MOVIE MIKE: Mike Watched The Worst Movie of the Decade (Aug Recap) + Movie Review: Caught Stealing…Is Austin Butler a Bad Actor? + Trailer Park: ‘Good Boy’ and the Power of 1 Million People

Summary

The Bobby Bones Show: Movie Mike's Movie Podcast (Ep. "Mike Watched The Worst Movie of the Decade…")

Release Date: September 6, 2025
Host: Movie Mike
Guest/Co-Host: Kelsey

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Overview

This episode is a packed recap of August's movies, featuring in-depth reviews and commentary from Movie Mike and Kelsey. The conversation spans their best and worst picks for the month, a detailed review of "Caught Stealing" (starring Austin Butler), a primer on the viral trailer for "Good Boy", and reflections on millennial pop culture, TV recommendations, and favorite books.

The episode delivers a mix of honest reactions, banter, culture nostalgia, and some industry insights, all filtered through Movie Mike and Kelsey's conversational tone.

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Best & Worst Movies of August

[03:04] Best of August

• Kelsey’s Pick: "Freakier Friday"

  • Lindsay Lohan’s comeback and a "legacy sequel" twist.
  • "Put lilo in everything again. Put her in." (Kelsey, 05:11)
  • Appreciated for its genuine sense of fun and purpose rather than being just a "Disney cash grab".
  • Jamie Lee Curtis reprises as the grandma, with generational body swaps creating "double the freaky."
  • Chad Michael Murray’s continued 2000s heartthrob persona was a source of comedic critique.
  • Rating: 4/5 Telecasters (Kelsey, 07:45)

• Movie Mike’s Pick: "Weapons"

  • Big horror release for 2025 that stands out for plot and execution.
  • Mike detailed attending with family, negotiating the scares for Kelsey.
  • “I gave it a 4.5 out of 5.” (Movie Mike, 08:58)
  • Kelsey, less enthusiastic, gave it a 3/5.

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[09:40] Worst of August

• Kelsey's Pick: "My Oxford Year" (Netflix adaptation)

  • Rushed, changes from the book, underdeveloped narrative.
  • "The book was good. The movie… It was just bad." (Kelsey, 10:13)
  • Reinforces team "book to miniseries" over rushed adaptations.
  • Rating: 1.5/5 (Kelsey, 11:50)

• Mike's Pick: "War of the Worlds" (Amazon, starring Ice Cube)

  • Deemed not only worst of August, but likely "worst movie of the decade".
  • Revealed to be a "pandemic Zoom movie" with a flat performance from Ice Cube.
  • “I give it a 0.5 out of 5. It is so bad.” (Movie Mike, 12:51)
  • Heavy product placement—Amazon delivery drivers, gift cards, website use.
  • Discussed the idea that "bad publicity is still publicity"—the film's notoriety generates Amazon buzz despite its quality.
  • “I also think they kind of won, because there were so many forced Amazon ads inside of the movie.” (Movie Mike, 15:04)

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August Recap Rapid-Fire Ratings (17:51-26:30)

• Mike saw 13-14 new movies.
• Standouts and quick takes:
  • “The Naked Gun” (theater release): 3.5/5.
  • “Together” (touted as horror of the year, but overtaken by Weapons): 3.5/5.
  • “K Pop Demon Hunters”: 4/5, with a great soundtrack.
  • “The Pickup” (Pete Davidson & Eddie Murphy): Mediocre, 2/5.
  • “Nobody 2”: 4/5.
  • “TMNT” (classic): 5/5, a top ten lifetime favorite.
  • “Relay” (unknown tech-thriller): 3.5/5, "Like a good ham and cheese sandwich."
  • “Night Always Comes” (Netflix, Vanessa Kirby): Strong start, loses its way.
    • “When Julia Fox came in, you're like, oh, here we go.” (Kelsey, 24:16)
    • Recommendation: Try 20 minutes before deciding.
  • “The Map That Leads to You”: Lack of chemistry between leads.
    • Mike: “I just don't feel it. ...I just never felt that connection.”

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Spoiler-Free Review: "Caught Stealing" (Austin Butler & Ensemble)

[41:25-49:07] – Deep Dive Review

• Premise:
  • Austin Butler plays a washed-up baseball player-turned-bartender who gets dragged into criminal chaos after agreeing to look after his neighbor’s cat. His character is a die-hard Giants fan, emotionally adrift, and barely holding on to life.
• Direction / Style:
  • Directed by Darren Aronofsky, but "unlike any of those movies" (ref. Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, etc.).
  • Leans realistic; Butler isn’t turned into a superhuman action hero. Action feels "raw."
• Butler’s Performance:
  • “I still don't believe that Austin Butler is some great actor… I just don't get that from him.” (Movie Mike, 45:49)
  • This is Mike’s favorite Butler performance, but low bar.
• Supporting Cast:
  • Bad Bunny (“very threatening, but also very chill”), Action Bronson (“wish there would have been more of him” as Amtrak).
• Nudity / Aronofsky's Touch:
  • “There’s always a lot of nudity scenes in his movies... movies you do not want to sit down and watch with your parents.” (Movie Mike, 44:10)
• Marketing:
  • Trailer only shows first 10 minutes, “didn’t set you up for anything, really.”
• Overall Take:
  • Mike went in with low expectations, found it a surprise, visually interesting, and fun.
• FINAL RATING:
  • "4 out of 5 giants hats." (Movie Mike, 48:57)

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Trailer Park: Spotlight on "Good Boy" – The Power of Virality

[52:43-58:09]

• Premise:
  • “A horror movie from the perspective of a dog… his owner is overtaken by supernatural forces.” (Movie Mike, 52:47)
• Viral Success:
  • Trailer hit 1 million+ views in 4 days, prompting an indie to nationwide theatrical release.
  • “Google searches going up over, does the dog in Good Boy live?” (Movie Mike, 53:53)
• Budget/Production:
  • Ultra-low budget, stars the director’s own dog Indy (no CGI).
• Genre Innovation:
  • Compared to experimental horror like “Skinamarink” and “Presents,” hailed for unexpected perspectives.
• Industry Takeaway:
  • Virality can vault small films to big screens, especially in horror.
  • “If you can make something that only you can make...and tell it in a way that only you can tell it, because his relationship with his dog is what makes this movie work.”
• Box Office Outlook:
  • Horror noted for return on small investment.
  • Historical note: “Paranormal Activity was made for only $15,000… went on to make $194 million worldwide.” (Movie Mike, 57:02)
• Release:
  • “Good Boy” opens October 3rd, 2025.

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Pop Culture & TV Talk

[28:36-37:27] – Highlights

• TV:
  • Kelsey: “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It's great. I love anything that Amy Sherman Palladino does.”
  • Mike: Finished “Wednesday” (Netflix); dislikes franchises split into “parts.”
• Most-Googled Millennial Pop Culture:
  • Action Movie: “Transformers” (2007)
  • Comedy: “Superbad” (2007)
  • Teen Movie: “Bring It On” (2000) (“These are not spirit fingers. These are spirit fingers.” — Kelsey, 30:35)
  • Kids Show: “Wonder Pets” (Nick Jr.)
  • Sitcom: “Still Standing” – both hosts amused at its selection.
  • Music: Creed (rock), My Chemical Romance (emo), Lil Wayne (rapper), Nelly’s “Country Grammar” (hip-hop).
  • “We will not have Bowling for Soup slander in this house on this podcast.” (Movie Mike, 33:59)
• Millennial Nostalgia:
  • Prom dresses (“zebra print”), snacks (“Yo’s”, a yogurt-covered fruit snack), Seventeen magazine.
  • “I still love a magazine. Like, I used to read alternative press, Thrasher…” (Movie Mike, 35:26)

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Book Recommendations

[36:15]

