The Big Picture - The 20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2020 | The Big Picture

Episode Date: January 17, 2020

A new movie year is upon us, and just like that we have our first disaster: 'Dolittle.' Sean and Amanda break down the Robert Downey Jr.–talking animals fiasco (0:55). Then they wash out the bad taste in their mouth by discussing the movies they're most excited for this year, among them long-awaited new projects from Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, the latest in the MCU, a new 'Dune' adaptation, and much more (15:30). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, guys? It's Liz Kelley, and welcome to the Ringer Podcast Network. This week, to celebrate the 100th episode of the Rewatchables podcast, Quentin Tarantino returns for the third and final movie in his three-part series with us. In the final episode, Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessy discuss with Quentin one of his favorite movies, the 1990 crime thriller King of New York. Make sure to check out this special episode and follow at The Rewatchables on Twitter for highlights of all 100 episodes. most anticipated movies of 2020. Amanda, we've been talking all about the movies of 2019 on our various Oscars, Awards, Conversation shows.

We need to look forward now. The reason we need to look forward is because new movies are opening, and they're not these dingy horror movies that they try to open on January 3rd and trick people into thinking might be decent. There's actual big-budget studio movies with movie stars. This weekend, we have a little movie called Do Little and a little movie called Bad Boys for Life. We've seen both of these movies. We're only going to talk about one today.

We'll talk about the other one later next week. Hopefully, you will have seen that other one after that. But mostly, we're going to be talking about movies that we don't really know that much about other than the names and the titles. And we're going to talk about why we're looking forward to them. Let's just talk about the big picture aspect of moviegoing in 2020. I'll just say, as I've mentioned at the end of the year, last year, I'm a little worried about will people go to the movies this year? Do you think that I am justified in my concern?

100%. We talk about this on every other podcast that we make now for The Big Picture because moviegoing has been, I don't even know if I want to say in a state of crisis, but it has been changing. And the way that people consume movies has been changing pretty rapidly and dramatically for several years now, but this feels like the come to Jesus year. I agree. So obviously 2019 was deeply loaded, especially by Disney with mega event movies, not just Avengers Endgame, not just Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker, but the Lion King and Aladdin reboots. There was a Dumbo reboot. Toy Story 4 came through. There were a lot of movies that Disney at least perceived as movie going events. Now, in addition to that, we got a lot of great fun stuff. We got Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Parasite became a box office success, and movies like Ford vs. Ferrari and Us did very well. There's always

going to be surprises. I would guess that the movies that we're going to talk about here, and you're going to choose 10, and I'm going to choose 10, there'll be some big-ass hits among those movies. But the movie is not, the schedule is not loaded like it was last year. And I think there will be a distinct aura of panic around what's going on at the box office pretty much by April or May. I think we have our first taste of the panic that's coming though. Yes. So this week you and I saw the movie Doolittle, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doolittle. Let me just say, this movie is terrible.

It is terrible in a way that I have not experienced in my adult life, and I was in a deep amount of pain watching it. I don't think you had as negative a reaction to the movie as I did, though. Well, this movie is very bad. Let's just get that up front. It is not a successful movie. But I do kind of put on my this is a kid's movie helmet at some point. And I think I'm not looking to be as rewarded on a deep emotional or cinematic level as you are once I realize that the movie is Robert Downey Jr. talking to animated animals. Sure. Here's my thing. This movie makes Cats look like Grizzly Man.

I actually don't think that's true. I think that I had a better time at Doolittle than I did at Cats. That's astonishing to me. Cats was the worst experience that I've had in a movie in like five years. There was no plot and it was creepy people singing weird songs about what kind of cats they are. I know I've said exactly that five times, but I will never wrap my head around the fact that hundreds of people thought that that was a good idea. The one thing that cats and Dr. Doolittle do have in common is that they are both based on previously existing IP. There has been not one, but two different iterations of Dr. Doolittle over the

years. Of course, the very famous 1967 version with Rex Harrison, and then Eddie Murphy came back as a Dr. Doolittle of sorts in the, I believe in the early aughts. This version has had some trouble and the reason it is so bad, well, the reasons it is so bad are manifold. Let's start with some of the production problems. So in April of 2019, The Hollywood Reporter had a report about the struggles of the making of this movie. They wrote, the new photography lasted 21 shooting days, not including new post-production work, according to insiders, and came after an overhaul courtesy of Chris McKay, the helmer of the Lego Batman movie. Now, Chris McKay was not the original director of this Dr. Dolittle movie,

which I believe was originally called The Voyage of Dr. Dolittle. Yes. And it was written and directed by Stephen Gagin. Listeners, Stephen Gagin wrote

and directed a movie called Syriana, which does not in any way resemble the storytelling, the joke writing, the general disposition of Dolittle. Those two things

have nothing to do with each other. It appears that Steven Gagin was just a little bit out of his depth in making a movie like this. THR goes on to report, sources say that it's become apparent to the studio and producer Susan Downey, Joe Roth, and Jeff Kirshenbaum last fall

that the movie budgeted at $175 million needed some surgery. Gagin is known for his Oscar-winning work on layer dramas such as Traffic and Siriana. It was his first time tackling a visual effects-heavy production that was also comedic in tone. So they bring in these new folks, Chris McKay among them.

Also, I believe the writer of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series was brought in to do some script doctoring. Didn't help. I don't think we need to recap necessarily the story. It is technically a voyage. Dr. Doolittle does go on a voyage. Why do you think they changed the title?

Because I have no idea. Maybe they're just hoping that if all you hear is Doolittle, then you'll think of the other iterations of Dr. Doolittle and then go see the movie. When you say you, who do you mean?

People with children? People who go to the movies? I see the movie. When you say you, who do you mean? People with children? People who go to the movies? I don't know. Would you recommend this movie to parents with children? I don't know what your life is like or what your parent rearing is like. I really don't. I don't know what you're looking for

in an experience with your children. We don't have to talk about the entire movie, but can we talk about a couple qualitative issues with the film? Fire away. You turned to me about 20 minutes into this movie, or maybe it was like seven minutes, but it felt like 20. And it felt to me like 900.

And you pointed out, aghast, that Robert Downey Jr.'s performance was dubbed. Not just a line here or there, but literally all of his voice work. The entire film. The entire film. And it's very obvious as you're watching the movie. Yes.

And I also have to say, the dubbing is I turned back to you and asked whether Robert Downey Jr. was supposed to be Scottish or whether there were some, you know, troubling racist elements to his voice. It really is all over the place in not a great way. So the dubbing does not achieve anything additive to the movie. We can only speculate what had happened. My guess is, and you know, Robert Downey Jr. is an adventurous actor and he likes to make choices. It certainly felt like he made a choice in the original shooting of this film used a certain voice or accent and then they the production decided this isn't going to work now it's possible that there was even a sort of

production error where like it wasn't properly recorded yeah that'd be incredible given the kind of mismanagement of this movie that's in play, but the other actors that appear in the movie, and we should say a great many quality actors appear in this movie. Chief among them, Michael Sheen, doing his damnedest to play a compelling villain. And my beloved Jessie Buckley shows up in this movie with two lines of dialogue. She sleeps on a bed, basically, throughout the film. You can't tell that it's Jessie Buckley until about 60 minutes in. It's very strange.

Antonio Banderas shows up. Antonio Banderas. He's doing his. It's very strange. Antonio Banderas shows up. Antonio Banderas. He's doing his best. Oscar contender, Antonio Banderas, who, you know, is fine. But none of those figures seem to be dubbed. They all seem to be using their natural speaking voices, and there's no ADR in play here. So the whole thing is just absolutely confounding, and it is highly distracting as you're watching the movie. Every time you see Dr. Doolittle on screen, and he is on screen all the time because he is the titular character of the film, you're like, why is the track sync not correct with the film? This is a film released by a major studio.

