The 26 Most Anticipated Movies of 2026

18:27Sean Fennessey:I started to watch it on HBO Max over the break, turned it off, thought it was boring. Okay. Didn't see Neja. Right. Kind of missing some of the references, you know. Lilo and Stitch, Zootopia 2, Fire and Ash, three Marvel movies. Okay. It'll be a big year for Disney. Great, yeah. You're happy for Disney? Creativity alive. I'm inspired. you know a remake of an animated movie that takes away women's agency and then another movie about a patent so that's great I love what we're giving to our children I enjoyed Zootopia too Marty Supreme we mentioned this earlier 56 million dollars in nine days domestically plus international distribution which the movie's not out yet internationally for the most part it's already pre-sold this movie's gonna make over 80 million maybe over 100 I think Jack was like what if it's 37 right And I was like, oh, that would just be a disaster.

19:19That was the low end of the tracking. It was bad.

19:20Sean Fennessey:We burst past that in one and a half weekends. Number three, all time for A24 already, behind everything ever all at once in Civil War. Chalamet sold the fuck out of this movie. Sure did. I don't know if it's going to be one of the greatest hits of all time. It was a fairly expensive movie, but this is pretty good for a two and a half hour period piece. I'm feeling it. Pretty exciting. Housemaid is even bigger than Morgan. Okay. The Housemaid which we think is not very good has made 92 million dollars worldwide in three weekends Sydney Sweeney off the schneid she's back congratulations to her one of our greatest stars yeah what do you think this tells us the success of this movie that women like trash too you know and women like their version of trash as I said I didn't have this is your Captain America brave new world I didn't have a terrible time at this film obviously we had some notes Someone cited this online, and I can't remember who it is, so forgive me for not giving this person credit, but I do hope that Hollywood realizes that we did used to do this all the time, which is just like, there's a popular book that people read on beaches and just adapt it and make it a movie with hot young people, and we'll go see it.

20:35Sean Fennessey:Like, this was the blueprint for 25 years, and there's no reason why we can't go back to this. Like, the Colleen Hoover phenomenon is that. They are doing it. we're going to talk a little bit about the Emily Henry phenomenon, which is starting this week. I wish in general that like the movies were, the books they were pulling from were like slightly better. Though, listen, I reread the Pelican Brief a few years ago and it's not great. It's not Anna Karenina. No, but page turners, you know, absolutely. They're plot machines. That's the whole point, right? Like, and this is meant to be. And then, and, and still it was also Alan Pakula who directed that.

21:10Like it's not, but not his best work.

21:13Sean Fennessey:No. But still. So we could aim a little bit higher, but it's good that we're trying. I think it's a good start and I think it's a good thing to keep banging the drum about because this kind of defeats what you were citing about Avatar, which is The Housemaid is not a one, like one of my three movies of the year kind of a movie. It's very true. It's a movie that people have thought of for the last five or so years as a streaming movie. And it can be a lot of fun to go see a movie like this in a movie theater. I didn't have as much fun as you did, but if done well enough, it's a nice night out. Right.

21:43Though also if we had been able to work our schedules to have that be the holiday party, we would have had a great time.

21:49Sean Fennessey:Might have been a kinder review if I'd had a couple of margaritas. Right. You know? I still am so mad we didn't see regretting you together. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll have reminders of him soon. No, that's not the one. I mean, that is soon but there's another one. My beloved Micah Monroe. I just absolutely can't wait for it. Okay. Let's do some quick award season check-ins because we had two notable, I guess, awards handed out. One was the National Society of Film Critics gave their awards on Saturday and then on Sunday we had the Critics' Choice Awards. I did not watch the telecast for Critics' Choice, but we can talk about some of the results.

22:22Sean Fennessey:I saw some of the speeches online. National Society of Film Critics, One Battle After Another won Best Picture. Yes. This is notable, I guess, because it makes One Battle one of only three, one of only four other, three other films that locked down the sort of four major critics, national groups, the New York Film Critics Circle, LA Film Critics, the National Board of Review, which is not really a critical body, but it's thought to have some critics in it. And then National Society of Film Critics, they all gave one battle after another, best film. The three other times that's happened, Schindler's List, LA Confidential, and as we discussed in our social network episode, the social network.

23:04Sean Fennessey:So that's rare air. However. It's not necessarily predictive of a Best Picture win. In fact, right now, it's one of three. Correct. One battle could tip it to 50%. Yes. But, yeah. And these are Critics Awards for the most part, so they don't really tell us anything about what the Academy is thinking. And I want to kind of use that as a lens to look through these most recent items because we feel like we know everything. I feel like I know everything about what's going to happen. Yeah, I'm aware. I don't think we know. Yeah, well, that is my essence. But I don't think we know anything. You don't?

23:42Sean Fennessey:I think that there's an opportunity in the next few weeks as we start to get a few more awards bodies weighing in that are from within the industries that are going to tip some things in a specific direction. So by that you mean DJs, PGAs? SAG. SAG. And the Golden Globes are next week, which are, as we have said over and over again, made up. And then also recently just kind of coattailing what all of the critics and conventional wisdom is. But because of the categories split, you're going to get an opportunity for a few people to get a moment who might not. which I do think at least puts films or performances in front of people and voters in a way.

24:29So like, I agree with you that we don't really know anything. Chris Ryan yesterday was asking me like, when does award season really, really start for you? And I said, like, I guess you could say this weekend because there was the Palm Springs International Gala Film Festival extravaganza to which everyone but Leonardo DiCaprio made it. You know, sometimes you just can't get air clearance from the yacht. And then the Critics' Choice Awards, which kind of aren't usually a thing that we pay this much attention to, but because of the way the holidays fell this year and the fact that the Golden Globes are going a week later, they took advantage of the vacuum.

25:10It also felt like this Palm Springs Gala is not usually the same level of attention. I don't see as many red carpet pictures, but everyone.

25:19Sean Fennessey:It's very star studded this year. I think it coming on the heels of the critics choice means a lot of people were kind of pinging back and forth. But I think both events saw, OK, we've got this weekend that is after New Year's. People are going to start coming to Los Angeles. And the Globes are not on that weekend. Exactly. So you could say in terms of like campaigning, it started this weekend. But I said to Chris, I think Golden Globes is when it really starts. I think you're right. And I think they have some impact insofar as that your kind of common voter will look at who the winners are and say like, okay, these are the front runners.

25:49Sean Fennessey:And we can talk about that in the aftermath of it. And the split categories allows what already feels like a wheat and chaff year where it's like three or four films are really competing at the top of the race. And then everything else is just feels a little happy to be there. We'll go through the rest of the Society of Film Critics Awards. So one battle, one PTA, one for director. Yeah. The National Society of Film Critics does provide vote breakdowns. They do, which is wonderful. Yeah, which is wonderful and I think are interesting. So one battle after another won in a landslide. It has 57 points and the runners-up were Sinners with 29 and The Secret Agent with 27, which I think is telling what the runners-up are, but also that there is a real chasm.

26:30Not a real chasm, but there is distance between. You don't see that distance in almost any other category. PTA won with 54 points. The runners-up were Jafar Panahi with 48 points. And Richard Linklater for both Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague, 39 points. But so I think Jafar Panahi being that close is telling.

26:52Sean Fennessey:I agree. I think he's also a very strong contender for Best Director. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Kathleen Chalfant from Familiar Touch, like a very classic film critic thing. That's great. And that's cool. And that's what critics' bodies should do. 45 points. And then Rose Byrne from If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You, 39 points. And Renata Rensby, sentimental value, 37 points. So it's like everything's very close. But Jesse Buckley not being there is like, that's a critical move because there's an inevitability about that win. That's one of the very few races where I feel very strongly that it is over. It's done.

27:29Sean Fennessey:Maybe the only race that I feel like is locked. I don't know. I don't know. And Golden, winning Best Song. Yes, that's true. Those are the two that I'm like, these are happening. And everything else, I could be wrong. You never know. No, I think you're right. I think that this vote is in part a reflection of the inevitability. And also Hamnet has been a little bit more divisive, critically. That's true. I think it's going to do very well in the awards race, but there are some critics who really have not gone for it. Yeah. Best Supporting Actress, Teyana Taylor, won with 56 points. It's a very close race with Inga Ibstad or Lilius from Sentimental Value.

28:06Sean Fennessey:You said 47 points. That's tight. Yeah, and then Mumi Masako is also a runner-up, 41 points. I'm curious to see if she gets nominated. That's also going to be a tough spot for her to get in, so it feels like there's some kind of boosting going on there. Best Actor, Blue Moon, Ethan Hawke. Very interesting. What, I mean? Well, in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, Yeah. You know, none of the front runners are present. Well, that's not true because Wagner Mora is the runner up with 43 points. And I think you really just we'll talk about it again on Sunday after the Golden Globes. OK, but I you know, you I mean, you were the first one to say you really got to watch this space.

28:50Well, you got to keep watching this space.

28:52Sean Fennessey:One of my take one of my takeaways from this whole weekend has been that the secret agent is very strong. Yes. And so but we're still just in the critics groups and that's a critics movie. written and directed by a former critic. No, I think it's true. But also, the critics, this is an American critics' bodies. Critics' Choice Awards is very American and really not internationally inclined, even in its nominees. Brazil, very strong in the Academy. Exactly. Yes, we know. Come to Brazil. Yeah, you know what? I would be very happy with a Wagner-Morgue win. I think he's tremendous in that movie. So I'm just a little, I know these, we know these moves.

29:28Sean Fennessey:We know these moves as list makers, as editorial people. Of course. For Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio to not be cited. Best Supporting Actor, Benicio Del Toro. Yeah. You feel less certain about this than you do about Jesse Buckley? I do. This category is a little confusing to me. I worry that Benicio and Sean Penn will. I don't worry. I think Benicio and Sean Penn could cancel each other out. It's possible. Just clip my clip right now. I know you've already clipped it, but just get it ready. And that's fine. When that happens? Yeah. Okay. I feel confident. Oh, that it's going to happen?

29:59Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Oh, okay. It's possible. Obviously, he's wonderful in the movie. Delroy Lindo at number two with 37 points. Stellan Skarsgård for sentimental value at 30 points. Screenplay also went to Panahi. Robert Kaplow's Blue Moon script and Kleber Mendoza Filio's Secret Agent script is there. Best film in the English language. Not in the English language is The Secret Agent. By one point, it was just an accident. And it does sort of feel like, all right, we'll do screenplay. will do, you know, not in the English language. We'll divvy up the words. They're passing them around. Best nonfiction film, My Undesirable Friends, part one, Last Air in Moscow.

30:38Sean Fennessey:You know, look for this one as the winner in this category. This is a very, very good film. It's just the question of will people sit through it? Will they sit through the five hours of the film? And if they will, it's kind of a hard movie to turn away from in a lot of ways. Best Cinematography went to Autumn Durald-Akapao for Sinners. Very deserving win. We saw Adolfo Veloso So for Train Dreams coming second here, he won the Critics' Choice Awards. It's kind of an interesting battle. I don't know. If that's going to translate. Yeah, there's a little bit of trickiness with Michael Bauman for one battle after another because there's this belief that sort of Michael Bauman and Paul Thomas Anderson and also their chief cameraman who Ben Affleck talked about, Marty Supreme with Colin Anderson, they make this triumvirate of cinematographers together on the film.

31:26Sean Fennessey:and I wonder if somehow Michael Baman will get dinged for that in some of the voting. But so you could see really a chance for Sinners or Train Dreams to get some love there. Critics' Choice Awards. We'll go through this a little more quickly. Yeah. One battle, one best picture. Yes. It's pretty much won every best picture race of note thus far. Best actor, Timothee Chalamet. Did you see the speech? Oh, I sure did. First of all, he also missed the credit sequence of Sinners. Thank you so much, Timothee Chalamet. Wow. I feel seen. Huge for you. He did go back a second time. Did you? Yeah, not yet.

31:55I really need to. I it was nice. He seemed nervous, which was confusing. He said he was nervous. So that was odd. Yeah, that was very sweet.

32:06Sean Fennessey:It's like he's moved out of the Marty mode now. He's no longer campaigning as Marty. Like, I don't know whether someone I'm afraid he read the comments, you know, and I don't want him to read the comments because he also made that comment. he made that thank you to Josh Safdie. You know, you present people who do good things and bad things and you don't judge. And I was just like, oh, no. Like, I know you're a poster, but you got to put up your wall. Yeah. You think he has notifications on? I hope not. I mean, I know that that generation is pretty crazy with their attention. But Jack, do you have notifications of any kind on your phone?

32:43Yes, of course. What like, but for what?

32:46Sean Fennessey:New York Mets updates. Okay. texts from my girlfriend. Okay. I mean, texts don't count. Texts are like, What about social media? Anything else? Or apps? The only social media notifications I get are Twitter for sports-related information. But is it filtered for sports-related information? Yeah, I choose what notifications I receive. So Jeff Passan, yes. Chris Ryan, no. Okay. That too is my hierarchy. Okay. I can live with that, though I don't want you to add anything else. Okay. I think Chalamet also made an effort to cite his co-nominees in the category in an effort to kind of like pull back on some of the Marty aggressiveness.

33:29Sean Fennessey:And I wonder if he is to win this coming Sunday when we see a more demure or humble Timothee Chalamet. Hard to say. His look right now is extremely funny. Like the short hair and the mustache. It's an awkward regross length. You know, and that happens to everyone when you cut your hair off. You know, you like you get in the middle there and there's no way out but through. I really want to do it. I just really want to. Cut buzzer. Yeah, I really want to do it. Okay. I mean, to quote little women, your one great beauty is your hair. But it's really good. You still have all of it? I do. There's no transplant going on here, everyone.

