The Big Picture - The 1997 Movie Draft

Episode Date: November 15, 2022

We are drafting again! And Amanda is back! She and Sean are joined by Chris Ryan to pick their faves and foil their pals in a draft of the movies from 1997. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: Chris Ryan Producer: Bobby Wagner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Kevin O'Connor, a.k.a. Kevin O'Bomber, a.k.a. Kevin O'Concert. Kevin! Wait a minute, you're not Chris Vernon. No, Kevin, sadly I'm not as cherubic or as raspy as Verno, but it is I, J. Kyle Mann. And folks, basketball has been and continues to be so very good. That's exactly why Kyle and I are hosting a brand new basketball show on a brand new podcast feed, the Ringers NBA Draft Show. We're going to have you covered every week as we go in-depth and deep dive in hopes of answering an ever-important question in the NBA. Who's got

next? Whether it's an international phenom like Victor Wimbenyama, or the G League's Scoot Henderson, or stars from overtime elite like amen thompson as well as a full-blown swarm of talented prospects from the promising 2023 nba draft class for sure kyle and we're also going to get into players from the college ranks because this is a loaded class for us to discuss prospects rising and falling and we're going to revisit and redraft recent draft classes and get into how the league's evolution could help inform what's valuable in a prospect of the future. This is a podcast for a fan of every team, whether you're losing and have high draft

lottery odds, or you're looking for sleepers later in the draft. We're going to be covering everything in the months to come, so please make sure you follow and subscribe to the Ringer NBA Draft Show. And hit us with those five-star ratings. I'm Sean Fennessey. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about 1997. We are drafting again. It's the Movie Draft 1997 edition. Chris Ryan is here in the studio. You made it, CR. Thanks for having me.

This was threatened, but you made it. By secretaries of state across America? No. Save that for just my opinion. Episode 384. Episode 1776, man. No, I'm referring to your busy schedule. You're a busy guy. Yeah, I'm busy. But you're busy. Amanda's busy.

There are children among us. Not here, like really, but you guys have had children. Interesting point. Should the next draft feature Alice and Knox is a good question. What do I get to have then? Well, you could- Well, you've got John Fetterman.

Do you want me to draft against Alex and Knox? No, but also you have like burgeoning relationships with them. So you could almost turn our children against us. That's true. Yeah. That's true. Kids do.

Both of your kids, their eyes get wide when I walk in the room. That's true. Do you guys remember the political atmosphere of 1997? No. Who was president back then? Was that still Clinton? It was Bill Clinton. Yes.

It was quite toxic. But it was like, oh, it was Whitewater, right? Yeah, sure. That was a better time. You could just tune in and tune out. know what i'm saying timothy leary style and you can't you personally can't do that right now i'm too deep what about you have even ensconced in our political no i have to be honest i sort of i turned it off i mean i catch stray jokes from the two of you and you know my own own personal JMO at home in the form of my husband, a correspondent for you guys.

No, I know what's up. But at some point, I'm not tuning in to MSNBC in any of its forms, you know. I respect it completely. I think the listeners of this show are also not doing so. They're here for a draft. So let's just go right to 1997. Would you say this is a crown jewel draft that you've been waiting to do for a draft. So let's just go right to 1997. Would you say this is a crown jewel draft that you've been waiting to do for a long time? No, I hadn't identified it a long

time ago. But then when I started looking at the films that are on this list, I was like, why did it take so long to get to this one? Formative year. Pretty critical year, I think, for all of us. And certainly for a lot of our favorite directors. So it's exciting. It's a good one. Amanda, what were you up to? What were you doing in 1997? I turned 13 years old. Okay. And this is the year that I learned about the Oscars.

Not that I learned about them, but that I became really invested in them. And that has a lot to do with the fact that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were a part of the Oscars campaign tour. I'm not joking. I know. I taped that Oprah special on VHS. I know I've told this story before, but I remember being really, really charmed by them and also curious about, but also invested

in that Oscar race. Now, obviously this is also the year of Titanic, which is a really big deal at the Oscars, at the box office, but also if you were a 13-year-old girl. And so the thing to do if you were 13 and you had seen Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet was to be obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio and to buy a lot of those books, you know, about that were like 40-page teen beat biographies that they sold i guess at barnes and noble i wrote a few of those my my friend katie still has a tremendous collection of those that you know we should maybe i should interview her about so if you were 13 and you were a leo fan then you had to go see titanic like a thousand times yes theaters. Like my peers were the people contributing to its box office, you know, history. And this was the year that Amanda decided she zagged. And I was a Good Will Hunting person in a Titanic world.

And I was a Matt Damon person in a Leonardo DiCaprio world. Was it zero sum? Did your Good Will Hunting fandom diminish your appreciation for Titanic? Or were you like, that's okay, but I love this? It did diminish it. I became self-aware enough, or the Amanda Project started to the extent that I was like, nah.

Was this the first pop culture? Yes. I was like, that's for the normies, and I'm over here with Good Will Hunting and Matt Damon, and this is a better movie, and this is more interesting, and this is like, that's for the normies. And I'm over here with Good Will Hunting and Matt Damon. And this is a better movie. And this is more interesting. And this is like, I am distinguishing myself as this type of fan as opposed to that type of fan. Because keep in mind, I was also 13, you know.

So there was like a level of allegiance. And so I didn't actually see Titanic for a while. And then I had a friend who was like listen you just got to come with me to the movies to see Titanic it was like her fourth time seeing it did you explain the Amanda project to this person no but I went and I was like okay it's pretty good it's pretty good and I resisted it I think so I mean I cry at movies I'm willing to be emotionally manipulated at movies I don't get mad about it um and. And my heart is open. Not Chris though. Not Chris. He doesn't allow that to happen.

I let it happen. When's the last time you cried in a theater? Oh, I don't know about in a theater because it's been a while since I've seen anything that I felt like emotionally devastating,

I guess, in that way. I cried at Lady Bird. Yeah. It's like five years ago, but sure. Sure. Yeah.

Did you, did you cry at Tar? I haven't seen Tar. Damn, sad for yeah i'm too i'm in the triangle of sadness hive oh that's right you did see that and you enjoyed it i did yeah yeah he's with me yeah who were you in 1997 i'll throw some keywords out there for you uh miller highlife the model bar in alston You make it sound like you're a 38 year old truck driver. Self-titled blur record. Uh, is that the one with trailer park,

the breakup record? No, that's 13. This was with song two. And this was the indie rock record. That's Normie. I'm not into that. Uh,

breakup album. That's a lot of music, a lot of, a lot, a lot of like the Norton anthology of the American short story being passed around you know um film was important but not like the central part of my life that's usually what's happening these late 90s drafts and then I kind of went back and over the years plus movies were in theaters for way longer so yes they were like Titanic came out

and then I went to Ireland for a semester abroad the next year in 98. Titanic was just the only movie you could see in Ireland for like six months. Yeah. I opened Apple TV Plus last night

and promoted to me was Ticket to Paradise. I was like, that movie just came out of movie theaters. If Ticket to Paradise was released in 1997, it would have played for three months, if not longer. And certainly Titanic played for almost a year. So different time in movies.

In 1997, I was 14 going on 15. And here's who I was. Every Monday night, six friends would come over to my mom's house and we would watch Monday Night Raw. And it was the absolute best time of my life. I was having so much fun. I was thinking about this. So many great movies in this year. I think this is going to be a fun draft. There's like five or six movies that are really, really strong. But the best thing that I saw over and over again was the chairman of WWF at the time, Vince McMahon, would come out into the center of the ring.

He's developing his Mr. McMahon character, who's this evil owner. And he would start giving some blowhardy speech. And then the shattered glass of Stone Cold steve austin's theme song would hit yeah and vince mcgann every time this happened he would have this like shocked look on his face like i can't believe stone cold is here even though he's the star of our show every week and the biggest star and i write this fucking script and he writes the whole script. And his performance, obviously Stone Cold, wonderful. If you're a 14-year-old boy who's like, fuck everything,

he was an icon. But just remembering that simple time when I could enjoy my soap opera. Have you ever delivered a Stone Cold stunner on someone? Oh, certainly. My brother many times, my cousins. Have you ever been on the receiving end

of a Stone Cold stunner? Of course, yeah. This is kind of like an outtake from cruising, I think. I think Stone Cold stunner has a slightly different connotation in cruising than it does in this podcast. I wonder what handkerchief you have to wear to say. I was obsessed with movies in 97, but I was obsessed with a lot of other things. Did you guys think it was a great year?

I mean, Titanic did eat the year in a lot of ways, although there was a binary at the Oscars. There was a kind of like L.A. Confidential, Titanic. Like if you were really into movies, you were either on one side of that ledger or the other. Were you really into movies or was it just more of like a blockbuster moment as a teenage girl in Atlanta? I think this is when I learned you could be really into movies and that there were movies outside of the blockbuster Titanic. And so, you know, Good Will Hunting and two really handsome 25-year-olds were like certainly an entree into all of that. But I definitely, like I saw LA Confidential

as a 13-year-old. I saw the Full Monty. And I invested more in the Oscars and then at like the Oscars, I branched out. I think this is an interesting Oscars year and then a pretty great, or like an interesting year for filmmakers that we all love,

whether we loved them in 1997 or came to it a bit later and i i had that chronological experience non-chronological experience of like knowing a lot more about the blackbusters and oscars in 1997 than you know our pal quentin tarantino right amanda and i were probably pouring over entertainment weekly at this time sure you were cracking highlifes the champagne of no i mean i'm not trying to act like i was um our pal, Quentin Tarantino. Right. Amanda and I were probably pouring over Entertainment Weekly at this time. Sure. You were cracking high-lifes, the champagne of beers.

