom during it, which I won't do. Like, I will hold it, but the bathroom was right next to the door. Like right when you walked out of the theater, the bathroom was right there. So I knew if I watch the screen all the way up to the door, total in and out was going to be like 60 seconds. So went to the bathroom real quick, walk back in, missed 60 seconds of the movie. But it was that long that I had to go to the bathroom. Even though I emptied my bladder right before, it was still good. I understand why it's up for all the awards. I think if I could have watched it in two parts, I would have loved it.

[Movie Mike]

That was like the longest movie I've seen this year that didn't feel that long. And I think the reason I love it so much is because the chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro, like, I think those two together were perfect.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh yeah, he was great in it too.

[Movie Mike]

Did you find it as funny? Like, I felt like it was more of a comedy. Or did you take it as like, this is a straight on drama going in?

[Bobby Bones]

I thought straight on drama. But then there. There's some physical type comedy. I Don't know if comedy is the word, but. And I don't want to spoil too much of the movie, but the bad guy in the movie. Can I say this? He's like in the military.

[Movie Mike]

Sean Penn. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

He's a villain.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. He's funny.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Like his character is kind of funny in the movie.

[Movie Mike]

Over the top. Ridiculous.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. So. And it's not done in a way of we're trying to make a comedy, nor is it so unbelievable because I think there are guys that act like that. But he's kind of funny.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

The crowd in the theater laughed out loud a couple of times. So because that happened, it felt a little less like a drama and a little more. I don't know, what is it considered? Like, what are the website, what's it called?

[Movie Mike]

I think it's considered like an action movie. Really? Yeah. Majority of it is action, action, drama.

[Bobby Bones]

I think it goes so many different places that I have trouble defining it because I didn't know what I would call it.

[Movie Mike]

I feel like genres have kind of shifted a lot.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, kinda like music.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. Like, comedy is like a very broad term now, but it does have a lot of elements that are funny.

[Sophie Cunningham]

And.

[Movie Mike]

And what you said right there, that's why I like going to the theater. Like, hearing other people laugh makes me enjoy it more. To you, it doesn't.

[Bobby Bones]

I just don't want to be told what time I have to watch a movie, and I don't want to be told I have to watch it all in one setting. But I did watch more movies this year than I think any year in the past 15 years.

[Movie Mike]

That made me excited for you. I was like. Because you've been saying, like, for the longest time you're not a movie guy. And seeing you actually go to the theater one, but all the movies you have watched this year, I was like, this is exciting.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, and I had surgery on my foot, so I watched like three of them recently because I can't go anywhere. I'm just lay in the bed and watch movies. And I think I've watched all the good shows. Like, I got to the end of Netflix. I got to the end of all good shows on Netflix.

[Movie Mike]

They were like, you got that message, you hit it. I think you've been watching enough.

[Bobby Bones]

Yep, you've watched enough Netflix. So, yeah, good year for movies over at our house because we watched a lot of them in the theater and they come out streaming quicker. It feels like, am I wrong?

[Movie Mike]

If a movie kind of bombs, it'll come out sooner It'll come out within 30 to 45 days. If it does really well, probably three months.

[Bobby Bones]

People don't realize, like, if you're younger back in the day, six months.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, you want to see Jurassic Park 1. Okay. It may come out in 96, but you're gonna watch it at home on a VHS in, like, 2004. Like, that's how long it would take for a movie to actually get to Blockbuster. So you could go and rent it now. Yeah, I see it. I store it. Mike, is that out yet? Stream? Yep. All right. I'm going to watch it, I think.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. That's a lot of issues that people have with even making money off of movies is because they come out. If you don't go watch it, it feels like it's not successful because when it goes to streaming, it doesn't really have a chance to make money on the back end. Before you had DVD sales, you had VHS sales, and you had the ability to put it on TV where more people would see it. But now, if it doesn't do well in theaters, it's like it's kind of a failure.

[Bobby Bones]

Was Frankenstein in theaters?

[Movie Mike]

No, it was.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, it never was.

[Movie Mike]

No, it was just straight Netflix. They put it in, like, a limited runtime because they want it to be nominated for Oscars. And in order to be nominated for Oscars, you have to have a theatrical run for at least a week. So it comes out for, like, one weekend only. And then just Netflix.

