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 801–900 of 1,576 claims.
craft (craft):
Ferrari → Collateral.
Collateral's one-night compression is the same pleasure as Ferrari's compression.
lineage (homage):
The Killer → Rear Window.
The Paris hit sequence is a clear homage built on watching rooms across the street.
“it is a kind of rear window monkey. You know, it is like an attempt to recreate the across the street path, vision of what is happening in rooms in another building, and clear homage to that film.”
craft (sound design technique):
The Killer → Ren Klyce.
The sound designer moves the Smiths song from diegetic to stereo soundtrack as perspective flips, then pulls it back into the killer's ear on the Johnny Marr lick.
“Ren Kleiss, the sound designer, has chosen to move the music into from diagetic to pure stereo soundtracking as the perspective of the movie shifts.”
people (actor credits):
Charles Parnell → Top Gun: Maverick.
Parnell is remembered from Top Gun Maverick and Dead Reckoning, a character actor getting his chance as a plucked-by-auteurs turn.
“Charles Parnell, uh, who people remember from Top Gun Maverick, and, you know, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning”
theme (genre ancestry):
The Killer → Jean-Pierre Melville.
The sparse expressionless killer film riffs on Melville, Kurosawa samurai movies and Walter Hill's The Driver.
“This is a Melville movie, this is a Curasawa samurai movie. This is all that stuff, right? This is the Walter Hill, the driver movie.”
unmapped (emotional through-line):
The Killer → Seven.
Repressed emotion under the surface, as in Seven's gun-aiming shot of Brad Pitt, runs through Fincher's work including The Killer.
“think of the shot, um, in 7 when, uh, Brad Pitt is aiming the gun at John Doe”
unmapped (emotional through-line):
The Killer → Gone Girl.
Amazing Amy's coping with childhood exploitation is another Fincher story of someone never letting the facade break.
“Gone Girl is the same way, you know, like everything that Amazing Amy is going through is like her coping with”
lineage (influence):
David Fincher → Alfred Hitchcock.
Fincher loves Hitchcock, who made conventionally entertaining movies carrying deep, confused emotional themes, the dual-entertainment mode Fincher pursues.
“he also knows that he loves Alfred Hitchcock, and what does Alfred Hitchcock do? He makes conventionally entertaining movies that have deep, confused, emotional themes”
theme (thematic trio):
The Killer → Mindhunter.
Mindhunter, Mank and The Killer are three works asking what it was all for, suggesting Fincher is questioning his own devotion.
“Mindhunter and Mank and this are 3 movies slash series about kind of like, what is it all for?”
contrast (contrast):
The Killer → Fight Club.
Fight Club is about societal and male-psyche breakdown; The Killer is about a functioning guy who messed up at work.
“Fight Club is about the breakdown of society and the male psyche. The killer is about a guy who's like, shit, I fucked up at work”
craft (opening style):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Goodfellas.
The opening tracking shot echoes the Copacabana shot before the film rejects that mode.
“It was a very long tracking shot through Leo's arrival, which is, you know, gesturing to Copacabana”
unmapped (dim protagonist):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Taxi Driver.
Ernest joins Scorsese's lineage of dim men wreaking havoc: Jake LaMotta, Travis Bickle, Henry Hill.
“You could say this is true of Jake Lamata. You could say this is true of Travis Bickle. You could say this is true of Henry Hill.”
unmapped (cultural context):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Reservation Dogs.
Reservation Dogs is cited as one of the few truly mainstream pieces of Native culture, contrasting with the absence of a big indigenous-made epic.
“reservation dogs has become one of the most acclaimed shows of the last 10 years.”
“This is a convergence movie, in the way that so many of these movies are convergence, but silence is a convergence movie. The Irishman is a convergence movie.”
theme (genre echo):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Giant.
Its magnitude and oil, family and betrayal themes recall Giant, with Ford, Hawks, Stevens epic scale.
“I did think of giant a few times while watching the movie, which is a movie about oil and families and betrayal.”
lineage (landscape and spirituality):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Kundun.
An American version of the desolate landscapes and haunting spirituality of Kundun, Silence, Last Temptation.
“it is him doing an American version in some ways of what he did in Kundun, in silence, and last temptation of Christ”
unmapped (production scale):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Heaven's Gate.
The $250M-ish Jack Fisk-built world is defended against studio cost-cutting, with Heaven's Gate as a nod.
