Sean loves collecting boutique Blu-rays, a Michael Mann completist, drawn to cult and exploitation titles, and a heavy supporter of Criterion and Arrow. He worries about space and cost, buys sale titles, and hates streaming's impermanence. He is a sucker for beautiful box sets and for completism by director.
Stances
Physical media matters as streaming becomes unreliable
Buy only what carries emotional weight
Be completist about core directors
Humor: Self-mocking addict bits about plastic, black tar heroin, and an ethical non-monogamy riff.
In their words
“I'm a little bit like teetering on the brink of like black tar heroin” (0:07:25)
“Really focus in on things that have emotional weight” (1:11:06)
Loves author-driven art cinema and international films (Fallen Leaves, Perfect Days, Taste of Things) and is moved by sincere, vulnerable movies like All of Us Strangers, though he stops short of calling it a five-star masterpiece. Respects Andrew Haigh's directness. Can be a sucker for the Rewatchables and Ringer in-jokes. Disdains flat, obviously written films like Rustin and the Oscars' short-term thinking about moments and speeches.
Stances
Predicts via chalk plus a few contrarian bets (Glazer over Payne)
Argues the director, not the producer-spouse, should give the final acceptance speech
Believes All of Us Strangers works only if you stay with the feeling and do not dissect it
Reluctant remake critic: gives IP echoing a pass for a new generation
Humor: Dry, deadpan banter with Amanda, running bits (7 AM garage pod, Yasi Salix promise) and mock-promos.
In their words
“It's not, it's not a sunbeam.” (1:04:29)
“I think if you, if you, like see the movie and respect the movie in its totality, I find it to be very effective.” (1:10:17)
“I have a dead mom and a weird relationship with my dad.” (1:10:38)
Loves auteurs and the desolate, we-are-all-alone Lanthimos films like The Lobster and Sacred Deer, ranks Killers of the Flower Moon a masterpiece, and is a big PTA, Haynes and Past Lives fan. Prefers stars with old-school physicality and wants Ruffalo and Sterling K. Brown honored. Gets irritated at shifts away from what he loves, e.g. Payne and Lanthimos pivoting.
Stances
Poor Things is excellent but 'lags' on second watch and the ship section is stuck in neutral
Zone of Interest is a borderline masterpiece but under-seen
Oppenheimer's third hour is the weak point
Questions the Oppenheimer frontrunner status: 'noted skeptic' of the clipboard
Humor: Deadpan, self-mocking bits about his own ego, fitness ignorance, and ranking-rule disputes with Amanda.
In their words
“I think it's a borderline masterpiece that like 180 people.” (1:34:15)
“It's very, very unusual for an American movie star to be in like 14 sex scenes in a movie” (0:36:57)
Loves the Mann of Thief and The Insider, and the dialogue-rich classical side. Has struggled with Mann's last 15 years, calling Miami Vice and Ferrari kin. Sucker for lists and the Mann mythology.
Stances
Thief is Mann's best
Ferrari is good, in the same zone as Miami Vice
Mann is in a late-career box office squeeze
Humor: Dry, needling and fond, especially at Chris's expense.
In their words
“I think Miami Vice and Ferrari are kind of right in the same zone.” (0:48:14)
“this is the last time he feels like young.” (0:51:55)
Loves Fincher fiercely and Fincher's control-freak process; reads The Killer as a repressed-emotion thesis statement. Delights in jokes, set pieces and filmmaking mechanics, and gets nervous about getting a beloved movie wrong. Can't stand cynical dismissals of the film as slight.
Stances
The Killer is an emotional movie about a man avenging a wounded loved one
It is his favorite film of the year and a complete piece of movie-making
Fincher's work is thematically coherent around people who repress feelings
Humor: Self-deprecating and performative, riffing on being compared to Fincher the control freak.
In their words
“I think this might be my favorite movie of the year.” (0:04:39)
“the second time I was like, this is the thesis statement for all of his repressed feelings” (0:07:07)
Loves Scorsese's big, immersive late-period epics and long historical megadramas (The English Patient is one of his favorites, he says); thinks Goodfellas will always outrank Silence or Killers for him. Wants studios to spend on practical craft such as Jack Fisk's sets instead of VFX. Can't stand excuses about runtime and Oppenheimer as a rival to Killers.
Stances
Killers of the Flower Moon is a masterpiece after two viewings
Runtime complaints are a non-argument
Making Ernest a conflicted figure is what makes it great Scorsese
Picks Killers' ambiguity about love as the central question
Humor: Dry needling of Amanda, mock-pompous pronouncements, and a running Oppenheimer bit.