[Bobby Bones]

It was so significant of a movie. I assumed it was in theaters because it didn't look cheap. It had major actors, and it was good. A lot of those straight to streaming movies, to me, you can tell it's like the bad version of a big actor.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

The story's got a lot of holes, and it's kind of corny.

[Movie Mike]

Like, anything Mark Wahlberg does right now is like straight streamer. He is like the streamer actor to me.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know that I've seen any Mark Wahlberg movies recently.

[Movie Mike]

I've seen way too many that are not good.

[Bobby Bones]

All right. Anything I should watch, though, going into the holiday? So I have that movie written down.

[Movie Mike]

Really?

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah. Relay from 2024, I would say of.

[Movie Mike]

My best of the year that you would enjoy. You saw Weapons?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I saw Weapons. I forgot I even saw. I saw that one. Yeah.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Pretty good.

[Movie Mike]

You saw Begonia?

[Bobby Bones]

Like, Begonia. I like Jesse Plemitz, my favorite actor now.

[Movie Mike]

And you saw F1.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, that was good. I didn't expect that to be good. We Saw that in a theater. Yeah, F1's really good. I probably would put that on my.

[Movie Mike]

List if I could go back this month now, too.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, it's not out yet. Still on Apple.

[Movie Mike]

You can only buy it, but now it'll be free on Apple.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, I've already watched it, but that's a good one. And it's a little corny, but Brad Pitt's awesome in it. Like, he's still a great. I don't know if that's an action movie or not, but he's still great at that stuff. Like having a shirt off and, like, doing physical things. He's still great at that. And he's like 60 years old.

[Movie Mike]

It helps that his act, his character in the movie is like an older guy coming back and the young guy kind of hates him.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, it's a good point. But still, he takes a shirt off, he does not look like an old dude.

[Movie Mike]

I would say if there's anything you need to promote, but I think you're good.

[Bobby Bones]

Right down. Promoted, Out. Merry Christmas, everybody.

[Movie Mike]

Hello.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Hello.

[Movie Mike]

I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Smart Talks with IBM. I recently sat down with IBM's chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, and I asked him, how can companies use AI to its fullest potential to create smarter business?

[Rob Gronkowski]

My one advice to them, pick areas you can scale. Don't pick the shiny little toys on the side.

[Movie Mike]

For example, if anybody has more than.

[Rob Gronkowski]

10% of what they had for customer service 10 years ago, they're already five years behind. If anybody is not using AI to.

[Movie Mike]

Make their developers who write software 30%.

[Rob Gronkowski]

More productive today with the goal of being 70% more productive.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Rob Gronkowski]

So we are not asking our clients to be the first experiment on it.

[Movie Mike]

We say you can leverage what we did.

[Rob Gronkowski]

We are happy to bring out all.

[Movie Mike]

Our learnings, including what needs to change in the process.

[Rob Gronkowski]

Because the biggest change is not technology.

[Movie Mike]

It's getting people to accept that there's a different way to do things. To listen to the full conversation, visit IBM.com smarttalks.

[Rob Gronkowski]

This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. For the second season in a row, I partnered with T Mobile's Friday night 5G lights, powering up hometown football across America. This year, T mobile invested over $4 million in prizes to help schools take their Friday nights to the next level. The votes are in. And now it's time to crown our $1 million grand prize winner. Congratulations to Derrick's high school and Derrick's Arkansas home of the outlaws and your 2020 5T mobile Friday night 5G lights champion the Outlaws and their community rallied to help them score a game changing home field upgrade, a Gronk Fitness weight room makeover, an epic 2026 tailgate party and a VIP trip to the SEC championship game. To every school that competed, posted and rallied your communities, thank you and to T Mobile for making it all possible. This season may be over, but the story isn't. Stay tuned for season three in 2026. Congratulations again to Derek's high School Outlaws.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest. Work done by thousands of working forest professionals like Adam, a district Forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires.

[Bobby Bones]

Keeping the forest fire resistant synonymous with.

[Movie Mike]

Keeping the forest healthy.

[Bobby Bones]

And we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management. It's a long term commitment.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Visit workingforestsinitiative.com to learn more. This is Mandy Woodruff Santos from Brown Ambition. Hey ba fam. When you start a new business, your first reaction might be to say something like yes, Queen, let's go. But one thing to say that could be a huge help is like a good neighbor, State Farm Farm is there. And just like that, State Farm will be there with the coverage that fits your needs. Whether your business is growing or just opened its doors. State Farm agents are small business owners too, so they know what it takes. They can help you create an insurance plan that fits your small business needs and budget. And when you need help, State Farm is there to answer your small business questions or help you file a claim and get you back in business. With State Farm, you can worry less about the unexpected and focus more on your business. With a State Farm agent, you know someone is helping you achieve your goals. Just say, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Breaking news everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proof that the Internet it hasn't ruined humanity entirely.

