The Big Picture: Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes!

Published 2024-01-11; 2:23:25 by the feed.

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

The extraction calls the show “The Big Picture (The Ringer)” and the episode “Best Picture Power Rankings and a 'Poor Things' Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes!”.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins, Bobby Wagner (producer, in studio, speaks throughout). Guests: Julianne Moore, Todd Haynes.

Subject films: Poor Things (2023), May December (2023).

On the transcript: No speaker labels and the transcript fuses three in-studio voices plus an interview segment, so host attributions are guessed from context; the ad read at the top is Stick the Landing and was skipped. Several sentences are garbled mid-line (e.g. around 1:03 and 1:10), and a few lines mix speakers.

Added from the extractor's memory, not said

Films that came up

subject (4)

Poor Things · May December · Safe · Far from Heaven

passing (39)

Mickey 17 · Dune: Part Two · Parasite · Licorice Pizza · Nimona · The Boy and the Heron · Wish · Elemental · Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem · Suzume · Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse · Maestro · Oppenheimer · Killers of the Flower Moon · Witness · Past Lives · Anatomy of a Fall · Priscilla · The Iron Claw · The Zone of Interest · Ferrari · All of Us Strangers · American Fiction · The Color Purple · Babylon · La La Land · Fair Play · The Tragedy of Macbeth · Migration · Kinds of Kindness · My Best Friend · Bo Is Afraid · The Shining · Eyes Wide Shut · A Star Is Born (referred to only as 'your beloved nightmare Allie') · Abbott Elementary (TV) · I'm Not There (referred to only as 'the Bob Dylan trip' / 'the Dylan story') · Velvet Goldmine · Dark Waters

anecdote (6)

Boogie Nights · Phantom Thread · The Da Vinci Code · Killer's Kiss · Fear and Desire · Game Change

compared (17)

Punch-Drunk Love · Barbie · The Holdovers · The Lighthouse · Shadow of the Vampire · The Favourite · Frankenstein · The Lobster · Mean Girls · Dogtooth · The Island of Dr. Moreau · The Wizard of Oz · Bride of Frankenstein · The Killing of a Sacred Deer · Alps · Cold War · Another Round

dismissed (1)

The Good Nurse

recommended (1)

Kinetta

Claims (55)