In their words
“I think it's a masterpiece.” (0:02:23)
“It's a complete non-argument.” (1:19:03)
“So do you not want a Martin Scorsese movie?” (1:19:06)
Loves ambitious, big swings and craft: Nope at number one, Babylon, Tar, and big engineered blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick. Responds to blunt, shocking horror (he has recommended Speak No Evil repeatedly) and is wary of Park Chan-wook and Chazelle's La La Land. Less taken with quiet interregnum films like The Eternal Daughter. Sucker for theater experiences and auteurs spending studio money on something personal.
Stances
Nope is his number one and a better movie than Top Gun: Maverick in terms of what it asks of the viewer
Babylon is bold and bravura despite flaws
Top Gun: Maverick is a beautifully engineered vehicle he does not need to overthink
Tar is a Rorschach test film
Humor: Dry, self-aware; builds comic set pieces around his own mood and cocktail-party logistics and pretends to circle Nope like Mav circling a MiG.
In their words
“Okay, I don't know how I can match the energy of Top Gun Maverick, but my number one is nope.” (1:29:39)
“This film has that. It was really bad, though.” (0:40:57)
He loves Ryan Coogler's movies and rated the first Black Panther a major accomplishment inside a Marvel structure. He wants real-world themes and a clear sense of place, and gets disappointed when Marvel films feel contorted or overstaffed. He's a sucker for the idea of a leaner movie that says one thing well.
Stances
Wakanda Forever felt like it had a Chadwick Boseman shaped hole and was contorting itself
Strong bookends but a muddled middle
Ironheart felt like a cynical Kevin Feige insertion
Would rather a narrower film about Shuri, Wakanda succession and Namor
Humor: Dry host who needles his guest and co-host while conducting the show.
In their words
“I felt that there was a Chadwick Boseman shaped hole in the movie” (0:05:05)
“we're like an hour and 40 minutes into the movie before I'm like, oh, wow, this is actually about this” (0:19:18)
“Game of Thrones was very good at posing who should be the heir.” (1:06:00)
Sean loves Cameron the schemer who wins and is a Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar believer who rewatched Avatar in theaters. He is a box-office and awards-season nerd, dubious that the long tail Avatar had in 2009 can repeat. He is a sucker for a movie that simply works and for director talk.
Stances
Avatar is good and it works because its single story is engineered like machinery
Hollywood misread Avatar
The sequels' success depends on the long tail and not on franchise homework
Humor: Dry host banter, nicknaming Cameron 'Big Jim' and teasing Griffin and David about stealing material.
In their words
“Like, he is the ultimate, like, con artist whose con is real.” (0:30:08)
“I'm always so interested in high-level schemers who actually win.” (0:30:00)
“Okay, this leads me to the most important question of this podcast.” (0:56:49)
A music-journalist-turned-film-critic who loves Elvis's music as a skeleton key to American pop and loves Steven Soderbergh and Todd Haynes. He finds Luhrmann's maximalism overwhelming and Parker framing a failure, prefers biopics that skip the rise, and is a sucker for the performance-forward, auteur-driven ones.
Stances
Elvis is a mess, with Tom Hanks's Parker a baffling failure
Rises in biopics are dull; wants more Fat Elvis
Likes cerebral, conceptual deconstructions of musicians (I'm Not There)
Walk Hard is a five-star movie
Humor: Dry and exasperated, deflating pretension with throwaway one-liners and affectionate teasing of co-hosts.
In their words
“I do think of it more as that, you know, image deconstruction” (1:15:13)
“I wish there was a little bit more Fat Elvis in the film Elvis.” (0:47:24)
“I really didn't love the movie at all.” (0:05:00)
Loves Tom Cruise as movie star above all, and the old-style entertaining Hollywood movie. Pushes Scorsese, Kubrick and PTA, and pulls for Collateral and Magnolia. Can't stand Cruise coasting or being too reserved; sentimental about Legend.
Stances
Cruise is the movie star of his lifetime, not necessarily a great actor
Hall of Fame should combine importance, relevance, achievement and idiosyncratic love
Fallout must be in because it makes Maverick possible
Humor: Mock-politician bits about running the draft, and absurd cultural references.
In their words
“I think that there's probably 5 films in his career that are like locked down the greenest green you've ever seen in your life” (0:52:04)
Loves doom and bleakness in his movies and has a taste for cynical noir. Initially lukewarm on Nightmare Alley, he rewatched it four times and became a champion. Likes 70s noir revisionism and under-the-radar modern noir such as Under the Silver Lake.
Stances
Nightmare Alley is bigger, bolder and better than the 1947 version
Del Toro's visual excess is the point, not a flaw
Noir is coming back into vogue
Great movies often flop and get rediscovered
Humor: Dry and conversational; he teases Patton's range and drops film trivia as a quick aside.
In their words
“As listeners of the show know, I absolutely love doom in my movies.” (0:05:01)
“I watched it again. And then I watched a 3rd time.” (0:02:57)
Loves the 80s comedies, Ivan Reitman movies, Local Hero, Totoro and Pee-wee, and deeply moving small family films like Come On, Come On. Can't stand nostalgia strip-mined into product placement. Sucker for movies tied to when he saw them and for parent-child stories.