[Bobby Bones]

Clean the world. We have almost 10,000 hotels that operate our soap and plastic recycling program and we have created and distributed 90 million million free bars of soap to children, families, mothers in 127 countries across the globe.

[Sophie Cunningham]

It's like magic you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna for the Ripple Effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything.

[Bobby Bones]

You really can. Best stat of all is that the death rate to children under the age of five dying to hygiene related illnesses has decreased by more than 60% since the day we started.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Listen to the ripple effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Movie Mike]

Let's get into it now. A spoiler free movie review of Hamnet starring Paul Mescal, Jesse Buckley, directed by Chloe Zhao. I did not read the book. You did. Were you excited for it going into it?

[Sophie Cunningham]

I'm gonna be honest.

[Movie Mike]

No. What did you feel about the book? Wasn't it kind of a slow burn?

[Sophie Cunningham]

You were like, very slow burn. It was one of those where I picked it up so that I could finish it. Not that I was excited to pick it back up. It was kind of like almost when you have required reading for school. That's what I felt like. It was like required reading to finish it before the movie.

[Movie Mike]

But it's about William and Agnes Shakespeare. So it's a fictionalized story about the loss of their son, right?

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yes. And I'm going to be so honest. I read the book, but never, obviously, I knew it was about Shakespeare. Never in the book do they say William Shakespeare. They call him the Latin tutor. Like, the whole time, they never say, like, William Shakespeare. And so your brain has to, like, keep reminding yourself this is about Shakespeare. And oftentimes I forgot because in the.

[Movie Mike]

Movie they do refer to him as Will. Do they ever call him William?

[Sophie Cunningham]

No, but they. I think at one point they say William Shakespeare.

[Movie Mike]

I thought Paul Mescal was incredible. Both of them together.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Paul Mescal and his slutty little earring.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. You think I could pull off the. The single earring? That's what I was thinking the whole time. Like, could I pull off the single earring? I feel like you have to have a much better looking face than what I have.

[Sophie Cunningham]

I don't think you have to have a better looking face than you have. I find your face very attractive. I just think it has. It also, like, went with the wardrobe and the time, but I feel like.

[Movie Mike]

You could pull that off now without the William Shakespeare wardrobe.

[Sophie Cunningham]

But it's very. Just like. It's very Paul Mescal. Like, he just kind of gives off that vibe.

[Movie Mike]

He could pull off that he could pull off the short shorts.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Mm.

[Movie Mike]

And he is just somebody who I think acts on an entirely different level watching this movie between both of them, he's different than every other actor. He was really intense.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Very intense.

[Movie Mike]

And it was really emotional. I just found the entire story to be kind of more powerful than I was expecting. I thought this movie was going to be kind of a snooze fest, I gotta say.

[Sophie Cunningham]

A very rare occasion where the movie was better than the book. I feel like in the book we get a lot of background of Agnes and, like, her evil stepmom, who you, like, barely even realized in the movie as her stepmom because they refer to.

[Movie Mike]

Her as, like, a forest witch.

[Sophie Cunningham]

No, that's about her real mom.

[Movie Mike]

Oh, about her real mom. Okay.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Because her mom died. You get a lot more background on Agnes in the book. And I don't think that moves the story along as much. And in the book, it's very much like, stare longingly, gazed, wistfully, went to the forest. And I feel like they can just do those things in the movie. And it tells the story better because.

[Movie Mike]

The movie overall is the story of them getting together. Nobody really wants them to be together.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah. And you have way more in the book about their backstory, how they ended up together. Like his father. This isn't a spoiler. Spoiler is in debt to her father, all this stuff.

[Movie Mike]

And they have a family together. They're living out kind of on the countryside. I love the. The bird in this movie.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

Like, it made me want a pet bird. Even though I'm kind of freaked out by birds. I was like, if I could have a bird that could return to me on that little glove thing.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Interesting.

[Movie Mike]

Like, it's a really smart bird. Like, how do you do that? After watching this movie, do you think it is in contention for Best Picture?

