The Big Picture - The 2015 Movie Draft. Plus: Amanda Seyfried!

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

We draft once more! After a triumph at the 1995 draft, Sean attempts to fend off Chris and Amanda as the trio select the very best movies from the year 2015 (20:00). Then, Sean is joined by Amanda Seyfried, now appearing as screen legend Marion Davies in David Fincher’s ‘Mank’ and getting the best reviews of her career. They talk about how to make decisions as an actor, portraying a real person, and the perils of impostor syndrome (1:02:00). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Chris Ryan and Amanda Seyfried Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Sean Fennessy. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about the year 2015. Later in this episode, I'll have a conversation with Amanda Seyfried, the marvelous actress now appearing as screen legend Marion Davies in David Fincher's Mank, and getting the best reviews of her career. And while she was a really good hang, smart, funny, interesting, please stick around for that. But first, that's right.

We're drafting once more. The Movie Draft 2015 edition is coming up next on The Big Picture. CR, welcome back to The Big Picture. Congratulations to all the Am Amanda's on this podcast thank you so much so many Amanda's this is a big Amanda episode it's a big it's a big me episode too guys because we got

a trailer for a movie called Godzilla versus King Kong and so before we draft I just wanted to get your quick thoughts on that which I just thought was the funniest trailer I've seen possibly in the last 10 years can I just say something so Sean as is his want, sent us the outline for this episode,

which included Sean just like transcribing various quotes from the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer. You just like wrote them in the outline. And I want you to know, Sean, this is a gift to you that I just, I read the outline and just like started laughing like out loud in my home to the point that I had to explain what was going on.

So good job, buddy. You made me laugh. Thank you. For those of you who haven't seen this trailer, you'll understand why it's funny because the dialogue that appears in this trailer is elite. This is some of the best writing I've ever heard. CR, what'd you think? I think it's funny how we all wind up in shit town because remember when they started making these Godzilla movies and it was like, these are important films about the military industrial complex and nuclear annihilation. And now it's fucking Rebecca Hall being like, Kong bows to no one.

It's just so funny. It's like after like one or two and you're tired of hearing like directors be like, this was sort of my riff on like, not just Apocalypse Now, but really getting back to Conrad. You just were like, no, dude, what we're going to do is Technicolor

fucking monster cartoons fighting while Kyle Chandler, who definitely is like, I a fucking honda salesman runs in to a room and is like godzilla is angry and we don't know why or godzilla is hurting people and we don't know why great stuff man my favorite part of the trailer which also features one of the worst soundtrack needle drops i've ever heard. I don't know what that song is. It's like a rap rock song circa 2004. So bad. There's a hard cut and it goes from Godzilla,

like punching a dragon to a single shot of Rebecca Hall. And she just says, it's Godzilla. That's when I started laughing. TFW, it's Godzilla. We know, we know it's Godzilla. That's when I started laughing. TFW, it's Godzilla. We know. We know it's Godzilla. I'm just happy that Rebecca Hall is getting some money too.

You know, give it to everyone. Let everyone have a chance to show up and really phone it in on some ridiculous dialogue that makes no sense. Good job. Did you guys see the last Godzilla? No. Well, there's only been one right hasn't no there's the Cranston one then there's the the one that Michael Doughty oh yes yes king of the yeah I did see both I did see both and that's with uh Vera Farmiga right yeah I believe the

message I sent to Amanda after seeing that film was, don't see it. We will not be discussing it on the podcast. It's true. That is true. And I take those notes seriously. Yeah. And then Kong Skull Island is an important film for me and Sean. Because of Brie Larson? Why?

No, because it was like, let's make a Vietnam movie. It's not that. It's not a Vietnam movie. Good John C. Reilly in that movie though remember he shows up like an hour and a half in the the godzilla kong monsters universe is is definitely in contention for stupidest universe i will be watching this movie 1000 when it comes to to hbo max on march 26th i will be firing it up at like eight o'clock in the morning when it hits the service um and it might be bad you know watching this trailer, it made me think, Chris, you had

an amazing idea for a future episode of this podcast. And I've made Amanda aware of this. And I thought this would be a good time to tease it since we're talking about stupid movies that we'll be able to watch on HBO Max. Okay. What is it, Chris? What are we going to do for this upcoming release? You have no idea what I'm referring to. I actually don't. What are you talking about? Did I have a great idea? Chris, the Snyder Cut. Oh, yeah. This is a great idea by me. So we're going to do basically a director's commentary of the director's cut

where we watch it and record our commentary live. So it could feasibly be a four-hour podcast. By feasibly, I think the word you're searching for is definitively because Zack Snyder has told us that this film will be four hours long. Yeah, so we're going to do basically a live pod.

So is it going to be live-live? Well, I don't think it'll be broadcast live, but people can start the track when the movie starts and get our commentary. So I have some news, which is I've been speaking

to Jeff Zucker about this and they're going to air our commentary live on CNN, which I think is some news which is I've been speaking to Jeff Zucker about this and they're going to air our commentary live on CNN which I think is exciting kind of like a second screen experience. So if you have two TVs

set up in your home and you want to watch CNN while watching the Snyder Cut. No. So I think what people would have to do here is like us we will

watch the movie in real time record the episode assuming this is a four hour set. This is the first our producers hearing of this news. What the hell.

What the hell? It's like Chris went into my nightmares. He peered through Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind style. Apologies to Bobby, but also congratulations to everyone else. I think, honestly, the best reason to do this is so that we only have to watch the Snyder Cut once. That's exactly what I'm saying. Yes, I also understood that, and I do want to make it clear for everyone. We're not prepping. Okay. This is a one time only. It will be four hours that we commit. And that's it.

I think it's also fair to say that we will be drinking, right? I think that's a good idea. Let's maybe be careful about what it is we're drinking. I'll be drinking milk because I think that's what's most important during the Snyder Cut, you know, is just to get strong, to get my calcium up. So so yeah look forward to that i mean that's that also is supposedly coming in march though the movie has not been dated so look out for that cr will be i'm only gonna be drinking bulletproof coffee while we do that just pure grass-fed butter and just all right let's make a transition to 2015 2015 is well first of all, congratulations to me for winning the 1995 movie draft. Did you guys happen to see the results of that draft?

I dispute that election, but yes. Do you? Yeah. How so? I just... I find that the sort of... When the podcast drops is when I have the most momentum behind my movement. And then four days later, they're like, oh, who won? And everybody's like, well, it's probably Sean, right? I think it's like my stuff is rooted more in the live experience of listening to the podcast and yours is more results-based

personally. Right. This was like an early returns of Pennsylvania are showing it's going deeply red. That's sort of a thing. Is that what you're saying? Yes. Interesting. Amanda, what do you think. Is that what you're saying? Yes. Interesting. Amanda, what do you think about this? This Holly-esque accusation? You know, I just do it for the people who don't vote. I just, I'm out there. I just, all the people.

You're the Nader crowd. Well, not in politics. I hope you vote in politics, but I'm doing it for the people who listen to this podcast and then go live their lives. Maybe they watch a movie and enjoy it. Maybe they call a friend. Maybe they clean their house. Maybe they invest in a hobby. They're cooking. They're trying to reconnect. They're trying to make sense in the world, and they don't have time to press some buttons on Twitter. I see you guys. I'm living my life every day for you. I'm movie drafting for you. Keep shining.

Well, I'm doing this for all the people who are voting. So thanks for voting for me. I appreciate it. This is how we win elections, folks. We speak to the voters. And that's what I'm doing here on this podcast. Moscow Sean speaks again. 2015. 2015, the three of us were close friends by this time, I would say. say and Amanda you had not yet moved to Los Angeles but there was a sense that perhaps you might um why don't you take us back to your 2015 who were you and what kind of a movie consumer were you at the time yeah this was my last year in New York and this was also the year that I was considering and then decide did decide to move to Los Angeles so it's funny when I was

thinking about the movies, I think of them all in terms of where I saw them. And I have a lot of memories of, I was also not really going to a lot of movie screenings this year. So I was watching movies like in theaters. And I remember the specific New York theaters. I went to see spotlight at BAM. I saw the intern, I believe by myself, like the legend I am at the Cobble Hills Theater. I saw Creed again by myself at the 34th Street Theater in New York. And then I remember I watched a lot of movies on planes to and from LA. Not a lot. That makes me sound like, you know, some jet setter. But I did travel a few times in order to decide whether I wanted to move out here and then to look for a place to live. And yeah, I'm going to do this. I, so I have an admission to

make, which is that I have seen two of this year's most important and beautiful movies since on a large screen, but I did see both Mad Max Fury Road and Sicario for the first time on airplanes Jesus Christ it's fine I followed up I followed up do you know how many people almost died making Fury Road I do actually and that's why but listen it's accessible okay I needed to see it I saw it on a plane I really enjoyed it I saw it again in order to appreciate some of the cinematic experience. But in this day and age, I don't think we can be mad at people for consuming cinema. Okay. We need people to watch it on their own terms, even if it's on an iPod. And also Christopher, before you shame me, I would like to tell you about the specifics of seeing Sicario because

I have a vivid memory of it, which is that I think it was literally five years ago this week. We were moving to Los Angeles and we're on the plane. I had just taken a tequila shot in the JFK terminal four at 10 AM because things were a little emotional on the plane, new life. And I was like, what should I watch? And I was like,

Oh, Chris Ryan really loves Sicario. I should probably see it so I can talk to him. And then I watched Sicario on the plane. So should probably see it so I can talk to him. And then I watched Sicario on the plane. So thank you to Christopher Ryan and Roger Deakins. And Delta. Chris Ryan, I feel that I know the answer to the question I'm going to ask you,

but who were you? And what kind of a movie goer were you in 2015? Yeah, I watched basically all these movies with you. So you can answer this question if you want to. But this was sort of at the peak of we would get to the end of our work week and we would usually go to dinner and movie with our lovely wives. Yeah. This is a pretty incredible year, I would say. This is an all killer, no filler year. Yeah. It's, this is going to be a tenacious draft, but also I don't think that, I don't think it's going to be hard to lose this draft in a way

because there's so much quality stuff to spread around. I'll work on it. Can always depend on you, Chris. 2015 is a, is a, it was a complicated time for, for me though, as I recall. I mean, I had like a real personal meltdown, like a break in the summer of this year. I was thinking about it a lot. And as I was trying to channel like where I was, I went back to the playlist. I make a playlist of music every year at the end of the year. That's like all my favorite songs from that year. So I went back to listen to that playlist as I was thinking about this draft. And that reminded me of this road trip that I took in the middle of the year over the summer, where I drove through the American Southwest as my vacation one week by

myself. And then my wife came and met me for the second week. I was kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And one of the things that I really wanted to do was to spend more time participating in the culture of covering movies. Being on film Twitter. Honestly, yes. In a very perverse and sad way, I just wanted to be more active in covering movies. And part of that was probably inspired by the fact that

the movies were pretty darn good at this time. And I felt like maybe I was missing out on some sort of higher calling. It was like I decided to go to the seminary of film. So this is an exciting year to me. You are the Neil Cassidy of Letterboxd. Just kind of riding the open roads, thinking about takes, thinking about how many stars to give stuff. And then you come back, a beat generation, and a lot of the way you think about it is that kind of free associated stream of consciousness. That's how I think of your takes. Chris, here's the thing. When I was hiking through Zion National Park,

and I was traversing through the waist deep waters of the narrows. I thought of you and just how weak you are and how you could never do what I did. And I was doing it. And at the same time, I was conceiving of what I was going to do with movies. I was able to balance both of those thoughts in my mind. So shout out to you for your weakness. Didn't you? Wasn't this the year also that you had like crippling back pain? Yes, I hurt myself very badly in this year and uh i think i didn't help it by deciding to hike through six national parks over the course of 14 days that wasn't a good choice on my part um any what what thoughts about the

the of the movie year aside from there just being a lot of stuff that we liked you know what what jumps out to you as you look at the collection of stuff that we had here, Amanda? All of the quote good stuff is actually good and enjoyable. I think there was kind of a lot more consensus in terms of, oh, this is really interesting and I really like this. And a couple exceptions, but nothing where I look back at what we were taking seriously and got excited about. And I'm like, what the hell were we thinking? There's also a neat division between all of the movies that like I do remember and we want to take seriously and then

all of just like the sequels like garbage stuff you know like there was some filler Chris and it's like Ted 2 and you know that's that's cool I guess or maybe not I think Ted 2 was like probably pretty offensive I didn't see it but I didn't have to see it. Yeah, I think that maybe what I mean by all killer, no filler is more that the big consensus films were all really, really exciting to watch. I felt like, and we will obviously talk about

a lot of these movies in great detail in the actual draft, but this also felt, I was wondering if you guys had any observations about these movies being the last movies of the Obama era, really, and whether or not they had a degree of,

you know, not lightness or affirmation, because even something as enjoyable as The Big Short is very depressing, and Spotlight is very depressing in a lot of ways, but there is a certain belief in people's abilities to right the wrongs of institutions in these movies, I think, maybe, or at least that abilities to like right the wrongs of institutions in these movies I think maybe or at least that there is like a right or wrong way of

looking at things that I think probably gets lost over the next couple of years yeah I think like duty and civility and a kind of morality in a lot of even movies like Mad Max Fury Road there's like it's an ecological allegory in a lot of ways as much as it is

a kick-ass action movie and you know on down the line you know the Big Short Bridge of Spies even movies like The Revenant and like the idea of surviving you know and kind of coming out the other side of something feel hopeful in a weird way the Big Short is the

only one that is not hopeful the final five minutes of the Big Short and the title card there about how we're running out of water. Don't do it. Don't do it. That's really, that's some of the darkest shit ever. But I agree with you. It does feel certainly like the end of some kind of ambient era. And you know, with movies, we know that it takes years for these things to be conceived and funded and produced and executed and shared with audiences. So there was a long lead up. And I think a movie like The Big Short is about a really dark time in American history. And it's six, seven, eight years on from the 2008 financial crisis.

I wonder if you think that we will have a kind of similar slow rolling effect with the last four years that we just had. And if we'll see stuff. I sincerely wonder whether or not there will be a market for those kinds of movies in four or five years, given the way things are going. And not to be dark on my own, but do you guys think that there's going to be a lot of movies about the Capitol riots or the pandemic in four years? I don't know. I mean, United 93 was made. You know what I mean? Sure.

Artists find ways to represent these incredibly painful moments in history. So it's possible that this one was just like this cauterized four-year burn on our body that we don't want to have to see on a screen. But usually there is like a market, quote unquote, for this kind of stuff. What do you think, Amanda? I think the way we talk about anything has changed so differently since 2015 and like it certainly does feel like the end of the obama era in terms of people like being willing to like believe in institutions and being able to take these movies seriously but also like how the films were discussed with the idea

that you know you could invest in an artist's intentions and that that not everything has to be like completely torn down and so I I just don't know how anyone will respond to any art that is made within the next four years or about the last four years and I think that experience has become so separate from how the movie itself is made and experienced that I don't know whether there would be a market in that sense, because why would you do it if no one really wants to see it? Yeah. Or does it just become like the Comey rule and it's like a four-part thing on Hulu or Showtime or something? That's probably where we're heading with most things anyhow. So perhaps that's what we get. Maybe we just get a nonstop Donald Trump ongoing series

that last years that portrays what had previously happened in the previous four years. Who knows? Either way, it definitely won't be as enjoyable as 2015 movies. I'd just rather watch Euphoria

or something. It's okay. Do you guys want to draft? Let's do it. Sure. Can I just say though? Yeah, go ahead. Sorry, because I guess, guess Sean you said that there's

like no way to lose this one and Chris was like I'll try which god bless you Chris we love you so good to see you but I I do kind of feel like a strategy is emerging in all of these like as we all become more familiar with the categories and the buckets like I kind of I think we all become more familiar with the categories and the buckets. Like I kind of, I think we all know which buttons to press. These sharks are thinking. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm just wondering, I think that we should at least go through the decade in the current format.

But as I was preparing my list and kind of being like, okay, well, this will go here and this will go here. Like whether we should start re-imagining or changing some of the categories just to keep everybody on their toes. I am certainly open-minded about that. I have also been thinking that I don't want to keep going in order for years, like to 16, 17, 18, 19 in the future too. So if we could go further into the past, I think the categories don't make as much sense. So, you know, we should

talk about what years we want to do in the future. But like, what's an example? What's something that you feel like we should tweak? The categories probably just because I think we've all learned even like what the moves are in terms of, oh, I can fit this in this bucket and I probably want this and, you know, something. And I guess as we get closer to the present day, there is a more kind of received wisdom about whether like the hot properties quote unquote and what or not i could be wrong maybe chris will surprise me yet again i think it would be cool to maybe tweak wildcard into like whether it's low budget or indie or something to kind of encourage us to not just use wildcard is like and then i get another big movie yeah just a thought well

uh i've made one thing that people seem to like in my whole life and it's the movie draft and what you guys want to do is change it so uh no i just want to thanks for being here i want to preserve it you know i know i know no i think it's a good idea okay let's let's let's go to the draft which means we need to figure out the draft order and i the draft order is pretty pretty it's crucial this one yeah because there's a lot of optionality and where we go here so bobby you want to help us out i would love to uh i also i you know i support the the movie draft adding a post game late in its career i think it's important you have to evolve okay try cheering for Ben Simmons

and say you don't want to change your game at all. First pick awarded to Amanda Dobbins. Wow! We are spinning to see what is coming up next. Second will be Chris Ryan.

