May 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Joe and Larry dive into how movies normally do well on Memorial Day weekend. Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning is out today and is expected to do well!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, this is a huge weekend for movie theaters and
the movie industry. This is when they put out expected
blockbusters because they know a lot of people have three
days off and are looking for something to do. And
in the past, wow, the box office has been huge.
So let's go to Joe Neumeyer, film journalist wo R
(00:22):
movie Minted host to find out what's out this weekend.
And Joe, let me just tell you one thing before
we get started. Sure, I watch Nobody's Full on because
you told me to last week. You said you should
watch Nobody's Full great suggestion, my wife, Thanks you, I
thank you. A wonderful movie with Paul Newman. You are
(00:43):
batting a thousand that can't wait for a suggestion at
the end of all this, but let's start talking about
this weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thanks. Thanks. I just also say, Lary, I'm so glad
you found the right Nobody's Fool because just as a
side note, there are about two hundred movies called Nobody,
one of those titles that comes around every year sort
of like you know, there's always kind of one called
you know, Mercy or Memory or No Mercy or something.
So I'm glad you found the right and Nobody's fool
and that is a delightful film and a hidden gym
(01:11):
this weekend. And I don't know how hidden it is,
but obviously the big movie is the big mission, impossible conclusion.
It's called The Final Reckoning it is. It's not a jewel,
but it's it's got a lot of great things in it.
I'm getting it three stars. These This is, you know,
obviously the eighth movie in this in this huge franchise
that started in nineteen ninety six, Tom Cruises, you know,
Meal Ticket. Now he's doing all these incredible things, and
(01:33):
I'm you know, the stunts just kind of keep on
getting bigger and bigger. I'm not gonna ruin it for anybody,
but but I will say it's it's very long. It's
two hours and forty five minutes. And for a three
star movie to kind of not hit like epic quality
like that at almost three hours long, that's a lot.
That said, There's there's a couple of good action sequences
in it, but the final half hour, and again this
(01:56):
isn't ruining anything. The final half hour is this amazing
airplane scramble that Cruise is doing around these two biplanes.
You know, these sort of its kind of a fun
retro thing because obviously it's these movies that are all
about kind of high technology. And in this one there's
an evil AI that's gonna, you know, destroy the world
and destroy humanity. So on these old World War two biplanes,
(02:18):
he's crawling around on them and the and and you
can actually see it's him. The camera work is right there.
Whether it was done by you know, shooting it by
drones or another another plane nearby, or something that's really extraordinary.
And I would say this about whether it was anybody
on there, like it could have been, you know, Chris
Farley sitting there crawling around the plane. I don't care
when you see somebody like that risky, literally risking their lives.
(02:42):
I'm sure he was tethered to a to a cable
or something, you know, but like in the old fashioned
way like they did in Hollywood's Golden age, and even
in things like the Great Bond movies of the seventies,
really doing something exciting that's not cgi, it's not computer enhanced.
It's literally a human being crawling on an airplane in
mid air, going from one airplane to another. It's it's incredible.
(03:05):
It's a really amazing sequence, and sitting through the first
two and a half hours of the thing that's kind
of heavily plotted is worth it for that final half
hour sequence. So an enthusiastic three stars for this final
we say it's the final one. Who knows what will happen,
but they're calling it the final reckoning mission impossible. I mean,
they're they're all those stunts, right, and all those whose
is what they're known for.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
That's great. Three stars for this. That's wonderful because a
lot of times Memorial Day movies don't live up to
the hype, but this one certainly does. Huh yeah, Memorial
Day and you know, back me up on this, This
is the movie theaters really look forward to Memorial Day
because this is they've had some of their biggest hits
ever released on this weekend.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That's right, That's exactly right, Lare. And it obviously goes
back in and we just mentioned the seventies, goes back
to the seventies. Things like Jaws Star Wars opened up
on Memorial Day weekend, which really sort of woke up
Hollywood to like, oh yeah, this is when kids and
everybody starts to go to the movies. It's sort of
funny that, like in nineteen seventy two, they weren't thinking
about that. They were like, oh, I just throw anything
out there. Then suddenly Jaws comes around. They're like, oh, yeah, right,
(04:08):
let's let's get you know, the big shark movies out there.
