The Rewatchables: ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan

Published 2020-09-22; 1:29:06 by the feed.

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

The extraction calls the show “The Rewatchables (The Ringer)” and the episode “'Se7en' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan”.

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

Subject films: Se7en (1995).

On the transcript: No speaker labels and no reliable turn boundaries; many lines could belong to any of the three hosts. Heavy ad reads and clip dialogue are interleaved.

Awards and segments (52)

Most rewatchable scene

pick Somerset researching the case in the library to opera music and handing the research to Mills
“I like the the Tuesday scene where the opera music when Somerset is researched in the case in the library and he puts in the envelope and gives the research to Mills”
Bill Simmons · 0:36:59
pick Somerset comes to the Mills apartment for dinner
“I love when Somerset goes to the Mills's apartment for dinner.”
Bill Simmons · 0:37:20
pick The SWAT team raiding the starving guy's apartment
“The SWAT team raiding the starving guy's house.”
Bill Simmons · 0:38:24
pick The apartment chase outside, where Pitt really hurt his arm
“The apartment outdoor chase scene, when they, when space is shooting at them and they go and Pitt, and then Pitt actually gets hurt in real life”
Bill Simmons · 0:39:05
pick The car ride with John Doe
“And then the last 2 scenes, which it's one of these 2 for me, the car ride with Spacey.”
Bill Simmons · 0:39:30
pick The ending, what's in the box
“And then the ending.”
Bill Simmons · 0:40:08
pick The desert ending, shot from above, with Freeman running back and forth and reacting at the box
“From the from that whole just like the way that they physically construct it so that you can see above the scene from the helicopter and Morgan Freeman has to do that run back and forth and the way in which he reacts after he gets to the box.”
Chris Ryan · 0:40:25
floated Mills and Somerset asleep on the couch waiting on the fingerprints, and the small buddy-cop moments
“Like, you know, them falling asleep together on the couch as they wait for the fingerprint return and then Arli Ermy comes out and he's like, wake up, Glimmer Twins.”
unknown · 0:41:03
floated John Doe's bloody-hands introduction at the police station
“Yeah, and he might have one of my most memorable character introduction shots, like the real one, not the when he's in the stairwell with taking their picture, but the hands, the bloody hands and detectives.”
unknown · 0:42:19
pick The car ride, because it gives something new every time while the ending has lost its shock
“For me, it's the car ride.”
unknown · 0:43:47

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

pick Se7en: Four stars on the republished review; the original review was 3.5.
“The original review.”
Bill Simmons · 0:36:00

Age the best · What about the film has held up best.

pick Kevin Spacey as John Doe, whom the hosts say nobody else could have played: Sean, Chris and Bill float De Niro, Will Patton and Billy Bob Thornton as possible alternates.
“I just think he's amazing in this movie.”
Bill Simmons · 0:46:13
pick The opening credits: Made to look like a serial killer made them.
“Fincher wanted to make them look like a serial killer was doing the credits, basically.”
unknown · 0:47:54
pick A killer working through the seven deadly sins, and saving the last two to intersect
“The concept of a serial killer ripping off the 7 deadly sins as his serial killer strategy.”
Bill Simmons · 0:48:48
pick The unnamed, always-raining city
“just the unnamed city that is always covered in rain and is full of crime, and it's like, he basically just wrote hell, you know”
unknown · 0:50:09
pick Not showing Gwyneth's head in the box
“Not showing Gwyneth's head in the box is a woodsage the best for me that decision.”
Bill Simmons · 0:52:28
pick Somerset, God's loneliest man
“He's like God's loneliest man.”
unknown · 0:54:09
pick The industrial soundtrack and Nine Inch Nails
“The other thing too is just, I think all the music is really good and really representative of that time”
unknown · 0:54:30

Somerset, great hang or tough hang · Whether a character would be good company.

pick Somerset as William Somerset: A tough hang now, a better drinking partner ten years earlier.
“I bet like 10 years earlier, he's probably like a little bit more of a better drinker drinking partner, but now...”
Chris Ryan · 0:55:18

