Tom's Top 3: December 16, 2025
Hollyweird
Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s installment of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays, where I highlight three pieces of content (Podcasts/Shows/Songs/Articles/etc.) that I found interesting or noteworthy from the prior week.
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If you thought the Warner Bros acquisition would be the biggest news of the holiday season, you wouldn’t be alone, but you’d be wrong.
Let’s discuss the ups and downs of the last week in entertainment.
[YouTube] CineFix - Rob Reiner Breaks Down His Best Shots From The Princess Bride, Spinal Tap and More
I was truly shocked and saddened to hear the news about Rob Reiner’s murder. I grew up watching so many of his movies—a true fixture in film and TV over the last 50+ years, starting with his breakout role in All in the Family.
Rather than focus on the news story, I figured I’d share this recent video of Reiner talking through some of his favorite (and least favorite) shots from his career. I think it is an interesting retrospective, highlighting bits and pieces from some of his iconic films: Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and A Few Good Men.
RIP Rob Reiner.
[Podcast] Daily Tech News Show - Why Disney Struck a Deal with OpenAI
On Thursday, the House of Mouse announced that they have invested $1B in OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT and Sora. As part of the three-year deal, Disney employees will have access to OpenAI’s tools, but more importantly, Disney has agreed to license the use of some of its IP for OpenAI to use in the Sora image generation tool.
The list of licensed content is large, but it only includes creatures and masked characters. Additionally, users cannot create long-form content or use actor voices. Disney owns all of the content created using the IP, and they plan on featuring some of the best user-generated videos directly on Disney+.
I think this is a smart move for Disney. They get to dip their toe in user/AI-generated content while limiting risk (no faces, voices, or long-form), own about 1% of the hottest AI company in the world pre-IPO, and set themselves up for future deals with AI companies after the one-year exclusive with OpenAI (ahem, Google). And if it fails, it’s only a three-year commitment!
I will be curious to see how it performs and how it will sit with the creative community. While non-threatening now, some may see this as a slippery slope.
[YouTube] Bombastic - The NEW Star Wars ‘RPG’ Explained in 10 Minutes…
Right off the heels of the huge OpenAI announcement, Disney also released trailers for two new Star Wars video games: Fate of the Old Republic and Galactic Racer.
While Galactic Racer will be super cool and released in 2026, Fate of the Old Republic is getting the most coverage because of the popularity of its “spiritual predecessor,” Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR).
The game is bringing back the director and creative team that has made some of the most popular Role-Playing Games (RPGs) of all time, including KOTOR. With this being just a teaser trailer, the game is not expected to be coming anytime soon. It’s possible we don’t see it shipped for another 5 years.
Nonetheless, very exciting stuff for Star Wars video game fans.
If you made it to this point, drop a comment to say hi. And as always, please like and consider sharing with a friend who you think would enjoy! I’ll be back next week. ✌️