The Big Picture · Review · Discussion · Interview
January 27, 2025/ 133 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Yasi Salik · Chris Ryan
January's dumped-into-the-landfill releases, section by section. Yasi Salik joins Sean and Amanda on the CGI-chimpanzee Robbie Williams biopic Better Man; Sean and Amanda take the Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx Netflix comedy Back in Action; Chris Ryan runs three dumpuary titles: Wolf Man, Flight Risk, Presence; then Steven Soderbergh talks Presence, his 35th feature.
6 films across 4 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.
Better ManYasi Salik, in studio, with Sean and Amanda
The Robbie Williams biopic in which Williams is played by a CGI chimpanzee. Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) directs on a $110M budget; it made about a million domestic on 1,200 screens. Yasi's most-anticipated dumpuary title. The room splits on whether the monkey conceit carries any feeling, given that Williams barely registers as a star in the US.
Back in ActionSean and Amanda
Cameron Diaz's first film in 11 years, opposite Jamie Foxx as retired-CIA spies who are also married and get pulled back in. Seth Gordon directs; Glenn Close does a British accent. Sean files it under 'wink action' and 'Walbergalia': weightless wallpaper the stars are too good for. Amanda watched half of it in the bath.
Dumpuary, with Chris RyanSean and Chris Ryan on three January titles
Leigh Whannell's follow-up to Upgrade and The Invisible Man, from the Universal monster canon. Christopher Abbott turns slowly; Julia Garner plays his wife. Chris can make the case for it as a drama about not screwing up your kids; both agree it isn't scary and the transformation never goes full wolf.
Mel Gibson's first studio film since Hacksaw Ridge. Mark Wahlberg is a hitman posing as the pilot on a four-seater carrying a witness (Topher Grace) and a marshal (Michelle Dockery). Visible AI, a shaved head that reads as a bald cap, threats not in the blacklist script. Bad, and neither of them could look away.
Soderbergh's ghost story shot entirely from the ghost's POV inside one suburban house; written by David Koepp, with Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox. Chris calls it moving and rock-solid: the horror is being a family.
Steven Soderbergh on 'Presence'
His 35th feature. Soderbergh walks through the Sony a7-on-a-Ronin rig and the rubber-gripped ninja slippers he wore to move silently as the ghost. He also gets into the cut-to-black timing that encodes how much time has passed, and why a theatrical release still makes audiences treat a movie as 'real.' Second of three Koepp scripts, after Kimi and before Black Bag.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Music biopics the Better Man talk measured against RocketmanWalk the LineA Complete Unknown8 MileAmadeusThe Buddy Holly StoryLove & MercyLa BambaSid and NancyBehind the CandelabraLast DaysElvisBack to BlackRespectGet on UpCoal Miner's DaughterWhat's Love Got to Do with It24 Hour Party PeopleControlElton John: Never Too Late
Also in the Better Man talk The Greatest ShowmanMoana 2Creation StoriesAnoraMamma Mia!TangledThe Princess and the FrogCenter StagePlanet of the ApesThe Northman
Back in Action and the 'wink action' lineage Mr. & Mrs. SmithFamily SwitchRed NoticeArgylleJohn WickLove HurtsNobody 2NovocaineAtomic BlondeBeing John MalkovichVanilla SkyBad TeacherSex TapeAnnieThe DeliveranceHillbilly ElegySpy KidsThe SubstanceA Nightmare on Elm StreetBlack Bag
Werewolf and Wolf Man movies The Wolf ManThe WolfmanWolfAn American Werewolf in LondonDog SoldiersThe FlyTeen WolfSawM3GAN
Mel Gibson's filmography The Man Without a FaceBraveheartThe Passion of the ChristApocalyptoHacksaw RidgeDragged Across ConcreteFather StuThe Expendables 3Daddy's Home 2Daddy's HomeMeet the ParentsMidnight RunThe BrutalistCrashIn the Valley of ElahBanditHot SeatConfidential InformantDesperation RoadBoneyard
First-person and perspective movies Nickel BoysHereLady in the Lake
Soderbergh's filmography (and David Koepp's) Sex, Lies, and VideotapeThe LaundromatHigh Flying BirdLet Them All TalkKimiNo Sudden MoveLogan LuckyUnsaneMagic Mike's Last DanceHaywireThe LimeySolarisTrafficErin BrockovichKafkaSchizopolisApartment ZeroJurassic Park
35th features, and the last great thing Cries and WhispersNotoriousEscape to VictoryKing LearSeptember 5Emilia PérezThe GentlemenHot Frosty
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV SeveranceThe AgencyRap ShitCurb Your EnthusiasmAtlantaDownton AbbeyWhat We Do in the ShadowsGodlessThis TownMosaicFull CircleCommand ZWhite LotusStranger ThingsRobbie Williams (Netflix docuseries)
Unmade or upcoming NevermoreThe Resurrection of the Christ
Podcasts BandsplainThe WatchThe Press Box
Ads / products Netflix Home Run DerbyBotoxWhite ClawGrow with GoogleAveline wineMerit