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

I think between this and one battle after another, I think those are the two leaders. I think Paul Mescal could win for Best actor.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Those were 1 and 2 on the rolling Stones.

[Movie Mike]

Oh, really?

[Sophie Cunningham]

Of the year.

[Movie Mike]

I didn't expect this movie to even enter my top ten. Could quite possibly enter my top five by the end of it. How did you feel as far as. How emotional did it make you?

[Sophie Cunningham]

Not as emotional as the girl.

[Movie Mike]

The girl. Okay, here's the weird part. There are. Obviously, it is a tragedy. They're going to be sad things happening. We won't say specifically what happens, but there are moments that got me a little bit choked up. But the girl next to us, she.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Brought a roll of toilet paper.

[Movie Mike]

She was going through something. I feel like she. Which. The interesting thing was before the movie started, she was making fun of all the trailers they showed before the movie, like the Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson movie. She was like, that looks terrible. Every movie. The Sydney Sweeney movie. She was like, that looks terrible.

[Sophie Cunningham]

She Was going through something. I feel. Feel like the movie was a cathartic release for her. But I just. At one point, I heard her blowing her nose, and I was like, oh, maybe seasonal allergies. Because it's that time of year when everyone's got, like, a cough, a sniffle in the theater, which there was a lot.

[Movie Mike]

There's a lot of.

[Sophie Cunningham]

There's a lot of that. It's also a very quiet film. It's a very quiet.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. That was hard for me when it started out because we were both really hungry and it needed snow snacks. And I was like, I just gotta go for it. But it's so quiet starting out.

[Sophie Cunningham]

You wait till, like, the most quiet moments.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I just have to.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Because once you're like, oh, no one's talking.

[Movie Mike]

Once the. Once the action starts on screen, that is my cue to start eating. Like, I don't eat during the previews.

[Sophie Cunningham]

There was not much action in terms of this film. So it wasn't.

[Movie Mike]

That's why I'm like. Whenever a movie starts out so quiet, I'm like, please, I need to open my snacks. Give me some sound here.

[Sophie Cunningham]

But, yeah, at one point, I look over and she is just, like, unwrapping the toilet paper, sobbing. Like, you can hear the sobs.

[Movie Mike]

And this is like, dollar store, maybe gas station toilet paper.

[Sophie Cunningham]

One ply.

[Movie Mike]

It sounded like she was blowing her nose with a receipt.

[Sophie Cunningham]

I should have given her some tissues. I actually had tissues in my purse. I should have brought those out.

[Movie Mike]

She was crying pretty hardcore. Like, pretty uncontrollably. Yeah, Like, a couple of times during this movie, which I heard sniffles throughout the movie. I don't know if people were, like you said, have allergies or were sick, but I heard. So I heard some wimps, some weeping, weepings, whimpers. I heard some whims. I had some weeps. No. But I struggled letting the movie take a hold of me because she was going through it so hard. And while the movie was impacting me and I was going through these emotional stages and feeling a big connection to these characters, I could not help the sound of the receipt going and blowing her nose as she was crying throughout this movie.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah, it was. I didn't ever feel like I was gonna cry, But I also. I'd read the book.

[Movie Mike]

You knew it was coming. That does affect you a little bit.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah, it made me feel things, but it didn't make me cry.

[Movie Mike]

I thought also the direction in this movie was really good because with any other director besides Chloe Zhao, this movie could have been a total snooze fest because it does take place in a period that is really hard to portray. As far as making it feel modern, which I felt like that's what helped this movie. It didn't feel like it was. It felt like it took place today, even though it was obviously way back in the day. I think the sound design also helped that. Yeah, a lot of the moments are very slow and kind of drawn out, but it has this score underneath that feels very modern. Almost like these really weird sounds where the speakers in the theater were kind of crackling, which was an interesting thing and really made me feel connected to some of the action where they could have put some really, like, classical music that you think more of. Like, this feels like Shakespeare, but it didn't have that. So I feel like that, to me, made the action move. Not that there's a lot of action in it, but made the overall story move a little bit at a different pace. That was good for my brain, who struggles with things not being 15 seconds or less right now.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah, it wasn't. It didn't feel slow. And that was my concern going into it because I was like, the book was slow. So I was very afraid that the movie was going to move slowly. And some people I've seen, like, they loved that book. They're like, best one I've read this year. Can't wait for the movie. That just wasn't my experience. Good book. Not my best.

