Blank Check — Patreon: The Lego Batman Movie

Published 2022-07-21; 1:49:33 by the feed.

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

The extraction calls the show “Blank Check with Griffin & David (Patreon)” and the episode “The Lego Batman Movie”.

Hosts: Griffin Newman, David Sims. Guests: Ben Hosley (producer, in the room).

Subject films: The Lego Batman Movie (2017).

On the transcript: Commentary track timestamps drift from film runtime (the film ends near 1:39); speakers have no labels and Griffin and David are often hard to separate. Some lines are garbled by overlapping speech.

Films that came up

Claims (49)

verdict (verdict): The Lego Batman Movie → Batman Returns. David's two favorite live-action Batman films are Returns and Begins; Griffin calls Lego Batman the best Batman movie period.
“Which have always been my 2 favorite live action Batman movies.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:00:55 · David Sims (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → Grant Morrison. The film's premise is Morrison's idea that every Batman era is canon, so the goofy and the grim must coexist.
“which is he did his run where he was like, every single thing that Batman's ever done is canon.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:01:43 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → The Lego Movie. The Lego Movie is where the earnest-Batman bit started, and the hosts doubted it could sustain a whole movie.
“It's the thing that the Lego movie lashes onto, but you felt unsustainable for a whole movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:03:41 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Team America: World Police. Like Team America, it aims a straight-faced pastiche of live-action blockbuster aesthetics at a toy world.
“I think this movie has the Team America thing going for it”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:05:29 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Jerry Bruckheimer. Its action is played like a Bruckheimer movie, with jokes placed inside as character jokes.
“Like the joke is kind of treating this all like it's a Bruckheimer movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:05:46 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Pixar and modern animation. Modern family animation forces classic Hollywood storytelling and clean emotion, but this one still gets into weird shit.
“this is the thing I like about Pixar movies and modern animation”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:06:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Comedy podcast culture. The cast leans on the comedy-podcast world (Mantzoukas, Garfunkel and Oats), making it one of the first films in dialogue with it.
“This is also like one of the 1st movies that feels like it's like, in dialogue with how much comedy podcasts have started to define comedy”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:07:09 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Billy Dee Williams → Batman (Burton/Keaton films). Voicing Two-Face here completes the arc of him never getting to play Two-Face in the Burton movies.
“completing the arc of him never getting to play Two-face in the Burton movies.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:08:14 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Michael Bay. The camera work deliberately copies real rigs, down to a constant circling Michael Bay shot.
“This sort of constant circling Michael Bay shot.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:09:11 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): The Lego Batman Movie → Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Griffin had hoped the Penguin and Mr. Freeze would be voiced by Schwarzenegger and DeVito.
“I was hoping it was going to be Schwarzenegger and DeVito playing those 2 parts”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:09:30 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → The Lego Movie. Warner wanted redesigned Lego figures; Lord and Miller insisted on honoring the real pieces' movement limits.
“we want to actually limit them to the way the characters could move.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:11:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → Batman (1966 Adam West film). The Joker's all-villains-together plan is the Adam West movie's plan.
“it's essentially like the, the, uh, Adam West Batman movie plan, where it's like, I know to finally defeat Batman, call in everybody.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:12:49 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career): The Lego Batman Movie → Robot Chicken (series). Director Chris McKay's Robot Chicken background shows in the sketch-like premise, which then gets taken seriously.
“this is like a funny robot chicken sketch.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:14:27 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → The Dark Knight. The Joker's need for Batman to see him as an enemy is read against the post-Dark Knight Joker.
“It's this thing of like, right, especially post Dark Knight, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:15:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part → The Lego Movie. The sequel is a fun but big step down from the original.
“It's a big step down.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:22:12 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Universal. Universal bought the Lego rights but not the Warner-owned characters from the earlier films.
“Universal bought the rights and then immediately realized they didn't own any of the characters established in the previous movies because Warner Brothers owns them.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:22:38 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Seth Grahame-Smith → Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Seth Grahame-Smith, credited writer here, is the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter guy who briefly had the keys to Warner.
“Who's the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter guy, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:23:39 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Chris McKenna → Spider-Man: Homecoming. Community alum McKenna is now deeply enmeshed in studio movies, with five Marvel films.
“Chris McKenna, who is a big community guy, but it's now deeply enmeshed in studio movies.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:23:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → Superman (Christopher Reeve films). The Phantom Zone comes from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, though it is in the comics too.
“Just from the Chris Reeves Superman movies.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:25:43 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The first Lego movie got Star Wars in because that deal closed just before the Disney purchase.
“they fucking got Star Wars in there because it was like the last deal closed before the Disney Star Wars deal closed.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:26:23 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career): Michael Cera → Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. With his post-fame leverage Cera made Scott Pilgrim, Youth in Revolt and Nick and Norah, hand-picking filmmakers and cast.
“I want to make Scott Pilgrim, I want to make you some revolt.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:32:24 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Zach Galifianakis → The Hangover. The Hangover put Galifianakis in a mode; his passion-project TV show was what he wasn't allowed to do in movies.
“the whole problem with the hangover is it put him in a mode.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:36:10 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Deadpool → Aquaman. Only Deadpool and Aquaman have successfully done an animated, expressive mask in live action.
“I feel like Deadpool and Aquaman are the only 2 that have really done this successfully, but the animated mask.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:38:17 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Batman Returns → Batman (Burton/Keaton films). The Burton films solved the mask problem by putting eye makeup on Batman and acknowledging it.