34:10This is 100 % natural. Definitely not. I don't know. I'm just trying to help you out. here. I'm boosting you.

34:15Sean Fennessey:I just, I'm sick of it. Listen, I get it. I'm sick of it. But what are you sick of? There's not even that much of it. It's just, I just want to be free. I just want to get away. I just want to make enough money so I can get away. I thought it was sweet when he talked to Kylie. I think that she could have like been a little more demonstrative in response, but I guess it's awkward. Yeah. They're public now, right? That's something I learned. That's a thing that can happen or not happen. Best Actress Jessie Buckley. That was great. And then her Paul Meskel stuff was truly lovely. He wept. Yeah, he blushed and then he wept.

34:54It was a great combo. He's special.

34:57Sean Fennessey:Best Director Paul Thomas Anderson. Yeah? He was quite moved as well. And actually when Best Picture, when the film won for Best Picture, Tiana Taylor was a bit rough at ETA. She was firing him up. She was like he was getting ready to go out after halftime, you know, and go battle. Original screenplay, Coogler for Sinners. Adapted screenplay, PTA for One Battle. Here's some interesting wins. Yes. Supporting actor and actress. Actor Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein and for actress Amy Madigan for Weapons. Yes. Two horror films. Mm-hmm. Sort of. Two folks. I mean, they are. Sure. Two monster movies for sure.

35:38Sean Fennessey:Two candidates who are in the race for sure, who have been widely critically praised, who most people do not think are at the front of the line in their races. No. Do you think this matters at all? I think that, no, I don't. I feel that they both will be nominated, but I felt that before Critics' Choice. I think if anything, this indicates that normies really like Frankenstein. They just really do. And I think you and I and many other people have scratched our heads at the... The normie voters of the Critics' Choice Awards, you're saying? Yeah. And people in general. It was not for us, but people still.

36:20And so that film is just kind of stronger. I mean, I think his performance is excellent, though. We talked about that, too. Yeah, I know. But I don't think he's going to win supporting actors.

36:29Sean Fennessey:I don't think so, either. Amy Madigan, you never know. It could happen. A well-run campaign, that can happen. Yeah. That sort of thing has happened before. I'm trying to think of what the win was. She was wearing Dior. So that was cool also.

36:46And Ethan Hawke was wearing Bodhi and looked amazing. This concludes my fashion report. And Tim Simons had a nice velvet jacket on.

36:53Sean Fennessey:Tim looked great. He looked so good. He was smoking it out there. What was the race? There was a race some time ago. Oh, I remember very vividly watching the 1993 Academy Awards for the 1992 films and Best Supporting Actress that year. Here were the nominees. Miranda Richardson for a film called Damage. Vanessa Redgrave for Howard's End. Joan Plowright for Enchanted April. Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives. Now, four, you know, seasoned, acclaimed actors. And Marissa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny. And Marissa Tomei won for My Cousin Vinny in what was thought to be like a surprising win. There was some conspiracy about it in the aftermath, but totally deserving.

37:33Sean Fennessey:And I remember having a feeling for Joan Plowright that night. That was very unusual. I was like, this poor woman, who at the time, I guess, was only 64. She wasn't that old. But she seemed, compared to Marissa Tomei, she seemed very old. And it was like, Joan Plowright's probably never going to have another chance to win an Academy Award. She didn't win an Academy Award. It was her only nomination. you know notably married to Laurence Olivier for decades right and Amy Madigan is in that spot of like you can't is she going to be nominated again probably not no and so when people are looking Tiana Taylor they're looking Inga Ibstater-Lilius or you know they're looking at down the list like yeah but the Inga Ibstater-Lilius thing is very strong you know PTA and the directors roundup singled her out as well.

38:27I did. Of course. Of course. She's wonderful in it.

38:30Sean Fennessey:A movie about a damaged family. Of course Paul Thomas Anderson loves that movie. Come on. Listen. It's great stuff. I get it. Love to see that. But and again. To be praising movies like that that you're competing against is I always love when filmmakers do that. He's so cool. Anytime the director does that I think that's great. That's why I asked that question at the end of the episodes because I'm very curious like what they on and if somebody doesn't say a movie that's just come out. Yeah. You know. Tells you a little bit. But again, this is not an international voting body. Even within the nominees, there are not as many international films represented in the actors or in the best picture category.

39:10So I think you gotta... I think she's coming. And then that starts to... The numbers break down of who goes for Tiana Taylor versus Amy Madigan versus Inga Ibstotter. I don't know quite yet.

39:23Sean Fennessey:It's an interesting one. Best casting and ensemble. Nice to see this. Francine Maisler, legendary casting director who casts Sinners, which is incredibly worthy of this award. This is going to be a fun one to track. I want to do... I want to do a full episode about this and have a couple of casting directors on the show to talk about it and then you and I can kind of talk about what we think is effective in all of these nominees. We have to wait until after the Oscar nominees come out. But when you look at Sinners and you look at One Battle and you look at Marty Supreme you look at The Secret Agent like the films that are going to be competing in this award are really interesting.

39:58Sean Fennessey:I learned over the weekend I didn't realize this when we talked about our the shortlist that it was just an accident was not submitted for Best Casting which is why it was not on that shortlist. I think because there was probably no formal casting director it sounds like on the film. So there was not a name to submit. But that's like there's a lot of details to a new award we should spend some time talking through it because it is it's a mysterious art identifying the right person. And I like that the Critics' Choice also does this. Best Foreign Language Film also went to Secret Agent. This is a lot of wins for the Secret Agent.

40:28It's really, really happening. I was tickled over the weekend to see that in the deliberations for the National Society of Film Critics, I think it was David Rooney who shared that Jonia Sebastiana from the Secret Agent, Tanya Maria is her name, was like higher than you would expect in supporting category. She's wonderful too. She's incredible in that movie.

40:50Sean Fennessey:That would be a cool campaign. Yeah, I mean, I don't know whether that's going to happen, but just that there was enough awareness and excitement for that film that a small but memorable role would be in the supporting actress category. Again, as you said, it's a critic's body. Like, they're trying to get creative. Could be nothing, yeah. But it's sticking with people. Yeah. K-pop Demon Hunter's won Best Animated Feature. Stay tuned to that. Best Comedy, The Naked Gun. Do we need a Best Comedy category? What? Could you pick five comedies from last year? Or could you fill out the ballot with deserving comedies?

41:24Sean Fennessey:Jurassic World Rebirth. Okay. One. It's completely rude. No, I mean, sure. Jonathan Bailey loved that dinosaur. Yeah, and it was a laugh riot. Best Production Design went to Frankenstein. Best Editing went to F1. Best Costume Design also to Frankenstein. That's right. Best Hair and Makeup also to Frankenstein. See, this is what I'm... That may transpire over... I mean, Del Toro always really strong with the below-the-line groups. and Frankenstein's gonna be not it's gonna get six nominations for sure Best Visual Effects went to Avatar Fire and Ash of course I would expect that to be the case at the Oscars Best Sound went to F1 will also be competing very strongly there we mentioned Cinematography went to Adolfo Veloso for Train Dreams Best Song Golden Best Score a little bit Granson for Sinners could be three for three would be deserving would be deserving I mean we had the Marty Supreme score on in the home a lot over the last two weeks I did as well yeah I got Alice listening to it a lot and she was like dad this is very peaceful oh okay she found it very calming there is a kind of Enya quality to some of the tracks for sure best stunt design Wade Eastwood for Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning revisited that film over the break didn't go well for me no best young actor or actress Miles Catton for Catton Miles Catton for Sinners I'd like to have a breakthrough performance at the Oscars as you know yeah absolutely we don't have that so DGA and SAG nominations coming later this week We won't be recording an episode on Thursday when both of those come out.

42:51Sean Fennessey:So we won't be able to talk about those until probably maybe the Golden Globes episode. Yeah, but they'll be useful in that context. And the Golden Globes episode will really be like, okay, where are we? Yes. A couple of things to cite, mostly just for DGA that I think people should look for. I don't really know what's going on in this race. It seems like it's set up in Chalky to be PTA, Kugler, Chloe Zhao, Jafar Panahi, and Joachim Trier. Yeah. That seems like the five. And then the two people on The Outsider, Josh Safdie and Guillermo del Toro. I think from the betting markets perspective, those are the DGA nominees.

43:24Sean Fennessey:Maybe Filio is in the mix there as well if the secret agent is stronger. If that happens, then you can be like, okay, secret agent is super strong. But DGA is really unpredictable and has an odd history with international filmmakers. So, for example, Alfonso Cuaron won for Roma, but then Bong Joon-ho did not win for Parasite. Sam Mendes won that year for 1917, the following year. So, last year, Jacques Audillard got in, but they put Edward Berger, who was also an international filmmaker, but that was an English-language film, in Conclave over Corley Farsha. Right. Don't really know. Like, last year, James Mangold was in with DGA.

44:06Sean Fennessey:That was a little bit of a surprise. and then that turned out that he was in at the Oscars. To happen and that's the suggested strength of the Academy. For a complete unknown. It's never five to five. Almost never. Very rarely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's always some sort of, and you know, I think some years international, there have been international surprises that then do show up at the, in the Academy nominees and then sometimes they switch around. Yes. Some years they just like forget about women. So, you know, but it's, it's mostly predictive but you can't totally bank on it. You're right that it's usually four out of five.

44:41Sean Fennessey:And choosing the right four, you can usually choose three out of five pretty easily. That'll be at the Academy Awards. For SAG, I think let's look at Ensemble because it'll matter this year. I'm sorry, the Actor Awards. The Actor Awards. Well, it's still the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Right. But the Telecast is the Actor Awards, right? I didn't read that far into the press release. I gotta be honest to you. I don't really know. Or is just the little statue now the actor? No, I think it's always been and the actor goes to. Let's check out trusty Wikipedia. So when you go to, oh, that's so interesting.

45:17Sean Fennessey:So it is the Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA. But when you Google it, what it shows you is Screen Actors Guild Awards. Okay. So, and this is the 30. But the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Okay, this is just fantastic. Was it called the Actor Awards last year? No, I really thought this was a rebrand. So last year it was called the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards. Yes. And then this year for the first time is the Actor Awards. Yeah, I read the first two lines of the press release, chuckled, and moved on. This is just going to become common. Within two years, we'll just call it the Actor Awards.

45:54Sean Fennessey:Okay. Anyhow, look at Best Ensemble because you're going to have one battle. You're going to have Sinners. You're going to have probably of Hamnet. Yeah. You're going to have what else? What's going to be the fourth and the fifth? That's the big question. I'd like to think Marty Supreme, but I don't know. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of below the line enthusiasm. Huge. Well, I mean, Fran Drescher's in the film. Sure. President of SAG. Well, yeah, that's true. Divisive figure. Exactly. I was like, I don't know whether that, you know, helps or hurts. But I meant in terms of the, I don't know that Marty Supreme is going to get any of its supporting actors into the supporting categories at this point, which is surprising.

46:36And I think probably not before the season started we would have said either Gwyneth Paltrow or once we saw the film Odessa and Zion but I don't think well you know

46:48Sean Fennessey:I think because the movie is a hit in a similar fashion to A Complete Unknown when that movie became a hit it became hard to ignore. Springsteen for example not doing well this year kind of knocked it out of the race entirely. It didn't get great reviews either but I think the film having continued success over the next six weeks will be very helpful for nominations. So maybe someone like Odessa of Zion gets in, but I don't know about Marty. It may not get in. Can a movie like The Secret Agent or Sentimental Value get in? Like what are the international features that are getting in here? Last year, Conclave won this award over Onora, which was a little bit more of a character study.

47:23Sean Fennessey:The other nominees were Complete Unknown, Emilia Perez and Wicked. Wicked for Good could get in here. I guess so. It's very possible. Okay. I think actors like those movies. Is Cynthia Erivo going to be nominated for an Academy Award, do you think? Has she been campaigning? Not too much. I mean, you know, she took a break. And I guess we'll see at the Academy Award. I mean, at the Golden Globes, what happens. And whether she's back and whether she puts on another push. Because this is also nominations voting starts, I believe, next Monday, right after the Golden Globes. Yes, later this week, we will predict every Golden Globe race.

48:00Oh, great. But so I think if she's front of mind, the next two weeks people will probably be like, oh, she was very good. Agreed. But we'll see.

48:12Sean Fennessey:This episode is brought to you by Volkswagen. There is such a thing as becoming too comfortable in your day-to-day. But our favorite films, with stories that make us change the way we think, they weren't made by people content to just sit back and watch the world pass by. This is your sign that you shouldn't either. From us, from VW, and the other drivers out there, grab the wheel. Do what you love, even if it means taking the road less traveled. Learn more at VW.com. This episode is brought to you by the Autograph Journey credit card from Wells Fargo. The Autograph Journey credit card from Wells Fargo is built for travel.

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49:19Get tips along the way, add expert assist to talk to tax experts, or let our experts do your taxes for you with expert full service. Tax Act helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit TaxAct.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See TaxAct.com for details. 2026. Yeah. Films. They're making them. So we each made lists. Yeah.