“you don't need $250000000 Jack Fisk production design. You don't like it is like heaven's gate”
“the fun, the brazenness, the, the energy of Wolf of Wall Street, the kind of solemnity, the probing nature, the sort of like punishing aspect of silence.”
industry (awards rival):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer is the likely Best Picture winner, with Killers second or third; also a 'great men' versus 'were there any great men' contrast.
“I feel like Christopher Nolan believes that there were great men in history.”
verdict (ranking):
Crimes of the Future → Barbarian.
Adam has Crimes at five; Sean has Crimes in his top ten, with a strong case for best comedy of the year.
“strong case for best comedy of the year, though it may not feel that way.”
people (same director):
The Eternal Daughter → The Souvenir Part II.
Sean thought The Souvenir Part II was an incredible statement and The Eternal Daughter an interregnum by comparison.
“I thought the souvenir part 2 was like an incredible statement.”
lineage (influence):
The Eternal Daughter → Jack Cardiff.
Sean felt the film downshifted into a Jack Cardiff style 1960s British ghost story he had seen before.
“this just kind of felt like a downshift to like making a, you know, Jack Cardiff, like 1960s British ghost story.”
theme (comparison):
Babylon → Boogie Nights.
Sean says the Boogie Nights comparison for Babylon is apt, though he thinks the characterization is weaker.
“The Boogie Nights comparison has been made frequently.”
career (career arc):
Babylon → La La Land.
Sean, who loved Whiplash and First Man but not La La Land, reads Babylon as Chazelle realizing La La Land was a mistake.
“This feels like him realizing that La La Land was a mistake, which I thought I think is like a magnificent thing.”
people (same director):
Decision to Leave → The Handmaiden.
Sean says The Handmaiden was the first Park movie he liked in a long time, then Decision to Leave was the next.
“It was like the 1st park movie I'd liked in a while.”
theme (comparison):
Decision to Leave → Basic Instinct.
Sean likens Decision to Leave to Park's version of Basic Instinct, a perfectly directed little romantic noir.
“I liked this one as like his basic instinct, you know, like, this is a perfectly directed little romantic noir.”
people (same director):
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed → Laura Poitras.
Sean says the film fits Poitras's past films about outsiders and how media is disseminated, while reimagining what matters to her.
“somehow in keeping with the films that she's made in the past about outsiders and the way that media is disseminated”
verdict (ranking):
Tár → Top Gun: Maverick.
Sean says his number two Tar and number one Nope are close, as electric moviegoing experiences, while his number three is Top Gun: Maverick.
“This, my number 2 and my number one are just, I almost did one and one and then I didn't do it”
craft (style comparison):
Tár → Stanley Kubrick.
Sean says Tar is perceived as having Kubrickian coldness, which makes it less inviting at the box office.
“it at least is perceived as having that Kubrickian coldness, which I think is not very inviting as a movie going experience.”
programming (pairing):
Aftersun → The Fabelmans.
Sean calls Aftersun an interesting pairing with The Fabelmans, both memory movies about childhood; Aftersun is told while the memory is fresher.
“Interesting pairing with the fablemans, this movie.”
industry (awards comparison):
Aftersun → Moonlight.
Sean says A24 could push Aftersun like Moonlight if they did not have Everything Everywhere All at Once.
“you could see them really pushing a kind of moonlight-esque campaign behind this film.”
verdict (ranking):
Top Gun: Maverick → Nope.
Sean puts Nope at number one over his number three Top Gun, arguing Nope makes you think while Maverick deliberately does not; he says you can love one without knocking the other.
“It is like, I loved Top Gun Maverick, but it doesn't ask you to think about a single goddamn thing.”
lineage (influence):
Nope → Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Sean says Nope is as much a Spielberg movie as any he has seen in a long time, with Close Encounters the usual touchstone, and notes the shared theme of looking up and trying to see.
“nope is as much a Spielberg movie as any movie I've seen in a long, long time.”
programming (same-year pairing):
Nope → The Fabelmans.
Sean finds it fascinating that in one year Spielberg made a movie about why he makes movies and Peele made the most Spielbergian movie in ages.
“it's fascinating that this is a year in which Spielberg made a movie about how he figured out why he wanted to make movies”
lineage (lineage):
Nope → Eadweard Muybridge.
Sean reads Nope as launching from the black jockey in Muybridge's original film strip, an invented family tied to a hundred years of film history.
“related to the black jockey that we see in the Edward Weybridge, you know, original film strip, and then use that as the launch point for 100 years of film history”
career (career comparison):
Jordan Peele → Christopher Nolan.
Sean says Peele and maybe Nolan are the only ones who get a huge check and use it to blow your mind.
“Like maybe Christopher Nolan is the only person you could say who's like, okay, you have a $100000000 check, blow my mind.”
career (career fork):
Nope → Phantom Thread.
Sean wonders if Peele will go the Phantom Thread route, the Visit route, or keep making Inception-scale films, and hopes for a Spielbergian approach.
“in 10 or 15 years whether or not Jordan Peele is making his phantom thread.”
lineage (sequel theme):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Black Panther.
The first film's theme was isolation versus justice (Killmonger vs. T'Challa); the sequel has a real-world theme too, about allyship between Latinx and Black communities, but is not done as well.
“his movies always have a big dynamic real world theme in them in a way that I don't think many Marvel movies do.”
unmapped (mythology):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Clash of the Titans.
Sean suggests Amanda could watch Namor's Mayan mythology the way she might watch Greek-myth movies like Clash of the Titans or Troy.
“is there any like suspension of disbelief where you could watch it the same way you might watch Clash of the Titans or Troy, you know?”
unmapped (mythology):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Troy.
Sean pairs Troy with Clash of the Titans as myth-based movies that ask for the same suspension of disbelief.
“you might watch Clash of the Titans or Troy, you know?”
unmapped (blue people / underwater):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Avatar.
Amanda could not stop thinking of Avatar because it is another Disney underwater saga with blue people.
“I mean, it's an underwater saga from the Disney corporation.”
craft (craft):
Beachler → Black Panther.
The first film's production design and Ruth Carter's costumes kept it in one coherent Afrofuturist look, which the sequel lacks.
“in part because of the Ruth Carter costume design, had a beach or production design.”
craft (visual coherence):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Black Panther.
The first film lived in one coherent Wakanda look from Ruth Carter's costumes and the production design, while the sequel hops between many places and loses a single visual style.
“In this movie, we're in so many places, that ship at night, Riri's dorm room, Talakan, Everett Ross's jogging trip, his kitchen, the movie's just all over the place.”
unmapped (succession story):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Game of Thrones.
Sean says a version centered on who should rule Wakanda is the kind of heir story Game of Thrones told expertly, though not House of the Dragon.
“Game of Thrones was very good at posing who should be the heir.”
lineage (lineage):
Avatar → Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Cameron's Avatar treatment drew on childhood sci-fi reading, Burroughs and Haggard.
“drawing inspiration from, quote, every single science fiction book that he had read in his childhood, and also Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard.”
programming (programming):
Avatar: The Way of Water → Napoleon.
Apple may release Napoleon on Christmas Day because the landscape is soft.
“Apple is seriously considering releasing Ridley Scott's Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix on Christmas Day because they're looking at the landscape and they're like, it's soft out here.”
career (career context):
Baz Luhrmann → Moulin Rouge!.
Luhrmann reinvented musicals with Moulin Rouge and redefined the jukebox musical, making him a natural fit for Elvis.
“reinvented musicals, really, with Moulin Rouge and redefined the idea of the jukebox musical.”
people (performance praise):
Elvis → Austin Butler.
Butler embodies Elvis so well that Sean thought he was really good, though the Parker framing detracts from him.
“I don't know if he looks exactly like Elvis, but man, he embodies him so well.”
unmapped (prefigured by):
Elvis → Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
A scene in Elvis (the subject thinking over his life before going on stage) is almost beat for beat preceded by Walk Hard.
“there is a scene that is almost beat for beat preceded by walk hard 15 years ago.”
theme (genre boom):
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story → Rocketman.
Walk Hard did not deflate the music biopic; Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody and Respect kept coming, certifying it as a subgenre.
“So it didn't actually deflate anything. If anything, it almost like raised them up and certified them as an ongoing subgenre in film.”
craft (shared plot device):
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story → Elvis.
Both feature a dead brother as the formative trauma (Walk Hard's wrong-kid-died gag, Elvis's twin).
“that's also the premise of Elvis is that, you know, his twin brother died at a very young age.”
career (shapeshifter filmography):
Michael Apted → Gorillas in the Mist.
Apted made the Up documentaries, a Bond movie, Gorillas in the Mist and Coal Miner's Daughter.
“He made gorillas in the Mist. He made this movie. He really was a shapeshifter.”
unmapped (wished-for complement):
Elvis → Behind the Candelabra.
Sean wished Elvis had more Fat Elvis; Behind the Candelabra is one long stretch of that excessive late period.
“I wish there was a little bit more Fat Elvis in the film Elvis.”
people (producer turned director):
Love and Mercy → Bill Pohlad.
Pohlad, a producer of Brokeback Mountain, 12 Years a Slave and Tree of Life, directed only this film of note, clearly a passion project.
“he was one of the producers of Brokeback Mountain, and 12 Years a Slave, and the Tree of Life”
craft (same structure):
Elvis → Amadeus.
Both tell a titanic cultural figure's story through a lesser, frustrated figure entrenched in their life (Salieri, Colonel Parker).
“It actually has a little bit in common with Elvis in that it's the story of this Titanic, almost imperceptible figure in the culture, through the lens of a lesser and perhaps more frustrated figure”
fun, about
John Travolta:
Travolta's directorial debut: a 62-minute movie about the first time he flew on a plane; the speaker saw him wear a beret to every Cannes screening.
“he wore a beret to every single screening of the film.”
fun, about
Domestic Disturbance:
Becker's DVD commentary: Becker narrates the boats, praises credits designer Michael Hogarth, and never acknowledges the fiasco or bar fight.
“I watched the commentary with Harold Becker, which was apparently terrible. is a disaster.”
fun, about
After Hours:
Scorsese was the one who got hired after Paramount killed The Last Temptation of Christ; Aidan Quinn was to play Jesus and Harvey Keitel Judas; a Catholic letter campaign sent 500 letters a day.
fun, about
Life Lessons:
Underrated Scorsese: his segment of the New York Stories omnibus with Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette beats Coppola and Woody Allen.
fun, about
After Hours:
Categories 'most rewatchable scene': the second diner conversation with Marcy and 'surrender Dorothy'; Marcy's death with the arrow sign; the phone-number bit.
“He loved to watch the Wizard of Oz over and over again, surrender Dorothy.”
fun, about
Joseph Minion:
The writer wrote the script as a film-school senior thesis at 21; much of the first half is his, the back half 'Scorseseized.' Original titles: Lies and One Night in Soho.
“It was his senior thesis when he was in film school”
fun, about
Fran Lebowitz / After Hours:
On the Blu-ray, Lebowitz tells Scorsese the cab that takes off nails the 1980s shift from family-man cabbies to lead-footed maniacs.
“She said, you nailed it because at that time, there was a change in New York.”
fun, about
Scorsese's decades:
Hot take: his 80s (Raging Bull, King of Comedy, After Hours, Color of Money, Last Temptation, Life Lessons) beat his 90s and maybe his 70s; top 3 is Goodfellas, King of Comedy and After Hours.
“his 80s are better than his 90s and maybe even better than his 70s.”
fun, about
Linda Fiorentino:
The Last Seduction was sold to HBO when it couldn't get theaters, then ran its awards campaign and was ruled ineligible, the year Jessica Lange won for Blue Sky.
“And that was the year Jessica Lang won for Blue Sky, which had been made 4 years earlier.”
fun, about
After Hours:
Timeline unanswerable question: he leaves at 11:30, reaches Marcy at 12:15, a clock says 4:10, and he is back at the office around 6:30 to 7:15 with a vacuum running.
“The number one giveaway is that someone is vacuuming in the office when he gets there.”
fun, about
Scorsese / hosts:
Sean's verdict: a hinge movie, less fun than Color of Money but admired more; Jack Sanders says 5-star masterpiece and the best pace of any director.
fun, about
Christopher Plummer:
Plummer plays Mike Wallace not as an impression but as Plummer interpreting Wallace, with the pointing fingers and no prosthetics.
“he is just doing Christopher Plummer interpreting Mike Wallace.”
fun, about
The Insider:
Most 1999 moment: Pacino and Crowe faxing, payphones, and the New York Times in the lobby; plus the offhanded Ken Starr reference.
fun, about
The Insider:
The movie was originally called Man of the People; Roth and Mann wrote the first draft at the bar of the Broadway Deli in Santa Monica.
“Roth and Mann wrote the 1st draft of the screenplay at the Broadway deli in Santa Monica”
fun, about
Mike Wallace:
Mike Wallace detested the movie, and Don Hewitt criticized it in Page Six; Mann met Hewitt in the elevator of their shared building and Hewitt said 'that fucking Lil Bergman.'
“Hewitt had been criticizing the movie in page 6 throughout the production.”
fun, about
A Bronx Tale:
Nitpicks: the cops are at C's apartment seconds after the murder; 50 witnesses yet the nine-year-old is the star witness; C's mother and the baby sister vanish; why the Satan's Messengers are in the Bronx; who planted the car bomb.
fun, about
The Player opening scene:
The pitches within the opening are a Russian doll: Joan Tewkesbury and Alan Rudolph pitch, and Rudolph just directed Bruce Willis in Mortal Thoughts.
“He had just directed Bruce Willis in Mortal Thoughts the year before that.”
fun, about
Fred Ward:
In the opening, the executive talking Touch of Evil's tracking shot then admits he never watches foreign films, never seen The Sheltering Sky.
fun, about
Whoopi Goldberg:
Whoopi's tampon scene and her mini moments: lifting the Academy Award a year after winning for Ghost, and pushing a witness to pick number 3 in the lineup.
“she picks up the Academy Award and holds it and she's like, oh, this is heavy.”
fun, about
The Player running bit:
Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis get suggested for every movie; in 2022 the hosts still say Julia Roberts for everything, and Zendaya/Chalamet/Tom Holland for now.
“I feel like it's still Julia Roberts for everything.”
fun, about
The Player:
Nitpick: the LA Times has suspects and evidence of the Kahane murder by morning, only hours later; Even Tokyo Vice does not work that fast.
fun, about
Die Hard 2:
Casting what-if: McTiernan was supposed to direct but committed to Red October; the hosts think Harlin did a good job, with a goofier, grander tone.
fun, about
Panic Room:
Propane scene: Sean argues she should blow up in a closed room and the dive backward is unrealistic; Chris takes the propane scene as his pick anyway.
“I think everyone dies in the panic room the moment she lights the flame.”
fun, about
Panic Room:
Sean's nitpick: Foster never just opens the panic room door and grabs the phone when all three burglars are downstairs, and the movie would be over in 40 minutes.
“Just open the panic room, walk 5 feet and call the fucking police and the movie's over.”
fun, about
Grady Seasons scene:
When it goes sideways in the Grady Seasons segment, Scorsese runs the blues soundtrack in reverse to show things spinning out of control.
fun, about
The Color of Money:
Helen Shaver's character was added late before filming because they worried Eddie's fascination with Vincent could be misread; that's why she's in only a few scenes.
“they got worried that Eddie's relationship slash fascination with Vincent might be misinterpreted”
fun, about
Most rewatchable scene:
The 'He's not gone, he's never gone' freakout then opening the door onto Bob was both the trailer's hook and Sean's favorite scene.
“My favorite scene is definitely Dreyfuss just blowing his top and doing the he's not gone.”
fun, about
Casting what-if: Woody Allen:
Woody Allen was approached to play Dr. Marvin and possibly direct and co-write; the hosts reject it as too much neurosis on screen.
fun, about
Fran Brill / Frank Oz:
The sister is played by Fran Brill, a famed Sesame Street and Muppets puppeteer, in the film because she is friends with director Frank Oz (Miss Piggy, Yoda), which is why puppets show up.
“She's one of the Sesame Street and Muppets people”
fun, about
Se7en (Pitt/Fincher commentary):
The commentary mixes a Fincher-Pitt track with Freeman's solo track; Fincher and Pitt are mischievous and love McGinley's first shot.
“those 2 guys are hilarious together because they're old friends”
fun, about
Lorne Michaels:
Michaels's drug advice recalled in a Chase oral history: rotate them, and coke is God's way of telling you that you have too much money.
“Lauren used to say that coke was God's way of telling you that you have too much money.”
fun, about
Ferris Bueller's Day Off:
Nitpick: Bill's complaint that a senior cut day with no beer or joint is too innocent, and Sean's retort that the museum, Wrigley, and a Ferrari day is amazing. Chris calls it the most innocent cut day possible.
“Your dirtbag ethics have nothing to do with what makes Ferris Bueller beautiful.”
fun, about
Sean Fennessey:
Sean wins the most-rewatchable scene pick: Cliff on the roof in the Bruce Lee scene, which he looked forward to most on his third viewing.
“I'm going with Cliff on the roof in the Bruce Lee scene.”
fun, about
Smiley / Roger Guenveur Smith:
Smiley was not in the original script; Roger Guenveur Smith lived around the corner and begged on set every day until Spike wrote him in.
“because Roger Guinevere Smith, who knew Spike, and lived on around the corner in Bed Sty, came to the set every day and begged and begged and begged and begged to be in the movie”
fun, about
Show format:
Episode confirmed to feature only Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris; Bill Simmons is not heard, though Sean says they will have to work on Bill to get Scorsese's After Hours and King of Comedy made Rewatchables.
