The Summer Movie Mailbag

Sean and Amanda open up the mailbag to cover all things related to summer movies! They discuss their favorite summer films they love to watch throughout the season, choose which homemade cocktail they’d pair with some summer rewatchables, share a list of movies they recommend checking out in preparation for this fall’s exciting slate, and much more. 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.®️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Sean Fennessey?

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• 0:46Sean Fennessey?

  Terms and conditions apply. This episode of The Big Picture is brought to you by Amazon Prime. What pairs with a good comedy? The cozy blanket arriving with Prime. What pairs with a nail biting thriller? Snacks arriving with Prime. What pairs with big game on Prime Video? That new couch arriving with Prime. Whatever feeling you're after, Prime helps bring it to life with great entertainment and fast shipping that delivers what the moment calls for. From streaming to fast shipping, it's on Prime.

• 1:21Sean Fennessey?

  I'm Sean Fennessey.

• 1:22Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm Amanda Dobbins.

• 1:23Sean Fennessey?

  And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about the summer. We have a summer movie mailbag to jump into. This is going to be the last full episode. That's just me and you of this summer.

• 1:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:33Sean Fennessey?

  Before that, because you're leaving soon, you will not be joining me at a programming reminder, special screening of one of our 25 for 25 films here in Los Angeles.

• 1:45Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm really, I'm pained that I don't get to go see Michael Clayton at the Arrow Theater on Monday, August 25th?

• 1:53Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, at 7:00 PM. I'm very excited. I'll be presenting an introduction. You won't be there. I will be representing your spirit.

• 2:00Amanda Dobbins?

  That's true. I might send an email. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be honest, I go to Venice the next day for the Venice Film Festival, so don't cry too hard for me. But I am sorry that I'm gonna miss you and Michael Clayton on the big screen and all of our friends here in Los Angeles. That's a cool festival that we have been a part of.

• 2:13Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, friend, friend of the fest. The American Cinematheque puts it on every year. There are a few other ringer podcasters who are presenting films across that time. Look out for that in my calendar. Okay, summer movies.

• 2:26Sean Fennessey?

  We've had an interesting summer, you and I. We, uh, we have been, I would say, mixed on the movies this summer.

• 2:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 2:33Sean Fennessey?

  Some high highs, some low lows, some breaks with consensus, some strident opinions. Are you feeling like this has been a good one?

• 2:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, Jesus Christ, I just thought about, I mean, I don't, I don't know. How do we, that's, I feel like this is the common condition now. How do we answer this? Like the, you know, everything is on fire.

• 2:52Sean Fennessey?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, sometimes quite literally here in Los Angeles. Uh, and, you know, there were some good movies. It, it hasn't been the best summer movie year. I think that's true qualitatively. I think that's true at the box office. I think that's true in my heart, but I, again, there were things I liked. I don't know.

• 3:14Sean Fennessey?

  Could have been worse.

• 3:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 3:15Sean Fennessey?

  Could have been better. That's kind of where I'm at. I don't, I don't think it's bad, but I don't think it's good. It's kind of right in the middle. We obviously are in a recovery period in the aftermath of the strikes and, um, you know, a post-COVID theatrical experience and a lot of franchises going up and a lot of franchises going down and trying to figure out where they're going to get settled. In general, yeah, I think it's been just fine. I do think, I'm prepared for a really powerful fall. Now, I'm not saying that the films coming this fall will be great. We don't know yet. And in fact, a lot of the work that we'll be doing in Venice and Telluride will help set the template for what kinds of conversations we're going to have on the show for the next few months.

• 3:55Sean Fennessey?

  But when you consider the fact that we have 12 more films in 25 for 25 to run down.

• 4:01Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, yeah.

• 4:01Sean Fennessey?

  In three months' time.

• 4:02Amanda Dobbins?

  That's right.

• 4:03Sean Fennessey?

  Four months' time, four months' time. And then we've got, we literally only have one Best Picture contender out there right now.

• 4:12Amanda Dobbins?

  In Sinners.

• 4:13Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 4:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 4:14Sean Fennessey?

  Just one.

• 4:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. Well, bring them on.

• 4:17Sean Fennessey?

  I know, I know. I know, and I-

• 4:18Amanda Dobbins?

  I just, I just extended my Venice trip because it's going- Things are happening on the Lido.

• 4:24Sean Fennessey?

  I made this big promise at the beginning of the year to be like, we're gonna dive deep into movies on these episodes. And for the most part, I have tried to live up to that. I have tried to say, we're gonna do like a really deep Eddington episode. We're gonna try to go deep on 28 Years Later. We're gonna try, when a movie arrives, that is not just fun and a popcorn movie, but is an event, has thematic stuff in it. Try to explore the movies as deeply as we can. We just haven't had a lot of them that have been worthy of that.

• 4:51Amanda Dobbins?

  And when we did, people yelled at us. See, materialists.

• 4:54Sean Fennessey?

  But to me, I would never take that back because I love that episode. I thought that was so fun.

• 4:58Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't take anything back.

• 4:59Sean Fennessey?

  I know you don't. I know you don't. I always think I could do something a little bit better, but like, that's an example of, I wish we could have more conversations like that on the show. And there were more movies that even if they're unsuccessful in some ways, we could explore more deeply. I'm really hopeful that in September, October, November, and December, we will get rich opportunities to dig into episodes. Will you, will you make this pact with me?

• 5:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Absolutely. I'm excited.

• 5:21Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, I'm excited too.

• 5:22Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm gonna, I'll call in from Venice if I need to, you know?

• 5:25Sean Fennessey?

  That sounds unnecessary, but maybe not.

• 5:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, actually, we probably should discuss scheduling afterwards.

• 5:30Sean Fennessey?

  And we can do that. Here's the thing. When Jack Nicholson dies while you're on the Lido, like, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna handle this?

• 5:38Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, I hope he doesn't.

• 5:39Sean Fennessey?

  Of course I hope he doesn't.

• 5:40Amanda Dobbins?

  I, you know, again, I'll call in. I'm taking my computer.

• 5:45Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, great. That's great.

• 5:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'm like, sometimes I'm living a laptop-free life at this point.

• 5:52Sean Fennessey?

  Jack, can we get Amanda on FaceTime on this television? I can make it work. Okay, we might need that in the event.

• 5:58Amanda Dobbins?

  We might have a special big-picture correspondent and DP available in Venice to make it look really great. I don't wanna spoil anything. But, you know, content might be coming. But so, yeah, if that happens, I'm available with, you know, Jacob Elordi and George Clooney in the background.

• 6:15Sean Fennessey?

  Sure.

• 6:16Amanda Dobbins?

  And we'll do our best. But no, I'm excited. I'm excited for New York Film Festival.

• 6:21Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 6:21Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm excited for, there's a PTA movie in between those two things. And then it's Oscar season. And then it's 25 for 25. Yeah. Listen, we feel this way every year. We're a little tired. We're a little mixed at the end of the summer. Maybe we're not, our hearts aren't as open as they should be. But they'll be ready. August 27th, here we go.

• 6:43Sean Fennessey?

  Okay. Well, we asked for mailbag questions. And some of them were about this summer that we've had, but most of them were not. And I wonder if that tells you anything about how people out in the world are feeling about this summer movie session. Jack, you ready to read us some questions?

• 6:57Speaker 02

  Absolutely. First question here comes from Tyler. There's been a lot of talk about what didn't work this summer, but here's a question about what did. Who or what is your summer movie MVP? The catch cannot be a movie. Could be a performance, a trailer, a poster, a piece of music, distributor, even a random moment of marketing brilliance. Just something that made summer at the movies feel special.

• 7:22Sean Fennessey?

  Well, you already spoiled, I think, the funniest thing that has happened at the movies this year, which is people going to see materialists and being mad about it. That is the most amused I've been by the discourse around a movie in a long time. And I think that maybe because I didn't feel a strong emotional attachment to that movie, I really could bask in all of it. Celine Song saying the number one movie she would take with her on a desert island is Zootopia, that's one of the best things that's happened this summer.

• 7:47Amanda Dobbins?

  And also the follow up where she was like, gotta be honest, I wasn't prepared for that. It's no one's fault but my own.

• 7:53Sean Fennessey?

  Who can't relate to that? So I really enjoyed that. Obviously, there were some attendant press tours around that movie that set the template for Pedro Pascal and Dakota Johnson for the rest of the summer.

• 8:03Amanda Dobbins?

  And Chris Evans and people like cooking pizza in the New York Times Cooking Kitchen, which I don't think we're talking enough about.

• 8:11Sean Fennessey?

  The New York Times has a cooking kitchen? I guess that makes sense. They have a test kitchen?

• 8:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, they have a test kitchen and now they have all the movie stars come and make pizza and they like feed the sourdough starter and they debuted it with Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans.

• 8:23Sean Fennessey?

  You think Dakota Johnson eats pizza?

• 8:24Amanda Dobbins?

  I was gonna say, you know.

• 8:25Sean Fennessey?

  Just a question.

• 8:26Amanda Dobbins?

  She could be gluten free. The materialist moment that stands out most to me is still the Shrek meme by a movie watching girl.

• 8:34Sean Fennessey?

  Explain the meme.

• 8:35Amanda Dobbins?

  The meme where it's so it's the wedding cake and Fiona's looking at it with the, it's the prince and herself on the cake. And then she pushes the prince down like six inches because he's short. And then it was just, that's literally the plot of the materialist, which is just the most incredible. It was great. Really, really good meme making. Shout out Ashley.

• 9:00Sean Fennessey?

  As far as other good stuff like this, I haven't seen Weapons yet when we're recording this. By the time this episode comes out, I will have seen Weapons.

• 9:09Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm excited for future you.

• 9:10Sean Fennessey?

  I've been sold very well on Weapons. Now, this is a slippery slope. Being sold well on a movie could lead to disappointment, and we have hyped the movie up a little bit on the show. So I hope people are not disappointed by the movie, and I hope I'm not disappointed. But they have deployed some old school tactics.

• 9:26Amanda Dobbins?

  So that's worked for you.

• 9:27Sean Fennessey?

  You know, the weird analog website, the sparse plot details in the trailer.

• 9:34Amanda Dobbins?

  The Fortnite skins?

• 9:35Sean Fennessey?

  The Fortnite skins.

• 9:36Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't know what that means.

• 9:37Sean Fennessey?

  I've definitely played Fortnite.

• 9:38Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't, I literally don't.

• 9:39Sean Fennessey?

  And I understand it.

• 9:39Amanda Dobbins?

  And I don't want to know.

• 9:40Sean Fennessey?

  I do understand it.

• 9:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Tell me.

• 9:42Sean Fennessey?

  And I will play on Twitch.

• 9:43Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm not even looking at the control booth right now, because if those guys know, don't say anything.

• 9:47Sean Fennessey?

  No, we are, not only do we play Fortnite, we're good at it. We're one, we're two of the best Fortnite players in the world.

• 9:53Amanda Dobbins?

  Real, honest, legitimate question that I'm not Googling. You can see if you're watching on video. What do you do in Fortnite? True story, true question.

• 10:02Speaker 02

  It's a battle royale elimination type game. Last person alive wins.

• 10:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 10:07Sean Fennessey?

  Kind of like a Spud.

• 10:08Amanda Dobbins?

  What's the setting?

• 10:10Speaker 02

  Oh, they change all the time. Fortnite has different seasons. They create different maps, locations. There's different types of terrain on each map.

• 10:17Amanda Dobbins?

  So the weapons, like, scale, the weapons Fortnite could be like, you're fighting everyone in the world of weapons?

• 10:25Speaker 02

  No, what, what skins are, is people can pay to dress up as certain characters. So you can play as Josh Brolin in Fortnite.

• 10:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 10:35Speaker 02

  All it effectively does is you look like him.

• 10:37Amanda Dobbins?

  So when you say different worlds, like medieval world, like Chicago?

• 10:41Sean Fennessey?

  We're approaching science corner here.

• 10:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Like, what are you, what are, like, set the scene for me.

• 10:46Speaker 02

  Fictional worlds, all different types of temperature and terrain, forests, it's very cold.

• 10:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Contemporary, yes, olden times?

• 10:53Speaker 02

  All, literally anything you can imagine, it's been done.

• 10:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Are there demons, monsters?

• 10:58Speaker 02

  You know, I stopped playing Fortnite quite a long time ago, so I'm not sure when I played, there were no demons or monsters.

• 11:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. And but you're not involved in the creating of the worlds. You just pick a world and then you go fight some people.

• 11:08Sean Fennessey?

  That is correct.

• 11:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, thank you so much. This was an incredibly instructive.

• 11:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Episode of the big picture.

• 11:14Sean Fennessey?

  I I actually literally have to play the one battle after another Fortnite. You know, like I if I don't play it, then I'm not doing my job.

• 11:22Amanda Dobbins?

  No, it's true.

• 11:22Sean Fennessey?

  As the.

• 11:23Amanda Dobbins?

  I'll come over and ask questions. How about that? And then we'll record it. That's honestly like a really funny.

• 11:28Sean Fennessey?

  Sounds great. Look, I mean, look, there's going to be at least three episodes about the one battle after another run up. Maybe four. So with that in mind.

• 11:34Amanda Dobbins?

  Very packed and then October, it's fine.

• 11:36Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 11:37Amanda Dobbins?

  We're getting through it. I had two more summer movie moments that I wanted to share very quickly. One's marketing, which is when Rihanna's children wore baby Dior to the Smurfs premiere, which was really the only Smurfs content that I or anyone else took in the summer. But I enjoyed it. Very funny. Shout out Rihanna for being Rihanna. Number two, number two for me.

• 11:57Amanda Dobbins?

  I think amidst everything that was going on at the movies and also our feelings about Mission Impossible, Final Reckoning, we've overlooked the biplanes. And the biplanes were really special.

• 12:09Sean Fennessey?

  I agree with you.

• 12:10Amanda Dobbins?

  The biplanes were 20 minutes of cinema.

• 12:14Sean Fennessey?

  I agree with you.

• 12:14Amanda Dobbins?

  And I appreciate Tom Cruise and his hair and his jowls.

• 12:19Sean Fennessey?

  I think I learned recently that those sequences were filmed in 2022.

• 12:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, okay.

• 12:25Sean Fennessey?

  Which is kind of strange, right?

• 12:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 12:28Sean Fennessey?

  And I know that they split the movie in half and a lot of that stuff was shot and some things had to be reshoot. And when you watch the movie, you can see how it has really been Frankenstein together. But there's no denying.

• 12:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm hmm.

• 12:39Sean Fennessey?

  That when we got out of that movie, which I ultimately just didn't like very much.

• 12:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, no.

• 12:43Sean Fennessey?

  I still was like, god damn.

• 12:44Amanda Dobbins?

  The biplanes.

• 12:45Sean Fennessey?

  This is amazing stuff.

• 12:47Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, you were, we were both just sitting there being like, oh, oh, for 20 minutes. So that's good.

• 12:52Sean Fennessey?

  That stuff really did work.

• 12:53Amanda Dobbins?

  You know, I just, I wanted to take a moment for the biplanes.

• 12:56Sean Fennessey?

  That's a good shout out by you. I like it. Okay, what's the next question?

• 13:00Speaker 02

  Matt asks us, "Christmas and Halloween always get the attention when it comes to best of lists or top movies to watch during those holiday seasons. With 4th of July just passing, I was wondering if these, if there are specific movies that you throw on each year around the 4th, or any point during the summer, really, that have become tradition?" I think the easy answer is Independence Day, but in our house, it's Jaws.

• 13:23Sean Fennessey?

  Did you watch Jaws at 50, the documentary?

• 13:25Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I didn't.

• 13:27Sean Fennessey?

  I would recommend it.

• 13:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 13:28Sean Fennessey?

  There are a lot of Jaws documentaries.

• 13:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Are there any moving cranes with cameras on them? It's getting really dire in our house.

• 13:36Sean Fennessey?

  Well, there's, you know, ocean photography.

• 13:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 13:40Sean Fennessey?

  And the shark monster.

• 13:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 13:43Sean Fennessey?

  And you see how some of those sequences are made.

• 13:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 13:45Sean Fennessey?

  In this documentary, so that could be of some interest. Now, Jaws is a very scary movie.

• 13:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, yeah, I think. And also, we are going to the beach and we want Knox to go into the water.

• 13:53Sean Fennessey?

  Might be a little early for that. Jaws at 50, which is streaming on Disney Plus, is just a very good, very competent, very engaging making of documentary slash celebration of one of the greatest movies ever made. This actually took the place of our annual Jaws screening on July 4th this year.

• 14:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Hmm.

• 14:13Sean Fennessey?

  And I felt good about it.

• 14:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. How did Eileen feel about it?

• 14:16Sean Fennessey?

  She sat through the whole thing with me.

• 14:18Amanda Dobbins?

  And stayed awake.

• 14:19Sean Fennessey?

  Stayed awake.

• 14:20Amanda Dobbins?

  No shots to Eileen, it's just...

• 14:21Sean Fennessey?

  No, she just, she does fall asleep during movies.

• 14:22Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, she likes to nap.

• 14:23Sean Fennessey?

  That's one of her things. She did, she loves Jaws. It's a, it's a, it's a...

• 14:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, of course.

• 14:29Sean Fennessey?

  It's a part of the fabric of American culture.

