You might know Kevin O’Leary from “Shark Tank.”

He’s a lout and a boor — a right wing money guy who often comes across as deeply insensitive. The other Sharks don’t seem to like him.

Somewhow, O’Leary has wound up in acting role in a hot film. He plays basically himself in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Marty Supreme,” a movie I saw and raved about that will likely hit the awards season with a boom.

O’Leary plays the husband of Gwyneth Paltrow’s washed up movie star. He treats her like an object. He also treats Timothee Chalamet’s Marty with derision and sarcasm, hinting at violence.

So what has O’Leary gleaned from being part of a top notch movie made by a very respected filmmaker? Not much, apparently. In the interview below he suggests that Paul Thomas Anderson would have saved money by not using extras played by human beings. Instead, AI could have substituted in a lot of fake people in the background.

“Almost every scene had as many as 150 extras. Now, those people have to stay awake for 18 hours, be completely dressed in the background. [They’re] not necessarily in the movie, but they’re necessary to be there moving around. And yet, it costs millions of dollars to do that,” O’Leary said. “Why couldn’t you simply put AI agents in their place? Because they’re not the main actors. They’re only in the story visually. [You could] save millions of dollars, so more movies could be made. The same director, instead of spending $90 million or whatever he spent, could’ve spent $35 million and made two movies.”

Word to the Motion Picture Academy: this guy is not welcome at the Oscars (he might be invited with the cast). He should also never be cast in another film. He played himself too well.

O’Leary also says in the interview that he’s using AI to make a facsimile of himself. He’s also seeking full citizenship in the United Arab Emirates as the AI industry takes off. He should absolutely go to the UAE and stay there.

The awards season is making itself known quickly now.

We already have top Best Picture contenders in “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” and “Marty Supreme.”

Now add Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which could be the wildly talented director’s second Best Picture after “The Shape of Water.” It’s certainly got the most heart, even when the relationships appear twisted and on the edge of collapse.

Last night’s premiere at New York’s Paris Theater and following at the new spectacular Tiffany store on Fifth Avenue was a major success.

You think you know Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” pretty well by now, even lampooned by Mel Brooks so perfectly in “Young Frankenstein.”

But del Toro’s vision is something else again, a richly textured heartfelt retelling of the story of the monster — played with pathos by Jacob Elordi — and its passionate creator, Victor Frankenstein, in a knockout performance from Oscar Isaac.

Tamara Deverell’s production design alone is reason for settling down into sumptuous sets framed in Dan Laustsen’s color drenched cinematography. Alexandre Desplat’s lush score should be heard in symphony halls.

Isaac and Elordi enact what turns out to be a poignant if violent father-son relationship. The doctor — abused by his cold father (Charles Dance) as a boy, sets out to make his monster from pieces of dead victims. Once he does, the monster only wants love and companionship despite being treated worse than any animal.

So we get two versions of their story, each from their perspective. The doctor’s POV is a fever dream as he endeavors — with the help of an instigating Christoph Waltz — to create his horrifying vision. The flip side is the empathetic story of a creature who longs for acceptance.

There are plenty of well drawn supporting characters in this rollicking narrative. Felix Kammerer is Frankenstein’s sympathetic younger (and much more loved by their father) brother. Mia Goth is Elizabeth, who makes an emotional connection with the creature as she uncovers the horrors of Victor’s intent. David Bradley steals the show as a blind man who accepts Frankenstein wholly, and breaks his heart.

del Toro et al say there is almost no CGI, everything we see is real (except, I hope, for the rats which are so bold they look like they’ve been trained in the New York subway.)

del Toro certainly has a stunning resume, from “Pan’s Labyrinth” to “Shape of Water,” “Pinocchio,” “Nightmare Alley.” and so on. But this is the pinnacle of his career, a big screen breakthrough that must be seen in the largest format possible. (Netflix knows that, which is why it’s rolling out in theaters before hitting their platform.)

What a thrilling season. After last year’s sort of desultory and grim offerings (still having nightmares about “The Brutalist”), 2026 — or that is, 2025 — is shaping up pretty nicely.

On the scene last night: famed artist/film director Julian Schnabel, whose next film, “In the Hand of Dante,” stars Oscar Isaac; Sandra Bernhard, getting ready for her run of shows during New Year’s Eve week at Joe’s Pub. And the great British actor, Mark Strong, about to open on Broadway with equally ferocious Lesley Manville in “Oedipus.”

One of the most anticipated movies of the year hits theaters this Thursday night.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” stars the very popular actor from “The Bear,” Jeremy Allen White, giving a sensational, passionate performance as Bruce Springsteen circa 1982. Already a rock star, Bruce is depressed and questioning his career. He’s a year away from putting together “Born in the USA,” the album that will change his life. (JAW is worth the price of admission.)

In the meantime, he’s holed up in the woods writing his “Nebraska” album. Manager Jon Landau — Jeremy Strong — is his main emotional support, and he’s got a cute girlfriend played by Odessa Young.

But “Nebraska” is not an E Street Band album. It’s Bruce, alone, telling song stories acoustically. Even his record company, Columbia, is not keen on putting it out. They can’t predict that 40 years later, “Nebraska” will be considered an important work of art.

Publicity? Disney/20th has Springsteen and JAW booked on Kimmel this Thursday night, but nothing else this week. I’m crossing my fingers this will be a performance and not just an interview.

“Deliver Me from Nowhere” at theaters is looking a little iffy right now, more so than I would have thought. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a positive but not stunning 67% among 44 critics. That’s not a lot of reviews, which raises the question of how the movie was shown to my colleagues around the country. Is Disney/20th waiting til the last minute?

Advance sales are not booming. There are no sell outs yet for preview shows except for a couple of instances in Bruce’s hometown area in New Jersey. In New York, there are plenty of tickets at AMC Lincoln Plaza — one of the great barometers. Ditto in Los Angeles where Century City Plaza and AMC Santa Monica 7 and other signal theaters have plenty of tickets.

A lifelong Bruce fan, I loved “Deliver Me from Nowhere” just as a great movie about the creative process. It’s not like I’m a great fan of “Nebraska,” although I’m anxious to hear “Electric Nebraska,” the never before released E Street band version which drops on Thursday night. But director Scott Cooper and the aforementioned actors have made an authentically compelling movie that I recommend without hesitation to everyone. 

Get over to Fandango!

Stay tuned…