384: Movie Recs with Sean Fennessey

·1 hr 23 min·5 clips

Sean Fennessey from The Ringer reveals his personal movie picks for situations like being stuck on an airplane.

The episode is an interview format where host DJ guides guest Sean Fennessey through a series of movie recommendation prompts. Fennessey is a co-host of The Big Picture and The Rewatchables podcasts at The Ringer. The structure is divided into situational recommendations, genre favorites, and 'if you like X, watch Y' comparisons. Early segments cover best plane movies, with Fennessey choosing 'Scream' for its social experiment potential and DJ preferring 'Wet Hot American Summer.' They discuss horror entry points like 'Drag Me to Hell' following 'Send Help.' Fennessey shares his passion for intense solo viewing with 'Apocalypse Now' and his unexpected enjoyment of 'Mamma Mia!' after long avoiding it. The conversation touches on movies that can make or break a friendship, like 'Altered States' or 'Bo is Afraid.' Fennessey reveals his excitement to show his daughter 'Lord of the Rings' and discusses films that work on mute, such as Terrence Malick's 'Days of Heaven.' He names 'Congo' as a movie he loves for inexplicable reasons. Later, they tackle genres: Fennessey recommends the lean Western 'The Tall T,' suggests starting Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography with 'Licorice Pizza,' and names the cycling movie 'Breaking Away' for sports. The 'if you like' segment includes pairings like 'Goodfellas' with 'Once Upon a Time in America' and 'X-Machina' with the 1977 AI horror film 'Demon Seed.' Throughout, they weave in personal anecdotes about golf, parenting, and the ethos of being a knowledgeable but approachable voice in niche spaces.

As heard by us

A prompt-led movie conversation turns recommendation anxiety into a lively, thoughtful argument about taste, despair, and rewatches.

Movie recommendations provide the hook, but the stronger subject is why a trusted voice still matters when algorithms can serve up endless options.

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Why you'd press play

Need a movie for your exact mood and tired of scrolling past 155,000 options?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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