Age the worst · What about the film has held up worst.

pick Nothing beats the shock of seeing it the first time
“What stage is the worst is the impact of seeing this movie for the 1st time.”
Bill Simmons · 0:56:13
pick Being filed as a horror movie when it, like The Shining and Silence of the Lambs, is a different kind of film
“Well, another would say the worst for me is that this is considered a quote unquote horror movie in the same way of like Halloween and movies like that.”
Bill Simmons · 0:56:45
pick It is a document of Brad and Gwyneth's love, and it ends with her head in a box
“It's a weird document of Brad and Gwyneth's love.”
unknown · 0:59:16
pick John Doe's composition books, which today would be a blog
“I would also say what age of the worst is composition books.”
unknown · 0:59:35

Casting what ifs · Who else was offered or attached to the film.

pick Denzel Washington as Mills: Turned it down as too dark and evil, and later regretted it.
“Denzel turned the part that went down to Brad Pitt or went to Brad Pitt.”
Bill Simmons · 1:00:20
pick Sylvester Stallone as Mills
“Slice Stallone also turned down the world of mills.”
Bill Simmons · 1:00:30
pick Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman as Somerset: Both turned down Somerset; Pacino was also in the mix before choosing City Hall.
“Duval and Gene Hackman both turned down the part of Somerset, apparently, allegedly.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:21
pick Val Kilmer as John Doe: They wish they had a Kilmer version of the car ride.
“His name is Val Kilmer.”
unknown · 1:01:53
pick Guillermo del Toro as director: Allegedly passed on directing as too dark; Bill doubts it.
“And then Guillermo del Toro allegedly turned on the chance to direct.”
Bill Simmons · 1:00:40
pick Jason Patric as Mills: Recast for Pitt's part.
“Jason Patrick.”
Sean Fennessey · 1:06:49
pick River Phoenix as Mills: Had he been alive, he had the right dark element.
“One guy I thought of was River Phoenix for the Brad Pitt part, if he was alive”
unknown · 1:07:11

Best That Guy (the Joey Pants Award) · Best that-guy performance.

winner Leland Orser: The hosts joke they can never remember his name.
“Best that guy, a.k. the Joey Pants Award.”
Bill Simmons · 1:00:50

Vincent Hanna Give Me All You Got Award · Best overacting.

nominee Leland Orser
“Well, he's here again for our next category, the Bits and Hanna.”
Bill Simmons · 1:03:28
nominee John C. McGinley as Dex: Questioned as just McGinley being McGinley.
“It's him or McGinley.”
Bill Simmons · 1:03:33

Best performance by a pet · Best performance by a pet.

winner Pitt's dog as Mills's dog: Rated six out of ten chewies.
“I have 6 out of 10 chewies.”
Bill Simmons · 1:05:14

Dion Waiters Award · Small role, big impact.

winner Kevin Spacey as John Doe: Declared eligible and the dictionary definition; he is in four scenes.
“I vote for Spacey for DN waiters.”
unknown · 1:06:31
nominee Richard Schiff
“Incredible Richard Schiff.”
unknown · 1:05:32
nominee Reggie Cathey
“Reggie Kathy.”
unknown · 1:05:48
nominee Gwyneth Paltrow as Tracy Mills: Her diner scene with Somerset is called some of her best.
“Well, you know who else is eligible, Gwyneth.”
unknown · 1:06:04

Apex Mountain · Whether this was the height of someone's powers.

pick Morgan Freeman: Argues he had the most juice after Se7en, not Shawshank; Sean is dubious.
“I think he has the most juice after this movie, not Shawshank.”
Bill Simmons · 1:10:00
nominee Kevin Spacey: Suggested his apex is American Beauty.
“I still feel like, no, I think it's American Beauty.”
unknown · 1:11:38

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a film they love.

