Den of Thieves 2018
The platonic ideal. Butler thinks he's doing Richard III; the whole genre traces back to the feeling you get 20 minutes in.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Awards · Interview
Introducing the Garbage Crime Movie Oscars. Plus: Brandon Cronenberg!
November 10, 2020/ 101 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan
Sean Fennessey and Chris Ryan coin 'garbage crime' (the mid-budget, B-minus crime picture), hand out its first awards, then Sean talks to Brandon Cronenberg about Possessor.
55 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.
What is garbage crime?the mid-budget B-minus crime picture, defined
S.W.A.T. 2003
Shitty IP plus a charismatic ensemble solving a pedestrian crime: Ryan's early tell that the wave was coming.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back 2016
A sequel reaching for respectable that lands in the bin. Kind of sucks, deeply watchable.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado 2018
Takes the highfalutin idea of Sicario and finds the repeatable model: Brolin and Del Toro on the road.
The Purge: Anarchy 2014
An out-of-genre franchise that pivoted into a pure all-night firefight movie.
The Dark Knight Rises 2012
Garbage crime up to the point the football stadium explodes. Same plot machinery as 21 Bridges.
Prisoners 2013
The inverse: a where-are-my-kids setup that Villeneuve elevates into Lynchian dread.
The Town 2010
Too good to qualify. It has the Heat masks, but you'd recommend it to your mother-in-law.
Nocturnal Animals 2016
A misfire dragged down into the bin. Fennessey calls it absolute trash and means it fondly.
Blackhat 2015
Mann's incomprehensible hacker picture, complete with a visible Getty stock photo.
The Accountant 2016
Affleck doing his Don Siegel homage.
Spenser Confidential 2020
Wahlberg carries garbage crime into the streaming era: the future of mid-budget movies.
Mile 22 2018
Incomprehensible in a theater, far better as a disposable Netflix watch.
21 Bridges 2019
The perfect cable movie; Boseman doing a restrained '70s character-actor lead.
The Informer 2019
The week's exemplar: Kinnaman picking up different cell phones and sweating, shelved since 2018.
The First Annual Garbage Crime OscarsFennessey nominates, Ryan picks the winners
Best Supporting Actor
- Snitch Barry Pepper Winner
- Sleepless Scoot McNairy
- Contraband Giovanni Ribisi
- The Gunman Mark Rylance
- A Walk Among the Tombstones Dan Stevens
Best Supporting Actress
- The Informer Rosamund Pike Winner
- 21 Bridges Sienna Miller
- The Accountant Anna Kendrick
- Bullet to the Head Sarah Shahi
- The Drop Noomi Rapace
Special Achievement Award
- Easy Money Joel Kinnaman Winner
Best Actress
- Triple 9 Kate Winslet Winner
- The Purge: Anarchy Carmen Ejogo
- Mile 22 Lauren Cohan
- Sabotage Mireille Enos
- Unknown Diane Kruger & January Jones
Best Actor
- Brooklyn's Finest Ethan Hawke Winner
- Den of Thieves Gerard Butler & Pablo Schreiber
- Triple 9 Casey Affleck
- Shot Caller Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
- Non-Stop Liam Neeson
- 21 Bridges Chadwick Boseman
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Ricochet Denzel Washington Winner
Best Director
- Run All Night Jaume Collet-Serra Winner
- Sicario: Day of the Soldado Stefano Sollima
- Contraband Baltasar Kormakur
- Wind River Taylor Sheridan
- The Last Stand Kim Jee-woon
Best Picture
Brandon Cronenberg on Possessor
Brandon Cronenberg on
Possessor 2020
The seed was a press-tour sense of being an imposter in his own life; the sci-fi built out from the domestic scenes. Real neuroscience (Jose Delgado's stim-o-ceivers) underpins it, used figuratively.
Brandon Cronenberg on
Antiviral 2012
His first feature, eight years earlier, grown out of a film-school short. People keep telling him it was the one to release now.
Brandon Cronenberg on
Infinity Pool 2023
Then in development: a tourist-resort satire with sci-fi horror elements. (A second project, Dragon, was also in the works.)
Brandon Cronenberg on
Contagion 2011
The one that actually blew up on Netflix at the start of the pandemic.
Brandon Cronenberg on
Fail Safe 1964
The last great thing he saw: Lumet, caught on Criterion during quarantine.
Brandon Cronenberg on
The Offence 1973
Another Lumet he kept returning to; shoots a room full of people talking with rare dynamism.
Brandon Cronenberg on
Batman 1966
The Adam West movie he watched constantly as a kid. 'It's all the shark repellent in my films.'
Also mentioned raised along the way
The godfathers HeatThiefCollateralManhunterGoodfellasThe GodfatherMean StreetsReservoir DogsTraining DayThe Last Boy ScoutMan on FireThe FugitiveUnder SiegeHighlander
Denzel & Wahlberg checks Safe House2 GunsThe EqualizerThe Equalizer 2The Magnificent SevenFlightFencesBroken CityThe Departed
In passing SpeedLethal Weapon 2Lethal Weapon 3TigerlandThe PurgeSicarioThe IrishmanArgoKnives OutJohn WickSmokin' AcesAmerican GangsterStreet KingsWantedHell or High WaterSaltThe GuestThe MasterFranticThe ShallowsJungle CruiseInside ManFurySuicide SquadThe MechanicCut Throat CityThe Ballad of Buster ScruggsMa Rainey's Black Bottom
Coming garbage crime Without RemorseThe Little ThingsThose Who Wish Me Dead
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV True DetectiveThe Night OfThe ShieldJustifiedNarcosMoney HeistGangs of LondonZeroZeroZeroThe Queen's GambitBig LoveThe Walking DeadGame of ThronesDownton AbbeyYellowstoneTwo Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place
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