The Big Picture · Roundtable
July 4, 2023/ 98 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
The mid-year check-in. Sean and Amanda bring on ten guests, one at a time, to make the case for their favorite movie of 2023 so far, then close the show with three picks of their own.
13 films across 1 segment.
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 picks one critic, one film (mostly)
Chad Stahelski's fourth installment, with Keanu Reeves and Donnie Yen. Chris calls it pure choreography over story. He owns it digitally just to rewatch the Paris steps and the Osaka nightclub sequence on their own.
James Gunn's trilogy closer, with Chris Pratt and Bradley Cooper's Rocket. Van calls it one of the best third movies in any trilogy he's seen, though the Rocket backstory wrecked him in the theater.
Van's other near-pick, an Apple TV+ con-man movie with Justice Smith, Briana Middleton, and John Lithgow. He calls it a good, contained studio programmer of a kind Hollywood barely makes anymore.
Raine Allen-Miller's Hulu walk-and-talk rom-com, shot around Peckham and Brixton with David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah. Joanna calls it a calling card for a filmmaker she expects to be following for years.
Kelly Reichardt's film about a sculptor (Michelle Williams) juggling an art-school day job, an injured pigeon, and a show opening in days, with Hong Chau and Andre 3000. Adam suspects The Fabelmans is why it got bumped from a 2022 release, and doubts he'll see a movie he likes more this year.
Adam's number two, mostly for how bluntly the multiverse premise plays against the studio shelving Batgirl instead.
James Mangold's send-off for Harrison Ford's Indy, following the divisive Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Mallory ranks Across the Spider-Verse as the year's better movie but calls this the more satisfying time at the theater.
Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut, with Jonathan Majors as his estranged childhood friend. Charles credits the anime-influenced fight direction, tracing one shot straight to Naruto, for narrowly beating out Past Lives on his list.
Celine Song's feature debut, starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro. The most-requested pick of the episode; Rob saw it alone at a 10 p.m. screening and calls it a definitive modern romance, with Across the Spider-Verse as his runner-up.
The animated sequel, with Shameik Moore back as Miles Morales. Jessica points to the voice cast, including Daniel Kaluuya's Spider-Punk, built around his own Camden roots, and calls Beau Is Afraid her second pick.
Ari Aster's three-hour odyssey with Joaquin Phoenix and Patti LuPone. Sean calls it a convulsive end to a chapter of Aster's career, ahead of a planned Western noir, also with Phoenix.
Wes Anderson's Cold War-set nesting-doll comedy, with Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson. Amanda calls it his most significant film since The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Bobby agrees, though she claimed the pick first.
Daniel Goldhaber's eco-sabotage thriller, adapted from Andreas Malm's nonfiction book. Bobby's number two behind Asteroid City, which he calls "leftist Ocean's Eleven."
Also mentioned raised along the way
From Van's Sharper pick Dirty Rotten ScoundrelsMatchstick MenOcean's ElevenPokémon Detective PikachuDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
From the Rye Lane conversation Before SunriseLa La LandThe Umbrellas of CherbourgSet It Up
From the Showing Up / Flash conversation First CowThe FabelmansBatgirlFast X
From the Indiana Jones conversation Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullRegarding Henry
From the Creed III conversation The Matrix
From the Spider-Verse conversation The Lion King
From the Beau Is Afraid / Asteroid City conversation The Grand Budapest HotelOppenheimer
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Peep ShowSuccessionStarstruckThe Continental
Anime NarutoDragon Ball ZOne Piece
Games FIFA World Cup Launch Edition
Ads Boar's HeadWhite ClawNespressoPricelineMint Mobile