The Big Picture

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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