Blank Check — Patreon: 2025 March Madness Update 1

Published 2025-03-18; 1:16:35 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “Blank Check with Griffin & David (Patreon)” and the episode “2025 March Madness Update 1”.

Hosts: Griffin Newman, David Sims. Guests: Ben Hosley (producer, present in the room), Marie (handles the vote stats; transcript says 'Marie Bardi').

Subject films: none named.

On the transcript: No speaker labels and heavy crosstalk, so many attributions are unknown; speakers inferred only where lines self-identify. Early minutes include noisy opening lyrics.

Films that came up

Claims (83)

career (career): Almost Heroes → Matthew Perry. Almost Heroes is cursed because it caught Perry in the midst of addiction and Chris Farley's last role.
“It's Matthew Perry, you know, in the midst of like insane pill addiction and Chris Farley dead.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:02:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Big Picture → Almost Heroes. Guest's Big Picture is a good movie, Almost Heroes is the cursed one.
“Big picture is good.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:02:48 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Almost Heroes → Lewis and Clark. Almost Heroes has a cabin-boy energy of the Lewis and Clark adventure comedy.
“Yeah, it has like a fun cabin boy energy to it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:03:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Christopher Guest → Best in Show. The Guest run they would cover is Guffman, Big Picture, Almost Heroes, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind.
“Almost heroes, best in show, Mighty Wind.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:04:06 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): For Your Consideration → Mascots. The remaining Guest films, For Your Consideration and Mascots, are judged poor or bad.
“Mascots is bad.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:04:23 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Stand by Me → Misery. They would fold Reiner's Stand by Me and Misery into a Stephen King series.
“So stand by me in misery, both go into a king.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:06:04 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
programming (programming): A Few Good Men → Aaron Sorkin. A Few Good Men and The American President get folded into a Sorkin series, not a Reiner one.
“Few good men in American president.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:06:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Ghosts of Mississippi → Casper. Joke Patreon series pairing Reiner's Ghosts of Mississippi with Casper for the tonal swing.
“Can you imagine if we put Ghosts of Mississippi and Casper in the same Patreon series?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:06:33 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Michael Bay → We Are Storror. The group saw the Michael Bay Parkour documentary at South by Southwest.
“we saw we are Storer, the Michael Bay Parkour documentary.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:16:45 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Michael Bay → Spike Lee. Bay lost his March Madness matchup to Spike Lee two days before.
“He had just gotten turfed by Spike Lee.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:16:55 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie → Robert Zemeckis. The film is an homage to Zemeckis at a very granular level (transcribed 'Roberts and Mechis').
“the whole movie is like an homage to Roberts and Mechis.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:19:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Perfect Dark → GoldenEye (video game). Rareware's Perfect Dark is a spiritual sequel after losing the Bond license.
“Rareware, the company that made it lost the James Bond license, but they sort of made a spiritual sequel”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:22:45 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Paul Thomas Anderson → David Lean. PTA beat David Lean in round one, 65-35, the closest of the 18 seeds.
“Yes, but I think... 65, 35.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:24:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Ridley Scott → Steven Soderbergh. Scott beat Soderbergh, a mild surprise to the hosts.
“I was a little surprised that Scott took that.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:26:00 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Paul Thomas Anderson → Ridley Scott. The one played-out Sweet 16 matchup is PTA over Scott, making PTA a robust challenger.
“PTAs March to, at least the final 4 does seem, well, maybe not assured, but he's so far a robust challenger.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:26:36 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Denis Villeneuve → Alfonso Cuaron. Villeneuve beat Cuaron 58-42; Cuaron is always close but no cigar.
“He's always close but no cigar.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:27:17 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Alfonso Cuaron → Blade Runner 2049. They felt it would be silly to cover Villeneuve before Dune, the start of their epic trilogy.
“it would be silly to cover him before Dune.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:27:31 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Dune → The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Everyone keeps comparing Dune's trilogy to Lord of the Rings.
“everyone keeps talking about it as the Lord of the Rings.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:27:43 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Dune: Part Two → The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Oscars treated Dune Part 2 the way they treated The Two Towers.
