What the corpus says about Thor (2011)

The 60 lines php artisan corpus:ask hands a model, in the order it gets them, and nothing else. The model writes a clerk's answer from these and only these.

What was said about it (26)

  1. [The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:13:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Avengers ↔ Thor · programming · Thor was treated as a loss leader, a stepping stone to the Avengers. · "Thor was treated as a loss leader, essentially."
  2. [The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:33:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Justice League ↔ Thor · programming · Justice League must make Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Flash into linchpins the way Thor and Captain America are. · "They have to be the Thor, they have to be the Captain America."
  3. [Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 2:08:10 · David Sims (0.45)] Captain America: The First Avenger ↔ Thor · programming · Cap opened to about 65 million like Thor, finished near 176 worldwide domestic and around 370 vs Thor's 450. · "Cap opens pretty much exactly the same as Thor, 65."
  4. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:02:12 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] Thor ↔ The Avengers · programming · The Hawkeye cameo, with no interaction, made the speaker doubt the Avengers team-up would work. · "The thing you want to see is how they talk and interact with each other."
  5. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:50:54 · David Sims (0.50)] Thor ↔ Fast Five · programming · Thor's opening was the Memorial Day-season release, with Fast Five as the number two film in its 2nd weekend. · "Number 2 is one of the best movies of this year."
  6. [Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 2:07:38 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man 2 ↔ Thor · programming · Its post-credit scene is called the weakest, existing only to announce Thor's film, much like the Captain Marvel tag after Infinity War. · "Because essentially it's just like Thor, Thor, will be the star of a new movie."
  7. [Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:48:57 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Thor · programming · The hosts preview the next trio: Thor, Captain America, Avengers; one hates Thor. · "So what our next three is going to be Thor, Captain America, Avengers."
  8. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:03:54 · Griffin Newman (0.65)] Masters of the Universe ⇒ Thor (the host's read) · lineage · Thor is described as essentially a remake of the live-action Masters of the Universe. · "It's mostly just a remake of the live action masters of the universe movie."
  9. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:04:40 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · lineage · Both banish a hero from his heightened mythic world into a mundane Earth town and play it for fish-out-of-water jokes. · "And you place the one character who belongs in this heightened sci-fi world in the middle of like, you know, the Southwest."
  10. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:05:58 · David Sims (0.45)] Thor ↔ The Avengers · lineage · The Ultimates reimagined Thor as a possible revolutionary claiming to be a god, versus the film's real Thor. · "in the ultimates, Mark Miller's take is like Thor is sort of like this revolutionary guy who claims he's a god"
  11. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:37:32 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · lineage · Skeletor banishing He-Man to California mirrors Odin banishing Thor, down to the cartoon-to-film design translation and the large Coke gag. · "They banish him to California, and then like, it's Courtney Cox and some other Californian teenager take them in."
  12. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:44:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · lineage · Thor's coffee-mug throwing scene is likened to Gwildor failing to understand fried chicken in He-Man. · "It's like the scene in He-Man where Gueldor doesn't get fried chicken."
  13. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:07:56 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor ↔ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · theme · For Selvig, Thor is proof of aliens, his own E.T., and the reason he will not let go of him. · "Thor is like his ET."
  14. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:21:53 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] Thor ↔ Ghost Rider · theme · Marvel heroes outside Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four lack good villains; Thor has Loki, Ghost Rider's foes are Satan-adjacent like Thor's mythology ones. · "the thing with the Ghost Rider is it like sort of uses like satanic mythology in the same way that this uses Greek mythology."
  15. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:18:52 · Griffin Newman (0.45)] Thor: The Dark World ↔ Thor · craft · The Dark World goes further in both directions on design (older looks plus more tech) while Branagh's Thor split the difference in a murky middle. · "I think, like, Branagh is splitting the difference too hard and staying in a weird murky middle ground."
  16. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:39:22 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor ↔ Thor: Ragnarok · craft · The first Thor looks too clean; Ragnarok overcorrects to cartoony comic splash page; the Dark World's polished gold sits between. · "the 1st one is just too clean."
  17. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 0:45:47 · David Sims (0.40)] The Avengers ↔ Thor · craft · Jumping-out-of-planes shots are a Marvel habit they have been counting (about six). · "We've been keeping count. There are like 6 of them."
  18. [Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:10:16 · David Sims (0.45)] Captain America: The First Avenger ↔ Thor · craft · Both Marvel origin films avoid dropping the audience straight into a stylized world and open on a grounded genre set-up. · "This is the exact same structural thing as Thor, where it's like, let's not drop people into crazy stylized world."
  19. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:02:45 · David Sims (0.35)] Thor ↔ How the Grinch Stole Christmas · craft · The Dutch angles in Thor are likened to Ron Howard's Grinch for excess tilt. · "Ron Howard Grinch levels of just like."
  20. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:48:53 · David Sims (0.45)] Thor ↔ Iron Man 2 · craft · Both force S.H.I.E.L.D. world-building into the plot; Iron Man 2 does it worse, and Captain America saves it for the end. · "Iron Man 2 has it worse than this, but this and Iron Man 2 have that right where they're sort of like, PS, like, Hawkeye's coming."
  21. [Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:50:07 · Griffin Newman (0.55)] John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ↔ Thor · contrast · Gun fetishism in Thor's ending bothers Griffin, but John Wick's cartoonish violence does not. · "Gun fetishy stuff, I just get really uncomfortable, right?"
  22. [The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:10:42 · Jason Concepcion (0.40)] Thor: Ragnarok ↔ Thor · contrast · Ragnarok is called one of the five best Marvel movies, reached only after two bad Thor films. · "one of the 5 best Marvel movies ever now is the Thor movie that came out 2 weeks ago."
  23. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 0:49:21 · unknown (0.40)] The Avengers ↔ Thor · contrast · A far better movie than Thor; Thor is more fun beside other characters. · "This is a better movie than Thor? Much better."
  24. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:29:24 · Ben Hosley (0.45)] Thor ↔ The Lion King (2019 trailer) · contrast · The argument over Thor's desaturated palette turns into an argument over how bad the Lion King trailer's color looks. · "The color is so bad in that trailer."
  25. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:42:42 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald ↔ Thor · contrast · Joanna argued Grindelwald should be played with Loki's charm and magnetism rather than Depp's rat-like pallor. · "Loki is what Grindelwelch should be."
  26. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:47:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Thor ↔ Black Panther · contrast · Black Panther gives every ensemble member an inner life and a plot function; Thor's side characters like Volstagg and Sif do little. · "every single character has their own personality, their own internal conflict, but has like a very important plot function as well."

