The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Hall of Fame · Interview
June 5, 2026/ 141 min/ Sean Fennessey · Griffin Newman
Sean and Griffin Newman start on a box office that keeps breaking their brains ('Obsession' still growing three weeks in), then dig into a metatextual 'Masters of the Universe' that has both their numbers and doesn't quite know what to do with them. Griffin builds a toy-movie hall of fame, they trade high-fantasy favorites, and Sean closes with an interview with Samara Weaving and director Adam Rehmeier about 'Carolina Caroline.'
29 films across 5 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 state of the box officewith Griffin Newman
Curry Barker's $750K indie horror, still growing in its third week: $5M on a Wednesday. Griffin can't find a comp inside his lifetime, opened wide and word-of-mouth built rather than crested. A down-the-middle scary movie, and the ordinariness is what makes the run so strange.
Kane Parsons' YouTube-born feature. Overperformed but is getting the classic 'what was all the noise about' backlash, unlike 'Obsession,' which seems immune to it.
The comp Sean keeps reaching for: discourse around it, but people mostly landed on 'that movie is good.'
‘Masters of the Universe’the He-Man movie, 25 years in development
Travis Knight directs; Nicholas Galitzine as Adam/He-Man, Camila Mendes as Teela, Idris Elba as Man-at-Arms, Jared Leto as Skeletor. Both had fun and both think it's wildly flawed, too long, and lands maybe a third of its jokes. The metatextual hook (Adam raised on Earth, a fan of his own lost world, a Barbie-in-reverse) is the smart part; the sincere-vs-satire tonal jumping is where it stalls. Leto, unrecognizable behind CGI, is the best thing in it. First live-action attempt since the 1987 Dolph Lundgren film.
The best high-fantasy moviesSean went deep on the '80s canon and mostly came back to the obvious ones
Sean's high-water mark: builds a world, hands you characters you love instantly, makes you want the next stage of the journey without feeling tricked into it.
Saw it at roughly the age he's about to show his daughter.
The only recent pick: Lowery blending Arthurian and folkloric legend in an A24 silo.
Watched with his daughter; still holds up, ecology and all.
'Changed my life.'
Griffin's addition to the canon: Henson pivoting into a darker realm.
Griffin's other worthy-of-the-canon pick.
The film that kicked off the '80s high-fantasy wave; Griffin calls it the source text.
The other Henson film both consider special.
Where they land on the Harryhausen question: one Ray Harryhausen film belongs, at least representationally.
The Toy Movie Hall of FameGriffin's canon, and the catch is the good ones barely come from a product
With 'The Lego Movie,' the modern high-water mark: came from the cynical place and ended up somewhere fairly pure, honest about what adapting a piece of plastic means.
The other one that succeeded creatively and wasn't ashamed of its source.
Griffin's particular love, though it drifts toward superhero and movie culture.
Original characters, but the definitive take on kids and toys, and Griffin's favorite franchise.
The most satisfying key-jangling either of them gets in a theater; Griffin was at the premiere and it rocked his world.
Griffin's cheat pick: a whole movie about the hula hoop and the predatory business of toys.
Richard Williams' assignment-job nightmare, an existential toy movie before Toy Story. The camel's 'Blue' number is some of the best character animation ever.
Griffin argues it in: A.A. Milne's boy-and-his-bear toys, the framing device a camera pushing into a child's room full of dolls.
One of the rare genuinely good game-to-film results.
The second, Mike Flanagan Ouija movie: both agree it's really good.
In conversationon ‘Carolina Caroline’
A con-man crime romance Rehmeier directed but didn't write (Tom's script), which he steered from thriller toward a '70s-style romance. Shot chronologically over 25 days across ~100 locations; Weaving and Kyle Gallner's chemistry led them to rewrite the ending mid-shoot.
Rehmeier's film that launched Kyle Gallner as an indie lead, cast off a single tintype that 'showed his soul.'
His curated 1991 summer movie; the reference point for how personal his needle drops usually are.
Weaving's last great thing: saw it in the theater she and her partner built under the house. 'A masterpiece.'
Rehmeier's pick: 'Jackass 1 and 2' at the New Beverly with Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine there, like being at a party.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Around the box office Sound of FreedomGet OutParanormal ActivityThe Blair Witch ProjectThe Sixth SenseThe Iron GiantMystery MenDickThe Thomas Crown AffairJackass: The MovieNight of the Living DeadThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Last House on the LeftHalloweenTeenage Sex and Death at Camp MiasmaOne Battle After Another
In the ‘Masters of the Universe’ review Thor: RagnarokBigThe Princess BrideTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant MayhemGhost WorldEvil DeadX-Men: ApocalypseDoctor DolittleThe GraduateProject Hail Mary
Jared Leto, discussed Dallas Buyers ClubSuicide SquadBlade Runner 2049The Little ThingsZack Snyder's Justice LeagueHouse of GucciMorbiusHaunted MansionTron: Ares
Idris Elba, discussed American GangsterBeasts of No Nation
Fantasy films they weighed KrullDragonslayerThe Sword and the SorcererDeathstalkerThe BeastmasterThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeJason and the ArgonautsHarry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneJurassic Park
Other toy movies named The Transformers: The MovieClueBattleshipTrollsBratzSnake Eyes: G.I. Joe OriginsWho Framed Roger Rabbit
In the ‘Carolina Caroline’ interview True RomanceBonnie and ClydeThe Bunny GamePirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlThe Empire Strikes BackHeatBorat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanTrading PlacesBeverly Hills Cop
Star Wars, in passing Solo: A Star Wars StoryThe Mandalorian and Grogu
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The WireAndorThe MandalorianBeast GamesGame of ThronesAvatar: The Last AirbenderMy So-Called LifeHe-Man and the Masters of the UniverseShe-Ra: Princess of PowerThe New Adventures of He-ManHome and AwayVeronica MarsOutsiders
Games Dungeons & DragonsMagic: The Gathering