Sean Fennessey

81 sketches, 1,576 claims, and 559 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–20 of 81 sketches.

The Rewatchables: ‘Domestic Disturbance’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Appreciates craftspeople and lesser-known directors (loves The Boost and City Hall) and attends Cannes. Scrutinizes plot logic and loves Buscemi's Fargo energy. Disdains the garage finale.

Stances

  • The movie works until the murder, then the investigation sinks it
  • Modern tech would have ended the plot
  • Harold Becker's career deserves a look

Humor: Wry, uses film-nerd references and dry understatement.

In their words

  • “I just saw it for the 1st time this year is amazing.” (0:30:27)
  • “I just feel like reverse image search alone on a photo of Rick just ends this whole thing.” (1:08:35)

The Rewatchables: ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey (host)

Treats After Hours as a top-5 Scorsese and an all-time favorite; loves style, Pee-wee-adjacent oddballs, Frances Ha and film-history research. Can't stand lazy comic-book flatness or explicit violence for its own sake. A sucker for homage, trivia and a clean pace.

Stances

  • After Hours is a hinge in Scorsese's career
  • Goodfellas' look starts here
  • Pauline Kael misread it
  • Nighttime New York movies are a lineage

Humor: Dry, researched asides and a New Yorker's grumble about the city changing.

In their words

  • “It's just a hinge movie for him, you know?” (1:41:36)
  • “Bad take by polling.” (0:42:40)

The Rewatchables: ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Barely audible in the transcript; credited by Bill's live-show promo and addressed as 'Fantasy', he offers short remarks on Spider Rico. Little can be said about his taste from this episode.

Stances

  • Don't sleep on Spider Rico

Humor: Minimal evidence in this transcript.

In their words

  • “Fantasy, don't sleep on Spider Rico.” (1:07:42)

The Rewatchables: ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Admires Walken's monologue craft and Tarantino's refusal to sell out. Likes movie stars taking risks in non-star roles (Stallone in Cop Land). Dislikes how the film ends up with Fabienne.

Stances

  • Walken wins the Dion Waiters Award
  • Travolta, not Day-Lewis, was right
  • Tarantino never sold out

Humor: Quiet, wry one-liners; takes the long view.

In their words

  • “Don't massage my wife's foot unless you're a professional masseuse is one of my takes.” (0:10:40)
  • “I love when movie stars play non-movie star roles.” (2:41:43)
  • “Having him play like just one normal hitman having a weird day would be awesome.” (1:39:01)

The Rewatchables: ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’ With Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey (host)

Likes the sketch-driven silliness and Mini-Me/Scott Evil feud. Annoyed by Fat Bastard's grossness and Felicity sleeping with him. Likes Rob Lowe's resilient career.

Stances

  • Fat Bastard scene is the worst-aged
  • Dr. Evil nipples age best
  • Heather Graham deserves credit

Humor: Dry, plays straight man to Bill's tangents.

In their words

  • “Felicity sleeping with Fat Bastard has just grossed me out in 1999.” (0:37:25)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Insider’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Sean is the most film-critical of the three, with a theory of Pacino as broken by Scarface and an argument that The Insider is his most calibrated performance. He admires Plummer's non-impression of Wallace and values the Mann-Roth research. He is less into the score and the style when applied to a white-collar story.

Stances

  • The Insider is probably Pacino's best performance
  • Mann's style strains for individuality and sometimes ages him
  • The movie is a little masturbatory when applied to a hotel-room decision story
  • The score is not his favorite Mann element

Humor: Wry and observational, with film-critic asides and self-deprecating comments about being excommunicated from the Mann club.

In their words

  • “I think this is truly his last great masterpiece.” (0:07:22)
  • “I think that the insider is probably his best performance because it's the one that is the most finely calibrated between loud, crazy, and kind of subtle and stormy” (0:12:36)
  • “It's pretty abstract” (0:30:32)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Big Chill’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

A DVD head and Letterboxd regular who would cave on the deleted scenes. Likes the fact sheets, craft details like Ozu, and friendship movies. Dislikes the sequel idea and the Costner scene being sat on forever.

Stances

  • Would show the cut Costner scene
  • Doubts Grand Canyon

Humor: Dry quips and the straight man to the Letterboxd jokes.

In their words

  • “Yeah, you're also a DVD head.” (0:42:16)

The Rewatchables: ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan (host)

Cares about directorial craft and homage; Scorsese devotee. Praises performances and lessons over the direction, which he finds first-time-filmmaker plain. Bothered by mixed Goodfellas homages.

Stances

  • Wonders if Goodfellas echoes are purposeful
  • Scorsese directing would be more thrilling but less breezy
  • Wants answers on who planted the car bomb

Humor: Plays straight-man with deadpan nitpicks and question lists.

In their words

  • “my obsession with Martin Scorsese is probably rooted in the fact that I didn't have that.” (0:08:56)
  • “I just want to know how much of what he was doing was a purposeful homage to Goodfellas” (1:32:47)

The Rewatchables: 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris (host)

Altman is in his top five favorite filmmakers and he knows the filmography cold, from Tanner '88 to Cookie's Fortune. He's a sucker for Carver and Blu-ray collecting and defends Greta Scacchi. He has little patience for TV-style stretches of an asshole.

Stances

  • Altman's legacy is the filmmakers he influenced
  • The Player is one of Altman's three or four best
  • Movies have been good for 15 months
  • The oral biography is the place to start with Altman

Humor: Dry and a little snobby about his own collector habits; deadpan fact-drops.

In their words

  • “He is in my top 5 favorite filmmakers ever.” (0:08:57)
  • “I think it's really like definitely one of his 3 or 4 best movies.” (0:10:20)
  • “I think movies have been good for like 15 months.” (1:40:05)

The Rewatchables: ‘Die Hard 2’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Film-nerd who values Willis's daring taste in directors and takes seriously the craft and the cultural footprint. Fond of Renny Harlin's Long Kiss Goodnight, De Palma, and a good that-guy roll call; skeptical of the movie's incoherent plot and the 9/11-erased airport.

Stances

  • Willis took risks with unproven filmmakers
  • Die Hard 2 is still among the better action movies of its era
  • Long Kiss Goodnight is Harlin's coolest movie
  • Air traffic control access was problematic

Humor: Dry, specific and film-literate; sets up jokes with precise references.

In their words

  • “he was willing to take on projects with filmmakers who were maybe not as proven.” (0:07:32)
  • “My favorite is Long Kiss Good Night.” (1:01:37)

The Rewatchables: ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Film-nerd who builds the big readings (Hitchcock lineage, Fincher career arc) and loves camera moves through walls and Blu-rays. Won't love the accent in Silence of the Lambs; sucker for nitpicks about propane physics.

Stances

  • Panic Room is Hitchcock doing Psycho after North by Northwest
  • Silence of the Lambs is still Foster's best
  • Likes Adventureland best of Stewart
  • Nitpicks the propane tank and phone logic

Humor: Dry and literate; gets teased for loving cameras inside walls and Blu-rays.

In their words

  • “I still think is probably the best thing she's ever been a part of” (0:29:47)
  • “I would say Adventureland is my favorite, Kristen Stewart” (1:34:50)
  • “Sean loves when we take cameras inside walls.” (1:21:07)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Ice Storm’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Loves Ang Lee's range, Brokeback Mountain, tragedy with satire, and thinking about how industry changes. Can't stand over-explained text. A sucker for Joan Allen and small observed behavior.

Stances

  • Lee has the most varied filmography of any major director in 30 years
  • The film is more satire than bum-out
  • Joan Allen is the apex pick

Humor: Earnest and precise, then undercuts with a deadpan aside.

In their words

  • “He probably has the most varied filmography of any major director in the last 30 years.” (0:09:07)
  • “Joan wins out of all the actors.” (1:23:11)
  • “I thought that movie was good, and that kind of came and went, and it was almost in the wrong decade.” (1:12:00)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Film-history lens: loves the Method actors versus movie-star divide, Scorsese's visual flourishes, and Newman's integrity. Dislikes the idea that Ebert missed the ending's point. A sucker for Grady Seasons and Amos scenes.

Stances

  • It's a torch-passing movie in both business and story
  • Ending ambiguity is the point, not a flaw
  • Newman integrity explains the forfeit
  • Scorsese is great at making a small movie feel big

Humor: Dry film-nerd asides, like claiming he will be 'young and vital forever.'

In their words

  • “Just that I'm going to be young and vital forever, so I still don't relate to any of that stuff, you know?” (0:21:09)
  • “it's one of the most exciting and entertaining movies he ever made.” (0:16:10)
  • “Newman is one of the few guys who basically fused both disciplines.” (0:05:48)

The Rewatchables: ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan (host)

Proud Bill Murray devotee who frames careers in eras; loves the 'from hell' genre and craft details like cinematographer and editor credentials. A champion of Julie Hagerty and Dr. Melfi. Gets a kick out of deep trivia and the Muppets.

Stances

  • Murray has two phases, pre- and post-Rushmore
  • The film is a successor to Pacific Heights
  • Anna may be a post-college adult
  • Dreyfuss finally plays the character he was destined for

Humor: Confident, nerdy deep cuts and theory-building that makes the others groan, such as the post-college Anna reading.

In their words

  • “Think of this movie as a logical successor to Pacific Heights.” (0:46:51)
  • “Sean, you're a Bill Murray guy. Proudly. Proudly.” (0:03:35)

The Rewatchables: ‘Thief’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan (host)

Admires Mann's themes and the rich cinematic lineage; calls himself a weed smoker for Heat but loves Thief. Fond of Caan's volatile nuance, finds Weld and Nelson fascinating.

Stances

  • Heat is weed not heroin
  • Blade Runner kinship

Humor: Dry and self-deprecating.

In their words

  • “I am merely a weed smoker.” (0:06:05)

The Rewatchables: ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan (host)

Admires Fincher as a control-freak craftsman and sees Hitchcock behind Se7en. Can't stand when the Academy rewards uplift over difficult genre filmmaking. A sucker for the Freeman-as-lead reading.

Stances

  • Se7en is the darkest mainstream American movie ever made.
  • Pitt is not top-tier here; it is Freeman's movie.
  • Fincher won the movie.

Humor: Dry and precise, deadpan asides.

In their words

  • “this is just about the darkest mainstream American movie ever made.” (0:05:59)
  • “it's also just completely a Hitchcock movie in so many ways.” (0:14:30)

The Rewatchables: ‘Fletch’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan (host)

Critic-minded and history-minded: loves the real SNL oral histories, Siskel, Ritchie and Chandler-style noir. Cannot stand weak acting, especially Dana Wheeler-Nicholson here, and defends Siskel over Ebert. A sucker for HBO Max old movies.

Stances

  • You have to get Chevy Chase to get Fletch
  • Dana Wheeler-Nicholson is a bad actress
  • Ebert missed the point

Humor: Dry, authoritative asides and long rants framed as scholarship.

In their words

  • “I think if you don't get Chevy Chase, you will never get this movie.” (0:02:14)
  • “You may recall from the Tombstone podcast that I noted that she is a bad actress and she's not good in flutch.” (0:51:31)

The Rewatchables: ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan (host)

Loves the Cameron-Ferris friendship, Hughes's relationships, and the film as a closed system of perfection. Cannot stand overthinking about why it works; a sucker for people who keep it together while coiled. Defends innocent fun and Cameron.

Stances

  • Ferris is the movie but audiences relate to Cameron
  • The film works as an unreplicable perfect moment
  • Jeffrey Jones was the right choice over Paul Gleason
  • Hughes is a rare writer who channels all kinds of characters

Humor: Dry, deadpan, quick to drop a zinger; the host who delivers the Silent Judge side-eye.

In their words

  • “It's like a, this is a very closed system of perfection.” (0:19:12)
  • “Your dirtbag ethics have nothing to do with what makes Ferris Bueller beautiful.” (1:26:08)

The Rewatchables: ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan (host)

Treats Tarantino as the central author, loves Leo DiCaprio's work here, and defends the movie's themes against online complaints. Loves the Bruce Lee roof scene. Can't stand criticism that misses the point about beginnings and endings of careers.

Stances

  • Quentin wins every Tarantino movie
  • Leo's performance is the best of his career
  • The Margot Robbie criticism missed the point

Humor: Dry, deflecting, and gets teased about Equinox and Leo.

In their words

  • “I think Leo decided in like 1992.” (0:15:50)
  • “I think Quentin wins all of his movies.” (1:17:39)

The Rewatchables: ‘Skyfall’ With Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Amanda Dobbins (host)

Self-described not a huge Bond person who finds Skyfall scratches the part of his brain other Bonds do not; loves the Silva rat speech and dialogue scenes. A Peter Morgan disciple and Anglophile who can pick out British character actors.

Stances

  • Skyfall's action is accessible and legible
  • Silva dominates the film
  • Hacking is the worst-aged element

Humor: Deadpan nitpicks and bits about vlogging villains.

In their words

  • “I am not a huge bond person.” (0:04:20)

Their shows' recurring bits

Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.

The Big Picture

The Rewatchables

Their claims

Showing 1,101–1,200 of 1,576 claims.

