The Rewatchables: ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan

Published 2024-07-09; 1:55:36 by the feed.

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

The extraction calls the show “The Rewatchables (The Ringer)” and the episode “'Twister' With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan”.

Hosts: Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Van Lathan. Guests: Craig Horback (Ringer producer, participates as a fourth voice).

Subject films: Twister (1996).

On the transcript: No speaker labels and heavy cross-talk, with many garbled names and category titles; speaker attributions are mostly low-confidence guesses. The transcript runs about 1:55 of show and then ad reads; the last timestamps are ads.

Added from the extractor's memory, not said

Cary Elwes, Mira Sorvino, Joss Whedon, Steve Zaillian, Jack N. Green name guesses are from my memory used only to repair transcription errors.
Doris Burke as the sports announcer is a guess to fix the name Dorisburg.

Awards and segments (109)

Double feature

pick Speed: The other Jan de Bont film makes a natural pairing.
“It's gotta be speed, right?”
Bill Simmons · 1:46:54
pick Independence Day: Another disaster-ish blockbuster from the same summer.
“I had, I had, I had in Penn State just because same summer.”
unknown · 1:46:59
pick Deep Impact: A disaster movie the host says feels coded like Twister.
“Oh, no, this movie is deep impact coded to me.”
unknown · 1:47:09

Most rewatchable scene

floated Opening scene: Joe's dad holding onto the door
“I like the opening scene.”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:39
floated Dusty and the crew meet Bill, who wants Joe's signed papers
“Bill tries to get signed papers from Joe, meets the crew.”
Bill Simmons · 0:34:43
floated The first tornado chase, with the truck and flying cows
“Next, next thing is the chasing the tornado.”
Bill Simmons · 0:36:11
pick The kitchen table at Aunt Meg's: steak and eggs, the crew crowding in
“I'm just telling you, this is my rewatchable. is uh, the kitchen table, the start with the...”
unknown · 0:38:51
floated The third tornado, the hail storm (the Van Halen storm)
“Third tornado.”
Bill Simmons · 0:41:16
pick The tornado tearing apart the drive-in screen showing The Shining
“We get another tornado that destroys the drive-in theater.”
Bill Simmons · 0:43:23
floated Dr. Melissa dumping Bill
“I got to put Dr. Melissa Dumping Bill.”
Bill Simmons · 0:46:23
floated Dorothy flying and the final tornado
“Dorothy's flying, which we got Dr. Jonas dies.”
Bill Simmons · 0:47:14
pick The drive-in tornado
“Van? Drive in close 2nd to me, Joe.”
Van Lathan · 0:48:34
runner-up The 'Me, Joe' confrontation
“Me, Joe.”
Van Lathan · 0:48:38

Ebert review · The hosts read Roger Ebert's review of the film.

pick Twister: Rating garbled in transcript as '2 and F stars', read as two and a half stars; his verdict: works as loud, dumb, skillful escapism.
“He said, you want loud, dumb, skillful escapist entertainment? Twister works.”
unknown · 0:30:23

Most 1996 thing · The most 1996 thing about the movie.

pick The Dodge Ram: Calls it a big-deal truck.
“I like the I'm going to go with the Dodge Room.”
Bill Simmons · 0:49:23
pick No Oklahoma City Thunder references
“I'm going with no OKC Thunder references.”
unknown · 0:49:41
pick Helen Hunt's hair: Says it is very era accurate.
“I'm going to go with Helen Hunt's hair.”
unknown · 0:49:16
pick The crew of character actors: Hoffman, Ruck, Davies, Slotnick: an awesome group of guys.
“I got the crew.”
Chris Ryan · 0:50:31
pick The world right before climate-change worry
“You know what's age? And the worst is the world right before we were that worried about climate change, where it was like, God, that's a bad storm.”
unknown · 0:51:05

What aged the best · What holds up best in the movie.

pick Old school special effects: Feels like trees, ice and license plates really are being thrown at the actors.
“The old school special effects.”
unknown · 0:51:44
pick Dr. Jonas, the money-over-science rival
“First of all, that character is always going to age perfectly.”
unknown · 0:52:37
pick The all-in-one-day structure
“Sneaky, awesome, all in one day movie.”
unknown · 0:55:41
pick The Fujita scale
“The Fujita scale.”
unknown · 0:56:12
pick The sound
“The sound in this movie is really good, especially with when we have better TVs and sound systems and stuff, but they did a good job with that.”
unknown · 0:56:57
pick The family forgetting the dog in the opening: A personal one for the speaker.
“When the family's in peril and escaping somewhere, but they forget the dog.”
unknown · 0:57:09
pick Jamie Gertz as Dr. Melissa Reeves: Her later life as Atlanta Hawks co-owner.
“Jamie Gertz hawk's owner.”
unknown · 0:57:28
pick Alan Ruck: A part in something every decade.
“What a career for this guy.”
unknown · 0:57:45
pick Aunts who can feed 12 people in two minutes
“Movie aunts or grandmothers who are always ready in 2 minutes to feed a group of 12.”
unknown · 0:57:59
pick The Shining
“The shinings age the best.”
unknown · 0:58:26
pick Someone telling you you're still in love with your ex
“Any movie where someone says you're still in love with them, aren't you?”
unknown · 0:58:30

