December 13, 2025 • 10 mins
Heather Brooker is breaking down the latest from the box office during her weekly entertainment hit on Gary and Shannon. She previews new releases Atropia and Dust Bunny, two very different films making noise with critics.
Heather also delivers a glowing review of Jay Kelly, the new George Clooney–Adam Sandler film that critics are calling surprisingly smart, heartfelt, and one of Sandler’s best performances in years. And just when you think it’s all Hollywood talk, Heather shares a personal pop-culture confession — explaining why she used to look exactly like Annie as a kid. Yes, the hair. Yes, the trauma.
Movies, memories, and a little mischief — it’s all part of the entertainment! Make sure you subscribe to Entertain Me and follow Heather on Instagram @theheatherbrooker.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to entertain Me. I'm Heatherbrooker. This is a show
where we cover all things entertainment from SoCal to the
silver screen. This week, we're diving into some new movies
at the box office. A Tropia is one of them.
I think you guys are going to be interested to
hear about some of these new movies. Dust Bunny is
another movie that is out from Brian Fuller, and they're unusual.
(00:25):
They're unique, and they're not going to be major blockbusters
on your radar, and I sort of love that. One
of the things I love about my job is that
I get to talk about movies that may not have
the big marketing budget behind them, a lot of people
may not have heard of. I love to try to
find those little nuggets of film and talk about them
whenever I can. That reminds me I think I want
(00:48):
to do like a documentary episode where we visit where
we talk about what documentaries are out right now. I'm
a big documentary movie fan, and so maybe I'll do that.
Maybe I'm here I am like actively planning what I'm
kind of future episodes for you in real time. So
definitely take a listen to this week's episode. And we'll
(01:10):
talk more about the movies that are at the box
office this weekend. We're also going to talk about Jay Kelly.
It stars George Clooney Adam Sandler. It actually is just
a massive all star cast and it's so smart, so entertaining,
and it's beautifully done. We're going to talk to Gary
on Gary and Shannon about that as well as why
(01:31):
I used to look like Annie. That's all this week
on the Entertainment Report on Gary and Shannon.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Heather Brooker has joined us.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Hello, Hello, Happy entertainment Friday.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You always bring a smile and fun when you come
in here. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I hope so I try.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
To Entertainment is fun times a fun time? Yes, this
is Entertainment News. What are we going to watch this weekend?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So there's a couple of really interesting and fun choices
at the movies this weekend. You know, some of the
bigger titles are still coming out in the next couple
of weeks. But this weekend, you've got a cute movie
called a Tropia. It stars Alia Shawcat. She was in
Arrested Development. Remember yes, yeah, yeah, she was in Arrested Development.
She's very funny in this movie. It's a dark comedy
(02:31):
about a fictional country called a Tropia, which is a
simulated country created by the US military for training exercises.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And she's an actress.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
In this weird training exercise world where she's also doing
self tapes on the side, and then she has to
come out and be like you know, uh is, oh yes,
oh my gosh, I forget. People are not in the
industry like you are.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
They don't they don't get like I am.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So a self tape, a self tape is what actors
have to do when they get an audition now because
a lot of casting is not done in person anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thanks COVID, Thanks COVID.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So we have to set up a backdrop and a
camera and lighting in our house and we read the scenes,
you know, and then we turn it in and.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Hope for the best. So that's a self tape.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So you, basically, as an actor, tape an audition wherever
you are, whenever you can. And in this movie, she's
an actor who is filming her self tapes in this
fictional country, which is like a Middle Eastern kind of country,
and she's like a she's got like you know, headscarf
on and like you know, Middle Eastern Garb and she's like, hello,
my name is and she's saying her name anyway. It's
(03:39):
a very funny, quirky, dark comedy, very unusual, very different.
If you want to go check out out of the
box office. The last thing I saw her in was
The Old Man. I think I saw I don't think
I saw that Jeff Bridges. She's a really talented actress
and she's been acting for a very long time. So
I hope that people will go and see this movie.
(04:00):
Support it because it's unusual, it's different, and I think
it's squirky. It's got Chloe seventy eight in it, so
it's a little ARTI your real It's called a trop Yeah,
so check that out. Also something unusual at the box
off this weekend. Brian Fuller has a new movie out
called Dust Bunny, and critics are describing it as whimsical horror.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Oh great, I know, right, A little a little like
O Murder.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
It's about a little girl who hires a hitman, an assassin,
essentially her neighbor to kill the monster under her bed.
So it then very much takes this on sort of
this creepy whimsical childhood. But it has definitely got darker
themes in it, darker, darker moments in it. It's getting
(04:46):
a lot of great reviews for Mad's Michelson. That's all
I say. His name, right, Mad Mickelson. Yeah, he's in it.
