The Big Picture: The 2022 Movie Draft

Published 2025-12-17; 1:28:02 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “The Big Picture (The Ringer)” and the episode “The 2022 Movie Draft”.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins. Guests: Chris Ryan.

Subject films: none named.

On the transcript: No speaker labels, rapid crosstalk, and several lines jumbled; early-episode attributions about Letterboxd, foreign films, and who won what are inferred from the closing recap at 1:23:55. Ads (Amazon Prime, Coca-Cola, State Farm) were skipped.

Films that came up

passing (28)

Ella McKay · Avatar: Fire and Ash · Gladiator · Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro) · Jurassic World Dominion · Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness · Black Panther: Wakanda Forever · High Fidelity · Women Talking · untitled prison film · The Brutalist · La La Land · Jay Kelly · West Side Story · The Post · F1 · The Exorcist (new Scarlett Johansson project) · Jurassic World Rebirth · Eleanor the Great · Dune: Part Two · Dune: Part Three · The Jazz Singer · Presumed Innocent (TV series) · Psycho · Weapons · Armageddon Time · Hustlers · How to Make a Killing

dismissed (10)

Morbius · Firestarter (remake) · The Bubble · Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Netflix reboot) · Pinocchio (Robert Zemeckis) · Halloween Ends · Blonde · Black Adam · The Lost City · Bullet Train

anecdote (5)

Mussolini: Son of the Century · A Quiet Place Part II · Old · Zack Snyder's Justice League · The Dark Knight Rises

recommended (19)

Avatar: The Way of Water · Top Gun: Maverick · Tár · Ambulance · Babylon · The Fabelmans · Nope · The Banshees of Inisherin · The Batman · Gilda · Downton Abbey: A New Era · Pearl · Barbarian · Confess, Fletch · Prey · Minions: The Rise of Gru · Jennifer Lopez: Halftime · Everything Everywhere All at Once · Emily the Criminal

compared (17)

After the Hunt · American Graffiti · Get Out · Us · In Bruges · Prisoners · Singin' in the Rain · MaXXXine · X · Heat · Fletch · Predator · Predator 2 · Predator: Badlands · Predators · Green Book · Straight Time

Claims (28)