How did this happen? And hundreds of million dollars spent on it. I don't really know. It's staggering and unfortunate. You know, you wrote down here that the dramatic climax of this movie is literally a dragon fart, which is true. That's true. Spoilers, I guess. I often, as people of my generation do, misuse the word literally.

But in this case, it's literally what happens. It is literally what happens. And i i just i was in i was in pain in like the 80th minute of this movie i was like god damn it i'm supposed to be alive in the world can we do a little like can we interrogate that yeah sure because it's a very bad movie yeah but i think i said to you afterwards it was no less sensical to me than, say, Maleficent 2. And I think I probably turned to you more times during Maleficent 2 and was like, what the hell is happening? And what are we serving, like the children of America? And I understand, even though I actually agreed

with some of the political messages embedded in Maleficent 2, for the record, I understood what we're serving the children of America in Doolittle. You know, he's talking to animals. There's no purpose to the record. I understood what we're serving the children of America in Doolittle. You know, he's talking to animals. There's no purpose to the film. That's ultimately a problem. Maleficent 2, misguided as it may be, Trump tale, tale of a divided country as it seemed to be metaphorically, is trying to do something. And the people that are doing it, you know, are credible and are professionals and it was a big time Disney production. But they're not Robert Downey Jr. and Stephen Gagin.

They're not maybe the best actor of his generation and an Academy Award nominated screenwriter who has worked with major movie stars on interesting dramas. Sure. The level of talent in play here, you know, Mlepsin 2 felt like an Angelina Jolie paycheck. That's what that movie felt like. And I understood it as such from the commercial. How does this not feel like Robert Downey Jr., Mr. Paycheck? It's not that it's not just that. It's that there is a

level of incompetence in play here that is highly unusual when people this wealthy, talented, connected, you know, all of those things coming together. You just don't really see something like this happen. So my mind was blown. Also, there's no subtext to the movie at all. And we've come to learn, and I know you don't watch animated movies, but in animated movies all the time now, every animated movie has tons of subtext, is about something else. This movie is just about dragons farting.

That's not okay to me. It's about going out in the world and making the use of your powers. I mean, listen, I'm not trying to assign, this movie is not smart and is not well made. I agree with you. But I just, I want to understand what about it is offending you so specifically. We're all dying slowly in this world and every minute matters. Now, sometimes a mediocre movie can create great value. Sometimes a bad movie can create great value in your life. This was the rare case in which

I sat through something and I regretted every second that transpired. So that's me, but with all the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Now you understand how I feel. I understand that. The thing is, I don't think that there are going to be a great many people that are like, thank God we have our fourth Doolittle film that is badly made. I think that's true, except I was speaking to resident dad Jason Gallagher, and he was asking me how it was because he is going to have to take his six-year-old son.

I believe Isaac is six now to see Doolittle because a six-year-old saw the trailer and was like, that's what I need to be a part of. And you know what? Isn't it okay that sometimes we're making things where six-year-olds are like, that's what I need to be a part of? Yeah, I'm not trying to debate that, but this isn't Paw Patrol, you know? This is a big-time movie from serious people. Like, it's just not... I have to say, they lost the right to the term serious people when they signed on to the voyage of Dr. Doolittle. I don't know that you could have convinced me that in a different universe, this could have been a well-made movie. This could have been a, a creative and there are tons of creative and inventive, um, non-animated children's

movies. You know, the, the history of Disney is riddled with movies like this. The wizard of Oz is not so far removed from the story of Dr. Dolittle. Like, there's a way to make movies like this credible, decent, and even intellectually useful for kids, for five-year-olds. We learn a lot about who we are in the world when we watch things at a young age. I agree with you, but this is, as you said, the fourth remake from Robert Paycheck Downey Jr. So let's, we have to be honest about, you're not supposed to assign intent to anything. I know, I took all the classes too,

but I think we all know what the intent was with this movie. And it's, we got the worst possible version of what they signed up to do. I'm not above money. People should go get money. That's okay. Robert Downey Jr. is entitled to whatever he wants to do. I just make a better thing. He actually worked hard to make these Marvel movies, which could

also be absolutely terrible. He worked hard to make them good. He put a lot of time and effort into those movies. Did he? I thought by the end, we could just see that he just showed up on set for one day. For some of those movies, yes. That's true. And some of them, he's not working that hard. Let's just be realistic. We don't need to argue about this anymore. This movie's not a good movie. And I also think that your children deserve better in the world. But, you know, it is what it is. Let's take a quick break to hear a word from our sponsor. Today's episode of The Big Picture is brought to you by Masterclass.

Masterclass lets you learn from the best with exclusive access to online classes taught by masters of their craft. I have talked at length about how you can learn about filmmaking from watching Martin Scorsese's Masterclass. Amanda, you have engaged in Masterclass recently. Who did you watch with? I watched How to Be a Boss by Anna Wintour. What'd you learn? So far, I have learned that you need to give direct feedback, wake up at 4 a.m. and have fresh flowers around at all times. How are you doing on those initiatives so far?

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but there is a lot to look forward to. So we're going to talk about the movies we're now excited to see in 2020. We'll go back and forth, you and I. We'll share our top 10. There's not so much that we can say about a lot of this stuff. In fact, we don't even know the release dates, I would say, of half of the movies that we chose. Yes, I was going to say we tried to organize our list chronologically. Yes.

But then at least half of both our lists are just TBD. Because that's the way things go. A lot of this stuff is appearing on streaming services now. Although a lot of your films appear to be theatrical releases, which is notable to me. You know me. You do love to go to the movies. Why don't you kick us off with your first choice? This is Captain Obvious, a manapick.

It's No Time to Die, the next Bond film by Kerejoji Fukunaga. Yes! Give me all the behind-the-scenes content! I will watch every featurette! Yes! I will watch every featurette. Yes. You mean because you think he's a sophisticated storyteller with a great mind and you like to hear him speak? I do think that. And, you know, also he's obviously so gifted at oners, which are my favorite type of filmmaking. Yeah, I love Bond movies.

I love Daniel Craig. I think it's absolutely hilarious that Billie Eilish is going to be singing the theme song for this movie. But you know what? Bring the teens on the journey. I'm excited to welcome new generation of Bond fans. The Broccoli family is clout chasing right now with that Billie Eilish. I'm looking forward to this too.

I like Cary Fukunaga's movies. I think he's an inventive filmmaker. I don't know how much room to move there is inside the Bond franchise. You know, I'm still kind of fascinated by the general reaction we've gotten from a lot of Bond fans after we chose Skyfall for the rewatchables, because there were a lot of people who didn't want a slightly elevated Bond. They didn't, you know, they liked Skyfall. They thought it was fine. But there were people who told me that they prefer Quantum of Solace to Skyfall, which I find to be stunning, shocking. I mean, Skyfall interrogates the basic premise of the Bond franchise and all of its assumptions, and we have found that a certain type of fan base doesn't like it when people are questioning the foundation of the thing that they're invested in.

And that makes me interested in this movie, too, because obviously Carrie Fukunaga is interested in some of the more complex questions in filmmaking, too. This is Daniel Craig's last entry, so we've been told. So we've been told. Until somebody cuts a bigger check, maybe. And I would guess that there will be some wrap-up feeling to this part of the tale. You know, the last movie in a certain actor's Bond run is always complicated, and we'll be talking

a little bit more about Bond movies, hopefully, on this show, I think, once we get around to April 8th, when the movie is released. Maybe we'll re-watch some of those movies

and see how we feel about them 20, 30, 40 years on. I'm looking forward to this one, too. I think Fuganaga, at minimum, has never made a bad movie, and most of his movies

are quite interesting, as is his TV work. And if Chris were here, he would be praising True Detective Season 1. My first pick is probably the most anodyne movie on my list, but I am looking forward to the Invisible Man remake from Lee Whannell. This is a Blumhouse movie. We just shit all over Doolittle for remaking a movie for the fourth time. And this is certainly not the first iteration of The Invisible Man. In fact, there have been many iterations and there have been many meta texts on The Invisible Man. This is a different kind of meta text.

