Working Girl is her favorite movie and her dream Rewatchables pick; she loves it as a rom-com, a Cinderella story and a cultural artifact, and as how she learned the 80s and her parents. Sucker for the song and score, the Staten Island Ferry, big real estate and Harrison Ford's clothes. Defends Tess to the end.
Stances
Working Girl is the perfect romantic comedy and a cultural artifact
Defends Tess against the villain charge
Chose the elevator or opening as most rewatchable
Loves the Staten Island Ferry as Apex Mountain
Humor: Self-aware and warm; jokes about herself, her husband Zach, and her real-estate award.
In their words
“Perfect romantic comedy, but more than a romantic comedy?” (0:03:03)
“It is a cultural artifact as well as a, you know, Cinderella story.” (0:03:07)
“Amanda has always said, working girls, the number one movie I would ever want to do in the rewatchables.” (0:01:29)
A child of divorce who treats divorce movies as a pantheon, loves interiors and real-estate fantasy (the Nancy Meyers houses), and holds firm opinions on decor. Can't abide the late-80s terrazzo floor.
Stances
Roses house is not even a top 20 movie house
The terrazzo foyer floor is the weak link
Cruise, via Jerry Maguire, is the right lead
The Roses are shocking because of their cruelty to animals
Humor: Obsessive-list energy and affectionate takedowns, as in her house-ranking bit.
In their words
“the 1st Michael Douglas movie I saw was the American president.” (0:06:45)
“This is not even a top 20 movie house.” (0:59:09)
“I'm thinking like collateral cruise crossed with Jerry Maguire cruise.” (1:17:39)
“Yeah, I did the terrazzo floor in the foyer.” (0:51:21)
Loves Nancy Meyers world, the family house and kitchen aesthetic, Steve Martin as dad, and earnest comforting movies. Can't stand talking-to-camera as a device and one-note accent comedy. A sucker for nostalgia, sequels and revivals she says she will watch anyway.
Stances
Father of the Bride is a Meyers formula movie where the house is the first character
Annie is a good daughter, she is just 22
Father of the Bride Part II is fine
Would watch a Grandfather of the Bride series
Second family dinner scene is the best scene
Humor: Precise, self-aware, observational wit (hot dog buns, curtain rings, independent consultant as unemployed).
In their words
“I'm definitely my father's daughter in that sense.” (0:03:26)
Adores Easy A as a summary of the teen-movie canon she liked: John Hughes, Ferris Bueller, Clueless (her number one), and Mean Girls. Loves star-quality musical numbers, Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as parents, and a good recast game. Cannot stand plot choices that don't hold up, like the party scene and Facebook shutting everything down.
Stances
Easy A is a summary of what she loved in earlier teen movies
Emma Stone should have been Oscar-nominated; the Oscars ignore comedy
Defends the Clarkson and Tucci parents
Emma Stone is not at Apex Mountain here but doesn't get there without it
Picks Zendaya and Florence Pugh as recasts
Humor: Warm and enthusiastic, with committed hot takes and the occasional Freudian slip (Emma Thompson for Emma Stone).
In their words
“I think it's pretty high for me as well, because in a lot of ways, easy A is a summary of all the types of teen movies that came before it that I really liked.” (0:12:26)
“Number 2 for me is Emma Stone.” (0:18:24)
“So please respect Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci.” (1:20:24)
The biggest Skyfall fan on the show, owns it and rewatches it; loves Bardem, the Adele song, and Judi Dench. Protective of Bardem's performance, can't stand criticism of it, and finds modern Bond sexual politics rough.
Stances
Skyfall is the best Bond movie
Bardem's performance is the performance of the decade
No one is overacting
Humor: Defends Bardem with mock fury and ribs the others about sex habits.
In their words
“I think it's an outrage that Javier Redemma is not nominated for an Oscar.” (0:07:32)
Loves Regina George and the script, the first lunch scene, Lizzy Caplan, and Mean Girls as internet culture. Hates dumbing down for a boy and the ending speech; a sucker for teen-movie lineage and McAdams.
Stances
The first lunch scene is most rewatchable
Rachel McAdams won the movie
The soundtrack is underestimated
Humor: Deadpan and teasing, quick with callbacks and rankings.
In their words
“I think I'm going with the 1st lunch scene.” (0:25:55)
“Because it's just burned in my brain, the plastics at the lunch table.” (0:25:59)
Loves The Strangers' withholding craft and a good tense horror film without gore, but likes fun, communal movies like Mamma Mia. She dislikes supernatural or gory horror, which irritates her more than it scares her. She is a sucker for stars and for Googling a movie mid-recording.
Stances
The Strangers is scary because of what it doesn't show or explain
Ending explanation weakens it; no answer would be better
Prefers 'withholding' filmmaking
Defends Mamma Mia as joyful and intentional
Humor: Wry and conversational, mocking Sean's marriage take and her own Googling while enjoying emotional detective bits.
