Stocking Stuffer Saturday

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Good morning and Happy Saturday, all. It’s so crazy with just a few days left before Christmas — isn’t traffic supposed to be getting lighter in Los Angeles right about now? — so I’m grateful that you’ve chosen to spend a few moments here with me.

This should be a joyous time. But like so many of you, I’ve felt deep shock and sadness over the killings of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, last weekend. It’s an unfathomable tragedy. There’s no other word for it. And each new detail we learn is worse than the last.

I’ll have some more thoughts on Reiner later on in the newsletter. For now, here’s what we reviewed this week on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. Take us with you as you’re picking up those last-minute gifts, and maybe leave us a review and a few stars if you have a minute. It helps people find us in the vast podcast ether.

• AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH. James Cameron just keeps making these “Avatar” movies — and they keep getting longer — so we’re going to keep reviewing them. This third one offers a lot of the same ideas and images as 2022’s “The Way of Water,” but it also features a crazy-sexy-dangerous performance from Oona Chaplin as the leader of the Ash People, which gives it a welcome weird streak. In theaters (like, all of them).

• THE HOUSEMAID. Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried star in this twisty, delicious trash about a desperate young woman who takes a job cleaning a lavish New York home. Both actresses know exactly what kind of movie they’re making and seem to revel in the campy melodrama. And because this is a Paul Feig film, the interiors and clothes are to die for. Brandon Sklenar, as Seyfried’s husband, walks around the house a lot in a tank top. In theaters. (Go with your girlfriends.)

• IS THIS THING ON? The third film from director Bradley Cooper operates in a lower key than his first two, “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro,” but its warmth and intimacy are what we like about it. Will Arnett stars as a husband and father of two who works through his divorce by turning to stand-up comedy. Laura Dern is funny and earthy as his soon-to-be ex-wife. In theaters.

• RENTAL FAMILY. Brendan Fraser stars as a struggling American actor in Japan who joins an agency that rents out people to perform various functions in strangers’ lives. We liked his performance but didn’t find this movie as moving as so many others did. “Rental Family” has been out there for a little while so we wanted to catch up with it — have you seen it? Are we dead inside? Let us know.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! Our last movie news of 2025, and there was a lot to discuss between Rob Reiner, Oscar shortlists, the Academy Awards moving to YouTube in 2029, and new trailers for “Disclosure Day,” “Digger” and the “Melania” documentary. We’re so thankful to our folks for hanging out with us in the middle of the day and look forward to more live chats in 2026.

And the reason you can see any of our livestreams or videos or hear our podcasts is because of Riverside, the platform we use to record everything we do. I also love it for cutting YouTube shorts and Instagram reels. I just type in what I want the clip to include and it gives me various options to choose from. More details on what Riverside offers below!

Over at our Patreon, we reviewed “Better Watch Out” for our December Off the Menu. This 2016 horror comedy is part of Alonso’s updated book, “Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas.” I’d never seen it (or even heard of it), but it’s the movie our members chose in this month’s poll. Levi Miller stars as a tween who’s excited about having a beautiful, older babysitter (Olivia DeJonge) stay with him for the evening while his parents (Virginia Madsen and Patrick Warburton) attend a holiday party. It should be a silent night, but because this is a horror movie involving a babysitter, it’s not so simple. Director and co-writer Chris Peckover’s film is nearly a decade old, but we still tried to avoid giving away all the twists and surprises in our review. Thanks to everyone who voted, all year long.

Finally, I wanted to spend a few moments talking about Rob Reiner. I don’t want to dwell on the grisly details of what happened to him and his wife — here’s a beautiful tribute to Michele Singer Reiner that’s far more worthy of your time — but I do want to remember the joy he brought us over many decades, both in front of and behind the camera, on TV and in film.

The good-hearted sincerity that radiated in Reiner’s performance as Meathead on the ‘70s sitcom “All in the Family” seemed to function as a through-line in all of his work. His films defined genres and a generation. He probably made one of your favorite movies, whether he was inventing the mockumentary with “This Is Spinal Tap,” delighting us with the romantic comedy of “When Harry Met Sally …” or the fantasy of “The Princess Bride,” or thrilling us with the horrors of “Misery” or the courtroom drama of “A Few Good Men.” Nic watched “Stand By Me” for his film appreciation class freshman year, and it resonated the same for him as it did for me when I saw it as a kid. Reiner had the wisdom to work with smart, singular screenwriters and told their stories in old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing ways. Tales of his bigheartedness on set have been pouring in since his death, and it makes sense that he’d remain so attuned to actors’ needs, having been one himself for so long.

I love his work on the most recent season of “The Bear” as Ebra’s sandwich shop mentor. That’s where the photo comes from that you see above, and it’s the one I keep turning to, because this role captured both his warmth and his wry sense of humor so well.

We’ll honor Reiner with our January Off the Menu poll on our Patreon. Until then, I’d love to know what your favorite movie of his was, even though it’s impossible to choose.

That’ll do it for me for this week. I’m off to coffee with the cross-country moms, a holiday tradition I’ve come to treasure. Thank you for sharing some of your time with me during these busy days. If you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I hope you’ll pass it along to a friend. And if someone passed it along to you, I hope you’ll subscribe. Have a great week, Merry Christmas, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.