Annette 2021
Leos Carax's musical, one of the titles all three hosts are most looking forward to out of the competition lineup.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Top Five
Top Five Threequels and ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’
June 4, 2021/ 76 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Cannes returns from its pandemic year off, Chris Ryan joins to help Amanda through 'The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,' and all three draft their favorite third movies in a series.
36 films across 7 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.
Cannes Returnsthe 2021 lineup
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun 2021
Wes Anderson's anthology, also high on the anticipation list; Chris wonders if Cannes just bills it as 'Dispatch.'
Titane 2021
Julia Ducournau's follow-up to her 2016 film 'Raw'; Sean calls it the movie he's most looking forward to at the festival.
Hold Me Tight 2021
Mathieu Amalric's film, starring Vicky Krieps of 'Phantom Thread.'
Old 2021
M. Night Shyamalan's beach-set thriller, also starring Krieps; not a Cannes title, but Sean brings it up for the connection and says he's 'really psyched' for it.
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass 2021
Oliver Stone's documentary revisiting his JFK conspiracy theories. Sean had seen the first two hours and wasn't ready to comment; runtime unconfirmed at the time of taping.
Flag Day 2021
Sean Penn directs and stars opposite Josh Brolin and Miles Teller, playing a con-man father to a daughter played by his real-life daughter, Dylan Penn. Chris was tipped off to it months earlier and calls it tailor-made for him.
The Power of the Dog 2021
Jane Campion's film, one of several starry titles skipping Cannes amid the festival's ongoing standoff with Netflix.
Decision to Leave 2022
Park Chan-wook's next film, expected at Venice instead of Cannes.
The Card Counter 2021
Paul Schrader's gambling drama, also bound for Venice; Sean calls it 'the only film that matters in 2021.'
Spencer 2021
Pablo Larraín's Princess Diana film starring Kristen Stewart, also skipping Cannes for Venice. Chris isn't sure it's the role he'd have picked for her.
Red Rocket 2021
Sean Baker's first film since 'The Florida Project,' playing in competition.
‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’the third Conjuring film, eighth in the franchise, new on HBO Max and in theaters
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It 2021
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return as Ed and Lorraine Warren for a true-crime-style case structure Chris likens to 'Mindhunter.' James Wan didn't direct this one, and both hosts feel the absence of his more patient camera. Amanda, not a horror fan, liked the connective scenes more than the scares, and singles out a possessed child punching Patrick Wilson in the film's opening minutes.
The Conjuring 2013
James Wan's original, praised by Sean for withholding scares and centering Lily Taylor's performance as a mother slowly possessed.
The Conjuring 2 2016
The other Wan-directed entry, which Chris also rates highly.
Malignant 2021
James Wan's next horror movie, unseen by either host but reportedly 'very upsetting.'
The Devil and Father Amorth 2017
William Friedkin's documentary featuring a real-life exorcism; Chris assigns it to Amanda as homework.
What Makes a Good Threequelfranchise theory before the picks
The Dark Knight Rises 2012
Sean's reference point for the self-conscious 'everything ends' marketing that trilogy-closers lean on, even when a franchise obviously isn't done.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019
Cited as a cautionary tale about not planning a trilogy ahead of time; Sean calls it 'quite a bad film.'
Amanda's Top Five Threequelsranked worst to best on air, best-first here
No. 1
Before Midnight 2013
No. 1. Richard Linklater's third 'Before' film, with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Amanda calls sticking the landing on a marriage-in-crisis story, after two much lighter films, 'a stunning accomplishment.'
No. 2
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989
No. 2. Shared with Chris and Sean. Sean Connery's performance as Indy's father is the reason it edges out 'Raiders' for her.
No. 3
Toy Story 3 2010
No. 3. Picked partly to argue Pixar's third installment doubles as an effective horror movie, incinerator sequence included.
