MOVIE MIKE: Weapons Director Zach Cregger on What They Don't Tell You About Having A No. 1 Movie, Brad Pitt and His Favorite Punk Bands + Movie Review: Him + Trailer Park: Sydney Sweeney in “Christy”

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bobby Bones Show presents "MOVIE MIKE: Weapons Director Zach Cregger on What They Don't Tell You About Having A No. 1 Movie, Brad Pitt and His Favorite Punk Bands + Movie Review: Him + Trailer Park: Sydney Sweeney in “Christy”"

Date: September 27, 2025
Host: Movie Mike
Guest: Zach Cregger (Director, "Weapons")
Produced by: Premiere Networks

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Movie Mike welcomes filmmaker Zach Cregger, director of the new horror movie "Weapons" and known for his comedic background in "The Whitest Kids U’ Know." They discuss the realities behind having a number-one movie, navigating success, and Cregger’s personal touchpoints—from sobriety to punk rock influences. The episode also features a spoiler-free review of "Him," a new football-themed horror movie, and a deep dive into the trailer for Sydney Sweeney’s boxing biopic, "Christy." Mike wraps up with his top five directors of the 2020s and listener correspondence.

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Main Interview: Zach Cregger on Success, Film, and Punk Rock (03:06–14:50)

The Reality of Hitting Number One

• Surreal Feelings:
  • Cregger describes the day after "Weapons" debuted at #1:

    "It doesn’t feel like, I think maybe somebody might expect it to feel because you’re still in your bed, in your skin, in your room...there’s no new pixie dust sprinkled in the air." (05:06)

  • Despite external success, life feels much the same, with only an underlying "cushion of self-esteem."

On Chasing Fulfillment

• Discussion draws parallels between Mike’s personal weight loss journey and Cregger’s achievement as a filmmaker.
• Both acknowledge the “what now?” feeling after a major milestone.
  • Cregger:

    "...I have this cushion of self-esteem that I’ve never had before and I only got that after I got sober." (06:08)

Social Media & Recognition

• Mike and Cregger muse over the surreal thrill of having major celebrities (like Post Malone/Brad Pitt) notice your work:
  • Cregger:

    "Brad Pitt. I’ve always been a giant fan. That would be pretty cool." (08:33)

  • They joke about crafting scenes that, one day, Barack Obama might watch.

Lessons from Weapons

• On Set Attitude Adjustment:
  • Cregger:

    "My cinematographer said during prep, ‘We’re not playing a win-lose game here. We only win.’...I don’t need to freak out. The movie’s gonna win because it’s a good idea and I have talented people." (09:08)

Comedy and Horror: Two Sides of Surprise

• Cregger breaks down the similarity between comedy and horror—both rely on timing and surprise:
  • Cregger:

    "...Every joke, everything you’ve ever laughed at follows a recipe...An action with an expected outcome yields an unexpected outcome...that anti-rhythm or that little pop is probably going to be good at scaring you, because scares follow the same anatomy..." (10:50)

Punk Roots and Mount Rushmore of Punk Bands

• Cregger’s punk Mount Rushmore: Bad Brains, Fugazi, Misfits (with Danzig), Dead Kennedys (12:25)
• Mike’s picks trend pop-punk, prompting a playful back-and-forth on "true punk" vs. pop punk:
  • Cregger:

    "Every band you just named is like pop punk!" (13:35)

Closing

• Mike thanks Cregger, expressing fan affection and admiration for his horror work (14:39)
• Cregger’s humility and willingness to razz Mike create a relaxed, candid interview tone.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You’re still you." — Zach Cregger describing success (05:06)
• "I have this cushion of self-esteem that I’ve never had before and I only got that after I got sober." — Cregger (06:08)
• "We only win." — Cregger, quoting his cinematographer on set (09:08)
• "Every joke, everything you’ve ever laughed at follows a recipe…that formula is…an action with an expected outcome yields an unexpected outcome." — Cregger (10:50)
• "Every band you just named is like pop punk!" — Cregger playfully ribbing Mike (13:35)

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Movie Mike’s Top 5 Directors of the 2020s (15:00–27:47)

1. James Gunn:
   Lauded for revitalizing DC and Marvel with "The Suicide Squad," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," and "Superman."
2. Christopher Nolan:
   Praised for the innovation of "Oppenheimer" and anticipation for his epic-scale projects.
3. Yorgos Lanthimos:
   Celebrated for offbeat, risqué films like "Poor Things" and the upcoming "Bugonia."
4. Zach Cregger:
   Recognized for the impact of "Barbarian" and "Weapons."
5. Celine Song:
   Admired for emotional storytelling in "Past Lives" and "Materialists."

• Mike discusses each filmmaker’s defining strengths, with shoutouts to up-and-coming and honorable mention directors (Emerald Fennell, Greta Gerwig, the Daniels, etc.)
• Mention of hype around Cregger’s next project: "Resident Evil" reboot.

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Spoiler-Free Review: "Him" (30:40–37:12)

• Overview:
  • Not directed by Jordan Peele (producer only), "Him" is a horror film about youth football and the cost of chasing greatness.
• Criticisms:
  • Marketing leans too heavily on Peele’s name; felt like a "bait and switch."
  • Overly weird, chaotic pacing:

    "The issue I had with ‘Him’ is it got too weird too quickly ..." (30:40)

  • Mike found the cult-like plot elements common and unsatisfying.
  • Character development for protagonist Cameron felt lacking.
  • Marlon Wayans and Julia Fox turn in the best performances; otherwise inconsistent.

• Aesthetic vs. Substance:

  "I think sometimes as people who talk about movies ... we get too fixated ... Sometimes a movie doesn’t have to have a plot if it has a vibe. And ‘Him’ for sure leaned more into having a vibe."