49:45Sean Fennessey:I have a hundred honorable mentions. I have honorable mentions broken into multiple categories. You do. I love a list. I love to anticipate. Yes. I love when I'm like, gosh, I hope this is good. It's my favorite feeling. Yeah. Actually, that's not true. My favorite feeling is ambitious swing at a film that is gorgeously executed. That's my favorite thing. Okay. Second favorite thing is, gosh, I hope this is good. Fair enough. Just the way that it makes me feel. Sitting down, a movie's about to start. I've been thinking about it for months. I'm ready for it. It is a very good feeling. It's probably why I'm doing this, honestly.

50:22Sean Fennessey:Because you don't get that feeling at the end of a movie often. three, four, five, six, seven, eight times a year. Right, but I mean, that is a very exciting one. It's very nice. Is it more exciting to you when it's a film that you have been anticipating and it lands? Or when you're just like, oh, this is out of nowhere. Surprise. There are exceptions. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, very memorably, was a moment when I could not have been looking forward to a movie more, and it exceeded my expectations. I genuinely was just levitated at the end of that movie. That doesn't happen often. with something.

50:55Sean Fennessey:You know, I loved One Battle. We talked about it nonstop this year. And it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. But I was like, of course. Of course he did that. You know? It's different when you don't see a movie coming. And that's harder. I don't know if there... And this exercise kind of eliminates that opportunity. Like, I know too much. I think I said this like a year ago where I was like, I've just read too much. I watched too many trailers. I know what movies are in production. I'm obsessed. And I'll say to you now what I said to you then, which is like, that's a you problem. Like you can fix it a little bit.

51:26Sean Fennessey:Or is it a me skill? I guess so. You know, does it or does it not power this show? Right. But you also said that the best part of your break was not any film that you watched, but the feeling of not watching films for work. I'm a man of tremendous contradiction. That is so true. You also put so many movies on your list that I was just like, well, there are like three movies left coming out in 2026. I found some, I made some of my own sub lists. Okay. It's fine. Exciting. You know. I haven't looked at your sub lists. Well, there were probably about five titles that I knew you would want. Yeah. That I didn't even have to think about.

52:00Sean Fennessey:Just as I assume you think there were five or so that I would be okay with. Do you want to start or should I start? And should we do honorable mentions first rather than second? That's way too chaotic. Okay. Because some of your honorable mentions are on my list. No, we just got to do our list. Okay, you go first. Okay. This is really, I like what you've done here. My first slot are three films that could be the best or the worst thing that ever happened to me. And they set a tone for Amanda's 2026, which is, I don't know if it's getting what I want, because I don't know if I ever wanted this, but the fan service and the sequel-itis and the things you love being important again, that experience that you've been having for the last 10 years are coming for me.

52:50In The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Social Reckoning, and Sense and Sensibility. Two sequels and a remake of three of my most beloved films. Let me just say right now, direct to camera, salute to you, Bill Simmons. The Devil Wears Prada is the number one most rewatchable movie of all time. That was just, you know, I sometimes I haven't even spoken to Bill for a few weeks and then I'm just like, oh, yeah, Bill is my soulmate. That's beautiful. Like, it's correct. We didn't even have to talk about it. I just I know I felt really seen. I am, you know, the Delaware's product could be a total disaster.

53:29It really could. It could. And it's going to be a big hit. Well, that doesn't matter to me. I just I want to I want it to not be embarrassing. I want to not slide in my seat and be like, oh, no, because I love that original film very much. I think it's very good, very smart. I quote it all the time. The Social Reckoning, I just, I first didn't want to put it on this list. And then I hadn't, you know.

53:52Sean Fennessey:I served it up to you. You did. And I was like, well, if I'm doing a thing about being nervous about ruining my favorite things, The Social Network was the number one list on our 25 for 25. I love that film and I'm just really nervous about Aaron Sorkin solo writing and directing a film about Facebook without Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. Do you genuinely think that this movie could sully the legacy of the first film? I don't think so. I don't think so either, but anything is possible when people have internet connections in 2026, you know? I mean, the world's just... You know, I think about this similarly to the way that I think about the last two Indiana Jones films.

54:39Sean Fennessey:Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which Steven Spielberg directed. Yes. And The Dial of Destiny, which James Mangold directed. Some people would say, most people I think would say Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is better. I'm a little bit warmer on Dial of Destiny. They're both not nearly as good as the first three films. Not nearly. He just, I mean, when he has the chat with Archimedes. Yes, incredible. I love that part. They should have stayed there. That's my whole thing. Anyway, those movies, no matter how good or bad they were, they never could have messed with my love for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

55:10Sean Fennessey:They just couldn't. It is unshakable. Yeah. And so I don't think that this movie can damage the social network. I think it can do damage to Aaron Sorkin's continued reputation as a creative person. I think you're right. And I think the fact that there is no repeating cast is a good thing in the sense that it's just a separate something that they tried in many ways. It's like the last two seasons of The West Wing, which, you know, I have seen. But we're without Aaron Sorkin. Yes. And things devolve. Let's just put it that way. You've got a great cast in this movie. Yeah. Right? Two Jeremys and a Mikey.

55:50Sean Fennessey:It's good stuff. and then Sense and Sensibility is a remake directed by Georgia Oakley and Daisy Edgar Jones is Eleanor and Esme Creed Miles is Marianne Katrina Balfe is Mrs. Dashwood yeah hell yeah sure Frank Delane is Willoughby listen Frank Delane terrific in Urchin oh and George Mackay is in it as Edward Ferris so listen pretty good good cast yeah but Daisy Edgar Jones well listen she's very pretty So, I didn't see Where the Crawdads Sing coming. I didn't see the end of it. It got me. Where the Crawdads Sing? One of the worst films of the decade? That was like one of my first movies back from Knox maternity leave.

56:36Okay. I think my parents were... That was the same trip where I saw Minions, The Rise of Grrr.

56:42Sean Fennessey:Hold it together. We got 75 movies to talk about. Hang in. Hang on. I also saw Where the Crawdads Sing. also at my hometown movie theater. It's horrifying that Harris Dickinson is one of those men. It's also just... It's okay. He made it out. They all made it out. I'm nervous about all three of these. I just, I'm nervous. I can't really speak to... I think Devil Wears Prada is a very good movie. It's not like one of my favorite movies of all time. I don't really care about its legacy at all. The social network obviously means a great deal to me. Since Sensibility, I like quite a bit. It feels a little different.

57:19Sean Fennessey:adaptations of centuries-old novels. To me, like... That's true. And the Austen remake, like, there's always a remake or an adaptation or an update of, like, one of the Austen texts. Remember when we made you name all six Jane Austen novels? I got close. Yeah, but you didn't remember Pride and Prejudice. I didn't. Anyway, I agree with you, but the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility is a core text for me. So I just... It's interesting. Am I supposed to open my heart to these? This is... I've never been in this position before. You're supposed to open your heart to every new film that comes out.

57:50Sean Fennessey:That's the whole point. Well, that is not how I live my life. I know it's not. You're a crazy person. My number 13 is The Bride. And I share a similar unease as your number 13 choices with The Bride. On paper, The Bride is Maggie Gyllenhaal's new film, her follow-up to The Lost Daughter from Warner Brothers, from the Abdi DeLuca regime, starring Jesse Buckley and Christian Bale in a modern black and white riff on The Bride of Frankenstein. A lot of tic-tac-toe there for me. I am a little bit put off by the trailer of this film, and the behind-the-scenes kind of production slash testing scuttlebutt for the movie is not good.

58:36Sean Fennessey:That doesn't mean I'm not going to like it, and I'm really interested at least to see what it is. It kind of got dumped in the March window, but it kind of got placed in the Jesse Buckley Oscar zone. So it's coming in a couple of months. We're going to find out pretty soon whether it works or not. But I'm very curious because it's a collision of a lot of things that I dig. It's in the Mickey 17 spot. It is. And in the same situation from the same Warner Brothers, you know, executives. Yeah. Maggie Gyllenhaal is not Bong Joon-ho, but she's a great director. I really liked the Elena Ferrante adaptation that she did a few years ago.

59:12And it's the same time window release. And it's kind of the same like behind the scenes. like,

59:19Sean Fennessey:so we'll see. I thought we could just hang the 13 like, you have my attention but also my concern. We are anticipating them. Yes, we are. But what is the nature of the anticipation? Yes. Yeah. What is your number 12? My number 12 is a little film called The Rip starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon because moms and dads can have fun too, you know? Has anyone seen this film yet which comes out in 10 days? I watched a trailer this morning. Okay. Honestly, it looks great. I mean, it's just like, It's like, you know, a Xerox of the town, which is a Xerox of the heat, but set in Miami. And they don't even bother with a Rebecca Hall character as far as I can tell.

59:59But it's Matt Damon and Ben Affleck staring at each other being like, are we going to be good guys or bad guys? Some others. I was excited.

1:00:05Sean Fennessey:Yeah, it's like a narcotics cop heist movie. Yeah, great. I would say also a slightly worrying release date of January 16th on Netflix. Not exactly encouraging. But like we can have fun. We can enjoy silly things. I hope it's great. Joe Carnahan directed it. Triple Frontier forever. Some great Joe Carnahan movies in the past. The Grey probably my favorite of his movies. Hopefully this is really, really good. We will talk about it. And we will draft Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movies. Also, you took two movies at number 12 that also at least one of them would have been on my list on its own. You could have taken them.

1:00:40Well, that's not. You just wrote 45 ,000 movies.

1:00:43Sean Fennessey:This is what I do. This is literally what I do for a living is I just write lists of movies. Yeah, I know. And then you read them aloud. Well, to me, I really wanted to put a spotlight on Primetime, which is Lance Oppenheim's new feature film. Lance was a guest of the show a couple of years ago for Ren Faire, his documentary. He's only made documentaries to this point, three really interesting documentaries. This is his first feature for A24. It's a kind of set in the world of To Catch a Predator and Chris Hansen, the host of the show, To Catch a Predator. and there was a documentary about this earlier this year called predators that i have cited on the show a couple times uh robert pattinson is playing chris hansen or chris hansen like figure in this movie not a lot is known about this movie lance is an extremely creative and uh i'd say daring documentarian who is constantly blurring the line between truth and fiction to catch a predator was a show that blurred the line between truth and fiction and it were the they sort of set up these sting operations to ensnare child sexual predators.

1:01:48Sean Fennessey:And I'm fascinated by what Lance will do. I know Lance a little bit, but even given that, like, I think this is really interesting. But when I was thinking about this movie, which is sort of a docudrama, sort of not, it did get me thinking about Ink, which is sort of like the B-side to my primetime wreck. I've only just recently become aware of Ink. Yeah. But Inc. is the new Danny Boyle film about Rupert Murdoch. Right. And who is playing Rupert Murdoch? Who is playing Rupert Murdoch? Guy Pearce. Guy Pearce, right. So Guy Pearce, legendary Australian, just like Rupert Murdoch, legendary Australian.

1:02:22Sean Fennessey:Danny Boyle came back like a fucking house on fire with 28 years later last year. He's incredibly good at movies like this. If you've seen Steve Jobs, you know that he is like born to make these sharp, sharply scripted kind of like biopic snapshots of powerful people at critical stages of their lives. This is about a younger Rupert Murdoch. It's not the octogenarian that we know today. And I'm very interested in that movie. I don't, you never know. Nanogenarian at this point. Nanogenarian. Okay, cool. Can you please discuss the supporting cast? You're gonna have to remind me. Jack O 'Connell and Claire Foy in the Seth Rogen and Kate Winslet pole position.

1:02:59Like that's, listen. You should have just grabbed it. You should have just grabbed it. You already had it. You had like a nice little package about media stuff. I did. It's fine. I mean, I respect your list making, but I'm excited about this. It is true that Danny Boyle is really good at these things. And then also sometimes he gives you what you want so much that then you have a breakdown on a podcast because he reanimated John Lennon, you know, and...

1:03:22Sean Fennessey:Could go either way. Takes a lot of swings. He's truly one of our most audacious mainstream filmmakers. And this movie does not have a studio as far as I know. It's being produced by Studio Canal. It started shooting in October. not a guarantee that it's a 2026 movie. So that's part of the other reason why I kind of like, you know, side card it with Primetime. But yeah, yeah. Claire Foy, your girl. What's she been up to? Have you seen H's for Hawk? No. Okay. You know how I am about birds. I do. I do actually. What's your number 11? The entertainment system is down. Okay. Bold stroke here. Well, here's the thing.

1:03:57I went back and forth on this. So this is the new film from Ruben Oslin.

1:04:00Sean Fennessey:Yep. Which has not been announced for Cannes, but he is the king of Cannes, so I assume it will be there. 100 % chance it will be there. Incredible cast. Let me read. And it's what we know is what's in the title. Yes. People stuck on a plane. Here's the cast. Keanu Reeves, Daniel Bruhl, Samantha Morton, Nicholas Braun, Tobias Menzies, Vincent London, Connor Swindells. It's so good. It goes on. And of course, most important, Kirsten Kiki Dunst. I had a meeting with myself and I go where Kirsten goes. Okay? Yeah. Ruben Ostland is the most

1:04:37like

1:04:37Sean Fennessey:why does everybody like the band I like filmmaker in recent history for me where when I saw play and I saw Force Majeure I was like ooh yeah this gets it like the real bitter heart the real like selfish frail masculine sadness and I liked The Square his film with Elizabeth Moss and Clay Spang about the art world and you know everybody caught on right with Triangle of Sadness and that film was hugely acclaimed it was a pretty big hit won the Palme d 'Or and the logline of this movie sounds so similar to his last couple of films which are like these big obvious targets of you know in the case of The Square it's like the vanity and emptiness of the art world in Triangle of Sadness the sort of like cone of wealth and how it like These people don't really understand what's really transpiring in the world.

