The 1989 Movie Draft

18:17Sean Fennessey:There should be a horror movie that's about a guy, a.k.a. you, who stalks Taylor Sheridan to the ranch. That's probably what his Texas Chainsaw Massacre pitch was. Oh, that would be good. one of my many stands one of my many lionesses it appears that it's in the Wynn in Vegas so that's his where his steakhouse is yes four sixes ranch steakhouse this is an incredible field trip episode of this show I'm in let's go next CinemaCon that sounds fantastic oh my god okay I'm in for that yeah okay let's go to 1989 1989 I was seven years old I'm gonna start by talking about this I don't really remember seeing any of these movies in movie theaters I feel like we do all these episodes about the early 90s and even I remember doing 88 and thinking, did we do 88?

19:02Sean Fennessey:I can't remember, maybe 87 and thinking that I'd seen some movies but I don't remember seeing any of these movies in theaters. This is a huge VHS year for me and I would say that these, if you looked at just pure raw data, I've seen Gleaming the Cube more than I've seen any movie that you would want to put on your letterboxd. Because you would rent it from the video store? I would rent it and my mother would get furious at me because I would not return it And a lot of movies here are 12-year-old Chris Staples at the expense of watching true cinema. But obviously, a lot of really great movies came out of this year and a lot of decade-topping movies and a lot of really definitive movies for me.

19:42But yeah, huge repeat rentals and not the kind of movies that you would go around trying to get dates at doing video ads with. That's good. That was life before. you know you had to do this for like clout chasing like cinephiles you know it's like I just watch movies what were you like at 12 this is so I guess I was in 6th grade you know bat mitzvah time you know slow dancing with girls

20:11Sean Fennessey:what were the best themes at the bar and bat mitzvahs that you attended you know I don't really remember them having themes no like land man theme no I mean you should try to dress up like Parker Lewis can't lose with the rayon shirt buttoned all the way up. I remember it well. And Bugle Boys. Yeah. Bring it back, man. Yeah. Some like fake Ray-Bans with the green rims. Yeah. But yeah, this was, you know, just the middle school. So I was... Okay. Where was the travel baseball career at this point? It was pretty good, but I'm trying to think of sixth grade. So I was 12. I think I was still like just doing Fairmount Sports Association.

20:48Okay. Actually, maybe this was... You hadn't been called up? No, this might have been travel baseball. at this month. 13 was a big year. So 12, 13 was 89, 90. It was my peak.

20:58Sean Fennessey:What was your slash line this year? Well, we didn't believe in advanced analytics. We believed in momentum. We believed in effort and grit, you know, but that won us a championship. So shout out to Parkway. Shout out to the Fairmont Sports Association. Okay. They still, our name still rings out. How many teams were in your league? You laugh. I have a jacket. I'll bring the jacket back. Does it still fit? No. Can Knox wear it? Oh, you know what? He probably could. Cy could probably wear it. but yeah yeah okay you were you were five I was Alice's age you were four I was four turning five yeah isn't that crazy yeah yeah so what what cognitive memories do you have from that period nothing specific but I have and I don't know how many of the movies I was seeing in theaters um because I don't think that my parents were as evolved as you are uh but thank you for saying that Yeah, you're welcome.

21:54But I have memories. I have memories of a lot of these movies, like, and connecting with them at a young age. So this is going to be half grown up Amanda tries to be a cinephile and half like I was there on the playground singing the song.

22:12Sean Fennessey:I don't I mean, I also was probably playing a lot of baseball at this time and probably deep into G.I. Joe at this time. That seems like six turning seven. Those were core interests for me. Did you have any older cousins or friends in the neighborhood who let you in on the secret scrolls of some of the exploitation movies or beef movie genre movies of the time? That's a very good question. I didn't. I'm the oldest boy on both sides of my family. The burden. I mean, it is in some ways. I fled to California in part because of that burden. I was certainly aware of Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th and Halloween.

22:56Sean Fennessey:And one of the interesting things about this year is this is the only year in which all three of those franchises had a movie out. Okay. I went back and looked because I have a lot of free time apparently. I can't watch Andorra, but I can't watch Halloween 5. And when you're seven is kind of when you start to become aware of horror and that sort of thing. And, you know, this is also the year I should I should I should change my opinion about whether I've seen a movie in theaters because I did see Ghostbusters 2 in movie theaters. And that's another movie. That's the real gateway to horror, where if you see that movie and you like that movie and you grow an affection for Viggo the Carpathian, then you might get more interested in Freddy Krueger.

23:31Sean Fennessey:But I didn't have anybody putting me on to that stuff. I think that was just literally doing what my kids for my kid, for example, doesn't do it, which is watch TV commercials. Sure. Oh, my kids love TV commercials. We don't really do that because of how we watch TV. And so I would just see the Dream Child commercial and be like, what is going on with that? That is very exciting. And I think that's how I got interested in a lot of movies. Yeah. I mean, I think there was also, because there were trailers at the beginning of the VHS tapes that you would rent. You would kind of like, you would sort of note for future reference that, you know, something looked illicit.

24:06I honestly think that might be how I found out about some of the cooler movies of this year was like seeing a trailer at the beginning of the Do the Right Thing tape, you know, once it came out or whatever and be like, wait, what's Mystery Train? What's this? Like, you know, so kind of getting introduced to some of this stuff that way.

24:24Sean Fennessey:What do you make of this year? Any like reflections on what it means? Like I mentioned those horror titles and this is a pretty important pivoting time for horror. It's like kind of horror entering a real down period. It's like end of slasher, right? It's end of slasher, yeah, before we get to Scream in five or six years. To me, this is obvious since it's like 1989 and the next year is 1990, but it is a real pivotal year, I think, in a lot of part because of Sex, Lies, and Videotape. And this is like where the Sundance and like kind of ushering in 90s independent cinema, like literally with Soderbergh.

24:57This is also the year of Do the Right Thing, which, you know, famously does not get nominated for Best Picture. so a lot of new people coming in this is the year of when Harry met Sally and like starting the rom-com and you also have like maybe not the Latin not the last good Oliver Stone movie but like it's a lot of the ends of certain types of things like Daniel Day winning for my left foot it's an introduction of him but also that's a pretty classical like showy Oscar performance so it's not a year we think of like a lot or that I spend a lot of time thinking of it's like a really like pivotal film year but a lot has changed I think you're right I think there's

25:38Sean Fennessey:a good case for it being more important than even we talk about on the show having done all these drafts the fact that it's taken over five years to get to this draft is kind of interesting maybe just a mistake on my part no I mean we're running out of years uh I think also there's like a I I wonder if we went back and looked at journalism about the movie industry at this time period, because obviously in the moment people tend to be like, well, it's not the same as it was five years ago or 10 years ago. But it just seems like such a stable and healthy movie environment at that time where you had a real baseline of like mid-tier dramas and rom-coms and drama, dramedies that Hollywood were churning out.

26:16And, you know, because you have this, I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I'm sure you guys have addressed this on the pod. I may have missed it, but like this kind of dialogue that's going on right now of like who is an actual famous person versus who is an actual box office draw. Right. I know that kind of came up with Josh O 'Connor a little bit, but like...

26:34Sean Fennessey:Well, Amanda was saying, even when we were talking about Chalamet, I think you were very pointedly, like there are no movies, like no one can open a movie. Right. There's not a single person now who guarantees a movie opening. I would argue, not to draw this back to a boring conversation we've had five times, but one battle doing 185 or whatever is a real testimony to Leo overseas. Yes. Which is still something, but I mean, that was a person who was at the top of the heap for decades. And he's the only one. Yes. And then like, that's it. And this is the, this is, but this is an interesting challenge to that.

27:04Because if you look at the top of the box office in this year, it isn't really fully defined by stars.

27:13Sean Fennessey:The number one movie of this year is Batman. Also pretty notable. And starting a new generation of... And Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Obviously, Harrison Ford is critical to the success of those movies, but still, it's a third film in a franchise. Lethal Weapon 2. Another franchise. Mel was a huge star at that time, but it's a franchise. Look Who's Talking is a gimmick movie and becomes a franchise. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Same thing. Gimmick movie for kids. Going to be a franchise. Back to the Future 2. Franchise. But, you know, this is, and this time, we've talked about this many times over the years in the rewatchables and we do 80s movies too.

27:49Sean Fennessey:But there is a pivot point in the middle of this decade where this becomes more of the strategy. You can see the tides shifting in the second half of the bottom 10 of the top 14 here or whatever is like, wow, we used to make things. Yes, movies for adults pretty much. And they're profitable and they're about divorce or about broken families or about missing your father or having diabetes. and... This is the thing that we are literally saying when we say the middle. Yes. That these are the movies that make$80 million and they're profitable and they win awards and they're in the culture at large.

28:22Sean Fennessey:They don't make$300 million like Batman, but they do really well. And this year is littered with them in addition to, I think, all of those sea changes you're talking about, just kind of in the movie business and the new voices that are coming through. So pretty exciting and pivotal year. Absolutely, like, nightmare Academy Awards. One of the most nightmarish Academy Awards in movie history. And there's one cool win. There's two cool wins with Denzel winning for glory. Yeah. And Daniel Day-Lewis announcing himself as a critical figure. But the, and I guess Oliver Stone winning for Born on the Fourth of July is good.

28:55Sean Fennessey:I don't mind it. It's one of the good ones. Yeah. You could make the case for any of the other nominees in that category this year. You know, you had Woody Allen for Crimes and Misdemeanors, Peter Weir for Dead Poets Society, Kenneth Branagh for Henry V, and Jim Sheridan for My Left Foot. But Driving Miss Daisy wins Best Picture. I don't think it's going to be drafted today. No. No. Have you seen it? I think I've seen it once. Have you seen it? I don't know. I honestly maybe haven't. Now, like, I've seen clips of it, but I think by the time I caught up to it, you know, even in the moment, we weren't old enough to really be paying attention, but it was understood to be an outrage of sorts.

29:33Sean Fennessey:It was definitely a movie that was for old people, too. Like I remember my parents, I think I'll be talking about my parents on this episode a little bit more. But I remember my parents being very bored by this movie and very surprised by the fact that Born on the Fourth of July, I've mentioned in the past, is about Ron Kovic who lived on Long Island, who had a big, he was a very big figure in the community that I grew up in. And so there was a lot of warmth towards Born on the Fourth of July. And that's like an adult movie, Dead Poets Society, another movie nominated for Best Picture that just like everybody liked.

30:02Yeah.

30:03Sean Fennessey:You know, it was just kind of universally appreciated and enjoyed. so that's setting aside even the do the right thing exclusion right a couple of other movies that we'll talk about that probably should have been here as well but it's a it's a it's not a it's not a great I also have some strong thoughts about best actress and Jessica Tandy that we will maybe get to in this conversation are you going to besmirch Jessica Tandy's legacy no she's a fine actress she has multiple Tonys and yeah but it's just a lot of people that you want to sleep with in the rest of the category well I mean I would if they presented that option to me, but that's not, that wasn't that specifically.