• Final Score:

  "Overall for ‘Him’, I give it three out of five footballs." (36:58)

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Trailer Park: Sydney Sweeney in “Christy” (40:05–49:57)

• Film Premise:
  • Sweeney plays boxing champ Christy Martin; Ben Foster co-stars.
  • Story covers her rise, battles inside and out of the ring, with themes of resilience and reclaiming self.
• Mike’s Impressions:
  • Surprised by the less-than-gritty look of the trailer after Sweeney’s intense preparation.
  • Notes the trailer feels formulaic: cramming in the character’s whole life arc, three-act structure visible.
  • Flags over-reliance on dramatic pop song covers—a biopic cliche.
  • Costuming/wigs call attention to themselves, lessening authenticity.
  • Foster’s performance could risk being overcooked:

    "Some say he overacts a little bit. And I like Ben Foster ... but to some, that style is a little bit off-putting ..." (48:00)

  • Holds out hope for Sydney Sweeney, but isn’t convinced by the trailer.
  • Draws parallels with other sports biopics and the risks of "too big" a story.

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Listener Shout-Out & Closing (50:01–end)

• Listener Shout-Out:
  • Mike thanks JW on Instagram for feedback on "The Long Walk" adaptation, and reflects on his struggle to finish books before movies release.
• Tidbit:
  • Mike reacts with excitement about the newly announced "Super Mario Galaxy" movie and reminisces about playing the original game during college.
• Outro:
  • Encourages listeners to tag him on social platforms and promises more movie chats next week.

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Key Timestamps

• 03:06 – Episode segment opens; Mike introduces Zach Cregger.
• 05:06 – Cregger describes the reality of a #1 movie.
• 09:08 – Set lessons from filming Weapons.
• 10:50 – On why comedians make great horror directors.
• 12:25 – Cregger’s punk Mount Rushmore.
• 15:00 – Mike’s top 5 directors segment begins.
• 30:40 – "Him" spoiler-free movie review.
• 40:05 – Trailer Park: "Christy" review.
• 50:01 – Listener shout-out & Super Mario Galaxy news.

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

• Conversational, candid, and music/movie-nerd-enthusiastic.
• Cregger provides personal insights into creative fulfillment, mental health, and genre filmmaking.
• Episode offers entertaining tangents (punk rock, celebrity sightings, social media quirks) alongside concrete film analysis and industry commentary.
• Provides both practical insights for creatives and fun pop culture debates for casual listeners.

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Recommendation

A can’t-miss episode for fans of horror, punk rock, and behind-the-scenes film stories with laughs and honesty. Stick around for the breakdowns of "Him" and the skepticism (but hope) for Sydney Sweeney's turn as a boxing icon.

Transcript

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[Movie Mike]

To Movie Mike's movie podcast. I am your host, Movie Mike. Today I am talking to Weapons director Zach Kreger. My favorite horror movie of the year. I don't think I've ever done as much research going into an interview before, before I even knew this was happening. I almost maybe kind of manifested this a little bit. I started just doing research on this guy because I am so fascinated on how he approaches film. And now joining the podcast today, Zack Kreger. In the Movie Review, I'll be talking about the movie everybody thinks is directed by Jordan Peele, but it's only produced by Jordan Peele. Him it's a horror movie about football starring Marlon Wayans. And in the Trailer park, we'll talk about why Sydney Sweeney just looks a little bit off in the Christie trailer. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being subscribed. Shout out to the Monday Morning Movie Crew. And now let's talk movies from the Nashville Podcast Network.

[Glenn Washington]

This is Movie Mike's Movie Podcast.

[Movie Mike]

Zack Kreger is a writer, director and actor, best known as one of the founding members of this comedy troupe called the Whitest Kids. You know, it was also a TV show that was on the air from 2007 to 2011. At that time I was in high school and everybody was quoting the Whitest Kids, you know, sketches. He directed 53 of those 57 episodes during that period. He also starred in the TBS sitcom Wrecked for the entire three season run from 2016 to 2018. And he made his directorial debut with the horror movie Barbarian in 2022. This year I put Zach Kreger on my list of directors that I'm going to watch every single movie they put out because I was so moved by weapons. It's about 17 kids who all wander outside their homes in the middle of the night and no one knows where they went and no one knows why. Weapons is now available on digital and it'll be on 4K Ultra HD on October 14th. And now let's talk to Zack Cracker. What is it like when you wake up and realize you have the number one mov in the country? What is that feeling like?

[Zach Kreger]

It is surreal. It doesn't feel like, I think maybe somebody might expect it to feel because you're still in your bed, in your skin, in your room, and it's, you know, there's no new pixie dust sprinkled in the air. You know, you can look at your phone and kind of reinforce that that's happening. And then you put your phone in your pocket and you're still just in your house. So it's a weird thing, you know, I'm happy, don't get me wrong. I don't, I don't mean to be, you know, poo, pooing, anything, but you're still you. So.

[Movie Mike]

So, yeah, I think I understand that because I, in my life I've lost a hundred pounds. And I was really proud of myself when I, I was really proud of myself when I did that. And I thought once I did all the work and lost the weight that I would be suddenly happier. And then I woke up one day and I realized I did it. I don't know if I feel any happier. Is it kind of that same way where you're like, I thought this was gonna solve all my problems. This is what I wanted to achieve as a filmmaker. And now that I have it, it's like, okay, cool, this is it?

[Zach Kreger]

Yeah. Okay. Well, I think there, I think maybe, but, but I think there's something deeper under the surface that, that we have in common. Right. Where you did something really hard and you are reaping the benefits of that because you probably have more energy and you probably, probably have some self esteem rise from that. Right. And I think that. So even though my moment to moment is largely similar as it was before, I do have like, there is a sense of accomplishment that I think kind of is an underlying vibe that I can recognize as being different. Do you feel that? I know when I got sober I felt that way. You know, I felt like, oh, like things still bother me, but like I have this like cushion of self esteem that I've never had before and I only got that after I got sober. So maybe, maybe we have that.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, yeah. Feeling the self esteem is a big part of it. I guess I just thought that once I lost all the weight that suddenly all my problems would fix and I'd find a girlfriend and I'd be like, okay, now I get the job.

