The Big Picture

Sean and Amanda make their final predictions for who will (and who should) win in every category at the 2024 Academy Awards. They discuss whether or not ‘Oppenheimer’ and Christopher Nolan will run the table as expected, who will come out on top in a neck-and-neck Best Actress race, whether any major contenders will go home empty-handed, and more.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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Sean and Amanda are joined by New York Times film critic Wesley Morris to hand out The Big Picture’s very own Alternative Oscars (32:00). They've included a handful of categories they’ve invented, as well as alternative nominees and winners in the major Academy Awards categories. Before digging into this exercise, they open by talking about ‘Dune: Part Two,’ as well as the state of ‘Oppenheimer’ and director Christopher Nolan as overwhelming Oscar front-runners (1:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Wesley Morris

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan to discuss the massively anticipated Denis Villeneuve epic, ‘Dune: Part Two.’ The trio discuss the scope of the film, the fan fervor, the movie star performances it centers, and more (1:00). Then, they discuss Villeneuve’s most successful film entries up to this point and decide where ‘Dune: Part Two’ slots in among his best achievements (1:20:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Chris Ryan

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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Sean and Amanda open the show by discussing the SAG Awards and highlight the Netflix streaming experience, Lily Gladstone’s win for Best Actress, and the dominance of 'Oppenheimer’ (1:00). Then, they create their final Best Picture power rankings (43:55). Later, Tom Oyer joins the show to help explain how the Academy Awards actually work and what the voting process looks like (1:01:44).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Tom Oyer

Producer: Jack Sanders

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Sean and Amanda are joined by Ringer contributor and beloved “Mean Pod Guy” Adam Nayman to discuss ‘Drive-Away Dolls,’ the latest solo Coen movie—this time directed by Ethan and written along with his wife, Tricia Cooke (1:00). After that, it’s the first iteration of The Big Picture Book Club. Sean and Amanda dig into ‘The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story,’ what it reveals about the highs and lows of Coppola’s career, what it tells us outside of the already well-known mythology of Coppola, and—with ‘Megalopolis’ likely coming out this year—the ways it contributes to Coppola’s presence in the film zeitgeist in 2024 (24:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Adam Nayman

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Dumpuary! Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan to discuss the box office sensation of the year thus far, David Ayer’s politically charged action romp ‘The Beekeeper,’ starring Jason Statham (1:00). Then, conversely, Sean and Amanda dive (surprisingly) deep into what may be the worst movie of the year, the Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney superhero vehicle ‘Madame Web’ (31:00). They wrap up by running through some other dumpuary movies, including J.Lo’s ‘This Is Me ... Now: A Love Story’ (1:15:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Chris Ryan

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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Sean and Amanda open by discussing the movie trailers that debuted at the Super Bowl (1:00), before digging into this past weekend’s biggest release: ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ (29:00). Then, they discuss one of their favorite movies of last year, the French cooking romance ‘The Taste of Things’ (39:00). Finally, Sean is joined by Tran Anh Hung and Juliette Binoche, the director and star (respectively) of ‘The Taste of Things,’ to discuss the unique challenges of making a movie so centered around cooking technique, and the ways they went about portraying the authenticity of love between the two main characters (1:20:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Tran Anh Hung and Juliette Binoche

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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We are drafting again! Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan reunite for a draft of the best movies of 1991 (1:00). Then, Sean is joined by master filmmaker Wim Wenders to discuss his new film, ‘Perfect Days’; his return to a film set in Japan; how he looks back on his long career of making movies; and more (1:31:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Wim Wenders and Chris Ryan

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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Sean and Amanda discuss the wildly unsuccessful elements of ‘Argylle,’ Matthew Vaughn’s meta spy thriller starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell (1:00). Then, they try to contextualize it within what Sean has dubbed "wink action"—a subgenre of action that rose around the turn of the 2010s and has finally started to peter out (44:00). Finally, Sean is joined by Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Arcel to discuss ‘The Promised Land’ and the key creative differences between making movies in Hollywood and making movies internationally (1:20:00).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Arcel

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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Sean is joined by actor and physical media enthusiast Tim Simons to refresh their conversation on the state of Blu-rays and physical media in the world of cinema.

Host: Sean Fennessey

Guest: Tim Simons

Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

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