30:39Sean Fennessey:Okay. Any other thoughts before we dig into our drafting? I'm excited. Yeah. This was, you know, this was one where you said 1989 and I like made a face at you and then read through the list and I didn't realize what a deep bench this was going to be. So it's a pretty cool one. So these are the categories we'll do before we do the draft order. It'll be drama, comedy, action, horror, thriller, Oscar nominee, sequel, Blockbuster with a$75 million threshold and Wild Card. So we're back to seven categories, just the three of us. Okay. Feeling good? Yeah. Okay, Jack Sanders, we need a draft order. All right, let's do it.

31:16All right, Mr. Dungeons and Dragons.

31:17Sean Fennessey:Here we go. We have the huge die going? Yeah. Just such a good noise. Drafting first, Amanda Dobbins. Wow. Okay.

31:34Drafting second, Chris Ryan. Drafting third, Sean. Okay. It's been a minute since we've drafted just the three of us? I think so. At least a couple months. Oh, PTA character draft. We did. Oh, right. Haven't had a year draft just in a while. Year draft just three of us. Okay. So there are a couple obvious first picks. but if I've learned anything it's that I've that I need to take what I really want I kind of actually think that this isn't true and that rarely do we like shark you well you might on I don't know whether you would on this one but I just like I can't not have One Harry Met Sally like I can't not have it what?

32:20Sean Fennessey:I think you're absolutely making the right choice and it also wounds me yeah because it means that the top two picks are going to be off the board so and I'm going to take that on Blockbuster okay Good call. Good pick. Yeah. This is... I think this is absolutely the right move. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're being very nice to each other today, and I'm going to roll with it. Okay. I'm heading into the second half of my life, and these relationships are very important to me.

32:46When Harry Met Sally is the best and most influential romantic comedy of my lifetime. And this, in 1989, resets. It is the modern romantic comedy era. There was no disrespect to some of the greats of the 70s and 80s, but every movie starring Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Kate Hudson, who am I forgetting? Sandra Bullock, Reese Withersley, any of any of the movies in the 90s and 2000s that you or I loved owe a debt to When Harry Met Sally, which is far more sophisticated than any of those other movies. this also sets Nora Ephron off on her. She wrote this one and then starts her on her filmmaking, or really establishes her filmmaking career.

33:31I'm still a fan of Heartburn, which she wrote before this. But this is like, she's certified. Did she write another movie this year? Oh, she wrote A Cookie, right? She did, yeah. So it's, you know, obviously like hugely well-known, hugely quotable. I love it. But controversially, I picked, or controversially to other people, I picked You've Got Mail in the New York City draft rather than When Harry Met Sally because I was operating under the confines of, it was a New York draft. And for whatever reason, I watched that You've Got Mail growing up more than I did When Harry Met Sally. But it is one of the great movies.

34:11I would say that 1989 produced more iconic scenes and memorable movie moments than almost any other in my lifetime.

34:25Sean Fennessey:Like you still see... Classic unverifiable podcast. I can't. I can't verify it, but I would almost... In my mind, I'm like, there are so many scenes from moments from movies of this year where you would see it in a historical Oscar montage. Right. you know and like obviously the deli ordering scene I'll have what she's having yes but yeah great pick sharper image for me I I think it's the best of that this kind of film when Harry and Sally it is I think that you're right there's best and there's favorite and it is it is the best it's the pinnacle okay you have a second pick Chris I'm gonna go with do the right thing yeah which category I am going to take it delete

35:13in drama. Okay. Tracy Letts recently called this the best movie of the 80s in his Criterion Closet video. I tend to agree. I rewatched it, some of it last night. I just did. That was a great video. Yeah. I've told him this personally, but that just, good job, Tracy.

35:31Sean Fennessey:He told me that there were quite a few of his pics were left on the cutting room floor and he was frustrated about that. But he did share those pics with me. can't overstate the uh lightning bolt effect this movie had on my life along with the explosion of rap music at this time period it was honestly one of the pivotal moments of my cultural experience um public enemy and spike lee and all these things happening at once really did feel like a a like historically relevant moment that we were living through and uh this movie still brims with so much life and so much energy, so much inventiveness, a quintessential New York movie, incredible ensemble of performances.

36:14And just, I think should be honestly like a first 10 top movies that you need to see before you die. Like if you haven't seen the rewrite thing, you should hit pause and go watch it.

36:27Sean Fennessey:I do think I said something to that effect. Wesley and I did a Rewatchables years ago now. Yeah. Like maybe seven years ago about the movie, but one of my favorite episodes of that show that we've ever done. And yeah, it had the same effect on me. I didn't see it until I was older. There would be no reason to see it until you were more like giving yourself a film education as a teenager. But I still remember like, you know, in my head it always bangs around is the Chuck D 1989, another summer. And you're just like, oh my God, it really feels like we're living through something. Yes. And defines this.

36:59Sean Fennessey:Can that needle drop open this episode? Or are we not allowed to? Is that fair use? No, yeah, because we couldn't get Gang of Four for Marie Antoinette. Oh, wow. We just can't even fair use these beautiful sounds anymore. Yeah. Yeah, gosh. I do love that movie. So you're mad, though? No. Those have been the top two? But do you think we did okay? Those were my one and two picks. I think those are the, because they fit a number of categories. They define the year in some ways. They're both wonderful. They're both like very easy to return to. They are up there in this montage. They're on the board.

37:28Sean Fennessey:You know, when Jack selected which films to spotlight behind us, those are the ones he chose. so yeah I mean there's a ton of great movies left and there's a ton of strategic picks to make it does leave me in the unfortunate position of then like I feel like going very male bro-y which a lot of my drafts have just been really male bro-y lately and I wanted to say something I don't really see myself that way and I think I have like painted myself into a corner on this podcast as being like that and I regret that so now Star Wars mommy and super ally. I didn't say that. It's a brave new world. I'm excited.

38:10She's got fucking Leia buns. And you're like, you know what?

38:17Sean Fennessey:Okay. I think the right strategic move is maybe not exactly the one that I want to make. You have two picks here so you can have one for us, one for them. Yeah. Okay. in blockbuster I'm going to take Batman I don't love a lot of the blockbusters here and I do love Batman another movie that has been featured on the rewatchables Tim Burton's really brave recontextualization of Batman reimagining of what Batman is casting Michael Keaton like it is that movie you can go back and look at what Batman was in the way that he made that movie a little bit more strange more gothic more unusual than expected you know enlisting Prince to do the soundtrack pretty bold move Keaton's Lee Is that your favorite Batman?

39:02Sean Fennessey:Pretty easily. You know, I was always very like, I felt Bale was good. I really had nothing negative to say about Bale. But I think it's just age too. It's your first guy. If I see Batman when we rented that movie from Blockbuster and he's Batman to me at seven years old, that's kind of life-changing. That's definitional. So I love Batman. Team Keaton forever. I mean, this was just in life, you know? I also really like Bale. And once again, I think Robert Pattinson is very tall in the suit. A few more movies and he could be rising up the power rankings if they ever make those films. I'm an Affleck guy.

39:36Okay, well.

39:37Sean Fennessey:Now, I do wish we could have seen the Affleck-directed Batman movie. Well, sure. That would have been... Of course! That could have challenged something. Because he looks the part, he's got that kind of like graying billionaire energy that you would want from that character. I don't know. Anyway. I mean, that would be the most fascinating celebrity document. to me personally, in the past 30 years. What do you think he would reveal about his own personal psychology? Wouldn't we all like to find out? You know? Yeah. Do you feel that he goes into a cave and puts on a mask when he acts in the world?

40:12Sean Fennessey:Sure. Or when he goes out, you know, to pick up his FedEx and his Chick-fil-A and his Dunkin' Donuts. Did you know we're roughly two and a half months away from The Rip appearing? Yes. I did. On Netflix, the new Matt Damon, Ben Affleck. Is it a drug heist movie? It is about cops who rip off drug dealers in Miami. It's such a really fertile story for popular culture right now. Hard to believe you believe that. Task? Yes. This? Yes. Oh, is that what Task was about? Task? Yeah, I didn't watch it. I'm sorry. It's in the first episode. You didn't watch it yet? No, I didn't want to know because you guys started without me and then, listen, like I said.

40:47Who's the one who started without me? The Watch, for one. I felt, I did finally feel excluded by The Watch, but at the end of The Task. I'm sorry. But it's fine. We're back. Yeah. You know, I have listened to all the Sheridan stuff. But yeah, it's it just got away from me so fast. I'm really behind on TV. And that's what happens with TV is it's just like you blink in three episodes. And then I asked Zach what it was about. And he told me and I didn't hold on to the information.

41:15Sean Fennessey:I changed my mind. No, no. I'm not. I'm not taking it in blockbuster. OK, OK. I'm I'm taking it in thriller action horror. OK, Batman. Yes. OK. OK. Do you believe it belongs there? I deleted it from that category so yes it's an action movie yeah of course I also was thinking where does science fiction fit when we say that does that fit in there I usually do I use that as a blanket genre non-comedy thing gotcha okay so I'll take that there just because there's a dearth of titles so that's Batman that's Batman in action thriller Kyle Chandler is in the rep damn I'm excited I'm pretty pumped me too the trailer looks awesome I mean this has like a triple frontier your energy going around it in a big way and I'm ready for it.

41:59We can share a Twix. But we're a qualified streaming movie. Yeah, we can share a Twix again. Oh, yeah. There we go. See?

42:05Sean Fennessey:You guys can share Twix any day. You just go to the store and buy some Twix. Okay.

42:13So now...

42:15Sean Fennessey:I'm on pins and needles. Yeah. In sequel, I'll be taking Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Oh, my God. You don't even like the Holy Grail. You don't believe in it. I don't believe in it because it's not real because I've done my research the cup of Christ it's not real it's an imagined idea it was invented to stoke mythology amongst believers that being said wonderful movie if you walked into the chamber and the night was there the crusade night was there and he was like look at all these cups do you think deep down inside you would pick the cup of a carpenter or would you pick a bejeweled kind of like king of kings thing let's refashion this question I walk in the knight's there and he's got all the 4K's and he's like which one do you want?

43:00Sean Fennessey:which one would you take? what's your question? what's like what do you really want to have? I don't know and it's Tracy Letts and he's like I have all of these discs Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade obviously magical okay sequel's a tough category there's some good ones but nothing like this one this is in my opinion the best sequel from this time and I don't know If you guys are going to take the two best movies, I at least got to make a smart move. You did a good job. But sequels is tough for me because, like I said, I was four when this came out. So I had not seen the originals of many of these movies.

43:39And so I didn't go out and seek the sequels when I turned nine or ten or whatever. So it's thin for me.

43:46Sean Fennessey:Well, that's why it's called a draft and not Amanda gets what she wants. We were doing really well. And I was even trying to like be measured about the fact that you took this, even though you have just a tremendous amount of bad historical takes about this movie. And you're always like, it's not as good as like Temple of Doom. And it's definitely not the best one. I never said that. I never said that. And the grail isn't, I don't believe in the grail. And I don't like any stories about it. And then you won't respect, you know, the... Don't put in the newspaper that she's mad. I am. I'm like a little mad and I was trying to be okay.

44:18but you don't you don't have to snipe at me about my emotions okay fair enough there we go oh this is also Indiana Jones big Venice movie Last Crusaders oh really yeah oh yeah you're right of course the catacombs yeah because everything is it's very old there and sinking into the ground in oh go ahead you know what you want to do yeah in Oscar I'm going to take Phil to Dreams okay not made for best picture I got to tell you man this is a perfect movie and I rewatched the People Will Come seen this morning and started crying. Okay. Good movies. It's going quickly now.