• The Secret History of Audrey James (“Probably one of my favorites of the year.” — Kelsey, 36:25)
• Currently reading:
  • The Book of Lost Hours: Sci-fi, timekeepers, spanning WWII to Cold War eras. (“It’s really good.” — Kelsey, 37:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I made pumpkin muffins this week. I got the pumpkin candles out. I'm thriving.” — Kelsey, 03:08
• “I don't need to feel like somebody's lurking behind me in the theater.” — Kelsey, 08:58
• “It came out on Amazon, was number one for a while…You can do whatever you want making something number one on your own platform.” — Movie Mike, 15:04
• On cold food: “I love vegetables, but if I'm going to eat them, they have to be warm. Like, a cold salad is just my nightmare.” — Movie Mike, 23:05
• “Everything is better warm.” — Movie Mike, 23:45
• On tech-aging movies: “If I were to make a movie, I would not include any kind of technology that would date it…” — Movie Mike, 27:02
• “None of the products are good. They're recommending to me stuff I'd never buy. I'm like, show me something I'll actually buy, and I'd probably click to buy it.” — Kelsey, 17:28 (On Amazon's clickable video ads)
• “I would never go out of my way to eat a cold salad.” — Movie Mike, 23:21

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:04] – Start of Movie Discussion: Best of August
• [09:40] – Worst Movies of August
• [17:51] – August Rapid-Fire Movie Ratings
• [28:36] – TV & Millennial Pop Culture Segment
• [36:05] – Book Recommendations
• [41:25] – “Caught Stealing” Movie Review (Spoiler-Free)
• [52:43] – Trailer Park: “Good Boy” & Viral Horror
• [58:09] – Reflections on Virality, Indie Cinema, and Wrap-Up

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Listener Shout-Out

• [58:09]—Joel, member of the "Monday Morning Movie crew", praised the joys of solo moviegoing.
  • “If you've never gone to the movies alone but you wanted to, this is your second sign to go and do that. So thank you, Joel.” — Movie Mike

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Tone and Takeaways

The episode is upbeat, irreverent, and snappy—full of pop culture inside jokes, genuine critiques, and infectious nostalgia. Listeners get honest assessments, playful antagonism (especially over the merits of cold sandwiches and millennial status), passionate calls for better book adaptations, and inspiration for filmmakers and moviegoers alike.

Takeaway: Whether you're looking for what to stream, what to avoid, or just want to relive the glory (and the cringe) of millennial pop culture, this episode delivers a breezy-yet-opinionated fan’s guide to August’s biggest movies—and what’s coming next.

Transcript

[Kelsey]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Movie Mike]

Good morning. Welcome to Today. From back to school to tackling your.

[Ryan Seacrest]

To do list, the Today show is your best start to the day.

[Movie Mike]

It's a new season and every morning we're here to help you take it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All off as the forecast calls for.

[Movie Mike]

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[Danielle Robaix]

We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together.

[Movie Mike]

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[Home Care Advertiser]

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[Movie Mike]

Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It is hot out there this summer, right? But don't sweat it. We got tons of ways to save on your family's favorite personal care items to keep yourself feeling cool and smelling good. Now through September 9th, earn four times points when you shop for items from your favorite brands like Right Guard Raw Sugar, Dove Soft Soap and Olay. Then use your points for discounts on groceries or gas on future purchases. All offer ends September 9th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, Great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Kelsey]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. The new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple Co ReeseAppleBooks to find out more.

[Movie Mike]

Why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hoodie on? Take it off. I'm Manny. I'm Noah, this is Devin and we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called no Such Thing where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? Well, I can't expect what to do now. If the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it, you know? Lock him up. Listen to no Such thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kelsey]

No such Thing.

[Movie Mike]

Hello and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I am your host, Movie Mike, and we are here to talk about our best and worst of August. How are you?

[Kelsey]

I'm great. It couldn't be better.

[Movie Mike]

We got that hint of, like, fall.

[Kelsey]

I made pumpkin muffins this week. I got the pumpkin candles out. I'm thriving. It's one of those where you're like those memes where it's like, I didn't hate life. I just needed it to be 20 degree cooler. And I. I felt that in my soul. There was a chill in the air this week, and I was like, oh, okay.

[Movie Mike]

But we are here to talk about all the movies we watched in August, which were a lot, a lot of movies. In the movie review, I'll be talking about Kot stealing. How do you feel about Austin Butler going into this movie?

[Kelsey]

I've had a heart change this week. I was little, and by a little, I mean a lot sick of him. After Elvis, it was just like Austin Butler everywhere. I'm back to finding him endearing, mainly because I saw an interview where he did was bike riders just last year. Yeah, okay. He did an interview with this journalist, and she mentioned having a pet bunny. And then he did an interview with her this week for Caught Stealing, and he remembered that she's the one with the pet bunny. And I was like, that's pretty cool of him for being someone at his level. And I'm back to finding him not obnoxious anymore. But it was. It was a hard two years.

[Movie Mike]

And in the trailer park, we'll be talking about a horror movie that went viral about a dog. It's a horror movie from the perspective of the dog.

[Kelsey]

I feel like you need to stop saying that word, horror.

[Movie Mike]

That's the genre, though. You got a really horror. Because I don't want to say scary movie. Scary movie might be better. It's not a genre, though. Scary movie is not a genre. Well, anyway, let's talk movies.

[Kelsey]

Let's do it.

[Movie Mike]

From the Nashville Podcast Network, this is Movie Mike's movie podcast. All right, our best and worst movies of August. Kick us off, Kelsey, with the best thing you saw this month.

[Kelsey]

I want to go freaky or Friday.

[Movie Mike]

Probably what I expected from you, but not what I expected to be one of the best movies of August.

[Kelsey]

That's what I expected from you because.

[Movie Mike]

You basic B, you love 2000s pop culture. You love Lindsay Lohan.

[Kelsey]

Lindsay Lohan renaissance is healing me.

[Movie Mike]

And this is her first time she's been in theaters. Aside from some cameos, like her first starring role Since I think 2019, which doesn't sound like that long ago, but it's like seven years ago at this point.

[Kelsey]

Some great six years movies since then.

[Movie Mike]

How did you feel about her performance?

[Kelsey]

I thought she was great. Like put, put lilo in everything again. Put her in. I think it's a breath of fresh air. I love that she is still acting. You know, she had some really hard years. She's come back, she's married, she has a kid now. She's like thriving in a better place and you could see that. Like I felt like she had fun filming the movie. Like it just seemed like everyone had fun.

[Movie Mike]

I was expecting it to be another Disney cash grab given it's not a remake but it is a legacy sequel. I thought it was just going to be them doing the same thing over again. Not really adding a whole lot to the story. And what I was most surprised by is there was an actual reason to make this movie. Yeah, you have her character now older. She has a daughter, Jamie. What? Always forget Curtis. I was like Jamie Press because I've been watching My name is Earl. Jamie Lee Curtis is now the grandma. And it's all the younger people now switching with the older people. So you got double the freaky Friday, making it freaky your Friday.

[Kelsey]

I, I got to say though, John Michael Murray.

[Movie Mike]

What about him?

[Kelsey]

Listen, I was a Lucas girl when I watched One Tree Hill. He was such a heartthrob. He gives me the ick. Like mega ick. Like I feel embarrassed for him when he is on my screen.

[Movie Mike]

Is it because you think he's clinging on to his heartthrobness from the 2000s? Okay, so he's hanging on for dear life with those blonde highlights.

[Kelsey]

He blonde highlights, those frosted tips. It really is like he is hanging on to Lucas Scott. He left the show in like season six, like 2009. We're 16 years later and he is still. He is clinging to that life raft.

[Movie Mike]

I did say the thing I hated the most about this movie was the fact that it made him even a little bit more relevant again. Just because I feel like he's one of those people who has been around for so long and now it's like, okay, now I'm back in a movie that was a hit.

[Kelsey]

So you can Canadian TV show right now. That's even too cheesy for me to watch. No offense. If you watch it, I. If I get bored, I probably will. But just the clips I see, I'm like, oh, it's like that cringe where.

[Movie Mike]

You'Re just like, yeah, he's one that I don't like watching in interviews at all because of what he says. He's like, name an actor who hasn't had a downfall in their career. I can name a lot of actors.

[Kelsey]

Yeah, but I mean he was in everything. Like a Cinderella Story. He was in Gilmore Girls. He was in One Tree Hill. He was in the original Freaky Friday. Like he had a time of really being the heartthrob of the early 2000s and that times.

[Movie Mike]

What would you rate it?

[Kelsey]

4 out of 5. What kind of guitar does she play?