[Movie Mike]

Some people found it funny. I don't think I really found it that funny.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Funny, Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

I heard people laughing throughout some of the things early on that the kids were doing. Which, by the way, the kid actors in this were fantastic.

[Sophie Cunningham]

So good.

[Movie Mike]

Like, they are better than some adult actors. I've seen movies this year. Their characters go through so much where I'm like, where do you find a kid who can act that well? How do you even know at that age that you're a good actor?

[Sophie Cunningham]

The little boy that played Hamnet looked like Prince George a bit.

[Movie Mike]

He did. He was probably the best. But him and his sisters were just like, these kids are just next level.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Even just the, like, looks at the.

[Movie Mike]

Camera, the little nuances, which is hard to do. That's something that you can't. I don't feel like you could teach that to a kid. But it was so powerful in how subtle it was, especially through the third act of this movie, which it takes you on an entirely different level. But it's those performances from those young actors that are like, wow, that really brought the whole thing together, that puts any other kid actor, any other adult actor right now kind of to shame.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

I think that's what was a really big strong point of this movie. I don't want to reveal too much what happens in the third act, but the third act, I think that's what really kind of made it feel like it had an impact on me. And I think some people who are maybe a little bit more highbrow probably took more from this movie. As far as the story of William Shakespeare, I think I just felt more of the emotion because I don't really know much about the guy.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah, I don't. I didn't even remember what Hamlet is about, so, like. Because that's. It's the story of, like, his son Hamnet inspired Hamlet. And Hamnet and Hamlet were interchangeable as far as names go.

[Movie Mike]

I learned that in the very opening scene of the movie.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

And then they brought it all together with the to be or not to be.

[Sophie Cunningham]

We also got to talk about Joe Allen.

[Movie Mike]

Oh, yeah. Who's had a lot of significant roles since breaking up with Taylor Swift.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yes. It seems it's been good for his career and hers.

[Movie Mike]

Do you not like him as a actor?

[Sophie Cunningham]

Not like him, but I don't think he's done anything where I'm like, wow, he honestly is just like another broody English white guy. He's not palmescal. Like, he doesn't have that level.

[Movie Mike]

To me, he's not leading man type of actor.

[Sophie Cunningham]

I think he was great in kinds of kindness. I think that was where we saw him shine the most. But like his other supporting roles and like the Brutalist and this.

[Movie Mike]

But still, since the breakup, he's been in movies that we've actually seen in theaters. Before that I just knew of him that he was an actor but didn't know any of his work.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah. I feel like he's also starting his career then. Yeah, too, though.

[Movie Mike]

Takes a while to get on the big screen.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

If you had to rate Hamnet, what.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Would you give it?

[Sophie Cunningham]

4 out of 5. Fencing swords. Which do you fence with? Anything other than a sword? Maybe I should have just said four swords.

[Movie Mike]

Fence with swords.

[Sophie Cunningham]

I believe four out of five swords.

[Movie Mike]

I'm going to give it four out of five. Was it a falcon or was it a hawk? I think it was a falcon or a hawk. I think I'm going to go 4.5 out of 5 Hawks because I think it's right up there with what I would also expect to be nominated and possibly win best picture one battle after another. And I think also the fact that I was expecting this movie to be boring. And it wasn't boring.

[Sophie Cunningham]

It wasn't boring.

[Movie Mike]

All right, that is our thoughts on Hamnet. There was no ham, by the way. Hello.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Hello.

[Movie Mike]

I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast smart talks with IBM. I recently sat down with IBM's chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, and I asked him, how can companies use AI to its full, fullest potential to create smarter business?

[Rob Gronkowski]

My one advice to them, pick areas you can scale. Don't pick the shiny little toys on the side.

[Movie Mike]

For example, if anybody has more than.

[Rob Gronkowski]

10% of what they had for customer service 10 years ago, they're already five years behind. If anybody is not using AI to.

[Movie Mike]

Make their developers who write software 30%.

[Rob Gronkowski]

More productive today with the goal of being 70% more productive.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Rob Gronkowski]

So we are not asking our clients to be the first experiment on it.

[Movie Mike]

We say you can leverage what we did. We are happy to bring out all.

[Rob Gronkowski]

Our learnings, including what needs to change in the process. Because the biggest change is not technology.

[Movie Mike]

Is getting people to accept that there's.

[Rob Gronkowski]

A different way to do things.

