The Big Picture

Sean and Amanda briefly tease next week’s mailbag episode and react to the Golden Globes adding a new category for Best Podcast (1:34). Then, they dive into their long-awaited Paul Newman episode, where they unpack who Newman was as a person (7:06), explore what made him such a special actor (16:13), and build his Hall of Fame by selecting the 10 most essential performances of his career (43:47).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda briefly react to the news that President Donald Trump wants to impose a 100 percent tariff on any films produced outside of the United States (1:46). Then, they react to the new trailer for Spike Lee’s film ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ and discuss ‘Another Simple Favor,’ the sequel to ‘A Simple Favor,’ starring Blake Lively (7:41). Later, they create their 2025 Movie Star Rankings, where they select and rank the 35 biggest movie stars over the age of 35 (21:11). Finally, Sean is joined by Nicolas Cage to talk about his new film, ‘The Surfer’; what attracts him to certain projects at this stage of his career; and the actors who have inspired him as a performer (1:51:17).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Nicolas Cage

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda are joined by their superhero correspondent, Mallory Rubin, to cover the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Jake Schreier’s, ‘Thunderbolts*’ (2:04). They praise the strong performances from Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, and dive deep into some spoilers to project which key characters could play a critical part going forward (18:15). Lastly, they have a big-picture conversation about the MCU and debate whether this return to form is too late to course-correct the state of Marvel (1:17:09).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Mallory Rubin

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 their favorite installment of the beloved Tom Cruise action franchise with ‘Mission: Impossible—Fallout’, which features some of the greatest action filmmaking of all time. They explain why this concretized director Christopher McQuarrie as a legitimate star filmmaker, explore what this film means and represents about Cruise’s movie stardom persona, and share why they went with this film instead of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ as the official late-stage Cruise movie for the list.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan to recap their trip to the mobile Criterion Closet before celebrating the big box-office weekend performances of ‘Sinners’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ and explain why movies are so back (1:09). Then, they cover some recently released mediocre action films: ‘The Accountant 2’ (14:30), ‘Havoc’ (25:39), ‘A Working Man’ (36:33), and ‘The Amateur’ (44:41), and have a big-picture conversation on what these four films mean for the state of action movies (53:32). Finally, they discuss a handful of movie news headlines and share their excitement and concern for some upcoming releases (1:00:35).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Chris Ryan

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda briefly react to some Oscars news, including a rule requiring Academy members to watch the movies and the details surrounding the new Casting and Achievement in Stunt Design award (1:34). Then, for the first time, they play the Summer Movie Preview Game, in which they predict the box office and Metacritic score for every major summer movie release in 2025 (16:27). Later, Sean is joined by Adam Nayman to give a brief “state of the movies” before discussing David Cronenberg’s newest body horror film, ‘The Shrouds.’ They talk about its complicated and moving portrayal of grief, praise Vincent Cassel for his excellent performance, and create a “Cronenberg starter pack” for those who aren’t very familiar with the director’s filmography (1:25:06). Finally, Sean is joined by the great David Cronenberg to discuss ‘The Shrouds.’ They talk about his decision to cast Cassel in an unusual and challenging role, why he hates shooting on film and would never return, and his long-term creative collaboration with composer Howard Shore (2:06:43).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: David Cronenberg and Adam Nayman

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean is joined by Chris Ryan to honor the late Val Kilmer by creating his Hall of Fame. Before creating the list, Chris shares his thoughts on why Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ worked so well, sort through the box office controversy, and consider what kind of award chances the film has (4:18). Then, they build the Val Kilmer Hall of Fame by selecting the 10 most essential performances of his career (34:13).

Host: Sean Fennessey

Guest: 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 Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Children of Men,’ a deeply upsetting 2006 apocalyptic thriller starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, which features some of the most emotionally moving image-making of all time. They explore how this film altered the trajectory of Cuarón’s “shapeshifter” filmmaking career, celebrate Owen’s amazing physical performance, and revisit the Academy’s baffling decision not to honor the film with a single Academy Award.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda are joined by Van Lathan to unpack Ryan Coogler’s highly anticipated vampire horror film, ‘Sinners.’ They applaud the film for its originality and authenticity, debate whether or not this is Michael B. Jordan’s best performance of his career, and unpack one of the film’s most controversial and daring scenes by hypothesizing about whether its boldness will be well received (2:28). Then, Sean is joined by Ryan Coogler to explain why he felt like he needed to make this movie, the importance of shooting on film, and the advice Christopher Nolan gave him for shooting on IMAX film cameras (1:12:03).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Ryan Coogler and Van Lathan

Producer: Jack Sanders

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We are drafting again! Before their draft, Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan to briefly discuss Matt Damon’s shredded appearance for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ and the new trailer for Ari Aster’s ‘Eddington’ (1:03). Then, they talk about who they were in 1990 and draft the best movies from the year (10:37).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Chris Ryan and Bobby Wagner

Producer: Jack Sanders

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