Beasts of No Nation 2015
Cited as one of the early Netflix originals that started the killing-cinema conversation.
The Big Picture · Discussion
Ask Sean Anything Mailbag: ‘Avatar 2,’ 10 Exciting Under-40 Directors, and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ at the Oscars
May 10, 2022/ 80 min/ Sean Fennessey · Bobby Wagner
Sean and Bobby open the mailbag: whether Netflix killed cinema, a film-class syllabus on deception, kids' movies, the new 'Avatar' trailer, the hardest Hall of Fame to build, the under-40 directors worth watching, and 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' at the Oscars.
61 films across 9 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.
Did Netflix kill cinema?Jay's question
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 2022
$185M domestic; Sean's evidence the box office is coming back.
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
Crossing $40M, which excites him: an original genre movie with heart.
The Lost City 2022
A merely-okay movie creeping toward $100M, another sign things are back.
The Art of Deception: a film classJustin's question — 10 (well, 11) films Sean would assign
Kiss Me Deadly 1955
The pure introduction of irresolution as a storytelling trope.
Psycho 1960
Killing off Janet Leigh's star at 40 minutes as the great subversion.
Persona 1966
Bergman on identity and swapped roles.
The Killing 1956
Kubrick, for the shock of its ending (a cousin to Kiss Me Deadly).
House of Games 1987
Mamet's con-men film Sean's father showed him young; distrust everything you see.
Eyes Wide Shut 1999
A dream movie about whether any of it is really happening.
Audition 1999
Miike's riveting, disgusting nightmare.
Dogtooth 2009
Lanthimos on language, tradition, and what a family accepts as fact.
Memento 2000
Nolan's reversal of storytelling, worth three weeks of dissection.
The Sixth Sense 1999
Shyamalan reframing what Hitchcock did.
Get Out 2017
Set a new trajectory in horror-thriller storytelling since the show began.
Truly cinematic movies for a kid under fiveIsaac's question
My Neighbor Totoro 1988
The pick his cinephile friends keep recommending; for Sean, Miyazaki's best.
Spirited Away 2001
The other Ghibli some would name over Totoro.
Princess Mononoke 1997
Also floated as Miyazaki's best.
The Wizard of Oz 1939
Sean has talked often about its influence on him; show it early.
Bambi 1942
'Little April Shower' calms his daughter Alice down.
Fantasia 1940
Boring to most kids until you're older (or, per Sean, until you're edible).
Finding Nemo 2003
Sweet and funny, and visually distinct for being set entirely underwater.
Monsters, Inc. 2001
Bobby's homesick-from-school rewatch alongside Nemo.
A Bug's Life 1998
Bobby's socialist read: the ants take power back from the grasshoppers.
The ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ trailerSparked by Finding Nemo
Avatar: The Way of Water 2022
Trailer just hit YouTube; Sean says you can't judge Avatar off a laptop.
Avatar 2009
Sean saw it in IMAX and it worked; Bobby, 12 at the time, found it a tropey Pocahontas.
Pocahontas 1995
Bobby's shorthand for Avatar's white-savior story.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
Part of Cameron's doubt-him-at-your-peril track record.
Titanic 1997
The 'really?' Cameron swing that became the biggest movie of all time.
The Northman 2022
Sean at 40 sees the reinvention of a trope: you're like, Hamlet.
Licorice Pizza 2021
The one trailer Sean might have driven out to a theater to catch.
Top Gun: Maverick 2022
Bobby's espresso-fueled Dolby plan; Sean warns it's tense.
The hardest Hall of Fame to buildTheRunningCAS's question — after the Nic Cage pod
National Treasure 2004
The Cage inclusion that made people irrationally angry.
Con Air 1997
One of the three big Cage action movies they felt they had to acknowledge.
The Rock 1996
Ditto: the mid-'90s action clump.
Face/Off 1997
The third one Bobby had to be reminded of.
The Color of Money 1986
The Cruise title Chris would fight to include.
What's at the center of culture now?Taylor's question
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982
The kind of movie people once organized leisure time around.
Terms of Endearment 1983
Another example of movies as the sun the pop-culture planets orbited.
Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021
More culturally powerful than the biggest TV, per Sean: nothing is more mass than movies.
The best under-40 filmmakersConnor's question — pushing back on Sam Esmail's 'no great millennial movie yet'
Lady Bird 2017
Gerwig: maybe one that lasts the test of time.
Fruitvale Station 2013
Coogler: another that might.
La La Land 2016
Chazelle: will do it for some people.
The Lighthouse 2019
Eggers: will do it for Sean.
Uncut Gems 2019
The Safdies: indisputably, for Sean.
Shithouse 2020
Cooper Raiff's Gen-Z first feature; feels like early Linklater.
Shiva Baby 2020
Emma Seligman's first feature: Elaine May meets Polanski anxiety.
Cha Cha Real Smooth 2022
Raiff's Sundance follow-up.
Zola 2020
Janicza Bravo, 41, but a film living between millennial and Gen-Z.
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ at the OscarsSimon's question
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
Sean hopes it gets in: a chance to celebrate Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Hong.
The Power of the Dog 2021
An achievement with a small angle of viewership: most people don't watch it.
Up-and-coming directors to watchKane's question
Banana Split 2018
Written by Hannah Marks, whom Sean keeps flagging.
Mark, Mary & Some Other People 2021
Marks's okay-but-promising directorial outing.
Happening 2021
Audrey Diwan's incredible, hard-to-watch abortion film; Sean saw it at Sundance.
Nanny 2022
Nikyatu Jusu's Sundance award-sweeper: domestic thriller with horror edges.
His House 2020
Remi Weekes's effective Netflix horror about origins.
Test Pattern 2021
Shatara Michelle Ford, one of Sean's favorites of its year.
The Novice 2021
Lauren Hadaway, another Sean favorite.
Pig 2021
Michael Sarnoski's Cage film; he's now on a Quiet Place prequel.
A Quiet Place 2018
The franchise Sarnoski is joining.
A Quiet Place Part II 2020
Sean thinks the sequel is underrated.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing 2001: A Space OdysseyFirestarter
In the book recs Gone with the WindRebeccaChinatownCasablanca
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The OfferWinning TimeSeveranceBarryWe Own This CityBetter Call SaulSuccessionThe DropoutThe Girl from PlainvilleShining GirlsThe PentaverateThe StaircaseRussian DollMoon KnightWeCrashedAtlantaSuper PumpedPam & TommyGaslitMusic BoxGame of ThronesSurvivorTop ChefMister Rogers' Neighborhood
Ads The Ringer Gambling ShowNetflix FIFA World CupBoar's HeadWhite ClawColgate Optic WhiteBotoxSam's ClubNOS EnergyWayfair