I think that this is essentially a sort of survivor story. Features Elizabeth Moss playing a woman who is trying to move on after the death, I think, of an abusive partner. Who then seemingly returns into her life as an invisible man. Under normal circumstances, that logline would worry me. Lee Wannell, I think, is a very talented filmmaker. His last couple of films have been very impressive to me. He comes out of that like he was a longtime collaborator of James Wan. He's very, very good at a certain kind of genre metafiction.

I have high hopes for this movie this is probably the one i'm least confident about on my list but february needs good horror yeah is a take that i have this is the time when get out was released this is just a couple of weeks before us was released there's now an expectation that we're going to get a damned good horror movie early in the year every year. Maybe this is it. This trailer is very upsetting to me as a horror wimp. And also, frankly, as a person who just who really admires Elizabeth Moss's work and just really wants a non-paralysis situation for her and just one movie. It's getting I'm starting to be very concerned for her. The buildup is it's too much at this point.

What do you think appeals to her about these incredibly fraught roles? She's really good at them. Yeah, she is. But it is kind of like Jake Gyllenhaal territory where it's just like, what's going on? Yeah, there's something internal. Yeah. No, it's very, very true. But also, I wish her continued success.

As do I. What's your number two? So I just want to keep in mind, remind everyone that since we're going through in release date order, that it is the big tent poles that are coming first in our list. But it's not indicative of these aren't a ranking. Yes, exactly. We're going just chronologically. Make that clear. So my number two is Wonder Woman 1984. Listeners of this podcast will remember that I freaking loved

the first Wonder Woman. It is the only superhero movie that I've ever left feeling like exhilarated by. And I have to confess, I don't understand anything of the premise of this movie. Like, I don't understand

how Chris Pine is still alive. This movie also has Amanda Kryptonite in it. Yes. And I was very concerned about Kristen Wiig as the villain. It was not the best day when that casting was announced. And I had kind of been protecting my heart and resistant to it. But then I watched the trailer and it was Gal Gadot and Chris Pine,

who I love much like Quentin Tarantino, even if I don't understand how he's alive 60 years later. And I'm just on board. I'm excited. I am tentatively excited. Okay. I would say tonally the movie looks a little bit closer to what I want out of these kinds of movies. It looks like

Wonder Woman 1984 had a hearty breakfast serving of Aquaman. You know, like there is something. Don't say that. No, but there is something a little bit, well, one, it's more colorful.

It's obviously not set during World War I. Right. 1917, but make it Wonder Woman. Am I right? I did that on the last podcast and you were like, how dare you? But now it serves you? Okay. Keep going.

This movie seems to be slightly more self-aware, I think. It's not taking itself as seriously. One of the things that I struggled with was, and I struggled with most of the DC movies is this sort of like incredibly self-serious approach to the stories that they're telling. And one of the things that I like about the Marvel movies is a level of self-awareness and jokiness. Now, is there too much in the Marvel universe and maybe it's not equal enough?

That's debatable. Aquaman is, was high kitsch. It was really, really kitschy and self-aware. And I thought it worked. It actually made the ridiculousness of the story effective. It was kind of a great time at the movies, even though it was a very dumb movie.

This movie seems to be a lot of sight gags, a lot of cheesy 80s style and tonality that kind of looks fun. And the original Wonder Woman was a it was a screwball comedy. That was when it worked the best. Yes, that's true. And I think this seems to be leaning into the fun comedic elements of it. Yeah, and maybe that plays to Kristen Wiig's talents as well.

You know, if the movie is slightly, if her character is slightly more comedic. She's playing a canon DC villain named Cheetah. And I'm sure that there'll be some very serious scenes. But maybe it'd be nice if it was closer to Batman Returns necessarily than the original Wonder Woman to me. I don't know if that reference makes any difference to you. Which one is that? Yeah.

That's the one with Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer. Oh, yeah. Sure. It's sort of ridiculous, but sort of serious. This should be ridiculous. It's set in 1984. I agree. My next pick may come as a surprise

to listeners of this show but I'm trying to find my way into the Christopher Nolan hive and Tenet is coming in July. This is probably the most anticipated movie of the summer I think for many people

who keep a close watch on this sort of thing. We saw a trailer for the movie a few weeks ago. It looks damn good. It really does. It's John David Washington and Robert Pattinson playing some sort of time spies.

I don't know how else to describe what's happening where sort of time is moving in forward and reverse at the same time. It was very Miami Vice, very Michael Mann looking. Seemed to be set in the 80s, though it could have been set at any time just based on the attire of the figures. Well, they're time spies, Sean.

They are time spies. I have really, really struggled with, especially the sort of big top original stories that Christopher Nolan has tried to tell or has told. He's told them successfully, just not necessarily to me. But Inception and Interstellar in particular are the movies of his that I don't really connect with. Quentin Tarantino really sold me on Dunkirk. He asked us to rewatch it for that I don't really connect with. Quentin Tarantino really sold me on Dunkirk. You know, he asked us to rewatch it for that podcast that we did with him. I thought the way that he described

what's so effective about the movie, which probably is the way that Chris Ryan's been describing to me what's effective about it, but somehow when Quentin said it, it was a little bit more convincing. And I'm coming around. So I'm rewatching his movies. I'm getting interested.

I think that's a great trailer. I'd love it if that movie was great. I have loved Christopher Nolan movies in the past. I love The Dark Knight. I love Batman Begins. I love The Prestige. I think that's a great trailer. I'd love it if that movie was great. I have loved Christopher Nolan movies in the past. I love The Dark Knight. I love Batman Begins. I love The Prestige. I love Memento. There are movies of his that I really like.

I just, hopefully he can fuse the crazy ambition that he's had with storytelling with the kind of like logic that made his movies work earlier on. I feel like he has lost touch with logic. Can I float a theory to you? Sure. Based on both our Doolittle conversation, just something that's emerging from this podcast. Are you thinking too much? Are you overthinking just a little bit?

Can one do that? Well, yes, I think that's true. But I do think also it will be interesting to watch the Internet culture that like really went hard with Inception and Interstellar receive and try to process Tenet because I think at some point like no movie can handle the level of scrutiny that is applied to these puzzle box movies in this way. And you want it to make sense and you want logic. And I agree that if this makes no sense at all, it'd be very disappointing. But do we all need to get out the microscope for every one of these movies? Or could we possibly just go to the movies and enjoy it?

Well, we don't need to get it out for every one of these movies, but we probably do need to get it out for Christopher Nolan movies. Okay. Because there's no movie now in theaters in the last 10 years like a Christopher Nolan movie. And we talked about that on the Dunkirk Pod.

He has eventized his films in the most interesting way to me. He's really the last guy who can be like, I'm going to release an original film. It's going to have $150 million budget. It's going to have movie stars. But what matters is the director's name. Maybe Tarantino has that still to some extent, but even the people

that we kind of idolize on this show and my objects of affection, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, your Sofia Coppola is your favorite filmmaker, all these people,

they still make relatively small movies. A Nolan movie is a cultural event, and so we're going to look closely at it. I think we're justified in looking closely at it.

