Babylon (2022)

Sign in with Plex to see what you can watch and keep a watchlist.

Wikidata Q107119206, film, IMDb tt10640346, TMDB 615777: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by episode credits Damien Chazelle as director (The 2022 Movie Draft); 5 more episodes agree.

What a model would be handed about it, for corpus:ask.

In the store as #538, Babylon (2022).

Who talked about it

Blank Check with Griffin & David

Blank Check — Patreon

The Big Picture

Came from

What the speakers say it drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Singin' in the Rain: 5 lines the host's read ×5

  1. craft (scene mirror): Singin' in the Rain ⇒ Babylon (the host's read). Babylon's walk-on bar scene mirrors the flashback that opens Singin' in the Rain, where Don Lockwood gets a walk-on.
    “Um, Don Lockwood gets a walk on part in a bar in that like in that flashback to start the movie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:48:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

John Gilbert: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. unmapped (real-life basis): John Gilbert ⇒ Babylon (the host's read). Brad Pitt's character in Babylon is obviously based on John Gilbert.
    “John Gilbert, who Brad Pitt's character in Babylon, is very obviously based on”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:09:22 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

La La Land: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. craft (score reuse): La La Land ⇒ Babylon (the host's read). The Babylon score is said to reappropriate music from La La Land's dream ballet.
    “This is like very much from the dream ballet of La Land, this music and the score.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:57:59 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Dancing Cavalier (film-within-Singin' in the Rain; heard also as 'link cavalier'): 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. craft (scene mirror): The Dancing Cavalier (film-within-Singin' in the Rain; heard also as 'link cavalier') ⇒ Babylon (the host's read). The audience in Babylon's screening laughs at the same dialogue ('I love you') as in Singin' in the Rain's screening of The Dancing Cavalier.
    “They're literally laughing at the exact same dialogue in the screening that they do of the link cavalier.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:56:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Zack Snyder's Justice League: 1 line the maker said so ×1

  1. lineage (series lineage): Zack Snyder's Justice League ⇒ Babylon (the maker said so: the hosts' own account of the show). 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 ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 3:06:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Led to

What the speakers say drew on it, marked the same way.

No line says another film or person drew on it.

Connected to

Singin' in the Rain: 5 lines craft ×2 lineage ×2 theme ×1

  1. craft (scene mirror): Babylon → Singin' in the Rain. Babylon's walk-on bar scene mirrors the flashback that opens Singin' in the Rain, where Don Lockwood gets a walk-on.
    “Um, Don Lockwood gets a walk on part in a bar in that like in that flashback to start the movie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:48:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

La La Land: 4 lines career ×2 contrast ×1 craft ×1

  1. career (career arc): Babylon → La La Land. Sean, who loved Whiplash and First Man but not La La Land, reads Babylon as Chazelle realizing La La Land was a mistake.
    “This feels like him realizing that La La Land was a mistake, which I thought I think is like a magnificent thing.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:44:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

Damien Chazelle: 2 lines unmapped ×2

  1. unmapped (self-commentary): Babylon → Damien Chazelle. A speaker reads the film as possibly Chazelle commenting on himself as a holdout against blockbusterization, after its box-office failure.
    “Damien Chisel gets propped up as one of the, like, the, the, last filmmakers to, who was trying to make movies like this in the face of, DIP blockbusterization of cinema.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:58:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Amsterdam: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (same-fall flop): Babylon → Amsterdam. Babylon and Amsterdam, both Margot Robbie films, are paired as the catastrophic fall that dented her standing.
    “it was this plus Amsterdam in the same fall”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:10:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Avatar: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (film history): Babylon → Avatar. The closing montage names Avatar, The Matrix and Terminator 2 as stages in the evolution of how movies are made.
    “Like all of those movies that we saw all in their own way represent stages in the evolution of the way that movies are made.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:57:02 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Avatar: The Way of Water: 1 line craft ×1

  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)

Barbie: 1 line what-if ×1

  1. what-if (release-order what-if): Babylon → Barbie. 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 ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:10:53 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Boogie Nights: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (comparison): Babylon → Boogie Nights. Sean says the Boogie Nights comparison for Babylon is apt, though he thinks the characterization is weaker.
    “The Boogie Nights comparison has been made frequently.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:42:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

