No. 1
C'mon C'mon 2021
No. 1 - Joaquin Phoenix as an uncle turned stand-in father, playing off newcomer Woody Norman. "Always nice to have him acting like a human being and not a clown prince of crime."
The Big Picture · Top Five · Discussion · Roundtable
Year-End Mailbag! The Top 10 Performances, Trailers, and Needle Drops of 2021
December 30, 2021/ 83 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Bobby Wagner
Sean and Amanda run dueling top-five performance lists to close out 2021, then Bobby Wagner joins for a mailbag on repertory double features, trailer hype, needle drops, and who deserves Best Picture.
83 films across 12 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.
Sean's Top Five Performances of 2021No. 1 first
No. 2
The Last Duel 2021
No. 2 - really a pick for Ben Affleck's whole year (the Snyder Cut, the JLo reunion, the Bill Simmons snub), but his underrated work here, playing a part he co-wrote with self-aware humor about his own celebrity, is the anchor.
No. 3
No Time to Die 2021
No. 3 - Ana de Armas walks away with the movie in a single scene. "She just absolutely blew that scene out of the water."
No. 4
Black Widow 2021
No. 4 - Florence Pugh eating Scarlett Johansson's lunch, then doing it again across Hawkeye.
No. 5
The Green Knight 2021
No. 5 - Dev Patel as a "sad fail son who becomes a knight," holding together a movie that's trying to undermine its own genre.
Amanda's Top Five Performances of 2021No. 1 first
No. 1
The Worst Person in the World 2021
No. 1 - Renate Reinsve running the emotional gamut of turning 30. Barely seen in the U.S. yet, but the year's best performance nobody can watch.
No. 2
Pig 2021
No. 2 - Nicolas Cage as a man looking for his kidnapped pig. "It doesn't work without him" - credit the restraint and physical bearing, beyond the dinner-scene monologue everyone quotes.
No. 3
Zola 2021
No. 3 - Colman Domingo playing a pimp and hustler in two personas at once. "He does sinister really, really well."
No. 4
Red Rocket 2021
No. 4 - Simon Rex as a washed-up porn star back in his Texas hometown. A charismatic scumbag performance with no easy comparison.
No. 5
The Lost Daughter 2021
No. 5 - Jessie Buckley and Dagmara Domińczyk as, respectively, the young version of Olivia Colman's character and a pregnant beach interloper. Two supporting turns in one slot.
Honorable mentionsthe ones that didn't make the top five
The Night House 2021
Rebecca Hall, all in on an upsetting horror film.
Passing 2021
Ruth Negga, directed by Rebecca Hall, trending toward a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
Dune 2021
Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, the only one who seems to be having fun. Also a nod to Timothée Chalamet for not screwing up Paul Atreides, and to Denis Villeneuve for being right about theaters.
Licorice Pizza 2021
Alana Haim - "a really well-directed performance," better on a second viewing.
Parallel Mothers 2021
Penélope Cruz, a Best Actress possibility even without Spain's submission behind her.
King Richard 2021
Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis, plus a shout to Jon Bernthal in a small role.
House of Gucci 2021
Lady Gaga and Jared Leto going full more-is-more.
tick, tick... BOOM! 2021
Andrew Garfield's twofer year, part one.
Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021
Andrew Garfield's twofer year, part two - deeply touching work everyone's been texting about.
West Side Story 2021
Ariana DeBose, a lock for recognition, and Mike Faist, whom the hosts had heard was quitting acting for van life (he isn't).
The Suicide Squad 2021
John Cena - "he really got the assignment."
Nobody 2021
Bob Odenkirk, trained and different enough from Saul Goodman to make it work.
Shiva Baby 2020
Rachel Sennott, a sweaty, anxious screen style unlike anyone else's.
Old 2021
Vicky Krieps, good enough that the hosts want her cast in more mainstream work despite the movie's magic-ending problem.
Bergman Island 2021
Vicky Krieps again, in a movie Amanda loved this year.
Drive My Car 2021
Hidetoshi Nishijima - "probably the performance of the year that has no chance to be recognized," a restrained director holding back until the movie's center explodes.
Bo Burnham: Inside 2021
Bo Burnham, treated as a movie performance even though the hosts flip-flop on whether it counts as one.
Belfast 2021
Ciarán Hinds gets the pick over Judi Dench's fourteen Oscar nominations; Jamie Dornan and Caitríona Balfe get a nod for being distractingly attractive parents.
Mass 2021
Ann Dowd, the standout of a very upsetting Fran Kranz film about the parents of a school shooter and a victim.
Those Who Wish Me Dead 2021
Jon Bernthal, part of a busy year that also included The Many Saints of Newark, Small Engine Repair, and a trailer for The Unforgivable.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021
Tony Leung - "the superpower of that film," no stranger to crime pictures, new to dragons.
Three movies to explain the 2010s to an alien Jason's question
Picked by Sean
Hillbilly Elegy 2020
The unintentional-capture-of-a-terrible-country pick. Sean watched it election night 2020 and has no regrets.
Worst movie moment of the year Derek's question
Picked by Sean
Space Jam: A New Legacy 2021
LeBron James sucked into the Warner Bros. multiverse. "It's so painful."