[Movie Mike]

Fender. I think it's a Telecaster. Pretty sure the Telecaster.

[Kelsey]

Okay, four out of five Telecasters for.

[Movie Mike]

My best of the month. It is the movie I drug you to see. It is Weapons, which I gave a 4.5 out of 5.

[Kelsey]

I was bullied and seen that movie because it wasn't just you. My brothers were in town and half.

[Movie Mike]

Of the wanted to go see it. Half of the people were against going to see a horror movie.

[Kelsey]

And I made the mistake of sitting next to my 15 year old brother. So every time I covered my face with my jacket, he pulled it off my face. But lucky for him I had my eyes closed too.

[Movie Mike]

That was the deal I made going into it that I would warn you anytime a scary part would come, would come up. And I did that. And really the only way I can tell that is anytime it goes dark, anytime there's nighttime scenes in a horror movie, you're probably about to enter into a scary, usually some kind of jump scare.

[Kelsey]

It got less scary as I understood the plot more.

[Movie Mike]

Did you end up enjoying it because you don't like horror movies at all?

[Kelsey]

I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but I didn't hate it.

[Movie Mike]

Was I right in gearing you towards that? It wasn't going to be like a full on. There were some gruesome parts.

[Kelsey]

I don't even like suspense. I don't like that heart pounding feeling. I don't need that as a woman. I feel that when I'm walking down the street. I don't need a movie to see that.

[Movie Mike]

I don't need to feel like somebody's lurking behind me in the theater.

[Kelsey]

I truly don't. I really don't.

[Movie Mike]

Well, I gave it a 4.5 out of 5. What would you give it?

[Kelsey]

I mean, for what? It was a three out of five.

[Movie Mike]

I'll take that. Yeah. And I'll never force you to go see another horror movie again.

[Kelsey]

It was you. I know what I watch if I want to be scared.

[Movie Mike]

What?

[Kelsey]

The news.

[Movie Mike]

That's true. There's not much worse you can get than watching the news. I just look outside our window sometimes, and there's nothing scarier than that.

[Kelsey]

Than the real world.

[Movie Mike]

That. That's why you get to be an adult. And you're like, I'm not scared about some killer clown anymore. I'm scared about these interest rates. But that is our best of August. What do you have for the worst?

[Kelsey]

Okay, so we're gonna switch gears from scary movies. I'm gonna go with one that. It came out on Netflix at the beginning of the month. I downloaded it, thought I was gonna watch it on my flight to Denver at the start of the month. Ended up reading a book. Never got around to watching it. And then I saw that the book was on Kindle Unlimited, so I was like, I'm gonna download it. And I started reading it the other night. It is my Oxford year. The book is by Julia Whelan. The book I thought was good, predictable. I don't want to say what it reminds me of. It's similar to some other books that are kind of out there. You can see where it's going. But good.

[Movie Mike]

An easy read.

[Kelsey]

The book was good. The movie. What. What did I watch? It was. They rushed the story. They changed too many things about the character. There was. It was just like the main plot point just kind of like, came out of nowhere. It was bad. It was just bad.

[Movie Mike]

I tried to watch it with you, and I'll watch anything. I didn't even feel like it was a movie in those first 20 minutes. It felt like they were trying to make a series and they ran out of ideas. And we're like, okay, let's just cut our losses and turn this into a movie.

[Kelsey]

Thank you for that. Tee up to my next point. I think that I am now on the book to TV miniseries pipeline now. The only one that I didn't kind of like was the last thing he told me on Apple, the Jennifer Garner one. They kind of dragged that one out, but they could have just made it less episodes. I think that a book to miniseries. I'm talking We Were Liars on Amazon prime the summer I turned pretty I feel like there's more but I'm forgetting them. That's better to me because you have more time to develop the plot.

[Movie Mike]

Big little lies.

[Kelsey]

Big little lies. Great one. Thank you. Nine perfect strangers. Anything in that realm you have time to develop the characters. This was just like word vomit in a movie almost. Which does have me excited. For the Harry Potter miniseries, I think.

[Movie Mike]

That'S going to crush now.

[Kelsey]

I think that the Harry Potter movies were great. They had the privilege of a gigantic budget, set design, directors, all the things. I think a Netflix has much more limited budget. But I also think in a movie like my Oxford year, where you didn't really need that big of a set, you could have done it better. But I think I'm now team book to miniseries. Anyways, that was my worst of the month.

[Movie Mike]

What would you rate it?

[Kelsey]

I think a 1.5 out of 5.

[Movie Mike]

That's. Yeah, that's pretty bad.

[Kelsey]

It's pretty bad.

[Movie Mike]

I feel like I need to feeling great. To me, A2 is still watchable. A2 is still like I watched this. There was nothing I really took away from it, but I didn't hate it.

[Kelsey]

I think this actually would have been better on an airplane with an in flight glass of like movie. Yeah. It was funny because I posted on my Instagram after I read the book that I was going to watch the movie and I was like curious to see how they compare. And I had a lot of people being like they don't. And they were like, I actually didn't read the book, but I'm just going to tell you the movie didn't compare anyways. Book was so much better per usual. I don't think I've ever seen anything where the book wasn't better.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, the only historic example I could think of is there's a Forrest Gump book that it was based on, but I don't think a lot of people know about that.

[Kelsey]

Interesting.

[Movie Mike]

So aside from that, I really can't name another one. There's probably some really weird obscure ones. Probably for my worst of the month, it is not only the worst movie I saw in August, but I think it is going to be the worst movie of the decade. It is War of the Worlds, which I already forgot.

[Kelsey]

You watched it?

[Movie Mike]

I kind of. I really only watched it at a spite because I saw everybody talking about it online. It is the Amazon movie with Ice Cube about the end of the world. And the thing that a lot of people didn't realize at the time of watching it is it was actually made back in 2020 during the pandemic, which makes more sense because it takes place pretty much all over Zoom. Not even Zoom. Microsoft Teams.

[Kelsey]

I have enough teams calls. Oh, my God. Did they do the teams sound?

[Movie Mike]

Yes. Oh, the team sound. They have, like, FaceTime calls, which, when. When done right, I think can be entertaining. Like a movie like Searching. That movie was good. There was some direction behind it. There was a story behind that that made that movie engaging. There are movies like Unfriended, which is one of my favorite horror movies. Kind of my guilty pleasure horror movie. It's all over Skype. Again, not a great movie, but there's something about that way that movie is put together and the story is told that makes it interesting. There's really nothing interesting about War of the Worlds. I give it a 0.5 out of 5. It is so bad. There are moments that you see Ice Cube speaking like he's reading straight off the script. And even the trailer of the movie, you can see the green screen reflected in his glasses. His acting performance is so flat, which I have to imagine if they filmed during the pandemic, it was just him probably on a team's call with the director and them just giving them the lines and him just recording it. So it feels really disconnected. And there are moments where bad things happen to the people he supposedly loves in the movie, and he has, like, zero reactions. Like what you would feel if your candy bar fell on the floor versus what something traumatic that you're person that you care about is going through.

[Kelsey]

Okay, but your candy bar on the floor could be dramatic. Should we rethink about Jurassic?

[Movie Mike]

That Snickers rapper that spawned the whole.

[Kelsey]

Movie could be dramatic.

[Movie Mike]

But it was also crazy that there was no press done for this movie. It just kind of came out on Amazon, was number one for a while, and then really just through word, they inflated those results through word of mouth. Yeah. I mean, you can do whatever you want. Making something number one on your own platform, that's really all.

[Kelsey]

Just the number one in my heart.

[Movie Mike]

Make people think like, oh, this is actually pretty good. None of the actors did any promotion for it. So I have to imagine Amazon was just sitting on it for a while and just said, you know what? Let's put this thing out and see what happens. But I also think they kind of won because there were so many forced Amazon ads inside of the movie. At one point, they send somebody a 200Amazon gift card. One of the main characters works for Amazon as a delivery driver. So at one point, Ice Cube goes online to Amazon.com and orders a USB drive. And he's like, I'll have it shipped through Amazon Air. And they're like, what is that? It is that that's so bad. So I, I really think that they kind of got their money's worth here. And I also think that there's kind of something going on in the world right now where bad negativity around your brand is also good. There is some promotion that, I mean.

