MOVIE MIKE's MOVIE PODCAST - Top 10 Movies to Watch on Airplane with John Farrar + Movie Review: The Rivals of Amziah King + Trailer Park: Heart of the Beast

0:00This is an I-Hike podcast. Guaranteed Human It's the US Open, which means the tennis world is about to lose its mind and I'm here for every second of it. Join me, Renee Stubbs on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast as I break it all down. The matches that matter, the drama that doesn't and the stories everyone's talking about. No cliches, no sugarcoding, just host analysts, from someone who's actually been there. Coco, looking real good, her serve looks so much smoother than it has in the past. I was really happy to see Ega back to what she looked like a couple years ago when she was winning dominantly. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the iHot Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We've all heard the phrase all things in moderation, but that's clearly not us. That's why we're celebrating 300 episodes of That's My Step, our Law and Order SVU podcast, where we cover the real crimes behind the stories and interview actors from the show. We're doing it big for the 300th episode. We've got Icon, Heartthrob and SVU guest star, John Stamos and we're best friends now.

1:00In waiting for government, Chris, are you serious? It's like her favorite. That's like my favorite movie of all time I've seen it like a hundred and fifty times. Me too. Oh my god. New episodes of That's My Step, Drop Tuesdays. Listen to That's My Step on the iHot Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On August 4th 1962, Marilyn Monroe died. Then the rumors started and she died again. And now we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe actually died. The Third Way. I'm Jake Brennan and on my podcast, Hollywood Land, I revisit some of the biggest stories from Hollywood history. Separating the myths people want to believe from the reality underneath them. Hollywood Land is part of the exactly right network. Listen to new episodes every Monday on The iHot Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Michael Imperial. I want to tell you about my new podcast Underground Zero. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. It's about the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks.

2:02What's in the tunnels? Go barge over English. It'll be worth half a billion. Starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael Imperial. How far you prepared to go. Depends how far you are. Listen to Underground Zero on the iHot Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I am your host, Movie Mike. Today, I will be covering the top 10 movies to watch while traveling on an airplane. I have John, who is a writer over at Pix Media, hopping on. We are going to talk about what makes the perfect airplane movie and each share five of our picks that we think next time you're traveling. You need to watch these movies on an airplane. In the movie review, I'll be talking about Matthew McConaughey and the rivals of Amaziah King. My experience going to a screening with Matthew McConaughey not only in attendance, but also doing a musical performance after the screening of the movie. And in the trailer park, we'll be talking about Brad Pitt in Heart of the Beast and why I think he is officially entering his older action hero phase.

3:10Thank you for being here. Thank you for being subscribed. Got a lot to get to, so let's get to it. And now, let's talk movies. From the Nice Girl Podcast, now for the vases Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. Today, I am talking with my friend John, who is a writer over at Pix Media. If you're not familiar with picks, they actually have this really cool collection of free email and newsletters that basically help you find something good to watch. Much like we do on this podcast, but they also cover TV shows, books, podcasts, pop culture. What is worth your time when it comes to what you want to dive into on any of your screens? John is a writer over there. Does some fantastic work. And I thought he'd be the perfect person to talk to you about the top 10 movies to watch while traveling on an airplane. So let's get into it. John, how's it going? It's going well, Mike. Thanks for having me. You ready to talk some movies? I am so ready. I'm super excited. I love chat and movies with a fellow movie nerd.

4:10We're going to get into one of my favorite topics, the airplane movie. What makes a great airplane movie will get into that? But first, I kind of just wanted to get to know you in movies. So what was your childhood movie theater like? I didn't go often. The one that I did go to occasionally was eventually turned into a like 21 plus theater as I was getting a little older. And now it's just gone. But I do remember it had an arcade that I love to spend time in. And other than that, I think it was just a pretty like standard suburban movie theater. Like nothing, nothing too crazy about it. So what switched it for you? Because now you work covering movies. What was the, what was the time period in your life? Or what was like maybe the one movie that switched it for you? Well, I wanted to be a video editor. Like I loved videos. I loved like new media. I just wasn't familiar with movies necessarily. So I went to film school and obviously in film school, the you have to watch a lot of movies for your classes. And so as I wanted to get better at editing, I just watched a lot of, you know, movies that I had to check off the bucket list.

5:17And this might be a weird one. I don't know why it like made me love movies, but I watched World Trade Center with Nick Cage. Okay. It was like a requirement for one of my classes. I don't know why I had to watch that one, but I just remembered watching that movie and I was like, Oh, I see why everyone talks about Nick Cage. Like this guy's just awesome. And I think ever since then, I've just loved movies. What do you think is the biggest thing you learn in film school? I'm kind of fascinated with it. I don't think I've ever met anybody who actually went to film school. I guess I would say that a lot of people in film school don't become filmmakers, which is, you know, like you, a lot of people that I went to school with are working film adjacent or some role in the film industry, but like almost nobody that I went to school with is like a, you know, director, like trying to be a director or a working writer. Not to say they don't want to do that eventually, but like I went to film school with no desire to even work in movies. I wanted to work in like, with YouTubers and like new media, like the internet media.

6:18It's just weird because I think it's the sort of thing where like if someone's really talented and is going to be a filmmaker, they're going to pursue that and like make that happen whether they go to film school or not. I think we've seen that with a lot of, you know, YouTubers like the YouTuber Chris Stuckman, like he wanted to be a filmmaker. He financed it himself and he made it happen and he made a movie and I think Shelby Hoax. Yeah, Shelby Hoax. I was a backer for that. Oh really? I love that guy. But yeah, I guess the takeaway from film school is like I learned a lot, but like I wouldn't say it was necessary to do what I wanted to do. Like I learned most of the stuff on my own. All right, what is a movie that everybody loves, but you do not understand all the love for it? I would have to say it's scrooge with Bill Murray. Apparently it's like a beloved Christmas classic. I just truly don't know what people see in it. Like I tried to watch it with my fiance. We watched 20 minutes. All the characters were unlikeable.

7:19We just did not see where it was going and we looked at each other like simultaneously and we're like, we should probably just turn this off, right? And I haven't gone back so maybe it gets better. But if a movie doesn't capture my attention in 20 minutes, I don't want to waste my time on it. You think it's the movie itself or you think it's Bill Murray? Because as you say that I don't know if I'm that big of a Bill Murray fan where I feel like he is somebody who is so beloved. I know I guess me growing up in the 90s, I didn't experience that Bill Murray take over in like the 80s. So I feel like he's somebody who people have told me that he's the funniest person that all his movies are great. But thinking about it, I don't know that I love a single non-ghostbusters Bill Murray movie. Have you seen Groundhog today? Yeah, I love that one. I just feel like there's so much hype around all of his movies as being the funniest movies ever. And then I watch them and I'm like, you know what? They're fine, but I guess I just kind of missed the Bill Murray train. I get what you're saying.

8:20Like I don't think any of his comedies are like, you know, gut busters. I'm not like dying laughing. I also, but it might just be like a product of the time. Like if you grew up with that, the humor was different than, and you know, I feel like for people a bit older than us, they just resonate more with his humor maybe. I don't know. Because I feel like by the time like Bill Murray was introduced to me, it was already at the point where he didn't care. We're like kind of the aura around him is like, he's gonna show up whenever he shows up. He's impossible to get a hold of. And he's just kind of doing movies to get the paycheck. I would agree with you. I've seen his stuff. It's good, but he's definitely not one of my favorites. All right. Let's get into talking about the best airplane movies. What do you think I'm just fascinated with this? So in your opinion, what do you think makes a great airplane movie? Yes. I just wrote a whole piece about this because I'm very passionate about the topic. Yeah, tell people a little bit about what you do. Yeah. I write for Pix Media. We are an email newsletter company for entertainment.

9:20So we have a suite of different free newsletters. I write our TV and movie picks newsletter, which just keeps people in the know on the trendiest and most hyped new releases, whether it's streaming in theaters. But then I also write a more personal opinion based newsletter called Worth the Watch, where I go deeper. I do like industry analysis, deeper reviews and breakdowns of, you know, which streaming services are worth it, which ones are not, things like that. And last Friday, my most recent Worth the Watch was all about airplane movies. And I have like five key factors, which I'm curious if you agree with or disagree. All right. Yeah. Hemi with them. The five are like escapism is the most important. It has to be an escapist type of media to like make me forget that I'm in the sky and flying in a bullet going like 500 miles an hour. I think sometimes when I think of an airplane movie, I think of something that's kind of on a more boring topic that I wouldn't dive into all the time.

