Blank Check — Patreon: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

Published 2022-10-21; 1:22:50 by the feed.

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

The extraction calls the show “Blank Check with Griffin & David (Patreon)” and the episode “2010: The Year We Make Contact”.

Hosts: Griffin Newman, David Sims, Ben Hosley. Guests: none.

Subject films: 2010: The Year We Make Contact.

On the transcript: Un-labeled transcript with frequent garbling of names and a few ad-lib tangents; most speaker attributions are low-confidence guesses. The first ~2 minutes are pre-roll banter.

Films that came up

Claims (39)

lineage (sequel): 2001: A Space Odyssey → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. 2010 is the sequel to 2001; the speaker's reaction to the Kubrick film is the benchmark throughout.
“And I said, oh, you know, 2010, the sequel to 2001 and they were like, the what?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:02:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (vibe comparison): 2010: The Year We Make Contact → Interstellar. The speaker finds 2010 closer in feel to Interstellar than to 2001.
“I found it interesting that in a lot of ways this movie feels less like dumb 2001 to me and more like dumb interstellar.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:06:48 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
unmapped (father and son filmmakers): Peter Hyams → John Hyams. The younger Hyams is described as a favorite current action director and Peter's son; Peter shot his film.
“And his other son, my favorite current working action filmmakers.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:07:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (borrowed music): 2010: The Year We Make Contact → 2001: A Space Odyssey. The only thing 2010 borrows from 2001, apart from plotting, is the music, including the Zarathustra drop at the end.
“Yeah, is the music.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:07:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (payoff comparison): 2010: The Year We Make Contact → Creed. The Zarathustra cue at the end is likened to Gonna Fly Now at the end of Creed: a movie that earned the right to the cue.
“It almost feels like fucking gonna fly now playing at the end of Creed where you're like, the movie's worked this hard to earn the right.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:07:48 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
unmapped (explainer joke): 2010: The Year We Make Contact → Don't Worry Darling. A joke that 2010 is about explainer writers trying to work out what happened in the previous film, like clickbait for Don't Worry Darling's ending.
“What I didn't realize is this movie's pretty much about the clickbait writers trying to figure out how to explain the thing.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:08:55 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (director-DP-writer-producer): Peter Hyams → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Hyams wrote, produced, shot, and directed 2010, an unusual degree of control.
“Also known as 2010 is a 1984 science fiction film, written, produced, shot, and directed by Peter Himes.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:10:52 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (cinematographer credit): Peter Hyams → Universal Soldier: Regeneration. Hyams shoots his son John Hyams's films too, including Regeneration.
“I believe he shoots John Himes' films as well.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:11:25 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (adaptation): 2010: Odyssey Two (novel) → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The film exists because Clarke published the sequel novel.
“Arthur C. Clark, of course, did publish a sequel to 2001 called 2010.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:17:20 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (late-sequel parallel): Hannibal → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The sequel arriving a decade-plus later after audiences demanded it, over the original team's refusal, is called a real Hannibal situation.
“It's like a real Hannibal situation.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:18:44 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (late-sequel parallel): The Silence of the Lambs → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Jokes that Clarke's sequel is a straightforward explainer while Thomas Harris went for the most hateful story imaginable.
“But of course, I would say Arthur C. Clark wrote a pretty sort of straightforward sci-fi sequel book that does try to explain what was going on in 2001, whereas Thomas Harris ripped his guts open”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:18:58 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (same director / setting): Outland → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. MGM went to Hyams because he had just made Outland, which is set on Io, a place that plays a role in 2010.
“Outland is the Sean Connery Space Western that's set on IO, which plays a role in this movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:19:36 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
unmapped (changes from the book): 2010: Odyssey Two (novel) → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Hyams demanded changes to play up US-Soviet politics, which the novel does not treat as a source of tension.
“Two, there's changes I want to make to play up the politics of the movie because in the novel, the U.S. Soviet thing is not like a source of tension.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:21:36 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
people (director asks about a shot): Stanley Kubrick → Outland. On his call with Hyams, Kubrick's first question was how Hyams did a certain shot in Outland.
“and immediately asks him how he did a certain shot in Outland.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:21:53 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (blessing and advice): Stanley Kubrick → Peter Hyams. Kubrick approved the sequel and told Hyams to make it his own film, not Kubrick's.
“His big piece of advice was just make it your own film.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:22:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (why the sequel got written): Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope → Arthur C. Clarke. The speaker thinks the post-Star Wars sci-fi rush is what kickstarted Clarke finally writing the follow-up.
“I mean, I'm realizing the other thing that probably kickstarted Arthur C. Clark finally writing the follow-up novel is the mad post-Star Wars sci-fi brush of like, oh, now Star Trek, the motion picture is getting made.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:22:43 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career turning point): T.R. Baskin → Peter Hyams. Hyams sold the T.R. Baskin script to Paramount and, watching Herbert Ross direct it, reportedly decided never to write for anyone else again.
“Herbert Ross directs it and Peter Heim says, I knew I never wanted to write for anyone else again.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:27:05 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