Films put beside it more than once (6)

  1. [pairs] Thor ↔ The Avengers · said 6 times in 3 episodes
  2. [pairs] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · said 4 times in 1 episode
  3. [pairs] Thor ↔ Iron Man 2 · said 3 times in 2 episodes
  4. [pairs] Thor ↔ Thor: The Dark World · said 3 times in 2 episodes
  5. [pairs] Thor ↔ Thor: Ragnarok · said 2 times in 2 episodes
  6. [pairs] Thor ↔ Black Panther · said 2 times in 1 episode

Fun items about it (6)

  1. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:27:43 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · See the scene where Thor and Hogun are in the Asgard bar: a pug, roasts, laughter, Thor in a little cap. · "They got a little pug."
  2. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:01:51 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Thor · fun · See the opening Thor-throws-his-coffee-mug-on-the-ground scene; Ben calls it the best part of the movie. · "He throws his coffee on the ground."
  3. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:03:17 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · The hosts open on how every cut in the lab scene swings the camera 45 degrees the opposite way, a literal seesaw; Branagh's one idea is the tilted world, and they keep returning to the Dutch angles throughout. · "Isn't this crazy, though, that every time they cut, the camera is 45 degrees in the opposite angle of the previous..."
  4. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:14:42 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · Hemsworth's dyed eyebrows in Thor are Kevin Feige's biggest regret in the whole MCU; watch Thor in Asgard where he almost looks to have none. · "Do you know that Kevin Feige said his, what his number one biggest regret in the entire Marvel cinematic universe is?"
  5. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:24:56 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · Loki's hand turns blue on touching the Frost Giant king's forearm in the Jotunheim fight; the hosts note the film forgets it and later reveals he is a Frost Giant. · "one of the blue guys, the king, touched Loki's forearm, and then Loki's hand turned blue, and they don't know why."
  6. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:26:36 · David Sims (0.45)] Thor · fun · Thor's development hell: Raimi, a UPN TV show, Sony and Goyer, Paramount, Vaughn, del Toro, DJ Caruso, Daniel Craig offered it before Hemsworth took it. · "Then, as we all know, DJ Caruso is hired."