No, I mean, I'm not trying to act like I was, you know, Tom Waits or anything like that. But I will say that one thing about this year that's kind of interesting is sometimes we do these nostalgia years

and we're like, God, we didn't know how good we had it. The B movies would be A-plus movies today. And I think a couple, like a lot of movies from this period are actually not great. You know what I mean? Like they're- A zag. Well, it's just that

like the sort of not even B level, but the C level movies that sometimes we're just like, how come we just don't make a movie like this anymore? I think I'm okay with some of these movies not being made anymore. I think we did them as best as we could or whatever. And I also remember a strange sensation, and maybe it was just like who I was at the time, of being disappointed by a lot of movies that I was really looking forward to. So that was a pretty like, that was like, I think the first sort of air of like, I think I'm going to think for myself and say Oliver Stone didn't do it this time. You know?

Even though I was very enthralled by a lot of these big directors who had movies this year. Hmm. What do you guys think about, I mean, the box office is interesting because it's very obvious that Titanic is the king fish. But it's kind of a blend

of what we think of as like 1980s box office and 2000s box office, right? It's like a combination of franchises. There's a second jurassic park movie in the mix here there was a re-release of a new hope do you guys remember this i think i went i think this is the first time that i saw star wars right oh that well that's so interesting because obviously there were additions to this version of star wars there was digital effects

animation it was added to the story that's why I was there to be able to compare and contrast and then do my own PowerPoint presentation. Yeah, it was pre-vlog, you know, but all of the kids are just iterating on what I started. This was a huge deal. Do you think something like this could ever happen again, where an old movie was updated and put into theaters and became one of the top 10 box office winners of that time? I'm surprised that they haven't thought of it yet, but if it does happen, I think it'll probably be for a streaming service.

I think Disney Plus will be like, Jon Favreau has added new elements to the three Iron Man movies. That's essentially what they're doing with the live action remakes of the Disney movies. I mean, it's different, obviously, and they're spending a lot more money. It's surprising that they're not just

being really budget conscious and throwing. It's surprising that they're not just, like, being really budget-conscious and, you know, throwing. That's what I'm saying. Like, it's a much cheaper way. Although back then, I think there was a lot made about how this was such revolutionary technology

that Lucas was implementing into this older film. But just putting new stuff in an old movie is just rude. He changed movies forever. All right. There's no reason

to be rude about it. You big liar, liar, liar, liar guy, Chris? No, you know I'm not a big Jim Carrey guy. This is one of our, like, He's just rude. He changed movies forever. All right. There's no reason to be rude about it. You big liar, liar, liar, liar guy, Chris? No, you know I'm not a big Jim Carrey guy. This is one of our like, Sandler and Carrey is where I'm just like, it's okay. What's that about?

I don't know. You hate fun? You know I don't. Did the man-children of comedy in the 90s penetrate your life? Yes, but like not directly it's just more that happy gilmore and dumb and dumber are just sort of part of the you know the firmament of my it's not i didn't race out to see liar liar either but i've seen dumb and dumber a lot of times you know so it's that was also a nice thing where it's like sometimes their movies were better than others

and you could kind of invest and if it was like a down one you just like moved on with your life. It wasn't catastrophic. Liar Liar's sort of the beginning of the end for me with Jim. With that Jim.

It's not the beginning of the end with Big Jim. Yeah. Lots more to come with Big Jim, fortunately. You're going to join us for one of the Big Jim episodes on this show

yeah I think I'm gonna do the Jim Hall of Fame but I'm only contributing his doc work though meaning you're the secret filmmaker behind his doc work

innovations in fire prevention he's a remarkable figure any other observations about the movies of 97 before we begin drafting

you wanna talk about Biggie's Ready to Die, for example? Or Life After Death, I suppose, was the record. Yeah, and We Tank Forever. It was a great rap in music time. I don't know why I'm stalling here to say that. Do you look at this big box office list of films that were successful this year and divine any lessons?

Or this is a turning point, This is an inflection point. Big time cynical moment in Hollywood where big stars are like, it's not my year for my passion project. Right. Will Smith in Men in Black.

Let's make Air Force One. Air Force One. Con Air. These are like very accomplished actors. You're being rude. I can't wait for you to join Will Smith on his apology tour for the next six months.

I feel bad for you, honestly. Yeah. You being prepared to defend Will Smith at all costs on this pod. I'm not. Don't say that. I'm not. I have already shared a lot of feelings. And I have a lot more. I just don't think that you appreciate what we had.

And so... You're wrong, but I'm over it. I'm also mostly over it. I'm ready to move on while also having some notes for him. But what about the fact that I'm going to make you talk about Will Smith for one hour in a few weeks? I'm ready, you know? Where did you fall on the slap? That was directly to Chris.

You know what? I did a pod about it and I can't remember a single thought I had. Did you? Yeah, which I think speaks to the moment that we've been living in for the last couple of years. What Greenwald thing? One night you're like,

I am very, very upset, but now I just can't remember. I don't remember whether I was like, this is a spectacle and the producers should be ashamed of themselves or Will is misunderstood. I think the producers should be ashamed of themselves, but that's because it was a terrible Oscars separate from The Slap. It was one of the worst Oscars I've ever seen.

For sure. For sure. How much do you think that this year's Oscars will be in the shadow of The Slap? It depends on how they produce the show. If Chris Rock is a part of this year's Oscar will be in the shadow of the slap? It depends on how they produce the show. If Chris Rock is a part of the show, it will be in the shadow.

Like if Chris Rock comes out and slaps Jimmy Kimmel in like the opening monologue and Will Smith is in the crowd for... He's not allowed to be. He's banned.

Oh. Can he zoom in? No. Well, he can be nominated. Do you think he will? Probably not. Wait, can he be nominated? He can be nominated. He can be nominated, but he's banned from the Academy Well, he can be nominated. Do you think he will? Probably not. Wait, can he be nominated? He can be nominated.

He can be nominated, but he's banned from the Academy. But he's banned from... So he can't attend the show. He resigned from the Academy, and he's banned from the show for 10 years. Right, right. Damn. So, oh, you think that's strict? I think it's fine.

I was just... I don't think I had heard 10 years before. What is 10 years? Like, this isn't Major League Baseball. Like, in 10 years, it's okay now? What the hell does Chris have to do? What would Chris have to do to get banned from the big picture for 10 years? Slap me in the face during a live pod. You know that you would you would welcome me back the next week because the numbers would be out of control. Really true. You need to turn the cameras on for that episode. We should stage something

like that. Honestly, that would be that would be good. You would be like faked on a way in network. What the thing is... Like, slap me again! I know exactly what I would do. I would stone cold stun you. Immediately. That would play out perfectly. You guys want to draft?

Sure. You want to go back to Will Smith? We will. You white knighting Will Smith, my favorite theme of the fall. I'm not white knighting him. I'm just like, everyone needs to calm down, okay? You can't hit people.

You're the least calm person in the room. You can't hit people on live TV. If I have to watch another hostage video and him being like, my central trauma is letting people down, I am going to slap somebody, which is not an okay thing to do. But at some point- My central trauma is letting people just fuck off that made me so angry that made me angrier than anything that actually happened well i thought his speech was also very disappointing we gotta move on you know he's weird

and we gotta move on okay all right let's move on bobby what's our draft order top gun hat here yeah top gun hat which i think is a character in the show now because I have a friend who listens and went out for Halloween with me as I was dressed as Goose from Top Gun and he goes

where's the hat and I'm like well Goose doesn't wear a Top Gun hat is this the first straight draft we've done in a while it is

I'm just trying to think about whether or not Goose would wear a Top Gun hat because Top Gun was the program yeah right but that's

well he would have to be an instructor and he was taken before his Yeah. Right, but that's Well, he would have to be an instructor and he was taken before his time. But it's also it's an unofficial name, right? Yeah, but I think

that they have one. Yeah, you're going to like it's like the Naval Academy of Advanced Fighter Pilot whatever. Remember when Ed Harris said that in the movie? Yeah.

That was so great. That was the best. That was so dope. Anyway, Sean's picking first. Did you want me to send you the links to the two fighter pilots breaking down every moment of Top Gun Maverick?

I really do. You've been raving about this content for weeks. It's elite. I have the first pick. You have the first pick. Good, I didn't want the first pick. I actually didn't want it either. I'm relieved.

Sean has the first pick. Okay. And choosing second will be our Chris Ryan. Oh, interesting. All right. This is good. This is good. Huh.

Amanda's got third pick, which means she has fourth pick it's a good good draft to have third I think third was probably the most desired here

yeah like there's yeah just puts me in a slightly gamey position of picking take Titanic away

from you no no do what there was some colluding take Starship Troopers first overall

there was some colluding in this draft that is no longer going to be able to happen. Why don't you call it what it was? Dinner conversation. It was dinner conversation. We were just chatting. See, this is the problem. You had to be an asshole,

sit on the other side of the table and make fun of me for having a housekeeper. I arrived first. I wasn't the asshole. I was waiting for you to arrive and sit beside me. We all went to dinner last night. We had a nice little dinner and uh

you guys didn't talk to me so I had a couple drinks and I made a promise to Chris about what I would do if I got the number one pick but I didn't get it um

and you know what this is the problem with our democracy we got democratic operatives bailing on their allies at the last minute just like you bailed on me

I was about to say something nice to you and now I don't know whether I'm going to. Okay? And now I want the first pick back so I can screw you over. Well, you can't have it. I was going to say that I woke up this morning and I was like, I don't know if my heart's in it. And also, honestly, as Chris observed, Sean's been being really nice to me the last week because he's been trying to forge points of connection. Let's go back one second. He was shared. Last time the three of us did a podcast together, we talked about the banshees of Indochina.

You raised again the specter of my social failings at the end of films where I don't communicate honestly and decently with my close friends. And ever since then, I've been trying to make restitution. How does it feel while you make, like when you're like waiting for Amanda? I feel like Johnny Carson coming out for his 10,000th monologue. Oh, I thought,

like I was wondering if you felt like Ashley Judd and Bug where you're just like, I have to leave so badly. No, it doesn't make me uncomfortable. It's just,

as I said to Amanda the first time we discussed it, I'm like, we're good, like we're good for life. Like I don't need to tell you like it's so nice to see you Amanda.