What aged the worst · What holds up worst in the movie.

pick Dr. Jonas's death scene: Wanted to see more of the death.
“I wanted 11 more seconds from Dr. Jonas's death scene.”
Chris Ryan · 1:05:49
pick The map guy
“Um, I don't know, having my what's age, the worst is probably having a map guy.”
unknown · 1:06:26
pick The drive-in movie: Notes a drive-in just closed.
“The drive in movie, man.”
unknown · 1:06:39
pick Helen Hunt's running as Joe Harding
“I'm just not happy with the running in this movie.”
unknown · 1:06:57
pick Helen Hunt's ponytail and haircut
“My last one for Woodstage the worst, just, Helen Hunt, put a ponytail on during most of this movie.”
unknown · 1:08:50
pick Cutaways to the unnamed meteorological center
“Um, they do a lot of cutaways to, I think, an unnamed meteorological center where they're like looking at the storms coming together.”
unknown · 1:09:28
pick The Spielberg-style dad trauma
“And personally, for me, I didn't need the Steven Spielberg shit of like my my trauma with my dad.”
unknown · 1:09:43

Great Shot Award · Best shot in the movie.

pick The tornado reveal behind the drive-in screen
“The revealed the tornado reveal, the drive-in, lightning flashes and the tornadoes behind the drive-in screen.”
Chris Ryan · 0:59:06
pick The shot in the middle of the F5 as they hang on: Calls it majestic.
“To me, it's the shot of the middle of the F5. when they're hanging from the thing.”
unknown · 0:59:13

Best needle drop · Best music moment.

pick Humans Being (Van Halen): Also praises the soundtrack for using songs related to the movie.
“Well, humans being, it's humans being and and I get fired up when I hear Van Halen, but...”
Chris Ryan · 0:59:37
pick Long Way Down (Goo Goo Dolls)
“I kind of low-key thing. Long way down by Goo Goo Dolls is the better song.”
unknown · 0:59:59
pick Eric Clapton's Motherless Child video: Called the most inexplicable song.
“The most inexplicable song is just when Dusty's watching the Eric Clapton video from Motherless Child.”
unknown · 1:00:03

Big Kahuna Burger Award · Best food or drink.

winner The gravy: Singled out from the whole food scene.
“The gravy looked really good.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:14
nominee Joe ordering 8 to-go coffees at 10 at night
“My runner-up is Joe ordering 8 to go coffees at the time. at 10 at night.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:21
nominee The steaks: Says they ended up well cooked.
“When they 1st put the steak in the thing, the steak looked like it was going to be shitty, but by the time them steaks came out.”
unknown · 1:01:29

Butch's Girlfriend Award · The weak link of the film.

winner The weird final kiss: Thinks director never figured out the emotion of the last 30 seconds.
“The actual last like 18 seconds of the movie with like the weird final kiss”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:44
winner Why Bill and Dr. Melissa Reeves are together: Says the relationship makes no sense as a couple.
“Why would Bill and Dr. Melissa Reeves be together?”
Bill Simmons · 1:02:42

Vincent Hanna / Saul Rubinek Award · Best overacting.

winner Cary Elwes as Dr. Jonas: Dr. Jonas, when accused of stealing Dorothy and his accent drifts.
“He turns into foghorn Leghorns.”
Chris Ryan · 1:12:21

Better title · A better title for the movie.

pick Storm Chasers
“Storm Chasers?”
unknown · 1:13:21
pick F5
“F5?”
unknown · 1:13:22
pick Caucasian Storm: Transcript garbled; reply glosses it as 'Caucasian storm'.
“Cock of storm.”
unknown · 1:13:26

Best quote · Most memorable quote.

pick Food!
“Food.”
unknown · 1:13:57
nominee It's coming
“Or it's coming.”
unknown · 1:13:59
nominee We're going in
“I like when he's driving when they're driving into the house. And he goes, we're going in.”
unknown · 1:14:00

Worst character · The weakest character.

pick Joe as Joe Harding: Argues she is not the best at anything in the group.
“Uh, Joe, good daughter, bad scientist.”
unknown · 1:14:10

Overrated · What the hosts consider overrated.

pick Speeding up tornado warnings: Says the premise is flawed since warnings are still 10 to 15 minutes.
“Speeding up the time for tornado warnings.”
unknown · 1:15:02

Casting what ifs · Who was almost cast, or who could have been.