I'm not arguing against it as an event movie. I think it's arguably the biggest movie of next year. And I'm also looking forward to it. I just meant the, you know, now we're all amateur detectives solving the mysteries of the Christopher Nolan universe. Like at some point, just, you know, give in. All we know is that no matter what, there will be a guy with Christopher Nolan's haircut in the movie. That's the one thing you got to keep in mind. And in this case, it is Robert Pattinson. What's your next movie? Speaking of just giving into movies, Top Gun Maverick. Yes. Let's go. I don't know. I'd like to have fun at the movies. It's the summer. Most effective trailer I've seen

in a year. Miles Teller, Glenn Powell. Great. Play the music really loud. Bobby, you just like play the theme song really loud right now for 10 seconds. and that's all I have to say about this movie. I don't know that we need to say that much more. I guess it's Joseph Kosinski is stepping into the director's chair. He has already worked with Tom Cruise. He made Oblivion. He's a very stylish filmmaker. He also made Tron Legacy.

I wouldn't say he's ever made a great movie. I'm not sure that that totally matters. And in terms of thinking, I won't be thinking much when I watch this movie. There we go. I will be enjoying the visual majesty and general masculine desires of Tom Cruise. And Jon Hamm and a great many other people who are... This looks like a very well-cast movie to me, which is really kind of what you want out of a goofy event thing.

You just want to be around people that are compelling, handsome, beautiful, etc. They seem to have nailed it here. Should we go to my next pick? Please. Another horror movie. It's not coming out until September. We're already down to september that's what's going on with the schedule here last night in soho edgar wright's follow-up to baby

driver um notable fact about this movie it is co-written by christy karens wilson who also co-wrote 1917 there's not a lot known about it i would say i'm a huge fan of just about every edgar wright movie i think one of the sadnesses of the mcu is that we didn't get a chance to see edgar I would say I'm a huge fan of just about every Edgar Wright movie. I think one of the sadnesses of the MCU is that we didn't get a chance to see Edgar Wright's Ant-Man, even though I think Peyton Reed's Ant-Man is quite a good movie. Last Night in Soho, here's the cast. Thomas and Mackenzie, who you may recall from Jojo Rabbit. Anya Taylor-Joy, who you may recall from The Witch and I believe Wishing Glass?

No, what's right before Split? Matt Smith, you're a fan of Matt Smith. Tanya Taylor-Joy, who you may recall from The Witch and I believe Wishing Glass? No. What's right before Split? Matt Smith. You're a fan of Matt Smith. My guy. Diana Rigg, someone that we're both a huge fan of. Terrence Stamp. This is like a little bit of a hall of fame of great English actors.

And there's just not very much known about the story. Apparently, it's inspired by Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now and Roman Polanski's Repulsion, which means it will be probably a very convulsive, claustrophobic, intense, severe homage to those kinds of films. I'm a big fan of Don't Look Now and Repulsion. And this is an interesting choice

for Wright in the aftermath of Baby Driver. I thought he would have gone a slightly more big-top commercial route because he had a lot of clout. Because he kind of bet on himself with Baby Driver. And that's another original story that somehow made $300 million around the world. He got some Oscar nominations for that movie. He's sticking in the genre lane, which I appreciate. So that's Last Night in Soho, September 25th.

That also, correct me if I'm wrong, but the very scant details that we know are that it has something to do with the fashion world and or going back to the 60s. I mean, that makes sense. Which was exciting to me. Yes. And I was kind of like the cast in the middle. Yeah, I'm very into this. And then I was like, oh, wait, this is going to be a screwed up horror movie. And I'm slightly more nervous.

It'll probably be both. You know, I think Diana Rigg and Taryn Stamp, two icons of swinging 60s London. Why not? Let's go to that place. What's your next pick? I'm also already to September. It is The Trial of the Chicago 7,

directed and written by Aaron Sorkin. You know what? I'm ready. So how many years are we removed from Molly's Game? Three. Three, I think. Was that 2016 or 2017? I think that's one of the first movies that you and I saw in a work capacity together.

Can that be true? Yeah. So we'll have to see this together. What can you tell us about this movie? So this is based on the trial of the Chicago 7, which was a 1969 trial of seven men who were part of the countercultural protests in 1968 at the Chicago Democratic National Convention. So it's a timely political courtroom-esque, I'm assuming, drama written by Aaron Sorkin. And anyone who says they're above political Aaron Sorkin texts at this point in the world is probably right. And also, I'm going with it.

I'm still interested. Put Aaron Sorkin in a courtroom. I'm all in on that. Yeah. Let me read the cast to you. Sasha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yaha Abdul-Mateen, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Frank Langella,

Mark Rylance, Michael Keaton. I didn't name a woman. I don't think this is going to be a story of women, but otherwise, sign me up. Big Jeremy Strong energy here. This is, I didn't realize he was in this movie. Yeah. He's playing Jerry Rubin. This is very exciting. You know, I think that we all would like to, we'd like a redo on Molly's game.

How about that? Yeah. If you made it again, how would it be different? That's what I'd like to know. I mean, we'll never know. I like it. I like it. That said, Aaron Sorkin as a screenwriter is one of my favorites of all time.

I grew up on the West Wing. It is obviously timely and relevant in 2020. And I would rather channel some of those anxieties into an Aaron Sorkin film than the other ways that I'm going to be spending my time on the internet with all the other dummies. So I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it too. It's interesting that Last Night in Soho and that movie are coming out on the same day. That sort of announces to me good movie season is here. You know, when we get to that point in September, October, we're like, oh, cool. Now they're giving us the good movies. I felt that in sharp relief this year or last year, I should say. Hopefully that'll be the kickoff this year.

So my next pick is sort of a cheat. It's two movies in one. That's because it's the same director and that's Eternals from Chloe Zhao, which we know is opening on November 6th. And then Chloe Zhao has another film called Nomadland, which she made for Fox Searchlight, starring Frances McDormand, based on a popular novel. And I don't know when that movie is coming out. I think that movie's been done for a while. And I'm not sure if Fox Searchlight, which is now owned by Disney, much like The Eternals, which is a Marvel property, if they're trying to coordinate some sort of the high and the

low of Chloe Zhao, or how can we synchronize all of the press for her at the same time? Is this going to be an awards film? Are they holding it so that Frances McDormand can enter that conversation? We don't really know. I don't really know very much about Nomadland at all. I just know it's been on a sort of TBD list for 18 months, essentially. Chloe Zhao, for those of you who are not familiar, is probably best known for a film she made in 2018 called the rider which is a very small delicate intimate portrait of essentially a rider a rough rider who's thrown from a horse and is injured and attempts to sort

of like keep his life together figure out where he's going this very delicate balance he has with his family it's a very sensitive and quiet movie, and it does not indicate at all someone who would make a movie like Eternals. And even though we're getting Black Widow on May 1st, which neither of us has picked here for anticipated movies, though I'm looking forward to it, the Eternals is, this is a big test of phase four for Marvel

because this is probably the most radical thing that they've done, not just because it's a female filmmaker and not just because it's a weird story that is not sort of typical Marvel canon. We've seen that with stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy, which you mentioned earlier, but because when this movie takes place, I think it's a, I think it's essentially a prequel that takes place like hundreds, thousands of years in the past. The Eternals are sort of thought to be responsible for the creation of superheroes in a way. So it's like the Greek mythology, but of the.

That's exactly right. In fact, if you look at the characters names, they're all sort of recalling the mythologies of various cultures throughout the world. So Angelina Jolie is playing a character named Fina. Richard Madden is playing a character named Akaris. Oh, okay. And that is sort of the character named Icarus. Oh, okay. And that is sort of the, that's the template. Now, that actually might be more interesting to you. I was going to say, I do typically like it when

the superhero movies and stories borrow from mythology as opposed to sci-fi. That is just kind of my interest and aesthetic preference. I think this will be space set, but mythologically informed. So, and it's just got a tremendous cast in addition to joely and madden you've got camille nanjani who is now ripped which is very confusing brian tyree

henry is in this film sama hayek is in this film barry kyogan is in this film jemma chan kit harrington it's a pretty big cast of well-known people who are attached to other well-known properties it's a great way to sell a movie around the world, especially when it's called Eternals and not Spider-Man. I'm just fascinated by it. The idea of entrusting someone like Chloe Zhao on something like this is a cool bet. And it's very easy to tear down Marvel, but I really appreciate that they're trying to do stuff like this. So we'll have to see what happens with that movie. That's on November 6th.

