Drawn to movie stars who own the frame (Lily Gladstone) and to character-driven emotional storytelling; wants more of Molly. Skeptical of The Wolf of Wall Street-style glorification and of pop morality; devoted to Silence and the Scorsese catalog, and passionately anti-Oppenheimer in this episode.
Stances
Does not think it is a minor masterpiece; it is an epic
Rejects Oppenheimer as comparable to Killers
Skeptical of the Wolf of Wall Street-type male voiceover until Molly's narration
Thinks it is overwhelming on first viewing and needs a second
Humor: Rambling digressions, self-deprecating about being off the rails, and a vendetta against Oppenheimer.
In their words
“I'm a supremely stupid movie viewer.” (0:15:53)
“Oppenheimer does not deserve to be in the same sentence as what killers the flower moon does.” (1:36:00)
“I held it together for 18 years and we're still paying it off.” (1:42:46)
Loves personal, formal films about women and families (The Eternal Daughter, Happening, The Fabelmans) and controlled star turns (Tar), plus big communal blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick. Not a horror enthusiast; less moved by Aftersun because she watches as a child of parents. A sucker for Joanna Hogg and for romantic comedies and Howard Hawks.
Stances
She watches movies as a daughter
2022 was a top-heavy year and then pretty thin; her kid affected her movie-going
Tar is a Rorschach test and not too long
Andrew Dominik owes penance for Blonde
Humor: Deadpan and teasing; needles Sean and Chris about mid-ness and refuses to watch Speak No Evil.
In their words
“I did have a child in February, and let me tell you, that just took me down for the count for a while” (0:21:30)
“I'm just into the Joanna Hogg project.” (0:37:14)
“I realize I still watch movies as a daughter primarily” (0:36:53)
A non-comics, non-MCU-fan viewer who consumes these as movies. She liked the original Black Panther, loves the Ruth Carter costumes and Wakanda production design, and was moved by the opening and ending. She can't stand overstaffed plots and weak CGI set pieces, and says her brain shuts off with comic book lore.
Stances
Wakanda Forever was overstaffed and disappointing
Marvel may no longer be making movies for the Amandas
Ruth Carter should win another Oscar
Chief Nolan hater
Humor: Deadpan and self-deprecating, plays the lore-skeptic to Van and Sean's comic fandom.
In their words
“I'm the Chief Nolan hater.” (0:22:12)
“And I just, it was just overstaffed, man.” (0:14:20)
“I think Ruth Carter should win another Oscar, even though I didn't really like this movie.” (0:53:03)
A pop-culture generalist and self-described child of MTV who loves a bewitching performance and a love story, and has a real soft spot for the music biopic. She can't stand sloppy storytelling and rushed pacing, and is a sucker for Walk the Line, Amadeus and the Beach Boys.
Stances
Elvis is a mess in storytelling decisions
Music biopics are a stupid genre that sometimes works anyway
Good parody needs a sincere object, so Walk the Line deserves number one
Performance-driven biopics can overcome ordinary filmmaking
Humor: Wry and self-deprecating, with a talent for quick riffs on cultural trivia.
In their words
“I just decided to put walk the line at number one because you know what?” (1:03:56)
“it's a stupid genre that sometimes works anyway.” (0:38:14)
“I really am, I guess I'm just a child of MTV” (0:49:09)
Responds to Cruise charisma, underdog arcs and navy uniforms; loves A Few Good Men best. Skeptical of Edge of Tomorrow-type indulgence and Cocktail. Suckers for the Nicholson showdown.
Stances
A Few Good Men is her favorite Cruise performance
Cruise doesn't challenge himself like he used to
Born over Rain Man
Humor: Dry deadpan, quick on the political and pop-culture asides.
In their words
“I really do feel that Tom Cruise looks very handsome in navy uniforms.” (0:37:17)
Likes screwball energy, Dave, That Thing You Do!, Frances Ha, and Singin' in the Rain; laughs at Muncher; a theater fan; mostly dislikes cynical or product-driven nostalgia but is less worked up about nostalgia than Sean. Not a fan of Broadway-theater-kid musicals like Tick, Tick... Boom!
Stances
Afterlife is a movie for seven-year-olds
Tick, Tick... Boom! is not for her
Feel-good picks that make her smile involuntarily
Humor: Deadpan, self-aware gripes and teasing her co-host.
In their words
“I thought it was a fine movie for 7 year olds.” (0:03:19)
“I laughed.” (0:11:31)
“I judge these movies by like, do I just involuntarily smile at the screen.” (0:54:19)
Loves Fast Five above all and the grandiose silliness, winking meta jokes and the gang-assembling scenes. Not a Vin Diesel fan and tired of believability limits.