44:55Sean Fennessey:Back in the news because of Amy Madigan, I find. Yeah. It is back in the news and I was re-watching it like late this summer and it... I remember watching my parents watching it and crying and not knowing why and then watching it now and crying and being like, oh, I get it. And, you know, Phil Alden Robinson, who also did sneakers and it's based on the W.P. Kinsella novel. Kevin Costner in one of his iconic roles and honestly, probably iconic looks, you know, the button down tucked into the jeans standing in a cornfield. Unbelievably hot. Also, just the T-shirt that he's wearing when he's walking through the cornfields and they're like, if you build it, they will cut the whispers.

45:40It's powerful. But I was actually really struck by the depth of the cast. It was the last time I watched it because I'd forgotten like Frank Whaley plays Young Doc, obviously Burt Lancaster, Ray Liotta in a kind of almost like movie star matinee role as Sheila's Joe. And James Earl Jones is phenomenal in this movie. Gabby Hoffman is the daughter. Timothy Busfield is the annoying brother-in-law.

46:03Sean Fennessey:Terrible character, but yeah, we'll allow it. Classic like old school bad movie character where you're just like, why won't this guy just like stop annoying everybody about this? Like this is not, what does he want to do? Like buy the cornfield? Just sell the farm. He's like, basically you're underwater with your mortgage. you gotta sell the farm I'm trying to protect my sister but also probably get a little wet my beak a little bit I think maybe the best last 10 minutes in like a movie history including the last shot to pull out as people are driving up it is historically a movie that when that sequence begins it's like if you are touched you turn into a puddle like it is very very deep and the Phillies are playing the Field of Dreams game next summer what are they playing?

46:40I think Cubs oh that's nice yeah

46:43Sean Fennessey:that's fun two historic franchises yeah Mired in... Yes. Success? Yes. Mired in success. Yes, mired in success. Amanda? I wanted that one. You have two selections. I wanted Last Crusade. You've got a lot of stuff. You're good. You've got tons of stuff. No, I have a lot of stuff, but some of the category things are tricky for me. And I'll be totally honest, in addition to not having seen that many sequels, I only became aware of the sequels category at 9.48 last night. So, you know... It was all there. I have no one to blame but myself, but this is a culture of honesty and transparency. That's right.

47:21So that's just where we are.

47:23Sean Fennessey:It's also a culture of accountability here on this show. Okay. That when we select When Harry Met Sally, there are consequences. Okay. I said I was the same age as Alice in 1989. Not that I am. Okay. All right. I was just bitching about sequels, but I'm not even going to do that category. An action horror thriller. Here we go. I mean, I... Shocker? Yeah, it's a shocker. But it's like a movie shocker. Wes Craven's shocker. No. About a deranged criminal who is executed and then goes into the TV. Movies that are left that I've seen. Ghostbusters 2. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This is for thriller action horror.

48:08Sean Fennessey:Not? Correct. Okay. Cool. I had a funny bit for you for sequel that I was going to try and tip you off to, but I don't think we... We don't have time. We don't have time. We have plenty of time. I enjoy the Bill Murray of this movie the most, which has nothing to do with action horror or really even thrilling. It's just funny. But he's very good. And then, I don't know. I like the Slimer guy. Yeah, Slimer, sure. How do you feel about the idea of a river of ooze? Pink ooze that's... runs through the aqueducts of New York. And it's feeding off of New York's anger and misery. Negative energy. Great metaphor.

48:49And it doesn't scare me as much as other issues. I wouldn't want to step in it. I wouldn't volunteer. It's Ackroyd who gets lowered down. I believe so. To get the samples, right? Yeah. I wouldn't want that to be me, but I wouldn't say slime is number one on my list of concerns.

49:08Sean Fennessey:A line reading from that movie that echoes in my mind in perpetuity is, Viggy, Viggy, Viggy, you have been a bad monkey. That's a very classic Murray situation. Weird thing that I just heard that I'm going to share because we're talking about this movie. Aziz Ansari was on Kim Masters' show on KCRW and had a long conversation, really interesting in part about the making of Good Fortune, his movie, and then some of the issues that he has found himself entrenched in recently. You know, some of the press that was written about him, like around Me Too, and then about the Riyadh Comedy Festival. And then he talked about Being Mortal, which was the movie that he was making with Bill Murray that was canceled after Bill Murray was accused of inappropriate behavior.

49:47Sean Fennessey:And in talking about that, Kim Masters, who's been reporting on Hollywood for years and years, was like, I was on the set of Ghostbusters 2. And Harold Ramis was a saint. And Ivan Reitman was a nice guy. And Bill Murray was terrible. He was absolutely awful to be around. And I thought it was interesting for her to just say that in that environment. Was it disease cost, like, say anything back? Aziz, I think, was just trying to be as polite as possible. But it was one of those things. No way! No, he didn't do any Aziz bits. That was good. It was like 35 minutes into a 36-minute interview, and I was like, wow, they left that in there.

50:22Sean Fennessey:Interesting. Okay, it happens. I hate to hear it about somebody that he didn't. And there are stories. You can also imagine it. There is the curmudgeonly difficult aspect of his personality as part of his comedy as well. But if you're dealing with it all the time, I bet it would be in Wink. I mean, the man has a voicemail because he doesn't take phone calls, you know? Yeah, just like me. You love to see it, but also that indicates a level of a difficultness that, I don't know. He's funny in this movie. And Sigourney Weaver looks very beautiful. She does. This is sort of like her, you know, the late 80s working girl into this.

51:02Oh, yeah. It's very inspirational to me. and I'm glad that baby's safe. So, Oscar? Oscar. Yes, Oscar is the name of the baby. Oscar. Yes, that's right. Good name. She's no longer Zul, the key master. No, she gets exercised. Yeah, at the end of one.

51:20Sean Fennessey:At the end of one. Yeah. She has no, there's nothing about her that's supernatural in two, right? No. No, well, but she's a mom, you know? You're right. That is super dash natural. That's the most powerful of all. Yes, absolutely. Okay. In comedy, I'm taking Heather's. Okay. I say what's your damage to my children an inappropriate number of times a day for, and it just like comes out of me. I don't say fuck me gently with a chainsaw, so I feel like in terms of parenting, I'm doing pretty well. I do. I sometimes say nobody in particular say I love my dead gay son.

52:00Sometimes like if I'm playing FIFA. and the guy gets injured. This, you know, existed before, what is the name of the Lindsay, Mean Girls, and all of the other, did you know that girls can be terrible? And did it with more hate and vitriol and really better styling than anyone, than any movie since. And I think I saw this before Mean Girls somehow. Like, I do think I saw this at probably what we would now consider inappropriate age. But at the same time, I was watching all of the John Hughes movies, which it's clearly like in conversation with. Almost like rejecting.

52:47Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Daniel Waters, amazing script. I yeah. And just a version of of women or teenage girl characters that is not the cheerleader and is, in fact, just like really angry and mean and ugly. And, you know, that is very freeing. And it's also well, it is. I mean, you shouldn't kill people, but also they're bitches. So. And the script is amazing and so very quotable. And should I get one of those corsages? I don't know why. Like a sort of camellia thing that she wears right here. It's a really good one. It's a good look. That's a future look. Yeah, thank you. I love that this is a movie that you can watch and just enjoy on the surface.

53:31And then you can read so much about all the references, the intersexual references it's making. Also all the stuff they do with color theory and the red scrunchie or the red hair tie that symbolizes power, all that stuff. Is it true that this was written with the hopes that Stanley Kubrick would direct? I believe so. Well, which is quite interesting. Which is awesome. Yeah, you gotta dream big. Yeah. And certainly by the end of the movie,

53:54Sean Fennessey:it's kind of this like grand, violent, absurdist spectacle. You can see him taking a bite out of that. And yeah, the two lead performances are kind of singed into my brain. Slater is, you know, obviously all of the female stars are the movie, but Slater like trying so hard to be Jack and kind of getting it, like kind of getting there is really is really quite special. What does she yell at the end? Like I I'm done with cool I'm done with cool guys or something like as she as they're down and she's diffusing it it's very funny. Yeah yeah yeah it's really really great stuff. Great pick. Great movie.

54:33Thank you.

54:35Sean Fennessey:Okay. CR you've got a pick. This is interesting. This is not quite playing out as I had expected it would. Okay. Not in a bad way. I'm feeling really good about this. I'm going to take in Blockbuster, and I kind of can't believe it's such a fantastic world that this was. A Blockbuster, I'll take Dead Poets Society. You're going to do that. Yeah. I was hoping that would make its way to me. Yeah. I mean, sure. Peter Weir's movie about a group of kids at a boarding school, prep school, who become enamored with their professor or their teacher, Robin Williams, played by Robin Williams. features like a half a dozen fantastic young men performances by Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet we're getting our heads blown off by Chris in this draft right now we are?

55:25Sean Fennessey:just so you know we're currently being beaten very badly he has Do the Right Thing Field of Dreams and Dead Poets Society yeah I see your point I can take that sound I see your point don't worry I'll fucking nose dive into a mountain when I'm just like actually no it's Police Academy 6 You got to salute sometimes where you're like, that's pretty masterful. Middling as well. Middling is challenging on this show. Yeah, I just, it's funny. It's like the effect that Field of Dreams had on, like, basically, like, this is like, I feel like the teenager's Field of Dreams. Yeah. When you're watching this, and you just imagine yourself in these kinds of situations and having such an important feeling, experience in school.

56:10and this was right as like school was becoming more serious for me. So I thought it was like, well, I didn't take it seriously, but it was getting serious. Okay. And yeah, I don't even know like what to say about this. I think they showed me this in school, which is like a choice.

56:25Sean Fennessey:Yeah. I think I saw it in school as well. And there's some, yeah. Then it's like, what's suicide? You know, like there's a lot of complicated questions that come up when you're watching it at 12 years old. We saw last The Mohicans in school at the end of like a period of study of Native American tribes of local Philadelphia area. It's not set in Philadelphia at all and is quite violent. Thank you. Sometimes these drafts can be such a bummer for me because I'm like, how the fuck did this movie make$95 million? If this movie came out today, it would be released by MUBI and make$4 million. That is true.

57:02Sean Fennessey:That is literally true. We can't give up. I'm not giving up we can't give up we're spreading the good word Dead Poets Society made nearly 96 million wow Peter Weirban one of the best Robin Williams Ethan Hawke was having success as a child star before this movie but this is also the movie that vaulted him I would say Ethan Hawke gave him one of his great great ever performances in the lowdown right now oh I thought you were going to say in Dead Poets Society no but he's having a little another Hawke-a-sance with Blue Moon oh has he seen Blue Moon yet? I have not God, it's so good. He's so good.

57:39Sean Fennessey:Okay. I've got two picks. And... Wow. I'm just learning that Josh Charles is on an upcoming medical comedy drama television series. Yes. Called Best Medicine. Well, I'm happy for him, I guess. Certainly heard better titles. The title Doc was already taken. Yes. Starring Molly Parker. Yes. Yes. I've seen the commercials for that. As a doctor who has amnesia, but is somehow still allowed to practice surgical medicine. Oh, yeah. Interesting take. Yeah. I tried to watch baseball playoffs on the way back from New York, I think. And that was not playing on Fox on the, you know, playing live TV. But Amnesia Doctor was.