pick Tom Hanks as Bill: Passed but suggested Paxton.
“Tom Hanks read for the part of Bill.”
Bill Simmons · 1:16:53
pick Mira Sorvino as Dr. Melissa Reeves: Did not want to dye her hair.
“Mir Servino considered to play Dr. Melissa Reeves.”
Bill Simmons · 1:17:15
nominee Garth Brooks as Dr. Jonas
“Garth Brooks for Jonas?”
unknown · 1:17:27
nominee Sally Field as Aunt Meg
“Who was available at? Ellen Bursten? Sally Field? Coming off Forrest Gump?”
unknown · 1:21:17
nominee Shirley MacLaine as Aunt Meg
“Shirley McLean?”
unknown · 1:21:52
winner Darlene Love as Aunt Meg: A Black Aunt Meg meets Van Lathan's approval ('That's perfect').
“Darlene, love?”
unknown · 1:22:35
winner Tom Hanks as Bill: Hanks over Cruise; Cruise is the movie he never made in the 90s.
“It's Hank's, but then I, I, when I imagine a scene of cruise out running a tornado in a scene, I'm like, man.”
Craig Horlbeck · 1:33:09
nominee Tom Cruise as Bill
“I'll tell you, if you put cruise in it, number one, the women are different.”
unknown · 1:32:53
nominee Denzel Washington as Bill: Argued he is too cool to lose to a tornado.
“What if you throw in Denzel?”
unknown · 1:33:42

The Van Lathan Award · Did this movie need more Black people.

pick Twister: Calls the lone Black character in Jonas's crew an abomination; it is a white-ass story.
“absolutely not.”
Van Lathan · 1:17:46

Best that guy · Best 'that guy' actor.

winner Zach Grenier: Corrected from 'Raneer'/'Grenier' in transcript.
“But the answer is Zach Raneer.”
unknown · 1:19:12
nominee Patrick Fischler
“That guy from Mad Men who played the mean comic.”
unknown · 1:18:33
nominee Joey Slotnick
“Joey Slatnick.”
unknown · 1:19:06

Dion Waiters Award · Small role, big impact.

winner Todd Field: Repo Man and Star Wars jokes; hosts hope it inspires him to direct more.
“Let's give it to him because he's only made 3 movies in 21 years and we liked all of them.”
unknown · 1:20:58
nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dusty: Rejected as too much screen time.
“I had Hoffman.”
unknown · 1:19:51
nominee The golden retriever as Meg's dog
“The golden retriever, I thought, was really good.”
unknown · 1:19:56
nominee Dr. Jonas
“Jonas could almost be, he's, he's not that good, but he doesn't really do any.”
unknown · 1:20:45

Announcer for the director's commentary · Which sports announcer would you want to do the movie's commentary.

pick Doris Burke: A phenomenal read of the tornado.
“My pick is Dorisburg.”
Chris Ryan · 1:23:16
nominee Tony Romo
“I think Tony could work too though.”
unknown · 1:23:44

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a movie they love.

pick The dad's weak door lock
“Listen, I have a couple notes for dad, not to step on picking nits, but that lock just wasn't good enough.”
unknown · 0:32:55
pick Surviving the final tornado
“I don't think they survived the final tornado.”
Bill Simmons · 0:47:29
pick Dorothy as a dumb device: Easily knocked over; why not have many?
“Like a dumb device.”
unknown · 1:34:50
pick Nobody gets hit by debris: The speaker's wife's biggest nitpick.
“They never, ever really get hit by a tornado debris, which is why pretty much everyone dies in tornadoes because there's just debris everywhere.”
unknown · 1:35:18
pick Why Joe and Bill divorced: Never explained enough.
“Why'd they get divorced?”
unknown · 1:35:39
pick Five tornadoes in one day: Would be a legendary catastrophic day.
“I just want to point out they have 5 hurricanes in a 24 hour span.”
unknown · 1:36:49
pick Time for Meg's steak and eggs
“There's no way Joe actually lets them take, however long it takes for Meg to make everybody's steak and eggs.”
unknown · 1:38:26

Sequel, prequel, prestige TV · The sequel, prequel or prestige TV show they would make.

pick Prequel called The Extreme: Bill Paxton's character going sideways, like Leaving Las Vegas with tornadoes.
“No, the prequel is called The Extreme.”
unknown · 1:38:55
pick HBO show After the Storm: About Dr. Melissa Reeves's life after Twister.
“The show is called after the after the storm.”
unknown · 1:39:48

Oscar pick · Who should have won or been nominated.

pick Special effects / VFX
“Special effects, especially the VFX.”
unknown · 1:41:19

Unanswered questions · Questions the movie leaves unanswered.

pick Who is Joe's backup driver: Asked when Bill doesn't show up for the signature.
“Who's driving Joe?”
Bill Simmons · 1:41:30
pick Does Joe die if Bill doesn't show up: A reply says 'I think, yes.'
“If Bill, if Bill Pass's character doesn't show up, does Joe die?”
unknown · 1:41:55
pick What is Jonas's business model
“What kind of money were you talking about?”
unknown · 1:42:35
pick Is the movie better if one of the inner circle dies: Answer: no.
“Is this movie better if one of the inner circle dies?”
Bill Simmons · 1:44:29
pick Scariest movie disaster: Answers: tsunami, earthquake, tornado.
“What is the single scariest disaster of all the possible movie disasters for you personally?”
Bill Simmons · 1:45:11

Zihuatanejo Award (what happened the next day) · What happens to the characters after the film.