• 14:33Sean Fennessey?

  But I will often say, try to compel her to watch a making of movie documentary, and 90% of the time, she's either like, "Okay," or "No, thank you." And in this case, she was like, "Yeah, let's do it." And so that was what we did this year. Now, that doesn't mean it's the best possible answer to this question.

• 14:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 14:51Sean Fennessey?

  But it is my answer.

• 14:51Amanda Dobbins?

  You went 4th of July coded. You're engaging with the idea of America.

• 14:55Sean Fennessey?

  So there's like a lot of ways to view this, right? There's a lot of ways to think about this country of ours, you know?

• 15:03Sean Fennessey?

  The first movie that came to mind is Lincoln.

• 15:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure, okay.

• 15:06Sean Fennessey?

  You know Abraham Lincoln?

• 15:07Amanda Dobbins?

  I've heard of him.

• 15:08Sean Fennessey?

  The 16th president of the United States of America.

• 15:10Amanda Dobbins?

  His voice is very reedy.

• 15:10Sean Fennessey?

  It was, it was, now, now, now!

• 15:16Sean Fennessey?

  There's a, there's actually a DDL question coming in this mailbag that I'm very excited about. Uh, I also thought of An American Tale, which is a story about Fievel,

• 15:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 15:24Sean Fennessey?

  who's an immigrant mouse who moves west.

• 15:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Is this Fievel Goes West an American Tale?

• 15:28Sean Fennessey?

  No, Fievel arrives at Ellis Island in the first film.

• 15:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, okay.

• 15:33Sean Fennessey?

  He just goes west to America. I think he, does he come from Italy, Fievel? Where does he come from?

• 15:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Fievel does go west, it's, yeah.

• 15:38Sean Fennessey?

  He goes west in the second film.

• 15:39Amanda Dobbins?

  No, An American Tale, Fievel Goes West, 1991, yeah.

• 15:43Sean Fennessey?

  But isn't the original film called An American Tale?

• 15:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, okay, so, yes, it is, you're right. This is the 1991 sequel.

• 15:49Sean Fennessey?

  Where's Fievel from? Is he from Sweden? Is he from Italy?

• 15:53Amanda Dobbins?

  So it seems that they are Russian Jewish mice.

• 15:56Sean Fennessey?

  Russian, of course.

• 15:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, the Moskowitzes.

• 15:58Sean Fennessey?

  How could I forget?

• 15:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Who immigrate to the Wild West. Okay.

• 16:04Sean Fennessey?

  I haven't seen that movie in some time, but it is on my list of future Alice stories. And, you know, it's kind of like The Godfather, but for mice.

• 16:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 16:13Sean Fennessey?

  Um, Wet Hot American Summer.

• 16:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 16:16Sean Fennessey?

  A movie that is obviously a cult classic now, but just screams summer at me on July 4th. Blowout, because the climactic sequence happens in front of fireworks.

• 16:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, there you go.

• 16:27Sean Fennessey?

  You know, Brian De Palma's conspiracy thriller masterpiece. Robert Altman's Nashville.

• 16:32Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 16:32Sean Fennessey?

  Watch This Space.

• 16:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 16:34Sean Fennessey?

  Robert Altman will come up again in the near future.

• 16:36Amanda Dobbins?

  September is really, really stressful, but we're preparing. Those are good. I, my answer to this was to not think about America at all. Reverently.

• 16:44Sean Fennessey?

  Has something been going wrong?

• 16:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 16:46Sean Fennessey?

  What's the issue?

• 16:46Amanda Dobbins?

  It's great, just two thumbs up.

• 16:48Sean Fennessey?

  I have been reading the news.

• 16:50Amanda Dobbins?

  So, obviously, when you say summer, I say Talented Mr. Ripley.

• 16:53Sean Fennessey?

  Uh huh, sure. That is not America.

• 16:56Amanda Dobbins?

  No, it's, but it's about Americans.

• 16:58Sean Fennessey?

  They don't celebrate the July 4th in Italy. Just want you to know that.

• 17:01Amanda Dobbins?

  They said summer.

• 17:02Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, okay.

• 17:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, and so I went summer. I didn't go July 4th. I went Americans abroad, wearing, you know, Keds and, and...

• 17:12Sean Fennessey?

  I was wondering if there are specific movies that you throw on each year around the fourth. That was in the question.

• 17:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, yes, sure. But then it says, or at any point during the summer, really.

• 17:22Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 17:22Amanda Dobbins?

  So I went with during, during the summer.

• 17:24Sean Fennessey?

  Matt, we're gonna need you to be a little more specific in the future.

• 17:26Amanda Dobbins?

  He was specific. He gave me room and I've taken the room. Another summer film, Camp Leads Me to the Parent Trap, 1998. Uh, you know, an under discussed on this podcast, Nancy Meyer's classic, but I do think-

• 17:40Sean Fennessey?

  Many people are saying Nancy Meyer's is under discussed on this podcast. I'm hearing it over and over again.

• 17:44Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm at this film, but I know to the younger generation, it's very important and they do, they meet at camp.

• 17:51Sean Fennessey?

  Good movie.

• 17:51Amanda Dobbins?

  You know, yeah, it's really good. Um, and then, not to be a bummer, but at some point during summer, I do start thinking about fall again and back to school. And back to school movie is Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming for me.

• 18:03Sean Fennessey?

  All time classic.

• 18:04Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, just one, one of the great movies of our time.

• 18:06Sean Fennessey?

  New Baumbach movie this year.

• 18:07Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm really psyched.

• 18:08Sean Fennessey?

  It's huge. Uh, okay. Next question. Oh, wait, hold on. I wanted to ask Amanda about something on mic, which is, uh, we, we had this conversation for the first time, I think. No, I was talking with Greenwald about it and I was thinking about it with you.

• 18:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 18:19Sean Fennessey?

  Camp, your experiences with camp as a, as a young person.

• 18:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, I, I went to several camps and obviously hated all of them.

• 18:29Sean Fennessey?

  So what were they? Run them down for us.

• 18:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure. I went to a, like a Girl Scout camp at the age of six and-

• 18:35Sean Fennessey?

  Sleepaway?

• 18:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, just for a week and it was-

• 18:37Sean Fennessey?

  Six?

• 18:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. And it was, and I was too young and I was like-

• 18:39Sean Fennessey?

  That's early.

• 18:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Very homesick. Yeah. So I didn't like that very much.

• 18:43Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 18:44Amanda Dobbins?

  And then I went to both traditional, like, sleepaway-

• 18:49Sean Fennessey?

  Summer camp.

• 18:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Southern camp. Um, and-

• 18:52Sean Fennessey?

  Southern camp? Is that like where they show you Confederate monuments? What happens there?

• 18:56Amanda Dobbins?

  It was like in a part of North Carolina where you're not like totally sure, but whatever.

• 18:59Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 19:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, and then I also went to the Interlock and Arts Camp. That was the performing arts camp in Michigan.

• 19:06Sean Fennessey?

  In Switzerland? Okay.

• 19:08Amanda Dobbins?

  It's in Michigan, but it's like, you know, it's like fairly well known as a performing arts.

• 19:12Sean Fennessey?

  Is there a town in Michigan called Interlochen?

• 19:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 19:16Sean Fennessey?

  Taken from the Swiss town Interlochen?

• 19:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Probably. I mean, it just, that just means between two lakes. So that's where it is. You know what I mean? They got a lot of lakes up there.

• 19:25Sean Fennessey?

  That makes a lot of sense.

• 19:26Amanda Dobbins?

  I would say to an experience, I hated all of them. Do I like organized activities? Do I like being told what to do and where I gotta be? No, of course I don't. Do I, am I a joiner? No, I am not. So it was not really the experience for me, but I did it. And I know what that's like. The end.

• 19:50Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, great story.

• 19:50Amanda Dobbins?

  They did also at, at Interlochen, they made you do, um, so you like had a specialty and mine, mine was piano because as you know, um, I had some, some aspiring like stage parents or, but I didn't really live up to their dreams, but they would.

• 20:07Sean Fennessey?

  Look at you now.

• 20:08Amanda Dobbins?

  They, they would make you, like, part of your schedule was practice hours and they would like put you in a hut with the piano. And then there would be counselors like patrolling along to like make sure you were practicing.

• 20:19Sean Fennessey?

  I'm seeing Midsommar right now.

• 20:21Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I mean, it was a little bit, but I was definitely like reading books under the piano until I could hear someone coming. And then I started doing my skills again. Yeah, not for me.

• 20:29Sean Fennessey?

  Okay. Uh, thanks for sharing.

• 20:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Did you like camp?

• 20:33Sean Fennessey?

  Um, I mostly went to day camp as a kid.

• 20:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, loved a day camp. Come on.

• 20:38Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, day camp, I went to a lot of day camps from the age of probably five through 14. And then I did go to sleepaway basketball camp, the summer of 15, 16 and 17.

• 20:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 20:48Sean Fennessey?

  And that was a great experience. I went to Brun's basketball camp, which was held on the Manhattan University campus. Slept over in the dorms and I loved basketball as a teenager and loved playing basketball. And it was two straight weeks of non-stop basketball and it was great.

• 21:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Can you imagine how bad it smelled there?

• 21:10Sean Fennessey?

  Um, we were just young men exploring our physical endurance, you know, trying to get to the absolute pinnacle of our athletic ability. And, uh, I don't regret a minute of smelling like absolute dog shit.

• 21:22Amanda Dobbins?

  There are many people for whom camp was a formative experience and I'm happy for them.

• 21:26Sean Fennessey?

  I never, I never had the like, um, You know, sleepaway, you meet a girl, you have a summer romance, kind of a thing. That's, I think that's a pretty formative thing for a lot of people.

• 21:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Like, had that in high school at the, you know.

• 21:38Sean Fennessey?

  Well, but I, I didn't start dating my wife until I was 16, 17.

• 21:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 21:43Sean Fennessey?

  Um, so, you know, I could, I could, when I was 14, I could have gone to a sleepaway camp. My parents never were into that. I don't know why. That was just not part of our, our raising strategy. I'm, I'm sure my, we were just talking with, uh.

• 21:54Amanda Dobbins?

  With Andy about, yeah.

• 21:55Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what's next?

• 21:57Speaker 02

  For the record, my sleepaway camp was sports broadcasting camp. I was trying to be the next Bill Simmons.

• 22:03Sean Fennessey?

  Holy shit.

• 22:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, Jack.

• 22:05Sean Fennessey?

  And look at you now.

• 22:06Speaker 02

  My first year, I did Baltimore, Maryland.

• 22:09Amanda Dobbins?

  So there are multiple places where you can do sports broadcasting.

• 22:12Speaker 02

  It's called sports, it's literally called.

• 22:14Amanda Dobbins?

  How long is this program?

• 22:16Speaker 02

  At least a week, I think a week.

• 22:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 22:18Speaker 02

  Maybe a full week.

• 22:19Amanda Dobbins?

  That's incredible.

• 22:20Speaker 02

  Honestly, it was electric factory. No regrets.

• 22:22Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm really jealous. The one, the one place I never got to go famously was Space Camp, you know?

• 22:26Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 22:27Amanda Dobbins?

  And I really.

• 22:27Sean Fennessey?

  Still trying to get there.

• 22:28Amanda Dobbins?

  I just really want to experience, experience zero gravity.

• 22:32Speaker 02

  All right. Moving on from Matt to Matthew.

• 22:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:35Speaker 02

  I think War Games was a formative movie in teaching me how to curse. Barry Corbin and Danny Coleman in particular. Not that it had the most, in fact, it has quite few curse words, but it hit me at the right age where I was learning about these words and occasionally using them. I'd also put films like Clerks, Small Rats, Bad Santa, Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, and Pulp Fiction amongst the most educational in my swearing education. What movies make the list for you as being formative in your swearing education?

• 23:05Sean Fennessey?

  Well, Clerks and Small Rats were important to me, as you know, and definitely, I think there was a creativity to the foul language in those movies.

• 23:16Sean Fennessey?

  That I think definitely made an impression on me. I think constantly of 37, whenever I'm thinking about Kevin Smith movies, the number 37. Real heads will know what I mean by that. Uh, Reservoir Dogs.

• 23:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 23:28Sean Fennessey?

  Is definitely a really big one. Casino? Is one the Scorsese movie? Because I think at the time it broke the record for the most F-bombs in a movie.

• 23:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:38Sean Fennessey?

  And you can really feel that when you're watching it.

• 23:40Amanda Dobbins?

  And they, and they say it, you know, as poetry.

• 23:42Sean Fennessey?

  Exactly. Any for you?

• 23:44Amanda Dobbins?

  My two, so Four Weddings and a Funeral stands out as, because it is R-rated. And there is like a little bit of sex, but I think it is mostly the, the, the British swearing. So they use curse words and, and, and use an array of them.

• 24:00Sean Fennessey?

  Do, do we get a C-U-N-T in there?

• 24:02Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't know if you do, but you get a lot of F-words and then, and then also the, the, like the B-word, the British, you know? So I like, which I, yeah. No, another one, but, um.

• 24:16Sean Fennessey?

  Okay. Bagpiper.

• 24:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, exactly, that. But I had never really, most romantic comedies and most movies I was seeing at the age of 10, which is how old I was when I saw this movie. Shout out my parents, um, were not cursing. And then they do have, the, the Brits treat it as poetry in their own way, you know?

• 24:38Sean Fennessey?

  I like that scene in The Parent Trap when Lindsay Lohan says to Lindsay Lohan, "I will skull-fuck you." That was very formative for me specifically.

• 24:46Amanda Dobbins?

  I will also say Clueless doesn't have curse words, but, or not very many that I can think of. But in terms of just general language, like expression and also, you know, how to talk and how to say things with slang. Attitudinal, but Clueless also hugely formative. Because I just, you know, would repeat everything they said over and over again.

• 25:11Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, I think learning how to speak is an interesting way of thinking about this question. Rather than just pulling the words out, saying that there's something that you're presenting. Because you know, when you're a teenager, you're just emulating shit that you think is cool and trying to copy what you think is cool. And that's, you know, when 14-year-old me is watching Glengarry Glen Ross and trying to act like a depressed salesman living in Chicago in the early 1990s. That's a very weird thing to be doing. Anyway, um, okay, what's our next question?

• 25:38Speaker 02

  Mackenzie says, "She's just a girl who loves a melancholy movie. I would love to know Amanda and Sean's selections for their top summertime sadness films. She can only watch Romare's Green Ray so many times before she completely melts. So she would love some other recommendations."

• 25:55Sean Fennessey?

  First two that popped into my head immediately were Adventureland and Crooklyn.

• 25:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 25:59Sean Fennessey?

  I wouldn't say Crooklyn is explicitly sad, but it has sad moments. There are definitely moments of exultation, Spike Lee's kind of memory movie about growing up and actually going down south for a period of time in the summer and then coming back up to New York and seeing the contrast of experiences. I think it's based specifically on his sister's experiences growing up. And then Adventureland.

• 26:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, the kind of the quintessential.

• 26:22Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, it almost feels like a remake. It's so

• 26:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 26:26Sean Fennessey?

  archetypal, but so effective in terms of the nerdy guy and the girl that he pines for and the guy that she's dating and the frustrations and the inability for people to communicate at that age.

• 26:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Summer is a time of longing and like everything is on pause and it doesn't.

• 26:41Sean Fennessey?

  Everyone's wearing shorts.

• 26:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, you don't really feel included.

• 26:43Sean Fennessey?

  Sleepless t-shirt and you're sweating and you just wish you could just reach across and you can't. There is another Eric Romer movie called The Collector, which if the person who asked this question, whose name I'm gonna say right now, Mackenzie, hasn't seen The Collector. I highly recommend it. It's another summer movie. It's another super sad movie. Call Me By Your Name, I think is probably one we can vote for Grey on, right? Like one of the great

• 27:05Amanda Dobbins?

  100%.

• 27:06Sean Fennessey?

  sad, summer exploration movies, for sure. What else?

• 27:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. The first two Joanna Hogg movies, Unrelated and Archipelago, which are both vacation movies, at least. In my mind, they take place in the summer, so.

• 27:19Sean Fennessey?

  Archipelago, for sure.

• 27:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, if they don't, they're at least like, you know, traveling on holiday. And then, you know, I would just point out, like, melancholy definitely seems like it takes place in the summer.

• 27:31Sean Fennessey?

  Mm hmm.

• 27:32Amanda Dobbins?

  You know?

• 27:32Sean Fennessey?

  It's a summer wedding.

• 27:33Amanda Dobbins?

  It's a wedding season and it's

• 27:34Sean Fennessey?

  They're in short sleeves, out there on the golf course.

• 27:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, so, you know, you need some sadness.

• 27:38Sean Fennessey?

  I wrote down A Brighter Summer Day, which I don't think of as necessarily a summer movie, but it has summer in the title. It's an Edward Yang movie. It's a kind of a gangster coming of age drama that is like one of the best movies of all time. And so even though you couldn't literally make it a summertime sadness movie, you could spiritually

• 27:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 27:57Sean Fennessey?

  say that it is. What's our next question?

