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 1–100 of 520 claims.
theme (theme):
Working Girl → Younger.
The pretending-to-be-someone-else-at-work premise is like the TV show Younger.
“Oh, well, that's like the TV show Younger, essentially.”
career (career):
Sigourney Weaver → Dave.
Weaver's Dave is a favorite of hers besides Alien and Aliens, and a mirror image of her Working Girl character.
“I think that's my favorite Sigourney Weaver other than alien and aliens.”
craft (craft):
Anne Roth → Working Girl.
Anne Roth's costumes make the characters: Tess's makeover communicates who she is trying to be, and Weaver's closet is spot on.
“once Tess has her makeover, it's like really communicating something, both like very 80s, but very different about who that character is or who that character is trying to be.”
career (career):
Michael Douglas → The American President.
For the younger speaker the first Michael Douglas movie was The American President, which made his dark turns a shock.
“the 1st Michael Douglas movie I saw was the American president.”
contrast (contrast):
The War of the Roses → Father of the Bride.
Amanda ranks the Roses house outside her top 20 movie houses, beginning her list with the Father of the Bride house.
craft (craft):
Nancy Meyers → Father of the Bride.
Nancy Meyers is the goat of picking houses; Father of the Bride is the best to live in of all her houses.
lineage (dad-persona precursor):
Father of the Bride → Parenthood.
Martin had been doing family-friendly dad stuff before, in Parenthood, but this is where he nails it.
“he had been doing some of this like family friendly dad stuff before parenthood, et cetera.”
unmapped (earlier edgier Martin):
Father of the Bride → Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Three Amigos show a Martin edgier than the dad persona, like discovering your dad was cool in his 20s.
“you go back and you see 3 of me, it goes, and you see dirty rotten scoundrels.”
unmapped (yuppie trilogy):
Baby Boom → The Intern.
Baby Boom starts a Meyers run that comes back around through It's Complicated, Something's Gotta Give and The Intern.
“they're sort of like the, the yuppie trilogy that starts with Baby Boom.”
lineage (creative lineage):
Father of the Bride → Baby Boom.
Baby Boom has some of the Meyers aesthetics (the Vermont kitchen), but Father of the Bride is where the full Nancy Meyers formula clicks in.
“I think Father of the Bride is really where you see the Nancy Myers formula, just like clicking in the house, the kitchen, the skirt suits”
craft (craft):
Baby Boom → Father of the Bride.
The house and kitchen look of Nancy Meyers movies starts in Baby Boom and clicks into place in Father of the Bride.
“Baby Booms has some of the aesthetics, like the Vermont home that Diane Keaton moves to has a beautiful kitchen, but I think Father of the Bride is really where you see the Nancy Myers formula”
theme (recurring motif):
Father of the Bride → It's Complicated.
Everyone in Meyers movies is an architect: Annie here, and Steve Martin renovating Meryl Streep's kitchen in It's Complicated.
“Steve Martin, later on, and it's complicated, also an architect, renovating Meryl Streep's house, specifically the kitchen, remember?”
career (career path):
Nancy Meyers → Something's Gotta Give.
After the divorce she developed a corner of films about women of a certain age thriving in later life.
“the corner that she eventually develops is like woman of a certain age, just real, like figuring out how to thrive in later life”
people (same writer-director):
Father of the Bride → The Parent Trap.
Meyers directed Parent Trap after the split with Shyer; Dobbins calls it weirdly important and Lohan's double role one of the great kid performances.
“It's one of the great kid actor performances ever.”
people (same actor, later role):
Kieran Culkin → Succession.
Watching child Kieran Culkin as Matty, they see future Roman Roy in his reaction shots at the dinner table.
“his tiny little face is not that different from Roman's face sitting at some of the like succession boardroom tables.”
lineage (physical comedy callback):
Parenthood → Father of the Bride.
Parenthood's famous little league scene shows Martin's athleticism, used to argue he made a Father of the Bride trick shot himself.
“Because you think about like the parenthood, the famous little league scene.”
lineage (sequel):
Father of the Bride → Father of the Bride Part II.
Dobbins is okay with Part II because it comments on weddings and pregnancy smartly and she likes the family; it made $76.6M on a $30M budget.
career (career setback):
Diane Keaton → The Good Mother.
Keaton says Disney wanted nothing to do with her after the failure The Good Mother, and Katzenberg resisted her casting.