Brad Pitt: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (persona use): Brad Pitt → Babylon. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:15:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Briar Patch: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (set intensity): Babylon → Briar Patch. A speaker says the sound-stage tension in Babylon is like the making of Briar Patch.
    “Now this is more like Briar Patch.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:15:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Dario Argento: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (visual vibes): Babylon → Dario Argento. The all-red-dye silent screening sequence recalls Argento and Brian De Palma.
    “And also the all red dye, major Argento, Brian de Palma vibes here, with the way that this sequence looks.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:59:14 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Downton Abbey: A New Era: 1 line theme ×1

  1. 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)

Emma Stone: 1 line what-if ×1

  1. what-if (casting what-if): Emma Stone → Babylon. Emma Stone was originally cast in the role Margot Robbie plays.
    “Yeah, it's a, it's a, so Emma Stone was supposed to play, uh, The Margot Robbie role.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:39:54 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Immaculate: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (length contrast): Babylon → Immaculate. Immaculate is held up as a movie that is perfect at 89 minutes, against Babylon at 3.5 hours.
    “Like, did you need another 40 minutes of immaculate?”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:22:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

John Gilbert: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (real-life basis): John Gilbert → Babylon. Brad Pitt's character in Babylon is obviously based on John Gilbert.
    “John Gilbert, who Brad Pitt's character in Babylon, is very obviously based on”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:09:22 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Killers of the Flower Moon: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (length debate): Babylon → Killers of the Flower Moon. The too-long objection to Babylon is the same issue as the Killers of the Flower Moon debate.
    “You know, this is a very similar issue to me as the, um, Killers of the Flower Moon debate, which is that for some people, this is just too long.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:21:21 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Maestro: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (awards-season comparison): Babylon → Maestro. Babylon's flop with Los Angeles voters is compared to May December's, and the self-loathing about Hollywood to Maestro and Mank.
    “It's like, it's scenes, a collection of amazing scenes.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:08:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Mank: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (Hollywood scum): Babylon → Mank. Both films treat the decision-makers of old Hollywood as scum who exploit creative people.
    “I think that both of those movies are about the people who are effectively in decision making roles in Hollywood are scum.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:53:14 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)

May December: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (awards-season comparison): Babylon → May December. A speaker wonders if Babylon suffered in Los Angeles for the same reason May December did in awards season.
    “I wonder if this movie suffered at least here in Los Angeles, in part for the same reason that May, December, seemed to suffer during award season.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:07:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Miami Vice: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): Miami Vice → Babylon. Chris likes reclamation projects, films that critics first dismissed, as he does Miami Vice.
    “I like reclamation projects.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ferrari’ and Top Five Michael Mann Movies · 0:59:04 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (shared device): Babylon → Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Both films show Margot Robbie watching herself on screen in a movie theater.
    “Yeah, also shout out to Margot Robbie watching herself on screen in movie theaters.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:59:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Oppenheimer: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (set practice contrast): Babylon → Oppenheimer. Babylon's first-AD hitting-the-marks scene is contrasted with Nolan's Oppenheimer shoot, which had no marks.
    “Christopher Nolan, like on Oppenheimer, they didn't really have any marks that they had to hit.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:23:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Pearl: 1 line theme ×1

  1. 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)

Road House: 1 line programming ×1

  1. programming (tangent recommendation): Babylon → Road House. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:30:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Samara Weaving: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (mirror image): Samara Weaving → Babylon. Samara Weaving and Margot Robbie are likened to Vertigo-style mirrors of each other.
    “Uh, the kind of Samara weaving Margot Robbie, like being, being like vertigo mirrors to one another.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:00:58 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Snack Shack: 1 line programming ×1

  1. programming (tangent recommendation): Babylon → Snack Shack. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:53:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Dancing Cavalier (film-within-Singin' in the Rain; heard also as 'link cavalier'): 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (scene mirror): Babylon → The Dancing Cavalier (film-within-Singin' in the Rain; heard also as 'link cavalier'). The audience in Babylon's screening laughs at the same dialogue ('I love you') as in Singin' in the Rain's screening of The Dancing Cavalier.
    “They're literally laughing at the exact same dialogue in the screening that they do of the link cavalier.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:56:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Tobey Maguire: 1 line people ×1

  1. people (casting praise): Tobey Maguire → Babylon. Maguire is said to be so perfectly cast that he makes the surreal, absurd Los Angeles sequence work.
    “I think Toby McGuire is so perfectly cast and so good in this that, it, it makes this surreal and the absurdity of this work for me.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:25:03 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Transformers: Age of Extinction: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (length contrast): Babylon → Transformers: Age of Extinction. A speaker says long auteur films do not bother them but long bad blockbusters like Transformers: Age of Extinction do.
    “I was reminded recently that Transformers colon Age of Extinction, which is either the 4th or 5th Transformers movie is 2 hours and 45 minutes.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:22:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Whiplash: 1 line career ×1

