Stuber 2019
Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista's Lethal Weapon riff opened to $8 million and 47% on Rotten Tomatoes; Fennessey had a nice time, almost nobody else showed up.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Interview
The Theatrical Movie Business Is a Disaster, So ‘The Farewell’ Is a Miracle, With Lulu Wang | Interview
July 16, 2019/ 94 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Stuber and Hobbs & Shaw make the case that the studio comedy is dying; Crawl and The Farewell make the case that word of mouth still works. Plus, Lulu Wang on making The Farewell exactly the way she wanted to.
47 films across 8 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.
Stuber, Hobbs & Shaw, and the Studio Comedy's Death Spiral
To All the Boys I've Loved Before 2018
Half teen movie, half rom-com, and the one that made Lana Condor and Noah Centineo stars.
Set It Up 2018
The Glen Powell one Dobbins calls genuinely great.
When Harry Met Sally 1989
The Rewatchables episode sent Fennessey back for a rewatch; still the bar nothing since really clears.
Two Weeks Notice 2002
Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, a lesser rom-com from a stronger era, complete with an unfortunate Trump cameo.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 2019
Fennessey's read: it isn't an action movie with jokes, it's a comedy that happens to have muscles.
Shazam! 2019
A teen comedy that happens to be a superhero movie, and does exactly what it needs to for the audience that wanted it.
The Self-Referential Summer Slateeverything left on the calendar either leans on nostalgia or comments on its own genre
Yesterday 2019
A Beatles jukebox movie riding on unimpeachable IP; both hosts found it a little disappointing anyway.
Blinded by the Light 2019
Built around Bruce Springsteen's music the way Yesterday is built around the Beatles — Fennessey's pick as the one exception that might actually work.
Good Boys 2019
The comedy both hosts are watching as a bellwether for whether studios keep funding movies like this.
Charlie's Angels 2019
Elizabeth Banks's reboot; Dobbins respects it in theory, doesn't need it in practice.
Clerks 1994
Where Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse starts.
Mallrats 1995
Chasing Amy 1997
Jersey Girl 2004
One of the movies Smith made after exiting the View Askewniverse, before circling back to it.
Poms 2019
The Diane Keaton/Jacki Weaver retirement-home cheerleading movie nobody saw.
Sword of Trust and The Art of Self-Defense Find Their Audiences
Sword of Trust 2019
Lynn Shelton directs Marc Maron in a modest indie that found a modest, appropriate audience.
Fox, Disney, and the Movies Stuck in Limbo
Dark Phoenix 2019
The other post-merger Fox release Disney didn't quite know what to do with.
The Art of Racing in the Rain 2019
Based on the novel about a dog.
Ford v Ferrari 2019
Got the NBA Finals trailer push — the tell that a studio is betting on it as an awards contender.
Spies in Disguise 2019
Will Smith-voiced animated action comedy, bounced around the release calendar.
Crawl and the Case for Theatrical B-Movies
Crawl 2019
Alexandre Aja's alligators-in-a-flooded-crawlspace movie; a B-movie delight where the crowd cheered every gator kill.
High Tension 2003
Aja's earlier, messier predecessor.
Point Blank 2019
A Netflix shoutout — Anthony Mackie thriller with a house-escape opening set to Black Flag's 'Rise Above.'
The Farewell
The Farewell 2019
A24's Sundance hit, Awkwafina's first dramatic role. $350,000 on four screens over the weekend — the year's best per-screen average, even with a New York blackout eating some showtimes.
Midsommar 2019
One of the alternatives on the shortlist Fennessey's wife passed on.
Spider-Man: Far From Home 2019
Also on that shortlist.
Oscar Season Housekeepingtitles listeners said got left off last week's Best Picture conversation
Ad Astra 2019
James Gray's father-in-space movie, moved to September; he's never actually competed for an Oscar.
Jojo Rabbit 2019
Taika Waititi, by early word, at his best.
The Two Popes 2019
Fernando Meirelles directs Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI, written by Anthony McCarten.
City of God 2002
Meirelles's earlier, much bigger swing.
The Irishman 2019
Marriage Story 2019
Discussed as 'the untitled Noah Baumbach film' — the title hadn't been announced yet.
The Laundromat 2019
Soderbergh's Netflix movie, filed under 'exercise' more than awards play.
The Aeronauts 2019
Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, built for IMAX.
In Conversation
Lulu Wang on
The Farewell 2019
Her second feature, based on the This American Life story about her own family lying to her dying grandmother about the diagnosis.
Lulu Wang on
Raise the Red Lantern 1991
A Zhang Yimou film her parents took her to as a kid in Miami; terrifying at seven or eight, reassessed years later in a college world-cinema class.
Lulu Wang on
Secretary 2002
The other: a movie about S&M she found unexpectedly romantic and earnest.
Lulu Wang on
Posthumous 2014
Her directorial debut, a screwball rom-com she and a first-time producer figured out how to make with no industry connections.
Lulu Wang on
Touch 2015
Her short film, made through Film Independent's Project Involve — the first place she tried mixing comedy with a dark subject.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Avengers: EndgameBohemian RhapsodyCharlie's Angels (2000)Charlie's Angels: Full ThrottleThe Big SickGuardians of the GalaxyAladdin
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV GlowCharlie's Angels (TV series)Family Meal (Wang's in-development series)
Specials Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
Podcasts/Radio This American LifeWTF with Marc Maron
Unproduced Children of the New World (Wang's next film, in development)