pick Tracy having no friends in the city as Tracy Mills
“I have some questions about Gwyneth Patrow's character, a.k.a. Tracy.”
Bill Simmons · 1:11:58
pick Tracy confiding in Somerset about her pregnancy
“It's actually a good scene.”
Bill Simmons · 1:13:37
pick How John Doe prepared and delivered the box with the head: The hosts spend several minutes on the logistics: the box size, the blood, the dry ice, the dog.
“This category is called Pick and Nit.”
Bill Simmons · 1:14:15

Best quote · Favorite lines.

pick The Yoda line about the library card
“I like just because the fucker has a library card doesn't make him Yoda.”
Bill Simmons · 1:20:56
pick The fingerprint guy telling them to cross their fingers somewhere else
“I liked the fingerprint guy going, maybe you guys want to cross your finger somewhere else.”
unknown · 1:21:02

Sequel, prequel or series · Whether they would watch Se7en as a series or a sequel.

pick A Netflix series of Se7en: Chris would not care unless Fincher, Pitt and Khondji were involved.
“Could this be made as a 10 episode Netflix show?”
Bill Simmons · 1:21:10
pick Sequel in which Mills becomes a bounty hunter and a copycat starts on the 25th anniversary
“Mills becomes a bounty hunter.”
Bill Simmons · 1:22:54

Favorite deadly sin · Which of the seven deadly sins each host would pick.

pick Envy
“Envy.”
unknown · 1:23:43
pick Sloth
“Sloth.”
unknown · 1:23:48
pick Wrath
“I vote for wrath.”
unknown · 1:23:55

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

winner David Fincher
“I say Fincher.”
unknown · 1:25:35
winner Morgan Freeman: Almost shares it with Fincher as the guide through the world.
“I do think that I think that he he almost shares it with Fincher.”
unknown · 1:25:42

Films that came up

Claims (60)