• 27:59Speaker 02

  Next question comes from Stephanie. When summer rolls around, I find myself wanting a break from all the big budget IP superhero sagas and animated movies. Instead, I'm drawn to adult sensual steamy films, the kind that feel sun soaked, maybe in a faraway place and a little dangerous. Think The Talented Mr. Ripley, True Lies, or Bigger Splash. Do you have any recommendations for summer movies that bring that kind of adult heat? Something stylish, a little sexy, and perfect for a summer night wind down?

• 28:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Stephanie, same.

• 28:31Sean Fennessey?

  This email has like shades of Penthouse Forum, you know? There's like a little bit like an insinuating, like this is what I really gets me going.

• 28:39Amanda Dobbins?

  What's wrong with that?

• 28:40Sean Fennessey?

  Nothing at all. I think it's as I adjust my microphone, just so. I like the passion.

• 28:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 28:47Sean Fennessey?

  I appreciate the passion, Stephanie. And I don't know, what are your answers?

• 28:51Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, you know, Talented Mr. Ripley and A Bigger Splash are like, are two that are top of mind for me.

• 28:57Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, especially when you can mix in a little murder, you know? There's definitely some slashing going on in these movies.

• 29:03Amanda Dobbins?

  One thing I put on this list was Body Heat, which I don't know if that's summer or just, you know, tropical.

• 29:09Sean Fennessey?

  It's hot as fuck.

• 29:09Amanda Dobbins?

  It's hot and steamy, but like it's Florida, right?

• 29:12Sean Fennessey?

  William Hurt is just sweating through cotton poplin button downs in that movie.

• 29:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Another film that is not set in the summer because Rene Russo is wearing a lot of chunky turtlenecks, but they do go on one of the great tropical vacations and also have sex on a marble staircase. It is, of course, The Thomas Crown Affair, 1999.

• 29:35Sean Fennessey?

  So before we go any further, there is a question later on that I want to just hit right now, which is that we have not talked about the upcoming remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Michael B. Jordan is directing a remake that is meant to come out, I think, next year, maybe 2027. I can't remember which year.

• 29:49Amanda Dobbins?

  I think it's 2027 because they just recast it.

• 29:51Sean Fennessey?

  So he is starring as the McQueen Pierce Brosnan role. Taylor Russell was going to star in the Faye Dunaway Rene Russo role. She has been replaced by Adria Arhona.

• 30:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Who is one of the most beautiful people working, in my opinion, right now in the film space.

• 30:10Sean Fennessey?

  Excellent actress, beautiful. Adria Arhona in this part, upgrade.

• 30:14Amanda Dobbins?

  I accept.

• 30:15Sean Fennessey?

  How are you feeling about this movie? Anxious, concerned?

• 30:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Open, you know, there, listen, there, as you said to me earlier, it comes for us all at some point. And they're remaking a lot of my favorite things. And because this one was originally, was a remake anyway, I, I feel less protective of it. Even though, you know, there are 45 different versions of Pride and Prejudice in the world. And I still just feel really anxious about the new series, even though Olivia Colman's in it.

• 30:47Sean Fennessey?

  So who else is in it, do you know?

• 30:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Emma Corrin is, I believe, Elizabeth Bennet, and then Jack Loudon is Mr. Darcy.

• 30:54Sean Fennessey?

  That's a good cast.

• 30:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, they're great, but I'm also like, what are we, you know?

• 30:57Sean Fennessey?

  It's a film or a series?

• 30:58Amanda Dobbins?

  I think it's a series, which, you know, there's a very famous BBC series starring Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy for Netflix. Yes. So, you know, and then they're also, they're remaking Sense and Sensibility as a movie with, and those have been remade 45,000 times.

• 31:14Sean Fennessey?

  That one seems a little tricky, though.

• 31:16Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I.

• 31:16Sean Fennessey?

  I know, that one's a big one for you.

• 31:17Amanda Dobbins?

  I would agree that I am slightly nervous about it.

• 31:20Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 31:20Amanda Dobbins?

  So there, there are some that I feel protective of and some where I'm like, sure, I'll watch it. It seems fun. And I would say that Thomas Crown Affair, starring Michael B. Jordan, who is quite handsome, is the latter category.

• 31:32Sean Fennessey?

  He feels like, it feels like an obvious star vehicle for him. I really like it as a choice for him. And it's been a long time now since the McTiernan version. I mean, it's been almost 30 years, right?

• 31:41Amanda Dobbins?

  It's, yeah.

• 31:42Sean Fennessey?

  Is it 97?

• 31:43Amanda Dobbins?

  It's 99.

• 31:44Sean Fennessey?

  99, okay, 26. So, yeah.

• 31:46Amanda Dobbins?

  The anniversary last year.

• 31:48Sean Fennessey?

  No, you did a great episode of Blank Check.

• 31:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, that's true. I did. Oh, yeah. That was very funny.

• 31:52Sean Fennessey?

  You got to cook on that movie at length, right?

• 31:53Amanda Dobbins?

  I got two more sexy movies.

• 31:55Sean Fennessey?

  Shoot.

• 31:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Itu Mama Tamien.

• 31:57Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, yes, yes, no doubt. Just revisited that.

• 32:00Amanda Dobbins?

  And then just so we can mention basically every Luca Guadagnino movie existing. Like, I do feel that I Am Love is really slept on.

• 32:06Sean Fennessey?

  Uh huh.

• 32:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Some of it happens in winter, but the, a lot of the sex scenes are like in a field with some bees, you know? So that, that seems summer coded and I, I think that's a great film.

• 32:20Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, great picks.

• 32:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, thank you.

• 32:23Sean Fennessey?

  What's the next question?

• 32:24Speaker 02

  Before we move on, I think a good recommendation that would overlap for Mackenzie and Stephanie, not to pile on Luca Guanino too much, would be Bones in All. Great summer movie, very sexy movie. Exactly. I think that would make a good pairing.

• 32:36Amanda Dobbins?

  That's the summer?

• 32:37Speaker 02

  It is the summer. They're very sweaty and they're in t-shirts.

• 32:39Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 32:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 32:40Sean Fennessey?

  Well, they're sweaty from eating all that flesh.

• 32:42Speaker 02

  That's also true.

• 32:43Sean Fennessey?

  They got the meat sweats.

• 32:44Speaker 02

  That movie's not really talked about at all. I feel like it kind of just came and went.

• 32:47Sean Fennessey?

  Covid. I really, I recommend if people like Luca's movies, he and I had a really good interview about that movie on the pod back then, which I think was 2022, maybe even 2021. But I agree, that movie's a little slept on.

• 32:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 33:00Speaker 02

  All right. Next question here comes from Brent. What movie watching habits or perspectives have been shaped by the relationships in your life, whether with parents, significant others, friends, bosses, or kids? For example, I started watching movies with subtitles when my girlfriend and I began dating. I keep up with Marvel movies to stay connected with my brother, who's a huge fan, and I still make popcorn the same way my dad taught me when I was a kid. Also, a quick thank you to Amanda. I apparently talk about you all enough that I convinced my girlfriend to see Sinners. She normally shares Amanda's no horror ever policy. By telling her Amanda from the movie podcast saw and loved it without getting scared, it's now one of her favorite movies.

• 33:38Sean Fennessey?

  Change in lives.

• 33:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. Shout out to Brent's girlfriend. I do want to, I want to take a minute to thank the partners, you know? Do you, do you hear about this a lot? Like, I hear a lot about the partners of listeners of this podcast who don't listen to us and who kind of dismissively but supportively call us like, oh, you're movie friends, or oh, it's like you're movie friends again. And they have to put up with a lot of shit and...

• 34:04Sean Fennessey?

  What shit?

• 34:05Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't know. Just, you know, if your partner's nearby, if you have one of these partners, play this. Hello, thank you. We're sorry, but we appreciate you.

• 34:13Sean Fennessey?

  Can we get a little, like, very quickly meta textual about this?

• 34:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 34:16Sean Fennessey?

  So, podcast listening?

• 34:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 34:19Sean Fennessey?

  Is a very passive medium experience. You're usually doing it while you're doing something else. The rise of video podcasting has led to more people actively engaging with it by looking at it and listening at the same time.

• 34:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 34:32Sean Fennessey?

  There's obviously some people who prefer to listen, some people who prefer to watch, and then there's a middle ground. You do what you can. I wonder if some of the partners, the more podcast listening becomes active and more like watching a TV show, the more that these unions will be able to be more tightly bonded because they'll get to see you in real time exalting about sinners or something else.

• 34:54Amanda Dobbins?

  Maybe, but I do also think the secret to a successful relationship, or one of them, is to have your own hobbies and friends, you know?

• 35:02Sean Fennessey?

  I would agree.

• 35:03Amanda Dobbins?

  So I don't want to, I don't want to force anyone to get on this boat if they're, if they're not interested.

• 35:09Sean Fennessey?

  I see.

• 35:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Because that will, well, you know, if you don't like this podcast, I really don't know why you're listening, just that's a blanket statement for almost every single day.

• 35:18Sean Fennessey?

  But you know why.

• 35:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Well.

• 35:20Sean Fennessey?

  This podcast is made in the image of Howard Stern in Mike and the Mad Dog, where the hate listen is as common as the love listen.

• 35:26Amanda Dobbins?

  I guess I do know that, but like, I don't think that's a way to live personally.

• 35:30Sean Fennessey?

  It's not something I would do.

• 35:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, I just, I, once again, I think you should find something you like or go outside, but I don't listen just because you're, you feel like you need to support your partner.

• 35:42Sean Fennessey?

  This is an interesting thing, we're not actually answering this question, but it is kind of related. People just want something that has like a strong communication and feeling, and that disagreeing is a powerful energy.

• 35:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 35:56Sean Fennessey?

  And that listening to people with whom you disagree has its, has its own merits. Like, there is something to that. So like, I think there is a fine line between hate listening, which is something we hear all the time as podcasters and people who work in a podcast company, but it isn't always hate, it's like, it's in seek of confrontation that is one-sided, which is a thing that I think people want in this very weird media atmosphere that we exist in right now.

• 36:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 36:20Sean Fennessey?

  I can shout at you without getting anything returned at me, you know what I mean?

• 36:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 36:25Sean Fennessey?

  Here's why your wrong culture is a thing.

• 36:27Amanda Dobbins?

  For sure. I, I mean, I can think of some more interesting outlets for that, but once again, I'm, I've been told that I'm working too blue on this podcast already. So, uh, movie watching habits.

• 36:38Sean Fennessey?

  I'll, I'll say for me, um, when I was growing up, I've, I've shared this before. My brother and I shared a bedroom in the basement of our home and that was, the basement was large. And so we had our beds on one side.

• 36:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Can't wait till my sons reach this space.

• 36:52Sean Fennessey?

  I, I wish, I hope that they have the experience.

• 36:55Amanda Dobbins?

  We don't live in the Zodiac house.

• 36:57Sean Fennessey?

  I know. Unfortunately, in LA, no basements. Um, but growing up in the basement was weird because we were definitely like placed in a dungeon by our parents, but that bred not just the strength of our relationship and we're very close to this day, but we did a lot of things together because of that. And the thing we most often did was we watched movies together. And so I felt very comfortable the first time I went on the rewatchables, which I think was before this show existed or in the early days of this show, because I was like, this is like rewatching a movie with my brother. And then we bullshit about it for 45 minutes after the movie.

• 37:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Did your brother ever get to pick a movie?

• 37:32Sean Fennessey?

  Oh, I'm sure he did, but probably not as much as he would like. He also, I mean,

• 37:36Amanda Dobbins?

  I was like, I don't believe you.

• 37:37Sean Fennessey?

  The truth is, when your brother is 15 and you're 11, you don't know as much as your 15 year old brother. The whole point of being a big brother is you get to help put people on to stuff, you know, help form, inform their taste or share something new with them. Nowadays, if you really wanted to watch something, I'd let him watch it. Thing is, he lives in Virginia, so that never happens. So I don't have to worry about it.

• 37:53Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, I have seen every Barry Levinson film, uh, because my dad showed it to me. So that's how my movie watching, watching habits have changed.

• 38:02Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. Your dad putting you in front of diner and then you working at the Ringer is my favorite one to one conclusion of all time.

• 38:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Here we are.

• 38:09Sean Fennessey?

  It's the greatest thing ever.

• 38:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Having two sons. I was just like, you know, here we are.

• 38:13Sean Fennessey?

  It is.

• 38:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Thank you, Barry Levinson.

• 38:14Sean Fennessey?

  Magical symmetry. Um, yeah, I'm sure we have a bunch of other experiences like this. We have, we do have some friends, I think, who we stay in touch with by way of movies at this stage of our lives. And unfortunately, most of them don't contact us because they already know what we think about movies.

• 38:27Amanda Dobbins?

  I would also say that movies played a pretty significant role in me and Zach dating. And we met outside a movie screening of the, uh, the Anna Faris and Chris Evans film, What's Your Number? That's a, that's a true story. And then like, kind of dated by going to screenings and talking about movies for a long time.

• 38:45Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 38:46Amanda Dobbins?

  And now we have to schedule like, who gets to go see which movie when we rarely get to go together. But that, that was a very fun thing.

• 38:53Sean Fennessey?

  You know, I had drinks with him, uh, last week and he hit me with a couple of, here's two movies I've seen that you haven't seen. And I, I felt like I got shot in the stomach.

• 39:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 39:00Sean Fennessey?

  It was really tough. He's seen a couple of movies I really want to see.

• 39:03Amanda Dobbins?

  I still don't know. I guess he has seen Mission Impossible and he did finally, the other day, he went to go see F1, but like,

• 39:12Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 39:13Amanda Dobbins?

  He, he's way behind on everything that isn't possibly gonna get a magazine cover.

• 39:18Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, the two most anticipated movies to be here.

• 39:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Top Gun Maverick, he saw a full year before me and we begged and I was like newly pregnant barfing every two minutes. And we were just like, please, please let me come see this movie. And Paramount said no.

• 39:32Sean Fennessey?

  Okay. Well, duly noted. Yeah. Guess what? New ownership of Paramount soon.

• 39:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 39:35Sean Fennessey?

  It'll totally change.

• 39:37Amanda Dobbins?

  They'll say yes now.

• 39:38Sean Fennessey?

  Everything's gonna completely change. Uh, I think your slow acceptance of horror has been an interesting and underrated aspect of this show.

• 39:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 39:47Sean Fennessey?

  Five years ago, it was a hard no, pretty much across the board. And you're getting a little bit more open-minded.

• 39:53Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I, I think that's true. I'm, you know, trying to do the work, trying to keep in touch. I would also, I guess my understanding of my relationship to horror, which is, has changed. And it's less fear and more disinterest.

• 40:08Sean Fennessey?

  Mm-hmm.

• 40:08Amanda Dobbins?

  And so then I realized that there are places where like I can be interested. So.

• 40:14Sean Fennessey?

  In certain kinds of horror movies, you mean?

• 40:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, exactly. And, and you know, certain directors and, and like the craft of it, but also, you know, I like, I didn't like the new one. I know what you did last summer, but I went because that was like a pop cultural event. I have liked every Scream movie. So, sure, yes, you, you have, you have opened my eyes to the world of, of horror.

• 40:37Sean Fennessey?

  That's what I wanted to hear.

• 40:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 40:38Sean Fennessey?

  Thank you so much.

• 40:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 40:39Sean Fennessey?

  What's the next question?

• 40:40Amanda Dobbins?

  I still don't like Halloween. The, the holiday, not the movie. Movie's great.

• 40:43Sean Fennessey?

  The holiday kicks fucking ass and you take it back right now. The, the holiday is the greatest thing ever.

• 40:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Like deeply, deeply, deeply overrated.

• 40:53Sean Fennessey?

  I, I, I honestly want to just walk out of the room right now. I, I cannot believe that was just said on this show. Just delete the entire episode. What the fuck? Anyway, next question.

• 41:04Speaker 02

  Ben asks, what are the top five movies to watch to prepare for this fall's slate? Maybe your favorite non The Worst Person in the World trio and under the radar music biopic, a potential One Battle After Another influence?

• 41:17Sean Fennessey?

  Good question.

• 41:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 41:18Sean Fennessey?

  We just mentioned we have a lot of work to do this fall. I put a few together, you put a few together. I think it would be good to go back to Decision to Leave.

• 41:25Amanda Dobbins?

  In fact, I'm gonna do that.

• 41:27Sean Fennessey?

  We saw that movie at the New York Film Festival in like a two or three movie day, as I recall. Beautiful, kind of fascinating, beguiling movie that is a little confusing and probably deserves a rewatch ahead of no other choice.

• 41:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 41:40Sean Fennessey?

  The forthcoming Park Chan Wook movie, which the more and more I look at the slate, even though the sight unseen on the movie, I'm like, you could definitely see a world where the Park Chan Wook thing happens and they finally decide to honor him this year. I wrote down Putney Swope, which is a Robert Downey senior satire, which is one of my mom's favorite movies of all time, which is hugely influential on Paul Thomas Anderson. And Downey senior's movies are, you'll know right away when you see one of his movies why they're influential. This one in particular, its relationship to both race, power and class and maybe what One Battle After Another may be about. Feels like it could be a good prep for that one.

• 42:20Sean Fennessey?

  The trio I wrote down Oslo, August 31st, which is 2011, I want to say, and stars Anders Dan Danielson Lee, who also will appear in sentimental value and was in The Worst Person in the World.