1:05:33Sean Fennessey:And then in this movie, it's about the attention economy, right? What happens on a flight when the entertainment system goes down? And what do people do to each other? I mean, the hope— They're very broad satire. Yes. I like them. The hope—I think Triangle of Sadness, which we both liked, but it was very obvious. Yes, we do, in fact, know the rich people are bad. if this is less about how everyone is stupid on their phones and more about how social norms have just completely you know the social contract is completely dead and this could be smartly observed and and funny and it is a great cast if it is just like you know the I can't remember the actor's name because the character's name was Cy CY and Wake Up Dead Man the the vlogger the the oh yeah it is Daryl McCormick yes um if it's just that character from wake up dead man but everyone just doing dumb things on their phone um or yelling because there's no wi-fi then then I like I agree with you but once again I go where Pearson Dunst goes I completely understand I support it I'm setting my intentions similar I have a similar relationship with Keanu Reeves.

1:06:54Sean Fennessey:So I'm intrigued. I hope that I hope that film is good. Look, here's here's what I did yesterday. My dad gave me a gift certificate for Christmas to buy any Blu-rays that I wanted. That's nice. And I used that gift certificate yesterday and I bought the Curzon Ruben Ostland box set. Wow. Which includes his short films, most of which I have not seen. His very early movies that he made in Scandinavia. I'm going to like I'm going to try to not be sour about it. I really liked Force Majeure a lot. Like I thought about it for 25 for 25. I would love for this movie, because this movie is going to be a big deal.

1:07:30Sean Fennessey:Like it's going to be around because it's going to be competing for the Palm and it's probably going to be an Academy movie, probably. So you're definitely right to put it on this list. My number 11 is somewhat similar. Okay, exactly. So relax. Well here, I don't want to be too associated with your strong negative feelings around this movie. Okay. That's fine. I want to open my mind to Digger, which is the new Alejandro Gonzalez in a retu film starring Tom Cruise. I didn't really like share any feelings about the teaser because you were like big mad. Which I thought was okay. I wasn't that big mad.

1:08:08I just had an opinion, which is what I'm paid to do on this podcast. Okay.

1:08:12Sean Fennessey:It's debatable. I, it could be bad. It could be silly. It could be overwrought. It could be overdrawn. I'm excited to see what Tom Cruise can do that's really what it comes down to Iñárritu not a huge fan of as a filmmaker there are some films of his that I like I still I was blown away by Amoris Peros as most people were yeah of course and it has felt like a little bit of repeating himself in some ways over that time but Tom Cruise in an original film this doesn't happen anymore it's happened like once every 15 years now so hopefully this is the start of something bigger I hope it's not too goofy.

1:08:53Sean Fennessey:That's the one thing I'll say. Yeah, I hope so as well. If it's great, I will be very excited. Do you think this movie is going to do festivals? As I said to you. You think it's just Venice set up for Venice? Yeah, just because of the time thing. And because it is dated for October, I think it would be strange to do Cannes and then sit on it. Agree with you. So probably Venice. Okay. Number 10. How to make a killing. Hmm. This is the new John Patton Ford movie who directed Emily the Criminal, which was a great film. And then it stars Glenn Powell, who I'm also a fan of. Margaret Qualley. It's sort of a classic.

1:09:34Glenn Powell is a guy who is disinherited and tries to take revenge against his family in order to get back his inheritance. so some of the same themes of slimy capitalism but from a different perspective than Emily the Criminal but I just really liked that movie.

1:09:53Sean Fennessey:I think it would be, this occurred to me when I saw the trailer for this movie which seems like a little bit of a soft remake of Kind Hearts and Cornets and that maybe Glenn Powell wants to be Alec Guinness. Great. You know, in terms of like a lot of costumes, characters that are unrecognizable, a kind of like antic silly serious tone to almost everything that he makes like Twisters is really the only like hyper serious movie that he's made right I guess so and he still gets to be funny you know he's the charm merchant in that yeah that could be nice for him yeah Alec Guinness episode sure very big in my house right now yeah oh that's a good point yeah his performance when we watched The New Hope a couple weeks ago really popped out to me again really he's like he's really giving it his all with some of the it must have been complete poppycock to him on the page but he really he sold it hard my number 10 is Remain this is the new M.

1:10:53Sean Fennessey:Night Shyamalan film starring Jake Gyllenhaal could really go either way we're all taking chances this is I think part of the thing part of the challenge of these lists is yeah there's a bunch of movies that I feel fairly confident are going to be good that I'm like I'm excited to see them but there's not a lot of like emotional unknown. Remain is a complete emotional unknown. With Trap, Trap was super divisive. You and I really liked it. We had a great time seeing that movie. And I don't know if I've heard more from people about what an idiot I am for liking a movie than the movie Trap, which is fine.

1:11:28Sean Fennessey:I really did have a great time with it. And when he takes his shirt off to try to poison his long-suffering wife, oh, really good stuff. Not ideal. Not what you want. It's so funny. So Remain, which I think was shot on VistaVision okay listen shout out to M. Night Shyamalan I'm gonna read you the long line I can't wait New York architect Tate Donovan you can't name a character Tate Donovan Tate Donovan's a real guy Knight what are we doing New York architect Tate Donovan heads to Cape Cod okay to design a summer home for his best friend seeking a fresh start after being treated for acute depression still mourning his sister's death he meets Ren a young woman who disrupts his carefully ordered world Jake Gyllenhaal is Tate.

1:12:14Sean Fennessey:Okay. And Phoebe Dynaver is Wren. All right. I like her as a foil to hate. A counterpoint. Yes, I agree. You know, here's a real concern. Jake Gyllenhaal as a depressed architect. There's a real concern with this movie. Yeah. So the film is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, but the story is by Nicholas Sparks. Oh. Well, I honestly, I'm leaning in. You're in. Yeah, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat for this one. It does have a big, fat October 23rd Halloween release date. This is very clearly a kind of ghost story. I mean, this is what we were talking about. Nicholas Sparks writes books that were adapted for many years.

1:12:54When will we do our Sparks episode? Nicholas Sparks episode.

1:12:57Sean Fennessey:It's not a bad idea. Right. It's honestly not a bad idea. I have seen maybe like three of the 13 adaptations. I don't get the impression they're very good. The Notebook is an all-timer. Okay. Number nine? The Moment. Charlie. Is this going to be good? I'm going to have a good time. Okay. Do you want to do a Charlie holiday movie check-in? Sure, yeah. Let's see what she watched. Thanks for asking. We've been tracking on the show Charlie XCX's work on Letterboxd, and I haven't really checked in on her in a while. Wow, some incredible news for you. Okay. Let's just go from Christmas Eve. Yeah. Christmas Eve, she checked out Jay Kelly.

1:13:37Sean Fennessey:Okay. No heart No star No review Yeah Christmas Day Double feature She started with Paddington in Peru Okay And she followed that up With a five star Hearted review Cape Fear Legendary 26th She went in reverse order To check out Paddington 2 Okay Sounds like Maybe she hadn't seen Paddington 2 before Positive But watched Paddington in Peru First She hearted it Okay She rewatched On the 26th also Fargo. Five stars. Her review for the film Fargo is Francis is the goat. Okay. Can't say I disagree. Skipped a couple days of screenings. Came back with a fury on December 29th. Maybe she was spending time with her family.

1:14:22Sean Fennessey:She watched The Aviator. A rewatch. No notes other than a rewatch. Okay. I feel the same way. I'd like to rewatch it actually. Then she watched Inland Empire. R.I.P. David Lynch. Incredible. She did heart that film. Looks like her first watch. Then she watched Now you see me, now you don't. Little palate cleanser at the end of the night. Yeah. Love to watch Inland Empire and then Now You See Me, Now You Don't. Normal behavior. Did you need to reset before you go to bed? It's true. She had a really good time on December 30th and December 31st. That's great. I'm glad someone did. I had a nice time.

1:14:55Sean Fennessey:She watched 21 Jump Street. Great comedy. Classic. The next day on Eve, she watched 22 Jump Street. Also very funny. Then she followed up. You know what I think about from those movies all the time? and I can't remember which one, when Channing Tatum is like trying to figure out what's going on with the backpack and like why you only wear one sleeve or like one thing. And he's like, this changed. These movies are very ripe for the rewatchables. I can't believe that 21 Jump Street hasn't been on the rewatchables. Rush Hour 2. Okay. Came right after that. Five stars. Beautiful. Rush Hour back in the news.

1:15:29Sean Fennessey:Rush Hour 4 apparently going into production directed by Brett Ratner at Paramount. I hope that Charlie is not accepting a role in Rush Hour 4. On New Year's Day, she watched Ballad of a Small Player. Okay. No review, no stars, no heart, nothing. And then on January 2nd, she watched Something's Gotta Give. Wow. Welcome. First time screening. Okay. Nothing. No, nothing. Oh, wow. Yeah. Do you think she was listening to 25 for 25? Probably not. Because if she was listening to 20, we would have heard from her by now. If she were that deep in the archives. Yeah. What do you mean? You think she would have called me?

1:16:06No, she would have DM'd us. I just like, because we've been so involved with the Letterboxd.

1:16:13Sean Fennessey:No DMs on Letterboxd, though. Well, you know, she has Instagram. That's true. That's true. Does she follow you? No. Okay. Where were we? Number nine? The moment. I'm excited. I hope it's good. I hope so, as well. January 30th, release date. We gotta watch something. Yeah, there's a bunch of movies that day. Send Help, the new film from Sam Raimi, comes out that day. Something for you, something for me. That's true. That'll be an interesting episode. I think there's going to be two Dumpy Worry episodes this year. A January Dumpy Worry and a February Dumpy Worry. Wonderful. Yeah. Happy New Year.

1:16:48Sean Fennessey:Okay. My number nine is also kind of a cheat. It's not a cheat. I'm excited about the moment. I'm excited about... No, no. I mean, because I had another category. These are sort of like sidecars. They're not actually two films on the list. but number nine I think is coming out this year and it's it's October and this is the new film from Jeremy Saulnier last seen making Rebel Ridge arguably the greatest film in Netflix original film history awesome cast horror action thriller that sounds like it's going to be first of all A24 has just not made as many horror movies in the last couple of years feels like Saulnier going back to his roots of like the horror action of Blue Ruin and Green Room and the cast of this movie is really good.

1:17:32Sean Fennessey:Corey Michael Smith who is in May, December and Saturday Night. Chase Suey Wonders last seen on the studio. Sophie Wilde from Talk to Me. I don't know much about this movie but I love Saulnier. Wrote and directed this movie. I'm pretty fired up for it. Now as a bit of a sidecar for the movie there's another A24 film that's kind of like an action movie that I'm citing this one really more for CR. Okay. So. Do you think he's listening right now? I couldn't say. What if his resolution was to give up on the third chair and give up on us? I want him to be happy. That's all I really want for Chris, honestly.

1:18:07Sean Fennessey:What I want is for Chris. If you love him, set them free. I really do want him to be happy, as much as I like potting with him. Enemies is the other film. Enemies is the new movie from Henry Dunham. Henry Dunham's only directed one other film. It's called Stand Off at Sparrow Creek. It was a big CR movie when it came out, pre-COVID, that starred James Badgedale. This new movie is a bit of a leveling up. Produced by Ari Aster. it's also A24 the logline is a detective has a battle of wits in pursuit of a fugitive contract killer and it stars Jeremy Allen White and Austin Butler as well as Anna Sawai from Shogun sounds great pretty exciting I'm open this is like I need A24 to get evil again okay they were very good at making deeply evil films and just like hard bitten nasty stylish movies evil movies with people you really like yes my next one is not evil but i think it's going to be like really darkly fucked up okay people i really like which is fjord the new christian manju movie with sebastian stan and uh renata rennsby yeah i like this pick a lot and this is and as i understand it it's they move to a remote norwegian town and then are ostracized by everyone they know which we know uh renata rennsby is going to be really good at yes and no one does alienation like renata Rensby.

1:19:25Yeah. And the Scandinavian peoples, I continue to try to understand their ways from afar and through their deeply weird films. But I just Sebastian Stan and Renata Rensby are like dynamite actors.

1:19:40Sean Fennessey:I'm really glad you picked this. I made a list of 10 international films that I'm excited about. This was right at the top because Christian Mongeau's last film, it's called RMN. I had him on the show for the movie. I think it's one of the most underrated movie the last 10 years. It was also a big Adam Naiman film. Yeah. Manju really celebrated a filmmaker. You know, made that devastating abortion drama 15, 20 years ago. But that movie is really, really strong. And this feels like it's almost like a spiritual sequel about kind of like alienation and immigration and Romanian culture. Sebastian Stan is Romanian.

1:20:14Sean Fennessey:And so he saw, I think he sought out Manju to make a film with him. And so. And I do think that that is in the text of the film, that it's a Romanian husband, Norwegian wife, and they move back to her hometown, and then things get weird. Wonderful pick. This could be a Cannes film? I would assume so. Yeah, it definitely feels like it could be, definitely a festival movie, but Neon distributing, pretty exciting. If you like R.M.N. or any of his movies, we had a great chat on the show. I think it was in 2022. I would encourage people to check that out. Okay, I like that pick a lot. My next one is...