In their words
“I'm emotionally detecting, but not informationally detecting.” (1:26:12)
“It's a very, um, withholding film, like both visually and emotionally.” (0:24:04)
“I think no answer would have been better personally.” (0:35:01)
Open to horror and gross-out more than she used to be, loves a lovely movie star and a tropical setting, and dislikes screen-movies and AI propaganda. She is skeptical of Chris Pratt, a defender of Amy Adams's ambition, and a Kirsten Dunst champion. A sucker for Beatles news, Harry Styles gossip and the Princess Diaries.
Stances
Mercy is a mess that reads as AI and surveillance propaganda
Rachel McAdams is beloved and underused
Kirsten Dunst and Regina Hall deserve leads (low confidence in attribution)
Humor: Self-deprecating and tangential, riffing on her own survival skills, floating Vespas and Hollywood trivia.
In their words
“I thought that this was pretty insulting to, um, the recovery community as well as the unhasked people of Los Angeles.” (0:38:41)
Loves Tár and Top Gun: Maverick equally, prizes sincere family-scaled filmmaking like The Fabelmans, and has a soft spot for Downton Abbey, Pearl, and Minions. Treats the draft as a comedy of grudging picks and delights in odd documentaries like Jennifer Lopez: Halftime. Skips most 2022 blockbusters as slop.
Stances
Only two 2022 movies really mattered to her, and the draft order spoiled that
Downton Abbey: A New Era is the best of the series films
Pearl is Mia Goth's best performance
The Lost City and Bullet Train are not worth picking
Humor: Mock-petulant and confessional, then escalates a tiny joke (the minions choir) into a long recap.
In their words
“I had to have a meeting with myself about not being a petulant brat for the rest of the thing” (0:25:58)
“This is a great film.” (0:56:22)
“I'm picking the movie that I've thought about the 3rd most in 2022 after Tar and Top Gun Maverick” (1:17:52)
“I saw this movie by myself at my childhood theater, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia” (1:15:45)
Loves character-driven, funny-but-fucked-up movies, Leo's comic work, and champions The Irishman as underrated. She is bothered by viewers who take the film as a how-to and by tidy trauma-explains-everything backstories. She is a sucker for 90s nostalgia, like Steve Madden loafers, and for a good needle drop.
Stances
Wolf deliberately refuses to explain Belfort away
The Irishman is underrated and detractors are wrong
Catch Me If You Can is the runner-up Leo performance
Excitement and nerves about doing right by One Battle After Another
Humor: Teasing and conversational, comfortable with chaos and personal tangents like shoe collections.
In their words
“Which I think is the most underrated film on this list.” (0:05:29)
Ties Tenenbaums to growing up in a house without a father and loves Gwyneth Paltrow's look and Eli Cash. Sees the film as a 70s/French New Wave hybrid. Champions letting filmmakers grow incrementally. (Attribution of individual remarks is low confidence.)
Stances
Wes Anderson deserves an Oscar
Grand Budapest wouldn't exist without Tenenbaums
Humor: Dry riffs and running gags about the Beckhams and jarred goods.
In their words
“You and I both grew up in a house that our dad didn't live in.” (0:22:46)
A devoted Soderbergh fan, loves baseball and snacking, a Cubs fan, and a sucker for dad-daughter stories and process movies. Likes Moneyball's sentimental core and Pitt's physical restraint.
Stances
Soderbergh's version was fascinating but the finished film is happy
Moneyball is more than a baseball movie, it's a pop cultural phenomenon
Not a stats person
Humor: Wry audience banter, relatable self-mockery about sandals, Mets and snacking.
In their words
“as devoted as I am to the Steven Soderberg project, I am, I am happy that we got the movie that we got.” (0:24:06)
Loves romantic comedies and mother-daughter stories (Pretty Woman, Postcards, Mermaids), plus well-made studio thrillers like The Hunt for Red October. Dislikes authority and anything too tough, and drafts with her heart. Has a soft spot for Whit Stillman and Mike Nichols.
Stances
Pretty Woman is her number-two romantic comedy
Sequel slot: take Die Hard 2 to avoid Look Who's Talking Too
Drafted Metropolitan with her heart, not strategically
Humor: Playfully self-deprecating, with a flair for roasting her co-hosts' obsessions.
In their words
“I don't really like authority very much.” (0:41:45)
“I think I'm going to draft with my heart instead of strategically.” (0:59:49)
“I mean, it's Mike Nichols, one of my faves.” (1:18:24)
Amanda is the skeptic and the Q1-doomer who thinks TV is currently better than movies. She loves Black Bag, The Studio, a good Amanda Seyfried indie, and the original Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She can't stand cynical IP bait or grim retirement-home talk, and she is wary of any community she'd have to join.
