Let's Talk 'Tenet'

Nomadland 2020

Won the Golden Lion at Venice; seen at a Telluride drive-in and, for Sean, one of the year's best.

Pieces of a Woman 2020

Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf; picked up by Netflix, which already holds the deepest Oscar slate.

Bruised 2021

Halle Berry's directorial debut, as an aging MMA fighter; another Netflix buy.

Malcolm & Marie 2021

Written and directed by Sam Levinson during quarantine; Netflix reportedly paid $30M for the John David Washington / Zendaya two-hander.

Joe Bell 2021

Mark Wahlberg drama still without a distributor at festival time; Sean expects it to sell fast.

One Night in Miami 2020

Regina King's directorial debut, bought earlier in the month by Amazon; a likely Oscar contender.

The Irishman 2019

The reflexive 'would this even qualify?' example. Count Rodrigo Prieto, producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff, and Netflix's own hiring, and it clears the bar easily.

On the Waterfront 1954

The other reflex; made before the Voting Rights Act, so the retroactive comparison collapses.

1917 2019

Amanda's favorite bad-faith objection: the all-white-guy movie the standards supposedly ban, which it doesn't.

Moonlight 2016

First of the last four winners Sean runs through, a run of breakthroughs the diversified voting body already produced.

The Shape of Water 2017

Green Book 2018

The complicated one: backlash in a year of BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, and Roma.

Parasite 2019

BlacKkKlansman 2018

Black Panther 2018

Roma 2018

Gone with the Wind 1939

The 'you can't erase film history, only evolve it' example.

The New Mutants 2020

Doing Tenet-adjacent numbers; the brand awareness at least gets Disney a little something.

Unhinged 2020

Along with New Mutants, one of the few other titles drawing anyone into theaters.

Wonder Woman 1984 2020

Moved off October 2nd to Christmas; Sean doubts it holds the date.

Candyman 2021

Pushed to 2021, costing Chris Ryan's wife her Halloween horror slot.

Death on the Nile 2022

Older-skewing Agatha Christie mystery that might play bang-up business at home.

Black Widow 2021

The biggest decision on the board; MCU connective tissue set for election week, November 6th.

Mulan 2020

Already sent to Disney+ PVOD; did business, but underperformed in Chinese theaters.

Soul 2020

Pixar Oscar hopeful that could follow Onward straight to Disney+.

Onward 2020

The family-pleasing Disney+ precedent for Soul.

No Time to Die 2021

Daniel Craig's finale, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga; the film Sean most wants to see in an actual theater.

Coming 2 America 2021

The thirty-years-later sequel to the Eddie Murphy comedy.

Dune 2021

Villeneuve's; stacked back-to-back with Wonder Woman on Warner's calendar, which is how you know neither date is real.

Dune (1984) 1984

David Lynch's version, one stop on the book-adaptation lecture Sean inflicted on his wife.

Jodorowsky's Dune 2013

The documentary Eileen recognized, which set the whole lecture off.

West Side Story 2021

Spielberg's musical adaptation, holding a December slot.

News of the World 2020

A big Tom Hanks release on the year-end corridor.

Respect 2021

The Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson.

Mank 2020

Part of Netflix's enviable year-end slate.

Rebecca 2020

The Trial of the Chicago 7 2020

Sorkin, an object of shared affection on the show; Sean has had enough of the teaser-for-the-teaser rollout.

Extraction 2020

Cited as a cool set-piece movie that plays very differently at a drive-in than on the couch.

Tenet 2020

Seen at a San Diego drive-in, radio volume in their own hands, which softened the notorious sound mix. For Sean it's the first time Nolan drops the big emotional point and just lets the idea rip: a Bond/Mission: Impossible movie with his time obsession and Ludwig Göransson's score, John David Washington and Robert Pattinson running a two-hour charm Olympics. Also very confusing: he admits to grasping maybe 60-70% of it. Amanda's recap runs from the Kyiv opera raid through the Freeport heist, the inverted highway chase, and the Stalsk-12 temporal pincer, landing on Sator's climate-change motive and the algorithm. A B CinemaScore, Nolan's worst since The Prestige.

The Devil All the Time 2020

Adapted with his brother from Donald Ray Pollock's novel; a father-son generational story of trauma and faith that blends Southern (Campos says Midwestern) gothic with hard-boiled fiction. He landed Pattinson, Tom Holland, and Sebastian Stan by playing the long game: actors who use their off-franchise time to get weird.

Christine 2016

His pre-Sinner feature, and a bigger ensemble than people remember.

Afterschool 2008

The Borderline Films debut he still draws a squiggly line from to this movie.

Simon Killer 2012

Another single-character study, contrasted with Devil's sprawl.

Scarecrow 1973

Jerry Schatzberg's; his last-great-thing, rewatched for the final shot of Hackman smashing a shoe as it cuts to black.