Everyone says he's great. This is a not your typical
horror movie. Definitely one you want to check out.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I have there.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I know there are a bunch of movies that are
streaming now that I've seen the trailers for that are
going to be this weekend. And this is actually a
pretty rich time. There are some great movies. F won
the movie I keep seeing and I've been told see
I haven't seen it yet.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I was told. Originally, Shannon saw it.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
She got a preview of it before it came out
over the summer and said, the best way to watch
this thing is going to be IMAX or some very
large format in a movie theater.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I agree with her.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
It's the sound is epic, the cinema, the cinematography is epic.
It's a really great movie to watch in the theater.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
What if I sit in the middle of my couch,
it works as opposed to one side or the other,
just in.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
The middle, just plopped out right in the middle and
then you're like close. Make sure you're like inches away.
Maybe I'll put a chair in the middle of the room.
Then you will be fully immersive on a coffee table.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
One.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
The other one that I saw that I'm interested in
is Jay Kelly. This is George Clooney and Adam Sandler.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Have you seen this one? No, okay, please put it
on your list for multiple reasons. This is very It's
an inside baseball movie about an actor. And I know
you know, we've talked about this before where sometimes it's like, ah,
do we really need Hollywood movies about Hollywood? What's different
and really special about this is one. George Clooney's performance
(06:22):
is wonderful. He is playing a version of himself. The
story is written by Noah Bambach and he is loosely
based on his life and a little bit of George
Clooney's life, and it takes us on a somewhat heartbreaking
journey about somebody who has chosen their career over their
(06:43):
family and then at the end of their career is
having regrets about that and desperately trying to make it right.
And it's Adam Sandler, isn't it beautifully subtly acted by
Adam Sandler and George Clooney. True. At the end of
the movie, I was tearing up. I was like, this
(07:04):
is this is strong. These are both strong performances. I'm
not at all surprised that they were nominated for Golden Globes.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I've always liked Adam Sandler and his serious stuff. Yeah right, spanglished.
I mean everything that.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
He's shrunk love, Like the first one. Uh what was
the jewels? Uh?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Some jewels, jewels, dirty jewels, magical jewels, magical jewels, dark jewels.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Uncut gems. Thank you the voice of reason.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I was like, if we fully we're playing mad libs,
some one of us will get there eventually.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Olmer is the adult in the room, apparently.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
My god.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Listen. I don't know if I'm going through the change
or what, but sometimes I literally forget words like you'll
see me. I look like I'm having some kind of stroke.
I'll just pause in the middle of a sentence and
be like, I cannot remember what this word is, so
thank you, womanhood.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
The other one that I'm interested in is the the
New Knives Out movie. This, of course around Johnson product,
but Daniel Craig comes back as Ben wi Blanc, the
detective in The Knives Out.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
What's it called Wake Up dead Man? Yes, this movie
did so dives out originally. I think caught a lot
of people off guard. They weren't expecting it to be
so good. Yeah, and you know, with Hollywood, if it
does well once, let's make another and then they're another
heard and then they're just going to keep beating it
into the ground. But it's gonna be good. I think
you should definitely check add that one to your list.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I show. Yeah, what are you going to do this weekend?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
So I'm going to be here at caf I knew
so anchoring in the early wee morning hours when everyone
tunes in at five in the morning. But other than that,
my daughter is actually starring in a play. This's our
musical this weekend. She's an Annie, and so I'm going
to be going to all her performances. So working in
the morning and then stage mom in the afternoon and evening.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Uh, the picture that you sent of you as Annie,
doesn't that that's on our Instagram. It's an earlier post.
But yeah, taking pictures of us as you know, younger people. Yes,
my mom did that to me.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
My mom.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
When Annie did that, she did it to me. It's
why I probably should be in therapy. When I was little,
Annie came out and it was very popular, and she
was like, I have a little redheaded girl, I'm gonna
perm her. She permed my hair. She had a friend
of hers make the little Annie dress, and she bought
the black pat and leather shoes. And my dad was bald,
so like literally he was Daddy Warbocks one thousand percent.
(09:27):
Everywhere I went, people would whisper and they would point.
But see I was a ham, so I loved it.
