The Big Picture · Review · Discussion

‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Is Here. Is It Worthy of the Hype?

October 17, 2023/ 104 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Sean and Amanda go era by era through the Taylor Swift concert film with Ringer producer Bobby, and can't agree on whether it's actually a movie or just a very long, very lucrative document of one.

6 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.

The Review

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour 2023

A 169-minute cut of three SoFi Stadium shows, directed by Sam Wrench, moving non-chronologically through all ten of Swift's albums. Amanda liked it fine; Sean, a self-described lapsed fan who spent years publicly mocking the Taylor-as-genius discourse, mostly didn't. Both agree it's pure document rather than movie: no behind-the-scenes footage or narrative, just cameras circling a stadium show that's basically identical night to night. Beat Joker to become the biggest October release ever on a $96 million opening weekend.

Concert films and pop docs, for comparison

Stop Making Sense 1984

The recent point of comparison: an intimate, theatrical, Pantages-sized show against Eras Tour's stadium-scale "fortress."

Truth or Dare 1991

Named as the behind-the-curtain Madonna doc Eras Tour pointedly isn't. Swift already did that version with Miss Americana.

Miss Americana 2020

Swift's Netflix doc, brought up as the making-of they didn't get here. Amanda didn't care for it.

This Is It 2009

Raised as the Michael Jackson version of a posthumous, tour-scale concert film.

Renaissance 2023

Beyoncé's concert film, out in December, discussed as the likely more substantial counterpart. She has a directing credit here and Swift doesn't.

Also mentioned raised along the way

In passing Joker The Exorcist: Believer Dune: Part Two Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

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Games FIFA World Cup Launch Edition

Podcasts The Wedding Scammer