“is what exactly what they did to the two towers.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:28:04 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Rebecca Ferguson → Dune. Ferguson deserved the Oscar for Dune Part One.
“In part one, it is undoubtedly Rebecca Ferguson”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:28:39 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Javier Bardem → Dune: Part Two. Bardem would get their supporting Oscar from the Dune films.
“I would give it to Bardem, who I think really threads the needle of like funny and serious and like, I think, such a clever performance.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:28:53 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Jared Leto → Blade Runner 2049. Leto, whom the speaker usually hates, fits Blade Runner 2049.
“completely fits what that movie's trying to do.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:29:29 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Hugh Jackman → Prisoners. Jackman is in a what-have-I-done mode in Prisoners.
“Jackman's in what have I done mode in prisoners, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:29:49 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Andy Serkis → The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Serkis (transcribed 'Circus') should have won for Two Towers.
“I would have given it to circus as well.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:30:18 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Sean Astin → Peter Jackson. Astin's narrative is that Jackson cut his Oscar clip from Return of the King.
“His whole thing was that like Jackson fucked him by cutting out his Oscar clip.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:30:42 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Spike Lee → Denis Villeneuve. Spike has early passionate support and is expected to beat Villeneuve.
“I think Spike's going to beat Denise soundly.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:32:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Denis Villeneuve → Christopher Nolan. Villeneuve is often compared to Nolan whereas Spike Lee is seen as unique.
“Villeneuve, I think, is someone who gets compared a lot to Nolan.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:32:32 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Denis Villeneuve → Dune: Messiah. The most interesting move might be a Villeneuve series timed to the release of Dune Messiah.
“it does feel like maybe the most interesting thing to do would be a Villeneuve series leading up to the release of Dune Massage.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:32:55 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Joel and Ethan Coen → Fritz Lang. The Coens had the most first-round votes of anyone.
“The Cohen brothers received the most votes numerically out of any filmmaker in the 1st round.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:33:14 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Richard Linklater → Wong Kar-wai. Linklater beat Wong Kar-wai in the closest matchup of the round.
“So Richard Linklater beat Warn Car Why.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:38:05 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Richard Linklater → Steven Soderbergh. Both Linklater and Soderbergh like to try stuff, yielding some one-off movies that would be thin episodes.
“But both of them have the thing where they're like, I want to try stuff.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:38:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Joel and Ethan Coen → Richard Linklater. The speaker expects the Coens to beat Linklater.
“I imagine the Cohens will beat Link later.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:39:08 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Robert Altman → Gore Verbinski. Altman beat the top-seeded Verbinski.
“ass beat by the, you know, the barrel chested Robert Altman”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:40:48 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Robert Altman → David Cronenberg. Altman faces Cronenberg in an interesting vibes matchup.
“Now, Altman is going to fight fight with Cronenberg.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:41:42 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): David Cronenberg → David Lynch. Cronenberg is the speaker's Lynch, the director who spoke to his soul at 13 or 14.
“Pronenberg is kind of my lynch.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:42:28 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Bong Joon-ho → Prince. Bong destroyed Prince, who is embroiled in estate controversy.
“Bong Juno Destroyed Prince.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:42:47 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Bong Joon-ho → Mel Brooks. The unplanned Sweet 16 matchup of Bong versus Brooks is intriguing.
“What's to me more interesting is Bong versus Mel Brooks.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:43:28 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Mel Brooks → Todd Haynes. Brooks beat Haynes in round one.
“Brooks just demonstrated some strength against Todd Haynes.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:43:43 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Todd Haynes → Velvet Goldmine. Haynes gets weird films financed on small budgets.
“He made velvet gold mine.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:44:26 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Todd Haynes → Wonderstruck. Haynes got money for a half-silent black-and-white children's film.