  1. industry (release clash): Mickey 17 → Dune: Part Two. Warner Bros. moved Dune 2 to March 2024, so Mickey 17 likely could not share that month.
    “they're probably not going to do Dune 2 and Mickey 17 in the same month just from like marketing resources”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:05:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (audience context): Bong Joon-ho → Parasite. Parasite introduced Bong to a huge audience but he makes strange genre films, a concern for Warner.
    “Parasite introduced him to a huge new audience, but he makes really unusual genre movies.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:06:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (long-running want): Leonardo DiCaprio → Boogie Nights. PTA wanted DiCaprio for Boogie Nights and has been trying to cast him since.
    “PTA wanted Leo for boogie nights.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:08:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  4. people (prior performance): Sean Penn → Licorice Pizza. Penn did fine work in a William Holden-esque stand-in role there.
    “He was in Licorice Pizza, did fine work as a William Holden-esque stand-in in that movie.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:08:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  5. career (career milestone): Paul Thomas Anderson → Punch-Drunk Love. His next film is the first contemporary-set film since Punch-Drunk Love.
    “This is the 1st time he's made a movie set in modern time since Punch Drunklove”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:08:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  6. unmapped (gave break): Michael De Luca → Boogie Nights. De Luca ran New Line and gave PTA his break with Boogie Nights; now runs Warner's films division.
    “gave PTA his big break with Boogie Nights.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:09:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  7. lineage (rumored adaptation): Paul Thomas Anderson → Thomas Pynchon. PTA's next film was long rumored to adapt Pynchon's Vineland, set in the 1980s, but this one is contemporary.
    “it has been long rumored that his next, his next film is going to be an adaptation of Thomas Pinchin's Vineland.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:09:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  8. unmapped (synthesis of oeuvre): The Boy and the Heron → Hayao Miyazaki. Watching a few earlier Miyazaki films first reveals the Heron as a synthesis.
    “if you watch like 2 or 3 beforehand and then watch it, you'll see that there's like a synthesis going on.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:13:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  9. unmapped (technique learned from): Maestro → Guillermo del Toro. Cooper learned crane technique from del Toro and used it in the On the Town sequence.
    “executed magnificently in the on the town sequence in Maestro.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:17:17 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
  10. people (director identity): Ferrari → Michael Mann. An Italian-set film by 'the most American of directors', with Cruz as a more known international actress.
    “Ferrari, which is an Italian based film made by Michael Mann, the most American of directors.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:19:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  11. people (actors satirized): May December → Poor Things. Sean says he discussed the satirization of actors in May December with the guests, tied to why actors may have overlooked it.
    “I actually talked about specifically some of the satirization of actors with Julianne and Todd.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:21:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  12. unmapped (star type): Charles Melton → Clark Gable. Melton is a classical old-school movie star type who knows how to pose.
    “he's really just, like a lot of Clark Gable.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:21:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  13. contrast (awards contrast): Mark Ruffalo → Willem Dafoe. Dafoe repeats what he has done before while Ruffalo breaks new ground, so Ruffalo's snub is odder.
    “whereas Ruffalo is doing something”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:23:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  14. people (casting reference): Willem Dafoe → The Lighthouse. Dafoe's Godwin is described as a craggy, monstrous creature, a lighthouse meets Shadow of the Vampire.
    “like a lighthouse meets shadow of the vampire.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:23:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  15. theme (parallel role): Mark Ruffalo → Sterling K. Brown. Both play comic relief who force a realization on the lead, which is why one host wants both recognized.
    “Like they're comic relief, but they're also like a critical emotional turning point for the lead character.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:24:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  16. craft (craft): Yorgos Lanthimos → Robbie Ryan. Amanda notes Lanthimos reunited with his dream team, with Robbie Ryan coming back to shoot Poor Things.
    “Obviously, Robbie Ryan coming back to shoot the film.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:31:51 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  17. unmapped (could-have-been-by): Poor Things → Guillermo del Toro. The creature story and design could have come from a del Toro film.
    “This could have been a Giroba Del Toro movie, honestly”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:32:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  18. people (collaboration pair): Emma Stone → Yorgos Lanthimos. Their partnership (two features, a short, a third coming) is likened to Scorsese and De Niro.
    “This is like a Scorsese De Niro thing that is happening.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:33:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  19. theme (comparison): Poor Things → Barbie. Both arrived as feminist coming-of-age stories about a created girl learning about the world, six weeks apart.