[Zach Kreger]

Like, come storming into your living room and, like, somebody would just give you a raise. Exactly. Oh, yeah. The world doesn't work that way.

[Movie Mike]

And I think with you, in the creative way, feel that you're always kind of chasing that thing, and then sometimes when you have it, you're like, oh, man. Was this really what I wanted the whole time?

[Zach Kreger]

Well, that. I don't know, because I. I think I've wanted to be a filmmaker since I was, like, six. So. So I, I. You know, there's always maybe a fear that you're going to be, like, the dog that catches the mail truck and, like, you know, is it going to Monkey's Paw? And by the way, maybe it will. I don't know. It. You know, this is all very new, so I could. I could be singing a different song in two years, but. But right now, you know, I'm in Prague and I'm making a new movie. And, you know, my wife and I are good, and I'm. I'm. I'm doing okay, so I'm. I'm all right.

[Movie Mike]

So I am a huge fan of Post Malone. I had the chance to meet him. I posted a picture of him in my Instagram story, and later I saw that he watched my Instagram story. That's cool. Post Malone, watch my Instagram story. That was almost cool than meeting him in some weird way, because, I don't know, I think we're all just, like, fascinated with social media and who watches our stuff. For you, as a filmmaker, do you ever, during the process of making a movie, think, man, I wonder who the most famous person is going to be that is watch my movie. No, who would that be for you, though? Like, man, I really wish they would watch my movie. Like, I've loved this person maybe since I was a kid. I'm a huge fan of them now. Like, if this person watched a Zach Kreger movie, I mean, I don't know.

[Zach Kreger]

Brad Pitt.

[Glenn Washington]

Let's say Brad Pitt.

[Zach Kreger]

I've always been a giant fan. That would be pretty cool. You know, there's so many people you admire, and I could give you 100 names right now that would blow my mind if they saw the movie. I don't know. It's funny. Like, the idea of being on set and being like, all right, I'm setting up a shot, and one day Barack Obama is going to watch this, and.

[Movie Mike]

I'm really going to impress him with this one.

[Zach Kreger]

I do not think that way.

[Movie Mike]

For Barbarian, you said you learned to prep the shoot and shoot the prep. What did you learn from weapons Great question.

[Zach Kreger]

I think I learned to. And I'm still learning it. I learned. I need to learn to just, like, relax a little bit more. Everybody I'm surrounded by is really good at what they do. The movie's not going to collapse. You know, we're going to get it. You know, here's what I learned. My cinematographer said during prep, you know, we're not playing a win lose game here. We only win. And I was like, are you allowed to think that way? Do you think that way? Could I think that way? And like, yeah, that's the attitude, man. Like, I don't need to freak out, that if I forget to say something in prep, suddenly everything's gonna burn to the ground in production and the movie will be broken. Like, no, the movie's gonna win because it's a good idea and I have talented people and it's gonna. We're gonna get everything we need to get. And I think when I was making Weapons, I had this fear that that wasn't true. But I think that is. I'm allowed to, like, live in that mindset now.

[Movie Mike]

I think one of the most surprising things that I wasn't expecting when watching the movie and even rewatching the movie were the moments of comedy where it was kind of unexpected. It was maybe Josh Brolin saying a line like, what the hell? Like, what the f. Or what's going on here? And there was just these moments that kind of popped in the theater where I was like, oh, if you cut this movie differently, do you think it could be a comedy?

[Zach Kreger]

Oh, I wonder. I don't know, but I'd love to see someone try.

[Movie Mike]

Why is it that people who have maybe roots in comedy, like, you kind of translate to horror so well? Like a Jordan Peele? I'd even put like a John Krasinski in there. Going from having this background in sketch comedy where people know them for that, and now suddenly have such success in horror. Why do you think that is? How do those two genres kind of have some similarities?

[Zach Kreger]

Because I think you have to have an ear for timing, and I think you have to be good at surprise. I think every joke is a surprise. Every single one. Every joke, everything you've ever laughed at follows a recipe in a formula. Like an algebraic formula. That formula is this. An action with an expected outcome yields an unexpected outcome. Okay, so it's basically just saying you do this, you think you're going to get that and you get a surprise. And I promise you, there's not one thing you've ever laughed at in your life that doesn't sort of follow that. And try me. If you ever see me on the street and you think you have one that doesn't follow the formula, come up to me and tell me. And I bet I can beat you, because it just does. And so that someone who's kind of good at that surprise, that anti rhythm or that little pop is probably going to be good at scaring you, because scares follow the same anatomy, where it's like you're subverting an expectation. And I'm not sure if it's the exact same, but it's very similar. So it's the same muscle group, is what I'm trying to say. It's. It's like a. It's like you're good at the same instrument. Maybe is. Is the way I think about it. That was a really mouthful. Bullshit way to describe a simple question.

[Movie Mike]

But, you know, one of my favorite things about you is that you were in a punk band back in the day where you said you would just basically get on the floor and just scream until they told you to stop. But you grew up in the DC punk scene, which I'm a huge fan of punk rock. If you had to create a Mount Rushmore of punk artists, who would be on that Mount Rushmore? Your top four.

[Zach Kreger]

Wow. Okay. I'd go Bad Brains, first and foremost.

[Movie Mike]

Perfect for dc.

[Zach Kreger]

Yeah. I would go Fugazi, probably. I would put. You know, what a great question, dude. I might have to say the Misfits.

[Movie Mike]

I love it. Huge Misfits fan.

[Zach Kreger]

Early Misfits, when Danzig was in the band.

[Movie Mike]

I don't even consider them the Misfits. After Dancing Laugh. It's like. It's just dancing.