“getting any amount of 1000000s of dollars to make a half silent black and white children's film.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:44:50 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Francis Ford Coppola → Bram Stoker's Dracula. Dracula appears on both brackets, via Coppola and the Sony hot monsters.
“Bram Stoker's Dracula, obviously, basically included on both brackets this year”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:46:25 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Robin Hood: Men in Tights → Mel Brooks. Robin Hood Men in Tights is saved for a Mel Brooks series, not the Robin Hood category.
“So it's better to save it for Mel.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:46:45 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Peter Weir → Baz Luhrmann. Weir had a strong showing over Luhrmann.
“Peter Weir, uh, had a very strong showing against Baz Luhrmann.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:46:48 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Peter Weir → The Mosquito Coast. If they cover Weir they would not cover the Apple TV+ Mosquito Coast.
“If we cover Peter Weir, we will not be covering Apple Plus mosquito Coast.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:47:58 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (recommendation): Peter Weir → Fearless. A host has not seen Fearless and is obsessed with plane crashes.
“the most intense plane crash scene in a movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:48:14 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Sofia Coppola → Spike Jonze. Sofia dominated Spike Jonze.
“who I would say pretty roundly dominated Spike Jones.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:48:30 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Sofia Coppola → Francis Ford Coppola. Sofia could meet Francis in the next round if both advance.
“We are one set of matchups away from Sofia having to go up against Francis.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:49:50 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Guillermo del Toro → Ernest Dickerson. Del Toro beat the lesser-known Dickerson.
“Del Toro beat, uh, uh, Dickerson.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:51:22 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Francis Ford Coppola → Edgar Wright. Coppola beat Wright on Megalopolis recency.
“Now, Francis Procopola beat Edgar Wright.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:51:26 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Megalopolis → Francis Ford Coppola. Megalopolis made Coppola feel more like a blank-check director.
“I do think Megalopolis made him feel a little more... a blank checkie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:51:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Orson Welles → Terrence Malick. Welles beat Malick.
“Wells beat Malik.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:52:25 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Orson Welles → Chimes at Midnight. Chimes at Midnight is a movie one speaker adores.
“a Shakespeare nerd is a movie I adore.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:53:47 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Peter Jackson → Barry Sonnenfeld. Jackson beat Sonnenfeld.
“defeated Barry Sonenfeld”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:54:08 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Barry Sonnenfeld → Wild Wild West. The only essential Sonnenfeld film not otherwise covered is Wild Wild West.
“Then basically the only essential movie we're not covering is Wild, Wild West.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:54:31 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Lord of the Rings trilogy → The Hobbit films. Jackson's Hobbit films are weirder and flawed but not leaden.
“People need to stop acting like those movies are like leaden and boring.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:55:09 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): The Lord of the Rings trilogy → Peter Jackson. They would watch the extended cuts, with Fellowship almost essential and Return of the King the overstuffed one.
“To me, like the fellowship extended cut is almost essential”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:55:50 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Final Destination → The Exorcist. Final Destination beat the Exorcist by 15 votes in the Patreon bracket.
“Final destination one by 15 votes.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:57:41 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): The Exorcist → Jurassic World. Exorcist 2 could fold into a locust-themed Patreon series with The Reaping and Days of Heaven.
“The reaping, Days of Heaven, Jurassic World...”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:58:02 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Wizard of Oz → The Wiz. The Wiz is now on Criterion in 4K, a big week of news.
“The whiz is now on criterion?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:58:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Psycho → Rocky. Psycho beat Rocky 51 to 49.
“Psycho beat Rocky 51 to 49%.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:58:57 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Psycho → Bates Motel (TV). A Psycho series could include Psycho 4 and all five seasons of Bates Motel.
“And we would do all 5 seasons of Bates Motel, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:59:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Hot Monsters (Sony) → Spider-Man villains. Hot monsters beat Spider-Man villains by three votes, maybe on the funny name.
“Three votes. Three votes.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:59:52 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Wolf → Mike Nichols. Nichols did not shoot coverage, so action in Wolf is slowed down to cover the gap.
“sometimes did not know to shoot coverage”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:00:17 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Wolf → Bram Stoker's Dracula. Sony's 90s hot monsters trio: Dracula, Wolf, Mary Reilly, all with stars and no auteur directors.
“Sony in the 90s were like public domain, 3 monsters with giant stars and 0 tour directors, and all 3 of them are so fucking horny.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:00:28 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Mary Reilly → Bram Stoker's Dracula. Mary Reilly is notoriously boring, a Sony film.
“Mary Riley is like notoriously one of the most boring movies of all time, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:00:49 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Stephen Frears → Mary Reilly. Frears can make a masterpiece or a derivative piece of garbage.
“Stephen Freer's a guy who could just like absolutely make a five-star A plus masterpiece”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:01:21 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Mary Reilly → Tim Burton. Burton was supposed to direct Mary Reilly but dropped out very late.
“but Tim Burton was supposed to do and dropped out very late.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:01:59 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Odd Couple II → Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. Studios in the 90s dragged the Matthau-Lemmon pair out again for sequels.
“slap a 2 on the odd couple.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:02:35 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): RoboCop → Psycho. Robocop has one good covered movie and three bad; Psycho offers more to discuss.
“it is one good movie we have covered and 3 bad, whereas Psycho, it's like, there's a lot of interesting shit there.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:04:32 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): RoboCop → Peter Weller. Griffin's recurring gripe that RoboCop 2 should not put the mask back on Weller.
“Robocop 2 should never put the mask back on Peter Weller.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:04:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): RoboCop → Total Recall. The RoboCop remake and Total Recall remake are emblematic of peak shitty 2010 remakes.
“That era kind of total recall robocop.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:05:15 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Orson Welles → Anthony Perkins. If Welles wins they would add some Perkins (The Trial).
“God, if Wells wins, we'd do some Perkins too.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:06:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Alan Moore → The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Fox changed Moore's concept to add a young American in Tom Sawyer.
“All these characters are old and not American.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:07:34 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen → Shane West. Tom Sawyer was played by Shane West, fresh from A Walk to Remember.
“He had just walked to remember, and then he has an ER run”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:07:50 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Sean Connery → The Matrix. Connery was going to be Morpheus but thought the script was dog shit.
“He was going to be Morpheus. So they sent him this dog shit script.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:09:27 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Laurence Fishburne → The Matrix. Fishburne is miracle casting for Morpheus.
“Of course he's not because Larry Fishburn is like the miracle casting of that movie”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:09:41 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Sean Connery → The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Connery made LXG then retired from movies.
“I'm retiring from movies.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:10:05 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): John Wick → Ballerina (John Wick spinoff). Fatigue with the Wick-verse; Ballerina gets a no, thank you.
“Valerina, no, thank you.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:11:28 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Rachel Zegler → Snow White. Zegler carries Snow White; she made the animated Spellbound almost good.
“Ziegler carries that thing.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:13:02 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Snow White → Mirror Mirror. A Snow White Patreon series: Huntsman, Mirror Mirror, or same-year rivals.
“Could do a Snow White's Patreon series.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:14:52 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Dante's Peak → Armageddon. Series idea of same-year rival movies: Volcano/Dante's Peak, Armageddon/Deep Impact, Antz/A Bug's Life.
“Armageddon Deep Impact.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:15:05 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Blow → Scarface. A cocaine-movies series idea: Scarface (transcribed 'Starface') and Blow.
“Starface. Blow. Blow.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:15:15 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): House of Gucci → Blow. House of Gucci is a movie where the cocaine is hidden.
“And then there's movies like House of Gucci where you're like, where's the cocaine?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:15:36 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items (23)