    “it was about 6 weeks after the Barbie wave and there are some really obvious comparisons to be made here.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:33:58 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  20. theme (genre translation): The Favourite → Mean Girls. Lanthimos films are read as his takes on familiar genres; The Favourite is his Mean Girls.
    “Like the favorite is his version of Mean Girls.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:35:03 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
  21. theme (theme link): Poor Things → Fair Play. The sex-in-American-movies topic was discussed in the Fair Play episode.
    “We talked about it in the Fairplay episode last year.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:37:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  22. theme (character echo): Poor Things → The Island of Dr. Moreau. Godwin, fusing creatures on his island, is likened to a Dr. Moreau figure.
    “he's kind of an, uh, an island of Dr. Moreau kind of figure”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:40:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  23. lineage (sequel in spirit): Poor Things → Dogtooth. Both are about who gets to dictate the rules; Poor Things is described as a sequel to Dogtooth's fathers-and-language themes.
    “It's like the sequel to that movie in some ways because the Godwin character”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:41:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  24. craft (visual echo): Poor Things → The Wizard of Oz. The black-and-white film turns to color once Bella discovers sex in Lisbon.
    “the movie turns to color once she knows about sex. So Wizard of Oz.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:46:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  25. craft (craft): Poor Things → Holly Waddington. A host raves that the clothes in Poor Things are out of control and credits the costumes to Holly Waddington.
    “The clothes in this movie are out of control.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:47:00 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  26. people (prior role): Kathryn Hunter → The Tragedy of Macbeth. Hunter, the Madam in Poor Things, was the witches in Macbeth.
    “who we last saw in uh, Tragedy of Macbeth, as the witches, is an incredible performer”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:57:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  27. career (career surprise): Mark Ruffalo → Poor Things. Amanda marvels that Ruffalo spent ten MCU years and never did a part like this.
    “I can't believe Mark Ruffalo is just in the MCU for like 10 years and wasn't doing stuff like this”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:58:05 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  28. contrast (tonal contrast): The Lobster → Poor Things. The Lobster ends in tragedy while Poor Things is called Lanthimos's most heartful movie.
    “I do think this is the most like heartful movie he's made.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:10:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  29. lineage (influence): Poor Things → Bride of Frankenstein. Sean says the Frankenstein novel and the first two Frankenstein movies are major influences on Poor Things.
    “the Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein are, like, huge influences on this movie.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:14:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  30. contrast (inversion): Poor Things → Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a cautionary tale about science; Poor Things uses its framework to arrive at redemption and closeness.
    “There's a lot of other ideas in Frankenstein, but this movie in many ways is the opposite.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:15:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  31. lineage (source novel): Poor Things → Alasdair Gray. The film is based on the Scottish author's novel, from which Lanthimos took liberties.
    “this is actually based on a novel by Alice Dare Gray, the Scottish author.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:18:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  32. theme (genre translation): The Favourite → Mean Girls. Sean praises the Mean Girls reading, then says the film is really about power and lonely futility.
    “The favorite is Mean Girls. I think that's super smart reading of that movie”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:19:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  33. theme (genre per Lanthimos): The Killing of a Sacred Deer → Poor Things. Sacred Deer is framed as Lanthimos's horror movie, in a run of one-per-genre films ending with the monster movie.
    “that's also his horror movie.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:20:33 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  34. unmapped (temperament): Yorgos Lanthimos → Stanley Kubrick. Sean calls Lanthimos a 'we are all alone' filmmaker in the Kubrick mold, at least until now.
    “he is like a Kubrickian, we are all alone kind of filmmaker.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:21:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  35. industry (awards viewership): May December → The Zone of Interest. Argues May December is widely seen on Netflix, more than Zone, Anatomy or Past Lives.
    “Main December is way more widely seen, in my opinion, than the zone of interest.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:29:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  36. industry (release-timing theory): The Iron Claw → A24. A24 had too many good films; releasing The Iron Claw earlier would have helped Zac Efron.
    “I think if you had, if they had released Iron Claw in November, that's a movie that I think Zach Efron would be competing.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:31:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  37. industry (release-timing theory): Bo Is Afraid → A24. Bo Is Afraid could have been an October awards play for makeup/hair or costumes.
    “That could have been an awards movie if they dropped it in October in some certain respects”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:31:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
  38. industry (awards precedent): The Zone of Interest → Cold War. Zone could win International Feature and director without Best Picture, as Cold War did.