Stances
Creatively TV is in a better place than movies this quarter
Only happy to concede business wins, not quality wins, for Minecraft
Super Mario was the real comp for Minecraft
Does not want to be a burden to her kids as she ages
Will not go to Misericordia-type brutality unprompted
Humor: Dry, deflating interjections and domestic complaints (golf weekend, kids' ages, Hatch), usually landing at Sean's expense.
In their words
“I mean, I just think we're I... Sorry to be the negative person because I know this is like your therapy session and you had a religious experience at Minecraft or whatever, but... We're like, I mean, I think we're just in a really rough time.” (0:28:13)
“I mean, no, I don't want to join any community ever, as you know.” (1:20:22)
“Because I'm taking care of my 2 children while you take my husband golfing.” (1:24:34)
Just returned from maternity leave with a new baby, and a self-declared Harris Dickinson fan. Defends Moulin Rouge as a masterpiece (she was 17 in 2001) and calls Baz Luhrmann a visionary. Wants both Destroyer and Babygirl in the Hall of Fame, and likes Kidman for dismantling her own glamour.
Stances
Babygirl is good, divisive, and its sex scenes are memorable
Women really can have it all, including Destroyer and Babygirl in the Hall
Kidman is great at playing against her own myth
Humor: Warm, self-deprecating, a mother who turns sports loyalties and sleeplessness into jokes.
In their words
“I think this movie is a masterpiece and I think Baz Lerman is a visionary.” (1:11:04)
“What if I want Destroyer and Baby Girl?” (1:57:46)
“I made a joke that I was like, I'm going to raise our children to be Cowboys fans just to mess with you.” (0:33:12)
Loves melodrama and classic Hollywood, Rudolph Valentino and Betty Davis catalog. Famously prefers Babylon's middle two hours to the opening party. Not a fan of animals, high heels, or party excess, and is skeptical of the film's cohesion even as she respects the filmmaking. Likes Singin' in the Rain and old-fashioned show business.
Stances
Babylon's middle two hours are the best
She admires Babylon more than she is in the hive
Admits the film's narrative cohesion is missing while still saying he can make a movie
Humor: Quick, dry needling of her co-hosts (especially Sean's social switch and Chris's habits) delivered while eating Chick-fil-A.
In their words
“I famously really like the middle 2 hours of this movie.” (0:07:04)
“It's not something I don't really want to interact with animals, you know?” (0:09:07)
“But, I mean, he can fucking make a movie.” (2:58:26)
A devoted Mean Girls (2004) fan who also found the musical charming. Loves actresses she believes the Academy undervalues (Greta Lee, Margot Robbie), keeps pushing Oscar chalk, and is a sucker for emotional, parent-centered movies; All of Us Strangers hit her as a mother. Can't stand award-show indignities like airplane-style food, nor True Detective's current season.
Stances
Believes Barbie will be nominated for best picture but win little
Thinks the Academy never respects comedy
Wants the director to give the final speech, not the spouse-producer
Pushes back on the notion of actor-chemistry irrelevance in musicals
Humor: Self-deprecating and quick, riffing on her own life, in-laws, bars, and Whole Foods.
In their words
“This was the 1st movie I think I've ever watched where I was watching it as a mother.” (1:11:58)
“The academy never respects comedy.” (0:42:08)
“I'm perfectly fine if this is the newest Star Wars Born where every 20 years another Otour comes along” (0:54:17)
Loves genre translated by auteurs (Lanthimos as rom-com, Mean Girls, monster movie), costumes, production design, and Tony McNamara's writing. Likes Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone. Can't stand movies that feel like they are looking too hard for something; a sucker for funny costume details.
Stances
Poor Things is flat-out great
The Favourite is Mean Girls
Poor Things and The Holdovers are 8-out-of-10s for her
Reads Poor Things' ending as resignation after exploitation
Humor: Bickers with Sean as a running bit and delivers chaotic parenting anecdotes.
In their words
“I liked it a lot.” (0:33:17)
“And I said, well, because the Oscar nominations are being announced on Tuesday morning” (1:37:25)
Likes Ferrari for its physicality and immersion and Penelope Cruz; The Insider is her number one. Allergic to poor casting and loves things that go fast. Sucker for Europe locations and Adam Driver.
Stances
Cruz carries Ferrari
Woodley is miscast
The Insider is Mann's best
Humor: Wry, dropping deadpan asides and teasing jokes.
In their words
“I really liked it.” (0:07:12)
“once again, I think Michael Mann, for bringing me closer to the people I love.” (1:01:23)
Admires Fincher's genre craft and finds the film propulsive, funny and violent; enjoys the Smiths cues and consumer-culture jokes. More skeptical of reading the movie as emotional, seeing it as cynical and nihilist. Sucker for tiny logistics and travel details.
Stances
The movie is more cynical or nihilist than emotional
Fincher is the chosen one of the American thriller
Netflix canon problem: streamer films feel less real
Humor: Dry, teasing, constantly poking Sean about identifying with the killer.
In their words
“he is the chosen one at the American thriller in the last 30 years.” (0:18:09)
“I think that that is kind of the electricity of it” (0:08:34)
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 201–300 of 520 claims.
unmapped (academy habit):
May December → Julianne Moore.
The Academy does not always love Todd Haynes but always nominates Julianne Moore, so she is a way to recognize the film.
“the Academy doesn't always love Todd Haynes, but they love Julianne Moore.”
unmapped (screenplay-category stand-in):
Asteroid City → Maestro.
Asteroid City, wrongly abandoned, was liked more than Maestro, which is only a cowardly default pick for original screenplay.
“I guess I'm going to put maestro here, but it's a cowardly pick.”
people (great actor, weak film):
Rustin → Colman Domingo.
Domingo is good but Rustin is a flat, obviously written 2D movie, so a nomination for it would annoy the hosts.
industry (awards-speech complaint):
Oppenheimer → Emma Thomas.
The hosts say Thomas keeps giving the final acceptance speech instead of Nolan, which they object to.
“I do feel that the director should be giving the acceptance speech.”
people (auteur respect):
Barbie → Greta Gerwig.
Barbie's Oscar push comes from the overwhelming respect for Gerwig, which female directors did not used to get.
“There's an overwhelming amount of respect for her that female directors just didn't use to get.”
craft (tone shift):
Mean Girls → Mean Girls.
The musical sands the edges off the Plastics and replaces bite with empowerment, a generational update on the original's Tina Fey punchline comedy.
“the edges are sanded off the plastics. And most of the jokes don't have the same bite.”
unmapped (star power):
Renee Rapp → Rachel McAdams.
The 2004 film's success depended on the anti-chemistry and star power of Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, which the new cast lacks.
“the absence of Lindsay Lohan and the Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams kind of anti-chemistry and star power is a big part of why that movie is so successful.”
people (performance contrast):
Angourie Rice → Renee Rapp.
Rice is a subtler actress, which is not the skill a musical wants, so she cannot hang with Rapp's outsized, absurdist performer energy.
“She's actually a much subtler actress, which is not actually the skill you want in a musical.”
people (performance contrast):
Avantika → Amanda Seyfried.
Avantika plays Karen as a big over-the-top performer, which a fan of the original may not accept after Seyfried's version.
unmapped (backstory):
Mean Girls → The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Rapp's earlier show is where her feud with millennial women allegedly started, per the hosts' gossip.
“I think those are the millennial women in question, who she doesn't like.”
unmapped (autobiographical):
All of Us Strangers → Andrew Haigh.
The film is filmed in Haigh's childhood home and blends his own romantic experiences with those of his partner's parents.
“The movie is literally filmed in Andrew Hayes' childhood home.”
unmapped (emotional core):
All of Us Strangers → Claire Foy.
Amanda watched this as a mother for the first time and Foy's mother, regretting her failures, devastated her.
“This was the 1st movie I think I've ever watched where I was watching it as a mother.”
theme (comparison):
Poor Things → Barbie.
Both arrived as feminist coming-of-age stories about a created girl learning about the world, six weeks apart.
“it was about 6 weeks after the Barbie wave and there are some really obvious comparisons to be made here.”
craft (craft):
Poor Things → Holly Waddington.
A host raves that the clothes in Poor Things are out of control and credits the costumes to Holly Waddington.
theme (genre per Lanthimos):
The Killing of a Sacred Deer → Poor Things.
Sacred Deer is framed as Lanthimos's horror movie, in a run of one-per-genre films ending with the monster movie.
career (career shift):
Alexander Payne → Yorgos Lanthimos.
A host is a fan of both directors and felt both The Holdovers and Poor Things were shifts away from what she loved.
“these movies felt like shifts that I didn't vibe with as much, ultimately.”
programming (programming):
Heat → The Rewatchables.
Chris listened to the Reheat Rewatchables episode, celebrating 100 episodes, the morning of recording.
craft (craft):
Ferrari → Killers of the Flower Moon.
Ferrari's quick impressionistic opening flashback recalls the silent-film-style opening of Killers of the Flower Moon.
“it reminded me a bit of the opening sequence of the Killers of the Flower Moon, where it's kind of shot in this old school, like silent film style.”
theme (theme):
Collateral → Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Collateral is part of Amanda's movie map of Los Angeles, with Clueless and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
“my movie map of LA is probably like clueless collateral, uh, once upon a time in Hollywood”
craft (craft):
Collateral → Miles Davis.
Collateral features Miles Davis and Audioslave, and Cruise talks about jazz in one of the weirdest scenes of the 2000s.
“Tom Cruise talking about his appreciation for jazz”
people (auteur persona year):
The Killer → Killers of the Flower Moon.
2023 was defined by films that force conversation about the filmmakers (Gerwig, Scorsese, Nolan, Fincher) and their pasts.
“this year has really been defined by these movies with by filmmakers who have such towering personas.”
unmapped (promo absence):
The Killer → Killers of the Flower Moon.
Because actors weren't doing press during the strike, audiences were thinking about Marty rather than DiCaprio appearances.
“we didn't get hit with like 10 Leonardo DiCaprio TV and podcast appearances before Killers of the Flower Moon.”
lineage (genre lineage):
The Killer → Gone Girl.
It is the closest Fincher has come to a pure thriller since Gone Girl, maybe Dragon Tattoo.
“he hasn't made a movie quite like this, I guess, since Gone Girl, but even, I mean, you could maybe even going back further to Dragon Tattoo is maybe a little closer to this kind of a pure thriller.”
unmapped (pop-culture decay):
The Killer → Private Benjamin.
The 70s sitcom aliases riff leads Sean to say nobody under 35 knows even Private Benjamin.
“We were talking about private Benjamin on the rewatchables the other day and I was like, they're not a single person under 35 knows what Private Benjamin is.”
unmapped (streamer master-work):
The Killer → The Irishman.
The Killer, Roma, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon are master filmmakers' self-reflective work enabled by streamer power.
“those are all films from quote unquote master filmmakers who are responding to their own work and life and experience and they're using the outsized corporate power of a streaming service to do so.”
career (Netflix career):
The Killer → Marriage Story.
Baumbach used Netflix to elevate his status, whereas Fincher and Scorsese use it to brand-manage their legacies.
“he's somebody who used the system to elevate his status in some way, whereas Fincher and Scorsese in a handful of these other people are almost like facilitating and kind of brand managing their legacies”
theme (thematic echo):
The Killer → The Pigeon Tunnel.
John le Carre's remark about reaching the room and finding nothing in it fits Fincher's lockbox characters and this film.
“The room be on the room, and then when you get there, there's nothing in it.”
programming (paired double feature):
The Killer → Fight Club.
Both are very funny first-person-narrated films about sociopaths who rationalize brutal violence as a personal mission.
“This movie would make a neat pairing with Fight Club. Two very funny films about sociopaths whose inner monologues rationalize brutal violence as expressions of a personal mission.”
“I thought a lot of Wolf of Wall Street. While doing it because that is a guy who is too smart for his own good, but also doing a lot of really dumb shit.”
contrast (inverts):
Killers of the Flower Moon → Goodfellas.
Same crimes by white men but with no romance or good life, a deliberate answer to Goodfellas' seductiveness.
“there's a romance to Goodfellas that does not exist here.”
contrast (contrast):
Lessons in Chemistry → Killers of the Flower Moon.
Greenwald's critique of anachronistic righteous modern politics in a period piece is contrasted with Killers refusing pop morality.
people (same director):
The Eternal Daughter → The Souvenir.
Amanda says the character is named Julian, linking it to Hogg's Souvenir project as a coda.
“this is a part of her souvenir, I guess, trilogy now, or like the project.”
verdict (ranking):
Happening → Saint Omer.
Amanda places Happening at four as a clear-eyed thriller structured week by week; Adam later places Saint Omer, another French film, at two.
“it almost like becomes a thriller of her trying to get the abortion and it goes like week by week”
contrast (contrast):
Happening → Blonde.
Amanda says Andrew Dominik should be made to rewatch Happening's abortion scene as penance for Blonde.
“I think that Andrew Dominic should be sentenced to rewatching the abortion scene in this movie for the rest of his life is penance for what he did in blonde”
verdict (ranking):
The Fabelmans → The Eternal Daughter.
Amanda ranks The Eternal Daughter at five and The Fabelmans at three, noting a taste for directors making movies about themselves.
“But I like all of the director projects of let me just make a movie about myself.”
people (performance):
Tenoch Huerta → Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Amanda says Huerta is really dynamic as Namor, and the film picks up once he emerges as the main rival.
unmapped (backdoor pilot):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Ironheart.
Amanda feels the Riri Williams plot turns the movie into a backdoor pilot for the Ironheart show, which weighs down an already crowded film.
“the movie also simultaneously kind of becomes like a backdoor pilot for the Ironheart TV show.”
unmapped (CGI weakness):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Black Panther.
The first film's video-game-looking CGI showdown is doubled down on in the sequel, with flying robots and an aircraft-carrier fight.
“You know, it just kind of looked like a video game a little bit.”
craft (craft praise):
Ruth E. Carter → Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Amanda says Carter's costume design and the production design are the electrifying part, even though she did not like the film, and that Carter should win another Oscar.
“I think Ruth Carter should win another Oscar, even though I didn't really like this movie.”
unmapped (action set piece):
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Black Panther.
Amanda rewatched the first film's casino fight, built around Okoye, and found nothing in the sequel as exciting.
“I really loved the casino fight. I think that's like a really great action set piece.”
unmapped (parody target):
Walk the Line → Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
Amanda argues effective parody must work from something that works, and watched the two back to back; the buzz-saw brother incident mirrors Walk Hard's setup.
“for something, to be an effective parody, it has to be working from something that actually works.”
unmapped (parody of a parody):
Elvis → Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
Elvis seems to parody Walk Hard's parody of women ripping open shirts at the star.
“somehow this movie is doing a parody of the Walkhard parody of the scene of like women like busting open.”
unmapped (missing scene):
Elvis → Respect.
Respect's songwriting-in-the-studio scene always works; Elvis disappointingly has no 'they're writing Jailhouse Rock' moment.
“there's no point where they're just like, oh my god, they're writing Jailhouse Rock or whatever.”
contrast (structure contrast):
Love and Mercy → Elvis.
Love & Mercy splits its story across two Brian Wilsons (Cusack, Dano) rather than a cradle-to-grave Wikipedia run.
“it gives you kind of 2 lenses to, to go through the 60s and the creation of the Beach Boys”
contrast (contrast of approach):
Amadeus → Elvis.
Amadeus conveys Mozart's genius without answering who he was; Elvis also skips interiority but fails to fill the gap.
“it's smart that Elvis doesn't do that, even though you feel the lack of it because Elvis doesn't fill anything else in.”
people (double bill, auteur):
I'm Not There → The Velvet Underground.
Both show Haynes's fascination with originating power: where it came from and how pieces assembled into a singular figure or band.
“the thing that it fascinates him is originating power. It's like, where did this come from and how did it come together?”
career (career arc):
Oblivion → Top Gun: Maverick.
Oblivion has a football scene mocked as Cruise loves sports in films; Sean rewatched it to prep for Maverick.
“I did just rewatch oblivion to prep for Maverick”
unmapped (transformation):
Tropic Thunder → Born on the Fourth of July.
Cruise's wig and transformation in Tropic Thunder was for laughs, the opposite of Born on the Fourth of July.
verdict (ranking):
A Few Good Men → The Firm.
The hosts treat them as the two lawyer movies and only one can survive the final Hall of Fame cut; A Few Good Men wins.
“I didn't realize that this was a one lawyer only hall of fame.”
verdict (ranking):
Born on the Fourth of July → Rain Man.
Two Oscar-bait Cruise films; the hosts prefer Born on the Fourth of July and cut Rain Man despite its Best Picture win.
verdict (ranking):
Collateral → Edge of Tomorrow.
Collateral and Edge of Tomorrow are the self-indulgent last picks; the group questions whether the list reflects Big Picture taste.
career (career arc):
Rain Man → Born on the Fourth of July.
Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July and The Color of Money are grouped as his Oscar bait run defining an era.
industry (industry):
Ghostbusters: Afterlife → Marvel's Avengers.
Afterlife and the 2016 film both chase the Marvel model of serialized connected stories to succeed at the box office.
“trying to recreate what Marvel has done and just that's the only way you have success at the box office now is by latching onto that serialized story.”
career (career):
Andrew Garfield → Under the Silver Lake.
Speaker will follow Garfield wherever he goes, citing Silence, Under the Silver Lake, Tammy Faye.
fun, about
Poor Things (ending):
Abbott's character gets a goat brain and ends up on all fours chewing shrubbery; the household includes a pug that is also a chicken.
“Christopher Abbott on all fours, uh, chewing the shrubbery, like the, like the goat that he is.”
fun, about
Oscar nominations (Amanda):
Amanda asked her OB to delay her induction a day so she could host the Oscar-nominations pod; the baby arrived the next afternoon.
“And I said, well, because the Oscar nominations are being announced on Tuesday morning, and if he's not here, at, you know, at least I'd like to do my job.”
fun, about
The Killer:
Hotel trick to look for: he balances a glass on the door handle with the room-service tray underneath so a jiggled handle smashes it, then sleeps in a chair for three and a half hours.
“if anybody jiggles the handle, the glass will smash and make a noise and wake him up”
fun, about
The Killer:
He expects six to seven minutes to interrogate Parnell and the man dies almost instantly; the hosts take it as proof the killer is bad at his job.