I'd be like that that I'll goma. I would just
break honey, this is Ralph's we don't need to do.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I'd be like, I'll show you, mom. But that was
the Oklahoma what you were in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I was in Oklahoma at the time, so we had
like safeway okay, yeah, but I would sing in dance
anywhere anywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Heather, thank you as always, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I hope wherever you are you're having a wonderful weekend
as well. If you've got some entertainment stories or entertainment
news you'd like to share with me, hit me up
at Heatherbrooker at iHeartMedia dot com. I want to hear
from you. If you've got any local events you'd like
to be mentioned on entertain Me, let me know that's
going to do it for me. Thanks for listening to ENTERTAINM.
You can listen anywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Welcome to entertain Me. I'm Heatherbrooker. This is a show
where we cover all things entertainment from SoCal to the
silver screen. This week, we're diving into some new movies
at the box office. A Tropia is one of them.
I think you guys are going to be interested to
hear about some of these new movies. Dust Bunny is
another movie that is out from Brian Fuller, and they're unusual.
(00:25):
They're unique, and they're not going to be major blockbusters
on your radar, and I sort of love that. One
of the things I love about my job is that
I get to talk about movies that may not have
the big marketing budget behind them, a lot of people
may not have heard of. I love to try to
find those little nuggets of film and talk about them
whenever I can. That reminds me I think I want
(00:48):
to do like a documentary episode where we visit where
we talk about what documentaries are out right now. I'm
a big documentary movie fan, and so maybe I'll do that.
Maybe I'm here I am like actively planning what I'm
kind of future episodes for you in real time. So
definitely take a listen to this week's episode. And we'll
(01:10):
talk more about the movies that are at the box
office this weekend. We're also going to talk about Jay Kelly.
It stars George Clooney Adam Sandler. It actually is just
a massive all star cast and it's so smart, so entertaining,
and it's beautifully done. We're going to talk to Gary
on Gary and Shannon about that as well as why
(01:31):
I used to look like Annie. That's all this week
on the Entertainment Report on Gary and Shannon.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Heather Brooker has joined us.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Hello, Hello, Happy entertainment Friday.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You always bring a smile and fun when you come
in here. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I hope so I try.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
To Entertainment is fun times a fun time? Yes, this
is Entertainment News. What are we going to watch this weekend?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So there's a couple of really interesting and fun choices
at the movies this weekend. You know, some of the
bigger titles are still coming out in the next couple
of weeks. But this weekend, you've got a cute movie
called a Tropia. It stars Alia Shawcat. She was in
Arrested Development. Remember yes, yeah, yeah, she was in Arrested Development.
She's very funny in this movie. It's a dark comedy
(02:31):
about a fictional country called a Tropia, which is a
simulated country created by the US military for training exercises.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And she's an actress.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
In this weird training exercise world where she's also doing
self tapes on the side, and then she has to
come out and be like you know, uh is, oh yes,
oh my gosh, I forget. People are not in the
industry like you are.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
They don't they don't get like I am.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So a self tape, a self tape is what actors
have to do when they get an audition now because
a lot of casting is not done in person anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thanks COVID, Thanks COVID.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So we have to set up a backdrop and a
camera and lighting in our house and we read the scenes,
you know, and then we turn it in and.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Hope for the best. So that's a self tape.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So you, basically, as an actor, tape an audition wherever
you are, whenever you can. And in this movie, she's
an actor who is filming her self tapes in this
fictional country, which is like a Middle Eastern kind of country,
and she's like a she's got like you know, headscarf
on and like you know, Middle Eastern Garb and she's like, hello,
my name is and she's saying her name anyway. It's
(03:39):
a very funny, quirky, dark comedy, very unusual, very different.
If you want to go check out out of the
box office. The last thing I saw her in was
The Old Man. I think I saw I don't think
I saw that Jeff Bridges. She's a really talented actress
and she's been acting for a very long time. So
I hope that people will go and see this movie.
(04:00):
Support it because it's unusual, it's different, and I think
it's squirky. It's got Chloe seventy eight in it, so
it's a little ARTI your real It's called a trop Yeah,
so check that out. Also something unusual at the box
off this weekend. Brian Fuller has a new movie out
called Dust Bunny, and critics are describing it as whimsical horror.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Oh great, I know, right, A little a little like
O Murder.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
It's about a little girl who hires a hitman, an assassin,
essentially her neighbor to kill the monster under her bed.
So it then very much takes this on sort of
this creepy whimsical childhood. But it has definitely got darker
themes in it, darker, darker moments in it. It's getting
(04:46):
a lot of great reviews for Mad's Michelson. That's all
I say. His name, right, Mad Mickelson. Yeah, he's in it.