  1. career (fusion of filmography): Babylon → Whiplash. The same party sequence is described as La La Land and Whiplash blending together.
    “this sequence with, uh, Lee Jung Lee as a kind of stand in for anime Wong is when I felt like this was a real fusion of the things that Chazelle had done to this point.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:18:43 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Zack Snyder's Justice League: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (series lineage): Zack Snyder's Justice League → Babylon. 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 ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 3:06:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Where it came up

What was said about it, by kind

career (3)

  1. career (fusion of filmography): Babylon → Whiplash. The same party sequence is described as La La Land and Whiplash blending together.
    “this sequence with, uh, Lee Jung Lee as a kind of stand in for anime Wong is when I felt like this was a real fusion of the things that Chazelle had done to this point.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:18:43 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. career (fusion of filmography): Babylon → La La Land. The Lee Jung Lee party sequence is said to blend La La Land and Whiplash.
    “that this is kind of La La Land and whiplash blending together.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:19:06 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. career (career arc): Babylon → La La Land. Sean, who loved Whiplash and First Man but not La La Land, reads Babylon as Chazelle realizing La La Land was a mistake.
    “This feels like him realizing that La La Land was a mistake, which I thought I think is like a magnificent thing.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:44:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

contrast (4)

  1. contrast (marketing contrast): Babylon → La La Land. The hosts imagine Babylon being sold as from the director of La La Land, while Barbie's release sat nearby.
    “This is from the man who brought you Laland and the woman who brought you Barbie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:11:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (length contrast): Babylon → Immaculate. Immaculate is held up as a movie that is perfect at 89 minutes, against Babylon at 3.5 hours.
    “Like, did you need another 40 minutes of immaculate?”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:22:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. contrast (length contrast): Babylon → Transformers: Age of Extinction. A speaker says long auteur films do not bother them but long bad blockbusters like Transformers: Age of Extinction do.
    “I was reminded recently that Transformers colon Age of Extinction, which is either the 4th or 5th Transformers movie is 2 hours and 45 minutes.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:22:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  4. contrast (set practice contrast): Babylon → Oppenheimer. Babylon's first-AD hitting-the-marks scene is contrasted with Nolan's Oppenheimer shoot, which had no marks.
    “Christopher Nolan, like on Oppenheimer, they didn't really have any marks that they had to hit.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:23:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

craft (7)

  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 (scene mirror): Babylon → Singin' in the Rain. Babylon's walk-on bar scene mirrors the flashback that opens Singin' in the Rain, where Don Lockwood gets a walk-on.
    “Um, Don Lockwood gets a walk on part in a bar in that like in that flashback to start the movie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:48:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. craft (score reuse): Babylon → La La Land. The Babylon score is said to reappropriate music from La La Land's dream ballet.
    “This is like very much from the dream ballet of La Land, this music and the score.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:57:59 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  4. craft (visual vibes): Babylon → Dario Argento. The all-red-dye silent screening sequence recalls Argento and Brian De Palma.
    “And also the all red dye, major Argento, Brian de Palma vibes here, with the way that this sequence looks.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:59:14 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  5. craft (shared device): Babylon → Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Both films show Margot Robbie watching herself on screen in a movie theater.
    “Yeah, also shout out to Margot Robbie watching herself on screen in movie theaters.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:59:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. craft (scene mirror): Babylon → Singin' in the Rain. A Babylon moment is said to echo Don and Kathy Selden from Singin' in the Rain.
    “Also, echoes of Don and Kathy Selden.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:44:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  7. craft (scene mirror): Babylon → The Dancing Cavalier (film-within-Singin' in the Rain; heard also as 'link cavalier'). The audience in Babylon's screening laughs at the same dialogue ('I love you') as in Singin' in the Rain's screening of The Dancing Cavalier.
    “They're literally laughing at the exact same dialogue in the screening that they do of the link cavalier.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:56:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

industry (2)

  1. industry (awards-season comparison): Babylon → May December. A speaker wonders if Babylon suffered in Los Angeles for the same reason May December did in awards season.
    “I wonder if this movie suffered at least here in Los Angeles, in part for the same reason that May, December, seemed to suffer during award season.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:07:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. industry (awards-season comparison): Babylon → Maestro. Babylon's flop with Los Angeles voters is compared to May December's, and the self-loathing about Hollywood to Maestro and Mank.
    “It's like, it's scenes, a collection of amazing scenes.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:08:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

lineage (3)