10:22I don't fully need to escape. I guess I'm a little bit different there. That's fair. Yeah. So you're saying like you would sense you're in an airplane for like a set amount of time. You're down to dive into something that you know is either a long movie or like a thoughtful movie that you maybe wouldn't watch other was. I think so. I don't think I want to escape so much in the sky. That's fair. I think for me, it's like I need to mentally escape because I do get pretty anxious. And so like I just want to have it's forget like where I am for like like it needs to suck me in so I don't think about like the turbulence or anything. Okay. I think we need to dive into that for a second. Where does your airplane anxiety come from? I don't know. Dude, it's weird because as a kid, I had no airplane anxiety. It's just like getting older. I think I'm just more aware of all the doors getting ripped off mid flight and. They're having some crazy stories. All the three disasters. When was the first time you flew? Honestly, I've been flying my whole life. I don't really remember. I was definitely very young.

11:22I think that's why I have some kind of putting this together now. Why I don't have anxieties around certain things that some people do. I didn't fly for the first time until I was probably 25. I also didn't really grow up going to the dentist because we couldn't afford the dentist. And it wasn't until about maybe four or five years ago where I got like all my teeth fixed. That I didn't have dentist anxiety because at the time I was going as an adult, I just felt grateful to finally be there being able to fix my teeth. So kind of the same thing whenever I first flew, I was so mesmerized by it because I thought it was something I would never do. That I never really felt that anxiety. But I guess I could see if you've been flying your whole life. Different. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, I guess like if it's your first time flying in your 20s, you're just excited to be to be doing it. I remember I was so excited. I like film the entire take off. I would just I would look I didn't have I didn't watch any movies. I didn't listen to anything. I literally just looked out the window the entire time because I was so excited. I mean, it is amazing. I think in some sense it's kind of sad that we try to like close the windows and just turn on a movie when it's like we're doing something so beautiful.

12:26Yeah, that wore off after about two or three years when we were just touring like crazy and we're traveling nonstop. That guy a little. Well, yeah. Okay, so escape is is your first one. Escape is them for me. The second one is that it should have no airplane scenes periods. I can agree with that. Yeah, no red eye with Killian Murphy or like snakes on a plane. Final destination. Yeah, nothing like that. Just because I feel like as a rule of thumb if there's ever an airplane scene in a movie. It's either neutral or bad in the sense that like there's never like something super great happening on an airplane in a movie. Next step is it has to be safe for work. You know, nothing too spicy or steamy because things just get weird like my fiance was watching what weathering heights. Oh, yeah, I can't do that. And she got a lot of a lot of looks from people beside her. So I don't know. I mean, I think everyone's experienced like the grandpa in front of you is watching something super inappropriate and you're just like,

13:26dude, what are you doing? I think it does depend. If you watch it on an airplane, are you watching on what are you watching on? Usually like I guess my iPad or the built in screen on the if it has one of those. Because I think there are different rules there. If you're watching on your iPad, I think you could get away with dimming the screen down a little bit and then turning it just to you. But if you're watching on that, the back of the seat, you can't do that. Like everybody's going to see that. And that's fair. I think that's a good rule. If you have an iPad, you can just like put it down in your life. Yeah, or if you go step further in your like on your phone, you could pretty much like you could like have a hoodie and just fully get down in there. And then I really don't want to know what you're watching. The next one is. Okay, I'm really curious about your thoughts here. I said that a little action is actually not a bad thing. I think that an action movie works well on an airplane specifically because I think like the built in camera shake from an action movie sort of lends itself well with like the subtle turbulence and shaking on a flight. And it almost makes you forget that the turbulence is happening.

14:28If that makes sense. I think I love an action movie on an airplane. If it would have been action that wouldn't have been great in theaters. And it's like kind of tolerable on an airplane. I feel like that's where I could get down with like a B level action movie. Yeah, I actually didn't write about that. But that's a great point that like something about like a B level movie, just like a bad movie in general is kind of fun on an airplane. Like a movie that if I saw it in a theater, I'd be mad that I spent money on it. If I watch it on an airplane, I have a great time. Yeah, because you're locked in there and you're like, I gotta watch something. Sometimes your level of criticism just kind of goes down where you're if you just watch something that's entertaining. It has some pretty decent action. You didn't really have to pay money for it. I feel like it goes a lot further in an airplane. That's such a good point. Like did you ever see that movie Pokemon Detective Pikachu? Did I see Detective Pikachu? You're talking to literally a bulb sort of. I'm literally I just pull up a Pokeball. I freaking love Detective Pikachu. But that is also a great airplane movie.

15:29I agree. I not only saw that movie in theaters, but anytime I see it on a Southwest flight, I am clicking and watching Detective Pikachu. And if I don't finish it on the plane, I'm going home and finishing watching Detective Pikachu. I love Pokemon as well. It grew up playing it. But I feel like personally if I saw that in a theater, I'd be like, that was kind of underwhelming or like it could have been better. But then I watched it on an airplane recently and I was like, that was amazing. Yeah, as a big Pokemon fan, I agree that that's not the Pokemon movie I wanted. I was like, okay, we're finally getting a big theatrical release. This is going to be a mate. Oh, it's Detective Pikachu. Like it took the greatest thing ever and automatically demoted it because that's not what we want. So I remember going to see it in theaters and I was excited. I got my free Pokemon card where you get it whenever you go watch the movie. And then I saw it and I was like, it was all right. But it does hit a lot better on an airplane. Yeah. Okay. So this is a tangent not related to what we're just talking about. But I found this the other day. Did you ever have one of these? Did I have one of them?

16:29I had the whole collection. Oh, hell yeah. I found this. I visited my parents house the other day and I was going through some drawers and I found this 1998 Jigglypuff Gold Pokemon card. And I thought it was awesome. So that came in the Burger King toys. I was a huge Burger King kid. And I remember when those came out, I tried to collect every single one of them. And I think I had them all. But the thing was, I got to an age where Pokemon became not cool. And I sold them all at a garage or a yard sale. So I don't have them anymore. And I've actually been looking on like Facebook marketplace to like try and find them and buy them all again. So eventually I will rebuild my collection. But that was one of those things that I so regret that I got rid of. Yeah. Oh, that's tough. I feel like everyone has some of that. Like I have some old gaming consoles. I really regret getting rid of. Well, sorry, sorry to send us off course a little bit. But I love talking about Pokemon. You can always set it off course for Pokemon. So what we did, we each have our five airplane movies that we would recommend.

17:30And we'll kind of talk about these each. So you kick us out first. What is your top airplane movie? This one I just watched recently. It's a super new one. But I just have to recommend it. It's called Power Ballad. It is from the director of once and Sing Street. So he's sort of a musical legend. And it's starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas. And it was so much fun. It came out earlier this year. And I just think it's such a shame that it flopped. Like it apparently did terrible at the box office. Nobody even knew that it was out. My co-workers didn't even know it was out. And they're all big movie nerds. But there's a brand new Nick Jonas song for the movie. And Paul Rudd is singing the whole time. So it's hard not to love it. And I went to go see it in theaters. And I thought this is going to be one of those movies that is going to be a very difficult cell. Because there's nothing really that like stands out about it. But it's so good. Like Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas together, him trying to like reignite his music career, the whole battle that they have going on between each other.

18:32And the way this movie leaves you feeling at the very end is just like, oh, I just felt like this warm musical hug. Exactly. So you were one of the few who did see it in theaters. I did see it in theaters. Because it's because my wife is a huge Jonas Brothers fan. I love Paul Rudd to me. Doesn't make a bad movie. And I just felt like the two of them together. I just saw them on their press tour. I'm like, of course you put those guys together in a movie. But I thought, what do you define as like a nuts? You said it bombed obviously at the box office. How do you define a movie success right now? Because I feel like there's some great movies coming out this year that even though they're not successful in theaters, I feel like they're still good movies. Is there like a second life to it? Like what is the what determines a successful movie these days? Yeah. I mean, when I say bombed, I just meant like financially. They definitely lost money on it. Yeah, you can't get away from that. That it is lose money. Yeah, like it did lose money. But I agree. Like there's there's a lot of movies that lose money. But are like objectively great movies.

