The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 12 - 'The Royal Tenenbaums’
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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Is ‘Weapons’ a Classic? And an Oscar Contender? Plus: The Best Movies at TIFF!
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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The Paul Thomas Anderson Movie Character Draft
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.®️
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Robert Altman Hall of Fame
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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‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Is a N.Y. Movie State of Mind, With Spike Lee!
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.®️
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins review the movies you need to see. Plus: Top 5s, Movie Drafts, Oscars analysis, and more, featuring a rotating cast of Ringer colleagues like Chris Ryan, Van Lathan, and Bill Simmons.