• 42:35Sean Fennessey?

  Jafar Panahi's This Is Not a Film, which is a kind of documentary that explains how he was sort of exiled from creativity by his own country that I think everyone should watch, that is an amazing film, an amazing exploration of what it means to make something. And then Frankenstein.

• 42:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 42:51Sean Fennessey?

  The original, 1931. Just a wonderful movie and a movie that I wonder how much. Guillermo del Toro will point towards it or try to subvert it or not repeat

• 43:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 43:07Sean Fennessey?

  what this movie accomplishes. What else you got?

• 43:11Amanda Dobbins?

  So for under the radar music biopic, I wrote down Inside Lewin Davis, which is, you know, it's not a biopic in the sense that some liberties were taken with the Lewin Davis character and his real world counterparts, but Bob Dylan also does show up in the very end of it and is, I really liked our 25 for 25 conversation and since so many people were so mad about that choice, maybe it is under seen. And then Marriage Story to get ready for Bob back. I mean, but really any Bob back.

• 43:43Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, might be time to rank all those movies.

• 43:46Amanda Dobbins?

  We did that.

• 43:47Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 43:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Last time, but we can do it again.

• 43:52Sean Fennessey?

  What's the next question?

• 43:54Speaker 02

  Tim says, there is a new Daniel Day Lewis movie coming out this year. It's his first since 2017. Where is the hype? Am I crazy or is this flying under the radar? Shouldn't this be a bigger deal?

• 44:07Sean Fennessey?

  This movie's out in two months.

• 44:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 44:09Sean Fennessey?

  Two months.

• 44:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. Where is, I mean, there's a decent amount of hype. He's appearing in his son's film, which is a wonderful act of fatherhood and a TBD act of, you know, creative achievement. So let's shout out to him. It's great. It seems cool. I'm excited. I'll see it.

• 44:26Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, film is called Anemone and I don't know a whole lot about it. And I'm trying to not learn too much about it. We will be building the Daniel Day Lewis Hall of Fame pegged to this movie on the show in October when it comes out. I'm very excited about that. I have started accumulating the movies of his that I haven't seen or I don't know about. There are actually four or five that are pretty obscure. Nanu is one that I haven't seen, Bars and Stars. There's a couple of movies like that, you know, mid 80s productions that are not, you know, there are obviously some very big films that are not as in fashion, like Unbearable Lightness of Being, for example, or like he's in The Bounty, the remake of Mutiny on the Bounty with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. Like, I'm gonna try to revisit a

• 45:08Sean Fennessey?

  bunch of this stuff, but he's got like seven of the hardest auto greens in movie history, where it's gonna be an interesting conversation about how he only makes one movie every 2.9 years. And when it happens, everybody's like, best actor who ever lived.

• 45:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 45:25Sean Fennessey?

  And that's kind of true.

• 45:28Sean Fennessey?

  And so I want to fill in some of those gaps to just have a little bit more to say than, you know.

• 45:34Amanda Dobbins?

  He's really good.

• 45:34Sean Fennessey?

  Bill the Butcher, he rocks, you know, like there's, there's only so much you can do there.

• 45:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 45:39Sean Fennessey?

  But yeah, that's coming soon.

• 45:42Speaker 02

  Will asks a question here that I really resonate with, which is, hearing the slate for fall film festivals and everything releasing between September and December, do we simply have too many movies releasing in the last quarter of the calendar year? It may sound like an obvious question, and not every movie premiering at a fall festival will be released this calendar year, but as someone who likes to see plenty of films, this pattern has become a little exhausting. Sinners, Get Out, and Everything Everywhere All at Once have proven that you don't need to release in the fall to make a cultural impact year round. Do you think this practice of blitzing so many movies in Q4 will change?

• 46:18Sean Fennessey?

  I don't know. I, I can't say I totally understand it.

• 46:22Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, I, you know, I think I do. And while I agree that it's like a lot of movies and it's both exciting and a little daunting to, to stare down the fall schedule.

• 46:38Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't, you know, Sinners, Get Out, and Everything Everywhere All at Once are the, the exceptions to the rule. And for the most part, we're grateful for our listeners who go see movies all year round. Most people do not. And I do think that there is kind of a, like a seasonal training of the audience of large of like, okay, like here is your summer blockbuster. Here's when you, you know, you go see dumb stuff. And here is when you look out for interesting films. That is kind of one of the only effective ways we have of like getting non film nerds attentions at this point.

• 47:17Sean Fennessey?

  It's true, but it leads to at least two or three movies a year. Getting kind of forgotten or cast aside or not getting as much attention as they deserve because of the way that, you know, October and November, October and December, I find, are usually so stacked now. Like, for example, I'll give you two kind of comps on this for this year and next year. So this year in October. We have Anemone, which we just discussed. The following week, we have After the Hunt and Roofman on the same day, which is also the same day that Tron Ares comes out.

• 47:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 47:50Sean Fennessey?

  And then the following week, we have Ballad of a Small Player, It Was Just an Accident, Black Phone 2, the forthcoming Richard Linklater movie Blue Moon, which just got a trailer, The Mastermind, and Good Fortune from Aziz Ansari. That's all on October 15 through 17.

• 48:06Sean Fennessey?

  I can barely find one movie a week to cover for three months out of the year. And then all of a sudden, they drop six movies in a three-day window that ostensibly, we could put a whole episode to.

• 48:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 48:14Sean Fennessey?

  So I know I'm using my experience as a movie podcaster as a lens here, but do people, are people really expected to be able to see more than two of those six movies in a month-long period? It's asking a lot. Even if some of them are streaming, it's still asking a lot. So I think it's like a huge flaw. All those movies I just listed, maybe half of them are awards movies. The other half are just entertainment. So I hope they start to change this a little bit. It does feel like next year, I'll just throw a few examples at you that are in the first half that hopefully will upend this and be more like Sinners or Everything Everywhere. Project Hail Mary comes out in March.

• 48:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, well, you do get one big budget March, like post Oscars thing every year now.

• 48:58Sean Fennessey?

  Well, we'll also have The Bride in March.

• 49:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 49:01Sean Fennessey?

  We'll also have Wuthering Heights in February, the Emerald Fennel adaptation.

• 49:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, sure, but I think that's a reason for that.

• 49:08Sean Fennessey?

  That's just a subjective thing, though. Like, in theory, that's gonna be a big movie with Margot Robbie, right? So that's at least notable. And then we have one more. Well, there's a, in theory, the Trey Parker movie that Paramount pushed from last year, also coming in March. In April, Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic, was just redated for April. And then by June, we get a Steven Spielberg movie.

• 49:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, but...

• 49:34Sean Fennessey?

  Which is a blockbuster.

• 49:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 49:36Sean Fennessey?

  But it's a Steven Spielberg original blockbuster.

• 49:40Sean Fennessey?

  That's way different than what we've gotten this year.

• 49:42Amanda Dobbins?

  I guess so. I mean, I think like the concentration in March, but also, you know, last year at this time, we would have been saying in March, we get Mickey 17, which is like a bong.

• 49:51Sean Fennessey?

  That's true.

• 49:51Amanda Dobbins?

  June Ho, like blockbuster, you know,

• 49:52Sean Fennessey?

  Totally true.

• 49:53Amanda Dobbins?

  And like no one like went and saw it. So sometimes I think, I think hindsight is very valuable. And I, you know, I just think the, I wish that the strategies were more catered to the people who actually go see movies and there are a growing number of them. And I think like Sinners and other is a great example of like, if you make a movie that people who like going to movies want to see, you will make a lot of money or you can make a lot of money. But, you know, I, I think that most people are still in the, in the Minecraft mode of thinking, you know, and just casting the, the whitest net that you can.

• 50:36Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, that's sad.

• 50:37Amanda Dobbins?

  It is sad.

• 50:38Sean Fennessey?

  What's the next question? How do we pivot out of that feeling of despair?

• 50:41Speaker 02

  Our next question comes from Liam, who says, "My wife and I are currently traversing France for our honeymoon. We've downloaded some movies for our train rides, all of which are what we consider to be quintessential movies for these, this experience. Before Sunset, Marie Antoinette, Midnight in Paris, Ratatouille, Claeau from 5 to 7. My question to you guys is, what are some of your favorite destinations for traveling and what movies would you recommend to pair with the trip?"

• 51:07Sean Fennessey?

  You've got some great ones.

• 51:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, it's, it's, so this was tricky because, you know, most places in the world I haven't been to, and I have only like seen them through the movies. And so, you know, I, I know about certain places because people go there in movies and I think that's exciting, but I don't know if they're an honest representation, you know, like, so I can't really speak to that. So since you guys are in France, I picked some, some France or like Mediterranean adjacent movies that aren't the obvious ones. But great list, by the way. Shout out Marie Antoinette forever. So the first was a double header of Charade and Funny Face, which are two, like, you know, classic Hollywood, set in Paris, um, musicals, one starring Audrey Hepburn

• 51:50Amanda Dobbins?

  and Fred Astaire, the other starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Um, I know you don't like Audrey Hepburn, but you don't have to speak on it. Anyway, those are.

• 52:01Sean Fennessey?

  I don't not like Audrey Hepburn.

• 52:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, you don't respond to it.

• 52:04Sean Fennessey?

  I just think it's like, she's not an icon.

• 52:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. I mean, in some ways, they're like Roman Holiday, but in, but in France. And I guess Roman Holiday is also a good one, starring Audrey Hepburn. But magical, using the actual city as, like, as the backdrop and part of the, the texture of an old Hollywood musical.

• 52:25Sean Fennessey?

  Hmm.

• 52:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Two Days in Paris, which is Julie Delpy's movie about, starring her real parents as, as her parents and it's, she's with her boyfriend, played by Adam Goldberg, and they spend two days in Paris before going home. And then things devolve. It's really, really funny. And then in, in terms of travel, so Evil Under the Sun is, I think, somewhere outside of Spain, on a Spanish island, though I can't be sure of that, somewhere Mediterranean adjacent.

• 52:59Sean Fennessey?

  You been to Spain?

• 53:00Amanda Dobbins?

  I have. It was a great trip. My 30th birthday. We did Barcelona and then the Costa Brava. It was awesome. And then I'd love to go back. Death on the Nile is set in Egypt, obviously, and filmed. These are two Agatha Christie adaptations from the 70s, early 80s that are my faves and are also filmed in the place. Again, I, you know, I don't know if they are the most representative or culturally sensitive of films, but Death on the Nile, there's a, like, they are just galloping to the pyramids at some point. You know, Mia Farrow is, like, threatening people outside of temples. It's pretty cool. So I'd like those films for this purpose.

• 53:41Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, yeah. I think those are, those are great. Um, I think this answer also relates to the question about what movie should I watch to prep for the fall film season. But I think if you, you probably should just watch Breathless, the Godard film, which is sort of like some, one of the most significant movies ever made, and Nouvelle Vague, the new Richard Linklater movie that's coming out. The movie is entirely about the making of Breathless. Specifically, you know, what Godard and Jean-Paul Vermondo and Gene Seberg did. And, you know, that film was shot on the streets of Paris.

• 54:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 54:12Sean Fennessey?

  This Nouvelle Vague was shot on the streets of Paris. And it really like takes you to that time in history. So I would, it's, it's an obvious recommendation, but maybe a useful one, given this movie is coming soon.

• 54:23Amanda Dobbins?

  If you have kids and you're trying to teach them about Paris for some reason, Red Balloon is a great.

• 54:28Sean Fennessey?

  Wonderful choice. Just pulled it out of the Criterion Closet Truck for my daughter.

• 54:34Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, what's the next question?

• 54:36Speaker 02

  Lost in Translation in Japan would be a good one, too.

• 54:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Totally, but it's like, I've never, I've never been, you know?

• 54:41Speaker 02

  That's, that's why I suggested it.

• 54:43Amanda Dobbins?

  I would love to go. I'm trying to get those like Hyatt points, you know?

• 54:46Speaker 02

  Right.

• 54:48Sean Fennessey?

  Those Hyatt points.

• 54:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, I think it's, is it, I don't know what their program is called.

• 54:52Sean Fennessey?

  You've just slid into full influencer.

• 54:54Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, I want to stay at the Park Hyatt, which is the hotel in Lost in Translation. But it's not on my budget unless you're paying for it.

• 55:02Sean Fennessey?

  What's the name of the band is it? We are Sausalito? Is that what she says? When she's for the bar band? We are Sausalito. Is it Sausalito? What am I?

• 55:10Amanda Dobbins?

  I think so. Yeah, it's really, really, really good.

• 55:12Sean Fennessey?

  That actress is so funny.

• 55:13Amanda Dobbins?

  But anyway, you know, I don't really think that that's in my budget unless I get those, you know, rewards points. So.

• 55:19Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, cool. Good to know.

• 55:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. I'm working hard.

• 55:22Sean Fennessey?

  Thanks for influencing. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Having the right people in your corner can make all the difference. Fall Festival movie season is upon us and it's always a really stressful time here at the big picture. Luckily, I have Amanda at my side to help me determine what movies we're going to see, which ones she'll take care of. And I also have my family at home taking care of me and I'm really grateful for that. And like those people, State Farm is there to help you choose the coverage you need. With so many coverage options, it's nice knowing you have help finding what fits for you. Go online at statefarm.com or use the award winning app to get help from one of their local agents. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

• 55:59Sean Fennessey?

  What's our next question?

• 56:00Speaker 02

  Comes from Nancy. What year would you say was the best year for summer movies? For me, 1997 is up there because it had something for everyone with movies such as Men in Black, My Best Friend's Wedding, Air Bud and Good Burger.

• 56:13Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, this is a total bias of when you were somewhere between the ages of 10 and 14.

• 56:18Amanda Dobbins?

  97 would be on my list, but Nancy identified it already, so.

• 56:23Sean Fennessey?

  So 94.

• 56:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 56:25Sean Fennessey?

  Hit like fucking crack.

• 56:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 56:28Sean Fennessey?

  In the halls of Long Island. This was an incredible time for me. I was 11 turning 12.

• 56:35Sean Fennessey?

  I saw all of these movies in theaters and had my noodle cooked by all of them. The Lion King. I saw The Lion King in theaters with my siblings at least four times. It is impossible to overstate the absolute phenomenon of Disney's The Lion King. It was, there's a reason why it persists so strongly to this day. Cause that movie, whatever was in the special sauce of that movie, took over America.

• 56:59Amanda Dobbins?

  That soundtrack? Are you kidding?

• 57:00Sean Fennessey?

  Unbelievable.

• 57:01Amanda Dobbins?

  We were just rocking out to it.

• 57:02Sean Fennessey?

  Yes. I mean, I was an 11 year old boy, so you'd think I would have been like growing up past that, but no, I was all about it. I loved it.

• 57:09Amanda Dobbins?

  You never outgrown John.

• 57:12Sean Fennessey?

  Well, I don't know if that was the biggest draw for me, but it was a factor. I was really there for Jeremy Irons, you know, and what he was up to. This is the same summer that had Forrest Gump.

• 57:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 57:20Sean Fennessey?

  Also an insane phenomenon, and I don't know that I had-

• 57:23Amanda Dobbins?

  And that soundtrack also was how the boomers, you know-

• 57:26Sean Fennessey?

  Took over every boomer household in America.

• 57:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Taught us about their music.

• 57:29Sean Fennessey?

  It is. True Lies.

• 57:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 57:31Sean Fennessey?

  Speed. Jim Carrey's The Mask, coming off of the incredible one-two punch of Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber.

• 57:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 57:40Sean Fennessey?

  Clear and Present Danger.

• 57:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 57:42Sean Fennessey?

  The superior of the two Harrison Ford, Jack Ryan films.

• 57:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Totally.

• 57:47Sean Fennessey?

  Maverick, which is a movie that I think is completely forgotten in part because we're, you know, slowly deleting Mel Gibson from our cultural memory. But Maverick was one of a bunch of adaptations of 60s and 70s TV shows made into a live action film or a feature film. Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner, who was the original Maverick on television. That, directed by Richard Donner, which I think is like one of the most fun adventure comedies of its, of its era. And it's totally underrated and I loved it. I watched it over and over again. It's probably a big reason why I love poker as much as I do. And then John Grisham's The Client, starring Susan Sarandon and a number of incredible actors, including the late Brad Renfro.

• 58:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 58:30Sean Fennessey?

  I saw all those movies in that summer in movie theaters, most of them at the single theater Walt Whitman movie theater screen. At the Walt Whitman Mall. And- I'm here because of that summer.

• 58:43Amanda Dobbins?

  Totally. Yeah.

• 58:43Sean Fennessey?

  It is so vivid to me in my memory.

• 58:46Amanda Dobbins?

  I am, but for one summer later, which is 1995. Um, which for me was on the, I was turning, I was turning 11, right? And so it's the cusp of both like kids movies and grownups. So you get Braveheart.

• 59:04Sean Fennessey?

  Mm hmm. Did you see Braveheart in a movie theater?

• 59:06Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I don't know if I did. Um, you know, then you saw, it was so pervasive culturally, you know, um, at the time and we were all doing the speech to each other, but maybe it was too violent for me to see.

• 59:18Sean Fennessey?

  I didn't see it in theaters. I could be wrong.

• 59:20Amanda Dobbins?