1:20:48Sean Fennessey:Speaking of Cannes, Her Private Hell. Her Private Hell is the return of Nicholas Winding Refn to cinema. That's beautiful. Wow. We just said goodbye to Chris. But we gotta... He's back. We gotta bring him back. CR is back. What was that show called? There were two. There was one on Amazon. Cowboy Bebop? What was that? You're thinking of Copenhagen Cowboy. Okay. Cowboy Bebop is an entirely different thing. in the realm of anime, which they then made a live action adaptation of it on Netflix. And do you know who Bebop is in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? No, I never made it that far. Do you know who Rocksteady is?

1:21:30Okay, we'll come back to that.

1:21:33Sean Fennessey:So Copanagan Cowboy and then before that. I just wanted to say that that is the single most deranged episode of podcasting that the two of you have ever done. The Copanagan Cowboy? Yes. And again, the weirder you are, the more I love you. But that was too many in like true psychosis. So in a way, I'm in. I mainlined Copenhagen Cowboy. I watched like eight episodes in eight hours. You made that incredibly clear. Yeah. Chris and I love Nicholas Winning Refn. We always have. You know, we saw Drive together, I think. And we are the world's staunchest defenders of Only God Forgives, which is just the most humorless, insane film ever made.

1:22:11Sean Fennessey:And I've just been dying for this guy to stop making fucking streaming TV shows. Too Old to Die Young is the other TV show that he made. Ah, sure. I also remember that. I didn't like that one as much. That also had Miles Teller in it. Her Private Hell is, here's the log line, an edgy, hypnotic, and unhinged thriller based on an original story that features lots of glitter, sex, and violence. Okay, cool. That sounds awesome. Sophie Thatcher, Havana Rose Liu, Dougray Scott, Christine Froseth, and Charles Melton. Okay. And Diego Calva from Babylon. So, pretty exciting. I'm excited. For you guys, I'm excited to observe whatever happens.

1:22:47In your film going experience.

1:22:49Sean Fennessey:Just boys being boys, you know? Just boys being boys checking out the cinema of Nicholas Winning Reppin. Okay, what's number seven for you? It's Narnia. It is...

1:23:03If you're not watching, I just slumped in my seat. So I know I did it, okay? Listen. Come on, it could be good. It could be great. Narnia, the magician's nephew. Narnia. which I learned is the full title.

1:23:20Sean Fennessey:That is not the title. I learned this yesterday. That can't be real. Narnia, the magician's nephew. Narnia, the podiatrist's uncle. Is an upcoming epic high fantasy film written and directed by my beloved Greta Gerwig. Listen, if I'm going to go where Kiki goes, I go where Greta goes. Okay? Okay. Even if it's to Narnia. Yes. To meet the magician's nephew, which is also the plot of The Nutcracker. Yes. But that's okay. Narnia, the pool cleaner's third cousin. Carey Mulligan is in this movie? Emma Mackey? Redeemed, I hope? Daniel Craig? I don't know. Listen, if it's what Greta wants, then it's what Greta wants.

1:24:02Then it's what I want.

1:24:03Sean Fennessey:So I've been reading The Wizard of Oz at home with Alice, the novel, and it's been a really great experience. The shoes are silver in that book. Many people let me know after the Wicked episode. Yes, I've heard. I've now learned that having read the novel. I'm sure I read it as a kid. I didn't know. Thank you to everyone who politely explained that to us. They were mostly polite. Reading the novel has been very exciting. Obviously, it's fun to read a proper book with your kids, not a picture book after reading four and a half years of picture books. We did try Harry Potter and we tried The Chronicles of Narn.

1:24:37Sean Fennessey:We tried The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And none of those books hit. Okay. Oz is hitting, I think, because there's an awareness of source material. but I want to circle back to Narnia. I read them when I was a child and I think I liked them. Okay. This isn't like a Tolkien thing for me where I'm just, you know, middle earth blind. Listen, I'm getting excited. Music by Mark Ronson. Really? Is this going to be like a funky Narnia? I don't know. Mark Ronson contains multitudes. What if it's like really kooky? You know, what if it's just like really out of control? It's Boogie Nights Narnia.

1:25:13Sean Fennessey:The magician's nephew's got a lot of problems. He's really hung up on a lot of shit. It's based on a novel called The Magicians, which is the sixth novel. I'm reading, clicking through now. Portal fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis. It's a prequel. The middle third of the novel features the creation of the Narnia world by Aslan the Lion. Okay. So I see why you're starting there. Very cool. Listen. Shout out to Aslan the Lion. Is Daniel Craig playing the Lion? He is, right? I think so. Is he doing it in the Benoit Blunt list? I would enjoy that. I do declare I am Aslan. Okay. My number... Were we on seven?

1:25:51Sean Fennessey:We're on seven. My number seven is Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Okay. Which is the new film from Jane Schoenbrunn. That is clearly their riff on a hardcore camp slasher. A la Sleepaway Camp. Yeah. Historically a very transgressive space. Schoenbrunn's first two films are fascinating in the way that they kind of like deconstruct our expectations of movies. were all going to the World's Fair and I saw the TV glow from 2024, which I loved. And this one features Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. Been anticipating this for a while. Jane talked about the movie a little bit when they were on the show back around I saw the TV glow time.

1:26:32Sean Fennessey:I didn't have... I could have put a lot more horror on this list, but I put two back-to-back here. I guess maybe Her Private Hell in October are also horror, but this is like... This is the refuge of the auteur right now. There's the Nolans of the world, the Villeneuve's of the world, there's the Spielberg's of the world, the major, major filmmakers. And then everybody below them is like, what's my horror movie? Because if I can get that made. Exactly. And this is a slightly lower scale than the next one I'll talk about, but I'm very excited about it. High fantasy adaptation of The Magician's Nephew.

1:27:07Sean Fennessey:Damn. I can't believe that magician had a nephew. That's fucking wild. Okay, what's number six for you? The nephew who created... Whatever, we'll find out. Another from your international list. Yes. Possible Love, which is Li Cheng Dong's first movie since Burning. I'll read the logline. The story centers on two couples whose vastly different lifestyles create unexpected intersections, leading to disruptions in their seemingly stable routines. So love quadrangle in a weird way, which follows up on Burning being a love triangle of uncomfortable things. I'm excited. I am too. Li Shandong has not made a film in a long ass time, man.

1:27:48Sean Fennessey:Seven, eight, it'll be eight years and he doesn't, he's not, you know, I think it was eight years between Burning and Poetry. So this will be a world cinema event, this new film. I remember very vividly, did Burning, it didn't, did it premiere at Cannes, Burning? I saw it at the New York Film Festival, at the premiere at the New York Film Festival and it was electric. It was a great screening. Pretty excited about this one. This is exciting. Okay. What's next for me? Number six is Resident Evil. Yeah. Good. I don't really know anything about Resident Evil. I've never played it. It's a video game.

1:28:28Sean Fennessey:Jack. Long running video game series. One sentence. Resident Evil. I played it one time when I was nine. Remember nothing. Well, were you the resident or the evil? The resident. Okay. It's a zombie apocalypse movie. Great. About a young woman trying to survive. And she has to kill a lot of zombies. okay is her name Alice not sure okay I think that Craigor who loves this video game Zach Craigor is the writer and director of this movie I'm telling the audience he's a big fan of the games we talked about a little bit in August when he was on the show in another director's hands and this movie has been in the hands of Paul W.S.

1:29:05Sean Fennessey:Anderson for many many years I probably wouldn't care very much I think the Resident Evil movies are perfectly fine and totally forgettable I'm so interested to see if he can do something special with IP. It's very rare. Mm-hmm. I mean, we just had this conversation about the magician's nephew. Yes. Empowering auteurs with powerful IP is dicey. Because studios, there's more on the line for them with those movies. And so usually they want more control. Seems like Kregor's going to get to do whatever he wants, which is fascinating. And maybe Resident Evil is just like, it's just the handle on the door.

1:29:44Sean Fennessey:You know, it's just the punch code. And then once you get in, he'll be able to make his own world as much as he wants. But we'll see. I'm very, this is one where I don't really know what to expect. And so I'm excited about that. I loved how candid he was with you on the weapons conversation because you pretty subtly were like, I'm a little bummed out. Your next movie's IP. And he's like, I totally understand you, but here's why it's not going to be anything like that. And maybe I'm just in the bag for him where I choose to believe him. I hope so. I'm obviously in the bag for him as well. This could be a horror movie event of the year.

1:30:12Sean Fennessey:We'll see. All right, number five for you. I think this is happening this year. It's production started at the end of last year. Behemoth, exclamation point, written and directed by Tony Gilroy. Yes. I've just, Tony Gilroy doing original films, I trust I will go every single time. Don't know much about this. It is apparently about a cellist. It stars Pedro Pascal, David Harbour, Ava Victor, and Olivia Wilde. You know, we've said many times that duplicity is just if they could just redo it, everything the same again. I think it would turn out like transcendently. Yes. I really believe in Tony Gilroy.

1:30:59I like that he's writing and making movies again. Did you catch up on Andor season two?

1:31:03Sean Fennessey:Thank you for asking. I almost got to the end of break without doing it. Yeah. Because it was very busy, as you know, and there was not a lot of free time to watch TV because I can't watch this with Eileen. But two nights ago, I had an open night. Three nights ago now, I had an open night. And I watched the recap of season one, which was all the way back in 2022, I think. Sounds right. And it was a 14-minute recap. And I watched it and I was like, I have to start watching this right now because I got chills from the first season recap. and then I watched six episodes in two days. So I'm halfway through the second season, which has been exceptional.

1:31:44Sean Fennessey:Not life-altering in the way that I was promised, but I realize I now have the second half of the season to watch. Obviously, he is a god. He is the man. He is the greatest. So I am very excited about this. Only his fourth feature film. And one of those movies is The Bourne Legacy. Which is a good movie. But yeah, I'm really excited about this as well. It was originally going to be Oscar Isaac. He dropped out. Now Pedro Pascal. It feels a little bit like who can you get to get the movie going, but that's okay. Yeah. Well, Pedro Pascal, he can get movies made. I like that pick a lot. Okay. My number five is Paper Tiger.

1:32:23Sean Fennessey:Paper Tiger is the new film from my buddy James Gray, who is not represented on 25 for 25. I have some regrets about that. Two Lovers. As you know, I mean, huge two lovers head. That's the last great Gwyneth performance. Until now. Yeah. I don't know if that's totally fair, but it is. Which Pepper Potts part do you like? Ah, great. But listen, at some point we have to put the press doors up. She taught Timothee Chalamet about Bonnie Raitt. Okay. Paper Tiger is kind of back to James Gray's roots. Two brothers pursue the American dream but get entangled in a dangerous Russian mafia scheme that terrorizes their family, testing their bond as betrayal becomes possible.

1:33:01Sean Fennessey:Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller. If you haven't seen Little Odessa, James's first movie, that sounds pretty similar and it feels like him really returning to something that he is very comfortable with so really excited about that I mean Driver and ScarJo yeah this is we've entered like the sharing yes we'll both be very excited for this film would have been on my list and this also and Miles Keller Can or Telluride he likes Can right well the French love him yeah I would do Can I hope for Can I just don't know if it's done I haven't spoken to him I don't know okay number four for you number four the drama Christopher Borgley Robert Pattinson Zendaya the Boston Globe fake announcement of their engagement I'm ready I guess did you like the trailer I did okay yeah okay as you know I think the wedding and weddings are preposterous and they make me feel similarly so you know I don't know what's going on there I realize now I'm just I'm talking about I've picked a lot of movies where just things are going very wrong in the domestic life emotionally, which is not a reflection.

1:34:13Sean Fennessey:Sure. It's just, it's been a long few weeks. Your favorite movies of the year were Die My Love and If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You. Everything's fine. I'm fine. I'm great. I get to go to Narnia. Yeah, I think it looks great. I also just, I love Zendaya, but Robert Pattinson is maybe my number two movie star. I'm here for it. Oh, interesting. I think he's so good. He's really been doing a... His part selection is exceptional. I have seen the drama. I can't really say anything about it but I'm looking forward to discussing it with you on this show. My next pick is Jack of Spades. Here's what Jack of Spades is.

1:34:58Sean Fennessey:Okay. I hope this movie's coming out this year. I think it is. it's a new film from Joel Cohen written and directed by Joel Cohen Coen brothers are still not back together this is a gothic mystery starring Joshua O 'Connor I'm open this won't be the last time Joshua O 'Connor's name comes up in this episode yeah but Francis McDormand Leslie Manville and Damian Lewis are also in this movie I don't know if this movie I don't know if it's a period piece it was shot in Scotland so I'm wondering is it contemporary or is it more of like a Sherlock Holmes thing or more of like an the Innocence style, like haunted film.

1:35:33Sean Fennessey:I don't really know what to expect. Edgar Allan Poe, is that an influence? I don't know. I'm super excited. I liked the tragedy of Macbeth, didn't love. Had some reservations about it. This brings back that whole crew, Carter Burwell doing the music, Bruno Delbanel shooting the film. You know, Francis McDormand in a Coen Brothers film. Fingers crossed. I think it was, I think it finished filming in December. So in all likelihood, it will be this year. And that also, what festival is that? New York, maybe? Maybe. Could be. Or maybe it just skips festivals. I don't think Macbeth is at a festival.

1:36:12Sean Fennessey:Right, it wasn't. It was close to the end of the year. Yeah. Very close to the end of the year. Okay, number three for you. Artificial. Which is the real social reckoning. So my boy Luca is back. Licking his wounds. I'll always be with him. This is, of course, Luca Guadagnino. I enjoyed the first 90 minutes of After the Hunt. I think I'm the only person on this planet, but that's okay. And then it really went off a cliff. This one is written by Simon Rich and it's the Sam Altman movie. Simon Rich is writing this? Yeah. That's fascinating. Okay, cool. It's the Sam Altman movie. Also, I will read you the rest of the cast.

