November 21, 2022 • 41 mins
Mike is joined by Amy Brown who stars in the new Christmas movie on HBO Max called Holiday Harmony. The movie comes out on Thanksgiving Day and Amy explains why she is nervous to watch it for the first time. Amy shares why being in a holiday movie has was always a dream of hers, what it like playing herself and the coaching she got before filming that rein in her performance. Mike gives his thoughts on how she did in her debut role and where this could take her acting career and how Amy was able to tap into her emotions after since taking acting lessons. In the movie review, Mike gives his review of the new comedy thrill in theaters “The Menu”. And in the Trailer Park, Mike gets into Will Smith’s new role in the Apple+ movie “Emancipation”.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back, or if you are new, welcome
to Movie Mix Movie Podcast. I am your host Movie Mike.
I'm a guy who loves talking about movies and that's
what I do every single week. I talk to actors,
directors and give you spoiler free reviews on all the
latest movies and breakdown movie trailers of movies coming to
you soon streaming and in theaters. Today, I'm talking to
(00:21):
my friend Amy Brown, who is going to be in
a new HBO Max movie called Holiday Harmony. In the
movie review, i'll talk about a new comedy thriller called
The Menu that I just watched in theaters, and in
the trailer park, we'll talk about Will Smith's return in
a movie called Emancipation and how we feel about him
starring in a movie since the oscar incident. Thank you
(00:41):
for being subscribed. If you're not, hit that subscribe button
to get brand new episodes every single Monday. And now
let's talk movies. In a world where everyone and their
mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the
ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast.
A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like
(01:04):
a walking on him with Glasses from the Nashville Podcast
Network Movie Movie Podcast about to get into my conversation
with Amy Brown, who is going to be in a
new movie called Holiday Harmony that is hitting HBO MAC
this Thursday. The movie is about a character named Gayl
who is a singer songwriter who lives out of her van,
(01:26):
performing all across the country trying to make it as
an artist. She finally lands the opportunity of a lifetime
getting to perform at an I Heart Radio Christmas Eve concert,
but then takes a bit of a detour on the
way as she breaks down and Harmony springs Oklahoma. It's
a story about Christmas. It's a story about following your dreams.
But now let's hear from Amy on her debut movie role.
(01:49):
I am in studio now with Amy from Holiday Harmony.
How are you doing. Oh, I'm Amy from Holiday Heart.
That is who you are, not Amy Brown or Amy
from The Bobby Bone Show or Amy from Four Things.
You're here as an actress today. I know it's kind
of crazy. So well, I am an actress that in
the movie, I'm playing myself, but you still act in
the movie. That is true. I did have to act.
(02:10):
I'm nervous because well, you've seen it and you're going
to give a review, and I have to be honest
with that. I have the same link that you have
for pre screening, and I can't bring myself to watch it. No,
I can't decide if I just want to experience a
Thanksgiving day like everybody else and watch it with my
kids and everybody be there, and then, you know, probably
(02:30):
close my eyes whenever my scenes come on. Why do
you think that is that you're so nervous to watch
yourself back? Is it that you don't feel like you
did a good job. You just cringe at the thought
of seeing yourself on screen. I think it's new to me.
I have not ever done anything like this, and with
the movie role, I was very nervous but also excited.
(02:52):
So I don't know if I'll be one of those
people that just can't watch themselves on screen. Maybe I
think part of it is Mike. I wish I would
have taken some acting lessons before, and then I would
have gone in with a little more confidence. So you're
saying you're used to being on a stage, Yes, You're
used to talking to a microphone and the radio show, yes,
So for you. I feel like you're a natural performer,
(03:14):
Like you can just walk into your room, you can
start a conversation with anybody. You have that about you.
When you felt and you were on set doing this movie,
do you feel like that came out? There was like
a switch in your brain. I tried to turn it on.
I definitely told myself, Okay, you're here. This is something
that you've dreamt about but never really thought would ever happen.
That's what being in a Christmas movie is something that
(03:36):
I just said I would enjoy one day, like that
would be cool. But would I ever really do it?
I don't know, And it would come up casually here
on the show or in talking with friends. Oh, I
would love to be the barista at the coffee shop
where the two main characters fall in love or whatever
in the small mountain town and it's snowing outside, and
I would have a small role, just because those Christmas
(03:58):
movies make me feel good. I love everything about them.
I have since it's sort of they gained notoriety on
Hallmark and then Lifetime I think started making some and
then now they're everywhere. Netflix crips them up. Yeah, h
ours is on HBO Max, which is one of the
coolest of the coolest places. I think that there is
to stream something so there's more and more of them
(04:18):
out there, which is awesome. But I have always loved them,
and I know a lot of people have. But I
think it's because how they make me feel, and they
just feel they're feel good stories. I love the holidays,
I love the coziness. I love the same storyline over
and over and over. It's so predictable, but I don't care.
Although Holiday Harmony took a different twist, especially with like
the singing and her career and kind of where she
(04:39):
was going. I know bits and pieces because I read
some of the script, haven't watched it yet, but I
obviously know where she's coming from. What my what my
job was as her guide in a way in the bathroom,
that was my job. I had that one scene that
was a pivotal moment for her, so I knew I
had to turn it on and show up and do
my job. Even though it was excited eating, I just
(05:00):
still was nervous too. It's just all the things, Mike,
all the things. I want to get back to your
scene here in a bit. But you said this was
always a dream of yours. Was it an instant yes?
When the role was offered to you, when this opportunity
came with it, an instant yes, instant. I was over
the moon. I don't I didn't even know many details
at all, whatsoever I think I heard would you ever
be interested in doing a Christmas Yes? Yes I would.
(05:22):
I don't even think so. Before you knew like how
much it paid, how much time committment it was going
to be, it was just automatic, yes, automatic, Yes, that's it,
like I mean there are Yeah, you didn't have to
twist my arm. I just was thankful that it worked
out with the show. Obviously, Bobby always works with us
if we've got something cool going on, like he'll figure
(05:43):
it out. But this was interesting too because it was
part of My Heart Radio and one of our bosses
in New York, Tom Pullman, was the one that was
given the script, and so I guess I was probably
shocked too that he read the script and then thought, oh,
would Amy Brown be interested in this? And then Sissony
from Ryan Seacrest Show, she's also considered. I think they
wanted two females in radio, but that my name made
(06:05):
the shortlist. Or the list or that I came to
mind for him. But I was totally flattered and honored
and said yes right away. So you get the part.
How intimidating is it once you get your lines and
you see how much you have to learn? Oh, I
was studying it. I got out highlighters and pins, and
they said, you know, we'll have you'll have freedom to
(06:25):
make it your own, but this is what we would
like to see happen. But also when the cameras are rolling,
if other things come out, that's okay. Don't feel like
you have to stick just to this script. And there
was some things where I was like, oh, I don't
know that I would say it this way, and so
I would start just practicing it and the way that
I felt most comfortable with, but also was still in
(06:46):
their parameters. I didn't want to go completely row well,
I actually think that the story line or the the
scene or my part of the script should go like this.
I didn't deviate too much, but I tried to make sure,
especially since I was playing myself, that it sounded like
something I would authentically say. I think that is what
came across in your scene and when you came on screen,
(07:09):
I got really excited, and then when you started acting,
I was like, I know, she is being Amy Brown
right now, but I felt there was some genuine acting
there and I could see that. So that I wondered
if all that was like the lines like you said,
or it was some of you adding in like how
you would say it, because that came across like perfectly. Well.
So they needed my character to have an agent and
(07:33):
to have an experience of having other people try to
tell you who you're supposed to be in the spotlight,
and that felt a little weird to me because I
don't have an agent, and so that's where I struggled.
So that part was the acting. The I don't really
think are my position on the Bobby Bones Show. No
(07:54):
one's ever forced me to be anything that I'm not.
So I felt very fortunate in that because I know
that's not the case for a lot of people that
have jobs, whether they're an on air personality, they're on TV,
they're on stage performers, you know, they sometimes are put
in really crazy positions where they're altering a lot about
themselves or they feel like they have to change in
(08:15):
a certain way. And so I was trying to tap
into that of what would it really feel like if
someone had ever told me I couldn't be who I was?
And ultimately that's what's happening with Gail. You know, she's
suddenly doesn't even recognize herself and she doesn't feel good
in her skin because she she wants to be Gail.
(08:37):
Trevor is up there, and she's not able to be
because of the label. And so that was that was
what I had to tap into. That was the acting
because you know, you know, you've worked with me for years.
We're not told you, oh, you need to be more country,
less country, more girly, less girly, which was my line
and I had, but I had to say to her, Hey,
(08:58):
I get it, I've been where you are. But I
also know other pressures. So I tried to just think
of those and what I would genuinely say to a
coworker or anybody here on the show if I ran
into them in the bathroom, What what would I say
to them? And that's sort of what that that scene was.