It's those missing moments that make life, you know? It's the second after the movie where you guys are just like that was cool look at us look what we get to do for a living. Honestly what it is now is it's funny because you're like doing a bit for me and I do actually like getting to talk to you but I also appreciate you know that you've heard this and you're sort of like doing a joke because you're really just like, hey, it's so nice to see you. That was such an enriching experience. You know, like you're using funny words.

So I really do like it. Okay. I'll keep it up. I'm what I'm trying to do. And I'm so glad we've been able to vamp for this long for my first pick. I'm trying to model behavior for my young child. Okay. Please.

Thank you. So once again. Don't put that child. Okay. Please, thank you. So once again- Don't put that there. We'll put it over here. It's not for us, but that's okay. It's part of a life project. It's something that I'm working on as a human. That's beautiful. And you've brought some things to my attention

that I need to work on. And I'm grateful for that. And hopefully that will create generations of politesse. That's what we're looking for. That's right. Community, care, But your daughter isn't at Banshees of Inishirin.

Isn't she? We don't know. You know, her spirit guides me through the world now. That's true. She does look like she could be a character

in Banshees of Inishirin. She definitely does. The mean baby. Yeah. She definitely could have been in that show. Oh, calm! Where are you going?

Okay. Just do it. First overall, I'm taking the film Boogie Nights in Oscar nominee. Good. This is a film that Chris and I and Bill Simmons just devoted, I think, 13 and a half hours of our lives to on a podcast. Fun show. Yeah. Was that a good pod?

Yeah. Yeah. Too long? I think people liked it I listened to two and a half hours of it so far I would say

I've had a number of people who have been very nice who are like Boogie Nights pod loved it haven't heard the categories yet yeah they're like saving it and or

have lives and don't have time to finish that but you know this is obviously Paul Thomas Anderson's second film life-changing movie

for me in many ways I talked about it at length on that show I said you you, Chris, but still incredibly powerful and vivacious piece of filmmaking. Now you drafted it number one. Yeah.

Would you say that it's the best movie of the year from this year? It's one and one A with Jackie Brown for me, which I assume will not be there for me by the time the pick gets back to me. Jackie Brown, I think like 10 years ago became kind of like the hipster consensus pick for Quentin's best movie or his second best movie. And now I feel like there is a strong feeling that it is truly like has a kind of masterwork feel. And I mentioned this to Amanda

privately yesterday. Um, but obviously Quentin just put out cinema speculation, his kind of film theory, criticism, autobiography last week. And I think I highly recommend the book. I think it's a lot of fun. I think especially if you have not obsessively read Quentin's thoughts and writing about movies, it will be revelatory for you. But where it's most revelatory is in the first and final chapters of the book, there's quite a bit about his coming of age as a moviegoer. And if you read the final chapter, I think of Jackie Brown in particular will come into complete sense. Like it will be totally clear

why he felt he needed to make that movie and what Pam Greer means to him, what Robert Forster means to him, what that kind of storytelling means to him. So I don't want to trample on the Jackie Brown conversation, but those two movies. Let's have her now

because I'll take it second. Okay. And I'll take it an Oscar nominee Robert Forster getting nominated there great as we probably talked about Quentin Tarantino's movies more than any other director

maybe except for PTA right like Jimmy Novoly I think so maybe I don't know I think Quentin probably more than anybody and so like this movie is kind of an outlier now. When you look back on the totality of his filmography, it's just like there are moments in this film that don't really exist in moments of...

Yeah, there's moments of quiet affection in other Quentin Tarantino movies, but not like this. And I always, always think about how he read something in Elmer Leonard that I had not read up until I saw this movie because this is an adaptation of Elmer Leonard's novel. But, you know, it punches the yeah, rum punch. But I think it was it's a pretty, I think, pretty liberal adaptation.

Yes. But a lot of like the soul of the way Leonard writes and the characters is in there and this I think maybe has like my favorite four or five like ensemble performances in a Quentin Tarantino movie which is really saying something yeah it's pretty starry you know and some of those stars are older stars but it is in the tradition of all of his

movies just because Pam Greer hadn't had a huge part in 15 years and Robert Forster hadn't had a huge part in 25 years but Robert Forster hadn't had a huge part in 25 years. But beyond that, it's Sam Jackson, Robert De Niro, It's like also like

a throwback classic Hall of Fame De Niro performance. Very funny. It's a movie star Sam Jackson performance. It's my favorite Bridget Fonda performance. Chris Tucker.

Yeah. Yeah. There's a ton of people in it. It's a beautiful movie. When's the last time you saw that one? Honestly, not a long time. It's not one I revisit.

I should. Yeah. I think you would really like. I mean, it is very sweet and it is also violent and intense as all Quentin movies are. Okay. Two great ones off the board. Three and four. Dobbins. In drama, I'll take Good Will Hunting. And an Oscar nominee, I will take Titanic. You can have it all, ladies and gentlemen. That's set up very nicely for you. Yeah. That you really landed your narrative. After your story about Matt and Ben, it was going to be weird if I was like,

I'll take Good Will Hunting. I was nervous that if you wanted to rip my heart out, you could have. And that was the one where I knew Boogie Nights would go before I picked third. And that was the deal that if I, with Chris, that if I had won,

I would take Boogie Nights. But just to bring a sense of viciousness back to the draft, but my heart would not have been in it. Obviously, it's super important. Same thing. My heart is in Good Will Hunting. I love Good Will Hunting, but my heart would have been. After that sweet story about 40-page books and Matt and Ben,

I would have had a hard time being like, I'll take that. Good Will Hunting is great. I fucking love Good Will Hunting. It's the best movie. It's a really nice fusion of things. I don't really feel like this happens quite as much in movies anymore. When I remember when it was,

when you figured out that it was a Gus Van Zandt movie, even though it didn't feel specifically like a Gus Van Zandt movie, it was like a great artist for hire. I feel like you don't see that as much in non-franchise entertainment and that there's something cool

about that movie sitting in the middle of his filmography, which is kind of surrounded by lots of personal passion projects and idea movies. And this is like an old school 70s drama, right? About a complicated guy who's trying to figure out his place in the world. I love Good Will Hunting. It's a good movie. Okay. So Titanic, that's a big film. That's a big movie. It's the biggest movie. Yes, it was successful.

Yeah, it did well. People liked it. Is it good? We talked about it once once we did a movie swap it's good right it's really good it's really good we we do this you try to do this all the time to like create drama but like titanic's really good we'll talk about it more later this year yes we will i have a question so titanic is just this absolute runaway train what is it 600 billion that year what does it eventually get to like eight yeah i think it's over 800 million yeah um is it, 600 billion that year? What does it eventually get to? Like eight? Yeah, I think it's over 800 million, yeah. Is it over a billion?

It might even be over a billion. And anecdotally, as I'm sure you agree, this is a movie people saw three, four, five times in the theater. Uh-huh. It was actually like, I knew people who were like,

what are you doing this week? Well, obviously, I'm going to go see Titanic again. That kind of thing. Do people do that anymore? Do people go, do you think people go see like say uh infinity war five times in the movie theater i do i do i i wonder if that trend for the marvel films is starting to wane but i think spider-man homecoming was a movie that

um home no no way home excuse me the most recent spider-man saw multiple times people saw movie a lot um and that's part of the reason why it did such amazing business. I think when you see those movies, there's like tentpole movies, there's event movies, and then there's like you gotta be there

opening night movies. And I find that the you gotta be there opening night movies tend to get repeat business which accounts for why they cross a billion dollars or whatever.

So like Wakanda Forever, you know, by the time people hear this will have just come out. I think one of the interesting questions about that movie from a business perspective, this is actually something that Bill and he hit on in his show, The Town, is will it be able to do what the first Black Panther movie did?

Which was definitely some repeat business. Which was like, this is a cultural event and it really matters to people. Like emotionally, it's a family film. There's so many reasons to go and go again. And this one will do great business no matter what because people love these movies. Will it get to the Titanic place where you see it three, four, five times? I think that's hard. That's asking a lot of people.

Chris, how many times did you see Top Gun Maverick in theaters? I saw it twice in movie theaters. Yeah. Yeah. I did too. And then since then, I've seen it twice on planes. Okay. Yeah.

I've seen it twice in theaters. Okay. Yeah. I've seen it twice in theaters. I haven't seen it at home yet. I was waiting to watch it at home before our best movies of the year podcast, which is actually about a month from now. Will it make the list? Probably. Has your wife seen it? She has not.

Oh, wow. That's exciting. That's the one. I got her to watch Barbarian before Top Gun Maverick. Okay. I didn't have that on my bingo card. That's interesting. Yeah.

But she did watch Barbarian. We'll save that for another pod. Okay. I didn't have that on my bingo card. That's interesting. Yeah. But she did watch Barbarian. We'll save that for another pod. Okay. Sierra, you're up. I'll take L.A. Confidential and Drama. God damn it.

Speaking of movies I saw multiple times in the movie theater. Yeah. I love this movie. This movie really rocks. I was a huge James Elroy fan at the time.

I mean, I still am. But this is it during the like real Elroy. You're in your crime fiction bag right now. Yeah. I got my Elroy. Leonard and Elroy. The white jazz and Big Nowhere and LA Confidential was just my introduction

to these kinds of sprawling, panoramic crime novels. And this was just, Curtis Hanson, this is just an absolute banger of an adaptation. It really does have some of the the sort of wild free jazz of elroy but it's also like just very very workmanlike and has uh three very good performances um and it's something of a star making performance for

russell crowe right oh for sure yeah yeah so i think we were just talking about how what movie did i say somebody had had the Russell Crowe part. Oh, I think it was Lashana Lynch in Woman King. I can't even remember. Somebody just being like, who's that person? I want to be with that person more. And also, Ed Exley, you know?

