‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ Hype, How the Writers Strike Affects Movies, Too-Early Oscar Predictions, and a ‘Guardians Vol. 3’ Hangover

A ‘Guardians Vol. 3’ Hangover

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2023

Amanda's first theater date with her husband since Creed III, and she loathed it, texting Sean threats throughout; her husband called it among the ten worst movies he's seen. She grants the production design (Counter-Earth, the intestine planet) but never bought the characters, and reads the film as Marvel now playing only to the faithful. Sean liked it as cheapo-'70s-sci-fi throwback. It opened to $114M, the year's second-biggest behind Super Mario Bros., but $75M under Doctor Strange 2 a year earlier, which tells Sean the franchise is on the downturn.

How the Writers Strike Hits the MoviesMailbag — from Georgia

Quantum of Solace 2008

Sean's go-to example of a franchise film gutted by the 2007–08 strike: shot with no writers on set, and, in his view, sunk by script and story problems as a result.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009

The other cited casualty of the last strike. Sean reported a Michael Bay feature in 2009–10 and talked to the writers about why the second film didn't work without writers on set.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon 2011

By contrast, the third one, which Sean thinks is genuinely awesome, didn't have the same script problems, because the writing process ran up to (not through) the strike. His fear: a half-year of franchise films shot from a locked script with no one to fix it on the day. The new Mahershala Ali Blade halted that Friday.

The Best-Written Movies of the Decade So FarMailbag — from Sam

Tár 2022

Tops both hosts' near-identical lists; Sean calls it the inarguable answer.

The Worst Person in the World 2021

Joachim Trier's Oslo film, on both lists.

Palm Springs 2020

The Andy Samberg time-loop comedy, cited as a screenplay high point of the 2020s.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always 2020

Amanda's add. Eliza Hittman's spare, tightly structured film, a reminder that a great screenplay isn't only about dialogue. Fell to the wayside in the COVID year.

Drive My Car 2021

Sean's add. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Best Picture nominee from two years earlier.

Mangrove 2020

Sean singles out the Letitia Wright courtroom entry from Steve McQueen's Small Axe, whose five films were just collected by Criterion. A case could be made for the whole anthology.

‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ HypeMailbag — from Murphy

Dune: Part Two 2024

Both are in. Amanda reports from the Austin Butler Hive on bald, eyebrow-less Feyd-Rautha (Sting's codpiece role in the Lynch version) and welcomes six months of Oscar-push Butler. Sean, once confused by the story, now calls it star-stacked, big-canvas filmmaking (Zendaya, Chalamet, Pugh, Butler; Zimmer; Fraser) and can't wait.

Oppenheimer 2023

The three-minute IMAX trailer sends Sean into full concern-troll mode: he doubts a docudrama about a known outcome has any tension, since you can read the Wikipedia page. Amanda insists it looks sick and accuses him of a chaotic relationship with Nolan; Bobby calls it a good trailer selling the craft of the blast. Sean's own escape hatch: if it wows like Titanic, he'll bow down.

Movies Ruined by MarketingMailbag — from Hannah

Jennifer's Body 2009

Sold as a Megan Fox horror sex comedy in her post-Transformers moment; the posters looked like a Cameron Diaz comedy. It's really Karen Kusama's angsty study of female rivalry, hence the reclamation years later.

Edge of Tomorrow 2014

Sean's headline example: a confusing title, ads that undersold the gleeful Groundhog-Day-in-mech-suits madness, then a home-video rebrand to Live Die Repeat plus its source title, All You Need Is Kill. Three floating names, no common conversation. Justice for Emily Blunt.

Long Shot 2019

Amanda's pick, a movie she, Sean, and Chris all love. A Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron romantic comedy that's also 'a docudrama about Hillary Clinton': they leaned into the 2019 political element and the audience blue-waved it. Sean's caveat: he's not sure how you sell any theatrical rom-com now.

AI and the Future of MoviesMailbag — from Chris

The Artifice Girl 2022

Sean's on-topic recommendation, on VOD: a small, good soft-sci-fi film about a young man who builds an AI to entrap predators, and the AI grows more sophisticated over time. A frame for the strike-era question of whether machine-made art means anything.

Past Lives 2023

Sean's line in the sand: writing Quantum Mania may not be the most creative venture, but writing Celine Song's Past Lives, out in June, is, and that's the human thing AI would scoop out. Bobby agrees: what he relates to in a movie is the person on the other end of it.

What Already-Released 2023 Movie Can Win an Oscar?Mailbag — from Sam; the too-early scan

Air 2023

Basically the only 2023 release out so far that they see in the conversation, a possible screenplay or Matt Damon acting mention in a weak year. Hits Amazon Prime that Friday, where a lot more movie people will finally see it.

John Wick: Chapter 4 2023

Very worthy of a cinematography nomination, Sean argues, which is exactly why it'll never happen; the Academy doesn't respect the form.

Showing Up 2023

Kelly Reichardt's art-world film that both loved and almost no one saw; she doesn't chase Oscars. Sean hopes First Cow lifts her standing a little in the consciousness.

First Cow 2019

Invoked as the earlier Reichardt film that ought to have raised her profile.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline 2022

A movie the hosts really enjoyed that hasn't caught the wave; now on VOD. It reappears in the last question as the empty-theater movie a listener saw alone.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2023

Out the same day as Past Lives, with a real shot, Sean thinks, at being the first animated film in a long time to break into the Best Picture conversation.

‘Air’ vs. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’Mailbag — from Lily

Top Gun: Maverick 2022

Lily's question: why feel conflicted about Air as a shoe ad but not about Maverick as a military ad? Sean's honest answer is that he's a hypocrite, and that Maverick is simply a better movie, so the ad math forgives itself. It's also, unlike Air, not made in visible coordination with its sponsor; you're watching for Pete Mitchell, not a recruitment table.

Top Gun 1986

The predecessor whose recruitment tables (set up by the military outside theaters) are the proven-enlistment reference point in Lily's question.

Also mentioned raised along the way

On the awards radar Killers of the Flower MoonThe Book of ClarenceThe Color PurpleFreud's Last SessionThe HoldoversNapoleonMaestroMay DecemberBlitzSaltburnDumb MoneyPriscillaLeave the World BehindThe KillerElementalAsteroid CityFerrariPoor ThingsBarbieMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part OneEverything Everywhere All at Once

In passing Phantom ThreadGuardians of the GalaxyThe Super Mario Bros. MovieDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessAre You There God? It's Me, MargaretThe FlashMinions: The Rise of GruThe Little MermaidPeter Pan & WendyA Good PersonBook Club: The Next ChapterBeau Is Afraid

Touchstones and comparisons TitanicInceptionThe Social NetworkThe Theory of EverythingTenetArrivalEnemyTerminator 2: Judgment DayI, RobotKill Bill: Vol. 1BrosNo Hard FeelingsThe Bourne SupremacyAvengers: Infinity WarAvengers: EndgameEternalsCreed IIISuperman: LegacyThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV AndorStranger ThingsBarryGuardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Podcasts The WatchThe TownFood News

Books Stay True

Ads 60 Songs That Explain the '90sBoar's HeadFanDuelCarvanaNetflix FIFA World Cup Launch Edition