19:34And they find a big audience like a couple years later on streaming. Or once, you know, tick tockers start talking about them 10 years later. So I yeah, I think this is one of those unfortunate scenarios where people didn't know about it. Or there wasn't enough draw. Like maybe they thought Nick Jonas and Paul Rudt together would be like get all the girlies to go to the theater or something. Yeah. I feel like studios are kind of overestimating that right now. Like how big fandoms are? Where you think like you get a famous musician like Nick Jonas that it's instantly going to bring people to the theater. And it's not working that way. I even think about like the rock with the smashing machine. How dude has millions and millions of followers. But that movie bombed at the box office because it's not so much anymore about who's in the movie. It's about what you're actually selling in the movie. Totally. Yeah. I kind of think the age of like movie stars in general are kind of over in the sense that, you know, unless it's like Leonardo DiCaprio or, you know, someone who's like in the top three, you know, like Tom Holland.

20:35Like I really don't think that a big name is going to like put butts and seats in theaters. Anymore. Like it has to be put like a big franchise or an adaptation of something really popular. Like it's it's weird how people are not showing up specifically for actors as much as they used to. I mean, even look at what happened this year with obsession. Like that movie on paper should not have been as big as if I hate as it was. But it's over here crushing and beating things like Mandalorian and Grogu. Because it's not about who's in it anymore. It's about creating like a moment in the theater that people actually want to go experience. And not just like I think there's also a little bit of social media to it as well. Because you can go on Instagram and see Nick Jonas all the time. He's on Instagram. He's on TikTok. He's everywhere. I feel like it takes away from the exclusivity of just being able to see those people at the theater and pay money to see them. Because they're around all the time back in the 90s. You would only see these people when they were at a war shows in magazines. And now they're everywhere all the time where it feels like well, I'm not going to pay to see them on another screen that I just get it on the screen at home.

21:39Unless they're doing something I'm really excited about. Totally. Yeah. They used to be like this mysterious figure who you see in a movie and you don't know anything about them. And you don't really, you know, you don't want to know anything about them. They're just like that mysterious movie star. But now they're everywhere. Yeah, I think they're only maybe like two real movie stars right now to me that have still have that mystique to them. I think Leonardo Capri was one because you really only see him at the Oscars. And then when he's out like trying to save the world, I think this is a day of still like Zendaya and Tom Holland still kind of keep their relationship secret. She's not on social media a whole lot. And she really she happens to be at a lot this year just because she has so many movies coming out this year. Yeah. But I feel like she's kind of like that one. Like after this year, I feel like she's going to go away. We're not going to see her anymore. And then when she's back, we're going to be like, of course we'll go pay money to go see Zendaya again. Yeah, I would agree. I think those are the two that would come to my mind as well. I saw an interesting like video essay one time about how Leo specifically has maintained his prevalence at like the top of the movie star sphere because of the fact that he has yet to do any streaming shows or streaming movies aside from that one during the pandemic called don't look up.

22:56That's his only streaming original movie that he's ever done. And other than that, they're all theatrical and and the whole thesis was that it just makes him more like mysterious and more desirable because you don't see him every time you turn on Netflix. You know, like he, I don't know. I just thought that was really interesting that everyone else has done streaming stuff. And he also hasn't done any sequels except for he's going to be in heat to, but I think his role was that he wasn't in heat once we can be in heat to I guess that's the work where I like no, I can be in heat to as long as I wasn't in the first one. Yeah, that's very interesting about Leo. Alright, my first airplane movie, I also have a recent one also musical music related I have Michael. And I think it's because I don't really love music biopics. I feel like they're oftentimes overrated. I feel like they gloss over a lot of the gritty details that I want. I also think any music biopic you make the person should be dead. Like I just can't I just don't think you should make a music biopic when the person is still living.

23:59I feel like it changes a lot with them having any put in the movie and then being able to kind of change what the story is and leave out something so at least with Michael that parameter was met. But I feel like Michael would be a great airplane movie just because I like watching music movies on an airplane because I have headphones and I feel like all the music scenes just sounds so much better. Yeah, you're so right. Sometimes at home, I this is so nerdy of me, but sometimes I'll take my, you know, this is a really long cord. It's like a 10 foot cord. And sometimes I'll plug it into my giant TV and watch with headphones on the couch because the music is so much better with headphones. I think sound design is probably an underrated thing when it comes to filmmaking because you don't always notice it when it's great. But you definitely notice it when it's for sure. Yeah. So I think for me like I like watching any kind of music biopic like a Michael on a plane, bohemian rap city. I would also kind of put in that category where it's like I kind of know what I'm going into. I don't need to watch something that's going to really challenge me and need to be dialed into any music

25:06biopic that you haven't seen yet. I say save it for an airplane. That's a great call. I love that. That call was really pivotal for me. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman and this season on She Pivots, the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points that changed everything. I sit down with culture shifting women who share their pivots like Para Olympian Alley Truett. I was like, I'm on out from a shark attack. There's no way in 11 months I'm making the very long text. Advocate Elizabeth Smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference. So I'm going to keep going celebrity chef Carla Hall was that scary to walk away from such a stable career after after just two years. No, I was more afraid of being unhappy than I was broke and in a dead and job that I didn't enjoy and feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying to express women's real lives. We need a meeting place of our own. And if I can contribute to that, I'd like to maintain that and leave this house for that purpose.

26:07Listen to She Pivots on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Self-care September is here, which means it's time to rethink what self-care actually means. Yes, self-care can be a long walk. It can be an everything shower. It can be putting your phone on do not disturb. But sometimes it's actually about sitting with the uncomfortable stuff and understanding your patterns, your boundaries, finally figuring out why you keep doing things that you swore you would never do again. I'm Gemma Speg, the host of the psychology of your 20s podcast and each week we unpack the psychology behind the experiences that shape your 20s from relationships and friendships to money, anxiety, confidence, attachment, just becoming more comfortable with who you are. Unlike the quarter life crisis, which is depicted as the collapse, the quarter life reinvention is the expansion and growth of something. When we develop the ability to be happy by ourselves, nobody else can take that from you. So this self-care September, don't just take care of yourself. Get to know yourself as well. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

27:12This is Jay Valentine. I've spent my career on the executive side of this industry, multi-platin of songs, building artists and building business. And alongside my brother, Tank, the superstar R&B singer, songwriter and producer, we've created something special, the R&B Money Podcast. This is not just a podcast. It's a safe space where artists, executives and fans of R&B music come to reminisce. Pull back the curtain and tell the stories that shaped this culture, the real history behind the hits. That was hood famous. And then real love came out and it blew up. We lived in a project. And there's seen all the success. They hear them music and we had nothing. We're covering the entire spectrum from Smokey Robinson, Alicia Keys, B2K, Mary J. Blige, Legends, Current Stars and everyone who's contributed to the sound of R&B. You come out the gate with a hit. And then not Michael Jackson out of number one. Come on, man. I was like, hold on. I'm not going to mj out of the number one spot. If you're a super dedicated R&B fan who wants the real discovery, the real stories, this is your podcast. This is the R&B Money Podcast.

28:16Listen to R&B Money from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Without y'all this your main man Memphis Bleak right here, hosted our rock solid podcast. And each week we bring in your exclusive looks inside music, everything happening inside the culture. Some of the best conversations with the biggest names in the game. You had a little bit more pressure to be good. They didn't care if you was a girl. Like you wasn't getting the points. Look at if you not trash, you better be not just going to be great. Or rock solid, we talking to rap legends, hit making producers, rising stars from the golden era to the future of this hip-hop game where we keep it 100% unfiltered and keep it nothing but rock solid. The thing about Jay Maapin is he's been so great at being seen but mysterious. She's how I'm saying he don't got to come talk about nothing. You figure it out. So it's always a mystique and mysteriousness behind them but they like you don't see him.

29:22Listen to rock solid on Black Effect Podcast Network iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you string podcasts. Alright, what do you got next? My next one is sort of a romantic drama called Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It's a French movie. Have you ever seen it? I have not. Tell me about it. Okay, it's this romance about a painter in I think it's the 17th century who was hired to paint a portrait of a very wealthy lady. I don't know her exact title but she's hired to go to this remote island and paint a portrait of this very famous lady and they end up falling in love and it's a but it's at a time period where they cannot. You know, obviously love each other like it's what's that romance trope called where they like they can ever be together and blanket on the the trope but anyway it's it's just an amazing romance where not a lot of said it's very like subtle basically the whole.

