Former mobster Anthony Ruggiano Jr. rates Mafia scenes in movies and TV shows.

He discusses the portrayal of bust-out schemes in "Goodfellas," starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Lorraine Bracco, and relates to his own time in witness protection. He explains how wars broke out between New York's Five Families in "The Godfather," starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan. He separates fact from fiction about truck hijackings in "Donnie Brasco," starring Johnny Depp. He talks about the infamous murder of "Crazy" Joe Gallo in "The Irishman," starring Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. He breaks down how underworld gambling worked in "Killing Them Softly," starring Brad Pitt, Ben Mendelsohn, and Scoot McNairy. He lays out the structure and roles of a Mafia family in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," starring Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, and Kaitlin Olson. He looks at how mob boss John Gotti is portrayed in "Gotti," starring John Travolta. He details how gangsters turned into informants in "The Sopranos," starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, and Michael Imperioli. Finally, he analyzes how the Mafia once controlled New York City's construction business in "The Simpsons."

Anthony Ruggiano Jr. is a former proposed member of the Gambino crime family. He is now a counselor at a drug treatment center in Florida and host of the "Reformed Gangsters" podcast. You can find his podcast on YouTube.

• Spotify added audiobooks last year. Paid subscribers get 15 hours worth each month.
• You can also get them through Amazon or your library — celebrity memoirs are great on audiobooks.
• I'd never cared one way or the other about Al Pacino until I listened to him read his audiobook.

You probably already know that Spotify offers audiobooks with its paid-tier subscriptions. (If not, now you do!)

You might even be confused as to why I'm mentioning this when the audiobook feature launched more than a year ago, in November 2023.

Well, I'm writing this because fairly often over the last year, when I'm talking to people and I mention that I've listened to a book on Spotify, they're surprised — they didn't notice the audiobook feature even if they're a regular Spotify music listener. Or maybe they didn't realize that the books were all included for free with their subscription.

So I am taking it upon myself, during this quiet dead time between the holidays to remind you all:

You can listen to books for free* on Spotify.

(*OK, technically, you get 15 hours a month for free with your subscription. That's typically one or two books. If you go over, you can purchase more books à la carte. For me, 15 hours is fine.)

On Amazon, the largest bookseller, you can go through its Audible subscription service, which charges a monthly fee in exchange for credits you can use to purchase audiobooks. Amazon Music is now doing something similar to Spotify — you get one free book to listen to a month with a paid subscription.

Of course, there are people who are extremely high-volume consumers of audiobooks — and one book a month isn't going to even come close to cutting it for them. On Reddit, some of these power listeners who burn through three to five books in a week discussed their strategies: mixing together Audible credits, the one free Amazon Music books, and Libby (the app for public libraries, which is great because it's unlimited and actually free, but it doesn't have everything and there can be long wait times for new releases or popular titles).

There's also a shady underworld to audiobooks: torrent sites, or YouTube brain rot-style videos where someone plays Minecraft over the audiobook narration for the entire "Lord of the Rings" series.

I don't condone any of that. Point is: With Spotify or Amazon Music, the audiobooks are a nice add-on. They could completely change your reading habits if you're now someone who really loves the feel of paper in your hands or likes to curl up with their Kindle.

If you've never listened to audiobooks, allow me to make the case for a specific genre that they're perfect for: celebrity memoirs, especially if the celebrities themselves read them.

Most recently, I listened to Al Pacino's autobiography, "Sonny Boy: A Memoir." Pacino reads it himself, and it's the perfect delivery — he's got all the strangely YELLED WORDS!!! and quiet asides. At points, I wondered if he was even going off-script, it sounded so natural.

I hadn't previously particularly cared much either way about Al Pacino, but I finished the book absolutely delighted by him and his commitment to leading an artistic life. But I truly think that I wouldn't have found the book as compelling if I had read it on paper — his reading of it added so much.

Celebrity autobiographies often aren't exactly hugely weighty or complicated tomes — you can listen as you would a podcast: while doing the dishes, grocery shopping, driving.

So here's my pitch: If you're already paying for Spotify, Amazon, or any other service, give an audiobook a try. It's usually free, there's nothing to lose — if you think the book stinks, just start a new one!

Firearms expert Patrick McNamara rates gun technique in movies.

McNamara talks about recovering ammo on the battlefield in "John Wick: Chapter 2," starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Common. He explains how to handle different types of machine guns in "Rambo: First Blood Part II," starring Sylvester Stallone; and "Pulp Fiction," starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bruce Willis. He critiques James Bond's shooting form in "Die Another Day," starring Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry and Judi Dench; and "No Time to Die," starring Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, and Ana de Armas. He breaks down how to fire at a moving target in "Deadpool," starring Ryan Reynolds. He discusses firing two guns at once in "The Bourne Identity," starring Matt Damon and Clive Owen. He describes shooting range exercises in "S.W.A.T.," starring Colin Farrell, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Renner; and "Lethal Weapon," starring Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. He looks at shooting in dark environments in "Sicario," starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro. He analyzes the reload techniques displayed in "Scarface," starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. He walks us through different sniper positions in "Mad Max: Fury Road," starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Hoult. Finally, he deconstructs Tom Cruise's shooting stance in "Collateral," also starring Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Patrick McNamara served for 22 years in Army special operations forces. He is president of TMACS, where he trains people in tactical marksmanship.

You can learn more about safe gun-handling techniques from Patrick here:

https://www.youtube.com/@patmcnamara

https://www.tmacsinc.com/

• Jim Carrey told the Associated Press he came out of acting retirement because he needed money.
• He stars in "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," two years after he announced his retirement.
• Al Pacino, Hugh Grant, Nicolas Cage, and Harrison Ford have also said they've taken roles for money.

Jim Carrey said he came back from retirement because he needed the money.

Carrey announced in 2022 that he'd retire after the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," in which he played the villain Dr. Robotnik.

In an interview with Access Hollywood in April 2022, Carey said, "If the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I'm taking a break."

That break was short-lived. Less than two years later, Variety confirmed in February that Carrey was coming out of retirement to star in "Sonic the Hedgehog 3."

In the film, premiering on December 20, Carrey plays Dr. Robotnik and his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik.

Speaking to the Associated Press at the London premiere of "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" on Tuesday, Carrey said, "I came back to this universe because, first of all, I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch. And I just, I bought a lot of stuff, and I need the money, frankly."

Carrey's salary for the previous two films isn't public knowledge, but "Sonic the Hedgehog" and its sequel were surprise box-office hits — a rare occurrence for video-game adaptations. The first film grossed $319 million, and the sequel made $405 million in ticket sales.

In February 2023, Carrey also put a Los Angeles home he's owned for 30 years up for sale. The mansion was originally listed at $29 million, but after nearly two years on the market, the price has now been cut to $19.75 million.

Hugh Grant, Nicolas Cage, Amanda Seyfried, and Harrison Ford are A-list celebrities who have all said they took roles for financial reasons.

In his memoir "Sonny Boy," published in October, Al Pacino wrote that he quit movie acting in the mid-1980s because he felt "creatively drained" but returned to the industry after running out of money.

"I looked up, and I had no money," Pacino wrote. "I had about ninety grand in the back, and that was it."

With encouragement from Diane Keaton, his costar in "The Godfather" and then girlfriend, Pacino got a role in the 1989 film "Sea of Love."

Later in the memoir, Pacino wrote that he went broke again in 2011 because of overspending.

"There's almost nothing worse for a famous person — there's being dead, and then there's being broke," Pacino wrote.

This time around, Pacino sold a house, did commercials, and accepted a role in the 2011 Adam Sandler movie "Jack and Jill" to get financially stable again.