The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview

‘The Brutalist,’ the Best Movies at the New York Film Festival, and ‘The Apprentice' With Sebastian Stan!

October 15, 2024/ 125 min/ Sean Fennessey · Bobby Wagner

Sean Fennessey and producer Bobby Wagner run down the New York Film Festival, then Brian Curtis joins to argue over ‘The Apprentice' and Sebastian Stan sits for an interview.

24 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.

The best movies at the New York Film Festivalwith Bobby Wagner

The Brutalist 2024

Brady Corbett's third feature, shot in VistaVision. Adrien Brody as a Hungarian émigré architect, Guy Pearce as his benefactor. Fennessey's pick for best film of the festival, out December 20.

Nickel Boys 2024

RaMell Ross adapts Colson Whitehead's novel about a Jim Crow reform school. Fennessey flagged it at Telluride as the boldest thing he saw.

Anora 2024

Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner, with Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn sex worker who marries an oligarch's son.

Emilia Pérez 2024

Jacques Audiard's Mexico-set musical, chosen as France's international submission over All We Imagine as Light.

A Real Pain 2024

Jesse Eisenberg writes and directs; Kieran Culkin as the cousin you can't quit.

Queer 2024

Guadagnino's William S. Burroughs adaptation with Daniel Craig. Fennessey admired the ambition more than the result.

Pavements 2024

Alex Ross Perry's blend of biopic, documentary and jukebox musical about the band Pavement.

The Shrouds 2024

Cronenberg on grief and surveillance, with Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger. Fennessey's favorite film he actually saw in New York.

Oh, Canada 2024

Schrader reunites with Richard Gere four decades after American Gigolo; Jacob Elordi plays the younger self.

Hard Truths 2024

Mike Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste for the first time since Secrets & Lies.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig 2024

Mohammad Rasoulof's Tehran drama, made in exile and running as Germany's submission. The hosts were mixed.

Universal Language 2024

Matthew Rankin's Winnipeg-meets-Tehran comedy, Canada's submission.

Eephus 2024

Carson Lund's single-day adult baseball-league movie. Wagner's pick.

All We Imagine as Light 2024

Payal Kapadia's Mumbai drama about two nurses across a generational divide. Wagner's favorite of the festival.

No Other Land 2024

Palestinian-Israeli documentary on the destruction of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank.

Happy End 2024

Neo Sora's high-school coming-of-age story set under classroom surveillance.

Stranger Eyes 2024

Yeo Siew Hua's Rear Window-style thriller about a couple's abducted child and the surveillance state.

‘The Apprentice'with Brian Curtis

The Apprentice 2024

Ali Abbasi's Trump origin story, with Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn. Fennessey and Curtis split on whether it reveals anything a decade of coverage hasn't.

In conversation with Sebastian Stan