  1. programming (programming): Nancy Meyers → Alfred Hitchcock. Director-filmography episodes (Hitchcock, every Meyers movie) dictate what the hosts have to watch.
    “we talked about every single Nancy Myers movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:18:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): Alfred Hitchcock → Brian De Palma. De Palma would make a good sister filmography episode to Hitchcock.
    “I think he's a good kind of like sister episode to Hitchcock”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:18:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. verdict (verdict): Snake Eyes → Brian De Palma. Snake Eyes is second-tier De Palma nobody discusses, so rewatching it is a time cost.
    “like Snake Eyes, the Brian de Palma movie, which is like, you know, 2nd tier de Palma”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:18:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  4. contrast (contrast): Chris Ryan → Sean Fennessey. Chris takes random chances on VOD and theater picks; Sean and Amanda do not.
    “Chris is much more of a free spirit”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:24:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. programming (programming): World of Tomorrow Episode Three → Sean Fennessey. Sean points animation fans to World of Tomorrow 3, out that day, and the South Park special.
    “World of Tomorrow 3, the new Don Hertzfeld film comes out today”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:26:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  6. industry (industry): 1917 → Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A friend says 1917 may be the last big awards-worthy global release before the gate closed, alongside Joker, Once Upon a Time and Endgame.
    “we might look back on 1917 as the last movie that got in before the gate closed”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:34:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  7. industry (industry): Avengers: Endgame → Joker. 2019 had several event films (Joker, Once Upon a Time, Endgame) before the 'flame out'.
    “the grand orgy before the flame out, before the fall of Empire”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:35:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  8. lineage (lineage): The Butterfly Effect → Sliding Doors. The Butterfly Effect is basically a science-fiction version of Sliding Doors.
    “a science fiction version of sliding doors is a great idea for a movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:36:13 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  9. contrast (contrast): The Butterfly Effect → Aaron Moorhead. Moorhead and Benson already make this kind of soft science fiction.
    “they make a lot of movies that are kind of like this, but this like soft science fiction”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:36:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  10. what-if (what-if): The Butterfly Effect → Steven Spielberg. Sean wants the Butterfly Effect redone with Spielberg and Colin Farrell and a better script.
    “what if this was Steven Spielberg and Colin Farrell”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:36:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  11. what-if (what-if): The Butterfly Effect → Eric Roth. Eric Roth writing it would make it a mainstream crowd-pleasing sci-fi movie.
    “what if Eric Roth wrote this movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:36:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  12. verdict (verdict): Public Enemies → Michael Mann. Public Enemies is a disappointment; digital shooting and Johnny Depp did not work for the speaker.
    “one of the more disappointing movie experiences I've had in the last 15 years is public enemies”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:37:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  13. what-if (what-if): Public Enemies → Christopher Nolan. Nolan could shoot a Dillinger movie with style and propulsion.
    “he would be able to shoot a movie like this with an enormous amount of style and propulsion and intrigue”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:38:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  14. contrast (contrast): Alex Garland → Christopher Nolan. Sean would trade a Nolan-size budget on Garland for another Garland film over another Nolan film.
    “I want another Alex Garland movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:41:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  15. what-if (what-if): 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (unmade Fincher film) → David Fincher. A Fincher 20,000 Leagues could have been a signature event film of the 21st century.
    “could have been one of the signature event films of the 21st century”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:45:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  16. what-if (what-if): Napoleon (unmade Kubrick film) → Stanley Kubrick. Napoleon is frequently cited as the greatest unmade movie; the book shows the work Kubrick put in.
    “Napoleon is like, is frequently cited as the greatest unmade movie ever”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:45:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  17. programming (programming): Dick Johnson Is Dead → Sean Fennessey. Sean tells everyone to watch Dick Johnson Is Dead as proof small personal films still reach people.
    “I would recommend all people just watch Dick Johnson as dead”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:54:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  18. programming (programming): Top Gun: Maverick → Sean Fennessey. Top Gun: Maverick is the communal 'hell yeah' experience Sean misses.
    “It's kind of dumb.”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:58:13 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  19. programming (programming): Last Night in Soho → Edgar Wright. A horror classic from Wright would not play as well at home; right for Halloween.
    “I need more instant classics and I trust him to make something like that”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:59:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  20. contrast (contrast): Catwoman → Cats. Catwoman and Cats are the 'authentically bad' kind of bad movie.
    “That movie's just bad.”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:07:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  21. contrast (contrast): Room → Catwoman. The Room is the cult-bad kind, unlike the earnestly mainstream-bad Catwoman.
    “movies like the Room, which are, you know, made for lower budgets by people who are slightly incompetent”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:07:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  22. verdict (verdict): Last Action Hero → Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sean wants to rescue Last Action Hero as a clever, misunderstood movie.
    “Last Action Hero, the Schwarzenegger movie, which I always thought was like a really clever movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:08:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  23. contrast (contrast): Battleship → Last Action Hero. Sean's 'bad movie' show would rescue reputations rather than revel in the badness of Battleship.
    “not me reveling in the badness, the shittiness of battleship”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:08:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  24. people (people): The Thomas Crown Affair → Christopher Nolan. Speaker says Christopher Nolan loves the 1999 Thomas Crown Affair because of Tenet.
    “you know who loves the Thomas Crown affair in 1999, Christopher Nolan, because I've seen Tenet”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:09:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  25. verdict (verdict): Marie Antoinette → Sofia Coppola. Booed at Cannes but the speaker's favorite Coppola film.
    “that is probably my favorite of her movies”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:09:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  26. craft (craft): A Cure for Wellness → Gore Verbinski. Verbinski is one of the only mainstream filmmakers who tries something new and crazy each time.
    “one of the only mainstream filmmakers who tries to do something new and crazy almost every time he makes a movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:10:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  27. verdict (verdict): Mother → David Sims. Blank Check's David Sims tweeted that Mother! may be a masterpiece, reopening the debate.
    “perhaps this movie is a masterpiece, I kind of always thought it was”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:11:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  28. what-if (what-if): Panic Room → Nancy Meyers. Panic Room is a drama of domesticity, a house that turns on you, suited to Meyers.
    “a house and a room that turns against you, she would be engaging with a lot of the core themes”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:13:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  29. what-if (what-if): The Intern → David Fincher. Fincher could find the darkness at the edge of The Intern.
    “I sense a darkness at the edge of, um, that movie, uh, that I feel that he could explore”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:14:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  30. contrast (contrast): The Intern → Gone Girl. Gone Girl is Fincher's gender movie; the speaker thinks The Intern could be funny too.
    “I mean, like David Fincher does like a gender movie, I guess, is gone girl, but the intern could be funny too”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:14:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  31. lineage (lineage): The Intern → Mindhunter (TV). Mindhunter is like The Intern with ages reversed: a mentor and an up-and-coming hot shot.
    “Mindhunter's kind of like the intern, you know, you just reverse the ages a little bit”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:15:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  32. industry (industry): Guardians of the Galaxy → The 40-Year-Old Virgin. A famous guest's point: Marvel movies are comedies and Guardians effectively replaced mainstream studio comedies.
    “Guardians of the Galaxy is a comedy, and Guardians of the Galaxy has effectively replaced mainstream comedies”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:18:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  33. industry (industry): The 40-Year-Old Virgin → Sean Fennessey. Comedy dates quickly; this one will not be funny to people in 15 years.
    “the 40-year-old virgin is not going to be funny at all to people in 15 years”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:20:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  34. verdict (verdict): I Love You, Man → Sean Fennessey. Amazing movie to wait six months for in theaters.
    “I love you, man, to come out in theaters”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:21:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  35. career (career): Paul Newman → Sean Fennessey. Newman's effortless career, good taste and social conscience is the one Sean would want.
    “excellent taste, and he made a handful of movies that will live forever”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:26:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  36. programming (programming): Hubie Halloween → Adam Sandler. It's Hubie Halloween season; a pointed plug.
    “it's Hubie Halloween season”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:28:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  37. career (career): Jessica Chastain → The 355. Chastain is starring in The 355.
    “Jessica Chastain is the star of your new favorite movie of 2020, the 355”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:32:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  38. industry (industry): Peter Weir → Sean Fennessey. In 1997 Sean could find maybe two Peter Weir movies; now the Criterion Channel has all of them.
    “I could find maybe 2 Peter Weir movies”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 1:37:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  39. programming (programming): Aaron Sorkin → The Trial of the Chicago 7. Next episode: Aaron Sorkin and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
    “examining one of our stars, one of our beloveds, a great and complicated Aaron Sorkin”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 2:09:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  40. theme (theme): Chadwick Boseman → Heath Ledger. Sean says the only comparable unexpected Hollywood losses in 20 years were Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
    “the only 2 examples I could think of really in the last 20 years that were even close to this were obviously Heath Ledger and and Philip Seymour Hoffman's deaths”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:07:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  41. career (career): Chadwick Boseman → Da 5 Bloods. Sean cites Boseman's choice of complex real-life roles (Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, James Brown) and Da 5 Bloods.
    “if you look at his Portrait of Thurgood Marshall or Jackie Robinson or James Brown, and even his role in this year's The Five Bloods, the Spike Lee movie.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:08:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  42. career (career): Chadwick Boseman → Black Panther. Sean says Boseman holds Black Panther together and carries it on his shoulders.
    “he holds the movie together. He carries the movie on his shoulders”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:09:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  43. lineage (lineage): Mulan → Beauty and the Beast. Sean places Mulan at the end of the 90s Disney peak run that included Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
    “it is really kind of at the end of the peak of that 90s Disney run with Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid and Aladdin and the Lion King and Mulan.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:17:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  44. craft (craft): Mulan → Aladdin. Sean says Eddie Murphy's Mushu works for adults like Robin Williams's genie did.
    “the same way that Robin Williams might have appealed to adults as the genie, you get, you get some Eddie Murphy in this movie.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:17:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  45. industry (industry): Tenet → Mulan. Tenet reopens theaters while Mulan goes to Disney+ at $29.99, two different pandemic release strategies.
    “2999 price point, which is, um, some would say quite high”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:18:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  46. contrast (contrast): Mulan → The Lion King. Sean says the Lion King and Aladdin remakes hewed too close to the originals, while Mulan overcorrected by not knowing what was good in its source.
    “I think Aladdin and the Lion King, I thought, worked a little bit too hard to retain the tone and the approach and story of the original films.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:25:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  47. lineage (lineage): Mulan → Mulan. Sean says the remake is what happens when filmmakers do not know what is good about the original.
    “I think Mulan is kind of what happens when you don't really know what's good about your movie.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:26:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  48. lineage (lineage): Mulan → Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. Sean says the remake made him think most of The Last Jedi and the sequel trilogy, turning Mulan into a Rey type figure.
    “The movie I thought of the most while watching this movie is the last Jedi.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:43:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  49. lineage (lineage): Mulan → Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Sean says the Rise of Skywalker screwed up expectations and he wonders whether Mulan will become an influential text like it.
    “kind of how the rise of Skywalker kind of screwed up all the expectations that we had.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:43:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  50. career (career): Niki Caro → Whale Rider. Whale Rider put Caro on the map.
    “Whale rider kind of put her on the map.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:55:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  51. career (career): Niki Caro → North Country. Caro also made North Country with Charlize Theron in the 2000s.
    “she made a film with Charlize Theron um, in the 2000s called North Country.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:55:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  52. people (people): Niki Caro → Mulan. Sean says Caro's earnest, humorless films centering women make her a logical pick but tonally wrong for Mulan.
    “all of her films have one thing in common, which is they're kind of humorless. They're very earnest, dramatic stories that center women in the middle of the frame.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:55:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  53. industry (industry): Mulan → Yifei Liu. Sean says Liu's tweet backing Hong Kong police triggered a #BoycottMulan movement a year before release.
    “triggered the hashtag band Mulan movement when she tweeted support for Hong Kong police”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:56:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  54. industry (industry): Mulan → Daryl Morey. Sean compares the Mulan China controversy to the NBA's controversy after Daryl Morey's tweet last year, another Disney-style cultural flashpoint with China.
    “we saw a version of this conversation in the NBA last year when Daryl Morey tweeted”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 0:57:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  55. people (people): Tony McNamara → Cruella. Sean cites McNamara, creator of The Favourite and The Great, among Cruella's six screenwriters.
    “The other is Tony McNamara, creator of the favorite and the great.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 1:03:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  56. people (people): Craig Gillespie → Cruella. Sean notes Cruella is directed by Gillespie, who most recently made I, Tonya.
    “Movies directed by Craig Gillespie, who most recently made I Tanya.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 1:03:33 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  57. career (career): Rob Marshall → Mary Poppins Returns. Sean identifies Marshall by his most recent film, which is not his favorite.
    “directed by Rob Marshall, who most recently brought us Mary Poppins Returns, not really my favorite film.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 1:05:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  58. career (career): Jane Goldman → Kingsman. Sean identifies Goldman by her X-Men and Kingsman credits.
    “she's written some X-Men films and Kingsman films.”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 1:06:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  59. career (career): David Lowery → Pete's Dragon. Sean notes Lowery has already made a live action Disney remake, Pete's Dragon, before Peter Pan and Wendy.
    “Peter Pan and Wendy from David Lowry, who has previously made a live action remake, Pete's Dragon”
    The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · 1:11:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  60. craft (craft): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Brian De Palma. Sean describes the film's editing as De Palma turned up to eleven.
    “it's edited and cut like a Brian de Palma movie on crack.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:02:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  61. career (career): Nigel Godrich → Radiohead. Sean introduces Godrich as Radiohead's longtime producer when naming him as the film's music collaborator.
    “longtime radiohead producer Nigel Godrich”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:02:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.95 sure it was them)
  62. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Baby Driver. Sean says Wright's music-synced action staging, perfected in Baby Driver, begins with Scott Pilgrim.
    “The perfectly synchronized music to action staging the Wright Perfected and Baby Driver starts with Scott Pilgrim.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:02:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  63. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → The Matrix. Sean breaks the staging down into influences: Bruce Lee, The Matrix, and Phantom of the Paradise.
    “It's one part Bruce Lee, one part the Matrix, one part Phantom of the Paradise.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:03:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  64. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Phantom of the Paradise. Phantom of the Paradise is named as one ingredient of the film's rock-and-spectacle mix.
    “It's one part Bruce Lee, one part the Matrix, one part Phantom of the Paradise.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:03:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  65. career (career): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Chris Evans. Sean says the cast now reads like the greatest hits of Marvel, DC, Disney and HBO, and the movie seems to wink at their future work.
    “This movie's linup now looks like the greatest hits of the MCU, DCEU, Disney and HBO lineups.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:03:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  66. industry (industry): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Iron Man. Sean says two years earlier audiences were stunned that a comic hero could be sarcastic, and Scott Pilgrim is self-aware and glib in a way Watchmen, Batman and Superman were not.
    “only 2 years before that, people were blown away that Iron Man was kind of a dick with a sarcastic attitude.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:17:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  67. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Sean says Deadpool, the Lego movie and Spider-Verse could not happen without this film having broken the fourth wall first.
    “Deadpool, for example, can't happen or like the Lego movie can't happen or into the Spider-Verse.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:17:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  68. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Deadpool. Same claim: Deadpool's fourth-wall breaking was made possible by this movie breaking it down.
    “Deadpool, for example, can't happen or like the Lego movie can't happen or into the Spider-Verse.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:17:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  69. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → The Lego Movie. 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 · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:17:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  70. what-if (what-if): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Ellen Wong. Sean and Jason suggest a sequel would have to decenter Scott and follow Knives and Ramona.
    “Maybe that's the way to do the sequel is to make it the knives movie.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:25:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  71. career (career): Edgar Wright → Spaced. Sean says the pacing in the bread-makes-you-fat scene comes from Wright's 25 episodes of Spaced and from Shaun of the Dead.
    “that's from doing 25 episodes of Spaced and doing Shauna the Dead.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:38:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  72. lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Baby Driver. Sean says Wright used this film to work out his rhythm, pacing and use of music, so Baby Driver does not exist without it.
    “there is no baby driver without this movie in terms of like the rhythm and the pacing and the way that he uses music.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:39:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  73. career (career): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Last Night in Soho. Sean notes Scott Pilgrim is an outlier because Wright mostly makes original stories, and that Last Night in Soho, his horror film, was bumped to next year.
    “we were supposed to get last night in Soho in September and it got bumped to next year, his next movie, which is a horror movie.”
    The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:42:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  74. programming (programming): The Pelican Brief → A Few Good Men. Disqualified: legal thriller, not courtroom drama, operating outside the courtroom.
    “operates almost entirely outside of the courtroom”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:11:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  75. programming (programming): 12 Angry Men → A Few Good Men. 12 Angry Men is a technicality: a morality play in a side room, not a courtroom drama.
    “It's a morality play inside of a side room related to a courtroom”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:12:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  76. career (career): Sidney Lumet → 12 Angry Men. Lumet directed 12 Angry Men, which was left off; he is honored later via The Verdict.
    “we are acknowledging the work of the great Sunil Lumet later in the show”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:13:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  77. programming (programming): To Kill a Mockingbird → A Few Good Men. Left off the list as more homework than pleasurable; the list favors twisty, speechifying, overacting movies.
    “pleasurability factor of a lot of these movies”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:14:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  78. career (career): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin's Chicago 7 should be in this wheelhouse.
    “Trial of Chicago 7, which theoretically will be in this exact wheelhouse”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:29:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  79. industry (industry): How to Get Away with Murder → Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes took the courtroom drama out of the courtroom for puzzles.
    “she essentially took the courtroom drama out of the courtroom”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:30:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  80. people (people): Witness for the Prosecution → Billy Wilder. Written and directed by Wilder, in the middle of his great run.
    “Written and directed by the great Billy Wilder”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:38:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  81. career (career): Witness for the Prosecution → Some Like It Hot. Wilder followed it with Some Like It Hot and The Apartment.
    “follows that up with some like it hot in the apartment”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:38:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  82. craft (craft): Charles Laughton → Witness for the Prosecution. Laughton sets the tempo for over-the-top lawyer performances.
    “setting the tempo for all great over the top prosecutorial kind of lawyer performances”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:40:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  83. industry (industry): Witness for the Prosecution → Psycho. Both asked audiences not to spoil the twist; Witness did it in 1957.
    “please do not spoil the murder”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:42:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  84. career (career): Tyrone Power → Witness for the Prosecution. Last film Power completed before dying at 44.
    “This is the last film he completed”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:44:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  85. craft (craft): Witness for the Prosecution → Witness for the Prosecution. Feels like a stage show, with only 3 or 4 settings.
    “the film feels like a stage show”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:44:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  86. people (people): Anatomy of a Murder → George C. Scott. Scott plays the out-of-town prosecutor and echoes the checklist's big-shot opponent.
    “He's the out of town prosecutor that you were mentioning earlier”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:46:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  87. career (career): George C. Scott → Doctor Strangelove. Scott looks wily in his Strangelove era.
    “very looking very wily in his sort of Doctor Strangelove era”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:47:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  88. career (career): Stanley Kramer → Inherit the Wind. Kramer made issue-oriented parables: The Defiant Ones, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, Mad World, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
    “films that were sort of parables for ideas in the culture”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:52:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  89. programming (programming): Judgment at Nuremberg → Inherit the Wind. Judgment at Nuremberg just barely missed the list.
    “a movie that just barely missed the list here for us”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:52:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  90. contrast (contrast): Inherit the Wind → JFK. Inherit the Wind shows a trial becoming a social firestorm, unlike the insular courtroom movies.
    “so many of the movies on this list are really insular”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 0:55:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  91. unmapped (anecdote): A Man for All Seasons → The Hot Rock. Sean saw its trailer before The Hot Rock at the New Beverly.
    “they played the trailer for a man for all seasons”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:03:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  92. career (career): Robert Shaw → A Man for All Seasons. Shaw plays the king; known to fans of Jaws.
    “Robert Shaw, who plays the king in this movie”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:03:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  93. people (people): A Man for All Seasons → Fred Zinnemann. Zinnemann is an old-school, sturdy-handed filmmaker at the dawn of New Hollywood.
    “this very old school style filmmaker”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:06:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  94. industry (industry): A Man for All Seasons → Pictures at a Revolution. It is the good version of studio Hollywood, not the bloated musical stuff in Harris's book.
    “the good version of when the studios could make something really powerful”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:06:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  95. contrast (contrast): The Verdict → ...And Justice for All. Justice for All was tonally all over the place and didn't make the list; The Verdict is a diamond.
    “The verdict on the other hand, is a diamond”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:08:29 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  96. people (people): The Verdict → David Mamet. Written by Mamet, one of his first screenplays.
    “written by David Mammon”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:08:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  97. lineage (lineage): The Verdict → The Firm. The Verdict is foundational for the Grisham underdog stories.
    “foundational for a lot of the Grisham stories”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:08:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  98. contrast (contrast): The Verdict → A Few Good Men. Verdict's results hinge on integrity and decency, a counterpoint to being right or wrong.
    “a lot of these movies which are about the vagaries of being right and wrong”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:09:55 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  99. career (career): Hank Corwin → Vice. Corwin helped Adam McKay on Vice.
    “he helped Adam McKay at advice”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:18:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  100. craft (craft): Hank Corwin → JFK. Corwin's aggressive flash-cutting across film stocks, the Zapruder film and archival footage defines JFK's editing, and he later helped Adam McKay on Vice.
    “this incredible commercial influence flash cutting style that he does in this movie, which, you know, is liable to, you know, give you a seizure.”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:18:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 301–400 of 559 fun items.