“the patents in Batman is the 1st one to acknowledge that he is painting his eyes black.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:38:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Batman → The Lego Batman Movie. Pattinson's eye treatment is the smartest live-action answer to the expressive-mask problem the Lego movie solves.
“No, the thing they do with Patinson is probably the smartest.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:39:17 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Lego Batman Movie → Batman (Burton/Keaton films). The film shares the Burton/Keaton take that Batman is fully broken and has not processed his parents' deaths.
“this movie sort of has the Burton Keaton take of like, he's fully broken by this fucking thing.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:40:08 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Michael Cera → Arrested Development (series). Cera and Arnett did many scenes together on Arrested Development, and this film pulls that dynamic to extremes.
“they did so many scenes together on Arrested Development.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:41:03 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Will Arnett → H. Jon Benjamin. Arnett, like H. Jon Benjamin, has several iconic voice roles that all sound like him.
“Arnett is in that H. John Benjamin zone, though, also, where it's like he has multiple iconic voice performances.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:41:19 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Will Arnett → Arrested Development (series). New Line was buying spec scripts for Arnett vehicles in Arrested Development's first half-season.
“already New Line was like buying spec scripts to develop for Will Arnett vehicles.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:43:15 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → Batman (1966 Adam West film). Robin's costume transition and the Kick Butler nameplate are Adam West-style text and costume jokes.
“It's essentially like a doing the Adam West transition.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:44:07 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
people (people): The Lego Batman Movie → The Lego Movie. Liam Neeson gives one of the all-time great Lego performances in the first movie as Good Cop/Bad Cop.
“Liam Neeson, one of the gives one of the all-time great Lego performances.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:46:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Lego Batman Movie → Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Seeing Batman and Superman together here does not provoke the same cynicism as it did in Batman v Superman.
“I don't give a shit, like, about in the same way I did in Batman V Superman.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:47:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Dan Harmon → Boogie Nights. The unmade Lego Super Friends script was reported to resemble Boogie Nights and cast Lex Luthor as the villain.
“He says the script resembles boogie nights.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:49:02 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Galaxy Quest. The Phantom Zone security system gets the Galaxy Quest joke: who would ever build this?
“It's like the Galaxy Quest joke of like, why would this ever be your security system?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:49:34 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Lego Batman Movie → The Batman. Studios worry how to do a serious Robin; this film makes Robin the lighter contrast point instead.
“I think Matt Reeves and Nolan, all these people freak out about like, how do you do the serious version of Robin?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:51:05 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Hanna-Barbera cartoons and Mike Judge. Repeating slightly varied copies of a drawing makes still characters vibrate, and the Lego films use the same trick on flames and clouds.
“if you want to have a character standing still, essentially trace the same drawing 3 times on 3 different pieces of paper.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:52:26 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Lego's 1999 Star Wars deal was its first licensed theme and changed the company.
“And then 99, they make the Star Wars deal and that kind of changes everything.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:56:17 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Lego Batman Movie → Jaws. The Phantom Zone fills with franchise monsters, including the Jaws shark and the Jurassic Park T-Rex.
“The shark from Jaws, the T-Rex from Jurassic Park.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:58:26 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Wreck-It Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph began the modern IP-mashup movie, then The Lego Movie and this, then Space Jam-style follow-ons.
“But it's also like Wreck-It Ralph was really the 1st of the modern Ralph, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:07:29 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Birds of Prey. The Joker's funhouse set, color palette, bright lights and self-aware humor recall Birds of Prey.
“I even think, like, the color palette and the use of, like, bright lights and shit.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:19:14 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Ellie Kemper → Bridesmaids. Kemper should have gotten a vehicle after Bridesmaids; she is a casualty of the mid-budget comedy collapse.
“for me, a perfect example of the bottom falling out on, uh, mid-budget comedy films, where it's like she should have been the next person to get a vehicle after bridesmaids”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:20:52 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Lego Batman Movie → Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Chip 'n Dale shares this film's self-aware tone and willingness to plant small character jokes anywhere.
“there's the potential for something funny to happen at any moment if you just think about it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:24:06 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Lego Batman Movie → Batman Begins. The pit-and-rope lesson in Batman Begins is the one other time Batman learns anything about himself.
“Then it begins does.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:26:28 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Lego Batman Movie → Doctor Who. A Dalek is an iron-lung garbage can with a plunger arm, and the Lego film's villains riff on such designs.
“But his main villainous called the Dalek, and it's like this sort of like big garbage.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:31:45 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Lego Batman Movie → Jerry Maguire. Batman's arc ends with him giving the Joker the Jerry Maguire speech, completing the film's running Jerry Maguire joke.
“just like it's so good full circle to fucking have him realize I have to give Joker the Jerry Maguire speech.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:33:26 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Lego Batman grossed about 175, Lego 2 about 105, against about 250 for the first film, so the bloom came off the rose.
“Lego one did 250.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:34:16 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Lego Batman Movie → The Lego Movie. The first Lego movie remains the pinnacle for Griffin, a brilliant, clever movie.
“Lego movie is still the pinnacle for me, though.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:38:30 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career): Lorne Balfe → Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The composer of Lego Batman also scored Mission: Impossible Fallout.
“who did the score for this movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:40:08 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Lego Batman Movie → Fifty Shades Darker. Lego Batman opened to 53 and beat Fifty Shades Darker (46) and John Wick: Chapter 2 on opening weekend.
“Couldn't beat Lego Batman.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:41:28 · Ben Hosley (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items (28)

fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Griffin's thesis: the best narrative ever built around Batman, with the most complete understanding of him as a character.
“I think this is the best narrative that has ever been constructed around Batman”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:01:16 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The villains list: Conan O'Brien as the Riddler, Mantzoukas as Scarecrow, Garfunkel and Oats as Poison Ivy and Clayface, Doug Benson as Bane.
“Conan O'Brien plays the Riddler.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:07:04 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Billy Dee Williams: Voices Two-Face as little Lego Billy Dee, finishing the arc of never playing him for Burton.
“It's his voice and they make it look like him.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:08:20 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The whole movie takes place on a table, and the kid's threat is pulling two pushed-together tables apart.
“So this is setting up the, like, without cutting out the real world from the 1st movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:09:53 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Mariah Carey is the mayor for no stated reason.
“Mariah Carey, inexplicably the mayor.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:10:18 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Watch the scene where Batman microwaves lobster Thermidor, types 20 minutes, and corrects himself; the hosts also like the lighting of the microwave.
“And then he types 20 and then he goes, not 20 minutes stupid.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:19:12 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Lego film rule: animators scanned in every real Lego piece and had to build everything so it could physically exist.
“So they essentially like scanned in every Lego block shape or piece type that exists.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:19:41 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Popcorn is made of big white balls because they could not make new pieces and had to find the closest existing one.
“So they like weren't allowed to make new pieces.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:21:06 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Batman has a wall of dead parents, a Crime Alley photo, and only drops his guard talking to the pictures.
“This wall of dead parents.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:21:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Michael Cera: Allegra Frank's interview with Cera, who said his best compliment is when someone enjoys his dinner.
“To me, the best compliment I could ever get in the world is when I make dinner for someone and they enjoy it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:30:19 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Lego hair pieces swap for a wind-blown version when a megaphone hits a character in the face.
“they switch the hairpiece to a hairpiece that looks wind blown.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:34:51 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Bar graph of Batman's happiness index versus days without crime goes straight down, an Adam West-style joke.
“You saw that the bar graph that was Batman's happiness index versus days without crime.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:37:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Alfred rolls in on a spot labeled Kick Butler, a pure Adam West-style text joke.
“the nameplate above it said Kick Butler.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:44:10 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Will Arnett: Ben waited on Will Arnett at the Spotted Pig and says he was super nice and tipped well.
“I waited on him at the spotted pig.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:44:23 · Ben Hosley (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Robin has not figured out Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person: Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic, and Batman says Bruce told him it's okay to hang out.
“he has to be like, uh, Bruce told me it's okay for you to hang out with me.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:45:11 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Chris McKay: Dan Harmon wrote a Lego Batman 2 script (Lego Super Friends) that died when Universal bought the Lego rights.
“Dan Harmon wrote the script for Lego Batman 2, which was Lego Super Friends.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:48:27 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Animators keep the Lego limits: arms rotate and swing but never bend, though shoulders may dislocate to cross the chest.
“but they'll let the entire arm sort of like remove from the body and turn inwards.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:54:01 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Lego (company): Lego ruled the 90s by building its own mythologies each year, with Johnny Thunder as its Indiana Jones hero, before the 1999 Star Wars deal.
