The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Interview
May 27, 2026/ 129 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Van Lathan
Sean and Amanda catch up on the movie news they missed and hand out their own winners and losers from Cannes, then Van Lathan joins to bury 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' as the end of an era. Plus: Sean talks to 'Tuner' writer-director Daniel Roher.
16 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.
The newseverything they missed over 10 days in Europe
Curry Barker's $750,000 horror movie earned roughly $68 million in about 12 days, and its box office went up weekend over weekend, which Sean notes almost never happens outside a holiday and never for a non-IP, non-sequel story. Neither host has seen it yet; Amanda is due to catch up before they discuss it on Friday.
David Fincher's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' spinoff will get roughly two weeks on about a thousand IMAX screens over Thanksgiving before hitting Netflix December 23, taking the slot Greta Gerwig's Narnia vacated. Sean and Amanda puzzle over why no one else wants the Thanksgiving date.
Mel Gibson released a first image from his two-part sequel to 'The Passion of the Christ.' Part one opens May 6, 2027, against 'The Legend of Zelda,' and part two against 'Star Wars: Starfighter,' counterprogramming that leaves Sean and Amanda baffled.
Sam Raimi is set to direct a modern update of the 1978 ventriloquist-dummy horror film for Lionsgate. The original stars Anthony Hopkins as a ventriloquist whose dummy comes alive, from a novel and screenplay by William Goldman.
The winners and losers at Cannesthe prizes, the acquisitions, and Sean's own scorecard
Christian Mungiu's film, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, won the Palme d'Or, Neon's seventh Palme winner in a row. Sean had talked himself out of it in favor of Minotaur and regretted it. He compares its reception to a political football and expects it to be argued about for the next year.
Andrey Zvyagintsev's film won the Grand Prix. Sean's case for the Palme was that Zvyagintsev had never won and Mungiu had, but the jury spread the wealth elsewhere. Amanda was 'nearly Anora'd' by missing its premiere while she was on the ground.
Valeska Grisebach's first film since 'Western' (2017) took the Jury Prize. Sean skipped its late-breaking premiere and has no opinion on it.
Los Javis (Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo) shared Best Director for this big, sweeping story of gay men across three phases of Spanish history. Acquired by Netflix; Sean, who insists on the original title over 'The Black Ball,' calls it flawed but audacious and compares it to 'Atonement.'
Paweł Pawlikowski shared Best Director for this restrained, sharply shot post-war film, the emotional opposite of 'La Bola Negra,' which Sean enjoys pairing it against.
The new Lukas Dhont film, which Sean did not stay for; its two leads shared Best Actor. He calls the performances good but the movie not his favorite.
Jordan Firstman's movie, acquired for $17 million, was the favorite of most critics Sean met across his 10 days at Cannes. His answer for best-thing-you-saw.
James Gray's film left Cannes with no prizes, running his competition record to 0-for-7, despite a high score on the French critics' grid. Le Figaro named it their own Palme pick. Sean calls it a very good movie.
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’with Van Lathan
Jon Favreau directs Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, and Sigourney Weaver in the first big-screen 'Star Wars' movie in seven years, written by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor. Amanda and her four-year-old both found it boring; her daughter thought it was scary. Van Lathan, a self-described Star Wars lifer, admits he mostly liked it while conceding it advances nothing and plays like four TV episodes stitched together. Sean lands on average, a 'nothing burger' with handmade puppetry, and reads it as the end cap on the streaming era and a Disney signal to reset before next year's 'Starfighter.'
In conversationon pivoting from docs to a scripted thriller
Roher's scripted debut, which Sean saw at Telluride: a tight thriller about a piano tuner who falls into a criminal underworld, blending safe-cracking with jazz needle drops. Roher pitches it as 'Rain Man meets The Shining meets Heat,' seeded by a real piano tuner he shadowed for a day. Leo Woodall stars; Joanne Sellar (Paul Thomas Anderson's longtime producer) produced.
The documentary that won Roher an Oscar at 29 and, in his telling, was the 'rocket sauce' that propelled his life, including meeting his wife. He describes the follow-up anxiety that pushed him toward fiction: going electric, Dylan-style.
Roher's first feature, on Robbie Robertson and the Band, made in a Toronto broom closet after he cold-pitched Robertson at 24. Scorsese and Ron Howard executive produced; it opened TIFF. Robertson, who died before Roher made a scripted film, was the one who told him to go find a script.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Around the news Once Upon a Time in HollywoodThe Passion of the ChristThe BatmanThe Lego Batman MovieThe Lego MovieGrown UpsBackroomsDune: Part Three
At Cannes Gentle MonsterAnoraThe Worst Person in the WorldSentimental Value4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 DaysGraduationBeyond the HillsR.M.N.Western
Star Wars, and the comps Star WarsThe Empire Strikes BackReturn of the JediStar Wars: The Force AwakensStar Wars: The Last JediStar Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerRogue One: A Star Wars StorySolo: A Star Wars StoryMoana 2The Super Mario Bros. MovieA Complete UnknownJohn WickHoward the DuckCoyote UglyRatatouilleFrozenSwingersTakenKPop Demon Hunters
Daniel Roher's world Cinema ParadisoMarty SupremeRain ManThe ShiningHeatTo Catch a Thief
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The MandalorianAndorAhsokaSaved by the BellRuPaul's Drag Race
Games Star Fox
Rides Rise of the ResistanceStar Tours
Ads State FarmWells Fargo Autograph JourneyAmazon PrimeTremfyaStamps.comAccenture