The Rewatchables: ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Published 2021-10-19; 1:24:39 by the feed.

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

The extraction calls the show “The Rewatchables (The Ringer)” and the episode “'The Color of Money' With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey”.

Hosts: Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey. Guests: none.

Subject films: The Color of Money (1986).

On the transcript: Whisper-style transcript with no speaker labels, many mangled names and run-on sentences, and some mis-assigned numbers. Pre-roll ad content for the first minute.

Awards and segments (57)

Most rewatchable scene

pick Vincent comes back to Chalkey's and does Werewolves of London, flipping the cue
“The, uh, the pool hall. This, I, full disclosure, this is gonna be my favorite part. The Blackpool Hall, where Newman leaves.”
Bill Simmons · 0:25:38
floated Vincent demolishing John Turturro (sledgehammer break)
“Cruise demolishing John Torturo.”
Bill Simmons · 0:24:57
floated Eddie shuts down Carmen's flirting: this is business
“I like when he shuts down Carmen's flirting.”
Bill Simmons · 0:25:14
floated Eddie and Carmen pretend to be a couple (two brothers and a stranger)
“It's short, but when Eddie and Carmen pretend to be a couple... Two brothers and a stranger. Really good.”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:06
floated The money player battle: Grady Seasons gets in Vincent's head until he snaps
“I like the money player battle when the guy is fucking with Cruz and Cruz is supposed to be dumping to him”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:16
floated Forest Whitaker's big scene as Amos
“How about Forrest Whitaker's big scene?”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:46
floated Newman's comeback montage and the nine-ball tournament leading to Newman beating Cruise
“Newman's comeback montage.”
Bill Simmons · 0:33:09
pick Eddie takes Vincent and Carmen to dinner and picks up Diane at the bar
“I really, really love when Eddie takes Vincent and Carmen to dinner.”
Chris Ryan · 0:33:43
pick The bar scene where Eddie gives Vincent the Balabushka and tells Carmen to go cold on him
“And I also have, um, when the whole scene in the bar where Eddie has given Vincent the Balabushka”
Chris Ryan · 0:34:19
floated Helen Shaver's "little prick" button on Vincent after he throws the match
“Helen Schaver's like, well, he's a little prick.”
Chris Ryan · 0:35:12
pick The Grady Seasons showdown, where Scorsese runs the blues soundtrack backwards
“So I think I'll go Grady seasons because it's almost like him breaking bad.”
Sean Fennessey · 0:36:11
runner-up Forest Whitaker's Amos showdown
“I, either Grady seasons or Forrest Whitaker.”
Sean Fennessey · 0:35:39
pick The whole Chalkey's sequence, including Eddie playing Vince for the first time, plus werewolves
“I got werewolves, but the entire Chalky sequence, including like the one where there, you know, Fat Eddie plays Vince for the 1st time”
Chris Ryan · 0:36:24
pick Werewolves of London into Newman's speech
“Oh, it's werewolves.”
unknown · 0:36:50

Ebert review · Reading Roger Ebert's review of the film.

pick The Color of Money: Ebert gave it 2.5 stars; Bill and Chris disagree, with Chris respecting his willingness to pan a friend.
“2.5 stars from Raj and Ebert writes, the color money is directed by Martin Scorsese, the most exciting American director now working.”
Bill Simmons · 0:23:17

Best That Guy (Joey Pants Award) · The best "that guy" actor in the movie.

nominee Cruise's uncle from Cocktail (bar scene) as Cruise's uncle
“Cruz's uncle from Cocktails in one of the bars.”
Bill Simmons · 0:53:17
nominee Bruce A. Young as Mozelle: Also played Jackie in Risky Business.
“Bruce A. Young. This is a candidate for best that guy.”
unknown · 0:53:32
nominee Bill Cobbs as Orvis
“And then our guy Bill Cobbs plays Orvis. Love Bill Cobbs.”
unknown · 0:53:38
winner Paul Herman as the Akron open winner in the Atlantic City bar: Paul Herman is Beansy on The Sopranos and Goodfellas helicopters guy.
“So I think I have our I have our winner.”
unknown · 0:53:55
pick Paul Herman as the Akron open winner: Would go with Herman or Cruise's uncle.
“I go with him or Cruz's uncle.”
Bill Simmons · 0:54:20

