The Laundromat 2019
Soderbergh's Panama Papers docudrama, written by Scott Z. Burns, with Meryl Streep in a bucket hat and Gary Oldman. Gets a three-week theatrical window before landing on Netflix.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Top Five · Roundtable
The Five Most Anticipated Movies of the Fall Festivals. Plus: 'The Irishman' Is Almost Here ... and It's Three and a Half Hours Long
August 29, 2019/ 62 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins walk through Netflix's suddenly stacked fall slate and the theatrical-window fight around it, argue about whether The Irishman's three-and-a-half-hour runtime means anything, then each build a five-deep list of the movie they're most anticipating out of Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and the New York Film Festival.
35 films across 6 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.
Netflix's stacked fall slate, and the theatrical-window fight
Dolemite Is My Name 2019
Eddie Murphy plays Rudy Ray Moore in Craig Brewer's biopic, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Murphy's first SNL hosting gig in over 30 years is timed right alongside it.
The King 2019
David Michôd's Henriad adaptation, written with Joel Edgerton, with Timothée Chalamet as Henry V and Robert Pattinson as the Dauphin. Premieres at TIFF.
The Irishman 2019
Scorsese's three-and-a-half-hour mob epic with De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino, premiering at the New York Film Festival. The hosts spend a good chunk of the show debating whether runtime has anything to do with quality.
Atlantics 2019
Mati Diop's Cannes prizewinner, mentioned only in passing here.
Earthquake Bird 2019
Wash Westmoreland directs an adaptation neither host had heard much about yet; he co-directed Still Alice.
The Two Popes 2019
Fernando Meirelles directs Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as Pope Francis and Pope Benedict, from an Anthony McCarten script.
Marriage Story 2019
Noah Baumbach's semi-autobiographical divorce drama. Both hosts single it out as the one they're most excited for and agree not to spoil it for each other.
Is there a blockbuster anywhere near this year's Oscars?
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019
Comes up twice: once as a runtime comparison for The Irishman, once as one of the only films in the conversation with real box-office weight.
The Farewell 2019
A24's slow-build hit, already out for weeks. The hosts think its rollout has been close to perfect even without a splashy fall-festival premiere.
Ford v Ferrari 2019
James Mangold's racing drama with Matt Damon and Christian Bale. Sean calls it the one title here that could plausibly do real business.
Amanda's Fall Festival Anticipation Indexranked, most anticipated first
No. 2
Dark Waters 2019
Todd Haynes's toxic-tort docudrama with Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, scripted by Anthony McCarten. She's fascinated by how far it sits from Haynes's usual register.
No. 3
Knives Out 2019
Rian Johnson's whodunit with Daniel Craig and Chris Evans, premiering at TIFF. She calls it exactly her kind of movie and doubts the Oscars will agree.
No. 4
The Truth 2019
Hirokazu Kore-eda's first film outside Japan, with Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche as mother and daughter, plus Ethan Hawke. No U.S. distributor confirmed yet.
No. 5
The Laundromat 2019
Already discussed at length, but she flags it again as a specific favorite.
Sean's Fall Festival Anticipation Indexranked, most anticipated first
No. 1
Waves 2019
Trey Edward Shults's follow-up with Lucas Hedges and Sterling K. Brown, just confirmed for the fall-festival circuit after A24 set a release date.
No. 2
Parasite 2019
He still hasn't seen it as of taping; says a colleague pirated it rather than wait.
No. 5
Uncut Gems 2019
The Safdie Brothers, Adam Sandler, Kevin Garnett, and cinematographer Darius Khondji. He compares wanting a movie this tailored to him to being Thanos completing his plan.
Honorable mentions and curious-about beyond the top five
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
Jojo Rabbit 2019
Would be her No. 6. Wary of the Taika Waititi tone discourse already forming around it.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
Pain and Glory 2019
Peak Antonio Banderas and, by her account, Almodóvar in his most autobiographical mode.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Motherless Brooklyn 2019
A long-time Edward Norton believer, going back to high school.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Wasp Network 2019
Olivier Assayas's film with Penélope Cruz; no U.S. release date set yet.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
The Burnt Orange Heresy 2019
Wasn't on either's list going in: an Italian-directed art-heist thriller shot on Lake Como with Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland, and Mick Jagger, closing out Venice.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
First Cow 2019
Kelly Reichardt's next; he's hoping to catch it that weekend.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Lucy in the Sky 2019
Noah Hawley's directorial debut, with Natalie Portman as an astronaut. Amanda isn't sold on Portman's accent from the trailer alone.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
The Climb 2019
An independently made cycling drama with strong early buzz he hasn't caught up with yet.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Seberg 2019
Kristen Stewart as Jean Seberg, entangled with the FBI in the 1960s.
The Aeronauts, Just Mercy, and Joker
The Aeronauts 2019
Tom Harper directs Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in a survivalist hot-air-balloon adventure for Amazon, which is shrinking its own theatrical windows the same way Netflix is: this one moves to Prime two weeks after release.
Just Mercy 2019
Destin Daniel Cretton's Bryan Stevenson drama with Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson. Both hosts sense a late-breaking Oscar run building quietly.
Joker 2019
Todd Phillips's Joaquin Phoenix vehicle, premiering at TIFF. Amanda's skeptical of redoing a story Heath Ledger already won an Oscar for; Sean's curious but unconvinced.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Precedent for the Netflix window fight Roma22 July
The Irishman's runtime club TitanicThe English PatientSchindler's ListThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Godfather Part IIBen-HurLawrence of ArabiaDances with WolvesGone with the WindSilence
Sean's Henry V recommendation instead Chimes at MidnightHenry V
The other divorce-club rewatchable Kramer vs. Kramer
The Laundromat's docudrama forebears The Informant!Erin Brockovich
Scott Z. Burns's other 2019 script The Report
Dolemite Is My Name's writers' track record Hustle & FlowEd WoodThe People vs. Larry Flynt
Eddie Murphy's last Oscar campaign Dreamgirls
David Michôd's résumé The RoverWar MachineAnimal Kingdom
Cinematographer Darius Khondji's other credits OkjaThe Lost City of ZThe ImmigrantPanic Room
Kore-eda's previous film Shoplifters
The likely French Oscar submission instead Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Todd Haynes's other issue-adjacent films SafeFar From Heaven
Destin Daniel Cretton's résumé Short Term 12Shang-Chi
Todd Phillips going dark before War Dogs
Other blockbuster-adjacent 2019 titles CatsStar Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerLittle Women
The kind of hit that could still show up Bohemian RhapsodyBlack PantherA Star Is BornThe Departed
Recent TIFF People's Choice winners Green BookThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriThe Shape of WaterLa La LandRoomThe Imitation Game12 Years a SlaveSilver Linings Playbook
The rest of the Thanksgiving 2019 pileup 21 BridgesA Beautiful Day in the NeighborhoodFrozen IIQueen & Slim
Already come and gone this summer Where'd You Go, BernadetteThe Wife
A rewatch ahead of Parasite Snowpiercer
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Briar PatchSuccessionFargo
Cross-promo The Ringer's Fantasy Football Hall of FameThe Dannacy Football Podcast