[Zach Kreger]

Yeah. Yeah. And then, like. I don't know. I mean, God, that's so hard. That's such a hard one, that fourth one.

[Movie Mike]

What do you got there?

[Zach Kreger]

Maybe. Maybe Dead Kennedys. I don't. I don't know.

[Movie Mike]

I feel like that is a classic punk rock list right there. That is tough. I know.

[Zach Kreger]

But now I'm mad at myself because those are all, like, obvious, you know, I could get, like, really, like, narrow and niche and say, like, Born against and his hero is gone and. And, like, keep going down that path. But I. I don't know.

[Movie Mike]

But Mount Rushmore is the people who are going to be remembered forever. You got to have Danzig's face up there. The Crimson Ghost up there. Is that kind of. I would probably put. When I got into punk rock was late 90s, early 2000s. So I'd put Rancid, no Effects, Blink 182, and Green Day.

[Zach Kreger]

These are all pop punk bands, dude.

[Movie Mike]

You don't consider those punk bands too green? They're all.

[Zach Kreger]

Every band you just named is like pop punk.

[Movie Mike]

Okay, so I'll go punk rock. Then I would go Ramones. Can I. Can I take the Ramones?

[Zach Kreger]

Yeah, of course.

[Movie Mike]

Yeah, I'd go. See, then I do feel basic, kind of like you did, because I'd go Ramones, Clash, Misfits, and Prop Rance. Would you consider rancid pop punk?

[Zach Kreger]

Not as pop punk is like Blink 182.

[Movie Mike]

Wow. You consider rancid pop punk. That is.

[Zach Kreger]

I said, not as the others.

[Movie Mike]

You're like, your commercial taste in music. Okay, Forest. I'd probably go Black Flag, though.

[Zach Kreger]

That's cool. I mean, Op Ivy was like. That was like the band. That was my gateway drug, you know? And that's basically. You know, that's rancid, practically. So. So I. I get you. I. I'm not. By the way, I'm not giving any shade to the bands that you named at all. I'm just saying, like, they were all very similar. They're all kind of living in that same kind of. Kind of like, you know, time and space, you know, no effects, Green Day, and, you know, so that.

[Movie Mike]

That.

[Zach Kreger]

Dude. No, no. No problems here. But I'm just saying, like, you made.

[Movie Mike]

Me feel so basic now, Zach.

[Zach Kreger]

No, no, that's not what I meant to do. I'm sorry, buddy.

[Movie Mike]

Well, I really appreciate it. It's been awesome to get to talk to you. You are one of my favorite directors, so this is an honor.

[Zach Kreger]

Thanks, Mike. It was really fun to talk to you, too. Dud that against me that I razed you.

[Movie Mike]

All right. Thanks, man.

[Zach Kreger]

All right, buddy.

[Movie Mike]

