Air 2023
Ben Affleck's Nike-Jordan movie, just trailered. Amanda: "Emily in Paris for boys." Matt Damon plays Sonny Vaccaro; Viola Davis is Jordan's mother.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Top Five
‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ and the Top Five Dance Movies
February 10, 2023/ 92 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda review Steven Soderbergh's ‘Magic Mike's Last Dance,' detour through his culture diary, and each count down a top five: Amanda's ‘ballet trash,' Sean's dance movies.
34 films across 6 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.
The ‘Air' Trailer
‘Magic Mike's Last Dance'Soderbergh's stripper trilogy, part three
Magic Mike's Last Dance 2023
Written by Reid Carolin, Channing Tatum back as Mike Lane, Salma Hayek Pinault replacing the originally cast Thandiwe Newton. A process movie about putting on a show; both hosts land on it as the least of the three but had a good time.
Magic Mike 2012
Sean's pick as the best of the three: a McConaughey-driven, post-crash movie about service work that he calls Soderbergh's ‘Singin' in the Rain.' No. 4 on their Soderbergh rankings.
Magic Mike XXL 2015
The hangout sequel (directed by Gregory Jacobs, shot and cut by Soderbergh) that's grown in reputation, thanks to the Manganiello convenience-store set piece and the big finale.
Late-Period Soderberghfour in a row for Warner Bros.
Let Them All Talk 2020
Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest on the Queen Mary 2.
No Sudden Move 2021
The one they think they underrated: a tighter, more cooked genre piece written by Ed Solomon.
Kimi 2022
Both liked it more looking back; Sean caught it on HBO Max around his son's birth.
Soderbergh's Culture Diarythe annual media-diet spreadsheet
Marked Woman 1937
The Bogart picture Sean added to his watchlist: an early, uncredited Michael Curtiz.
The Worst Person in the World 2021
Watched Feb 11 alongside Marked Woman and Alien 3, the whiplash Sean loves.
Alien 3 1992
David Fincher's disavowed debut.
Seven Days in May 1964
John Frankenheimer coup thriller, logged on Valentine's Day. Not romantic.
The Killer 2023
Fincher again. Soderbergh watched it four times in six days.
RRR 2022
Christmas Eve double with All About Eve.
All About Eve 1950
Chimes at Midnight 1965
One of four movies Soderbergh watched in a single day (April 12) with Notorious, All That Heaven Allows and Sunset Boulevard.
Notorious 1946
Sunset Boulevard 1950
Top Gun: Maverick 2022
June 4: this, then four episodes of Borgen.
The Menu 2022
Dec 10 triple: this, The Fabelmans and Decision to Leave, roughly seven hours of movie.
The Fabelmans 2022
Decision to Leave 2022
Confess, Fletch 2022
Slotted between the two U.S. Open finals.
The Masked Scammer 2022
Amanda's Top Five ‘Ballet Trash' Moviesher made-up genre: someone with the skill and the love who doesn't fit, and triumphs
No. 1
Center Stage 2000
No. 1. Nicholas Hytner's ballet-school movie with real dancers and Zoe Saldaña. Amanda rewatched it twice in a day to make this list.
No. 2
Magic Mike 2012
No. 2. Allowed because she invented the genre: her Channing Tatum pick, and Soderbergh's ‘Singin' in the Rain.'
No. 4
Bring It On 2000
No. 4. Kirsten Dunst; cheerleading as choreography theft. Kicked off a run through You Got Served and Step Up.
No. 5
White Nights 1985
No. 5. Taylor Hackford Cold War dance movie with Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines and Isabella Rossellini's debut. Amanda saw it around age eight.
Sean's Top Five Dance Movieshis sub-theme: the agony of dance, the physical toll
No. 1
All That Jazz 1979
No. 1. Bob Fosse's thinly veiled autobiography, Roy Scheider as Fosse: a fantasia of depression that opens and closes on all-time dance numbers.
No. 2
The Red Shoes 1948
No. 2. Powell and Pressburger on a ballerina forced to choose between art and love; a huge Scorsese influence.
No. 4
It's Always Fair Weather 1955
No. 4. The last, bitter Kelly-Donen collaboration; the Cyd Charisse boxing-ring number. He'd considered An American in Paris first.
No. 5
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 1969
No. 5. Sydney Pollack's Depression-set dance-marathon tragedy; Jane Fonda and an Oscar-nominated Gig Young.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Around the ‘Air' trailer Space Jam: A New LegacyThe Tender BarTrainwreckA Clockwork Orange
Soderbergh touchstones From Dusk Till DawnThe Lost CityOcean's ElevenOcean's TwelveOcean's ThirteenSex, Lies, and VideotapeTrafficErin BrockovichSide EffectsNinotchkaTo Be or Not to BeThe Shop Around the Corner
The sex-at-the-movies tangent Fair PlayEternalsHustlersAll the President's MenA Few Good MenGuardians of the Galaxy
Other dance movies named Singin' in the RainWest Side StoryAn American in ParisCabaretSweet CharityStep UpYou Got ServedBreakin'Stomp the YardElvisOn the TownThe Band WagonA Face in the CrowdAnchors AweighStrictly BallroomSuspiriaBlack SwanStar 80Ballerina
In passing AmadeusThirty Two Short Films About Glenn GouldBabylonBlue VelvetGhostPoint BreakRoad HouseColombianaKnock at the Cabin80 for BradyAvatar: The Way of Water
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The Last DanceEmily in ParisBelow DeckThe Thick of ItBorgenBad VeganMosaicFull CircleNeymar: The Perfect ChaosSo You Think You Can DanceDancing with the StarsAmerican Idol
Books Mrs Palfrey at the ClaremontThe Murder of Roger AckroydVladimirThe MaidThe Wheel of TimeThe Thursday Murder Club
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