[Kelsey]

It'S people talking about it no matter.

[Movie Mike]

What, where if you put out something that is so inherently bad or you do something knowing that it's going to spark a negative reaction. I almost think in a way that is more successful than a mediocre ad where you maybe reach like 10% of who you were trying to reach, it is a very delicate thing to walk because it could blow up in your face and you kill your entire brand. But I think in this case, Amazon's probably not going to hurt from this. And now, as I mentioned that it is one of the worst movies of the decade. Whenever people do lists or talk about the worst movies they've ever seen, this is going to be on that list. And then it's inherently going to make people talk about Amazon. So I think it's kind of a lose win situation where, yeah, you lose by making a really bad product, but you also win in all the free advertisement. Which does Amazon even need advertisement at this moment? Like, they're, they have football games on their platform now. There's. They have everything.

[Kelsey]

They don't need any advertisement.

[Movie Mike]

Which I told everybody whenever they started making movies that you don't want. Your movie studio also being the people who deliver you toilet paper at one point, it's going to get bad because they're going to try to sell you things. Like, I also don't enjoy the fact that you watch things on Amazon and there's ads where you can click in to buy something. It's going to get to the point where it's like you, you'll see an actor wearing an outfit and you'll see a little blip pop up on Amazon. Like, do you want to buy this? Do you want these sunglasses?

[Kelsey]

My thing. Because I've been watching the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon and about the ads that they show where you can just click to buy. We all know I'm an easy sell. None of the products are good. They're recommending to me stuff I'd never buy. I'm like, show me something I'll actually buy. And I'd probably click to buy it.

[Movie Mike]

But not that the algorithm has not.

[Kelsey]

Figured out what I want to buy.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, it's not quite there yet, but let's recap all of August.

[Kelsey]

A lot of movies.

[Movie Mike]

A lot of movies. I think it's almost 13, 14 new movies.

[Kelsey]

I didn't see all those.

[Movie Mike]

I saw the Naked Gun in theaters, which I was surprised by how good it actually was. I love Paul. Walter Hauser gave it a 3.5 out of 5. Although I did see Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson say that they faked that romance to kind of sell the movie. I never bought into it.

[Kelsey]

I didn't buy.

[Movie Mike]

I didn't. There's no way.

[Kelsey]

I didn't buy into that at all since.

[Movie Mike]

At all. I saw Together, which I also gave a 3.5 out of 5, which was dubbing itself the horror movie of the year. It spoke too soon because Weapons came out the weekend after that War of the World, which I mentioned. Weapons, which I gave so far the horror movie of the year. K Pop, Demon Hunters. I gave a four out of five. I've been listening to the soundtrack now, which is fantastic. They did announce that they're already working on the sequel to that movie.

[Kelsey]

Great.

[Movie Mike]

And then came the day where I saw three movies in one day. Four movies, actually, but three movies in theaters.

[Kelsey]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

I saw. I watched the pickup at home that morning, which is the Pete Davidson movie with Eddie Murphy, which was pretty mediocre. I gave. I gave a two out of five. I just don't think that Eddie Murphy is going to do anything worthy or that matches up to what he used to be. And that's coming off of last year's Beverly Hills Cop 4. It's just like he's kind of phoning it in. And I don't really think that Pete Davidson has found his lane in comedy when it comes to movies.

[Kelsey]

He hasn't.

[Movie Mike]

Like. King of Staten island was probably his best movie because it's the most him, but there's nothing really memorable about his performance in that movie. I also watched Nobody 2 in theaters that morning. That was my first movie of the day.

[Kelsey]

And then you came home.

[Movie Mike]

And then I came home. I gave that movie a 4 out of 5. I had lunch and then I went to go see tmnt, the original in theaters, which, if it wouldn't have been for Weapons. I don't really classify it as a new movie because I'd seen it before, but that would have been my experience of the month. Gave it a five out of five. It's one of My top ten of all time. And then ended the day with Freakier Friday, which I gave a four out of five. So that was four. That was a great day for me.

[Kelsey]

That was a really good day for you.

[Movie Mike]

It was like a movie marathon. I didn't think I could do it. I think it was the fact that all those movies were relatively short. Nobody too was like a little over 90 minutes. If that TMNT is under 90 minutes. Freaky Friday was probably the longest one out of all those. Around an hour 45ish. So I think it was that they weren't super long. That didn't make me lose my mind.

[Kelsey]

There you go.

[Movie Mike]

But I was like, I'd just be sitting at home anyway watching mindless things on probably Tick Tock. I have trouble if I don't know what I want to watch.

[Kelsey]

It's.

[Movie Mike]

I can't commit to anything.

[Kelsey]

It ends up being King of the Hill or My name is Earl.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I'm almost done with King of the Hill. We also watch Relay, which was a movie we kind of went into not knowing anything about.

[Kelsey]

I had no clue. I read the description about 10 times. Still didn't get it.

[Movie Mike]

It's essentially about a guy whose job is to be the negotiator between, like, an evil company and their whistleblower.

[Kelsey]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

They. The relay part is they call into, like, this third party uses a relay.

[Kelsey]

Service, which is used for typically people who are hard of hearing. They have a device where they type in their message and then the relay reads it to the person on the other end of the call. The person on the other end of the call tells it back to the relay person. And then they type out to the person that's hard of hearing. But he uses that to communicate with people so they never hear his voice or figure out who he is.

[Movie Mike]

And in this case, he's just communicating between both people. It was really good.

[Kelsey]

Ended up thinking it was great.

[Movie Mike]

And I think it was because we knew nothing about it. I even don't want to reveal too much about it here just because I feel like that adds to the experience.

[Kelsey]

It was kind of like how we felt about the Amateur with Rami Malek.

[Movie Mike]

Kind of similar. It's not really a spy movie like the Amateur.

[Kelsey]

That's what I love.

[Movie Mike]

But it's like that techie criminal side. It's a very. I don't want to say there's anything about it that stands out so beautifully. Like, this is one of the best movies of the year. But it's so solid in what it sets out to do, and it was well done that it just feels like. Like it's as good as you can get in a movie of this genre without it being, like, one of the best movies of all time. Which is a weird thing to say, but It's a solid 3.5 out of 5 is the only way I can put it.

[Kelsey]

It was a great ca. Lily James, Sam Worthington, Riz Ahmad.

[Movie Mike]

And I think there's something about going into a movie not knowing much at all and having pretty low expectations that pretty early on you can tell, like, okay, the acting is there, the story is there. Nothing is happening. That is something that I haven't seen before or completely novel, but it just kind of is satisfying. It's like a. Like a. Like a good ham and cheese sandwich where you're not going to, like, rave about a ham and cheese sandwich, but if it hits just right and you're hungry, like, that's why it's a staple in a lot of people's lunch.

[Kelsey]

You were a ham and cheese guy.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah.

[Kelsey]

Turkey.

[Movie Mike]

Oh, really?

[Kelsey]

Yeah. I still eat a turkey sandwich every.

[Movie Mike]

Day, but I didn't like cold sandwiches, so I would.

[Kelsey]

Oh, my God, here we go.

[Movie Mike]

Melt the cheese in the microwave. And I would also toast the bread.

[Kelsey]

So fun thing is that you won't eat anything cold.

[Movie Mike]

Nothing cold.

[Kelsey]

It is so weird.

[Movie Mike]

Unless it's like, ice cream. Like, it's supposed to be guacamole. Yes. Stuff that is supposed to be cold. I'll eat cold. But, like, cold vegetables are my mortal enemy.

[Kelsey]

Vegetables are. Okay. I won't go.

[Movie Mike]

I love vegetables, but if I'm going to eat them, they have to be warm. Like, a cold salad is just my nightmare. Like, I'll eat it. Because at times when we go out to eat at certain places where it's hard to find vegan options, that's all you got. And I'm okay with that at times, but I would never go out of my way to eat a cold salad.

[Kelsey]

So weird to me. We won't even get into this debate. Round and round.

[Movie Mike]

So I'll warm things up to make it better. Everything is better warm. If it's a lunchtime food or a dinnertime food. It's better warm.

[Kelsey]

I don't really think so.

[Movie Mike]

I do.