Stances
Afterlife betrays what made the original special
Feel-good movies are about when you see them
Come On, Come On is a highest recommendation
Humor: Wry, nerdy asides about production credits and mock-grandiose declarations.
In their words
“I feel very bent out of shape about it.” (0:03:14)
“this is like my highest possible recommendation.” (0:35:37)
Admires craft, spectacle and set pieces but is not a car guy or a Vin Diesel fan. Likes tonal wit and context from filmmaker careers. Can't stand needless world-building homework.
Stances
Fast is as good as its set pieces
Fast & Furious is not built for him
Hobbs & Shaw is last
Humor: Dry and ringmaster-ish, jokes about ruling the show with an iron fist.
Loves tightly engineered, kinetic filmmaking and sharp dialogue (Reservoir Dogs reorganized his brain chemistry) and filmmakers who arrive fully formed. Respects Soderbergh and Aronofsky. Quick to see craft lineage between directors and enthusiastic about unfussy, carefully built genre.
Stances
Reservoir Dogs is #1 despite it being a second feature
Sees Hard Eight as a great but harder first film
Glazer, Coppola, Singleton belong near the top
Oscars should try something weird this year
Humor: Dry and quick: sets up bits with Amanda and teases Brian for forgetting Soderbergh was born in the 60s.
In their words
“I probably would certainly not be doing it.” (1:17:53)
“I choose darkness.” (0:10:19)
“I wish that there was a movie like Mother coming out this year, honestly.” (1:06:59)
Loves canonical 1970s American cinema (Network, All the President's Men), the Hitchcock and Kubrick end of the dial, Japanese cinema (Mifune), and golf and sports documentaries as an avowed golf fan. He rewatches movies as comfort food even when they are not comforting (True Romance, Clerks, 12 Monkeys). He is a sucker for classic stars like Jimmy Stewart, Burt Lancaster, Ingrid Bergman and for rediscovering neglected directors like Preston Sturges.
Stances
The Academy is wrong more often than not, and it is the show's animating force
Classic filmmakers like Sturges are slipping through the cracks of the canon
Great actors should get their Oscars in their time
Unauthorized documentaries like Tiger trade access for candor
Humor: Mock-grandiose and self-aggrandizing, deadpan about his own obsessiveness (fact-checking Scorsese, threatening to lie on the floor).
In their words
“I think we're all agreed that more often than not, the academy is wrong.” (0:40:47)
“I have a poisoned brain.” (1:00:45)
“We need to reward the actors in their time for their great performances.” (0:44:17)
Prefers Sorkin on the big screen over the West Wing and ranks by sheer entertainment and rewatchability; loves Fincher-era Sorkin, A Few Good Men, Moneyball and Steve Jobs, and thinks Sorkin shines when paired with a dark-hearted collaborator. Skeptical of Sorkin's politics and of Chicago 7's smallness; wants the filmmaking sharper.
Stances
Sorkin is at his best with darker directors like Fincher and Bennett Miller
Chicago 7 is entertaining but politically small and Sorkin is not yet a filmmaker for action scenes
Social Network is the best movie of the decade and possibly Sorkin's best script
Humor: Dry and self-deprecating, with mock-grievance about not being invited on The Rewatchables.
In their words
“I would not put it in the top tier.” (1:29:59)
“He's an interesting counterweight, I think, to Oliver Stone” (0:30:43)
“he's he's not quite there yet as a filmmaker.” (1:42:37)
Sean wants command of everything: he watches about three movies a night, keeps a Netflix DVD queue and a 1000-plus film list, and treats director filmographies (Hitchcock, De Palma, Wachowskis) as projects. He champions unloved movies he thinks are secretly good (Last Action Hero, Mother!, A Cure for Wellness, Marie Antoinette), likes Garland over Nolan on a hypothetical budget, and admires effortless, tasteful careers like Paul Newman's. Not into 'so bad it's good' cult culture or into talking down animated films.
Stances
Bad movies worth loving are rescued reputations, not wrecks like Battleship
Would take another Alex Garland film over another Nolan film
Movie business as it was is over and will restart; theaters will come back
Streaming democratizes criticism but lowers the floor
Will not do a top five movies of all time
Humor: Dry, self-mocking obsessiveness: explains his absurd systems and then insists he is right, and trades jabs at Amanda and Chris.
In their words
“I'm a member of every significant streaming service.” (0:21:45)
“my version of a bad movies podcast is not me reveling in the badness, the shittiness of battleship.” (1:08:32)
“I'm never doing top 5 movies of all time.” (0:40:57)
“I'm always kind of obsessed with the Palma” (0:18:37)
Loves a charming 90s Disney musical and the music-driven storytelling he finds in them, big Christopher Nolan and The Last Jedi defender. Cannot stand tonal mush or movies made for everybody and nobody. Sucker for Donnie Yen and film business context like the Chinese box office.
Stances
The remake does not know what was good about the original
Magic and wuxia trappings read as a bid for the Chinese box office
Wishes the film were more grounded and historical
Interested in the business and politics around the release
Humor: Dry and self-deprecating, leaning on bits like 'a 38-year-old man' watching Mulan and Amanda's Tenet claim.
In their words
“I'm a 38-year-old man and I probably shouldn't be watching Mulan 1998 version at this stage of my life.” (0:17:57)
“I think Mulan is kind of what happens when you don't really know what's good about your movie.” (0:26:03)
Loves inventive, maximalist filmmaking where rhythm and music drive the staging, and film as a time capsule of future stars. Cares about directors' careers as a whole. Allergic to studio flattening of weird ideas.
Stances
Scott Pilgrim predicted a lot of pop culture
Baby Driver does not exist without it
A sequel should center Knives
Humor: Dry and wry, mostly through overstatement and tongue-in-cheek asides like comparing the sequence to a 2x podcast speed.
In their words
“I've never really seen that before, something that saw the future in this way.” (0:03:36)
“there is no baby driver without this movie in terms of like the rhythm and the pacing and the way that he uses music.” (0:39:06)
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 1–100 of 1,576 claims.
lineage (lineage):
Disturbia → Rear Window.
Disturbia, the best of the decade's thrillers in the cycle, is a Rear Window remake.
craft (craft):
Domestic Disturbance → Swingers.
Vaughn's Rick in the first half echoes his Swingers character Trent: constant performing, false energy, bravado.
“He's always, you know, he's always got this like false energy, this bravado, and he's kind of doing that in the 1st half of this movie where he's trying to connect with Danny.”
unmapped (stylistic seed):
After Hours → Goodfellas.
Sean says the fast cutting, whip-pans and close-ups in After Hours are the seeds of Goodfellas' look, via cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.
“just seeing all the seeds of Goodfellas and all these little edits and camera shots.”
lineage (homage):
After Hours → The Wizard of Oz.
Dark-side-of-the-yellow-brick-road version; Dorothy walks into black and white instead of color, with 'surrender Dorothy' graffiti and Marcy's Seconal tie to Judy Garland.
“it is like very much a Wizard of Oz kind of homage, and it's like if Dorothy instead walked into the black and white darkness”
unmapped (same-year cycle):
After Hours → Desperately Seeking Susan.
Hosts group After Hours, Into the Night, Desperately Seeking Susan and Something Wild as 1985 cokey-screwball-paranoia New York-night movies.
unmapped (sliding door):
The Last Temptation of Christ → After Hours.
Paramount cancelling Last Temptation sent Scorsese to a small fast job; one of movie history's sliding doors.
“it is one of the massive sliding doors in movie history because him not making it leads to him making this movie”
career (career hinge):
After Hours → Goodfellas.
Bill says Goodfellas does not happen if After Hours does not happen first; the cancelled Last Temptation is the sliding door.
contrast (Oscar contrast):
Out of Africa → After Hours.
1985 Best Picture went to respectable, stuffy Out of Africa while the new-Hollywood audacity lived in films like this.
“the movie that won best picture in 1985 is out of Africa.”
unmapped (slower religious cut):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Kundun.
Scorsese's religious movies are slower and more painterly than the fast style of After Hours.
“His religious movies are more slower paced and more painterly, I would say.”
contrast (contrast):
Steven Soderbergh → Ryan Coogler.
Soderbergh can bang out movies fast because he shoots and cuts them himself, unlike Coogler's big-crew, big-star productions.
“Like Soderberg shoots and edits his movies. He holds the camera when he makes the movie.”
unmapped (tonal shift):
After Hours → Raging Bull.
Raging Bull is realistic, documentary-like black and white; After Hours is a surreal fever-nightmare with a moving camera, a shift for Scorsese.
“Raging Bull, shot in black and white, almost feels like documentaries.”
career (career bridge):
After Hours → The Color of Money.
The camera moves of After Hours carry into Color of Money's pool table, tied to Ballhaus; both lead to Goodfellas.
“that same thing, that camera is flying across the pool table.”
people (cinematographer lineage):
Michael Ballhaus → Goodfellas.
Ballhaus, with Schoonmaker's editing, built the new Scorsese look; seven films together.
“with Thelma Scoonmaker's editing style, they built this kind of new version of the Scorsese movie.”
lineage (stealth homage):
After Hours → Rear Window.
The neighborhood shooting seen through a window is a Hitchcock rear-window moment never mentioned again; Hitchcock and Fritz Lang noir are influences.
“there's Hitchcock and Fritz Lange Noir movies are a huge influence on this movie, and that's like such a perfect rear window moment”
lineage (production lineage):
After Hours → Baby It's You.