What's next for you? Next is King Richard, which is directed by Ronaldo Marcus Green, who made Monsters and Men. But this stars Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus Williams. So this is a tennis movie starring Will Smith. All of my interests. I can't believe that this is happening. They fired up the Amanda machine. I just am so excited. Also, in addition to tennis and Will Smith, like an actual adult drama, one would have to assume if you don't know anything about Richard Williams, he is a quite famous sports dad figure, maybe the original sports dad with all of the complications that that implies.

And I do love a sports movie also. Yeah, this movie is from a writer named Zach Balin who I'm not familiar with. I don't know if he has any other major credits. But, you know, it comes to us from Jada and Will and James Lasseter and the Overbrook Entertainment squad. By the way, the movie that we'll be talking about on Monday's pod is Bad Boys for Life. Yes, we will. We already talked about Dool pod is Bad Boys for Life. Yes, we will.

We already talked about Doolittle. Bad Boys for Life is significantly better than Doolittle. It is. I encourage people to check that movie out. I'm really looking forward to King Richard 2. Feels like Will Smith is like, you know what? I just did Aladdin, Gemini Man, Spies in Disguise, and Bad Boys for Life. That was my bid to get back to blockbuster Will. And, you know, varying results. This movie is, I want an Oscar. Yeah.

That's what this feels like. I would be happy to give it to him. If I were in charge, sight unseen, Will Smith may have an Oscar for playing Richard Williams. We're all ready to December on my next pick. On December 18th, we get Dune. What to say about Dune? Dune comes to us from Denis Villeneuve. This, of course, is Chris Ryan's favorite filmmaker you've heard him talk about

him on this show it's an adaptation of a legendary and perhaps legendarily difficult to adapt novel by Frank Herbert I've never read this novel I do know quite a bit about it though because not only have I seen David Lynch's adaptation of Dune which I think is now probably

underrated but there's a great documentary called yodorovsky's dune about alejandro yodorovsky's attempt his sort of vision for how he was going to adapt dune i don't i don't i don't assume you have not seen this i have not just as a document of like what a director does it's a really really cool movie nevertheless that movie and why yodorowsky's version of it never came to pass is why you shouldn't try to adapt Dune. And Denis Villeneuve, someone recently described this, I want to say it was Scott Mendelsohn at Forbes, as an amazing opportunity that may never come again in the history of movies for Dune. Which is, I think this will be the first non-Marvel, non-Star Wars, non-Lord of the Rings December that we'll ever have again. And the movie that is filling that gap that had previously been filled by those kinds of movies in years past is Dune. This is the event

movie of December. That Rise of Skywalker conversation that we had for three weeks on this show is going to be a Dune conversation. In a lot of ways, I feel like it already is a Dune conversation. I have to say, I also enjoy the work of Denis Villeneuve, and I know basically nothing about this movie because it has already been, there's a little bit of Nolan bro being applied to it. There is. And if that works for you, then go with God,

but nothing could turn me off to a movie faster, so I will just go see it when it's released. But it is very clear that there is a real interest and enthusiasm, at least among a dedicated

group of fans for this movie. I'm curious to see whether that fan base is large enough to actually make it a success. It's very hard to say. I suspect it's going to be very expensive. It's got quite a good cast. Obviously, top line by Timothee Chalamet,

who plays Paul Atreides, who is the main character of the film. Rebecca Ferguson's in this movie. Oscar Isaac's in this movie. Josh Brolin's still in Skarsgård. Everyone's in this movie. It's an incredible cast. I mean, it's a really amazing collection of people. Villeneuve's been climbing higher and higher with every film, bigger budgets, bigger stories, you know, going from, I don't know, Enemy to Arrival, Arrival to Blade Runner 2049. He keeps kind of climbing the ladder and taking on bigger responsibility. You know, this is an IMAX movie. It's a 3D movie. It's a big fucking deal. I suspect we'll be paying a lot of attention to it as the

year goes by. What's next for you? So we're in the TBD section of my list. And I would say at least two of these movies, I honestly don't know whether they'll be released in 2020, but whatever, I'm going for it. Fire away. The next one is Deepwater, which is the movie by Adrian Line, who directed Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, and who has not made a movie since Unfaithful. I didn't know this movie was happening. Have we talked about how important Unfaithful is on this podcast? It's really important. Is that something we should do?

I think maybe Mallory and I should just take over and then this podcast will be canceled because it's too much adult content. I'm just trying to stay married. That's my whole goal in life. No, I want to stay married too, but Unfaithful is really powerful. Anyway, in addition to that, this movie is based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. And it stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas as a married couple who have an open relationship. Hell yeah.

And then some things happen. Affleck is such a lord. He just drives right into the skid every time. So this is like all the information that I've been able to cobble together about this movie, which like it exists. I didn't make any of this up. I don't know whether it's coming out in 2020. The plot could change.

All of that could change. But if what I just said is even 30% true, holy shit. That's so good. That's so good. That is so good. We've mentioned in the past how Ana de Armas is due a very big 2020. There's another movie that I'll mention in our conversation that she'll star in. But Affleck following the way back up with The Last Duel, which we'll also discuss, up with this movie that you're suggesting is just insane. It is more auto-fiction.

There's so much auto-fiction happening with my guy. Wow, I just love Ben Affleck so much. Okay, well, we will look forward

to Deepwater. My next pick is Mank. Fincherback. Movie Fincherback. Yeah, this is great. I can't wait for this movie. This would be on my list,

but it's like your spiritual event of the year, so I'm giving it to you. Aside from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I was trying to think of a movie I have anticipated this much. Even Phantom Thread, I did not have the level of anticipation because I was like, ah, I don't know, Chamber Peace, about a courtier. Like, I don't know, is this really going to be my thing? Mank is so my thing, it hurts. Tell the people what it is. Mank is an upcoming American biographical film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz

and his battles with director Orson Welles over screenplay credit for Citizen Kane. This is a long-term passion project for David Fincher. It is produced by Netflix. Clearly, at some point after enough episodes of House of Cards and Mindhunter, which sounds like R.I.P. Mindhunter. That's a whole other podcast. He's going to get a chance to make this movie. This movie was written by his father, who is no longer alive, Jack Fincher,

many, many years ago. This dispute that the movie is organized around is a famous dispute, particularly among film critics, because there's a legendary piece written by Pauline Kael that questions the authorial nature of Citizen Kane and who was more responsible for the film's success, Orson Welles

or Herman Mankiewicz. There are many people who believe Herman Mankiewicz. Also, I believe his nephew, Ben Mankiewicz, who people will know or his great nephew even, people will know

from Turner Classic Movies, claims that Herman Mankiewicz is essentially the sole author and that while Orson Welles is a great filmmaker, Herman Mankiewicz conceiving of this great reinterpretation of William Randolph Hearst's life is,

he's the person most responsible for the greatness of that movie. Now, this sounds a little bit wonky, and it is. And that's okay. You know what? Zodiac is a little bit wonky. Nobody makes wonky stories more compelling than David Fincher.

This movie's gonna be shot entirely in black and white, which is one of the reasons he couldn't get it made for years because there was nowhere to put a black and white $60, $80, $90 million movie about Herman Mankiewicz anywhere. Mankiewicz can be played by Gary Oldman, recent Oscar winner. Amanda Seyfried will be in the movie as Marion Davies, long thought to be the inspiration

for the rosebud of Citizen Kane. Lily Collins is in this movie, Tuppence Middleton, Arliss Howard, Charles Dance, Ferdinand Kingsley. It's kind of like a rogues gallery of great British and American actors.