unmapped (co-writing): Arthur C. Clarke → Peter Hyams. Clarke helped Hyams write the screenplay over eight months.
“But, you know, they did 8 months of work together.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:27:41 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (changed character nationality): 2010: Odyssey Two (novel) → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Dr. Chandra is Indian in the book; the film made him American, per Balaban.
“Bob Balaban said they changed his nationalities from Indian to American because they thought it would be confusing to have another nationality who've got the Russians and the Americans up there.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:11 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (tip of the hat): Close Encounters of the Third Kind → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Casting Balaban reads as a nod to Close Encounters; the speaker finds 2010 more in its shadow than 2001's.
“And the Balaban casting feels like a real tip of the hat to that.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:46 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (casting echo): Jaws → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Balaban from Close Encounters plus Scheider from Jaws makes 2010 a less sentimental, more serious-minded Spielberg.
“I mean, you have, you have Balaban and you have Schider off of Jaws.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:49 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (Spielberg comparison): Steven Spielberg → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. 2010 is likened to a less sentimental, more serious-minded Spielberg.
“Like this is very much kind of doing a less sentimental, more serious-minded Spielberg.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:53 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (gravitas casting): Blue Thunder → Roy Scheider. Scheider is brought in to give ballast to something silly, as in Blue Thunder and later seaQuest DSV.
“Schider's there to give a little ballast to something a silly.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:29:52 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (set up the series): Steven Spielberg → seaQuest DSV. The speaker says Spielberg set up seaQuest, making Scheider an elder statesman lending legitimacy to a show with a talking dolphin.
“In the 90s, Spielberg like sort of throws in the bone and sets up Sequest, DSV”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:30:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (villain career): John Lithgow → Brian De Palma. Lithgow is in the middle of his De Palma villain career at the time of 2010.
“Lithgow is really in the middle of his, like, Brian De Palma villain career right now, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:30:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (rent guy): Spider-Man → Elya Baskin. Baskin plays Mr. Ditkovich, the rent guy, in Spider-Man.
“he's the rent guy from Spider-Man.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:34:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (Russian general): Austin Powers → Elya Baskin. Baskin plays the Russian general in Austin Powers.
“Yes, he's the Russian general, Austin Powers.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:34:50 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (contractual obligation): Roy Scheider → Jaws 2. Scheider says he did Jaws 2 only because he was contractually obligated, unlike 2010.
“He says, look, I did Jaws too because I was contractually obligated to do it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:36:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (before the type): Midnight Cowboy → Bob Balaban. Balaban was in Midnight Cowboy before Close Encounters synthesized his 'guy who explains' type.
“But it's before they figured out the type, the shorthand you can use Balaban for, where it's like, close encounters just like kind of synthesizes it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:37:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (slow sci-fi after Star Wars): Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Films like 2010, Close Encounters, The Black Hole and Star Trek TMP went back to slow, process-based hard sci-fi after Star Wars made space fast.
“and that this wave of movies like 2010”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:51:56 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (married): Caleb Deschanel → Mary Jo Deschanel. Bowman's wife is played by Mary Jo Deschanel, who is married to cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.
“The great cinematographer.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:55:14 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (cinematographer): Caleb Deschanel → Jack Reacher. Deschanel shot Jack Reacher.
“He shot Jack Rachel, forgot, and people were like, oh, yeah, yes, good.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:56:02 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (cinematographer): Caleb Deschanel → The Passion of the Christ. Deschanel got a nomination for Passion of the Christ.
“He got nomination for Passion of the Christ.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:56:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (communication-delay realism): For All Mankind → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The speaker points to For All Mankind's depiction of long Mars-mission message delays as more realistic than 2010's instant comms.
“they can't have a conversation.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:59:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (ending comparison): 2010: The Year We Make Contact → Metropolis. The ending that tells you directly what to take from it is compared to Metropolis.
“It's very metropolis where it's like, this sci-fi movie is going to end with us directly telling you what the takeaway is”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (score replaced): Tony Banks → David Shire. Banks was asked to write the score, was rejected, and Shire was brought in.
“His score was rejected. David Shire was brought in.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:07:44 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar rival): Amadeus → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. 2010 lost costume design, makeup, sound and art direction to Amadeus, and visual effects to Temple of Doom.
“End sound and art direction to all to Amadeus.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:09:46 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar rival): Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. 2010 lost visual effects to Temple of Doom.
“And then it lost visual effects to Temple of Doom.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:09:52 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (box-office rival): Beverly Hills Cop → 2010: The Year We Make Contact. On opening weekend 2010 was number two behind Beverly Hills Cop.
“Beverly Hills got number one.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:11:36 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items (23)