That means, Sean, you are going third. Wow. Okay. For those of you who have never listened to a movie draft before we draft in six categories in snake fashion those six categories are drama

comedy horror blockbuster animated foreign language sequel and wild card CR you have the first pick no pressure here buddy no I have the first pick wow my bad my bad. Trying to freeze the envelope right in front of our fairy eyes.

That was incredible. The winner is La La Land. Amanda, you have the first pick. Okay, in the sequel category, I will be taking Mad Max Fury Road. With a shout out to Delta. Yeah, this is like certainly the best movie of the year uh as a technical achievement as a visual achievement um one of the best movies of the decade for sure we're just all agreed on that and i am very glad

that i was able to see it in small and large format well that was predictable yeah chris and i are dismayed and i i can I just say really quickly, I'm glad that we don't do a bunch of movie clips for the movie draft because this would mark the maybe 150th time that you guys have tried to get me to put a clip from Mad Max Fury Road into a podcast

when the whole thing is just like guitars. It's just with the guitar guys. There's no dialogue. Me neither. Yeah, there's nothing. And it's always just like, let's drop a Mad Max Fury Road. There's even a rewatchable.

Shout out to my friend Craig. It's tough. Tough times for us podcasters times for this product clip is oh what a lovely day nicholas holt saying oh what a lovely day that is that is the clip to use every single time nevertheless we don't have to use it here um okay amanda that was that that obviously was the that was the the sword in the stone that was the golden choice and it solves a lot of what i mean it's kind of like i know like i knew i was going to do that or whoever was going to go first was going to do that and anyway we'll see what happens from here well it gets interesting from here because one cr is known for his um creative strategies no it's not what it is though this is actually like a perfect example of the the sort of the curse of going second here is that I have a lot of runway to work with,

but it's also like, I'm my own worst enemy. And I, you know, also you guys have, as we know, the peanut gallery really throws me off my game, but I just have to be true to myself and go with Sicario. Um, so I'm going to take Sicario, which I think is the best movie of this year. And I'll take that in the drama category. Uh, I don't, are you contractually allowed to say Sicario in a normal speaking voice? What just happened here? Sicario! Oh, wow. I don't want to make you do Chris Ryan karaoke, but that was, I was expecting some fervor there.

Chris, do you remember? I think it was one of the times when I was in LA in, being like, you know, should I move here? And just some dudes drove by and yelled Sicario out of the car. Do you guys remember this? And I was like, okay, well, those are my, those were the early, early seed investors in the CR army. Was that, was that a little Dom's? Where was that?

It was on Franklin when we were walking to what's that place called? The sandwich place. The Oaks. Yeah. That was absolutely wonderful. That was actually one of the first times where I was like, this Chris Ryan thing is fucking real. Like this is this is really happening. That was so good.

OK, so I have two picks, huh? Tricky one here. I guess I'm going to go. I'm going to try to knock out two difficult categories quickly. The first one is I'm going sequel and I'm going Creed. This is Ryan Coogler's follow up to the Rocky mythology. Really great movie. Usually it's Amanda's job to put her husband on front street.

But one of her husband's opinions ever was telling us that this movie isn't't good that was a really bad take obviously he also oh my god no i never mind i don't want to do this like i i got a lecture this weekend about how i have to be nicer to him on this podcast so i just want to say my favorite people that's my comment he is one of my brother this is his worst take of all time he's one of my favorite philadelphia and he likes a lot of other really good movies he truly does just not this one which is great um i re-watched creed uh about a year ago loved it as much as i saw the first time i saw it um and look at coogler now i mean he's one of the signature filmmakers of this century and uh so that's an obvious pick and then second pick i'm going animated foreign language and i'm going inside out this is um this is one of my favorite

movies this is the feelings right it is the feelings chris this one is incredibly good i liked i saw this i think with i don't think i saw with sean but i i did see a theater with other people i had a real like flipping out like like evangelizing. People got to go see this movie, kind of reaction to this movie, which is wonderful. And Amanda and I talked about it quite a bit. Pete Docter, because he just directed, co-directed Soul, the new film available on Disney Plus. And it's funny and it's creative

and it's personally affecting and it's got bing bong and it fits a category nicely for me here. So inside out okay cr your next pick i'm gonna take big short in comedy damn it good pick yeah um one of i think probably one of the movies this had a really great netflix run so this is one of the movies that i have re-watched the most in the last five years uh as a collection of individual moments i think it's like really really masterful like you know i think there's a certain vignette style to the way it's told that really um lends itself to re-watching and um it's kind of a really awesome snapshot of a bunch of

people who would go on to like have really cool careers afterwards like jeremy strong is in it you know what I mean? There's a bunch of people in this movie that would go on to do pretty significant work. The only thing I don't love in this movie is Carell's performance. His central performance. But for the most part, that gets blotted out by Gosling,

who is just out of his mind in this movie. He's so good. That dude, Jarrett. Perhaps we can convince Bobby to actually put the clip of Jarrett speaking into this. Money! The fashion friends one. Yeah. It's really special.

I told you we'd meet later. Unfortunately, it's in a place like this, which I would never be. I never hung out with these idiots after work, ever. I had fashion friends. Apparently, this guy wanted 200 million credit default swaps brandon made the sale can you believe it i love i love the big short um amanda you've got two picks oh shit i have you too um okay so it's funny big short was at the top of my drama list um so is it what is is it? It is a very funny movie.

It is very funny. I mean, it's certainly a dark comedy. I do feel like comedy and drama, we can usually slot a lot of them in either way.

And that's okay. But I can accept it in a comedy. I also realized when I put the list together, Chris, that I didn't even bother putting Sicario down

because I just wasn't going to take it from you. I appreciate it. There's one movie here that I didn't even bother putting Sicario down because I just wasn't going to take it from you. I appreciate it. There's one movie here that I didn't put down because for the same reason for you. Is it the lobster? I forgot to put the lobster on. I actually really like that movie. I'm going to

put that down as a backup. Okay. So I'm taking, I'm just stalling here for time. Do you think that this is the I think that you should go for the movie that you know you want in your soul. You should go for it here. That's called the Chris Method. Are you going to take it from me?

No. Okay. There's a lot of big money on the board here still. I was going to say it. I know what I'm going to do here. In Blockbuster, I will be taking The Martian. Good pick. Fuck.

Just, yeah. A great one-man show i just love it you put a movie star on the screen and he's like i can grow potatoes and you're just like sure i'll watch you grow potatoes for a while love a space movie as previously discussed love a space movie where everything works out as previously discussed um i it's a great matt damon performance i made a ton of money it's i wish this is the classic i wish they made more movies like this but there aren't that many matt damons to go around i think we kind of underestimate how hard it is just for one guy to mostly hold the screen and he does it extremely well so the martian. You're just a vamp city. I know.

Just take Avengers Age of Ultron. You know you want to take it. Just take it. I am a vamp city. I was prepared for Inside Out to not be on the board. I don't know why I didn't prepare myself for Big Short to not be on the board. That one hurt. That one really did hurt.

I really liked that one. I guess, you know, honestly, in drama, I'm going to take Spotlight, which I feel a little like, like I'm the Academy basic person right now. But that's okay. Sometimes the Academy like does good things. I Spotlight is a really difficult movie. And the memory I have of watching it at BAM is not just being there, but it's of that card at the end when they list the number of places

where the spotlight investigation then inspired other investigations. And it just is like a gut punch. I think it's a really effective, sobering film. It is also a great newspaper film. And as a person who wanted to be a journalist and who loves those movies, I think it really succeeds on that front.

And, but, you know, it did win Best Picture. So I guess that's good for me too. I wonder if 2015 is the year with the most, the 2010s year with the most rewatchables, you know, it feels like there's a lot of movies here, you know, that we either have done or will do that really we want to return to as well, you know, and obviously spotlight while difficult to watch, I think is super watchable. You know, it's really easy to plow through. I mean, Chris, you guys did it on the show earlier this year, and I feel like that was one of the points you were making. Yeah. I mean, there was also a

batch of these movies, I think that like Big Short had Netflix runs prior to the emergence of HBO Max and a couple of the other streamers where people would just kind of dump their movies on Netflix and be like, feel free and And Spotlight and I think Sicario was actually on Netflix for a while. So a couple of these movies, I think, really grew in their fan base and in their estimation because of the access to them.

Okay. I don't think anybody has made a misstep yet. That's why I come in. There's still time, Chris. Okay. I guess for blockbuster here I'm gonna do Ant-Man I really like Sean's face as you said Ant-Man that was a good strategy Chris yeah there was it was not it was not because I told myself I would not be selecting any MCU films in this draft and now I can be relieved of that.

Because why? Because this is a bad MCU year? No, no. Ant-Man's a good movie. I like Ant-Man and I think you've made a good pick. I don't want my strategy to get stale. And I think too often I'm relying on the MCU. This is probably the example of if you put MCU on the box,

it doesn't matter what's inside the box because this is essentially like a zany comic heist movie that felt like at the time when you watched it, you were just like, this is cool. This is pretty disposable,

but I'm in and I'm out. Let's go. And then it made like $190 million or whatever. It just inexplicably with like a Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, like comic caper.

But yeah, I'll go Ant-Man for Blockbuster and see if I regret it. It's funny that you say that, Chris. You know, like maybe a year, a year and a half ago, me and you and a couple of friends went to see The Hot Rock at the New Beverly.

And I know it sounds like annoying director bullshit, but when I was watching The Hot Rock, I was like, this is kind of like Ant-Man. Certainly, there's an Ant-Man in Ant-Man, and so it can't be like a Robert Redford 70s heist movie. There's also all that sentimental bullshit

about him and his daughter and stuff. Yeah, yeah. Fuck daughters. Absolutely. That's not what I mean. I just mean they always tack it on. They don't do that for the Hot Rock. They're not like, oh, George Segal's daughter is really important.

Yeah, what you want is just four guys just cracking safes and cracking jokes, right? I just mean you don't always have to have a kid to make the movie emotionally resonant. That's all I'm saying. Great stuff. Okay, I've got to make some

picks here. I've got two picks to make. And I think I know what I'm doing. In Blockbuster, I'm going Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, which is not the best Mission Impossible movie, but it's up there. And I believe it's the first that is directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who would then go on to direct what I think is the second best Mission Impossible movie, which is Fallout. This might be third or fourth, and it's damn good. And I think it's really a

revivification of this franchise in a lot of ways. And now Macquarie is going on to direct the third and fourth editions with Cruise. And I don't know, it's got some incredible set pieces, as all of these films do. It's got the introduction of a couple of new characters, including Rebecca Ferguson. This is really, I feel like, the first time an American audience has got a sense of who Rebecca Ferguson was. She's wonderful. And it's great. It's the good version of IP. There's a lot of bad IP this year.

This was the year that Paul Blart 2 came out. But this is the good version of that thing. So Rogue Nation is the first pick I'm making. And then the second one, I think I'm going to go... Second exotic Marigold Hotel. I've already got a sequel filled out, so

I don't need that one. I'm going to go It Follows in comedy and horror, which is certainly one of the best horror movies of the last 10 years. David Robert Mitchell filmed about the fear of sexually transmitted diseases, the dilapidation of living in an urban center that has been largely abandoned. Certainly some plague elements to consider now as we live in these pandemic times.

The movie has a new resonance. Great lead performance from Micah monroe who chris knight we were just talking about her yeah and whether or not it happened for her i think certainly when i saw this movie i was like oh the new jamie lee curtis hath arrived um maybe that's not totally been the case for her but she's really she was in the guest right around it then too she was and hot summer nights so yeah it follows which i think did we also see this together chris i don't remember we probably did yeah okay this seems like a real like cr and sf put it on the calendar get scared together yeah hold each other's hands throughout the film weep into each other's

shoulders okay that's my turn you're back chris okay so i have uh Let's just review quickly. I have Sicario and Drama, Big Short and Comedy, Ant-Man and Blockbuster. I think what I will do here is grab... You know, I hate to do it. I'm going to do Star Wars Force Awakens for sequel. Wow.

Wow. Let me say this about Star Wars Force Awakens. Okay. It definitely is better than the last one it has that going for it you know is it isn't it yes yes i think it's fine yeah i think there's a bunch of shit in there that is just nonsensical oh you mean that the last the most recent Star Wars film. Yeah. Not episode three. Return of the Jedi?

Or no, wait, what are we... No, Revenge of the Sith. Oh, I don't know. I mean, I can't really understand those movies. The prequels? Yeah, the prequels are okay. But Force Awakens, I would probably say just the entire experience of this movie from the year out, the teaser, and then the trailer,

and just kind of before it became, not before it became Disney-fied, because it was already Disney-fied, but I definitely was pretty hyped for this movie to come out. And I think it's a complicated watch for me because you're just watching Harrison Ford play Han Solo and you're kind of been waiting for this to happen for 30 years. But it doesn't work entirely as a movie,

but in retrospect was a pretty fun romp through this world, which I don't think that they ever really capitalized on. So I'll go Star Wars Force Awakens for my sequel. Cool. That's our first bad pick thanks chris i think it's okay chris i like they just remade it but with a female character and that was cool i you know that was nice the ray the ray and kylo stuff was awesome i thought um do you do you guys just as a group of people do you prefer force awakens to ultron let's just do a focus group right here that's one of those sentences where you're just like i'm like what did i do with my life that i'm

just here trying to be like okay i'll be honest i don't remember ultron what i remember force awakens is that i was unbelievably hungover when i saw that movie i just like i have a sense memory of the hangover and then i remember when the Millennium Falcon is, that's the ship's name. It is. It shows up. And I just remember Zach leaning over to me and being like, that's the Millennium Falcon. Obviously he needed to do that because you were like, yeah. I appreciated it. So that's the experience that I had at Force Awakens. That's cool. That's fine.

I don't remember what happens at Age of Ult time i honestly don't remember they all have bad dreams no he's in civil war oh um as i recall the no is he the imaginary nation state of sokovia is lifted from the earth and raised into the sky and nearly detonated isn't that really what no it's he picks it up and he's taking it up into the air and the higher up it goes the bigger the impact is going to be so it's going to be like an extinction level event it'll be like a year cool but then they figure out a way to heat seal it i just it was just on before uh a basketball game the other night what are you saying what are you saying i remember ultron being really bad actually that was the movie where i was like uh because

obviously i have been seriously invested and not invested in the Marvel movies over time. But that was the one where I was like, oh, actually, this isn't going to work out. This isn't going to be like the cool thing that I think I actually did make it. It's so long. That's the second Joss Whedon movie.

It's really badly written. It is the introduction of Scarlet Witch and Vision. Amanda, when we were talking about this a couple of weeks ago, that's where they come from. But it's really not good. Pietro. That's that guy's name.

Her brother. Quicksilver? Yeah. Yeah, Pietro Maximoff. Okay, so you're up now, Amanda? Yes, I am. What do I have left? I have...

I promise I prepared for this draft. I really did. I made a list and everything, and now I'm just like, what's happening? Okay, I know what I'm going to do., I promise I prepared for this draft. I really did. I made a list and everything. And now I'm just like, what's happening? Okay. I know what I'm going to do. I know what I'm going to do. Comedy.

I'm going to let my light shine. I will be taking the intern. Of course. Directed by Nancy Meyers. Nice one. Here we all are. Gotta be. Yeah.

If people have not revisited the intern, which did not perform as well as the previous Nancy Meyers movies did at the box office. And I think people were a little like, this is weird that you wanted to make a movie in which Robert De Niro is a elderly intern at a fashion startup, which like, okay, sure. I think he's very good at it. And he and Anne Hathaway have like a nice chemistry. But it's interesting as kind of a response to Baby Boom, which is a movie that Nancy Meyers co-wrote and produced in the 80s. And like as a Nancy Meyers completist, I recommend revisiting it. I think there are some interesting aspects of it. I also, once again, saw it by myself because that is the commitment that I have.

Okay, so I have animated, foreign, and wildcard left. I don't really know what my wildcard is going to be. So in animated, I'm going to take Clouds of Sils Maria, which was released in the US in 2015. I checked this. There's a lot of weird date stuff with foreign films this year, FYI. This is of weird date stuff with foreign films this year. FYI.

This is quite a good year for foreign films as well. Yes. This is a good pick. This is your, you're a thousand percent sure. This is the 2015 release. I believe you. I just,

I didn't check. I triple checked. And then I'm looking at the, a very good Manola Dargis review that's dated April 9th, 2015. And I believe that the New York Times releases it, does reviews during the U.S. release. So I tried my hardest. I mean, it definitely was released in France before that. It was at Cannes.

It did the festival circuit. But I tried really hard to verify it. And, you know, perhaps if people care that much then perhaps you could get some clarity on the internet on international releasing dates going forward just clarity on release dates in general would be great for me um i think new york times review is a good a good rule of thumb because that's what i used for my my personal hope i get it is that how you double you double checked force awakens against the times yeah i was like did my god when did force awakens come out because i know it dropped in, you know, it came out in Switzerland first, you know?

Is the rule that it has to be in theaters, like, available to human moviegoers? Yeah, it can't be like, it's not like it came out in a festival and then it was in London and then, yeah, it's when does it drop in the United States of America? That's very hard to find. It is hard to find. Because it's at every fall film festival in October for the United States of 2014. But the rule is generally, even if it's in limited release

in New York and Los Angeles, that still counts. Even if it only opens in two theaters, that counts as the release year, but the festival stuff does not count. And the Times usually does, is one of the New Yorkork and la releases and usually publishes with new york exactly i'm not trying to cheat here nobody nobody's saying that nobody's

saying that i don't think that this is like the film unlike when sean tried to let chris go first listen you know what so i just want to say this is a wonderful olivia um sas movie starring julia pinoche and kristen, incredible Kristen Stewart performance. It's about art and movies and celebrity and women and all the things that I like really recommend it. This is my pick. If for some reason, if there's like hard evidence and by the way,

I will be applying like intense journalistic standards to this hard evidence. So you guys don't just go like screenshotting random stuff. You know, there's going to be some, and I'm, I'm speaking to the people in the world, but it is are you speaking to robert muller who are you no not him sit down sir um but i have a backup pick that i can give right now

if no that's all right because what if your backup pick is one of our picks and what do you guys like that means you can't you can going to take Minions? You can't claim two films. What if I won Minions with a wild card? I don't think that you do. No one else has a Minions bet. I'm trying to be open here. And also, I think it qualifies. But I'm just saying, if I have to be penalized, you can put Minions in.

That's all. I'm going to make a ruling and say that it does qualify. Because it appears that it wasn't in theaters until like april of 2015 in the u.s well now you guys can have minions congrats on that game altering pick amanda well done uh okay chris you're up so i have wild card and animated foreign right that is correct for wild card um I'm gonna go with Steve Jobs hmm interesting uh oh where are we at on Steve Jobs where do you think the people are I know this group this group

here are huge fans of this movie Sean is like a wild fan of it and because we we watched it for this Sorkin pod i think it's good but it's not my favorite sorkin because it is a little that's chicago seven for you of course yeah how'd you know oh man can't believe that was the sorkin movie we got last year that's that's that's such a bummer um steve jobs is dope i think there is a growing... Steve Jobs is awesome. I think there's a growing cult for it. It obviously was kind of overlooked, really,

when it came out. It did fine. And it got a couple of Oscar nominations. But I think it's really good. Sean, as soon as I'm allowed... As soon as Eric Garcetti and Gavin Newsom allow me to start touching you again, I am going to go up to you and I'm going to be like,

MacPaint! Dallas! I'm going to say all the names and then i'm gonna make you stand up i'm gonna do the whole thing where he pokes him in the chest where he pokes michael stuhlbarger in the chest let's go back to you touching me um was that something you were doing before one of the things i realized about this whole experience i've been robbed of like dapping dudes up. That's what it is. Did you know that? I'm a big like high five, handshake,

what's up, fist bump. Yo, can confirm. Can confirm. Every time Chris came in the pod studio is immediate, just daps for everybody. Yeah. And that's just been,

it's been tough. I did think about this when I was watching the football game. I'd dap you up. Do you? I feel like that's not one of the i have a lot of memories usually what happens here's a little sneak peek into what happened at the ringer offices when amanda was there usually i would go into her office with the intention of

dabbing but would have to immediately talk her down from the panic she that onset because i bursted into her office in the first place and like sullied the sanctity of her like complete okay two things happening here number one you did have often like a kramer-esque you know it's like you lead with the energy the door swings open it's like what's up and i um startle very, very easily, which I like, and that's on me. That's nobody else's responsibility of my own. But like, if something had any noise,

I am like a cartoon character. I just jump a foot. Everyone can testify to that. Yeah. But when you, when I come back, when, when,

when the, when the Moderna drops and I come back, everybody on this call is getting like full LA Clippers handshake routines. Okay. Chris, I, I plan to never touch you again just so you know so do not try to dap me up okay why because like you're afraid of germs or just because like no you're just weird you're just super weird he was always just like you could see him seize up is that sean will be very cold for like two or three months and then he'll come up and like fucking sleeper hold me and be like i fucking love you that is actually true i i don't know i don't perhaps it was some in the very bad way i was

raised that i have been led to like brief explosions of of affection but uh the truth is is that i don't like to touch anybody that i work with except for chris when we're on a golf course and i like to like put my hands around his shoulders and be like how you doing buddy feeling good you know you you're swinging it strong you good out there and because it makes him really uncomfortable yeah so the same way that chris makes you uncomfortable start fucking eating shit out on the golf course as soon as he does that's right it's all it's all part of my strategy um, we should probably get back to this draft. So I guess do jobs.

Why were you talking about... Oh, right. Okay. Oh, because I want to do the... When he does his like, here's what I'm going to do if you don't get it to say hello. If you poke me in the chest before I get the vaccine, that will be the last time you use that finger. Okay, Chris? That's what I'm saying to you.

Do I have two picks? Yeah. Wow. My goodness. Okay, Chris? That's what I'm saying to you. Do I have two picks? Yeah. Wow. My goodness. Okay. I'm going Hateful Eight and Drama. Okay. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Interesting move by you to leave Drama on the board this long. I like it.

I feel good about leaving Drama and Wildcard for last. I did think maybe there's some but there this is such a strong drama year like I won't say the names of the films that are still on the board but there's still like five to six movies that you could pick right now that would be good picks for this category because it was such a strong year hatefully great movie um we Chris you and I may have even talked about this pod yeah that the dga we saw the road show at the dga which is the extended you you know, screening of this film,

uh, as Tarantino conceived it. Just a really fun corker of an Agatha Christie style Tarantino movie. Um, you know, not among QT's absolute best, but far better than almost anything else that comes out in movie theaters. And I like it.

And I, I like, um, I really like the extended version of it that you can watch on Netflix, which has been like chapterized and is much longer and more extended now. If people haven't had a chance to see that, I would highly recommend it.

But so that's my drama pick. There's a movie you need to pick for wildcard that if you do not pick it, you're a sucker. You're like, you're betraying yourself. I know what you're saying to me. This isn't the best movie left on the board, but it is the movie that I like the most.

Are you trying to bully me into taking Mississippi Grind? Yep. Yeah. I know you are. Sean, after seeing Mississippi Grind, was like he was like a newborn baby. It was just like he was just like just cooing

and like just touching it light. He was just sort of starting to hear and see. What is your understanding of what's happening with newborn babies? Touching it light. I think you're referring to a cat. Is that what cats do? Sean was chasing his tail. That is true.

Curling up in a sunbeam. So much. Have you seen mississippi grind amanda yes not since 2015 man it's real good here's the thing and i knew this at the time but i know it even more now having recently re-seen it um it's just california split it's just the same movie and california split is literally a top 10 movie of all time for me. One of my favorite movies. Altman movie. We talked about it on our best gambling movies episode, Amanda. But Mississippi Grind is just so closely patterned after that movie about two ne'er-do-well gamblers who get hot and become friends.

That's a great structure for me. Also, see rounders. That's my shit. Feel free to make that movie as often as you would like Hollywood. Absolutely. I agree. There should be a five year rule or every five years we got to get two more scamps getting,

get sitting down at the poker table for every 10 movies you make about a young person who discovers that they have superpowers. Just make fucking one Mississippi grind. That's all we're asking. You've emotionally bullied me into taking mississippi grind for wild card huh yeah okay i'll take it i'll do it mississippi grind one of my faves okay so it's my last turn right it's your last turn i'm like split between two movies neither of which are going to significantly move the needle for me in the voting. So I'm going to go with, foreign and animated,

I'm going to go with a movie called Gueros, which was a Mexican film that was released. This is one of those weird, like, when was this released? But it's... The New York Times did review it. It got reviewed in May of 2015 it's a

film directed by alonzo ruiz palacios and it is essentially like an a mexican jim jarmusch movie it's about these three kids who go on a road trip to like basically nowhere like because they can't get out of town and it's a portrait of mexico city in 1999 that is told in this really French New Wave-y way that is so awesome. And I recently re-watched this movie. I remember seeing it in 2015. And this movie has just grown in my estimation. So if anybody hasn't gotten a chance to see it,

most of the time on the movie draft, we're just knocking out the hits. But this is a great one to go check out. I've never seen this. Oh, it's awesome. It's really awesome. Okay. This is a bold pick, CR.

You feeling good about your squad? I do. I feel okay. So Amanda, do you have one more? Amanda's not done yet. I have one more. I have wild card and there's just a tremendous

You can get minions right here. Yeah. It's on the board for you. Chris, do you know what a minion is like what's your knowledge it's the yellow thing that's over in burbank yeah right thank you there we go you do you want to come with me when i go visit the minion when kovitz over when you what do you mean like the like the way that like people would go pray at the baby and deaths like yeah i just like i'm like really fascinated by the minion that overlooks the valley and i just like want to go be you know near it and understand its relationship to space and you're invited um i have there are a lot of

different ways this could go because there are a lot of different very cool movies and what am i gonna do here i think i am gonna have to be true to myself and I'm going to pick focus. Whoa. Which I, you know, there are a lot of other, there are just like a lot of excellent dramas with a capital D that, uh,

we can talk about and that none of us picked and that I think are, are worthy of discussion. But as we all know, I really like a, you know, a con man heist robbery, like romp starring movie stars. And this was a really underrated version of that starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie. And I'm devoted to the Will Smith fan club forever and always.

So this is your wallet card? Yeah. Just like there should be a movie about two scamps losing all their money at the poker table there should be a con man movie every five years totally this is a pretty pretty good con man movie it's pretty good i like didn't understand everything the first time i saw it but also it didn't really matter it was like plausible enough and you know let's be real i still don't totally understand how they did the ice heist in oceans 11 and think it's amazing. So it's fine with me. It's very charming.

They have good chemistry. I just agree that I wish they would make 10 of these a year and I would watch all of them. I'm really proud of us for using wild card to just speak to taste this time around. And not just, you know, Chris, not just choosing Ultron, you know, and not just cynically grabbing whatever's on the board. There's a couple of movies here that I'm really surprised didn't get picked. Yeah.

This is, this may be the biggest honorable mention we've ever had. How did you guys not talk about? How did you guys not pick? Blah, blah, blah. Shameful exclusion of Ex Machina.

Oh my God. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, we did this already where there's like a lot of, there's a debate about oh no isn't Ex Machina 14

no it's not it's 15 see I would have I would have picked Ex Machina in wild card this is actually a mistake that I've made because I've just forgot

to write it down in my notes it was definitely on my list I assumed that it would be on one of yours so I didn't write it down that would be a huge error for me

that might be my favorite movie of that year. Really? Yeah, I'm a huge fan of that film. Huge fan. I mean, look, I really feel for you because I've done this. You know what I mean? Like I fucking drove the car into the divider

on these drafts. It doesn't feel good. It's tough. And you're standing on the side of the road. I'm still going to win. Don't get me wrong. I'm still going to win. You're waiting for Sean to show up

to massage your shoulders, tell you it's all all right. My team is good. My squad is good. But Ex Machina, you're right, Bobby. That's a huge oversight

and literally a mistake. I mean, there was a bunch of stuff here that, I mean, Chris, you did not select Black Hat. So talk about selling out your fans. Black Hat

is very important to me, but it's not a good film. That's true. That's true. That's true. What's up? Nobody picked Uncle? Yeah, the man from Uncle. Also, like...

That's a Dobbins movie. Yeah, but it's one of those things where it's like, I enjoy it. It's like someone conceived of it in the lab just for me. Handsome guys in, you know, suits and travel.

And Hugh Grant shows up at the end in a boat, if I remember correctly. He does, yeah. But is that like a great movie? Not really. It's not. You know what is great? Carol? Carol. We didn't pick Carol.

How did we do this draft? We didn't pick Carol and Ex Machina and Bridge of Spies and Amy. But we picked... Brooklyn and The Lobster. And Magic Mike XXL oh man yeah Brooklyn

I thought you were going to do Brooklyn Italian legend Emery Cohen yeah I'm Italian you guys want to come over for dinner

it was great performance by Saoirse and him there's a lot I mean there's so much straight out of Compton didn't pick in terms of big names

so Magic Mike XXL Furious 7 and then Anomalisa Phoenix The Assassin The Gift Wild Tales didn't pick in terms of big names. Magic Mike XXL, Furious 7, and then Anomalisa, Phoenix, The Assassin, The Gift, Wild Tales, Mustang, Unfriended, The Invitation, Green Room,

Dope, The Gunman, Mistress America, which in the year 2015, I did pick as my favorite movie of that year. Isn't While We're Young 2015 too? While We're Young is also 2015 two bound backs this year

jeez I fucked this up you didn't fuck it up it's just this is the rub of the green when it comes to categories man you gotta play the hand you're dealt

the Ex Machina thing is gonna haunt me Blockbuster and sequels requires a different discipline this is not the best movies of 2015. We're drafting for Trigons. But I had a wild card opportunity

with Ex Machina. And I fucking Jedi mind tricked you into Mississippi Grime. But you know what I did? I made you the best version of yourself. I don't believe that.

I think what I, the best version of myself is Oscar Isaac and Ex Machina disco dancing with robots. That's what I want to be when I grow up.

When you picked T Eightful Eight. Any other honorable mentions for you guys? No, I think we just literally named everyone that I was going to say. Yeah, we just like yelled 30 movies.

The Visit, that's good. Did we say Love and Mercy? No. I really liked Love and Mercy. Amanda, you hate Spectre, right? It's not very good. I don't really. It's one of the ones where

I just don't remember what happens in it. And I think they drill a hole in a guy's head. Oh, yeah. Remember? He's like Adam Blofeld, right?

No. That's the thing. Like, I don't. There is that one beautiful shot when they're like waiting for the train, you know, in the desert.

And Lea Seydoux is wearing like an immaculate white dress. And I enjoyed that. That is my review of Spectre. Good shot. I enjoyed christoph waltz in it it's not very good though okay let's i'll recap our picks you guys ready 2015 movie draft in the drama category chris selected sicario i selected the hateful eight amanda selected spotlight three three diamonds there in the comedy and horror category, Chris selected The Big Short. I selected It Follows.

Amanda selected The Intern. That's a very us group of selections. In Blockbuster, Chris selected Ant-Man. I selected Mission Impossible Rogue Nation. And Amanda selected The Martian. In animated foreign language, Chris selected Gueros. I selected Inside Out.

And Amanda selected Clouds of Sils Maria in sequel. CR took Star Wars Force Awakens. I took Creed. Amanda took Mad Max Fury Road. And in wildcard, we just fucked around and picked three movies that are not as good as a whole bunch of other movies we just named, including Steve Jobs for Chris,

Mississippi Grind for me, and Focus for Amanda. Okay. Yeah. Who won this draft? I think Mando might have. Eh. People never like my expressions of personal taste. So that's fine.

Mad Max Fury Road, The Martian, and Spotlight is very powerful. Sure, that's true. But I picked two movies with women in them. So good luck. I got close. I think I'm in the fight.

I hate to say it. Sean, do yours again? What are yours again? I had The Hateful Eight, It Follows, Mission Impossible, Rogue Nation, Inside Out, Creed, and Mississippi Grind. And if I had taken Ex Machina, I think I would have won. And now I feel, man, I may have won. Mad Max Fury Road is the-

Yeah, it is really good. Yeah, that is really good. Yeah, that's the heavyweight champ. What year do you guys want to do next? I have some ideas, but if you just off the top of your heads... I had suggested our birth years as an interesting idea. And then I had also...

I also really enjoyed 95. So if you guys ever want to go back and do 84, if you want to do 99... 84 is the year of my birth just FYI oh well then let's do 84 that's fun 1984 will the peeps know 1984 movies can we go back that far should we pitch it to the

audience should we just say we should do a poll that gives them maybe 3 or 4 different years we could choose we'll do a poll that includes our birth years and maybe another wild card year now and i'll give some serious thought to the wild card category because now i feel that we screwed it up that maybe we need to make some changes um amanda chris thank you guys so much thanks for having me as always now let's go to my conversation with Amanda Seyfried.

Man, what an honor to be joined by Amanda Seyfried. Hi, how are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm doing really well. Thanks for doing this. Let's just jump right into the movie Mank. This is a movie I'm a huge fan of and a huge fan of your performance. Can you tell me when you first read the script, where were you? What were you doing? And what'd you think? I read it in bits and pieces. I was on set in New York City.

I was playing a role that took a lot out of me it's like a layer of love low budget try to get all these scenes in before we lose the light kind of thing and I had to read this really long script in a record amount of time I almost couldn't do it

and then I got home finally i'd keep reading it in the car on the way home i got really carsick and then i ended up talking to dave at night like 10 15 on zoom first zoom call everyone and then and then we talked we talked for a long time can you describe the feeling when you're playing a part but you're not the lead or the title character and you're waiting for your character to show up and you're reading a script like what is that sensation like a really good question um uh if the character doesn't show up in the first 30 pages i'm like oh man like if it's a script that i really if it's a if it's a project that i desperately want without having read the script,

because usually it's like the director's incredible like David Fincher, I'll be a little bit bummed and then I'll keep reading. And if the character grows, I'll get more excited. But if there's only, I remember counting the scenes and I'm like, oh man, I wanna be in it more. And, but it's not disappointment. It's just, it's excitement.

But yeah, usually if it's a script that's being offered to me and my agent's reading it and she's like, your character doesn't show up. It's like, I don't know. I don't know if I want to be in all of the movie or just some of the movie because sometimes it's so freeing to to be in all of the movie or just some of the movie. Because sometimes it's so freeing to just be in parts of the movie and be a really good device for that main character.