I'm pumped. I'm so pumped. I don't know when this is coming out. I assume it's going to come out in like November or December and be an Oscar movie. Maybe we'll see it at Toronto someplace like that.

Man, I'm pumped. Okay, I'm done talking. It's nice. It's nice for you to have things. I'm also excited, but you, you know, light your light shine. Also speaking of things that were just extremely personally pumped, this is a great segue. My next is On the Rocks, the new film by Sofia Coppola. That's my girl. I don't know what else to say. There's no one who has been more important to me in terms of developing an aesthetic

and an attitude than Sofia Coppola. Literally, like when I got married, I gave them a picture of Sofia Coppola's hair and I was like, do this, okay? That's a real story. That's good. So On the Rocks is starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones.

I believe Bill Murray is Rashida Jones' father and they're reconnecting and then I suppose hijinks ensue or deep emotions ensue. Comic drama? Like what kind of a tone is it going to have? I don't actually know. I would assume that it will be quiet and wistful with moments of levity supplied by Bill Murray probably. This will be out on Apple at some point.

I can't wait. supplied by Bill Murray, probably. This will be out on Apple at some point. I can't wait. It's a combo A24 Apple production, and I think it'll be the first one of those that we see. Kind of curious to see how that takes shape. Is it going to go straight to the service? We don't know. We don't even have a date.

I look forward to that, too. I love Sofia Coppola movies. Should we do a Sofia Coppola episode, you think? Yes. What's your number one? The number one is Lost in Translation. I have a real affection for Marie Antoinette.

Like a real deep affection for that one. And that is like kind of my spiritual favorite. I rewatched Somewhere recently. I hadn't seen it since we moved to Los Angeles. That was a journey.

That's like a but a great film. Big Chateau Marmont energy. Oh yeah. Yeah. Uh, you know, virgin suicides is extremely important. I love them all. My next pick is also a TBD date.

It's also coming from somebody who I'm lightly obsessed with. It's called, I'm thinking of ending things. This is the rare case where I've actually read the novel that a film is going to be based on. And it is a hell of a good novel. Sean can read. I can read. It's written by a man named Ian Reid, very, very talented writer of genre fiction, of a certain kind of psychological genre fiction. And this movie, this book rather, which is I think less than 200 pages, you can read in like an hour. It's just so propulsive and strange and enveloping. And even though it sounds like the filmmaker behind the movie, who is Charlie Kaufman,

is taking some liberties with the story, I suspect that the liberties that he takes will only make it weirder and more interesting. Great cast featuring one of our guys, Jesse Plemons. Yes. And Jesse Buckley as the sort of two key figures in the story. And Tony Collette and David Thewlis are also in this movie. It's also a Netflix movie. You know, Charlie Kaufman hasn't made a movie since Anomalisa, a movie that never gets talked about, that is one of the strangest movies that was made in this century

that I personally love. I know a lot of people don't have as much of a relationship to it. And I'm very excited to see what he does with this, you know, fairly small, fairly contained psychological story. It's called I'm Thinking of Ending Things. What's next for you? This is another movie that it might not be 2020, but if just if wishing made it so, because I can't wait. And that's The Souvenir Part Two by Joanna Hogg. I, as listeners know, I just really loved The Souvenir. I have revisited it. I think a lot about it. It is. And I only learned that there would be a part two when I read the Rebecca Mead profile of Joanna Hogg and also kind of about what part two could be about and what she's kind of still working through and exploring.

And I'm very excited. I'm looking forward to that too. It seems like an entrant in the new expanded ennui universe. You know, like the idea of a sequel to a movie like this is so uncommon, but sort of nice. It feels maybe more in the tradition of like a BBC series where you can kind of watch them together in two long parts or like a season of Sherlock or something like that. Yeah, I guess that's true because it does seem like this will just be the Honor Swinton Byrne character is a stand in for Joanna Hogg. She's been pretty open about that. And it's just the next phase in her

development as an artist and a person. So I suppose that is serial. I do also think that The Souvenir stands on its own as a snapshot of an experience. I agree. It's hard to say whether we'll see that. I suspect it will also be executive produced by Martin Scorsese. Once again, he was quite an advocate for the first film in the series. My next pick is called After Yang. This is an A24 movie by a man named Koganada. Koganada, if you're not familiar with him, essentially was a film critic and made his name as a video essayist, a person who looked deeply at cinema and cinematic trends and put together these really beautiful videos. He did some work for Sight and Sound.

He's a very sophisticated guy. Came to filmmaking as a feature filmmaker a little bit later. He's from Seoul, South Korea. And he made one of my favorite movies. I think it was in my top five in 2018 called Columbus, which starred Haley Lou Richardson and John Cho and is just like a devastatingly beautiful movie. This new movie feels like kind of a step up the ladder. It's a little bit more high concept.

Here's the log line for this movie. Okay. In a world where robotic children are purchased as live-in babysitters, a father and daughter attempt to save the life of their robotic family member, Yang, who has become unresponsive. So, that sounds a bit like a Ray Bradbury story to me. Could be good.

I'm really not sure. It's a little bit curious, the description. Now, the cast is exciting. So, Haley Lou Richardson is back. We're collaborating with him again. We've talked about her in the past on the show. She is a sunbeam. She's a very, very exciting person

to watch on screen. Colin Farrell is the star of the movie. Jodie Turner-Smith, who we last saw in Queen and Slim, is in this film. And an actor named

Justin Min plays Yang. We'll see. I'm intrigued. I like the idea of Coconata entering the genre pool. What's next for you? Next for me, and I think I took this for me maybe, but that's okay.

It's okay. We can share it. Is Annette by Elios Karaks, who directed Holy Motors. And I believe this has not done anything since. First film since Holy Motors. This movie stars Adam Driver and Marine Cotillard. We didn't mention that Marine Cotillard has like three lines in Doolittle. Yes, she plays a French fox.

Sure. Which I hope she's spending that money well. Yeah. Anyway, I'm hoping that Annette has more for Marianne Cotillard to do than Doolittle did. The description is that Marianne Cotillard is an opera singer and Adam Driver is a stand-up comic, and their daughter has quote a special power and this movie is apparently a musical with original songs by Sparks I I don't know what else to say except I'd like to see this as soon as possible I love both of these actors and I I'm intrigued tricky one for you though because as we learned in a profile

of Adam Driver in the New Yorker magazine he he sings in this film as he did in Marriage Story. Yes, but I liked it when he sang in Marriage Story. But he also plays a standup comedian, which we know is not your favorite kind of person. That is true, but I think that I'm willing to forgive Adam Driver pretty much anything. I'll go on that journey. Also, Adam Driver is going to give some humanity to the stand-up comedian, so I don't mind seeing the other side. Yeah, Leos Karis is a very interesting figure in international cinema, certainly a rebellious type. He's made some of the most kind of beautifully confounding movies of the last 30, 35 years, Mulvih Song and Pol-X and Tokyo. If you haven't seen Holy Motors, I would say seek it out. It is one of the most surprising

and strange and beautifully composed and conceived kind of like anthology films that I've ever seen. And this is, it's amazing to me that that was 2012, eight years ago, Holy Motors came out. So this is, theoretically, Annette is eight years in the making.

I look forward to it too. My next pick is called Blonde. You heard us talk on our Roger Deakins episode about the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. That movie was directed by a man named Andrew Dominick. This is Andrew Dominick's new movie, a long, long, long, long time passion project of his.

It's based on a novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. This novel is essentially a fictionalized telling of the life of Marilyn Monroe. I believe it was, I don't think it won the Pulitzer Prize, but I think it was contended for the Pulitzer Prize, this novel. It was a hugely celebrated book that came out right around turn of the century. And I love a kind of like unspoken but understood Hollywood yarn. You know, I like when you take a figure like a James Dean kind of iconoclastic and

iconographic figure and tell a story about them without exactly saying who they are. It's one of the reasons I love the book Zero Bill that we have talked about on the

show before. This is a pretty big swing in the star of the movies, Anna Day Armas. Anna Day Armas is playing basically Marilyn Monroe.

