The State of Movies in 2026 (ft. The Big Picture)
The Sam Sanders Show
KCRW & Sam Sanders
4.9 • 709 Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s officially awards season in Hollywood – with endless red carpets, secret ballots, snubs, scandals… and vibes that feel increasingly weird.
Joining Sam to check-in on the health of the movie industry are two of the sharpest cinephiles in the game. Amanda Dobbins and Sean Fennessey, hosts of The Big Picture podcast. They unpack the drama shaping this year’s hottest races and break down this era of dramatic mergers, shrinking monoculture, and box office uncertainty.
Plus, a round of bold predictions for 2026 and a few under-the-radar films you’ll want to catch up on ASAP.
Sign up for Sam’s Newsletter to get behind the scenes stuff from every interview each week.
The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Song-sung Blue. |
| 0:07.2 | I'm going to be super honest. |
| 0:09.1 | I watched it at home, fell asleep for 10 minutes, woke up, Kate Hudson was amputated, and I was like, what the hell is going on? |
| 0:15.3 | I loved it. |
| 0:16.5 | I thought it was great. |
| 0:17.5 | I love that movie. |
| 0:18.8 | Hey, Sam Sanders here. |
| 0:19.9 | Thank you so much for listening. |
| 0:21.2 | This episode is all about movies we've loved recently. |
| 0:25.6 | So clearly I had to start by asking my guests their thoughts on that strange, lovable. |
| 0:31.3 | Kate Hudson, Hugh Jackman, Neil Diamond musical movie, Song Song, Blue. |
| 0:37.4 | If I had my druthers, we'd just talk about that movie |
| 0:40.3 | and Kate Hudson's performance in that movie |
| 0:42.8 | for the next hour, because I love it so. |
| 0:45.7 | But we're going to offer you more this episode |
| 0:47.6 | with these two. |
| 0:49.3 | I'm Sean Fennessee. |
| 0:50.2 | And I'm Amanda Dobbins. |
| 0:51.2 | And that's how we intro every episode of the Big Picture podcast. |
| 0:53.6 | It's wild watching you all. |
| 0:55.0 | It's weird, right? |
| 0:57.5 | It just happened. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KCRW & Sam Sanders, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of KCRW & Sam Sanders and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.