lineage (lineage): Seven → Heat. Grouped with Usual Suspects, Heat and Casino as the four defining 1995 movies, three of which were shut out at the Oscars.
“Our usual suspects, which we recently did, Heat Casino in seven.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:04:37 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Seven → The Usual Suspects. Both were hugely influential 1995 genre movies that the Oscars largely ignored; Usual Suspects got a screenplay win while Se7en got only editing.
“Usual suspects had space to get nominated for best supporting actor, and it got nominated for best original screenplay.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:04:51 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Darius Khondji → Seven. Sean says the Oscars could easily have nominated Darius Khondji for best cinematography on Se7en.
“You could very easily make the case for best director, for best screenplay, and Darius Conji for best cinematography.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:06:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Seven → Dead Man Walking. Those movies felt like Oscar movies while bare-knuckle genre movies made by artists did not get recognized.
“They're bare knuckle genre movies that are done by artists and those weren't really getting recognized as much back then, I don't think.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:07:00 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Seven → The Usual Suspects. Spacey went uncredited in Se7en and the earlier-released Usual Suspects built momentum; two twists may have been too much for the Academy.
“I wonder if 2 super duper, incredibly memorable twists, a quarter of a century later, uh, was too many for the academy to handle”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:08:06 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Kevin Spacey → Seven. Spacey's billing choice (uncredited) kept the twist secret in a pre-internet era, which fed a slow-building box office.
“And it was a great move by Spacey not to be credited.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:08:19 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): David Fincher → Alien 3. Fincher fought the studio on Alien 3 in press coverage, with Sigourney Weaver backing him, then seemed unlikely to direct again.
“And Sigourney Weaver stuck up for him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:10:29 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
career (career): Seven → Alien 3. Fincher's miserable Alien 3 experience made him swear off features; the Se7en script pulled him back.
“it was only because he loved the script so much, the 7 script that he ultimately decided to do this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:11:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Seven → Alfred Hitchcock. Se7en is a Hitchcock movie in its pulling-your-chain structure of mystery, reveal and anxiety, and Hitchcock is Fincher's biggest influence.
“I think as much as this seems like a modern movie, it's also just completely a Hitchcock movie in so many ways.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:14:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Seven → True Detective. Se7en's influence shows in True Detective from the title sequence to the characters, though True Detective's first season flinches at the dark ending.
“you can see the influence of of 7 on things like True Detective from the title sequence to the characters.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:15:19 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Seven → William Friedkin. Fincher drew from Friedkin and wanted it to feel like an episode of Cops.
“he's drawn from like Friedkin, but he's also, he's, he's referenced like how he wanted it to feel like an episode of cops.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:15:42 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Seven → Alfred Hitchcock. A host says Se7en's score feels very Hitchcock, a comparison of sound rather than a claim of derivation.
“but the score feels very Hitchcock.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:15:50 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Seven → The Shawshank Redemption. Both are movies you get sucked into on cable by the last 40 minutes.
“The same thing with Shawshank.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:17:05 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Seven → Zodiac. Both have a patient first hour of procedural foreplay where you pick up new details on each rewatch.
“isn't isn't that why we all like zodiac for the, like a lot of that 1st hour is the same thing where it's all foreplay”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:18:38 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Seven → The Sopranos. Fincher's planned fade to black would have resembled the Sopranos cut to black, which Bill came around on after years.
“I think I would have eventually felt the same way I do about the Sopranos ending where I actually like the Sopranos ending now.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:22:14 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Casino → Goodfellas. Casino was disappointing to some because it was not quite as good as Goodfellas.
“And Casino had this weird thing where it wasn't quite as good as Goodfellas.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:23:33 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Seven → Casino. Casino was a near miss against Goodfellas, framed as 98 out of 100 versus 100 out of 100, the same tier of 1995 hall-of-famer.
“It's like a 98 out of 100 compared to Goodfellows 100 out of 100, you know?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:23:47 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Brad Pitt → True Romance. Pitt had earlier iconic small turns like Floyd in True Romance, covered on a previous Rewatchables.
“True romance, iconic performances, Floyd.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:24:14 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Brad Pitt → Interview with the Vampire. Pitt's pre-Se7en run had flops and weird roles, including the homoerotic vampire movie he did with Cruise.