  1. lineage (homage): Babylon → Singin' in the Rain. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:13:47 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (homage): Babylon → Singin' in the Rain. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:51:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. lineage (series lineage): Zack Snyder's Justice League → Babylon. 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 ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 3:06:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (casting praise): Tobey Maguire → Babylon. Maguire is said to be so perfectly cast that he makes the surreal, absurd Los Angeles sequence work.
    “I think Toby McGuire is so perfectly cast and so good in this that, it, it makes this surreal and the absurdity of this work for me.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:25:03 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

programming (2)

  1. programming (tangent recommendation): Babylon → Snack Shack. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:53:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. programming (tangent recommendation): Babylon → Road House. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:30:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

theme (7)

  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. theme (persona use): Brad Pitt → Babylon. 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.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:15:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  4. theme (mirror image): Samara Weaving → Babylon. Samara Weaving and Margot Robbie are likened to Vertigo-style mirrors of each other.
    “Uh, the kind of Samara weaving Margot Robbie, like being, being like vertigo mirrors to one another.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:00:58 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. theme (echo): Babylon → Singin' in the Rain. The silent-to-sound struggle scene in Babylon echoes Singin' in the Rain, down to the actress who cannot find the microphone.
    “And that is a huge echo of singing in the rain.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:14:54 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. theme (theme): Miami Vice → Babylon. Chris likes reclamation projects, films that critics first dismissed, as he does Miami Vice.
    “I like reclamation projects.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ferrari’ and Top Five Michael Mann Movies · 0:59:04 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. theme (comparison): Babylon → Boogie Nights. Sean says the Boogie Nights comparison for Babylon is apt, though he thinks the characterization is weaker.
    “The Boogie Nights comparison has been made frequently.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:42:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

unmapped (8)

  1. unmapped (real-life basis): John Gilbert → Babylon. Brad Pitt's character in Babylon is obviously based on John Gilbert.
    “John Gilbert, who Brad Pitt's character in Babylon, is very obviously based on”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:09:22 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (same-fall flop): Babylon → Amsterdam. Babylon and Amsterdam, both Margot Robbie films, are paired as the catastrophic fall that dented her standing.
    “it was this plus Amsterdam in the same fall”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:10:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (length debate): Babylon → Killers of the Flower Moon. The too-long objection to Babylon is the same issue as the Killers of the Flower Moon debate.
    “You know, this is a very similar issue to me as the, um, Killers of the Flower Moon debate, which is that for some people, this is just too long.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:21:21 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  4. unmapped (set intensity): Babylon → Briar Patch. A speaker says the sound-stage tension in Babylon is like the making of Briar Patch.
    “Now this is more like Briar Patch.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:15:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (next-film wish): Damien Chazelle → Babylon. Watching the sound-stage scene, a speaker says Chazelle should make a horror movie.
    “This scene makes me think he should make a horror movie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:16:00 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. unmapped (self-commentary): Babylon → Damien Chazelle. A speaker reads the film as possibly Chazelle commenting on himself as a holdout against blockbusterization, after its box-office failure.
    “Damien Chisel gets propped up as one of the, like, the, the, last filmmakers to, who was trying to make movies like this in the face of, DIP blockbusterization of cinema.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:58:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. unmapped (film history): Babylon → Avatar. The closing montage names Avatar, The Matrix and Terminator 2 as stages in the evolution of how movies are made.
    “Like all of those movies that we saw all in their own way represent stages in the evolution of the way that movies are made.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:57:02 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  8. unmapped (Hollywood scum): Babylon → Mank. Both films treat the decision-makers of old Hollywood as scum who exploit creative people.
    “I think that both of those movies are about the people who are effectively in decision making roles in Hollywood are scum.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:53:14 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)

what-if (2)

  1. what-if (release-order what-if): Babylon → Barbie. 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 ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:10:53 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (casting what-if): Emma Stone → Babylon. Emma Stone was originally cast in the role Margot Robbie plays.
    “Yeah, it's a, it's a, so Emma Stone was supposed to play, uh, The Margot Robbie role.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:39:54 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about it