[Movie Mike]

Things. To listen to the full conversation, visit IBM.com smart talks.

[Rob Gronkowski]

This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and jewels. For the second season in a row, I partnered with T Mobile's Friday night 5G lights, powering up hometown football across America. This year, T mobile invested over $4 million in prizes to help schools take their Friday nights to the next level. The votes are in. And now it's time to crown our $1 million grand prize winner. Congratulations to Derrick's High school in Derrick's, Arkansas, home of the outlaws and your 20 25T mobile. Friday night 5G lights champion. The Outlaws and their community rallied to help them score a game changing home field upgrade, a Gronk fitness weight room makeover, an epic 2026 tailgate party, and a VIP trip to the SEC championship game. To every school that competed, posted and rallied your communities, thank you. And to T Mobile for making it all possible. This season may be over, but the story isn't. Stay tuned for for season three in 2026. Congratulations again to Derek's high school Outlaws.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest. Work done by thousands of working forest professionals like Adam, a district forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires.

[Bobby Bones]

Keeping the forest fire resistant, synonymous with.

[Movie Mike]

Keeping the forest healthy.

[Bobby Bones]

And we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management. It's a long term commitment.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Visit workingforestsinitiatiatiative.com to learn more. This is Mandy Woodruff Santos from Brown Ambition. Hey ba fam. When you start a new business, your first reaction might be to say something like yes, Queen, let's go. But one thing to say that could be a huge help is like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. And just like that, State Farm will be there with the coverage that fits your needs. Whether your business is growing or just opened its doors. State Farm agents are small business owners too. So they know what it takes. They can help you create an insurance plan that fits your small business needs and budget. And when you need help, State Farm is there to answer your small business questions or help you file a claim and get you back in business. With State Farm, you can worry less about the unexpected and focus more on your business with the State Farm agent. You know someone is helping you achieve your goals. Just say like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Breaking news everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proof that the Internet it hasn't ruined humanity entirely.

[Bobby Bones]

Clean the world. We have almost 10,000 hotels that operate our soap and plastic recycling program and we have created and distributed 90 million free bars of soap to children, families, mothers in 127 countries across the globe.

[Sophie Cunningham]

It's like magic you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna for the Ripple effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything.

[Bobby Bones]

You really can. Best stat of all is that the death rate to children under the age of five dying to hygiene related illnesses has decreased by more than 60 60% since the day we started.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Listen to the Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

It's time to head down to Movie Mike's Trailer Park.

[Movie Mike]

Two things I could never be. A billionaire and a murderer. And hopefully if you're listening to this, you don't have the qualities to be the murderer. I would love for you to be a billionaire. That would be amazing. I think we all fantasize about being a billionaire, but I just don't think I have either of those things in my personality that could allow me to get there. To be a billionaire you have to be incredibly driven, which I think I am driven. I think in order to get to the point that I have achieved now in my life. It has taken a lot of drive. But to be a billionaire, it's next level. You also, for the lack of a better term, you have to exploit people to some degree in order to become a billionaire. That's how you do it. That's how you hoard all this well. That's how you become a billionaire. So I think you and I would never become billionaires because we are too moral unless we won the lottery. But even then, if you actually think of the pressures of what it would be like to be a billionaire, it would be too much for us. It'd be crazy. You think about spending a billion dollars. I don't think we realize how much money that is. And I don't think we realize all these little things that come into play when you are a billionaire. The stress would be crazy. And a murderer, I could never be that because I don't even like bothering people. I'll go to Target and I'll need to get down an aisle, and there's somebody standing there at the exact same part of the aisle that I need to be. I won't even bother. I'll be like, you know what? I'll come back around. I'll go back the other way just so I don't have to bother that person. So if I don't want to bother somebody in Target, I could never take somebody out. With some of these movies coming out, are we starting to romanticize murder a little bit too much? And I have this problem with people who are huge fans of true crime. I could never get into that because I just feel this moral dilemma with it taking satisfaction in other people's deaths and other people's worst days of their life. That is really hard for me to get into. But when it comes to fictionalized things, I can lean into it a lot easier. But I start to wonder about the psychological effects it is having on me because recently this year, I found myself rooting for villains and anti heroes much more than I ever have in my life. And by watching this trailer for how to Make a Killing, starring Glenn Powell and Margaret Qualley, I start realizing more how I think it's just become more apparent in the storylines that we've been watching and these characters that we've been fascinated with. And I do think it has some roots in how accepted in pop culture that true crime has become. But what this movie is about. Glen Powell plays a guy whose mom was part of a really wealthy family. She was exiled from that family, disowned by them but she told him that someday this fortune is going to be yours. And he is somebody who feels like the world has just pitted all these things against him because he was robbed of that life. He is now working at a job where he sells suits. Margaret Qualley comes in and it looks like they have some kind of pass where she tells him, like, oh, you live in the city?