pick Bill and Joe
“I just don't think Bill and Joe last.”
unknown · 1:47:12
pick Bill becomes Rob Marciano
“No, the extreme, he becomes Rob Marciano like way before he, you know, like he just starts to be like the hot guy who's like in...”
unknown · 1:47:19

Memorabilia · A prop they would want to own.

pick Hoffman's Oklahoma Sooners hat
“Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oklahoma sooner's hat.”
unknown · 1:48:16
pick The Dodge Ram
“We ruled out cars for this category, but the Dodge ram that they used would be a good one.”
Bill Simmons · 1:48:20

Coach Finstock Award · Best life lesson.

winner Stop living in the past
“Stop living in the past and look what you got right in front of you.”
Bill Simmons · 1:48:55

Who won the movie · Who or what won the movie.

winner The tornadoes
“The tornado.”
unknown · 1:49:02
nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dusty
“But as the years pass, Hoffman's performance is the most fascinating because he turned out to be one of the greatest actors in the last 40 years.”
unknown · 1:49:25

Best line reading · Hoffman's exposition, as the hosts frame it.

pick Dusty telling Joe the storm is headed for Meg's town and the F5 warning: Expository dialogue done really well.
“I was going to say the 2 moments that are the fucking best moments are him when he realizes the storm is going for Meg's town and he has to tell Joe.”
unknown · 1:49:45

Hottest take · A hot take.

pick Philip Seymour Hoffman: Thinks he is the same goofy guy in every supporting role; Bill calls it the hottest take.
“I personally don't have a huge relationship to Hoffman.”
Craig Horlbeck · 1:51:51

Apex Mountain · Where something's peak sits on the mountain.

pick Bill Paxton
“Paxton, I'm going to say yes.”
unknown · 1:27:16
pick Helen Hunt
“Helen Hunt probably winning an Oscar year later.”
unknown · 1:27:19
pick Philip Seymour Hoffman
“Hoffman, no.”
unknown · 1:27:21
pick The Dodge Ram
“Uh, I feel like it's had pretty sustained success.”
unknown · 1:27:25
pick The tornadoes
“Yeah, in the movie for sure.”
unknown · 1:28:15
pick The gravy: No.
“Fuck no.”
unknown · 1:28:20
pick Jamie Gertz: Her peak is guessed as Lost Boys or Less Than Zero.
“Maybe it's the Lost Boys.”
unknown · 1:28:59
pick Flying cows
“Flying cows, yes.”
unknown · 1:29:04
pick The Shining
“The shining, no.”
unknown · 1:29:07
pick Independence Day: Apex of 90s disaster movies if invasion movies count.
“So to me, to me, if you count Independence Day, it's definitely Independence Day.”
unknown · 1:30:40

Films that came up

Claims (72)

