The Big Picture

Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan to break down their most anticipated movie of the year: Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another,’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio. They dive deep into spoilers right from the jump, make the case for it being the movie of the decade, and highlight why it’s the culmination of Anderson’s career (2:25). Then, they talk through how the film has been marketed to audiences, hypothesize about its box office potential, and consider its chances at the Academy Awards (1:31:15). Finally, Anderson and DiCaprio join the show to explain why now was the right time for their first professional collaboration, how you know you’re getting what you want with a movie on this type of scale, and how aging affects your politics and self (1:47:35).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Paul Thomas Anderson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Chris Ryan

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. Today, they discuss Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio, a manic, exhilarating, wretched celebration of the worst people on earth set loose on an unwitting society. They explain why this was the official selection from Scorsese’s filmography, crown this as the greatest performance of DiCaprio’s entire career, and explore the infamous discourse revolving around whether or not the movie glorified its nefarious behavior.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

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On today’s show, Sean and Amanda talk through 10 movies that have come out over the past few months that they haven’t covered on the show yet. But before diving into the slate, they react to the death of Hollywood icon Robert Redford (1:46), discuss the first trailer for ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ (4:23), and hypothesize why recent history suggests that September is a box office dumpster fire (17:50). Then, they rattle through a handful of different recent releases and share their thoughts on ‘Him,’ ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ ‘The Long Walk,’ and more (28:10).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️

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Sean is joined by Chris Ryan, Tracy Letts, and Tim Simons for a very special episode dedicated to all things physical media. They talk through the current state of collecting, and showcase a handful of titles they personally own.

Host: Sean Fennessey

Guests: Chris Ryan, Tracy Letts, and Tim Simons

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️  

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Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. Today, they discuss Wes Anderson’s ‘The Royal Tenenbaums,’ one of the greatest father-figure movies of all time (starring Gene Hackman, giving one of the best father-figure performances of all time). They explain why they made the difficult decision to make this the official Wes Anderson selection for the list, discuss why there is nothing among his filmography that quite matches this unique energy, and wonder whether this is the best collection of needle drop moments from any Anderson movie ever made.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️ 

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Adam Nayman joins the show to recap his experience at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. He breaks down the fanatical scene at the traveling Criterion Closet, explores his mixed feelings about the lineup at large, and shares his personal favorites from the festival (1:19). Then, Chris Ryan joins the show to share his thoughts on Zach Cregger’s horror hit ‘Weapons.’ They talk through the discourse surrounding the movie about whether or not it’s “about anything,” celebrate Amy Madigan’s wonderful performance as Aunt Gladys, and wonder whether it has a legitimate chance to receive some Academy Award nominations (45:13). Finally, they cover the newest legacy sequel from the 'Conjuring' franchise, ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites,’ starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. They highlight its shockingly impressive performance at the box office but explain why they found the film to be largely unsuccessful (1:21:09).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Chris Ryan and Adam Nayman

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️ 

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For the first time ever, Sean, Amanda, and Chris are doing a movie character draft! Today, they draft their favorite characters from Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography. But before diving in, they react to a handful of news headlines, including the speculation that David Ellison and Paramount plan on making a strong bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, new information regarding key details about Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The Social Network II’, and the recent awards buzz surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s performance in the upcoming boxing film ‘Christy’ (1:38). Then, they talk through their personal relationships to Anderson’s work (25:15), introduce the new categories (41:19), and finally draft their characters (49:27).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Chris Ryan

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️

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Sean and Amanda celebrate legendary filmmaker Robert Altman, who would have turned 100 this year, by breaking down his illustrious career. But first, they cover the awards distributed at the Venice Film Festival and recap Amanda’s legendary weekend, which included seeing Oasis perform live and watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, ‘One Battle After Another’ (1:20). Then, they construct Altman’s shrine and build his Hall of Fame (14:39).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

Use code "TheBigPicture20" for a 20 percent discount on an annual Criterion Channel subscription. 

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️

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Sean and Amanda start the show by reacting to a handful of recent movie trailers, including Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’—starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi—and Nia DaCosta’s ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ (3:33). Then, they unpack Spike Lee’s newest film ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ starring Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky. They explore its very high highs and occasional low lows, Washington’s fascinating performance style, and what makes this film so different compared to the rest of Lee’s filmography (17:09). Next, they cover Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Caught Stealing,’ starring Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz; they both found it quite disappointing, to the point that they even discussed whether or not Austin Butler is a “leading man” (39:54). Finally, Sean is joined by the legendary filmmaker Spike Lee to talk about his new movie. Lee reflects on the first time he visited Akira Kurosawa’s work and touches on what Kurosawa means to both himself and cinema at large, talks through Denzel Washington's brilliant improvisations in this film and explains why he is—in Lee's opinion—the greatest actor of all time, and explores what is missing from Hollywood and the filmmaking industry right now (1:07:01).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Spike Lee

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️

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Sean and Amanda are back from vacation! Today, they discuss the biggest films out of the Telluride and Venice film festivals before sharing the yet-to-be-released movies they’re most excited for this fall (0:47). Then, Sean is joined by director Alex Russell to discuss his new film, ‘Lurker’, starring Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe. Russell explains how he was able to direct the project despite his very limited experience, what he was looking for when casting his two leads, and what type of project he might be interested in doing next (1:41:32).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Alex Russell

Producers: Jon Jones, Sasha Ashall, and Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️

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