[Bobby Bones]

And he's like, yeah, kind of around.

[Movie Mike]

There, but he's really living in a really rundown part of town. And she kind of puts this idea in his head because she knows the family money that he is connected to. Like, hey, if you ever decide to take out all your brothers and sisters, call me. And with that idea implanted into his head, it now becomes a plan. And that is the plot of this movie. Before I get into more, here is just a little bit of the how to Make a Killing trailer. Since the day I was born, my.

[Rob Gronkowski]

Mother told me we were different.

[Movie Mike]

Yes, she had been disowned by her family, but someday I would become the sole heir.

[Bobby Bones]

The real estate, planes, an island or two.

[Movie Mike]

There were seven of them.

[Rob Gronkowski]

Seven rich pricks.

[Movie Mike]

Between myself and $28 billion. $28 billion. You hear the pain in his voice in this trailer. You see him take out what I would assume to be his first victim. His brother is passed out on this big boat like a yacht, and he ties an anchor to his foot. And at the time he is doing that, his brother wakes up, makes contact with him, and then immediately the anchor takes him down into the sea. And you see Glenn Powell's character in that moment to be a little bit polite, he replies in a very calm tone. He doesn't seem like this over the top murderer just yet. So that is why I assume it's his first victim. And as he goes through these seven people, which I don't know if he's going to make it to all seven, and he probably starts to get more comfortable with it, maybe a little bit too comfortable, because you do see that he gets a little bit of heat on him. It looks like the FBI becomes aware of the connection of all these people dying at one point. It looks like he does get arrested or at least questioned by some FBI officers. But I really am a fan of the tone of his character in the trailer where he is this calm, cool and collected guy who is just angry. He wants to get revenge. It is a revenge thriller on all these people standing in the way of the life he thinks he deserves. And I think that is why I struggle with these types of Situations right now, mentally, is because what he is doing is wrong, murder is wrong. But this movie is kind of gonna put you into this state of mind of what if he's not completely wrong? What if he does deserve this? What if this movie can make you start to root for him? Which is a weird position to put yourself in because obviously he is doing something bad. He should be taken down by the FBI and put into jail. But what does it say about us that we kind of want to see him succeed? Is it just because it is a movie, it's a fake, it's all for fun. And obviously I just love movies so much that I overanalyze how they affect us and our brains. But I just have found myself struggling with this idea of rooting for a villain, especially one as charismatic as Glenn Powell, where to me he kind of feels like Christian Bale's character in American Psycho. That is the overall vibe I'm getting from this trailer where you're never going to suspect this guy because there's one shot of Glen Powell in this trailer that he almost looks like a Ken doll. He looks so perfect that if I were a character in this movie, why would I ever suspect him of murder? I think him and Margaret Qualley paired together is perfect. They are two of the hardest working people in Hollywood right now. I feel like they are both in like two to three movies a year, but they still don't have that one flagship role that they are known for. They are so close. Margaret Qualley with the substance, I think that should have been her. That put her on an entirely different level. She should have won all the awards for that movie, but still not quite there. But I think she is a fantastic actress and any movie she is in I'm going to watch because that is how noteworthy I believe she is. And Glenn Powell, I am just rooting for so hard. And he has broken into the Hollywood system with movies like anyone but you. Top Gun. I don't think the Running man really panned out the way anybody involved in that movie thought it was going to. But I don't think it hurt him. I think if it would have been successful box office smash, it would have put him in that A list undeniable category. But I enjoy now that we are seeing him in an entirely different role. An A24 movie. This movie is also from director John Patton Ford, who made his directorial debut with Emily the Criminal, which starred Aubrey Plaza. If you haven't seen this movie, it was one of my favorite thrillers of the last five years. It is still on Netflix. And that movie is about Aubrey Plaza's character who is in a bunch of student debt. She can't find a job. She graduated college and then gets involved in a credit card scam where she gets an underground job as a dummy shopper where she will go buy things with fake credit cards. And then it just gets crazier and crazier as she gets further and further into this shady business. And again, another movie that kind of has you rooting for the bad guy. And I love me a movie that can induce anxiety. So if he can do that with Emily the Criminal, I'm hoping for more of that and how to Make a Killing, because he has a really great way at making these crime stories feel very grounded in reality. Because if you think about it, a guy just getting an idea to kill seven people to make $28 billion. It could seem so ridiculous and outlandish. But by the looks of this trailer, it looks like it's all going to kind of make sense. And you're going to buy into the idea of him going through with this plan and maybe convincing himself that he can actually pull it off. You also have in this cast Ed Harris and Topher Grace, who his character looks very similar to his character in that 70s show, Eric Foreman. Or maybe it's just hard for me to not see him as that character. This movie is coming out next year on February 20. Can he pull it off? And that was this week's edition of.

