The Big Picture · Review · Discussion
October 7, 2022/ 80 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean, podcasting through a COVID quarantine, and Amanda dig into Amsterdam, Triangle of Sadness, and Tár, recap the New York Film Festival trip that got Sean sick (White Noise, Master Gardener, Decision to Leave, The Eternal Daughter), check in on Andor, and cover Sean's isolation-era viewing, including Marvel's Werewolf by Night.
15 films across 9 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.
AmsterdamDavid O. Russell's screwball ‘business plot’ comedy
Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington anchor a huge ensemble in a fictionalized take on the real 1933 fascist coup attempt known as the Business Plot. Sean: 'this is a very, very bad movie... it's really rickety and kind of all over the place.' Amanda compares it to a magazine piece that should've been killed with a kill fee before it ran.
Triangle of SadnessRuben Östlund's Palme d'Or-winning eat-the-rich satire
A supermodel couple (Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean) take a luxury yacht vacation that goes very wrong. Both hosts single out Dolly de Leon's third act as a Best Supporting Actress case ('let's start the Oscar campaign right now'), though Amanda found the first-act Instagram satire too on the nose.
TárTodd Field's first film in 16 years
Cate Blanchett plays fictional composer-conductor Lydia Tár, whose power and control are put on trial. Amanda calls it 'a fucking cool movie... I feel alive again,' while Sean compares its total command of tone to Field's own apprenticeship on a Kubrick set.
Andor, and the Star Wars it grew out ofTony Gilroy's show, five or six episodes in
Andor is a direct prequel to this, which was itself a prequel to A New Hope: 'that sounds elaborate and annoying, but it really is not.'
the trilogy Rogue One leads into; Sean says Andor barely registers as Star Wars at all: 'no lightsabers here,' no sign of the Skywalkers.
White Noiseopening night of the New York Film Festival, at Alice Tully Hall
Noah Baumbach's Don DeLillo adaptation. Sean says a gas-station sequence is 'literally on the level of Spielberg' and calls it the best filmmaking of Baumbach's career, while noting it's 'definitionally not for everyone.'
More from the New York Film FestivalMaster Gardener, Decision to Leave, and The Eternal Daughter
Paul Schrader's latest lonely-man redemption story: Joel Edgerton as an ex-neo-Nazi turned horticulturist, Sigourney Weaver as the plantation-owner boss who employs him. Doesn't have distribution yet, but Sean loved it.
Park Chan-wook's Hitchcock homage, led by Tang Wei. Both hosts liked it without loving it: 'purposefully convoluted,' per Sean, and a bit slow.
Joanna Hogg's mother-daughter ghost story, with Tilda Swinton playing both roles. Sean found it slow and airless; Amanda liked it more but ranks it below Hogg's Souvenir films.
Sean's rainy-Saturday rep screeningsa pop-up Pavement museum, then two revival screenings back to back
Jean-Luc Godard's Cannon Films oddity, with Molly Ringwald, Norman Mailer, Burgess Meredith, and a Woody Allen cameo that got a round of applause from the audience. Sean: 'I wouldn't say I liked it. I'm not sure how one likes a movie like that.'
Hype Williams' Nas/DMX crime film, seen on 35mm at the Metrograph. Sean: 'borderline incoherent' but 'fucking amazing,' with DMX and Taral Hicks 'radiant' and Nas 'absolutely atrocious.'
Werewolf by NightMarvel's black-and-white horror one-shot
Directed by composer Michael Giacchino, starring Gael García Bernal. Sean calls it 'clever' and 'breezy' and wishes Marvel made more of these instead of 'these long drawn out mediocre TV shows.'
What's nextAmanda's quarantine watchlist and a coming David Lynch episode
Amanda's isolation watch: a 1970s LA cop drama based on Joseph Wambaugh's novel, part of a deep dive into a book about '70s film.
timed to its 30th anniversary, part of an upcoming David Lynch episode with Adam Naiman.
the other anniversary title (25th) anchoring that same Lynch episode.
Also mentioned raised along the way
David O. Russell's filmography The FighterSilver Linings PlaybookI ♥ HuckabeesAmerican Hustle
A comparable big-swing misfire The Fortune
The Östlund trilogy Triangle of Sadness completes Force MajeureThe Square
Todd Field's first two films In the BedroomLittle Children
Cate Blanchett's last Best Actress win Blue Jasmine
Todd Field also acted, for Kubrick Eyes Wide Shut
The Baumbach/PTA comparison Amanda drew Inherent Vice
Schrader's other lonely-men films First ReformedThe Card CounterTaxi Driver
Park Chan-wook's back catalog OldboyLady VengeanceThe Handmaiden
South Korea's last international feature winner Parasite
Joanna Hogg's Souvenir films The SouvenirThe Souvenir Part II
Guillermo del Toro comparison The Devil's Backbone
In passing BarbarianHellraiserThe Fabelmans
Coming up on the show Halloween Ends
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV AndorHouse of the Dragon
Promos The Ringer's Philly Special (podcast promo)
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