“he kills Charles Parnell and thinks that he's going to have 6 to 7 minutes to interrogate him and he dies almost instantaneously.”
fun, about
The Killer:
The Miami fight in the dark: grabbing for a weapon in the kitchen, he finds a cheese grater, a huge laugh, then uses it as a noise distraction. Also he miscalculates the dose of a dog-drugging treat for the pit bull.
“and comes up with a cheese grater and you're like, ooh, a cheese grater.”
fun, about
The Killer:
Tilda Swinton scene in Beacon, NY: she eats solo at the bar, orders a whiskey flight tasting menu and asks for her own bottle, and the hosts debate whether she is the life he could have had.
“when Tilda Swinton's doing a tasting menu with a whiskey flight.”
fun, about
The Killer:
Shot out of a cannon: on Netflix there is no box-office report, Fincher hasn't had a traditional theatrical release since Gone Girl, and Adam saw it at Alamo and Toronto theaters.
“He hasn't released a movie to the public since Gone Girl in the traditional theatrical style.”
fun, about
David Fincher:
At the Academy Museum Q&A, an audience member asked how to make iconic movies in the age of TikTok. Fincher sighed and said he never thinks 'how can I make this more iconic' when setting up a shot.
“when I set up a shot, I don't think, dude, how can I make this more iconic?”
fun, about
Killers of the Flower Moon:
They saw it twice, the second time together at 2:30 p.m. at a local AMC the day before recording; Sean calls it a masterpiece but jokes he needed seven hours to get there.
“I don't know whether the joke is on the movie or me that I had to see it twice to get to that, um, point”
fun, about
Killers of the Flower Moon:
Early rewrite lore: DiCaprio was to play FBI investigator Tom White in the procedural version, then pushed Scorsese to rewrite and took Ernest instead.
“Leo was originally slated to play FBI investigator Tom White in the more procedural version of the film, and he went to Scorsese and said, I think there's something missing here”
fun, about
Killers of the Flower Moon:
Owl motif: Molly's mother sees an owl before dying; the second viewing, a bathroom break caused Amanda to miss the first owl on the windowsill.
“I realized about 30 minutes later that I had missed that 1st image of the owl landing on the windowsill”
fun, about
Christopher Cote:
Osage language consultant's widely quoted reaction: he wished it had been from Molly's perspective and says conspiring to murder a family is not love; the hosts treat it as a valid challenge.
“when someone conspires to murder your entire family, that's not love.”
fun, about
Lily Gladstone:
She was offered Molly in the original script version; per Allison Willmore's New York profile she calls the attention of 'the masters' to Native stories a double-edged sword.
“You want to have more natives writing native stories. You also want the masters to pay attention to what's going on.”
fun, about
The Simpsons:
Amanda's masonry knowledge extends only to the Stonecutters episode, which she calls one of the greatest half-hours in TV history.
“the Stonecutters episode of The Simpsons is one of the greatest half hours in television and history”
fun, about
Killers of the Flower Moon:
Sean worries about watching it in installments on Apple TV+; the movie is meant to overwhelm and is not episodic.
“It's not episodic. Yeah. It builds. Correct. And it is meant to completely pulverize you over 3.5 hours.”
fun, about
Oppenheimer:
Running bit: Amanda rages against Oppenheimer, with Sean needling her; Amanda says Nolan thinks great men existed and Scorsese isn't sure any did.
“Martin Scorsese's like, I'm honestly not sure. in retrospect.”
fun, about
Speak No Evil:
A Danish couple visits a Dutch couple in the Netherlands. Chris calls it a what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you movie and a gut test for horror fans; Amanda says friends who took Sean's recommendation confronted her about it.
“This is the what the fuck is wrong with you, movie?”
fun, about
Happening:
Amanda tried not to pick it because of another year of abortion dramas in her top five, noting the timing alongside the overturning of Roe v. Wade; she calls it a week-by-week thriller.
“another year, another abortion drama in my top 5 list”
fun, about
Top Gun: Maverick:
Jennifer Connelly acts like she has been at the bar the whole time; the hosts joke that her Porsche is safe parked on the street in Miramar as an admiral's daughter.
“And the idea that she just acts like she's been there the whole time is the funniest thing.”
fun, about
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:
Before the screening Sean tells Amanda the IMAX holding poster shows Namor and promises she will learn a lot about him.
“Sean was just like, cool, okay, you're going to learn a lot about Neymar.”
fun, about
Working Girl:
After Van gives his top five, a host complains Working Girl is missing and calls it an all-time spiritual favorite for both hosts, then riffs on Alec Baldwin popping in and out.
fun, about
Elvis:
Amanda zoned out and missed that Elvis's mother died, and only realized the fancy house was Graceland when the film moved on; the pacing is endless yet frenetic.
“Like, quite literally, I missed that Graceland was purchased as Graceland, you know, like 2 hours in the movie.”
fun, about
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story:
Amanda saw it on a Netflix mailer on a couch with a group of young people, which she thinks is how this whole generation of films should be experienced.