Vincent Hanna Award (best overacting) · Biggest overacting, giving it all you got.

winner Tom Cruise as Vincent: The Werewolves of London scene.
“Tom Cruise, come on down.”
Bill Simmons · 0:54:25
nominee John Turturro as Julian
“Would you go Tuturo here?”
unknown · 0:54:40
nominee Keith McCready as Grady Seasons
“Keith McCready, he's really going for it.”
unknown · 0:55:02

Dion Waiters Award · Small role, big impact.

nominee Keith McCready as Grady Seasons: Cruise modeled his game on him.
“I have him for Dion because I feel like he is who Cruz modeled his game after”
unknown · 0:55:16
nominee John Turturro as Julian: Eligible because he is only in a few scenes.
“And I think Turo is eligible because he's only in a few scenes.”
unknown · 0:55:30
winner Forest Whitaker as Amos
“But Whitaker's in one scene and just crushes it.”
unknown · 0:55:41

Casting what-ifs · Almost-castings and who they would recast.

pick Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats: They considered bringing him back; Gleason found the part an afterthought.
“They thought about Gleason, bringing back Minnesota fats.”
Bill Simmons · 0:52:04
pick Julie Christie as the Helen Shaver part
“Julie Christie.”
unknown · 0:56:46
pick Charlotte Rampling as the Helen Shaver part
“Charlotte Rampling, another.”
unknown · 0:57:50
pick Helen Mirren as the Helen Shaver part
“Why not Helen Mirren?”
unknown · 0:57:59

What's aged the best · What about the movie has held up best.

pick The costumes and style, Newman's wardrobe and mustache
“I think it's the rare 80s movie in which the style still works.”
unknown · 0:42:19
pick How the film acknowledges The Hustler as a continuation sequel
“The way that this movie acknowledges the Hustler.”
unknown · 0:44:49
pick The continuation sequel idea, bringing the band back without retreading
“It's the continuation sequel, which is a movie gimmick.”
Bill Simmons · 0:46:07
pick The Vince t-shirt
“The Vince t-shirt is iconic.”
unknown · 0:37:46
pick Robbie Robertson's score and the Clapton and Robert Palmer songs
“Robbie Robertson's score is excellent.”
unknown · 0:38:04

What's aged the worst · What about the movie has aged poorly.

pick The arcade game Stalker
“So he's really good at the arcade video game stalker?”
unknown · 0:46:50
pick The cameos from 1980s pool stars nobody would know now
“is the cameos from 1980s pool stars. They were a bigger deal.”
unknown · 0:47:52
pick Guys waving cash at each other to bet, and a movie that doesn't work with phones
“when guys are all at a bar betting on something, they just wave cash in front of each other.”
Chris Ryan · 0:50:47
pick Warren Zevon on the Chalkey's jukebox
“Like, was Warren Zevon big at Chalkey's for real?”
unknown · 0:51:45

Apex Mountain · Whether the person or thing is at the peak.

pick Paul Newman: Not apex.
“Apex Mountain, Newman, no.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:42
pick Tom Cruise: Not apex.
“Cruise, no.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:44
pick Martin Scorsese: Not apex.
“Scorsese, no.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:45
pick Billiards: Probably a yes, since it was on ESPN.
“Billiards, I think we're probably a yes for this because it's on ESPN too.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:49
pick Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: Not apex here; her peak is the Abyss or Perfect Storm, though she is a five-alarm fire in this movie.
“So I don't think so.”
unknown · 1:03:40
pick Sweater vests: Newman killing the sweater vest game.
“I think we could all agree that it's Apex Mountain for sweater vests.”
Bill Simmons · 1:07:46

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a movie they love.

pick What Eddie does for a living before he meets Vincent
“What was Eddie doing before he meets Vincent?”
unknown · 1:08:16
pick Eddie's forfeit in the tournament, with no scene explaining his shift: Chris Ryan rationalizes it: the integrity of being great mattered more than the money.
“I hate the forfeit in the tournament.”
unknown · 1:08:52
pick The ambiguity of "you used us" in the final scene
“It was really just that last, like, the ambiguity of, like, you used us.”
unknown · 1:12:46

