TrapDraw Podcast – No Laying Up 384: Movie Recs with Sean Fennessey
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Feb 26, 2026 
Sean Fennessey, writer and podcaster at The Ringer known for Rewatchables and film shows, shares rapid-fire movie recommendations. He covers perfect films for flights, horror for non-horror fans, movies to crank the sound on, titles that grew on him, visuals you can watch on mute, underrated recent gems, foreign-language entry points, and pairing ideas across genres.
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Use Score-Only Viewing To Appreciate Cinematography
- Watch visually driven films like Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven on mute or with the score only to appreciate cinematography and painting-like composition.
- Sean picked it as a movie that communicates through image and music more than dialogue.
Why Congo Is An Unexplainable Guilty Pleasure
- Sean inexplicably loves the goofy blockbuster Congo despite its absurd premise about talking apes and diamond-powered lasers.
- He praises its cast (Laura Linney, Delroy Lindo, Joe Pantoliano), Frank Marshall's direction, and its sheer mystifying entertainment value.
Babylon As A Future Film School Staple
- Sean argues Babylon will age well for film students because its showy, physical filmmaking celebrates cinema's technical toolkit even while depicting the misery of those who devote their lives to it.
- He sees it as both a love letter and a miserabilist portrait, destined to be studied for virtuosity.