Mank 2020
David Fincher's Herman Mankiewicz film; the teaser is shot and cut to look like a 1940s picture. Out December 4. Sean's verdict: neat idea, gimmick or not is a wait-and-see.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular
October 13, 2020/ 131 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Bobby Wagner
The 300th episode: a listener mailbag with Bobby Wagner reading the questions, then Sean's interview with Garrett Bradley about her documentary Time.
28 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
In the news
Soul 2020
Pixar's Disney+ pivot: skipping theaters and the $30 Mulan-style PVOD tag to land free on the service Christmas Day. Possibly the most-seen Disney film ever, by default.
The 300th-episode mailbagthe picks that got a real answer
Good Will Hunting 1997
Amanda's answer to what got her into this: at 12 or 13, the movie plus the Damon/Affleck/Robin Williams Oscar campaign got her hooked on the whole world around a film, as much as the film itself.
Transformers 2007
Sean's origin story: a Vibe-era press trip to the Michael Bay premiere, Escalade and VIP ticket included, that made him want to cover movies instead of rap records.
The Martian 2015
Used as the case study for a critic's blurred work/play line: a feel-good movie he watched at 2 a.m. as an assignment, not for fun.
1917 2019
A friend's line Sean found astute: maybe the last film to get in before the gate closed, a global, award-worthy, $500M-capable event picture.
Dick Johnson Is Dead 2020
Sean's counterweight to the doom: a small film one person could make, now watchable by 150 million homes.
The Butterfly Effect 2004
Sean's pick for a bad movie built on a great idea: a mainstream Sliding Doors. He'd hand it to Spielberg and Colin Farrell with an Eric Roth script.
Ocean's 8 2018
Amanda's on-paper no-brainer that didn't work: an all-female heist she'd happily see remade with the same cast.
Public Enemies 2009
Sean's most disappointing film of the last 15 years: Mann's digital Dillinger, miscast Depp. He'd hand the story to Christopher Nolan.
Tully 2018
Amanda liked parts, hated the ending and one scene she says a female director wouldn't have shot; she'd give it to Karen Kusama despite the Diablo Cody script.
No Time to Die 2021
Amanda's first pick of postponed movies she'd see in a theater today: Bond belongs on a big screen.
Top Gun: Maverick 2022
Sean's: a dumb-and-beautiful theater experience, song at giant volume.
Deep Water 2022
Amanda's second postponed pick: the Adrian Lyne / Affleck / de Armas movie whose off-screen narrative she wants resolved.
Last Night in Soho 2021
Sean's Halloween-season want: a new Edgar Wright he trusts to make an instant horror classic, and one that won't play as well at home.
Last Action Hero 1993
Sean's model for a 'save its reputation' bad-movie pod: a clever, fun Schwarzenegger movie he thinks went over or under people's heads.
The Thomas Crown Affair 1999
Sean's standing 'critics got it wrong' pick; he notes Christopher Nolan is a fan.
Marie Antoinette 2006
Sean's other one: booed at Cannes, written off, and probably his favorite Sofia Coppola film.
A Cure for Wellness 2016
Sean's rescue: Gore Verbinski at 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, weird and disgusting but artfully mounted.
mother! 2017
Revisited after David Sims called it a masterpiece on Twitter. Sean always thought so, Amanda always didn't; it's one of the podcast's first debates, three years on.
Gone Girl 2014
The Fincher Amanda would hand to Nancy Meyers: she could nail Amy, though Meyers might soft-pedal the viciousness.
The Intern 2015
The Meyers Sean would hand to Fincher: a movie about obsession with a darkness at its edge he could explore.
Panic Room 2002
Amanda's other Fincher-for-Meyers: a domestic drama, a house that turns against you, right in Meyers's core themes.
I Love Trouble 1994
Sean's Meyers-for-Fincher: her worst, most troubled movie, but essentially a Fincher murder mystery that needs his obsessive attention to detail.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2014
Cited (via an unnamed Hollywood friend) as proof the Marvel movie has effectively replaced the studio comedy.
Garrett Bradley on Time
Garrett Bradley on
Time 2020
Her documentary on Fox Rich and her fight to free her husband Rob, in theaters and hitting Amazon Prime that Friday. Built from her own footage plus ~100 hours of Fox's family archive, scored to the 96-year-old Ethiopian nun Emahoy's music.
Garrett Bradley on
Alone 2017
The 13-minute New York Times op-doc, a Sundance winner, where she first met Fox Rich; Time began as its sister film.
Garrett Bradley on
Heat 1995
Her answer to the closing 'last great thing': a rewatch that got her talking about how many great films the '90s made.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing TitanicRunFrench ExitCitizen KaneSnake EyesJokerWorld of Tomorrow 3It's Such a Beautiful DaySpider-ManThe Kissing Booth 2Once Upon a Time in HollywoodAvengers: EndgameThe IrishmanSliding DoorsOcean's ElevenThe InvitationFreaky FridayCatwomanCatsThe RoomBattleshipTenetIrreconcilable DifferencesCreedThe Lion KingI Love You, ManThe 40-Year-Old VirginUncut GemsHubie HalloweenFight ClubCall Me by Your NameRebeccaThe 355The Trial of the Chicago 7Mulan
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Emily in ParisFriendsThe OfficeMindhunterWacoHomecomingThe CrownSouth Park: The Pandemic Special
Unmade Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Fincher)The Secret History
Ads CarvanaFanDuelNOS EnergyBoar's HeadNetflix FIFA World Cup gameShopify