contrast (contrast): Twister → Twisters. The new film shows how much better-looking the leads are now than the ordinary-looking cast of the original.
“This movie and Twister, the old movie, it shows you the difference in things.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:04:47 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Twister → Twisters. Twister's leads look attainably pretty while the sequel is a movie-star vehicle for the hottest guy in Hollywood.
“now this same film is a movie star vehicle for the sexiest, hottest guy in Hollywood right now”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:05 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Twister → Jurassic Park. Twister is aesthetically closer to Jurassic Park than to superhero movies, prizing intelligence over strength and wonder over fixing things.
“I think it's more aesthetically closer to like Jurassic Park.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:47 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): Twister → Steven Spielberg. Spielberg executive produced and Amblin is a production company, giving the film a wide-eyed wonder-and-fear Spielberg feel.
“and the Steven Spielberg executive produced it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:51 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Twister → Apollo 13. The 1995 summer slate (Crimson Tide, Die Hard, Braveheart, Batman Forever, Apollo 13) was when Hollywood began slamming mid-May to July 4.
“Batman forever, Apollo 13th all before July 4th.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:25 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Twister → Mission: Impossible. 1996 is when the studios locked in the early-May-to-July-4 summer blockbuster calendar: Twister, Mission: Impossible, The Rock, Eraser, Independence Day.
“So then you look at 96, May 10th, Twister.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:38 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Twister → Independence Day. Independence Day (July 2) closes out the 1996 summer calendar that began with Twister.
“July 2nd Independence Day.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:48 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Twister → The Cable Guy. Chris pushes back that The Cable Guy, a notorious failure, still made 104 million, and Twister made 495 million.
“I mean, Twister made 495.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:09:13 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Twister → Industrial Light & Magic. The movie was built out of an ILM proof-of-concept clip of a pickup truck driving toward a tornado.
“It was a proof of concept clip from Industrial Light Magic”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:11:39 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Twister → Twisters. Twister and K-Hive both came back on Twitter in the same week ahead of the sequel, and the original is on Max.
“And Twister is on, I think it's on the Max app, but it's just it just feels very omnipresent right now.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:12:26 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Bill Paxton → Weird Science. Bill first knew Paxton as Chet in Weird Science, then he became a classic.
“I knew Bill Paxton initially is Chet and weird science.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:13:27 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Bill Paxton → Trespass. Trespass, with Ice-T and Ice Cube, is cited as a high-concept treasure-hunt movie that feels important and is probably on Tubi.
“kind of a high concept movie for the era.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:14:03 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Bill Paxton → True Lies. In the 90s Paxton had important non-lead roles in True Lies, Tombstone and Apollo 13 before finally leading Twister.
“And then Twister, he finally gets the lead.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:15:22 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Bill Paxton → Titanic. Paxton's run of key supporting roles culminates with the Twister lead and then Titanic.
“And then that all culminates in Titanic.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:15:29 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Bill Paxton → Sam Neill. Like Sam Neill, Paxton did not become a star because the audience remembers the spectacle (storms, dinosaurs), not the lead.
“So the star of this movie is are the tornadoes.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:17:04 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Bill Paxton → George Clooney. Chris argues Paxton could have led Out of Sight instead of Clooney; Van counters that Paxton lacks the movie-star magnetism for the trunk scene with J.Lo.
“I think he could have been the lead guy and out of sight instead of Clooney and out of sight.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:19:37 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Bill Paxton → Kevin Bacon. Paxton belongs to the Kevin Bacon, Bill Pullman, Kiefer Sutherland tier; the third guy in the cocktail with Tom Hanks in Apollo 13.
“Apollo 13 tanks.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:03 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Bill Paxton → Brian Cranston. Paxton is the type who needs a late-career role made for him, like a bad guy on Ozark.
“He's also the kind of guy to me that catches a role that's made for him late in his career.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:10 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Helen Hunt → As Good as It Gets. Helen Hunt's run from Kiss of Death and Twister to winning an Oscar for As Good as It Gets was an unexpected shoot to the A-list.
“And then she wins an Oscar for as good as it gets.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:43 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Todd Field → Eyes Wide Shut. Todd Field as an actor is an absolute banger in Eyes Wide Shut, Twister and Sleep with Me, then directed only three unique movies.
“Nick in eyes wide shut, twister, and sleep with me.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:57 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Philip Seymour Hoffman → Mission: Impossible III. Hoffman elevated any material, playing the Mission: Impossible III villain like he was in The Master and scaring Tom Cruise.
“no matter what the material was, he elevated it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:25:42 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Philip Seymour Hoffman → The Talented Mr. Ripley. Hoffman's trajectory: Scent of a Woman, then Boogie Nights, then Ripley as the exclamation point that confirmed a real actor.
“And then Ripley was the exclamation point.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:25:59 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): Twister → Jan de Bont. De Bont is introduced as Chris's guy: DP on Die Hard, director of Speed, a hard-charging efficient director the crew hated.
“Director of photography on Die Hard.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:26:16 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Jan de Bont → Speed. De Bont went from cinematographer on Die Hard to director of Speed, then Twister.
“director of speed.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:26:19 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): Jack Green → Jan de Bont. Green, the replacement DP, was injured two days from the end and de Bont, the director, had to take over the photography himself.
“Jack Green got hurt with 2 days to go.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:26:54 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Jan de Bont → Die Hard. De Bont as cool DP turned maker of accessible action films was a model of who filmmakers wanted to be.
“Cool ass DP that comes from doing that and makes these awesome, ridiculously accessible action films”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:27:13 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Helen Hunt → Mad About You. De Bont went so far over schedule that Mad About You had to delay production by nearly three weeks.
“they had to delay mad about you by almost 3 weeks.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:27:55 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Twister → Jack Green. Despite two DPs and a crew revolt, the photography reads as one seamless look.
“when you watch the movie, you think the same cinematographer shot the whole thing.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:28:29 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Twister → Roger Ebert. Ebert gave 2.5 stars, saying loud dumb escapist entertainment works but not for thinkers; this became a running joke later.
“you want loud, dumb, skillful escapist entertainment? Twister works.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:30:23 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Twister → Van Halen. The hail tornado is dubbed the Van Halen storm for its needle drop, a song that works in the movie but would not make a Van Halen playlist.
“I refer to this as the Van Halen storm.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:41:18 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Twister → Jurassic Park. The drive-in tornado reveal is ranked alongside the T-Rex in Jurassic Park though not as iconic.
“I think this one's up there in subways with like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:43:32 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → The Shining. The drive-in tornado scene works because a tornado tears the screen while the audience watches The Shining, a frightening movie with a real threat behind it.
“there's something coming behind that that's actually fucking frightening and it just starts ripping.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:43:59 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Slap Shot. Chris could have lived in the Twister town, like the Charleston Chiefs fan living in the Slap Shot town.
“I could see CR living in that town.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:44:54 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Heat. A joke that Chris Ryan lost the town its treasury of cinematic knowledge when blown away, still hadn't seen Heat, which hadn't been made yet.
“He loved heat, which had not been made yet.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:45:39 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Jan de Bont → Twister. De Bont saw CGI coming and did Twister as one of his last chances to do practical effects.
“one of the reasons he did Twister was he thought it would be one of his last chances to do practical.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:52:02 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Twister → Jaws. Jonas is the Jaws-mayor archetype, a money-motivated antagonist that became a stock character in every movie.