  1. 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)
  2. fun, about Babylon: The cold open joke: the show's tagline is replaced with a gag about who wants to see someone's dad fight a snake, referencing the film's rattlesnake scene.
    “And this is the Big Picture, a conversation show about who wants to see my dad fight a fucking snake?”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:00:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Babylon: Framing of the whole movie as a 'we're so back, it's so over' manifestation: everything good and bad about Hollywood and the 21st-century promise of movies.
    “this movie is the perfect manifestation of, we're so back, it's so over.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:02:41 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Babylon: The elephant scene at the opening is read as a tidy metaphor for what you must endure to break into Hollywood.
    “Nice little tidy metaphor for the experience of trying to break into Hollywood.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:04:13 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Babylon: Amanda's famous take: she likes the middle two hours best, and found the opening party a lot after the elephant.
    “I famously really like the middle 2 hours of this movie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:07:04 · Amanda Dobbins (0.80 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Babylon: A wish that more movies had overture sections, stretching 20 minutes of virtuosity at the screen.
    “I think more movies should have like overture sections like this.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:08:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Babylon: A hot take that if the movie had opened with Nellie waking in vomit, then the set, then the Spike Jonze scene, it might win Best Picture.
    “And can you imagine if this movie started with this sequence?”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:36:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Babylon: The cross-cut of Manny's frantic camera chase against Nellie's walk-on is praised as some of the best filmmaking and puzzling that anyone hated it.
    “I genuinely thought this part was really funny and fun.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 0:51:37 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about Babylon: Bold rave for the sound-transition scene as the best movie scene of 2022, which drew applause in theaters.
    “This is the best movie scene of 2022.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:13:57 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Babylon: Why people soured on it: they wanted the nine set pieces to congeal, but it is episodic and about archetypes.
    “I think that's one of the things that kept people distant from it too, is because they wanted it to congeal.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:14:22 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Babylon: Trivia during the shoot-in-the-heat scene: the group looks up when air conditioning was invented, landing on Willis H. Carrier in 1901.
    “Willis H. Carrier built what is considered the 1st modern electrical air conditioning unit.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 1:17:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Babylon: Production geography joke: the 'asshole of Los Angeles' sequence is said to have been filmed at Chris's house.
    “This uh, the asshole of Los Angeles sequence here that is about to begin was filmed actually at CR's house.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:23:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Babylon: See the crocodile snap in the shootout: a speaker found it breathtaking in theaters.
    “I also found this Breathtaking in movie theaters.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:29:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Babylon: Location trivia: the Chateau (as in the party hotel) opened in 1926, was owned by attorney Fred Horowitz, and later bought by Vitagraph co-founder Albert E. Smith.
    “Well, the chateau opened in 1926.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:31:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Babylon: Oscar trivia: the film got three nominations, for costume design, original score and production design, and none for acting.
    “For best costume design, best original score and best production design.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:35:50 · Bobby Wagner (0.40 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Babylon: Ending take: a speaker says the Sidney Palmer coda as final scene would have been too sentimental, and flipping off Hollywood needs the montage too.
    “That would have been too sentimental.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:46:57 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Babylon: Thesis on the montage ending: when you make things you become cynical about making them, then come back around to appreciating them.
    “When you make things, you become cynical about the making of them and then you come all the way back around again to appreciating them.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:52:58 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Babylon: Critic's view of the closing montage: you can feel Chazelle searching for the ending in real time and deciding to throw in The Matrix and Avatar.
    “And then he's like, well, I guess I'm just gonna like put the Matrix and Avatar in here and really go big.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:56:26 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about Babylon: Box office: it made $63.4 million domestically on a reported budget of about $80 million.
    “63.4 million. Oh, God.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 2:59:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Babylon: The producer's wrap-up metaphor: watching Babylon is like eating a whole box of Mike and Ikes, thrilling, then sickening, then you finish because you came this far.
    “Um, I did down an entire box of Micanikes, and I felt like that was a nice metaphor for this movie.”
    The Big Picture · The ‘Babylon’ Watch-Along · 3:00:38 · Bobby Wagner (0.70 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about Babylon: Sean's backstory: he left a holiday party at Amanda's, in a bad mood, to drive to Century City for a three-hour-eight-minute screening, and was blown away anyway. He relays a Letterboxd review asking if it's a love letter to cinema or a suicide note.
    “Is this a love letter to cinema or a suicide note?”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:41:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about Babylon: Sean says Margot Robbie is one of the only truly fearless young stars, glorious and disgusting at times, and might deserve a best actress nod.
    “She is one of the only truly fearless young stars we have.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:42:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

Who the speakers said made it

As said on the shows, not checked against the real credits.