The Big Picture

The Ringer
  • 4.2 (5.8K)
  • TV & Film
  • Updated Semiweekly

Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins review the movies you need to see. Plus: Top 5s, Movie Drafts, Oscars analysis, and more. Subscribe to Sean's newsletter, Projections, here.

  1. 1d ago

    The Ben Affleck Hall of Fame and ‘Animals.’ Plus: ‘Other Mommy’ Is Jump-Scary and Silly

    Gather ‘round folks, a long-awaited episode has arrived. Sean and Amanda open the show by covering a lengthy amount of movie news, including ‘The Social Reckoning’ bombing at the box office, reacting to the new trailers released for ‘River’ and ‘Exorcist: Martyrs,’ and of course, some updates on ‘The Beatles.' Then, they discuss the new Blumhouse horror movie, ‘Other Mommy,’ starring Jessica Chastain, and have a spirited debate on whether or not it was ultimately successful. Later, they break down ‘Animals,’ the new Ben Affleck vehicle, and explore where this “spiritual” ‘High and Low’ sequel went horribly wrong. Finally, they talk about what makes Ben Affleck so special and construct his Hall of Fame. (0:00) Intro (0:51) ‘Miami Vice ‘85’ (3:12) Weekend box office (13:59) Trailer reactions (‘River’ and ‘Exorcist: Martyrs’) (17:25) Sadie Sink to star in ‘The Guest’ adaptation and Derek Cianfrance adapting Gary Paulsen’s 'Survival Book: Hatchet' for Netflix (18:33) ‘The Beatles’ movies updates (22:58) ‘Other Mommy’ (31:26) SPOILER WARNING (40:58) ‘Animals’ (58:30) What makes Ben Affleck so special? (1:06:10) The Ben Affleck Hall of Fame Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. 5d ago

    ‘The Social Reckoning’ Is No ‘The Social Network,’ and the Top Five Most Unnecessary Legasequels. Plus: The Best Movies at NYFF!

    Drop the “the.” Just “Big Picture.” It’s cleaner. Today on Big Picture, Sean and Amanda discuss the much anticipated (and also dreaded) legacy sequel ‘The Social Reckoning,’ written and directed by one of our main characters: Aaron Sorkin. Before diving in, they briefly react to the official merging of Warner Bros. and Paramount and hypothesize what the future of David Ellison’s Skydance will look like. Then, Sean shares his New York Film Festival recap and highlights the best movies he saw, many of which Amanda has also seen. Next, in theme with corporate power trillionaires, they cover Alex Gibney’s new documentary, ‘Musk,’ and break down what did and didn’t work for them. Finally, they unpack all of their feelings on ‘The Social Reckoning,’ explore why many of the performances didn’t jive with Sorkin’s style, and share their most unnecessary legasequels of all time. (0:00) Intro (1:22) Skydance movie news (13:02) New York Film Festival recap (44:33) ‘Musk’ (53:58) ‘The Social Reckoning’ (1:35:48) The most unnecessary legasequels Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. Oct 6

    ‘Verity’ Is Trash. But Is It Good Trash? Plus: ‘Digger’ Flopped and Warner Bros. Is No More.

    Another year, another Colleen Hoover adaptation. How lucky are we? Before diving into the biggest box office success from the weekend, Sean and Amanda react to the news that Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy will not continue their roles at David Ellison’s Skydance. They look back at their biggest successes and failures, and wonder what the future of Skydance looks like. Then, they briefly discuss ‘Sicario 3’ being greenlit with all of the returning stars, but notably neither Denis Villeneuve or Stefano Sollima. Finally, they cover ‘Verity,’ an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s erotic thriller, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett. They break down why the original source material sets the movie up for failure, what they want from the erotic thriller genre going forward, and debate whether we have a “Dakota Johnson problem.” (0:00) Intro (0:50) ‘Digger’ bombs at the box office (7:32) Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy out at Warner Bros.-Paramount, and the future of Skydance (38:04) ‘Sicario 3’ a go with Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin to return (41:09) ‘Verity’ (1:02:07) SPOILER WARNING (1:23:31) Dakota Johnson temperature check (1:29:24) The state of erotic thrillers vs. what we want (1:32:46) Looking forward to the October slate Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh and Remy Hernandez 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

  4. Oct 2

    Is ‘Digger’ the Tom Cruise Movie We’ve Been Waiting For? Plus: Our Top 10 Tom Cruise Performances.

    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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. Sep 30

    The Baseball Movie Draft

    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 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®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. Sep 28

    Old Movies vs. New Movies: How ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ Beat Brad Pitt, Robert Pattinson, and an Awesome Weekend Movie Lineup

    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 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®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  7. Sep 25

    ‘Primetime’ Is a Robert Pattinson Transformation and the Nightmare Media Movie of Our Time, With Lance Oppenheim!

    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 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®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. Sep 23

    The Best Movies About Filmmakers, and ‘Boorman and the Devil’

    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®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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4.2
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Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins review the movies you need to see. Plus: Top 5s, Movie Drafts, Oscars analysis, and more. Subscribe to Sean's newsletter, Projections, here.

Information

  • Creator
    The Ringer
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    980
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Big Picture

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