Because then you're not on set every day and you actually have a life. And now that I have kids, I'm like, how often am I going to want to play the Gary Oldman in a movie? Well, I wanted to ask you that because you're getting such amazing reviews for this film and and you're not the lead you're not the like you're not the title character and like obviously you've done that before you've been supporting characters before but has that kind of reframed the way you think about what kind of work you want to do no honestly there's a there's a way in which i read scripts. It's a little different than I used to, you know, I used to, I used to love just being a supporting character to the main man in the movie. And now I'm like, you know, if we're all, if we're going to be,

if, if, if we're going to make, you know, center stories around females more than we used to. If, if the if the male lead is so strong and if in this the female supporting is not as strong like even if that character's in it less that's fine but it has to have some kind of weight has to have a point if it's just the wife role i'm like no thanks been there done that doesn't do anything for me. You know, it has to have, it has to be interesting. She has to be going through her own thing, you know? But being a supporting character in a movie like this, like I would, I didn't want to be in Gary's shoes ever. I was just a lot like he, it was a lot. I mean, he could not breathe in a good way, you know, and I got to come in and out and do my thing. And it's just,

it's freeing because it doesn't, the movie doesn't fall on your shoulders, but I do want movies to fall on my shoulders. Sometimes I do want to play that lead role depending on what it is and who I'm working with. It just depends. It just depends. Like I love ensembles because we all get to kind of run in and have our day. Before you read Mank, what did you know about Marion Davies? Nothing. But I remember thinking, Marion Davies, oh my God, it's like a dream role. Because she's a movie star in the golden age of Hollywood

how glamorous and how many of her movies have you seen? and I was like I don't even know who she is I it's like six I've rewatched some of them I think there was a moment when I saw Ever Since Eve which is

directed by like a really good director some of the movies are not good some of the movies are pretty good ever since eve was like incredible i've like re-watched it because there's this one particular scene in the in this elevator um this foyer where the elevators whatever the hallway with that actor and now i always get I'm confused not Clark Gable Robert Montgomery and oh my god that connection that level that like I got so much from just that one scene like her mannerisms and her physicality and she's just like lightning and then she's completely different in the next movie and and and you're like wow she's she's a chameleon she actually she doesn't

even look the same at all you know she's a tough kid coming from you know a tough part of town she's like and um it's amazing to watch her to watch her just fall into all these characters and fall into all these roles and i don't even remember the question but it was really fun watching her you've played people who were who did exist before you played linda lovelace for example who we like you could see on screen and you could see what she did and what she was like did you did that like inform how you tried to capture marion like what and what is really the line between like impersonation, embodiment? I think that the number one rule is if you can't capture the essence, then you're not going to do it justice. If you can't get close, you know, what's the point? I never, I can't care about whether or not I look like somebody.

That is just, it doesn't mean anything anymore. Because I'm an actor and my job is to make you feel like that's the person and to make you feel like you can get close to that person and to let you in, let people in as somebody, you know, embodying that person without being that person. And nobody expects you to be that person. So therefore, hopefully the audience is allowing some space between the real person and the actor portraying that person so i've said person a lot so the yeah the main rule is capture the essence that's that's essential and and get to know that person as much as as as well as you can. And physicalities, you know, if you need a little bit of, if you need it,

if I think prosthetics are really helpful for the actor more so than for the audience to believe you, I think it's different for, from what Gary did with Winston Churchill. I think you just, he is, doesn't look like him at all. And so we needed that extra level of layer of protection um to believe him but he could have done the same he could have done just as good of a job without it because he's that good and and i think the prosthetics and the hair so i think that's all more having to do with how the like helping the actor what what

do you do with like with with posture and voice like are you doing that stuff by yourself figuring that out are you running it with a coach or with your husband like how do you figure out how to land on the choice well the accent thing is I've only ever really done a New York accent so I'm comfortable with it because I'm around it a lot but i do work with the voice of an accent coach for it um and it's very essential to to not to not screw that up because i don't want anybody to be distracted when when watching me as another as a character and i also had to i mean there was a posture thing. I didn't work with anybody for that.

It was just, you know, I have the worst posture in the world. And she, Marion, there was, she had like, women walked differently back then. You know, she, it was very hard for me to imagine myself in that world. I always feel like I'm too contemporary. How am I ever going to be believed as Marion Davies or as anybody? Because I don't talk like that. I don't even know how to talk like that.

But the more work you do, the more you familiarize yourself with this person, the more you think about this person and their, and their journey in this movie. And the more you think about their, the way they communicate with other people and the more they're in your head, the easier it comes. Like it becomes more of a subconscious thing. And then you can focus on the lines are already there for you. You don't have to make them up and the actors are doing their job.

So you can can you only do I only did so much work at the end of the day I had to like let it go and just be present with David Gary it's it's all it's all such a mixture all the time and it's that's why it's so weird watching back because especially a performance like this that I had so much rehearsal for. I don't know what I was thinking each moment. And there's just pieces, there's just so much going on. Just like, you know, human interactions. So many thoughts going on at once and you're trying to express yourself in the moment.

Are you happy with what you did? Do you like going back to seeing what you did? I was happier. I saw some, I sawflix had put something together of my scenes and and god i felt i felt kind of a sense of disappointment because for some reason i it might have just been a bad day. And I was watching it back and thinking, Oh, I don't, I don't believe that.

What are, what are people saying? Why are people saying all this? Is it because of David? Is it really like, of course that, that voice. Meaning why are they saying nice,

nice things about your work? Yeah. Yeah. And it's the, the voice in your head. Everybody has it to some degree that's saying you're a piece of shit. You know, um, that voice isn't very loud for me.

I, you know, I don't have that much trouble with it, but sometimes you're like, is this true? Validation and all this positive feedback from something, you know, that,

and then I think, why am I trying to like let people have their experiences? If they like it, they like it. I have to take them at face value. Who cares? I'm not like, it's not a conspiracy.

It's just so funny. The human psyche, man. You know, at one point in the movie, Marion says, people think because you're on the cover of modern screen, they know you.

They know you. Like, do you, do you, do you feel a kinship with that, with that idea with her because of that? It's such a struggle. Even ups guy last night i i don't usually i don't usually come to the front door i usually make my mom do it she lives with us she's our nanny and even with masks uh because it's like a privacy thing i don't i live in the middle of nowhere and um and the thing i'm left with when

he walks away he's like i recognize you and i'm like yeah oh the mascot you're good you're good buddy he walked away and i'm like what he doesn't know me he thinks he knows me um and and then i get in trouble with that in my life like i try so hard to impress upon people who I am and that this is me. Because I want to be seen. It's all about, I need you to know who I am. I need you to know this is me. I'm telling you the truth. All that stuff.

And that's from childhood. But I imagine a lot of people in the public eye struggle with that and wanting to be known. But there's a point at which you just can't have to let that go. So for Marion, she struggled with that. But she also in some way understood why. Of course, I understand why. I can't let everybody know who I am. I'm not a reality star.

I want to be an actor. I want to be able to disengage from that and for people to believe me. And so for her, she has this legacy now that does not reflect who she is, who she was, who she like, what was important to her at all. But this movie gives her legacy a second chance and even though this movie

is not about marrying it's about meng she weighs heavily in the making of this movie and what sucks so much is that she gave so much to meng of herself and he did this without really knowing the consequences and this is and citizen kane became so huge and people still watch today with such you know attention that she you know she was the inspiration for this incredible cult movie this masterpiece and then and that's the reason that people think that she's talentless mistress, you know, drunk. To be fair, she had a little bit of an issue.

It seems like she had fun. She had fun. She had fun and she was who she was. She was comfortable in who she was. And she lived life to the fullest. And she loved that character. That comes across in the movie she loved first yeah okay let's talk about the david fincher experience i'm not super interested in the 99 takes question but i am curious how he talks to actors so how did he talk to you before you guys

started and then when you were doing your performance what what sort of things would he say to you i mean just like it's like a love fest about to just believe um feel free he's like it's the equivalent of hand holding without pressure like there's a delicate nature in which he gives you notes and he comes in. There seems to be zero judgment. I mean, of course, if you feel judged by your director, you're not going to give, you're not going to give the performance that they want. You're going to probably disconnect completely and feel really shitty. He knows how to talk to people. He knows how to talk to humans. He knows how to get what he wants and he manipulates in the. And he manipulates in the right way, in the constructive way.

You know, he's a director. I mean, directors manipulate, so that's their job. And I just felt like in the beginning of everything, he made it very clear, maybe without trying to, or maybe he did try to let me know that he trusted me with the role. So although I did feel like I was going to get fired every time I left rehearsal. Why? Because of me.