That was quite possibly one of the funnest interviews I've done on this podcast, if you enjoyed that. I'm going to post some clips over on socials on Tik Tok and Facebook and YouTube shorts and Instagram, and sometimes I feel like I don't know what to say when I see some of my favorite creators posting things. I'm like, that's a really cool clip. I want to do more than just like it, but I don't know what to comment. I'm going to make it easy for you. Just drop some hot dog emojis into the comments. If you've seen weapons, you know what the hot dog is referring to. If you don't, not really a spoiler. It's just a very small detail that Zach Kreger worked in there as an homage to actually his friend that passed away, one of the cast members from the Whitest Kids. You know, he died, I believe, in 2021 and weapons was a way of Zach coping with his grief. And I re watched Weapons before the interview and I really started to see that in the movie. I saw not a horror story of a bunch of people in a town trying to figure out what happened to these kids. I saw somebody trying to deal with the fact that they lost one of their best friends and how that comes out in every single character in Weapons and all the parts of Zack's story that suddenly this movie made so much more sense to me. So drop a hot dog emoji in the comments if you've seen it. You know what I'm talking about. If not, go watch Weapons. But let's get into what I believe to be my top five directors of the 2020 so far. I consider the movies that are also not yet released yet. So it's the movies that have come out so far in the 2020s. At number five, I have Celine Song, who made her directorial debut with past lives in 2023, easily one of the best directorial debuts of the decade so far. It earned her an Oscar nomination. I think Past Lives should have won for best picture, but she followed it up this year with Materialists in just two movies. I feel like she has already established who she is as a storyteller with movies rooted in emotion, where Past Lives is so much more a type of movie that makes you want to cry, that just hits you in all these emotional pockets in your body. And as somebody who has a hard time accessing those, a Celine Song movie is going to get those emotions out of me. Past Lives in particular. And then this year with Materialists, it was a little bit less emotional, leaned in more to the rom com, so not really going to hit you in the fields like Past Lives did. But I really love that Celine started to expand on her visual palette and Materialists, which really elevated and drew me into that movie more. So I think Celine's Song is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to romance, whether they're dramas, whether they're dramedies, whether they have more of the comedic elements. She is going to be a director to watch if you love that genre of movies. At number four, our guest of the episode who worked his way into my top five, and it would have been even if he wasn't on the podcast today, because that's how much I loved Weapons and I even admitted to you guys that I wasn't the biggest fan of Barbarian when it came out. But I respected the integrity of the movie and I respected the vision more so than how entertaining I found it. It is still, I believe, one of the most noteworthy horror movies of the decade. And. And with Weapons, he entered into that, okay, this is somebody who knows what they are doing and have a very unique way of capturing the attention of people. And then like you mentioned in the interview, he is also out filming his movie right now. He's working on the new reboot of Resident Evil coming out in theaters next year on September 18th. So dude is so in demand right now. Anything he touches, people want to be a part of. And that has to be such a special part of a director's life when they are the hottest thing, when everybody wants to work with them. And I love how I was able to get out of them that he hopes that Brad Pitt has seen one of his movies. And I'm pretty sure I saw Brad Pitt talking about Weapons with Josh Brolin. So I'm pretty sure Brad Pitt has seen it. But not only that, I feel that Brad Pitt would want to work with Zach Kreger. Could you imagine a horror movie with Brad Pitt? If that happens, I'm going to credit this podcast because we put it out into the universe. But because of that, Zach Kreger has cracked my top five of 2020's directors so far at number three. I'm going with Yorgos Lanthimos. So far in 2020 he has put out Poor things kinds of kindness and has Bugonia coming out in November. His movies are really weird and not for everybody. It's the type of movie that I grew up loving, but my parents would never in a million years let me watch. And even now as an adult, I think I'd rather walk backwards through a cactus field naked than watch a Yorgos Lantimos movie with my mom or my dad. Speaking of naked is because it just has a lot of naked people and not even doing normal naked people things. Just very out of the box nudity that has you wondering what exactly goes on in his mind. But I love a director who is so weird and one that almost becomes a genre in themselves. I feel like he is that for me now. Probably in the 2000s and 2010s it was Wes Anderson who is an honorable mention on this list. But now I feel because of the actors, he goes back to his trademark people, his muses, his Emma Stones. Before that it was Colin Farrell, he has a tendency to get a fixation on an actor and do two to three movies with him before he moves on. So I feel like he is the biggest nerd. And as a big nerd, I can respect that. And I can't wait for him to make more new weird movies. That's why I'm so excited for Begonia later this year. But at number three is the Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. At number two, I have Christopher Nolan. Now, he started out the decade kind of on a down point because Tenet was one of the most confusing movies I had ever seen. I remember when I watched Tenet again in 2020, we were still watching movies at home, which was cool for a minute. I had to restart that movie so many times because I thought, what am I missing here? And after watching it all the way through for the first time, I was still confused. And I feel like that was such a big creative risk for him. I don't think that movie is inherently bad. I just think we still don't get it yet five years after. And I felt the same way about his movie Interstellar, where everybody was raving about that movie. It was so highly praised. It took years of me going back to that movie and rewatching it to fully understand what he accomplished there by creating one of the best sci fi movies of all time. So maybe in another 10 years, I'm gonna look back and watch Tenant and think, man, we totally got this movie wrong. But he also put out Oppenheimer in 2023, which he won the Oscar for Best Director. He has the Odyssey coming out next year in 2026. It is the first movie ever filmed entirely on IMAX. That's gonna be big. That's gonna be bold. That's gonna be beautiful. It has Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Hathaway Zendaya. That is gonna be an event. And he is also the only director I can imagine to make the Odyssey an event. Because if anybody else tackled that movie or if anybody else tackled Oppenheimer, I don't think it would have the same impact because I think the source material on its own isn't that sexy. I wouldn't look at anybody else making an Odyssey movie and think that is a must see thing. That is a movie that I'm gonna out, which some people did. Tickets went on sale this summer and they sold out. It's like maybe one screening, but that creates a story that is something that only Christopher Nolan can do. So that is why I have Christopher NOLAN at number two. At number one. This was an easy number one. It is James Gunn. So far in the 2000s, he has put out the Suicide Squad, which is the quintessential D.C. antihero movie. He made everything right that was wrong with the original Suicide Squad. I rewatched it recently whenever Kelsey and I went to New York for our vacation this summer. Oh, it's a great hotel movie. And I was reminded of just how much I loved all the characters inside of the Suicide Squad. They're still kind of back and forth on whether or not Margot Robbie is going to return as Harley Quinn. But after re watching that movie, I'm like, how can you not include her? With everything going on now with Superman, where we're going, with Supergirl, with Batman having his own Elseworlds, with what Matt Reeves is doing, I just want all of these things to intersect at one point. Could you imagine a movie now where you have Margot Robbie, John Cena as Peacemaker, David Corn Sweat as Superman, Robert Pattinson as the Batman. He also put out Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 in 2023, closing out one of the best trilogies ever of all time in the mcu. Come on. But also this year he put out Superman, which is now available on HBO Max. I need to go watch that immediately because I really wanted to go see it for the second time in theaters, but it was such a busy summer that I was not able to go see anything for a second time, except for Lilo and Stitch. I had to see Lilo and Stitch in theaters twice, which is also on Disney plus now, so I can go relive my summer, watch Lilo and Stitch on Disney, and then go over to HBO Max and re watch Superman, which he also announced. Why I included him at number one is man of Tomorrow. The follow up to that movie is coming out on July 9, 2027, only two years in between those two, which I have to imagine it could shift a little bit, but I almost feel like Superman now belongs in July, so hopefully that release date stays on track. My honorable mentions, Wes Anderson, who this decade has put out the French Dispatch, Asteroid City and the Phoenician Scheme. I think because of how little I enjoyed the French Dispatch, kept me from putting him in my top five. Also have Emerald Fennel, who put out Promising young woman in 2020 that is quite possibly one of the top 10 movies of the decade that doesn't get talked about enough. I feel like anything that came out in 2020 kind of goes under the radar because it was such a weird time for movies, but she followed that up with Saltbird in 2023. That was the movie that got everybody talking a couple years ago. She has such a bold and risky style and I love it. She also has a movie coming out next year with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi called Wuthering Heights. It is based on a classic novel. I saw the trailer for that and boy does it look steamy. You kidding me? Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi together? I also have directors who so far have only put out one movie in the 2000s. Jordan Peele has only put out Nope in 2022. I also have the co directing team, the Daniels who basically broke the Oscars with their movie Everything Everywhere all at once. I would say the most innovative storytellers of the 2000s, Greta Gerwig. But so far she's only put out Barbie, which was a massive movie. I just need some more to get her into the top five. Paul Thomas Anderson so far has only put out licorice pizza, but he does have one battle after another coming out at the end of the month. James Cameron has also put out Avatar 2 and has another one coming out later this year. Martin Scorsese has only done Killers of the Flower Moon. Quentin Tarantino has put out zero movies in the 2000s but quite possibly he's the only director I know that could make the list with just one movie. And finally I have Matt Reeves, who I mentioned earlier, who put out the Batman this decade and should have the Batman coming out soon. Some details did come out last week. Filming starts in April 2026 which that sucks because this movie was supposed to come out this year in 2025 and they're not starting filming until next April. Other details about the movie include Bruce Wayne is finding it very hard to be Batman, which I don't know if that's saying a whole lot. I imagine it's really hard for anybody to be Batman, but apparently it takes Batman in a direction never done before. I pray to all that is holy that it is not a musical. Do not go the Joker 2 route, but it's being described as another murder mystery digging deeper into the corruption which is really what the Batman did so well. Penguin will appear in five to six scenes. Sophia Falcone will not appear in this movie, but Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson said that it will top the first film. That is saying a lot because I love the Penguin in the first one as the villain and the Riddler paired together was so good. I would love to see a Matt reeves interpretation of Mr. Freeze because the only version we have in the movies is the very comical Arnold Schwarzenegger version. But if you could bring some realism to that character, I think that would be the perfect addition in this world because we have enough jokers, even though they introduced them at the end of the Batman. We've seen Two Face, we've seen Bane. Give me a dark and gritty Mr. Freeze. All right, I'll come back and I'll give my spoiler free review of him.