  But I like, just the awareness of it, you know, and like, you'll never take my freedom, you know? Anyway, Casper?

• 59:29Sean Fennessey?

  We forgot about Mel Gibson.

• 59:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, well, I don't think we forgot about him.

• 59:32Sean Fennessey?

  We purposefully forgot about him. Yeah.

• 59:34Amanda Dobbins?

  We put that in a little box and we don't want to deal with it anymore.

• 59:36Sean Fennessey?

  Wait, that's so true. I know that's Van's whole bit, the Mel, why Mel? But he's so right that like, he was such a great star. It sucks that he's an asshole.

• 59:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 59:44Sean Fennessey?

  God, it's annoying.

• 59:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Really does. Uh, Casper, which like, if you were there, like you were there, Devon Sawa, I see you.

• 59:51Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, for sure. Produced by Clint Eastwood's, uh, production company, Malpasso. One of the very, one of the very few non Clint Eastwood movies that he produced.

• 1:00:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, but once again, I was turning 11. Like, you know, here we go.

• 1:00:02Sean Fennessey?

  It's a good movie.

• 1:00:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Batman Forever.

• 1:00:04Sean Fennessey?

  Hot trash.

• 1:00:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, but like you're turning 11, you know, it's Falcon, like you don't know at the time.

• 1:00:10Sean Fennessey?

  I was excited.

• 1:00:11Amanda Dobbins?

  That's Poison Ivy, right?

• 1:00:12Sean Fennessey?

  It's Poison Ivy. Uma Thurman and, uh,

• 1:00:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:00:15Sean Fennessey?

  Drew Barrymore. No, Poison Ivy is in Batman and Robin.

• 1:00:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, which is 97.

• 1:00:20Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:00:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:21Sean Fennessey?

  This is Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face and Drew Barrymore as, I forget the character's name.

• 1:00:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. Well, it's, it's, it's still, I, I think it was maybe like the first time I was aware of Batman, because for the Keaton ones, I was too little.

• 1:00:36Sean Fennessey?

  Well, the thing to remember about this one, or the thing that I remember about this one is Kiss from a Rose and Seal.

• 1:00:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:00:42Sean Fennessey?

  And that song, and also Hold Me, Throw Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, the U2 song, that soundtrack was crazy.

• 1:00:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Seal. Yeah.

• 1:00:49Sean Fennessey?

  He had, he had the juice.

• 1:00:50Amanda Dobbins?

  He really is.

• 1:00:51Sean Fennessey?

  He really had the juice.

• 1:00:52Amanda Dobbins?

  So powerful.

• 1:00:53Sean Fennessey?

  Another guy who it's like, we forgot how powerful Seal, he was on the Super Bowl commercial like a year or two ago. And I was like, man, we really forgot. They made him like a literal seal in an Old Spice commercial or something.

• 1:01:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Well.

• 1:01:02Sean Fennessey?

  What a horrible culture we have now. Anyway, keep going.

• 1:01:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, two more deeply formative, Apollo 13 and Clueless.

• 1:01:08Sean Fennessey?

  I can't believe you didn't open with these.

• 1:01:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, I, I think I was trying to go chronologically.

• 1:01:12Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:01:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, but, you know, Clueless, I was turning 11. I went with my mom to Lenox Mall. And my, like, my life changed forever. 30 years ago.

• 1:01:22Sean Fennessey?

  That's great.

• 1:01:23Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm old as time, but Clueless is forever.

• 1:01:26Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, is this like the Alpha and the Omega of your movie interest, do you think?

• 1:01:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Clueless and Apollo 13.

• 1:01:31Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Sense and Sensibility is also later this year, so 95 was really like when it, when it all happened for me.

• 1:01:38Sean Fennessey?

  That's cool.

• 1:01:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, and then there was Free Willy 2 and Babe also this summer, which like I definitely saw.

• 1:01:43Sean Fennessey?

  I don't think I saw Free Willy 2.

• 1:01:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, Free Willy was just really, really, really important.

• 1:01:48Sean Fennessey?

  It was a heater, yeah.

• 1:01:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. And then the Michael Jackson song from, yeah, listen.

• 1:01:53Sean Fennessey?

  Speaking of deleted from culture.

• 1:01:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure, but listen, that, it was a banger. I don't know what to say.

• 1:01:58Sean Fennessey?

  I know. God damn. Used to be a country, et cetera. Jack, you got a summer that you, is really memorable? Don't say like 2022, I'll kill you.

• 1:02:06Speaker 02

  No, I don't, I don't have a speci-, I, if I prepped for this, I probably could have cooked up a good, a good year, but off the top of my head, I don't have one.

• 1:02:12Sean Fennessey?

  It legit would have been like 2019 and then I would have had to assassinate you for saying something so recent.

• 1:02:16Speaker 02

  I could have, I could have went younger. Uh, I could have said, uh, Moonrise Kingdom is 2012, right? 2011, 2012?

• 1:02:22Sean Fennessey?

  14, I wanna say.

• 1:02:23Speaker 02

  Uh, but I remember telling Amanda that when we did the Gen Z.

• 1:02:26Amanda Dobbins?

  It was 2012. I mean, like, I, I was like a grown up paying my own rent at that point, but, uh, that's cool.

• 1:02:32Sean Fennessey?

  Unlike now.

• 1:02:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's, when we did the Gen Z episode, I told Amanda that was like movies go technicolor moment for me and that, I'm pretty sure that was close to a summer release.

• 1:02:42Speaker 03

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• 1:03:26Speaker 04

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• 1:04:39Speaker 02

  This next question is probably my favorite one that we have. Elizabeth asks, "Summer is arguably the best season for both rewatchable blockbusters and refreshing cocktails. A question for both of you. Which homemade cocktail would you pair with your favorite summer rewatchable?"

• 1:04:56Sean Fennessey?

  I had a lot of fun with this.

• 1:04:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, you have a beautiful list.

• 1:05:02Sean Fennessey?

  I didn't just do cocktails, I did alcoholic beverages of all kinds.

• 1:05:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:05:06Sean Fennessey?

  I thought of Stand By Me first, which is a wonderful summer movie about friendship. And I chose a Coors banquet beater because that's the kind of beer that the kids in that movie would have drank were they to go about doing some illicit underage drinking, as I did once upon a time wandering. We never found a dead body.

• 1:05:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:24Sean Fennessey?

  But if we did, we probably would have needed a couple of beers to chill down a little bit. Kids.

• 1:05:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:32Sean Fennessey?

  There's probably some people at home who don't know what kids is.

• 1:05:34Amanda Dobbins?

  I think kids is also 1995.

• 1:05:36Sean Fennessey?

  I think it is.

• 1:05:36Amanda Dobbins?

  But I didn't see it till much later.

• 1:05:37Sean Fennessey?

  I saw kids on, for the first time, on a little screen on a bus heading north to Vermont on a ski trip in the winter between 1995 and 1996.

• 1:05:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Who organized this ski trip and who allowed you to watch kids?

• 1:05:55Sean Fennessey?

  I don't know who organized it. It was a class trip, but there were no chaperones. There were freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. I was a freshman and I went with a lot of juniors and seniors.

• 1:06:07Amanda Dobbins?

  The 90s hit different.

• 1:06:08Sean Fennessey?

  I saw things on this trip that I can never unsee. I skied zero days, zero minutes on this trip. I spent all the time at the motel, but on the way up, we took one of those big ass Greyhound buses that had the little TVs up in the corner. I don't know if they still have those, but you could pop a VHS tape in and watch it. And so someone gave the bus driver a copy of Kids on VHS. It might've been 96, 97, I can't remember. And we watched it on the way up as a, as a unit, as a group. And we're like scandalized and mesmerized and fascinated.

• 1:06:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:45Sean Fennessey?

  And it became, it's, it's a, is it a good movie? I, I don't even know, but it's, it is important to me. And this is the Larry Clark movie that scandalized the nation once upon a time. And to me, Stoli and Gatorade is what I think of when I think of this movie. You know, what were we drinking on that bus?

• 1:07:03Amanda Dobbins?

  From the Gatorade bottle, you pour the Stoli, yeah.

• 1:07:06Sean Fennessey?

  Exactly. You're very familiar with the, just put vodka in whatever color drink you have.

• 1:07:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Fancy. We were, Svedka is where we were.

• 1:07:13Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, it might've been like Gordon's, like it might've been some cheaper shit for sure.

• 1:07:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, God.

• 1:07:17Sean Fennessey?

  But that is such a disgusting thing that we did.

• 1:07:20Amanda Dobbins?

  I just, I would like to explore unchaperoned skiing trip.

• 1:07:24Sean Fennessey?

  I can't, I just can't believe my parents let me go on that trip.

• 1:07:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Honestly, I can't believe.

• 1:07:29Sean Fennessey?

  I grew up in a strict household too. Like I, I really can't believe.

• 1:07:32Amanda Dobbins?

  Who rented the bus?

• 1:07:34Sean Fennessey?

  It must've been a senior. I honestly don't know. I, I don't know how this happened.

• 1:07:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:07:38Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, again, I saw, I saw some wild things on this trip. I would say it was a loss of innocence over that, over those three days. Me and my friend Evan, we were the only freshmen who were on that trip. And we had a lot of fun. Evan, if you're listening, I'm sorry. Um, do the right thing.

• 1:07:54Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:55Sean Fennessey?

  Just a nice glass of red wine in, in, in an air conditioned pizza parlor.

• 1:07:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:07:59Sean Fennessey?

  You know, and it doesn't have to be in a wine glass. It can be one of those weird plastic frosted cups that you might get at a pizza parlor where they would pour seven up. But like a nice, beautiful Italian red.

• 1:08:09Amanda Dobbins?

  All right.

• 1:08:10Sean Fennessey?

  Licorice Pizza?

• 1:08:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:11Sean Fennessey?

  A little underrated as a great summer movie.

• 1:08:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Guess I hadn't thought of it as specifically a summer movie because it has that sort of just like valley in LA eternal summer vibe.

• 1:08:21Sean Fennessey?

  It may actually be taking place not during summer, but it feels like summer when you watch it with the sunsets and the silhouettes. And that's a gin martini to me.

• 1:08:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:08:29Sean Fennessey?

  Plymouth would be my choice of gin for that cocktail.

• 1:08:32Amanda Dobbins?

  If Aviator's not available?

• 1:08:33Sean Fennessey?

  I do enjoy Aviator's. You know, I don't see it in the bars as much as I would have thought.

• 1:08:37Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't either.

• 1:08:38Sean Fennessey?

  It's not on offer. They didn't have it at Steppenwolf, for example.

• 1:08:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:08:43Sean Fennessey?

  And then I wrote down 20th Century Women.

• 1:08:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 1:08:44Sean Fennessey?

  Another great summer break movie about a young adolescent. As you can tell, this is something that resonates with me from Kids to Stand By Me to this movie. And I chose a Golden State Margarita, which is Don Julio 1942, Passion Fruit Liqueur and Lime.

• 1:09:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. Wow.

• 1:09:02Sean Fennessey?

  You have any of these that you want to go with?

• 1:09:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Passion Fruit Liqueur, I'm still stuck on Passion Fruit Liqueur.

• 1:09:05Sean Fennessey?

  Well, it's just a very specific kind of margarita.

• 1:09:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, absolutely. Okay, sure. So for Talented Mr. Ripley, a Negroni. For Call Me By Your Name, a Negroni. For A Bigger Slash, a Negroni.

• 1:09:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Just a Negroni. Campari only. I don't want the white Negroni. Don't bring me your Capaletti. I've been around the block. I've tried it. Campari. Thank you so much for your time.

• 1:09:31Sean Fennessey?

  This is influencing. What's the next question?

• 1:09:34Speaker 02

  Next question comes from Drew. Are there any movies you think are more than worth a reappraisal since their original release? Thinking about films like Greg Araki's Smiley Face or Jonathan Glazer's Birth. Movies that maybe didn't land when they first came out, but over time have found a stronger following. Curious to hear what titles come to mind for you both. Either ones you've personally reassessed or think film culture at large has slept on for too long.

• 1:09:59Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, so I made a list. Called the most underrated movies of the 2010s. And before we landed on 25 for 25, I thought that this was what I wanted to do as a project for a quarter century.

• 1:10:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:10:15Sean Fennessey?

  Recap. Now, we could still do it next year.

• 1:10:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:17Sean Fennessey?

  And I've got, how many movies are on this list right now? 158.

• 1:10:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:10:20Sean Fennessey?

  Just from the 2010s. Now, they're not the most obscure movies ever made, but there are a lot of movies that I really, really like. There are some movies that I think are like very ringer coded. Like The Ringer talks about a lot, but other people don't like Rush is an example of that. The Ron Howard, Chris Hemsworth, F1 racing movie. Yeah. Then there are like slightly more obscure movies like Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves is a movie that I really like. But even in the context of Kelly Reichardt, it doesn't get shouted out as much.

• 1:10:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:10:51Sean Fennessey?

  As her, you know, her masterworks. And so like Only God Forgives is a movie like this that I really like. Nicholas Winding Refn, at the time, people were like, this is a big deal. And then he just stopped making movies and so nobody cares about them anymore. So I want to do something with this. I want to figure out how to reassess, not the canon per se, but like the prevalence of a certain kind of movie from the last, maybe, maybe it should just be the 2010s would be the best way to do it. But, you know, I thought about this because I think the same thing is going to happen with the 2020s because of COVID. There's going to be roughly three years worth of movies that are either going to be overrated or underrated.

• 1:11:34Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:11:35Sean Fennessey?

  The overrated stuff is like, how did Coda win Best Picture? Like, that's not going to age well. That's going to age really badly. You know, I have a lot of affection for that movie, as you know, but we're going to see that movie in a stack.

• 1:11:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Right. Yeah, of course.

• 1:11:48Sean Fennessey?

  With Oppenheimer and we're going to be like, really? And then there's going to be stuff that really went under the radar. Now, The Worst Person in the World is a really interesting version of this to me because when it came out, people thought it was very good.

• 1:12:01Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:01Sean Fennessey?

  It was widely acclaimed internationally, but it is very modest.

• 1:12:07Sean Fennessey?

  But then when you look back at that year that it came out, it's clearly one of the two or three most influential and exciting movies. We see Trier is now kind of continuing to be a very relevant international filmmaker. And it's a movie that because it's in the Criterion Collection, I think, has this like imprimatur of excellence.

• 1:12:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:12:25Sean Fennessey?

  Which seems small and stupid, but I actually don't think is. I do think it kind of confers something. And as more people buy physical media now and there becomes like more of a cult-like feeling around some of that stuff, I see it as an interesting movie that like, you and I could probably just do a two-hour episode about that movie right now. And I think people would care and they would listen. And I think I'd like to try to figure out a way to do that a little bit more in the future on the show, too, to be like, this is relatively recent history.

• 1:12:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:12:52Sean Fennessey?

  And this isn't Top Gun Maverick, but it matters and here's why it matters.

• 1:12:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. Well, in that particular case, you know, you'll get the downstream effect for sentimental value, which, you know, I, we haven't seen yet. I'm very excited to see it and I do think sounds extraordinary on its own, but I do wonder how much of like the rapturous, the attention paid to it is the fact that people do now have caught up with Worst Person in the World, are taking Trier seriously and are like, okay, like here, it's time, here we go. So maybe we will get an opportunity to do it.

• 1:13:26Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, I think it would be a fun thing to do. And also Renata Renzvi being like an actress that people are, is really on their radar now, too. And she was such an unknown to us when that movie came along. What's, do you have an example of what we're talking about here?

• 1:13:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, my answer is like every single Wes Anderson film released since Grand Budapest. But then I realized that includes Isle of Dogs. So every Wes Anderson film released since French Dispatch.

• 1:13:45Sean Fennessey?

  You know, I've only seen Isle of Dogs one time.

• 1:13:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:13:47Sean Fennessey?

  It is coming out on the Criterion Collection very soon.

• 1:13:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 1:13:50Sean Fennessey?

  And I will re-watch it.

• 1:13:52Amanda Dobbins?

  We tried it because Fantastic Mr. Fox is a big hit in our house with Knox. And

• 1:13:58Sean Fennessey?

  Didn't click?

• 1:13:58Amanda Dobbins?

  It didn't click. Yeah. But, you know, that's fine. But, but everything else, and we talk about this all the time. And we as two Wes Anderson, like full-on stans, like we're, you know, we're in the club and I still think that we Just kind of let them, we don't, we say they're amazing and then we like don't talk about them. I turned on the TV last night to watch Happy Gilmore 2 and found that my husband had just been like randomly watching part of the Venetian Scheme again because now it's available to stream and he has great taste.

• 1:14:28Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:29Amanda Dobbins?

  So, you know, maybe, maybe I should be doing that too. Instead, I watch Happy Gilmore 2.

• 1:14:34Sean Fennessey?

  It's a good shout. I'm just reminded of another movie too, from the relatively recent past that I think is a bit overlooked and didn't come up in our Chicago movie draft, which is Chirac, the Spike Lee kind of musical.

• 1:14:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:47Sean Fennessey?

  That was an Amazon co-production, starred Tiana Paris. It was an adaptation of, is it Lysistrata?

• 1:14:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:14:58Sean Fennessey?