Meet my own stuff. Not good enough. Hashtag not good enough kind of stuff. Got it. And I still kind of knew that I wasn't gonna you know i like i knew my bones that i wasn't gonna get fired because i knew that i was gonna bring it but i just still didn't feel like part of my brain was like you're not good enough for fincher and and you know he he really without trying made me feel like a guy make appear made me feel like i was meant to be that i'm a

peer that he respects me and I respect him and we're going to work together and we're going to tell the story together. Because the collaborative feel to all the rehearsals between all the actors was really cozy. It was really informative and cozy and there was a lot of discussion surrounding what was needed and what and you know he asked us questions and we got to have our say and it was he's a perfect director it's just it's a dumb word to use but he's perfect the sequence my favorite sequence of the movie i think most people's favorite sequence of the movie is that party sequence that then leads to the walk that that your character and mag takes right through San Simeon and the zoo and

everything is so beautiful. And the party is so such a complicated conversation that's being had. Right. I wanted to ask you since you're kind of at the center of all of that, is it very difficult to do a sequence like that over a period of time? Like relative to other movies that you've made or other things that you've done, was it actually like more challenging to work on something that is that intricate

yeah like do you know that is it is are you like talking about that in the moment are you like man this is not like shooting movie x in 2013 oh yeah it's different in that we're going to sit with one particular scene for a very long time. So you're going to simmer in this for a really long time. So you have to get used to it and you have to just rise to the occasion every time. It's incredibly challenging. Usually it's like you got three takes and I'm like, I didn't even really know what I was doing, but we're moving on. Yeah, I'm hungry anyway. So, I mean, it's like laziness takes over so easily in this business these days, especially I am definitely a criminal if laziness was criminal.

But yeah, it was completely different. This is complete. It's like it's like a play. So you have all this time and all this space and if you don't get it you're just gonna you're gonna get it but there's no way you can walk off set without getting it but it was it was you know if the the things I found most challenging I don't know if this is answering your question was you know when when actual physical things would get in the way like it being 40 degrees and me being barefoot or having to pee and having nowhere to pee and having to act through the pee.

And pretending that it's moonlight and not the sun when the sun is searing your eyeballs even though you're wearing contacts it's like that kind of stuff was made everything feel like it was just too much at times and um it really it could have could have potentially taken me over the edge and made me feel insane but it didn't because there was never any world in which that would happen with David um because I felt like I can actually say it's so bright there's you know I just need it you know I just felt like I was protected in some ways too from going insane because of the the the weight of the challenge um in my head and also like and it just yes it. Like you're, you're trying to get every moment, right. You're trying to explain a million different things.

Like Marian has this monologue during the walk and talk in front of the monkeys where she's explaining, right. Like you said about, um, what's his face. Um, uh, one person you never talk about is up in Sinclair. Sorry. I kept thinking Orson Well. Upton Sinclair? Upton Sinclair, sorry. I kept thinking Orson Welles, Upton Sinclair. And she's talking about, and it's just, she has so many feelings and she's saying it so fast,

but you have to understand every word, but you also have to time it out. So by the time you say your last line, it's still in front of the camera, but just enough off and it's just so technical. It seems like it. I can't sometimes wrap my brain. line it's still in front of the camera but just enough off and it's just so technical it seems like it i can't sometimes wrap my brain around the technical stuff hitting a mark is not my forte hitting a moment great and you know it feels great you actually feel like you're a superstar

when you're when you're done That sounds like a great experience. You know, I assume, and I've thought about this as I've just been reading about what you've been talking about during the release of this movie. Like you probably could have had a pretty cozy career as a lead in romantic dramas for 20, 30 years. And then, but you have like, it seems like really good taste as an actor. You know, you worked with like Karin Kusama, Adam McGaughan, You Make Lovelace, While We're Young, First Reformed.

Like these are, First Reformed especially, it's like one of my absolute favorite films. And I'm always so interested in someone like you who probably could have just been super commercially successful. What motivates you to take parts? Fear. What do you mean? I didn't want to continue doing romantic comedies because then you get

pigeonholed. And I, my, that, I always try to work against getting pigeonholed because if you get pigeonholed, your career might not last as long. Like, it's always about, I want to be doing this until I'm dead. I don't. And, and, and, and you have to be deliberate, even though I, I love romantic comedies and I want to be in them. I don't trust that a, the box office will be kind because box office matters. Unfortunately it shouldn't, but it does. And that's just the way it works. It's a business too. We're in a business. Um, so I didn't want to do romantic

comedies and because I was afraid it wouldn't work and if I kept doing them I would just be pigeonholed as like the lead in romantic comedy and I don't I didn't see that as helping me with like longevity um and I also wanted the industry to understand that I had that I had no limits that I could just play anybody and that was the Chloe that Chloe movie was very deliberate and um Odell's was deliberate well Paul Schrader obviously um I could have said no but I didn't because I didn't care if you know if people didn't like this movie they could who cares because I'm working with Paul Schrader so that was one of those and you know there have I've never had any regrets but there have been movies that I did for the wrong reasons a few very few

there were like one or two it's just not fun it's fun to do movies it's not fun to like release them because the business business makes it so ugly. It makes it about what it should be about, which is the way life is. I just have a couple more for you. I love streaming services. That's why. I love it. I don't have to work now.

Netflix all day long. Every movie can come out on Netflix. You have another Netflix movie coming, right right it's all happening for you with Netflix nobody has told me so I'm like still at sea I haven't seen it I can't tell you anything you couldn't have seen it everybody in Netflix

I'm like you'll be fine you got to get over this imposter syndrome I feel like you're crushing it right now okay thanks thanks for seeing me though because that's exactly what it is don't you have that just a little bit of course but i am an imposter and you are not so okay well you have problems you're right i agree you are you are convinced that you're an imposter by the way you say that that's a fact i believe you oh maybe i should act um you made musicals comedies science fiction horror period piece what's a kind of a movie

that you haven't had a chance to make that you would want to make none there's nothing else i would just rather go back into a period movie. Really? Yeah. Like my neck, I would love like a 70s. There's nothing I, I don't want to be in a superhero movie because I just, I don't think it would be fun. I think it would just be a lot of technical stuff and not enough like feeling stuff. And I don't want to waste my time. And I don't want to do like a space movie

because I still, I feel like that's just not my cup of Joe. No, I don't know. I like independent movies where, where you don't even have to wear makeup sometimes. I like to be, I like to be naked, not, you know, without clothes on. I like to be naked. It's nice to, I I like that not to say that this wasn't incredible like being Marion Davies and sitting in makeup for two and a half hours

used to be like my hell but it actually was so helpful for transforming you know so I have one more question we end every episode by asking actors and filmmakers what's the last great thing they've seen have you seen anything that you really like's the last great thing they've seen have you seen anything that you really like lately the last great thing i've seen oh my god there's so many things that i've seen um are you guys streaming every night during quarantine yeah i mean yeah we're finishing off bake off but um great british bake off yeah we went backwards we went backwards um i guess i was up to save let's if i'm talking about well nurse jackie but like if i wanted i i'm thinking of all these shows because i just watched i'm dead to me i started dead to me i don't know why it took

me so long to start dead to me you're going in the archives you're not you're going back to older stuff yeah nurse jackie blew my mind i i think i I saw the first two seasons oh my god how did you stop I don't I don't life happens um I'm gonna say the movie is pieces of a woman so I just spoke to John David Washington and he just recommended the exact same movie um why did you well you guys are both working for netflix now so is there any synchronicity there well isn't everything netflix he's a woman i had to watch it i wouldn't normally have watched something like that because i'm true it's a trigger there's a trigger warning and uh i just had my second kid so so I wasn't as vulnerable as I could have been months prior. But I will say it is worth it because the birth scene is as real as I've ever seen anything that's not real.

It was so incredible. I couldn't believe it. I think Shia LaBeouf, for all his shit, he is, if I can say anything good about him, he is a fantastic actor. No one can ever take that away from him. I don't know him as a guy. And Vanessa is like, what? You've never had a baby, but I think you did. I think you're connecting to a different lifetime because, you know, and I know it's the direction too in the script, but it took me very far away. And isn't that the point?

That's amazing. It's not like it's not, it's breathtaking. In every way, something can be breathtaking. I couldn't breathe because I was in so much pain. And then it was breathtaking at the end because there was some sort of release. That's a great recommendation. Amanda, thanks so much for doing this.

And congrats on Mank. Really, you're phenomenal in it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to Amanda Seifert. Thank you to Amanda Dobbins. Thank you to Amanda Seifert. Thank you to Amanda Dobbins. Thank you to Chris Ryan. And thank you to Bobby Wagner.

Please stay tuned to The Big Picture because later this week, me, Amanda, and Shea Serrano will be naming our top five Denzel Washington movies. We will see you then.