Sean Fennessy and Amanda Dobbins host this episode of The Big Picture, covering their attendance at the Directors Guild of America Awards dinner and analyzing the Super Bowl movie trailers that aired during the game.

The episode features extensive discussion of the DGA ceremony at the Beverly Hilton, where Paul Thomas Anderson won for Licorice Pizza, with presentations from Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan, Jacob Elordi, and Steven Spielberg among others.

Later in the show, Sean presents his conversation with Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, co-directors of K-pop Demon Hunters, recorded after a screening at the nonprofit theater Videots, exploring their seven-year journey creating the animated musical.

Super Bowl Trailers: Fincher-Tarantino Mystery and Franchise Fatigue

Netflix aired a mysterious one-minute trailer for an untitled Fincher-directed, Tarantino-written film set in 1970s Hollywood, featuring Brad Pitt and heavy visual bleeps for 'not suitable for general audiences' content

The trailer hasn't been officially released on Netflix's YouTube channel, suggesting a 'serpentine secret campaign' withholding even the movie's title

Eleven months have passed since the last superhero movie release, marking the longest stretch since Iron Man in 2008, with Supergirl arriving June 26th to break the drought

Project Hail Mary received another brief teaser, with Amanda expressing fatigue: 'Show me the movie' after a year of marketing buildup

Inside the DGA Awards: Spielberg's Torch-Passing Ceremony

The Beverly Hilton ceremony ran efficiently under host Kumail Nanjiani, contrasting with warnings of 4-5 hour runtimes from previous Judd Apatow-hosted years

Christopher Nolan opened as DGA President to Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir,' with multiple speakers throughout the night referencing 'President Nolan' in what felt like Spielberg passing the directorial torch

Ryan Coogler gave a powerful speech holding up his DGA and insurance cards, saying 'I've always been grateful for these, but I'm really grateful tonight' with his sick child at home

Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director, delivering an emotional tribute to late collaborator Adam Sumner: 'He would have just loved this... if you have it, hold it close'

Oscar Race Implications: The DGA's 80-Year Predictive Power

In 80 years of DGA Awards, the winner has only lost the Oscar 8 times, making Paul Thomas Anderson the overwhelming Best Director favorite

A Best Picture/Best Director split remains possible, with recent examples including Coda/Power of the Dog (2021) and Green Book/Roma (2018)

The Academy cancelled member screenings after nominations due to average attendance of only 5 people, citing the Academy Portal app as sufficient access

Both Anora and Licorice Pizza received standing ovations, though Anora and Licorice Pizza seemed to generate slightly more energy from the room

K-pop Demon Hunters: Seven Years of Animation Innovation

Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans spent seven years developing their unique animation style, inspired by Cowboy Bebop's 'larger-than-life characters that are so cool, but also very funny and flawed'

The film required creating an entirely new approach to musical storytelling: 'People have written musicals before, but they aren't pop songs. And people have written pop songs, but never that we're trying to live in a story'

Korean choreographers integrated Taekwondo with modern K-pop dance moves, with the directors describing a breakthrough moment: 'we're all just like crying and thinking like, oh my gosh, it's actually possible'

The film's theme of 'embracing parts of yourself that you don't think are acceptable' has resonated widely, with audiences relating to protagonist Rumi's scars in unexpected ways