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I'm Glenn Washington, the host of KQED's Snap Judgment podcast, and at Snap, we don't just tell stories, we live them. Every week a different journey, like on a plane with Rihanna, a racetrack in Tijuana, a year inside an Oakland homeless encampment. Real people, real voices with original music and cinematic sound. Snap Judgment from KQED New episodes every Thursday. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Movie Mike]

Let'S Get Into It Now A Spoiler Free Movie review of him this movie was not what I was expecting. I think I had too high expectation going into it. The movie was really leaning into the fact that it was produced by Jordan Peele. So much so that his name was bigger on the poster than the actual director of the movie, Justin Tipping. So I think they were trying to trick us a little bit. Why were they trying to do that? Was it because they felt that the movie wasn't good enough to succeed on its own? That they had to use the Monkey Pop Productions power of Jordan Peele to really sell this movie? Or were they trying to trick us? Because I think if you just saw the trailer, you saw the poster, you saw the overall aesthetic of this movie going into it, you would think, oh, this is just a new Jordan Peele movie. But he is only a producer. What this movie is about. You have a kid named Cameron Cade who is on his way to be the next goat. Has wanted to be QB1 since he was a kid. His father just instilled it into him. Starts out really weird at the beginning of him watching his favorite player, Isaiah White, played by Marlon Wayans, go through a traumatic injury early on in his career, but then go on to win several rings. Probably too many rings to be believable. But that's what he wants to do. He wants to achieve that. And the entire message of this movie, the tagline is how much are you willing to sacrifice to be the best your family, your friends, your girlfriend? What are you willing to put on the line? So right before the combine gets hit by a fan, big brain injury, doesn't know if he's going to be able to perform or if any team is going to want him, right Then his hero, Isaiah White calls him, tells him to come out to his compound, lives basically in the middle of nowhere in the desert in New Mexico to come train with him. And that's where things start to get weird. The issue I had with him is it got too weird too quickly. And there is this sub genre of movies that has become really popular right now of people finding themselves in situations that start to feel like a cult, not a new thing. It's been happening in movies and TV shows for a while now, but I feel like a lot of things recently have really leaned into this, where you go to some big fancy place, whether it's a resort or somebody's house, and it starts out seemingly normal enough, and then all these weird little cult like things are happening and you start questioning the person who invited you there. They're very weird and secretive. I've just seen this theme a lot recently, and maybe I'm just getting a little bit tired of it. But the difference with him is it went from 0 to 100 really quickly and didn't lean into the weirdness. Therefore, when it started getting weird, I didn't really know where this movie take place. Is it reality? Is it some weird distant side world where things don't really matter? It almost felt too fantasy, like. And I know this movie is trying to say a lot, there are a lot of overarching messages about young athletes getting thrown into the spotlight too quickly, having to sacrifice their bodies, us as fans, being too critical of them. And then you have the powers that be who really run the organization, who are putting these people into situations where they have to give up their entire life, give up their body, basically selling it away for billions of dollars in fame in exchange for that. Is it worth it? Are you still willing to give up everything in your life to achieve that? And I think that is what him was trying to say, but it never really got there. It focused a lot on the bizarre training tactics, which Cameron never really understood why they were happening and then never questioned it. And I think that really led to me not really understanding who Cameron was as a character. You saw a little glimpse of him as a kid, but you never really understood what was driving him. And I think that is a problem I had. And then Marlon Wayans, who I thought gave a pretty good performance, maybe a little bit too over the top at times. But without that, there wouldn't have been much to lean into, because him, Julia Fox, I think were the best parts of this movie. I think overall the movie just felt a little bit too one dimensional and it sacrificed style over substance. And I know not every movie has to have a plot to be a good movie. I think sometimes as people who talk about movies and over analyze movies, we get too fixated and all this didn't go anywhere and this didn't lead to anything. Sometimes I think a movie doesn't have to have a plot if it has a vibe. And him for sure lead more into having a vibe, having an aesthetic more so than the plot. Because really that was it. He went to go train with them, weird stuff happened and then you find out whether or not he makes it into a fictionalized version of the NFL. While I did find the movie entertaining for the most part, I think what really helped it also was the fact that it was only 90 minutes. I just think that all the performances were a little bit too over the top. Justin Tipping never really just brought it all together and really brought it home. I think if it would have had a stronger third act, this could have not only been a decent movie, but maybe even a good, maybe even a great movie. I think quite possibly for all the people dragging this movie now, I think him could just be a little bit too ahead of its time. Because I did see Marlon Wayans post on Instagram saying, hey, I know we have to have critics, I respect you, but every single movie I put out in my life has been drugged through the mud, has been said that it's bad. A lot of his movies have really low critic scores and oftentimes pretty good audience scores. And Marlon Wayans has been a part of movies in his life like White Chicks Don't Be a Menace, the scary movie franchise that when those movies came out, every critic said the same thing of how awful they were. But if you look at some of those movies that he is in, they are some of the pillars of the 2000s that have a fan base but just don't have the critics on their side. I think that could be him. I do think there is an audience for him. It's probably younger. Maybe teenagers who are in sports in high school now could watch him and think, man, that is such an awesome movie. And in 10 years when they are doing a podcast like this, they're going to talk about him. From 2025 was one of the best movies of the 2000s. So it could quite possibly be ahead of the curve and go on to be a classic. But I think for me right now it over promised and under delivered it started to Feel a little bit like a bait and switch situation. Like we were supposed to get a Jordan Peele movie and instead we got some off brand Cheerios. So overall for him, I give it three out of five footballs.