[Kelsey]

Okay, disagree.

[Movie Mike]

Like, what's that soup? That's cold. Is it gazpacho?

[Kelsey]

Yes.

[Movie Mike]

Like, I would warm that up.

[Kelsey]

Then that's just tomato soup.

[Movie Mike]

Exactly. Everything is better warm. And then we also watched Night Always Comes, which was with Vanessa Kirby on Netflix it started out like I was like, oh, this is good. Yeah. Vanessa Kirby, she's trying to make money to buy a house, trying to save her family from getting evicted. And it's kind of like the pursuit of happiness with a little bit more of an edge. She's not really trying to get a job. She's just trying to raise a certain amount of money.

[Kelsey]

And then it was.

[Movie Mike]

And then it just, like, went off the. Off the rails.

[Kelsey]

You all know when it lost the plot. When Julia Fox. Yeah, they say it. Hate to say it. When Julia Fox came in, you're like, oh, here we go.

[Movie Mike]

It's because, like, it got to a point where there were no repercussions for her actions, where she was doing things that were crazy and outlandish and they're getting away. And there was just like, no, like, hey, what about that thing going on? Like that. I'm sure there's a fire still happening over here that she said, and we're not gonna address that. It was just kind of moving on one thing to the next, and just. It was really frustrating. And I like Vanessa Kirby, but overall, that movie was just not it for me.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

But a pretty. Like, if you have nothing else to watch, give it 20 to 25 minutes. And if you don't like it after that, just click out of it. And then finally we wrapped it up with the map that leads to you. The only thing that kept me from not liking this movie is I never felt like the two leads had any chemistry. And that's. That's the whole selling point of this movie.

[Kelsey]

It was KJ Apa and Madeline Klein.

[Movie Mike]

Which I think separately, they're both good actors, but together, I just never really felt it. And you're supposed to feel like there's this just instant connection to them, something that.

[Kelsey]

Drop that.

[Movie Mike]

And I was like, I just don't feel it. It gets emotional. It's supposed to be emotional at times because of what is happening with both of their characters. I just thought it was really romanticizing, the going to Europe in your 20s and, like, having fun. I was like, I could kind of see that. Like, I could see if I was wanting to watch something that was just making me want to escape and think, like, how fun that life would be.

[Kelsey]

Watch the Lizzie McGuire movie. Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

But that was like the first 20 minutes of just them hanging out and really doing nothing. And then maybe almost closer to the halfway point of the movie, there starts to be a little bit of a plot, but I just never felt that connection with either of them. That it just kind of faded into the background for me. And then I also just hate movies. Whenever they have. They pull in, like a social media aspect. Like when somebody pulls out a phone and then suddenly they're recording a TikTok. That just always just disturbs me for some reason because I'm like, that is going to age so poorly. We're going to watch this movie in 15 years and things like tock. Why are we putting TikToks and things? It's like whenever you watch a movie now from the 2000s and they have, like a big camera with, like, film in it, or like a DVD player.

[Kelsey]

I still love that.

[Movie Mike]

Or somebody whips out and they're like typing in T9 and you're like, oh, that just ages. So poorly.

[Kelsey]

Okay, but the scene in Cinderella Story when she T nines L O L iconic.

[Movie Mike]

Or there's like that music video. I think it's a Nelly music video. And Kelly Rowland is like sending a text. But it's like an Excel spreadsheet.

[Kelsey]

It's my favorite.

[Movie Mike]

I was like, oh, my gosh, that ages so terribly. So if I were to make a movie, I would not include any kind of technology that would date it because it's a bold statement because that way.

[Kelsey]

That'S of the time.

[Movie Mike]

No, I don't think you do that. I think you. If you want a movie to be a classic, you don't put any technology in it because that is instantly going to place it into, like, oh, I know exactly when this movie was made. Take.

[Kelsey]

You can already tell when it's made based on, like, the film.

[Movie Mike]

I don't think you can. I think one of my favorites of all time, The Dark Knight 2008, you could watch that movie in another 30 years and you would still think it's current because there's no major things that stand out. Maybe some stuff at the end, a Batmobile. Yeah, I think it'll still look current.

[Kelsey]

Okay. I don't think Batman has ever looked current because he has all this technology that doesn't exist. I don't think superhero movies ever look current. So I think that's in a league of its own.

[Movie Mike]

I just think that movie is gonna. It's gonna age perfectly. Maybe some of the scenes with Morgan Freeman towards the end with, like, the screens, maybe we get to a point we don't even use screens anymore. But a movie like Mean Girls. I know Tina Fey said that she didn't put anything in that would really date that movie. And when we went to rewatch it in the summer at that outdoor movie thing, I paid attention to that, and the only thing that stuck out to me were some of the slurs.

[Kelsey]

The slurs were bad.

[Movie Mike]

They were like. She was, like, so deliberate in not using certain things to date it to the 2000s, which it does hold up. Maybe some of the. Even the fashion, I feel like was did a pretty good job of not making it super, like, 2000s. But there are some words they say in Mean Girls. Or you're like, oh, they can't say that anymore. Yeah, that's an early 2000s movie. But aside from that, can't say that anymore. Okay, do you want to talk about tv or do you want to talk about the most search Millennial pop culture things?

[Kelsey]

I didn't know I had options. I wasn't prepared for this. Like, tv, just like, what we watched.

[Movie Mike]

It's all kinds of things that are the most search.

[Kelsey]

No, no, I'm asking. You said, did I want to touch. Talk about.

[Movie Mike]

Oh, well, we always do like our best TV shows.

[Kelsey]

Well, can we do both?

[Movie Mike]

Okay.

[Kelsey]

I already said it earlier. Marvelous. Mrs. Maisel. It's great. I love it. I love anything that Amy Sherman Palladino does. Rachel Brosnahan is fantastic in it. It's great. It's funny. It's Witty.

[Movie Mike]

The only TV show I've completed is Wednesday Season 2, Part 1. At the time of recording this, Wednesday's Season 2, Part 2 is coming out later this week. I really hate that Netflix splits up things into two parts.

[Kelsey]

That is dumb.

[Movie Mike]

And they do it with their big franchises. They're doing it again with Stranger Things because right when you get to that point of, like, I'm so back into this show, you got to wait, like, another month for the next part. Yeah, but I'm sold on that show.

[Kelsey]

Okay, Pop culture.

[Movie Mike]

The most searched millennial pop culture things action movie is transformers from 2007. Do you feel like that's a millennial movie?

[Kelsey]

Yes. I forget that exists.

[Movie Mike]

Really? With Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. It's one of my favorites. And I didn't realize that it's a millennial thing.

[Kelsey]

I mean, it makes sense. I love that movie. I just. That kind of surprises me. Like, I would expect Fast and Furious.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. I kind of think more early 2000s. It doesn't feel as millennial to me. But we're millennials. 2007's Transformers is the action movie for millennials. Comedy movie Superbad. Also, 2007 just makes me think of my little brother. He loves Superman. I feel like that movie has Transcended to Gen Z. Oh, my God.

[Kelsey]

He wears a shirt with McLovin on it.

[Movie Mike]

Because I feel like McLovin is, like a character that is just bigger than anyone in school.

[Kelsey]

And I'm like, has none of your teachers seen super bad.

[Movie Mike]

It doesn't feel Millennial to me. Also, I feel like late 2000s isn't.

[Kelsey]

No, that feels Millennial to me.

[Movie Mike]

Okay, maybe I just don't want some of these things to feel old because now Millennials just sounds bad. Every. It's like a bad word. Teen movie. Bring it on from 2000. Oh, that's millennial.

[Kelsey]

These are not spirit fingers. These are spirit fingers.

[Movie Mike]

That is such a good. That is, like, quintessential rewatch that. That is like what I think about when I think of when I was just dying to go to the movies as a kid to be cool. Like in Waxahachie, we didn't have much, but we had Buffalo Creek with six screens on it. That was like the place to be on Friday nights. And I think of Bring it On when I think about those times.

[Kelsey]

Great movie.

[Movie Mike]

The kids show is Nick Jr's Wonder Pets. Never was a Wonder Pets kid.

[Kelsey]

One of my brothers was Wonder Pets. Wonder Pets on our way.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I guess that's like the Zillennial probably.