“Crew said blonde hair, super homerotic.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:24:33 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Brad Pitt → Legends of the Fall. Pitt fought the changed ending of Legends of the Fall and vowed not to do that again, then made Se7en and 12 Monkeys.
“Legends of the Fall, which some people like, but they changed the ending.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:24:41 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Seven → Sherlock Holmes. Se7en works as a Sherlock Holmes story in which the Watson figure, Mills, is a fool who hits the ceiling of his intelligence.
“here's this is a Sherlock Holmes movie in which Watson is a fucking idiot.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:25:24 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Brad Pitt → Inglourious Basterds. Pitt does better work once writers like Tarantino give him funnier material that suits his twitchiness.
“I think later on when Pitt starts working with writers who are a little bit funnier, he does better work in some ways”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:26:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Seven → Burn After Reading. Pitt's comic-idiot characters in Burn After Reading and Killing Them Softly echo Mills, though more mature.
“those characters are just supposed to be kind of funny.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:29:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Seven → Lethal Weapon. Mills plays the reckless young cop with Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon energy.
“he's playing that like Mel Gibson and lethal weapon energy”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:29:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
career (career): Morgan Freeman → Unforgiven. Freeman's 1992 to 1995 run of Unforgiven, Outbreak, Shawshank, Se7en is a strong quartet with Outbreak the weak link.
“Outbreak is obviously the week, the weak link, but the other 3 are Hall of Famers.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:31:21 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Morgan Freeman → Driving Miss Daisy. Freeman's 1989 trio of Glory, Driving Miss Daisy and Lean on Me made him a star after Street Smart.
“Glory driving Miss Daisy and lean on me.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:31:59 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Morgan Freeman → Eyewitness. Before Street Smart Freeman was the seventh-billed police officer type, as in Eyewitness.
“Freeman's in it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:32:57 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
career (career): Andrew Kevin Walker → Tower Records (his job). Walker wrote Se7en over two years while working at Tower Records.
“The writer, Andrew Kevin Walker, who wrote this movie over a two-year period while working at Tower Records.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:33:34 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career): Andrew Kevin Walker → 8mm. Walker followed Se7en with 8mm; the speakers call it his Casino, a 98-out-of-100 version.
“I feel like 8 millimeter is Andrew Kevin Walker's casino.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:34:26 · Bill Simmons (0.65 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Seven → New Line Cinema. Se7en was New Line's first A production and turned it into a power player after the Freddy Krueger era.
“this was the home of Freddy Krueger, you know, I mean, that's really the kinds of movies that they were making”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:35:25 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Seven → Roger Ebert. Ebert gave 3.5 stars, then republished a four-star review years later, which becomes the show's running Ebert gag.
“He did the fucking redo?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:36:04 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
people (people): Gwyneth Paltrow → Brad Pitt. They became a couple off screen, got engaged, and later Pitt moved on to Aniston and Angelina.
“they start dating in real life.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:37:44 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Seven → Al Pacino. Bill and Chris float Pacino in the John Doe role and note he was supposed to be Somerset.
“Well, Pacino was supposed to be Somerset, wasn't he?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:43:31 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Kevin Spacey → Robert De Niro. An 80s De Niro, with Cape Fear and Taxi Driver in him, could have been John Doe.
“I think there's some kind of time frame from the 80s when De Niro could have been this guy”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:46:28 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Will Patton → Seven. Will Patton, warm or devious, could have played John Doe, though Spacey's fame made the reveal more shocking.
“who I think could have been good at this is Will Patton.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:46:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Billy Bob Thornton → Seven. Billy Bob Thornton is added as another possible John Doe.
“Billy Bob Thornton.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:47:26 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Seven → Dante. John Doe is the ferryman to hell in an unnamed rain-soaked city that Walker basically wrote as hell.
“he basically just wrote hell, you know, like he didn't name the city for a reason”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:50:09 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Seven → The Silence of the Lambs. Both belong to the era of thrillers where the killer is found by cracking a word code or a weird clue.
“There's also that vibe of a lot of some other thrillers from this time period.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:50:30 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Seven → Nine Inch Nails. Se7en caught industrial rock at its peak and led to Fincher-Reznor scores.