“We're going to have to work on Bill to get those to be rewatchables.”
fun, about
Final sequence:
The only time Spike ever storyboarded: Spike and Dickerson storyboarded everything from Smiley, Buggin Out, and Radio Raheem entering the pizzeria to the end.
“And I think it might be the only example in Spike's history of where he storyboarded.”
fun, about
Tarantino:
Sean says Tarantino took two things from the movie: a line that reappears in Reservoir Dogs, and the Sicilians-and-Moors speech in True Romance.
“I think that Spike, and he's never said this, but I think Spike is like, this dude ripped me off a couple of times.”
fun, about
Rosie Perez nude scene:
Rosie Perez has said the nude scene's atmosphere was wrong and she was crying; Sean lists it, with her function in the movie, as what aged worst.
“That's obviously not how you want to make a movie.”
fun, about
John Savage / Larry Bird jersey:
Savage claims his sister dated Larry Bird and Bird gave him the shirt; Spike debunked it on a featurette: he bought it in a store and gave it to costume designer Ruth Carter.
“that is an untrue story because Spike bought that shirt in a store, gave it to Ruthie Carter”
fun, about
Do the Right Thing production:
Shot entirely on Stuyvesant between Quincy and Lexington; the block was repainted red and orange for heat; local crack dealers threatened the crew so Spike hired Fruit of Islam security; Sam Jackson mostly slept.
“So Lee hired fruit of Islam members to provide security.”
fun, about
Joey Pants Award:
For the 'that guy' award, Frank Vincent wins because it's always Frank Vincent; Giancarlo Esposito used to win until Breaking Bad; Frankie Faison is the alternative.
“I guess it's Frank Vincent because it's always Frank Vincent.”
fun, about
Sal's pizza:
The props department only had two pizzas, so the production reused them; Turturro was taught to cut with a roller but was seen just airing it. They say it looks like Play-Doh or claymation.
fun, about
New York vs. California pizza:
Sean claims the worst New York pizza beats any food in California; Wesley, a Philadelphian, pushes back with Koreatown. Running argument closes the unanswerable questions segment.
“The worst pizza I've ever had in New York is better than any food I've had in California.”
fun, about
Todd Phillips:
Phillips' first student documentary Hated, about punk singer GG Allin, got him an HBO internship; he helped develop Taxicab Confessions there, then made Frat House, later accused of staging scenes.
fun, about
The Hangover:
The story is Phillips skipped an upfront check on the first Hangover and took points, earning $50 million on the original alone.
“he did not take a check for ahead of time for the hangover and that he took only points and that he made $50000000”
fun, about
Snoop Dogg:
A four-minute Snoop performance in the film is a good snapshot of Snoop time: Warren G as DJ and Don Magic Juan in tow, rumored trade-off for Starsky & Hutch.
“Warren G is his DJ and it's when he went everywhere with Don Magic Wand.”
fun, about
Old School:
The closing credits have a story: Kilborn crashes over a bridge and kills fly-fishing Jeremy Piven, then there are other bits, about 2.5 minutes. Phillips mastered the trick with The Hangover Polaroids, rated number-one closing credits by one host.
“I would say that's for me, that's the number one closing credits of all time.”
fun, about
Elisha Cuthbert:
Aged-the-worst: Luke Wilson sleeping with a high school girl, who may be 17 or 18. Compared to the Stefania Simonetti situation in The Godfather.
fun, about
Juliet Lewis:
Dion Waiters Award winner (biggest heat check): she is only in two scenes, one the closing credits, and is basically an amateur porn star before amateur porn stars.
“She's basically like an amateur porn star before we even knew there were amateur porn stars.”
fun, about
Old School:
Best quote contest: 'Blue, you're my boy!', Frank's earmuffs and 'cockballs' bit, and Mitch's 'Columbus wasn't looking for America' line.
“well, Columbus wasn't looking for America, my man, but that turned out pretty okay for everyone.”
fun, about
Todd Phillips:
Who Won the Movie: Todd Phillips, who is arguably bigger than Apatow, is directing Joker, and might be on stage for A Star Is Born; he picks people at the right time.
fun, about
The Godfather:
Closing Godfather corrections: Corleone compound is in Long Beach, Sean is a proud North Shore guy, a reader notes Bobby Thompson's home run game on the radio, and a bit about the kids Kay was teaching.
fun, about
George P. Cosmatos / Kurt Russell:
Russell claimed he effectively directed Tombstone: shot lists the night before and hand gestures on set while the credited director stood in.
“The night before we would shoot, I would give Georgia a shot list.”