Pulp Fiction 1994
What Sean calls "a real catalyzing agent of my life"; he says 1995 was basically its sequel year. Amanda was 9, too young for it at the time.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Draft
The 1995 Movie Draft
December 29, 2020/ 69 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Sean, Amanda, and reigning champion Chris Ryan close out the year by drafting 1995, the year all three say made them into moviegoers.
51 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.
Who were you in 1995?before the draft
Get Shorty 1995
Sent Sean down an Elmore Leonard rabbit hole that year.
Il Postino 1994
One of the Oscar nominees that baffled a 12-year-old Sean that year.
Leaving Las Vegas 1995
Another of that year's Oscar bewilderments, per Sean.
Laws of Gravity 1992
Nick Gomez's NYC crime debut, the movie that first put him on Sean's radar.
New Jersey Drive 1995
Gomez's follow-up; an interview about it is where Sean first heard the name Richard Price.
Clockers 1995
The Richard Price adaptation Gomez was asked about directing in that interview; Spike Lee made it instead, with Harvey Keitel stepping in after Robert De Niro dropped out.
The 1995 Movie Draft drafting 1995 movies
Amanda Dobbins
Drama
Kicking and Screaming 1995
Amanda didn't see it until a decade later; the first Noah Baumbach movie she saw.
Comedy or Horror
Clueless 1995
Her own Pulp Fiction moment, and still, by her count, the best Jane Austen adaptation.
Blockbuster
Apollo 13 1995
Her first pick, taken with genuine nerves about beating Chris to it. Best Ron Howard movie, her favorite Tom Hanks performance, watched on VHS "at least a hundred times."
Animated or Foreign Language
Casper 1995
"This one goes out to all the 90s millennials, the true Devon Sawa fans."
Sequel
GoldenEye 1995
The first Bond movie she saw, though she doesn't rate it among the best. Concedes the N64 game it spawned is another matter.
Wildcard
Sense and Sensibility 1995
Ang Lee's adaptation, screenplay by Emma Thompson; her comfort-watch. Passed on Father of the Bride Part II for it.
Chris Ryan
Drama
Heat 1995
"It's not only my Apollo 13. It is literally my moon landing." Saw it twice in one weekend during the Blizzard of '96.
Comedy or Horror
Mallrats 1995
Picked with his heart; saw it two or three times in theaters. Kevin Smith's Clerks follow-up.
Blockbuster
Crimson Tide 1995
Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman; Tarantino did an uncredited dialogue polish.
Animated or Foreign Language
Ghost in the Shell 1995
By his own admission he's never actually watched it start to finish, only caught it playing on a bar TV.
Sequel
Die Hard with a Vengeance 1995
"DH with a V" to him and his friends growing up. Started life as an original script, Simon Says, retrofitted into a McClane movie; Samuel L. Jackson's role was reportedly once meant for Laurence Fishburne.
Wildcard
Before Sunrise 1995
Making up for once passing on it in a prior draft in favor of Iron Man 3.
Sean Fennessey
Drama
Casino 1995
Scorsese; Sean first saw it on a VHS academy screener he lifted from his uncle's TV console as a teenager.
Blockbuster
Se7en 1995
David Fincher, after the studio battles of Alien 3. Deliberately drafted as Blockbuster, not Drama, to save his Drama pick for Casino.
Animated or Foreign Language
Toy Story 1995
"An absolute game-changing movie in the history of movies," by his own account.
Sequel
Batman Forever 1995
Joel Schumacher's Val Kilmer entry, with Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones as Riddler and Two-Face. Sean calls it a weak year for sequels overall.
Wildcard
The Usual Suspects 1995
Chris McQuarrie's script; Sean says it "flipped a switch" in how he thought about movies.
On the board, undrafted honorable mentions
BraveheartUnder Siege 2: Dark TerritoryFather of the Bride Part IIAce Ventura: When Nature CallsCandyman: Farewell to the FleshThe Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great GivingBad Boys
Notable omissionsmovies left off the board
Braveheart 1995
That year's Best Picture winner; nobody at the table would defend it as an all-time great now.
Devil in a Blue Dress 1995
Denzel Washington's Walter Mosley adaptation.
Dead Presidents 1995
Chris's favorite of that year's crop of NYC crime pictures.
Shallow Grave 1994
Danny Boyle's debut, an early Ewan McGregor role before Trainspotting.
The American President 1995
Amanda saw it four times in theaters with her dad; her introduction to Aaron Sorkin.
Bad Boys 1995
Sean's runner-up wildcard pick, behind The Usual Suspects.
Now and Then 1995
A Little Princess 1995
Alfonso Cuarón's American debut.
Kids 1995
Larry Clark's film, which Sean remembers watching on a bus TV during a high school ski trip.
Empire Records 1995
Outbreak 1995
Safe 1995
Todd Haynes; the group says it's the kind of movie that never fits neatly into a draft category.
Desperado 1995
To Die For 1995
Strange Days 1995
Kathryn Bigelow; still hard to find on U.S. home video, per Chris.
Hackers 1995
Dolores Claiborne 1995
The Net 1995
Friday 1995
Showgirls 1995
La Haine 1995
French film about a day in the Paris banlieue; Vincent Cassel's breakout.
Fallen Angels 1995
Wong Kar-wai.
The City of Lost Children 1995
Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Babe 1995
Debated whether it could even qualify as animated, since only the pig's mouth is.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Alien 3MankGoodfellasLawrence of ArabiaClerksChasing AmyBatman & RobinSkyfallIron Man 3Before MidnightTop Gun: Maverick
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Homicide: Life on the StreetGame of Thrones
Video games GoldenEye 007 (N64)NBA 2K
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