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

pick A 10 episode Netflix show: Hosts reject the idea.
“Could this be made as a 10 episode Netflix show?”
Bill Simmons · 1:12:52
pick Vince owning the White Lotus resort in season two
“What if Vince owned the resort in White Lotus for season two?”
Bill Simmons · 1:13:10
pick Another Eddie Felson movie in 1995
“I would have watched in 1995, another Eddie Felson movie, though.”
unknown · 1:13:00

Unanswerable questions · Open questions the film leaves behind.

pick Vincent's next 10 years: Answers: back to Child World, shot in the face, or an ESPN star.
“What have Vincent's next 10 years look like for you guys after this movie?”
Bill Simmons · 1:13:30
pick Who won the final match: Chris thinks Vincent wins; Sean says knowing would not improve the ending.
“I think Vincent kills him.”
Chris Ryan · 1:16:48
pick How long Vincent and Carmen stay together
“How long do you think Vincent and Carmen stay together?”
unknown · 1:17:03

Best Tom Cruise singing along to a song · The best movie moment of Tom Cruise singing along to a song.

winner Top Gun, the singalong scene with Anthony Edwards: Other candidates: Cocktail, Risky Business, Jerry Maguire Free Fallin.
“Top Gun probably wins because it's a whole scene and it's Anthony Edwards”
unknown · 1:16:00

Who won the movie · Who came out ahead in the film.

winner Paul Newman
“I think it's Newman.”
unknown · 1:17:34
winner Paul Newman
“I have Newman as well.”
unknown · 1:17:36

Films that came up

Claims (49)

industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → The Verdict. Newman lost for The Verdict in a brutal year (Hoffman in Tootsie, Kingsley in Gandhi) then won in 1987 against a weaker slate.
“In 87 when they give out the 86 Oscars. You know, it's it's a much weaker slate”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:06:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (torch passing): Tom Cruise → Paul Newman. Cruise was number one and Newman tenth in the 1986 Quigley poll, so the narrative was Cruise taking the torch; Cruise modeled himself on Newman but went the Redford route.
“Cruz did kind of model himself after Newman in some ways, but ultimately went more of the Redford route”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:07:34 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career kinship): Paul Newman → Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo's careful choice of movies and parts reminds Bill of Newman's.
“the way Leo just very carefully picks his movies and his parts reminds me of Newman.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:07:49 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (character arc): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Eddie in The Hustler is a loser and drunk with broken thumbs, an anti-hero rather than a golden god, unlike Cruise's Vincent.
“What do we know about Eddie Felson from the Hustler is he's a loser.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:08:11 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → Cool Hand Luke. Newman was nominated for Cool Hand Luke in a stacked 1968 lineup that Rod Steiger won.
“Cool Hand Luke is the most iconic, I think, of all of those parts.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:12:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (career ranking): The Color of Money → Slap Shot. Only Butch Cassidy, Cool Hand Luke, The Verdict and Slap Shot rank above this among Newman's films for the speaker.
“I think only Butch Cassidy, cool hand Luke, the verdict and slapshot would come ahead of color money for it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:14:34 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career tone): Paul Newman → The Sting. The Sting is the movie Bill associates him with most but sees it as his most easygoing, cruising performance.
“I think it's also his most easygoing performance.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:14:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Paul Newman → Jaws. Newman turned down Quint in Jaws; Bill thinks he would have made a good Brody, but Quint is Robert Shaw.
“he turned down Quint.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:14:57 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (rewatchability): The Color of Money → Raging Bull. Chris has watched this more often than Raging Bull or The Last Temptation of Christ.
“I've watched it probably more than Raging Bull.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:17:12 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
people (writer-director fusion): Richard Price → The Color of Money. Price, Scorsese and Newman each count as authors; Newman hired the director and badgered Price to keep fixing the script.
“He hired the director. He badgered Richard Price to fix stuff, make stuff better”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:19:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (directorial constraint): The Color of Money → Panic Room. Both directors were handed a confined, mundane space and responded with showy camera flourishes.
“it reminds me a little of panic room with Fincher.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:19:18 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career context): The Color of Money → Absence of Malice. Newman's early-80s over-the-hill roles (The Verdict, Absence of Malice) led into choosing this role.
“he had already been doing over the hill parts for like 5 or 6 years.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:21:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
career (late-career move): Paul Newman → Clint Eastwood. Newman and Eastwood both chose to age themselves into reflective roles before Hollywood aged them out; Cruise did the opposite.
“before they age me out, I'm gonna age myself out.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:22:01 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
people (performance extremity): Tom Cruise → Heat. Cruise's Werewolves of London pool scene goes for it as hard as anyone on the podcast other than Pacino in Heat.
“cruise goes for it as much as I think anyone's ever gone for it. Maybe in the history of this podcast other than Pacino and Heat.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:26:04 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
people (same actor): Bruce A. Young → Risky Business. Moselle in this film is the same actor who played Jackie the prostitute in Risky Business, likely brought back by Cruise.
“Jackie the prostitute from Risky Business.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:27:53 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (movie-star persona): Tom Cruise → Cocktail. Cruise in Top Gun, Cocktail, and this film plays with no wink or self-awareness, unlike later movie stars.
“In all 3 of those movies that you just mentioned, cocktail, Top Gun, and this movie. There's no self-awareness.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:30:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): James Brown → The Color of Money. A host says Price's script had James Brown, not Werewolves of London, as the song for Vincent's dance scene.
“Well, in the script itself, it's James Brown. Price has it as James Brown.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:31:56 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career breakout): The Color of Money → Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In 1986 audiences knew Forest Whitaker only as the guy from Fast Times, and this was his 'I'm on the map' part.
“hey, the guy from Fast Times. That was the reaction”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:32:52 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (directorial style): The Color of Money → The Wolf of Wall Street. Same Scorsese fast-cutting montage-with-music technique appears in both.
“We also talked about it years ago and we did Wolf of Wall Street.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (directorial style): The Color of Money → The Departed. The fast-cutting montage with a blues soundtrack explosion in the Grady Seasons scene is a Scorsese move they also discussed on The Departed and Wolf of Wall Street.
“This like super fast cutting montage blues soundtrack explosion thing that he does”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Robbie Robertson → The Color of Money. A host praises Robbie Robertson's score as excellent.
“Robbie Robertson's score is excellent.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Eric Clapton → The Color of Money. A host says the Clapton song playing before Werewolves of London is great and gets the audience hyped, even if 80s Clapton has aged unevenly.
“that song is when they're playing that before werewolves of London, you're just like getting so hype.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Robert Palmer → The Color of Money. A host is in on the two Robert Palmer songs used in the film and calls 70s Palmer underrated.
“I'm in on the 2 Robert Palmer songs used in this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:56 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Don Henley → The Color of Money. A host calls the Henley song in the film cheesy post-Eagles Henley but enjoyed it.
“Cheesy post Eagles Henley, but at the same time, I enjoyed it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:39:08 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
people (writer credit): Richard Price → Sea of Love. Price wrote the Pacino and Barkin film Sea of Love.
“He wrote an iconic one for us that has not yet been done, Sea of Love.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:40:12 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
