The Rewatchables: ‘The Game’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan

Published 2020-09-29; 1:13:01 by the feed.

Awards and segments (58)

Most rewatchable scene

  1. pick From Rebhorn taking Nicholas up and the 300-person cafeteria reveal through to the end
    “Basically, from the moment he brings Rebhorn up and sees basically this 300 person cafeteria scene, all the way through to the end, I'm in.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:30:06
  2. floated Nicholas and Conrad have lunch
    “Douglas and Sean Penn have lunch.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:27:10
  3. floated The TV starts talking to Nicholas
    “The, uh, the TV starts talking to Nicholas.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:27:53
  4. floated The chase with Deborah Kara Unger: dogs, walls, the dumpster
    “There's a good chase scene with Deborah Carey Unger, that includes them climbing walls to get away from dogs and jumping into a dumpster, which leads me to my question.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:28:31
  5. floated The presidential suite sequence
    “I love that entire sequence, though, the entire sequence of the presidential suite with the pickpocket moment”
    Bill Simmons · 0:29:11
  6. floated The cab driving scene when he has to jump out of the cab
    “The cab driver scene's really good when he has to jump out of the cab.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:29:58
  7. pick Coming home to the graffiti with White Rabbit blaring
    “I love when he returns back to his house and he finds the graffiti and we hear white rabbit.”
    unknown · 0:30:19
  8. pick The main chase with Deborah Kara Unger around CRS, ending with the empty office
    “Uh, yeah, the Deborah Carr Unger, the sort of main chase sequence, I think, is my most rewatchable scene”
    unknown · 0:30:46
  9. floated Both Armin Mueller-Stahl scenes: the dressing-down in Seattle and the thrown Polaroids
    “Gosh, you know, I really am a big fan of both Armin Mueller stall scenes.”
    unknown · 0:31:03
  10. pick Scenes of Nicholas asking questions about the game, at the club and with Deborah Kara Unger
    “Well, all the scenes where he's like asking questions about what the game is.”
    unknown · 0:31:46
  11. pick The first Rebhorn scene, the sales pitch for the game
    “That whole sequence is my, that is my most rewatchable scene.”
    unknown · 0:32:45
  12. pick The slow-mo of Michael Douglas playing racquetball
    “My most rewatchable scene is the slow-mo of Michael Douglas playing racquetball.”
    unknown · 0:32:48

Ebert review · Bill reads Roger Ebert's review of the film.

  1. pick The Game: Ebert gave it 3.5 of 4 stars.
    “3.5 stars out of 4 for this one.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:25:30

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

  1. pick Nicholas splits the final bill with Conrad
    “I love when Nicholas splits the final bill with Conrad.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:33:49
  2. pick The Ritz Carlton San Francisco
    “Fun to see the Ritz Carlton San Francisco in here has not changed.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:33:59
  3. pick The graffitied house
    “The uh, the graffitated house we mentioned.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:34:05
  4. pick A character whispering to another character, 'They're watching'
    “I love any movie when a character whispers to another character.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:34:09
  5. pick Somebody saying 'now you've done it': He calls it a horror-movie trope that signals things are about to go apeshit.
    “It's always pays off and I also like when somebody says, now you've done it.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:34:16
  6. pick Deborah Kara Unger: Long on her vibe; wonders what happened to her career.
    “Uh, I mean, another graduate from the Dana Wheeler Nicholson finishing school, another anxious blonde that I'm just incredibly into.”
    Chris Ryan · 0:35:01
  7. pick The story of Deborah Kara Unger's audition tape, a sex scene from Crash: Fincher and Douglas cast her off a clip from Crash; Bill doubted the story was true.
    “I like the story about how she came to be cast in this movie.”
    Sean Fennessey · 0:35:40
  8. pick Fincher shooting the Bay Area and his fascination with hidden societies: Hotel lobbies, phone records and bank accounts used in an orchestrated plot are 'Prime Fincher'.
    “Fincher shooting the Bay Area. Just never a bad thing.”
    unknown · 0:37:05

What aged the worst · What holds up worst or bothers them on rewatch.

  1. pick The movie drags after he wakes up in Mexico
    “I think the movie legitimately drags after he wakes up in Mexico and they could have caught a couple scenes and it just maybe don't have them in Mexico.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:38:20
  2. pick Fincher not liking the movie
    “Fincher not liking this movie.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:38:34
  3. pick Deborah Kara Unger: Her career peaked with this movie.
    “Deborah Carr Unger's, IMDb, after this movie, I think, has been on what's age the worst.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:38:36
  4. pick Super 8 footage used as flashbacks: Repeated too often and 'very unfincher'; feels like a note added to explain why Nick is a prick.
    “I'm out on super 8 footage as flashbacks.”
    Chris Ryan · 0:38:57

Casting what ifs · Almost-castings and recasts.

  1. pick The 1992 version: Jonathan Mostow directing, Kyle MacLachlan and Bridget Fonda: Chris: thank God that didn't happen.
    “This movie was originally supposed to happen in 1992 and a director named Jonathan Mostow was going to be the director with Kyle McLaughlin and Bridget Fonda as the leads.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:40:11
  2. pick Jodie Foster as Conrad: Announced for the Sean Penn part at the 1996 Cannes festival; Fincher reportedly thought she was too big a star.
    “They announced Jody Foster would be starring with Michael Douglas in the game directed by David Fincher.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:41:23
  3. pick Jeff Bridges as Conrad: Declined; Bill thinks he is too close to Douglas's age to play the younger brother.
    “Then, the role Conrad was offered to Jeff Bridges.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:41:56
  4. pick Diane Lane: Recast for Deborah Kara Unger's part: a better movie and the part Lane should have been trying to play.
    “If you put Diane Lane in this movie over Deborah Carr Unger.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:46:56
  5. pick Denzel Washington as Nicholas Van Orton: Can play a flawed guy you stay interested in.
    “I like Denzel.”
    unknown · 0:47:29
  6. pick Al Pacino as Conrad: Imagines a de-aged Pacino in the Conrad role, as Neil McCauley.
    “What if we put Pacino in the Sean Penroll?”
    Bill Simmons · 0:48:10

Best That Guy (Joey Pants Award) · Best 'that guy' supporting actor in the film.