  And it's like, I don't know, it's again, an imperfect movie, but has a lot of interesting ideas in it and really good performances, easily the best Nick Cannon performance in the history of movies. So again, like I gotta, I gotta figure out a bucket for us to just like dig into something that we think is cool and is slipping through the sewer drain of popular culture as so much time goes on. Anyhow, what's our, what's our next question, Jack?

• 1:15:26Speaker 02

  Our next question comes from, I believe, Chiarise. I apologize if I'm mispronouncing your name. I am a 25-year-old woman living in the tri-state area. My go-to theaters include IFC Center and the Angelica. As a frequenter of these theaters, I always hoped I would strike up conversations with other moviegoers of similar tastes and we'd become friends. However, this wish is a lot more difficult than I thought. I would love to create friendships and be more social after a screening, but I have no idea how to do that without seeming awkward or creepy. I've even tried looking on Facebook and Reddit for NYC-based movie clubs. Please lend me some of your experience.

• 1:16:02Amanda Dobbins?

  I feel really passionately about this, that this is like a real missed opportunity by the rep theaters, the indie theaters, like do mixers, like do, and then they don't have to be dating mixers, though. Like, I do think we should be doing more missed connections, and there should be more places for people to meet, because it's like, don't do a running club, do a movie club, you know? Like, then you don't have to be sweaty.

• 1:16:28Sean Fennessey?

  Forget about your health. Think about being sedentary for several hours at a time.

• 1:16:32Amanda Dobbins?

  You know that I believe in prioritizing your health, but also, like, the running club, like, I don't really understand, you're, you're running, and you're talking, and you're sweaty.

• 1:16:41Sean Fennessey?

  I think both, both of those experiences are ultimately antisocial, and so there is an inherent challenge. Now, the upside, I think, in my opinion, of a movie club, is that talking about movies is so much fun.

• 1:16:54Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:16:54Sean Fennessey?

  Obviously, it's, it's what we do.

• 1:16:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Totally.

• 1:16:56Sean Fennessey?

  And talking about running is boring. So, the, like, post-run convo, I find, not typically entertaining.

• 1:17:04Amanda Dobbins?

  That was a hill.

• 1:17:06Sean Fennessey?

  Exactly. That was a hill.

• 1:17:08Amanda Dobbins?

  It kept going.

• 1:17:11Sean Fennessey?

  So, I, but I, you're right, that there can be, like, more community building around the movie-going experience. I'm fond of saying, movie theaters should be terrariums and not tunnels, that you should be looking up, and looking around you, at the world that you're inside of, rather than just putting your head down, and walking straight through into the movie theater, and straight out, out of the movie theater. There's a lost opportunity in exhibition.

• 1:17:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Which is literally what you do every single time.

• 1:17:32Sean Fennessey?

  I know, but I have a lot of shit to do.

• 1:17:34Amanda Dobbins?

  Same. We're, we're there for work. We're, and...

• 1:17:36Sean Fennessey?

  But we also have a, have a premeditated time to talk about the movie together. Like, we know we're gonna do it already. So, in general, and I'm also candidly not in search of friends at the movies, but

• 1:17:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:17:48Sean Fennessey?

  Shireye's needing that, wanting that, I think is totally understandable.

• 1:17:52Amanda Dobbins?

  I will also say, in Chicago, I met a lovely, we met a lot of lovely fans, but a group of people who had met on, I think it was the Facebook page for The Watch, because I don't, we're not on Facebook. Anyway. But they didn't live in the same city and they like had met each other and they like were going to each other's weddings, which is-

• 1:18:11Sean Fennessey?

  That was so sweet.

• 1:18:12Amanda Dobbins?

  It's like really, really lovely. And so if, I don't, I try not to be on the big pick social media things. That's like, that's you time, you know?

• 1:18:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Like someone, someone was asking whether Dob Mob is spelled with like one B or two Bs? And that's a decision for the community. That's not a decision for me.

• 1:18:34Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, sure. You're more of a laissez faire politician in that respect.

• 1:18:38Amanda Dobbins?

  But I, you know, if, if, if there are other listeners, if there are like a way for people to like meet and if this can be a facilitation for people to like get to talk about movies and make friends, then that is, that's the best thing that we've done, in my opinion.

• 1:18:51Sean Fennessey?

  I, I agree. I think you, I love what Vidiotz has.

• 1:18:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:18:55Sean Fennessey?

  Where Vidiotz, essentially the lobby is just sort of open if you have a movie ticket and you can get there early ahead of the movie. And the lobby is open and has not just concessions, but a bar.

• 1:19:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:19:05Sean Fennessey?

  It has beer and they sell beer and wine, which is essentially our local rep theater.

• 1:19:08Amanda Dobbins?

  There are some, there are like stools also. There are places-

• 1:19:10Sean Fennessey?

  You can sit and hang out.

• 1:19:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Gather besides like immediately going to your seat.

• 1:19:13Sean Fennessey?

  And honestly, at any like well attended screening at that movie theater-

• 1:19:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:17Sean Fennessey?

  There's a real energy in the lobby-

• 1:19:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Totally.

• 1:19:19Sean Fennessey?

  Before the movie starts and people are hanging out. And it is a place where you could meet a friend. You could not just meet a friend you know, but a friend you don't know.

• 1:19:26Amanda Dobbins?

  The, the one thing there is that like, you need the bar to be open afterwards, after the movie.

• 1:19:33Sean Fennessey?

  I agree.

• 1:19:33Amanda Dobbins?

  You know? And again, this is part of, I think, like, it requires staffing, it requires resources, but if, if these movie theaters could like make these spaces, and it doesn't have to be an organized program, though like, listen, like a singles night would kill. It would just absolutely kill.

• 1:19:51Sean Fennessey?

  Here's the problem.

• 1:19:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:54Sean Fennessey?

  Somewhere between-

• 1:19:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:19:56Sean Fennessey?

  13%-

• 1:19:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:57Sean Fennessey?

  And 76%-

• 1:19:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:59Sean Fennessey?

  Of single male hardcore moviegoer cinephile people-

• 1:20:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh-huh.

• 1:20:03Sean Fennessey?

  Are actually serial murderers. I'm just saying, just between 13% and 76%.

• 1:20:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, good.

• 1:20:09Sean Fennessey?

  So somewhere in that number. And what I don't want to be is responsible-

• 1:20:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:20:13Sean Fennessey?

  For one of these sad boys. Doing something untoward?

• 1:20:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure. I don't want to be responsible either, but I believe in our listeners.

• 1:20:21Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:20:22Amanda Dobbins?

  And I think it's really hard out there, dating wise, you know?

• 1:20:26Sean Fennessey?

  I wouldn't know.

• 1:20:28Amanda Dobbins?

  I like the stories I read, the stories I hear. So, but also it's hard to make friends when you're adult. It really is.

• 1:20:34Sean Fennessey?

  If you're a young woman, though, there are so many traps you can set. Like, just, just think hard. If you're on Letterboxd and you're a young, single woman and you're looking for-

• 1:20:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Just like Heat. Just, you have just, just log Heat.

• 1:20:45Sean Fennessey?

  And just your top, your top four-

• 1:20:48Amanda Dobbins?

  No, no, no. You may have to fake it.

• 1:20:49Sean Fennessey?

  Is like the biggest thirst trap in the universe. Like, it is so easy to ensnare a feeble-minded boy who fancies himself a cinephile. Like, one Kurosawa, one PTA-

• 1:21:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Don't do this. Young women of Letterboxd-

• 1:21:06Sean Fennessey?

  And then one Wes Anderson.

• 1:21:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Speak your truth and make them come to you, you know?

• 1:21:10Sean Fennessey?

  I'm just saying that we all need to find ways-

• 1:21:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Make them watch Sense and Sensibility. It's okay.

• 1:21:16Sean Fennessey?

  We have to find ways to attract our opposites. And there are some tactics that can be deployed. I'm not saying, if you openly despise Heat, don't tell a person that you like Heat. But if you like Heat-

• 1:21:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, honestly, you don't have to offer opinion. Just be, just log it. Just be like, I watched Heat. And then people are gonna be like, hey-

• 1:21:37Sean Fennessey?

  But then what if it's like, Amanda, if like, if it's your follower-

• 1:21:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:41Sean Fennessey?

  And you're like, Heat, yeah, not, Heat's a bad example, but if it's like, you know, The Fantastic Four-

• 1:21:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, yeah.

• 1:21:46Sean Fennessey?

  And, and this gal logs The Fantastic Four and this guy is like, oh, I really love the representation for Reed Richards' maladies in this movie.

• 1:21:53Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, sure, don't log The Fantastic Four if that's not what you're looking for, you know?

• 1:21:56Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:21:57Amanda Dobbins?

  But maybe some people are. Other people really liked it.

• 1:22:00Sean Fennessey?

  What's the number one movie a man could log that would make you interested in his inner life?

• 1:22:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, wow.

• 1:22:08Sean Fennessey?

  Vice?

• 1:22:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, probably like a, an old, you know, like a, a press insurgence or a Howard talks, like a, a screwball rom com from the 30s and 40s.

• 1:22:23Sean Fennessey?

  And you would think, oh, I want this man.

• 1:22:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Solo and that person's single and I'm like, oh, I'm interested. I, you know.

• 1:22:28Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:22:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Zach, very famously, not very famously, I mean, he took me to see Margaret. Famously to me, took me to see Margaret on like our second date, which is still the, the most iconic thing that's anyone has ever done, but I, very early on in our relationship, actually, I was telling you this story the other, the other night, I had, we went out and met some good friends of ours. That was the first time I was meeting them. I was very nervous for dinner. We ordered oysters. I caught the bad oyster. I spent the night, you know, dealing with that as one does. And then to nurse me back to health, Zach put me on the couch and put on the Philadelphia story. And I was like, well, this is good. This, I accept this.

• 1:23:06Sean Fennessey?

  But you're, you're, that's 10 years, 20 years of, of relationship experience. The new, the fresh.

• 1:23:12Amanda Dobbins?

  No, that was very early on.

• 1:23:14Sean Fennessey?

  Oh, that was, it was early on when that happened?

• 1:23:16Amanda Dobbins?

  No, that was the Park Slope apartment and the tiny like ship bathroom.

• 1:23:19Sean Fennessey?

  That's right. That's right.

• 1:23:20Amanda Dobbins?

  And, you know, and I was like, don't come in here, I'm vomiting.

• 1:23:23Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. The ship captain's cabin bathroom. That was a tough spot.

• 1:23:26Amanda Dobbins?

  I think that was for six months.

• 1:23:27Sean Fennessey?

  I think I was ill in that bathroom once too.

• 1:23:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:23:28Sean Fennessey?

  Um, okay, great. Well, once again, we're self dating here in America.

• 1:23:33Amanda Dobbins?

  But also friendship, but I, I do, I, I think friendship, we need to facilitate. We need to facilitate that also. I don't know. People are, everyone's lonely, you know? So make a, make a friend.

• 1:23:45Sean Fennessey?

  The best thing that we specifically could do.

• 1:23:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:23:48Sean Fennessey?

  Would be to announce a big picture meetup.

• 1:23:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:23:50Sean Fennessey?

  But then not show up. So then all the other people would have to talk to each other.

• 1:23:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Have you guys thought, remember that guy that wrote in about the girl that he was like maybe dating, but he doesn't know if he, he really likes her and he likes talking about movies, but is he stringing her on?

• 1:24:09Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, sure. In the last mailbag we did.

• 1:24:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, I just, I've been thinking about him a lot. You think that ended well?

• 1:24:14Sean Fennessey?

  I would like to hear from him. Please check in with us if you have either found a realized love or

• 1:24:22Amanda Dobbins?

  I hope she's thriving.

• 1:24:23Sean Fennessey?

  Cut that gal loose, you know? Uh, you hope she's thriving.

• 1:24:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:27Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, you don't know her.

• 1:24:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, that doesn't mean I can't wish her the best.

• 1:24:31Sean Fennessey?

  That's true.

• 1:24:32Speaker 02

  Um, really quickly before we move on, I feel like this question specifically is something I can really speak to as a 22 year old person who moved across the country by himself, went to movies and had this exact thought. This is something I've spoken to in great length with tons of my friends and people in my life. And I think the key part of the question where they say, "I have no idea how to do that without seeming awkward or creepy."

• 1:24:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:56Speaker 02

  That's where you just gotta go, press down the anxiety and say, "This, this is okay." Because if you have good intentions, you're not awkward and you're not creepy. And the worst case scenario is you don't get along with the other person. As intimidating and weird as it can be, as it still is for me, sometimes I'm just like, "I'm just gonna strike up a conversation with this person." So that, that would be my two cents on that.

• 1:25:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Jack, I love it. That's so brave. Great job. We should all be like Jack.

• 1:25:23Sean Fennessey?

  Um, absolutely.

• 1:25:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:25:24Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, for sure.

• 1:25:27Speaker 02

  Absolutely. Okay, Jamie, next question. What is your favorite alternative summer movie viewing experience? Some examples, movies in the park, rooftop cinema, Hollywood Bowl, et cetera. I just saw Jaws at the Hollywood Bowl accompanied by the LA Philharmonic playing the legendary John Williams score. I've been going to these performances every summer for as long as I can remember, and I was wondering if you've ever enjoyed similar experiences.

• 1:25:50Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, I would really like to do that.

• 1:25:52Sean Fennessey?

  Me too. Um, definitely in like 14 years and I don't have a kid in the house anymore, I'll definitely be doing that.

• 1:25:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Also, let me just say about these screenings, and they also do sing-alongs, um, for like Sound of Music and stuff.

• 1:26:02Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, at the, at the Bowl, you mean?

• 1:26:03Amanda Dobbins?

  At the Hollywood Bowl, and they start at eight o'clock. And I, and I'm sure, I know it's in a neighborhood, noise ordinances or whatever, but like, you know, I've got a three-year-old.

• 1:26:12Sean Fennessey?

  Push it back a little bit?

• 1:26:12Amanda Dobbins?

  No.

• 1:26:13Sean Fennessey?

  You want to start it earlier?

• 1:26:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, give me a man made for my child.

• 1:26:17Sean Fennessey?

  I've been thinking about break, pushing the limits of how late Alice can stay up to have experiences. This is like a new thing, and that's largely because sleep is under control.

• 1:26:25Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm seriously considering getting my child out of bed tomorrow night. We're filming this in the past, we're recording this in the past, everyone.

• 1:26:32Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:26:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, to drive him to the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood two set so he can see the cranes in action.

• 1:26:39Sean Fennessey?

  Sick.

• 1:26:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Is that crazy? Yes, but it's okay.

• 1:26:43Sean Fennessey?

  No, I don't think so. I think it's a great idea. I'm looking back at purchases that I made for Cinespia. Are you familiar with Cinespia?

• 1:26:53Amanda Dobbins?

  I never went because you guys did it before I got here. And then you're like, yeah, it's nice.

• 1:26:58Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 1:26:59Amanda Dobbins?

  That Hollywood, that Hollywood Forever traffic, though.

• 1:27:01Sean Fennessey?

  Um, I, I assume it's still happening. It is still happening. So in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery here in Los Angeles, which you may have heard sung about by Father John Misty, for example.

• 1:27:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, of course.

• 1:27:15Sean Fennessey?

  Summer, Saturday nights, it is a, there's a large outdoor lawn and a massive movie screen that is erected and they show beloved classics. For example, right now I'm looking at their lineup for August and I see Point Break. I see a double of The Lost Boys and American Werewolf in London, Zoolander and Psycho, Hitchcock film. So that's the kind of thing that they do. And you have to essentially line up two or three hours early.

• 1:27:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:27:41Sean Fennessey?

  To get your spot, you gotta bring your blankets. You gotta bring your cooler. You gotta bring all your beverages. My wife and I, when we moved to LA, we were told like immediately like this is a classic. You're 30 years old in Los Angeles. This is what you do to have a fun time on a Saturday night if you love movies. And we did it many times and you missed out because we did it many times. And we're like, I don't have nine hours in the middle of the day to do this anymore. But I have a couple of very memorable experiences. One, CR and I and Eileen and Phoebe went to go see Aliens. And I think both Eileen and Phoebe fell asleep.

• 1:28:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:28:11Sean Fennessey?

  And CR and I were like in tears, like holding hands, like screaming, like we did it. This is America. And then I, there was one other time I went with our friends Anna and Clay. And I think we saw Clueless. I don't remember what it was, but whatever we saw, it was a comedy. I think it was a 90s comedy. And we, uh, I think that was my first gummy.

• 1:28:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh.

• 1:28:36Sean Fennessey?

  And I just lost control of my mind. Like, I just don't, I can't really remember anything other than like really struggling to stumble back out to the street to find an Uber. But it is very memorable because it happened there. And that must, this must have been 2012, 2013.

• 1:28:53Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:28:54Sean Fennessey?

  It was a fun time.

• 1:28:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. I, I really would like to go. Kirsten Dunst attended the Bring It On. Was it like a Bring It On, Virgin Suicides doubleheader? Or maybe it was just Bring It On?

• 1:29:06Sean Fennessey?

  That makes sense. Virgin Suicides in that setting is a little tough.

• 1:29:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 1:29:10Sean Fennessey?

  Not, not like a party movie?

• 1:29:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Maybe it was just Bring It On. Anyway, I would have really liked to, to be there for that.

