The Big Picture · Discussion
April 7, 2022/ 72 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
A movie swap: Sean watches Amanda's pick, The English Patient, for the first time; Amanda revisits Sean's, Fargo. Both won big at the 1997 Oscars.
3 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.
The English PatientAmanda's pick — Sean's first watch
Anthony Minghella's Best Picture winner, adapted from Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize novel. A memory movie built around a burned Hungarian count (Ralph Fiennes) and the nurse (Juliette Binoche, Best Supporting Actress) caring for him. Shot by John Seale, produced by Saul Zaentz, edited by Walter Murch. Won nine Oscars; Sean grants the craft awards but questions its place in the canon, and both note the Miramax/Weinstein shadow over it.
FargoSean's pick — Amanda's rewatch
The Coen brothers' sixth film and their mainstream breakout: a fake-true-crime kidnapping that spirals into a wood chipper. William H. Macy as the desperate car salesman, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare as the hitmen, Frances McDormand's Best Actress win as pregnant chief Marge (on screen barely 45 minutes). Roger Deakins shoots the snow; Amanda relitigates the Mike Yanagita scene and whether the Coens hold their characters in contempt.
Did the Oscars get it right?the 1996 field and the swap verdict
Sean's curveball for the year's real best picture: the most 1996 movie he's ever seen, and one nobody at The Ringer under 30 has watched.
Also mentioned raised along the way
The rest of the 1996 field ShineSling BladeThe People vs. Larry FlyntBreaking the WavesSecrets & Lies
Oscar showdowns and epics Shakespeare in LoveSaving Private RyanAmerican BeautyA Beautiful MindTitanicGladiatorWest Side StoryBen-HurGone with the Wind
Literary adaptations The Remains of the DayThe Talented Mr. RipleyCold MountainThe Goldfinch
Minghella, Zaentz and Murch AmadeusOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestThe ConversationApocalypse Now
Where the cast went Schindler's ListBitter MoonFour Weddings and a FuneralMission: ImpossibleRichard IIIThe Horse WhispererRandom HeartsGosford ParkRebeccaDarkest HourThe Grand Budapest HotelA Bigger SplashNo Time to DieHolmes & WatsonMaid in ManhattanThe Constant GardenerThe AvengersClash of the TitansThe LighthouseOnly God ForgivesGhost in the ShellGodzillaCertified CopyNon-FictionHigh LifeBridget Jones's Diary
The Coen filmography Blood SimpleRaising ArizonaMiller's CrossingBarton FinkThe Hudsucker ProxyThe Big LebowskiThe Tragedy of Macbeth
Deakins's run The Shawshank RedemptionDead Man WalkingCourage Under FireKundunThe Siege
In passing ZodiacReservoir DogsPulp FictionThe Silence of the LambsParasiteCasablancaRango
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Fargo (FX series)LostInstinctSense8The DropoutThe No. 1 Ladies' Detective AgencyFleabagSeinfeldPride and Prejudice (BBC)
Podcasts Recipe ClubThe Rewatchables
Ads Boar's HeadNetflix FIFA World Cup Launch EditionWhite ClawAmerican Express Graphite Business Cash Card