    “And it won't, because Cold War did not get a best picture combination.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:35:51 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
  39. industry (awards precedent): The Zone of Interest → Another Round. Another Round got a screenplay nomination but not Best Picture.
    “We saw this with another round where got a screenplay nomination, but it didn't get in to best picture.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:35:59 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  40. career (career shift): Alexander Payne → Yorgos Lanthimos. A host is a fan of both directors and felt both The Holdovers and Poor Things were shifts away from what she loved.
    “these movies felt like shifts that I didn't vibe with as much, ultimately.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:43:02 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  41. industry (awards rivals): Poor Things → The Holdovers. The two are tied, appealing to different voting blocks: old classical versus young and visual.
    “the holdovers is just a very classical movie that feels like it was made in the 70s and speaks to that nostalgia factor for a lot of voters”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:44:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  42. industry (awards tiebreaker): Oppenheimer → Poor Things. Oppenheimer bridges the old and new voting blocks the other two split.
    “It is very old versus young and Oppenheimer is the great tiebreaker because it does both.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:44:52 · Amanda Dobbins (0.45 sure it was them)
  43. unmapped (joke target): Oppenheimer → Rami Malek. The real joke about Oppenheimer's length was the clipboard business, not the runtime.
    “the real joke was in like what the hell was Ramy Molik doing with the clipboard.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:46:36 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  44. unmapped (creative counterpart): May December → Safe. Haynes and Moore's collaboration traces to Moore's Safe audition; it is their fifth film together.
    “This is your 5th collaboration.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:48:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  45. industry (financing): Safe → Lindsay Law. The blurred audition tape was shown to American Playhouse's Lindsay Law while closing financing.
    “Uh, Lindsay Law from American Playhouse, I believe.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:50:07 · Todd Haynes (0.90 sure it was them)
  46. unmapped (creative counterpart): Julianne Moore → Todd Haynes. Haynes says Moore's performance in Safe completed the film he had imagined.
    “you find this counterpart, you know, this creative counterpart in your in your dreams.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:52:07 · Todd Haynes (0.90 sure it was them)
  47. theme (voice by character): Safe → May December. Moore chose a detached voice for Carol White and a child-like lisp for Gracie, each reflecting the character's self-story.
    “with Carol White, that my decision was based on the fact that this is a woman who was not attached to her own body”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:53:15 · Julianne Moore (0.85 sure it was them)
  48. lineage (original vs derived): Far from Heaven → Safe. Haynes says Safe and Far from Heaven were original stories but Far from Heaven derives much from other movies.
    “safe was an original story and far from heaven was the original story, but it derives so much from other movies as well.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:55:37 · Todd Haynes (0.90 sure it was them)
  49. lineage (influence): Far from Heaven → Douglas Sirk. Sean asks whether Moore studied Sirk films; Haynes says Far from Heaven derives from other movies and 1950s domestic melodramas.
    “do you watch Douglas Cirque films when you're preparing”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:56:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  50. craft (craft): April → May December. Haynes recalls a Q and A with April, May December's costume designer, who developed color and clothing choices with Julianne Moore.
    “I had a great, uh, Q and A kit with April the other day, who was our coffee designer on, on, on May, December”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:00:37 · Todd Haynes (0.80 sure it was them)
  51. contrast (ambiguity contrast): May December → Dark Waters. Sean says Dark Waters is the only Haynes film where what is real is clearer.
    “Maybe Dark Waters is the only one where it's a little bit more clear to me, what, what, what is real in some respects.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:14:59 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  52. unmapped (real-person layers): May December → Game Change. Moore ties playing Palin from a book of reportage to layers of narrative, as in May December's story about storytelling.
    “the document that I'm basing my character on is taken from a book called game change that was, that was reportage of that election.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:15:49 · Julianne Moore (0.85 sure it was them)
  53. unmapped (artifice as method): Far from Heaven → Velvet Goldmine. Haynes uses artificial languages for real stories (Dylan, Velvet Goldmine); Far from Heaven is fiction in an artificial melodrama mode, yet the emotions are real.
    “Far from heaven is not a, based on a true story and the mode is highly artificial in the melodramatic domestic dramas that are inspired by the 1950s.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:17:52 · Todd Haynes (0.90 sure it was them)
  54. programming (recommendation): Julianne Moore → Past Lives. Moore names Past Lives as the last great thing she saw, calling it like a poem.
    “Past lives. What a beautiful movie.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:19:26 · Julianne Moore (0.70 sure it was them)
  55. programming (recommendation): Todd Haynes → Poor Things. Haynes recently saw Poor Things and loved it, singling out Mark Ruffalo.
    “I just saw poor things recently and man, I loved it.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:19:43 · Todd Haynes (0.65 sure it was them)

