The Big Picture · Interview · Roundtable
December 28, 2021/ 104 min/ Sean Fennessey
Sean Fennessey closes out 2021 with three guests: Andy Greenwald on ‘Encanto,’ Chris Ryan on ‘Benedetta,’ and Adam Naiman on the year’s most underrated films.
15 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.
‘Encanto,’ with Andy Greenwaldplus a long detour on parenting and kids’ movies
The Disney movie Greenwald Twitter-shamed Sean into watching: villainless, princess-less, no special power at the end, and carried by Lin-Manuel Miranda songs he calls dangerously sticky. Praise for Stephanie Beatriz and the film's turn inward where a traditional script would go broad.
‘Benedetta,’ with Chris Ryan
Paul Verhoeven's lesbian-nun film, which Ryan snuck away from his mom to watch. More papal politics than the 'sexy nuns' billing suggests; Virginie Efira 'understood the assignment,' with Charlotte Rampling and Lambert Wilson. Verhoeven as a late-career provocateur the culture has moved past being scandalized by.
The 10 Most Underrated Movies of 2021 with Adam Naiman — recommendations, not a ranking
Dasha Nekrasova's lo-fi Epstein-apartment horror. Not sure it's good, but he credits its guts against something like 'Last Night in Soho' — a rare movie about doom-scrolling brain.
Mickey Reese's low-budget possession film that shifts halfway into something self-reflexive and trauma-poking. Strong turn from Molly Quinn.
On both lists. Robert Greene's collaborative documentary in which adult survivors of clergy sexual abuse stage recreations of what happened to them; the artifice deconstructs psychology.
Radu Jude's Romanian comedy: a teacher's sex tape leaks, then a masked pandemic-era school-board tribunal. Structurally unlike anything Sean's seen; Katia Pascariu is brilliant.
Local pick — Kazik Radwanski's Toronto film, drawn from that city's DIY scene. Dara Campbell as a daycare worker in an unstable stretch of her life; the film refuses to name her disorder.
Lauren Hadaway's Fincherian, sound-driven Whiplash-adjacent debut about a college rower driving herself past reason. Isabelle Fuhrman (the 'Orphan' kid, grown up) at the center.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's WWII espionage film, co-written by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. From a horror master, so the revelations land as frightening even though it isn't genre.
Kier-La Janisse's three-and-a-half-hour folk-horror documentary. Immersive, hypnotic, and it'll hand you 10 to 500 titles to chase.
A late-'90s-erotic-thriller homage with Sydney Sweeney. Not a great film, a fun Saturday-night one — a holdover until Adrian Lyne's 'Deep Water' is freed.
The film listeners most asked him to cover. Jeymes Samuel's revisionist, 'Avengers-ized' Western with a dynamite young Black cast (Jonathan Majors, Regina King, Delroy Lindo). Stylish maybe to a fault — more construction than ideas.
His near-No. 1. Ephraim Asili's static-shot comedy set in a Black Marxist Philadelphia collective in the shadow of the MOVE bombing — a wry, brilliant archive of Black thought.
Stephen Karam's adaptation of his own play, dumped straight to Showtime by A24. A holiday-apartment horror of decency dissolving; Richard Jenkins, Amy Schumer, Steven Yeun, and Beanie Feldstein against type.
The Palme d'Or winner they close on. Julia Ducournau after 'Raw,' but trying to be so many things it flies apart — Adam finds it more pinboard than movie.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In the ‘Encanto’ conversation LucaRaya and the Last DragonMoanaFrozenFrozen IIZootopiaDeadpoolSnow White and the Seven DwarfsThe Little MermaidAladdinPrincess MononokeWALL-EMary PoppinsMary Poppins ReturnsSingin' in the RainFunny FaceThe Many Adventures of Winnie the PoohDespicable MeStar WarsThe Empire Strikes BackReturn of the JediStar Wars: The Last JediCaptain MarvelWonder WomanE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseSpider-Man: No Way HomeMy Neighbor TotoroThe MatrixHalloween Kills
In the ‘Benedetta’ conversation Basic InstinctHollow ManStarship TroopersBlack BookThe Last DuelThe DevilsElleHome AloneKidsThe Beach BumInglourious Basterds
In the underrated-movies conversation MalignantWhat Do We See When We Look at the Sky?Red RocketLast Night in SohoRosemary's BabyNovitiateThe NunActressKate Plays ChristineFake It So Real40 Years a PrisonerLet the Fire BurnJuice WRLD: Into the AbyssDrive My CarParasiteCreepyCurePulseRawTrouble Every DayLa ChinoiseDeep WaterWhiplashOrphanBoyz n the HoodJungle Fever
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Briar PatchThe Lion GuardBlueyAvatar: The Last AirbenderThe Baby-Sitters ClubHacksAmerican Horror StoryAirwolfFriendsSuccessionMayor of KingstownThe WireCoComelonSelling Sunset
Podcasts The WatchRed ScareChapo Trap HouseRing of Wrestling / Cheap Heat
Books Harry PotterDavid Fincher: Mind Games
Ads Netflix FIFA World Cup Launch EditionBoar's HeadPepsi Zero Sugar