fun, about Candice Bergen: SAL, the new AI, is voiced by Candice Bergen, who is credited under a pseudonym.
“Did you know she was credited as Olga Malz nerd?”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:05:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about 2010: The Year We Make Contact: The hosts say this is basically a movie about screen-rant explainer writers trying to work out the ending of the first film.
“What I didn't realize is this movie's pretty much about the clickbait writers trying to figure out how to explain the thing.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:08:55 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about Peter Hyams: 2010 appears to be Hyams's first camera credit; from here on he shoots all his own films.
“His 1st camera credit of anytime any types is seemingly on this movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:12:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Peter Hyams: Peeper (1975) is an early Michael Caine detective comedy; the tagline and logo (peeping over the title) amuse the hosts.
“In fact, anything was okay with this peeper on the case because he wouldn't know who done it even if he did it himself.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:20:24 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Peter Hyams: Capricorn One, an earlier Hyams film, is about a staged Mars landing.
“which is about a staged Mars landing.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:20:46 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Stanley Kubrick: Kubrick's first question to Hyams on the phone was how Hyams did a shot in Outland, an hour into movie talk before the sequel was even addressed.
“and immediately asks him how he did a certain shot in Outland.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:21:53 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Stanley Kubrick: Kubrick's advice to Hyams was to make it his own film.
“His big piece of advice was just make it your own film.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:22:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Rob Schneider: The hosts read a news item that Rob Schneider's The Animal sequel is nearing a Tubi green light.
“The animal sequel, starring and directed by Rob Schneider, nears Green Light by Tubi.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:25:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Bob Balaban: Dr. Chandra is Indian in the book; Balaban says the filmmakers made him American to avoid a third nationality alongside the Russians and Americans.
“Bob Balaban said they changed his nationalities from Indian to American because they thought it would be confusing to have another nationality who've got the Russians and the Americans up there.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:11 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about John Lithgow: Lithgow can't be a star because of how strange he looks, yet works in every genre; hosts like him doing anything.
“He looks like he looks like a waspy monster.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:31:18 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Bob Balaban: Balaban writes a middle-grade series about a bionic talking dog named McGrowl, with about seven books.
“Not just a talking dog, often, but a bionic dog called McGrowl.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:32:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Helen Mirren: A running bit that Mirren was an atomic-level babe of her generation, with international treaties about it.
“Like, there are treaties around what a babe she is that are like internationally negotiated because she might be too hot.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:33:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Roy Scheider: Scheider reportedly said he did Jaws 2 only because he was contractually obligated and does not think it stands on its own.
“He says, look, I did Jaws too because I was contractually obligated to do it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:36:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Elya Baskin: Baskin was a comic actor with a Moscow comedy company who defected in 1976 and was surprised to be given a dramatic part; he then became a go-to Russian.
“Elliot Baskin, had defected from Russia in 1976.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:38:16 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Elya Baskin: Baskin and Lithgow bonded lying on the floor next to each other in their stiff costumes, like planks.
“So we were laid down by the wardrobe people on the floor like wood.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:39:38 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about 2010: The Year We Make Contact: Europa is the breakout star of the movie, and the hosts have a running bit about who loves it most.
“I've always loved how Europa looks like a skating rink that never got cleaned.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:44:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Alan Rickman: Rickman's diaries trash Harry Potter premiere music and praise Azkaban and Alfonso, who really wanted to make a movie.
“Bad film, John Williams scored dog shit flagging on my ears.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:48:10 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about 2010: The Year We Make Contact: Dave Bowman's ghost brushes his mother's hair in a nursing home, shot with the invisible-man technique.
“Yes. He, um, sort of goes to see like his mother in a nursing home and like, brushes her hair, the old, uh, disembodied brush on his strings.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:54:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Caleb Deschanel: Bowman's wife is played by Mary Jo Deschanel, married to cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.
“The great cinematographer.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:55:14 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about 2010: The Year We Make Contact: The film's most memed line is HAL's message about Europa.
“All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landing there.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:05:08 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about 2010: The Year We Make Contact: A Time magazine cover prop in the film shows Kubrick as a Soviet dictator, a gag in the frame that the speaker rewound to catch.
“I went back and rewound it to clock and I was like, that's a nice little subtle thing.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:07:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Tony Banks: Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks was asked to write the 2010 score; it was rejected and David Shire was brought in.
“His score was rejected. David Shire was brought in.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:07:44 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about 2010: The Year We Make Contact: The sequel was a modest hit: it opened at number two behind Beverly Hills Cop on 1100 screens, grossed about $40M and got five Oscar nominations.
“On December 7th, 1984, it opened in theaters. on 1100 screens.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 1:10:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Griffin Newman (host): Likes genre craft and unvarnished big swings; enjoys box-office-game trivia and Kubrick lore. Dislikes pretension without payoff. Hosts wallow in sequel-hubris jokes.
David Sims (host): Finds slow, adult, conversation-heavy pre-2000 sci-fi and mid-grade legal thrillers deeply relaxing. Holds a grudge against Don't Worry Darling and likes the movie's seriousness. A sucker for starry, grown-up casts.
Ben Hosley (host): Had never seen 2010; is a devoted Europa fan and a planet person. Likes hopeful, big-picture takeaways about finding life. Wary of too much life on Earth right now.