• 1:29:16Sean Fennessey?

  It's cool participatory, but not annoying.

• 1:29:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:18Sean Fennessey?

  You know, it's not like Rocky Horror where people are throwing shit. It's just like people know when to clap, they know when to laugh, they know when to cheer. And you're in a really big group. So that's one that really jumps out to me.

• 1:29:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:28Sean Fennessey?

  There's a rooftop theater in LA that my little sister Grace really wanted to visit when she was here, but I, was closed for the entire month while she was here. But that is quite popular too, that I think is giving a similar energy, but I've never attended. I think it's the Melrose rooftop. You know, do you know about that one, Jack?

• 1:29:43Speaker 02

  No, I don't.

• 1:29:44Sean Fennessey?

  Sam knows about it.

• 1:29:48Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, I don't know. What alternative summer movie experiences? Sitting in my garage?

• 1:29:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. I saw Minions, The Rise of Gru in my childhood theater with a lot of, you know, Minions kids.

• 1:29:59Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:29:59Amanda Dobbins?

  That was memorable by myself.

• 1:30:01Sean Fennessey?

  Meaning like the little babies of Minions? Or kids who really liked Minions?

• 1:30:05Amanda Dobbins?

  No, this was like the Minions, you know? Or maybe it was a Despicable Me 4? Which one was the one where all the children wore the suits?

• 1:30:12Sean Fennessey?

  That was Minions.

• 1:30:13Speaker 02

  Minions, The Rise of Gru.

• 1:30:14Amanda Dobbins?

  That's right. That's what I just said. Yeah. So.

• 1:30:17Sean Fennessey?

  Oh, yeah. But you're saying in the movie, not in the movie theater.

• 1:30:20Amanda Dobbins?

  What?

• 1:30:22Sean Fennessey?

  Let's get to the next question.

• 1:30:24Speaker 02

  All right. Moving on to Nathan. About halfway through the year, what are your favorite performances so far this year? Not necessarily the best, just some that you really enjoyed.

• 1:30:34Sean Fennessey?

  I completely overlooked this question. You've got two great answers though, and I'm gonna look at.

• 1:30:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Number one, Trébel Tillman in Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning. I guess that's not the last time we were gonna talk about that movie. Two, Tom Burke in Black Bag.

• 1:30:46Sean Fennessey?

  You want to speak about either of those things?

• 1:30:48Amanda Dobbins?

  They were really good.

• 1:30:49Sean Fennessey?

  The best thing ever in movies this year is Tramell Tillman on screen for the first time, and I think his line is, "You must be out of your mind."

• 1:31:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:31:00Sean Fennessey?

  The first time he sees Tom Cruise. It is so fun, and the movie just completely shifts.

• 1:31:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:31:05Sean Fennessey?

  It's like super self-seriousness.

• 1:31:06Amanda Dobbins?

  So exciting.

• 1:31:07Sean Fennessey?

  Um, other good performances?

• 1:31:13Sean Fennessey?

  Well, I really love the Sinners cast, obviously. I think Miles Keaton is like a huge revelation.

• 1:31:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:31:18Sean Fennessey?

  And Delroy Lindo is a personal favorite of mine, so those are two that I would really shout out.

• 1:31:22Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, Hailee Steinfeld, I would just add while we're on the topic.

• 1:31:24Sean Fennessey?

  She has the juice for sure. Um...

• 1:31:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Vinicio Del Toro in Venetian Scheme.

• 1:31:30Sean Fennessey?

  That's a really good one.

• 1:31:30Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't think that we talked about that enough.

• 1:31:31Sean Fennessey?

  That's a really, really good one. Um, I'll say a smaller one. I think Deirdre O'Connell in Eddington, who plays Emma Stone's mother, is excellent in that movie and maybe a little bit overlooked because of the strength of that cast right now.

• 1:31:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:31:45Sean Fennessey?

  You know, Eddington...

• 1:31:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, I know.

• 1:31:49Sean Fennessey?

  I...

• 1:31:50Amanda Dobbins?

  We were there.

• 1:31:50Sean Fennessey?

  We were there.

• 1:31:51Amanda Dobbins?

  We got it.

• 1:31:51Sean Fennessey?

  Like, it turned. I don't know what was going on with the Cannes reaction to that movie, but I've talked to a lot of people now who really, really vibed with it and really dig seeing it again and thinking about it more and trying to unpack it even more. I'm really happy with how that is. Like, obviously, it's not a box office success at all, but it is cool the way the tide has turned. Um, I think Sorry Baby has some really good performances, you know, not just Eva Victor, but first time I've seen Lucas Hedges in a while, and he's got like a really comfortable energy in that movie.

• 1:32:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, he's lovely in it.

• 1:32:21Sean Fennessey?

  And Naomi Aki, too.

• 1:32:22Amanda Dobbins?

  I really like that movie.

• 1:32:22Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, it's a good movie. Uh, okay, what's the next question?

• 1:32:26Speaker 02

  All right, we have two random ones. One for Amanda, one for Sean.

• 1:32:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:32:29Speaker 02

  For Amanda, Joan needs to know if you picked out your husband's shirt that Andre 3000 complimented in the GQ profile video. And one from Bill, Sean, what are some of your favorite answers you've received from what's the last great thing you've seen?

• 1:32:45Amanda Dobbins?

  You want to do the serious question first?

• 1:32:46Sean Fennessey?

  You go first. No, you go first.

• 1:32:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. I actually really appreciate this question because it gives me a chance to write a familial wrong live in front of everyone.

• 1:32:56Sean Fennessey?

  My god.

• 1:32:58Amanda Dobbins?

  I think not only did I not pick out the shirt in question, but I do think that I tried to veto it.

• 1:33:06Sean Fennessey?

  Wow.

• 1:33:07Amanda Dobbins?

  I was presented with several wardrobe options. And in general, I would say the subject of men's fashion in my home is much discussed and seldom agreed upon. But Zach is an independent man and wears what he wants to wear. And he picked this shirt and Andre 3000 loved it. And I was wrong. So I'm sorry, Zach. I still think the pants could be a bit smaller, but he was right and I was wrong.

• 1:33:40Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, I don't remember the last time I've ever heard you say I was wrong. I literally can't remember the last time those words were uttered on this show.

• 1:33:47Amanda Dobbins?

  I think that I say it in my home life more than I do here.

• 1:33:51Sean Fennessey?

  Explains a lot.

• 1:33:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Because that is how you survive a marriage and build a relationship with someone.

• 1:33:57Sean Fennessey?

  I think the same is probably true for me.

• 1:33:58Amanda Dobbins?

  But while we're on this topic of big pants and shirts and other things that I'm not in charge of choosing, our friend Nick Sylvester wrote a recent piece about embracing skinny jeans or re-embracing skinny jeans for GQ, where my husband also works. And Nick, that was a great piece.

• 1:34:17Sean Fennessey?

  Persuasive.

• 1:34:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Really, really enjoyed all of it.

• 1:34:20Sean Fennessey?

  He's just trying to not have to buy more new pants, which is something all men face in their 40s.

• 1:34:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Nick Sylvester has an album out, please, you know, listen. And some of the best Instagram content I've seen in some time. But I agreed with that piece and I thought that GQ was brave to publish it.

• 1:34:34Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, yeah. I mean, Nick is one of the bravest creative people I've ever met. The name of his album is Stereo Music for Break Beats and Samplers.

• 1:34:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:34:44Sean Fennessey?

  And you should listen to it on Spotify or wherever you get your music. Um, what was my question? Oh, yeah, it was about the best answers for that.

• 1:34:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:34:54Sean Fennessey?

  It's a little hard to remember, to be honest, because I've now done so many of those interviews. One of the most memorable ones is Damien Chazelle saying the Colosseum, the literal edifice in Rome.

• 1:35:07Sean Fennessey?

  I could be reading this wrong.

• 1:35:10Amanda Dobbins?

  That's awesome.

• 1:35:11Sean Fennessey?

  It was a, it was a fair response to an open-ended question. I think he was trying to avoid just saying another movie. Like, and so was trying to pivot as hard away from being like a circumspect as he could in that response, not trying to be like, aren't I a clever little shitheel with that answer?

• 1:35:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. I don't think it's a clever shitheel answer. I think if you're privileged enough to see the Colosseum in Rome, it's a great thing. It's a wonder.

• 1:35:39Sean Fennessey?

  Fair enough, fair enough. I would say the ones that I like the best are when I don't know what the film is. I like hearing somebody recommend a movie that I like, but it was either the first or the second time that James Gray was on the show, he recommended The Bullfighter and the Lady, which is a movie I hadn't heard of, hadn't seen, and that I eventually saw. And so those are always exciting for me, but I know that there's also that feeling of recognition where someone says something that you really care about. I think at least later this summer, hopefully, we're going to start to share some of those clips of what's the last great thing you've seen on social, which I'm really excited about. So the people who don't listen to the interviews, or have forgotten, or wanted to make a list of recommendations, will be able to get those a little bit more easily, too. So that'll be cool. What's next?

• 1:36:24Speaker 02

  Next question comes from Joe. One of my favorite episodes of the show was when you did the movie director game with Sam Esmeil in 2020. Given where we are in 2025 and the movies that have been released since the initial game, would you change your answers for the 2000s or 2010s? Who would you say is in the lead for the 2020s?

• 1:36:42Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, so just to remind people, I had forgotten, because we did this episode five years ago. The premise of the game was choose a director whose career as a filmmaker started in a certain decade, and then you get to grab that filmmaker and hold on to them for your lineup, your roster. And we started in the 1940s, and we each chose, me, you, and Sam, each chose one director for the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s.

• 1:37:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:37:08Sean Fennessey?

  So this question is asking us to choose a filmmaker that has started making movies in the 2020s.

• 1:37:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:37:14Sean Fennessey?

  So in the 2000s and 2010s, I chose Bong Joon-ho and Jordan Peele. Who did you choose?

• 1:37:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Sofia Coppola and Greta Gerwig.

• 1:37:21Sean Fennessey?

  Now, would you change either of your answers?

• 1:37:22Amanda Dobbins?

  No. Would you? I think we're four for four.

• 1:37:28Sean Fennessey?

  I mean, I feel great about these picks.

• 1:37:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:37:29Sean Fennessey?

  Jack and I both just saw Nope on 70 at the Arrow or at the Egyptian over the weekend. Fire. Everybody who came out was so stoked. Such a great movie. So I feel good about those. I don't think I would change anything. You know, it's funny to think about Nolan now, though.

• 1:37:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh.

• 1:37:47Sean Fennessey?

  And where my head was about Nolan back then.

• 1:37:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure.

• 1:37:50Sean Fennessey?

  Pre-10, pre-Oppenheimer. I don't think, I wouldn't take Nolan over Bong Joon-ho personally regardless, but I think Memento is 2000, right?

• 1:37:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:37:59Sean Fennessey?

  Or is it 99? I can't remember if it's 99 or 2000.

• 1:38:02Amanda Dobbins?

  It's maybe 2001 because

• 1:38:04Sean Fennessey?

  Maybe you're right.

• 1:38:05Amanda Dobbins?

  It, I thought it was gonna be in the 2000 draft, but then it was really slated.

• 1:38:08Sean Fennessey?

  I think most people would probably go with Christopher Nolan. Um, but it's an interesting.

• 1:38:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:38:14Sean Fennessey?

  Obviously, I've shifted a lot of my, his last three movies are three of my favorite of his movies. So anyhow, um.

• 1:38:21Sean Fennessey?

  2020's directorial debuts of note. Most people in the 2020's have not made, who debuted in this century have not made more than one movie in part because of COVID. And then there's a variety of other reasons. You know, I wonder if Ari in the 2010's is somebody I would consider too.

• 1:38:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, interesting. Yeah.

• 1:38:39Sean Fennessey?

  Now that Ari is kind of shifting out of the pure horror stuff because he debuted with Hereditary, then Midsommar, then Bo, and now Eddington. I could, I, I would consider it.

• 1:38:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:38:48Sean Fennessey?

  I have such a fondness for his movies. Um, 2020's, was this easy for you?

• 1:38:54Amanda Dobbins?

  No.

• 1:38:54Sean Fennessey?

  It's kind of tough.

• 1:38:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:38:57Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I know, I know where I'm going right now if I had to pick today.

• 1:39:01Sean Fennessey?

  I think that I do too. Do you think I should read this whole list?

• 1:39:04Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:39:05Sean Fennessey?

  So Sam has pulled together this list for us. So here, here are some really notable debuts of the 2020's. Charlotte Wells, who made After Sun. Celine Song, who made Past Lives and has Materialist, of course. Ramel Ross has Nickel Boys. We kind of discounted that one. That's his feature film debut, but he did have Hale County as a documentary. So I'm not totally going to count Ramel. Jane Schoenbrun, um, who had We're All Going to the World's Fair. Cora Jefferson, American Fiction. Emerald Fennel, Promising Young Woman. I don't think that's going to get picked. A.V. Rockwell, who had 1001, one of my favorite movies of 2022. Sean Wong, who had Dee Dee just last year. Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter, has The Bride coming up soon. Pial Kapadia, All We Imagine Is Light, Emma Seligman, who has had two movies,

• 1:39:46Sean Fennessey?

  Shiva Baby and Bottoms, Darius Martyr, who had Sound of Metal, and I don't know, what's up with Darius Martyr? I hope he's making another movie soon. Lin-Manuel Miranda, perhaps you've heard of him, he had Tic Tic Boom. Danny and Michael Filippo, who did Talk To Me and also did Bring Her Back earlier this year, Zach Craig for Barbarian, and Michael B. Jordan, who did Creed 3 and has the forthcoming Thomas Crown Affair. So who are you going with?

• 1:40:12Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm sticking to my guns and I'm doing Slaying Song.

• 1:40:15Sean Fennessey?

  I thought you might.

• 1:40:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. I, Past Lives, just revelatory and materialist, I definitely thought was really interesting. And also, as we've discussed, the funniest thing of the year, how you all just absolutely lost your minds. And so by the time this is released in the world, we'll have done Amanda's like very extended nervous breakdown about my best friend's wedding, too. Or is it? We'll find out. And who can say how I'm feeling about it when this is released?

• 1:40:47Sean Fennessey?

  Unbelievable how the power has shifted on this show.

• 1:40:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Versus how I'm feeling about it when we record it tomorrow. Right now, I'm still processing, but, you know, she does like a love triangle. And I like someone who has, she's got a vision, she's got themes she's interested in, she's got genres that she likes working in, and genres that I care about as well. So I feel good about it. Emma Seligman was like in the mix.

• 1:41:17Sean Fennessey?

  For me as well. I really like her.

• 1:41:19Amanda Dobbins?

  I thought Bottoms was really, really funny. And obviously Shiva Baby is great.

• 1:41:22Sean Fennessey?

  I agree. She's on my shortlist for sure. The Filippos are on my shortlist, even though I was a little bit more down on Bring Her Back. My pick is Zach Craig. Now, I'm 36 hours away from seeing Weapons at the time of recording.

• 1:41:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:41:34Sean Fennessey?

  Maybe I changed my mind.

• 1:41:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:41:35Sean Fennessey?

  After I saw it. Maybe not.

• 1:41:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:41:37Sean Fennessey?

  Maybe not. He's making a Resident Evil movie after this? I can't say that's the number one thing I would want him to be doing with his time. But I am open minded that he can make a cool Resident Evil movie.

• 1:41:46Amanda Dobbins?

  What happens in Resident Evil?

• 1:41:47Sean Fennessey?

  There are zombies that need to be killed.

• 1:41:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Like in our world, in a different world, in a middle earth situation.

• 1:41:54Sean Fennessey?

  I can't do lore corner with you right now about Resident Evil.

• 1:41:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, I can't just one sentence.

• 1:41:58Sean Fennessey?

  I didn't play the game, you know, I think it's a post apocalyptic earth.

• 1:42:02Amanda Dobbins?

  And evil game series, okay.

• 1:42:04Sean Fennessey?

  Here's what you're gonna do.

• 1:42:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:42:06Sean Fennessey?

  During your vacation, you watch all of the Paul W. S. Anderson, Mila Jovovich Resident Evil movies. Okay, and then you come back and you report back to me the details about the world.

• 1:42:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, well, right now I'm just reading the history, story overview.

• 1:42:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, international farm, this is too much information for me. Okay, someone can let me know in one sentence.

• 1:42:26Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, we have time for two more questions.

• 1:42:30Speaker 02

  All right, our next question comes from Brendan. As movie lovers first and foremost, you have the unique position of watching a large volume of movies for your job. Are there times where watching so much all the time numbs your enjoyment of going to the movies? And one example they give is festivals. If so, what strategies do you use to rejuvenate that passion? Brendan also notes, Amanda, I really hope you get that jam.

• 1:42:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Brendan, I'm never getting that jam, but thank you.

• 1:42:56Sean Fennessey?

  This has been on my mind lately as I am getting to the very end of an extremely extended period of no proper breakup from this show.

• 1:43:04Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:43:05Sean Fennessey?

  And I obviously have a very bad movie watching addiction that is bleeding over into unhealthy over the last couple of years. There's a delineation, though. I am still as jazzed as I've ever been in my life about going to the movie theater. I love going to the movie theater. It is my number one pastime. I was there three times last weekend. I'll be going again twice tomorrow for screenings. Being in a movie theater seat, especially with Sour Patch Watermelons and a drink of some kind, is just my favorite feeling, aside from being with my family. And I'm with you, of course, on this show. Seriously. And so I have no issue with that whatsoever.

• 1:43:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:43:47Sean Fennessey?

  What I am struggling with, especially when we have more research oriented episodes, or I'm trying to catch up on new stuff that I know I'm not gonna love, is like the powering through the obligatory.

• 1:43:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, totally.

• 1:43:59Sean Fennessey?

  And so that is the thing that can kind of grind you down, especially because, you know, it was a lot of work to do the show when you were on leave.

• 1:44:06Amanda Dobbins?

  I know, I'm sorry.

• 1:44:07Sean Fennessey?

  And that, no, it's, I mean, that's not your fault, obviously, but it was, it just was.

• 1:44:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:44:10Sean Fennessey?

  And then just continuing through a breakneck Oscar season into summer movies.

• 1:44:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, plus 25 for 25, yeah.

• 1:44:17Sean Fennessey?

  25 for 25 plus.

• 1:44:18Amanda Dobbins?

  We're doing special stuff, yeah.

• 1:44:19Sean Fennessey?

  Other things we're doing, yes. And we're increasingly doing more screenings and stuff. All of it is magic, like I'm really, we're lucky to do it. But you could, what Brendan has identified is very fair.

• 1:44:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, I would agree that, and I, and I agree with you that like the movie theater, the magic experience is still exhilarating, which is like, why for me, festivals, at least, you know, festivals where you don't have to stand in line in the snow for three hours, not saying any names, are like, are amazing.

• 1:44:44Sean Fennessey?

  I agree, I have no beef.

• 1:44:46Amanda Dobbins?

  And I'm really looking forward to them because it is, that it is about like the ceremony and the magic. And you like, wanna go be seeing movies, but they're just kind of, you know, we are beyond lucky that movies are our job and that our homework is to be watching a lot of movies. That it's like, I can't express to you how grateful I am, but sometimes you, when you have to watch like, five movies, like very quickly for an episode, it, it's just that it's homework. There is just a different valence between like, I'm popping this on because I want to versus, you know, I have, I have to get through this by time TBD. So I find that.

• 1:45:25Sean Fennessey?

  It's more acute with kids, too.

• 1:45:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:45:26Sean Fennessey?

  Cause your free time is smaller.

• 1:45:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Totally. So I find actually that, what's sad is I, I wind up watching less, like, movies in my free time, fewer movies in my free time, which is unfortunate. We watch a lot of sports, like, because it's the, it's just something where your mind powers off, like it, like it is different because I don't work on the sports part of The Ringer. And then, yeah, sometimes we'll take breaks. I'm curious how many movies I watch. During our time off.

• 1:45:54Sean Fennessey?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:45:54Amanda Dobbins?

  And I, and I may well like, take a couple of weeks just fully off and, and, and read, but.

• 1:46:01Sean Fennessey?

  I'd already told Eileen that I don't think, I don't think I'll watch any movies when we go on vaca- proper vacation. Um, very intentionally. We might watch a lot of TV together, like in bed, like in a hotel. But I don't, I think I'm gonna probably take a full week break, which I know sounds like, oh, you know, how brave of you. But for me, it's really unusual.

• 1:46:18Amanda Dobbins?

  This is like, these are like, very specific coded to us.

• 1:46:21Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 1:46:22Amanda Dobbins?

  Things also, but I think in terms of like, the broader question of like, finding love again at the movies. It's, it's going to the movies. You know, it is, it is going, it is making it an event, uh, which it like, still is.

• 1:46:34Sean Fennessey?

  I echo your experience about festivals too, and I honestly love going to three or four movies a day at festivals. I think it's a lot of fun. I love having my brain super engaged in a lot of different kinds of stories. And then there's also that great communal aspect that we were talking about earlier with making friends. That, at film festivals, that's a great place to meet people. It's a very expensive version of that.

• 1:46:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:46:53Sean Fennessey?

  There's so much naturally occurring conversation with strangers at festivals, because everybody wants to talk about what they've just experienced whilst waiting in line or whatever. So I am so jazzed about that part. It's just like, I'm revisiting the ninth movie about dancing and I'm like, okay, you know, like for the dance movies episode.

• 1:47:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Hurtful example. Did you ever see Center Stage?

• 1:47:16Sean Fennessey?

  Nope. No, we're waiting for Alice. We talked about this.

• 1:47:19Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:47:19Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:47:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:47:20Sean Fennessey?

  All right.

• 1:47:21Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm really excited for Alice.

• 1:47:22Sean Fennessey?

  Last question, please.

• 1:47:24Speaker 02

  Last question comes from Nate, and many, many people sent similar ones. Do you have any predictions for next summer's big titles? Quality, box office performance, anything?

• 1:47:35Sean Fennessey?

  I have a few.

• 1:47:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:47:38Sean Fennessey?

  There's a very obvious one, which is The Odyssey.

• 1:47:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. Did you get 70 millimeter tickets?

• 1:47:42Sean Fennessey?

  I didn't, and I frankly, I don't believe in that.

• 1:47:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:47:44Sean Fennessey?

  I don't believe in putting the movie theater tickets on sale one year in advance and trying to create like a black market or whatever that was meant to do.

• 1:47:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:47:50Sean Fennessey?

  I understand eventizing and I think that's valuable.

• 1:47:52Amanda Dobbins?

  And awareness or whatever.

• 1:47:53Sean Fennessey?

  But like, movie going is a very democratic thing. It's like, it is a, it's a mass cultural event. And I, I'm not saying Chris Nolan is responsible for this, or Universal should be shamed. I just, I didn't like it. And I think putting movie theater tickets on sale a month early is fine, but this like eventizing around, did you get tickets for Thursday at 7:00 PM? Like, you should be trying to get as many people as possible to see the movie. You shouldn't be making people feel like purposefully like left out and then driving ticket prices up on, on black markets for the movies. This isn't a ballgame. Like, the movie's gonna play round the clock for months in movie theaters. So I wasn't, I'm not trying to lecture anybody about it. I just didn't really like it very much. And so, no, I didn't get tickets.

• 1:48:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. I didn't either, but that's just because I'm not gonna buy tickets a year in advance. I like,

• 1:48:38Sean Fennessey?

  Who knows what city we'll be living in?

• 1:48:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, I'm not a format nerd like you are. I mean, obviously, I have to see this in 70 millimeter or whatever, but.

• 1:48:44Sean Fennessey?

  I think it would be ideal.

• 1:48:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:48:45Sean Fennessey?

  That's how it's intended.

• 1:48:46Amanda Dobbins?

  We'll see. Either, either we will or we won't.

• 1:48:50Sean Fennessey?

  Either we will or we won't. I saw Oppenheimer that way twice, and I really was happy that I did it. Untitled Steven Spielberg film.

• 1:48:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:48:57Sean Fennessey?

  This is coming in June of 2026. I've read that it could be called The Dish.

• 1:49:01Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:49:01Sean Fennessey?

  That might also be a fake title. Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor. Emily Blunt is a pretty significant participant in the movie Jaws at 50, that I mentioned earlier, the documentary about the making of Jaws.

• 1:49:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:49:12Sean Fennessey?

  And every person who talked in the movie was either a literal artisan who worked on the film.

• 1:49:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:49:21Sean Fennessey?

  Or Guillermo del Toro, Denis Villeneuve, like J.J. Abrams, you know, elevated filmmaker who had a huge admiration, was inspired by the film. And then Emily Blunt. She was the only actor or actress in the movie.

• 1:49:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:49:33Sean Fennessey?

  Talking about how much she loved it. And I'm watching the movie, and I'm like, what the fuck is Emily Blunt in there? And I love Emily Blunt. It's nothing, I have nothing against her. But then I remembered that they were making a movie together, and that's why she's in that documentary.

• 1:49:43Amanda Dobbins?

  I do also think Zach, uh, my husband, has had Emily Blunt in like several secondaries at this point.

• 1:49:49Sean Fennessey?

  She loves to show up.

• 1:49:51Amanda Dobbins?

  I think she's very good at it. And he's just like, she's a real pro. Like, she, you know, and.

• 1:49:55Sean Fennessey?

  She was good in the doc.

• 1:49:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Exactly. Like, you put a camera and she knows her stuff and she can just talk. So, um, I think maybe, maybe, maybe she's well cast.

• 1:50:05Sean Fennessey?

  Could be. Could be. I'm looking forward to that movie.

• 1:50:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Speaking of movies that Emily Blunt is in next summer. Devil Wars Prada 2, baby.

• 1:50:13Sean Fennessey?

  Is that dated for the summer?

• 1:50:14Amanda Dobbins?

  It's dated for May 1st, so I'm, I'm counting it. I have to, I'm gonna have to like mute the paparazzi accounts at this point.

• 1:50:21Sean Fennessey?

  It's gonna be a wild episode of this show.

• 1:50:22Amanda Dobbins?

  But I, I have like ordered a pair of boots on the real real, uh, based on one of the photos. They were 37 bucks in my size.

• 1:50:29Sean Fennessey?

  You are sick.

• 1:50:30Amanda Dobbins?

  37 bucks? Who says no?

• 1:50:35Sean Fennessey?

  You adopting Bill Simmons trade machine language in 2025 for boots acquired because of paparazzi photos around the Devil Wars Prada 2 is actually the end of the ringer. Like, we actually have finished our mission. We are full circle. We've completed what we need to achieve. I can't wait for that episode because like, I have no emotional investment in the Devil Wars Prada. I like it and that's it. Like, I'm just like, I enjoyed it when I saw it. I probably saw it two or three other times.

• 1:51:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:51:01Sean Fennessey?

  But like, this being in your court now, all this shit going in your direction is so interesting.

• 1:51:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Really, really, really intense.

• 1:51:07Sean Fennessey?

  Uh.

• 1:51:08Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm, I'm like, I'm stressed out right now.

• 1:51:10Sean Fennessey?

  Can I give you my version of Devil Wars Prada 2? Masters of the Universe?

• 1:51:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 1:51:15Sean Fennessey?

  So here's another true story. Um, our pal Griffin Newman famously did some voice work for the Masters of the Universe Netflix series. And, uh, he has, he's, he's the plug when it comes to those things. And my daughter, as I mentioned, on the show with Andy, really into She-Ra, really into He-Man. And he just like dropped the bag like full of toys and action figures for her. Like, just a care package with a lot of cool stuff. So now we're like really into it.

• 1:51:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:51:41Sean Fennessey?

  I know, it was a huge, really a kind act by him. Um, we did see a weird promo trailer thingy featurette at CinemaCon for Masters of the Universe with Nicholas Galitzin, who will be He-Man, Prince Adam.

• 1:51:54Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:51:55Sean Fennessey?

  And I want to say Camila Mendes is, she, she's not sorceress. Who is she in the, in that world? She is Tila. Tila. Actually, Tila was one of the characters who came across the transom. The movie is directed by Travis Knight, who is the son of Phil Knight, the Nike shoe impresario, and also the director of many good Leica animated stop motion feature films. He also directed Bumblebee, a not bad Transformers movie. When I was five, He-Man was my religion. I, I would have, I would have sacrificed blood at He-Man's altar. Rewatching the 1983 series on the big screen with my daughter was a little humbling for what I thought was interesting back then.

• 1:52:40Sean Fennessey?

  But I still would love to go back to my adolescence and enjoy this movie.

• 1:52:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. I hope it works out for you.

• 1:52:47Sean Fennessey?

  Thanks. Toy Story 5?

• 1:52:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:52:51Sean Fennessey?

  Don't care.

• 1:52:51Amanda Dobbins?

  The iPad's the villain?

• 1:52:53Sean Fennessey?

  Is that, is that what it is?

• 1:52:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Isn't it something like that? Screens are the villain? Yeah.

• 1:52:57Sean Fennessey?

  That makes a lot of sense.

• 1:52:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure, but also the call's coming from inside the house.

• 1:53:03Sean Fennessey?

  New Spider-Man movie?

• 1:53:04Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, with like a Tom Holland one or a drawn one?

• 1:53:08Sean Fennessey?

  Tom, Tom Holland.

• 1:53:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:53:09Sean Fennessey?

  Not a drawn one, how dare you, fucking asshole. Supergirl?

• 1:53:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, and the dog.

• 1:53:15Sean Fennessey?

  Starring Millie Alcock and Krypto. Evil Dead: Burn.

• 1:53:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:53:21Sean Fennessey?

  Last night, Eileen and I watched 20 minutes of Evil Dead 2 because I was watching it. And then she sat down and she was like, are you watching Evil Dead 2? And I said, yeah. And she, she kind of said it in a way that she wanted me to turn it off. And then I did turn it off after eight minutes. And she was like, wait, I want to see what happens. And then we put it back on. And then another 12 minutes went by and then she said, can you turn this off?

• 1:53:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:53:39Sean Fennessey?

  That's gonna be an exciting sequel to that movie. Directed by Sebastian Vanacek, who made a great French horror movie about spiders a couple of years ago called Infested. And then Flowervale Street is the big, round question of the summer. Anne Hathaway.

• 1:53:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:53:57Sean Fennessey?

  David Robert Mitchell's return to movies after Under the Silver Lake. And reportedly there are dinosaurs in this movie.

• 1:54:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. I can, like, you know, I can only greet these things as they are. Like, I have, it's too much, you know? So, Under the Silver Lake, Anne Hathaway, dinosaurs. Remember that movie?

• 1:54:16Sean Fennessey?

  Pro Jurassic World rebirth, but you're not willing to process Flowervale Street right now?

• 1:54:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, what was that movie where Anne Hathaway is like a monster? You know, or fights a monster?

• 1:54:29Sean Fennessey?

  I do. She, uh...

• 1:54:32Amanda Dobbins?

  Is it like Colossus or something?

• 1:54:34Sean Fennessey?

  Colossal?

• 1:54:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Colossal?

• 1:54:35Sean Fennessey?

  Colossal.

• 1:54:37Amanda Dobbins?

  It didn't work for me. So, and-

• 1:54:39Sean Fennessey?

  And that's all you're basing this on? We just talked about Devil Wears Prada 2.

• 1:54:44Amanda Dobbins?

  I know.

• 1:54:44Sean Fennessey?

  Also a monster movie.

• 1:54:45Amanda Dobbins?

  My, sure, but those, those I recognize. And my, my energy's there, you know? And who knows how I'll be feeling about In Hathaway by the time we get to Flowerville Street.

• 1:54:57Sean Fennessey?

  I know how, how I'll be feeling.

• 1:54:58Amanda Dobbins?

  I know, I know. You're, you're unwavering, and that's beautiful. You loved Les Mis. Can you sing "My Dream to Dream" for us to send us out?

• 1:55:06Sean Fennessey?

  Did I see it? I don't think I saw it.

• 1:55:08Amanda Dobbins?

  You didn't see "My Dream to Dream"?

• 1:55:09Sean Fennessey?

  I don't think so. Didn't we talk about this? Didn't they not see it?

• 1:55:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Are you familiar, like, have you seen Les Mis?

• 1:55:14Sean Fennessey?

  I've seen the play. I've seen the stage musical. Yeah, I thought it was terrible. I really don't think it's good. So, it's just the truth.

• 1:55:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:55:21Sean Fennessey?

  I know, like, I know the songs and everything.

• 1:55:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:55:23Sean Fennessey?

  Amanda Seyfried, also, one of my gals, just didn't see it.

• 1:55:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure, okay.

• 1:55:26Sean Fennessey?

  Russell Crowe?

• 1:55:27Amanda Dobbins?

  He, he was miscast, yeah.

• 1:55:30Sean Fennessey?

  Who's the other? Is it Hugh Jackman?

• 1:55:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Hugh Jackman?

• 1:55:32Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 1:55:32Amanda Dobbins?

  Is, yeah.

• 1:55:33Sean Fennessey?

  Who's the other? There's somebody else, too, of note.

• 1:55:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, Sacha Baron Cohen.

• 1:55:37Sean Fennessey?

  Eddie Redmayne?

• 1:55:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, oh yeah, he's that guy.

• 1:55:40Sean Fennessey?

  Eddie Redmayne?

• 1:55:40Amanda Dobbins?

  He's the bring him home guy.

• 1:55:41Sean Fennessey?

  You said Sacha Baron Cohen?

• 1:55:42Amanda Dobbins?

  And, and Helena Bonham Carter are the masters of the house.

• 1:55:46Sean Fennessey?

  Did you see that Sacha Baron Cohen was revealed to be Mephisto on the Ironheart series on Disney+?

• 1:55:51Amanda Dobbins?

  I actually do need to leave.

• 1:55:52Sean Fennessey?

  Okay. Anyway, great mailbag. Thank you to all of the wonderful listeners. This will be the last, like I said, extended conversation between us for a long period of time.

• 1:56:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:56:02Sean Fennessey?

  In fact, don't contact me on your vacation. I don't want to hear from you. I'm just kidding. Please text me. Thanks to Jack Sanders-

• 1:56:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:56:09Sean Fennessey?

  -for his work on this episode. And I'll be back later this week to talk about weapons. See you then.

• 1:57:03Speaker 05

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