people (collaborators): Richard Price → George Pelecanos. Price was part of the murderers' row of writers on The Wire season 3 and co-wrote The Night Of and The Outsider.
“he's also part of the murderer's row that worked on wire season 3”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:40:25 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)
people (writer credit): Richard Price → Kiss of Death. Price also wrote the Cage/Caruso Kiss of Death, which Bill says would be a premium episode.
“He wrote Kiss of death.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:40:45 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
people (same actor): Kiss of Death → King of New York. David Caruso links Kiss of Death with King of New York, which Tarantino praised.
“Caruso is the most improbable tough guy in a movie I think we've ever had that I actually believed.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:41:45 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career timing): Kiss of Death → Pulp Fiction. Samuel L. Jackson's Kiss of Death was his next movie after Pulp Fiction.
“And Sam Jackson right after Pup Fiction.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:42:08 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (star lineage): Paul Newman → Denzel Washington. The actor-and-movie-star blend passes from Newman to Denzel to Leo.
“Newman then passes it to Denzel, then Denzel passes it to Leo.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:43:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (callback): The Color of Money → The Hustler. The mentoring conversation Newman has with Vince and Carmen mirrors the one George C. Scott has with Newman in The Hustler; both films also go on the road.
“that's basically the George C. Scott has the same conversation with Paul Newman and the Hustler.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:44:53 · Chris Ryan (0.65 sure it was them)
lineage (sequel/continuation): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Newman's Eddie Felson in 1986 becomes the George C. Scott hustler-mentor character of the original, and the sequel answers rather than remakes it.
“the Newman character in the color of money becomes the George C. Scott character in the Hustler.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:45:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (callback): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Newman getting drunk and hustled by Amos is the first time he plays the Jackie Gleason role of the original, drunk and overconfident.
“it's basically the 1st time he plays Jackie Gleason and the hustler where he's just like wasted and thinks he's going to win and then gets gets hustled.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:45:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (persona comparison): Keith McCready → Roddy Piper. McCready's Grady Seasons is a heel with a Roddy Piper vibe.
“he's got a little Roddy Piper act, like vibe to him, yeah.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:50:08 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (visual tone): The Color of Money → Trading Places. Men waving cash in each other's faces at a bar feels very Trading Places.
“it's like very trading places where it's just dudes waving shit in each other's faces.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:51:05 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Warren Zevon → The Color of Money. A host wonders whether Warren Zevon was really big at Chalkey's and why Werewolves of London was on the jukebox.
“was Warren Zevon big at Chalkey's for real? Like, why was that on the box? Why was that on the jukebox?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:51:45 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Jackie Gleason → The Color of Money. They thought about bringing back Gleason as Minnesota Fats, but he felt the role was an afterthought.
“They thought about Gleason, bringing back Minnesota fats.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:04 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (source material): The Color of Money → The Hustler. The film is theoretically based on Walter Tevis's follow-up novel to The Hustler but has almost nothing to do with it; Minnesota Fats was in the novel.
“this is theoretically based on Walter Tevis's follow-up novel to the Hustler, but the movie has almost nothing to do with the novel”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
people (supporting actor overlap): The Color of Money → Cocktail. A bar actor here is Cruise's uncle from Cocktail, supporting the theory Cruise pulls his supporting players from film to film.
“Just that Cruz is kind of grabbing all of his supporting figures over the years.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:53:27 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (best that guy): Bruce A. Young → Cocktail. Competing 'that guy' nominees: Bruce Young (Moselle/Jackie), Cruise's Cocktail uncle, and Paul Herman, who wins.
“Bruce A. Young. This is a candidate for best that guy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:53:32 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
people (same actor): Paul Herman → Goodfellas. The Atlantic City bar guy is Paul Herman, who is the 'helicopters' guy in Goodfellas and Beansy on The Sopranos.
“is Paul Herman, who in Goodfellas is like, you want to see helicopters? I'll make you see helicopters.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:54:00 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (cultural legacy): The Color of Money → Doom. Cruise saying 'Doom' in the pool hall scene led a software company to name its video game Doom.
“That leads to the software company coming up with the name for their new revolutionary video game.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (production trivia): The Color of Money → Goodfellas. Scorsese came up with Goodfellas while filming this movie after reading a review of Wiseguy.
“Scorsese came up with Goodfellas when he was filming this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:01:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career): Eric Clapton → The Color of Money. A host says the film's use of Clapton was about as good as his comeback got after the drug years, before MTV Unplugged.
“Clapton, comeback, Clapton, I think this is about as good as it got for him after he'd gotten through all the drug stuff.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:02:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career rival): Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio → Madeleine Stowe. One theory is that Madeleine Stowe 'market corrected' her.
“I think Madeline Stowe market corrected her.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:04:50 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (on-screen romance): Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio → Tom Cruise. Chris calls this his favorite Cruise romance, ahead of Zellweger, Kelly McGillis, and Cocktail's rich lady.
“I think this is my favorite on-screen romance for cruise.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:05:51 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career arc): Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio → The Abyss. After this she did The Abyss and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; they wonder if criticizing Cameron hurt her career.
“she came out so hard against Cameron during the abyss, whether that made her like a problem child”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:07:15 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (Cruise sing-along): Top Gun → Cocktail. In the best Tom Cruise singing-along category, Top Gun, Cocktail, Risky Business, Jerry Maguire and this film compete; Top Gun wins as camp and 80s.
“Top Gun probably wins because it's a whole scene and it's Anthony Edwards and It's out of control, campy”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:16:00 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → Gandhi. Gandhi, Chariots of Fire and Out of Africa were huge Oscar-era films that nobody discusses today.
“So was Chariots of Fire, which is another movie nobody has conversations about it anymore.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:18:32 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Fun items (25)