30:29The whole romance this sort of told between like silence and eye contact and like the subtle glances and I don't know I just like movies like that where so much is said with so little you know like there's not a lot of dialogue but it's really powerful and I included it because I watched it on an airplane and I just was like crying trying to like hold in the sobbing and I'm curious if you have ever felt this way. Have you ever cried from a movie on an airplane. I don't know how many times I've seen it at this point but every time I watch Blue Beetle it makes me cry it is the DC movie. I think that movie is very important to me just because it was seeing the first Mexican lead in a superhero movie but there is a moment in that movie I won't ruin it for anybody who hasn't seen that yet but it still hits me every single time and I know it's coming and it's weird because I can't stop myself from feeling that that's awesome I honestly got a love for a movie. Is it like the same scene. It's the same scene I know it's coming I feel like the emotion of it should be just completely dead on at me at this point just because I've seen it probably at least five times but still that scene hits every single time at the exact same moment where it's not like a steady like sobbing cry but it's like my eyes instantly water up every single time I think it's any movie that has anything to do with Mexican culture for me because if I think of that I think I'm going to be a little bit more

31:54of other movies that I've watched on an airplane there's a moment in Selena that gets me to so anything like that I see myself in and it hits an emotional level it still makes me cry no matter what. Totally fair I hear you what's what's your next what's your next pick I have Bumble Bee from 2018 I feel like this is an underrated Transformers movie we were talking about and I feel it's because in this one the action isn't as great as it is in those first I would say two maybe even the first three Transformers movies. This one feels a little bit more kind of ET like a little bit where it's kind of more family friendly it's more about a coming of age story that it is a Transformers movie and this was one I didn't go see in theaters is because at that point I was kind of burned on Transformers after the last one I was like I'm not going to watch Mark Wahlberg you'll a Transformers anymore but I really like Haley Steinfeld and I thought this is one that it's probably one of the best. It's probably one of the best Transformers movies damn see that I that's a movie that's been sitting on my watch list just because like you know I saw the reviews and I was just like yeah I'm not going to I'm not going to go for it.

33:04I think if I saw it in theaters though I wouldn't have been as interested and thought it was as good but I think because I did watch it for the first time on an airplane and I was fully dialed in maybe the action doesn't come across as well as it would have on a big screen but I feel like in that setting it just hit. I love that. What do you have next next I got Tron legacy I watched it for the first time recently like within the last year was my first time ever seeing it and it was on an airplane and it was just so much fun like it's bright neon colors it caught my attention and mainly I included it for the soundtrack from Daft Punk like it just is so catchy even the new Tron movie as well has a great soundtrack but this one in particular is just icon. Iconic so anyway I just had to include that have you always been a Tron guy no like I I really I watched all three movies this year for the first time and I didn't know what to expect and I had a great time I think that's one of those sci-fi franchises I just never fully got into probably a little bit before me.

34:10But if I had to go back and rewatch what you think I should start with this one yeah I mean I think it's kind of agreed upon that Tron legacy is the best one yeah I think everyone loves it. I had a great time with it so if you ever want to give it another shot start with legacy one of my psycho things right now that I feel about movies is I feel like you can hop into any franchise wherever you wanted this point is because I feel like there's so many movies and there's so many like prequels it I just find like I just want to watch the best one the star I don't care if I need to what I don't want to do the homework I think even if I told somebody to go watch Star Wars now for the first time I would like just start with the best one you don't need to take any order or especially with Marvel movies right now we're like I'm not going to be a little bit more doomsday coming out at the end of the year everybody's like how many movies do I have to watch to you know to be caught up I'm like just just watch the festival I think if you like it enough you'll go back and discover the other ones and I don't want to give somebody the four movies you actually need to watch in order to understand the fifth one that's coming out when I could just tell them go watch this best one and if you like that one then go rediscover the other ones otherwise if you start with the worst one that happens to be part one you're not going to want to do it.

35:18And you're not going to want to make it to part two and if you like a movie any movie in a franchise you a new viewer should be able to watch it with zero context and still kind of be able to tell what's going on. Yeah I think a movie is kind of failed if like you have to watch 27 movies to understand what's happening. Yeah I think especially with Marl use Marvel movies is an example for the most part the story is self contained you're not going to walk in there in 60 minutes and you're like what is happening I have no idea what these characters are I think it really comes down to there are little details and nods to things that you're probably not going to pick up on or there might be a joke in there somewhere that other people are laughing at that you don't get. But I feel like people now feel like they need to do all this homework to go watch one movie in theaters but I feel like just go watch the movie you'll be fine. If not then I'll pay for your movie. Yeah I hear you my coworker a few weeks ago when I when the doomsday trailer dropped so that was probably like what three weeks ago she sent like someone had calculated like all right if you start today you only have to watch two hours of content per day until it doomsday drops and then you can get caught up.

36:34Yeah that is so unreasonable. That's way too many movies. All right my next airplane movie I have now you see me from 2013 I was kind of late to the game on these movies and it wasn't until I was on a flight that I thought okay let me give these movies a chance. And they are actually kind of entertaining their that level of entertainment that if I paid actual money for I would feel ripped off by and I did go see the last one in theaters just because at that point I was like fully invested in this franchise. But I feel like now you see me is a very airplane appropriate movie because first of all it has a great ensemble cast where almost feels like this entire cast is wasted on Jesse Eisenberg what he here will say like all these people in this movie it should be the greatest movie ever and they're like doing car tricks. Yeah well yeah I mean imagine it's it's magic right yeah it's been so long that's like the whole thing right there like the traditions they're like the five maybe four horsemen and they are also like this group of like super criminals that like pull off ice and there's always like a bad guy but it comes down to them being magicians.

37:40Yeah so it's like oceans 11 yeah their magicians exactly in itself is like what made it so fun magic on its own is always just kind of cheesy and it's all hard to sell for me. So I think that's why I put off watching these movies for so long but I feel like if you are in that setting of in that airplane you got nothing else to watch they're actually entertaining but it's kind of one of those movies I don't really have guilty pleasures because I feel like if I find enjoyment in anything like I don't feel ashamed by it but like the closest thing I get to a guilty pleasure is probably the now you see me franchise. Well my next one is for sure a guilty pleasure one for me it is point break but not the good key on a Reeves one it's the terrible remake from 2015. I don't even know who the act I don't even know who stars in it but I watched it on an airplane and it was unhinged and wacky and just like. There's so many action set pieces where they're like surfing and then they're like on a mountain with like wing suits and it's just.

38:42Bouncing around the globe and it was dumb and fun and just like the perfect brainless entertainment I honestly did not. Remember that they remade point break I thought you were going to say the original point break. Yeah that's actually still a blind spot for me I've never seen the original point break and you've only seen the seek that's an interesting thing you've only seen. The remake of a otherwise great movie. Yeah I know all the like it's it's one of those things where it's been on my list of like classics I absolutely need to watch and I've just never got around to it. I feel like that movie holds up to because a lot of those movies from that time period I feel we're great when they came out but they don't really age well and I think that's why in 2015 they decided. Now is a time to remake this movie yeah they're like we got modern. We can make this epic and then it was just a complete disaster. That's crazy I don't think I've ever seen I can't think of any remake that actually trumps the first movie at least in the last decade and a half where it just feels like.

39:47I feel like we've been more in like legacy sequel territory but as far as remaking. An original movie that has actually been better because I know there was movies from like the 40s and 50s that were remade that I probably suffer the first time like maybe a star is born is like the closest I get to thinking like a remake is better than the original but those are very very few and far between. Yeah that ended up itself would be a fun topic sometimes like dive into like a remakes that were better I can't think of any either. Yeah it's hard one. My next movie also going back to the music genre I have K-pop demon hunters and I watched this movie on a flight maybe a couple of weeks after it came out right before it was like super popular and everywhere it was just on that bubble of like I heard people talking primarily on take talk about K-pop demon hunters I'm like I got to watch this movie I love Sony animation. And I've never been so entertained by a movie on a flight I think this is my best in in flight experience I've ever had because it was so entertaining from beginning to end and I think kind of what you were talking about earlier about the escapeism it was something about the animation being so colorful and bright and then all the songs were just so hyper pop out of nowhere that that was kind of my form of escape is I'm just because I felt like it was such a treat to my life.