58:18Yeah. Yeah. So I didn't watch it. I watched Little Women.

58:21Sean Fennessey:Are there ever any scenes in that show where she's in the middle of a surgery and she's like, whoops, I forgot. No, I mean, I honestly have not watched Doc. I'm sorry. Okay. Too busy. What? Watching Taylor Sheridan shows. so I've got Batman and Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade yeah which are objectively I think pretty good picks but I look over at your boards and I'm a little concerned so in Oscar nominee yeah I'll be taking Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Okay. Now, this is a somewhat crowded field of movies that I like. But I think this is... This movie is fucking awesome. I think this might be the best movie in the mix that is left.

59:09Sean Fennessey:Yeah. And you mentioned this is Soderbergh's debut, written and directed by him, premiered at Sundance, instant sensation, wildly critically acclaimed, and launched him. and he was the first guy from this stretch of mostly guys but some women as well who were put through the post Sundance world of like you get to do anything you want you take on Hollywood movies you get to those Hollywood movies fail you get to make very experimental movies you get to hunt for Ben Solo yeah well unfortunately you don't yeah but this is a really interesting character piece about people confronting their desires or not confronting them and a very clever like chessboard kind of a movie where you see people's feelings getting pushed around by other people.

59:54Sean Fennessey:And like, it feels like a very personal movie for Steven Soderbergh about the way that he sees relationships in the world. And he's kind of been prodded to talk about that over the years. But this is one that I do remember my parents coming home from seeing by the date night. Yeah. And being very excited about and very interested in. Really? Yeah. You know, my mom, I don't know if she was a cinephile, but she's a big movie goer. And she was blown away by this movie. I very, very remember that. I was re-watching some of this last night in prep. Sometimes I just forget. Spader is so good in this movie.

1:00:27I don't think it gets talked about enough. He is mesmerizing. Because this is shot kind of like a play, you know, and it's in these apartments and kind of spare sets and stuff like that. And he grabs the frame with so much power. It's really, really a wonderful performance if you haven't seen it.

1:00:46Sean Fennessey:Okay. Any Sex, Lies, and Videotapes thoughts? It was on my list and I'm jealous. And I don't spend enough time. Peter Gallagher was very formative in my young life. Yeah. At least like my pre-college life between Sex, Lies and Videotape, Center Stage and the OC. So James Bader was as well, but we already talked about him. It seemed like he was going to be. And while you were sleeping. Has he not worked with Soderbergh since The Underneath? The Underneath probably the most kind of ignored Soderbergh movie right movie that came out in the mid 90s was kind of his last like big Hollywood movie before doing like the reset it's a remake of Criss Cross I think it's the it's the heist movie yeah right there's a very strange movie it's beautifully lit but I don't think he's been in one of his movies since then which is super interesting because they they're a good match together too okay Sex Lies and Videotape now what hmm I don't have a great answer for where I want to go.

1:01:52I guess I'll take Say Anything in comedy.

1:01:57Sean Fennessey:Okay. You shirked that. That was my next pick. Say Anything is, yeah, of course, John Cusack holding the boombox overhead. I'm sure you saw people during the Cubs game when he stood up. There was like a call in the ninth inning in the elimination game that the Cubs were playing. I was watching this on a plane and John Cusack was sitting in the front row, longtime massive Cubs fan. And he stood up and he went like this when it was called strike three on a hitter. Oh, I didn't see that. It was a terrible strike three call and it was memed instantaneously. Sure, yeah. It was very funny. You know, Cameron Crowe, interesting timing for this.

1:02:34Sean Fennessey:He is now releasing his memoir, which I'm really excited to read. And it's interesting. This year, there's two filmmaker memoirs. it's Cameron Crowe and Abel Ferrara and like both basically like the two polarities of movie-ness one that is the absolute dark core of humanity and one that is I think like a genuinely hopeful point of view on life and say anything in Lloyd Dobler Lloyd Dobler is maybe the original he made it okay for me to be weird for sure you know the like real idiosyncrasy of that character and also made it okay for me to not have good boundaries but I think he's a bit of a target missile for ladies like Amanda, right?

1:03:17Sean Fennessey:You know, like just like very self-possessed but deeply weird and into his stuff. Yeah. Which is a type that I identify with. Sure, for sure. Kickboxing, you know. Also, elder abuse. Well, he's not for that. The film is about that. Yeah, which you wouldn't know. Yeah. Speaking of Ione Skye, who has no real knowledge of her father, John Mahoney's terrible deeds yeah it's kind of a shocking twist in that movie when it's revealed what's happening it was like the principal thing of the last 20 minutes is Mahoney's criminal criminality but there's like a vagueness to the crisis of their relationship that I found very interesting that it's like kind of upends what you think a movie can be you know it's not it doesn't have like hard resolutions and definitive it's more like a short story it was like where something kind of comes out of nowhere and hits it which I know you love short stories yeah I do yeah don't say anything bad about saying anything no I it's a great movie I do think that you watch it when you're 15 or 12 or whatever and Lloyd Dobler is like one person to you and then you watch it at the age of 30 or 35 and you're like that's my husband and that's great and this is probably the one that I think set Cusack up more than anything to become the star that he was through the 80s and 90s.

1:04:37Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Okay, those are pretty good. Yeah. I feel okay about that. This is totally unrelated. Well, I'll do the train of thought because it's in your eyes that's from the... Right. Peter Gabriel. Right. But so then Peter Gabriel also makes me think of Phil Collins. And then... Because they were in Genesis together. And then I was thinking about... And you're a huge Genesis fan. I actually... Invisible Touch is like a fucking dynamite. Yes. Don't even... I'm not... What's your favorite? Yeah. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Yeah, of course. Sure. And, okay. We didn't talk about the music cue in House of Dynamite when Idris Elba runs out to the basketball, like, camp with Angel Rees and all the girls in there playing in the air tonight.

1:05:22Yes, in the air tonight. What?

1:05:24Sean Fennessey:So here's my read on that. That must have been his campaign theme song. Okay. So that that was sort of his theme song during his administration. But if that is the idea and we want to follow that, In the Air Tonight is a deranged theme song for a politician. Yes, exactly. But would also be in the hallowed tradition of politicians misunderstanding songs and making them the theme song. No, excuse me. It was Don't Stop. Don't Stop. Okay, please do not smirch Go Your Own Way, which is an amazing song. I love Go Your Own Way. It would also be incredibly funny if Bill Clinton had been like, this one's called The Chain.

1:06:00I love it. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them and liver problems may occur.

1:06:44Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trimfiradio.com.

1:07:26Sean Fennessey:Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

1:08:10Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TremphayaRadio.com. Chris, you have a pick. In comedy, I'll take Parenthood. Okay. This is a movie I've seen so many times. it's actually in a lot of ways more of a drama than a comedy but a lot of very funny performances Steve Martin Rick Moranis Joaquin Phoenix then known as Leaf yeah speaking of Aziz Ansari clips there was a very funny one recently where he said he had been watching Parenthood and he was like damn who's this kid and then he's like Leaf Phoenix have I discovered a new Phoenix I'm gonna get this guy in a movie and it's obviously Joaquin it's also one of my favorite Keanu Reeves performances he's terrific Martha Plimpton's also really great in this this obviously got adapted later to be a long running and very well loved NBC series but this is Ron Howard's sort of portrait of a upper middle class American family on the rocks and just a lot of big life moments happening to a bunch of different people at the same time and very sweet kind hearted movie really I've just it's been part of my life since the day it came out it feels like so don't know if you guys have a lot of time for this one

1:09:44Sean Fennessey:I love it yeah also another Logan Zimbabwe Mandel banger your boys yeah your homies those are your guys I know the thing I find devastating about this movie is Steve Martin's performance watching his son play baseball yeah that like it hurts me to watch that that's not funny you know what I mean no it's powerful I find that this is if you grew up in a suburban environment this movie is very felt very close to what it was like. Yes. The complicated relationship between siblings, you know, the like black sheep who is also beloved by the elder figure, you know, there's like, there's so many things, there's weird little nuances in this movie that are really sharp for something that was very broad and just like a pop blockbuster, kind of, you know, mainstream movie going.

1:10:33Sean Fennessey:Like ensemble, yeah. Good pick. Thanks. I have two. In drama, I will be taking Born on the 4th of July, which is I think Oliver Stone's best movie controversial and it is controversial and you know because it's actually U-Turn is his best film U-Turn is incredible I mean I could I could hear the case for JFK I mean I know everyone thinks that Platoon is the better Vietnam movie but I think I prefer Burnham the Fourth of July to Platoon personally to watch yeah yeah to watch also just it does star Tom Cruise in one of Tom Cruise's best performances So, um, and, and he is like, it's right before Cruz becomes self-aware of like the Tom Cruise-ness of it all.

1:11:24And so, and that's a pretty magical, and it's the last movie probably where he is playing a character instead of being Tom Cruise playing a character. And even then, it's like on the border, you know, there is some shock in seeing all, you know, Tom Cruise cursing, being angry, you know, rejecting the U.S., all of that stuff. So, I don't know. It's a great movie.

1:11:53Sean Fennessey:I've always been fascinated by the sliding door of if Cruise wins instead of Daniel Day-Lewis. Yeah. Oh, yeah. and what happens to not Daniel Day-Lewis' career but Tom Cruise's career and what he is as a star because he doesn't he's not always seemed like so solicitous of the Academy he has not been like driven by winning an Academy Award obviously but I wonder what it would have I mean he still chases chases it through Magnolia right like I mean he still makes movies with even after Magnolia for a bit it doesn't really feel like he's chasing it though like I say that because those are two films about two disabled characters and they fit that classical mold of turning your life over physically to playing a part, which is still, I think, a strategy that works to help win Academy Awards.

1:12:42Sean Fennessey:And in almost any other year, a young star like Cruz making that commitment to play Kovic would have won him something. But he just so happened to run into the single greatest actor of his generation and maybe the next couple. and it's just I've thought about it in quiet moments of reflection good pick and then in sequel I will take National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation okay yeah so you're good yeah yeah I'm good I'm good I mean like you got me shook like Chris is Chris's first three it's now we're just you know we're playing for second place I don't know about that because people don't look at it like oh Chris is on such a run they'll look at the totality of the Well, I hope that people listen to the podcast and experience this emotional roller coaster in real time.

1:13:31I feel like people were like, parenthood. Okay. Yeah.

1:13:34Sean Fennessey:It wasn't like, oh man, it's over. Well, you see, like this grid that we're looking at here, which is a new addition to our drafting strategy. Thank you, Jack, for that. It would make more sense, I think, in the future to post the grid rather than the card that indicates what films you picked in which category. Because what you want to show is the order in which things were selected. and that would reveal the strength of your moves thus far. But you know what? Maybe you're about to fritter it all away. Maybe. Wait, I didn't get to talk about, I just... I'm not saying that you should talk. Please continue.

1:14:04Yeah, by far my favorite of the vacations. I think it's probably how I learned what a septic tank is, thinking about when in my life I was exposed. This one was early. This is maybe the second movie of 1989 that I ever saw because it was core in our home.

1:14:24Sean Fennessey:On TV all the time. Yeah, and we are recording this in the days before Halloween, which I, as a parent, I'm really, I'm struggling to find my Halloween mom, you know? Are you? Yeah, but let me tell you. Come on, let's go. I'm doing my best, but like you were there at Vidiot's, you know, it's just, I didn't know to have the plastic bucket and then you can't get past the plastic bucket. Did you hear about this? And then he was just like weeping in the Disney aisle. And then I was like, yeah. Do you know what would help with that? It happens. A four-hour Halo session.

1:15:00Just fragging some aliens. Like, listen, I'm not crafty. That would help. I'm not a Halloween mom, you know? I'm doing my best, but it's not where I thrive. I have other skills. But let me tell you, when that clock rolls over November 1, Clark Griswold, here I am. Yes. As you know well. You dress like a candy cane today. Thank you so much. You put the lights up. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I think probably this year, as the children become more sentient, there are going to be no moving spookies this year. But will there be moving Santa Clauses? Probably. And I'm open to it.

1:15:32Sean Fennessey:Okay. Only Judeo-Christian decorations in your home? Yes. We have an inflatable skeleton. Okay. But that's not for Christmas. Or is that meant to represent Christ's birth? Sure, yeah. Or also opening the tomb, you know? Sure, yeah. Yeah. Isn't that Easter? I want to get him a manger, but it's just the baby Jesus's master chief from Halo. So that he knows who's really the savior. Anyway, this is a great film. We're going to absolutely crush this. Video game uncle is such an elite role in life. That's fine. It will not cross my doorstep. Yeah, sure. It's not on my time. That's you. No, hold the line.

1:16:17Sean Fennessey:You'll definitely win. you won't watch me we'll definitely win okay first of all I love that you keep selecting problematic comic stars in other categories that's great Chevy Chase legendarily not a nice person but is actually amazing in this movie and in the final scene near the final scene with Brian Doyle Murray when he learns what his Christmas bonus is you can make the case that's the best performance Chevy Chase has ever given he's so funny and so enraged by what he learns holy shit yeah yeah this movie's great Elaine Bennis, you know? Yeah. Julie Louis-Dreyfus as a next-door neighbor. No piece of shit in that movie.

1:16:53She doesn't get it. You know, I feel that way about Halloween. I'm her until we get into Christmas. But I think you're trying with Halloween. You're trying your best. I'm trying. Yeah. Yeah. What are you going as? Oh, you're just going as mom. I'm going as just mom. Okay. Yeah. And you are going as?

1:17:09Sean Fennessey:Kristoff. But Kristoff from Frozen 2. Yeah. Oh, interesting. So what is the costume difference there? The shade of tunic, I think, is a little different. Has your tunic arrived? Yes. Do you have a wig? I don't. I really seriously consider dyeing it. White? Is that what it would have to be? It would be like blonde. It would be like it would be like Tim's Tim Simons' hair. looking gray. Yeah. That would look fucking great. It would look cool. You should do it. I would love that. I kind of want to do it. Why not? I have nothing to lose. It's too late now. Kristoff, I got to be Kristoff tomorrow. Well, we could do it tonight, you know, or in the morning.

1:17:43No, no, no. So now I'm just looking. You're saying that You know, I've never dyed my hair, so I don't really know. Nor have I. But I do wonder whether we would have to, like, strip the color from your hair before then turning it blonde. Because, like, yeah, so dark hair turning lighter is an issue. I don't know anything about this. You would have to find Alien Earth if you did it. It would be pretty sick. It's very generous if you could say that. I mean, like him, but not.

1:18:09Sean Fennessey:Yes, I will be Kristoff. And, yeah, Alice is Elsa and Eileen is Anna. Yeah. it's with an it's a long it's an ah Anna just so you know Scandinavian really origin right you're leaving you're you've abandoned us I'm not I'm sorry I'm not gonna be here for you you know I love it you know is it because it's a pagan holiday that you won't be present no I'm going to England but like they have Halloween there maybe when I land tomorrow night I'll be greeted by like Michael Myers you know that would be a cool way to bring me through customs that'd be a great way to kick off the new Halloween franchise as Sierra gets off the plane gets stabbed right away right in the terminal in sequel it's my turn right in sequel I am going to take diplomatic immunity shout out to Joss Ackland all my South African guys out there and shout out to Patsy Kensett in Lethal Weapon 2 my first love is she?

1:19:05Sean Fennessey:yes you just shouted out all the like apartheid guys and stuff no they all die to rest in piss okay guys but who are you who are you referencing what do you mean the freed people of South like Mandela like who are you talking about those guys you don't even shout out I see you dead you know like when Mel Gibson puts fucking nine in your chest because you took his leg and I get it and he fucking pulls your house down they don't make shit like this anymore this movie's kind of deranged yeah this has also got the toilet explosion yep that's when Danny Glover is on the can And it's got Leo Getz, right?

1:19:45Is Leo Getz in two or is he in three? Pesci, you're saying? Yeah. I think he's in two, right? I'm pretty positive he's in two. And then he has a bigger role in three, right?

1:19:54Sean Fennessey:He is in two. Yeah, he's in two. What a fucking great movie. Honestly, what a great movie. They let Martin Riggs be happy, but then they took it away from him. And then he takes everything from them, from apartheid. Well put. Free Nelson Mandela, you dumb son of a bitch. That's what he says. what a great message what's the message free Nelson Mandela sometimes you just gotta say it you just gotta put it in the script you can cut together a lot of the things that I've said in this episode it's pretty weird that's true in most episodes I think you like this one? you got anything to say about Lethal Weapon 2?

1:20:36Sean Fennessey:I think Lethal Weapon 2 Lethal Weapon in general is cool I like it for you it's a very important franchise And I respect that. And I echo Van Lathan's Why Mel? Why? You know, definitely a star. I really enjoy his movies, but it seems like human garbage. I don't know. It's a through line of those. The 80s, a different time. It was a different time. Yes. So is it going to be called Passion of the Christ colon Resurrection? It's Passion of the Christ colon Master Chief. And it's set in the world of Halo. and Christ the Redeemer comes. It's like he puts on the gear. David Ellison is pumped right now.

1:21:24Fuck, it's all coming together.

1:21:27Sean Fennessey:That's how you do it. This is money on the table. Just come to the big picture. Ask us what you think you should do. What is the bad guy? Is it called like the Horde or something? I've never played Halo. You missed out, bro. So what's up with Halo? What about it? Like, what do you do? Yeah. You're a guy named Master Chief. You're like a super soldier. You jump out of a spaceship and you fucking fight aliens all over the place. Oh, okay. But like, are you, is it like zero gravity? Are you floating? No, you're running. Where? I can't remember the name of the planet. It's really funny when you slip out of character and you actually just become like the base shitlord that you are where you're just like, it's fucking sick, bro.

1:22:06Sean Fennessey:Like, and there's no affect. there's no irony you were just literally like I was sitting in my apartment it was 2006 I was high as shit and I was playing Halo and my life was awesome smoking indoors playing Halo is actually the greatest human experience you can have pretty good I don't really know what to do okay what do you have left thanks for asking let's figure that out right now so I've got drama which you would think would be an easy category and yet I feel a little bit stumped I've got blockbuster I guess I have to take in Blockbuster Back to the Future Part 2 which I think is very very good and is as sequels go a lot of fun and a huge part of the became a huge part of the culture because of the hoverboards because of the sports almanac because of Trump right isn't there like a Trump thing there's a Trump thing yes a movie that felt prescient at the time we still don't have hoverboards yeah what's up with that what's up with that I mean it's weird where they put their money into weird what they put their money Well, now it's all going into crypto.

1:23:07Right. But like we could have hoverboards. Right.

1:23:09Sean Fennessey:Have you guys like talked about this on your other pods about how, you know, Trump is trying to devalue the dollar so that he can pump up his crypto and his family's personal wealth? I talked about that on Zachary's pod today. Okay, great. You did. I really do like when business Chris comes on a podcast. I don't know what I'm talking about. Yeah, it's good. Back to the Future 2. Yeah, we just have too much debt. Should there be? I did say that. What did you say? I said that the problem is that he bought it with debt. Zazal bought it. Warner Brothers Discovery was just like laden with debt. Yeah.

1:23:42Sean Fennessey:But he didn't personally buy it. No, but he bought it with debt. Like he used debt to buy it, right? Like he was like, put it on my Discover card. It's a good thing you're here. Yeah. What category did you take this in, Sean? Blockbuster. Blockbuster. Okay. Which leaves me with drama and wild cards. So I guess I have to take a drama and I don't really know what to do. Can you guys vamp for a second for me? Well, I mean, there's a bunch of movies here that... Now I'm just looking at Chris's spreadsheet. Well, it's not even a spreadsheet. Yeah. I mean, this is like we do it in the same way. Yeah.

1:24:17Okay. I just saw one on your long list, don't you dare. Had you seen... Had you seen Me The Weapon 2? No.

1:24:25Sean Fennessey:I know what I'm going to pick. Okay. I know exactly what I'm going to pick. This is not going to win me any drafts, but I just watched it for the first time last night. Okay. I said I would talk about my parents. And I just saw the fabulous Baker Boys for the first time in my life. Oh, exciting. Which is, was honestly terrific. And, you know, a movie that my parents definitely saw on a date night and then would not shut the fuck up about for weeks. Yeah, yeah. And when we were talking about the middle of Hollywood and what this movie is, and I read a lot about it after I watched it. So this is a drama about two brothers who are musicians, played by real life brothers, Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges.

1:25:01Sean Fennessey:and they have had a long-running kind of nightclub act where they perform piano tunes and Tin Pan Alley songs. Two pianos, both pianos. Two pianos, dueling pianos. And they've hit a bit of a snag because the club owners are growing tired of their shtick. They're not able to draw a crowd as much as they were in the past. And so they start auditioning female singers to join their act. And they run through 37 auditions, and they don't find a single talented person, though they do see a very funny Jennifer Tilly in her first movie role. And finally, an hour and a half late, Michelle Pfeiffer, aka Susie Diamond, shows up on their doorstep.

1:25:39Sean Fennessey:And she is bedraggled and rude and one of the hottest people who's ever lived. Right. And has a stunning voice. And if you've seen Grease 2, you know that Michelle Pfeiffer knows how to sing, but maybe not quite like this. And then it becomes a kind of slow-moving character study of this trio of people entrenched in this business relationship. and eventually a love affair develops between Jeff Bridges' character and Michelle Pfeiffer. The movie when we were kids was legendary for this performance of Macon Whoopi in which Michelle Pfeiffer gets on the piano and sings and wearing this red dress.

1:26:10Sean Fennessey:Consider one of the sexiest scenes in movie history. I'd never seen it. I'd seen pictures. I'd just never seen this movie. And man, it lived up. Did you get a copy of it? I bought a copy of it probably a couple of years ago. There's a Twilight Time Blu-ray that is out of print, hard to find. and you can stream it I guess I'm sure it's available on Apple but I don't think it's like available for streaming and I would say if you haven't seen this this is the color of money of lounge acts totally very similar energy I think Michael Bauhaus shot it same cinematographer a lot of smoking a lot of dank dark rooms a lot of like every character on the periphery is kind of an asshole it's written and directed by Steve Kloves who is probably best known now as the writer of all the Harry Potter movies.