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong

Himes / Haimes / Heim → Peter Hyams; John Himes -> John Hyams
Kira Duela / Cure Delia / Cured Delaya / Kira Delilah → Keir Dullea
Elia / Ilya / Elliot / Iolia Baskin and Basker Dikovich → Elya Baskin; Mr. Dikovich -> Mr. Ditkovich
Bob Balin Band / Bob Balaban's Dr. Towngrew → Bob Balaban / Dr. Chandra
Schider / Schneider → Roy Scheider
Candace Bergen → Candice Bergen; Olga Malz nerd -> Olga Mallsnerd
Arthur C. Clark → Arthur C. Clarke; Stanley Cooper / Kuber -> Stanley Kubrick
Caleb Dation / De Chanel → Caleb Deschanel / Mary Jo Deschanel
Tom Ticker → Tom Tykwer
Ellie Gould → Elliott Gould; Ulukos Gross Bard -> Ulu Grosbard; Tom Holes -> Tom Hulce
Silence of the land → The Silence of the Lambs; Sequest, DSV -> seaQuest DSV
Johnathan Demi → Jonathan Demme; CB -> Candice Bergen; Himes shot regeneration

Blank Check — Patreon: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

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

Films that came up

subject (1)

compared (5)

passing (76)

anecdote (11)

recommended (1)

dismissed (1)

Claims (39)

Fun items (23)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong