Wonder Woman 1984 2020
Announced for a same-day HBO Max and theatrical release on Christmas, the closest a mainstream blockbuster has come to a true day-and-date release.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
‘The Queen’s Gambit,’ ‘Small Axe,’ and the Top Five Miniseries of 2020
November 19, 2020/ 80 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda put movies aside to talk The Queen's Gambit, Steve McQueen's Small Axe, and the best miniseries of 2020, then Aneesh Chaganty stops by to talk his new thriller Run.
20 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.
Wonder Woman 1984 Jumps to HBO Maxday-and-date release news
Palm Springs 2020
One of the movies redirected to streaming this year that still found an audience.
Trolls World Tour 2020
As Sean puts it, this one “walked so Wonder Woman 1984 could run.”
An American Pickle 2020
Another pandemic-era streaming redirect they mention in the same breath.
Mangrove and The Trial of the Chicago 7Steve McQueen's Small Axe vs. Aaron Sorkin's courtroom drama
Mangrove 2020
The first Small Axe installment. Amanda calls it one of the five best movies of the year, despite airing as a “TV show” on Amazon and the BBC.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 2020
Watched back-to-back with Mangrove by accident; both are courtroom dramas about activists on trial, but Sean argues Mangrove is the tougher, more purely cinematic film.
Aneesh Chaganty on Run
Aneesh Chaganty on
Run 2020
His new Hulu thriller, deliberately built as the opposite of Searching: a stripped-down two-hander about a mother, her daughter, and one very big secret.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Searching 2018
His breakout, shot entirely on computer screens. That's the reason he wanted to prove next he could make something with “no gimmick.”
Aneesh Chaganty on
Shadow of a Doubt 1943
One of Sean's reference points for Run's Hitchcockian dread.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Misery 1990
Sits in Chaganty's Letterboxd top four. Run leans hard on its captor-in-the-house tension.
Aneesh Chaganty on
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962
A visual reference Chaganty cites, one he found only after the script was already written.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Psycho 1960
Named alongside Misery as a source for Run's Mrs. Bates-coded references.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Alien 3 1992
David Fincher's fraught studio debut, brought up as a parallel for a young director working with an unfamiliar crew.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Mank 2020
Mentioned in passing as the reason Fincher's Alien 3 years are back in conversation.
Aneesh Chaganty on
The Irishman 2019
Cited as a film that changed how audiences weigh a movie's “theatricality” after premiering at home.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Leave No Trace 2018
Chaganty's answer to the show's closing question. He admires how much drama it conveys without dialogue.
Aneesh Chaganty on
Dick Johnson Is Dead 2020
His other recent favorite. He calls its vulnerability something he's “not yet capable of.”
Aneesh Chaganty on
Contagion 2011
Chaganty's pet Letterboxd grievance. He thinks its 3.6 average badly undersells it.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Also mentioned Lovers RockRed, White and Blue
Coming next week Hillbilly Elegy
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The Queen's GambitThe UndoingThe Haunting of Bly ManorThe Haunting of Hill HouseFargoAmerican Horror StoryThe Twilight ZoneThe CrownThe VowGLOWCastle RockThe OutsiderTiger KingThe Last DanceCheerHillaryThe ReagansNormal PeopleI May Destroy YouDevsUnorthodoxMrs. AmericaGodless
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