[Bobby Bones]

Movie Model Trailer park.

[Movie Mike]

And that is going to do it for another episode here of the podcast. But before I go, I got to give my listener shout out of the week. How do you get one of those? You can comment on my YouTube channel, YouTube.com mikedistro you can send me a DM on any of my socials, which you can always find in the podcast notes or episode descriptions. Or if you're old school and you want to send me a message via carrier pigeon, I have carrier pigeons running around the clock. Just let me know and I'll send them to your address now, but you can email me movie mikedmail.com this week I'm going over to X and shouting out Shan, who wrote thank you, Hulu should stay and Disney plus should move over as a kid's profile. Absolute worst interface. This was in response to something I said a couple of weeks ago where I hate the idea of Hulu going away and it all merging with Disney plus because I believe out of all streaming services, I'm talking hbo, Max I'm talking Tubi, I am talking Paramount plus Peacock. Disney plus has the worst interface and since I've said that, I think they did do an update where they're getting ready to merge them a little bit. They're setting up some tabs. But the interface on Disney plus is so awful when it just comes to wanting to search around for things, which sometimes I'll open up a streaming service without intention and that's the worst thing you need to do. I will say a lot of me being prepared for this podcast and knowing what I want to review each week and knowing what movies I need to watch for research. I always go into a streaming service with a plan, but sometimes there'll be a day where there's no good football games on, there's no new movies out that I want to see, and I just want to be fed something maybe I haven't seen in a while. And Disney should be the home of all that. Having all those nostalgic movies from Disney channel and old school 80s and 70s Disney movies. I should be able just to get on there and browse around. But the interface is so awful if I want to pick up on a show I've been watching. I just hate it so much. On the other hand, I love the Hulu interface that makes it so easy. It categorizes things perfectly. The Disney interface is so slow and I'm dreading the day where everything gets moved over there. So thank you Shan for sharing in that frustration. Hopefully by the time they do away with Hulu they get Disney plus right. But thank you for writing in. Thank you all for listening wherever you are. And until next time, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.

[Sophie Cunningham]

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Loudly, or if you spend your days.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep onosa.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line, but.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

First, There the last one.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Zofluza, Baloxavir Marboxyl is just one dose, but there's more than one way to save on your Xofluza prescription. With the Xofluza coupon, eligible patients may pay as little as $35 up to $70 off or pay $50 at select pharmacies. Visit zoefluza.com to learn more.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Make their holiday unforgettable with a gift that says it all from Pandora Jewelry. A gift that tells a story and shows you know theirs that doesn't just sparkle but speaks. From new festive charms to forever rings and personal engravings, this season, give a gift that's perfectly theirs. Whether you're shopping for a shiny surprise for your significant other, matching bracelets to celebrate your friendship, or a heartfelt gift for a family member, say more this holiday season with Pandora. Shop [e-mail] or visit your closest Pandora store.

[Bobby Bones]

This is Angela Yee from Way up with Angela Yee, y'.

[Sophie Cunningham]

All.

[Bobby Bones]

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[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Wellness game for us. You know our bodies don't move the.

[Bobby Bones]

Same as we get older and health becomes even more important. BGV Black Girl Vitamins is giving us all the supplements we need to stay healthy. I've seen hundreds of ladies online raving about their tasteless collagen powder that made their joint pain practically disappear. Disappear. I had to try it myself. And y', all, it is the truth. If your body needs help bouncing back, go ahead and check their products out on BlackGirlVitamins Co and get 20% off using code.

[Mandy Woodruff Santos]

Angela Yee this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.