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[Glenn Washington]

I'm Glenn Washington, the host of KQED's Snap Judgment podcast, and at Snap, we don't just tell stories, we live them. Every week a different journey, like on a plane with Rihanna, a racetrack in Tijuana, a year inside an Oakland homeless encampment. Real people, real voices with original music and cinematic sound. Snap Judgment from kqed New episodes every Thursday. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Movie Mike]

It'S time to head down to Movie Mike's Trailer Park. I love it when actors go all in. I told you guys, whenever Emma Stone shaved her head for the new Yorgos Lantimos movie, I'm like, that is what I'm all about. Sydney Sweeney. She went all out to portray Christy Martin in this upcoming movie called, well, Christy. She's a boxing legend. Intense prep, put her body through the wringer. She had a weight trainer. She had a boxing trainer. Said she ate a lot of Smuckers, a lot of PB and Jeff sandwiches, milkshakes, and was consistently eating. But as consistently as she was eating, she was also burning it off at the exact same time. Christie is coming out in theaters on November 7th. Now, knowing all the things that Sydney Sweeney went through to portray Christie in the most accurate way, I am surprised. This movie doesn't look as good as I was expecting it to, and that's a bit of a let down because I also like Ben Foster, who plays her husband in this movie, which I think some people have a little bit of a problem with this style of acting that I want to get into. But that is what this movie is about. It is a biopic. Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin and Ben Foster as her trainer slash manager. It follows her story as she enters the world of boxing, driven by her grit and determination to succeed in the sport and overcome the personal battle she faces outside the ring. As I read that plot, as every boxing movie kind of reminds me of another boxing movie I was excited for a couple of years ago. Big George Foreman and that felt like a Lifetime movie. Oh, but I think there could be some good in here. I'm still holding out hope. Oh, but there's also some red flags in the trailer. I'm still holding on to hope that in the end this will be at least a good movie. Maybe not a great movie like I was expecting, but it could still be a good movie because a sports Drama. It's probably gonna fall right in the middle. But before I get into more, here's just a little bit of the Christie trailer. There's no Christy Martin without me. I need help, Mama. He's angry at me all the time. Oh, Christy, you sound crazy. At the beginning of the trailer, it looked very fluffy, which I wasn't expecting, because from the photos that Sydney Sweeney shared on her Instagram from the set and the poster, I thought this movie was going to have a little bit more of a grit to it. I almost thought it was maybe Sydney Sweetie saying, I'm gonna make a bid to win an Oscar. Kind of like the Rock is having now with the Smashing Machine. Also, could be unfortunate timing with these movies coming out in about a month from each other. Kind of like two twin films, both portraying real life people, one mma, one in boxing. I don't want to take away from the fact that she has a great story, the actual person she is portraying. Christie went through a lot of things outside of the boxing ring. Her trainer slash husband went on to be abusive. She got out of that relationship. She was also openly gay and then married her former sparring partner, Lisa. So I have no doubt that her story is one of resilience and courage and fighting to reclaim her life. But just because someone has a powerful story that says to someone, I need to make a movie about that person, doesn't mean that it's easy as plugging and playing their story and putting somebody in front of the camera and having somebody direct that, having somebody write that, knowing what part of their story that you need to tell. Because I think that is the most important when it comes to a biopic. That is why I like biopics that focus on a very specific part of their life where there maybe is the biggest change, the most significant thing to history or culture or pop culture, whatever it is. Much like they did with a complete unknown with Bob Dylan. While it was a little bit about how he got discovered, how he got his record deal, it was a lot of his change of going from being a folk singer to being a rock singer and using electric guitars and all the pushback he got there, that is what made that story more powerful. And then when you see some of these biopics come out and they're trying to cram everything in, from their early life and their childhood to their rise to the fall, and it's just a little bit too much. So going back to Christie's story, you have to decide what story do we want to tell here? And one of the things I noticed from watching this trailer is you have all three acts that we're gonna get in the movie inside of this trailer. You see the beginning. You see the turmoil start to happen. You see the relationship with her husband start to go awry. You see her already in this trailer at her lowest points, and give or take a few details, you kind of already know where this movie is going to end. And I always say, if you see all three acts of a movie in a trailer, that is a red flag. That is a sign of a movie that is trying to load you up with information to get you into that theater. But I think that is a bad sign, and I've been burned there before. Another big cliche that they use in this trailer. They always got to use the dramatic version of a pop song, have it slowed down, sung a different way. You strip out some of the instrumentation. I don't know why biopics do this all the time. And with all these things combined, I am just surprised to me after watching this trailer that it feels a little bit more like a cable movie, much like I felt when I went to go see big George Foreman in theaters, where the acting just wasn't there. Even though his story was interesting at times, it was powerful. I just think the overall vision of that film, much like I'm feeling here just from the trailer, just doesn't quite seem there. When you compare this trailer to that of the Smashing Machine, you can tell completely that those directors had two entirely different visions, and one just feels a little bit more powerful. Now, there are some parallels in this trailer, being that both the Rock and Sydney Sweeney did go through some physical transformations. The Rock had prosthetics in his face that make him look different. My theory on that, for the Rock, it's not so much that they wanted him to look like the fighter he is portraying, MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Because I don't think people are as familiar with Mark Kerr's face. But I think the prosthetics are there. One to show people that the Rock is doing something different here. He's trying to get into the more dramatic lane. He is trying to be taken seriously, and by really committing himself to this character, it shows okay, he is going a step further and not just showing up on set randomly late and peeing in the bottles. I think also for the Rock, it helps him get into feeling like he is portraying somebody else, where if you look at his last five movies alone, he's kind of just being himself a lot. So in order to get himself out of what he is used to. You put yourself in those prosthetics and suddenly you do feel like you become an entirely different person. Now with Christie, Sydney Sweeney went through the physical transformation of training and getting into the body of a fighter. But the thing kind of holding me back from fully buying into her as Christy is the wig. And I understand that is how Christy styled her hair. But this wig looks like it was bought at Party City. It doesn't look like Hollywood movie level wig. And I find it to be a little bit distracting. And it's just the wardrobe department and hair department overall. Because Ben Foster, I would say the same thing about him where everybody looks like they are wearing a costume. And I know in movies you do wear costumes to portray other people. I'm just saying that in this case it really stands out and it's really distracting. It doesn't feel authentic. And that is the problem I'm finding here. I feel like this movie might be a little bit too over dramatic, maybe taking itself a little bit too seriously at times. And Ben Foster does get criticized for being that type of actor who some say he overacts a little bit. And I like Ben Foster. I loved him in Alpha Dog, probably my favorite movie of his. And I love that in the movie his character is so over the top and so intense. Screaming at people on the phone or going over to people's houses and trying to fight them and being right up there in their face. You can see the anger in his eyes. But to some, that style of acting is a little bit off putting. And you look at Ben Foster and think, man, you're going just a little bit too far. You're going to 11. You got to scale it down just a little bit. So I wonder if the drama and emotion is going to have the right balance in Christie. But I want these roles to work for Sydney Sweeney because I believe her performance in Euphoria is really what put her on the map. And she has bounced around to different genres, did the rom com thing with anyone but you. Immaculate. Jumping into the horror genre, which I think is one of her more underrated roles. She tried the superhero thing, being in Madame Web. And out of all the movies she's done recently, I think my best sample size of how she does with dramas was probably Echo Valley earlier this year, the movie on Apple tv. Plus with her and Julianne Moore. I didn't fully love Sydney's performance in that, but I also think her character was made to be really unlikable. I wasn't supposed to be rooting for her. I wasn't supposed to like her character, so I'm hoping Christy is my real indication of whether or not she can really dive into the drama roles or if she just ends up going and doing more anyone but you movies, which I would be perfectly fine with too. But I think she is that level of star that I would like her to be an actor who can do every single genre well because she is going to be around for a very long time and the roles are just going to keep coming. So I hope I can get every kind of Sydney Sweeney movie. But Christie is coming out in theaters on November 7th and that was this.

