Michael Clayton 2007
Tony Gilroy's, the acting-style benchmark the hosts keep citing: 'the Michael Clayton school of acting.'
The Big Picture · Discussion · Rankings
The 'Star Wars' Rankings and the 'Andor' Miracle
May 4, 2026/ 79 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan
A May the 4th conversation about why Andor works and where the Star Wars films rank.
37 films across 2 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 'Andor' Miraclewhy the show works, and its cinematic DNA
Clerks 1994
Kevin Smith's Randal-and-Dante bit about Death Star contractors, where Chris first saw the Empire thought of as labor and cost.
The Parallax View 1974
The two-men-one-holds-the-power scene Sean compares to Krennic and Partagaz.
The Conversation 1974
Hackman's surveillance dread as a model for the show's watchers.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline 2023
Offered as a rare recent direct-action thriller.
One Battle After Another 2025
Its cross-cut double-agent climax rhymes with the Ghorman massacre and put Battle of Algiers back in the conversation.
The Battle of Algiers 1966
A clear influence: orchestrated uprising and state provocation.
Z 1969
Costa-Gavras political thriller Chris names as source DNA.
State of Siege 1972
The other Costa-Gavras touchstone.
Army of Shadows 1969
Melville's French Resistance procedural.
Stalag 17 1953
Prison-break lineage behind the Narkina 5 arc.
The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957
Prison-camp epic in the same mold.
Le Trou 1960
Jacques Becker's methodical escape film.
A Man Escaped 1956
Bresson's escape film, another prison-break ancestor.
Where Eagles Dare 1968
The WWII adventure-resistance strain.
Hangmen Also Die! 1943
Fritz Lang's resistance drama.
The Guns of Navarone 1961
The men-on-a-mission shape, shifting landscapes and all.
The Third Man 1949
Post-war racketeering-and-espionage mood, Sean's favorite register.
The Conformist 1971
Bertolucci; people operating on the fringes of a vulnerable society.
The Lives of Others 2006
Surveillance-state paranoia in the same key.
Inglourious Basterds 2009
Where Chris placed Richard Sammel, the Ghorman leader, from 'the bear Jew' scene.
Taxi Driver 1976
From the '76 draft tangent on conspiracy-era cinema.
Network 1976
Same tangent, the paranoid mid-'70s that never expired.
All the President's Men 1976
Same tangent.
The Mandalorian and Grogu 2026
Sean saw about a fifth of it and wasn't impressed, a big show that felt small on screen.
Star Wars: Starfighter 2027
The Gosling vehicle; the hosts guess a lighter, more heroic tone.
The 'Star Wars' Rankingsmovies only, best first. Andor (No. 3) and The Mandalorian (No. 10) are TV, excluded below
No. 1
The Empire Strikes Back 1980
No. 1 overall. Sean's, by a coin flip Chris conceded: 'because it's your podcast.'
No. 2
Star Wars 1977
No. 2 overall. A New Hope; Chris is 'in an A New Hope phase' and rates it over Empire: 'it rocks from the first note to the last.'
No. 4
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2017
No. 5 overall. Sean plays Switzerland on it: great sequences, a tedious Luke-and-Rey stretch, an awful casino planet.
No. 5
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2016
No. 6 overall. 'Barely a movie,' archetypes slung together, but the highs earn the meeting.
No. 7
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2015
No. 8 overall. Han on the ship, Kylo killing his father: 'movie chills,' even as it mimics A New Hope.
No. 8
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones 2002
No. 9 overall. 'Yoda's fighting Count Dooku. I'm just a kid again.'
No. 9
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 1999
No. 11 overall. Nearly unwatchable to Sean, but Chris overrules him for Duel of the Fates.
No. 10
Solo: A Star Wars Story 2018
No. 12 overall. Sean tried to revive it and couldn't: a movie made with no clear intention.
No. 11
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019
No. 13 overall. 'The worst thing that Star Wars has done,' and a consequential one.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing The GooniesFlight of the NavigatorPapillonSuper 8The Way of the Gun
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV: Star Wars AndorThe MandalorianThe Clone WarsStar Wars RebelsThe Book of Boba FettObi-Wan KenobiAhsokaThe AcolyteSkeleton Crew
TV: other Mad MenThe WireDeadwoodSuccessionEuphoriaIndustryHouse of the DragonThe DiplomatThe SandbaggersBeast Games
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