So so it's always a big traditional moment. And you know,
and obviously in some of the biggest ones, you know,
the Star Wars movies, like I mentioned, Empire Strikes Back
is the one that I remember as like even more
than Star Wars, which came out, you know, memorially weekend
of seventy seven, when Empire Strikes Back opened, that of
(04:28):
Memorial Day of eighty that was sort of this big event,
saying the Indiana Jones sequels, you know, Temple of Doom
and the third one, Last Crusade, which I really love,
those came out Memorial Day weekend. Even like the Star
Trek reboot that was came out in two thousand and
nine that JJ Abrims and I always sort of think
of as a as a high water mark of Memorial
(04:49):
Day stuff. That was really exciting. And some of these
big movies really really do it. Th of them, don't
I mean Ishtar came out Memorial Day weekend, you know, Flintstone,
So you know, it's not always not always a k
not out of the park, but when it is, it's
really an exciting start to summer. And Hollywood knows that
they bank it. You know that these opening weekends for
these movies, they can go upwards of you know, one
(05:10):
hundred and fifty million if if the i's all the
stars aligned for them.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
You know, it's funny. I pulled up I'm knowing you
were going to do this. I pulled up the top
grossing Memorial Day weekends and who made the most money?
Do you know who it is?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I think, isn't it one of the Pirates of the
Caribbean movies? Right? I think it's like at World's End
or something very good. That's second, it's the second one,
and then there's a lot I know, loss for and
of course a lotties are adjusted for inflation, and of
course all the Avengers movies, you know, are the Endgame
movies come out? No, what's number one?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I was shocked by it, but I guess it's also
because remember they always have to adjust these for inflation,
and when they do that, gone with the wind always wins.
But yeah, every single time Top Gun Maverick.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Oh, that's right, from twenty twenty two, That's right exactly.
And you know that's and I think the other thing too,
We have to sort of remember that that was during
the you know, that was sort of the first big
summer of the pandemic. You know, twenty twenty twenty twenty
one were sort of we're sort of wash out. So
finally Top Gun Maverick comes around in twenty twenty two
to get people back to this theaters. That is surprising, right,
because a lot of those may fast and furious movies
(06:16):
all which, by the way, this Mission Impossible movie, this
one reminds me a little of a fast and Furious movie.
Like there's a lot of tie in to all the
other seven movies in this series. All of those movies
all open up on the on Memorial Day weekend and
they get them in there. I also like the ones
that are sort of kind of quirky that nobody sort
of remembers and that sort of like oh yeah, you know,
I mean the Natural opened up on the Field of Dreams,
(06:38):
which I think we talked about last week. You know,
those movies opened up on Memorial Day weekend, so there's
there's or even Cliffhanger, you know, the Stallone film that's
actually one of his better non rocky, non Rambo films,
opened up on Memorial Day weekend, so it can it
can sort of be this time when you go, oh, look,
here's this cool original thing that's not a franchise, not
(06:59):
a sequel, and uh and it catches people's attention, but
it's got Once it's got that spot of Memorially weekend,
it automatically becomes like the stakes could be up really hot.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I'll tell you what if this new movie does what
it's expected to do. Tom Tom Cruise is the movie
star of Hollywood at this point. I mean, he has
got a long time, but he stands by himself.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
He does, and you know, I mean in good for
him from you know, saying okay, like I'm gonna turn
these action things into like he pivoted. He was at
a certain point ten years ago or so where he said, like,
these are the things I'm gonna make. And and you know,
if this new you know, obviously in about two years
there is gonna be the new Oscar for Best Stunt Action.
I think if they don't have him, you know, coming
in off you know, through a hole in the in
the ceiling, or jumping out of a plane, or coming
(07:43):
out of a submarine that bursts up into the into
the theater. If they don't do that, they're missing an
opportunity because he's the guy who's really brought great stunt
work back to back to the movies.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, absolutely they need to give him an oscar too.
I thought he was gonna win for Born in the
fourth of July. I thought that was going to happen,
but for some reason, for some reason, they won't give
him one.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Well, you know what it was. I think that one
also that was that was a split year because it
was Morgan Freeman for driving this Daisy, and it was
Daniel d Lewiso eventually won from my left foot. But
I agree Cruz should have won for Born on the
fourth or Fly, which I think is an amazing film,
and and so and Jerry Maguire, which people forget about.
I mean it's sort of a it's a it's a
rom com joke in some ways, but it was a
really good performance back in nineteen ninety six. And that's
(08:25):
and playing a modern guy that's hard to do. That's
hard to do. I agree, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Agree with you one thousand percent by about Jerry Maguire.
Of course, I am a huge fan of the director,
but I love because I also love Almost Famous, but
I I thought he was wonderful in that movie.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
I even I'll even one up you a little bit, Larry.
I don't mind Vanilla Sky, which is the I'm the
only guy in America who doesn't mind. I think it's
you know, it's flawed, but it's a crazy nutty movie
that Cruise did with Cameron crow where it's a sort
of a futuristic sci fi thing. I don't mind it.
I think it's sort of a it's a it's a
it's a very fun bad movie Vanilla Sky from I
think it's two thousand that held with Cameron Crowe and
(09:03):
the Pelope Cruz is the girl in there, and Cameron Diaz.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
It's funny because Cameron Crowe says he only did that
movie so he could pay for Almost Famous exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
It was a good investment in that way.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So much. Joe Neumeyer, film journalist, w o R. Movie
Minute critic
Well, this is a huge weekend for movie theaters and
the movie industry. This is when they put out expected
blockbusters because they know a lot of people have three
days off and are looking for something to do. And
in the past, wow, the box office has been huge.