[Kelsey]

Yeah, that leans more towards like 2008. 9.

[Movie Mike]

Like the later end.

[Kelsey]

Yeah. I could sing it, though.

[Movie Mike]

The sitcom for Millennials still standing from CBS. It aired from 2002 to 2006.

[Kelsey]

I know the show, but what Millennial was watching. Still Standing.

[Movie Mike]

I did watch Still Standing. I did, too.

[Kelsey]

But who's Googling that?

[Movie Mike]

It's one of those shows that Jamie Gertz. I forgot how many episodes of this show I watched. It would just not be one that I would think that's a millennial show or one that I even care to remember.

[Kelsey]

I think Friends.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Kelsey]

Still Standing.

[Movie Mike]

I would even say, where did you get the office? It's Google. People are Googling. Still Standing, the American rock band for Millennials. Creed. I guess Millennials are a bunch of divorced dads. Yeah, I don't mind Creed. Like, I'm not a Creed hater, but I don't seek out their music.

[Kelsey]

Didn't they have a Creed Cruise?

[Movie Mike]

They did, yeah.

[Kelsey]

It was like the same ship that then Heather McMahon's cruise did, and she was basically like, yeah, it was a bunch of divorced dads one week and then a bunch of wine drunk, middle aged in the next.

[Movie Mike]

I like Scott Stab. He's a nice guy. I'll See him sometimes at the gym I go to, which I won't give up his spot. But if you have to imagine, I'm going there too. It's not that nice of a gym, but he's a nice guy. He'll go in there with the hoodie on and nobody talks to him. Nobody messes with him. They don't realize that. Arms wide open, guys. Right over there. But I don't really see them as a millennial band. Like daughtery emo band, My Chemical Romance. Does it get more millennial than My Chemical Romance?

[Kelsey]

When I was a young boy, I just remember listening to that on the bus. Like, headphones in, just, welcome to the black parade.

[Movie Mike]

I used to be My Chemical Romance hater because they weren't emo enough. They to me, they were mainstream and they sold out. Like, I went to go see. I bought tickets to My Chemical Romance and Alkaline Trio. And I was such a hardcore Alkaline Trio fan that I left before My Chemical Romance went on. And I get sounds. My brother and I gave our wristbands to the Pit to some other people walking in and they were like, what are you crazy? I bet those people have the best story ever that we got these for free. The mixed gender ban, Evanescence. I didn't know that was a category. A mixed gender band. What a weird category.

[Kelsey]

Oh, I just banned.

[Movie Mike]

Who is googling this best mixed gender band 7. Evanescence. I'm offended by this next one. One hit wonders. Bowling for Soup. They are not a one hit wonder to me.

[Kelsey]

Come back to Texas.

[Movie Mike]

But they claim their only hit is 1985. That came out in 2004. They have Girl the bad guys want Almost Emily. They have so many hits.

[Kelsey]

The Phineas and Ferb theme song. Yes.

[Movie Mike]

That. That is offensive. I think we will not have Bowling for Soup slander in this house on this podcast, Rapper Lil Wayne. I agree with that.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

The Carter 3 in 2008 was a very influential album on me. He was like the biggest thing from like 2008 to like 2010, 2011. He was doing every guest spot on every song. Yeah, I can see that one.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

Hip hop song Country Grammar by Nelly from 2000. That feels pretty early 2000. Like, I associate Nelly with the early 2000s.

[Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Movie Mike]

Prom dress. Maybe you can speak on this one. I didn't go to prom. Zebra print. Was zebra print a big thing for prom dresses?

[Kelsey]

I feel like 2005 to 2009 maybe. I went to prom in 2012 and mine was like gold sequin mini dress. So it was not zebra print, but yeah, unfortunately, that was a thing.

[Movie Mike]

Snacks. Yo's. They were the yogurt covered fruit snack.

[Kelsey]

Never ate them.

[Movie Mike]

I. I am familiar with them because I like watching those, those nostalgia videos on. We go down a wormhole where it's like 2,000 snacks and we're like, I ate that, I ate that. Yeah, we watch those a lot. So I'm familiar with those, but I don't think I've ever have had them. And finally, the teen magazine for millennials. Oh, seven. Oh, knew it. Seventeen.

[Kelsey]

Loved Seventeen.

[Movie Mike]

You remember how big magazines were in the 2000s?

[Kelsey]

I still love a magazine.

[Movie Mike]

Like, I used to read alternative press, Thrasher magazine. But I just remember I enjoyed looking at all the covers even though I didn't read them. J14 was one, right?

[Kelsey]

J14. Tiger beat. Tiger Beat, Cosmo Girl.

[Movie Mike]

Because I remember in the early 2000s, a lot of the bands I liked kind of transcended into those magazines as well. Like Blink 182, some 41. Good Charlotte would also be on the covers of those magazines. And then I'd be like, I want to read the interview with them. And I'm like, I don't think this magazine is really for me.

[Kelsey]

17. Oh, God, I loved it so much I had a subscription.

[Movie Mike]

Isn't that kind of what. 13 going on 30, the magazine she works for, Is that kind of like what 17 is? Yeah, that is.

[Kelsey]

I still read a magazine. I mean, I read them on like my iPad, but I will buy a magazine at an airport.

[Movie Mike]

All right, anything else we want to talk about? That was the list of the most searched millennial pop culture things.

[Kelsey]

I'm trying to think of my best book of the month. Hold on. I don't even remember what I've read this month. Hold, please. I'm gonna go with the Secret History of Audrey James.

[Movie Mike]

Is that about.

[Kelsey]

It's a World War II surprise. I know everyone's shocked. I gave it five stars. I think it's one of. It's probably one of my favorites of the year. I'm currently reading a really good book. I don't normally talk about a book before I finish it, but it's called the Book of Lost Hours, kind of sci fi. But it's like the idea that there are these people called the Timekeepers, where they put people's mem in a book and it goes back and forth between, well, it starts in 1938, Germany, and then it goes to like 1965 in Boston. So it spans like World War II and Cold War era. And it's about how people have been, like, erasing history and how they're trying to, like, save that. Like, there were Nazis who would go into this, like, space called, like, the time space, and they would erase what they did in World War II. I'm only a few chapters in, but it's really good.

[Movie Mike]

All right, well, that is our best and worst of August. That is millennial things. Books and TV shows. We've covered it all.

[Kelsey]

A lot of good TV shows coming out. It's about to be don't have to leave the house season, which, yeah, we're.

[Movie Mike]

About to hit football and good TV shows and just still good movies coming.

[Kelsey]

Out and it's cooler. So then you, like, don't have to run. We get to the point where we're like, I don't want to pay for our own AC to run all day. Let's go see a movie. But we're getting to the point where it's like, oh, I actually want to stay home.

[Movie Mike]

Staying home.

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[Kelsey]

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[Movie Mike]

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[Kelsey]

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[Kelsey]

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[Movie Mike]

That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Movie Mike]

Everybody exclusive. Don't you? Don't lie about that. Right? Lauren came in hot.

[Lauren LaRosa]

From viral performances to red carpet looks that had everyone talking the podcast. The Latest with Lauren LaRosa is your go to for everything. VMAs. We will be right here breaking it all down. I'm going to be giving y' all the headline. Breaking down everything that is going down behind the scenes and getting into what the people are saying. Like what is the culture talking about? That's exactly what we'll be getting into here at the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. Everything. Be amazed. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody to hear this and more. Listen to the latest with Lauren the Rosa from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you you get your podcast Culture.

[Kelsey]

Eats strategy for breakfast.

[Warren Campbell]

I would love for you to share your breakdown on pivoting.

[Kelsey]

We feel sometimes like we're leaving a.

[Movie Mike]

Part of us behind when we enter.

[Kelsey]

A new space, but we're just building.

[Warren Campbell]

On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us. I was joined by Valisha Butterfield, media founder, political strategist and tech powerhouse for a powerful conversation on storytelling impact and the intersections of culture and leadership.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I am a free black woman who.

[Kelsey]

Worked really hard to be able to say that.

[Warren Campbell]

I'd love for you to break down why it was so important for you to do seed.

[Kelsey]

You can't win at something you didn't create.