41:11But then I have the headphones on with the music and it just like hits so well the only thing I had. That was my dilemma with K-pop demon hunters is I felt a little bit weird watching on a flight not because of like the content of it just because it's like oh man. It's probably more like a teenage girl movie but like I don't really have any kind of I will oftentimes be the only adult at an animated movie just because like I love animation I'll go watch an animated movie. I try to go at like offset times like a kid is not going to go watch minions at 9 p.m. So I'll go like random odd times but that was the only time I felt that there were so many other eyes around me that I thought anybody looking at me like why is this going to go watching K-pop demon hunters. I totally get that that insecurity I felt that when I went to the Super Mario movie in theaters a couple years ago it was like opening night at like a peak time like 5 p.m. on a Friday or something and it was like parents with their kids that are dressed up in costumes and then there's just me like sandwich between them by myself like it's one thing if you go with like a group of adult friends but if you're just like the lone adult they're like what is this guy doing.

42:26The only animated movie I think I won't go watch in theaters like there's kind of a line of like pop patrols in theaters right now that's kind of the line I don't I don't cross because I feel like that straight up kid that is like toddler infant level of animation that I feel like I couldn't cross that line that's the only one I can't go see in theaters. Yeah I hear yeah I agree I agree with that final airplane movie what do you got yeah my final one is Steve Spielberg's newest movie disclosure day I watched it recently on a plane I would tragically missed it in theaters and I was like I have to check this off the list he's such a legend and it was great I think I kind of agree with a lot of the reviews that it's not his strongest for a variety of reasons but he still crushes it with like the set piece of the movie. It's a lot of fun with it. I think the chase sequences like when he's trying to run away from the cops and in the car it all just worked well on an airplane for me like I said earlier a little bit of like camera shake puts me at ease for whatever reason and yeah like I'm glad I watched it.

43:44I don't miss it in theaters I think it's worth watching if you ever I'm sure it'll be on like one of those built in plane streaming services like that seems like the type of that feels on the home page that feels like that movie was made for an flight or even like a hotel experience because I want to go see that in theaters I was so excited about it I love Spielberg I love aliens that was one of my most anticipated movies of the summer I feel like I was a little bit let down by it and you mentioned the chase scenes that was like the biggest thing that I did. I did not like about that movie and I guess I kind of forgot that it is a Spielberg movie and he does a little bit more campy family friendly chase scenes and I'm over here like streaming at the screen like just catch him just catch him. Yeah, they're like oh he got it felt like I was watching loony tunes I was like how can they not catch bugs bunny like this is incredibly frustrating to me but then I kind of forgot like I think that's kind of his style of movie and like if I would have watched it on an airplane. I feel like I would have had a much better time.

44:46Yeah, I would agree I think there definitely were a lot of moments when what's his name Joshua Connor was he was like sneaking around the cops and they somehow like 40 cops don't see or hear him and I was like are you kidding me? Yeah, that is one of the things that frustrates me the most in movies is when they can clearly see that person if somebody's like hiding like behind a door like there's no way in my eyesight I would not see that person. And I see it so much it's a such a just hard thing for me to overcome that and people having conversations in the other room and thinking that the other group of people in the other room can't hear them. I'm like I'm hearing every word of that conversation. There's no way they're not picking up on that for sure. Yeah, but I mean, hey, that's the art of the airplane movie. It's that all those flaws don't really matter when you're on an airplane. All right, my final airplane movie this has to be on a long flight because the movie is three hours in 17 minutes. It is Avatar Fire and Ash which came out last year.

45:48I was a big hater of the first Avatar movie when it first came out because it created the worst trend in what I believe to be in movies in the last 20 years 3D movies. And it was this movie that came out and then every single movie after this that was big and had a lot of action they all had to incorporate 3D technology in some way. I wear glasses so I hate wearing 3D glasses because I don't feel like I've fully been able to experience a 3D movie because I have to put the glasses over the glasses if I don't it's all blurry. But it was that movie that came out that really changed the way we went to go see movies probably throughout the entire 2010. So I held it against that movie for so long and then it wasn't until way of water came out that I gave that one a chance again. I was like wait a minute. This is actually a really good movie and I realized the greatness that is James Cameron of creating these big epic movies with fantastic action beautiful score really well designed characters that I ended up going back rewatching Avatar loving it saw way of water in theaters loved it.

46:52But for some reason by the time I got to fire a Nash it just kind of felt like the same thing over that we just experienced in part 2. But I feel like this is one if you didn't go see in theaters and you're in a situation where you're fully locked in because I think that's what these movies come down to is you have to pay attention to them and they are really good. But you can't be on your phone that's why I think they are either you have to see them in theaters or you have to watch them on an airplane because if you have those distractions the three hour runtime is really going to hang there in your head and you're going to be like I don't want to do it. I don't want to experience it because it's just such a time commitment of you go see this movie say you go to a 7 p.m. showing by the time you get out it's late. Yeah dude yeah that's such a great point like I I'm so much more likely to watch a 3 hour movie on an airplane than at home because you're you're forced to watch it like there's nothing else to do and I think that fire and ashes a great pick because it is sort of like you know it was criticized for being like Avatar 2.5.

47:55Yeah it was so similar to the second one but it's like you know if you haven't watched the second one in many years and you just want something fun just turn turn on the third one and you're going to get a similar fun experience. And like I was saying earlier if you didn't watch way of water I think just watch for your nash you don't need to it's kind of the same movie again so you're not going to be completely lost in that one. So where can everybody check out your stuff. Yeah if you guys want to subscribe to our free newsletters you can do that at picks dash media dot com like I said I write TV and movie picks I also have some more genre specific ones called sci-fi and fantasy picks and anime and manga picks. So we have newsletters for like a bunch of different categories as well as books and podcasts so pick stash media dot com. I'll put all that in the episode notes. I also think we kind of touched on some things here that maybe in the future we come back and do this again. Yeah I would love to I think we definitely had a couple of their episode topics. Yeah maybe remakes that are better than the originals.

48:55Yeah if there are any if the Eddie exists. That call was really pivotal for me. Hey it's Emily Tish Sussman and this is an unsheep hivots the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points that changed everything. I sit down with culture shifting women who share their pivots like para Olympian Ali Truett. I was like I'm on out from a shark attack. There's no way in 11 months I'm making the very long text advocate Elizabeth smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference so I'm going to keep going. Celebrity chef Carla Hall was that scary to walk away from such a stable career after just two years? No I was more afraid of being unhappy than I was broke and in a dead and job that I didn't enjoy. And feminist legend Gloria Steinem all of us were trying to express women's real lives. We need a meeting place of our own and if I can contribute to that I'd like to maintain that and leave this house for that purpose. Listen to sheep hivots on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

50:00Self-care September is here which means it's time to rethink what self-care actually means. Yes self-care can be a long walk it can be in everything shower it can be putting your phone on do not disturb but sometimes it's actually about sitting with the uncomfortable stuff. And understanding your patterns your boundaries finally figuring out why you keep doing things that you swore you would never do again. I'm Jenna Speg the host of the psychology of your 20s podcast and each week we unpack the psychology behind the experiences that shape your 20s from relationships and friendships to money anxiety confidence attachment just becoming more comfortable with who you are. Unlike the quarter life crisis which is depicted as the collapse the quarter life reinvention is the expansion and growth of something when we develop the ability to be happy by ourselves nobody else can take that from you. So this self-care September don't just take care of yourself get to know yourself as well listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Jay Valentine I've spent my career on the executive side of this industry multi platinum songs building artists and building business and alongside my brother tank the superstar R&B singer songwriter and producer we've created something special the R&B money podcast.

51:15This is not just a podcast it's a safe space for artists executives and fans of R&B music come to reminisce pull back the curtain and tell the stories that shaped this culture the real history behind the hits. That was hood famous yeah and then real love came out and it blew up we lived in a project and they never seen all the success they hear the music and we had nothing. We're covering the entire spectrum from Smokey Robinson Alicia Keys B2K Mary J Blige legends current stars and everyone who's contributed to the sound of R&B you come out the gate with a hit. And it not Michael Jackson out of number one come on man I was like hold on I'm not going to mj out of the number one spot if you're a super dedicated R&B fan who wants the real discovery the real stories this is your podcast this is the R&B money podcast. Listen to R&B money from the black effect podcast network on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. What up y'all this your main man Memphis bleek right here host of that rock solid podcast and each week we bring in your exclusive looks inside music everything happening inside the culture some of the best conversations with the biggest names in the game.