So let's go to Joe Neumeyer, film journalist wo R
(00:22):
movie Minted host to find out what's out this weekend.
And Joe, let me just tell you one thing before
we get started. Sure, I watch Nobody's Full on because
you told me to last week. You said you should
watch Nobody's Full great suggestion, my wife, Thanks you, I
thank you. A wonderful movie with Paul Newman. You are
(00:43):
batting a thousand that can't wait for a suggestion at
the end of all this, but let's start talking about
this weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thanks. Thanks. I just also say, Lary, I'm so glad
you found the right Nobody's Fool because just as a
side note, there are about two hundred movies called Nobody,
one of those titles that comes around every year sort
of like you know, there's always kind of one called
you know, Mercy or Memory or No Mercy or something.
So I'm glad you found the right and Nobody's fool
and that is a delightful film and a hidden gym
(01:11):
this weekend. And I don't know how hidden it is,
but obviously the big movie is the big mission, impossible conclusion.
It's called The Final Reckoning it is. It's not a jewel,
but it's it's got a lot of great things in it.
I'm getting it three stars. These This is, you know,
obviously the eighth movie in this in this huge franchise
that started in nineteen ninety six, Tom Cruises, you know,
Meal Ticket. Now he's doing all these incredible things, and
(01:33):
I'm you know, the stunts just kind of keep on
getting bigger and bigger. I'm not gonna ruin it for anybody,
but but I will say it's it's very long. It's
two hours and forty five minutes. And for a three
star movie to kind of not hit like epic quality
like that at almost three hours long, that's a lot.
That said, There's there's a couple of good action sequences
in it, but the final half hour, and again this
(01:56):
isn't ruining anything. The final half hour is this amazing
airplane scramble that Cruise is doing around these two biplanes.
You know, these sort of its kind of a fun
retro thing because obviously it's these movies that are all
about kind of high technology. And in this one there's
an evil AI that's gonna, you know, destroy the world
and destroy humanity. So on these old World War two biplanes,
(02:18):
he's crawling around on them and the and and you
can actually see it's him. The camera work is right there.
Whether it was done by you know, shooting it by
drones or another another plane nearby, or something that's really extraordinary.
And I would say this about whether it was anybody
on there, like it could have been, you know, Chris
Farley sitting there crawling around the plane. I don't care
when you see somebody like that risky, literally risking their lives.
(02:42):
I'm sure he was tethered to a to a cable
or something, you know, but like in the old fashioned
way like they did in Hollywood's Golden age, and even
in things like the Great Bond movies of the seventies,
really doing something exciting that's not cgi, it's not computer enhanced.
It's literally a human being crawling on an airplane in
mid air, going from one airplane to another. It's it's incredible.
(03:05):
It's a really amazing sequence, and sitting through the first
two and a half hours of the thing that's kind
of heavily plotted is worth it for that final half
hour sequence. So an enthusiastic three stars for this final
we say it's the final one. Who knows what will happen,
but they're calling it the final reckoning mission impossible. I mean,
they're they're all those stunts, right, and all those whose
is what they're known for.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
That's great. Three stars for this. That's wonderful because a
lot of times Memorial Day movies don't live up to
the hype, but this one certainly does. Huh yeah, Memorial
Day and you know, back me up on this, This
is the movie theaters really look forward to Memorial Day
because this is they've had some of their biggest hits
ever released on this weekend.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That's right, That's exactly right, Lare. And it obviously goes
back in and we just mentioned the seventies, goes back
to the seventies. Things like Jaws Star Wars opened up
on Memorial Day weekend, which really sort of woke up
Hollywood to like, oh yeah, this is when kids and
everybody starts to go to the movies. It's sort of
funny that, like in nineteen seventy two, they weren't thinking
about that. They were like, oh, I just throw anything
out there. Then suddenly Jaws comes around. They're like, oh, yeah, right,
(04:08):
let's let's get you know, the big shark movies out there.
So so it's always a big traditional moment. And you know,
and obviously in some of the biggest ones, you know,
the Star Wars movies, like I mentioned, Empire Strikes Back
is the one that I remember as like even more
than Star Wars, which came out, you know, memorially weekend
of seventy seven, when Empire Strikes Back opened, that of
(04:28):
Memorial Day of eighty that was sort of this big event,
saying the Indiana Jones sequels, you know, Temple of Doom
and the third one, Last Crusade, which I really love,
those came out Memorial Day weekend. Even like the Star
Trek reboot that was came out in two thousand and
nine that JJ Abrims and I always sort of think
of as a as a high water mark of Memorial
(04:49):
Day stuff. That was really exciting. And some of these
big movies really really do it. Th of them, don't
I mean Ishtar came out Memorial Day weekend, you know, Flintstone,
So you know, it's not always not always a k
not out of the park, but when it is, it's
really an exciting start to summer. And Hollywood knows that
they bank it. You know that these opening weekends for
these movies, they can go upwards of you know, one
(05:10):
hundred and fifty million if if the i's all the
stars aligned for them.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
You know, it's funny. I pulled up I'm knowing you
were going to do this. I pulled up the top
grossing Memorial Day weekends and who made the most money?