Without Baby It's You (Dunn/Robinson, Arquette, Ballhaus) there is no After Hours, since it brought Ballhaus to Scorsese.
“without that movie, we don't have after hours either because they bring Michael Bauhaus to Scorsese.”
what-if (casting what-if):
Griffin Dunn → Michael Keaton.
Keaton's 'I just blew a line' energy might beat Dunn for Paul Hackett; they played brothers in Johnny Dangerously.
“Michael Keaton does have that like, I just blew a line energy.”
career (personal projection):
After Hours → The Last Temptation of Christ.
Scorsese worked Kafka's Before the Law into the club doorman scene to reflect his frustration over Last Temptation.
“inspired by Franz Kafka's before the law. And Scorsese said the short story reflected his frustration toward the production of the Last Temptation of Christ.”
unmapped (late-night NYC exclusion):
After Hours → Dog Day Afternoon.
Every Lumet film is a night movie except Dog Day Afternoon, which takes place by day.
“except for Dog Day afternoon, because it only takes place during the day.”
people (people):
Thelma Schoonmaker → Michael Powell.
Powell, Scorsese's mentor, married Schoonmaker around the time of After Hours, and the two of them helped Scorsese.
“became a huge mentor to Scorsese at this time and married Thelma Scoonmaker right before this movie, I think, or maybe right after.”
unmapped (mentor):
Michael Powell → Martin Scorsese.
Powell, exiled British filmmaker married to Schoonmaker, mentored Scorsese and helped with After Hours' ending and tone.
“he was one of the people who helped him figure out the ending, helped him determine the tone.”
unmapped (lived-in New York):
Francis Ha → After Hours.
Sean says Frances Ha is the closest to his own New York life, as After Hours is to a different era.
“I didn't live through after hours, but what she is doing in that movie, plus Bombach being such a special filmmaker for us.”
lineage (lineage):
Pulp Fiction → Reservoir Dogs.
Pulp's opening two-song credits echo the radio dial concept from Reservoir Dogs.
“Well, the radio, the concept of the radio had been in Reservoir Dogs, but I think switching the songs in the middle, because you hear him change the dial.”
what-if (what-if):
Pulp Fiction → Daniel Day-Lewis.
Weinstein pushed Daniel Day-Lewis for Vincent; the speakers would not trade Travolta but would love one DDL hitman movie.
“Having him play like just one normal hitman having a weird day would be awesome.”
industry (industry):
Alison Jones → Barry (TV).
The famous casting director Alison Jones is in Barry season two, in the scene where Bill Hader auditions for Jay Roach.
“And Alison Jones, the very famous casting director.”
lineage (lineage):
Spotlight → All the President's Men.
Spotlight was closer to the spirit of the conclusions of All the President's Men, if not its style.
“it was closer to the spirit of the conclusions of all the president's men, if not the style.”
contrast (contrast):
The Insider → Spotlight.
Spotlight was a hit because it is a satisfying bad-guys-get-caught story, while The Insider is meditative and ambivalent.
“Spotlight is just like, let's get the bad guys with our reporting.”
craft (craft):
The Insider → Miami Vice.
Mann's pop-abstract music choices, such as the Linkin Park and Jay-Z cues in Miami Vice, are a recurring misfire for some.
“Is this your, is this a subtle dig at Lincoln Park, Jay-Z being used in Miami Vice?”
craft (craft):
The Rolling Stones → The Big Chill.
The Stones song at the reception, with Karen playing it on the organ, is called as well used as a song ever is in a movie.
“And then the fucking Rolling Stones come in and it's used as well as you're gonna ever use a song in a movie.”
career (career arc):
Robert De Niro → Midnight Run.
From Midnight Run through Goodfellas, This Boy's Life, Cape Fear and this film, De Niro played different parts each time.
“This is such a great De Niro stretch, basically, from Midnight Run.”
verdict (Apex Mountain: crap scenes / Italian):
A Bronx Tale → Goodfellas.
Apex for crap scenes and for father-son: Goodfellas and Casino are the competition.
verdict (Apex Mountain: racists burned alive):
A Bronx Tale → Django Unchained.
Apex Mountain for racists getting burned alive: this or the end of Django Unchained.
“Isn't Django unchained, really more the, you know, the end of Django unchained?”
lineage (homage question):
A Bronx Tale → Goodfellas.
Fennessey wonders whether the needle drops and the Pesci cameo are purposeful homage or accident.
“I just want to know how much of what he was doing was a purposeful homage to Goodfellas”
verdict (Apex Mountain: Palminteri):
A Bronx Tale → The Usual Suspects.
Apex Mountain for Palminteri: A Bronx Tale or The Usual Suspects, with Suspects bigger but this his whole life.
people (counterfactual director):
Robert De Niro → Martin Scorsese.
If Scorsese directed, the film would be more thrilling but less breezy and easy to rewatch.
“If Martin Scorsese shoots the movie, it's fucking exciting.”
programming (double feature):
A Bronx Tale → Rocco and His Brothers.
A Visconti-style Italian neorealist film is suggested as the other double feature.
lineage (lineage):
The Player → Singin' in the Rain.
Sean says movies about movies go back long before The Player, e.g. Singin' in the Rain, but this one is far more inside the joke.
career (career):
The Player → Short Cuts.
The Player put Altman back among world-class directors: a best director nomination here and another the next year for Short Cuts.
“he gets nominated for best director here and then gets nominated the following year for his next film, Shortcuts”
lineage (lineage):
Robert Altman → Tanner '88.
Tanner '88 is where Altman found the satirical tone he carried into The Player, using politics as the way into mocking egomaniacs.
“that's where he figures out this satirical tone that he's then going to follow into the player.”
lineage (lineage):
Robert Altman → Richard Linklater.
Sean lists Linklater with PTA among 90s directors who took Altman's interest in communities and worlds.
craft (craft):
Robert Altman → Michael Tolkin.
Altman changed Tolkin's screenplay and was unkind about it; the film's ending differs greatly from the book.
“And Altman was a little unkind about Tolkien's screenplay.”
craft (craft):
The Player → Touch of Evil.
The Player's opening nods to Touch of Evil's tracking shot by having Fred Ward's character talk about it, then reveal he never watches foreign films.
“Fred Ward talking about the tracking shot and touch of evil, but then revealing that he never watches foreign films.”
theme (theme):
The Player → The Larry Sanders Show.
Both treat agents and executives as the villains; Odenkirk's Larry Sanders finale line calls back to Griffin's wish to eliminate the writer and actors.
“So then in Larry Sanders, in the last episode, Bob Odenkirk, who plays, um, Sander's agent”
career (career):
Whoopi Goldberg → Ghost.
Whoopi's few scenes land as an Apex Mountain moment: Ghost was just before, and she holds an Oscar prop a year after winning one.
“And Ghost is right before this, and it's just, you drop her in a movie like a grenade for 15 minutes.”
career (career):
Randall Batinkoff → Ben Affleck.
Batinkoff was the odds-on favorite to be the biggest star of the Affleck/Damon/O'Donnell/Fraser class and peaked in 1992.
“Batenkoff was probably like the odds on favorite to be the biggest star of all of them.”
career (career):
Brion James → 48 Hrs..
Sean corrects the Blade Runner guess: Brion James is the Ice Pick/Iceman villain in 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs.
“He turns out to be the Iceman at the end of 48 hours too, another 48 hours.”
career (career):
Sydney Pollack → Eyes Wide Shut.
Pollack's Player cameo ended an acting drought since Tootsie and set off a chain that led to Eyes Wide Shut.
“this sets off a chain of movies culminating in Him in the leather sleeveless vest and knives wide shut”
career (career):
Julia Roberts → Sandra Bullock.
After the Pretty Woman era Julia Roberts outran every actress for years, until Meg Ryan and Sandra Bullock got a foothold.
“And then Meg Ryan and Sandra Bullock finally like clawed their way in at least a tiny bit.”
what-if (what-if):
John Travolta → Pulp Fiction.
If Travolta had starred in The Player, the Pulp Fiction comeback might have gone differently, and Bill is glad it did not happen.
“It's a really interesting Travolta sliding doors.”
lineage (lineage):
The Player → Network.
In the meta-Hollywood movies discussion, Network, Argo, Tropic Thunder and Bamboozled are floated as the nearest cousins, none as acidic.
“But you have never seen a movie this acidic about, you know, the, and also involving the, the level of fit.”
career (later career):
Franco Nero → John Wick: Chapter 2.
Nero later reappears in John Wick 2, and in Django Unchained because he played the original Django.
“he shows up in Django and Chain because he played the original Django in the Italian movies.”
verdict (favorite of director):
Renny Harlin → The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Fennessey's favorite Harlin is Long Kiss Goodnight, though Die Hard 2 is his Apex Mountain.
lineage (lineage):
Panic Room → Psycho.
Panic Room is to Fight Club as Psycho is to North by Northwest: a small, single-location B movie after a big sprawling one.
“But really it's like, it's Hitchcock doing Psycho right after North by Northwest.”
contrast (contrast):
Panic Room → North by Northwest.
North by Northwest is the big cross-country picture; Fight Club plays that role for Fincher before Panic Room shrinks things down.
contrast (contrast):
Zodiac → Panic Room.
Zodiac is deep (obsession, meaning through someone else's experience) where Panic Room is a well-made B movie.
“It's one of those things where like zodiac is deep.”
fun, about
Mission: Impossible:
The Langley vault heist is nearly silent; the digital sound meter goes into the red. It is the pick for most rewatchable scene and has been ripped off numerous times.
“almost all in silence, which is an incredible choice.”
fun, about
Mission: Impossible:
Masks win 'what's aged the worst' over floppy disks, Netscape and Usenet, though one host argues the preposterous masks are the point and the show's legacy.
fun, about
Mission: Impossible:
Unintentional comedy: Senator Waltzer appears on the McLaughlin Group and the team watches it in crystal-clear video in a Prague hotel room.
“being able to watch the McLaughlin group in crystal clear video in a hotel room in Prague.”
fun, about
Mission: Impossible:
Unanswerable question: three theories on Senator Waltzer, including that he is a 65-year-old American citizen played entirely by Cruise for IMF on 60 grand a year.
“Or he is a completely constructed 65-year-old human American citizen played entirely by Tom Cruise when necessary for the IMF.”
fun, about
The Rewatchables:
Recurring Danny Trejo category: asked which character in MI should be Danny Trejo; answer was Steve Buscemi as Estevez or Claire. Said to matter to Bill Simmons.
“This is one of like the 6 or 7 things that matters most to Bill is the evolution of the Danny Trejo category within the real logic.”
fun, about
Resident Evil:
Cregger told Sean the film would be a rock-em sock-em, brain-off Evil Dead 2 style movie, nothing like Barbarian and Weapons. Sean regrets asking him why he was making a franchise film right after Weapons.
fun, about
Resident Evil:
The suicide jumper scene: Brian runs through a canyon of people leaping off tall buildings and exploding near him; Chris calls it operatic but wishes it was not in the trailer.
“So I thought it was just completely operatic and amazing.”
fun, about
Resident Evil:
A voice-note confession by the elevator is undercut by an intercom voice saying come up, take the stairs; he takes the elevator anyway, which becomes the acid-barf, snowball-zombie set piece.
fun, about
Griffin Newman:
Blank Check co-host Griffin Newman and Severance's Zach Cherry play scientists in the final lab; podcasters get extra pixie dust from the scene.
“there's a little bit of extra pixie dust on this sequence”
fun, about
Zach Cregger:
Constantin Film head said Cregger came to them with the idea; Cregger's next film is a big sci-fi action movie, The Flood, for Warner Bros.
“Zach Craiger came to them and was like, I have an idea for a Resident Evil movie.”
fun, about
Video games:
Sean skips cut scenes; Chris likes being controlled by a movie and not controlling a game. GTA 6 arrives in two months and may blot out podcasting.
fun, about
Horror lately:
Both hosts feel horror movies are becoming a drag, heavy on ponderous self-examination; Resident Evil could be a changer-comer back toward fun.
fun, about
Raisinettes in popcorn:
Chris pours Raisinettes into a popcorn bucket, one person's breaking point; the speaker defends it as making popcorn tolerable.
fun, about
Camp Miasma (voyeur and victim):
Chris's confession of wanting to be both voyeur and victim is the film's most critical scene and a double-edged pleasure.
“you're the voyeur and the victim at the same time.”
fun, about
Camp Miasma (the movie-within-movie viewing):
Chris keeps annotating the old film's technique and transphobia while Billy rolls her eyes: the movie asks if you can enjoy something without its externalities.
fun, about
Obsession:
The discourse around Obsession is the most deranged for any American movie since the speaker started; 80 percent the moment, 20 percent the movie.
“about 80% of that is the moment that we're in, and only 20% of it is the movie.”
fun, about
Scarface / Scott Hall:
Story that Scott Hall auditioned for Vince McMahon as Tony Montana and afterwards admitted he didn't know what Scarface was.
fun, about
Alien:
In the original Alien script Ripley was a man, and little changed for Weaver beyond Ridley Scott stripping her to underwear at the end.
fun, about
Obsession:
A tiny indie horror movie made a stunning five million dollars on a Wednesday in its third week, which Griffin says breaks his brain.
“Obsession made $5000000 on a Wednesday in its 3rd week of release”
fun, about
Super Bowl / Jets:
Amanda announces a 12-month hiatus from the NFL after the Jets' pointless season; Sean doesn't believe a word of it.
“the New York Jets are a psyop that have been operated against me and I am publicly announcing that after this year's NFL draft, I am taking a 12 month hiatus from the team.”
fun, about
Movie swap history:
The hosts recap six swaps: Spider-Verse/Sense and Sensibility (2019), Aliens/Four Weddings (2020), Terminator 2/Titanic (2021), Fargo/English Patient (2022), the three-way Casablanca/In-Laws/Spy Kids (2023), and the Shrek one-way swap.
“The 1st one we ever did was in 2019, and we swapped into the Spider-Verse and Sense and Sensibility.”
fun, about
The Strangers:
Sean saw it in theaters knowing only the trailer; the hosts say it was shot in 2006-07 and sat on the shelf a year, which is how it landed in 2008.