[Warren Campbell]

From the Obama White House to Google to the Grammys, Malicious Journey is a masterclass in shifting culture and using your voice to spark change.

[Lauren LaRosa]

A very fake capital driven environment in society will have a lot of people.

[Kelsey]

People tell half truths.

[Warren Campbell]

I'm telling you, I'm on the energy committee. Like if the energy's not right, we're not doing it, whatever that it is. Listen to Culture Raises us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Kelsey]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is Bookmark by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple Co ReeseAppleBooks to find out more.

[Movie Mike]

Let's get into it now. A spoiler Free movie review of Caught Stealing Starring Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz, Vincent d', Onofrio, Action Bronson, Leave Shriver, Bad Bunny, Regina King. This movie is stacked. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, who has done movies like Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Mother the Whale and this is unlike any of those movies. Definitely leans more into the action. What this movie is about. Austin Butler plays a burnt out baseball player who is now just working as a bartender, trying to keep his life somewhat together. He has some drinking problems. And this dude loves baseball. He is a big San Francisco Giants fan. He worships the team. He calls his mom all the time to talk about baseball. Even when stuff starts going wrong in his life and it feels like his whole world is falling apart, he still wants to know how they are doing every day. Are they going to make the playoffs? How many games back are they? That is a major priority for him, which I think shouldn't be. He has this really great girl in his life. He has a chance to kind of get his life back together. But then everything changes when his neighbor asks him to watch his cat because he has to go out of town and. And then it turns out his neighbor, who he's kind of friends with, is into some really bad things. There are some people after him and now Austin Butler's character is tangled up in all of it and he is now in it by association. And what I enjoy about this movie is it feels like a very realistic action movie because I was worried that Caught Stealing was going to turn Austin Butler into something he wasn't, into an action star. That's not what this movie does. The way the story unfolds is that it's happening to him as if he was just a regular person that this would happen to, despite the fact that he is so good looking, especially walking around in his underwear throughout a majority of the opening of this movie, you're like, man, that is so unfair. Dude has it all. But aside from his looks and his physique, everything that happens to his character is something that could happen to you and I. And I'm glad that they didn't turn him into some big superhero who just started out of nowhere, taking down people left and right. So I think that part of it made it feel like a very realistic action movie where there were some action sequences, but it didn't feel like they were overly choreographed. Which sometimes when you watch an action movie and you just feel like it's a little bit too slick and they're getting into fights that you know they would not win, it just feels a little bit too unrealistic. But there is a big level of rawness throughout this film. And I'm not even talking about all the hooking up scenes, which is kind of Aronofsky's calling card. There's always a lot of nudity scenes in his movies that make his films, movies you do not want to sit down and watch with your parents. If you were somebody who made the mistake of watching Black Swan with your mom, with your grandma, even sometimes with your dad, that stuff gets uncomfortable. He is definitely a director where you know there is going to be nudity. It is pretty out there and forward at the beginning of this film. So that's kind of his calling card. But what he is also great at capturing is very unique characters that are people that you don't want to take your eyes off throughout the entire film. And that is what I get here. Because after watching Caught Stealing, I still don't believe that Austin Butler is some great actor. He is on that level of, you put his name in a movie and it's a film of note. But I still don't believe he has the acting chops to be the best leading man. But I don't really think this movie required that. But out of all the Austin Butler films I've watched, from Elvis to Dune, every single one of his performances, this has to be my favorite. Even though I don't think that is saying a whole lot. Although I still see these little pockets of him not being able to convey some emotion when it comes to anything that is a little bit more dramatic. I just don't get that from him. Because in this film, his character is dealing with this trauma that sometimes comes out whenever he is sleeping. He wakes up very violently because of these nightmares that he is having. And there was always those moments where he was trying to convey this sense of like, I just woke up from a nightmare that I didn't believe it. And maybe that was by design. Maybe it was supposed to come off that way in the movie, but just those little glimpses of like, I don't know if he's that good of an actor. If he's just getting all these roles right now because he is a hot name. He is so attractive and looks like a movie star. I don't know if he has the acting chops to really compete with some of the best names in Hollywood as being the next big thing. I don't think he is quite there yet. Somebody who I am really surprised by every time they show up in a movie now is Bad Bunny all Benito? Like, seeing him in this role really own it. And I think this was the character for him. He is playing a guy who is very threatening, but also very chill. I really enjoyed Bad Bunny's performance in this. Him alongside Action Bronson was something I didn't know I needed. I'm Huge fans of both of their music. I remember seeing Action Bronson at South by Southwest, maybe 2015, 2014. He looks so different than he used to look like back in the day. He's dropped a lot of weight. He's become kind of a fitness influencer now. And me also being a former big guy, I like to see our own succeed. So it's so cool seeing him now alongside such big stars like Bad Bunny and Regina King in a scene. I loved his character, Amtrak. I wish there would have been more of him in this movie. I hope he gets more roles because of Caught Stealing. The other major props I have to give to this film and is the fact that the trailer did not set you up for anything, really. The trailer only captures, I would say, the first maybe 10 minutes of this movie. In a world where if you don't have the IP in an action franchise, you have to almost cram in the entire story in a two and a half minute trailer and then still convince those people, we just showed you the entire movie. But we also want you to go in theaters now and pay money to go see this. That is saying a lot, this movie, to keep back all of the best parts. When it comes to the action, when it comes to how this story unfolds and all the twists and turns and great, just character development and not put it into the trailer. Bravo to them for doing that because you easily could have put that all at the forefront, put it more in the marketing, but they knew they had a good story on their hands and didn't need to do that. To its detriment, though, going into it, I thought it was just gonna feel like a generic action type movie, I wasn't that excited. My expectations were pretty low. And if it wouldn't have been for a bit of slower weekend at the box office, because you had Caught Stealing, you had the Toxic Avenger, you had Jaws come back into theaters. You also had Lilo and Stitch coming back into theaters. There wasn't that much that I was ready to sink my teeth into so passionately that I was like, I like Austin Butler. Okay? I love Zoe Kravitz. I'm a huge Bad Bunny fan. Let's go see how all of this comes together. So out of everything, it was just a big surprise, a very fun ride. Some really great cinematic shots that I wasn't expecting. There are some scenes of just Austin Butler walking down these alleyways that look fantastic. At times it feels like it transforms into an entirely different movie visually and aesthetically. That part was also really pleasing to my eyeballs. For caught stealing, I give it 4 out of 5 giants hats. Not big oversized hats. The baseball team, the Giants.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's time to head down.

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[Kelsey]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Movie Mike]

Everybody exclusive. I know she don't lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot.

[Lauren LaRosa]

From viral performances to red carpet looks that had everyone talking the podcast. The Latest with Lauren LaRosa is your go to for everything VMA's. We will be right here breaking it all down. I'm going to be giving y' all the headlines breaking down everything that is going down behind the scenes and getting into what the people are saying. Like what is the culture talking about? That's exactly what we'll be getting into here at the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. Everything VMAs.

[Movie Mike]

Let's get into it. Time to do it.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I'm a homegirl that knows a little bit about everything, everything and everybody. To hear this and more, listen to the Latest with Lauren LaRosa from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Movie Mike]

I don't write songs. God writes songs. I take dictation.

[Warren Campbell]

I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years.

[Movie Mike]

I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you.

[Warren Campbell]

On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy winning producer, pastor and music executive to talk about the beats, the business and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R and B and hip hop.

[Movie Mike]

This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about Thriller before it happened.

[Warren Campbell]

Was there a particular moment where you realized just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem.

[Movie Mike]

I was 8 years old and the Motown 25 Special came on and all the the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie.

[Warren Campbell]

Wonder, Temptations, Diana Ross, from Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson. We get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Kelsey]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and iHeart podcasts where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple Co ReeseAppleBooks to find out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

More on a Movie Mike's Trailer park.

