The Big Picture - The Ringer

Latest Episodes:

The Summer Movie Mailbag Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda open up the mailbag to cover all things related to summer movies! They discuss their favorite summer films they love to watch throughout the season, choose which homemade cocktail they’d pair with some summer rewatchables, share a list of movies they recommend checking out in preparation for this fall’s exciting slate, and much more.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️

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‘Happy Gilmore 2,’ ‘The Naked Gun,’ and the 21st-Century Comedy Movie Crisis Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda are joined by The Ringer’s Craig Horlbeck to discuss all things 21st-century comedy. Before diving in though, they cover a handful of movie news headlines, including Celine Song being attached to a remake of ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’; rumors that Jeremy Strong, Mikey Madison, and Jeremy Allen White are the top choices for ‘The Social Network Part II’; and Bradley Cooper’s film ‘Is This Thing On?’ being announced to close the New York Film Festival (1:44). Then, they cover Netflix’s ‘Happy Gilmore 2,’ starring Adam Sandler, which they all had wildly different reviews of, varying from apocalyptically bad to incredibly fascinating (14:59). Finally, they talk about ‘The Naked Gun,’ starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, and use it as a springboard to have a conversation on why there are so few theatrical comedies being made and whether we’ll get more going forward (38:06).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Craig Horlbeck

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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The 1990s Horror Movie Canon and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer.’ Plus: The ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Revolution. Jul 30, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda start the show by briefly reacting to the box office performance of ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ and wondering whether or not superhero movies will ever return to the levels of the MCU golden days (1:39). Then, they bring in Andy Greenwald to discuss Netflix’s newest animated success, ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ which they were initially skeptical of but eventually became charmed by, and they hypothesize what makes a big cultural hit in 2025 (4:46). Next, Sean and Amanda unpack the new slasher legacy sequel ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer,’ starring Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders, which they found incredibly condescending. They talk through why they found the script, performances, and kill sequences to be deeply unsuccessful (38:28). Finally, they reflect on what many consider to be the weakest decade of the horror genre and create their 1990s Horror Movie Canon (1:04:59).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guest: Andy Greenwald

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 14 - ‘Moneyball’ Jul 28, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. Today they discuss one of the greatest sports movies of all time: Bennett Miller's ‘Moneyball’—starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. They explore the film’s very curious production history with director Steven Soderbergh, share why they think this was the best performance of Pitt’s career, and examine what the movie’s legacy is considering Miller’s lack of work following its release.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Is Here. Plus: Our Fall Film Festival Preview. Jul 25, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda react to a long list of fall film festival lineup announcements; highlight their main takeaways from Venice, Toronto, and Telluride; and create their way-too-early top 25 Best Picture contenders list (2:16). Then, they unpack the newest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps,’ starring Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby, which they found incredibly disappointing (23:23). They dive deep into spoilers, explain why they found a majority of the stars to be deeply miscast, and talk through what they think the MCU will look like going forward (40:23).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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The Chicago Movie Draft LIVE in Chicago! Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Coming to you live from the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, it’s The Big Picture! Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan and special guest Tracy Letts to draft their favorite Chicago movies of all time.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Chris Ryan and Tracy Letts

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

This episode is sponsored by State Farm. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ari Aster’s ‘Eddington’ Is a Mirror. Like What You See? Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda are joined by “Mean Pod Guy” Adam Nayman to unpack Ari Aster’s divisive new film, ‘Eddington’—starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal. They discuss why they all thoroughly enjoyed the film, how Aster successfully captures our present world with a cinematic use of phones, screens, and social media, and wonder how it will perform commercially and critically (7:53). Then, they briefly cover Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s twenty-seventh feature film, ‘Cloud,’ and explain why Kurosawa matters to cinema at large (1:03:57). Finally, Sean is joined by Aster to talk through what makes this movie different from his previous work, why he wanted to make this now, where he sees his career moving forward, and what projects he wants to make next (1:16:03).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Ari Aster and Adam Nayman

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 15 - ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. Today they discuss Joel and Ethan Coen’s ‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ starring Oscar Issac, one of the greatest depictions of a struggling artist of all time. They explain why this was their Coen brothers selection over ‘No Country for Old Men,’ celebrate its incredible balance between devastating dramatic moments and hilarious comedy, and highlight Issac’s fascinating career following this project.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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The Superman Movie Rankings Jul 14, 2025

Show notes

Sean is joined by Van Lathan and Rob Mahoney to recap the opening weekend reaction to James Gunn’s ‘Superman.’ They share their final thoughts on the film, analyze the first weekend box office numbers, highlight why it performed significantly worse internationally than domestically, and hypothesize what the DCU could look like going forward (1:30). Then, they talk through every Superman movie ever made and rank them (32:40).

Host: Sean Fennessey

Guests: Van Lathan and Rob Mahoney

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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‘Superman’ Is Here to Save the Day. Are We Saved? Jul 11, 2025

Show notes

It’s a bird … it’s a plane … it's the 'Superman' episode! Sean and Amanda dive deep into James Gunn’s highly anticipated ‘Superman,’ starring David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan (3:11). They discuss why they were pleasantly surprised and why they think the film works, explain why Corenswet was an excellent casting decision for a modernized version of the Superman character, and share the things they felt were ultimately not successful, like landing some of the story’s bigger themes.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producer: Jack Sanders

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU

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