Fun items (25)

  1. fun, about Mickey 17: Mickey 17 (Bong Joon Ho, Robert Pattinson) has been undated by Warner Bros.; hosts debate whether it is awards timing, Dune 2, or Zaslav, and note Pattinson gets parental leave.
    “my number one most anticipated movie of 2024 has been undated”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:04:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Maestro (Bradley Cooper): Cooper learned crane technique from del Toro for the On the Town sequence; the hosts joke about him buying a farm near Gigi Hadid and say they should remake Witness together.
    “They should they should remake witness together.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:17:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Paul Giamatti: After the Globes, Giamatti went to In-N-Out and ate two burgers, no fries; Sean calls it campaigning but respects the twist.
    “But I did like the twist of the of the 2 burgers, no fries.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:28:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Poor Things (script of the sex scenes): Sean notes Emma Stone is in about 14 sex scenes and as nude as a major American star rarely is; second viewing, Amanda found there were too many.
    “It's very, very unusual for an American movie star to be in like 14 sex scenes in a movie”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:36:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Poor Things (toddler performance): Amanda says Stone's baby-to-toddler stages matched her son Knox's development between viewings, six months apart.
    “I was like, wow, we've really charted the development here over 6 months.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:43:19 · Amanda Dobbins (0.65 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Poor Things (Lisbon): The first section is black and white; the Lisbon title card cuts to color and the 'furious jumping'. Bella wears yellow silk shorts (maybe Victorian underwear) with white heeled ankle boots, costumes by Holly Waddington.
    “The 1st section is all shot in black and white.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:46:25 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Poor Things (the three things she can say): At dinner Bella is told to say only 'delighted', 'how marvelous', and 'so flaky, so crisp' about the pastry, then yells that she must go punch a wailing baby.
    “I must go punch that baby”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:48:18 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Poor Things (Jerrod Carmichael): The hosts agree Carmichael, a funny stand-up, is miscast; he is deadpan in a movie whose cast bounces off McNamara's rhythm.
    “He's not a good actor.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:50:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about Poor Things (Duncan's eclair): Ruffalo's Duncan hurls an eclair upon learning Bella sold sex; Sean calls it the most phallic of pastries.
    “Also like the most phallic of pastries.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 0:58:33 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Poor Things (Willem Dafoe): Dafoe's Godwin has a burp bubble, and gastric juices removed for an experiment ('It turns out we need them').
    “His burp bubble is an incredible psych gag.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:00:44 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Poor Things (socialist line): Bella says she and her friends are 'our own means of production'; the hosts credit it as a clever moment and tease Bobby and Amanda's politics.
    “we are our own means of production.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:01:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Poor Things (ending): Abbott's character gets a goat brain and ends up on all fours chewing shrubbery; the household includes a pug that is also a chicken.
    “Christopher Abbott on all fours, uh, chewing the shrubbery, like the, like the goat that he is.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:08:43 · Amanda Dobbins (0.45 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Poor Things (hair): Emma Stone reportedly dyed her hair black by mistake and Lanthimos said it was perfect.
    “Did you see that she accidentally dyed her hair black for this, that she was trying to do something different?”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:23:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Poor Things / The Da Vinci Code: A riff on Bella's inverted-triangle hair leads to asking whether Bella is Robert Langdon's great-grandmother.
    “Is Bella, Dr. Robert Langdon's great grandmother.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:25:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Oscar nominations (Amanda): Amanda asked her OB to delay her induction a day so she could host the Oscar-nominations pod; the baby arrived the next afternoon.
    “And I said, well, because the Oscar nominations are being announced on Tuesday morning, and if he's not here, at, you know, at least I'd like to do my job.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:37:25 · Amanda Dobbins (0.75 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Sean Fennessey: Sean's fitness plan: 15-pound barbells in his home theater while watching Wim Wenders movies.
    “I don't weight lift weights other than the £15 barbells that are in my home theater that I lift whilst watching Vim Vendors movies.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:40:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Oppenheimer / Golden Globes: Joe Koy's line about Oppenheimer length is dismissed; the real joke would be Rami Malek and the clipboard.
    “the real joke was in like what the hell was Ramy Molik doing with the clipboard.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:46:36 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Safe (Julianne Moore audition): Moore's agent said she would not read; she asked what to read, did three scenes. The taped audition had an autofocus malfunction that never found her, like Carol White, but her voice sold the financiers.
    “there was some malfunction with the camera where the auto focus never found Julianne, which is such a sort of statement on the character of Carol White, who can't find herself in the story.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:49:45 · Todd Haynes (0.90 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about May December (Gracie's lisp): Moore floated a lisp to Haynes as a physical way to make Gracie a perpetual child, which also gave Natalie Portman something concrete to mirror.
    “So I started thinking about a physical way to manifest that idea of being a child and so talk to Todd about, you know, maybe doing a lisp”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:53:50 · Julianne Moore (0.90 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about May December (references as scaffolding): Haynes sends actors lists of movies, music and storyboards; Moore says the references are scaffolding that make her feel free.
    “Todd's references and I'll give you as an actor, this kind of incredible scaffolding”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 1:58:58 · Julianne Moore (0.90 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about May December (tone): Haynes says laughter is one place where the characters' protective narratives break, and tells viewers the tone is on them.
    “It's on you. You have a role to play here to like navigate this and it and it might be fun.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:03:48 · Todd Haynes (0.80 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about May December (Charles Melton): Haynes told Melton, who carries the last third in long unhidden takes, not to blow it; says he is a technical actor with comic timing.
    “There's no hiding place in these long takes.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:07:07 · Todd Haynes (0.80 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about May December (research): Moore learned from a Savannah home baker how to make and box a cake so Portman could later watch her do it; she calls research her favorite thing and likens it to a student/teacher relationship.
    “the production office arranged for me to meet someone in Savannah who's also a home baker”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:08:16 · Julianne Moore (0.90 sure it was them)
  24. fun, about May December (why 2015): Haynes set it in 2015 simply to keep Trump-era politics from intruding on a Savannah family story.
    “I just wanted to remove it from the, there are recent sort of intensely partisan Trump Trump era.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:11:06 · Todd Haynes (0.80 sure it was them)
  25. fun, about May December (ending): Moore says the film leaves you on an inhale, not an exhale, so people argue about what happened and what comes next.
    “I always feel like that this movie leaves you like on an inhale rather than nexthale.”
    The Big Picture · Best Picture Power Rankings and a ‘Poor Things’ Deep Dive. Plus: Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes! · 2:12:35 · Julianne Moore (0.80 sure it was them)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong