Admires Eddie's subtlety in the film and the Detroit-set opening that sets it apart from other 80s blockbusters. Appreciates sly craft details like pop songs turning down for a scene. He is a sucker for the rival-duo moments and the soundtrack.
Stances
The opening feels like Mean Streets rather than an 80s blockbuster
Eddie's performance is quiet and sly, not stuck in a persona
Humor: Understated, pop-culture-reference humor.
In their words
“he's really sly in this movie” (0:06:13)
“Also, a secret trope of the 80s movie making is pop song playing over montage.” (0:35:52)
Loves big-picture film history and awards lore, brings printed research and Roger Ebert quotes, and likes comfort rewatches (Wedding Crashers, Beverly Hills Cop). Bad on moral outrage as a critical starting point. A sucker for pizza as a holy deity and for New York.
Stances
Do the Right Thing is a perfect screenplay and Spike's fiction apex
The Denby, Klein, and Crouch criticism missed the film
Tarantino lifted things from this movie
The worst New York pizza beats California food
Humor: Deadpan and procedural; reads 'half-assed Internet research' with mock apology, and picks fights over pizza.
In their words
“Half-assed internet research.” (1:06:03)
“Pizza is a holy deity to me.” (1:35:53)
“I have thought about this movie every day of my life since 1989, so ask away.” (1:32:24)
Sean is the one who treats Reservoir Dogs as a film education: the Melville and The Killing recommendations, the 10-year-old rewatcher who rented it. He loves the sound-and-image craft of the opening, Buscemi as the ideal Buscemi, and the commode story. Cannot let a bad accent go.
Stances
Reservoir Dogs is the film that shaped how he related to pop culture
Roth's accent is a pet peeve
Madonna's refutation is why the tipping theory wins the Ewing Award
Humor: Dry and unbothered, undercutting Bill's categories.
In their words
“Go rent the killing if you haven't seen it.” (0:47:22)
Cinephile with filmmaker-career knowledge (Todd Phillips' documentaries, Phillips-Cooper partnership). Loves Wayne's World 2 and rewards deep-cut details. Not a fan of The Hangover sequels or the Godfather compound mistake.
Stances
Todd Phillips won the movie
Hangover 2 and 3 are not worth revisiting
Fuck the South Shore, North Shore forever
Never said Frank Sinatra wasn't cool
Humor: Mock-wounded pride about his Godfather misses and hometown loyalty.
In their words
“I am from the northern shore of Long Island, and I'm north shore till I die.” (1:09:30)
“it's Todd Phillips for me because of everything I said.” (1:05:58)
Cares about behind-the-scenes lore and fair historical context; likes Kurt Russell's career arc and Westerns. Dislikes stereotypical bad takes. Provides the lore breakdown.
Stances
Tombstone is better than Wyatt Earp
Russell's apex is 1982-83
Ghost director story is the soul of the film
Kurt Russell wins spiritually
Humor: Dry, knowing asides, calls out cohosts' takes.
In their words
“The miracle of this movie is that so it was basically, let's just say it's directed by 3 people.” (0:09:03)
“He was nominated for best supporting actor, four, Silkwood” (0:48:04)
Obsessed with Brian De Palma and sees this as his last great movie; loves Carlito's Way, The Untouchables, Blow Out, and heist movies like Rififi. Dislikes masks that break the rules. A sucker for Henry Czerny and the Langley vault.
Stances
This is De Palma's last great movie
Langley heist is the most rewatchable scene
Villains' goals in the MI series are always vague
Humor: Enthusiastic, tangents about Usenet confessions and hypothetical senator IP.
In their words
“I love I love Brian De Palma's movie making.” (0:07:34)
“I realized that this is his last great movie” (0:06:56)
Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma.
Stances
Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year
Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed
Short running times are a virtue
Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
Humor: Dry, self-deprecating banter and bit-building (mouse in Boston, Dion Waiters riff, cardigan mouse).
Loves slashers and the final-girl canon, and writes about them; holds Miasma up as an A-plus and Obsession as incomplete but provocative. Uses Smile 2 as a reference. Is a sucker for tonal gear-shifts and sincere-yet-silly filmmaking.
Stances
Miasma is sweet and sincere, not scary
Obsession is incomplete but its reaction is unusual
Horror is more mainstream than ever
Final-girl trope has run to the end of the road
Humor: Dry teasing, running gags with Adam about the Blue Jays and podcasting.
In their words
“as a certified slasherologist,” (0:30:16)
“I like camping miasma exponentially more, you know, like much, much more.” (0:39:49)
“Okay, Adam, one thing, one movie that I revisited this week in writing about Final Girls was Smile 2.” (0:44:06)
A lifelong He-Man collector who admits the film has his number even when he thinks it is flawed. He loves Henson fantasy, Excalibur, and unvarnished, handmade movie moments, and prizes sincere emotional entry points. He is allergic to Marvel-style end-credit teases and sequel bait, and is a sucker for Hensonian creature work and toy nostalgia.
Stances
The film is wildly flawed and too long but tonally interesting
Handmade, unpolished horror like Obsession is what the fandom wants
Fantasy canon is mostly the five things everyone says
Tired of sequel-bait end credits
Humor: Self-deprecating about being a broken fan critic, riffing on his own 'film critic or not' persona.
In their words
“I'm a bizarre broken person and this silly thing means a lot to me, right?” (0:42:31)
“I want to watch a movie finish itself.” (1:12:44)
“Yeah, I would I would throw Dark Crystal and Excalibur into that cannon.” (1:18:46)
Likes lean, formally controlled genre movies, prefers Sondheim to Lloyd Webber-era musicals, and respects cult phenomena once he understands them. He doesn't care for modern movie musicals, bad-good irony, or over-psychologized horror. He is a sucker for movie stars and celebrity mystique and for a good Letterboxd rating.
Stances
Mamma Mia is both very good and very bad and he's willing to join the cult
Camera work and direction in Mamma Mia are poor
Dislikes modern musicals like Wicked and over-performative choreography
Not fond of 'so bad it's good'
The Strangers is richer than its 81 minutes suggest
Humor: Dry, digressive and self-deprecating, building long riffs on sports fandom, marriage and Meryl Streep's filmography.
In their words
“I've never seen a film be so good and so bad simultaneously.” (0:52:28)
“I'm actually willing to join the cult, but it is extremely important to talk about the myriad ways in which this movie also kind of stinks.” (0:52:38)
“It's just not a bad idea for a movie and maybe there should be other movies like this.” (1:26:26)
Loves genre craft and auteur signatures: devoted to Sam Raimi, delighted by Send Help as exactly what he wants from any month, and fond of movie stars with range. Detests mean-spirited, incoherent studio product like Mercy, and likes making lists of underused stars. A sucker for Beatles, Chris Pine and scenes that feel like real fights.
Stances
Mercy is ugly, mean, immoral and structurally confused
Send Help is the model fun genre movie, and Rachel McAdams should be in more
Hollywood misuses stars, especially women over 40
Amy Adams is partly responsible for her own bad roles (low confidence in attribution)
Humor: Dry compliment-sandwich deadpan, with dramatic mock hosting and running bits like the list of 22 stars.
Loves ambitious, Hollywood-about-Hollywood spectacle and big-swing auteur messiness: Babylon, Nope, Avatar: The Way of Water, Barbarian, EEAAO. Likes genre mashups with sincere hearts, rewatches Zack Snyder's Justice League, and wants theatrical formats (70mm). Will follow a filmmaker for decades after one great film.
Stances
Babylon is a near masterpiece and he is obsessed with it
Peele's messier movies reward rewatching
Avatar: The Way of Water is a film he loves and was moved by
Awards campaigns should not define a movie's reputation afterward
Humor: Dry, performative magnanimity, grandly generous gestures, and teasing his co-hosts about pants.
In their words
“I love Babylon more than I love tar.” (0:31:21)
“I love, love, love this movie.” (0:43:31)
“I tend to not go back to films aside from Zack Snyder's Justice League, which I've seen 10 times.” (0:32:25)
“I think it's probably his most satisfying film for me since in Bruges.” (0:44:50)
Loves the apotheosis of Scorsese's style and long, ambitious movies, and champions Leo, blues-drenched needle drops and big Hollywood events. He is bothered by audiences who misread excess as celebration and by passion projects that take decades. He is a sucker for personal connections, like Long Island details, and for a rankable list.
Stances
Wolf is the culmination of Scorsese's hyperkinetic 21st-century style
Leo's performance may be his best of the century
Audiences who read Wolf as a celebration are misreading it
Silence is a serious rival pick
Humor: Dry and self-deprecating, deflating moments with a deadpan aside and teasing his co-host.
In their words
“it's like the final boss of a thing he developed in the 21st century as a director.” (0:03:29)
“So we continue to make mistakes throughout this experience.” (0:02:06)
Loves Wes Anderson's Rushmore best and treats Tenenbaums as the calling card. Responds to its imaginative-Texan, literary-pop sensibility, and to sad comedy. Admires showy camera moves and needle drops. (Attribution of individual remarks is low confidence.)
Stances
Tenenbaums is the right Anderson pick as a bridge from indie to institution
Hackman's resistance to the Anderson style makes the film
Humor: Self-deprecating banter about fantasy football punishment and eyeliner.
In their words
“I will wear the Richie Tenbaum headband.” (0:26:06)
Loves Moneyball as one of his favorite movies of the decade, a baseball obsessive, a fan of Pitt's movie-star presence and Sorkin's writing. Drawn to character studies about unfulfilled promise and process movies. Allergic to self-serious later Miller and to Oscar logic.
Stances
Moneyball is the best sports movie of the decade
Pitt's best performance
Bennett Miller is interested in characters, not sports
Oscars miss the right role
Humor: Deadpan, self-deprecating banter, running gags about Chris Ryan and pants.
In their words
“The best sports movie of the decade, one of the, for my money, the best performance by one of the great movie stars of our generation.” (0:02:37)
Loves tilted, genre-mixing movies (Wild at Heart, Gremlins 2) and mainstream crowd-pleasers he grew up with (Home Alone, Ghost, Total Recall). He kept the draft's logic and also took the Spike Lee Mo' Better Blues as a heartfelt late pick. A sucker for sequels with a point of view and for the Rewatchables tie-in.
Stances
Gremlins 2 is among the cleverest movies about the scary future of America
Wild at Heart is great but not top Lynch
Chose to skip five sequels to New Hollywood classics in the sequel slot
Humor: Dry, deadpan teasing, especially of his co-hosts' drafting mistakes and the Braves.
In their words
“I'm taking David Lynch's Wild at Heart.” (1:11:00)
“one of the cleverest, if not the most clever movie about like the scary future of America” (1:15:14)
“I think misery is the best movie of the bunch.” (0:57:28)
Sean is the Minecraft-business optimist who still admits it is a mediocre movie; he loves a theatrical crowd losing its mind, auteur exercises (Soderbergh), music movies, queer European arthouse thrillers and Canadian cinema (Egoyan). He recommends in bulk, with caveats ('mixed on this, but I want to recommend it'). He's a sucker for the macro story: globalization, China, IP, and the studio math.
Stances
A Minecraft Movie is not a good movie but is an important, essential one
Kids deserve their own movies; chicken jockey gave him life
Theatrical revival needs IP and eventization right now
Film critics (incl. himself) share blame for the superhero glut
Optimistic about April and the studio year despite a bad Q1
Humor: Deadpan thesis-mongering and self-mocking melodrama ('movie bleed out'), with a constant needle for Amanda's habits.
In their words
“I'm excited about what's happened over the weekend and I have so many reasons why.” (0:01:58)
“I'm ove indexed on caring about movies.” (0:52:38)
“But you're right that I am kind of paying a penance because my enthusiasm contributed to leading us to this place.” (0:46:09)
Saw Babygirl three months before the episode and again with his wife, and the second viewing made him want a dog. Names The Brutalist his favorite movie of the year and conducts the Halina Reijn interview. Attribution inside the Hall of Fame draft is uncertain, but the draft voice that reads the filmography, champions Dead Calm and wants to hold a listener vote is probably his.
