Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2018
Sean's pick. Amanda came in dubious about animation and left won over by the voice cast and the willingness to let the multiverse mechanics stay a blur.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' vs. 'Sense and Sensibility.' Plus: Avi Belkin on 'Mike Wallace Is Here'
August 5, 2019/ 115 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda each pick a movie the other has never seen and defend it: his is 'Into the Spider-Verse,' hers is 'Sense and Sensibility.' Then Avi Belkin on his Mike Wallace documentary.
15 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.
Sean's pick: 'Into the Spider-Verse'the animation swap
Rango 2011
The last non-Pixar, non-Disney animated Best Picture winner before this one; Sean calls it a top-10-of-the-decade contender.
Inside Out 2015
Amanda's counterexample for animation that worked on her, because it stayed grounded in something human.
Toy Story 4 2019
Named as the year's leading Best Animated Feature contender, with nothing else on the calendar to challenge Spider-Verse's precedent.
Amanda's pick: 'Sense and Sensibility'the costume drama swap
Sense and Sensibility 1995
Amanda's pick, first seen at age 11. Ang Lee directs Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning script; Sean respects it but can't fully warm to the genre.
Howards End 1992
Sean's structural comp for Sense and Sensibility (two sisters, a marriage plot, a fight over inheritance): 'Forster owes Austen some money.'
Clueless 1995
Part of the same 1995 Austen glut, an update of 'Emma.'
Braveheart 1995
The Best Picture winner over Sense and Sensibility that year; Sean notes the two share the historical-costume-epic DNA, minus the marriage plot.
Apollo 13 1995
Also up for Best Picture that year; Amanda's other 1995 formative theatrical experience.
Babe 1995
The other 1995 Best Picture nominee, and Amanda's rebuttal in the ongoing Lion King argument: 'Babe did a lot of that first.'
The Postman 1995
Il Postino, the fifth Best Picture nominee, flagged as an early Harvey Weinstein campaign play with no lasting legacy.
Toy Story 1995
Not nominated for Best Picture at all, which Sean calls the real snub of that year.
In conversation
Avi Belkin on
Mike Wallace Is Here 2019
Belkin's all-archival portrait of the '60 Minutes' interviewer, built from CBS's unreleased footage and drawn from the idea that Wallace's own toughest questions were aimed at himself.
Avi Belkin on
The Insider 1999
Belkin says the Michael Mann film, most people's reference point for Wallace, unfairly reduces him to one weak moment.
Avi Belkin on
Avengers: Infinity War 2018
Belkin's answer to Sean's closing question about the last great thing he's seen: 'maybe the best superhero movie I've ever seen.'
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Spirited AwayCaptain America: Civil WarIncredibles 2CocoGet OutSolo: A Star Wars StoryPride and PrejudicePersuasionThe Lion KingSpotlight
Ang Lee's other films The Wedding BanquetEat Drink Man WomanBrokeback MountainLife of Pi
Emma Thompson's other screenplays Nanny McPheeNanny McPhee ReturnsEffie GrayBridget Jones's BabyLast Christmas
Michael Coulter's other films Four Weddings and a FuneralNotting HillLove ActuallyMaleficentThe Hustle
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV No One Saw a ThingDownton AbbeyPride and Prejudice (BBC miniseries)Howards End (miniseries)Game of ThronesThe OAWit60 Minutes