[Movie Mike]

This is quite possibly one of my favorite stories about movies this year. The movie is called Good Boy. It is a horror movie from the perspective of a dog. He sees his owner being overtaken by these supernatural demonic spirits. Spirits. But because this movie went so viral, the trailer dropped. I heard about it maybe a month or two ago and just the concept alone I'm in. There have been horror movies like this recently, but the trailer came out, got about a million views in four days. The studio behind it, IFC said, you know what? We now believe in this movie. We're taking this from a small independent release since it went viral now putting it in a full theatrical release. That means it's going to be and hundreds, maybe thousands of theaters across the country. And the movie is super low budget. I couldn't even find an official budget. Has to be less than 5 million, maybe even less than 1 million. But now this could be the movie that could and I think this is something that filmmakers are aspiring to do is make art that people are talking about because once this trailer went viral, you had Google searches going up over does the dog in Good Boy live? Which is what everybody wants to know. I have to imagine though it is already named one of the most heartbreaking horror films of 2025 and that is just Kind of giving you an indication of probably what is going to happen to the dog. I know some people have some mixed feelings. Probably more on the other end. You never want to see an animal get hurt, even in a movie. It's like in John Wick how his dog dies at the beginning of the movie. That inspires his entire run of avenging his death. Nobody cared about the tens to hundreds of people killed over the course of the John Wick franchise. But you kill that dog and suddenly it's like, oh man, I can't even be a part of that movie. The movie is coming out on October 3rd. Before I get into more, here's just a little bit of the viral Good Boy trailer. There's not a whole lot of audio because again, the dog is the main character, but it gives you a sense of the feel of this movie. I guess I'm next. I should never come here. Creepy, right? So it's about a loyal dog who moves into a house out in the woods with his owner Todd, only to find that supernatural forces have been lurking in the shadows. As a dark entity threatens his human companion, the brave dog must fight to protect the one he loves the most. Of course, it's going to be the dog trying to save the day here. This movie is only 72 minutes, which is just a little bit over an hour if you factor in credits. Credits are usually five to seven minutes, so probably looking at just a little bit over an hour. So I have to imagine this movie gets right to it and then we find out what is taking over his owner's body and what happens to Indy in the movie. Who is the dog? This movie was written and directed by Ben Leonberg and it stars his real life dog named Indy, who also plays Indy in the movie. And Indy is such a good actor, he has no CGI enhancements in the movie. There's no dialogue added. All of his emotion is just conveyed from his owner's filmmaking abilities. Air Bud could never do that. And Air Bud is coming back into theaters next summer in 2026. Airbud needs all the CGI. Airbud needs the trailer. Airbud requires catering. He has an assistant. Indy went in, knocked out this role and is quite possibly going to win an Oscar for the best dog in a movie. That's a made up category, but they should add it in just for Indy. And the film reminds me of a couple of big horror movies that have made an impact in the genre using really original ideas. One is Skinamarink, which is about two children who Wake up in the middle of the night, their dad is missing. All the windows indoors in their home have vanished. It's a very experimental horror movie. And is it the most entertaining movie of all time? No, but I love it for its ingenuity and what it did to the genre. To say, here is something that has been done before, a weird thing going on inside a house, but let's package it and tell it in a way that this story has not been told before. Another one was presents from earlier this year, which that is a horror movie from the perspective of the actual demonic force haunting the house. So you have this family move in, and you basically have this view from like a drone perspective inside the house. And you learn about the family just by observing them in a kind of creeper way from the perspective of that demonic force. And again, not the most entertaining movie of all time. They showed a lot of the horror elements in the trailer that the overall movie just didn't really deliver on. But still, I loved how original that story felt. It was enough to get me to go to the theater to watch it.

[Kelsey]

And.

[Movie Mike]

And I think that is what you have to do in horror right now, unless you have the big budget or the big IP to appeal to a lot of people of like, oh, let's go see the new conjuring movie. Let's go see what Michael Myers is up to now that he's like 65 years old, getting the senior citizen discount, but still killing babysitters around the block. If you can't do that and you don't have that as a filmmaker to rely on, you have to create stories like this that are going to get people online buzzing about it. Because when I look at this trailer without the viral success, without looking at the view count, it looks like a kind of generic movie as far as the technical aspects. I would think, oh, this is maybe a movie that somebody did as a school project, but all that gets thrown out the window now that it's having its moment. And I think that is what is great about the Internet right now, whether it's a movie, whether it's a song, whether it's just a painting. If you can create that moment on the Internet, that leads to actually getting butts and seats, because that is a big thing. You see people with a lot of followers on TikTok, but can they get people to pay money to go see them live in concert? Same deal here with a movie. It has the attention of people because the search does the dog in Good Boy die spiked by more than 2000%. I think the fact that we're not too far away from the release coming out in about a month now on October 3rd, it's now about can you capitalize on that and get people to pay money to go see it in theaters and then through word of mouth spread how good it ended up being to get other people to go witness it? Because I have to imagine, aside from this virality, Good Boy doesn't have a whole lot of money to spend on marketing. But I think that is what is inspiring to me, that a movie like this can still exist. And I think it should be inspiration to a lot of young filmmakers that if you just have an idea and you are able to tell a story that only you can tell, because the director here used his own dog. And if you can make something that only you can make that nobody else has made before, and tell it in a way that only you can tell it, because his relationship with his dog is what makes this movie work. The fact that he was able to direct a dog. Can you even direct a dog? Like a dog really doesn't know how to take direction. Like, all right, Indy, I'm gonna need you to give me a little bit more emotion here. React to this dark entity in the corner. No. But he probably has a great relationship with his dog, has trained him. He knows his mannerisms. He knows how to get him to look a certain way. He knows how to get him to walk along a certain path of make a camera shot work. So this is a movie that only he could make with his dog. And the dog is adorable. I saw them two together. It is a picture perfect dog. So I think as a movie lover, that is what is inspiring, I think, to the big corporations, the big studios. This is inspiring to them because they see money. Because historically, horror movies cost way less than any other genre. And there is a big return on investment. You can spend less than a million dollars, and if you have that success, you can make 20 to 30, maybe even $50 million at the box office just opening weekend alone. Bam. Big money. So studios are getting excited about this. It reminds me of one of the biggest profit margins of all time. Paranormal Activity. The first movie was made for only $15,000, but it went on to make $194 million worldwide. That is the example that is like winning the lottery. It is very rare for a movie to do that. I would say probably the best, most recent example is the Terrifier franchise, because those movies are really just your B horror level movies with very raw and brutal, practical effects that they don't look the most realistic, but that's not what they are meant to look like. But that movie also created a moment, was made for a little amount of money, and is now spawned a franchise that I think, according to some stories I've read recently, we'll be wrapping up with the fourth movie. The first one was good. The first one was Novel two was okay, and then the third one I'm like, I don't really need to know more about Art the Clown. So if you want originality right now you have to look to horror. It is crushing it in 2025, and I think that success will carry on into 2026. And again, Good Boy comes out in theaters on October 3rd. And that was this week's edition of Movie Minds Trust. And that is gonna do it for another episode here of the podcast. Before I go, I gotta give my listeners shout out of the week. You can get a listener shout out of the week just by sending me an email. Movie mike dmail.com DM me on Instagram or tweet at me. Is it still tweeting even though it's X? But this week I'm going over to X and shouting out Joel, who wrote me and said this might be an unpopular opinion, but going to the movies alone is better than going with someone and you don't have to worry about whether they like the movie and you don't have to deal with anyone asking questions during it. Love the podcast. Always listening Monday morning and Joel posted a screenshot of his app listening to last week's episode at 9:26am so Joel, you are a part of the Monday Morning Movie crew. My favorite thing to see on Mondays is somebody sending me a screenshot listening to the podcast bright and early. So I appreciate that. And I got a lot of messages last week about how much people enjoy going to the movies alone and that made me feel good that people aren't afraid to do it because you should do it more. You should just have that experience to yourself. If you've never gone to the movies alone but you wanted to, this is your second sign to go and do that. So thank you, Joel. Thank you to everybody who was a part of the Monday Morning Movie crew. And until next time, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later. The day begins at the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club at Boston Logan Airport. You get the clam chowder in San Diego. It's Tostadas New York. Espresso Martini. It's 10am why not it's the quiet before your next flight, the shower that resets your day, the menu that lets you know where you are. This is access to over 1300 airport lounges and every Sapphire lounge by the club. And one card that gets you in Chase Sapphire Reserve, the most rewarding card.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Movie Mike]

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[Kelsey]

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