The Big Picture

Another year, another Colleen Hoover adaptation. How lucky are we? Before diving into the biggest box office success from the weekend, Sean and Amanda react to the news that Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy will not continue their roles at David Ellison’s Skydance. They look back at their biggest successes and failures, and wonder what the future of Skydance looks like. Then, they briefly discuss ‘Sicario 3’ being greenlit with all of the returning stars, but notably neither Denis Villeneuve or Stefano Sollima. Finally, they cover ‘Verity,’ an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s erotic thriller, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett. They break down why the original source material sets the movie up for failure, what they want from the erotic thriller genre going forward, and debate whether we have a “Dakota Johnson problem.”

(0:00) Intro

(0:50) ‘Digger’ bombs at the box office

(7:32) Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy out at Warner Bros.-Paramount, and the future of Skydance

(38:04) ‘Sicario 3’ a go with Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin to return

(41:09) ‘Verity’

(1:02:07) SPOILER WARNING

(1:23:31) Dakota Johnson temperature check

(1:29:24) The state of erotic thrillers vs. what we want

(1:32:46) Looking forward to the October slate

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh and Remy Hernandez

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BANG! BANG! BANG! On today’s show, Sean and Amanda discuss one of their most anticipated movies of the year in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s ‘Digger,’ starring Tom Cruise. They unpack their very complicated feelings and make the case for why you need to see this incredibly divisive movie on the big screen. Later, they look at Iñárritu’s career at large and wonder: Why did Tom Cruise make this movie? Finally, they take an extensive look at where Cruise fits into the Best Actor race at this year’s Academy Awards, and share their 10 favorite performances from his fascinating career.

(0:00) Intro

(1:07) ‘Digger’

(13:05) SPOILER WARNING

(54:18) Iñárritu’s career at large

(59:21) Why did Tom Cruise make this movie?

(1:08:07) The Best Actor race

(1:23:05) The top 10 Tom Cruise performances

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

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Batter up! Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan and Mallory Rubin to draft some of their favorite movies focused on one of their biggest shared interests: baseball. They break down what makes baseball movies so special, explain the new (and somewhat controversial) categories, and, most importantly, draft.

(0:00) Intro

(1:19) Why baseball movies are the best sports movies

(17:27) The categories and draft order

(25:11) The Baseball Movie Draft

(1:29:47) Honorable mentions and draft recap

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Chris Ryan and Mallory Rubin

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

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What does it mean when old movie rereleases make more money than ever at the box office? Sean and Amanda try to answer that question on today’s show by discussing ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ outperforming a slew of new releases this weekend, including ‘Heart of the Beast,’ ‘Forgotten Island,’ and ‘Primetime.’ Then, they cover a handful of other recent releases in ‘The Weight,’ ‘The Love Hypothesis,’ and ‘The History of Concrete.’ Finally, Sean is joined by acclaimed documentarian John Wilson to discuss his new film, ‘The History of Concrete,’ and why he finds the current state of the genre to be strange.

(0:00) Intro

(1:57) Jon Watts to direct new ‘Star Wars’ film

(7:13) Sabrina Carpenter, Margaret Qualley join Tom Holland's Fred Astaire biopic

(10:15) The weekend box office and the old vs. new wave

(18:28) ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’

(34:51) ‘Heart of the Beast’

(50:38) ‘Forgotten Island’

(58:28) ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’

(1:05:10) ‘The Weight’

(1:13:07) ‘The Love Hypothesis’

(1:25:32) ‘The History of Concrete’

(1:30:45) John Wilson joins the show!

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: John Wilson

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

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Why don’t you take a seat and sit back, because on today’s show, Sean and Amanda discuss one of their most anticipated films of the year: ‘Primetime,’ starring Robert Pattinson. Before diving in, they briefly share their overall feelings with the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger looking likely to go through, and preview an exciting weekend at the movies. Then, they break down the new film from Lance Oppenheim and sing its praises by identifying it as one of the most exciting movies of the year. Finally, Oppenheim joins Sean to explore the difficulties of transitioning from documentary to narrative film, how he first discovered Chris Hansen as a kid and found him endlessly fascinating, and shares a handful of films that ultimately inspired Pattinson’s performance.

(0:00) Intro

(1:37) Paramount merger feelings and looking forward to an exciting weekend at the movies

(10:00) ‘Primetime’

(31:56) SPOILER WARNING

(53:11) Opening weekend cultural, critical, and box office expectations

(1:00:33) Amanda’s (very brief) ‘La Bola Negra’ thoughts

(1:03:00) Lance Oppenheim joins the show!

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Lance Oppenheim

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

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On today’s show, Sean is joined by Tracy Letts to cover a new documentary, ‘Boorman and the Devil,' which tells the fascinating tale of director John Boorman and his misbegotten ‘Exorcist’ sequel. They discuss the film at length as well as use it as a springboard to discuss what a director actually does on set, as well as share their favorite documentaries and scripted movies about filmmakers.

(0:00) ‘Halloween’ double feature in San Francisco!

