Her takes are horrible. She tends to make devil’s advocate like arguments about things that are actually spelled out in the movie and very clearly explained. She almost purposely skips over key facts then questions why things are happening when they are clearly explained. The civil was episode and a quiet place part 2 episodes specifically she makes such stupid points. She is the opposite of intellectual or a deep thinker. She interrupts everyone and forces them to spend insane amounts of time dumbing things down for her. She is so pretentious, insufferable and gives mean theater kid energy. I love when Sean and Chris are together but please stop platforming Amanda. In the civil war episode she just has the worst takes and clearly doesn’t understand the movie. She’s whining about them not clearly spelling every single point out for her. Is she aware most movies are not for literal interpretation, good filmmakers tend to leave a certain amount to interpretation but she wants everything dumbed down to the point of being completely obvious with 0 subtext. Please consider that almost all of your low ratings include the same sort of criticism of Amanda- there is a common factor here….

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider replacing Amanda. On the Kevin Costner Hall of Fame episode, It is unbelievable to me how often she interrupts Sean literally right as he starts to make a point. It is also unbelievable how loudly she shrieks and yells into the microphone. Has anyone from the Ringer ever actually listened to the show from the perspective of a listener? Utterly baffling to me how she has a job speaking on camera.

As a huge movie fan of all genres, I initially loved The Big Picture. The hosts' reviews and discussions helped me develop my own ability to analyze and appreciate film. However, in the past year, the show seems to have shifted towards a more critical and dismissive tone, particularly towards popular movies like comic book adaptations. While I appreciate in-depth analysis, I miss the balance that celebrated all types of filmmaking, from blockbusters to indies. For listeners who enjoy a critical approach to film, this podcast remains a good choice. But for those who, like me, value discussion across genres, The Big Picture might not be the perfect fit anymore.

I think Costner stinks on ice. I’m impressed that you attempted a top ten. I could barely make it to five. Worst take; Sean regarding “Molly’s Game”. Possibly the best performance in this joke’s worthless career. Amanda wins!

Every single statement does NOT need spoken as if asking a question Have some confidence in what you are saying.

Listened to this podcast since the beginning and am, or was, a fan of the ringer, but I don’t think I can continue listening. They don’t really talk about movies. They somehow talk forever yet say nothing. After two hours of listening to them, I really don’t have a sense of the movie. They spend so much time talking about themselves then when they get to the movie, they basically just say good or bad and then say that they couldn’t possibly talk about it without spoiling the ending which they then do. Somehow, critics have managed to write and talk about movies in ways that entertained and gave a sense of the movie without spoiling it. But these two haven’t figured out how. And seem to be getting worse.

-the Mount Rushmore episode was deranged and lame -not everything has to be a gender war -enough with the food talk. No one gives a sht about what kind of butter you use

I still love the pod and the lot of you complaining how they talk about parenting are a bunch of insecure whiners. Stop constantly complaining, then simply find something new. The show does not revolve around you and I promise it’s so easy to just find a new movie pod ;)

TBP has it all! -A host who tries to hard to be funny. -host who says “uhhhhhhhhh” every other sentence. -Interesting discussions and thought provoking exercises on film and filmographies.

i love the big picture, which single-handedly got me back into watching new movies. sean & amanda play wonderfully off of each other, i could listen to them talk about anything. also love hearing from chris & bobby. the interviews are great too, such thoughtful questions. keep up the good work! ps: anyone who complains about this show (especially about amanda dobbins) doesn’t like fun!

She is not good at podcasting.

Shows gone off the rails. Too much laughing and off script banter that only entertains themselves. Sean’s takes are bible to the show and are often overrated comments. Dobbins has gotten bullied into Sean’s sphere of movie ideology. I’ve tried to stay with it because whether I agree with the takes or not, the points are well thought out. Problem is it all gets bogged down with inside jokes that audiences can’t hear, because of the amount of hissing laughter. It’s like a cool kid club, where Sean decides what is a good opinion or not. 30 mins of good content. Hour of nonsense.

Listen to the pod quite a bit, but it’s much better when Sean has an invested cohost - I tend to skip Sean and Amanda eps. Amanda is supremely annoying and then manages to be condescending about her blind spots. Can we just replace her permanently with Joanne Robinson who is great on every pod she’s ever been on? Love the Chris Ryan appearances.

Has Amanda always been this bad?

This pod has some fantastic moments in it, but they’re all due to Sean and the guests. I wish someone else was the cohost, maybe Joanna Robinson. Amanda Dobbins is insufferable. Just so pretentious. She should pod with Andy Greenwald on The Watch, so I didn’t have to listen to either of them.

I had just discovered this podcast and followed because I like movies. I listed to about 15 minutes of the episode featuring Glen Powell as a guest. I never got to Glen because within the first 15 minutes the male host started babbling, almost incoherently, and the last thing I heard was ‘sleepy Joe” in reference to the current President of the United States of America. I didn’t realize this show was hosted by an idiot. Unfollow.

Seems like mostly parents talking about their kids.

I’m not sure why these film nerds bash Amanda all the time when she’s hilarious and brings more energy to the pod. Her takes are always interesting and funny to hear. It is really not that serious. She adds more life to the show and has different opinions on film? isn’t that the point? hearing different takes? she doesn’t have to love or hate everything that everyone else does

This parenting podcast used to be about movies

No Jackie Chan, no jet li, no mad max, road warrior, fury road (the reason you’re doing this pod), no matrix, but let’s give Scientologist douche 7 more picks😕

If Amanda has something better to do than prepare for her podcast I’d love to know what it is. Sean, I understand she’s your friend but she’s holding you back.

Amanda Dobbins still on pod? One star

I listened to the Furiosa ep. Theres a harrowing scene where the poor girl (11,12) escapes paedophile rape. The hosts downplay

Sean Fennessey continues his love affair with Tom Cruise and his tacit adoration of poorly endowed cult leaders. Thanks, CR and Amanda Dobbins for actually having a sense of humor that doesn’t sound like they’re trying to be the smartest person in the room.

The Furiosa episodes had me bummed. The movie banged and you said you like it but you wouldn’t know it from the tone of either episode. I get money matters.. but your disappointment in the box office felt like it clouded the whole episode. Get over it

This is a good show, but you couldn’t be more wrong about the distinguished gentleman. That is an excellent, hilarious movie, and I and many of my friends quote it all the time. I can’t believe you didn’t like it.

Easily the best pod on the entire planet.

Used to really enjoy this show but lately has gotten difficult to enjoy. Amanda constantly interrupting with negative takes and weird tangents, way too many inside jokes that the listener doesn’t get or are really not that funny (JMO podcast? It’s funny because they never talk about what they truly believe on this show! LOL) The moment that really got me was when Sean said that he’d rather tell people he works at Spotify than that he hosts a movie podcast. Spotify pays artists the least amount of money per stream and has recently stopped paying artists for tracks with less than 1,000 streams. It’s a top down system and the company has pretty firmly replaced record labels as musician’s enemy no. 1. Clearly Sean doesn’t interact with musicians anymore (ironic since he used to write music reviews). Unsubscribe.

Rating because everyone’s complaints of Amanda are so obnoxious. I appreciate her providing some levity and perspective to the show. I’m grateful she’s on the pod!!!

Great podcast show. However Sean and Amanda seem to thrive in preaching with an agenda driven superiority complex as to their biased, woke anti male, and liberal view points. This agenda seems to often times interfere with accurate reviews of stories and film. But alas some interesting discussions. And the physical media podcast is on point.

Content is good, but pods are all way too long.

the best.

The Sean guy is sooo annoying and a total b to the woman. He thinks he is sooo smart and deep but he’s just a guy you would avoid at a party.

This podcast can be a bit generic at times but Sean and Amanda are both real cinephiles. My one complaint is that I dont understand why Chris Ryan is their correspondent for horror stuff bc his response to “Skinamarink” shows he doesn’t know anything about horror.

Things I like about the pod: Amanda.

Just wondering…? I get that this is a place for critique but like- not once have I heard her talk about a movie without complaining about more than half of it. Even when she starts out saying she liked the movie. Today listened to her take on both Civil War and The Idea of You and her unwillingness to enjoy any aspect of a movie that she would have done differently is, to quote John Ralphio, THE WoOoOoOorst!! Currently listening to her complain about how she thinks a 40 year old woman, no matter how gorgeous, could never be insecure or fearful of the clarity of aging (like all of us- ugly, gorgeous, fat, thin, rich poor). Welcome to womanhood girly.

If you want to be talked down to for an hour or so about how you really don't understand what the movie you have just seen is about because you didn't watch an obscure film from 1973, then this is the place to be.

Lately, Amanda’s rants are putting the show on the brink of unlistenable. I have turned off multiple eps recently that I was looking forward to over that. The post-Oscar eps were the nadir. She sounded unhinged and added nothing to the conversation. And we get it. You went to Venice. There are plenty of informed, intelligent, and engaging women film critics, so why they went with someone who doesn’t appear to be informed about much film history and mostly just lives to push Nancy Meyers pap and cling to some sort of younger generation relevance is hard to understand. Basicness is everywhere. It doesn’t need a champion. The hosts also spend way too much time on their personal lives. I don’t care about where you ate before or after the movie. 20 minutes on Cheesecake Factory? Really? When they get down to industry analysis, it is usually interesting. I wonder if some of this shift is related to the state of the film business; not enough to talk about, perhaps. Adding 20 on your personal lives is not preferable to an interesting 40-60 minutes. This used to be an engaging listen and is really losing its value.

Love it. Keep it up!

I love the yearly reviews of the best horror films! Thank you!!!!!

Thought this was a movie podcast but it’s actually just a middle aged man melting down over Taylor Swift’s continued success twice a week

I love the Ringer and I enjoy Sean and what he’s trying to do with this show, but every time Amanda speaks I have to actively fight the urge to turn the pod off. She is so negative and dismissive about any movie she hasn’t seen, doesn’t want to, or that didn't do exactly what she expected it to (i.e. civil war). It seems like her personal goal as a cohost is to adamantly disagree with anything that Sean likes. As a truly loyal listener I’m BEGGING that Amanda not be in every single episode. She has too polarizing a personality and ruins the chance for any nuanced discussion. Please take note from Andy & Chris, who have respectful/thoughtful debate down to a science.

not a drop of critical analysis. sean doesn't have any idea what he's talking about but thinks because he his billionaire friend started a media company, his cut-and-paste-from-former-obama-staffer-twitter opinions hold more weight than any other C-list media hack

I was listening to the most recent pod 35 under 35. One the disrespect to Justice smith and his acting by Amanda was appalling especially when she hasn’t watched the things he’s been in. He’s a great actor. Two their take on Lessons in Chemistry when neither of them have watched it and the watch only covered like 4 episodes maybe. While the show itself to other people besides the cynics on this podcast was a major hit. Also just the lack of people of color in this list and the lack of them covering/even watching smaller films is annoying to me. They don’t watch any small good films on streaming platforms. And I feel a good idea for some pods would be to cover actor/actress movies that are a blind spot for them and dedicate a specific pods to these actors that they easily dismiss and give no credit to, (ahem Amanda, cough cough). Sorry it’s really grinding my gears the implicit racism of this pod constantly. And the way Amanda says thing as if they’re fact and they are not.

we’re really putting taylor swift in 35 under 35…. someone bring us back to grace

While Sean and Amanda’s raving about Challengers is giving me second thoughts, this is a really great podcast for people who love movies

I really wanted to enjoy this podcast because surprisingly there are few solid film criticism pods and the Ringer should have the resources to make one, but it felt like the hosts were rambling and did little research. They did not make any points I found thought-provoking. Also, not discussing spoilers on a film review podcast is ridiculous. People are listening because they saw the film and want to analyze all aspects!!

I’ve been listening for years but i think the beginning of the end for me was their more than kind review of the second wonder woman film; an atrocious affront to movie making. Maybe they are just too connected to the industry or worried about not getting director guests by they have just become far too soft ball for my tastes and i’ve moved on to some other channels i believe are trying to at least challenge the status quo of the film industry

How can we take this pod seriously, specifically Amanda, for not being honest with her original review of promising young woman because she felt like she couldn’t- because of the topic, is the core of this podcast- can’t take them seriously- she’s insufferable Saltburn and Civil War have nothing to say… curious what Challengers has to say? If you could hide the directors of these films from these two- they would have vastly different reviews, I believe that in my core. Posers

Sean and Chris are great and their love of horror is attractive. Amanda…I’m sure she’s a nice person but she’s uninformed, she’s obnoxious, talks way too much about her kid. I don’t care. And her take on Civil War is so dumb she has no credibility