1:36:50So Andrew Garfield is playing Sam Altman and he's wearing fleece vests. The set photo is just of his costuming, which I believe Jonathan Anderson was involved in is amazing Monica Babaro Yura Borisov Ike Barinholtz Cooper Hoffman Jason Schwartzman Billy Lord Sasha Mamet Chris O'Dowd pretty good I'm ready this I mean it could go very wrong but I believe that it can go very right

1:37:14Sean Fennessey:so I want to share with you a couple things yeah I did watch two editions of Actors on Actors last night the first one I watched was Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in full which you shared the meme recently about how that is an adequate reflection of our podcast, which I agree with. Generally, a great conversation. I've rarely seen Leo so unguarded and so personal. Yeah, though there's also, it is an interesting dynamic. Like he's... Absolutely. Well, he's trying to, you know, stay tight, you know, keep not share. And she will not give up. Jennifer Lawrence is a wonderful interviewer.

1:37:48Sean Fennessey:I thought she really got a lot of great stuff out of him. I've really turned around on her. She's really cool. She's really interesting. But she asked really good questions. And that was a great watch. Like it was 30 minutes of interview that I really enjoyed. Also launched a thousand memes. It did. Yeah. Loved it. And then I immediately watched Sean Penn and Julia Roberts after that. And it was really fascinating. Did you watch this one? No. Sean Penn leaned forward like this close to Julia Roberts the entire time. And he seemed like simultaneously very comfortable and very uncomfortable. And he was very eloquent about the process of working on one battle.

1:38:20Sean Fennessey:and the questions that he asked Julia Roberts about after the hunt were fascinating because he was often like well as you know I have a lot of strong opinions about this world which was like he wasn't like I love this film you know he was like I've got a lot of thoughts about academia and the woke mob anyway you know Julia was great and insightful as always but she talked about her relationship with Luca and she was like I very rarely have an ongoing dialogue during the making of a movie with a filmmaker like I did with Luca. She's like, I'm very close friends with a lot of filmmakers that I've worked with multiple times outside of the movies.

1:38:58Sean Fennessey:But during the making of a movie, and she told some story about being at a table in her home, being at her kitchen table with Luca, the screenwriter, Andrew Garfield, Io Devery, and her talking the movie out. And she was like, you know you're really with comfortable artists, sophisticated artists, when you can have a strong opinion about something and not feel like you have to jockey for position, which I thought was interesting. Yeah. The movie, I think, is really unsuccessful, but she's excellent in that movie, as we said. I think that's really one of her best performances in some time. And so I'm not, like, evacuating all the Lucas stock or anything.

1:39:36Sean Fennessey:It is interesting, though, to go from, like, hot-button topic after the hunt to hot-button topic AI and the development of artificial intelligence and, you know, the quagmire of technology for him. I'm very interested in this movie too. I knew you would pick it. Yeah. But it's such a coin flip movie to me. Totally. But if it goes well, it could be amazing. You know what? And I go to the cinema to experience magic, just like Nicole Kidman taught me. My heart's open. Okay. I'm happy to hear that. I hope I'll be able to go to the cinema to see my number three, which is The Adventures of Cliff Booth.

1:40:10Sean Fennessey:This is the new film from David Fincher, directed by David Fincher, written by Quentin Tarantino. It is a sort of quasi-sequel, to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which I talked about earlier in this episode. This should be number one. Yeah. Given my predilections. And yet, I feel like I just, I don't, I need this to be a real movie. Well, it is, it's on a different level than My Devil Wears Prada 2, Sense and Sensibility, Social Reckoning type thing. But it is all of the things and people you love reheating something. hopefully at a very high level. And I believe that it will be. But you're like, do I want, can it be as good?

1:40:57I feel slightly, I don't know if you feel anxious about it. I don't feel anxious about it. And I don't think it will have any effect on how we feel about one battle after another. But it is a little like, okay, you guys are just doing this?

1:41:09Sean Fennessey:Well, I remember very vividly talking with you after Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and feeling like this is a very mature movie for Quentin. That there seems to be that ironic detachment or that kind of reliance on genre exercise that he made one of his calling cards over the years that he kind of dispensed with it to some extent in that movie. And it's a very emotional movie. Yeah. And very effective because of that. And for, I think, a lot of the Cliff Booth stuff, the sort of like the lonely life in the trailer with Brandy and like he seems happy but also there's something missing and a lot of the conversation in the latter half of the film about the relationship between him and Rick and you know not a brother you know but something closer than a wife like all that stuff is very a lot deeper I would say honestly and so but if you read the novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and you read about like the Cliff Booth character like it's a little bit sillier a little bit more fun more freewheeling so the idea of this movie being like less serious but in Fincher's hands I'm just speculating it just feels a little unusual and it's Netflix it's Netflix and there's just it's just gonna feel different you know it's just I don't it could be great I hope it's amazing I'm desperate for this movie to be good and if it is good it will power July on this podcast the Odyssey and this movie coming at the same time is it the same weekend?

1:42:35Sean Fennessey:I don't know what the release date is on this I do believe it's gonna be a July movie though could be wrong could be fall but it feels like a July movie, right? Well, One Battle was. I mean, not One Battle, excuse me, Once Upon a Time. Exactly. Yeah. Okay, number two for you. What did I put on this? Number two. Oh, yeah, sure, Project Hail Mary. That's great. Just take me to space, Ryan Gosling. Coming soon. Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm optimistic. I have seen the trailer now 45 ,000 times and it doesn't feel as magical as the first one. Yeah. Are you going to CinemaCon this year? I don't know.

1:43:07I haven't filled out my thing yet. Whatever.

1:43:14Sean Fennessey:Matt and I can podcast alone. But so I'm excited. I like a big budget spectacle. I like a space movie. I mean, even if it is reheating The Martian, because it is another big budget movie adapted from an Andy Weir novel in which a man goes alone to space and then saves himself and everyone else. Some writers have themes that they like to return to. I think that seems great. So if it is The Martian Reheated, then I'll have a great time. Okay. I'm excited about this. It's coming soon. I know. It's coming in a couple months. My number two is Dune Part 3. Yeah. Also excited. Dune Part 3 is slated to come out the same weekend as Avengers Doomsday.

1:44:01Yeah, who's going to stand down?

1:44:03Sean Fennessey:I mean one assumes Dune Part 3 you assume it's coming in November right wasn't it wasn't Part 2 in November you gotta feel like they're gonna be like announced that well we're feeling really good about where we're at so we're bumping it up to Thanksgiving weekend or even sooner than that it was March 2024 what about Dune Part 1 was that in the fall that was in October I think yeah that makes sense because I saw it before Telluride that year I

1:44:34Sean Fennessey:I'm really excited about this. I am too. Dune 1 and 2, the very rare spectacle event IP movie that pretty much lived up to my expectations and were among my favorite movies of those years when they came out. They are actually in that, not quite at that Lord of the Rings level, but pretty close. And this is the last Villeneuve movie before he goes into Bondland. so where are you on spoilers right now I don't know anything okay and I would venture to guess that you don't know anything either because I think they're not doing exactly the adaptation I do also admit that I've forgotten most of what I read so I think Florence Pugh will be a bigger part of it I hope God bless that's great news I'm excited for this too I would have put it on my list but you put it on your list and Pattinson yeah Pattinson getting added to the mix here crazy this already has every cool and interesting young actor in Hollywood.

1:45:31Sean Fennessey:Yeah. Okay, number one for you. What is it? It's the movie that has every old interesting actor in Hollywood and some new, and some young new ones. It's The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan. Yeah. Let's do it. Let's have every movie star in one film together. I've honestly been feeling, Robert Pattinson is not in The Odyssey, right? No, I think he is. Oh, he is? Oh, good. Okay, I was nervous that he wasn't. You can't keep track anymore. Isn't he? I don't know, but I was like, oh, you did Tenet and then you just couldn't get back in. And then that's, oh, he is. He's Anton. Okay. Antonis. I'm really going to have to work on my pronunciations.

1:46:05Um, well, good. That makes me feel better because I was feeling bad for him, but that's great. Robert Pattinson will be on the train. Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Lupita, Zendaya, Charlize, John Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, Mia Goth. Like, great. Yes. And then Homer, you know undefeated these 3 ,000 years

1:46:28Sean Fennessey:I got a couple things I want to throw at you really quick one did a little vacation planning with Eileen yesterday okay was like January or July 14th through the 24th is a no go we're not going anywhere we got a movie event of the year the Odyssey no question about it two did you know that John Bernthal and Evan Moss Bacharach are doing Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway in March I did but I had forgotten but how do I get there? I discovered this yesterday and I sent it to CR immediately and I was like, dog, what the fuck? We have to go to this. And is... I don't know who's playing it. Yeah. I'm not sure.

1:47:06What would you think?

1:47:07Sean Fennessey:I would imagine Bernthal would be Pacino. Really? And Evan Moss Bacharach would be in the Cazale part. Yeah, I guess that's true. That makes the most sense. I think it's an original adaptation of the screenplay. Okay. So... that's fascinating. And then the other thing I want to cite to you is... what a crazy year for Pattinson coming up. This is like Josh O 'Connor on steroids right now. So you mentioned the drama and the Odyssey and Dune Part 3 already. We've got all three of those on there. I mentioned Primetime as well, which I think is this year. It could be next year. And then he's got another movie that I almost put on my list that I'm very excited about called Here Comes the Flood, which is also a Netflix original directed by Fernando Morales, starring Denzel Washington and Robert Pattinson, Daisy Edgar-Jones, logline a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief get caught in a deadly game of cons and double crosses.

1:47:58What?

1:48:00Sean Fennessey:Come on. Let's go. So that is exciting to you, but Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in a deadly game of cons and double crosses in Miami. Okay. I mean, look, the rip might rip. We don't know. We don't know. The Odyssey. Remember the James Cameron quotes that like the time to love this movie is right now? What? What we did together is right now. Yeah. Okay. Just we'll remember what you said about the rest. Is that how you speak to your husband? My number one is Disclosure Day. Yeah. Which I was very, I don't know if I would have put this at number one if I had not seen the trailer, but the trailer got me very, very excited.

1:48:39Sean Fennessey:I think it was interesting that they launched that trailer in December too and that they're giving this the six month runway and that Universal wants the new Steven Spielberg alien invasion, maybe drama to be a big event. And this is what it's all about, man. This is what it's big blockbusters from visionaries at scale with great actors. Joshua Conner back. Could not be more excited for this movie. I hope it's great. I would imagine it's the last major Steven Spielberg movie. Could be wrong. Scorsese still pushing it. I was going to say. I know. Everybody, you know, modern medicine and with respect to boomers are really changing our understanding of retirement age.

1:49:19Sean Fennessey:They are. You know, he's going to be 80 this year, Spielberg. And, you know, $200 million, I don't know what the budget is, whatever, hundreds of millions of dollars, blockbusters, harder to mount, the older you get. But, I'm fired up for this. David Koepp wrote the screenplay, also a coin flip. Could be great. Could be not great. Cast of the movie, also Colin Firth, Coleman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, and Emily Blunt. I have a million honorable mentions yes you do you have so many honorable mentions that I was like okay well you can just have them as honorable mentions yeah no you grabbed a couple you grabbed a couple from the 10 international features to highlight both of which I think were great picks you picked fewer than possible love I've got Hope on here which is Nahang Jin's first film I think since The Wailing which is a legendary Korean ghost story that is a great movie and the log line for hope is really really cool I don't want to spoil that for anybody I think that's coming out this year Pavel Pavlikowski's first movie in like 10 years since Cold War 1949 it's coming out this year definitely a festival movie Out of This World the new feature from Albert Serra we never talked about Afternoons of Solitude because I assume you didn't see it which is the documentary he made about a bullfighter which is just wild no but I've had you recreate it for me and also Tyler Parker recreate it.

1:50:47Yeah, I know Tyler loved it. Tyler really, really loves it.

1:50:50Sean Fennessey:Great film. I think Pacifixion was his last feature film, which is also really good. Raiska Hamaguchi, new movie, all of a sudden. I think it's coming out. I think it's coming out. New Asgard Farhadi movie, Parallel Tales. Lucas Daunt, who last made Closer, has a new movie called Coward. Kantamir Balagov has Butterfly Jam. And then Koryeda has two movies coming out this year, Sheep in the Box and Look Back. So super excited for all those. I'm not quite sure what our festival plan is this year. Yeah, we got to discuss. We do. We do. Is it the year to mix it up? Do you mean, is it the year to go to France?

1:51:30Because I think the answer is yes. Because, you know, Kirsten Dunst will be there.

1:51:34Sean Fennessey:Could be. I've also been arranging most of my travel around the idea that I would be in France in May. How will I do a live stream 24 hour pod with Nox about the Mandalorian and Grogu if I'm in France. Well, it could debut there. It's possible. So he's coming? Yeah. Is he coming to the premiere? I think he would like to see France. He would be okay on the flight. Sai's never flying again. With love and respect to my small child. He is grounded for eternity. Well, and also, you know, FaceTime, you know? Can I just start FaceTiming you anytime he has a question about Star Wars? it's called send a voicemail that's true here's the horror wave for 2026 a lot of horror movies Robert Eggers' Werewolf yeah I was surprised this wasn't on the right on the outskirts of honorable mention as you know after our last conversation I think Rob hates me now so he's really sick of me asking about thematic intent in his adaptations of ancient horror movies does he hate you or does he hate podcasting I don't think he likes podcasting very much I've really enjoyed talking with him over the years or do their things.