“The mayor in Jaws is the character that kind of pushes against our lead person.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:54:51 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Jurassic Park. Jonas, who is in it for money not science, is the same corporate-greed character type as Jurassic Park.
“Jurassic Park is the same way.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:55:18 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → The Amityville Horror. Going back for the dog in the opening scene echoes Amityville Horror, which Bill says has the best version of the leave-the-dog trope.
“Amityville horror has the best.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:57:21 · Chris Ryan (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Alan Ruck → Speed. Alan Ruck gives a movie a decade: Ferris, Speed, Twister, Spin City.
“He's giving us something every decade, man.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:57:52 · Chris Ryan (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Goodfellas. Aunt Meg feeding a crew of twelve in minutes is compared to Pesci's mom making meatballs at 3 a.m. in Goodfellas.
“Like a Goodfellas when they show up at 3 in the morning”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:13 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Twister → Goo Goo Dolls. The soundtrack was built from songs people were asked to make for the movie; the Goo Goo Dolls track is judged the better song than Tori Amos's contribution.
“Long way down by Goo Goo Dolls is the better song.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:59:59 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Twister → Eric Clapton. The most inexplicable music choice is Dusty watching an Eric Clapton video, which the speaker writes off as product placement.
“The most inexplicable song is just when Dusty's watching the Eric Clapton video from Motherless Child.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:00:03 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Sleepless in Seattle. Dr. Melissa is the stable fiance archetype that rom-coms usually give to the guy, like Bill Pullman in Sleepless in Seattle and Greg Kinnear in You've Got Mail.
“It's like Bill Palman in Seattle and Greg Canair and you got mail.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:05:33 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Helen Hunt → Steven Seagal. Helen Hunt's running through the cornfield is likened to Seagal and not athletic despite Quarterback Princess.
“I'm just not happy with the running in this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:06:57 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Helen Hunt → Sandra Bullock. Sandy Bullock is floated as an alternative Jo, then dismissed as too attractive for the part.
“You put Sandy, my girl Sandy Bullock in there.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:07:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Batman (character films). Joe chasing her parent's trauma by storm-chasing is likened to Batman, a Caucasian Mount Rushmore of trauma.
“Caucasian character Mount Rushmore.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:10:15 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → White Squall. A joke title for Twister, Caucasian Storm, leads to White Squall as another white-people-in-nature movie.
“Have you ever seen White Squall?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:13:35 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Jan de Bont → Godzilla. De Bont signed on to Twister after leaving Godzilla over creative differences.
“Jan Dubont signed on after leaving Godzilla thanks to creative differences.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:16:39 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was initially attached to direct, as he was for every movie in the 90s, before Jan de Bont took over.
“Spielberg initially attached to direct, which I think was the case for every single movie in the 90s”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:16:39 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Bill Paxton → Tom Hanks. Hanks read for Bill, passed, and suggested Paxton; Hanks even had wardrobe ready, so Paxton got the role via a big star.
“Tom Hanks read for the part of Bill.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:16:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Mira Sorvino. Mira Sorvino was considered for Dr. Melissa Reeves but did not want to dye her hair.
“But did not want to dye her hair.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:17:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks or Dwight Yoakam is proposed as stunt casting for Dr. Jonas.
“Garth Brooks for Jonas?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:17:27 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): Zach Grenier → Philadelphia. The that-guy in Jonas's crew is identified as Zach Grenier from Philadelphia and Fight Club.
“He was in Philadelphia.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:19:18 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Sally Field. Casting a bigger actress for Aunt Meg is floated with Sally Field, Ellen Burstyn, Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger.
“Who was available at? Ellen Bursten? Sally Field? Coming off Forrest Gump?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:21:17 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): Jan de Bont → Tori Amos. De Bont, a huge Tori Amos fan, personally appealed to her to appear on the Twister soundtrack.
“Huge Tori Amos fan and personally appealed to her to appear on the soundtrack.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:26:55 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Jami Gertz → The Lost Boys. The guess for Jami Gertz's apex mountain is Less Than Zero or The Lost Boys, when she was one of the biggest under-25 actresses.
“It felt like she was one of the biggest under 25 female actresses on the rise.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:28:48 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Armageddon. The panel debates whether Twister is the apex 90s disaster movie against Armageddon, Outbreak, Dante's Peak, Deep Impact, Independence Day; natural disasters only.
“So so I consider disaster movies to be natural disaster movies.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:30:12 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Twister → The Poseidon Adventure. Disaster movies had two golden runs, the 70s (Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno) and the 90s, and Twister belongs to the second.
“The 70s, we had this awesome run, Poseidon adventure and all those movies.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:30:51 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Twister → San Andreas. Modern disaster movies fail by casting the Rock, who is never in peril, instead of normal-looking actors like Adam Driver.
“The rock's never in peril.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:31:16 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Tom Hanks. Hanks is the right lead over Cruise, who is too good-looking; the group argues Hanks vs Cruise vs Denzel.
“This is this is a perfect Hanks movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:32:24 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → War of the Worlds. A Tom Cruise Twister would be the grounded 90s movie he never made, until War of the Worlds years later.
“It's the movie Cruise never made in the 90s that he should have made.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:33:16 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Denzel Washington. Denzel is too cool, like Charlton Heston as Brody in Jaws, so nobody believes he would lose to a tornado.
“Charlton Heston wanted to be Brody.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:34:01 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Leaving Las Vegas. A prequel about Bill the Extreme going off the rails is pitched as Leaving Las Vegas with tornadoes.
“It's like leaving Las Vegas with tornadoes in Oklahoma.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:39:02 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Bill Paxton → Aliens. A proposed category: actors reprising a different character from their own filmography; Paxton just doing Hudson from Aliens and screaming Cows.
“Bill Paxton from Aliens?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:40:53 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Twister → Speed. Best double feature for Twister is the Jan de Bont pair with Speed.
“It's gotta be speed, right?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:46:54 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Twister → Deep Impact. Deep Impact, same summer, is suggested as a disaster double feature and feels coded to Twister.
“Oh, no, this movie is deep impact coded to me.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:47:09 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Twister → Twisters. The sequel should have been about the kid of Bill and Jo, and Glen Powell might be that kid.
“It should have been their kid who is now chasing the storm.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:47:54 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Twister → The Rock. Craig calls Twister the ice cold beer of movies: tight, simple, one storyline, perfect CGI-practical blend.
“the ice cold beer of movies.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:50:35 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Fast & Furious (series). Craig says some movies, like Twister and the Fast and Furious films, are better when watched on a plane because turbulence heightens them.
“I feel like all the Fast and Furious movies are like that.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:51:14 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Philip Seymour Hoffman → Boogie Nights. Craig's contrarian take: Hoffman is the same weird, goofy loner supporting guy in Boogie Nights and Twister, though he excepts The Master and Ripley.
“I could see the Boogie Knights Twister. That connection...”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:52:29 · Craig Horlbeck (0.60 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Twister → Jurassic Park. Marketing a disaster around unknown leads follows Jurassic Park, where Sam Neill and Laura Dern were known but not famous.
“coming off of Jurassic Park where it was like Sam Neil and Laura Dern were like well-known, but not famous.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:53:21 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Twister → Titanic. Twister started a playbook of putting not-yet-A-list leads in a spectacle, which Titanic and later Star Wars followed.
“It became a playbook for it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:54:01 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items (23)

