American Fiction 2023
Cord Jefferson's debut took the TIFF audience prize; the last 11 winners all landed Best Picture nods, so it forces its way into their top ten sight-unseen.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Top Five
‘A Haunting in Venice’ and the Top 5 Haunted House Movies
September 19, 2023/ 86 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Amanda and Sean review Branagh's third Poirot, then each rank five favorite haunted-house movies. Bobby Wagner produces.
19 films across 4 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.
The fall race, post-TIFFwhat Toronto shook loose
The Holdovers 2023
Second at TIFF; Sean already had the Alexander Payne in his ten and expects it to play with the older crowd.
The Boy and the Heron 2023
TIFF third place and the new Miyazaki. Sean's seen it, calls it a lot, and wants Andy Greenwald on to talk it through.
Anatomy of a Fall 2023
One of the art-house imports Amanda figures American Fiction is now crowding out.
The Zone of Interest 2023
Same squeeze: acclaimed but demanding.
All of Us Strangers 2023
Getting a heavy Searchlight push.
Hit Man 2023
Linklater and Glen Powell's dramedy; Netflix bought it out of TIFF for $20M, the year's biggest acquisition.
Woman of the Hour 2023
Cited as another bet a cash-rich Netflix can make while rivals sit tight.
‘A Haunting in Venice’
A Haunting in Venice 2023
Branagh's third Poirot, loosely from Christie's 1969 'Hallowe'en Party,' written again by Michael Green. Best-looking of the three by Sean's count; Amanda didn't have a bad time but found the mystery pedestrian and Tina Fey badly miscast. Michelle Yeoh, at home in genre, comes off best.
Sean's Top 5 Haunted House MoviesNo. 1 first
No. 1
The Shining 1980
No. 1 — a shared pick. A haunted hotel whose imagery is now so meme-worn Sean wonders whether the internet has blunted it.
No. 2
The Innocents 1961
No. 2 — Jack Clayton's Turn of the Screw, rewritten by Truman Capote, shot in CinemaScope; Sean calls it one of the best-looking films ever made.
No. 3
Hereditary 2018
No. 3 — Ari Aster's supernatural-and-psychological family horror, probably the film he'll be remembered for.
No. 4
The Beyond 1981
No. 4 — Lucio Fulci's Louisiana hotel built over a gate to hell; gory, dread-soaked, and, Sean warns, exactly the kind of thing Amanda would hate.
No. 5
Poltergeist 1982
No. 5 — Tobe Hooper's Spielberg-produced popcorn horror that wrecked Sean as a kid. You moved the headstones but not the bodies.
Amanda's Top 5 Haunted House MoviesNo. 1 first — the cozier list
No. 2
Rebecca 1940
No. 2 — the Hitchcock, not the Armie Hammer remake. A house haunted by lies and a dead ex-wife.
No. 3
Beetlejuice 1988
No. 3 — her Money Pit pick: scary in theory, mostly a very funny movie seen from the haunters' side.
No. 4
The Money Pit 1986
No. 4 — the comic version of the suburban dream gone wrong; shot by Gordon Willis, produced by Kennedy and Marshall.
No. 5
What Lies Beneath 2000
No. 5 — Zemeckis, Pfeiffer, and Ford; a twisty haunting she rates genuinely effective.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Christie on screen Murder on the Orient ExpressDeath on the NileEvil Under the SunAnd Then There Were None
Awards-race examples ParasiteMarriage StoryJojo RabbitOne Night in MiamiThe Power of the DogCall Me by Your NameRoma
Fall slate chatter The CreatorDumb MoneyChallengersKillers of the Flower MoonThe KillerThe Nun IITaylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Miyazaki homework Spirited AwayPonyoHowl's Moving CastleThe Wind RisesMy Neighbor TotoroPorco Rosso
Haunted-house honorable mentions The ConjuringThe Conjuring 2The OthersLake MungoThe ChangelingBurnt OfferingsThe House of the DevilHouseThe Night HouseThe LegacyThe Amityville HorrorThe Evil DeadAnnabelleCasperRosemary's Baby
Haunted by love (Amanda) GhostThe NotebookUnder the Tuscan SunIt's Complicated
Other references MultiplicityGaslightThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreScreamThe Blair Witch ProjectSkinamarinkThe ExorcistThe Exorcist: BelieverThe FabelmansCitizen KaneMr. Blandings Builds His Dream HouseThere Will Be BloodBoiler Room
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV And Then There Were None (2015 miniseries)30 RockSex and the City
Ads TremfyaNOS EnergyBoar's HeadNetflix FIFA World Cup gameThe Press Box
Other Postcard from Earth (Sphere show)