  1. fun, about Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow: They show up as lawyers in the last 30 minutes in what feels like a different movie, with Fraser cut to erupt thunderously.
    “They're doing an old timey lawyer thing. There's like this thundering explanatory.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:13:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Killers of the Flower Moon: The Masonic Hall spanking scene, a Jack Fisk construction with a checkerboard floor, is called funny and strange.
    “I guess the Masonic Hall spanking?”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:14:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Timothee Chalamet: In his interview with Scorsese he gushes about sitting with the greatest living filmmaker, and Scorsese doesn't blink.
    “Scorsese, like, doesn't blink. He doesn't like demur.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:29:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Killers of the Flower Moon: Awards forecast: nominated for lots (Leo, Gladstone, Scorsese, production design, costume, adapted screenplay, maybe score and editing) but no real shot at Best Picture.
    “I just don't think it really has any chance to win best picture.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:32:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about The Big Picture: Next week: a lawyer-movie draft with Griffin Newman and David Sims of Blank Check, described as long and tense.
    “we're doing it with Griffin Newman and David Sims of the Blank Check podcast”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:44:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Sight and Sound poll: Sean notes that the Sight and Sound poll ballots include a Looney Tune and a 14-minute film on Adam's list, which includes Duck Amuck and Meshes of the Afternoon.
    “I mean, Adam had a had a had a looney tune and a 14 minute film on his list.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:20:41 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about The Eternal Daughter: Sean saw it at the New York Film Festival about five feet from Tilda Swinton and bumped it half a star for it. Amanda had slept on it because Sean did not respond to it at the festival.
    “the movie was bumped up half a star for me by seeing it in the front row and then being less than 5 feet away from Tilda Swinton.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 0:38:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  8. 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)
  9. 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)
  10. 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)
  11. fun, about Top Gun: Maverick: Sean on Cruise: the film is a beautifully designed vehicle and every viewing he slips into the passenger seat.
    “every time I watch it, I slip right into the passenger seat and I let it take me on a ride.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:06:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Tár: Sean says the opening Q&A scene with the New Yorker interviewer is how to use Blanchett: ten minutes of her talking about things she likes. A hosts' joke imagines a Todd Field and Adam Sandler pairing.
    “that opening scene, as I wrote in the Ringer piece, where she's taking questions from Gopnik, from the New Yorkers, like, that is how you use Cape Blanchett.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:18:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Nope: Sean admires the premise: an invented family that may be descended from the Black jockey in Muybridge's film strip, launching 100 years of film history and people whose names we don't know.
    “that's a genius idea for a drama, let alone a UFO movie.”
    The Big Picture · The Top Five Movies of 2022 · 1:33:59 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Clash of the Titans: Argument over Clash of the Titans, the Harry Hamlin original versus the Sam Worthington remake, with a side note that Hamlin is Lisa Rinna's husband.
    “Harry Hamlin's like incredibly handsome.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:26:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Black Panther: Sean says Black Panther built a whole country so well that a Marvel movie got nominated for best picture.
    “they fucking nominated a Marvel movie for best picture.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:54:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Matt Damon: Damon turned down Jake Sully plus 10 percent of the future growth.
    “In addition to 10% of the future growth of this movie.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:15:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about James Cameron: Chris Ryan nicknamed Cameron Big Jim; the sea is dope.
    “As Chris once said, he thinks the sea is dope.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:28:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about James Cameron: Cameron got $10 million from Fox in 2005 to run R&D on Avatar and could have walked away.
    “Give me a year to just do R&D.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:29:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about James Cameron: Speaker calls Cameron the ultimate con artist whose con is real.
    “Like, he is the ultimate, like, con artist whose con is real.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:30:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Avatar: How To with John Wilson featured Avatar superfans.
    “There is an extraordinary episode of How to with John Wilson.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:48:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about The Hurt Locker: Lowest-grossing Best Picture winner, beat the highest-grossing film ever.
    “Hurt Locker, when it won, was the lowest grossing best picture winner ever.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 1:35:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about Elvis: Sean's contrast: Elvis was shot with one camera on Ed Sullivan; the movie cuts a hundred times in two minutes to match his magnetism.
    “it literally cuts a 100 times in a 2 minute period of performance because that's almost sort of what it takes to match the Elvis Presley magnetism.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:17:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about Tom Hanks: Hanks's Colonel Parker accent is compared to Goldmember; separately Amanda notes this is the film where he contracted COVID.
    “he's doing basically the gold member accent”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:18:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  24. fun, about Elvis: The film's 68 Comeback Special sequence and 'If I Can Dream' are Sean's favorite moments, close to Elvis's 'A Change Is Gonna Come'.
    “It's as close as Elvis got to a change is going to come.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:21:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  25. fun, about Selena: Amanda was shown Selena in high school intro to Spanish on a quiet day to learn about Selena and Tejano music.
    “they literally showed us this movie in intro to Spanish when I was in high school.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:44:01 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  26. fun, about Love and Mercy: Director Bill Pohlad is the son of Twins owner Carl Pohlad; he produced Brokeback Mountain, 12 Years a Slave and Tree of Life, a benefactor for filmmakers.
    “a guy named Bill Polad, who is the son of Carl Polad, the billionaire owner of the Minnesota Twins.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:55:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  27. fun, about Bird: Warner Bros. and Columbia traded Revenge for the Charlie Parker rights, and Adam jokes Revenge is a gift to history that social media should avoid.
    “Revenge and Bird would be quite a double feature.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:59:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  28. fun, about Amadeus: Amadeus won all the Oscars; the lasting memory is F. Murray Abraham's Salieri rather than Tom Hulce's Mozart.
    “I think the lasting memory of this movie is not Tom Holst, but F. Murray Abraham”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 1:02:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  29. fun, about Gary Oldman: Running gag: Adam says Oldman is great 'playing Mank or whatever', and Sean protests loudly.
    “Not or whatever, how dare you? Back when he was, he played mank, all right?”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 1:08:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  30. fun, about Tom Cruise: Cruise's motion-smoothing PSA with Christopher McQuarrie is a personal Hall of Fame moment, and it plays on the podcast.
    “Video interpolation or motion smoothing is a digital effect on most high definition televisions”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:09:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.30 sure it was them)
  31. fun, about Risky Business: Amanda says Risky Business has to go in; the dance was seen before the movie.
    “I saw the Risky Business dance before I saw a few good men.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:18:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  32. fun, about A Few Good Men: Cruise goes quiet-loud-quiet-loud against Nicholson, like Smells Like Teen Spirit, priming Jessup to explode.
    “It's like listening, it smells like teen spirit.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:39:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  33. fun, about Collateral: Chris names Collateral his surprising favorite because of Vincent talking about jazz, comparing the takes to Stanley Crouch.
    “Yeah, his takes on jazz are pretty formative for me, I'd say, it's like him and Stanley Crouch.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:40:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  34. fun, about Taps: Sean rewatched Taps and found Cruise as the Sean Penn role: a brat who never plays that part again.
    “He has the Sean Penn role in this.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:47:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  35. fun, about Mission: Impossible – Fallout: Henry Cavill and Cruise punch each other in the bathroom and later on a cliff after a helicopter chase; the Henry Cavill speech about being disavowed is remembered.