Stances
Fast Five is number one
Furious 7 is third
Villains do not matter
Humor: Deadpan sincerity about absurd plot logic, such as praising the safe-dragging as problem solving.
In their words
“Fast five, a transcendent movie experience.” (0:02:47)
Loves Soderbergh almost inappropriately, and Minari-style personal warmth. Allergic to corporate storytelling talk like 'stories matter' and wants the Oscars weird. Wants the Oscars to try pre-produced films and montages.
Stances
Not against Black Widow but not vociferously for it
Prefers watching at home to theaters for MCU
Wants the Oscars to make the best of a drab season
Supports Soderbergh's weird Oscars
Humor: Deadpan exasperation, as when she says she wants to jump out a window at the word 'stories'.
In their words
“My affection and devotion to Stephen Soderberg is well documented and like possibly bordering on inappropriate, but that's okay.” (0:17:07)
“I just was thinking about how I could, like, jump out this window.” (0:21:43)
“I'm just trying to bring a little positivity to the world, Sean.” (0:27:21)
Loves old Hollywood glamour and comfort (Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Singing in the Rain), screwball comedy and Nora Ephron, and Sense and Sensibility. She leans toward joy, escapism and fast dialogue, and also likes a good Oscar-race pundit take. She does not enjoy her husband's golf lectures and is skeptical of award-season over-narratives.
Stances
Classic movies should be pleasurable, not homework
Streaming is not the problem for the Oscars, pandemic viewing is
Her do-overs favor movies she actually loves over canonical choices
It's not for me is a legitimate school of taste
Humor: Warm, self-deprecating domestic storytelling, including relentless public slander of her husband Zach.
In their words
“I'm a huge believer of the, it's not for me, school, uh, as you well know, because like, personal taste is personal taste.” (0:22:50)
“It's just like, oh, imagine if we could all be like that, wouldn't that be fun?” (0:57:15)
A West Wing devotee who loves Sorkin's idealism and memorized dialogue, with American President, Moneyball, Social Network and the West Wing as pillars. Cynical about institutions yet a sucker for hopeful, earnest characters; likes Sorkin's craft and grudgingly accepts his politics.
Stances
Sorkin's optimism is unrealistic but she is a sucker for it
Chicago 7 is a good Sorkin film that feels small and whose timeliness does not work in its favor
Rank Sorkin by Sorkiness, not general greatness
Start the West Wing at season two
Humor: Self-aware superfan comedy, joking that she and Sean are podcasters talking quickly like Sorkin characters.
Amanda loves movies as shared events and the narratives around them (the Oscar campaign, Good Will Hunting), wants big communal Bond and Top Gun-style theater experiences, and gravitates to character and female-director what-ifs (Kusama on Tully, Meyers on Gone Girl). She likes boundaries, dislikes influencer content and Emily in Paris (kind of), and wants more women in film criticism.
Stances
Theater experiences should be boutique events
Movie Pass was unsustainable but a missed habit-building window
Does not love bad movies; failure wastes her time
Wants a female director for Tully
Wants more women on Letterboxd
Humor: Anxious-organized deadpan; roasts Sean's systems and her husband Zach's takes with affection.
In their words
“I a person who likes boundaries, as we've discussed.” (0:21:09)
“an all-female heist movie, sign me up.” (0:37:18)
“My my pick is Army Hammer.” (1:31:10)
“I would love to find more women on Letterbox” (1:39:01)
Loves Elton John, romantic comedies, and heroines who just live up to their own potential. Cannot stand chosen-one magic or Disney franchise bait. Sucker for Emma Stone and Disney songs that are real pop songs.
Stances
Probably would remove the magic
Skeptical of the Disney remake machine
Prefers dropping the love interest
Dislikes the original Mulan's songs
Humor: Deadpan and contrarian, happy to say the heretical thing ('average ass ballad').
In their words
“this is just like an average ass ballad about finding yourself. Okay, whatever. It's not Elton John.” (0:49:22)
Raised on Grisham and Tom Cruise; loves Agatha Christie formulas, rewatchable crowd-pleasers, and movies where a woman gets a role. Skeptical of the over-the-top nuance of Stone's JFK. Fond of fantasy and comedy courtroom picks.
Stances
Courtroom dramas are her sports movies
Wants an opponent as formidable as Nicholson yelling you're so right
Wolf Hall repudiates A Man for All Seasons
Humor: Self-deprecating confessions (preschool lawyer, PSATs, LSAT) and dry asides.
In their words
“courtroom dramas are essentially my sports movies” (0:10:00)
Enjoys Judd Apatow, Soderbergh and star-driven spectacle like Tom Cruise stunts; wary of tentpole-only futures and mourns smaller films losing a platform. She is a sucker for drama and pettiness in the business, and for Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Stances
Wants a best first feature or best breakthrough category
Skeptical of the viral demand for a stunt category
Expects a traditional Oscars year of movies about movies
Humor: Dry and teasing, sending up Sean's Zoom habits and exaggerating pandemic cabin fever.
In their words
“Okay, listen, I agree with the CGI stuff. I just want to watch Tom Cruise jump out of things.” (0:51:45)
“It's the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, you fools.” (1:05:03)
Moved by Greta Gerwig and Little Women, loves a movie-star performance and Brad Pitt, and Archie Yates and Julia Butters. Can't stand fussiness and filmmaking that anticipates the discourse (Midsommar, The Lighthouse). A sucker for a good ending and ensemble comedy; wants to see a movie about Olivia Wilde's FBI agent.
Stances
Wants Laura Dern to get the It's Time Oscar
Spider-Man's tag is a teaser, not an ending
Picks Greta Gerwig for best director
Skeptical of the A24 Reddit crowd
Humor: Dry deflation of Sean's big-theory moments and bits like 'A24 merch, bro'.
In their words
“You know that I just can't stand anything where the work is showing and where the people are infatuated with the work as opposed to the result.” (0:54:47)
“I didn't know you could do that, but also you were in my brain.” (1:29:04)
“Brad Pitt's having his therapy on the screen and someone filmed it and let me watch it.” (1:13:29)
Devoted to Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix as a campaign personality, Bridget Jones, and Little Women. Dislikes Joker. Anti-democratic on lists, avoids animated movies.
Stances
Joker is intellectually bankrupt
Anti-democracy on list-making
Baffled by Renee Zellweger frontrunner
Humor: Dry, self-deprecating, deadpan comebacks at Sean.
In their words
“I am anti-democracy.” (0:38:10)
“Bridget Jones diary, hugely important to me.” (0:48:05)
Responds to mood, discovery and raw performance, such as The Souvenir and Maya Erskine in Plus One. Is skeptical of franchise lore and anything about space aliens, and likes things she cares about, such as Spider-Man. Can't stand movies that raise hot-button issues without developing them (Luce) and is a sucker for Brad Pitt.
Stances
Disney's monopoly is a confirmation, not a surprise
Luce failed to provoke her
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a tier of one
Brad Pitt is a presence-based form of acting
Humor: Self-deprecating and quick, with comic storytelling that undercuts her own taste, such as the Star Wars plot story.
In their words
“I'm not a parent, so I don't need like the parenting newsletter from the New York Times in film form” (0:42:55)
Loves costume dramas (Downton), crowd-pleasers, and Greta Gerwig; likes things with a clear tone. Bored by The Last Waltz and unimpressed by Hooper. Can be sentimental (sad if Captain America dies) while resisting franchise lore.
Stances
Les Mis is much better than Cats
Homecoming is long, not boring
Amazon vs Netflix release execution explains Guava Island's smaller footprint
Humor: Dry and blunt, with quick undercutting asides.
In their words
“Les Mis is a much better musical than cats.” (0:20:24)
Loves Wonder Woman and its emotional impact, and responds to women on screen. Not a comics or sci-fi person and not an origin-story fan. Sucker for celebrity and a 90s song, and for Annette Bening.
Stances
Captain Marvel is not Wonder Woman
Female superhero movies carry an unfair burden
The film's female empowerment feels reactive and half-baked
A female superhero movie can also have a love story
Humor: Self-deprecating about not knowing comics, with blunt nitpicks.
In their words
“my immediate reaction was this is not Wonder Woman.” (0:01:18)
“Catch me out here crying about it.” (0:56:50)
“It should be like if Nora Efron wrote a Marvel movie.” (1:04:07)
Loves celebrity and public image, Olivia Colman's warmth, and Lady Gaga. Sentimental and more forgiving of Bohemian Rhapsody as a ratings play. Sees the Oscars as a fight between old and new Hollywood.
Stances
The Academy is split between two academies
Netflix resistance explains part of the Roma loss
Song performances do not belong at the Oscars
Humor: Dry and conspiratorial, fond of absurd comparisons.
In their words
“as a person who loves celebrity and movie stars” (0:33:29)
“I used to work as a cleaner and I loved that job.” (0:18:48)
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.”