Wish 2023
Amanda took her daughter Alice to a 10 a.m. preview screening at the El Capitan and had a great time, reviews and a soft Thanksgiving box office be damned. Chris Pine voices the villain sorcerer Magnifico.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Top Five · Interview
‘Saltburn’: Iconic or Disastrous? Plus: Alexander Payne!
November 27, 2023/ 102 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda try to work out what 'Saltburn' actually thinks it's about, revisit 'Promising Young Woman' along the way, draft five 'big swing' movies apiece, and Sean talks to Alexander Payne about 'The Holdovers.'
26 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 'Wish' Detoura cold open
'Saltburn'
Saltburn 2023
Emerald Fennell's follow-up to 'Promising Young Woman,' shot by Lena Sandgren ('Babylon') and set in 2006. Barry Keoghan plays Oxford scholarship student Oliver Quick, who worms his way into the aristocratic Catton family through Jacob Elordi's Felix. Sean thinks it's profoundly hollow but weirdly watchable; Amanda calls it one of the emptiest movies she's seen and still had fun. Also stars Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, and Carey Mulligan.
The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999
The clearest touchstone, cited repeatedly: Highsmith's cipher of a sociopath versus Saltburn's Oliver, who gets over-explained instead of staying unreadable.
Purple Noon 1960
René Clement's earlier Ripley adaptation, named alongside 'Ripley's Game' as proof the character works best when he stays a cipher.
Ripley's Game 2002
The John Malkovich version of Ripley, invoked in the same breath as 'Purple Noon.'
'Promising Young Woman,' Revisited
Promising Young Woman 2020
Amanda rewatched it for this episode and confirmed she still doesn't buy it: Carey Mulligan's revenge-quest motivations never fully connect for her, though she credits Fennell's eye for period detail (the Away suitcase, the YouTube blowjob-lips tutorial cameo). Sean was more forgiving on release but agrees Saltburn is basically its sequel.
Amanda's Big Swingsrevealed worst to best on air, ordered best-first here
No. 2
Moulin Rouge! 2001
No. 2 (tie): staging the climax around a tango version of the Police's "Roxanne."
No. 3
La La Land 2016
No. 2 (tie): Damien Chazelle's Oscar-winning musical; Amanda still isn't fully sure how she feels beyond loving the middle two hours.
No. 4
Anna Karenina 2012
No. 3: Joe Wright staging all thousand pages of Tolstoy as a play; Amanda's favorite of his films, ahead of 'Atonement.'
No. 5
Yesterday 2019
No. 4: Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle's only-one-person-remembers-the-Beatles premise.
No. 6
Gigli 2003
No. 5: Martin Brest's Jennifer Lopez/Ben Affleck romantic-comedy-crime hybrid. "It famously didn't work."
Sean's Big Swingsrevealed worst to best on air, ordered best-first here
No. 1
JFK 1991
No. 1: Oliver Stone's conspiracy epic, and the source of the show's running gag about their friend Bill's JFK theories.
No. 2
Magnolia 1999
No. 2: Paul Thomas Anderson's third film. "You don't have to put your whole diary in the movie, but I think that's a big swing."
No. 3
A Cure for Wellness 2016
No. 3: Gore Verbinski's $75 million spa-horror movie that made $8 million; a deranged early Mia Goth performance.
No. 4
Southland Tales 2006
No. 4: Richard Kelly's maligned 'Donnie Darko' follow-up, which has since built a cult following.
No. 5
Vanilla Sky 2001
No. 5: Cameron Crowe's most Cameron Crowe movie, a remake of 'Open Your Eyes' with Penélope Cruz.
Alexander Payne on 'The Holdovers'
Alexander Payne on
The Holdovers 2023
Written with David Hemingson. Shot at 1.66:1 for richer close-ups; Payne says he approached it as "making a contemporary movie, just pretending I was in 1970," not consciously imitating '70s style. Discusses discovering Dominic Sessa and calls Paul Giamatti a movie star "with no comps."
Alexander Payne on
Sideways 2004
His prior Giamatti collaboration; its success made financing 'The Descendants' easier.
Alexander Payne on
About Schmidt 2002
Jack Nicholson attached, and still passed on by the studio Payne won't name for being "an expensive, depressing movie"; New Line ended up making it.
Alexander Payne on
The Descendants 2011
George Clooney's presence made this one "less hard" to finance.
Alexander Payne on
Nebraska 2013
Written with Bob Nelson, cited alongside Hemingson as a writer Payne says he essentially directs through the process.
Alexander Payne on
Downsizing 2017
Payne's prior big swing; he pushes back on the idea 'The Holdovers' was a reaction to it, saying the script was simply next in line.
Alexander Payne on
Double Indemnity 1944
The last great thing Payne says he's seen, rewatched with his mother on TCM. "What a movie! What dialogue!"
Alexander Payne on
It's a Wonderful Life 1946
Comes up as the Christmas-season classic that hits differently after having kids.
Also mentioned raised along the way
The class-satire wave Triangle of SadnessThe MenuGlass Onion: A Knives Out MysteryParasiteFair Play
Comparisons and double features Cruel IntentionsDangerous LiaisonsThe Killing of a Sacred DeerCall Me by Your NameGone Girl
Named in passing Past LivesKillers of the Flower MoonBarbieOppenheimerFive Nights at Freddy'sA Few Good MenCitizen KaneInglourious Basterds
Gore Verbinski's other films RangoThe Weather ManMouse HuntThe Lone RangerThe Box
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The CrownMonarch: Legacy of Monsters
Ads FanDuelCarvanaBoar's HeadNetflix FIFA World Cup Launch Edition
Books Brideshead Revisited