fun, about Twister (themes): Bill's third take: the movie is more erotic than he remembered, essentially tornadoes getting people together; Chris says it should have been on the poster.
“That should have been on the poster.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:06:44 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister: Built from an ILM proof-of-concept clip of a pickup truck, a tractor tire and a tornado, with the story figured out afterward.
“Let's figure out the story as we go.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:12:13 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Jan de Bont: The crew revolted: scores quit, two DPs, funny T-shirts about him, a camera assistant knocked over; replacement Jack Green was hurt with two days to go and De Bont finished photography himself.
“Jack Green got hurt with 2 days to go.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:26:54 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister script: Many writers worked on the script while shooting, including Crichton, Zaillian and Whedon, yet the film feels seamless.
“There were people writing the scripts still like while this movie shooting.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:28:22 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister production: Oklahoma was not stormy enough, so giant lamps burned Helen Hunt's and Bill Paxton's retinas and they wore elephant glasses for days.
“So they did these like giant lamps that burn the retinas of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:28:54 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Joe's dad (the opening scene): The panel invents a new category blaming Joe's dad: a cheap lock on the storm shelter door, and he should have just let go.
“Terrible job by that guy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:33:21 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister (Fujita scale): Preacher in the storm-chaser crew exists to deliver the F5 line, the finger of God.
“The finger of God.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:40:46 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister (drive-in scene): The tornado tears the screen apart at a drive-in showing The Shining; the group wants a bigger Scatman Crothers moment.
“and then the one lightning strike, and you can see the tornado behind the screen, and it just fucking tears the screen apart.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:43:42 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister (most 1996 thing): A one-off category inspired by the 1999 episode: options include no internet, the Dodge Ram, no Oklahoma City Thunder references, and Helen Hunt's hair.
“What was the most 1996 thing about this movie?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:49:37 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Bill Paxton: Storm chasers in the spotter network spelled out his initials when he died in 2017 to honor him.
“they spelt out his initials when he passed away in 2017 to honor him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:39 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Aunt Meg's kitchen scene: Chris's favorite scene: steak and eggs, gravy and Aunt Meg, setting her up so the crew later saves her; Bill singles out the gravy and 8 coffees to go.
“The gravy looked really good.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:01:14 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Dr. Melissa Reeves: A running theory that Bill the Extreme had a drinking and partying past, cleaned up in Dallas, and tried to be regular with Melissa.
“These stories about him being naked, throwing Jack Daniels at the storm.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:03:11 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Jan de Bont: He missed filming an oil tanker explosion and reportedly paid about 500,000 dollars to do it again.
“missed the explosion of an oil tanker that wasn't caught on film and they had to do it again for a rumored $500,000.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:07:51 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Philip Seymour Hoffman: In an early lawn-chair scene Hoffman lifts his leg laughing and a split second of exposure was edited from later DVD and VHS releases.
“you can see his genitals for a split 2nd that they had to edit out of future DH DVD and VHS releases.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:08:20 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Tom Hanks: Hanks read for Bill Harding, got wardrobe, then passed and recommended Paxton.
“Tom Hanks read for the part of Bill.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:16:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister (impact): Meteorology majors rose about 10 percent after the movie, and the University of Oklahoma program doubled.
“increased by about 10% after this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:24:01 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Wakita, Oklahoma: The real town was used; houses were bought and demolished; there is a Twister Museum there that Paxton helped stock with memorabilia.
“The real town of Wakita was used during filming”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:24:09 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Helen Hunt: Hunt got concussed by a door De Bont had insisted she could handle, then he called her clumsy; she replied the guy burned her retinas.
“clumsy, the guy burned my retinas, but if I'm clumsy, I thought I was a good sport.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:25:23 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Twister: On May 24, 1996 a tornado destroyed a screen at an Ontario drive-in scheduled to show Twister that night.
“A tornado destroyed screen number 3 in Ontario at a drive-in theater.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:26:04 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Jan de Bont: A vegetarian who hated the meat scene and a huge Tori Amos fan who personally appealed to her to be on the soundtrack.
“He was a staunch vegetarian and hated the mag scene.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:26:48 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Philip Seymour Hoffman: His Oklahoma Sooners hat and Baja are picked as the movie memorabilia; Chris says over the years his Dusty performance is the most fascinating thing about the film.
“Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oklahoma sooner's hat.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:48:16 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Bill Simmons: Running bit: the others harangue Bill to get a truck, the Dodge Ram or an F150, after his repeated Dodge Ram mentions.
“Bill, get a truck.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:48:32 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Craig Horlbeck: Craig watched Twister on a plane on an iPad and says turbulence took the movie from a 9 to a 10; asks for a list of movies enhanced by turbulence.
“this is making this movie go from a 9 to a 10 for me.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:50:57 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Bill Simmons (host): He disliked Twister in 1996 because it felt like the start of the effects-driven blockbuster era but now loves it for the old-school feel of real danger. He is a sucker for summer-calendar history, box office numbers, and a movie you can leave on for three days. He reads casting and career arcs through NBA and NFL analogies.
Chris Ryan (host): He loves a tight 90s studio movie, directors and craftspeople like Jan de Bont, and character actors such as Hoffman and Paxton. He is a sucker for the lived-in world, with the Aunt Meg meal, the drive-in and the crew of weirdos. He cannot stand blockbusters with stars too pretty to be believable.
Van Lathan (host): He loves a movie about ordinary-looking people in extraordinary situations and dislikes casting that feels too glossy. He is a sucker for the Van Lathan Award bit about whiteness and the lack of black characters, delivered as comedy. He is drawn to the erotic subtext and the movie-star vs ordinary actor contrast.
Craig Horlbeck (guest): A Ringer producer who admits he had not seen Twister and now calls it everything he wants in a movie: tight, simple, one storyline, a perfect CGI and practical blend. He is a sucker for 90s nostalgia and likes Dr. Jonas as a punching bag. He is the lone skeptic on Hoffman.