The Big Picture's own repertory theaterDrew's question - opening night double (or triple) feature
Heat 1995
Chris Ryan's imagined opener, paired with itself and a Den of Thieves chaser.
Den of Thieves 2018
The chaser to Chris Ryan's Heat double.
Moneyball 2011
Sean and Amanda's actual pick - the movie they've talked about and returned to the most.
The Social Network 2010
Paired with Moneyball as most representative of the show.
Zack Snyder's Justice League 2021
Bobby's suggested third film. Vetoed.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019
Bobby's alternate new-beverly-style suggestion.
Zach's birthday rom-com homeworkpicking between Roman Holiday, Broadcast News, and Something's Gotta Give
Roman Holiday 1953
Sean's least essential of the three - delightful, but skippable.
Broadcast News 1987
Sean's recommendation as a foundation text before the more modern picks.
Something's Gotta Give 2003
Amanda's answer - the quintessential Nancy Meyers movie, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, a Hamptons house, and that opening needle drop.
Down with Love 2003
Amanda's bonus pick - Peyton Reed's Doris Day riff.
Sean's movie poster collectionAndy's question
Sweet Smell of Success 1957
The one poster currently hanging - Sean's favorite screenplay of all time.
Network 1976
Sean's favorite item he owns, never hung: an oversized French poster his wife bought him on their honeymoon.
Trailers that lived up to the hypeJennifer's question
House of Gucci 2021
"Needed to be two plus hours of the trailer" - and delivered.
Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021
The movie somehow topped an already-hyped trailer.
Judas and the Black Messiah 2021
A 2020-trailer, 2021-release title with one of the great trailers of the last five years.
The Batman 2022
The best trailer of the year for a movie that hadn't come out yet, set to Nirvana's "Something in the Way."
Zola 2021
Self-contained, and it captures the whole film.
Red Rocket 2021
Same praise as Zola - a trailer that nails the movie's tone.
Licorice Pizza 2021
Paul Thomas Anderson cuts his own trailers. "Perfect trailer."
One movie we'd give a do-overSpencer's question
Spencer 2021
Sean's pick, for the pun as much as anything - advice: "have somebody else make it."
In the Heights 2021
Amanda's pick - wanted it to work, and it mostly does, but it's a little disappointing.
The Woman in the Window 2021
Too much talent involved for a thriller that needed a satisfying reveal and didn't have one.
Beckett 2021
John David Washington's Netflix thriller - the kind of setup that should've been a Rewatchables staple, minus the follow-through.
Favorite needle drops of the yearByronic Hero's question
Spencer 2021
"All I Need Is a Miracle" by Mike + The Mechanics, closing the film.
The Night House 2021
"The Cavalry Cross" by Richard and Linda Thompson, a recurring cue signaling the late husband's presence.
Bergman Island 2021
ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All," Mia Wasikowska dancing around a fire scene.
Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021
De La Soul's "The Magic Number" over the end credits - a riff on "Three Is a Magic Number" for a movie with three Spider-Men.
Titane 2021
"Doing It to Death" and "She's Not There" both feature.
Red Rocket 2021
*NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," switching from a haunted girls'-chorus cover to the real thing.
Last Night in Soho 2021
The original James Ray recording of "I've Got My Mind Set on You," scoring a dance sequence with Matt Smith and Anya Taylor-Joy.
Judas and the Black Messiah 2021
The Outlaw Blues Band's "Deep Gully" as Daniel Kaluuya's character enters the club.
Zola 2021
The Clickettes' doo-wop "Because of My Best Friend," secretly the film's whole theme.
Licorice Pizza 2021
"Let Me Roll It" - the number-one pick, spoiled on the show many times already.
House of Gucci 2021
George Michael's "Faith" as Lady Gaga walks down the aisle, straight out of full-on opera.
Best (and worst) Best Picture winner for the industryDalton's question
Free Guy 2021
The hoped-against worst-case winner.
Eternals 2021
The other worst-case answer.
Dune 2021
The Mad Max: Fury Road comparison - a real visual achievement people actually saw, but still IP winning the top prize.
The Power of the Dog 2021
Bobby's pick to win, and a plausible one - Netflix's first potential Best Picture, though back-to-back streaming-era winners (after Nomadland) is a mixed signal for theatrical.
Belfast 2021
Part of the late-search conversation alongside Power of the Dog.
King Richard 2021
A possible late surge - flatters and subverts the Academy's sensibilities at once.
Don't Look Up 2021
The hypothetical none of them would actually cheer for.
West Side Story 2021
Amanda's actual worst-case winner - a remake of a musical that already won, that barely anyone saw in theaters.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing MandyJokerCandymanFast FiveThe Wolf of Wall StreetMad Max: Fury RoadTitanic
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV HawkeyeSuccessionFear the Walking DeadEuphoriaHomicide: Life on the StreetSports NightThe West WingWestworld
Music Sour (Olivia Rodrigo album)
Ads Boar's HeadNetflix FIFA World Cup Launch Edition
Cross-promo Ring or Dish (Ringer podcast promo)