The Fabelmans (2022)

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Wikidata Q107710009, film, IMDb tt14208870, TMDB 804095: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only film by that title; 5 more episodes agree.

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

The Rewatchables' awards

Picked in other episodes

Who talked about it

Blank Check with Griffin & David

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.

No line says it drew on another film or person.

Led to

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

Raiders of the Lost Ark: 2 lines the host's read ×2

  1. theme (theme): The Fabelmans ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). Marion's monkey scenes mirror Spielberg's mother's relationship with the monkey shown in The Fabelmans.
    “the relationship Marion has with the monkey, in that brief amount of screen time, feels so mirrored to his mother's relationship with the monkey”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:28:09 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)

Connected to

Raiders of the Lost Ark: 3 lines theme ×3

  1. theme (theme): Raiders of the Lost Ark → The Fabelmans. Bendis says he sees the movie differently after The Fabelmans.
    “I honestly don't think I've heard a serious conversation about this movie Post Fabelman's”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 0:36:23 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.80 sure it was them)

Nope: 2 lines theme ×1 programming ×1

  1. programming (same-year pairing): Nope → The Fabelmans. Sean finds it fascinating that in one year Spielberg made a movie about why he makes movies and Peele made the most Spielbergian movie in ages.
    “it's fascinating that this is a year in which Spielberg made a movie about how he figured out why he wanted to make movies”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:31:29 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Aftersun: 1 line programming ×1

  1. programming (pairing): Aftersun → The Fabelmans. Sean calls Aftersun an interesting pairing with The Fabelmans, both memory movies about childhood; Aftersun is told while the memory is fresher.
    “Interesting pairing with the fablemans, this movie.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:23:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)

American Graffiti: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (tonal echo): The Fabelmans → American Graffiti. Amanda compares the high school interlude in the middle of The Fabelmans to American Graffiti.
    “the lovely American graffiti high school, like interlude in the middle.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:39:16 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)

Back to the Future: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (period look): The Fabelmans → Back to the Future. The prom set full of extras looked like Back to the Future.
    “And it looked like back to the future.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:16:01 · James Urbaniak (0.80 sure it was them)

Beware of the Gonzo: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (joke analog): Beware of the Gonzo → The Fabelmans. Griffin jokes that Beware of the Gonzo is the Fabelmans of its time.
    “the Fabelmans of its time.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:20:12 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Empire of the Sun: 1 line unmapped ×1

  1. unmapped (psychology key): Empire of the Sun → The Fabelmans. Griffin reads Empire through The Fabelmans: Spielberg's core trauma was being pulled into the adult world, like Jim in the camp.
    “I mean, here's here's my big post-fableman's take on this movie.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:50:40 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)

The Eternal Daughter: 1 line verdict ×1

  1. verdict (ranking): The Fabelmans → The Eternal Daughter. Amanda ranks The Eternal Daughter at five and The Fabelmans at three, noting a taste for directors making movies about themselves.
    “But I like all of the director projects of let me just make a movie about myself.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:01:51 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)

Tony Kushner: 1 line people ×1

  1. people (collaboration): Tony Kushner → The Fabelmans. Amanda notes Spielberg wrote The Fabelmans with Tony Kushner, making it a deep but active collaboration.
    “he wrote it with Tony Kushner.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:40:27 · Amanda Dobbins (0.80 sure it was them)

West Side Story: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Fabelmans → West Side Story. Adam says late Spielberg makes two movies at once; West Side Story had nothing inside the tour de force, while The Fabelmans has a petty, thorny movie inside.
    “I like the other movie that's inside the Fablemans, which is like petty and thorny.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:05:03 · Adam Nayman (0.85 sure it was them)

Where it came up

What was said about it, by kind

contrast (1)

  1. contrast (contrast): The Fabelmans → West Side Story. Adam says late Spielberg makes two movies at once; West Side Story had nothing inside the tour de force, while The Fabelmans has a petty, thorny movie inside.
    “I like the other movie that's inside the Fablemans, which is like petty and thorny.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:05:03 · Adam Nayman (0.85 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (collaboration): Tony Kushner → The Fabelmans. Amanda notes Spielberg wrote The Fabelmans with Tony Kushner, making it a deep but active collaboration.
    “he wrote it with Tony Kushner.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:40:27 · Amanda Dobbins (0.80 sure it was them)

programming (2)

  1. programming (pairing): Aftersun → The Fabelmans. Sean calls Aftersun an interesting pairing with The Fabelmans, both memory movies about childhood; Aftersun is told while the memory is fresher.
    “Interesting pairing with the fablemans, this movie.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:23:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  2. programming (same-year pairing): Nope → The Fabelmans. Sean finds it fascinating that in one year Spielberg made a movie about why he makes movies and Peele made the most Spielbergian movie in ages.
    “it's fascinating that this is a year in which Spielberg made a movie about how he figured out why he wanted to make movies”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:31:29 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

theme (5)

  1. theme (theme): Raiders of the Lost Ark → The Fabelmans. Bendis says he sees the movie differently after The Fabelmans.
    “I honestly don't think I've heard a serious conversation about this movie Post Fabelman's”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 0:36:23 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme): Raiders of the Lost Ark → The Fabelmans. Marion's monkey scenes mirror Spielberg's mother's relationship with the monkey shown in The Fabelmans.
    “the relationship Marion has with the monkey, in that brief amount of screen time, feels so mirrored to his mother's relationship with the monkey”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:28:09 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. theme (theme): Raiders of the Lost Ark → The Fabelmans. Marion is partly Spielberg's mother, which keeps her from being an idealized tough-girl fantasy.
    “it does feel like to some degree she's like his mom.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:28:40 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. theme (tonal echo): The Fabelmans → American Graffiti. Amanda compares the high school interlude in the middle of The Fabelmans to American Graffiti.
    “the lovely American graffiti high school, like interlude in the middle.”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:39:16 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  5. theme (thematic): Nope → The Fabelmans. Sean says Nope, like The Fabelmans, explores self and what you do in the act of making movies.
    “similar to the Fablemans, like exploration of self and like what you do in the act of making movies”
    The Big Picture · The 2022 Movie Draft · 0:41:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

unmapped (3)

  1. unmapped (psychology key): Empire of the Sun → The Fabelmans. Griffin reads Empire through The Fabelmans: Spielberg's core trauma was being pulled into the adult world, like Jim in the camp.
    “I mean, here's here's my big post-fableman's take on this movie.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:50:40 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (period look): The Fabelmans → Back to the Future. The prom set full of extras looked like Back to the Future.
    “And it looked like back to the future.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:16:01 · James Urbaniak (0.80 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (joke analog): Beware of the Gonzo → The Fabelmans. Griffin jokes that Beware of the Gonzo is the Fabelmans of its time.
    “the Fabelmans of its time.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:20:12 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

  1. verdict (ranking): The Fabelmans → The Eternal Daughter. Amanda ranks The Eternal Daughter at five and The Fabelmans at three, noting a taste for directors making movies about themselves.
    “But I like all of the director projects of let me just make a movie about myself.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:01:51 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)

Fun items about it

  1. fun, about The Fabelmans: Amanda asks if she would trade having her son be as successful as Spielberg for the movie he'd make about her; Sean says to take the Jurassic Park money.
    “But could you be sitting on Jurassic Park money?”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:03:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)

Who the speakers said made it

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