    “how many times can a man be disavowed, discarded and ignored by his government?”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:01:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  36. fun, about The Firm: Chris loves The Firm for Hackman, Wilford Brimley and Holly Hunter, a Hollywood movie aspiring to nothing but entertainment; Sean calls his Wilford imitation the best Rewatchables bit.
    “That might be the best episode of the rewatchables ever, in my opinion.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:04:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  37. fun, about Tom Cruise: Cruise mailed his Golden Globes back when the HFPA was called fraudulent.
    “Just mailing them back.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:25:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.30 sure it was them)
  38. fun, about The Mummy: The Dark Universe cast photo (Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Angelina Jolie) was taken and then no more movies were made because The Mummy was so bad; Chris says it is the only non-festival movie he walked out of.
    “I think this is the only non-festival movie I've ever walked out of.”
    The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:29:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  39. fun, about Nightmare Alley: Host watched it four times; first lukewarm, a soft-focused noir, he came around.
    “And then I watched this movie a 4th time.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:03:01 · Sean Fennessey (0.95 sure it was them)
  40. fun, about Nightmare Alley: Leonardo DiCaprio was originally supposed to star; rumored to have passed over the dark ending and irredeemable lead.
    “this was originally supposed to be Leonardo DiCaprio.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:36:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  41. fun, about Ron Perlman: Reportedly handed Del Toro the Gresham novel in the mid-90s, so he is why the film exists.
    “So he's the reason this movie exists.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:39:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  42. fun, about Nightmare Alley: Patton reads Carlisle's carnival origin as like Trump rallies: a traveling apparatus that sets up and leaves.
    “he was called a carnival barker many, many times during his administration and he embraced it.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:45:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  43. fun, about Pharos of Chaos: Host recommends the documentary about Sterling Hayden's agonized life, including HUAC testimony; Patton had not seen it.
    “there's an incredible documentary about him in his life, Pharos of Chaos”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:55:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  44. fun, about The Nickel Ride: Host watched it for the first time two weeks earlier and loved it.
    “Just watch this for the 1st time 2 weeks ago.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 1:01:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  45. fun, about Under the Silver Lake: Host champions it as the modern noir worth rescuing, with a real idea about our current condition.
    “is under the Silver Lake, that that's the one that I feel like people are really trying”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 1:06:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  46. fun, about Ghostbusters: Afterlife: The movie pencil-sketch-over-a-Xerox feel.
    “the movie does often feel like a pencil sketch over a Xerox.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:04:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  47. fun, about Ghostbusters: Afterlife: Nine-year-olds not knowing ghosts terrorized New York is a nit: it would be the biggest thing since the Crusades.
    “This would be the biggest thing since like the Crusades.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:12:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  48. fun, about Ghostbusters: Afterlife: A character is named Podcast, with a joke about the podcast finding its voice in episode 46.
    “There is a character named podcast in a movie.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:14:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  49. fun, about Ghostbusters: Afterlife: Bill Murray declined a third Ghostbusters for 25 years; speaker found the cameos pathetic.
    “Why he came back for this movie, I have no idea.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:16:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  50. fun, about Ghostbusters: Afterlife: Jason Reitman filmed a plea before the movie not to spoil the end.
    “Jason Reitman filmed a little thing to go in front of the movie being like, please don't spoil the end of the movie.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:17:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  51. fun, about Andrew Garfield: Pundits call an Oscar nomination a lock; speaker finds it a divisive, litmus-test performance.
    “it is now a lock that Andrew Garfield will be nominated for an Oscar for this performance”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:24:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  52. fun, about Tick, Tick... Boom!: The tick, tick... Boom! musical was unfinished and completed after Jonathan Larson's death; it workshops Rent riffs.
    “I believe it was finished after Jonathan Larson's untimely death”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:25:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  53. fun, about That Thing You Do!: Joke: the band is literally called the Wonders because they are one-hit wonders.
    “They are literally called the Wonders.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:44:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  54. fun, about Local Hero: Burt Lancaster plays a Bezos/Musk type batty oil billionaire.
    “Burt Lancaster plays like a kind of like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk before they were Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk type type character.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:47:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  55. fun, about Local Hero: Speaker watched it in month three or four of quarantine and felt better when hard to feel good.
    “I just felt better at a time when it was hard to feel good about very much.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:47:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  56. fun, about My Neighbor Totoro: Gemma Gracewood (Letterbox) told the speaker to start a kid with Ghibli, starting with Totoro.
    “just start with Ghibli, just start with Totoro and she will be a creative and open-minded soul.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:50:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  57. fun, about Pee-wee's Big Adventure: A man goes across hell on earth to get his bike back; it taught speaker you can do anything in a movie.
    “And he goes across hell on earth to get his bike back.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:57:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  58. fun, about Pee-wee's Big Adventure: The finale features a Hollywood version of Pee-wee with James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild.
    “James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild portray Pee Wee and Dottie”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:58:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  59. fun, about Mike Mills: Sean says Mills's 20th Century Women conversation in January 2017 was the first ever for the show.
    “We talked about 20th century women.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:29:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  60. fun, about The Fast and the Furious: The family-is-said 300 times joke.
    “I don't know if something can be a theme if it's a word that is said 300 times in a movie”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:12:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  61. fun, about F9: Corona beer: Diesel sets it down and does not drink in F9.
    “he doesn't take a drink.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:15:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  62. fun, about Han: Han stands with hands in pockets, the coolest person Sean has seen in years.
    “He just stands there with his hands in his pockets”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:19:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  63. fun, about F9: Magnet set pieces redeem F9 for Sean.
    “anytime there's a magnet on screen, I'm like, I'm into this movie.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:36:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  64. fun, about Eva Mendes: Her last film role was Lost River, directed by Gosling.
    “next to it, it says final film role.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:42:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  65. fun, about Axelrod / Billions: Sean quotes a line from Billions about negotiation.
    “nobody walks away from a negotiation happy”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:45:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  66. fun, about Vin Diesel: Amanda finds Diesel sees Dom as a profound figure of literature.
    “He sees himself as a noble warrior.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:52:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  67. fun, about Fast franchise: Sean imagines Ingmar Bergman style emotional drama.
    “severe emotional dramas like Ingmar Bergman, Circa 1965.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Fast 9’ and the ‘Fast & Furious’ Rankings · 0:56:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  68. fun, about Black Widow: Disney moves Black Widow to July 9 on Disney+ Premier Access (and in theaters) which a theater owner feels is a kneecap.
    “I honestly feel kneecapped. Disney is our lifeblood.”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:04:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  69. fun, about Snyder Cut: The hosts recorded a 4-hour-5-minute Snyder Cut episode.