“There's Johnny Thunder, who is their attempt to create like an Indiana Jones style hero”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:56:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: A listener built Lego versions of the hosts; the builder, Dave Colletta, became a top contestant on Lego Masters, which Arnett hosts.
“And the guy who built the figures of us became like one of the best contestants on this fucking show.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:59:05 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Lego Masters contestants strategized by talking about careers the way the hosts talk about directors.
“the way they would strategize was talking about careers and the way we talk about directors”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:59:52 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Phantom Zone includes Sauron as a talking tower, Voldemort turning people to fish, the Wicked Witch, a Gremlin crew, and a Creature from the Black Lagoon.
“Sauron is just a talking tower.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:00:26 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Griffin argues the movie is a flawed pick for David because the IP cameos are shallow; the villains get little screen time.
“Everyone else is truly a cameo.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:09:48 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Deadpool: Robin's chimichanga comment ties to Deadpool's chimichanga bit, and Griffin finds chimichangas too heavy.
“I just feel like chimichongas are, they're just very heavy.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:17:59 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Doctor Who: Griffin explains a Dalek: it's a garbage can with a plunger because, per him, an arm went missing and a bathroom plunger replaced it.
“they were missing an arm and they took a plunger out of the bathroom.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:32:27 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The Phantom Zone guard, Ellie Kemper, is named Phyllis, which is also an Office character not played by Kemper.
“which also has a character called Phyllis.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:37:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Box office: opened to 53 on Feb 10, 2017, beating Fifty Shades Darker, John Wick 2 and Split.
“February 10th, 2017, Griffin.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:40:55 · Ben Hosley (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The hosts get blind Lego bags from Dave Colletta: General Zod, Blight, Apache Chief, dance-party Harley Quinn.
“Oh, that's Apache Chief from the Super Friends.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:44:31 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: The episode's outro joke: they claim the runtime is 5 hours because they put on Secrets of Dumbledore.
“So should I throw on Secrets of Dumbledore right now?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:48:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Griffin Newman (host): Griffin loves Lego Batman as the definitive Batman movie, Lego bricks, and animation limits that are exploited rather than hidden. He admires clever craft decisions (the shoulder-dislocation trick, the flame pieces) and sincere sentiment. He is a sucker for toy lore and trivia. He thinks the IP-cameo mashup is the film's one valid flaw.
David Sims (host): David prefers Burton's Batman Returns and Batman Begins as his top live-action Batmans, and is more lukewarm than Griffin on Lego Batman, finding the middle stretch with other IP monotonous. He loves Lego as a kid (Ice Planet) and now covets expert-level Star Wars sets. He enjoys comedy-world gossip about Ellie Kemper and Michael Cera.
Ben Hosley (guest): Producer Ben, in the room, who has never seen The Lego Movie and takes the film in cold. He gets choked up at Robin's adoption scene and delights in the Lego bits. He asks the naive questions (who is the Penguin, what is Doctor Who) and runs the box-office quiz.

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong

Michael Sarah = Michael Cera
Zach Alfinakis = Zach Galifianakis
Dolphin Axis = Galifianakis
Ray Fines = Ralph Fiennes
Lauren Ball = Lorne Balfe
Billy D. Williams / Billy Day = Billy Dee Williams
Seth Graham Smith = Seth Grahame-Smith
Lord Miller = Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Manzukas = Jason Mantzoukas
Kobe Smolders = Cobie Smulders
Jermaine Clement = Jemaine Clement
Ricky Lindholm = Riki Lindhome
Jared Leo = Jared Leto
Sauce's party = Sausage Party
Patinson = Pattinson
H. John Benjamin = H. Jon Benjamin
Batman and Robman = Batman & Robin
Chippendale = Chip 'n Dale
Life after bat = Life & Beth
Tyrell = Tyrel

Blank Check — Patreon: The Lego Batman Movie

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

Films that came up

subject (1)

passing (59)

compared (13)

anecdote (20)

Claims (49)

Fun items (28)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong