Andy Farnsworth joins KSL-TV to help audiences decipher #WhatToWatch for the weekend of January 23, 2026. The big movie of the week shifts from tense thriller to just a standard action film. Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson star in the new crime movie "Mercy" with no jury, no lawyers, and just an AI judge.

For a family friendly pick, Angel Studio’s "Standout: The Ben Kjar Story" is an incredible, inspirational true story with Utah roots. It tells you about the three-time Utah high school state champion, UVU's first-ever all-American, and eventual world champion wrestler who did it all with Crouzon Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. And Andy says it's absolutely worth your time! Also

Streaming on Netflix and also featuring Utah roots, the new documentary "Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart" actually does manage to shed some new light on a story that you might think you've already heard everything about.

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy, with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premiere movie entertainment company.

On the eve of the Oscar Nominations, as the entertainment award season just gets into full swing, producer KellieAnn Halvorsen (the fangirl) and guest host Rachel Wagner (the film critic) come together to pick the best and worst films of 2025. It is no secret that there is a big difference between what audiences and critics think of movies, but even among critics there are some great debates about what makes a movie award-winning. Rachel discusses this process as the Utah Film Critics Association already listed their 2025 favorites in a lively debate. She also shares her top films of 2025 and worst films of 2025.

Together, they emphasize the importance of ignoring other people and enjoying what you enjoy! Like Rachel does on The Hallmarkies Podcast, and how KellieAnn has chosen her stupidly-fun pick of the year with Amazon’s “The Playdate.”

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy, with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premier movie entertainment company.

Andy Farnsworth joins KSL-TV to help audiences decipher #WhatToWatch for the weekend of January 16, 2026. The big movie of the week is the latest in a franchise, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," is a zombie horror film with weird charm and a lot of violence that's not made for some movie-goers. Streaming on Netflix a tense new Ben Affleck/Matt Damon action flick called "The Rip" has plenty of action and intrigue, but plenty of adult language too. Also on Netflix, the e-episode mystery series “Agatha Christie's Seven Dials” is an enjoyable watch for those who like Britain and murder mysteries and shows set in the past.

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premiere movie entertainment company.

Start the new year right by making a goal to be more creative in 2026! And the best way to feed that creativity is at the *FREE* JanuARTy event at Valley Fair Shopping Center in West Valley Utah on Saturday January 17, 2026. While we already previewed the event and talked with local artist Adrian Ropp in the episode linked here, today we talk about the event charity the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation.

Producer KellieAnn is joined again by event founder Ryan Sagers, as well as DJ Bracken, Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation founder. They discuss the non-profits formation, more details about the artists, vendors, cosplayers, contests and panels at the event; and what creativity inspires them. All three will be present ast the event, with KellieAnn running a free kids-craft booth using lunch bags as canvases and hosting a panel at 1pm called, “Keep Creating! Getting Started on Julia Cameron’s ‘Artist Way.’

Visit JanuARTY.com for more information about the event and UTLDR.org to donate today.

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy, with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premier movie entertainment company.

Andy Farnsworth joins KSL-TV to help audiences decipher #WhatToWatch for the weekend of January 9, 2026. Our Big Movie this week is Gerard Butler & Morena Baccarin returning in the disaster-movie sequel "Greenland 2: Migration", a decent-but-not-great follow up to 2020's "Greenland". An excellent option in theaters is "Is This Thing On?," where Will Arnett copes with his marital estrangement by...doing stand-up comedy. But there's more to it than just that and Laura Dern is also excellent. The best option is (According to Andy) is Angel Studios’ "I Was A Stranger." It tells a powerful story of Syrian refugees that brought him to tears in one of those tough-to-watch-but-worth-it of films.

For streaming fodder, Netflix has an adaptation of the romance novel "People We Meet on Vacation" that, while I have a few minor quibbles, was still relatively entertaining.

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premiere movie entertainment company.

Andy Farnsworth joins KSL-TV to help audiences decipher #WhatToWatch for the weekend of January 2, 2026. In the first new release of the year, Daisy Ridley stars in "We Bury The Dead," a zombie/survival thriller that isn't your typical zombie movie.

For streaming, Netflix has a new documentary movie, "Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story," that looks deeper into how a person who at one time was a licensed therapist could eventually be arrested for horrific child abuse. Peacock has a new intriguing spy thriller series streaming, "The Copenhagen Test" that stars Simu Liu & Melissa Barrera. There are elements of traditional spy genre movies and shows, as well as a fascinating "Truman Show"-esque angle that is intriguing and has audiences hooked!

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premiere movie entertainment company.

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy, with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Throughout December 2025 Andy Farnsworth joined KSL-TV to help audiences decipher #WhatToWatch each weekend. In this Mega Movie Review Mashup, we combine all of the month's segments into one massive episode featuring everything from family-friendly and religious-focused “David,” to the grown-ups only psychological thriller, “The Housemaid.”

Shows included in this roundup:

• "Five Nights at Freddy's 2"

• "Hamnet"

• "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw"

• "Ella McCay"

• “Dust Bunny"

• “Merv"

• "Avatar: Fire & Ash"

• “David"

• “The Housemaid"

• "Song Sung Blue"

• "Marty Supreme"

The brains behind Fan Effect are connoisseurs of categories surpassing nerdy with a goal to publish a weekly "What to Watch on the Weekend" minisode taken from KSL-TV's Friday segment, and two deep-dives a month on shows, creative works, artists, local events, and other fandom topics.

Based in the beautiful Beehive State, Fan Effect celebrates Utah's unique fan culture as it has been declared The Nerdiest State in America by TIME, and is hosted by KSL Movie Show's Andy Farnsworth and Deseret News / KSL Podcasts' KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Listen regularly on your favorite platform, at kslnewsradio.com, or on the KSLNewsRadio App. Join the conversation on Facebook @FanEffectShow, or Instagram @FanEffectShow.

Fan Effect is sponsored by Megaplex Theatres, Utah's premiere movie entertainment company.