Like, guy. Guy's awesome in this. He's great in that movie, and I'd never seen him before either. So, great movie. The late, great Curtis Hanson. Sheesh. Two picks. So, I think that that's the great Curtis Hanson. Um, sheesh, two picks.

So I think that that's the, is that the big five? You think the big six? Probably. Yes. There's obviously a ton of really good movies left, but that feels like a pretty, an interesting blend of high art,

mainstream excitement and acceptance. So the lasting legacy. Yeah. The top here is what you would, on January 1st, if you could close your eyes and hope for a big movie year for you guys to talk about all year, it would be a year like this at the top. Then you get into like, kind of like...

You don't have to be rude. No, I mean, then you get with the rest of the year of the movies in 1997. It's like, that was pretty good. Yeah. Or maybe it's more for taste. But these six or whatever, like, whew. True. Get groceries delivered across the

GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit Superstore.ca to get started. This is a tricky spot. I mean, I know one thing

that I'm going to take. So I'll just take it. In drama, I'm taking the game. Okay. Fuck off. David Fincher's I guess I deserve that. thrilling

I don't know. Is it like a con man movie? Is it a puzzle movie? Is it a It's a paranoia movie. Yeah. Paranoia. Well put.

With one of the great houses on film that this kitchen is up there with anything nancy myers has ever done i love the sequence when he returns to his home and it's been vandalized in neon spray paint and um white rabbit is playing so loudly on speakers and it's so disorienting this is a beautiful movie we did do this on the rewatchables once upon a time you know i think there's a case that it's the most underrated of the Fincher movies. It comes immediately after Seven. Awesome Michael Douglas performance

at the center of it. Kind of like, almost riffing on a post-Basic Instinct, like, rich, powerful guy who gets duped, but this time maybe not just by a woman, but by something grander than that. And it does feel like,

I agree, like an homage to the Pakula movies of the 70s or something like that. Really, really cool movie that has aged feel like, I agree, like an homage to the Pakula movies of the 70s or something like that. Really, really cool movie that has aged very well, I think,

in a time of conspiracy. So that's my drama. It feels like I'm gonna, I need to get a blockbuster. So I'm gonna take a blockbuster here. This doesn't, isn't necessarily

my favorite movie that's on the board, but it's a movie that at the time I loved and was an event. And that movie is Face Off, which is, but it's a movie that at the time I loved and was an event. And that movie is Face Off, which is,

is it the best action movie of this year? It's in the conversation. It's in the conversation. This is like a very tabloidy year for action movies, like very high concept. Or I guess maybe low concept, but like very easy to say like

there's a president the president's plane has been hijacked or you know the elevator pitches were sick there are prisoners on a plane yes you know jailbreak on a plane like they're just like really good like yeah pitches were awesome in this one it's what if an FBI agent and a criminal mastermind swapped faces that's literally the idea you seen this one. Because I believe we did a live event about Face Off like a million years ago. There was a live rewatchables. Did that ever get published?

I don't think so. Was that Shay? Yes. I think, was it Shay, Jason, Mal, you and Bill? Were you guys all on that? I was not on it. I just... No, yeah, I was there.

I wasn't on it. John Woo directed this movie? Mm-hmm. I was not on it. I just. No, yeah. I wasn't. I was there. I wasn't on it. John Woo directed this movie? Mm-hmm. I believe it's his second American feature after Broken Arrow. It's probably his best American movie.

What do you think? What would the other options be? Mission Impossible 2? Mission Impossible 2. Paycheck. You big paycheck guy. Yeah.

It's definitely his best American movie. It's not better than Hard Boiled or guy. Yeah, it's definitely his best American movie. It's not better than Hard Boiled or, I mean, it's better than Hard Target, in my opinion. Actually, it's his third American movie.

Oh, that's right. After Hard Target. JCVD. Face Off rocks. Remember when Nick Cage was like, I do remember it. Face Off.

When he put that in the trailer. I remember it. And everybody was like, that's the name of the movie. Yeah. Remember that feeling? That was really cool. I love it when they put the name of the movie.

Don't soft sell Face Off. I think Face Off is not my favorite from this year. I'm happy for you to have it. Okay. You know, I know what she wants with Blockbuster. I don't know what you want. Are you going to go with Blockbuster now?

I'm going to go with Blockbuster. I'm going to take Con Air. Yeah. Okay. Speaking of great ensembles. I mean, it does. And speaking of great ensembles I mean it does and speaking of great Nick Cage performances and speaking of

great pitches for movies it's just wild that like Steve Buscemi and John Malkovich and Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo

am I right? just made up this this murderer's row of villains on a plane and then John Cusack and Cole Meadey. We're like, we got to bring this plane down.

You have kind of Cyrus the Virus energy. You remind me of him a little bit. Do you remember Cyrus the Virus? John Malkovich's character in this film? Oh, I do remember. I didn't remember his name. He was like a post Hannibal Lecter, like what if guys are just pure evil in movies kind of dude.

And this is also one of my favorite setups, which is like a good guy has to go to jail for manslaughter because he accidentally kills someone in a bar fight, which I feel like I can't think of another example, but I do feel like it comes up a lot where it's like, but your two hands were, should have been like deadly weapons. It's like you have to go to prison.

You, how many times have you been tried for murder because you kicked the guy's ass in a bar? Four? Yeah. Five? I have great attorneys, though. I like Con Air.

It is very silly. It's a stupid movie. Very silly. I mean, not that Face Off isn't silly. It is also very silly. We did lose something. You made this whole speech about how, actually, maybe they weren't

that good or this is not always necessarily but we lost this. I think that this is what if they had just distilled all the ideas of like Fast and the Furious into like two movies

instead of ten that's what this is. You know it's just like fucking drive a car through a building that's great. But like instead they do it ten times

they have to go to space. Right. Nick Cage walked so Vin Diesel could run but run to where? Don't be... I know. Run to where?

Space? To Rio, where they... I know. They left Rio. That was years ago. I do understand that. We can't keep protecting Fast Five. We're on Fast Ten.

I do understand that and I don't think they're good and I, too, am ready to move on. Why do you support fossil fuels? Okay. Just in case. Seriously. I liked the one movie. That was good. understand that and i don't think they're good and i too am ready to support fossil fuels okay seriously i liked the one movie that was good uh you have two picks i do in blackbuster i'll be taking uh the classic my best friend's wedding a just hugely delightful movie important movie to

me this is i had i talked about this so much on our julie roberts hall of fame which should have been a larger, longer episode. But that's okay. It's like an hour and 47 minutes. And she was like, what? What? We're stopping? That was a really rude impression.

And second of all, he just let me. Chris is just dying. Sean's really been getting into voice work this week. That's like the other half of the when are we going to talk about my TikTok persona yes it was really good

he just did it for like 20 minutes you weren't around and so I think he felt comfortable to explore hey guys it's November 10th here to tell you about

all the exciting new films we're going to have in movie theaters this month that's coming first Hocus Pocus 2 if you enjoyed Hocus Pocus circa 1996 like i did you're very excited for this the original cast is back together we should do improv games on the spot

like i'll give you a movie character and i'll give you a scenario well you would crush that we can't play that game you are as john smoltz calling the nlcs you know i hope you know i will be clipping that that voice work that you just did, Sean, and I will be creating a TikTok account around it. Sounds good. You should do that voice, but you got to just do it doing descriptions of horror movies. So in Smile, a woman takes a piece of pottery and cuts off her face. Very exciting Oscar season this year, starring in Tar, Cate Blanchett.

She, of course, is a wonderful performer. I hope you see this film. See you at the movies. This is the thing. He just kept going for like 15 minutes. You've really been practicing. In 1997, I enjoyed the movie LA Confidential, starring Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey,

directed by Curtis Hanson. See you at the movies. I think I could do well. I think I could do well on TikTok. I think I'd do well I think I could do well on TikTok I think I'd do really well it's so funny they'd be like you're so old

why is this old man in my feed there's gotta be old people on TikTok they just they were right about them right yeah

I think there are but I think they're like really old I think you kinda have to it's like the 60 plus demo you know like a lot of grandmas I'm stuck in the middle

being like yeah no one wants to hear from you except for me. I really enjoy your voice work except the one of me. It was really rude. Sorry. I was just trying to do

exclaiming. I wasn't trying to impersonate you. I'm sorry that I bring energy to a podcast. This is a performing space. Hey guys, Nick Jim Cameron. Hey,

this is Amanda Domino. I love Julie Roberts. It's a great character. see you at the movies uh my best friend's wedding is where you were the thing not not to go back to sensitive topics but the thing about the julie roberts hall of fame is that he didn't let me know until there was only 10 minutes left that he was like we're wrapping this and i was only like minutes left. That he was like, we're wrapping this up. That he was like, we're wrapping this. And I was only like on 1997 or something. Him and Bill, you got to watch the eyes because something dies in them

and you're like, okay, we're wrapping this up. Is that true? No, not for you because I feel like you get stronger as you go on. Yeah. But you have a very busy schedule.

I do. I like a long pod. It's not about that. That's why Amanda was disappointed because she's like, I just gave you an hour and 45 minutes of my life for tar. Why can't you give it to me

for something I care about? Which I understand. I also care about tar. I just had to go. I have a job too. I just... Julia Roberts Hall of Fame doesn't come around very often.

In fact, it will never come back again. Maybe we could redo it, but I... She said desperately. I had so much to say about all the movies. I don't normally have a lot of thoughts about deep cuts and he was like trying to fast forward me through Mona Lisa Smile

and I was like no but I watched all of it recently fascinating I'd love to do a different podcast with you about it can I just have a side convo with you a little bit about what do you think of how 1997 perceived Cameron Diaz because you know she's interesting in this movie and then I was watching a little bit of A Life Less Ordinary last night and I remembered how excited I was for that was that 97?

yeah that was well it was 96 I think it came out internationally or something and then it debuted in America in 97 got it this is Danny Boyle's

third film followed to Trainspotting yeah so Shallowgrave and Trainspotting were like two huge movies for me and I was like this is going to be so cool

it's like Bonnie and Clyde and it's like pitched at a very very so cool it's like Bonnie and Clyde and it's like pitched at a very very annoying frequency it's just but they the viewpoint of Carmen Diaz is like

her as like this she's just not cool in these movies right right and like though she does get the moment

standing up to Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding and it's a great climactic scene in the ballpark in the bathroom at Kaminsky park.