“Apparently this movie was shot in 2006, 2007 and just sat on the shelf for a year.”
fun, about
The Strangers:
Bit about the proposal: the ring, the parking lot, the pear-shaped diamond from Sex and the City, and Sean's diamond shaped like Babu Frick.
“The diamond that I got for Eileen when I proposed is in the shape of Babu Frick.”
fun, about
Mamma Mia!:
Sean watched Mamma Mia with Eileen and Alice in a 4:30-to-6:18 window between Lincoln and moderating a One Battle After Another event at Warner Brothers.
“I can watch Mamma Mia from 430 to 618, and then I got to drive to Warner Brothers to go to moderate a conversation for one battle after another.”
fun, about
Mercy:
Mercy has an on-screen countdown clock of 90 minutes that nearly matches the 96-minute runtime, which the hosts call its one real innovation.
fun, about
Send Help:
The film moves from office revenge to survival, and Linda's survival skill comes from reading survival texts and loving Survivor.
“One of the reasons why she's so good at surviving on this island is because she has read survival texts and she loves the show Survivor”
fun, about
Rachel McAdams:
Letterboxd's most popular McAdams films: Mean Girls first, then The Notebook, Midnight in Paris sixth, Spotlight seventh, Game Night eighth, Sherlock Holmes ninth, Red Eye tenth.
“Number 7 is a movie that I always forget that she's in.”
fun, about
Zack Snyder's Justice League:
Sean rarely rewatches films except Zack Snyder's Justice League (ten times); he's seen The Dark Knight Rises six times from channel-flipping for Bane.
“I tend to not go back to films aside from Zack Snyder's Justice League, which I've seen 10 times.”
fun, about
Everything Everywhere All at Once:
Sean picks it as a genre mashup and sincere immigrant-family portrait with a lot of kung fu, despite the awards spin cycle.
fun, about
The Wolf of Wall Street:
Slowed-down blues over the bacchanalia, where lights change and sound drops out until the camera finds Belfort gleeful and regretful, reads as him descending into hell.
“you can almost feel Jordan like descending into hell or like, or he's being portrayed as Satan.”
fun, about
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:
Fennessey says seeing Once Upon a Time at an ArcLight screening made it a forever movie, and says he feels the same hunger now for One Battle After Another.
“as soon as it was over, I was like forever movie.”
fun, about
Bill James:
Great baseball thinker who is weird on other topics; has a lot of feelings about who killed JFK. Joke about Chris Ryan reading the deleted files with Control F, like GMs did with James.
“He's got a lot of feelings about who killed JFK.”
fun, about
Billy Beane:
He has not won a World Series, is no longer GM, and the A's no longer play in Oakland, yet the movie still has a sentimental hold.
fun, about
Moneyball:
The big game is a mid-season winning-streak game, not a playoff; the movie shows mostly failures, only the Hatteberg home run and not the 11 runs.
“the big game is just like a winning streak game in the middle of the season.”
fun, about
Grady Fuson:
The scouts' scene is one of the great scenes of the century; the real Fuson was reportedly supportive of the revolution but the movie took dramatic license.
“another just one of the great scenes of the 21st century.”
fun, about
Chris Pratt:
Hatteberg is invented as a softening character; a joke list of his later movies follows from the audience, ending on Bride Wars.
“it invents the Hatteberg character written, played by Chris Pat in one of his best movie roles.”
fun, about
Steven Soderbergh:
His planned version: Reds-style baseball with real players like Hatteberg and Bradford acting; added more statistics days before production and Amy Pascal asked what the fuck it was and put it in turnaround.
“Amy Pascal, who was running Sony at the time, said, what the fuck is this?”
fun, about
Bennett Miller:
Hired after Sorkin's draft; had only made a documentary and Capote; has not made a movie in over 10 years, which may dim Moneyball's legacy.
“I wonder if like the legacy of this movie is dimmed at all because Bena Miller hasn't made a movie in over 10 years.”
fun, about
A Minecraft Movie:
Sean sat next to a date-night couple; the guy crushed three Sam Adamses and chuckled, all while surrounded by 9-14-year-olds who did not know how to behave.
“I watched a guy crush 3 Sam Adamses during the movie.”
fun, about
A Minecraft Movie:
Participatory movie, compared to Rocky Horror; Sean felt like he had no Amanda to turn to for explanations, as with Marvel.
“This is a participatory movie, the likes of which I haven't seen in a while.”
fun, about
A Minecraft Movie:
The 'chicken jockey' moment: when a baby Frankenstein rides a chicken and fights Momoa and the words are uttered, the whole theater erupts like a World Series win; it happens 5-6 times in the movie.
“The movie theater exploded as though everyone had just won the World Series.”
fun, about
Gabby's Dollhouse:
Eleven seasons on Netflix, from the creator of Blue's Clues; Universal pitched a movie with Kristen Wiig and Gloria Estefan.