52:27You had a little bit more pressure to be good they didn't care if you was a girl like you wasn't getting a point. Look if you not trash you better be not just good you better be great. Or rock solid we talking the rap legends hit making producers rising stars from the golden era to the future this hip hop game where we keep it a hundred percent unfiltered and keep it nothing but rock solid. The thing about Jay my opinion is he's been so great at being seen but mysterious she's not saying he don't got to come talk about nothing you figure it out so it's always a mystique and mysteriousness behind them but they like you don't see him. Listen to rock solid on black effect podcast network our heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you string podcast. I got to witness with my own eyeballs live in person why Matthew McConaughey is a natural born storyteller let's get into it now a spoiler free review of his new movie.

53:34Robles of amaziah King his first the actual cool release in over six and a half years. Matthew McConaughey is back I went to his screening last week he was in town in Nashville and a big thing about this movie and a reason why I think they did a screening for it here is because he learned how to play banjo for this film he plays a character name amaziah. Who is basically the unofficial mayor of this town he not only owns and operates this honey making company but he is basically the king of all these bees they all have their queen but he is their king he knows how these bees think he knows what they are feeling he is like the bee whisperer and he makes this honey. He takes a lot of pride in it but he also loves playing bluegrass music this movie was so fascinating to me and I think that is why they made sure on their tour of this movie they did a showing here in Nashville and they actually did after the screening an entire performance with Matthew McConaughey came out after on stage and performed for us live and here is why say he is a natural born storyteller it's not just because he is so charismatic.

54:52So charismatic which he is he can just speak and I am instantly drawn into it I think he is the only actor that can do that he could literally just read the dictionary he could read me just pages from the phone book and he could make it interesting and what happened at this screening this was after the film. And they were supposed to do this musical performance they were going to come out and do three songs and it was at the bell court here in Nashville which is a nonprofit theater which is important to the story but. I didn't even know that the screen went up because it looks like a normal theater a bunch of old seats. And we all watch the movie and then we saw them setting up behind the screen which is just a silver screen much like if you are in school and they pull down the projector to show you something. That is how it was but there was an issue whenever they introduced them the director of this movie came out and for Patterson he did this fantastic intro and then the screen was supposed to go up Matthew McConaughey in the band were right there behind the screen and they were just supposed to start playing but as they were lifting the screen it got stuck and all you saw.

56:00Where Matthew McConaughey's feet you just saw his really nice booth that are probably thousand dollar boots maybe even more than that and the momentum was dead because he just got this fantastic intro the director talked about how much of a collaborator. Matthew McConaughey was on this movie how he had been trying to get this movie made there been some other actors attached to it suddenly Matthew McConaughey expressed interest in the role his agent contacted the director's agent and suddenly Matthew McConaughey was on board and he didn't just star in the movie he wanted to live and breathe this movie that's why he learned how to play banjo he learned how to sing. And he collaborated with director Andrew Patterson who said that is such a valuable thing when it comes to making a movie he said you always need that one person to believe in it to be right there with you he said any movie that's been made you need somebody who is your go to person who is going to see your vision and it just so happen to be that in this case it was Matthew McConaughey and I think having his name attached to this movie really made it stronger because on its own the screenplay is fantastic the actual story.

57:09The story is really good the characters are very dynamic it has a very interesting visual style that kind of sucks you in feels very artistic without feeling artsy and it was so much more sophisticated than I was expecting but he talked about how important it is to have a great collaborator and it just so happened to be one of his heroes he said it was weird working with Matthew McConaughey because there be times where they just be going over scenes and suddenly Matthew McConaughey will start banging on his chest and he's like oh my gosh. He's just a guy from Wolf of Wall Street or he'll go into a cadence and suddenly he sounds like his character and days of confused so it was really cool for the director to get to work with one of his heroes but back to the story of Matthew McConaughey and why I think he is a natural born storyteller after the director gave that big magnificent intro. This theater like I mentioned is a nonprofit theater they have a lot of volunteers the theater could not get the screen to go up any further and it was just stuck there for a good five maybe even 10 minutes Matthew McConaughey went straight into standup mode and it was so interesting because again you just have this silver screen over the entire stage all you see are his boots but he is mic'd up he's standing at a microphone he realizes we're in trouble here.

58:32Because these people want music I can't just hop out of here he goes into just telling story so I kind of witnessed like I saw Matthew McConaughey perform standup for the first time because he just started rattling off stories a little bit about the film started telling stories about his brother and he has this way of delivering a story that has a great beginning middle and in takes you down all these roads gives you so many details that allows you to see every element of the story every character. He is talking about he can describe a road that he's driving down to a tee and that is what he does and I think he brings the character of Emma Ziah to life so well maybe too well because his acting is so good that it makes everybody else around him seem like a B minus actor and I don't think that's fair to them. I just think he was so dynamic in this role and so perfect for him because I couldn't see anybody else but Matthew McConaughey because he just places characters so well in his white t-shirt his long and greasy hair and his bandana looks like he loves working with his hands.

59:38It fits so well he was so into this role that it made everybody else kind of seem like junior varsity. So I don't think it was bad acting on their part I just think comparing all these characters to each other he is just so dynamic and he just uses so much charisma that he was just destined to be a star and it was me seeing him go into just automatic I got to own this moment. This is unexpected you got a role with the punches and just having stories that he can fall back on he's not a standard comic he's not a public speaker he's an actor. But I just feel like his character Amazonia came out in that moment and he just started entertaining people that is probably something that comes so natural to him that I feel like so many people have probably had interactions like this that are memorable for their entire lives a quick interaction with him is probably like meeting somebody and having them change your life and for them that is just another day.

1:00:39But it was so crazy to be able just to see his boots here is voice and feel so entertained by it he is the only person I think could have handled that situation that perfectly and been at times more memorable than the movie itself and the movie was actually really good and getting into the musical aspects of the film because it was cool to see him perform he is not a singer he learned had a play banjo for this role. And even in the movie they talk about how everybody's a singer there's one point in the movie because it's about him reconnecting with this foster daughter you learn all about his tragic past. But they reconnect after she comes back to town and there is a moment where he is trying to get her to learn a song and he mentions that everybody is a singer you have it in there inside of you you just have to let it out. And I think that was him speaking to himself because I feel seeing him up there on stage he kind of felt a little bit uncomfortable because he did one song with the band which was a song they did in the movie.

1:01:43And then he left the stage because they were never able to get the screen up they actually had to come back down go around the stairs and stand in front of all the seats in the theater. And then the screen never went up so they came out onto the floor put one mic in the middle and just saying and filled the entire room. But I felt because he did that first song with him walk to the backstage hung out for another song and then came back out towards the end. I feel like he still has a lot of nerves when it comes to performing in front of people which was interesting to see because he is so dynamic he can own a room. And I feel like he had that feeling of like these guys are the real musicians I'm going to step aside. I don't feel like he's fully comfortable with it doing it live because that's not really his thing. But in one night I got to see him acting in an incredible movie. Perform stand up for us and then give us a musical performance I saw so many different sides of him in this one night. And I think what surprised me so much about this movie is it felt like so many genres wrapped into one.

1:02:46Because I think the trailer sold it more as a thriller I got the idea that it was going to be the dark side of a business that you didn't know had a dark side the honey business you think that's probably a whole some company. But in this movie there is corruption there is greed there is retaliation there is theft. And I was just expecting a crime thriller what I ended up getting was a really beautiful movie about family about finding your purpose also felt a little bit abstract at times it also had a lot of comedy and I think that was the most surprising to me because nothing about this trailer nothing about any of these plot points screamed comedy to me but within those first 30 minutes. We were laughing a lot in the theater there is one moment specifically that out of any company I've seen in the last two years was probably the funniest moment within those first 30 minutes there were a lot of moments that just hit so much on a comedic level and how it weaved in between these genres and also did it through the use of the cinematography.