Stances
Babygirl works best as set pieces, a comedy of manners played straight, not Basic Instinct
The Brutalist is the best film of the year
Pushes Dead Calm into the Hall of Fame (low confidence)
Humor: Dry and needling, prone to pretending to be wounded.
In their words
“I think we should get a dog.” (0:12:02)
“I'm very curious about, uh, the big needle drops.” (2:32:14)
Loves spectacle done with craft and the practical heft of the original Gladiator; counts it just under his top tier of Ridley Scott. Can't stand sloppy CGI animals, soft scripts and legacy sequels that merely restate the original. A sucker for actors committing, a big Mad Max: Fury Road partisan.
Stances
Gladiator II is a huge disappointment and also incredibly entertaining
Denzel Washington is the best thing in it, but Macrinus's villainy was telegraphed
CGI baboons and sharks pull him out of the film; real animals would be better
Wants Ridley Scott to finally win Best Director
Humor: Dry, ringleader-style needling of his co-hosts, with absurd escalations (method-acting baboons, Bitcoin vs. cranking it).
In their words
“how do you communicate that this movie is a huge disappointment to me and also incredibly entertaining.” (0:16:31)
A fan of Chazelle's showy, homage-heavy filmmaking and a self-declared proud member of the Babylon hive. Loves Singin' in the Rain, physical media, genre like Suspiria, and the Immaculate theatrical experience. Can't stand long bad blockbusters, though long ambitious films do not bother him. Hunts movie-night rituals and bits.
Stances
Babylon is a maligned masterpiece and the middle and ending montage hold up
Long movies are fine when they are good; the problem is long bad blockbusters
Movies are best with a crowd and a ritual of focus
Humor: Deadpan tangents and mock-solemn setups (snack lists, bridge-dog theory, fake complaints about the golf scandal) that pull the room off the film and back.
In their words
“Now, listen, I am a proud member of the Babylon Hive.” (2:57:53)
“who's going to show this kid? Suspiria, you know, if not me.” (1:52:01)
“Tell you what, I think I'm a pretty normal guy.” (1:09:04)
Their shows' recurring bits
Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.
The Big Picture
Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.
The Rewatchables
Apex Mountain: The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits.
Who Won the Movie: The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off.
The Ebert review: Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show.
Casting what-ifs: Who was almost cast, or who should have been.
Most rewatchable scene: The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels.
Aged best / aged worst: What holds up and what does not.
Picking Nits: The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits.
Double feature: The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick.
Their claims
Showing 701–800 of 1,576 claims.
what-if (recut):
Miami Vice → Michael Mann.
The theatrical cut throws you into the club; Mann's Blu-ray version adds earlier scenes.
“really kind of loves the theatrical cut of Miami Vice because he just throws you into the club.”
unmapped (portal):
Possession → Andrzej Zulawski.
Possession gets so far under your skin that the speaker bought a Zulawski box set to chase more of him.
“but he gets so under your skin in that movie that I kind of wanted to try to go back to that place.”
people (same writers):
Messiah of Evil → Howard the Duck.
Messiah of Evil's writers-directors are best known for Howard the Duck, which it has nothing to do with.
“They are probably best known for working on Howard the Duck”
unmapped (same label):
Messiah of Evil → Miami Blues.
Radiance put out Messiah of Evil; the speaker first got hip to the label buying Miami Blues at Fopp.
“But I bought Miami blues there, which is a really, really good Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Lee movie.”
lineage (influence):
Hayao Miyazaki → Leonardo DiCaprio.
Miyazaki's planet-degradation themes were a critical influence on DiCaprio becoming an environmental activist.
“Miyazaki is one of the critical influences on DiCaprio becoming such an aggressive environmental activists”
unmapped (unusual PGA nominees):
The Zone of Interest → Past Lives.
The PGA, which usually goes mainstream, nominated these two smaller art house movies among its ten.
“It's unusual that films like the zone of interest and past lives that are smaller, intimate, complicated art house movies, really, are nominated among the 10 films here.”
contrast (campaign contrast):
The Color Purple → Origin.
The Color Purple had a big initial response but faded at the box office and lacks a PGA bump, while Origin is getting a late grassroots push.
“that is a film that had an initial huge audience response. The box office is kind of tapered off.”
unmapped (podcast fandom):
Ryan Rosillo → The Rewatchables: JFK.
Sean is a devoted fan of Rosillo's non-sports content, naming The Town and JFK Rewatchables.
“including the town rewatchables, one of like hang his jersey and the rafters for that”
lineage (adaptation recontextualization):
The Zone of Interest → Poor Things.
Five adapted-screenplay nominees are interesting recontextualizations of their sources, and Zone of Interest is the outside contender that is also one.
“The one on the outside, I think, is also a best picture contender that is also a recontextualization, which is the zone of interest.”
unmapped (retrospective momentum):
Perfect Days → Wim Wenders.
Perfect Days is the chalk international-feature pick because Wenders has a huge retrospective at the American Cinematheque.
“the chalk pick is perfect days, Vim Vendors, beloved, he's having this huge retrospective at the American Cinema at this moment.”
people (performance vs. film):
Maestro → Bradley Cooper.
Cooper's performance is one of the best things about Maestro, but he is not quite the center of a movie that is afraid of that.
“I love his performance. I think that his performance is one of the best things about it, but, He's not the center of the movie.”
career (career-recognition vote):
The Holdovers → Alexander Payne.
Voters may nominate Payne because they see The Holdovers as the last great Alexander Payne movie, a miracle they do not make anymore.
“this is the last great Alexander Payne movie or something, that's sort of like we gotta, we gotta get him his thing that he deserves.”
unmapped (moviegoing experience):
Mean Girls → Barbie.
Seeing Mean Girls alone in an IMAX theater surrounded by young women in bright colors felt just like seeing Barbie.
unmapped (IP recreation):
Mean Girls → The Lord of the Rings.
The verbatim echoing of the original is compared to how a future remake of Lord of the Rings would recycle its shtick.
“when we see a Lord of the Rings movie, you know, 10 years from now, when they're just like doing the same shtick, like it's kind of like IP recreation in a way.”
lineage (remake):
Mean Girls → Mean Girls.
The new film reuses the original's iconic lines and jokes nearly verbatim, which Sean found a little flat because no joke lands when you know it is coming.
“they really do it verbatim, like, and so that's weird with a joke.”
lineage (remake tolerance):
Mean Girls → Transformers.
Since the host does not give Transformers and Spider-Man grief for echoing earlier versions, he will not give it to Mean Girls.
“I guess if I'm not going to give Transformers and Spider-Man shit about that.”
lineage (generational remake):
Mean Girls → A Star Is Born.
The speaker is fine with a new auteur remaking a beloved thing every 20 years, as with Star Is Born / Star Wars-style retellings, here giving the social-media generation its own Mean Girls.
“every 20 years another Otour comes along and is like, I've got a take on this.”
people (director filmography):
Weekend → All of Us Strangers.
Sean lists Haigh's prior films (Weekend, 45 Years, Lean on Pete) and the HBO series Looking.
“has directed a handful of films, created the looking TV series for HBO, darted weekend, uh, 45 years, lean on Pete.”
people (same director, intimacy):
All of Us Strangers → Weekend.
Haigh has always been direct about sex between two men, and Weekend shows an intimacy you will not find in a common 2024 love story.
“if you just watch Weekend, you can see that there's a level of intimacy that is portrayed in that movie that you won't find in your common, uh, love story in in 2024.”
unmapped (needle drop):
All of Us Strangers → Blur.
Blur's Death of a Party scores the club sequence where the movie tilts toward the truth about Harry.
“and blur, uh, death of a party is played. like an amazing needle drop”
unmapped (needle drop):
All of Us Strangers → Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
The film closes on The Power of Love, one of Haigh's favorite songs, while the bed pulls away into the stars.
“The film closes with uh, Frankie goes to Hollywood's uh, Power of Love.”
contrast (persona contrast):
Andrew Scott → Fleabag.
Scott is known for slick, verbally dexterous, elusive characters like the Hot Priest and Moriarty, which makes his quiet turn here a recontextualization.
“very verbally dexterous, you know, hot priest in Moriarty.”
people (actor range):
All of Us Strangers → Ripley.
Moving from the performative sociopath of Ripley to the recessed, often wordless Adam is one of the biggest leaps between character archetypes.
“I'm not sure if there could be a bigger leap between character archetype than from Ripley to Adam.”
unmapped (audience context):
Bong Joon-ho → Parasite.
Parasite introduced Bong to a huge audience but he makes strange genre films, a concern for Warner.
“Parasite introduced him to a huge new audience, but he makes really unusual genre movies.”
unmapped (gave break):
Michael De Luca → Boogie Nights.
De Luca ran New Line and gave PTA his break with Boogie Nights; now runs Warner's films division.
lineage (rumored adaptation):
Paul Thomas Anderson → Thomas Pynchon.
PTA's next film was long rumored to adapt Pynchon's Vineland, set in the 1980s, but this one is contemporary.
“it has been long rumored that his next, his next film is going to be an adaptation of Thomas Pinchin's Vineland.”
people (director identity):
Ferrari → Michael Mann.
An Italian-set film by 'the most American of directors', with Cruz as a more known international actress.
“Ferrari, which is an Italian based film made by Michael Mann, the most American of directors.”
people (actors satirized):
May December → Poor Things.
Sean says he discussed the satirization of actors in May December with the guests, tied to why actors may have overlooked it.
“I actually talked about specifically some of the satirization of actors with Julianne and Todd.”
contrast (awards contrast):
Mark Ruffalo → Willem Dafoe.
Dafoe repeats what he has done before while Ruffalo breaks new ground, so Ruffalo's snub is odder.
people (casting reference):
Willem Dafoe → The Lighthouse.
Dafoe's Godwin is described as a craggy, monstrous creature, a lighthouse meets Shadow of the Vampire.
theme (parallel role):
Mark Ruffalo → Sterling K. Brown.
Both play comic relief who force a realization on the lead, which is why one host wants both recognized.
“Like they're comic relief, but they're also like a critical emotional turning point for the lead character.”
people (collaboration pair):
Emma Stone → Yorgos Lanthimos.
Their partnership (two features, a short, a third coming) is likened to Scorsese and De Niro.
“This is like a Scorsese De Niro thing that is happening.”
lineage (sequel in spirit):
Poor Things → Dogtooth.
Both are about who gets to dictate the rules; Poor Things is described as a sequel to Dogtooth's fathers-and-language themes.
“It's like the sequel to that movie in some ways because the Godwin character”
lineage (influence):
Poor Things → Bride of Frankenstein.
Sean says the Frankenstein novel and the first two Frankenstein movies are major influences on Poor Things.
“the Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein are, like, huge influences on this movie.”
contrast (inversion):
Poor Things → Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is a cautionary tale about science; Poor Things uses its framework to arrive at redemption and closeness.
“There's a lot of other ideas in Frankenstein, but this movie in many ways is the opposite.”
theme (genre translation):
The Favourite → Mean Girls.
Sean praises the Mean Girls reading, then says the film is really about power and lonely futility.
“The favorite is Mean Girls. I think that's super smart reading of that movie”
unmapped (temperament):
Yorgos Lanthimos → Stanley Kubrick.
Sean calls Lanthimos a 'we are all alone' filmmaker in the Kubrick mold, at least until now.
“he is like a Kubrickian, we are all alone kind of filmmaker.”
industry (awards viewership):
May December → The Zone of Interest.
Argues May December is widely seen on Netflix, more than Zone, Anatomy or Past Lives.
“Main December is way more widely seen, in my opinion, than the zone of interest.”
unmapped (creative counterpart):
May December → Safe.
Haynes and Moore's collaboration traces to Moore's Safe audition; it is their fifth film together.
lineage (influence):
Far from Heaven → Douglas Sirk.
Sean asks whether Moore studied Sirk films; Haynes says Far from Heaven derives from other movies and 1950s domestic melodramas.
“do you watch Douglas Cirque films when you're preparing”
theme (theme):
Michael Mann → Ferrari.
Enzo Ferrari, with his department heads and team who report to him, reads as a stand-in for Michael Mann the filmmaker.
fun, about
Napoleon (unmade Kubrick film):
The book 'Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon' is Sean's heaviest book, with phone-book pages holding thousands of pages of documents.
“The book is so big that the pages are almost like telephone book pages.”
fun, about
Tenet:
Sean and Amanda drove about 130 miles round trip to a San Diego drive-in to see Tenet in a heat wave, parked side by side. Amanda left claiming she understood the whole film; they will try to explain it on the pod next week.
“The movie ended and she said, I get it. I know everything that happened.”
fun, about
Chadwick Boseman:
Sean rewatched Black Panther the night before, saying it lived up to unprecedented anticipation, which never happens in mainstream culture.
fun, about
Mulan:
Controversy: filmed in Xinjiang, where Muslims are held in mass internment camps; lead Yifei Liu's Hong Kong police tweet triggered #BoycottMulan.
“was filmed in uh, Jinjiang, the region in China, where uh, Muslims have been detained in mass internment camps.”
fun, about
Cruella:
Sean reads the logline: a 1970s London fashion designer obsessed with dogskins, especially Dalmatians; Amanda and Jason react with horror.
“young fashion designer Cruella DeVille becomes obsessed with dogs skins, especially Dalmatians, until she eventually becomes a ruthless and terrifying legend.”
fun, about
The Little Mermaid (upcoming live action remake):
Casting rundown: Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, plus voices Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay; King Triton is described as xenophobic toward humans.
“Ariel's overprotective father and the king of Atlantica, who is xenophobic towards humans.”
fun, about
Trolls World Tour:
Parents reportedly rented the 48-hour 19.99 title three weekends running; the hosts bless parents and hope kids learned respect for country as well as rock and pop.
“I had people anecdotally tell me that they rented the movie 3 weekends in a row.”
fun, about
The Great Moment:
Host watched Preston Sturges's late biopic about William Morton, inventor of ether, during a pandemic film-history bender.
“I watched Preston Sturgis's The Great Moment last night about William Morton, the inventor of ether, who revolutionized dentistry.”
fun, about
David Fincher:
Netflix is betting on a black-and-white, no-movie-star historical drama because studios have not funded Fincher in 7 or 8 years.
“studios haven't been giving David Fincher money to make movies for the last 7 or 8 years for a reason.”
fun, about
Netflix and the Egyptian Theatre:
Netflix bought the Egyptian and was refurbishing the Paris Theater; a host reads the moves as overtures to older Academy members.
“those overtures were made to ingratiate themselves to the older members of the academy”
fun, about
Alamo Drafthouse:
A six-hour evening: movie, whiskey cocktail, fries, rent a video from the same filmmaker at their video store, beer and trivia, which AMC does not offer.
“And that is a 6 hour evening in a movie palace that AMC is not offering.”
fun, about
Academy Awards:
From 24 awards to 23 by merging sound; one host wants 75 awards and a five-day festival; another wants best first feature and best breakthrough.
“There should be 75 awards. This should be a 5 day festival of handing out awards.”
fun, about
Stunt Oscar:
A host zags on the stunt category: everyone demands it without knowing why, while still wanting to honor stunt work with an honorary award; joke pitch: Zoom Stunt Oscars with DVDs held up.
“Everybody needs to just settle down with pretending that they really like stunts in movies.”
fun, about
Twilight Zone: The Movie:
An episode of the Shudder series Cursed covers the 1982 set death of Vic Morrow and two children in a helicopter stunt; Landis was acquitted.
“A helicopter crashed during a stunt and Vic Morrow, Jennifer Jason Lee's father, was killed along with 2 children during the making of this movie”
fun, about
Incredible Hulk / Iron Man:
Trivia win: the two characters in the first two MCU films, Hulk and Iron Man, earned the team points after a host sprinted out of frame.
“It's the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, you fools.”
fun, about
Postponed films:
Sean tracks 18 postponed undated films that could drop when theaters reopen, listing New Mutants, Promising Young Woman, Bad Trip, The High Note, Run, Military Wives, Greyhound and Malignant.
“there have been 18 movies that have been postponed and are undated at the moment.”
fun, about
Alita: Battle Angel:
Sean watches strangers watch Alita on planes and tracks the actors he recognizes; the 15-minute motorball fight keeps breaking for exposition and restarting.
