Elvis 2022
On HBO Max. Baz Luhrmann up to his old tricks, moving fast through Presley's life.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review
‘Babylon,’ ‘White Noise,’ and 10 Oscars Contenders to Stream Now
December 30, 2022/ 95 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
The last show of 2022. Sean and Amanda tell listeners where to stream two dozen awards contenders, then review Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon' and Noah Baumbach's 'White Noise.'
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.
Where to Stream the 2022 Oscar ContendersA year-end viewing guide
The Banshees of Inisherin 2022
Also on HBO Max. Didn't do much in theaters but they expect its profile to rise at home, the way these movies do once they hit the streaming carousel.
The Woman King 2022
Gina Prince-Bythewood's film, on VOD; a Sony release headed to Netflix eventually. They compare it to Braveheart and The Last of the Mohicans and think it could surge once it lands on a home screen, maybe pushing Viola Davis into the race.
The Invitation 2022
Horror release cited as a timing benchmark; expected on streaming around Christmas, which sets a rough January window for The Woman King.
The Fabelmans 2022
On VOD. Spielberg's adolescence movie; Sean no longer thinks the Best Picture juice is coming for it. Two hours 40, which Amanda says you should still watch in one sitting.
Aftersun 2022
The A24 drama with Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, recently streaming. Adam Nayman writes about it well on their Best of 2022 list.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 2022
The one release they can't place; probably Disney+ and VOD simultaneously. They don't think it's competing for an Oscar.
Triangle of Sadness 2022
Ruben Ostlund's Palme d'Or winner, on VOD and picking up steam; a Neon film, so Hulu soon. They read its appeal as international voters enjoying a laugh at American elites.
She Said 2022
On VOD, Peacock soon. Feels abandoned in the race.
Tár 2022
On VOD, Peacock soon. Both hosts' No. 2 movie of the year; Amanda says it plays really well at home.
Armageddon Time 2022
James Gray's film, on VOD and likely Peacock soon since it's a Focus release. They admire it but still haven't discussed it in depth.
Nope 2022
On Peacock. Sean admits he didn't connect with it; both wonder whether it's too late for a Best Picture push despite a real critical groundswell and an AFI list nod.
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
On Paramount+. Sean thinks it's secretly in the driver's seat for Best Picture.
Top Gun: Maverick 2022
Arrives on Paramount+ December 30, seven months after its Memorial Day opening. They're nervous Avatar takes its blockbuster slot but think both get nominated.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 2022
On Netflix; floated as a good family watch.
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths 2022
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's autobiographical swing, on Netflix; discussed at length the previous week with Adam Nayman.
RRR 2022
On Netflix, trying to make a late awards bid, which they'd find really fun.
All Quiet on the Western Front 2022
On Netflix; they defer a full discussion to a later international-feature segment.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio 2022
On Netflix.
Emancipation 2022
The Will Smith vehicle, on Apple TV+.
Decision to Leave 2022
Park Chan-wook's film, on MUBI and rentable on VOD.
Avatar: The Way of Water 2022
Still in theaters, and the source of Amanda's Oscar-season anxiety; the hosts were mixed on it.
Living 2022
In theaters, just opened. Oliver Hermanus's version of Kurosawa's Ikiru, adapted by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Whale 2022
In theaters. Not a film Sean likes.
EO 2022
Jerzy Skolimowski's portrait of a donkey, in theaters and an Amanda favorite; one of several 2022 movies about animals.
Empire of Light 2022
Sam Mendes's misfire, headed to HBO Max soon. Sean called it ham-fisted out of Telluride but won't rule out the Academy, given Mendes's track record through 1917.
‘Babylon’With Bobby Wagner
Babylon 2022
Damien Chazelle's three-hour-plus chronicle of Hollywood's silent-to-sound transition, built around four composites: Margot Robbie's Nellie LaRoy (modeled on Clara Bow), Brad Pitt's Jack Conrad (John Gilbert with dashes of Gable and Fairbanks), Diego Calva's Manny Torres, and Jovan Adepo's jazz-musician Sidney Palmer, plus Jean Smart as an Eleanor Glyn-type columnist and Li Jun Li as an Anna May Wong figure. Sean says it makes him feel alive and loves the swing. Amanda finds the excess irritating even where it's the point and calls the cocaine spectacle boring; she pegs Pitt as miscast for the first two acts before he lands the last third. Both point to the making-of sequences and the sound-stage scene as the film's high point. They read the Singin' in the Rain-drenched finale as Chazelle's semi-abstract statement on cinema and hear in it a spiteful reckoning with his own La La Land. Guest Bobby Wagner loved it.
‘White Noise’
White Noise 2022
Noah Baumbach's adaptation of Don DeLillo's 1985 novel, Sean's sometime favorite book. Adam Driver plays Hitler-studies professor Jack Gladney and Greta Gerwig his wife Babette; a train-and-tanker collision sets off the Airborne Toxic Event. They praise the campus-satire first two-thirds and the literalized Spielbergian disaster set piece, and call the Hitler-vs.-Elvis lecture the moment Driver could win an Oscar. But they say the surreal final act doesn't translate: DeLillo's atmosphere is what the plot strips away. Sean calls it a soft recommend that goes out on a high with the LCD Soundsystem supermarket-dance closer, a costly, unrepeatable Netflix swing they liken to Bardo.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Babylon touchstones WhiplashLa La LandFirst ManSingin' in the RainItThe Wolf of Wall StreetBoogie NightsThe ArtistShanghai ExpressBlack and TanCabin in the SkyGold Diggers of 1933Footlight ParadeTicket to ParadiseBullet TrainDon't Worry DarlingJerry MaguireThe MatrixClose Encounters of the Third KindMoonlightThe Umbrellas of Cherbourg
White Noise touchstones Marriage StoryThe Squid and the WhaleMistress AmericaMargot at the WeddingThe Meyerowitz StoriesHighballInherent ViceBarbie
Also mentioned Knives OutIkiruFirst Cow1917Downton Abbey: A New EraOppenheimer
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Mad Men
Games FIFA World Cup Launch Edition
Ads The Ringer's Press Box PodcastCarvanaFanDuelNetflixBoar's HeadWhite ClawBlinds.comStorm