1:03:53We're at times there were shots in this movie that looks so artistic we're loaded up with so much emotion where all the comedy went away and suddenly you have Matthew McConaughey delivering something so poignant so the fact that this movie just went back and forth between all these emotions you go from laughing you go to having this kind of euphoric feeling and oddly the thing I thought was going to be the strongest in this movie the actual thriller part of it was kind of the weakest and I think that was the most important thing to do. It's kind of the weakest and maybe that was a little bit of a bummer and maybe it's because they lean so much into the music so much into the comedy early on in the movie it was hard to take some of the crime elements seriously and I kind of expected to feel a little bit more hyped up at the end and even with some chases and some more action thrown in there and never fully delivered to me on the thrills and the thing I thought was going to be a little bit cheesy honestly was the music. Because oftentimes when you get a lower budget movie that incorporates music it just feels a little bit cheesy to me and I think that's because.

1:05:00I don't really love music biopics or stories about people just loving playing music just because I think the Hollywood version of that always feel so forced and a little bit to like I just got a guitar and a dream and I just want to sit here playing my guitar. And usually the songs aren't very good but in this movie they're actually good and seeing them perform live probably help that a little bit but the times they did have musical performances I thought they were very point and the songs were good maybe it's just because I like this style of music better because it's blue grass is just people singing with their soul Matthew McConaughey and his love for the man no then I thought that was great if it would focus just on music the entire time it was just him trying to make it the blue. I think probably wouldn't have felt the same way but it went back and forth between him running his honey business going around town performing music and then getting into more of the dark side of the honey business I think there was a lot to chew on in this movie.

1:06:04There were so many unique and fun and interesting characters and I think Matthew McConaughey did a really good job coming back in the movie theaters. So I'm happy that his first theatrical release in six and a half years wasn't a dud. A lot of great cameos in this movie. I think the best one is Cole Sprouse who plays a guy working at a fast food restaurant named Oat. That's all I say about his character but he was somebody that I was like ah didn't expect to see him in that role but I thought he did a fantastic job. One thing I think might deter some people from this unfairly is the movie's runtime is a little bit long. It's over two hours that is a little bit bloated for a story of this caliber. I really don't like complaining about movie runtimes anymore. I think that's a little bit cliched in a lot of people's movie reviews now. But I do know that people value their time especially when it comes to whenever this movie goes to streaming you're thinking about hitting play and you see anything over two hours you're like oh my gosh even though it's a great story and you would enjoy it.

1:07:09Sometimes starting a movie over two hours feels a little bit like a chore to some people so for me I don't mind it but I think something that people might hold against this movie is like man two hours of this it could have been done in 90 minutes. For me I think it allows the story to develop. I would have liked a little bit more to happen in the third act but for rivals of Amazigh King I give it four out of five Queen bees. That call was really pivotal for me. Hey it's Emily Tish Sussman and this season on She Pivots the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points that changed everything. I sit down with culture shifting women who share their pivots like Para Olympian Alley Truett. I was like I'm on out from a shark attack there's no way in 11 months I'm making the very long text advocate Elizabeth smart I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference so I'm going to keep going celebrity chef Carla Hall was that scary to walk away from such a stable career after just two years.

1:08:13No I was more afraid of being unhappy that I was broke and in a dead and job that I didn't enjoy. And feminist legend Gloria Steinem all was for trying to express women's real lives we need a meeting place of our own and if I can contribute to that I'd like to maintain that and leave this house for that purpose. Listen to She Pivots on the I Heart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Self-care September is here which means it's time to rethink what self-care actually means. Yes self-care can be a long walk it can be an everything shower it can be putting your phone on do not disturb but sometimes it's actually about sitting with the uncomfortable stuff and understanding your patterns your boundaries. Finally figuring out while you keep doing things that you swore you would never do again. And I expect the host of the psychology of your 20s podcast and each week we unpack the psychology behind the experiences that shape your 20s from relationships and friendships to money anxiety confidence attachment just becoming more comfortable with who you are.

1:09:17Unlike the quarter life crisis which is depicted as the collapse the quarter life reinvention is the expansion and worth of something when we develop the ability to be happy by ourselves nobody else can take that from you. So this self-care September don't just take care of yourself get to know yourself as well listen to the psychology of your 20s on the I Heart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Jay Valentine. I've spent my career on the executive side of this industry multi platinum songs building artists and building business and alongside my brother tank the superstar R&B singer songwriter and producer we've created something special the R&B money podcast. This is not just a podcast it's a safe space for artists executives and fans of R&B music come to reminisce pull back the curtain and tell the stories that shaped this culture the real history behind the hits. That was hood famous. Yeah and then real love came out and it blew up we lived in a project and there's all the success they hear them music and we had nothing.

1:10:17We're covering the entire spectrum from Smokey Robinson Alicia Keys B2K Mary J Blige legends current stars and everyone who's contributed to the sound of R&B you come out the gate with a hit and not Michael Jackson out of number one. Come on man. I was like hold on I'm not going to M.J. out of the number one spot. If you're a super dedicated R&B fan who wants the real discovery the real stories this is your podcast. This is the R&B money podcast listen to R&B money from the Black Effect podcast network on the I Heart Radio Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. What up y'all this your main man Memphis bleak right here host of that rock solid podcast and each week we bring in your exclusive looks inside music everything happening inside the culture some of the best conversations with the biggest names in the game. You had a little bit more pressure to be good they didn't care if you was a girl like you wasn't getting the points. Look if you not trash you better be not just going to be great.

1:11:19Or rock solid we talking the rap legends hit making producers rising stars from the golden era to the future this hip hop game where we keep it 100% unfiltered and keep it nothing but rock solid. The thing about Jay my opinion is he's been so great at being seen but mysterious. She's not saying he don't got to come talk about nothing you figure it out so it's always a mystique and mysteriousness behind them but they like you don't see him. Listen to rock solid on Black Effect podcast network I Heart Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you string podcast. It's time to head down to movie Mike trailer park. This is probably the biggest no brainer movie of the year of course this is going to work Brad Pitt part of the beast he plays a former special forces officer who finds himself trapped in Alaska after his plane goes down it's him and his dog.

1:12:23All just seeing the tragic past of this dog in this trailer who is endured so much went through all this crazy training has been there in combat by Brad Pitt side they are just going for a flight and Brad Pitt apparently seems to suffer some kind of heart attack or cardiac arrest and all of a sudden the plane goes down they crash somehow survive and then have to trek over 50 miles to civilization. The trailer is instantly compelling even though by watching this trailer you kind of know exactly what the entire movie is going to be about but I feel like and I don't want to say it. Brad Pitt has entered the old man action hero era of his career at 62 years old we'll get into that more but before we do here is just a little bit of the heart of the beast trailer. This is Odin he is a highly trained combat canine he has seen war and ferocious hardships.

1:13:35It's time for him to know peace not the size of the dog in the fight that matters. So this dog has been through it all and all Brad Pitt's character wants to do is have this dog find some peace you see the dog has an injury he has what appears to be a cast over one of his paws and suddenly as this dog is supposed to go on what seemed like a vacation the entire plane goes down and now they have to survive. So this retired service dog named Odin which by the way Odin is such a great name for a dog I wonder if a dog that is this smart and has this much training looks at other dogs differently is this dog able to socialize with other dogs or does he just see a normal family dog like a big idiot like look at this stupid dog who waits for the dog.

1:14:39So he's a stupid dog who waits around for his owners to feed him this dog can't handle himself in a combat situation I fear that Odin has a hard time making friends and I just want to see Odin have peace in this movie but he's not going to get that because suddenly him and Brad Pitt go down they somehow survive this plane crash but then they are still in freezing Alaska they are over 50 miles away from civilization there bears there are wolves there is no food around them so they have to find a way to survive and hopefully by the end of this movie Odin is okay I saw in half the way talking about recently that if at any point in the movie a dog dies that movie should automatically earn a r rating and I believe that whole heartedly I think that should have been a good one. I think that should apply to any animal I can watch a horror movie and not feel bad for the people in the horror movie sometimes I kind of root on killers to kill some characters in horror movies but if ever there is a dog especially such a sweet dog like Odin in this movie I do not want them to get hurt so I am on board with her any movie like that should be rated are Brad Pitt at 62 years old is interesting to me because I didn't really feel it so much in F1 because he still look cool.

1:15:57He still had the blonde hair there were some references and jokes made in that movie of like all these the old guys still trying to race but he held his own so much in that movie still looking cool still looking fit still getting the girl he is still very much I would say in his second prime as Brad Pitt but if you look at his age 62 years old I didn't really feel it until watching this trailer specifically that I feel he is still very much in the world. He is entering his older action hero era because Arnold Schwarzenegger one of the biggest action heroes of all time started to do this at 65 when he was in the last stand which was a great movie he did with Johnny Knoxville that I actually went to go see in theaters and I kind of missed the really impressive Arnold Schwarzenegger run of the 80s crept a little bit into the 90s by that time when he was terminator I was really only starting to understand.