1:26:58Sean Fennessey:He did this. He did Flesh and Bone. Flesh and Bone. And then he writes like 10 Harry Potter movies or however many Harry Potter movies plus is like producer or consultant on the Fantastic Beasts movies. Yes. And he wrote this movie when he was in his 20s because I think his parents were into this kind of music and he remembered seeing an act on The Tonight Show who performed in this fashion. and just one of those weird things where he just really believed in himself and was like, I'm not going to sell this script. I need to direct this movie. And it seemed like maybe at a certain point, George Roy Hill was going to come on board to help him with it and he ultimately didn't do it.

1:27:36Sean Fennessey:But it's just a darn good drama and I love to discover something like this that is like a well-known movie that has been on my blinders for a long time. And I say all this to say, much like Tom Cruise, Michelle Pfeiffer not winning for this performance is fucking crazy. And Jessica Tandy winning is bullshit. Like, you know, Driving Miss Daisy, whatever you think about the racial politics, it's terrible. She gives like a nice performance. But compared to what Michelle Pfeiffer is asked to do in this movie, it's night and day. One of the best character introductions is her tryout song that she does.

1:28:08And it's also like, she comes in and they're just like, well, like, where have you been playing? And she's like, well, I've been a high class escort for the last however long. And Jeff Bridges just is like looking down. And when she says that, he kind of like looks up and then he goes, what would you like to play for? What are you going to sing for us today? And it's like Bridges is smoldering this movie. He is so good.

1:28:28Sean Fennessey:It's so easy to forget because of The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart and True Grit that he was such a stud. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was such a heartthrob. I've never forgotten Jagged Edge. Yeah, it's a very similar era. This is, I mean, to the Michelle Pfeiffer thing, I have always felt like slightly after like the Michelle Pfeiffer era in the same way of like Demi Moore. It was just, we were like a bit younger. And so I like wasn't there for it. And I didn't understand what our parents were really talking about. And then you see Fabulous Baker Boys and you're like, oh, I see. For us, it was like that was Dangerous Minds era, Michelle Pfeiffer when we were teenagers.

1:29:07Sean Fennessey:And this is. It was like this and Tequila Sunrise, right? Yes. Yes. That's really the heart of her. So anyway, that's my drama pick. That's great. Steve Kloves, what's up? I don't know, man. I'm such a good screenplay. There's a fight between the two of them near the end of the film where they're kind of like lecturing each other that's very like, if Sorkin knew how to write about the relationship between non-politicians. But it's just like really brilliantly written and acted. Okay, CR, you've got two more picks, right? Yeah, and I have Wild Card and I have Action Horror Thriller. Okay. Can I just say I do feel good about my board after all that.

1:29:48Yeah. Okay. It came around.

1:29:53There's what I want to pick and there's what I should pick. Okay. I'm going to go with what I want to pick because I also want to talk about a news item that you may or may not have seen. So I'm going to pick Roadhouse for Action Horror Thriller and I want to talk to you about the dueling Roadhouse sequels. Okay. Did you know about this? Incredible segue. So one of them is the Is the Doug Liman? No, it's not. Guy Ritchie is supposed to direct. No, not Guy Ritchie.

1:30:19Sean Fennessey:It was going to be Guy Ritchie, and now it's another director whose name escapes me. So he is making the sequel to the recent Jake Gyllenhaal Amazon MGM Roadhouse. Which Jake Gyllenhaal is starring in, and it's going to be on Amazon. Doug Liman was the director of the original remake. Yes. Doug Liman has apparently also started going forward with a sequel based on a book or screenplay by the original screenwriter. Okay. Who is also claiming that the copyright on the Roadhouse IP has reverted to him. Ah, okay. And it is basically like a sequel to the original Roadhouse where it's like Dylan lives or whatever.

1:31:00Like, I mean, Dylan did live, but he's out there in the world doing Roadhouse stuff. The idea that we can't do Roadhouse. Doug Liman is such a real one, man. like he might be out of his gourd but like also like speaking of people where you just hear a lot of stories of just absolutely insane things that are happening but the fact is that he's still so pissed off that Roadhouse didn't stay in theaters that he's like I'm going to make a different Roadhouse so

1:31:24Sean Fennessey:the funny thing about this is that there actually is a Roadhouse 2 that came out in 2006 it was a direct to video action movie and it appears that the writer that you're referring to does have a credit on that movie are Lance Hill, whose pen name is David Lee Henry. And I think he's credited with already having made A Roadhouse 2, which is a movie that nobody has seen, of course. I don't know what that does to Doug Liman's and his copyright argument with the Amazon Corporation, but this is just fascinating. Besides all that, Roadhouse was one of those, when I saw it on video when I was 12 or 13, You know, it's just like the female form and also tearing a man's throat out are the two most important things in the world to me.

1:32:13In this film, you get both. You get Kelly Lynch. Is 1989 the year of the female body investigator hat? No, I was younger. It's like a little older than I was like seven when I did that. And then your mom made you return it. I was really innocent. Yeah, like I wasn't like I want to inspect female bodies. I was like, I respect.

1:32:34Sean Fennessey:I like how you're presenting that as like a real counterpoint to most of the guys who get that hat. It's like, well, obviously, if you buy that hat, it means you're investigating bodies. I just stood with law enforcement at a young age. I was just one of Hoover's little cubs, you know? Did you have to walk back to the store to return it? I don't remember. There may have been me in the backseat of the car waiting while my mother asked why this Walgreens was selling a female body inspector hat. Anyway, Roadhouse. Fuck yeah. Nice pick. Thanks. Okay. Really good. Amanda, you've got your last two picks.

1:33:08Sean Fennessey:I do. I have Oscar nominee and Wild Card. There are so many good movies left. Yes. I know what I'm going to do. And it's being true to myself. Chris Ryan, Christopher Ryan. If I say to you, look at this stuff. Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my... Can you finish the sentence? No. What is this? It's The Little Mermaid. Yeah. I haven't seen it. Yeah. That's what I said. It's a song part of - I was like, is this a line from Henry V? Part of - It's from Part of Your World, which is one of the great songs written for, in cinema history. It's up there with That Thing You Do and Shallow, in my opinion.

1:33:47Sean Fennessey:What is it? It's like thingamabobs? I've got plenty. Yes. Yeah. Ariel, love Ariel. But who cares? No big deal. I want more. I mean, just - I want more. Listen, I restrain, I kept myself from not singing it, but was I singing it last night by myself? I want to be where the people are. I want to see. Want to see them dancing. Walking along on those. What do they call it again? I thought she's a mermaid, but she has. Up where they walk. She has aspirations to be a human. Yeah, because of Prince Eric. Because she sees Prince Eric. She saves Prince Eric from a burning ship. Okay. That has been shipwrecked.

1:34:21Sean Fennessey:Prince of what? It's a great question. Portugal? Really good question. Unclear. one would assume, is it based on Hans Christian Andersen's story? It is, yeah. Of the Netherlands. So you would think it would be, yes. Dutch, perhaps? Denmark? I thought that was a Danish situation. Yeah, respect to all of Northern Europe. We understand you and see you. This is a song that also rhymes bright young women with sick of swimming, ready to stand, and ready to know what the people, I mean, listen. That's wordcraft. It's a rallying cry. um i when i when nox was first born and i would like try to sing him to sleep i realized that there are not that many songs that i can do like acapella every single word to memory yeah yeah but it's um can't take my eyes off of you which i know because of heath leather heath ledger and 10 things i hate about you and then it's part of your world anyway little mermaid just absolute like, you know, exploded through pre-K and kindergarten.

1:35:22Were we running around on the playground doing the like, you know, the ah, because Ursula, the evil octopus, wants Ariel's voice. It's not a great thing to teach young women, you know, which is that you trade your voice and your sense of self in order to be able to go like chase a random prince.

1:35:40Sean Fennessey:Well, it's a mistake. She makes a mistake, sure. She has a trial. She does. Like all the great characters, as Joseph Campbell taught us. Yeah, but it's, you know, it's her priorities could use some work. And she's also that song. She's doing it for a man. Part of your world is sung in a cave, in a cavern of stuff. It's hard for me to visualize and also tell this story to myself while you're done. I'm trying to wrap my head around this. So it's like an underwater cave that sort of looks like an underwater Guggenheim. and she has like she collects forks she collects like like any human object that makes it to the underworld because she's really interested in life outside of the anyway I just want to say powerful film this is a great movie yeah and I was exposed to this movie I did not see it in theaters at seven years old even though I love Disney films to this day because I have a sister who's two years younger than me and my sister Cara this movie was ran her life when I was a little kid.

1:36:41Sean Fennessey:And it's so funny because obviously my daughter loves this movie as well. I know all the words to every song because of my daughter now. But it's like they came back to me after having a 30-year rest. Oh, yeah. And two things about that. One, God, every day my daughter reminds me of my sister Kara so much. They look exactly the same. They have the same attitude about things. It's so weird. Anyway, the other thing is that there's a great documentary if people have never seen it called Howard on Disney +, which is about Howard Ashman, who's one of the producers of The Little Mermaid and wrote a lot of the songs.

1:37:11Sean Fennessey:And he wrote the songs for Beauty and the Beast. He wrote some of the songs for Little Shop of Horrors. And you can see him in this documentary teaching the performers in these films the way to deliver these songs. And it is amazing. Is it on Disney Plus? It's on Disney Plus, yeah. It's really good. It came out during COVID, I want to say. 2018, actually. But I would highly recommend if you like The Little Mermaid, checking out this documentary. I do. Good pick. Incredible. Thank you. I don't know if you'll ever see it, but... I mean, I'll probably see The Little Mermaid before I see this documentary about the guy writing the songs.

1:37:47Yeah, probably.

1:37:48Sean Fennessey:But if you want to see him teach Jerry Orbach how to sing like a candelabra, then I would recommend it. I have a whole Lumiere take too, but I'll save that. Have you seen Beauty and the Beast? No. This is the one, by the way, that reignites, that starts the new Disney Golden Age. Was this still in the era of Disney movies where it was like, available for a limited time and then it goes back on the shelf. Like there was like the scarcity practice. Yeah, they had the very famous clamshell VHS tapes. We definitely own this in my house. We didn't have a clamshell, but... So I have wildcard left. No, no, I have wildcard.

1:38:24You have wildcard left. This is the easiest wildcard that I've ever wildcarded. I'm not going to do like two movie recitations. I'm doing True Beverly Hills. And I was going to do Beverly Hills, what a thrill. Beverly Hills. I saw this movie at Alice Johnson's birthday party. So it must have been like a sixth birthday. Alice Johnson. Alice Johnson, who was a good friend of mine at school. And she was the girl's valedictorian in my high school because my high school was so backwards.

1:38:54Sean Fennessey:And you guys weren't rivals. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. No. You guys. I should have been. You were the boy's valedictorian. So I, no, my high school boyfriend was obviously. Wow. I should have been salutatorian. It's my school. Well, I should have been salutatorian, but let me tell you something. think they waited honors classes and AP classes the same. So someone snuck in that. Yeah. Do you and Alice talk or was that the end of that? It's fine. Okay. But you were not competitive with Alice. No, you were competitive with this other girl who snuck her way to salutatorian. I wasn't even competitive with her.

