The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 3 - '25th Hour’

The Big Picture

The Ringer

Tv & Film

4.3 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. Today, they discuss Spike Lee’s ‘25th Hour,’ one of the most present tense films ever made. They discuss its fascinating legacy as a somewhat under-discussed masterpiece, explain why Lee’s stylistic choices are deeply moving, and identify the impressive fricative tension in all of the movie’s ideas. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders Shopping. Streaming. Celebrating. It’s on Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Sean Fennacy.
0:11.6	This is 25 for 25.
0:13.6	A Big Picture special conversation show about 25th hour.
0:17.8	And this life came so close to never happening.
0:21.2	Amanda.
0:21.8	Yes.
0:25.5	I believe that this is the mystery movie on our list.
0:25.8	It is.
0:31.1	This is the movie that I have seen vanishingly few people figure out what would be on our list, which I find interesting for a variety of reasons.
0:34.7	Now, this movie is, of course, directed by Spike Lee.
0:37.0	It is written by David Benioff based on his novel. It stars Edward Norton, this movie is, of course, directed by Spike Lee. It is written by
0:37.6	David Beniof, based on his novel. It stars Edward Norton, Phillips Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario
0:42.6	Dawson, and a Pacquin, Brian Cox, a number of Spike Lee all-star character actors, shot by
0:48.9	Rodrigo, music by Terrence Blanchard. And if you've been listening to this show...
0:56.0	You know that it's coming.
0:58.1	Or you should, but...
1:00.0	This is a big movie.
1:01.2	It's a big movie for me and a movie that I know you've always loved, too.
1:04.3	So it has been interesting that people have struggled to identify,
1:08.8	one, that we would do a Spike movie.
1:10.6	Because we both love Spike. Right. And two, that this would do a Spike movie, because we both love Spike.
1:11.8	Right.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Ringer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Ringer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.