No. 4
The Last Days of Disco 1998
No. 4. Whit Stillman's third film, loosely grouped with 'Metropolitan' and 'Barcelona' as a trilogy connected by theme and actor Chris Eigeman rather than continuity. Stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny as disaffected New York yuppies.
No. 5
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 1989
No. 5. The third film in the Vacation series; Amanda saw it before the first two as a kid and calls it a childhood touchstone, citing the attic-ladder scene and Chevy Chase's home-repair disasters.
Chris's Top Five Threequelsranked worst to best on air, best-first here
No. 1
Die Hard with a Vengeance 1995
No. 1. John McClane and Zeus Carver race around New York solving a terrorist's Simon Says puzzles. Originally an unrelated script called 'Simon Says' retrofitted into the franchise.
No. 2
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989
No. 2. Shared with Amanda and Sean, all three agree it's the rare threequel that improves on trying to just repeat the formula.
No. 3
Scream 3 2000
No. 3. A meta commentary on making the final film of a horror trilogy; Chris highlights Parker Posey's performance as Gale Weathers playing Gale Weathers within the film's movie-within-a-movie.
No. 4
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985
No. 4. George Miller's expansion of the post-apocalyptic world, with Tina Turner as Aunty Entity, that predates 'Fury Road' by decades and inspired the 'California Love' music video.
No. 5
The Exorcist III 1990
No. 5. Directed by William Peter Blatty, who wrote the source novels, with George C. Scott investigating a serial killer 20 years after the original. Chris calls its jump scare one of the best in movie history.
Sean's Top Five Threequelsranked worst to best on air, best-first here
No. 1
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966
No. 1. Sergio Leone's conclusion to the Man With No Name trilogy, with Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. Sean cites Ennio Morricone's score as one of the greatest in film history.
No. 3
Mission: Impossible III 2006
No. 3. J.J. Abrams' divisive entry, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as the villain and a Vatican break-in as its centerpiece set piece.
No. 4
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003
No. 4. The conclusion of a trilogy shot together as one planned production, which Sean says makes its many endings forgivable.
No. 5
Die Hard with a Vengeance 1995
No. 5. Ranked lower than Chris has it, but Sean still calls Jeremy Irons 'fucking awesome' as the villain.
Honorable Mentionsthe ones that didn't make the cut
16 Blocks 2006
Richard Donner's low-key near-Die Hard, with Bruce Willis as a burnt-out cop walking a witness played by Mos Def sixteen blocks to a courthouse. Chris calls it 'basically Die Hard 4.'
Clear and Present Danger 1994
The third Jack Ryan film, and the second to recast the role, from Alec Baldwin to Harrison Ford. Sean calls it a 'significant jump up' from 'Patriot Games.'
Also mentioned raised along the way
Cannes: a run through past Palme d'Or winners Pulp FictionUndergroundSecrets & LiesDancer in the Dark4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 DaysThe Wind That Shakes the BarleyThe White RibbonThe Tree of LifeBlue Is the Warmest ColorDheepanThe SquareShopliftersParasiteElephantFahrenheit 9/11Apocalypse NowAll That JazzParis, Texassex, lies, and videotape
The Conjuring universe, in passing AnnabelleThe Curse of La LloronaThe NunInsidiousAquaman
Threequels and franchises, in passing DivergentAllegiantMaze Runner: The Scorch TrialsMaze Runner: The Death CureF9Hobbs & ShawThe Hunt for Red OctoberPatriot GamesGoldfingerOcean's TwelveOcean's ThirteenThe Muppets Take ManhattanBad Boys for LifeThor: RagnarokMad Max 2Mad Max: Fury Road
Also mentioned re: this episode's picks MetropolitanBarcelonaKicking and ScreamingBefore SunriseBefore SunsetBoyhoodToy Story 4The Exorcist
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The BureauThe WireFriday Night LightsAlly McBealSupergirl
Podcasts Larry Wilmore: Black on the AirThe Rewatchables
Music Magna Carta Holy Grail
Ads Boar's Head