1:52:43Sean Fennessey:I think I'm going to not ask him back regardless of how I feel about the movie just to spare him. But yeah, he's making a werewolf movie and bringing back most of the cast from Nosferatu for that film which was Nosferatu a huge hit for him. I cited recently Obsession by Curry Barker which played at festivals in the fall and Focus picked up which is thought to be great. Psycho Killer Gavin Pallone's movie was coming out this spring. Send Help I mentioned Sam Raimi's movie Scream 7 Scary Movie 6. Have you seen any scary movie movies? Yeah, I saw the original one with Donna Faris. Did you like it?

1:53:17I mean, sure.

1:53:20Sean Fennessey:Evil Dead Burn, which is, I think, the sixth Evil Dead film. Could be good. Other Mommy. Yeah, well, I was disappointed that this was a horror movie and not just a movie about life. Yeah, yeah. Who's coming in to save you? Yeah. Other Mommy is a horror movie starring Jessica Chastain, directed by Rob Savage, who directed Host, which was a big hit during COVID. Ready or Not 2 coming soon. Okay. A new version of The Mummy coming soon. Yeah. There's two A24 movies, Undertone, which I've already seen, which is a very cool, very super small budget horror movie that I think is playing at Sundance. And then Backrooms, which is the Kane Parson Creepypasta adaptation.

1:54:01Sean Fennessey:Hokum, really good teaser for this movie, which came out of nowhere. Damian McCarthy, who made a couple of really good Shudder streaming films over the last couple years Irish filmmaker this new movie had Adam Scott in the teaser looked pretty scary Neon's releasing that Victorian Psycho aka Amanda Dobbins I think Terrifier I'm not really a Victorian but is it Beethan Psycho? sure okay Terrifier 4 okay now is the time to get on board oh right Terrifier 3 was like a you know reinvention of the form but also just like the greatest cinema I listened to a podcast about it no Neither of those things are true and you misunderstood.

1:54:40Sean Fennessey:Can I tell you something? Last year, this might even be 2024, CR and I came up with a plan to scare you, Sean, and capture it on camera because he really wanted to get an Art the Clown mask. But then he said he ordered it and it smelled way too bad and he was like, I'm bailing on this idea. And we never did it. Oh, no. That's really funny. So you would have scared me by like creeping up behind me? The plan was when we used to shoot in, remember upstairs in the other building where the old set, like Bill's movie stuff, he was going to hide behind the curtain before you were to come in for a recording and then come out of the curtain and scare you.

1:55:17Sean Fennessey:Never got off the ground. Very cool. Love to work with my friends. Last horror movie I'm going to mention is The Land of Nod. Okay. Kyle Edward Ball who made Skinnamarink, which is your favorite film of 2022. A 24 movie that looks really interesting. What's happening?

1:55:42Sean Fennessey:It's kind of like, who used to do the bit about the man in the little box? I'm in this box. Let me get out of this box. Oh, it's Rob Brydon from the trip. Can I do my rom-com watch? Absolutely. Okay. Fire away. All right. Coming this week, we mentioned it earlier, Emily Henry adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation. Yes, Netflix. I haven't read this Emily Henry novel. I read a different one about a woman who goes back and starts a bookstore. What's her deal? What does she write? Romance novels. and they are like they are the closest to their like rom-coms that keep going so and by keep going I mean they have a lot of sex and then they end up you know and then also it's like should we be having sex I don't know yes we can't stop having sex and then they like fall in love or whatever I'm interested this stars Emily Bader and Tom Blythe haven't seen it yet but I'm you know I'm monitoring I don't know who either of those people are Emily oh Tom Blythe was in Songbirds and Snakes yeah And you would maybe recognize Emily Bader as well.

1:56:49We'll see. I just, I like, I, you know, I'm keeping an eye on that one.

1:56:52Sean Fennessey:Okay. Interesting. One night only. Been seeing a lot of paparazzi photos for this one. Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro. Yes. Yes. This is a Will Glock movie who did Easy A and Friends with Benefits. Yes. This movie unfortunately falls in the window in which I may be traveling in the first week of August. That's fine. It's, you know, my birthday weekend. Also, I like, I can handle it. birthday movie. We don't need everything with you. Great. That's great. Solo one night only pod from you? I love it. I'm so fucking on board. Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Maya Hawk, Julia Fox, Estee Haim, who I believe is the Haim sister who got married.

1:57:29Sean Fennessey:She is. Did you see the PTA screening schedule? Yeah, here's what I need to ask. And there's no reporting on this. Original father of the bride or Nancy Meyers? Great question. Don't know. Yeah. Don't know. Should we call Estee Haim? right now. I sort of feel like it's the original, but you know, then the... Oh, PCA, a TCM head. Exactly. Yeah. But you know, Diane Keaton just passed. That's right. But I wouldn't say that like of all of the Diane Keaton, Nancy Meyers performances, I guess it's wedding. It's a wedding. Yeah. I mean, listen, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. That's my dream house.

1:58:05I drive by it all the time. Ladies first.

1:58:09Sean Fennessey:What's that? Sacha Baron Cohen movie. Let me read you... You've unearthed something. So this is also, it's a Netflix black and white romantic comedy. Black and white? Apparently, yeah. It's loosely inspired by a French film, I Am Not an Easy Man. So here's the premise. A male chauvinist finds himself in an alternate world where the power dynamics of society are altered. Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Emily Mortimer, Charles Dance, Fiona Shaw. I mean, I'm open to it. I don't know. You'll see. I'm just this is rom-com watch so Sasha Baron Cohen you think sexually appealing Rosamund Pike is a yes I was not familiar with this movie okay that's interesting what else you got so this is more just to acknowledge all like tastes and interests like I have not been the hugest John Carney fan it's because it can be a little too earnest for me but many people love that so Power Ballad starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.

1:59:14Yes. That's happening in June. This is about an old rock star and I don't know, life and love. I don't know whether this is, this might be more of like a buddy comedy with some like romance and like wedding in the background.

1:59:27Sean Fennessey:I watched an extended teaser of this movie at CinemaCon without you. Okay. I don't think you came to the Lionsgate presentation. Yeah, no, I was flying in. And it looked fine. Okay. John Carney, Once and Sing Street are great in my opinion. The other stuff I'm kind of mixed on. Listen, I just, I'm, this is, I'm surveying the land. I'm reporting on what's coming up. And then finally is The Invite. What's this? Directed by Olivia Wilde. Oh, yes. Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton, Olivia Wilde. A married couple experiencing a rough patch in their relationship, find themselves invited by their neighbors to engage in their weekly orgies.

2:00:07So I guess this is more like.

2:00:10Sean Fennessey:More comedy. Ghost rom-com. Well, you know, maybe they'll find love in different ways. Swinger comedy. Yeah, swinger comedy. But, you know, the next stage of life. Huge year for Olivia Wilde. Yes. She is one of the stars of I Want Your Sex from Gregor Ackie's new movie opposite Cooper Hoffman. Mm-hmm. And she has one other big part, too. You mentioned another film that she's going to be appearing in. She's in Behemoth. She's in Behemoth. Yeah. So her big comeback post Don't Worry Darling. Very funny on the studio, I thought, in her episode of the studio. Okay, I've got more stuff to share with you.

2:00:47Sean Fennessey:Okay. It's very important that we acknowledge all of these movies because they're going to be the biggest movies of the year. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll see them. We will see every single one. We will review every single one on this podcast. Every single one, I promise you. Okay. This is my solemn promise to you and to the listeners at home. I will be there. I think that I know what every single one of these movies is, which is incredible. I didn't have to Google any of them. Here are the movies. Yes. Avengers Doomsday. Steve Rogers will return. Well, we've also learned that the X-Men will return.

2:01:18Okay. Cyclops. So is it happening for, is it like -

2:01:21Sean Fennessey:Professor X, well, the Fox X-Men will be a part of this. We've seen James Marsden and Patrick Stewart in one of the teasers. We also saw Thor in one of the teasers. What else? There was another one. I think there was one with Shuri. Oh, okay, that went well. From Black Panther. Um, where, where's your, where's your anticipation index on this? Where are you feeling? What are your emotions? Every night before we go to bed, I ask Knox and I like talk about our feelings and he tells me a time when he's happy, sad, and when he was anxious, sad, and happy. And do you do that with him as well? I do as well.

2:01:56Sean Fennessey:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting. The one time you pull the shield down. But then, and it's really a stalling technique, but so now you can tell me what about it makes you sad, anxious, and happy.

2:02:16Sean Fennessey:it could be obviously a world historical fiasco right it could be which could be fun oh it wouldn't be fun i'm just so bored of being disappointed by these movies and then shitting on them on the pod i that's actually not fun anymore and it's never fun honestly i I don't really like doing that. I agree. And it's been a, I thought Thunderbolts was pretty good. There have been a couple, like Multiverse of Madness. There have been a couple that I enjoyed, but for the most part, it's been six, seven straight years of being disappointed. I'd like for this to be fun. I'd like for it to be exciting. I'd like for it to at least tap into my 12-year-old comic book reading brain and a big story like this with all these characters should.

2:02:58Sean Fennessey:I don't even think all the Avengers movies are that good. Age of Ultron's not good. so you know it's not like this is some guarantee of success number two yeah and the first one is solid I really like Infinity War and yeah and Endgame so it's just been so long and I'm just feeling people don't care that much and so is Robert Downey Jr. back as Iron Man or as the the evil Doom Dr. Doom Dr. Doom he's a doctor yeah okay you know the magician's nephew what is the name of the medical school Dr. Doom's nephew what's the fake country that they came up with? I think it's Latveria I believe this is nation of origin is it really?

2:03:38Sean Fennessey:yeah is it not Latveria? I think so they just added an ER what is the one with the accords? Latveria is a fictional technologically advanced European nation in Marvel comics it's kind of like the Wakanda of Europe right but then what the international incident I'm cooking right now I'm fucking cooking right now the international incident when, and then they end Civil War, I think, and they have the Accords and Chris and Andy joke about it all the time. What's going on? That's Sokovia. Soko, yeah. Okay, thank you. That's a different European nation, sort of Russian. Got it. Thank you. See, we got there.

2:04:13Sean Fennessey:That's where the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are from. Okay. And adamantium is what makes Wolverine the Claws. Correct. And vibranium is what they have in Wakanda. Yes. Wow, look at me. I'm ready. You're doing wonderfully. Bring it back. How many countdown clocks will you post to the internet? I think the movie's going to be bad, but I want it to be good. Okay. You know, and I really, for movies. I would like for you to have a good enough time that I can have fun with it. Okay, thanks. You know? Michael is coming out in April. Michael Jackson biopic. Next one. Wuthering Heights. Yeah. What if it's good?

2:04:52Sean Fennessey:It could be. It could be. Or it could be like ridiculous. I'm ready to like this. I am too. I almost put it. It's not a rom-com. So I'm putting it in a different... I didn't put it on Ron Conwatch, but I'm anticipating it. It is the Valentine's Day movie event of the year. Charlie riding the moment into the soundtrack for Wuthering Heights. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. I think good casting. I'm open. Not really super familiar with this material, to be honest. I've seen film adaptations. I didn't read the book as a kid. Long time ago. I don't remember very much. Should we reread it? Sure. We have five weeks to reread Wuthering Heights.

2:05:26I think I could do it. I just started...

2:05:28Sean Fennessey:It would probably take me five years to finish Wuthering Heights if I'm being totally honest with you. I think I could do it. I was trying to read a high-minded novel over the break and then I lost it. I lost the copy of the book. And so... I read Abel Farrar's Scene. Oh, that's fun. Which is his memoir. He's, you know, of course, one of the heaviest from Marty Supreme, great filmmaker. Toy Story 5? Yeah. Here Comes the iPad. Is there an iPad in it? I thought that was the evil thing is the iPad. Am I making that up? That makes a lot of sense and it's a great call. Okay. I thought you told me that.

2:05:58Sean Fennessey:normally you forget all social interactions but you at least remember the plot the movie related social interactions if that's the if that's wrong then congratulations you are correct Amanda apparently will be a character named Lilypad a frog themed smart tablet that represents modern screen time honestly smart yeah it's a good idea Supergirl and Clayface yes these are the two DCEU or just you you goodbye to the E farewell E just the U Drop the E. It's cleaner. Okay. Great. Playface, I'm in. Okay. He's a failed actor. Yeah. He turned into a life of crime. That's cool. He's been disfigured in some sort of accident.

2:06:43Sean Fennessey:And he can look like anybody. Supergirl, sure. Spider-Man, Brand New Day. I don't mind these films. The Jake Gyllenhaal drone one went on for like a long time. No, that was sick. When he played Mysterio. That's so underrated. People hated that one or they didn't like it as much. I like that one a lot. Gyllenhaal cooking and being a really weird special effects master. That's my shit. That's your future. Brand new day. Interesting. Could be good. Okay. What kind of new day is it? So he left his friends behind.

2:07:16So he said goodbye to his friends because they needed to go to college or whatever and not remember him because the burden of remembering him was too much.

2:07:23Sean Fennessey:Zendaya's character was struck by lightning. She died. No, she didn't. but they were at the diner and he goes to the diner. I know. And he's like, I had to make a sacrifice because I love her but now she doesn't remember me and he doesn't have his friends anymore. that third Spider-Man movie. It's so good. I'm so pregnant. You loved that movie. Just absolutely. They pointed at each other and then he saved Emma Stone or not Emma Stone but whoever was playing Emma Stone and I was weeping. Emma Stone? Who does he save? Not Mary Jane but he saves Zendaya. Yeah, Zendaya's playing MJ. Right. And then, did Emma Stone play Gwen?

2:08:00Sean Fennessey:Emma Stone play Gwen Stacy, yes. Right, okay. Was there a Gwen Stacy in the last film? No, but when he saves MJ, it's like he's, you know, we're all recalling him saving. It was very beautiful. That was beautiful. Look at you. We love Spider-Man. We all love Spider-Man. It's the best one. He is the best character by far. John Bernthal's in this movie. Right? As the Punisher. You up on the Punisher? No. He has a lot of guns. That's his whole thing. Oh, I don't like that. Okay. Mark Ruffalo's coming back as the Hulk. Okay. Michael Mando coming in as Scorpion. Okay. You know about Scorpion? Does he sting people?

2:08:39Sean Fennessey:He certainly does. He has a long tail. Oh. Okay. Great. Okay. He was in the 90s. He was like a canonical. I think he's a member of the Sinister Six. I have heard about that. Yeah. Because don't they come back in a different movie? Or do they come back in the last one? They were supposed to be the stars of a Drew Goddard movie that I was actually very excited about. Who are the Sinister Six members? This is incredible podcasting right now. Doc Ock, obviously. Dr. Octopus. Electro. Craven the Hunter. Which movie where he's stuck in the basement? Mysterio, Sandman, and Vulture. No Scorpion here. He's not a Sinister Six.

2:09:14Wow. Your whole life has been alive. It's not here.

2:09:18Sean Fennessey:He was a member of the Savage Six. Oh, sure. Scorpion. Which included Vulture, King Cobra, Rhino Okay Tarantula Oh I see Stegron You know more More nature based Yeah What Which one was the movie When they get That is not A Spider-Man movie But it basically is And the Sinister Six Are all locked In the basement And Was it Was it the most recent Spider-Man after all You don't remember this They're all like In prison No yeah He imprisons them Oh okay From different universes. Oh, got it. That was the most recent one. Okay, got it. Yeah, where like Alfred Molina is behind bars and you're like, what's going on here?

2:09:59Sean Fennessey:And Jamie Foxx is there, right? Yeah. What is he? Electro. Willem Dafoe is there. Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin. Yeah. Love Spider-Man. Okay. The Mandalorian and Grogu, you've mentioned. Which we've seen 45 times. Moana live action? Yeah. You introduced Moana at Thanksgiving to my children. Consider the coconut. consider it's leaves

2:10:27Sean Fennessey:Super Mario Galaxy movie I will see it coming out in April we have seen the Super Mario Brothers film in my house a plus hit so Princess Peach obviously an icon to my daughter there's another princess in the Super Mario Galaxy movie we learned about her when we went to Universal Studios okay her name is Rosalina. Okay. She'll be voiced by Brie Larson in this new film. Wow. That's so great. Okay. Yeah. Should be good. Masters of the Universe. Yeah. That's a solo pod. You stay home that day. I'm so confused by this. Me talking about He-Man for 90 minutes. I'm so pumped. Travis Knight. Yeah. Best known for being the son of Phil Knight and the stop motion animation filmmaker.

2:11:19Sean Fennessey:That's right. He also directed Bumblebee, a Transformers movie I enjoy this is his big swing Amazon is paying for a hundred million dollar He-Man adaptation okay lots of practical effects and costumes okay this is a TV series that was incredibly important to me at four years old I watched every episode that's beautiful last year I took my daughter to see four episodes at the Egyptian because she loves She-Ra the female counterpart to Adam aka He-Man I know I sound insane right now but this is my youth and there has been previously an adaptation of this story starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor these are all true things that film was not a success you're doing great right now this is so this is it's like a little bit of like the Minions energy coming over me and also remembering because they showed us like a behind the scenes like a making of at CinemaCon which is just that guy Nicholas Gaseltine like running into like you know little football dummies a bunch yes it was just like he-man and you and all the men we were with were just like yes it is he-man and i truly felt like an alien so there's three movies like this that are kind of like uh this is different than the marvel stuff to me this movie mortal kombat 2 and the street fighter movie are all like is this serious or not like is this arch and ironic appreciation of something that people enjoyed when they were five or not right and they all seem to be going with the same energy this sort of like aggro gag comedy energy but that speaks to you sort of if done well yes okay they all have like really funny casting like almost like stunt casting we can talk about the street fighter movie if you want I don't know if you care about that mortal kombat 2 is just a sequel to the mortal kombat movie but the first mortal kombat movie was way too serious and weird you're talking so fast right I have so many thoughts.

2:13:21Sean Fennessey:Here's the cast that masters the universe for the folks playing at home. Marina Baccarin plays Sorceress of Castle Greyskull. Idris Elba is Duncan. He's also known as Man at Arms. Do you know about Man at Arms? No, I don't. He's a guy whose arms spin around in a 360 fashion in his body. Okay. Alison Brie is Professor Evelyn Powers, a.k.a. Evelyn, a dastardly sorceress. Good for her. Jared Leto is Skeletor. Oh, okay. God damn it. Well. Come on. They take too long to make these movies, you know? Camilla Mendes is Tila, who is my daughter's favorite character. Okay. She's Captain of the Guards. Okay.

2:14:01Sean Fennessey:She's Man at Arms' adoptive daughter and He-Man's sergeant. Okay. Tila's very powerful. Camilla Mendes is like 5 '2". I don't really know how they're going to pull that off. Nicholas Galatine is Prince Adam Glenn, a.k.a. He-Man. He's a descendant of King Devon Grayskull. what is the kingdom over which He-Man presides it's really I don't know too much about the world Greyskull is the castle okay it's in Sheboygan I uh Jack's like I gotta eat lunch guys The Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reefing oh shit what's I alright we gotta gotta keep going Hoppers yeah new Pixar movie yeah Knox seemed interested he was like why are they what's that what's your take on practical magic I've seen it I didn't you know not Halloween coded so I haven't seen it 5 ,000 times like the people of Halloween but I obviously honor the work of Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in the 90s and now and you honor their work I honor it yes you do much like Castle Grayskull honors He-Man okay didn't mention Minions 3 but that's happening oh yeah that's exciting Minions 3 that's your box office right there that big chunk of movies aside from The Odyssey and Dune Part 3.

2:15:17Sean Fennessey:That's your big chunk of box office. If you're going to nerd out about Masters of the Universe, I have Verity under honorable mentions, but I do think it's going to make a lot of money. Yeah, I think so too. And I do, it's, this is another Colleen Hoover adaptation. This one is directed by Michael Schollwalter and this stars Dakota Johnson and Hathaway and Josh Hartnett, which is like, if we're going to do this, let's really do it. And it looks insane. And I don't think they're serious. I mean, I think that they're serious, but they're having fun. So I might be into this. It's the very delicate line.

2:15:50I might, I'm open.

2:15:52Sean Fennessey:Okay. I don't want to go see it by myself. We have to go have fun. Definitely going to see it. Yeah, okay. What other honorable mentions do you have? A Long Winter, which is the new Andrew Hague movie. Also starring, I believe, Eben Moss Bacharach. And it just, I mean, it sounds like people sad in the winter, which same. Andrew Hague. Yeah. You know, Colin Card. I think it's a, it's a calm Toybin novel. Short story. So, you know, but it's okay. Short stories to novel to movie can work. Um, do you know about the movie pressure? Yes. But tell me about it. What is it? I almost put this in along with the Dateline movie and ink.

2:16:30Um, so it is a, it's a world war two movie, but it's about the meteorologist. Always a new angle. and it's Andrew Scott as the meteorologist who has to give like the D-Day weather report to Dwight D. Eisenhower who's played by Brendan Fraser and Carrie Condon is in this movie for some reason. Listen, you know, I never saw, I haven't seen, I never saw, I have not yet seen Nuremberg.

2:17:00Sean Fennessey:I need you to watch it. I'm going to. I think that's like a nice slab of beef for us to discuss in like late January. I'm going to get there. because it's like deeply watchable like tremendously watchable not good of course it is but very watchable Andrew Scott doing the 1944 weather I'll watch it okay alright I'm not against it and then I I forgot about this last panic carefully panic carefully Sam Esmail's new movie with Julia Roberts it's not dated right so that's why it's you know it's a Warner Brothers movie but I think it's happening this year I hope so feels like it is I'm pretty excited about that I hope I don't know yeah Hopefully these Warner Brothers movies are still coming out.

2:17:41Sean Fennessey:I got a few more on here that I'll quickly cite. New Paul Schrader movie. It's called The Basics of Philosophy. Bless him. Come on, bro. Come on, dog. What? That's good. The Basics of Philosophy. Let's be honest. He's using a lot of AI on Facebook. I'm not crazy about it. It hasn't been going well. How regularly are you checking Paul Schrader's Facebook page? I get it sent to me all the time. I swear to God. I'm on several text chains. But it's other people sending it to you. I don't have Facebook, so I don't look at it. Okay. There's a J.J. Abrams movie starring Glenn Powell coming out called Thrust Rider.

2:18:11Sean Fennessey:That could be good. I'm open. I was thinking of revisiting the most recent Star Trek films. Okay. I like the first one a lot. The second one, I don't really remember, but the first one's very good. There's a new Werner Herzog movie coming out. I would imagine Telluride 26 called Bucking Fastered, which is about twins. And in this case, they're played by Rooney Mara and Kate Mara. It's very cool. love that uh already mentioned here comes the flood flower veil street movie I've been anticipating for 47 years yeah uh Anne Hathaway in a David Robert Mitchell dinosaur sci-fi movie big year for Anne Hathaway as well huge um I mentioned I Want Your Sex the new Greg Araki movie the history of concrete is a documentary that is premiering at Sundance made by John Wilson who is the this will be good yeah the John Wilson who's HBO documentary series is one of my favorite things in recent times met John late last year and he seemed ready to get his movie out in the world.

2:19:08Sean Fennessey:So I'm excited to see that. Wild Horse 9 is a Martin McDonough movie? I almost put this on. Who's in it? I forget. I think Sam Rockwell. Sam Rockwell. Yeah. So it was Seven Psychopaths plus Three Billboards reunion. I Love Boosters is a new Boots Riley movie. I mentioned The Bone Temple is coming soon. CR is going to join us for that episode. The Dog Stars is the new movie from Ridley Scott. was supposed to come out in March and got moved to October because I think they think there's money in their hills and this movie stars Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley it's about I see that Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce and Benedict Wong are also Wildwood another Travis Knight movie a Leica stop motion animation movie and then Brad Bird's long awaited Ray Gun an animated movie he tried to get made at Disney for years and couldn't get off the ground and is now going to be on Netflix.

2:20:04Sean Fennessey:Okay. We've got a couple of is this really happening questions. The Way of the Wind, I ask once again, is Terrence Malick's story of Jesus Christ starring Giza Rorig who played the table tennis former champion and Marty Supreme's close friend who tells the story of the honey and the Holocaust. He's supposed to play Jesus in this film. He is playing Jesus in this film which was shot years ago. Some people say they've seen it. Some people say they've seen parts of it. No one really knows what's going on with it. Who can know? Horizon Chapter 2. Oh, yeah. Which has definitely been made. What's the latest?

2:20:40Sean Fennessey:No idea. It screened at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 14 months ago. And you didn't go? I didn't go. Is it really 14 months? It was late 2024, right? Maybe it was early 2025. Can't remember. I don't remember. It was a long time ago. Griffin Newman went. Yeah. And I didn't go. That's, you know. He enjoyed it, as I recall. And then Whitney Springs, which is the Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kendrick Lamar movie, which was dated a couple of times by Paramount and is now not on the schedule. And I don't know what's going on with that. And is it a musical? Is it a movie about slavery? What is it? I don't know.

2:21:18I don't know.

2:21:19Sean Fennessey:I hope something happens. Do you have any? Is this happening? Yeah, the Tom Ford adaptation of Anne Rice's Cry to Heaven, which was announced kind of like at the end of last year. Are there vampires in that one? No, I think it's about Italian opera in the 18th century. Intriguing. Nicholas Holt, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Adele is allegedly going to be in this because opera singers and Owen Cooper. Focusing on the world of the castrati, male singers castrated as boys to preserve their high voices for opera. Okay. Sounds, you know, terrifying. It sounds Tom Ford-like. It certainly does. We just gave you a heaping pile of films.

2:21:58Sean Fennessey:Yeah. I'm sure we've forgotten a few too. I'm feeling pretty good. Are you feeling good? Yeah, I'm excited. Are you happy to be back? Yes, I am. My heart opened throughout the episode. And so now it's just, now we are all the magician's nephew. Yeah. Thank you to the magician's nephew for his work on this episode. Thanks to our producer, Jack Sanders, back in the booth here in the city of Los Angeles. We will be back later this week. Golden Globe predictions. Yeah. And no other choice. The new film from Park Chan-wook. And Surat. Do you want to do it? I wanted to do Surat, but I feel like people can't see it.

2:22:35Yeah, no, it's hard.

2:22:36Sean Fennessey:It's not on streaming and it was in like four theaters. I have now seen it. You saw it? Okay, I really want to talk about it with you and we maybe... But it's hard to until... I feel like they should put it on streaming on PVOD right after the Oscar nominations. So maybe we'll do Surat at the end of the month. Okay. Because it is a flashpoint right now. We'll see you later this week.

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