  1. craft (ending montage): Babylon → Avatar: The Way of Water. Chris thinks it cheap that Babylon's montage of cinema moments includes Avatar, which Sean defends as part of cinema's evolution.
    “It feels cheap that he would put that movie in the like montage of the greatest film moments ever”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:32:59 · Chris Ryan (0.75 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): The Brutalist → untitled prison film. The cinematographer of The Brutalist, Lol Crawley, is shooting Damien Chazelle's upcoming prison film.
    “The brutalist guy is shooting it.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:34:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (shared quality): Tár → Top Gun: Maverick. Amanda calls them her two favorites of the year, one for the spectacle of cinema and the other for going for it as capital-C cinema.
    “I have 2 favorites of this year, Top Gun Maverick. For the spectacle of cinema and tar for just absolutely fucking going for it, capital C cinema.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:35:06 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  4. theme (tonal echo): The Fabelmans → American Graffiti. Amanda compares the high school interlude in the middle of The Fabelmans to American Graffiti.
    “the lovely American graffiti high school, like interlude in the middle.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:39:16 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  5. people (collaboration): Tony Kushner → The Fabelmans. Amanda notes Spielberg wrote The Fabelmans with Tony Kushner, making it a deep but active collaboration.
    “he wrote it with Tony Kushner.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:40:27 · Amanda Dobbins (0.80 sure it was them)
  6. theme (thematic): Nope → The Fabelmans. Sean says Nope, like The Fabelmans, explores self and what you do in the act of making movies.
    “similar to the Fablemans, like exploration of self and like what you do in the act of making movies”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:41:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  7. career (filmography progression): Nope → Get Out. Get Out is a neat, legible, pop statement while Us and Nope are messier with more strands, which Sean likes.
    “The get out is such a complete statement. Like, it's a movie that is very legible.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:43:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  8. career (filmography progression): Nope → Us. Us and Nope are described as messier and less neat than Get Out, with more strands.
    “But us and Nope, or like a little messier, have a lot of strands around them.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:43:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  9. people (performance): Kerry Condon → The Banshees of Inisherin. Chris says Keoghan's longing for Condon's character stayed with him and calls Keoghan's best performance there.
    “the underlying plot about Keegan's longing for the Carrie Condon. character is the thing that really stayed with me.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:44:33 · Chris Ryan (0.90 sure it was them)
  10. career (filmography comparison): The Banshees of Inisherin → In Bruges. Chris calls Banshees McDonagh's most satisfying film since In Bruges.
    “I think it's probably his most satisfying film for me since in Bruges.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:44:50 · Chris Ryan (0.90 sure it was them)
  11. people (actor persona): The Batman → Prisoners. Chris jokes Dano's Riddler is what the Prisoners guy would be if he grew up and moved to Gotham.
    “This is if the prisoner's guy grew up and moved to Gotham”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:46:01 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
  12. people (performance): Paul Dano → The Batman. Chris calls Dano a fantastic villain and Pattinson a solid Batman.
    “he's he's a fantastic villain in it.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:46:06 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)
  13. lineage (source of rumor): Gilda → The Batman. A speaker says watching Gilda will help understand the next Batman, with Scarlett Johansson rumored as Gilda Dent.
    “And then you'll be able to understand the Batman too.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:49:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  14. theme (plot borrowing): Downton Abbey: A New Era → Singin' in the Rain. The Downton film's film-within-a-film plot, with Lady Mary dubbing a silent star, is a pure crib from Singin' in the Rain.
    “it's just pure crib from singing in the rain, but it starts as a silent film and then, you know, they go to see uh, the jazz singer”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:55:28 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  15. unmapped (prequel and trilogy): Pearl → X. Amanda watched Pearl because she promised to see MaXXXine and so caught up on X and Pearl.
    “which I saw because I promised to watch Maxine. And then I was like, well, I got to watch the 1st two.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:57:41 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  16. theme (shared theme): Pearl → Babylon. Amanda says Pearl completes a trilogy of 2022 films about the transition to silent film, with Babylon and Downton Abbey: A New Era.
    “this completes the trilogy of silent film transition in movies this year between Babylon, Downton, Abbey, and New Era, and Pearl.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:57:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  17. theme (shared theme): Downton Abbey: A New Era → Babylon. Both 2022 films are about the silent-to-sound transition in movies.
    “this completes the trilogy of silent film transition in movies this year between Babylon, Downton, Abbey, and New Era, and Pearl.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:57:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  18. people (performance): Mia Goth → Pearl. Amanda calls it Goth's best performance and amusingly gnarly rather than freaking-out gnarly.
    “Great Mia Goth performance, even when it gets gnarly.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:58:33 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  19. lineage (production origin): Pearl → X. Pearl was cooked up by Ti West and Mia Goth while stuck in a faraway place during the shoot of X.
    “Pearl being a movie that Tai West and Mia Goth just cooked up because they were stuck in, I think, Australia or maybe New Zealand during the production of X”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:59:10 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  20. people (director follow-up): Barbarian → Weapons. Sean says Barbarian made Zach Cregger a filmmaker to follow, which paid off with Weapons.
    “that really just came to fruition with weapons and the success that Zach Kreiger had with that movie.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:00:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  21. lineage (homage): Ambulance → Heat. Chris says the first half of Ambulance is Michael Bay trying to make Heat, before the second half becomes a great chase movie.
    “The 1st half of this movie is basically like Michael Bay being like, I want to make heat.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:06:53 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)
  22. unmapped (reboot): Confess, Fletch → Fletch. Chris describes it as a riff on the long-promised Fletch franchise reboot, with Jon Hamm taking the role Chevy Chase made iconic.
    “Chevy Chase did an iconic turn as a Fletch character, a journalist come detective in Los Angeles.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:08:48 · Chris Ryan (0.85 sure it was them)
  23. people (director): Greg Mottola → Confess, Fletch. Chris credits Mottola as one of the most accomplished undersung directors.
    “they finally settled on Greg Matolo, who's one of like the most accomplished undersung directors out there”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:09:02 · Chris Ryan (0.85 sure it was them)
  24. verdict (franchise ranking): Prey → Predators. Chris ranks Predators first, Predator 2 second, Prey third, as a matter of filmmaking, he claims.
    “Predator 2 is probably number two.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:13:22 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  25. industry (franchise): Prey → Predator. Prey is chronologically a prequel but accepted as part of the franchise.
    “Prey is chronologically a prequel.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:13:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  26. industry (awards loss): Jennifer Lopez: Halftime → Hustlers. Amanda's pick is the doc where Lopez loses the Golden Globe nomination for Hustlers on camera.
    “She's nominated for a Golden Globe for hustlers for this. And she doesn't win.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:18:38 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  27. industry (awards backlash pattern): Everything Everywhere All at Once → Green Book. Chris says EEAAO went through the same awards spin cycle backlash as Green Book, hurting its reputation.
    “the movie went through the spin cycle in the same way we were just at a conversation on the last episode about Green Book.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:20:55 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  28. theme (era vibe): Emily the Criminal → Straight Time. Chris says Emily the Criminal has a bit of the vibe of 70s character-portrait crime movies like Straight Time.
    “a little bit of a vibe of like 70s movies, like straight time, where it's just like a very, very cool character portrait”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:23:18 · Chris Ryan (0.85 sure it was them)

Fun items (23)