We learned earlier this year that Timothee Chalamet was going to be playing Bob Dylan. We're at the phase now where all the cool young actors that we like and we talk about on this podcast are going to start to play all the people that all the people who are old enough to know who the icons of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s are going to be casting these kids into these roles.

It's a very interesting thing. It's going to be very hard for Anna de Armas to capture Marilyn Monroe. Many people have tried on screen. I think specifically of Mira Sorvino in the Norma Jean and Marilyn film. Do you remember that? It was an HBO movie. Ashley Judd played Norma Jean and Mira Sorvino played Marilyn. And there's sort of like two women cast for the same part. And when she makes the transformation, she looks different. And Mira Sorvino was good. She's no Marilyn. And what Marilyn Monroe means to people in 2020

is kind of an interesting question. So I look forward to that movie and Andrew Dominick is one of those filmmakers who has never been short on style. Knows how to shoot stuff.

So I look forward to it. What's next for you? This is your last pick? This is my last pick. This is number 10 and this is another one that I took from you. But that's fine.

We're sharing. This is The French Dispatch, directed by Wes Anderson. Big movie. One of the most anticipated movies of the year. Yeah. So this is, I'm just going to read the long line. A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th century French city. What's up with these great filmmakers being obsessed with movies about journalism? I have no idea. Journalism is pretty boring, except to us. Not inherently cinematic.

Yeah. And yet, it is the setting for so many movies. I mean, the depressing thing to say is that it is kind of old Hollywood-esque and that it's an institution that is no longer what it once was. It's true. What do you think about Wes Anderson right now? You can count on a Wes Anderson episode of this podcast when we get there. You mean, do I think about him as a filmmaker?

No, just about where he is. I mean, he's coming off of Isle of Dogs. Yeah. I think many people feel like the Moonrise Kingdom Grand Budapest Hotel one-two punch was sort of him arriving officially and kind of escaping that like twee reputation and becoming not just a kind of worldwide box office success but becoming really one of the filmmakers of his time and continuing to evolve and not just getting stuck in the past of what he had done there was some concern in the kind of Darjeeling fantastic Mr. Foxtimer was like oh is he just this person who wants to play

with his toys and he kind of escaped that reputation but you know it's been six years since the Grand Budapest Hotel. So this is pretty long awaited for live action Wes Anderson. Lots changed in the movie world since then. That's true. You think the world is clamoring for a new live action Wes Anderson movie? I don't know whether the world is. I think a generation of people, myself included, who grew up watching Wes Anderson films still is. Can I read this cast also? Because... It's fucking insane. I honestly, I just had to open the Wikipedia page

because I didn't want to type all these out. Here we go. Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Timothy Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Benicio Del Toro, Leah Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet, Elizabeth Moss, Willem Dafoe, Christoph Waltz, Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Alleman, Henry Winkler,

Rupert Friend, Griffin Dunn. There are many more people. I'm tired. That's, wow. A true ensemble. Solomon, Henry Winkler, Rupert Friend, Griffin Dunn. There are many more people. That's, I'm tired. That's, that's, wow. A true ensemble. Pretty amazing. Very few directors who could pull in that many people into their work.

Obviously, a bunch of these people he's worked with before. You know, it's always fun to see Francis McDormand or Bill Murray in one of his movies. Chalamet is putting the work in this year, huh? Gather ye rosebuds. That's right. Dune and The French Dispatch. My number 10 is something I don't know anything about

except the filmmaker and the name of the movie. The name of the movie is Memoria and it's made by Apichepong Virisithical. Excuse me. Apichepong Virisithical.

And the reason that I cite this is not just because he's a great filmmaker and he made Uncle Boon Me Who Can Recall great filmmaker and he made Uncle Boon Me Who Can Recall Past Lives and he made

Cemetery of Splendor it's because Neon bought this movie and paid for it the last movie like this that Neon bought and paid for is Parasite

so you can count on a Pitch Pong movie being a big deal in world cinema circles it's gonna be widely seen like it usually his films usually play can

you know we'll see where it arrives but anytime he releases something it's worth paying attention to and whether they try And his films usually play Cannes. We'll see where it arrives. But anytime he releases something, it's worth paying attention to. And whether they try to make a movie like this saleable to an American audience is fascinating to me. And this has been a big year for Neon and all the things that they've done. They've taken a lot of chances on a lot of international cinema, something that you'll cite when we get to our next segment. Yes, I was going to say.

And they've done pretty good business by it. And getting this filmmaker who is from Thailand and is a kind of comic spiritualist, I would say, is probably the best way to describe the movies that he makes. Like obsessed with nostalgia and remembrance with flashes of genre, like very interesting guy. I think all of his films are on the Criterion channel right now if you want to check those out, including a documentary about him. But really fascinating filmmaker.

This could be one of those things that, if the cards are dealt in the way that they want them to be dealt, like maybe we're just having the Parasite conversation about this movie next year. Let's take another quick break to hear a word from our sponsor. Today's episode of The Big Picture is brought to you by Bank United. Bank United wants you to go for more. Enter for a chance to win $54,000 if a team goes for and completes a two-point conversion during the big game on February 2nd. All you have to do is follow at Bank United on Twitter and tweet at Bank United your answer to

what you would do with $54,000 using the hashtag GoForMore54. Everyone has a chance to win, so the more tweets you send, the more chances you have of winning. And if a team completes a two-point conversion, you can win. Again, follow BankUnited on Twitter and tweet at BankUnited your answer to what you would do with $54,000 using the hashtag GoForMore54. There's only one prize. Many may enter, but only one will win.

Must be at least 18 years of age to enter. For official rules, visit www.GoForMore54.com. That's GoForMore and the number 54.com. Bank United, NA member, FDIC, neither Twitter nor the NFL entities have offered, administered, endorsed, or sponsored this sweepstakes in any way. So that's 10. There's some wildcards. We probably got to cite the wildcards. Yeah. Let's very quickly go through your wildcards. Give me one through five. Okay. My first wildcard is a cheat because it's a movie that was in limited release last year, but it will be wide released, I believe, on Valentine's Day, which is very apt. And it's also being released by Neon. It's Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

A movie we've hardly talked about on this show. Which, because it took me a little while to see it. And I finally saw it and I was absolutely blown away by it. I couldn't recommend this movie enough. It was exhilarating while also being like really, I wouldn't recommend this movie enough. It was exhilarating while also being really... I wouldn't say it's depressing. That's what's interesting about it. It's about a love affair. And that's all I'll say, except that it's the range of emotions and go see it and see it on as large a screen as possible. The cinematography in particular is quite beautiful. I agree. It's

astounding. I think it's shot by Claire Mathen. It is. Who also shot Atlantics this year. I interviewed Celine Sciamma last week. It'll be, we'll have, we'll run that interview on the show soon.

She's probably one of the most sophisticated people that's ever appeared on this show. Her sense of vision and what she wants a movie to do is pretty astounding. I would recommend this movie

to any person that is alive and wants to be in love. What else is on your list? The Last Thing He Wanted from D. Reese. I would recommend this movie to any person that is alive and wants to be in love. What else is on your list? The Last Thing He Wanted from Dee Rees. I think we'll see this at Sundance. We will.

But I, you know, it's another movie about journalists, sort of. Another movie with Ben Affleck. And another movie with Ben Affleck and based on a Joan Didion story. So I'm interested. I like Dee Rees. We'll see. I haven't read this Joan Didion story. So I'm interested. I like Dee Rees.