I mean, we were literally in the I Heart Radio bathroom. Well,
(09:20):
I thought that scene was great, and like you said,
it was a pivotal moment in the entire movie. There
was no way they could cut you out. No. I
mean that I think was was my saving grace. Just
in case I ended up being terrible, they would have
to completely reshoot the scene with somebody else because the
it changes the trajectory of what she does. So I'm
curious about the filming process and all the different roles
(09:42):
of the people on the movie. So when you get
on set, what exactly does the director do? Do you
get to meet with him? I do. He came up
and introduced himself to me right away, and I I
don't know if this is on every set. It can't be,
because you know, you hear horror stories. But every single
person was so cool, and I was I was a
little bit shocked that multiple producers, directors, writers came up,
(10:06):
shook my hand, knew my name, knew exactly what I
was going to be doing. That it was. It was
set up that way even before I met them in
l A. Because they were all on the emails. They
could just tell they were very involved, and I'd be like, Wow,
I can't believe they're taking the time to email me
right now. You would think they would have an assistance
assistant or somebody doing it. I don't know. I just
had this Hollywood image in my mind of what communication
(10:29):
would look like. Um, but it couldn't have been more personal.
And so yeah, super friendly staff everyone, even you know,
Laurence Swickard. She pulled me aside. She's one of the
writers on it and a producer. She even has a
few scenes in it as well. But she pulled me
aside outside the bathroom before I went in, and she said,
just say it to me, now, how you plan on
(10:49):
saying it once you get in the bathroom, And I
have to say too, we'll be back up walking into
the bathroom. The acting of just casually walking into the
bathroom because I followed her, that's I struggled with that.
That's not even words. You're just having to walk in
a room. It's supposed to be natural, but sometimes doing
something natural and camera like totally amplified because there's sound guys,
(11:12):
there's camera guys. You're you know. I I tried to
be like, okay, just be cool'd be like, you're walking
into a bathroom, but I also was sort of putting
myself in a situation. Nobody invited me to the bathroom,
so I knew I needed to be hesitant in my
approach because it's not like I was just walking into
the bathroom with a friend. I was walking in the
bathroom as someone that picked up on something. My intuition
(11:37):
picked up on something, and I went in to be
a guide, and so I had to kind of cautiously
walk in. It's not like she's my best friend either,
you know, I'm more of someone that she's just working
with in the movie. So anyway, that walking was acting,
so we'll see. I don't know if you picked up
on any weirdness with my walking. I don't think it
looked weird at all. Okay, well, my bathrooms line outside
(12:01):
of their outside of the bathroom, Lawrence sick Ward went
over them with me and she said, Sam, Sam, how
you plan on saying them? And so I did it,
and she said, okay, that's good, but I want you
to think about it this way, and I want you
to try to use this tone. And then she would
voice the tone to me of what like softer, like
almost you know, less country, more country, more a whisper.
(12:22):
It's more like I was just talking them because I
was talking the lines out with a with a friend,
and she's like, you need to be more. I don't know.
I can't even remember the words she used to describe it.
But whatever she told me in that moment was so helpful.
And having her mimic it like her do it and
then me mimic her was incredibly helpful. And that was
(12:44):
right before we went into film and we filmed it
probably you know, four or five takes, and I don't
know which ones they ended up going with or if
they patched certain ones together. I don't know how it
came together because again still haven't seen it. Well again,
I think the scene is great. I think a lot
of what I picked up on from your acting is
that sometimes when I see early actors doing their work,
(13:07):
it's very apparent that they're reading lines. And with you,
it felt very natural, like it was like you being
you and they came across. My jaw just dropped. Because
you watching critique movies well for a living, but even
before you had this podcast, you did it for fun.
This is your path, like movies or your thing, and
so that really means a lot coming from you, because
(13:30):
you watch a lot of things, and you're watching for
things that I maybe wouldn't even ever see. I watched
for that, and I just wanted to see how you
would do. And I was really surprised and really happy
for you, Like I got excited. And so now I
wonder what is next for you? Like what do you
want to do with this? I know you've had this
kind of moment of your taking acting classes now and
(13:51):
you had this kind of struggle of like who am I? Like,
what am I doing taking acting classes? Where is that going? Now?
So I left l A. It was a whirlwind of
a day, every little experience on set, from the trailer
to the makeup to the lunch time, which I'm sure
some of that would die die off the more you
do it, but for me, it got it. We were
not supposed to be there that long. I think it
(14:12):
was supposed to be a four or five hour day,
and we were there for so long. And when I
left there, I was energized, and I went to bed
with just this extra pep in my step when I
should have been exhausted. And so I just sat with
that for a while, and what does that mean? And
what could this mean? And and the first thing that
popped in my head when I was asking myself that is, well,
(14:33):
maybe it means this is something that you would actually
really enjoy doing and that would fill your cup up
and bring you joy. And then that thought was immediately
followed with another angel devil. I don't know what you
want to call it, but like the counterpart of my
brain that's like, oh, but you could never do that,
and why would you even think you can do that?
And you're forty one years old? And but when I
got into radio, I had never done radio either. And
(14:55):
now here we are, almost seventeen years later, and I
didn't want to keep myself from that. What if twenty
years from now and I'm sixty one, I maybe have
a few movies under my belt and not I don't.
I don't know that. I have this vision of me
being some main character in any way, but just being
a part of the process and that being another layer
to creativity and something that I like to do. And
(15:17):
I thought so I thought about that. I thought about
how I'd never done radio, but I gave it a
go and it just took Bobby believing in me, and
I feel like the Lauren Swickard in particular, she was
on my podcast. The episode will go up this week
on Thanksgiving Day, when when the movie comes out it'll
be on four things. But she I feel as though
she was genuine when she said, you you do have something.
(15:39):
So and apparently my name has come up in some
meetings that they've had for other films. I don't know
for what, because she didn't elaborate, but I don't think
she would have said that out of nowhere. But it
just gave me that extra little piece of validation. So anyway,
all that to say, I wanted to be able to
know that when I'm sixty, at least I gave it
a try. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't, and
(15:59):
I don't have a few movies under my belt, but
at least i'll know that I tried. And so that's
when I decided to book acting lessons. Well, I can
see it in you, and I hope you do another movie.
I think you could easily translate into another holiday movie
like this with a similar role. I mean, I think
if you're taking the acting classes, why not go for
like a supporting character. Well, okay, I just need to
(16:21):
get up my confidence and I need to audition for
things I think, and I'm okay with rejection to Obviously,
nobody wants to be rejected, but I know that that's
how I'm gonna That's gonna be me putting myself out there,
and I'll be proud of myself for just doing that.
And then from each rejection, I can grow and and
learn or know that that wasn't the right fit or
(16:41):
maybe I could have done it a different way. But
I'm I'm gonna continue working with my coach and see
where that goes. Some of my acting lessons though Mike,
have been very therapeutic. She does. Her name's Bridget and
she works with working with Laney Wilson, you know in
her yellow Stone stuff. And you know John Party was
in here not too long ago saying he got auditioned
(17:03):
for some stuff, but he had been working with Bridget.
So I knew that she was good, but I didn't
know the different things she was going to be able
to bring out in me. But I just heard multiple
things about her around town, So I honestly was shocked
that I was able to get in with her. And
when she sat down with me, she said, you know,
(17:24):
you really kind of have to go from deep within
yourself when you're tapping into a character, and that you're able,
like you can use different feelings and emotions you have
inside you as long as you're able to tap into them.
And so she said that we've done some work. She's like, hm,
I'm sensing like a lot of anger. It's like, oh,
maybe I need to get find an angry character. But
(17:47):
at at that day, the day that I met with her,
it's crazy. I really did have some anger things going
on and some stuff I was processing and that's genuinely
what I was feeling. And so she worked with that
and we did a few exercises and I started bawling, crying,
and she does a lot of breathwork and then and
then after we do all of that, then she hands
(18:09):
you some scripts and we run lines. But it's like
she wants you to tap into what's going on with
you before you even pick up a script with her.
So it's been really cool, isn't it though, Like she's good,
I'm excited to see where it goes. And I'm I've
even you know, you kind of have to pick and choose.
I don't have all the time being a mom and
doing the different the shows and the podcast and uh,
(18:33):
I also am in therapy as well. But it's been
so therapeutic for me that I've stopped some of my
other therapy appointments so that I can prioritize this, not
only just time wise, but financially. Like I'm like, okay,
we need to see where I'm spending money. But that's
how that's how cool this process has been to me.
It's worth putting something else on the sidelines to invest
(18:56):
in this and see where it's going to go. So
you haven't watched him. It comes out this Thursday. How
are you going to sit down and watch it? Because
I think holiday movies, I feel like there's this setting
I like to put myself into, the tree is on,
just have this cozy environment. How are you finally going
to sit down and watch this movie? I am going
to be in Austin for Thanksgiving with I'm having Thanksgiving
(19:19):
with my best friend from high school, Andrea, which shout
out it was her dad's coll verse that I even
met Bobby at in two thousand five. So if it
wasn't for Andrea, Mike, you and I would not be
sitting here talking. You know. I assume maybe we'll all
gather around like after we finished Thanksgiving, And she said
that her parents. She lives two houses down from her parents,
(19:39):
so I'll be with them as well, and that her
parents have like a little movie room, and so we
may all gather in there with blankets and popcorn and yeah,
hot Coco. Make it a whole thing, a holiday thing.
Get the kids be like, all right, kids, Mom's big,
big screen debut. That is how I see it happening.
But I don't no for sure. I'll have to tell
(20:02):
you afterwards what we ended up doing. But that's the
plan right now. Well, I think people are gonna like it.
I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised when they
see you and see your scene. I am one. I
told you Christmas movies are my least favorite. Dying I
know it's like, oh great, well, no, I'm extra nervous.
But I ended up enjoying the movie, and I thought
that did your wife watch it? Yeah, she watched it too.
(20:24):
We both liked it. And she is the one who
has kind of changed my opinion going into movies like this,
because I realized now that it's a lot of the
stuff is predictable, but it's that kind of journey and
that comfortability and just knowing that exactly what it is
going into it, that that's the joy people finding these movies.
That took me a long time to kind of understand.
I like to watch movies to have my mind challenge,
(20:47):
but I realized sometimes you just need to put a
movie on feels comfortable, you sit down with some family
and friends, and that is at the core of what
really makes a movie special. So I think holiday movies
do that, and I think that's what this movie is
going to be. Yeah, you're gonna feel good after you
watch it, like it or any holiday movie, because you
know that somehow there's going to be joy there at
(21:07):
the end and it's gonna work out. So that's what
that that predictability part. I'm there with you on that,
and I'm thankful that you've been You've been able to
realize that and now you can enjoy them with us.
The hardest part for me probably is like grasping on too,
like the love interest scenes, like that's just hard for
me to like find enjoyment in. So I think in
that regard, this movie probably isn't entirely for me, But
(21:29):
I can see somebody who does love those types of
things and love those type of themes will enjoy. Would
you think of Analese the main character will Her character
name is Gail, but in real life her name is Analyze.
I thought she was great. I thought she was perfect. Yeah,
she was in West Side Story, the one that they
redid the Stevens Bielberg one. Yeah. I thought the music
at like, having the music at the forefront kind of
(21:51):
made me a little bit more interested in it because
I kind of grasp onto that a little more than,
like I said, like the Love Story. Yeah. Yeah, there
are a lot of funny characters in the movie. And
I was just waiting the entire time for your scene
to come up, and I thought it was great. How
much is left after the bathroom scene till it ends.
It's like your scene is probably in the last twenty
minutes of the entire movie. Okay, and that's a that's
(22:13):
a pivotal point in the movie. That is where you
get to the final lag, the final thing. Yeah, okay,
so it's yeah, if people want to watch, you gotta wait,
you gotta watch all the way, watch the entire movie
to the end to get there. This has been great.
I love talking to you as the actress. Not Amy
Brown from the radio show, not Amy Brown from Four Things,
the actress. Well, you're my first interview, So sorry if
(22:36):
I was stumbling a little bit. I swear to you,
I'm nervous, and I don't we talk all the time,
so I don't know why that is, but maybe it's because, yeah,
this is a new space. But nerves are good. Nerves
are good, so I'm trying to lean into them. And
I would just say to other people because I had
that thought in my head, oh, maybe I should take
(22:56):
acting lessons. And then it was immediately when I tell you,
Mike gets like that fast that the other thought pops
into my head. And I'm sure other people have that too,
but it could be regarding another type of job or
another decision that you need to make, or a hobby
you want to try, or a side hustle or something
in life that you want to do, or school you
want to go to, or whatever it is. Just that's
(23:18):
I think that's when, if you're really paying attention, you'll
notice how quickly it happens. And then you maybe used
that to be like, okay, because my brain just did
that to me, I'm freaking going to go do the
other thing that I was scared of. And I picked
up that technique after I when I was in eating
disorder recovery. I would want the oreos and I would
(23:41):
be at the grocery store and I knew would be
okay for me to buy the oreos, but I never
trusted myself to buy oreos before, and I'd be like, oh,
I'm gonna get Oreos, and then instantly my head be like, no,
you can trust yourself that those you can't have the oreos.
And then now I just if if I have that thought,
if I can't have them, then I grabbed the oreo
is gonna throw them in my car? Like it's normal.
(24:02):
It's it's it's called as if, as if it's normal,
So like as if do it? As if you would
just do it without that negative thought that pops into
your head right away, and so you can apply it
to all kinds of things in your life. But I'm
thankful that I was aware of it, because I think
there was a time in my life, maybe before some
of this therapy and other work that I've done, that
I would have left that negative thought rule and it
(24:24):
would have shut everything down and be like, okay, yeah,
end of story. I'm forty one, Why would I even
try this? Who cares? You? Suck? Goodbye, and then that
would be the end of it, you know, and I
wouldn't be sitting here with you because I'd be like, oh,
why would you want to interview podcast? So here we go.
I don't know. That's just my also tidbit takeaway. I
know it has nothing to do with movies, but I
just it's something that's served me well the last couple
(24:45):
of years. Well, I think that's inspiring. I think everybody
should watch Holiday Harmony on HBO Max on Thursday or
whre never you're listening to this podcast, go watch it
for the holiday season because how long does it stream.
I don't know. It should be on there like forever.
It should be on the Sometimes HBO Max takes off
old titles, they get rid of them. Yeah, but that's
why everybody should go watching now. They may take it away, Yeah,
(25:06):
they may take it away, and then if you stream it,
that's awesome if you're looking for a way to get
it free. That is, if you don't have HBO Max.
I know, if you have Hulu, they have a seven
day free trial, So if you get it now, you'll
have it for the next seven days at least, and
you can watch Holiday Harmony you can watch all the
episodes of Friends. You can watch White Lotus Hacks, what
(25:27):
other things to be like on HBO Max Righteous Gemstones,
Righteous Gemstones. Don't watch that with the kids. Yeah, so
there's other reasons to hop on the HBO Max train.
But I know for some people, if you're not subscribed
to it, maybe if you do have hul you can
get it free. And I think when it comes to
just being a movie fan, it's one of the strongest
ones that has a lot of good movies. That's one
of my go twos. Yeah, so to have you now
(25:48):
on HBO Max, it's kind of cool's huh, Well, thank
you Amy for being on the podcast. Thank you for
having me. I could talk to you all day long.
If you can't tell I think you've tried to wrap
me up like three times, and I'm like so much.
I'm good. We'll see you next time you do your
next movie. Okay, Yeah, happy to come back. We're thinking positively,
we're manifesting that. Let's go. Let's get into a spoiler
(26:14):
free movie review now. I want to talk about The Menu,
which is out in theaters now. And this movie had
me intrigued from the trailer, but it was unlike anything
that I was expecting. I honestly had pretty low expectations
going into this movie, so maybe that's why I ended
up enjoying it as much as I did. But the
movie is about all of these rich people who pay
(26:36):
twelve hundred and fifty dollars to go on this remote
island to have this very exclusive dinner from this chef,
and then things start to get weird, and then they
realized that maybe not all of them will survive the evening.
So before I get into this full review, here is
just a little bit of the menu trailer. This menu,
(26:58):
the pictures us disgustless thing, this entire evenings, just it
or its stage crowd has been painstaken. When we planned
this is realistic? What the hell is going now? We're
gonna do this. So the movie revolves around this couple.
(27:24):
You have Onya Taylor Joy's character and Nicholas Holt. They
are going on a date to this island and the
guy she is dating is a very big foodie and
he's telling her all these things about this very famous chef.
And they get on this boat and there's all these
other famous people, rich people who have all paid this
(27:45):
incredible amount of money to go and experience this dinner.
They get to the island, they get to the dinner,
which is supposed to be a few hours, and then
pretty soon after that, once the meal starts, there's a
lot of theatrics, and they're trying to decide whether or
not the things that are happening are all a part
of the experience or they are in for more than
(28:08):
they bargained for, and they all start to question whether
or not they are all going to survive this evening,
and it escalates pretty quickly. I think one of the
things I enjoyed the most about this movie is how
it blended horror, comedy and suspense. It was like this
thriller at the core of it, but there were moments
(28:28):
that I felt like it was a traditional horror film
and some of the things that were just out of nowhere.
To where it starts to get very intense, I was like, Wow,
I really wasn't expecting this level of violence going into
this movie, but that really tied in with a very
subtle dark comedy in this movie. It is unlike any
(28:49):
other horror comedy I've ever seen. It's nothing like Shaun
of the Dead or anything like that, so don't go
into it expecting that. I just felt like this movie
was very novel and there aren't very many films that
I can compare it to. It kind of has that
knives out vibe, but there's no real murder mystery here.
It has a little bit of like a black mirror
(29:09):
element to it. It also kind of reminded me of
Saul when you realize all of these people are there
for a very specific reason and the chef has hands
selected every single one of them, and you find out why.
And the entire movie really plays into the idea of
this menu and the fact that this entire night has
been so orchestrated, and every scene and every act takes
(29:34):
place in courses, just like a meal would. So whenever
the first course comes out, something crazy happens. The next course,
something else crazy happens, and it goes all the way
to the dessert. So that was just a really cool,
fun way to structure this entire movie and also keep
the pacing going and going along, because as the viewer,
you're just waiting for the crazy thing that's gonna happen next,
(29:56):
the crazy thing that's going to elevate it even more
and on top of that, since is following this whole
menu format, if you're a fan of food, you're going
to love this movie. And I'm a vegan, but they
were making some meat in this movie that looked delicious,
and I wanted to be in that restaurant. I'll take
all the crazy things happening just to try some of
that food. And that's coming from somebody who eats basically
(30:19):
plants all the time. I wanted to eat what they
were eating. And a very well rounded cast with Ray
Finds really carrying this entire movie. Have Baltimore in one
of his most sinister roles I've ever seen him in,
and he plays it perfectly. Probably could have only been
him to do this part. You mixed that with Anya
Taylor Joy, who I love her and anything she's in
(30:42):
now except maybe Amsterdam, which I don't really count that
one against her, but she is just such a great lead.
I love John Lukasamo and all of the other supporting cast.
And it also had a lot of my other favorite
elements when it comes to a movie, a movie that
and also had a lot of my other favorite elements
that I indulged in, like a movie that takes place
(31:02):
entirely in one day. This movie is basically just one
evening and really only has one location on this island,
most of it taking place inside that restaurant, so you
have to know, if there aren't a whole lot of
set changes, not a whole lot of other things going on,
the actual action has to pack a punch, and that's
exactly what this movie does, and even though it's not
(31:23):
a straight on mystery, it keeps you guessing and thinking
of what's going to happen next, what the big plan
here is the entire time, and the movie does end
up making the commentary on class and how food ties
into that and how wealthy people can have nicer things.
And there's also the other side of it of the
people working at this restaurant represent the people who work
(31:45):
in the service industry, so there's also this message of
this clash of classes that I thought made a pretty
strong point. So I thought the movie was great from
beginning to end. At about an hour and forty five minutes,
this movie doesn't weigh any time to get going, has
great action, has some great visuals, has some pretty brutal
(32:06):
scenes depending on your level of queasiness and how you
deal with violence, maybe make you gasp a little bit.
There were even some scenes that I, who, I'm totally
numb to all this stuff. I have been desensitized since
I was a kid to watching crazy things. Some of
it was still surprising to me, and I think even
if you're a person who doesn't like horror movies, it's
(32:28):
not really scary in any way. I would say it's
just more shocking. And the thing I was just most
surprised about is I wasn't expecting this movie to end
up being one of my favorites out of the entire year.
Maybe when you go into something with as low expectations
are really no expectations whatsoever, only a movie like that
could do it for you. I don't want to overhype
(32:50):
this movie, but just the fact that it felt so
unique to me, it was unlike anything I had seen
in a very long time. That's what really made me
enjoy it. So if I had to rate the menu,
I would give it four point five out of five
Kitchen Knives. If you're looking for something suspenseful to watch
in theaters, look no further than the menu. It's time
(33:14):
to head down to movie Mike La Paul. The movie
is called Emancipation. It stars Will Smith. It is his
first role since slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, and
I think that's where everybody's mind goes to right away.
It was gonna be whatever role he had following that
incident that would be the one that people would talk
(33:36):
about the most. It's interesting because this movie looks so
good that I think that is the reason people are
even split on this movie. I think before that it
would have been an instant like, oh, Will Smith is
in another great movie about a very powerful subject. But
everything I see about this movie is people debating whether
or not they will even watch it. So we'll get
(33:57):
into all that. But the movie is about Peter, who
is a slave that flees a plantation in Louisiana after
he was whipped within a niche of his life, and
now he has to outwit these hunters who are out
to get him in the swamps of Louisiana as he
travels north trying to find his family, and then he
also joins the Union Army. So before we get into
(34:19):
all of that, here is just a little bit of
the Emancipation trailer. I find him, They beat me, they
whipped me, they break the balls in my body more
times than I can call, but they never never break me. So,
(34:44):
first of all, this trailer looks stunning. The cinematography in
this is top notch, and that's usually what you get
when you watch a movie that is an Apple TV
Plus original. Cinematically they look so rich. They don't really
have the biggest titles at that I think, oh, you
need to get Apple to watch all these great movies.
But as particular as I get with how a movie
(35:06):
looks just very crisp and clear, like, I'm just so
into that, probably a little bit too much that I
just love Apple TV Plus for that. And in this
movie it is scaled in black and white with a
little bit of like these rush tones. So I just
love the look and feel of this movie. Even the
big drone shots of capturing the swamps of Louisiana I
(35:26):
think look magnificent. But aside from that, I feel like
this is about a very powerful subject and a story
I didn't really know a whole lot about, but the
more I read about it, I really want to see
this movie. So Will Smith plays Peter and it's based
on a true story, and in this trailer you see
him get ripped away from his family. You see him
getting beaten, and you see him escaping and trying to
(35:49):
find salvation as he travels north. And then also towards
the end of this trailer, you see him fighting in
the Union Army. And just by the looks of this trailer,
it looks like some of the most powerful acting that
Will Smith has ever done in his career. We had
King Richard last year, which we got a peak of
how well he could handle drama. I mean, he's been
(36:11):
doing it his entire career, but that took it a
step higher. It got him the Oscar, and now this
movie seems to be the same caliber of acting with
a more intense subject, with a more intense character. So
it would almost be easy to say that he'd be
another shoe in for the Best Actor, but he is
now ineligible from the Oscar. So I think where the
(36:33):
divide comes with this movie is are you ready to
watch Will Smith in another movie again? And I am
one that I can usually separate the art from the artist,
especially when it comes to movies. We don't know these
people in Hollywood. They live on an entirely different planet,
it seems like, and I can't base people on the
characters they play in movies, it's just that's not them.
(36:55):
They're acting, so I try not to associate the real
life person with the actor on the screen. There are
a lot of actors that I like that I probably
would not enjoy hanging out with in real life or
also know that they're probably not the nicest people, but
I can still enjoy their work. When it comes to
what happened at the Oscars and the fact that we're
even still now talking about it, seems a little bit
(37:17):
like who cares at this point, But I get that
when somebody does something like that, it is a reflection
on their character. So it does become harder for me
anyway to separate the art from the artist. And this
being his next movie role to come out, it feels
like you almost have to pick a side on whether
or not you're going to watch this movie, and I've
(37:39):
been thinking about it. I didn't even know if I
would include this in the trailer park, but as I
rewatched the trailer again and again, I found myself saying
that this would be a movie that I would watch,
and I can't let that incident influence my desire to
watch this movie. So I'm going to watch it and
not think about him as the person and just try
(37:59):
to hone in on what the story being told here is.
It's from director Antoine Fuqua, who also did movies like
Training Day, South Paw, and The Equalizer, so he has
a pretty good portfolio when it comes to the movies
he's directed, and this movie appears to be fairly accurate
to what actually happened in this story. There is a
(38:20):
part in the trailer where he goes to hand to
hand combat with an alligator. I'm not sure if that
is historically accurate, but visually that looks like something I
want to watch Will Smith fighting an alligator in the swamp. Yes,
that does sound Oscar worthy. It's like Leonardo DiCaprio fighting
a bear and being completely honest. I think right after
(38:41):
the Oscar incident happened, it did take me a little
bit too like Will Smith again, because he was a
person who banked on his likability, his president on social
media of just being a nice guy. That was kind
of his brand, and that was taken away from him.
And it's kind of like building back trust with somebody
who did you wrong. So I would have called myself
(39:03):
a fan of Will Smith the actor before that, and
I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan of his now,
but I'm still curious to watch his work. So I
can completely understand if you don't ever want to watch
him in a movie ever. Again, that is your opinion.
I feel like it's there's some validity there. I think
first some it will take longer to separate that, and
(39:25):
maybe this isn't the role, this isn't the subject that
you want to dive into another Will Smith movie. Again,
I am just curious to see in general how this
movie is received once it comes out. If it gets
now zero or no attention from the award shows, I
think that will definitely speak volumes. And to see how
Will Smith goes about promoting this movie, doing interviews again,
(39:49):
doing red carpets, that will also be interesting to see
how he handles that. So again, the movie is called Emancipation.
It comes out in theaters on December two, and then
is streaming on Apple t V Plus on December nine,
this week's edition of Movie Bar and that's going to
do it for another episode here of the podcast. Thank
(40:10):
you for listening, and thank you for making it to
this point of the podcast. If you are new here.
What I like to do is give out a secret emoji.
So if you enjoy the interview this week, there's always
a secret emoji you can comment with on Instagram, on TikTok, Facebook,
Twitter to let me know you enjoyed it. So for
the Amy Brown interview, go and comment on the picture
(40:32):
we took together with the Christmas tree emoji if you
enjoyed that. And also at the end of every episode,
I like to give my listeners shout out of someone
who has showed me support online and listen to the podcast.
And this week the listeners shout out is from Instagram
and it's a d M I got from Lenz who wrote,
I'm racking my brain to try to think of other
movies You've given a five out of five rating since
(40:54):
the podcast Inception great episode this week. Really like the
format and the deep dive into how a movie makes
a billion dollars. Well appreciate it Lens for sending me
that DM. And since I started this podcast in December nineteen,
there have only been three movies I've given a five
out of five rating. In those movies are Joker, Spider Man,
No Way Home, and last week to Black Panther Waconda Forever.
(41:18):
That is it. It is very rare for me to
find a perfect movie that I could say nothing bad about.
And yes, I am showing my bias when it comes
to me loving superhero movies. So thank you Lenz for that.
D M, thank you for listening. I hope you subscribe
to the podcast. If you enjoyed this week's episode, tell
a friend who also loves movies, who loves spoiler free reviews.
(41:41):
Just tag me and tag them in your Instant story
and I'll repost those throughout the week. And until next time,
go out and watch good movies and I will talk
to you later.
Hello, and welcome back, or if you are new, welcome
to Movie Mix Movie Podcast. I am your host Movie Mike.
I'm a guy who loves talking about movies and that's
what I do every single week. I talk to actors,
directors and give you spoiler free reviews on all the
latest movies and breakdown movie trailers of movies coming to
you soon streaming and in theaters. Today, I'm talking to
(00:21):
my friend Amy Brown, who is going to be in
a new HBO Max movie called Holiday Harmony. In the
movie review, i'll talk about a new comedy thriller called
The Menu that I just watched in theaters, and in
the trailer park, we'll talk about Will Smith's return in
a movie called Emancipation and how we feel about him
starring in a movie since the oscar incident. Thank you
(00:41):
for being subscribed. If you're not, hit that subscribe button
to get brand new episodes every single Monday. And now
let's talk movies. In a world where everyone and their
mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the
ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast.
A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like
(01:04):
a walking on him with Glasses from the Nashville Podcast
Network Movie Movie Podcast about to get into my conversation
with Amy Brown, who is going to be in a
new movie called Holiday Harmony that is hitting HBO MAC
this Thursday. The movie is about a character named Gayl
who is a singer songwriter who lives out of her van,
(01:26):
performing all across the country trying to make it as
an artist. She finally lands the opportunity of a lifetime
getting to perform at an I Heart Radio Christmas Eve concert,
but then takes a bit of a detour on the
way as she breaks down and Harmony springs Oklahoma. It's
a story about Christmas. It's a story about following your dreams.
But now let's hear from Amy on her debut movie role.
(01:49):
I am in studio now with Amy from Holiday Harmony.
How are you doing. Oh, I'm Amy from Holiday Heart.
That is who you are, not Amy Brown or Amy
from The Bobby Bone Show or Amy from Four Things.
You're here as an actress today. I know it's kind
of crazy. So well, I am an actress that in
the movie, I'm playing myself, but you still act in
the movie. That is true. I did have to act.
(02:10):
I'm nervous because well, you've seen it and you're going
to give a review, and I have to be honest
with that. I have the same link that you have
for pre screening, and I can't bring myself to watch it. No,
I can't decide if I just want to experience a
Thanksgiving day like everybody else and watch it with my
kids and everybody be there, and then, you know, probably
(02:30):
close my eyes whenever my scenes come on. Why do
you think that is that you're so nervous to watch
yourself back? Is it that you don't feel like you
did a good job. You just cringe at the thought
of seeing yourself on screen. I think it's new to me.
I have not ever done anything like this, and with
the movie role, I was very nervous but also excited.
(02:52):
So I don't know if I'll be one of those
people that just can't watch themselves on screen. Maybe I
think part of it is Mike. I wish I would
have taken some acting lessons before, and then I would
have gone in with a little more confidence. So you're
saying you're used to being on a stage, Yes, You're
used to talking to a microphone and the radio show, yes,
So for you. I feel like you're a natural performer,
(03:14):
Like you can just walk into your room, you can
start a conversation with anybody. You have that about you.
When you felt and you were on set doing this movie,
do you feel like that came out? There was like
a switch in your brain. I tried to turn it on.
I definitely told myself, Okay, you're here. This is something
that you've dreamt about but never really thought would ever happen.
That's what being in a Christmas movie is something that
(03:36):
I just said I would enjoy one day, like that
would be cool. But would I ever really do it?
I don't know, And it would come up casually here
on the show or in talking with friends. Oh, I
would love to be the barista at the coffee shop
where the two main characters fall in love or whatever
in the small mountain town and it's snowing outside, and
I would have a small role, just because those Christmas
(03:58):
movies make me feel good. I love everything about them.
I have since it's sort of they gained notoriety on
Hallmark and then Lifetime I think started making some and
then now they're everywhere. Netflix crips them up. Yeah, h
ours is on HBO Max, which is one of the
coolest of the coolest places. I think that there is
to stream something so there's more and more of them
(04:18):
out there, which is awesome. But I have always loved them,
and I know a lot of people have. But I
think it's because how they make me feel, and they
just feel they're feel good stories. I love the holidays,
I love the coziness. I love the same storyline over
and over and over. It's so predictable, but I don't care.
Although Holiday Harmony took a different twist, especially with like
the singing and her career and kind of where she
(04:39):
was going. I know bits and pieces because I read
some of the script, haven't watched it yet, but I
obviously know where she's coming from. What my what my
job was as her guide in a way in the bathroom,
that was my job. I had that one scene that
was a pivotal moment for her, so I knew I
had to turn it on and show up and do
my job. Even though it was excited eating, I just
(05:00):
still was nervous too. It's just all the things, Mike,
all the things. I want to get back to your
scene here in a bit. But you said this was
always a dream of yours. Was it an instant yes?
When the role was offered to you, when this opportunity
came with it, an instant yes, instant. I was over
the moon. I don't I didn't even know many details
at all, whatsoever I think I heard would you ever
be interested in doing a Christmas Yes? Yes I would.
(05:22):
I don't even think so. Before you knew like how
much it paid, how much time committment it was going
to be, it was just automatic, yes, automatic, Yes, that's it,
like I mean there are Yeah, you didn't have to
twist my arm. I just was thankful that it worked
out with the show. Obviously, Bobby always works with us
if we've got something cool going on, like he'll figure
(05:43):
it out. But this was interesting too because it was
part of My Heart Radio and one of our bosses
in New York, Tom Pullman, was the one that was
given the script, and so I guess I was probably
shocked too that he read the script and then thought, oh,
would Amy Brown be interested in this? And then Sissony
from Ryan Seacrest Show, she's also considered. I think they
wanted two females in radio, but that my name made
(06:05):
the shortlist. Or the list or that I came to
mind for him. But I was totally flattered and honored
and said yes right away. So you get the part.
How intimidating is it once you get your lines and
you see how much you have to learn? Oh, I
was studying it. I got out highlighters and pins, and
they said, you know, we'll have you'll have freedom to
(06:25):
make it your own, but this is what we would
like to see happen. But also when the cameras are rolling,
if other things come out, that's okay. Don't feel like
you have to stick just to this script. And there
was some things where I was like, oh, I don't
know that I would say it this way, and so
I would start just practicing it and the way that
I felt most comfortable with, but also was still in
(06:46):
their parameters. I didn't want to go completely row well,
I actually think that the story line or the the
scene or my part of the script should go like this.
I didn't deviate too much, but I tried to make sure,
especially since I was playing myself, that it sounded like
something I would authentically say. I think that is what
came across in your scene and when you came on screen,
(07:09):
I got really excited, and then when you started acting,
I was like, I know, she is being Amy Brown
right now, but I felt there was some genuine acting
there and I could see that. So that I wondered
if all that was like the lines like you said,
or it was some of you adding in like how
you would say it, because that came across like perfectly. Well.
So they needed my character to have an agent and
(07:33):
to have an experience of having other people try to
tell you who you're supposed to be in the spotlight,
and that felt a little weird to me because I
don't have an agent, and so that's where I struggled.
So that part was the acting. The I don't really
think are my position on the Bobby Bones Show. No
(07:54):
one's ever forced me to be anything that I'm not.
So I felt very fortunate in that because I know
that's not the case for a lot of people that
have jobs, whether they're an on air personality, they're on TV,
they're on stage performers, you know, they sometimes are put
in really crazy positions where they're altering a lot about
themselves or they feel like they have to change in
(08:15):
a certain way. And so I was trying to tap
into that of what would it really feel like if
someone had ever told me I couldn't be who I was?
And ultimately that's what's happening with Gail. You know, she's
suddenly doesn't even recognize herself and she doesn't feel good
in her skin because she she wants to be Gail.
(08:37):
Trevor is up there, and she's not able to be
because of the label. And so that was that was
what I had to tap into. That was the acting
because you know, you know, you've worked with me for years.
We're not told you, oh, you need to be more country,
less country, more girly, less girly, which was my line
and I had, but I had to say to her, Hey,
(08:58):
I get it, I've been where you are. But I
also know other pressures. So I tried to just think
of those and what I would genuinely say to a
coworker or anybody here on the show if I ran
into them in the bathroom, What what would I say
to them? And that's sort of what that that scene was.
I mean, we were literally in the I Heart Radio bathroom. Well,
(09:20):
I thought that scene was great, and like you said,
it was a pivotal moment in the entire movie. There
was no way they could cut you out. No. I
mean that I think was was my saving grace. Just
in case I ended up being terrible, they would have
to completely reshoot the scene with somebody else because the
it changes the trajectory of what she does. So I'm
curious about the filming process and all the different roles
(09:42):
of the people on the movie. So when you get
on set, what exactly does the director do? Do you
get to meet with him? I do. He came up
and introduced himself to me right away, and I I
don't know if this is on every set. It can't be,
because you know, you hear horror stories. But every single
person was so cool, and I was I was a
little bit shocked that multiple producers, directors, writers came up,
(10:06):
shook my hand, knew my name, knew exactly what I
was going to be doing. That it was. It was
set up that way even before I met them in
l A. Because they were all on the emails. They
could just tell they were very involved, and I'd be like, Wow,
I can't believe they're taking the time to email me
right now. You would think they would have an assistance
assistant or somebody doing it. I don't know. I just
had this Hollywood image in my mind of what communication
(10:29):
would look like. Um, but it couldn't have been more personal.
And so yeah, super friendly staff everyone, even you know,
Laurence Swickard. She pulled me aside. She's one of the
writers on it and a producer. She even has a
few scenes in it as well. But she pulled me
aside outside the bathroom before I went in, and she said,
just say it to me, now, how you plan on
(10:49):
saying it once you get in the bathroom, And I
have to say too, we'll be back up walking into
the bathroom. The acting of just casually walking into the
bathroom because I followed her, that's I struggled with that.
That's not even words. You're just having to walk in
a room. It's supposed to be natural, but sometimes doing
something natural and camera like totally amplified because there's sound guys,
(11:12):
there's camera guys. You're you know. I I tried to
be like, okay, just be cool'd be like, you're walking
into a bathroom, but I also was sort of putting
myself in a situation. Nobody invited me to the bathroom,
so I knew I needed to be hesitant in my
approach because it's not like I was just walking into
the bathroom with a friend. I was walking in the
bathroom as someone that picked up on something. My intuition
(11:37):
picked up on something, and I went in to be
a guide, and so I had to kind of cautiously
walk in. It's not like she's my best friend either,
you know, I'm more of someone that she's just working
with in the movie. So anyway, that walking was acting,
so we'll see. I don't know if you picked up
on any weirdness with my walking. I don't think it
looked weird at all. Okay, well, my bathrooms line outside
(12:01):
of their outside of the bathroom, Lawrence sick Ward went
over them with me and she said, Sam, Sam, how
you plan on saying them? And so I did it,
and she said, okay, that's good, but I want you
to think about it this way, and I want you
to try to use this tone. And then she would
voice the tone to me of what like softer, like
almost you know, less country, more country, more a whisper.
(12:22):
It's more like I was just talking them because I
was talking the lines out with a with a friend,
and she's like, you need to be more. I don't know.
I can't even remember the words she used to describe it.
But whatever she told me in that moment was so helpful.
And having her mimic it like her do it and
then me mimic her was incredibly helpful. And that was
(12:44):
right before we went into film and we filmed it
probably you know, four or five takes, and I don't
know which ones they ended up going with or if
they patched certain ones together. I don't know how it
came together because again still haven't seen it. Well again,
I think the scene is great. I think a lot
of what I picked up on from your acting is
that sometimes when I see early actors doing their work,
(13:07):
it's very apparent that they're reading lines. And with you,
it felt very natural, like it was like you being
you and they came across. My jaw just dropped. Because
you watching critique movies well for a living, but even
before you had this podcast, you did it for fun.
This is your path, like movies or your thing, and
so that really means a lot coming from you, because
(13:30):
you watch a lot of things, and you're watching for
things that I maybe wouldn't even ever see. I watched
for that, and I just wanted to see how you
would do. And I was really surprised and really happy
for you, Like I got excited. And so now I
wonder what is next for you? Like what do you
want to do with this? I know you've had this
kind of moment of your taking acting classes now and
(13:51):
you had this kind of struggle of like who am I? Like,
what am I doing taking acting classes? Where is that going? Now?
So I left l A. It was a whirlwind of
a day, every little experience on set, from the trailer
to the makeup to the lunch time, which I'm sure
some of that would die die off the more you
do it, but for me, it got it. We were
not supposed to be there that long. I think it
(14:12):
was supposed to be a four or five hour day,
and we were there for so long. And when I
left there, I was energized, and I went to bed
with just this extra pep in my step when I
should have been exhausted. And so I just sat with
that for a while, and what does that mean? And
what could this mean? And and the first thing that
popped in my head when I was asking myself that is, well,
(14:33):
maybe it means this is something that you would actually
really enjoy doing and that would fill your cup up
and bring you joy. And then that thought was immediately
followed with another angel devil. I don't know what you
want to call it, but like the counterpart of my
brain that's like, oh, but you could never do that,
and why would you even think you can do that?
And you're forty one years old? And but when I
got into radio, I had never done radio either. And
(14:55):
now here we are, almost seventeen years later, and I
didn't want to keep myself from that. What if twenty
years from now and I'm sixty one, I maybe have
a few movies under my belt and not I don't.
I don't know that. I have this vision of me
being some main character in any way, but just being
a part of the process and that being another layer
to creativity and something that I like to do. And
(15:17):
I thought so I thought about that. I thought about
how I'd never done radio, but I gave it a
go and it just took Bobby believing in me, and
I feel like the Lauren Swickard in particular, she was
on my podcast. The episode will go up this week
on Thanksgiving Day, when when the movie comes out it'll
be on four things. But she I feel as though
she was genuine when she said, you you do have something.
(15:39):
So and apparently my name has come up in some
meetings that they've had for other films. I don't know
for what, because she didn't elaborate, but I don't think
she would have said that out of nowhere. But it
just gave me that extra little piece of validation. So anyway,
all that to say, I wanted to be able to
know that when I'm sixty, at least I gave it
a try. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't, and
(15:59):
I don't have a few movies under my belt, but
at least i'll know that I tried. And so that's
when I decided to book acting lessons. Well, I can
see it in you, and I hope you do another movie.
I think you could easily translate into another holiday movie
like this with a similar role. I mean, I think
if you're taking the acting classes, why not go for
like a supporting character. Well, okay, I just need to
(16:21):
get up my confidence and I need to audition for
things I think, and I'm okay with rejection to Obviously,
nobody wants to be rejected, but I know that that's
how I'm gonna That's gonna be me putting myself out there,
and I'll be proud of myself for just doing that.
And then from each rejection, I can grow and and
learn or know that that wasn't the right fit or
(16:41):
maybe I could have done it a different way. But
I'm I'm gonna continue working with my coach and see
where that goes. Some of my acting lessons though Mike,
have been very therapeutic. She does. Her name's Bridget and
she works with working with Laney Wilson, you know in
her yellow Stone stuff. And you know John Party was
in here not too long ago saying he got auditioned
(17:03):
for some stuff, but he had been working with Bridget.
So I knew that she was good, but I didn't
know the different things she was going to be able
to bring out in me. But I just heard multiple
things about her around town, So I honestly was shocked
that I was able to get in with her. And
when she sat down with me, she said, you know,
(17:24):
you really kind of have to go from deep within
yourself when you're tapping into a character, and that you're able,
like you can use different feelings and emotions you have
inside you as long as you're able to tap into them.
And so she said that we've done some work. She's like, hm,
I'm sensing like a lot of anger. It's like, oh,
maybe I need to get find an angry character. But
(17:47):
at at that day, the day that I met with her,
it's crazy. I really did have some anger things going
on and some stuff I was processing and that's genuinely
what I was feeling. And so she worked with that
and we did a few exercises and I started bawling, crying,
and she does a lot of breathwork and then and
then after we do all of that, then she hands
(18:09):
you some scripts and we run lines. But it's like
she wants you to tap into what's going on with
you before you even pick up a script with her.
So it's been really cool, isn't it though, Like she's good,
I'm excited to see where it goes. And I'm I've
even you know, you kind of have to pick and choose.
I don't have all the time being a mom and
doing the different the shows and the podcast and uh,
(18:33):
I also am in therapy as well. But it's been
so therapeutic for me that I've stopped some of my
other therapy appointments so that I can prioritize this, not
only just time wise, but financially. Like I'm like, okay,
we need to see where I'm spending money. But that's
how that's how cool this process has been to me.
It's worth putting something else on the sidelines to invest
(18:56):
in this and see where it's going to go. So
you haven't watched him. It comes out this Thursday. How
are you going to sit down and watch it? Because
I think holiday movies, I feel like there's this setting
I like to put myself into, the tree is on,
just have this cozy environment. How are you finally going
to sit down and watch this movie? I am going
to be in Austin for Thanksgiving with I'm having Thanksgiving
(19:19):
with my best friend from high school, Andrea, which shout
out it was her dad's coll verse that I even
met Bobby at in two thousand five. So if it
wasn't for Andrea, Mike, you and I would not be
sitting here talking. You know. I assume maybe we'll all
gather around like after we finished Thanksgiving, And she said
that her parents. She lives two houses down from her parents,
(19:39):
so I'll be with them as well, and that her
parents have like a little movie room, and so we
may all gather in there with blankets and popcorn and yeah,
hot Coco. Make it a whole thing, a holiday thing.
Get the kids be like, all right, kids, Mom's big,
big screen debut. That is how I see it happening.
But I don't no for sure. I'll have to tell
(20:02):
you afterwards what we ended up doing. But that's the
plan right now. Well, I think people are gonna like it.
I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised when they
see you and see your scene. I am one. I
told you Christmas movies are my least favorite. Dying I
know it's like, oh great, well, no, I'm extra nervous.