Do you know who it is?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I think, isn't it one of the Pirates of the
Caribbean movies? Right? I think it's like at World's End
or something very good. That's second, it's the second one,
and then there's a lot I know, loss for and
of course a lotties are adjusted for inflation, and of
course all the Avengers movies, you know, are the Endgame
movies come out? No, what's number one?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I was shocked by it, but I guess it's also
because remember they always have to adjust these for inflation,
and when they do that, gone with the wind always wins.
But yeah, every single time Top Gun Maverick.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Oh, that's right, from twenty twenty two, That's right exactly.
And you know that's and I think the other thing too,
We have to sort of remember that that was during
the you know, that was sort of the first big
summer of the pandemic. You know, twenty twenty twenty twenty
one were sort of we're sort of wash out. So
finally Top Gun Maverick comes around in twenty twenty two
to get people back to this theaters. That is surprising, right,
because a lot of those may fast and furious movies
(06:16):
all which, by the way, this Mission Impossible movie, this
one reminds me a little of a fast and Furious movie.
Like there's a lot of tie in to all the
other seven movies in this series. All of those movies
all open up on the on Memorial Day weekend and
they get them in there. I also like the ones
that are sort of kind of quirky that nobody sort
of remembers and that sort of like oh yeah, you know,
I mean the Natural opened up on the Field of Dreams,
(06:38):
which I think we talked about last week. You know,
those movies opened up on Memorial Day weekend, so there's
there's or even Cliffhanger, you know, the Stallone film that's
actually one of his better non rocky, non Rambo films,
opened up on Memorial Day weekend, so it can it
can sort of be this time when you go, oh, look,
here's this cool original thing that's not a franchise, not
(06:59):
a sequel, and uh and it catches people's attention, but
it's got Once it's got that spot of Memorially weekend,
it automatically becomes like the stakes could be up really hot.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I'll tell you what if this new movie does what
it's expected to do. Tom Tom Cruise is the movie
star of Hollywood at this point. I mean, he has
got a long time, but he stands by himself.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
He does, and you know, I mean in good for
him from you know, saying okay, like I'm gonna turn
these action things into like he pivoted. He was at
a certain point ten years ago or so where he said, like,
these are the things I'm gonna make. And and you know,
if this new you know, obviously in about two years
there is gonna be the new Oscar for Best Stunt Action.
I think if they don't have him, you know, coming
in off you know, through a hole in the in
the ceiling, or jumping out of a plane, or coming
(07:43):
out of a submarine that bursts up into the into
the theater. If they don't do that, they're missing an
opportunity because he's the guy who's really brought great stunt
work back to back to the movies.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, absolutely they need to give him an oscar too.
I thought he was gonna win for Born in the
fourth of July. I thought that was going to happen,
but for some reason, for some reason, they won't give
him one.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Well, you know what it was. I think that one
also that was that was a split year because it
was Morgan Freeman for driving this Daisy, and it was
Daniel d Lewiso eventually won from my left foot. But
I agree Cruz should have won for Born on the
fourth or Fly, which I think is an amazing film,
and and so and Jerry Maguire, which people forget about.
I mean it's sort of a it's a it's a
rom com joke in some ways, but it was a
really good performance back in nineteen ninety six. And that's
(08:25):
and playing a modern guy that's hard to do. That's
hard to do. I agree, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Agree with you one thousand percent by about Jerry Maguire.
Of course, I am a huge fan of the director,
but I love because I also love Almost Famous, but
I I thought he was wonderful in that movie.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
I even I'll even one up you a little bit, Larry.
I don't mind Vanilla Sky, which is the I'm the
only guy in America who doesn't mind. I think it's
you know, it's flawed, but it's a crazy nutty movie
that Cruise did with Cameron crow where it's a sort
of a futuristic sci fi thing. I don't mind it.
I think it's sort of a it's a it's a
it's a very fun bad movie Vanilla Sky from I
think it's two thousand that held with Cameron Crowe and
(09:03):
the Pelope Cruz is the girl in there, and Cameron Diaz.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
It's funny because Cameron Crowe says he only did that
movie so he could pay for Almost Famous exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
It was a good investment in that way.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So much. Joe Neumeyer, film journalist, w o R. Movie
Minute critic
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