The Matrix Resurrections 2021
Announced this week, at the time untitled beyond 'The Matrix 4,' as a Lana Wachowski solo project after her creative split from sister Lily.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
Spider-Man Is Out of the MCU and Movies Are in a State of IP Crisis. Plus: Ben Berman on Untangling 'The Amazing Johnathan Documentary'
August 22, 2019/ 119 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Wesley Morris
The Disney-Sony Spider-Man standoff kicks off a long, wide-ranging argument with Wesley Morris about IP, movie stars, and whether the middle of the movie business still exists. Plus: director Ben Berman on making The Amazing Johnathan Documentary.
46 films across 2 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.
Spider-Man, Sony, Disney, and the state of movie IPwith Wesley Morris
Beverly Hills Cop 1984
Wesley's touchstone for the mid-80s complaint that action-comedy hybrids were dumbing down movies, via Pauline Kael's State of the Art.
Ghostbusters 1984
Wesley's example of genre-on-genre construction, calling it 'a Marx Brothers movie with action imperatives.'
Us 2019
Cited as the year's only top-15 movie that isn't a sequel, franchise entry, or adaptation, and Jordan Peele's proof that a filmmaker can build a personal brand strong enough to carry an original.
The Irishman 2019
Wesley's case study for Scorsese's decades of brand-building meaning the film will be treated as an event no matter its quality.
A Star Is Born 2018
Discussed via Bradley Cooper's refusal to explain the ending or campaign hard, which the group thinks may have cost him a directing nomination.
Cold War 2018
Amazon's awards-campaign spending is credited with landing Pawel Pawlikowski a surprise Best Director nomination.
A Private War 2018
Cited as the flip side: a strong Rosamund Pike performance nobody saw or campaigned for.
Mulan 2020
Disney's live-action remake gets caught up in star Liu Yifei's social media comments supporting Hong Kong police during the protests.
Creed 2015
Ryan Coogler's move into the Rocky franchise, which the group thinks was actually the riskier project since he had something new to say about it.
Zombieland: Double Tap 2019
Cited as proof Emma Stone isn't immune to IP gravity even as a genuine movie star.
Passengers 2016
An original studio movie with two stars that still flopped, cited as proof original star vehicles no longer have a built-in audience.
Kong: Skull Island 2017
Brie Larson's post-Oscar franchise role, part of a case that she never really got a shot at movie stardom.
Captain Marvel 2019
Larson's other big post-Oscar franchise role.
Unicorn Store 2017
Larson's directorial debut, a personal passion project that landed quietly on Netflix.
The Glass Castle 2017
Larson's other post-Oscar passion project, which didn't land.
Hobbs & Shaw 2019
Vanessa Kirby's post-Crown breakout, offered as the more interesting career case against Claire Foy's.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout 2018
Also part of Kirby's rapid rise since The Crown.
Unsane 2018
Claire Foy's Soderbergh detour after The Crown.
First Man 2018
Discussed at length: a movie the culture had already decided not to engage with (a white man's story, again, at the wrong moment) that Wesley calls flatly great and thinks should have earned Foy an Oscar nomination.
The Girl in the Spider's Web 2018
Foy's franchise misfire that nobody saw.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019
Cited as the last movie that could stage a true movie-star moment, in the Brad Pitt shirtless-on-the-roof scene.
The Nice Guys 2016
The Russell Crowe/Ryan Gosling comedy the group wishes were coming out that weekend instead.
The Other Guys 2010
The Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg comedy named in the same breath, mourned as evidence studios used to just try to make people laugh.
Vice 2018
Adam McKay's expensive, divisive Cheney film, cited as the kind of mid-budget swing studios won't fund anymore.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette 2019
Discussed as a flawed, uneven film that still earns a defense simply because it's not another franchise entry.
Queen & Slim 2019
Cited as an upcoming original that Universal is betting money on, though its commercial fate is unclear.
Waves 2019
Amanda's pick for what she's most excited about: a Trey Edward Shults film so sensory it resists plot summary.
Green Book 2018
Named as the kind of tidy, message-driven film Waves refuses to be.
Knives Out 2019
Sean's pick: a Rian Johnson whodunit stacked with stars, discussed as a rare vehicle actually built around movie-star casting.
Clue 1985
Brought up as the group debates homage versus parody ahead of Knives Out.
Uncut Gems 2019
Wesley's pick, the new Safdie Brothers film he expects to finally win him over.
Good Time 2017
The prior Safdie Brothers film that didn't fully work for Wesley.
The Lighthouse 2019
Wesley's other big excitement: a Willem Dafoe/Robert Pattinson two-hander from Robert Eggers he calls 'deeply damaged and fascinating.'
Nightingale 2018
Discussed at length as one of the year's best-directed films, a relentlessly violent revisionist Western that Wesley says nobody's talking about.
The Babadook 2014
Named as Jennifer Kent's first film, the reason Amanda admits she's been avoiding Nightingale.
Roma 2018
The reference point for whether Parasite can repeat a foreign-language Best Picture run, discussed as a film some Academy members felt was 'jammed down their throats.'
Parasite 2019
Bong Joon-ho's Cannes winner, framed as building toward a real Best Picture push.
Zama 2017
Named as maybe Lucrecia Martel's best film, cited as an example of a great director getting no attention.
Gemini Man 2019
Ang Lee's upcoming film, mentioned alongside his prior swing as evidence even acclaimed directors get written off before release.
Pain and Glory 2019
Almodovar's upcoming film, cited as proof it took him decades to earn the standing to keep making personal films.
Fighting with My Family 2019
Wesley watched the whole thing on a plane for Florence Pugh, and dwells on the odd sight of Vince Vaughn and Dwayne Johnson playing old friends.
Ben Berman on making The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
Ben Berman on
The Amazing Johnathan Documentary 2019
Berman's Sundance documentary about magician the Amazing Johnathan, which spirals once a second film crew shows up to make a competing doc about the same dying subject.
Ben Berman on
F for Fake 1973
Orson Welles's essay film on forgery is a late discovered touchstone; its closing trick, admitting the last 30 minutes were a lie, is one Berman cites directly.
Ben Berman on
Minding the Gap 2018
Berman's favorite film of the previous year, and part of why he wanted to go with Hulu.
Ben Berman on
The Florida Project 2017
The last thing Berman rewatched, unrelated to the interview's main subject.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing during the IP discussion Spider-Man: Far From HomeGone GirlHome AloneAladdinFast FiveRockyZombielandTequila SunriseKrishaIt Comes at NightThe WitchAsh Is Purest WhiteTransitBilly Lynn's Long Halftime WalkLittle WomenLogan LuckyPretty Woman
Named in the Ben Berman interview DiariesSherman's MarchCatfishTickled
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The BoysThe Twilight ZoneOn CinemaTim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!EagleheartShangri-La
Ads M&M's Caramel