fun, about The Color of Money: In the 1986 Quigley poll of most marketable stars, Cruise was number one and Newman tenth, his last appearance; Newman made it 13 times before 1986. The narrative was Cruise taking the torch.
“Cruz was number one in 1986 when this movie came out. Newman was 10th. It was his last appearance.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:02:14 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Paul Newman: Newman nearly played Quint in Jaws; Bill says he'd have been a better Brody, but Quint is Robert Shaw.
“he turned down Quint.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:14:57 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Newman was hands-on: he effectively cast it, hired the director, and badgered Richard Price. It's Scorsese's only film to come in under schedule and under budget.
“Scorsese's only film he has directed that came under schedule and under budget because Newman was a maniac about it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:22:51 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 stars, saying it wasn't an exciting film even though Scorsese was a friend; the hosts disagree but respect his integrity.
“And it's not an exciting film. It doesn't have the electricity, the wound up tension of his best work.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:23:28 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Tom Cruise: Most rewatchable scene: Cruise's Werewolves of London pool run, with a cue-flipping routine. 'No camera has ever loved an actor more than those 2 minutes.'
“No camera has ever loved an actor more than those 2 minutes.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:26:19 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: In the script, the song Vince dances to is James Brown, not Warren Zevon.
“Well, in the script itself, it's James Brown.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:31:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Forest Whitaker: Winner of 'Best That Guy' / scene stealer: Whitaker as Amos takes over the movie for three minutes; Scorsese hands it to him.
“I need this guy to take over my movie for 3 minutes.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:33:05 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Grady Seasons scene: When it goes sideways in the Grady Seasons segment, Scorsese runs the blues soundtrack in reverse to show things spinning out of control.
“he literally runs the audio backwards.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:36:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Streetlights pass Newman's windshield in time to Werewolves of London as he drives to Chalkey's; also no camera is visible in the final scene's room of mirrors.
“the fucking street lights go past in the windshield, like in time to the music.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:39:42 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Richard Price: Chris's quick Price rundown: novelist of Lush Life and Clockers, writer of Sea of Love and Kiss of Death, Wire season 3, The Night Of. Bill says Kiss of Death would warrant raised ad rates.
“I highly recommend his books.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:40:39 · Chris Ryan (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Paul Newman: Newman as 'single-handedly vouches for the thing he's in'; Bill might call him his favorite actor of all time.
“he single-handedly vouches for the thing he's in because he chose the movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:43:10 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Casting / White Lotus joke: Running joke: Cruise from Cocktail now owns the White Lotus resort as Brian Flanagan; Vince owns it with Jennifer Coolidge, Julie Christie and Olivier.
“Cruise from cocktail now owns the resort in Jamaica.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:46:37 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: What ages worst: the fictional video game Stalker and the 1980s pool-star cameos (Steve Mizerak, Keith McCready) that were a big deal then.
“I knew who Steve Mahalik was and some of these other dudes”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:47:58 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Bill's theory on why pool left TV: the best players were the people you least wanted to hang out with, like Phil Hellmuth in poker.
“the people who were the best at pool were people you just didn't want to hang out with when you were watching TV”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:49:16 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Helen Shaver's character was added late before filming because they worried Eddie's fascination with Vincent could be misread; that's why she's in only a few scenes.