But I ended up enjoying the movie, and I thought
that did your wife watch it? Yeah, she watched it too.
(20:24):
We both liked it. And she is the one who
has kind of changed my opinion going into movies like this,
because I realized now that it's a lot of the
stuff is predictable, but it's that kind of journey and
that comfortability and just knowing that exactly what it is
going into it, that that's the joy people finding these movies.
That took me a long time to kind of understand.
I like to watch movies to have my mind challenge,
(20:47):
but I realized sometimes you just need to put a
movie on feels comfortable, you sit down with some family
and friends, and that is at the core of what
really makes a movie special. So I think holiday movies
do that, and I think that's what this movie is
going to be. Yeah, you're gonna feel good after you
watch it, like it or any holiday movie, because you
know that somehow there's going to be joy there at
(21:07):
the end and it's gonna work out. So that's what
that that predictability part. I'm there with you on that,
and I'm thankful that you've been You've been able to
realize that and now you can enjoy them with us.
The hardest part for me probably is like grasping on too,
like the love interest scenes, like that's just hard for
me to like find enjoyment in. So I think in
that regard, this movie probably isn't entirely for me, But
(21:29):
I can see somebody who does love those types of
things and love those type of themes will enjoy. Would
you think of Analese the main character will Her character
name is Gail, but in real life her name is Analyze.
I thought she was great. I thought she was perfect. Yeah,
she was in West Side Story, the one that they
redid the Stevens Bielberg one. Yeah. I thought the music
at like, having the music at the forefront kind of
(21:51):
made me a little bit more interested in it because
I kind of grasp onto that a little more than,
like I said, like the Love Story. Yeah. Yeah, there
are a lot of funny characters in the movie. And
I was just waiting the entire time for your scene
to come up, and I thought it was great. How
much is left after the bathroom scene till it ends.
It's like your scene is probably in the last twenty
minutes of the entire movie. Okay, and that's a that's
(22:13):
a pivotal point in the movie. That is where you
get to the final lag, the final thing. Yeah, okay,
so it's yeah, if people want to watch, you gotta wait,
you gotta watch all the way, watch the entire movie
to the end to get there. This has been great.
I love talking to you as the actress. Not Amy
Brown from the radio show, not Amy Brown from Four Things,
the actress. Well, you're my first interview, So sorry if
(22:36):
I was stumbling a little bit. I swear to you,
I'm nervous, and I don't we talk all the time,
so I don't know why that is, but maybe it's because, yeah,
this is a new space. But nerves are good. Nerves
are good, so I'm trying to lean into them. And
I would just say to other people because I had
that thought in my head, oh, maybe I should take
(22:56):
acting lessons. And then it was immediately when I tell you,
Mike gets like that fast that the other thought pops
into my head. And I'm sure other people have that too,
but it could be regarding another type of job or
another decision that you need to make, or a hobby
you want to try, or a side hustle or something
in life that you want to do, or school you
want to go to, or whatever it is. Just that's
(23:18):
I think that's when, if you're really paying attention, you'll
notice how quickly it happens. And then you maybe used
that to be like, okay, because my brain just did
that to me, I'm freaking going to go do the
other thing that I was scared of. And I picked
up that technique after I when I was in eating
disorder recovery. I would want the oreos and I would
(23:41):
be at the grocery store and I knew would be
okay for me to buy the oreos, but I never
trusted myself to buy oreos before, and I'd be like, oh,
I'm gonna get Oreos, and then instantly my head be like, no,
you can trust yourself that those you can't have the oreos.
And then now I just if if I have that thought,
if I can't have them, then I grabbed the oreo
is gonna throw them in my car? Like it's normal.
(24:02):
It's it's it's called as if, as if it's normal,
So like as if do it? As if you would
just do it without that negative thought that pops into
your head right away, and so you can apply it
to all kinds of things in your life. But I'm
thankful that I was aware of it, because I think
there was a time in my life, maybe before some
of this therapy and other work that I've done, that
I would have left that negative thought rule and it
(24:24):
would have shut everything down and be like, okay, yeah,
end of story. I'm forty one, Why would I even
try this? Who cares? You? Suck? Goodbye, and then that
would be the end of it, you know, and I
wouldn't be sitting here with you because I'd be like, oh,
why would you want to interview podcast? So here we go.
I don't know. That's just my also tidbit takeaway. I
know it has nothing to do with movies, but I
just it's something that's served me well the last couple
(24:45):
of years. Well, I think that's inspiring. I think everybody
should watch Holiday Harmony on HBO Max on Thursday or
whre never you're listening to this podcast, go watch it
for the holiday season because how long does it stream.
I don't know. It should be on there like forever.
It should be on the Sometimes HBO Max takes off
old titles, they get rid of them. Yeah, but that's
why everybody should go watching now. They may take it away, Yeah,
(25:06):
they may take it away, and then if you stream it,
that's awesome if you're looking for a way to get
it free. That is, if you don't have HBO Max.
I know, if you have Hulu, they have a seven
day free trial, So if you get it now, you'll
have it for the next seven days at least, and
you can watch Holiday Harmony you can watch all the
episodes of Friends. You can watch White Lotus Hacks, what
(25:27):
other things to be like on HBO Max Righteous Gemstones,
Righteous Gemstones. Don't watch that with the kids. Yeah, so
there's other reasons to hop on the HBO Max train.
But I know for some people, if you're not subscribed
to it, maybe if you do have hul you can
get it free. And I think when it comes to
just being a movie fan, it's one of the strongest
ones that has a lot of good movies. That's one
of my go twos. Yeah, so to have you now
(25:48):
on HBO Max, it's kind of cool's huh, Well, thank
you Amy for being on the podcast. Thank you for
having me. I could talk to you all day long.
If you can't tell I think you've tried to wrap
me up like three times, and I'm like so much.
I'm good. We'll see you next time you do your
next movie. Okay, Yeah, happy to come back. We're thinking positively,
we're manifesting that. Let's go. Let's get into a spoiler
(26:14):
free movie review now. I want to talk about The Menu,
which is out in theaters now. And this movie had
me intrigued from the trailer, but it was unlike anything
that I was expecting. I honestly had pretty low expectations
going into this movie, so maybe that's why I ended
up enjoying it as much as I did. But the
movie is about all of these rich people who pay
(26:36):
twelve hundred and fifty dollars to go on this remote
island to have this very exclusive dinner from this chef,
and then things start to get weird, and then they
realized that maybe not all of them will survive the evening.
So before I get into this full review, here is
just a little bit of the menu trailer. This menu,
(26:58):
the pictures us disgustless thing, this entire evenings, just it
or its stage crowd has been painstaken. When we planned
this is realistic? What the hell is going now? We're
gonna do this. So the movie revolves around this couple.
(27:24):
You have Onya Taylor Joy's character and Nicholas Holt. They
are going on a date to this island and the
guy she is dating is a very big foodie and
he's telling her all these things about this very famous chef.
And they get on this boat and there's all these
other famous people, rich people who have all paid this
(27:45):
incredible amount of money to go and experience this dinner.
They get to the island, they get to the dinner,
which is supposed to be a few hours, and then
pretty soon after that, once the meal starts, there's a
lot of theatrics, and they're trying to decide whether or
not the things that are happening are all a part
of the experience or they are in for more than
(28:08):
they bargained for, and they all start to question whether
or not they are all going to survive this evening,
and it escalates pretty quickly. I think one of the
things I enjoyed the most about this movie is how
it blended horror, comedy and suspense. It was like this
thriller at the core of it, but there were moments
(28:28):
that I felt like it was a traditional horror film
and some of the things that were just out of nowhere.
To where it starts to get very intense, I was like, Wow,
I really wasn't expecting this level of violence going into
this movie, but that really tied in with a very
subtle dark comedy in this movie. It is unlike any
(28:49):
other horror comedy I've ever seen. It's nothing like Shaun
of the Dead or anything like that, so don't go
into it expecting that. I just felt like this movie
was very novel and there aren't very many films that
I can compare it to. It kind of has that
knives out vibe, but there's no real murder mystery here.
It has a little bit of like a black mirror
(29:09):
element to it. It also kind of reminded me of
Saul when you realize all of these people are there
for a very specific reason and the chef has hands
selected every single one of them, and you find out why.
And the entire movie really plays into the idea of
this menu and the fact that this entire night has
been so orchestrated, and every scene and every act takes
(29:34):
place in courses, just like a meal would. So whenever
the first course comes out, something crazy happens. The next course,
something else crazy happens, and it goes all the way
to the dessert. So that was just a really cool,
fun way to structure this entire movie and also keep
the pacing going and going along, because as the viewer,
you're just waiting for the crazy thing that's gonna happen next,
(29:56):
the crazy thing that's going to elevate it even more
and on top of that, since is following this whole
menu format, if you're a fan of food, you're going
to love this movie. And I'm a vegan, but they
were making some meat in this movie that looked delicious,
and I wanted to be in that restaurant. I'll take
all the crazy things happening just to try some of
that food. And that's coming from somebody who eats basically
(30:19):
plants all the time. I wanted to eat what they
were eating. And a very well rounded cast with Ray
Finds really carrying this entire movie. Have Baltimore in one
of his most sinister roles I've ever seen him in,
and he plays it perfectly. Probably could have only been
him to do this part. You mixed that with Anya
Taylor Joy, who I love her and anything she's in
(30:42):
now except maybe Amsterdam, which I don't really count that
one against her, but she is just such a great lead.
