Not Okay 2022
Hulu satire with Zoey Deutch as a woman who fakes a Paris trip and then poses as a survivor of an attack. Sean files it under a subgenre he calls 'Zillennial panic'; solid, not great.
The Big Picture · Discussion
Five New Films to Stream, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ for Best Picture, and a Summer Movie Mailbag
August 2, 2022/ 80 min/ Sean Fennessey · Bobby Wagner
A quiet August episode. Sean Fennessey runs down streaming and theatrical picks for a slow movie month, led by Ethan Hawke's Newman/Woodward doc series The Last Movie Stars, then he and producer Bobby Wagner work through a summer listener mailbag.
28 films across 2 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.
New to stream and in theatersSean's August recommendations
The Sea Beast 2022
Netflix animated feature from Big Hero 6 director Chris Williams; a throwback sea-monster-hunter adventure with a young female lead. Sean recommends it for kids.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 2022
Dean Fleischer Camp's A24 stop-motion feature, expanded from the Jenny Slate viral shorts; short, sweet, and a possible Best Animated Feature wild card.
Fire of Love 2022
Sara Dosa's Nat Geo documentary on volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft; Sean calls the footage some of the most beautiful he's seen in years.
Resurrection 2022
Andrew Semans thriller with Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth as a menacing figure from her past; unnerving and under-the-skin, in theaters and on VOD.
Summer movie mailbagwith producer Bobby Wagner
Killers of the Flower Moon 2023
The Scorsese/DiCaprio film's move to 2023 (and a Cannes bow) is Sean's most-anticipated delayed title.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 2023
His other big 2023 casualty from the schedule shuffle.
Top Gun: Maverick 2022
Runs through the episode as the practical-effects counterexample to VFX bloat and a genuine Best Picture contender; Amanda's brand energy, per Sean.
Nope 2022
Jordan Peele's satire of the urge to capture everything; Sean and Bobby agree it's funnier and more entertaining than the heady discourse suggests.
Predator 1987
Sean's example of a film he rates sincerely, not ironically, for the 'movies we like but won't call good' question, timed to the Prey prequel.
Turning Red 2022
His pick for present-day animation that's taken for granted now and may be reappraised as a golden-age work.
Halloween 1978
Jamie Lee Curtis's debut; top of Sean's list of first films that would make an actor's hall of fame.
Primal Fear 1996
Edward Norton's Oscar-nominated debut on the same list.
Citizen Kane 1941
Orson Welles's debut, closing out the hall-of-fame-debuts bit.
Mank 2020
The running gag: everything, including Citizen Kane, is 'based on' Mank, the alpha and the omega film.
Jackass Forever 2022
Sean's easy answer for funniest film of the year so far, especially in a theater.
Oppenheimer 2023
Sean's prepping a 'nuclear panic' episode; watched The Day After Trinity and The Atomic Cafe as homework.
The Fabelmans 2022
His guess for a 2022 Movie Draft first pick a decade out: Spielberg's memoiristic 'his Roma.'
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
The other candidate for a future cult classic, pending what the Daniels do next.
Tár 2022
Todd Field/Cate Blanchett dark horse Sean is eyeing at the fall festivals as a possible film of the year.
Men 2022
Sean's pick to represent himself; he liked it and regrets talking Chris Ryan out of watching it.
The Northman 2022
Also him, per the personality question: furiously outlining while Alexander Skarsgård kills people.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 2022
Weighed as a blockbuster Best Picture possibility alongside Maverick and Avatar 2.
Pulp Fiction 1994
Sean rented a theater for his 40th to watch it; the movie that changed how he thinks about movies.
The Third Man 1949
His go-to 'favorite movie' answer for the fluid-favorites question.
X 2022
Ti West's horror film, with its already-shooting prequel Pearl, as an example of chasing things while they're fresh.
Pearl 2022
The X prequel West revealed on this show; Sean is more excited to champion it than to relitigate old Marvel entries.
The Batman 2022
Bobby's answer for putting Mets slugger Pete Alonso in a movie: 'the hero we deserve.'
Also mentioned raised along the way
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward films WUSAButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidHudThe HustlerThe Color of MoneyBig Hero 6
The 'Zillennial panic' subgenre Bodies Bodies BodiesBooksmartMoxieBig Time AdolescenceTo All the Boys I've Loved BeforeEighth GradeHappy Death DayFlowerThe Fault in Our Stars
Coming that weekend PreyThirteen LivesThe RescueLuckThey/ThemBullet TrainEaster Sunday
The VFX conversation Thor: Love and ThunderJurassic ParkThe ThingJurassic World DominionElvisThe Black PhoneVengeanceWhere the Crawdads SingThe Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Schedule shuffles and drafts DC League of Super-PetsBlack AdamSpider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseAvatar: The Way of WaterA Star Is Born
Reappraisal and taste The UntouchablesRain ManBack to the FutureFreebie and the BeanHail, Caesar!Crimes of the FutureThe Gray ManThor: The Dark World
Peele and debut performances Get OutUsBlack PantherHeavenly CreaturesMary Poppins48 Hrs.Minions: The Rise of GruThe Princess Diaries
Funniest of the year, also-rans AmbulanceThe Bob's Burgers MovieChip 'n Dale: Rescue RangersThe Lost CityI Want You BackDeath on the Nile
Oppenheimer homework and nuclear thrillers Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb2001: A Space OdysseyThe Day After TrinityThe Atomic CafeTwilight's Last GleamingSeven Days in MayBarry LyndonA Clockwork Orange
Nolan filmography DunkirkTenetMementoThe PrestigeInterstellarInception
Best Picture watch She SaidBabylonEmpire of LightA Few Good Men
Sean's shifting favorites The Wizard of OzSingin' in the RainJuiceDo the Right ThingPlatoonRomaWhite Noise
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
Ads Ringer Fantasy Football ShowFIFA World Cup Launch Edition (Netflix game)Boar's HeadFanDuelColgateSam's Club
Not films The Last Movie Stars (Ethan Hawke's six-part HBO Max doc series; TMDb lists it as TV, not a movie)Marcel the Shell YouTube shortsThe RewatchablesThe Watch