Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins review the movies you need to see. Plus: Top 5s, Movie Drafts, Oscars analysis, and more, featuring a rotating cast of Ringer colleagues like Chris Ryan, Van Lathan, and Bill Simmons.
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It would be hard to differentiate. You know, Civil War has basically cut together like a horror movie even though that's not what it is. And so I think that that could be a chance, but it's a good idea. I mean, IFC obviously has that. They have a Midnight brand where they make horror movies that inevitably get filtered into the shutter system, and that that works pretty well for them. And then that's something that I'll probably watch 9 out of 10 IFC Midnight movies, you know? Yeah. That that those that that brand does matter to me. But they're they're fewer and farther between. It's a very, very challenging time for independent movies. Like, it is just not a good moment at all. Yeah. And so because of that, I think we're seeing fewer and fewer, and you really gotta get by the skin of your teeth. We've covered a a a few movies this year already. We did an entire episode where we explained night swim to Amanda. It was a lot of fun. And that's basically been the hit of the year so far. Yeah. And still, I think only at, like, 35,000,000 in America. Yeah. But I I think that movie is a little underrated, honestly, especially relative to what we've seen so far. You know, you and I talked about Immaculate Mhmm. The Sydney Sweeney film, which did solid business for a very small movie. You talked to Arkash Stephenson about First Omen I did. I did. I did. Last week. Yeah. We can talk a little bit about First Omen here because I only briefly talked about it with Amanda. Love Lies Bleeding is kind of a horror movie. Mhmm. Kind of a body horror movie, so I think it it qualifies. I wanted to get your take on Ghostbusters Frozen Empire. I know you've seen it 4 or 5 times now. Where where how do you feel it fits in the wider story of Bustin' Ghosts? I just didn't know that, that Slimer could get cold like that. Yeah. You know? Yeah. He's so ill right now. He's like young Tyrese Maxey. He's just cutting in the lane. I did see Frozen Empire. I actually haven't seen a Ghostbusters. I haven't seen either of these 2. I have to use all the Kristen Wiig one. You're like, I can't. I was like, I refuse. Yeah. These are not my Ghostbusters. Not all Ghostbusters? Frozen Empire is the most fine movie of all time. Just some jobs for men? Is that okay? What else do you think only men should be allowed to do? I don't know. Okay. You don't you don't want you don't even want to attempt to joke on that one. I do think that one of the the the big surprises, one of the big exclamation points on the year, it has been late night with the devil, which is
Excited about. It's not some dumb photo of all of them, like, reading Superman comics. Just just release a fucking movie, you know. I don't think it's see it or I wanted. But, like, how many updates do I have to get from James Gunn? I think it's gonna be a long run here. I think we've got about 14 months. It has been an tremendously long run of a man just posting through it. Do you follow him on threads? Of course not. K. Does that mean that I still that I don't see any of the stuff? No. It doesn't because threads is just shoving whatever in. But I only look at the following tab on threads. Do you think that Quentin's next movie should be a massive epic, or is it better if it's a more intimate film? Honestly, I think wouldn't you do whatever the fuck he wants, including only making 10 movies if that's what he feels like doing. Sure. And I received some of this, you know, I understand that movies in a lot of ways are just bending the world's circumstances to you. And if you can't get them the way you want them, it doesn't happen. But also maybe he's just like, I don't know. Don't wanna do this one anymore. And That's what it sounds like. That's cool with me. You know? Also, sometimes in creative pursuits, you get down the road with something, and then you're like, I don't I don't know if this is totally there. Imagine how I feel about this show now. Yeah. It's like, We're 8 years in here. And but most then we and think about how many of the films we watch where there was definitely a day when everyone was like, no, if we don't got this, but we just gotta keep going. That's so true. It's like 90% of them. So It's it's okay. I think that's a great insight, and I'm sure that that contributed to it. You know, the the confusing thing about this story was that the movie kind of morphed into, like, Cliff Booth movie, which I had no idea that that had happened, that his care Brad Pitts character from once upon a time in Hollywood, that to me was something I'm not sure that I needed another Cliff Booth movie, so I was kind of relieved. The movie critic and a and a film set in the set, like, scuzzy seventies Hollywood was very appealing to me because
I think, popcorn? Obviously. Ice cream? That's 2. Oh, and, Reese's peanut butter cups, of course. Peanut butter and chocolate is a pretty perfect combination. Some may even say the ultimate movie snap. You can't argue with that. Find Reese's now at a store near you. This episode is brought to you by Sonic. You know spectacular scenes aren't just limited to the screen. And like any good viewing experience, you'll need a tasty treat too. Like the Sonic Blackout Slush Float. It's a frozen treat inspired by the solar eclipse. And the flavor is out of this world with blackout slush topped with creamy soft serve and galaxy sprinkles. You have to try it. Get the blackout slush float at Sonic before it eclipses. Limited time only at participating Sonic drive ins. Okay. We're back. We've completed 21 of 42 picks. I would say most of the behemoths are off the board. This will probably be a a slightly more personal back half, more esoteric. Chris Ryan, you have the first pick. I will be picking in comedy, and I think that there's a little bit of, this could go in multiple categories. In lots of ways, this was my Magnolia when it was released. There we go. It's go. No. Oh. I was like, that was the gamble I made. I was like, I don't think go is gonna get past the turn of the curse. Magnolia, and I was like, I I gotta admit not doing a ton of class a drugs or having massive breakups or or or parting ways with a parent yet. So Go really spoke to me. You know? Katie Holmes spoke to me. Timothy Oliphant's neck tats. Oh, golly. Bag Oliphant. Scott Wolf. Yes. You know? You know? Love Scott Wolf. Paired with Jay Moore. This was, probably, like, I guess, a little bit underrated because it wasn't Swingers, I guess, but is still, like, such a great rewatch. Some of these movies just still go so hard right now. Like, if you put Blackstock, you put Go on any given Sunday, a tripleheader. Great way to spend an afternoon. Us to fucking chuckling to get the end of this couch. That's what we're doing tonight. Going.
For this Bong Joon Ho film, which we've been hearing about for, basically, immediately after he won best picture, and we hadn't really seen anything but one image of Robert Pattinson for the longest time. The date shifted a couple of times and moved into this dead zone, like a true dumpy or a date, which is very strange. I saw the trailer. I will say the movie looked good. It's definitely more Okja than Snowpiercer or Parasite. And there's, like, a goofiness to the high level sci fi. I wonder if you won't like this. I don't know him at all. I liked Okta. Okay. So, you know, you know, there's there's a zaniness to Okta that felt very evident in this movie. Robert Pattinson is doing a voice. It's he's made a real choice on the voice he's doing. Robert Pattinson was there. Robert Pattinson, a monk from Howard. Congratulations to him. He's a new dad. He also probably going to bed before midnight in Vegas would be my actually, he probably just jumped out of jet and immediately left, cinema con as soon as he was done. To get him back on his Batman workout plan. That's he looked svelte Did he? When I saw him. Yeah. Maybe bat maybe Batman like Bobby is cutting. Could be. I mean, he was cutting pre for the first Batman film. No. He had the bulk for that. Yeah. You have to get a frame going for that. He was more built in the Batman than he was in, like, twilight. But he's gotta be the skinniest Batman of all time. Also, it's a really big idea for a podcast. Don't you think? Skinniest ever suit for sure. Skinniest Batman shirt offer. Mickey 17, I don't know why they put it on that date. Most of the people that I talked to after they showed the movie were like, why not just put this on November 17th? Like, I just feel like it'll do better business. People want the beekeeper in January. They don't want they don't want a Bong Joon Ho movie. I didn't get it either. So it was a bit of a head scratcher, but the movie itself, it's like Steven Yeun's in it, Mark Ruffalo's in it. Like, it's a it's a futuristic sci fi romp from Bong Joon Ho. Like, it's gonna Is it gonna be Worst case scenario, it's gonna be fun. Is it gonna be a, like, festival debut and then slow rollout? Maybe they didn't talk about anything like that. It's a good question. Which is a hard knot for awards. It doesn't look like it. It really doesn't look like it. I saw when people were talking about Robert Eggers' Nosferatu, there was the vibe from, like, focus features or, like, the announcements around it were way more like Dracula back and loving it than, like
I said that July was Barbie and Oppenheimer. Is July when does does July is 3. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. I think 3 is probably the secret best, especially for you and me. Plus, we get to see all of the, like, very good movies. I guess, October is 4. Right? And October is where a lot of the Right. The the best Whenever the Venom movie comes out, that's the best quarter. Yeah. So, usually, that's October. So that would be q 4. Right. So it's between 3 and 4, but it is, like, in movies, in movie release calendars as in life. Right? It really is just a 4, 3, and, you know, 2 is frankly overrated, but we are just trying to get our spirits up after 1. We'll be previewing 2 shortly. We have summer movie, great episode coming up. In life. Mhmm. Especially if you live in LA. Mhmm. And it's just gray all the time. What quarter of your life do you think you're in? I think I'm I'm closing down q 2, and q 3 is about to start. And so, like, the magic is coming. Isn't that exciting? Let me tell you something. The magic is not coming. There is no magic in keeping you alive. No. I was in the shower this morning, and I looked down, and I saw, like, a mark on my leg. And I was like, is that cancer? What is that? Like, I really I am I'm in a new concerned area with this with my q3. That has nothing to do with q3. That just has to do with you and what you're reading on the Internet. And also, like, your your long term hypochondria that is really just finding new expression as we move forward in science? Yeah. It is. It is. I'm I'm, I'm I'm looking forward to your q 3. So you think 80 is at the cutoff? That's when you're just gonna drop dead? Probably. It's spiritually, if not physically. You know? If I make it to 80, wow. We are so fucking popular. Through turned 85 yesterday. Yeah. What a legend. He's just hosting screenings in Atlanta. I think he was invited to that one, but you never know. Wouldn't it be fun if he just if his