“Fincher and Rezner go on to make this incredible partnership”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:55:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Seven → Zodiac. Zodiac similarly does not show most of its murders.
“It's very similar to zodiac in that way, too.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:58:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Seven → The Silence of the Lambs. Both keep the murders off screen and are not about exploiting violence.
“And silence of the lambs is pretty similar.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:58:21 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Seven → The Shining. Se7en, Zodiac, The Shining, Silence of the Lambs form a separate breed, nicknamed Oscar horror.
“It's almost like Oscar horror, I guess, would be the category.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:59:03 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Denzel Washington → Seven. Denzel turned down the Mills part, calling it too dark and evil, and later regretted it.
“Told Entertainment Weekly, the film was, quote, too dark and evil.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:00:25 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Sylvester Stallone → Seven. Stallone reportedly turned down Mills, post-Tango and Cash, hunting for a dramatic movie that turned out to be Copland; Sly would have derailed it.
“Sly in this movie derails it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:00:38 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Robert Duvall → Seven. Duvall and Hackman both reportedly turned down Somerset.
“Duval and Gene Hackman both turned down the part of Somerset, apparently, allegedly.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:01:21 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Val Kilmer → Seven. Val Kilmer was another John Doe candidate; they wish they had a filmed car ride of it.
“It would have been fucking awesome.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:01:56 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Guillermo del Toro → Seven. Del Toro allegedly turned down directing as too dark; the hosts doubt it.
“I don't know if I believe that one.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:02:47 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
career (career): Seven → Gwyneth Paltrow. Se7en was her first major movie, after Fincher saw her in Flesh and Bone.
“this was the movie that kind of made her a star”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:06:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): River Phoenix → Seven. River Phoenix, had he lived, could have been Mills.
“One guy I thought of was River Phoenix for the Brad Pitt part”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:07:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Seven → Training Day. The diner where Somerset meets Tracy is the same Quality Coffee Shop used in Training Day.
“It is the quality coffee shop in downtown LA.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:08:00 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Seven → Fight Club. Fincher's cigarette burn shot in Fight Club is compared to the half-second Gwyneth shot in Se7en.
“I always think of Gwyneth as like a cigarette burn a little bit.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:08:28 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Morgan Freeman → Deep Impact. After Shawshank and Se7en Freeman had the juice to take shitty parts like Deep Impact for giant paychecks.
“he does this movie, and both of them are smashed successes, and that paves the way for him to be able to take shitty parts and deep impact and stuff like that”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:09:49 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Seven → Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Apex Mountain for Freeman: Bill asks if the moment before Robin Hood is his apex.
“Would you guys argue that the moment before Robin Hood comes out as his apex mountain?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:10:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Kevin Spacey → American Beauty. Apex Mountain for Spacey: Usual Suspects or American Beauty.
“I still feel like, no, I think it's American Beauty.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:11:38 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (humor): Seven → Cast Away. Bill jokes about Brad Pitt wanting the box like Wilson the volleyball.
“Oh, Wilson, the volleyball situation”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:20:28 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Seven → Copycat. Copycat, a similar thriller one month later, is fine but forgettable; Se7en persists because of the people involved.
“There was a movie that came out one month after this movie called Copycat with Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:21:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): Darius Khondji → Seven. A Se7en revival without Fincher, Pitt, or Darius Khondji would not interest the host, because the film persists on the strength of those people.
“if you're telling me that we're bringing 7 back, and Fincher's not a part of it, and Pitt's not a part of it, and Darius Kanji's not a part of it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:22:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): David Fincher → Seven. The group answers Who won the movie with Fincher, with Freeman nearly sharing it.
“I say Fincher.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:25:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Seven → Fight Club. Fight Club feels more optimistic and is a love story, whereas Se7en says do not care about anything.
“Fight club's a love story.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:27:08 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
career (career): Seven → Fight Club. Without Se7en's power Fincher does not get to do The Game and Fight Club his way.
“I think without this movie, he doesn't go on this run”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:27:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)