We'll see. I haven't read this Joan Didion book. I meant to, but then I don't think I have it. I got outplayed as it lays. And then I was like, no, wait, different one. Different one. I'm going to seek it out, though. The next is The Last Duel from Ridley Scott,

which we mentioned briefly. This is one where I just, I want to see what's going on with this. So it's Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Yeah. And Adam Driver is also in it again. And that's when I was briefly, this is one where I just, I want to see what's going on with this. So it's Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Yeah. And Adam Driver is also in it again. And that's when I was like, okay, if Adam Driver is going to take this seriously, then I will also at least give it the benefit of the doubt. I will give Ridley Scott the benefit of the doubt.

But it's about a duel in medieval times. King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Caroux settle his dispute with his squire by challenging him to a duel. That is the slug line of the film. Okay. Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon as Jean. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see.

The next is Let Them All Talk from Steven Soderbergh starring Meryl Streep. Yeah, our first HBO Max entrant. Yes. It's based on a Deborah Eisenberg novel. You know, my New Year's resolution was to stop underappreciating Steven Soderbergh. So here we go. I also really, really, if you're interested in the making of this movie, Candice Bergen is also in it. And I recommend Candice Bergen's Instagram just in general. She's bringing a real Murphy Brown sensibility to it. But the behind the scenes of Candice Bergen documenting the making of this movie are fantastic. A lot of it happens on a cruise ship and then it's Soderbergh and his,

you know, kind of wheelchair camera contraption interfacing with Candice Bergen. Great stuff. That's really good. What's your last pick? It's Macbeth, directed by Joel Cohen, starring Denzel Washington. You know, I'm looking forward to this. I was thinking on the drive to work today, is Macbeth my number one Shakespeare? Might be. Wow. Should we do a Shakespeare episode? Well, I mean, definitely.

I think it's my number one tragedy. I don't know. You know, there's a lot going on in the Shakespeare canon. I don't want to exclude everything, but I'm looking forward to this. I love Richard III. I like a lot of the royal plays. I like Henry V. I didn't expect that from you. I guess you are a history guy. Yeah. They've made for great films in the past. You know, I think a lot of the Olivier films are some of the best films and the Wells films are really, you know, you know a lot more about the LeBron movies than I do. Yeah.

I don't think I've actually seen, LeBron did Henry V, right? Yes. I don't think I've seen that. But yeah, I mean, Joel Coleman and Francis McDormand and Denzel Washington, like, sign me up. I'm good to go. My quick five. Following up Avengers Endgame, the Russo brothers have decided to make a movie called

Cherry. Cherry is a very depraved novel. Did you read it? I did read it. Here's what it's about. It's an army medic named Nico Walker who has returned from Iraq dealing with an opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder, begins robbing banks. This is what I would call

a snitch butler's entrant um for those longtime listeners of the chris ryan and annie greenwald podcasting empire um this is the kind of book that they would review it's like a pretty nasty crime fiction piece that also kind of dovetails as a comment about the opioid affliction that has wracked this country. A lot of depraved stuff happens in it. And who better to show us how depraved we are in this country than Tom Holland, Spider-Man, who will be playing the Nico character. You know, this is obviously the Russo brothers making an attempt to distance themselves, if not intellectually or financially, at least kind of creatively show that they have a different kind of arrow in their quiver.

So they're making this low down dirty crime movie. Got my attention. I'm ready. The Five Bloods. Spike Lee has a new movie, another Netflix movie for African-American Vietnam veterans return to Vietnam. They are in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. When Paul Walter Hauser was here, who was also in this movie, when we were kind of talking after we had recorded, he was like, that shit is good. Defy Bloods is going to be really good. Spike coming off of Black Klansman, very exciting time. If you're a fan of Spike, this

feels like it's really in his wheelhouse. I've also got Bergman Island, the new film from Mia Hansen Love, who is a French filmmaker who, you know, in recent years has made movies like Things to Come and Eden and probably most famously Goodbye First Love. Definitely one of the best international filmmakers working. Wouldn't be shocked to see this. Also, it can. Bad Education by Corey Finley, which played at the Toronto Film Festival. Corey was a guest on this show when he had his debut feature Thoroughbreds. He was a guest on this show when he had his debut feature Thoroughbreds. He was a playwright.

And this is one of the best reviewed movies at Toronto that didn't have a 2020 release date. In fact, it didn't even have a distributor and it was bought by HBO. Which is kind of unusual. HBO very rarely makes acquisitions like this at festivals. This movie stars Hugh Jackman and it's about a kind of scandal inside

of a small school district. I think it takes place on Long Island, which is of course where I'm from and I don't know there's just something about a kind of tense drama set in a world where there's sort of internecine war amongst people with like very low stakes that I find very exciting and I really like Corey's writing so I'm looking forward to that and then the last one is a is a probably one of the more complicated pieces of IP that's going to come around this year. It's called The Many Saints of Newark. It's a prequel to The Sopranos.

And the movie is written and produced by David Chase, who of course created The Sopranos, not directed by him. It's directed by Alan Taylor, who is a longtime director on The Sopranos, but also was the director of a really bad Thor movie and a lot of episodes of Game of Thrones. He's a very well-known and respected hired hand when it comes to TV directing, not necessarily thought of as a great cinematic artist.

The movie stars, among other people, James Gandolfini's son playing a young Tony Soprano. So we don't know very much about this movie other than to say we're looking forward to it. Hopefully it's great. I don't even know if it's going to go to theaters or if it will go directly to HBO. I'm not entirely sure how that's going to play out, but a movie of great interest. A couple of other people who are making movies this year. Mike Mills. I love Mike Mills. Jonathan Glazer. He's in that conversation for people I'm most obsessed with. He takes about eight years between movies. He has a new movie coming people I'm most obsessed with. He takes about eight years between movies. He has a new movie coming out.

Ho Shao Shen. Can't underestimate any time Ho Shao Shen comes through with a new movie. And then Paul Schrader's The Card Counter. Paul Schrader's making a movie about gambling. I know. And I asked you before we started recording why this, you know, how this isn't. I just don't think it's going to come out this year. Okay.

That's the only reason I didn't put it on the list. The star of this movie is Oscar Isaac. Oscar Isaac is playing a gambler in a Paul Schrader movie. One thing we didn't talk enough about in Rise of Skywalker is how great Oscar Isaac looked, especially with his gold chain. That's what I have to say. Handsome fellow. That's my contribution. Handsome fellow, great actor.

You think it's going to be a good year for movies? I think you and I are going to have a great time seeing movies. Do I think that it's going to be a good year for movies? I think you and I are going to have a great time seeing movies. Do I think that it's going to be a boom time for the movie industry? No, I don't know. I think that there will be a lot of angst. I think a lot of things will change. I don't know that all change is bad. I agree.

I agree. I think that there will be a lot of panic and there'll be a lot of scares about where things are going, but you're also going to get a lot of creative stuff. I mean, Netflix in particular has a pretty crazy slate of movies. I mean, there's a bunch of movies that we haven't talked about at all here, some of which will be bad, some of which will be great. There's nothing really on the order of the Irishman where you know for three or four years that kind of something is coming and that there's this big project. But the totality of their lineup is pretty staggering. It's just, we'll be having those same conversations

that we always have about who's watching this and when and did they finish it and what do the numbers really mean and the shroud of secrecy around every project.

But Mank is coming. That's all I can say. And the flip side of it is that a lot of people will be able to see it. See it. That's exactly right. In their homes.

It is a lightly democratized wide movie going. So next week we're going to do an Oscars mailbag. So we want to hear questions from you guys and they can only be

about the Oscars. So if you want to ask Amanda about Wonder Woman 1984 save it. Keep it. If you want to talk about who got snubbed

why they got snubbed Oscars history what we think is going to happen on Oscar night what we're're hearing about what's going on, how we can improve the telecast, all the things that we talk about on this show, challenge us. We are ready for your questions. And then we'll see you on Tuesday. Thanks for listening. you