I love John Lukasamo and all of the other supporting cast.
And it also had a lot of my other favorite
elements when it comes to a movie, a movie that
and also had a lot of my other favorite elements
that I indulged in, like a movie that takes place
(31:02):
entirely in one day. This movie is basically just one
evening and really only has one location on this island,
most of it taking place inside that restaurant, so you
have to know, if there aren't a whole lot of
set changes, not a whole lot of other things going on,
the actual action has to pack a punch, and that's
exactly what this movie does, and even though it's not
(31:23):
a straight on mystery, it keeps you guessing and thinking
of what's going to happen next, what the big plan
here is the entire time, and the movie does end
up making the commentary on class and how food ties
into that and how wealthy people can have nicer things.
And there's also the other side of it of the
people working at this restaurant represent the people who work
(31:45):
in the service industry, so there's also this message of
this clash of classes that I thought made a pretty
strong point. So I thought the movie was great from
beginning to end. At about an hour and forty five minutes,
this movie doesn't weigh any time to get going, has
great action, has some great visuals, has some pretty brutal
(32:06):
scenes depending on your level of queasiness and how you
deal with violence, maybe make you gasp a little bit.
There were even some scenes that I, who, I'm totally
numb to all this stuff. I have been desensitized since
I was a kid to watching crazy things. Some of
it was still surprising to me, and I think even
if you're a person who doesn't like horror movies, it's
(32:28):
not really scary in any way. I would say it's
just more shocking. And the thing I was just most
surprised about is I wasn't expecting this movie to end
up being one of my favorites out of the entire year.
Maybe when you go into something with as low expectations
are really no expectations whatsoever, only a movie like that
could do it for you. I don't want to overhype
(32:50):
this movie, but just the fact that it felt so
unique to me, it was unlike anything I had seen
in a very long time. That's what really made me
enjoy it. So if I had to rate the menu,
I would give it four point five out of five
Kitchen Knives. If you're looking for something suspenseful to watch
in theaters, look no further than the menu. It's time
(33:14):
to head down to movie Mike La Paul. The movie
is called Emancipation. It stars Will Smith. It is his
first role since slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, and
I think that's where everybody's mind goes to right away.
It was gonna be whatever role he had following that
incident that would be the one that people would talk
(33:36):
about the most. It's interesting because this movie looks so
good that I think that is the reason people are
even split on this movie. I think before that it
would have been an instant like, oh, Will Smith is
in another great movie about a very powerful subject. But
everything I see about this movie is people debating whether
or not they will even watch it. So we'll get
(33:57):
into all that. But the movie is about Peter, who
is a slave that flees a plantation in Louisiana after
he was whipped within a niche of his life, and
now he has to outwit these hunters who are out
to get him in the swamps of Louisiana as he
travels north trying to find his family, and then he
also joins the Union Army. So before we get into
(34:19):
all of that, here is just a little bit of
the Emancipation trailer. I find him, They beat me, they
whipped me, they break the balls in my body more
times than I can call, but they never never break me. So,
(34:44):
first of all, this trailer looks stunning. The cinematography in
this is top notch, and that's usually what you get
when you watch a movie that is an Apple TV
Plus original. Cinematically they look so rich. They don't really
have the biggest titles at that I think, oh, you
need to get Apple to watch all these great movies.
But as particular as I get with how a movie
(35:06):
looks just very crisp and clear, like, I'm just so
into that, probably a little bit too much that I
just love Apple TV Plus for that. And in this
movie it is scaled in black and white with a
little bit of like these rush tones. So I just
love the look and feel of this movie. Even the
big drone shots of capturing the swamps of Louisiana I
(35:26):
think look magnificent. But aside from that, I feel like
this is about a very powerful subject and a story
I didn't really know a whole lot about, but the
more I read about it, I really want to see
this movie. So Will Smith plays Peter and it's based
on a true story, and in this trailer you see
him get ripped away from his family. You see him
getting beaten, and you see him escaping and trying to
(35:49):
find salvation as he travels north. And then also towards
the end of this trailer, you see him fighting in
the Union Army. And just by the looks of this trailer,
it looks like some of the most powerful acting that
Will Smith has ever done in his career. We had
King Richard last year, which we got a peak of
how well he could handle drama. I mean, he's been
(36:11):
doing it his entire career, but that took it a
step higher. It got him the Oscar, and now this
movie seems to be the same caliber of acting with
a more intense subject, with a more intense character. So
it would almost be easy to say that he'd be
another shoe in for the Best Actor, but he is
now ineligible from the Oscar. So I think where the
(36:33):
divide comes with this movie is are you ready to
watch Will Smith in another movie again? And I am
one that I can usually separate the art from the artist,
especially when it comes to movies. We don't know these
people in Hollywood. They live on an entirely different planet,
it seems like, and I can't base people on the
characters they play in movies, it's just that's not them.
(36:55):
They're acting, so I try not to associate the real
life person with the actor on the screen. There are
a lot of actors that I like that I probably
would not enjoy hanging out with in real life or
also know that they're probably not the nicest people, but
I can still enjoy their work. When it comes to
what happened at the Oscars and the fact that we're
even still now talking about it, seems a little bit
(37:17):
like who cares at this point, But I get that
when somebody does something like that, it is a reflection
on their character. So it does become harder for me
anyway to separate the art from the artist. And this
being his next movie role to come out, it feels
like you almost have to pick a side on whether
or not you're going to watch this movie, and I've
(37:39):
been thinking about it. I didn't even know if I
would include this in the trailer park, but as I
rewatched the trailer again and again, I found myself saying
that this would be a movie that I would watch,
and I can't let that incident influence my desire to
watch this movie. So I'm going to watch it and
not think about him as the person and just try
(37:59):
to hone in on what the story being told here is.
It's from director Antoine Fuqua, who also did movies like
Training Day, South Paw, and The Equalizer, so he has
a pretty good portfolio when it comes to the movies
he's directed, and this movie appears to be fairly accurate
to what actually happened in this story. There is a
(38:20):
part in the trailer where he goes to hand to
hand combat with an alligator. I'm not sure if that
is historically accurate, but visually that looks like something I
want to watch Will Smith fighting an alligator in the swamp. Yes,
that does sound Oscar worthy. It's like Leonardo DiCaprio fighting
a bear and being completely honest. I think right after
(38:41):
the Oscar incident happened, it did take me a little
bit too like Will Smith again, because he was a
person who banked on his likability, his president on social
media of just being a nice guy. That was kind
of his brand, and that was taken away from him.
And it's kind of like building back trust with somebody
who did you wrong. So I would have called myself
(39:03):
a fan of Will Smith the actor before that, and
I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan of his now,
but I'm still curious to watch his work. So I
can completely understand if you don't ever want to watch
him in a movie ever. Again, that is your opinion.
I feel like it's there's some validity there. I think
first some it will take longer to separate that, and
(39:25):
maybe this isn't the role, this isn't the subject that
you want to dive into another Will Smith movie. Again,
I am just curious to see in general how this
movie is received once it comes out. If it gets
now zero or no attention from the award shows, I
think that will definitely speak volumes. And to see how
Will Smith goes about promoting this movie, doing interviews again,
(39:49):
doing red carpets, that will also be interesting to see
how he handles that. So again, the movie is called Emancipation.
It comes out in theaters on December two, and then
is streaming on Apple t V Plus on December nine,
this week's edition of Movie Bar and that's going to
do it for another episode here of the podcast. Thank
(40:10):
you for listening, and thank you for making it to
this point of the podcast. If you are new here.
What I like to do is give out a secret emoji.
So if you enjoy the interview this week, there's always
a secret emoji you can comment with on Instagram, on TikTok, Facebook,
Twitter to let me know you enjoyed it. So for
the Amy Brown interview, go and comment on the picture
(40:32):
we took together with the Christmas tree emoji if you
enjoyed that. And also at the end of every episode,
I like to give my listeners shout out of someone
who has showed me support online and listen to the podcast.
And this week the listeners shout out is from Instagram
and it's a d M I got from Lenz who wrote,
I'm racking my brain to try to think of other
movies You've given a five out of five rating since
(40:54):
the podcast Inception great episode this week. Really like the
format and the deep dive into how a movie makes
a billion dollars. Well appreciate it Lens for sending me
that DM. And since I started this podcast in December nineteen,
there have only been three movies I've given a five
out of five rating. In those movies are Joker, Spider Man,
No Way Home, and last week to Black Panther Waconda Forever.
(41:18):
That is it. It is very rare for me to
find a perfect movie that I could say nothing bad about.
And yes, I am showing my bias when it comes
to me loving superhero movies. So thank you Lenz for that.
D M, thank you for listening. I hope you subscribe
to the podcast. If you enjoyed this week's episode, tell
a friend who also loves movies, who loves spoiler free reviews.
(41:41):
Just tag me and tag them in your Instant story
and I'll repost those throughout the week. And until next time,
go out and watch good movies and I will talk
to you later.
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