1:16:57How dominant he was how much money he made at the box office and how big of a movie star that he was it resonated more to me in that movie in the last stand that he was 65 years old now he was the old sheriff in town but Brad Pitt is only a few years behind him in this role but looks probably 10 15 years younger than him however so vests are still loan whenever in 2008 that Rambo movie came out so not the original Rambo but whenever I was going to be in the last stand. He rebooted it he was 61 years old so I wonder how Brad Pitt is going to ease into this era so the entire time I'm watching this trailer I'm like dude not only is it crazy to think anybody would survive a plane crash like this but you're 62 bro it is probably hard for a lot of 62 year olds I know because I have parents who are in their 60s around this age that is crazy to me that my mom and my dad are about the same age as Brad Pitt and I know they have trouble with that. And I know they have trouble waking up in the morning so thinking of this plane going down on my dude not only is it so crazy to survive that but just standing up on your own two feet after that I don't know in this movie has military training but I'm just imagining his knee popping his back hurting him needing his medications him needing like his focus to get around the Alaska wilderness I think in this movie the dog is probably more fit than he is.

1:18:26So it seems to me like the dog is really good to play an important part of keeping him alive even though in this trailer Brad Pitt is proclaiming that I'm going to keep you alive and we are going to get through this I feel like he is somebody who is going to hold on to his good looks for as long as he can I don't mean this as a negative thing but I think he has been a sex symbol for the entire majority of his career he is built the Brad Pitt brand up. Upon his looks but I think he is going to be somebody who is never going to take a role as a grandpa we're never going to see him take on grandpa pit and any movie he is going to consistently be the single guy in movies who will never have a wife and will only have a dog that is his companion I do want to have more Brad Pitt movies where he takes on other things because he's going to run out of crazy things he's going to run out of surviving the wilderness. He's going to run out of trying to take on a new sport like f1 I don't know I just want to see like Brad Pitt taking on the school pickup line could be a hard thing for him because it kind of seemed like his kids don't want anything to do with him which I tried to separate the art from the artist but you see all that stuff in the news of them wanting to drop his last name so he's probably not going to take on the pickup line at school maybe he'll take on pickle ball

1:19:53do a Brad Pitt pickle ball movie and then I started to think about what in this movie what I actually survive no phone I could do that I could go a week without my phone I would be fine I would not be mentally worried about checking my notifications or checking my email even though that is kind of one of my worries about when I die I'm like oh man my inbox is going to get so full people are going to think I left them in the dark on certain things and then I'm going to be a little bit more careful. I just imagine my email continuing to build and build and build after I die that stresses me out so for that reason alone I have to keep myself alive could I survive 10 degrees in the Alaska wilderness that would be really hard but I think over time I become a little bit better with the elements I think because I run outside long distances for hours that I've gotten used to the cold and I've gotten used to the heat.

1:20:53That I think my body has adapted to being able to take on a little bit of both extremes I think I could handle 10 degrees as long as I keep my body moving from it's the sleeping though the sleeping is going to be very hard in 10 degrees could I handle only having a lighter that's going to be tough I need a hot meal that would probably be one of the hardest things for me obviously in the situation you have a dog so you have a friend you also have a little bit of protection and you have somebody to save your butt because you do see Odin saving Brad Pitt in this trailer coming to his rescue when Brad Pitt gets thrown into the water could I survive crossing a frozen river that is tough you know how dangerous water is I saw a tick tock the other day of these people biking across this path that was flooded and there was this raging river coming through it and there was one woman on her bike trying to guide it across. This little kind of concrete section that otherwise wouldn't have been covered in water so she's walking her bike along and then just kind of falls off the side not knowing there was like a gutter that went underneath it and then there was where the entire body of water was like rushing out into kind of a creek area or like a bigger pond so this was just like a kind of like a damn in the middle of it and then she gets caught in that suction hole where the water was draining out.

1:22:20I don't think people realize how forceful water is and how dangerous it is and how you think oh this water is only up to my ankles but if it's coming so fast you don't realize how crazy things can get so turn around do not drown I think out of all the things in this movie that is probably the most dangerous thing that can take you out so fast maybe you can outrun the bear out smart the bear or play dead and get away from the bear. But water is so unforgiving and I think we underestimate how dangerous it is crossing a frozen river is probably the hardest thing but with all that said I think this movie is going to be good I don't think it's going to be great but I think unless they screw something up so badly that the story itself with Brad Pitt and his dog trying to survive the wilderness is strong enough that unless they have a third act where there's like a clown that comes out of the water. I know where or something ridiculous where it doesn't make sense to the story this is going to be probably a very middle of the road action movie with the potential to be great I don't think it'll be great but I think it is probably going to be right there a solid three out of five just based on this trailer alone and depending on how the rest of the action unfolds with some of the CGI animals in this I'm like oh.

1:23:49I don't know how that's going to come across on the big screen because on my laptop on my phone looks a little bit cornball but hopefully this movie has a lot of momentum the action really delivers and it goes up and when I do this full review that it ends up being a 3.5 out of five but I think that is what we are looking at here but somehow I'm still excited to see this movie just because I got to see what happens to that dog don't hurt the dog. I'm going to get a trailer park. And that is going to do it for another episode here of the podcast but before I go I got to give my listener shout out of the week which man I took some else in my last few reviews where it's just been people ripping me to shreds not liking my opinions. Unfortunately it does have to be a negative shout out because that's all I got in between reviewing super troopers and reviewing the end of oak street.

1:24:49Nobody is a fan of me over on tiktok and especially the YouTube comments but I'll go to the less severe one and I'll shout out Michael P on tiktok who there were a lot of people fired up in my super troopers three review Michael said this movie wasn't for you it was for us which Michael I am so confused by your comment because I'm not going to be a fan of you. I'm going to be a fan of super troopers I like the broken lizard guys who are the comedy group behind all of the super troopers movies behind beer fest. This movie was supposed to be for me I was not hating on that movie for the sake of hating on it. It was genuinely a let down to me as a fan so I feel like you do not understand that I am a fan as well. As a fan you have the right to be let down you do not have to love every single thing that your favorite person actor creator does it is okay do not enjoy it and I've learned that over the years.

1:25:52So I feel like this movie was supposed to be for me but according to all these comments I am wrong because I clip on tiktok blew up a little bit at least for me. But that is how I felt about that my honest opinion never going to force out liking something I just can't do it I can't do it but thank you for commenting thank you for listening thank you for telling a friend and until next time go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later. It's the US Open which means the tennis world is about to lose its mind and I'm here for every second of it join me Renee Stubbs on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast as I break it all down the matches that matter the drama that doesn't and the stories everyone's talking about no cliches no sugar coding just host analysts from someone who's actually been there cocoa looking real good a surf looks so much smoother than it has in the past I was really happy to see it. I got back to what she looked like a couple years ago and she was winning dominantly listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the iHot Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:27:01We've all heard the phrase all things in moderation but that's clearly not us that's why we're celebrating 300 episodes of that's messed up our long order SVU podcast where we cover the real crimes behind the stories and interview actors from the show. We're doing it big for the 300th episode we've got icon heart Rob and SVU guest start John Stamos and we're best friends now in waiting for government Chris are you serious. It's like my favorite movie of all time I've seen it like a hundred and fifty times me too. Oh my god. New episodes of that's messed up drop Tuesday listen to that's messed up on the iHot Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi I'm Michael and Perry Oli I want to tell you about my new podcast underground zero. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. It's about the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. What's in the tunnels? Go barge of angge it can be worth half a billion. Starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo and me Michael and Perry Oli. How far you prepared to go depends how far you are. Listen to underground zero on the iHot Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:28:07On August 4th 1962 Marilyn Monroe died then the rumors started and she died again. And now we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe actually died the third way. I'm Jake Brennan and on my podcast Hollywoodland I revisit some of the biggest stories from Hollywood history. Separating the myths people want to believe from the reality underneath them. Hollywoodland is part of the exactly right network. Listen to new episodes every Monday on the iHot Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHot Podcast. Guaranteed Human.