Godzilla vs. Kong 2021
The trailer dialogue gets read as some of the best writing Sean's heard in years; Chris compares it to shit-town Kyle Chandler yelling that Godzilla is angry and nobody knows why.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Draft · Interview
The 2015 Movie Draft. Plus: Amanda Seyfried!
January 26, 2021/ 93 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan snake-draft the movies of 2015 across six categories, then Sean talks to Amanda Seyfried about playing Marion Davies in Mank.
31 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.
Cold open: Godzilla vs. Kong and a Snyder Cut watch-along teasebefore the draft
Godzilla 2014
The Gareth Edwards/Bryan Cranston one. Amanda's contemporaneous verdict, texted to Chris after seeing it: 'don't see it. We will not be discussing it on the podcast.'
Godzilla: King of the Monsters 2019
Michael Dougherty's sequel, with Vera Farmiga.
Kong: Skull Island 2017
An important one for Sean and Chris, who read it as a Vietnam movie minus the actual Vietnam-movie part. John C. Reilly gets singled out.
Zack Snyder's Justice League 2021
Chris pitches recording a live four-hour commentary track for the eventual HBO Max cut; Sean is not on board with prepping, just drinking milk.
The 2015 movie draft drafting the movies of 2015
Sean Fennessey
Drama
The Hateful Eight 2015
Not his favorite Tarantino, but far better than almost anything else in theaters that year. Prefers the extended, chapterized Netflix roadshow cut.
Comedy/Horror
It Follows 2015
One of the best horror movies of the last decade for him: David Robert Mitchell's dread about STDs and a hollowed-out urban landscape. Says the pandemic has given it new resonance, and calls Maika Monroe the new Jamie Lee Curtis.
Blockbuster
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 2015
Christopher McQuarrie's first in the series, before he'd go on to direct Fallout. Credits it with reviving the franchise and introducing Rebecca Ferguson.
Animated/Foreign Language
Inside Out 2015
One of his favorite movies, period. Says he had a full evangelizing reaction in the theater. Pete Docter also just co-directed Soul.
Sequel
Creed 2015
Ryan Coogler's Rocky follow-up. Amanda's husband apparently has a rare bad take that the movie isn't good; Sean's rewatched it and still loves it.
Wildcard
Mississippi Grind 2015
Amanda and Chris talk him into it. He calls it basically a remake of California Split, a top-ten movie of all time for him.
Chris Ryan
Drama
Sicario 2015
His pick for best movie of the year, punctuated by the recurring bit about a stranger yelling 'Sicario!' out a car window at him in 2015.
Comedy/Horror
The Big Short 2015
One of his most-rewatched movies of the last five years thanks to its Netflix run. Loves the vignette structure and Ryan Gosling's Jared Vennett; Steve Carell's central performance is the one part that doesn't land for him.
Blockbuster
Ant-Man 2015
Breaks his stated plan to avoid drafting any MCU movies. Calls it a disposable but fun Paul Rudd/Michael Douglas heist comedy that made $190 million anyway.
Animated/Foreign Language
Güeros 2015
A Mexican road movie directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, described as a French New Wave-inflected portrait of 1999 Mexico City. Says it's grown in his estimation on a recent rewatch.
Sequel
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2015
Called out by the others as the draft's first bad pick. He defends it as a fun romp built on the nostalgia of finally seeing Harrison Ford back as Han Solo.
Wildcard
Steve Jobs 2015
Aaron Sorkin's script; a movie he says was overlooked on release but has built a growing cult following since.
Amanda Dobbins
Drama
Spotlight 2015
Saw it alone at BAM; singles out the closing title card tallying the places the investigation spread to as a gut punch. Notes it also just won Best Picture.
Comedy/Horror
The Intern 2015
Nancy Meyers; likes the Robert De Niro/Anne Hathaway chemistry and reads it as a kind of response to Meyers's own Baby Boom.
Blockbuster
The Martian 2015
A one-man-show Matt Damon performance she loves without reservation: 'you're just like, sure, I'll watch you grow potatoes for a while.'
Animated/Foreign Language
Clouds of Sils Maria 2015
Triple-checked the US release date against a New York Times review before taking it, given how messy foreign-film release dates get. Praises Kristen Stewart's performance opposite Juliette Binoche.
Sequel
Mad Max: Fury Road 2015
Takes it with the very first pick of the draft. All three call it one of the best movies of the decade; ends up crowned the draft's overall winner.
Wildcard
Focus 2015
A Will Smith/Margot Robbie con-artist movie she says is underrated: charming leads, plausible enough heist mechanics.
On the board, undrafted honorable mentions
Ex MachinaBlackhatThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.CarolBridge of SpiesAmyBrooklynThe LobsterStraight Outta ComptonMagic Mike XXLFurious 7AnomalisaThe AssassinThe GiftWild TalesMustangUnfriendedThe InvitationGreen RoomDopeThe GunmanMistress AmericaWhile We're YoungLove & MercyThe VisitSpectreThe Revenant
In conversation
Amanda Seyfried on
Mank 2020
Plays Marion Davies opposite Gary Oldman's Herman Mankiewicz. Talks through getting the script in pieces on another set, David Fincher's rehearsal process, and shooting the long Sans Simeon walk-and-talk.
Amanda Seyfried on
Citizen Kane 1941
The film Mank is about the writing of; Seyfried talks about how Davies's real legacy got flattened by Kane's version of her.
Amanda Seyfried on
Ever Since Eve 1937
One of the real Marion Davies pictures Seyfried rewatched to prep, singling out an elevator-hallway scene opposite Robert Montgomery.
Amanda Seyfried on
Lovelace 2013
Where she played another real person, Linda Lovelace; comes up when discussing the line between impersonation and embodiment.
Amanda Seyfried on
Chloe 2009
Cites it as a deliberate swing against typecasting, taken specifically because Atom Egoyan was directing.
Amanda Seyfried on
While We're Young 2015
Amanda Seyfried on
First Reformed 2017
Calls it one of her absolute favorite films; part of the case Sean makes that she could've coasted as a rom-com lead but chased directors like Paul Schrader instead.
Amanda Seyfried on
Pieces of a Woman 2020
Her answer to the last-great-thing-she's-seen question. Says the birth scene is as real as anything she's seen that isn't real, and singles out Shia LaBeouf's performance.
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Great British Bake OffNurse JackieDead to Me
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