“I watched people watch it on the plane and then at some point I just took kept track of like the actors I could recognize.”
fun, about
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum:
The dog-fight sequence took six months to design and train, and director Chad Stahelski told this podcast it was the hardest thing he had done. Wins best action sequence.
“I took 6 months to design and train the dogs to execute this fight.”
fun, about
Spider-Man: Far From Home:
Sean argues the post-credits scene (J.K. Simmons outing Peter Parker on a Times Square screen) is the best ending of 2019 because the theater erupted; Amanda calls it a teaser, not an ending.
“That was the loudest vocal reaction I had heard to a movie in 2019.”
fun, about
Midsommar:
Sean defends the ending by asking whether anyone has been sewn inside a bear skin and lit on fire in a giant triangle; Midsommar also wins best meme inspiration and Halloween costumes.
“Have you ever been sewn inside of a bear skin and lit on fire in a giant triangle.”
fun, about
The Lighthouse:
Sean is so devoted he'll launch a minute-by-minute Lighthouse podcast alone in a lighthouse; Amanda calls him an A24-merch-bro Reddit nerd and says Eggers shows his work too much.
“what you are is a Reddit nerd, bro, and you hate this. I believe what I said was A24 merch, bro.”
fun, about
Richard Jewell:
Paul Walter Hauser was a guest and recited A Few Good Men past the code red, continuing through the officer on deck; Sean says he can do it too.
“He started doing like this, the extended a few good men recitation, like we had done, the normal code red stuff, and then he just kept going”
fun, about
Richard Jewell:
Hauser's home scene with Kathy Bates sells the age of the relationship with comfort alone, and the film cooks whenever Jewell, Rockwell and Bates share a room.
“these 3 people are amazingly comfortable with each other.”
fun, about
Blair Witch (The Woods):
Sean says its last 30 minutes are the most scared he has ever been in a theater, though he doesn't think the film is good.
“the last 30 minutes of Blair Witch is the most scared I think I may have ever been in a movie theater”
fun, about
Soul / Inside Out:
Sean can only remember Inside Out as a drawing and confuses its Sadness creature with Tina Fey's Soul; Amanda saw it in a theater.
“No, I saw that in a movie theater. Really? Yeah, I just couldn't remember anything about it because it's a drawing.”
fun, about
Paul Thomas Anderson / Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:
Sean riffs on the DGA podcast, where PTA gushed about Brad Pitt, and impersonates him on the Moana bit.
“Because Paul Thomas Anderson is being like, Quentin, fucking Brad. In this movie.”
fun, about
Fleabag / Succession vs Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:
Sean says that's why the show is The Big Picture and not The Watch: he would take one great movie over Fleabag.
“And that's why this is the big picture and not the watch.”
fun, about
Captain Marvel:
The 90s signaling: a never-worn Guns N' Roses T-shirt, and Carol stealing a Nine Inch Nails shirt off a mannequin as a metaphor for the film.
“steals a 9 inch nails t-shirt and a leather jacket off of a mannequin outside of a boutique.”
fun, about
Captain Marvel:
The big fight scene is set to No Doubt's Just a Girl while she punches Jude Law, which Sean finds cute and clever but ham-handed.
“certainly the chorus of that song makes it fit when she's punching Jude Law on the face repeatedly.”
fun, about
The Ringer office:
A Ringer Slack prompt for the most 90s song stopped work for an hour; Dan Devine said Smells Like Teen Spirit immediately.
“Dan Devine gave immediately, which was smells like teen spirit.”
fun, about
Guardians of the Galaxy:
Amanda knows Guardians only as the raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper, and Sean suggests she go by Amanda the Accuser.
“perhaps you should go by Amanda the accuser in future podcasts.”
fun, about
Captain Marvel:
Opening weekend benchmark: less than $150 million would be called a disappointment, even though few can open a movie on name alone.
“less than $150000000 in the opening weekend would be considered a relative disappointment for a Marvel movie like this”
fun, about
Kingdom Come:
Sean explains the Alex Ross series, set 50 or 60 years later with an older Batman in a wheelchair and gray-streaked Wonder Woman, calling it very melodramatic.