  1. nominee Peter Donat as Dan
    “Peter Donut, as attorney Dan, who's, you could see in the Godfather, Godfather 2 commissioned hearings.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:42:30
  2. nominee Tommy Flanagan: The man with the long scar on his face.
    “It's Tommy Flanagan.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:42:43
  3. nominee Linda Manz
    “Linda Manns is in this movie randomly.”
    unknown · 0:43:00
  4. nominee Mark Boone Jr. as the private investigator
    “Private investigator in this movie is also the guy who gives, um, Somerset, all the library files in seven.”
    unknown · 0:43:08
  5. winner James Rebhorn as Jim Rebhorn
    “I think it's Rebhorn because I never knew what his name was until I had to do the research for his movie.”
    unknown · 0:43:23

Vincent Hanna Award · Best overacting, said out of love.

  1. winner Sean Penn as Conrad
    “Sean Penn dials it up 4 or 5 different times.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:43:55

Dion Waiters Award · Small role with big impact.

  1. winner Daniel Schorr as the newscaster: The newscaster; his real news-history gravitas sells the moment the movie switches on.
    “Even without Sean Penn, it's Daniel Shore.”
    unknown · 0:45:09

Apex Mountain · Where a performance or location sits on the mountain.

  1. pick Deborah Kara Unger: Peak of her career.
    “Deborah Carr, Unger.”
    unknown · 0:50:10
  2. nominee Johnny's Coffee Shop, the diner used as a movie set
    “Apex Mountain for Johnny's coffee shop or would you go with another movie?”
    unknown · 0:50:57
  3. nominee The cheeseburger James Rebhorn is about to eat for his birthday
    “That might be a cheeseburger on film Apex Mountain.”
    unknown · 0:51:43

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a movie they love.

  1. pick Draining a multimillionaire's accounts
    “Is it that easy to drain a multimillionaire's money accounts?”
    unknown · 0:54:21
  2. pick Reading his account numbers aloud on the phone
    “What's up with what's up with him actually reading his account numbers on the phone in front of Deborah Cara Unger?”
    unknown · 0:55:10
  3. pick Getting out of Mexico with no money
    “He gets out of Mexico really, really easily.”
    unknown · 0:55:45
  4. pick What if Douglas drowns in the cab
    “What happens if Douglas just drowns in the cab?”
    unknown · 0:56:20
  5. pick What if he doesn't jump off that part of the building: Called the single biggest nitpick.
    “What happens if Douglas doesn't jump off that specific part of the building?”
    unknown · 0:57:00
  6. pick When Armin Mueller-Stahl's character becomes aware of the game as the publisher
    “At what point is Armin Mueller Stahl's character aware of what's going on?”
    unknown · 0:58:03
  7. pick The stock price fuss over a children's book company
    “I have been nitpicking about Armin Mueller Stahl's character, which is he's the publisher of a children's book company”
    unknown · 0:58:48

Remade as a Netflix show · How the movie would work as a TV series.

  1. pick Either an anthology of games or a series about the people who work at CRS
    “You do it either, anthology style, every week a character is going through the game, and it's a different one, or you do it as a series, but the series is about the people who work at CRS.”
    unknown · 0:59:32
  2. pick Each season a different elaborate game, with a finale where someone beats it
    “I think for the Netflix answer, the game would be each season would be a different elaborate game.”
    unknown · 1:03:54

Unanswered questions · Questions the movie leaves hanging.

  1. pick Did the game cause a man to jump to his death, per Unsolved Mysteries
    “Did the game cause that dude to actually jump to his death in unsolved mysteries?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:00:45
  2. pick What was the final bill for the game
    “And then finally, most importantly, what was the final bill for the game?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:01:10
  3. pick Bill's guess at the bill: about $5 million: Has to be enough to alarm Douglas's character but within what the brothers can split.
    “Uh, I'm gonna say it was like 5000000 bucks.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:02:28

Who won the movie · Who came out ahead from the movie.

  1. winner Michael Douglas as Nicholas Van Orton: In every scene, the audience avatar; the movie is not what it is without him.
    “No, but I think that this is Douglas because it is old school movie star.”
    unknown · 1:05:05
  2. winner Sean Penn as Conrad: The part has to be awesome; the movie works because of him.
    “My answer is Sean Penn.”
    unknown · 1:05:41
  3. winner David Fincher: Counter-argument that the movie earned him the Fight Club budget so he wins almost all his movies.
    “Definitely not Fincher because he disowned the movie.”
    unknown · 1:06:49

Would you play the game · Would the experience improve your life.

  1. pick Playing the game: Would be furious at a little brother who did this to him.
    “Oh, my answer is no.”
    Sean Fennessey · 1:08:46
  2. pick Playing the game: He would want to get back to his wife; Nicholas being a bachelor makes it different.
    “I think candidly, the game is not as fun if you're married.”
    Chris Ryan · 1:10:20

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