And, you know, she yells, you're a food critic. And that's how she says it. And it's very funny. You know, it's funny that she's playing a 20 year old who's dropping out of college,

uh, to marry an aspiring sports writer who is trapped. It would be funny to watch the 2022 version of this in a number of ways. But they're definitely still figuring out who Cameron Diaz is.

And they let her have the moment in this, but she does have to play second fiddle to Julia Roberts until then. I think this is the one that we agree on the most

with Julia. Yeah. This is the one that I saw in movie theaters I thought was great. I thought it was really Julia. Yeah. This is the one that like I saw in movie theaters. I thought was great. I thought it was really funny. And she obviously is like, forgive me, but like really hot at this time.

Like she looks really, really, really sexy in this movie too. Her hair is like so big and she's really vivacious. She was kind of mean in a funny way. It's a really good movie. It's like it also is. There are no movies like this that will ever make $150 million ever again. That is another thing that is lost. Not to say that there aren't good movies like this, but they just can't be in the blockbuster category. Exactly.

You got two there? No, I didn't. In comedy, I'll take a film called Men in Black. Bobby, can you just do like the breakdown from the song? You know, just like the slide with me. Just slide with me. Slide, slide, slide. Come on, let's take a slide with me, just slide with me. Yeah, of course.

Thank you so much. Of course. I'm always here to execute on any drops that you ask from me, Amanda. Who's the star of this movie? Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Okay. I love them both. Despite Linda Fiorentino is in this movie.

She is. And a bunch of aliens. That's's your speed yeah that's your julia roberts um so you don't usually love creature stuff yeah and there's a big um literally a big bug yeah i remember played by vincent d'onofrio in this film an alien bug but bug. But it's funny. It's played for laughs. Again, I was 12 turning 13. It's a time of transition. And I also really like both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in 1997. It's a very funny dynamic. Their chemistry is awesome.

It works. I was on the... I originated the Andy Serkis should be nominated for Gollum or Caesar from Planet of the Apes. You originated that? No, I originated it with Vincent D'Onofrio should be nominated for Best Supporting Actor

for Men in Black at the time. Yeah. Wow. When I was like, I know about awards. Hey, this is Sean Fennessey. I think Vincent D'Onofrio

gives a stirring performance in Men in Black. See you at the movies. See you at the movies. Should we sign off with see you at the movies every week? I guess so, yeah.

They need to come up. Was that Siskel and Ebert who did see you at the movies? I think so. That was one of the many titles, yeah. So maybe you should be like, we'll see you at the multiplex. It's more like we'll see you

on my couch in my garage while I stream then you get arrested so don't come to my house you should not say see you at my garage

see you in my garage see you in my ADU I'm vetoing that with whatever power I have barbarian 2 see you in my garage okay don't be alarmed

if I'm dressed like a character from funny games Chris you've got a pick you want to say anything else about Men in Black don't be alarmed if I'm dressed like a character from Funny Games. Chris, you've got to pick. You want to say anything else about Men in Black? Are you into the films of Barry Sonnenfeld? Well, they kind of drop off a cliff

after a certain point. They do. I love Get Shorty. He's on a run. He was Joel and Ethan's guy for a minute. He was. Great cinematographer of that era.

Shot Miller's Crossing? He did. He did. He's a very good cinematographer. It's my turn? Yes. Galaxy. I think for...

So, what do I got here? Let's just review. I have Con Air and Blockbuster. I have Jackie Brown and Oscar. And I have L.A. Confidential and Drama. So, I need a comedy. And I need an action movie and a wild card. See you at the movies. And in

action I gotta admit I'm gonna take Starship Troopers. God this is two in a row. I just really love watching Starship Troopers. It's so good. The movie. It's so good. I don't really need it so much as like an essay on fascism. I think it's just

really entertaining as it is. Wait what? It's good as an essay on fascism. I think it's just really entertaining as it is. Wait, what? It's good as an essay on fascism. But that's what makes it great. Is it? Of course. If it wasn't entertaining, would you be like, but it's so, so smart about fascism?

No, the point is that it's both at the same time and that almost no one can do that. The point is that it has depth, but it's also a really funny movie. You just got so serious. I'm so mad because you took it and you were just like, but it's a whatever about funny movie. You just got so serious. I'm so mad because you took it and you were just like,

but it's a whatever about fascism. Like, that's the whole point. Come on. Give it to me. No, I'm not trading it to you. I've obviously upset you, which is the goal

of this project. That's true. Well, you've upset me. Okay. Because you've disrespected Paul Verhoeven's masterwork of bug science fiction. Remember when you made me

talk about his lesbian nun movie from my mom's house? So actually, the best part of it was, we're talking about the film Benedetta, which is definitely

one of our funniest pods, if you haven't heard that one. If you didn't go back to that one, whatever, taking care of Knox, I would check that one out because it was like

December 28th, 2021. And I was like, CR, I need you to watch Benedetta tonight and pod with me in the morning. And he was like, I'm literally in Philly with my mom and we've been watching MSNBC for four hours. Don't make me do this. She was like, where are you going? And I was like, to watch a movie.

And she's like, would I like it? I was like, oh no, I got to take notes during it. So don't worry about it. Benedetta was so good. So Starship Troopers. He's a great director. I also, you know, you've convinced me. It is an amazing essay on fascism. I'll take that in action horror. Starship Troopers is the one where it keeps cutting to a sort of like news bulletin that everyone sees and

would you like to learn more? I love that. Okay. Boy, I feel like I'm stuck now. Amanda's going to win anyway, so. I don't know about that. Let's not think that way. No, let's enjoy our time together.

And then when Amanda wins, we can applaud her. Yeah. I don't need to win. I'm winning for myself, you know? That's true. You got what you need. Yeah. In comedy,

I'm going to take Austin Powers' International Man of Mystery. Is it the first one? This is the first one. I did want this in wildcard, but. There are some other good comedies this year. You're not SOL, but Austin Powers was the comedy sensation. It actually wasn't the comedy sensation. It was a movie that did all right at the box office, but belatedly became a real cult phenomenon and a Halloween costume

and a DVD sales monster. And we recently did this on the rewatchables as well. And it's just incredibly funny. And it's like, I think I saw this movie before I saw more than two James Bond movies. Oh, interesting. And so-

Well, because you're- Same vibe. But you love James Bond and he doesn't. Yes, yes. That's true. But you know- It's interesting. I wonder if Austin Powers ruined James That's true. It's interesting.

I wonder if Austin Powers ruined James Bond for you. It's crossed my mind. I think it's possible that it by identifying all of the tics and the GoldenEye video game also probably

you're like nothing will ever be better than this. That helped me. Smoking a J with my buddies in the basement just crushing GoldenEye. That was a great time in my life.

That was like a year later two years later. Yeah. It was good times. Can we go back to then? If you can get a time machine but you could only go back to a time in my life. That was like a year later, two years later. Yeah. It was good times. Can we go back to then? If you can get a time machine, but you could only go back to a period in your life. This is like a whole great pod that I wish we were doing right now instead of this pod. But like for movies or for life?

Just any, but it has to be within the timeframe of your life. But I need to know more about the parameters. Like, am I going back because of my life or because i want to just like be this isn't the film primer whatever you know it's because of your life it's because of my life yeah and am i reliving or do i get to make different choices and do i have the knowledge that i have that's a very good question i hadn't considered that okay i would say yeah is this like a back to the future thing or is this no because you're not observing yourself no you get thrown into your old you get to really have your current consciousness yeah yes you do you have your

current consciousness you know how things turned out the first time yes and you could alter the path yeah well i mean that opens up a lot of just you know butterfly effect like what an amazing what if no i'm not gonna read i guess i can't change anything then i don't know i really like my kids so you know anything anything i did differently but it could be as simple as i would like to redo the 2005 movie draft but you would go back in time to last year to just have a so that i didn't pick iron man 3 i mean you could what's your answer uh yeah like no changes you know what's funny no no the way you started that question was like what would be the most fun time to go back right and then i think inevitably amanda

and i both were like how could we either fix a mistake we made or not fuck up what we have now, right? Yeah, that's beautiful. But what about just reliving something you loved? I was going to say I would love to go on my honeymoon again. Okay. Yeah, just on like an extended... By the way, I could if someone would just sponsor my trip to the Cannes Film Festival

and then the Venice Film Festival. Daniel Ek, is that who you're referring to? Yes. I think if I could, I would go back to when I was like 14 and I would take golf really seriously and then see what that brought me in my life. I love this for you. Yeah.

Because instead it's like I waited until I was way too old and a lot of that stuff doesn't mechanically make sense to me. But if you did that, you would have to sacrifice your career as an ace swimmer and second baseman.

Yeah, I mean, but those things didn't pan out. I thought you were a catcher. Catcher, catcher second baseman, yeah. Okay. Well, I have two different I was a catcher.

And then when these kids came back from camp at the end of the summer, I was moved to second base. It was controversial for me. Okay. Second base is where non-athletes play? Because the kid's dad was the assistant manager and I felt like there was some dirty pool going on.

No kidding. Yeah. I was just like this fucked up. Are you absolutely sure you don't want to go back to that moment? And do what? And get justice? And say, sir, I know why this is happening. I may be 14, but this happened for a reason. Chris, what was your pop time? Like, how was the arm to second base?

