The Social Reckoning — Did Aaron Sorkin Lose the Social Network Magic?

Sixteen years after The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin returns to the world of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg with The Social Reckoning — and The Movie Group Chat could not be more divided.

Jeremy liked it. Chet hated it. Brick thought it failed to make him care. Justin thinks the movie occasionally finds Sorkin’s magic but never consistently captures the rhythm and urgency audiences expect from his best work.

The guys debate whether The Social Reckoning should even be considered a true sequel, what’s missing without David Fincher’s direction, and whether Aaron Sorkin’s famous dialogue still has the musicality of The West Wing, The Newsroom, Moneyball and The Social Network. Pasted text

They also get into Jeremy Strong’s very different interpretation of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeremy Allen White’s ability to handle Sorkin dialogue, the casting of Mikey Madison, and why Bill Burr and Betty Gilpin may be two of the actors who best understand Sorkin’s rhythm. Pasted text Pasted text

But the biggest debate is about the movie’s message: what is the actual reckoning? Is the movie showing us consequences, or simply reminding us of things we already know about social media?

And after more than an hour debating Facebook’s effect on society, the episode ends with the most ironic Movie Group Chat advice possible:

Delete social media — but follow and subscribe to us first. Pasted text

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This week, The Movie Group Chat takes on Curry Barker’s Obsession — and the group definitely does not agree on everything.

Is Obsession genuinely a great horror movie, or is it an iconic cultural moment that became bigger than the movie itself? Jeremy, Justin, and Chet debate the difference between great and iconic, why Curry Barker’s success matters for independent filmmakers, and what it means to see a younger generation getting excited about going to the movies.

They also break down the performances of Inde Navarrette, Michael Johnston and Cooper Tomlinson, the filmmaking details Chet caught on a second viewing, and Justin’s biggest problems with the screenplay.

Then things get philosophical: Is the movie about wishful love, control, possession, obsession, or people who simply don’t understand what love actually is? And after debating Bear, Nikki and the mysterious one-wish willow, the guys arrive at an unexpected candidate for the movie’s real villain: Ian.

Love it or hate it, Obsession gave us plenty to argue about.

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Chet picks Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Matt Johnson’s wildly inventive time-travel comedy about two lifelong friends still chasing the same dream 17 years later.

Jeremy, Justin, and Chet break down the movie’s chaotic filmmaking style, its incredible 2008 references, low-budget creativity, seamless visual tricks, and the moments that made them wonder, “How did they actually do that?”

But the conversation goes deeper than the comedy. Is the movie really about fame? Friendship? Growing up? Or realizing that success means very little if you lose the people you wanted to share it with?

Plus, the guys debate the ending, talk Back to the Future, The Hangover, BlackBerry, and introduce Chet’s newest recurring obsession: Font Score.

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This week, Andy Buckley joins us to revisit The Other Guys — the Adam McKay action-comedy that put him on screen with Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton and one of the deepest comedy casts of its era.

Andy tells the incredible story of nearly losing the role because of another movie, getting the schedule worked out at the last minute, and walking onto a set surrounded by actors he considered heroes.

We talk about Will Ferrell improvising for minutes at a time, Adam McKay’s loose directing style, Mark Wahlberg breaking Andy during takes, Michael Keaton being every bit as cool as you’d hope, and what it was actually like standing on that ledge nine stories above New York.

Andy also gets into his unusual path from actor to stockbroker and back again, why The Office was once literally his “side hustle,” and how The Other Guys became a major boost for his acting career.

Then the group debates whether movies like The Other Guys can still get made today, celebrates Michael Keaton’s comedy career, gives out the latest Amy Madigan Award, and naturally quotes half the movie.

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This week, The Movie Group Chat revisits Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.

Justin asks everyone to watch the movie from Bill the Butcher’s perspective, leading to a conversation about whether Daniel Day-Lewis is actually playing two versions of the same man: William Cutting underneath, and the larger-than-life Bill the Butcher persona he presents to the world.

The guys also dig into what the movie says about America — immigration, class, corruption, violence, identity, and Jeremy’s biggest takeaway: progress is ugly.

They debate whether this is some of Scorsese’s best work, where it ranks against Goodfellas, The Departed, Taxi Driver, and The Wolf of Wall Street, whether Leonardo DiCaprio was replaceable in the role of Amsterdam, and why Daniel Day-Lewis towers over nearly everyone around him.

Plus Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Christian Bale as a hypothetical Bill the Butcher, and a lot of terrible impressions.

Where does Gangs of New York rank for you in Scorsese’s filmography?

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Jeremy brings Ryan Coogler’s Sinners to The Movie Group Chat.

On the surface, it’s a period vampire film starring Michael B. Jordan. Underneath, the group finds a much bigger conversation about freedom, identity, oppression, religion, music and what it means to choose your own path.

Is every character in Sinners actually a sinner — or are they simply refusing to live by somebody else’s rules?

The guys debate the meaning of the title, the sympathy we sometimes feel for the vampires, Remmick’s role as an oppressed person who becomes an oppressor, and how Ryan Coogler uses music to connect different cultures and generations.

They also talk about Delroy Lindo’s unforgettable Delta Slim, Michael B. Jordan’s performance, the movie’s post-credit scene, and why Sinners may have become something even bigger than a great movie.

Justin makes the case that it could be one of the most important films of the decade because it proved an original, R-rated, majority-Black theatrical movie could still become a major event — while Jeremy looks at the film as part of the larger fight to keep the theatrical moviegoing experience alive.

And Chet argues that Sinners represents a watershed moment for filmmakers with singular voices: proof that audiences will still show up when filmmakers bet on something original.

Is Sinners one of the defining movies of the 2020s — or did the hype go too far?

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Filmmaker Kenny Chang joins The Movie Group Chat and brings a classic with him: Pretty Woman.

Kenny considers it a top-five — maybe even top-three — romantic comedy. But more than 35 years after its release, does the movie still work? And could the relationship between Vivian and Edward actually happen today?

The conversation quickly turns to Julia Roberts and a bigger question: If Pretty Woman never happened, would she still have become one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood?

We break down Roberts’ magnetic performance, Richard Gere’s restraint opposite her, their nonverbal acting and chemistry, and why so much of the Julia Roberts we would eventually see throughout her career is already present in this performance. Then we debate where Gere belongs among the great rom-com leading men and whether Hollywood could still make a movie like Pretty Woman today.

Before we get there, Kenny and Chet also take us inside the making of Piece of Chet and what can happen when filmmakers stop waiting for permission and simply make something with the resources they have.

Where does Pretty Woman rank for you — and was Julia Roberts always going to become a movie star?

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Aaron “Brick” is finally back with The Movie Group Chat, and for his pick he brings How to Make a Killing—a dark comedy that somehow gets us rooting for Glen Powell while his character murders his way toward a family fortune.

Brick is all-in on the movie and Glen Powell, but the rest of the group has questions.

Is this an “eat the rich” movie? A satire? Or, as Chet puts it, a new genre of “Millennial Revenge”? And what does the movie actually have to say about ambition, capitalism, morality, and the line between being a good person and simply doing what it takes to get ahead?

We break down Glen Powell's undeniable movie-star charisma, Margaret Qualley's scene-stealing performance, Zach Woods' comedy, the film's tonal shifts, the controversial voiceover, and an ending that completely changes how we look at Beckett's journey.

We also ask whether How to Make a Killing would have worked better as a miniseries—or whether spending more time with these characters would actually take away some of what makes them work.

And by the end, one thing is pretty clear: Glen Powell is a movie star. Jeremy and Brick both come back to the idea that they'll watch just about anything he's in.

Join The Movie Group Chat and tell us: Were you rooting for Beckett—or were we all completely insane for wanting him to win?