  1. fun, about Chris Ryan: Chris has logged every 2022 release on Letterboxd and has watched all of them: 309 of 309.
    “It's 309 movies and it says you've watched 309 of 309.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:19:20 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Amanda Dobbins: After Chris takes Top Gun first, Amanda announces she needs a meeting with herself, then admits she was being a petulant brat.
    “I had to have a meeting with myself about not being a petulant brat for the rest of the thing”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:25:58 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Ambulance: Chris and Sean describe seeing Ambulance together as a spiritual night, like two swans finding each other.
    “Like, like 2 swans who found one another in a giant lake.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:28:01 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Top Gun: Maverick: Chris says the last 30 minutes, until the final 10, are perfect cinema, from leaving the battleship through the coffin run.
    “the last 30 minutes up until the last 10 minutes are perfect cinema”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:29:58 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Top Gun: Maverick: Chris sat in another room watching it with Amanda's son while they dealt with power loss during the fires.
    “you sat in the other room with my son watching Top Gun Maverick while we figured out what to do.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:30:40 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Zack Snyder's Justice League: Sean rarely rewatches films except Zack Snyder's Justice League (ten times); he's seen The Dark Knight Rises six times from channel-flipping for Bane.
    “I tend to not go back to films aside from Zack Snyder's Justice League, which I've seen 10 times.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:32:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Babylon: Chris asks if Sean understands Babylon's ending after seeing Avatar: The Way of Water, and calls the montage cameo cheap.
    “Do you feel like you understand the ending of Babylon anymore now that you have seen Avatar The Way of Water?”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:32:51 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Tár: Amanda laughed with joy at the ending and recalls small observed moments like the deleted email and Petra's father.
    “I started like laughing with joy and I can't believe you're doing this at the end of this movie”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:35:17 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about Tár: The Juilliard confrontation is an instant time capsule of cancel culture, done less well since.
    “The Juilliard set, you know, confrontation between the student and Lydia Tar is sort of like a, an instant time capsule”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:37:23 · Amanda Dobbins (0.80 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Jordan Peele: Sean says Peele's movies play better on the tenth watch than the first.
    “his movies actually now to me play better on like the 10th watch than they do on the first.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:42:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Nope: Sean saw it in 70mm at the Egyptian for his birthday, loud and amazing, and plans to rewatch it every couple of years until he dies.
    “I probably will watch this movie every couple years till I die.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:43:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about The Batman: Chris picks it because his favorite meme of the century is Paul Dano losing his mind behind the Arkham cell; Dano as the Riddler is a gift.
    “one of my favorite memes of the century.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:45:47 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Gilda: A detour about the Gilda hair flip and the song, with a joke about a 1939 draft.
    “She does the hair flip, you know?”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:49:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Avatar: The Way of Water: Sean's tears over Jake Sully and the whale are teased as the closest he's come to crying on the podcast.
    “that was just him crying about a whale.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:51:03 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Downton Abbey: A New Era: Amanda pitches it as Singin' in the Rain: Lady Mary dubs a silent star, and Lady Violet inherits a French Riviera house from a torrid affair.
    “Lady Violet, a.k.a. the dowager countess, like had a torrid love affair, and she got left a house.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:56:19 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Pearl: Ti West and Mia Goth cooked it up while stuck far away during X, a positive outcome of the 2020 and 2021 struggles.
    “also one of those really a weirdly positive outcome of the struggles of 2020 and 2021.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:59:10 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Barbarian: Sean begs Bob Iger for a 4K release of Barbarian because it has been three years.
    “Bob Iger, if you're listening.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:02:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Ambulance: First half is Michael Bay doing Heat; the second half is one of the best chase movies of the century, with great defibrillator work.
    “the 2nd half of this movie is one of the best chase movies that you will see this century.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:06:58 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about Prey: The group teases the speaker who likes Prey for being largely silent yet wants chatter, noting no foreign or silent films.
    “So no foreign films and no silent films.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:11:06 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Minions: The Rise of Gru: Amanda saw it alone at her childhood theater in Atlanta; a minions choir appears from nowhere and sings, which made her crack up.
    “There's a minions choir that shows up from nowhere and they just start singing.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:16:31 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about Jennifer Lopez: Halftime: Amanda says cameras caught Lopez backstage devastated after losing the Golden Globe, the most defeated moment, and she's the third most thought-about 2022 movie.
    “the most defeated, disappointed, like, I can't believe like I let you guys all down for a fucking golden globe”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:18:44 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about Everything Everywhere All at Once: Sean picks it as a genre mashup and sincere immigrant-family portrait with a lot of kung fu, despite the awards spin cycle.
    “it has a lot of fucking kung fu in it.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:21:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about Emily the Criminal: Chris calls it one of the better crime films of the decade and says he has gone back to it.
    “I have gone back to, and I think is one of the better crime films of the decade.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 1:23:38 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)

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