fun, about Almost Heroes: Hosts remember it as cursed but a pleasant surprise as a serviceable comedy.
“I was kind of pleasantly surprised by it almost working.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:02:55 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Matthew Perry: Perry's comic timing stayed perfect despite his addiction, and the hosts say he had insane talent.
“The level of like addiction he was going through and still being able to deliver this flawless performance.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:03:37 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Griffin Newman: The pitmaster bit at the Airbnb in Austin and his rollerblading-camp backstory.
“I pulled off the tarp and I immediately threw some brisket on that fucking bad boy.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:11:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Griffin Newman: Origin story of his comedy: after rollerblade camp bullying, he Photoshopped meme flyers and posted them in the locker room.
“I was like, me, comedy.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:12:56 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Ambulance: Bay claims he skipped most of the filming of the parkour doc due to DGA rules.
“he claims that he was not present for most of filming because it would have broken DGA rules”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:17:28 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about We Are Storror: Michael Bay's parkour documentary; a relief the guys appeared before the screening.
“They said, he said, like, unfortunately, these 2 missed their flight, so they're not here.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:18:12 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie: Best theatrical comedy experience in a decade, a spoof of Hollywood conventions that also works as the real thing.
“It was my sides hurt.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:18:57 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Perfect Dark: The Game Boy Camera cross-compatibility feature that was cut before release.
“So Nintendo Power magazine announced, this is going to have some cross-compatibility with a Nintendo 64”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:23:27 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about March Madness 2025: Recency bias trend: the newer or more active filmmaker usually wins.
“People like the newer filmmaker.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:25:31 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about March Madness 2025: The husky region: the huskier director has won every match.
“in the husky region, the huskier director has won every match.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:41:22 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Mel Brooks: Brooks is 98 years old.
“He is 98 years old.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:44:03 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Todd Haynes: Argument that Haynes' tiny budgets still count as a blank check because of total creative control.
“$7000000 with 0 interference in a weird genre play is always more of a blank check than someone getting $250 million”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:45:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Peter Weir: Promise they would not cover Apple's Mosquito Coast series.
“If we cover Peter Weir, we will not be covering Apple Plus mosquito Coast.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:47:58 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Orson Welles: Welles climbed weight classes over the years, called the huskiest director who ever lived at his peak.
“he is perhaps the huskiest director who ever lived.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:53:02 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Barry Sonnenfeld: Plan: cover Elmore Leonard and Addams Family series, then do a one-off Wild Wild West.
“we promise we will do a fucking Patreon Wild Wild West or something.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:54:35 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lord of the Rings trilogy: Return of the King extended cut is where they threw everything into the pot.
“Return of the King one is the one where I feel like they just started throwing all everything into the pot”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:55:50 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Wolf: Nichols slowed down action because there was no coverage of Nicholson running in the woods.
“they're like slowing down action sequences because they clearly have no footage of like Nicholson running in the woods or whatever.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:00:17 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Mary Reilly: Called one of the most boring movies ever and a Sony film Burton was to direct.
“but Tim Burton was supposed to do and dropped out very late.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:01:59 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Psycho: A Psycho series bit: rocking chairs and recording in a bathroom.
“Wait, we should just record the whole episode in a bathroom.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:05:36 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Fox's note: heroes were old and not American, so Tom Sawyer was made a spy.
“All these characters are old and not American.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:07:34 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Sean Connery: Connery thought many scripts were dog shit, made LXG and retired.
“So I guess the next one that comes across my desk that is dog shit I should make.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:09:58 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about March Madness 2025: The poll closed at 1:59 a.m. instead of p.m.
“I had the poll yesterday's poll close at 159 a.m. instead of 159 p.m.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:10:26 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Snow White: Disneyland influencer screening reports: very bad but not as bad as feared.
“she said it was very bad, but not as bad as she thought it was going to be.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:13:50 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Griffin Newman (host): Loves cult comedy and genre curiosities such as Perfect Dark, Nirvana the Band, and weird bracket ideas like Psycho with Bates Motel. Enthusiastic about Peter Weir, Welles, and Del Toro. Dislikes long filmographies as a rule and bad Robocop sequels.
David Sims (host): A big Cronenberg fan and a video game kid (Game Boy Camera, Perfect Dark). Likes Villeneuve and Dune but is skeptical of Linklater and Soderbergh episodes that run thin.

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong

'Chip Smith' appears as 'Tip Smith'/'Chim Smith' - the hosts' recurring bit character
'Storer' → We Are Storror
'Roberts and Mechis' → Robert Zemeckis
'Warn Car Why' → Wong Kar-wai
'Gorbinsky'/'Gore High' → Gore Verbinski
'Dune Massage' → Dune: Messiah
'Wells' → Orson Welles
'spider' (Christopher Guest) → Spinal Tap
'Aston' → Sean Astin; 'circus' -> Andy Serkis
'Dick V. Wick' → unclear, probably a rival of John Wick
'Stonenfeld' → Barry Sonnenfeld
'Starface' → Scarface
'Valerina' → Ballerina
'Fiona Doris' → Fiona Dourif; 'Taylor Deirden' -> Taylor Dearden
'Haley Lou' → Haley Lu Richardson
'Christmas coal' unclear category name

Blank Check — Patreon: 2025 March Madness Update 1

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

Films that came up

compared (27)

anecdote (8)

recommended (6)

dismissed (6)

passing (52)

subject (2)

Claims (83)

Fun items (23)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong