Overview of Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey'
Chris Ryan fills in for Bill Simmons with a two-part episode focused on the World Cup and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. First, he talks with Ian Wright and Anthony Dabbundo about England’s semifinal loss to Argentina and previews the final between Argentina and Spain. Then Sean Fennessey joins for a deep, spoiler-light conversation about The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s style, and the evolving moviegoing experience in the age of IMAX and event cinema.
World Cup: England’s Loss to Argentina
Ian Wright was disappointed by how England lost after taking the lead. His main criticism was that Thomas Tuchel’s team became too conservative too early and surrendered control:
- England scored, then dropped into a deep defensive shell.
- Tuchel’s late substitutions were aimed at protecting the lead, but Wright felt the team had no way to play out once pressure mounted.
- England lacked ball-carriers and creators on the pitch after the changes, leaving them unable to relieve pressure or attack the flanks.
Key criticisms of England’s approach
- Too much possession was conceded after the goal.
- The team had too few touches in the opponent’s box.
- Creative options like Saka, Foden, Palmer, and others were either unavailable or unused.
- Wright argued England needed more bravery, not less, once ahead.
Messi and Argentina’s edge
Wright emphasized that Messi’s intelligence and movement decided the match:
- Argentina recognized England was keying on Messi, so he drifted wide and created danger from the right.
- Messi’s ability to generate an assist or “hockey assist” without forcing shots made him nearly impossible to contain.
- Argentina’s structure is built around Messi, with teammates constantly protecting and supporting him.
- The team’s mentality is ruthless and resilient: even when they look contained, they find a way through.
Wright’s broader take
Wright felt the loss was more painful than England’s 2022 exit to France because this one felt like regression. He also said the team should eventually be built more around Jude Bellingham, with the attack flowing through him the way Argentina plays through Messi.
World Cup Final Preview: Argentina vs. Spain
Chris Ryan and Anthony Dabbundo both leaned Spain on style, but neither was willing to dismiss Argentina.
Why Spain makes sense
- Spain’s possession-based, club-like style is more stable in knockout football.
- Their youth-system cohesion gives them an unusually unified identity.
- They have been extremely hard to score against in the knockout rounds.
- Dabbundo argued that Spain’s structure and pressing have consistently exposed France-like teams that rely more on talent than organization.
Why Argentina still feels dangerous
- Argentina are never really out of a game.
- They win ugly, win late, and seem to peak in the final stretch.
- Their team is built to endure pressure and then explode in key moments.
- If the match turns physical or chaotic, Argentina’s style can drag Spain into their rhythm.
Final verdict from the pod
- Spain should be favored.
- Argentina should never be counted out.
- Both hosts agreed the final could hinge on refereeing, match temperature, and whether Spain can keep possession long enough to blunt Argentina’s late-game surge.
Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey with Sean Fennessey
Sean Fennessey joined for a wide-ranging discussion about The Odyssey, emphasizing that the conversation was intentionally spoiler-light and focused more on Nolan as a filmmaker than on plot specifics.
Main ideas about the movie
- The Odyssey is being presented as a major theatrical event, especially in IMAX 70mm.
- Fennessey sees the experience as part of a larger trend toward “eventized” moviegoing.
- The film is expected to be huge at the box office, but also unusual and demanding.
Why Nolan matters
Fennessey argued Nolan is the defining filmmaker of the 21st century:
- He helped legitimize superhero filmmaking with the Dark Knight trilogy.
- He has made ambitious original blockbusters like Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet.
- He’s also made historical epics like Dunkirk and Oppenheimer.
- His movies consistently push technical and formal boundaries while still attracting huge audiences.
Nolan’s evolving style
A major point of the conversation was how Nolan’s style has changed, especially in collaboration with editor Jennifer Lame:
- More aggressive temporal cross-cutting.
- Scenes that move across time without much warning.
- A more experimental, less traditional sense of rhythm.
- Still extremely accessible at the level of spectacle, even when structurally unusual.
Why The Odyssey works for Nolan
Fennessey thinks the story is ideal for Nolan because:
- It’s already familiar enough that audiences don’t need every plot detail explained.
- Nolan can focus on mood, structure, and thematic weight.
- The film appears to be about civilization, return, memory, and what people lose in chaos.
- The adaptation seems to merge classical adventure with Nolan’s fascination with time, identity, and systems.
Moviegoing, IMAX, and the “Event” Future
A big subtopic was whether theatrical moviegoing is becoming more premium and more niche.
What they discussed
- IMAX 70mm as a filmmaker-driven experience rather than a studio gimmick.
- The discomfort of some premium-format seats versus the payoff of scale and immersion.
- Whether audiences will increasingly treat major films like concerts or limited events.
- The idea that movies like The Odyssey may sell not just as stories, but as occasions.
Their take
- Fennessey likes the idea of directors controlling presentation.
- He thinks Nolan has the rare ability to make this model work at scale.
- Chris Ryan and Fennessey both see The Odyssey as the kind of film that could define the cultural moment for a while.
Broader Film Thoughts and Comparisons
The conversation also touched on Nolan’s place in film history and comparisons to other major directors:
- Kubrick: closest comparison in terms of precision, ambition, and technical obsession, though Kubrick is more psychologically probing.
- Spielberg: an earlier model of blockbuster auteurism that blended personal expression with mass appeal.
- Scorsese / PTA / Villeneuve: all relevant, but Nolan is the one who most fully combines artistic seriousness with huge audience reach.
They also discussed how Nolan’s films reward repeat viewings, even when they’re not always emotionally “warm” or conventionally accessible.
Notable Takeaways
- England’s loss was framed as a failure of courage and game management more than talent.
- Messi’s intelligence and movement remain game-breaking even when opponents know exactly what he’s trying to do.
- Spain looks like the more coherent side, but Argentina’s late-game resilience makes them dangerous.
- Nolan is positioned as the rare director who can still turn an original, strange, expensive movie into a must-see theatrical event.
- The Odyssey may be less about plot surprises than about scale, structure, and what Nolan is saying about civilization and human return.
What to Watch / Do Next
- Watch the World Cup final: Spain vs. Argentina.
- See The Odyssey in the best format available, ideally IMAX 70mm if possible.
- Expect more analysis: both the World Cup and The Odyssey are clearly framed as ongoing conversation pieces across upcoming Ringer shows.