“I'd done a movie called The Good Mother, which was a big failure, like big failure, and that was it.”
people (same actor, later role):
George Newbern → Scandal.
Newbern had a long run on Scandal and Providence and looks so different he is not recognized as the Father of the Bride guy.
“I forgot that he had a long run on Scandal, which I did watch. In Providence.”
career (career pivot):
Father of the Bride → Steve Martin.
The film cements Martin's shift from wild-and-crazy comic to America's dad and starts mainstream Steve Martin (Oscars host, etc.).
“I don't think he like hosts the Oscars or does any of his sort of just kind of America's dad stuff without this movie.”
verdict (career apex):
Something's Gotta Give → Diane Keaton.
Keaton's mainstream apex is Something's Gotta Give, her full Meyers star vehicle, while her true Apex Mountain is Annie Hall.
“it's something's got to give, which is her like full Nancy Meyers movie that she stars in.”
lineage (genre influence):
Father of the Bride → Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Father of the Bride starts the 90s wedding-movie explosion that includes Four Weddings, Wedding Planner and Wedding Singer.
“This like really starts the 90s explosion of everything from 4 weddings and a funeral to wedding planner and wedding singer and you name it.”
theme (shared wedding-movie trope):
Father of the Bride → My Best Friend's Wedding.
Both end with newlyweds leaving for the honeymoon immediately, which never happens in real life.
“By the way, my best friend's wedding does it too.”
theme (revival analogy):
Father of the Bride → Sex and the City.
Dobbins would watch a Father of the Bride series even if it betrays the original, like she watches the Sex and the City revival.
“there's a new Sex in the City remake episode to watch, you know, even though it's like one of, it's, it's not really working”
lineage (lineage):
Easy A → Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Director Will Gluck has said Ferris Bueller is his favorite movie, and Olive's Mohawk and guitar bits echo it.
“I think the director, Will Gluck, has like talked about how Ferris Bueller is, I think, his favorite movie.”
lineage (lineage):
Easy A → John Hughes.
Easy A is in open dialogue with Hughes: Olive says her life is not a John Hughes movie and the finale has a Hughes montage.
“But also she, like, literally says in the dialogue, my life isn't a John Hughes movie.”
lineage (lineage):
Easy A → The Scarlet Letter (Demi Moore version).
The movie nods to the Scarlet Letter and its puritanical heritage; Olive jokes about watching the Demi Moore version.
“does its best or at least at times nods to the Scarlet letter and kind of like, you know, the puritanical heritage”
what-if (what-if):
Jennifer Lawrence → Silver Linings Playbook.
Emma Stone could have done Silver Linings Playbook, and Lawrence could have done Crazy, Stupid, Love, but not La La Land.
“Do you think Jennifer Lawrence could have been in crazy stupid love?”
industry (industry):
Easy A → Black Swan.
Stone should have been nominated for the 2010 Best Actress race against Black Swan, The Kids Are All Right, Rabbit Hole, Winter's Bone and Blue Valentine; the Oscars don't acknowledge comedy.
“However, the Oscars... Don't really acknowledge comedy.”
verdict (verdict):
Javier Bardem → The Social Network.
Not nominating Bardem is her number 2 Oscar outrage of the decade, behind The Social Network not winning.
“That's my number 2 outrage of Oscar outrage of the decade behind social network, not winning.”
theme (character descent):
Mean Girls → Heathers.
Regina George is framed as the legacy of the original Heather (Kim Walker), the first Heather killed.
“Regina George. To me is the legacy of the 3 Heathers and Heathers.”
craft (craft):
Kelis → Mean Girls.
Kelis's "Milkshake" needle-drop is singled out as the best use of music in a soundtrack the speaker otherwise finds weak.
“The best part is when they use Khalis, when she like sees everything, it's like a jungle in the milkshake.”
unmapped (same cohort):
Lindsay Lohan → Mischa Barton.
Barton is in the same paparazzi-era cohort on a similar trajectory, though judged less talented.
“Misha Barton. She's on a very similar trajectory as Lindsay Lohan.”
theme (nitpick parallel):
Mean Girls → Clueless.
Cher's heifer line in Clueless shows women are conscious of calories, backing the Regina-would-know nitpick.
“It's like that moment in clueless when she's like, I'm such a heifer.”
unmapped (timeless social dynamics):
Mean Girls → Clueless.
Clueless and The Princess Bride are named alongside Mean Girls as films that will live on because they capture transcendent social dynamics.
programming (programming):
Sense and Sensibility → Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The 2019 swap pairing Spider-Verse and Sense and Sensibility taught Amanda how she watches animation and became a reference for later animated films.
“it taught me a lot about how I watch animation, what I respond to”
programming (programming):
Terminator 2: Judgment Day → One Battle After Another.
The 2021 Cameron swap of Terminator 2 versus Titanic was great prep for the Cameron-return era and, per Amanda, for One Battle After Another.
“that was also great prep for one battle after another.”
verdict (verdict):
Mamma Mia! → Sense and Sensibility.
Mamma Mia is not as important to Amanda as Sense and Sensibility or Four Weddings, but is pop-culturally significant.
“Is it as important to me as Sense and Sensibility or for weddings in a funeral or the, you know, any of those. No.”
lineage (lineage):
The Strangers → Manson family murders.
Bertino cited the Manson family murders as an inspiration, but the speaker finds that unsatisfying because Manson had intent while the Strangers act at random.
“Bertino says that the Manson family tape murders were a big inspiration for this.”
craft (craft):
The Strangers → Nightmares.
Scott Speedman's late-night drive is a horror trope, like the woman in Nightmares who leaves for cigarettes while a killer is loose.
lineage (lineage):
Mamma Mia! → ABBA.
The film is aesthetically and spiritually in tune with ABBA's incandescent, inescapable and stupid songs.
“It is a film that is very, like aesthetically and spiritually in tune with its source material, being the, like, incandescent, inescapable, wonderful, and also really stupid songs of ABBA.”
craft (craft):
Mamma Mia! → Phyllida Lloyd.
A celebrated theater director made poor camera choices; the speaker says it is some of the worst direction they've seen.
“The actual direction of the film is some of the worst I've ever seen.”
career (career):
Amanda Seyfried → Mean Girls.
The film comes shortly after Mean Girls and just before "end time" (as transcribed) and Jennifer's Body, with Seyfried going for the brass ring.
people (people):
Meryl Streep → Into the Woods.
Streep was in Into the Woods, but Sean skips it because he dislikes the Rob Marshall production and the show itself.
“But, um, I mean, Meryl Streep was into the woods.”
people (people):
Mamma Mia! → Pierce Brosnan.
Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard are icons in Ireland, England and Sweden, which the speaker offers as one reason the film was so huge in the UK.
“you've got an Irish, English and Swedish, like kind of icon.”
industry (industry):
Mamma Mia! → Wicked.
Excluding Disney animation and adaptations, Mamma Mia is the third highest-grossing movie musical behind Wicked and Wonka.
“this is the 3rd highest grossing movie musical and the history of movies behind Wicked and Wonka, which only just came out in the last 2 years.”
industry (industry):
Mamma Mia! → The Dark Knight.
In 2008, a year dominated by The Dark Knight and Iron Man, Mamma Mia still became a global phenomenon.
craft (craft):
Mamma Mia! → West Side Story.
In Dancing Queen, Baranski and Streep's chiffon skirts allow one Jerome Robbins-style moment that echoes West Side Story.
“they do like one Jerome Robbins, like, uh, sachet moment.”
career (career):
Meryl Streep → Florence Foster Jenkins.
Streep keeps singing on film, and Florence Foster Jenkins riffs on her not being a great singer.
“Florence Foster Jenkins is so funny, though, because it's kind of a riff on how she can't really sing that.”
industry (industry):
Mamma Mia! → Bohemian Rhapsody.
Both succeed because audiences want to hear beloved band songs in a theater, but Mamma Mia has a sense of humor a biopic lacks.
“Bohemian Rhapsody was so successful because of the songs and because of this, you know, portrayal of this band who we have a big relationship to.”
theme (theme):
Mamma Mia! → The Strangers.
Mamma Mia, by never confirming the father, honors not-knowing the way The Strangers does, which Amanda says gives it more nerve.
“This movie understands that the greatest fear and the greatest power lies in not knowing.”
lineage (lineage):
Mamma Mia! → Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
The sequel is both prequel and sequel, with Lily James as young Donna in Donna and the Dynamos.
“can I tell you it's both a prequel and a sequel?”
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.”