Everyone says he's great. This is a not your typical
horror movie. Definitely one you want to check out.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I have there.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I know there are a bunch of movies that are
streaming now that I've seen the trailers for that are
going to be this weekend. And this is actually a
pretty rich time. There are some great movies. F won
the movie I keep seeing and I've been told see
I haven't seen it yet.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I was told. Originally, Shannon saw it.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
She got a preview of it before it came out
over the summer and said, the best way to watch
this thing is going to be IMAX or some very
large format in a movie theater.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I agree with her.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
It's the sound is epic, the cinema, the cinematography is epic.
It's a really great movie to watch in the theater.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
What if I sit in the middle of my couch,
it works as opposed to one side or the other,
just in.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
The middle, just plopped out right in the middle and
then you're like close. Make sure you're like inches away.
Maybe I'll put a chair in the middle of the room.
Then you will be fully immersive on a coffee table.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
One.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
The other one that I saw that I'm interested in
is Jay Kelly. This is George Clooney and Adam Sandler.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Have you seen this one? No, okay, please put it
on your list for multiple reasons. This is very It's
an inside baseball movie about an actor. And I know
you know, we've talked about this before where sometimes it's like, ah,
do we really need Hollywood movies about Hollywood? What's different
and really special about this is one. George Clooney's performance
(06:22):
is wonderful. He is playing a version of himself. The
story is written by Noah Bambach and he is loosely
based on his life and a little bit of George
Clooney's life, and it takes us on a somewhat heartbreaking
journey about somebody who has chosen their career over their
(06:43):
family and then at the end of their career is
having regrets about that and desperately trying to make it right.
And it's Adam Sandler, isn't it beautifully subtly acted by
Adam Sandler and George Clooney. True. At the end of
the movie, I was tearing up. I was like, this
(07:04):
is this is strong. These are both strong performances. I'm
not at all surprised that they were nominated for Golden Globes.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I've always liked Adam Sandler and his serious stuff. Yeah right, spanglished.
I mean everything that.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
He's shrunk love, Like the first one. Uh what was
the jewels? Uh?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Some jewels, jewels, dirty jewels, magical jewels, magical jewels, dark jewels.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Uncut gems. Thank you the voice of reason.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I was like, if we fully we're playing mad libs,
some one of us will get there eventually.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Olmer is the adult in the room, apparently.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
My god.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Listen. I don't know if I'm going through the change
or what, but sometimes I literally forget words like you'll
see me. I look like I'm having some kind of stroke.
I'll just pause in the middle of a sentence and
be like, I cannot remember what this word is, so
thank you, womanhood.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
The other one that I'm interested in is the the
New Knives Out movie. This, of course around Johnson product,
but Daniel Craig comes back as Ben wi Blanc, the
detective in The Knives Out.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
What's it called Wake Up dead Man? Yes, this movie
did so dives out originally. I think caught a lot
of people off guard. They weren't expecting it to be
so good. Yeah, and you know, with Hollywood, if it
does well once, let's make another and then they're another
heard and then they're just going to keep beating it
into the ground. But it's gonna be good. I think
you should definitely check add that one to your list.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I show. Yeah, what are you going to do this weekend?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
So I'm going to be here at caf I knew
so anchoring in the early wee morning hours when everyone
tunes in at five in the morning. But other than that,
my daughter is actually starring in a play. This's our
musical this weekend. She's an Annie, and so I'm going
to be going to all her performances. So working in
the morning and then stage mom in the afternoon and evening.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Uh, the picture that you sent of you as Annie,
doesn't that that's on our Instagram. It's an earlier post.
But yeah, taking pictures of us as you know, younger people. Yes,
my mom did that to me.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
My mom.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
When Annie did that, she did it to me. It's
why I probably should be in therapy. When I was little,
Annie came out and it was very popular, and she
was like, I have a little redheaded girl, I'm gonna
perm her. She permed my hair. She had a friend
of hers make the little Annie dress, and she bought
the black pat and leather shoes. And my dad was bald,
so like literally he was Daddy Warbocks one thousand percent.
(09:27):
Everywhere I went, people would whisper and they would point.
But see I was a ham, so I loved it.
I'd be like that that I'll goma. I would just
break honey, this is Ralph's we don't need to do.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I'd be like, I'll show you, mom. But that was
the Oklahoma what you were in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I was in Oklahoma at the time, so we had
like safeway okay, yeah, but I would sing in dance
anywhere anywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Heather, thank you as always, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I hope wherever you are you're having a wonderful weekend
as well. If you've got some entertainment stories or entertainment
news you'd like to share with me, hit me up
at Heatherbrooker at iHeartMedia dot com. I want to hear
from you. If you've got any local events you'd like
to be mentioned on entertain Me, let me know that's
going to do it for me. Thanks for listening to ENTERTAINM.
You can listen anywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
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