1:39:26It was just kind of like, let's, let's be real. Okay. Got it. Got it. But that's fine. It was an, I don't think about you at all situation. Yeah, I don't. Which you clearly don't.

1:39:34Sean Fennessey:I have not thought really remembered it at all either. I mean, I just don't think that that's fair mathematically, but that's whatever. Wow. Do you think that maybe Trump could do something about this retroactively? Or like, should we take it to the courts? Alice Johnson is great in my book because she took AP classes and also she taught me about True Beverly Hills, which is an absolutely delightful. I saw it before I saw Clueless. So the Los Angeles of True Beverly Hills, which includes the sleepover at the Beverly Hills Hotel, looms large. In my mind, it reflects a similar relationship to, I guess, scouting groups that I had in my own life.

1:40:17You were a girl scout? No, I couldn't be part of that. Can you imagine me doing one of the wilderness girls trial or whatever? Hard to believe you didn't make some auditorium with that attitude.

1:40:33I primarily know this movie because of Jenny Lewis. Yeah.

1:40:36Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Yeah. And Carly Cogino. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. The seeds of all of our beloved actors and singers. Great movie. Shelley Long, another person who was like insanely famous in 1989. And now if you ask the 25-year-old who's Shelley Long, they would have no idea. Yeah, but like 51 million people watched her once a week. Right. For like five years. This is probably in the top five movies all time for Eileen. I think she's probably seen it more than any movie. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. I still need, I need one of the books with the camera built into it. You know, I think I even like tried to make one at some point.

1:41:10I don't even remember that scene, but I haven't seen it in a while. Okay, well, that's how the assistant goes undercover with Troop Heverly Hills and takes, you know, reports back to the mean Red Feathers mom and head of the Wilderness Girls.

1:41:24Sean Fennessey:Interesting. Okay, Chris, you've got Wild Card. There's a lot of really, really, really... So much left. Should this have been a mega movie draft in retrospect? I would have wanted to have done it in a way that focused on the third shelf down video rentals as a category. I'm really split on whether to pick something that's well regarded versus what I actually watched a lot in my life. I'll split the middle and just pick Major League for Wild Card. I have two baseball movies. How about that? Major League, one of my most beloved treasured movies from this era. One of the great baseball movies. Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Dennis Haysbert, about a Cleveland Indians season, Wesley Snipes.

1:42:10That is where the owner wants the team to lose, and the team refuses to do so, and goes on to win the pennant, I believe. Yes. And I was just thinking about it because I was watching baseball last night, so it's obviously on the mind. But just like a really, really great David Anspaugh movie that captures like, not only, this movie is really hard to pull off, to have all these guys convincingly play baseball to have like a a professional sports fictional arc that comes off believable that's the thing

1:42:42Sean Fennessey:is it's taking place in the world of major league baseball like the the Cleveland Indians at the time and the Yankees are in the movie yeah you know it feels like it's happening inside of the sport that's something that you just don't see very often at this point you know or if you do it's like in draft day and they're talking about being the Browns but they're not actually the Browns I watched this movie 500 times yeah I think this movie is so great and so fun. And also another one of those, like when you're a kid, a portal into being an adult. Yes. Like the relationship between, is it Rene Russo and Tom Berenger?

1:43:12Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Where I was like, that's what it's like. You date a woman like Rene Russo. Yeah. And it's complicated, but you work it out. Those are relationships. Yeah. Okay. Really good pick. So that was the movie that I was going to say, if I want to feel like I'm trying to win, like I would take that movie, right? Because everybody loves Major League. If you've seen Major League, you like Major League. if I'm being honest with myself okay the movie that I should take is Roger and Me which is Michael Moore's documentary it's kind of exploration very personal film about trying to find answers from the CEO of the Ford Motor Company at a time in which that the car company was significantly downsizing it's it's a it's workforce and moving a lot of its work overseas and it's the first Michael Moore movie like a lot of aspiring leftist kids in the 1990s, I got really interested in Michael Moore's movies.

1:44:04Sean Fennessey:I've, you know, soured on some aspects of Michael Moore over the years, but I've always been very interested in him. I wrote a really long piece about him for The Ringer like eight or nine years ago and just kind of how important his movies were to me. And this movie is just a fascinating example of how great documentary filmmaking can be because this movie was a big hit and it's very conventionally entertaining because it's so personal because Michael Moore spent so much time talking about his family, his parents, his dad who worked for the Ford Motor Company. Is it Ford or GM? I hope I'm not making it.

1:44:35Sean Fennessey:I can't remember. It might be General Motors. I'm sorry if I'm mixing those two up. But I... GM. It's GM. Thank you. I don't... This is probably the first documentary I've ever seen. And it obviously made a huge impact on me. I wonder if it's like this and it's almost like Do the Right Thing. Probably a change the course of your life and the way you looked at the world kind of movie, even if you didn't see it in 89 or whatever. Yeah, yeah. And I still pop on the older ones, the first three or four Michael Moore movies, and I still have a lot of affection for them. I think that as he, you know, after he won the best documentary feature film for Fahrenheit 9-11, and then Bowling for Columbine, and he became this like huge box office figure.

1:45:24Right, and like a pop culture figure.

1:45:26Sean Fennessey:Very much. And like a talk show host or talk show guest all the time. He became very overexposed. And I think he's much more complicated now in the public eye than he was back then. But this is a big deal movie for me. So I'm going to go with that. Okay. That's beautiful. We have many, many, many honorable mentions to go through here because of how robust this year was. I'll start with a couple of like major films that just didn't get drafted. Okay. Gus Van Zandt's Drugstore Cowboy. Also one of the kind of signature independent films. Casualties of War. Yep. Brian De Palma's Vietnam film, which is just incredibly painful and difficult to watch.

1:46:06Sean Fennessey:Is The Abyss 89? James Cameron's The Abyss is 1989. His first journey below. De Palma's very charming in the Scorsese duck. Absolutely. Yeah, I just, as soon as you said his name, I was like, oh, we didn't really talk about that, but really lovely. I mean like an actual friend. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's nice. But he's like kind of competitive with him still, you know, like that pops out a little bit. Yeah, it's great. Yeah, I like that too. I thought long and hard about Miracle Mile. Have you ever seen that movie? I thought long and hard about Miracle Mile. Yeah. We're thinking long and hard about it now in the aftermath of House of Dynamite.

1:46:37Sean Fennessey:Did you see House of Dynamite yet? I didn't. I will. Okay. Yeah, we know. We, you know. Yeah. We know what you think. Yeah. You're too busy watching the cemetery down by the graveyard. Is that the name of that show? Cemetery Road. Okay. I will see House of Dead. Wait. Crimes and Misdemeanors, undrafted. Yeah. No thoughts? Pretty amazing. Pretty amazing movie. Henry V? Thought about it. I thought about trying to be cute and being like, well, there was a Henry IV. I was going to say, I was going to try and squeeze it into sequel. There's something kind of crazy. What was Henry IV's like? Henry IV, part one and two, are like the young man Henry before, and there's parts of Henry IV, part one and two in Henry V, the movie.

1:47:21I see. So. That's how? Yeah. In all the fall staff stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's been wild because I feel like we're having a weird moment in pop culture where a bunch of the people from these movies are popping up and stuff. So Emma Thompson is in this series that you just dismerged. Daniel Day-Lewis, obviously an anemone. Like just watching these people as very young actors. still with us all these years later.

1:47:49Sean Fennessey:This is 36 years ago. There's several other films. I mean, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is this year. That's a critical movie. How to Get Ahead in Advertising is this year. The Burbs. Joe Dante's The Burbs. Phenomenal movie. Uncle Buck. The War of the Roses. Maybe the biggest movie not drafted here today. I thought about it, but... And we did a rewatchables on it. I like that movie. it's also by the time it had been, by the time I was old enough to see it, I feel like it was a little outdated. I see. I still have not seen The Roses. Nor have I, I was about to say, but I got an email that it's coming to streaming at some point.

1:48:30Sean Fennessey:Yes. Weekend at Bernie's? I gotta tell you, I think I may have seen Weekend at Bernie's more than any other movie in my life. I think the only movie I've seen more than Weekend at Bernie's is Weekend at Bernie's 2. Okay. Which was also on cable quite a bit growing up. Andrew McCarthy in Weekend at Bernie's is a powerhouse performance. Is it? Yeah, it's up there with my left foot.

1:48:54Gleaming the Cube, big Slater movie for me. Police Academy 6, City Under Siege. We're just Citizens on Patrol. I think this is Citizens on Patrol.

1:49:06Sean Fennessey:Police Academy 6 is City Under Siege. Okay, sorry. But you just referenced it as though it were my left foot. You were like, Police Academy 6, City Under Siege, of course. in the canon. One of the great films. Yeah. Certainly a movie I saw a lot. Police Academy, Major League, Look Who's Talking. Yeah. All of these, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Weekend at Bernie's. These are movies that I saw over and over and over again. But I preferred both Look Who's Talking 2 because... That's when there's two kids. And also The Animals, right? I thought three was... Oh, is it three of the animals? Isn't that Look Who's Talking Now?

1:49:41Oh, you're right. Okay, well, anyway, the numbers,

1:49:44Sean Fennessey:is, you know, is it Roseanne in Look Who's Talking 2 as the other voice? It's Bruce Willis isn't the first one, right? He's the baby. Two. Okay, let's see. Yes. And then... I can't, I've not revisited Look Who's Talking, right? Amy Heckerling. Yeah, Amy Heckerling. So we need to respect it. The movie was a fucking sensation. Huge hit. Yes, it is Roseanne. You're right. And then... I remember. And then the third one is... Anyway, I think Look Who's Talking 2 is better than Look Who's Talking. You know what's so crazy? What? I don't want to spoil this, but in a movie that is coming out later this year there's like a look who's talking homage is it in Ripped?

1:50:15Sean Fennessey:I don't want to spoil it have I seen it? yeah I don't want to spoil it I mean it may not be purposeful but it's something that is represented in that film this upcoming film and the original film is it in Hamnet? it is not okay well now I'm trying to think about what it is I don't want to spoil it because I loved it and I don't even know how intentional it was but if it was intentional that's fucking sick that's really funny and then wait no no no but then also I also feel that Honey I Blew Up the Kids is better than Honey I Shrunk the Kids the kids because the giant baby just, you know, I have a lot of affection for giant babies given my own, but I mean, there is a real side quality to that kid.

1:50:50Just like, where do I go?

1:50:52Sean Fennessey:Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was cool as a kid. It was cool. It was a cool movie. I also, I think that on the one time that we went to Disney World, which was lovely. I loved Disney World. I went when I was seven and there was also, I don't know which other park had the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Universal, probably. Yeah, like... Or MGM or whatever it was. I thought it was Disney. I thought that was a touchstone movie. I could be wrong. I have vivid memories of like a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids branded, like, extended jungle gym where you would run through everything and everything was much bigger than you and you were the small kid.

1:51:27And that's like, that's what stayed with me even more than Space Mountain. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was Walt Disney and Buena Vista Pictures.