(1:05) Intro

(2:10) ‘Boorman and the Devil’, why ‘The Exorcist II’ doesn’t work, and John Boorman’s legacy

(43:30) Demythologizing the director myth and the best documentaries about directors

(1:28:37) Scripted films about real directors

Host: Sean Fennessey

Guest: Tracy Letts

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan®. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there®.

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In today’s action-packed episode, Sean and Amanda react to ‘Resident Evil’ smashing its opening weekend box office expectations, Paramount settling lawsuits paving the way for the Warner Bros. merger to go through, and the new trailer released for ‘The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth.’ Then, they bring in mean pod guy Adam Nayman to break down the good, the bad, and the strange from the Toronto International Film Festival. Next, Sean and Amanda construct their first Best Picture power rankings of the year and go over 31 possible contenders for the Oscars' biggest prize. Finally, Zach Cregger joins the show to have an in-depth (spoilers included) conversation about his new film, ‘Resident Evil,’ and explains why it was the hardest thing he’s ever made.

(0:00) Intro

(1:56) ‘Resident Evil’'s big box office success

(3:02) Paramount to settle lawsuits, paving the way for Warner Bros. deal to go through

(8:39) ‘The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth’ trailer reaction

(10:57) Teaser for Jeremy Saulnier’s new film, ‘Slayground!’

(14:15) ‘NARNIA’ NEWS

(19:06) Best of TIFF with Adam Nayman!

(54:04) The first Best Picture power rankings

(1:23:42) Amanda’s thoughts on ‘Resident Evil’

(1:29:55) Zach Cregger joins the show!

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Zach Cregger and Adam Nayman

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

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Get in, gang. We’re going to Raccoon City. Sean is joined by Chris Ryan to discuss Zach Cregger’s thrilling follow-up to his mega-successful ‘Weapons’ with his video game adaptation ‘Resident Evil,’ starring Austin Abrams. Before diving in, they react to a handful of movie news headlines, including Noah Baumbach leaving Netflix for Warner Bros. Clockwork, Quentin Tarantino publishing a new Cliff Booth novel, and John Leguizamo joining ‘Miami Vice ‘85’. Then, they giddily break down ‘Resident Evil’ and gush over the countless reasons why the movie is absolutely incredible. Finally, they look into what the future holds for movie video game adaptations, and take a look at the history of horror-comedy genre mashups and talk through why it’s so hard to pull off successfully.

(0:00) We’re coming to San Francisco!

(0:36) Intro

(2:02) Noah Baumbach leaves Netflix for Warner Bros. Clockwork

(9:15) Quentin Tarantino is publishing a new Cliff Booth novel

(11:04) What do strange rollouts for big movies mean for their box office potential?

(14:27) ‘River’ is the big acquisition out of TIFF

(15:59) John Leguizamo joins 'Miami Vice ‘85'

(18:49) ‘Resident Evil’

(35:36) SPOILER WARNING

(1:08:51) Box office expectations and what’s next for Zach Cregger

(1:17:57) The future of video game movie adaptations

(1:30:49) A brief history of horror-comedy

Host: Sean Fennessey

Guest: Chris Ryan

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan®. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there®.

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Don’t look back in anger if you spent over two hours watching a pretty rough legacy sequel. On today’s show, Sean and Amanda are joined by Yasi Salek to cover two new releases in ‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger,’ a film they loved, and ‘Practical Magic 2,’ a film they found to be quite poor. Later, they bring back the movie star playbook for Sandra Bullock and explore what they’d like to see from her career going forward.

(0:00) We’re coming to San Francisco!

(0:45) Intro

(2:02) TIFF premieres and Venice film festival prize winners

(10:21) ‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger’

(33:17) Our relationship to the original ‘Practical Magic’

(41:59) ‘Practical Magic 2’ is a brutal watch

(59:11) ‘Practical Magic 2’ significantly underperforms at the box office

(1:05:29) The Movie Star Playbook: Sandra Bullock

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Yasi Salek

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan®. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there®.

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On today’s action-packed show, Sean and Amanda briefly react to the first trailer released for M. Night Shyamalan's new film, ‘Remain,’ and the news that Paul Feig is attached to remake ‘The Italian Job.’ Then, they look back at the historic summer at the box office and share some of their biggest winners and losers, as well as recap the final results of their very serious summer movie preview game. Later, they cover a handful of recent releases they haven’t discussed on the show yet, including ‘The Uprising,’ ‘Hope,’ and more. Finally, in collaboration with his curation for the Criterion Channel, Sean is joined by friend of the show BenDavid Grabinski to celebrate legendary filmmaker Abel Ferrera. They explore his complicated legacy, dive deep into his filmography by highlighting their personal favorites, and identify what makes Ferrera such a special director.

(0:00) Intro

(2:01) ‘Remain’ trailer reaction

(3:46) Paul Feig attached to remake ‘The Italian Job’

(7:33) An incredible summer for the box office (and us)

(10:02) The biggest winners of the summer

(41:18) The biggest losers of the summer

(55:13) The Summer Movie Preview Game results

(1:00:38) Movies we missed

(1:40:28) BenDavid Grabinski joins the show to discuss Abel Ferrera

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: BenDavid Grabinski

Producer: Jack Sanders

Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan®. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there®.

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