    “Thanks for listening to all 4 hours and 5 minutes.”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:14:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  70. fun, about Errol Morris: Idea for the Oscars: hire people like Morris to make short documentaries, like the one with Donald Trump misreading Citizen Kane.
    “he completely misreads Citizen Kane and misunderstands it”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:21:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  71. fun, about (Oscars telecast): Joke: a purple 'stories matter' sweatshirt with 'monetize me, daddy' on the back.
    “It's a purple sweatshirt. and on the back it says, monetize me, daddy.”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:22:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  72. fun, about Pi: The most famous actor in Pi is Mark Margolis, from Scarface and Breaking Bad.
    “Mark Margolis from who was also on Breaking Dead.”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:05:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  73. fun, about Margin Call: Revisit the boardroom scene where Jeremy Irons shows up, and the 'more lucrative' rocket-scientist answer.
    “I just fire up the scene where Jeremy Iron shows up in the boardroom.”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:12:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.65 sure it was them)
  74. fun, about Reservoir Dogs: Sean says he would not be doing the podcast or anything at The Ringer without Reservoir Dogs.
    “I probably would certainly not be doing it.”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:17:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  75. fun, about The Ringer / Chris Ryan: Sean says he founded the Ringer to platform brilliant friends, naming Chris Ryan as the prime example.
    “I would like to support and show the world how clever, entertaining smart and useful my friends are.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 0:25:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  76. fun, about Oscars 2021: The hosts catalogue the thirteen awards movies not yet widely seen and where to stream them, with Nomadland the clear frontrunner.
    “There are 13 more movies that most people have not seen that I think are going to be meaningful to the Oscar conversation.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 0:30:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  77. fun, about Casablanca: Sean tells Bobby to watch it and text him when they start singing La Marseillaise.
    “And then when they start singing the Marseilles, just text me like you were right.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 0:52:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  78. fun, about Pretend It's a City: Scorsese's on-screen role is mostly laughing at Lebowitz; the one time he talks over 20 seconds, he corrects her Penny Arcade into Penny Serenade and explains Grant's career.
    “Martin Scorsese's role on the show, his physical role, is largely just to laugh at the things that friend Leboitt says.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 0:58:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  79. fun, about Penny Serenade: Sean fact-checks Scorsese on air: Cary Grant was nominated twice, for None but the Lonely Heart and Penny Serenade, not once; Amanda dubs it very un-Cary Grant energy.
    “And when a person says a fact about a movie that I know to be not correct, even if it is perhaps the greatest living filmmaker, I just have to note that.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 1:00:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  80. fun, about A Muppet Christmas Carol: Sean's wife Eileen, who will never appear on the podcast, has an unhealthy addiction to the film, and also yells Heat Miser at dinner.
    “she has like an unhealthy addiction to a Muppet Christmas carol.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 1:02:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  81. fun, about Eyes Wide Shut: Sean's pick for a day on a historic set: a long shoot, one of the greatest filmmakers, two stars in the midst of a marriage, and some of the wildest scenes ever shot.
    “just some of the wildest scenes ever shot in the history of movies occur in that film.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 1:12:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  82. fun, about Sundance 2021: Sundance goes virtual, roughly 50 to 100 films in three-hour blocks, and anyone can buy tickets for the first time.
    “many people out in the world can just buy tickets.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 1:12:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  83. fun, about 12 Monkeys: Sean fired it up on his iPad at one in the morning when he could not sleep, and enjoyed it.
    “let's just fire up 12 monkeys to see how that goes down.”
    The Big Picture · Thirteen Awards Movies to Watch Out for, Oscar Do-Overs, and More From the Mailbag · 1:28:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  84. fun, about Aaron Sorkin: The 'I'm never, ever sick at sea' line turns up in Malice and again in Charlie Wilson's War; the references are like a drinking game.
    “I'm never, ever sick at sea, shows up in malice, and then it shows up in Charlie Wilson's war”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:16:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  85. fun, about Aaron Sorkin: Lord of the walk and talk; the intercut is his newer trick for real events.
    “He's the lord of the walk and talk.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:38:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  86. fun, about A Few Good Men: As a kid Amanda or Sean practiced Jessup's speech on a park basketball court shooting free throws.
    “The Jack Nicholson speech from a few good men out loud while shooting free throws”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:41:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  87. fun, about Moneyball: Billy Beane joining the Fenway owners group is an end cap to the movie; Red Sox lure scene.
    “he is joining the Fenway owners group, which is John Henry's company”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:51:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  88. fun, about Steve Jobs: Seth Rogen as Wozniak should have won an Oscar.
    “It's absurd to me that Seth Rogan was not nominated for an Oscar.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:55:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  89. fun, about Steve Jobs: Kate Winslet has more of a Polish accent in the later sequences than the first; a filming-order theory.
    “I don't totally understand why she has a Polish accent in the future, but not in the past.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:55:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  90. fun, about Sports Night: A laugh track was added at some point; the show tried to change the network sitcom form.
    “And at some point there was a laugh track, which is ill conceived.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:09:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  91. fun, about A Few Good Men: Among the most rewatched movies of a lifetime, alongside Network, Oz, Godfather, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction.
    “It's in the conversation for the most rewatched movie of my lifetime.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:19:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  92. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: Bobby Seale is bound and gagged in the courtroom in an extraordinary sequence.
    “he was bounding, gagged in the courtroom in this extraordinary sequence”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:37:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  93. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: The score pairs fake 60s guitar rock with syrupy film music; real radicals would be playing the MC5.
    “you have to play the MC5.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:43:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  94. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: Sorkin intercuts real brutality footage but cuts back to dramatized versions, which is less scary.
    “the real stuff is scarier and realer.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:43:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  95. fun, about Mark Rylance: Rylance as Kunstler is the custodian of decency in a film by a believer in decency.
    “he's the custodian of decency”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:51:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  96. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: A drive-in screening at the Rose Bowl, courtesy of Netflix.
    “We went to a lovely drive-in screening of this film at the Rose Bowl.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:54:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  97. fun, about Jane Fonda: Hayden later married Jane Fonda; the host wants her take and recommends her autobiography.
    “All I want to know is what Jane Fonda thinks of this movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:57:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  98. fun, about Mank: Fincher's teaser makes both the film and the trailer look 1940s; Sean treats Dec 4 as his day.
    “I turn into a Dragon Ball Z character and I am lit a flame and I'm powered by the energies of David Fincher”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:02:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  99. fun, about Soul: Soul on Disney+ at Christmas could be the most widely seen Disney movie ever, in 70 million homes.
    “This could turn out to be the most widely seen Disney movie of all time”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:03:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
  100. fun, about Transformers: Sean's first adult LA trip was a Transformers premiere, driving an Escalade supplied by the film's car sponsor; it hooked him on movies.
    “going to a movie premiere as an adult with a VIP ticket talking to the people that were in the movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:10:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)