I would say that I probably was a better game manager, pitcher, whisperer, and just general vibes emanator than I was. See, I didn't see that. I was no Benito Santiago, you know? This takes us back to Juliette Lipman's prevailing theory of Chris Ryan's life which is that men love Chris Ryan

they do that's why I was on the cruising rewatchables that's very good what are we talking about Amanda's pick you picked you picked a movie

which one was it I picked Austin Powers International and I have another pick. I don't know where to go. I genuinely don't know where to go. I'm going to go through. You have to do action?

I have action horror thriller left on the board. This is a really tricky one. It's not a great horror year in my estimation. We've taken a lot of the big action movies in fact you could say men in black face off con air these are all action movies but they weren't taken in the action category right or did you take con air in action no i did i take a buck buster i took starship troopers in action okay there's an easy answer and i'm gonna go with it in action horror thriller i'm going to take event horizon which is pa W.S. Anderson's That was going to be my wild card.

Junk sci-fi masterpiece which you and I celebrated earlier this year. We did. On one of our most beloved pods. So Sam Esmail is going to be on a future episode of this show.

We recorded with him recently and he had a lot of thoughts about the episodes that are just me and you talking about genres that we like a lot and his thoughts

were not nice. What do you like we misunderstood those genres or made things up? No, he just thinks you're too bro-y. Yeah. He had some choice words for Chris Ryan. However,

yeah. However, he is interested in JMO as a, as a concept. He's not invited. Okay. His JMO was Mr. Robot.

He got five seasons. That's true me and Sean can have a couple of I do our own J-O sessions before he gets jerk off sessions?

no okay I don't know what that meant um Event Horizon is a deeply troubling film about what happens when you lose your mind

in space and I love it it's an amazing performance from Sam Neill has a great supporting cast laurence fishburne uh kathleen quinlan paul w.s anderson went on to make a lot of c or b grade action sci-fi movies including a number of resident evil films he made a lot of films with his partner, Mila Jovovich. We also had an important film in 1997. But Event Horizon is one of the few movies of this time

in that genre whose reputation has only grown. And I think that this has become even beyond a cult movie and something that people really, really like. And I could see a world

in which it was a rewatchable, honestly. Oh, for sure. It's become like a much rewatched movie and it blends horror and sci-fi in a way that you don't often see. So, Event Horizon. Okay, back to Chris. I'll take gross point blank in comedy. become like a much rewatched movie and it blends horror and sci-fi in a way that you don't often see so event

horizon okay back to Chris I'll take gross point blank and comedy which you know is just was one of those movies where like when it comes it came along it had like instant rewatch

ability for me mostly because of like the music I was also very into mini driver this is a great year for her talking about her recently as well and she's really delightful in this movie.

Great. So funny. Features a pretty funny Jeremy Piven cameo, as he usually makes in John Cusack movies. And this just had a great soundtrack, great vibe. Dan Aykroyd's good in it. Joan Cusack's good in it.

We were at peak Hitman at this point, so I think this movie went a little under the radar at the time, but became, I think, a kind of cult classic throughout the 2000s of people re-watching it and doing jokes and stuff from it so this is this is my comedy one of my favorites this was my number two on the list of comedies um I meant to re-watch it I just haven't seen it in a long time I liked it a lot yeah and then it just didn't enter the it's really cool she's the she's like the small town dj and she's like the small town DJ. And she's like sitting in like her window booth and is always like commenting on what she sees.

It's a really good framing device too. Just an amazingly fake character. That's not a person. The coolest person ever. The coolest girl that ever lived. She stayed in her small town to be a punk rock DJ. She knows everything about like really cool indie music from the 1980s.

And great soundtrack. Yeah. I love this movie. Cusack. What a year for him. Yeah. Con Air and us. You like Cusack?

Of course. Do you love him? No, but I think that's only because he's never. I mean, I guess I guess I do have affection for him from Say Anything. And then I find high fidelity to just be the summation of that non-existent character, the mini driver character in Gross Poem Blink. You know, like, no, sorry. It's good, but I find it irritating. The high fidelity character could only invent the mini driver character.

Exactly, correct. Do you remember in the beginning of this pod where I was like, there was a lot of movies I was really excited for and then when I saw them I was like,

that sucked? High fidelity? Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Heartbreaking. One of the first big bestsellers I ever read. I don't even know

why that book crossed my path. And then Clint Eastwood being like, I got this, I'm going to turn around in nine months. See you guys at the movies.

It feels like a movie that was made really quick. turn around in nine months see you guys at the movies it feels like a movie that was made really quick see you at the movies see you at the movies we should do Clint Eastwood as a TikToker yeah okay

but weekly updates on new films in theaters okay do you want to have what era Eastwood like cry macho like

absolutely barely being able to get to the truck just pure rasp okay and actually you have to dress like Clint Eastwood. Wakanda forever. See you at the movies.

Got a rooster. I stand by crime, Macho. Yeah. David Zaslav will not let Clint Eastwood make another movie. That bit. Really?

Yeah. He has turned down the pitch. No. Yeah. No. Yeah. After this many decades with the Warner family? That's it.

It's done. So what's Clint going to do? Sarandos to the rescue? Run for the mayor of Carmel again? I really don't know. Does he still have his office on the lot? I assume not. Wow.

I believe that they have cut ties, which is... Is that been written off? Are you breaking news? It's been reported that he has declined to make the film that he wants to make. Does anybody know? Not he personally that Warner Brothers

has declined. Was he going to be in that movie? I'm not sure. Did they just like escort the old man off the lot? They kicked him in the balls

and they said hit the bricks pal. Fuck off Malpaso Productions. Yeah I don't know. I mean maybe the relations are still good. I don't know. I do know that there's not a Clint Eastwood film in production

for like the first time in a long time. Maybe he can pitch a cool take on a DC character. Get back in there, you know? That's what I would love for him. I think he should just start potting. He could be the third chair on JMO. He's got some political thoughts. Clint?

Yeah. Remember the empty chair sitch? That's a tough one for Clint Eastwood. That wasn't ideal. That wasn't my best day. How many more do we have here? I believe Amanda has two picks and then you've got one

and I've got one. Okay. In action horror thriller, I will be taking Air Force One, a movie in which Harrison Ford is the president. Yeah, and Gary Oldman is a Russian terrorist.

Yeah. Get off my plane! That's really, that's a pretty good Harrison Ford. I just killed your national security. Have you like

tracked that as you open up and like forge more emotional relationships with your friends, then you also have the confidence to explore new voice

work. You know, here's the thing. I live comfortably in the shadow of Chris Ryan. Yeah. I feel actually that safer being beside such a charismatic man as I go through the stages of my adult life. And Chris is tremendous at voice work. But I have a skill set.

And sometimes I have to let it out. That's true. And here I am today working on a handful of characters among them the president of the United States of America in the movie let's talk about who's in this movie so Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman are the hero and villain on this plane Glenn Close is the vice president if if I remember correctly. William H. Macy is the pilot. There's an amazing moment in the trailer of this movie

where he goes, did she say Migs? Just like, you know, Macy was just like, yeah, fucking got that one. Wolfgang Peterson directed. The late great. He passed away this year.

We didn't celebrate his work. Just an astonishing assemblage of acting talent for for a very dumb enjoyable movie i i had last night time to watch like half of one movie before i went to bed i asked my husband hey do you want to watch air force one with me how excited was he he was just like yes absolutely and you guys know zack will like is a 9 30 bedtime but it was 9.45 and I was like, you want to watch 20 minutes

before you go to bed? Sat right down on the couch. It was beautiful. This was the birthday party movie for me. Released on July 25th, 1997. There you go. And did you just

stone cold stunner the Russian separatists after that? No, my father who drove me to the movie theater. Kicked him in the stomach. Dropped the stunner on him. What was this?

Isn't Kazakhstan involved in this film? Yes. Because they take out the president of Kazakhstan. And they want him released, right? It's like a joint U.S.-Russian mission. Was this a prequel to Borat? Yes, it was. It's part of the larger universe.

But it's like a Russian-U.S. task force that takes out the president of Kazakhstan. It's like a post-USSR thing. And they definitely film in Russia, which is still, it's just very strange

to me now when I just watch Hollywood movies just gallivanting around Moscow. It just doesn't seem like that would be allowed anymore. We're through

all categories but wildcard. There are three selections remaining. This is a really good roster of movies that we've compiled thus far. It absolutely is. I feel really good about where we're at. Amanda, you're up. Yeah. I'll be honest.

Most of my wildcards or options are already on the board okay but i do have one left the movie i really like and i remember seeing maybe not in 1997 but pretty soon thereafter it's love jones do you guys know yeah yeah um lorenz tate nia long this is just like a grown-up romantic really it's a drama it's not a romantic comedy but in a in a sphere of genre that i really respond to um just like great chemistry between the between lorenz tate and nia long and i just remember being like oh this is um this is for grown-ups this is you know this is something exactly yes very sexy movie. And it's just wonderful.

If you haven't seen it, check out Love Jones. Did it open something in your mind? Possibly. I mean, I do think I saw it. It's not like the first sex scenes I ever saw because I don't think I saw it in 1997. I think I saw it like a bit later. But there was just something, it took all of the stakes of the relationships and the sex like a little more seriously than a romantic comedy, say. And I was like, oh, you know, not everything has to be like jokes and banter that there's like

another level here that's like pretty interesting to me. I like it. Good pick. Yeah. I don't, it's sort of a cult classic. I feel like. I don't know if it really... What happened to Theodore Witcher, the guy who made that movie? I have no idea. He made Love Jones. He directed a City High video. That's all his credits. That's it?

He wrote a movie called Body Count that came out in 1998, and that's it. That's so strange. He's just gone. This film joined the Criterion Collection this year, actually. that's it. That's so strange. He's just gone. This film joined the Criterion collection this year. City High was a thing. What Would You Do?