1:51:34Sean Fennessey:Okay. okay a few more to go through The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Terry Gilliam movie of course Cinema Paradiso was released in America in this year and it was nominated for best foreign language film I see you're going on the art house track here can I shout out Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train yes one of the best one of the great like cultural mixtapes because like it introduced me to a bunch of different stuff that I had no idea about like Screaming J. Hawkins and Rockabilly and it's just an incredible hangout movie that I think is on Criterion Channel. It is. I just saw Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, his new film, which is like Mystery Train in an anthology movie.

1:52:14Sean Fennessey:Sorry to Amanda about that. I thought it was great. I really, really, really liked it. And it has a lot of, it has some Mystery Train echoes. There was a Q &A after the screening with Jim. Was Driver there? Driver was not there. I'll tell you who was there watching the film with me was Charlie XCX. She was in the screening room. Yeah. And she seemed to enjoy it. did she dap you up and say I respect your work yeah she said what's up homie it's me again and I said thank you for Brat other films you didn't like Brat I just you didn't I thought it was fine I remember I was there you were like I listened to the first part and I don't need to go through with it because it was a female musician right that's the problem yeah okay no one drafted my left foot which is pretty good that's fine yeah glory yeah Yeah.

1:53:04Sean Fennessey:Probably hasn't aged great. No. I've seen it at least a few times because of school. The White Gaze. Yeah. The gaze Z of the whites. The White Gaze. Yeah. What about it? It just hasn't aged well. The White Gaze of that film. Yes. Yeah. The White Gaze Z in general has not aged great either. Interesting. Try to mix it up a little bit. And here we all are. Yeah. Fair enough. Interesting points were made. Have you guys seen A Dry White Season? Yeah. No. This is a courtroom thriller that actually, didn't it garner Marlon Brando an Academy Award nomination? I believe that it did. Yes, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

1:53:52Sean Fennessey:Yuzhan Palsy is the director of this movie and it's also set in South Africa during apartheid. It's kind of a, would be an interesting double feature with Lethal Weapon 2. That's right. Yeah, definitely a community night. more. Star Trek 5, The Final Frontier. Not a huge fan of that one. A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Dream Child. Not the best. Halloween 5, The Revenge of Michael Myers. A film that should be deleted. It stinks, yeah. I'd rather watch 6, which is the Paul Rudd one, right? I don't like 6 very much either, but... But I'd rather watch it than 5. Halloween Resurrection? Is that 6? No.

1:54:23Resurrection is the reality show, correct?

1:54:27Sean Fennessey:Resurrection is after H2O. Okay, so what is 6? Six is the one where Paul Rudd plays Tommy and they're like syringing. Halloween films? Oh, okay, sorry. They're taking like the syringe of juice out of Michael Myers. Yes, I remember. I think that's six. But what's it called? The Curse. Halloween, The Curse of Michael Myers. The Curse of Michael Myers. Damn. Also quite bad. It is. There's like a five consecutive bad movie run for the Halloween films. Well, it depends on how you feel about Season of the Witch. No, I wouldn't include that. I think four is okay. I think five, six, seven, and eight are bad.

1:55:00Sean Fennessey:I know you like H2O I know some people really like H2O I don't care for H2O I want to touch you Friday the 13th part 8 Jason Takes Manhattan it's a no from me dog yes but it comes at the end of a very fertile run for the Friday the 13th project 5, 6, and 7 yeah what happens in those well there's a telekinetic young girl oh sure who attacks Jason great speaking kind of Amanda vibes on that girl female stories yeah women empowerment that's right yeah Yeah. Center her. Don't center Jason. Yeah. Fletch Lives. I don't think I've seen it. I don't think I have either. I don't think so. Okay. I don't remember ever seeing it.

1:55:40Sean Fennessey:Should I see it? I don't know. I haven't, so I can't recommend it. The Fly 2. Okay. All right. Not ideal. The Package? Yeah, I like that movie. That's Gene Hackman and Ann Archer. It's Andrew Davis, right? Andrew Davis directed. Oh, yeah. And he is investigating... Someone being murdered. It's a little bit of a confusing... It's like a spy story too, right? Is it J.T. Walsh who's murdered in the first few minutes? Damn, spoiler. When J.T. goes out in a movie, you know it's a good one. I agree. If J.T. Walsh gets shot in the head, A-plus film. No one has said the word Steel Magnolias at any point.

1:56:19Wow! Wow! I mean, we said diabetes, but we didn't say Steel Magnolias. I made a joke about it. I was wondering if you were going to take it. Are you a fan of this film? No, not really. you've said that before I find that interesting

1:56:30Sean Fennessey:for all your Julia fandom and your quest for empowerment sure yeah everyone's really interest in beauty right yeah everyone's really empowered in that one yeah who's like is it Tom Skerritt is the dad in this sounds right and Sam Shepard is Dolly Parton's boyfriend yeah I mean who's kind of a bad guy but then really shows up at the end sure yeah when Shelby doesn't drink her juice you know it's a film I haven't seen what Music Box which is It stars Jessica Lange. She got an Academy Award nomination for this movie. It's her and Armin Müller-Stahl. And it's about a Hungarian immigrant played by Müller-Stahl who is accused of being a war criminal.

1:57:11Sean Fennessey:It's directed by Costa Gavras. Directed Z and State of Siege. Plenty of good movies. And it's written by Joe Esterhaus. Yeah. Okay. Of Basic Instinct. Yeah, I'm aware. Sliver. Perhaps you've heard of him. I was going to throw out along those same lines is a movie that I watched a bit of, and I think I saw when I was younger, but on cable or something, but I watched a bit of last night, which is True Believer, which is a Chris Hansen movie with James Woods and Robert Downey Jr. about a defense attorney taking on an unwinnable case. Kind of like his attempt at the verdict, but it was pretty good what I watched of it.

1:57:51There was one other, Morgan Freeman Lean on Me. That was a huge movie that year. I love that movie. Yeah. and Harlem Nights really awesome and then Tango and Cash

1:58:04Sean Fennessey:I can't believe you didn't did this maybe it came out in 1990 did The Unbelievable Truth come out in 1990 in the US? I don't know the Hal Hartley movie? yeah it's listed as 89 but it's release date might have been 1990 speaking of Long Island figures and growing up there he is selling those on his site yeah the Blu-rays of his films yeah not all of them though I think only some of them or maybe some of them are sold out I think I might have bought a couple it sounds like it was more of a 90 movie because it came out it got to Sundance in 90 okay couple of other ones Jane Campion's Sweetie was this year Brian Yezna's Society one of the most amazing body horror movies of all time is this year See No Evil Hear No Evil another movie that was on cable non-stop is that the last Prior and Wilder movie it might be are you a Blake Edwards guy sure Skin Deep was that this year yeah okay that's pretty good Let It Ride incredible gambling comedy with Richard Dreyfuss I wanted to recommend to listeners of the show Notebook on Cities and Clothes are you guys familiar with this?

1:59:11Sean Fennessey:no also a documentary made by Vim Vendors about Yoji Yamamoto and all about Japan and Yoji's history as a fashion designer very very good film I think that's all I got should we recap? No License to Kill for You from your favorite Bond? Honestly, not a Dalton guy at all. No, who is? I don't know, but he's really been lost to history. I wonder when that will get... Reclaimed. Reclaimed. No, it's Pet Sematary. There's two Fred Gwynn movies I like this year. Disorganized Crime. Never seen it. Yeah. Sea of Love? Yeah, I mean, that's obviously a cool text. I fucked up. I fucked up and I took... You took Field of Dreams.

1:59:50Sean Fennessey:You could have taken Sea of Love. Or I took Roadhouse and I could have taken Sea of Love. You fucked up. Yeah. That's rough. What about Dead Calm? that's a good one seen Dead Calm no Nicole Kidman is trapped on a boat with her husband Sam Neill I have seen this and a deranged guy Billy Zane no no no I've seen this yes yeah so that's incredible film yeah really really great thriller Sam Neill was only in fucked up movies yeah at this time period yes Jurassic Park probably the most fucked up movie ever made they fucking invented dinosaurs what was the Wes Craven no In the Mouth of Madness in the Mouth of Madness yeah A plus film five star classic He's also in Possession, of course.

2:00:30Sean Fennessey:This is a fuck ton of good movies this year. It was great stuff. You guys have any closing thoughts before we wrap? I enjoyed myself. Okay, why don't, Amanda, you had first pick. So why don't you start off the recapping? Am I reading drama, comedy, action, or am I reading the order of, what do you, what's? I mean, live your truth. In Blockbuster, I have one, Harry Met Sally. In action horror thriller, Ghostbusters 2. In comedy, Heathers. in drama, Born on the Fourth of July. In sequel, I believe I have National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, though the camera is blocking it. I don't know what's in round five.

2:01:03Little Mermaid. Little Mermaid, an Oscar nominee, and in, am I missing something? True Beverly Hills. Well, that's wild card. I just didn't know whether I covered everything. You did, you did. Okay.

2:01:13Sean Fennessey:Everything's gonna be okay. I can't see. You've done a great job. Thank you. You're a working mother. Thank you so much. I'm doing the best I can. You fucking love Star Wars. You believe to be heard. You've learned a lot about Master Chief today. This has been helpful. Sure. In my first pick, I took Do the Right Thing in drama. In my second pick, I took Field of Dreams in Oscar nominee. Third, I took Dead Poets Society in blockbuster. Comedy? No, blockbuster. I took Parenthood fourth in comedy. You have Lethal Weapon in sequel. You have Road to. Sure. It's kind of a nice microcosm of some of our studio issues here.

2:01:52Roadhouse in action horror thriller and you have Major League in Wildcard. That's right. There you go.

2:01:56Sean Fennessey:Okay. You're going to have to help me on the bottom as well, Amanda. Oh, I can see you. In action horror thriller, I got Tim Burton's Batman. In sequel, I got Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In Oscar nominee, I got Sex, Lies, and Videotape. In comedy, I got Say Anything. You had Back to the Future Part II in sequel, Fabulous Baker Boys in drama. Yeah. And Roger and me. In Wildcard. Great. Back to the future part two in Blockbuster. Sorry. Right. Well, we could next time we'll just do it the other way. Next time we will do it with no cameras and we won't record it. We'll just sit here quietly.

2:02:36Sean Fennessey:And everyone will say, where's the new draft? And we said, we did it for us. Great to see you guys. This was a pleasure. So you are leaving for six months and you're not coming back for two weeks. We're going to miss you. I hope that the air traffic controllers are kind of on their, you know, I hope on their best behavior. No, get paid and are happy and safe. Yeah, pay them. Seeing all the sight lines. Okay. That was very convincing. What are we doing later this week? Later this week, we have number six on 25 for 25. Oh, yeah. How do you feel about that? I feel good about it. I got to do some prep.

2:03:14Sean Fennessey:Yes, I do as well. Not one to be taken lightly is number six is what I will say. You want to guess what it is, Chris? Rise of Skywalker. That's it. thanks to Jack Sanders for his work on this episode. Thanks to CR, the goat. Appreciate you, brother. We'll see you soon.

2:03:47Sean Fennessey:Legally, we can't say drinking Storm makes you smarter and more focused. But with zero sugar, 200 milligrams of caffeine, and immunity support, you're smarter and more focused for drinking Storm. Storm, good energy in, good energy out. Energy for life. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.