Fun items (24)

fun, about Se7en (car ride): Chris calls the car ride one of the best scenes of the 1990s; the helicopter overhead and Freeman's run make it singular.
“That whole 5 minutes is one of the best scenes of the entire 1990s, in my opinion.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:07:38 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (script fight): Fincher refused New Line's push to alter the head-in-the-box ending, and won.
“Fincher said, no, no, no.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:20:18 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (ending): Fincher wanted to cut to black right after Mills shoots John Doe; in test screenings the house lights came up immediately, New Line panicked and added Somerset's coda, which Freeman, Pitt and Fincher still resent.
“So New Line freaked out and they ended up doing that little coda at the end”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:20:52 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Pitt/Fincher commentary): The commentary mixes a Fincher-Pitt track with Freeman's solo track; Fincher and Pitt are mischievous and love McGinley's first shot.
“those 2 guys are hilarious together because they're old friends”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:21:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (ending): The director's commentary reveals the original plan had Freeman's Somerset shoot John Doe to protect Mills.
“originally the plan was for Morgan Freeman's character to shoot John Doe, to sacrifice Mills, basically to protect Mills”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:21:39 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Oscars): 1995 Best Picture field gets called an all-time train wreck; Braveheart won over the movies they love.
“It's an all-time train wreck.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:22:50 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Andrew Kevin Walker: Walker wrote Se7en over two years while working at Tower Records and plays the first dead guy in prosthetics.
“He does have a cameo at the beginning.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:33:57 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Fincher quote): Fincher told Playboy he went to Mike DeLuca saying the audience wants a revelation, on a $34 million budget.
“It's $34 million and fuck it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:35:20 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Roger Ebert: Ebert gave Se7en 3.5 stars, then republished a four-star version around 2010; the hosts joke about revising old predictions.
“Can you imagine if he changed it?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:36:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (SWAT scene): The SWAT actors were not told the starving victim would cough, so their startled reaction is authentic.
“So apparently, they didn't tell the actors playing the SWAT team that that guy was going to cough.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:38:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Brad Pitt: Pitt put his arm through the windshield during the chase, severed tendons, and the cast was written into the rest of the movie.
“Pitt actually gets hurt in real life, puts his arm through the windshield”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:39:05 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Kevin Spacey: Fincher calls Spacey an instrument, a weapon in the movie.
“Fincher calls him an instrument.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:42:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (credits): Fincher wanted the title sequence to look like a serial killer made it; the books were real and cost $15,000.
“Fincher wanted to make them look like a serial killer was doing the credits, basically.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:47:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Somerset): Somerset hang bit: a Jets, Knicks, Rangers fan still mad about the Charles Smith game, with a joyless take on the Spurs.
“Somerset has no joy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:55:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Genre naming: Hosts try to coin a name for Se7en, Silence of the Lambs and The Shining: not horror, not thriller, finally Oscar horror.
“It's almost like Oscar horror, I guess, would be the category.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:59:03 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Reddit and John Doe: Joke that John Doe is a blogger without an account and would have found community on Reddit; seven lives saved.
“Seven lives are saved.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:59:59 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Leland Orser: He over-breathed and skipped sleep for days to seem disoriented in his scene; hosts hand him the Joey Pants Award.
“So he decided to saturate his body with oxygen.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:00:33 · Bill Simmons (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (books): All of John Doe's notebooks were real books written for the film, taking two months and $15,000.
“All of John Doe's books were real books written for the film.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:07:41 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Gwyneth shot): Gwyneth's face appears for a frame and a half before Pitt fires; not intentionally subliminal.
“They show Gwynn's face right before Brad fires the gun”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:08:21 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Michael Reed McKay): The emaciated victim was played by a 98-pound actor.
“he weighed 98 pounds”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:08:51 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (Tracy's call): Nitpick: the Tracy-calls-Somerset scene is weird, yet in the movie you never blinked.
“I never blinked.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:13:57 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (head in the box): Picking Nits: Bill spends minutes on logistics of mailing the head, box size, dry ice, drugging the dog.
“How do you mail someone a severed head, Chris?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:14:04 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (sequel): Hosts pitch a Mills-as-Somerset sequel with a young new detective, Chalamet or Michael B. Jordan.
“Mills becomes a bounty hunter.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:22:54 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Se7en (cut ending): Gag: a cut scene where Somerset learns the Jets signed Neil O'Donnell was too horrific for audiences.
“he finds out the jet signed Neil O'Donnell.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:25:08 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Bill Simmons (host): Loves a patient procedural that sucks you in on cable, and ranks Freeman's contributions highly. Likes trivia like diner locations and casting what-ifs, and sports analogies for everything. Sucker for the last forty minutes of a great movie.
Sean Fennessey (host): Admires Fincher as a control-freak craftsman and sees Hitchcock behind Se7en. Can't stand when the Academy rewards uplift over difficult genre filmmaking. A sucker for the Freeman-as-lead reading.
Chris Ryan (host): Loves the car ride and the structural audacity of holding the killer back until the last third. Likes literary readings like Dante and hell, and the Hitchcock-adjacent craftsmanship. A sucker for the rain and the city.

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' = Sean Fennessey (Bill's nickname)
'Darius Conji/Kanji' = Darius Khondji
'Ermy/Arli Ermy' = R. Lee Ermey
'Leland Orr, sir' = Leland Orser
'Rezner' = Trent Reznor
'Reggie Kathy' = Reg E. Cathey
'Roundtree' = Richard Roundtree
'faith to black' = fade to black
'venture' (as Fincher in some lines) = Fincher
'Pint' = Pitt
'Il Pastino' = Il Postino
'Mike Figgas' = Mike Figgis
'Jeremiah Chechek' = Jeremiah Chechik
'Ilien 3' = Alien 3
'Dax/Dex' = the SWAT dialogue (unclear)
'Raj' near Ebert is probably mis-transcription of 'Roger'
'Hiller' = invented genre name