[Glenn Washington]

Week'S edition of Movie Trailer park and.

[Movie Mike]

That is going to do it for another episode here of the podcast. Before I get into my Listener Shout out of the week, they did announce the new Super Mario Brothers movie, which I think looks awesome. There's not a full trailer on it yet because if there were I would have covered that in the trailer park. But it's called Super Mario Galaxy. The teaser is basically just Mario sleeping underneath a tree. I really thought that they were gonna do Super Mario World before they did Super Mario Galaxy because I thought that was just the thing they were queuing up. They teased Yoshi at the end of the first movie, but I am excited for Super Mario Galaxy, a game that I played so much on the Wii. Super Mario Galaxy reminds me of college and in my first apartment ever after moving from Waxahachie to Austin, I lived in an apartment. The AC went out and it was so hot in this apartment that we got a window unit, put it in my room and at night I would crank the thing all the way down, fire up the Wii and just play Super Mario Galaxy in a completely dark room for hours. A great game, one I feel doesn't get a whole lot of recognition of how good that game is because everybody talks about the OGs or all the stuff now on Switch, but I am excited for this. Just a little bit surprised that they decided just to go with Galaxy over Super Mario World, but I hope we get Yoshi. I would really love for us to get Wario, but I think we're probably still another movie away from that. But for my listener shout out of the week, I am going over to my Instagram, checking my DMs and this week's Listener Shout out of the week goes to JW who said in reply to my review of the Long Walk, dude, if you've never read the book, I think it is worth it. It is fairly Short and so dark, but good crazy. Such a dark, dystopian idea that came out decades before anything else, like Hunger Games. Appreciate that, jw. I did get a lot of messages saying you have to read the book. I hear you guys, but if you listen to this podcast, you know I have trouble finishing books. I can start a book, but it is so hard for me to finish a book. And I'm here to give you an update. The book I was supposed to read before the movie came out, I still haven't started Project Hail Mary. I still have not brought myself to crack. Not one page. But I'm going to do it because it is so at this point, I need to read a book before going to watch a movie and that is going to be the one. If I never finish that book, I'm not going to see that movie. So thank you, jw for reminding me that I need to start that book. But I've already seen the movie. I don't know that I would be motivated to go back and read that book because I have so many things to read that just in this studio right now, looking around. There are two books that I've started and not finished. So I appreciate the book recommendations. I'll pass them along to Kelsey, who can probably read those in one night. So thank you, jw. Thank you. Wherever you are listening right now, in your car, at the gym, if you are on Instagram, tag me in your Instagram Instagram story. Whatever episode you're listening to, I'll repost that. I'll make you next week's listener shout out of the week. And until next time, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.

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[Movie Mike]

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[Movie Mike]

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[Movie Mike]

This is an iHeart podcast.