“which is how I think all this this entire generation of movies should like truly be experienced.”
fun, about
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story:
The film's jokes annotate themselves: characters introduce themselves and each scene has a thesis statement, which the film dares you to call out.
“daring you to call it, call bullshit on this trope of just people saying who they are at all times, which I think is priceless.”
fun, about
24 Hour Party People:
The real Howard Devoto, as an extra in the frame, turns to camera during a scene of Devoto sleeping with Tony Wilson's wife to say he doesn't remember it happening.
“there's an extra in the frame who turns to camera and says, I definitely don't remember this happening and the person who does that is the real life Howard DeVoto.”
fun, about
Walk the Line:
Amanda was embarrassed about picking Walk the Line at number one but took a 'Tony Hawk 720' route to going with her heart; she notes Reese Witherspoon is lit like a Greek goddess.
“Also, she's lit like a Greek goddess. It's extraordinary how beautiful she looks in this movie.”
fun, about
A Few Good Men:
Amanda notes a tiny scene of timing where Kaffee says sit down to people already sitting and pauses for a second before moving on, without Sorkin-ing it.
fun, about
Tom Cruise:
Cruise's Hall of Fame bylaws: the 2005 year (couch jump, Brooke Shields, Scientology videos) coincided with a career nadir and the shift to Ethan Hunt as a safe harbor.
“Ethan Hunt just does everything for everyone all of the time and has no faults and is always on the right side.”
fun, about
Tom Cruise:
The Cruise cake: a white chocolate coconut bundt from Stone's Bakery in the Valley that Cruise sends every Christmas to famous friends; the hosts eat it on air and put it in the Hall of Fame.
“Tom Cruise sends it to all of the famous people in his life every year.”
fun, about
Ghostbusters: Afterlife:
Muncher the blue blob humping a fire hydrant is the one moment of joy; speaker was the only one laughing in the theater.
“So when like muncher, the blue blob shows up and is humping a fire hydrant.”
fun, about
Tiger:
The end of part one cuts to a famous woman sidling up to the camera, called great filmmaking; one director says the moment is a Sopranos homage scored with the song Evidently Chickentown.
“Because of a very famous woman, just sidling up to the camera.”
fun, about
Tiger:
Amanda points out that the documentary shows a magazine photo shoot taken five days after the birth of his first child, which cannot have been accidental, and that a viewer has to look for the clue.
“there is no way that a posed photo shoot is taken 5 days after the birth of a child without the participation and not just the participation, but the planning of the people involved.”
fun, about
Malcolm & Marie:
A famous meme: Sean says the Malcolm and Marie meme sums up the podcast, with one person saying something unforgivable and the other punching a wall.
“It's just like you saying something unforgivable and me punching a wall.”
fun, about
The Godfather Part II:
Sean says giving Pacino the 1975 Oscar might have changed the pattern of waiting twenty years too late to reward great actors, and wonders if Chris would still be yelling Pacino impressions.
“Would Chris would Chris still be yelling Al Pacino impressions on every single podcast?”
fun, about
The Imitation Game:
The only complete film Amanda has watched with her husband's parents, who do not watch movies; the mother asked at the end if they could do something else.
“I've watched one complete movie with Zach's parents.”
fun, about
Michael Clayton:
Amanda's husband Zach refuses to rewatch it with her, and instead reenacts it, yelling I am Shiva, the god of death about fourteen times.
“he did yell, I am Shiva, the god of death like 14 times.”
fun, about
Chadwick Boseman:
Amanda recalls the 2018 video of Ron Clark Academy students dancing with joy before seeing Black Panther, as a reminder of what the film meant to young Black kids.
“a group of students at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta who are just about to see Black Panther and are just so excited and dancing”
fun, about
Hamlet:
Amanda recalls the Lion King remake episode where Sean said Hamlet was bad and then went to the bathroom and undermined his own point.
“at one point you tried to say that Hamlet was bad and at another point, I just like had a breakdown”
fun, about
Mulan:
Amanda was so lost on the witch's shapeshifting that when her husband walked in she couldn't tell which bird was the witch.
“Also, my husband came in at some point and started watching and so I had like every time the bird showed up on the screen. I was like, that's the witch.”
fun, about
Mulan:
Amanda skips the music debate by calling the Reflection ballad 'an average ass ballad about finding yourself' after eight emails about Christina Aguilera's cover.
“this is just like an average ass ballad about finding yourself. Okay, whatever. It's not Elton John.”
fun, about
The Lion King:
Amanda notes 'SEX' famously flashes across the screen in the original Lion King, and jokes about the love song playing while lions frolic.
“I just X literally flashes across the screen in the original Lion King.”