The Big Picture · Review · Top Five
February 8, 2019/ 53 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Sean, Amanda, and Chris review Soderbergh's Netflix release 'High Flying Bird,' then each rank their five favorite Soderbergh films.
15 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.
'High Flying Bird'
Shot on an iPhone, written by Tarell Alvin McCraney: an NBA agent (Andre Holland) maneuvers his own client into a lockout standoff to force a new labor deal. Chris calls it his favorite Soderbergh since Haywire; all three note the parallel to Soderbergh's own fight with studios over marketing and distribution, most recently on Logan Lucky.
Amanda Dobbins's Top Five Soderbergh MoviesNo. 1 first
No. 1: the fizz and efficiency she values most in Soderbergh, a movie that never forgets to be fun to watch.
No. 2: the Detroit hotel scene with the lighter is one of the best five scenes she's ever seen.
No. 3: made for about $7 million on a deferred-fee bet with Channing Tatum, it made $170 million.
No. 4: her pick for the best sequel ever made, ahead of even Godfather Part II, which she rules a continuation rather than a sequel.
No. 5: Soderbergh doing smart genre, a legal thriller that lets Julia Roberts play against her own persona.
Chris Ryan's Top Five Soderbergh MoviesNo. 1 wasn't revealed on air (a running joke about Kafka/Bubble stood in); No. 4 was a cheat pick, HBO's The Nick.
No. 2: written by frequent collaborator Lem Dobbs, a 'man on a mission' movie in the same vein as High Flying Bird.
No. 3: the Channing Tatum/Gina Carano diner fight is his favorite Soderbergh scene outside his top two.
No. 5: a four-hour, chapter-by-chapter biopic Soderbergh has said he was relieved to finish.
Sean Fennessey's Top Five Soderbergh MoviesNo. 2 wasn't revealed on air.
No. 1: also Amanda's No. 2 pick, discussed together as the most romantic movie Soderbergh has made.
No. 3: his debut, which Sean says fits his theory that a great filmmaker's first film reveals everything, alongside Fincher's Alien 3 and Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
No. 4 (three-way tie): the Scott Z. Burns trilogy, Soderbergh paying homage to a genre he loves while making it his own.
No. 4 (three-way tie): his homage to '70s outbreak-disaster movies, and home to Gwyneth Paltrow's death scene.
No. 4 (three-way tie): his take on the erotic thriller, with a script hinge Sean rates as underrated.
No. 5: also Amanda's No. 1 pick, saved for the same discussion later in the countdown.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Soderbergh, elsewhere TrafficLogan LuckyMoneyballThe LaundromatUnsaneKafkaBubble
Scott Z. Burns, directing The Report
Other first films Alien 3Being John MalkovichBottle RocketReservoir Dogs
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The Nick