The Big Picture · Discussion · Review

‘The Social Reckoning’ Is No ‘The Social Network,’ and the Top Five Most Unnecessary Legasequels. Plus: The Best Movies at NYFF!

October 9, 2026/ 111 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

The Big Picture After Dark: Skydance's franchise slate, Sean's New York Film Festival dispatch, Aaron Sorkin's doomed 'Social Network' follow-up, and a loose survey of the best and worst legacy sequels.

44 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 Skydance Era Movie Newsevery franchise coming back

Transformers 2007

Franchise rebooting again with Spielberg producing; Sean's seen the first and 'Dark of the Moon.'

Bumblebee 2018

The last attempt to relaunch; Amanda liked the Hailee Steinfeld trailer.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 2023

Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II); Sean liked it, nobody else did.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon 2011

The one Amanda half-remembered; they jokingly dubbed it 'the JFK one.'

A Quiet Place 2018

A Quiet Place Part II 2020

Amanda soured on the silly final shot.

A Quiet Place: Day One 2024

The third film; nobody locked up the fentanyl. 'A Quiet Place 3' lands on Sean's reunion weekend.

The Godfather 1972

Sean's recurring bit: a demon at Skydance would greenlight 'Godfather IV' while Pacino's still breathing.

The Best Movies at the New York Film FestivalSean's dispatch from Lincoln Center

Artificial 2025

Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI movie; Amazon dropped it, Neon picked it up. Both rave: a Best Picture-level jolt and maybe Andrew Garfield's best work. Damon Albarn scored it and played piano before the premiere.

Behemoth 2025

Tony Gilroy's post-'Andor' film, out Dec 4. Not 'Michael Clayton 2'; a subtle, passive-protagonist piece with the best Pedro Pascal performance, built around a cellist and nine film composers.

Naza

Investigative doc on IDF strikes in Gaza from the 'No Other Land' team (Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor), exec-produced by Jonathan Glazer; The Guardian helping release it. Title as transcribed, likely a mishear.

Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall 2025

PTA concert film (Benny Safdie on camera). A diagrammatic tour of where you can put a camera in the hall; speaks to Winter fans more than newcomers.

A Statement 2025

Tom McCarthy's people-talking-in-rooms drama from Nathaniel Rich's 'Losing Earth'; a 1980 St. Petersburg climate panel, dialogue pulled from the transcript. Giamatti, Turturro, Rudd, Ryan. SPC, awards-qualifying toward a 2027 release.

Making Marie Antoinette 2025

Eleanor Coppola's behind-the-scenes doc of Sofia's 2006 film, finished after Coppola's death; narration from her journals read by Diane Lane. A portrait of a mother watching her daughter direct.

Godzilla Minus Zero 2025

Sequel to 'Godzilla Minus One,' a Ghidorah origin. Sean loved the monster choreography; a touch too much WWII human struggle padding out the second half.

Joy of Joys 2025

35-min Jonathan Glazer doc on a war-zone benefit album (Jarvis Cocker, Fontaines D.C., Albarn, Olivia Rodrigo) filmed by eight-year-olds. Sweet, worth the time.

Musk 2025

Alex Gibney's four-hour doc. Comprehensive and convincing but little new; irritating video-game framing and a glowed-up CGI avatar. Never explains what's underneath him.

‘The Social Reckoning’Aaron Sorkin writes and directs the ‘Social Network’ sequel

The Social Reckoning 2025

Sorkin's Frances Haugen whistleblower movie (Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong as Zuckerberg). A network TV procedural that mistakes disclosure for revelation; the Strong/Burr prep-room scenes work, little else does. Both agree it doesn't justify existing. Fincher-plus-Eisenberg would help; it still wouldn't need to.

The Most Unnecessary Legasequelsbest and worst, freewheeling — no actual ranked five revealed on air