“they got worried that Eddie's relationship slash fascination with Vincent might be misinterpreted”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Casting what-ifs: Bill pitches Julie Christie for the Helen Shaver part; others suggest Charlotte Rampling, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Sissy Spacek.
“Julie Christie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:56:46 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Paul Newman: Newman became one of only six people to win or be nominated for an Oscar for a part he'd already played; he and Joanne Woodward were the first married couple with his and hers Oscars since Olivier and Leigh.
“Newman became one of like only 6 people who won and one or even got nominated for an Oscar for playing a part he'd already played.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:58:37 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Tom Cruise: Cruise did his own trick shots except the ball-jumping-two-balls shot, which used a stunt person because learning it would have cost two production days.
“Cruz did his own trick shots except for one.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:16 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Cruise's 'Doom' in the pool hall scene is where the video game Doom got its name.
“They named it after that scene.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:53 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Apex Mountain: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: Not Apex Mountain for her (maybe Abyss or Perfect Storm), but she's 'a 5 alarm fire' here; Bill blames her long name for her stalled career.
“she is candidly a 5 alarm fire in this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:03:44 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Apex Mountain: sweater vests: Consensus Apex Mountain of the episode is sweater vests, which Newman kills in this movie.
“I think we could all agree that it's Apex Mountain for sweater vests.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:07:46 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Best Tom Cruise singing along: Category contenders: Top Gun (twice), Cocktail (Addicted to Love), Risky Business, Jerry Maguire (Free Fallin'), and this film; Top Gun probably wins.
“This is the secret of Cruise's success. singing along to songs.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:15:32 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The ending: Sean defends not showing the final match; 'mic drop' last line with freeze frame. 16-year-old Bill was furious.
“hey, I'm back.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:16:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Who won the movie: Verdict is Newman: he finally won the Oscar. Chris thinks Vincent beat Eddie in the unseen final match.
“Who won the movie?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:17:31 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Child World: Tangent: the hosts debate whether Child World was a real Toys R Us rival (it was, 1962 to 1992) and pitch a nine-part true crime podcast.
“We got to pitch our nine-part child world pod true crime.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:20:08 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Bill Simmons (host): Loves Newman, a rewatchable sports-movie structure, montages, and 80s style, and was a serious pool player. Wants a sports movie to show who won, and gripes about the forfeit logic. A sucker for Cruise committing to a bit.
Chris Ryan (host): Loves 80s-era movie-star craft, New York crime novels (Price), and Scorsese's confined-space coverage; this movie resonates as a middle-aged sports movie. Can't stand the tonal ambiguity of the ending. A sucker for Cruise-Mastrantonio chemistry.
Sean Fennessey (host): Film-history lens: loves the Method actors versus movie-star divide, Scorsese's visual flourishes, and Newman's integrity. Dislikes the idea that Ebert missed the ending's point. A sucker for Grady Seasons and Amos scenes.

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

Sean Fantasy / Shot Fantasy / Fantasy Allen = Sean Fennessey
Color Bunny = The Color of Money
Quig of pull / Quickly poll / Quig Loophole = Quigley Poll
Cruz = Cruise
Mary Elizabeth Master Antonio / Mastertonio / Macedonia = Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Janelle = Janelle (Helen Shaver's character; likely Janelle)
John Torturo / Tuturo / Turturro = John Turturro
Steve Mahalik / Mahalock / Mahawak = Steve Mizerak (probable)
Forrest Whitaker = Forest Whitaker
Grady season = Grady Seasons (Keith McCready)
Strasburg = Lee Strasberg
Balabushka / Bella Bush Katie / Val Bush = Balabushka cue
Ben Solak = probably Ben Solak (Ringer NFL analyst)
Brian Brown = Bryan Brown (Cocktail)
Lawrence Olivia / Levine = Laurence Olivier
Dan Waiters = Dan Waters? uncertain (Best Overacting/Best That Guy category)
Pup Fiction = Pulp Fiction
Warren Zivon = Warren Zevon
Ivan Boski = Ivan Boesky
Josh J 18 = Joss J-18 (cue brand)
Mulder Mozelle = Moselle