What the corpus says about Barbie (2023)

What was said about it (18)

1. [The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ · 1:17:27 · unknown (0.40)] The Truman Show ↔ Barbie · lineage · Linney studied 1950s Sears catalogs for her poses, as Gerwig consulted for Barbie. · "Greta Irwig consulted where for Barbie because she wanted to create that world"
2. [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)] Poor Things ↔ Barbie · theme · 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."
3. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 0:48:12 · unknown (Griffin or Sean) (0.40)] Masters of the Universe ↔ Barbie · contrast · Masters of the Universe is Barbie in reverse: Barbie escapes the fantasy world to become real, Adam wants to go back to it. · "And this movie is is Barbie in reverse, because Barbie is a movie about, obviously, femininity, the glass ceiling, self-determinism"
4. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:30:19 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Barbie ↔ The Lego Movie · verdict · Barbie sits at the top of the toy-movie heap, along with the first Lego Movie. · "Barbie, obviously, I think now sits as like, arguably the top of the heap, along with, I would say, the Lego movie, the 1st Lego movie"
5. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:40:04 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Barbie ↔ The Lego Movie · verdict · Of the whole toy-movie canon, only Barbie and The Lego Movie came from a cynical place and ended somewhere fairly pure. · "And then you're like, really, it's only Barbie and Lego movie that came from the cynical place and ended up somewhere fairly pure."
6. [Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:06:56 · unknown (0.30)] Look Who's Talking ↔ Barbie · industry · Number one for five straight weeks with similar takes, compared to the cultural impact of Barbie. · "it was like the Barbie of its moments."
7. [The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:15:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Barbie · industry · Barbie came from the same studio, which the speaker thinks worth noting. · "So to me, like, I actually think Barbie is like a template setter."
8. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:10:53 · unknown (0.30)] Babylon ↔ Barbie · what-if · A speaker argues Babylon would have done bigger business had Barbie come out before it. · "If Barbie had come out before Babylon, how big is Babylon?"
9. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:04:35 · unknown (0.40)] Masters of the Universe ↔ Barbie · scene comp · The Skeletor-in-He-Man's-brain sequence is where the movie cooks the way Barbie does, unconcerned with explaining its logic. · "And that felt to me like where the movie was fully cooking in a Barbie-esque way."
10. [The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:10:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Barbie · same phenomenon · Minecraft, Barbie and Super Mario are recent hits of new-to-kids, adapted IP. · "when you look at Barbie, when you look at the Super Mario Brothers movie, when you look at a handful of like recent phenomenon like this movie"
11. [The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:14:13 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Barbie ⇒ A Minecraft Movie (the host's read) · template · Barbie is the template: IP plus adult-pleasing stars bridging generations. · "This movie has a lot in common with Barbie."
12. [The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:45:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Barbie · mixed-feelings precedent · Barbie wasn't Sean's favorite that year, but he's glad it happened; same attitude to Minecraft. · "Barbie wasn't my favorite movie of that year, but I liked it."
13. [The Big Picture · Oscar Nomination Predictions, ‘Mean Girls,’ and ‘All of Us Strangers’ · 0:50:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] Mean Girls ↔ Barbie · moviegoing experience · Seeing Mean Girls alone in an IMAX theater surrounded by young women in bright colors felt just like seeing Barbie. · "It was very similar to Barbie."
14. [The Rewatchables · ‘The War of the Roses’ · 0:25:30 · unknown (0.30)] Kathleen Turner ↔ Barbie · contrast · Barb's dream-house speech to the nanny reminds the speaker of the Barbie monologue. · "This is real like I saw the monologue in Barbie once."
15. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:23:08 · unknown (0.30)] Margot Robbie ↔ Barbie · career · Robbie's beauty is called a feature in Amsterdam, Babylon and Barbie alike. · "beauty is still like at the center of most of the parts that she takes on in Amsterdam in this movie and Barbie, like her beauty is a is a feature, not a bug."
16. [The Big Picture · Oscar Nomination Predictions, ‘Mean Girls,’ and ‘All of Us Strangers’ · 0:46:04 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Barbie ↔ Greta Gerwig · people · Barbie's Oscar push comes from the overwhelming respect for Gerwig, which female directors did not used to get. · "There's an overwhelming amount of respect for her that female directors just didn't use to get."
17. [The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:00:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.40)] Rodrigo Prieto ↔ Barbie · people · Prieto shot both Killers and Barbie, and maybe the forthcoming Taylor Swift film. · "when are you guys going to do the Rodrigo Prieto episode between Barbie and this?"
18. [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:08:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] Noah Baumbach ↔ Barbie · negotiations · Baumbach and Gerwig are reportedly negotiating a payday to return to Barbie, while Baumbach goes to Warner's Clockwork. · "Bombach and Gerwig are currently mired into negotiations to get a really good payday to come back to Barbie."

Films put beside it more than once (3)

1. [pairs] Barbie ↔ A Minecraft Movie · said 4 times in 1 episode
2. [pairs] Barbie ↔ The Lego Movie · said 2 times in 1 episode
3. [pairs] Barbie ↔ Masters of the Universe · said 2 times in 1 episode

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (22)

1. [The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:16:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ The Last Starfighter · theme · A 10-year-old picking up a sword to fight an evil pig echoes 80s kid-hero movies. · "movies I saw as a kid, like the last Starfighter or, um, invaders"
2. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 0:23:25 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Masters of the Universe (the host's read) · lineage · He-Man (and the 80s toy boom) was a response to every company having passed on Star Wars merchandising. · "so much of He-Man and the 80s for toys is a response to every major company passing on Star Wars that Star Wars is the whiff that no one can live down."
3. [The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later · 0:17:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ⇒ The Lego Movie (the host's read) · lineage · Same claim: the Lego movie's self-aware tone follows Scott Pilgrim. · "Deadpool, for example, can't happen or like the Lego movie can't happen or into the Spider-Verse."
4. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:53:26 · unknown (0.30)] Babylon ↔ Snack Shack · programming · A pool-snacks tangent leads to a recommendation of Snack Shack, produced by Rian Johnson's T Street. · "Um, Basically being released independently is produced by Ryan Johnson's company, T Street, and it's a, here we see Margot Robbie losing her nerve and breaking down."
5. [Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:00:10 · unknown (0.30)] Look Who's Talking ⇒ Baby's Day Out (the host's read) · lineage · The baby-escapes-in-a-towed-car sequence is claimed as the origin of Baby's Day Out. · "I feel like that entire, like the entirety of like baby's day out is based on that sequence in this movie."
6. [The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:16:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Invaders (as heard; likely Invaders from Mars) · theme · Same echo. · "movies I saw as a kid, like the last Starfighter or, um, invaders"
7. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:09:02 · unknown (0.40)] Thor: Ragnarok ⇒ Masters of the Universe (the host's read) · lineage · The movie looks inspired by Ragnarok, which gave executives a template of color, weirdness, and joke tone to copy. · "And it speaks to this movie feels very, um, inspired by Thor Ragnarok to me."
8. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:03:41 · David Sims (0.50)] The Lego Movie ⇒ The Lego Batman Movie (the host's read) · lineage · The Lego Movie is where the earnest-Batman bit started, and the hosts doubted it could sustain a whole movie. · "It's the thing that the Lego movie lashes onto, but you felt unsustainable for a whole movie."
9. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:30:05 · unknown (0.30)] Babylon ↔ Road House · programming · After a crocodile-fear tangent triggered by Babylon's crocodile scene, a speaker pushes Roadhouse for its crocodile scene. · "I mean, they're just... pretty exciting crocodile scene."
10. [Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:18:01 · David Sims (0.40)] Look Who's Talking ⇒ Look Who's Talking Too (the host's read) · lineage · The sequel keeps Willis, adds Roseanne for Joan Rivers, Damon Wayans, and Mel Brooks as Mr. Toilet. · "Roseanne Barr replaces Joan Rivers."
11. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:13:19 · unknown (0.30)] Masters of the Universe ↔ X-Men: Apocalypse · lineage · The final shot of slightly updated costumes echoes the end of X-Men Apocalypse promising the classic looks next time. · "it feels like the end of X-Men apocalypse, where suddenly the promise is, wait a 2nd, are they all going to have the 90s costumes next time?"
12. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:11:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] The Lego Batman Movie ↔ The Lego Movie · craft · Warner wanted redesigned Lego figures; Lord and Miller insisted on honoring the real pieces' movement limits. · "we want to actually limit them to the way the characters could move."
13. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:13:47 · unknown (0.30)] Singin' in the Rain ⇒ Babylon (the host's read) · lineage · A speaker calls the sound-stage scene a direct Singin' in the Rain homage, 'on steroids times a 1000'. · "Again, like a very, very direct homage."
14. [Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 1:11:43 · unknown (0.30)] Kirstie Alley ↔ Look Who's Talking · theme · Her Cheers character is a man-written career woman chasing rich men; the film writes the same character with intelligence and compassion. · "this feels like the same character boat written like intelligently and compassionately."
15. [The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 0:09:47 · unknown (0.30)] Taika Waititi ↔ Masters of the Universe · craft · Waititi's deflation jokes read as embarrassment about the material, and the movie's jokes feel defensive in the same way. · "Feels like it's coming from a place of, I'm a little embarrassed that I'm making this movie."
16. [Blank Check — Patreon · Guardians of the Galaxy · 1:07:43 · unknown (0.30)] Chris Pratt ↔ The Lego Movie · craft · Pratt's key is being a little boy in a hunk's body, which is what works in The Lego Movie and Guardians. · "The key to Pratt is that he's like a little boy."
17. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:51:30 · unknown (0.30)] Singin' in the Rain ⇒ Babylon (the host's read) · lineage · The speaker says Babylon is deliberately built around Singin' in the Rain, with specific scenes mirrored on purpose. · "But it is so intentionally built around singing in the rain that I do think the mirroring of the specific scenes are intentional."
18. [Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:14:39 · Hillary Busis (0.40)] Parenthood ↔ Look Who's Talking · theme · Parenthood, number seven that week, is a more mature parenting film; parenting movies are rarer than pregnancy movies. · "There's a lot more pregnancy movies than like actual parenting movies."
19. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 3:06:12 · unknown (0.30)] Zack Snyder's Justice League ⇒ Babylon (the maker said so: the hosts' own account of the show) · lineage · The Snyder Cut watch-along, born of a lost bet, started the show's watch-along concept that led to this one. · "The Snyder, the Snyder Cut thing was a bet that we lost, that Sean was like, if that, that's how the watch along concept started."
20. [The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:57:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85)] Pearl ↔ Babylon · theme · 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."
21. [The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:57:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85)] Downton Abbey: A New Era ↔ Babylon · theme · 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."
22. [The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:15:13 · unknown (0.30)] Brad Pitt ↔ Babylon · theme · Babylon is called a smart use of Brad Pitt's skills, with the movie-star persona built in. · "This is a very smart utilization of Brad Pitt's skills."

Who said it, by their latest sketch (3)

1. [speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
2. [speaker] Amanda Dobbins · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Mamma Mia!’ Meets ‘The Strangers'! It’s a Movie Swap! · Loves The Strangers' withholding craft and a good tense horror film without gore, but likes fun, communal movies like Mamma Mia. She dislikes supernatural or gory horror, which irritates her more than it scares her. She is a sucker for stars and for Googling a movie mid-recording. · stances: The Strangers is scary because of what it doesn't show or explain; Ending explanation weakens it; no answer would be better; Prefers 'withholding' filmmaking; Defends Mamma Mia as joyful and intentional
3. [speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases

The shows' running bits (3)

1. [bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
2. [bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
3. [bits] The Rewatchables: Apex Mountain (The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits); Who Won the Movie (The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off); The Ebert review (Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show); Casting what-ifs (Who was almost cast, or who should have been); Most rewatchable scene (The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels); Aged best / aged worst (What holds up and what does not); Picking Nits (The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits); Double feature (The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick)

The whole prompt

You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Barbie (2023) and wants to know what to watch next.

Below is what people who love movies said on three podcasts (Blank Check, The Rewatchables, The Big Picture) about Barbie (2023) and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.

[The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ · 1:17:27 · unknown (0.40)] The Truman Show ↔ Barbie · lineage · Linney studied 1950s Sears catalogs for her poses, as Gerwig consulted for Barbie. · "Greta Irwig consulted where for Barbie because she wanted to create that world"
[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)] Poor Things ↔ Barbie · theme · 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 · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 0:48:12 · unknown (Griffin or Sean) (0.40)] Masters of the Universe ↔ Barbie · contrast · Masters of the Universe is Barbie in reverse: Barbie escapes the fantasy world to become real, Adam wants to go back to it. · "And this movie is is Barbie in reverse, because Barbie is a movie about, obviously, femininity, the glass ceiling, self-determinism"
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:30:19 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Barbie ↔ The Lego Movie · verdict · Barbie sits at the top of the toy-movie heap, along with the first Lego Movie. · "Barbie, obviously, I think now sits as like, arguably the top of the heap, along with, I would say, the Lego movie, the 1st Lego movie"
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:40:04 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Barbie ↔ The Lego Movie · verdict · Of the whole toy-movie canon, only Barbie and The Lego Movie came from a cynical place and ended somewhere fairly pure. · "And then you're like, really, it's only Barbie and Lego movie that came from the cynical place and ended up somewhere fairly pure."
[Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:06:56 · unknown (0.30)] Look Who's Talking ↔ Barbie · industry · Number one for five straight weeks with similar takes, compared to the cultural impact of Barbie. · "it was like the Barbie of its moments."
[The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:15:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Barbie · industry · Barbie came from the same studio, which the speaker thinks worth noting. · "So to me, like, I actually think Barbie is like a template setter."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:10:53 · unknown (0.30)] Babylon ↔ Barbie · what-if · A speaker argues Babylon would have done bigger business had Barbie come out before it. · "If Barbie had come out before Babylon, how big is Babylon?"
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:04:35 · unknown (0.40)] Masters of the Universe ↔ Barbie · scene comp · The Skeletor-in-He-Man's-brain sequence is where the movie cooks the way Barbie does, unconcerned with explaining its logic. · "And that felt to me like where the movie was fully cooking in a Barbie-esque way."
[The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:10:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Barbie · same phenomenon · Minecraft, Barbie and Super Mario are recent hits of new-to-kids, adapted IP. · "when you look at Barbie, when you look at the Super Mario Brothers movie, when you look at a handful of like recent phenomenon like this movie"
[The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:14:13 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Barbie ⇒ A Minecraft Movie (the host's read) · template · Barbie is the template: IP plus adult-pleasing stars bridging generations. · "This movie has a lot in common with Barbie."
[The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:45:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Barbie · mixed-feelings precedent · Barbie wasn't Sean's favorite that year, but he's glad it happened; same attitude to Minecraft. · "Barbie wasn't my favorite movie of that year, but I liked it."
[The Big Picture · Oscar Nomination Predictions, ‘Mean Girls,’ and ‘All of Us Strangers’ · 0:50:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] Mean Girls ↔ Barbie · moviegoing experience · Seeing Mean Girls alone in an IMAX theater surrounded by young women in bright colors felt just like seeing Barbie. · "It was very similar to Barbie."
[The Rewatchables · ‘The War of the Roses’ · 0:25:30 · unknown (0.30)] Kathleen Turner ↔ Barbie · contrast · Barb's dream-house speech to the nanny reminds the speaker of the Barbie monologue. · "This is real like I saw the monologue in Barbie once."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:23:08 · unknown (0.30)] Margot Robbie ↔ Barbie · career · Robbie's beauty is called a feature in Amsterdam, Babylon and Barbie alike. · "beauty is still like at the center of most of the parts that she takes on in Amsterdam in this movie and Barbie, like her beauty is a is a feature, not a bug."
[The Big Picture · Oscar Nomination Predictions, ‘Mean Girls,’ and ‘All of Us Strangers’ · 0:46:04 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Barbie ↔ Greta Gerwig · people · Barbie's Oscar push comes from the overwhelming respect for Gerwig, which female directors did not used to get. · "There's an overwhelming amount of respect for her that female directors just didn't use to get."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:00:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.40)] Rodrigo Prieto ↔ Barbie · people · Prieto shot both Killers and Barbie, and maybe the forthcoming Taylor Swift film. · "when are you guys going to do the Rodrigo Prieto episode between Barbie and this?"
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:08:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] Noah Baumbach ↔ Barbie · negotiations · Baumbach and Gerwig are reportedly negotiating a payday to return to Barbie, while Baumbach goes to Warner's Clockwork. · "Bombach and Gerwig are currently mired into negotiations to get a really good payday to come back to Barbie."
[pairs] Barbie ↔ A Minecraft Movie · said 4 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Barbie ↔ The Lego Movie · said 2 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Barbie ↔ Masters of the Universe · said 2 times in 1 episode
[The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:16:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ The Last Starfighter · theme · A 10-year-old picking up a sword to fight an evil pig echoes 80s kid-hero movies. · "movies I saw as a kid, like the last Starfighter or, um, invaders"
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 0:23:25 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Masters of the Universe (the host's read) · lineage · He-Man (and the 80s toy boom) was a response to every company having passed on Star Wars merchandising. · "so much of He-Man and the 80s for toys is a response to every major company passing on Star Wars that Star Wars is the whiff that no one can live down."
[The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later · 0:17:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ⇒ The Lego Movie (the host's read) · lineage · Same claim: the Lego movie's self-aware tone follows Scott Pilgrim. · "Deadpool, for example, can't happen or like the Lego movie can't happen or into the Spider-Verse."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:53:26 · unknown (0.30)] Babylon ↔ Snack Shack · programming · A pool-snacks tangent leads to a recommendation of Snack Shack, produced by Rian Johnson's T Street. · "Um, Basically being released independently is produced by Ryan Johnson's company, T Street, and it's a, here we see Margot Robbie losing her nerve and breaking down."
[Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:00:10 · unknown (0.30)] Look Who's Talking ⇒ Baby's Day Out (the host's read) · lineage · The baby-escapes-in-a-towed-car sequence is claimed as the origin of Baby's Day Out. · "I feel like that entire, like the entirety of like baby's day out is based on that sequence in this movie."
[The Big Picture · ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … · 0:16:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] A Minecraft Movie ↔ Invaders (as heard; likely Invaders from Mars) · theme · Same echo. · "movies I saw as a kid, like the last Starfighter or, um, invaders"
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:09:02 · unknown (0.40)] Thor: Ragnarok ⇒ Masters of the Universe (the host's read) · lineage · The movie looks inspired by Ragnarok, which gave executives a template of color, weirdness, and joke tone to copy. · "And it speaks to this movie feels very, um, inspired by Thor Ragnarok to me."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:03:41 · David Sims (0.50)] The Lego Movie ⇒ The Lego Batman Movie (the host's read) · lineage · The Lego Movie is where the earnest-Batman bit started, and the hosts doubted it could sustain a whole movie. · "It's the thing that the Lego movie lashes onto, but you felt unsustainable for a whole movie."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:30:05 · unknown (0.30)] Babylon ↔ Road House · programming · After a crocodile-fear tangent triggered by Babylon's crocodile scene, a speaker pushes Roadhouse for its crocodile scene. · "I mean, they're just... pretty exciting crocodile scene."
[Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:18:01 · David Sims (0.40)] Look Who's Talking ⇒ Look Who's Talking Too (the host's read) · lineage · The sequel keeps Willis, adds Roseanne for Joan Rivers, Damon Wayans, and Mel Brooks as Mr. Toilet. · "Roseanne Barr replaces Joan Rivers."
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 1:13:19 · unknown (0.30)] Masters of the Universe ↔ X-Men: Apocalypse · lineage · The final shot of slightly updated costumes echoes the end of X-Men Apocalypse promising the classic looks next time. · "it feels like the end of X-Men apocalypse, where suddenly the promise is, wait a 2nd, are they all going to have the 90s costumes next time?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:11:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] The Lego Batman Movie ↔ The Lego Movie · craft · Warner wanted redesigned Lego figures; Lord and Miller insisted on honoring the real pieces' movement limits. · "we want to actually limit them to the way the characters could move."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:13:47 · unknown (0.30)] Singin' in the Rain ⇒ Babylon (the host's read) · lineage · A speaker calls the sound-stage scene a direct Singin' in the Rain homage, 'on steroids times a 1000'. · "Again, like a very, very direct homage."
[Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 1:11:43 · unknown (0.30)] Kirstie Alley ↔ Look Who's Talking · theme · Her Cheers character is a man-written career woman chasing rich men; the film writes the same character with intelligence and compassion. · "this feels like the same character boat written like intelligently and compassionately."
[The Big Picture · The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ · 0:09:47 · unknown (0.30)] Taika Waititi ↔ Masters of the Universe · craft · Waititi's deflation jokes read as embarrassment about the material, and the movie's jokes feel defensive in the same way. · "Feels like it's coming from a place of, I'm a little embarrassed that I'm making this movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Guardians of the Galaxy · 1:07:43 · unknown (0.30)] Chris Pratt ↔ The Lego Movie · craft · Pratt's key is being a little boy in a hunk's body, which is what works in The Lego Movie and Guardians. · "The key to Pratt is that he's like a little boy."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:51:30 · unknown (0.30)] Singin' in the Rain ⇒ Babylon (the host's read) · lineage · The speaker says Babylon is deliberately built around Singin' in the Rain, with specific scenes mirrored on purpose. · "But it is so intentionally built around singing in the rain that I do think the mirroring of the specific scenes are intentional."
[Blank Check · Look Who's Talking · 2:14:39 · Hillary Busis (0.40)] Parenthood ↔ Look Who's Talking · theme · Parenthood, number seven that week, is a more mature parenting film; parenting movies are rarer than pregnancy movies. · "There's a lot more pregnancy movies than like actual parenting movies."
[The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 3:06:12 · unknown (0.30)] Zack Snyder's Justice League ⇒ Babylon (the maker said so: the hosts' own account of the show) · lineage · The Snyder Cut watch-along, born of a lost bet, started the show's watch-along concept that led to this one. · "The Snyder, the Snyder Cut thing was a bet that we lost, that Sean was like, if that, that's how the watch along concept started."
[The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:57:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85)] Pearl ↔ Babylon · theme · 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)] Downton Abbey: A New Era ↔ Babylon · theme · 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 ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:15:13 · unknown (0.30)] Brad Pitt ↔ Babylon · theme · Babylon is called a smart use of Brad Pitt's skills, with the movie-star persona built in. · "This is a very smart utilization of Brad Pitt's skills."
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
[speaker] Amanda Dobbins · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Mamma Mia!’ Meets ‘The Strangers'! It’s a Movie Swap! · Loves The Strangers' withholding craft and a good tense horror film without gore, but likes fun, communal movies like Mamma Mia. She dislikes supernatural or gory horror, which irritates her more than it scares her. She is a sucker for stars and for Googling a movie mid-recording. · stances: The Strangers is scary because of what it doesn't show or explain; Ending explanation weakens it; no answer would be better; Prefers 'withholding' filmmaking; Defends Mamma Mia as joyful and intentional
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
[bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
[bits] The Rewatchables: Apex Mountain (The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits); Who Won the Movie (The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off); The Ebert review (Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show); Casting what-ifs (Who was almost cast, or who should have been); Most rewatchable scene (The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels); Aged best / aged worst (What holds up and what does not); Picking Nits (The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits); Double feature (The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick)

Recommend three to six films, and only films that appear in these lines. A series, a TV film, or a franchise counts too when a line recommends it or pairs it with Barbie (2023); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Barbie (2023) itself. For each one, give one short reason in your own words and say whose reason it is: the show, named exactly as the brackets name it, and the speaker when the line names one (an "unknown" speaker is just the show). If the lines are thin, say so plainly rather than stretching them.

Keep a contrast a contrast. When a line sets two films apart, the reason is how they differ; never turn it into a way they're alike. A line with ⇒ puts the source first and what drew on it second, and one marked "the maker said so" is still the host reporting it: say who said it, and never state an influence as fact.

You know only what's on these lines. Add no fact they don't state: not who directed a film, not what kind of film it is, not when it came out, unless a line says so. Say nothing about the store or how anything rents here.

Talk the way a clerk talks to a customer at the counter: plain text, titles written plainly with no asterisks or other markup, no headings, no lists of more than six, no JSON.