The show's recurring bits

Apex Mountain: The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits.
Who Won the Movie: The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off.
The Ebert review: Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show.
Casting what-ifs: Who was almost cast, or who should have been.
Most rewatchable scene: The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels.
Aged best / aged worst: What holds up and what does not.
Picking Nits: The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits.
Double feature: The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick.

Names the transcriber got wrong

Danny Heifitz → Danny Heifetz (ad read)
Bay Lathan → Van Lathan
Glenn Pile → Glen Powell
Phil Paxton → Bill Paxton
Tuba / Tubi
Jan DeBot / Dubont / Duban / Dubon / JDB → Jan de Bont
Jack Green → Jack N. Green (cinematographer)
Steve Zalen → Steve Zaillian; Joseline -> possibly Jeb Stuart/other writer (unclear)
Josh Wheaton → Joss Whedon
Carry always / Carrie always → Cary Elwes
Mir Servino → Mira Sorvino
Jamie Gertz → Jami Gertz
Son of a Woman / Senate Woman / set up woman → Scent of a Woman
Alan Rock → Alan Ruck
Joey Slatnik → Joey Slotnick
Zach Raneer / Grenier → Zach Grenier
Dr. Melissa Reeves is correct; Joe is Jo Harding
Ruffalo Hannah Rubineck Partridge → likely the overacting category name; unclear
Dorisburg → likely a sports announcer (Doris Burke), not confirmed from transcript
John F. Kenny Jr. → John F. Kennedy (as transcribed; speaker said he saw JFK's last speech)
Kalika's strategy / Reba Zwantaneo → category names garbled
Hannah Rubineck Partridge → garbled category name
Rakita → Wakita
Joe McHale → garbled reference to a The Bear actor (unclear)
Craig Horoback → Craig Horback (producer)
Luke Cornett → Luke Kornet (Celtics, as transcribed)