That was a big hit. That was a big hit in my household. My sister sang that song every fucking day. What would I do for my wild card? I'm trying to think. I don't know. There's a lot of stuff on the board here. There's a part of me that wants to pick something that I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of stuff on the board here. Yeah, and I kind of like, there's a part of me that wants to pick something that I haven't gotten to talk about before on a podcast.

I know what you mean. And then there's a part of me that's like, well, you should take the obvious. But I'm going to talk to you about a movie that I saw recently because it was on cable. And I was like, this is fucking solid. Okay. It's The Boxer.

It's Daniel Day-Lewis's movie with Jim Sheridan. The most overlooked of the DDL Sheridan trilogy. Yeah, so in the name of the father, kind of, you know. But Jesus. So this is Daniel Day-Lewis,

Emily Watson, Brian Cox. Have you seen this? No. And he plays a guy getting out of prison in Northern Ireland after like a 14-year stint.

And he falls back in love with the woman that he was with when he went into jail or like a high school girlfriend kind of era. But while he's been in prison, she is married or is with a guy who is now also in prison and you're not supposed to cheat on IRA, your IRA boyfriend while he's in prison.

It's like a big IRA emerita thing. So they become like the targets of the IRA and during this whole thing, he's trying to like set up a boxing gym

and have fights for like non-sectarian, like we're just going to, you know, Protestants and Catholics fight, like come to the boxing. It's just great drama.

Brian Cox is awesome in it and DDL is probably as close to I guess quote unquote a normal character that he basically ever plays where he's just like

a guy named Danny who fights and and loves. Inspirational figure for you. Yeah. So just because we've never talked about it before I thought I'd throw that on there.

There's a bunch that we have. There's a lot of really good movies left on the board but I just wanted to highlight that one. It's a very good pick. There's a bunch that we have. There's a lot of really good movies left on the board, but I just wanted to highlight that one. It's a very good pick. There's so many good movies left. There are a couple of personal all-time favorites. One of them is The Devil's Advocate.

I was waiting for this. Which is directed by Taylor Hackford and written by the great Tony Gilroy, who is a three-time guest on The Watch. Two times. Twice. So the first Andor time, was the first conversation you ever had with him? Yeah. Okay, so he just recently appeared again Tony Gilroy, who is a three-time guest on The Watch. Two times. Twice. So the first Andor time was the first conversation

you ever had with him? Yeah. Okay, so he just recently appeared again for a second time to talk about Andor, one of our great screenwriters. I would contend that the massive operatic showdown

between Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino that we've often referenced. Flanked by Connie Nielsen. Yeah. The, I'm a fan of man! That speech. Look, but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste.

Taste, but don't swallow. But that is? I think that's Gilroy's best word. You think it's better than anything in Michael Clayton? It's not, but it is. Yeah. Like it's not, but it is. But it's not but it is like it's not but it is

to me he's an absentee landlord that's I really love it and you know there's a bunch of other I really like Gattaca

you know I really like the fifth element the Luc Besson science fiction movie you're a huge U-turn guy I thought

when I I've said this before I'm certain but when i saw the trailer for u-turn i was like this will probably be the best movie ever made i know sean penn it wasn't joaquin a young claire danes jlo billy bob thornton and it was a bad noir film um the only thing i was thinking about taking over the devil's advocate was robert zemeckis's contact yeah which i think is a very very are you just naming all these movies, but you did take The Devil's Advocate? I'm taking The Devil's Advocate. The Devil's Advocate is my The Boxer, where it's just like, I would not feel good if I didn't take this. Maybe not even the best

strategic pick, but I just have so much. If people haven't seen The Devil's Advocate, I've probably talked about it on pods like 300 times. Yeah. I'm a fan of man, and I'm a fan of Tony Gilroy's writing. I'm not a fan of Keanu Reeves' Florida accent. Yeah. It's tough. I don't lose. I win.

His name is Kevin. I think it's like Kevin Lomax. Imagine asking Keanu to play a guy named Kevin. Yeah. It's tough. But Contact is beautiful.

You guys seen Contact? Yes. Not recently. I do remember that it was a point of contention on rewatchables because bill was just like contacts bad yeah yeah which was a bad take i think it was overhyped because i think it was the first film that robert zemeckis made after foster right yeah yeah yes we were probably talking about panic room yeah and he was like

contact sucks yeah uh which is is just simply not true there are parts of it that don't work which became an increasingly common trend among Zemeckis movies as time went on. There's some broad performances. I would say Matthew McConaughey as a spiritual leader slash love interest. As like a pastor, a searching pastor. Yeah, we probably could have done a little better there although he was hot at the time.

Like sort of self-fulfilling in a way. Because he's become a pastor? No, but sort of like a spiritual, you know, he talks like that. He does talk like that.

It's slightly more fun. That's a very grave character. That's true. Jodie Foster is wonderful in the movie. It's a great movie about daughters who love their dads.

Okay. All right. It's true. You know, you're a daughter who loves her dad. That is true. I am. So why are you giving me shit? I don't know.

I just, I like to needle you. That's how I show my love. What other movies didn't we talk about? We didn't talk about I Know What You Did Last Summer. Yeah. Sick. We didn't talk about Scream 2. I won't rewatch I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Okay. But I was there opening night. Okay. We didn't talk about Copland. Yeah. Yeah. That was on my list for dramas. And we didn't talk about Wag the Dog.

Also on my list. Didn't take it. And Gattaca. Yeah, I mentioned Gattaca. Gattaca is a movie that... Didn't you see our Hall of Fame? No, no. No?

No. A lot of younger people than us think is dope. I thought this isn't one of your films. No, this is like, when are you guys going to talk about Gattaca? It's the Gattaca 23rd anniversary. And I'm just like, I don't think G us think is like dope. I thought this isn't one of your films. No, this is like, what are you guys going to talk about Gattaca? It's the Gattaca 23rd anniversary

and I'm just like, I don't think Gattaca is that good. Gattaca is a film directed by Andrew Nichol starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, and Uma Thurman. Arrived in theaters

April 14th, 1997. See you at the movies. Batman and Robin did you see that one in theaters I did see it in theaters what'd you think I thought

Chris O'Donnell was like really hot in 1997 I still hadn't given up on Chris O'Donnell I guess the rest of the world

had not either so that was my main response but telling that I went to see Chris O'Donnell and not George Clooney as Batman that's interesting also Alicia Silverstone wasonnell and not George Clooney has been in.

Oh, that's interesting. Also, Alicia Silverstone was in it and Clueless was clearly important to me. I mean, you know, not good but I saw it. Yeah.

Uma played Poison Ivy. That's right. That was fun. George of the Jungle came out that year. Missed that. That was a Brendan Fraser film. So Chris, let me ask you this.

The Whale is coming out in about a month. Yeah, I saw the trailer the other day. The trailer just dropped. I've seen the film. I was thinking we would do a Brendan Fraser

Hall of Fame episode to talk about him because he is the whole, he's really the story of that movie in many ways. And Brendan Fraser has since become, I think,

even though he was a very successful movie star in his time, in his prime, has become even more of a cult object in part because of The Mummy, which is like a

really beloved movie with that same group that you're talking about that loves Gattaca do Amanda and I is there enough for us to do a proper Hall of Fame for Frasier and I'm sort of asking this out loud to hear from listeners as well I think it would be maybe you would have to like change the parameters

so the Hall of fame is like what you select 10 movies 10 films i'm sure you can figure it out did he disappear for a long period of time or was it like was he working in b movies or yeah i mean he didn't work very much you can you can read the work of zach baron um so very gifted journalist working at gq who's written a feature about brennan fraser and and where he went have you heard of Zach? Of Zach? Yeah.

Okay. But he went away for a long time I mean it doesn't seem like a choice. I know why I just didn't know if he was like

That was literally the title of the piece was whatever happened to Brendan Fraser. I mean I was more setting it up for like what could you do

with that sort of blank space and like what could you do with like maybe I mean the other thing and I'm really biased I'm just like rooting for Brendan

but I didn't really I didn't see George of the Jungle you know well this is sort of what I'm asking there's some movies that I it's like I wasn't like a huge I mean school ties yes but

Encino Man didn't like you know I was like 7 or whatever Airheads I love Airheads but like I haven't seen Dudley Do-Right some of the kid stuff I haven't seen

I'm pretty shocked by something that happened on Some of the kid stuff I haven't seen. I'm pretty shocked by something that happened on this draft. What happened? You didn't pick Lost Highway. I just did a pod about it. To your point, when you said I don't want to talk about something that I've talked about a lot, I just did an hour and a half long conversation about it. I mean, it's one of the scariest films ever made. It's David Lynch's 1997 horror domestic drama.

Noir, I guess. Very upsetting movie. Brilliantly made. Just recently reissued by the Criterion Collection. I think I just said it all. Did you have that soundtrack? No. You're not a Nine Inch Nails guy. Not really. They were so good.

Trent in the 90s. I mean, Trent now is great so good. Trent in the 90s. I mean, Trent now is great too, but Trent in the 90s. Yeah. Did you ever have a nin period? No, Zach did though. So I've heard a lot about that. Neither of you mentioned Chasing Amy at any point? Yeah.

I love it. Okay. I love it kind of uncomplicatedly, even though it is complicated to love it now. Of course, yeah. Is that an Affleck performance you'd go back to? I definitely, after seeing Good Will Hunting,

sought out Chasing Amy because he was in it. But I think you know that I don't really relate to the Kevin Smith films on the level that you guys do. I think it is the most,

it is attempting to be the most sophisticated of all of his movies. It is the most grounded, the least ridiculous. This and Jersey Girl, right? This and Jersey Girl. But Jersey Girl sort of feels like a conventional movie. Yeah.

And this felt something, it was still very independent and felt very fresh in a way. And, you know, Kevin was on Bill Simmons' podcast talking about this movie in particular and sort of like its's afterlife it's complicated afterlife and the Affleck performance and like kind of handpicking Affleck to become a star I mean Kevin Smith

gets a lot of credit I think for doing something that Good Will Hunting contributed to but Ben wasn't

at the center of that story even when they won the screenplay Oscar still like it was the Matt Damon story Matt Damon story you know Ben was riding shotgun for sure

and he may not have been riding shotgun in the writing who knows but I don't know Chasing Amy I just I watched it a lot I think I've said this before

like the sound of the score of that film on the DVD menu oh yeah was playing a lot in college yeah

you know like you'd wake up and you'd hear that like ooo ooo ooo ooo I remember that so vividly playing a lot in college. Yeah. You know, like you'd wake up and you'd hear that like, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. I remember that so vividly because I heard it over and over and over again at night. So I love that movie.

Open your eyes and you'd say, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Joey Lauren Adams starring in Chasing Amy. What's your, what's your number one

Smith movie? You know what it's actually it's Mallrats yeah it's Mallrats to be honest it's just

I feel comfortable in malls and it really spoke to spoke to my personal experience in fact if you were like could you go back

to any time I might go back to the night that I saw Mallrats it was a good time any other movies that you want to talk about Amanda not really so there are a lot of kids movies I think in this year that I might go back to the night that I saw Mallrats. It was a good time. Any other movies that you want to talk about, Amanda?

Not really. So there are a lot of kids movies, I think, in this year that I had self-appointed, aged out of it. I was like, I will not be a part of whatever's going on with Hercules. Bobby, are you a Hercules person? I love Hercules. Yeah. So I would like to address Chris directly here. Would the big picture be coming in pro TikTok Hercules from the Russo brothers?

No, absolutely not. And I really enjoyed everything that you had to say. And I do think that those guys have ruined cinema. But you also didn't seem aware that Hercules is like a thing with Bobby's generation, with the younger people. What do you mean? Hercules is a thing. It's a,

it's extremely popular movie. Extremely popular. Are you serious? Yeah. I'm not, I'm not, it's not with me, but I just want to let you know.

Do you feel yourself getting pulled into this? Do you, can you see it on the horizon? Me getting pulled into a Tik TOK musical? No, it just animated films, child kid content i not yet no i mean you're like not yeah yeah no but it's it's not like i mean it just

doesn't occur to me like hey should i show nox like i don't know cinderella or whatever like it's just not a part of my life so i don't think oh i should i think the more exposure he gets to professional athletic greatness coming out of phil Philadelphia yeah the less he's going to be interested in like kid stuff animated stuff he's going to be like all I want to watch is all 22 tape of the eagles yeah how's James Harden doing he's taking a month off you know personal maintenance maybe you should think about that maybe you should you should think about that you should think about taking a couple of drafts off maybe you should have thought about that let me host the stretch run of the big pick you go rest your tendons and I drafts off maybe you should have you thought about that let me host the stretch run

of the big pick and you go rest your tendons and I'll just be like you wanna be the Oscar guy we're talking about tar this is where I fell off of animated movies

yeah Hercules same way that you did but I was a little older you're being real quiet about the Russos do you support their work well I'm just not interested

in that movie that they're doing. And I really didn't like The Gray Man and I thought Cherry was disappointing. So you put it all together and all of a sudden

these guys who I thought... I thought Andy put it very well when you guys discussed it on your show. Yeah, coming out of the Avengers. It was like coming out of Endgame I was like, damn! That's pretty hard to do

what they did. They really landed the plane on that one and then everything since it's just like, what? This isn't good at all. So it's kind of hard to fathom. I think, obviously, that is ultimately a testament to Kevin Feige,

who really knew where to put that story. It would be impossible to overstate how inessential a Hercules live-action remake feels. To someone who loves Hercules, and I can just boot up Disney Plus right now and watch it after this pod. Those live-action musicalss that we have been chronicling over the last five years

have gotten worse and worse and worse as time has gone by. I mean, each one is worse than the last. Most recently, Pinocchio. That's the... The Zemeckis movie. But not the GDT one.

I did see the GDT one. I got to find somebody to talk to about that on this podcast. Is that animated? Maybe Charles will speak with me about it. It's stop motion animation.

But that's not, is Downey in one of these? No. Okay. He was going to make Pinocchio. He was going to do it with Paul Thomas Anderson. Right. Which that would have been really something.

Would have been very complicated. But as you might imagine, the Guillermo del Toro movie also was like, Pinocchio is a fucked up story. Yeah. It's very dark and weird and sad. Not that you guys would be willing to acknowledge.

So is the boxer. I really stopped listening but did you see Anastasia? It's one of Eileen's favorite animated films of all time. I did see Anastasia in 1997

and thought it was good. Do you know about Anastasia? I don't. Is it a... Do you know about like the myth of Anastasia? I can't say that I do. Lost Romanoff's sister?

Oh, I knew it was Russian. Yeah. Yeah, because they, I mean, it's pretty grim. She went into exile, right? Well, they're just like some missing bones, basically. Oh. Yeah, and so there's been

this long history of is there like a Romanoff sister among us? And then Anastasia was the animated version of that. Happy ending. The director of that movie is a man named don bluth yeah who is like one of the only people of that generation who left disney in the late 70s and was like i'm gonna strike out on my own and make animated movies and he's one of the only people who had success he made anastasia the land before time

the secret of nim and all dogs go to and An American Tale, all of which were successful movies. But it was such a, they had such a stranglehold on that style of storytelling. It's one of the few that broke through. We didn't talk about The Rainmaker. Oh, yeah. I just, we didn't mention it. You're just super horny for Matt Damon on this episode. Sorry, again, I turned 13 in 1997.

Did you see The Rainmaker in theaters? Did you read John Grisham books back then? I did read John Grisham books. I don't know if I ever read The Rainmaker. I was allowed to read The Firm at the age of like 9 or 10. I just, I have some questions about the parents in my life, but also loved it. Chris, do you know who directed The Rainmaker?

Francis Ford Coppola. Yeah, that's why I was like, we didn't even mention The Rainmaker. And obviously this is just sort of like a sidebar to Matt Damon's wonderful 1997 and Good Will Hunting and all of that. This is also like there's a bunch of sliding doors. Like Edward Norton met with Coppola

to do The Rainmaker and Coppola was like, it seems like you're more interested in making American History Acts. You should go do that. That's true. That's true. So who knows if we would have gotten Edward Norton's dunk in American History X if he had gotten this

role. Can I do one last impression? Some more voice work. This is my impression of Amanda's dad while escorting her to the Rainmaker. Look, but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Okay. You feel good about your draft? I do. Yeah, we don't taste. Um, okay. You feel good about your draft? I do. Yeah. We got to recap. So the way to recap now is to go by person.

So Amanda, why don't you tell us the six films that you got in this draft? In drama, I have Good Will Hunting. In comedy, I have Men in Black. In Oscar nominee, I have a film named Titanic.

In action horror thriller, I have Air in Black. In Oscar nominee, I have a film named Titanic. In action horror thriller, I have Air Force One. In blockbuster, I have My Best Friend's Wedding. And in wildcard, I have Love Jones. Chris Ryan. In drama, I have L.A. Confidential. In comedy, I have Gross Point Blank. In Oscar nominee, I have Jackie Brown. When did we start doing these voices?

Keep going. In action, I have Starship Troopers. In blockbuster, I have Jackie Brown. When did we start doing these voices? Keep going. In action, I have Starship Troopers. In blockbuster, I have Con Air. And in wildcard, I took The Boxer. In drama, I have The Game. In comedy, I have Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. In Oscar nominee, I have Boogie Nights. In an action horror thriller, I have Event Horizon.

In blockbuster, I have Face Off. In wildcard, i got the devil's advocate good draft certainly feels like amanda trucked us yes i smashed this i got yeah um which is great this is good you need to you need to bump your numbers up a little bit you know these are rookie numbers you don't need your condescension and i am winning in the game of life you know and that's the one that matters. Okay. Amanda, Chris, thank you.

Thank you to Bobby Wagner. What's next for us on the draft horizon? How will you continue to iterate this popular property? Are we doing too much or not enough of the draft is something I've been thinking about. We do it once a month, right? Yeah. People love the draft episodes, right? We've done a couple of,

we've introduced auctions over the last couple of years. We do those twice a year. Aren't we almost due for another auction or do we do that in January? Our auction comes in January, probably the second week of January.

Okay. We've introduced upside down drafts, which I thought went terribly and then people said they liked it. So that's notable. We did genre, we did the horror. We've done some genre stuff,

which I think was successful. But people were mad about all the 80s comedies that we didn't draft. I think there's been an increased call to expand the draftees, which is something we'll think about. There's a couple of people I'd like to get involved. Sam Esmail wants in.

Seems like he's got a lot of thoughts on podcasting. Yeah, I wonder who gave him a platform to do that the next draft that we're going to do is the three of us and it might be the last time

it's just the three of us for a little while but three years will have passed since 2019 which is one of the best movie years we've had in a while

so I'd like to wait three years before we hit a recent year. Okay. Wow. So 2019 will be our December draft.

Are we going to do it in person? I'd certainly like to. Yeah, we got to start planning ahead on that one. It's our holiday treat, though.

It will run right around Christmas. Right, right, right. But we can do it beforehand before everybody sets off on their journeys. Remember when we did

the holiday draft and then we had just like, it was like a non-movie wildcard thing you could have? That was cool. I mean, I'm also, would you like to pitch ideas? You guys, is there some kind of draft you want to do? We were just curious, you know, we like to look into your mind. You're more open these days.

You're willing to, you know, share the process and. You know, forget about the vagaries of oh thanks to amanda and thanks to chris see you next week on the show like chris you mean the world to me you're someone who i think really changed my life amanda yes you've helped me come to a new stage of my professional personal life like i i feel like i have evolved tremendously because of the amount of time I've spent with you. And I want to say thank you. Bobby, who started out as just a young pup at The Ringer

and now is really my partner. He helps us make this show. Without him, there is no show. And so I want to extend my gratitude to him as well. And with that... See you at the movies. I'll see you at the movies.