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (14)

  1. [Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 3 · 0:16:00 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man 3 ↔ The Avengers · programming · Phase 2 begins here and Avengers' victory lap gave Feige room to let each film feel individual. · "They're on such a victory lap that it feels like this is the one little chunk of time where Kevin Feige lets go a little bit."
  2. [Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · 1:16:27 · unknown (0.45)] Captain America: The Winter Soldier ↔ Iron Man 2 · programming · Gary Shandling's Hydra senator is an odd pull-back to Iron Man 2 for a franchise otherwise ignoring that film. · "when they're like trying to ignore as much of Iron Man 2 as possible"
  3. [Blank Check — Patreon · Guardians of the Galaxy · 1:00:57 · unknown (0.30)] Benicio del Toro ↔ Thor: The Dark World · programming · Del Toro's Collector first appears in the Dark World post-credits and has been used little since. · "How much is he in dark world?"
  4. [The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:49:22 · David Shoemaker (0.40)] Black Panther ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Black Panther looks like the best bet to carry the MCU into the next phase after Infinity War. · "Black Panther certainly looks to be the best bet to carry the series into phase four"
  5. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 1:29:09 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] The Avengers ↔ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. · programming · Coulson was brought back for the TV show but kept out of the movies, signaling the TV show is only loosely connected. · "you can be in the TV show, like, because we need, you know, a star for the show"
  6. [Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 0:12:08 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man 2 ↔ The Avengers · programming · Feige pushed more cinematic-universe setup after the first film, but held most back; the Fury scene and shield joke are the result. · "Let's build shield outlets, like give them, you know, a little more of what they want."
  7. [Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · 0:14:14 · unknown (0.35)] Captain America: The Winter Soldier ↔ Thor: The Dark World · programming · Dark World is the high-fantasy entry in the same one-genre-per-film scheme. · "Dark World is like high fantasy."
  8. [Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 0:25:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] Black Panther ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Griffin loved Black Panther just before, then felt Infinity War was one Marvel movie too big. · "Having, you know, loved Black Panther, which came out right before this."
  9. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 1:29:32 · David Sims (0.40)] Captain Marvel ↔ The Avengers · programming · Captain Marvel is a 1990s prequel in which Fury still has both eyes, bringing back Coulson/Fury; they predict nineties-reference gags. · "So in that one, Nick Fury has 2 eyes."
  10. [Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:18:06 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Iron Man 2 · programming · Griffin has a point about Paltrow in Iron Man 2 and promises a separate Iron Man 2 commentary. · "We're going to do an Iron Man 2 commentary so we can talk about the movie I want to talk about there."
  11. [Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:50:31 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] The Nutcracker and the Four Realms ↔ Thor: The Dark World · programming · Joking that a 'four realms' film from the director of Captain America should have had nine realms. · "He won't settle for four."
  12. [The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:17:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ↔ Black Panther · lineage · The first film's theme was isolation versus justice (Killmonger vs. T'Challa); the sequel has a real-world theme too, about allyship between Latinx and Black communities, but is not done as well. · "his movies always have a big dynamic real world theme in them in a way that I don't think many Marvel movies do."
  13. [Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 1:34:57 · David Sims (0.40)] The Avengers ⇒ Guardians of the Galaxy (the host's read) · programming · Thanos' Chitauri subcontracting sets up the cosmic films; Guardians is next on their Marvel list. · "We're gonna we're gonna cover Peter movie soon."
  14. [Blank Check — Patreon · Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation · 1:01:43 · unknown (0.30)] Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ↔ Iron Man 2 · lineage · The thigh-grab move is traced back to Iron Man 2 by one speaker. · "I mean, I always think of Iron Man 2."

Who said it, by their latest sketch (5)

  1. [speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
  2. [speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
  3. [speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
  4. [speaker] Ben Hosley · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Producer who occasionally talks; admits no religious background, has a Catholic mother's family, and cannot see the Bible as part of culture. · stances: Left out of Bible culture; Wants a clear demarcation between a bed and a deathbed
  5. [speaker] Jason Concepcion · latest sketch, The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · Loves a musical, Donnie Yen action, and the 1998 Mulan with its Eddie Murphy humor. Finds the remake kind of boring and wants a grounded, historical version. Sucker for political and economic framing of film controversy. · stances: The remake is fine in a vacuum, a disappointment as a Mulan; Wants a more historical, less magical take; Sees the Mulan controversy as a symptom of the West-China economic experiment; Missing music means missing storytelling

The shows' running bits (3)

  1. [bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
  2. [bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
  3. [bits] The Rewatchables: 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)

The whole prompt

As the model gets it, from app/Ai/Prompts/CorpusAsk.md 
You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Thor (2011) and wants to know what to watch next.

Below is what people who love movies said on three podcasts (Blank Check, The Rewatchables, The Big Picture) about Thor (2011) and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.

[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:13:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Avengers ↔ Thor · programming · Thor was treated as a loss leader, a stepping stone to the Avengers. · "Thor was treated as a loss leader, essentially."
[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:33:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Justice League ↔ Thor · programming · Justice League must make Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Flash into linchpins the way Thor and Captain America are. · "They have to be the Thor, they have to be the Captain America."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 2:08:10 · David Sims (0.45)] Captain America: The First Avenger ↔ Thor · programming · Cap opened to about 65 million like Thor, finished near 176 worldwide domestic and around 370 vs Thor's 450. · "Cap opens pretty much exactly the same as Thor, 65."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:02:12 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] Thor ↔ The Avengers · programming · The Hawkeye cameo, with no interaction, made the speaker doubt the Avengers team-up would work. · "The thing you want to see is how they talk and interact with each other."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:50:54 · David Sims (0.50)] Thor ↔ Fast Five · programming · Thor's opening was the Memorial Day-season release, with Fast Five as the number two film in its 2nd weekend. · "Number 2 is one of the best movies of this year."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 2:07:38 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man 2 ↔ Thor · programming · Its post-credit scene is called the weakest, existing only to announce Thor's film, much like the Captain Marvel tag after Infinity War. · "Because essentially it's just like Thor, Thor, will be the star of a new movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:48:57 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Thor · programming · The hosts preview the next trio: Thor, Captain America, Avengers; one hates Thor. · "So what our next three is going to be Thor, Captain America, Avengers."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:03:54 · Griffin Newman (0.65)] Masters of the Universe ⇒ Thor (the host's read) · lineage · Thor is described as essentially a remake of the live-action Masters of the Universe. · "It's mostly just a remake of the live action masters of the universe movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:04:40 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · lineage · Both banish a hero from his heightened mythic world into a mundane Earth town and play it for fish-out-of-water jokes. · "And you place the one character who belongs in this heightened sci-fi world in the middle of like, you know, the Southwest."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:05:58 · David Sims (0.45)] Thor ↔ The Avengers · lineage · The Ultimates reimagined Thor as a possible revolutionary claiming to be a god, versus the film's real Thor. · "in the ultimates, Mark Miller's take is like Thor is sort of like this revolutionary guy who claims he's a god"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:37:32 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · lineage · Skeletor banishing He-Man to California mirrors Odin banishing Thor, down to the cartoon-to-film design translation and the large Coke gag. · "They banish him to California, and then like, it's Courtney Cox and some other Californian teenager take them in."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:44:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · lineage · Thor's coffee-mug throwing scene is likened to Gwildor failing to understand fried chicken in He-Man. · "It's like the scene in He-Man where Gueldor doesn't get fried chicken."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:07:56 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor ↔ E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · theme · For Selvig, Thor is proof of aliens, his own E.T., and the reason he will not let go of him. · "Thor is like his ET."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:21:53 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] Thor ↔ Ghost Rider · theme · Marvel heroes outside Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four lack good villains; Thor has Loki, Ghost Rider's foes are Satan-adjacent like Thor's mythology ones. · "the thing with the Ghost Rider is it like sort of uses like satanic mythology in the same way that this uses Greek mythology."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:18:52 · Griffin Newman (0.45)] Thor: The Dark World ↔ Thor · craft · The Dark World goes further in both directions on design (older looks plus more tech) while Branagh's Thor split the difference in a murky middle. · "I think, like, Branagh is splitting the difference too hard and staying in a weird murky middle ground."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:39:22 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor ↔ Thor: Ragnarok · craft · The first Thor looks too clean; Ragnarok overcorrects to cartoony comic splash page; the Dark World's polished gold sits between. · "the 1st one is just too clean."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 0:45:47 · David Sims (0.40)] The Avengers ↔ Thor · craft · Jumping-out-of-planes shots are a Marvel habit they have been counting (about six). · "We've been keeping count. There are like 6 of them."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:10:16 · David Sims (0.45)] Captain America: The First Avenger ↔ Thor · craft · Both Marvel origin films avoid dropping the audience straight into a stylized world and open on a grounded genre set-up. · "This is the exact same structural thing as Thor, where it's like, let's not drop people into crazy stylized world."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:02:45 · David Sims (0.35)] Thor ↔ How the Grinch Stole Christmas · craft · The Dutch angles in Thor are likened to Ron Howard's Grinch for excess tilt. · "Ron Howard Grinch levels of just like."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:48:53 · David Sims (0.45)] Thor ↔ Iron Man 2 · craft · Both force S.H.I.E.L.D. world-building into the plot; Iron Man 2 does it worse, and Captain America saves it for the end. · "Iron Man 2 has it worse than this, but this and Iron Man 2 have that right where they're sort of like, PS, like, Hawkeye's coming."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:50:07 · Griffin Newman (0.55)] John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ↔ Thor · contrast · Gun fetishism in Thor's ending bothers Griffin, but John Wick's cartoonish violence does not. · "Gun fetishy stuff, I just get really uncomfortable, right?"
[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:10:42 · Jason Concepcion (0.40)] Thor: Ragnarok ↔ Thor · contrast · Ragnarok is called one of the five best Marvel movies, reached only after two bad Thor films. · "one of the 5 best Marvel movies ever now is the Thor movie that came out 2 weeks ago."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 0:49:21 · unknown (0.40)] The Avengers ↔ Thor · contrast · A far better movie than Thor; Thor is more fun beside other characters. · "This is a better movie than Thor? Much better."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:29:24 · Ben Hosley (0.45)] Thor ↔ The Lion King (2019 trailer) · contrast · The argument over Thor's desaturated palette turns into an argument over how bad the Lion King trailer's color looks. · "The color is so bad in that trailer."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:42:42 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald ↔ Thor · contrast · Joanna argued Grindelwald should be played with Loki's charm and magnetism rather than Depp's rat-like pallor. · "Loki is what Grindelwelch should be."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:47:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Thor ↔ Black Panther · contrast · Black Panther gives every ensemble member an inner life and a plot function; Thor's side characters like Volstagg and Sif do little. · "every single character has their own personality, their own internal conflict, but has like a very important plot function as well."
[pairs] Thor ↔ The Avengers · said 6 times in 3 episodes
[pairs] Thor ↔ Masters of the Universe · said 4 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Thor ↔ Iron Man 2 · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Thor ↔ Thor: The Dark World · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Thor ↔ Thor: Ragnarok · said 2 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Thor ↔ Black Panther · said 2 times in 1 episode
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:27:43 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · See the scene where Thor and Hogun are in the Asgard bar: a pug, roasts, laughter, Thor in a little cap. · "They got a little pug."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:01:51 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Thor · fun · See the opening Thor-throws-his-coffee-mug-on-the-ground scene; Ben calls it the best part of the movie. · "He throws his coffee on the ground."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:03:17 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · The hosts open on how every cut in the lab scene swings the camera 45 degrees the opposite way, a literal seesaw; Branagh's one idea is the tilted world, and they keep returning to the Dutch angles throughout. · "Isn't this crazy, though, that every time they cut, the camera is 45 degrees in the opposite angle of the previous..."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:14:42 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · Hemsworth's dyed eyebrows in Thor are Kevin Feige's biggest regret in the whole MCU; watch Thor in Asgard where he almost looks to have none. · "Do you know that Kevin Feige said his, what his number one biggest regret in the entire Marvel cinematic universe is?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:24:56 · David Sims (0.40)] Thor · fun · Loki's hand turns blue on touching the Frost Giant king's forearm in the Jotunheim fight; the hosts note the film forgets it and later reveals he is a Frost Giant. · "one of the blue guys, the king, touched Loki's forearm, and then Loki's hand turned blue, and they don't know why."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:26:36 · David Sims (0.45)] Thor · fun · Thor's development hell: Raimi, a UPN TV show, Sony and Goyer, Paramount, Vaughn, del Toro, DJ Caruso, Daniel Craig offered it before Hemsworth took it. · "Then, as we all know, DJ Caruso is hired."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 3 · 0:16:00 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man 3 ↔ The Avengers · programming · Phase 2 begins here and Avengers' victory lap gave Feige room to let each film feel individual. · "They're on such a victory lap that it feels like this is the one little chunk of time where Kevin Feige lets go a little bit."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · 1:16:27 · unknown (0.45)] Captain America: The Winter Soldier ↔ Iron Man 2 · programming · Gary Shandling's Hydra senator is an odd pull-back to Iron Man 2 for a franchise otherwise ignoring that film. · "when they're like trying to ignore as much of Iron Man 2 as possible"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Guardians of the Galaxy · 1:00:57 · unknown (0.30)] Benicio del Toro ↔ Thor: The Dark World · programming · Del Toro's Collector first appears in the Dark World post-credits and has been used little since. · "How much is he in dark world?"
[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:49:22 · David Shoemaker (0.40)] Black Panther ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Black Panther looks like the best bet to carry the MCU into the next phase after Infinity War. · "Black Panther certainly looks to be the best bet to carry the series into phase four"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 1:29:09 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] The Avengers ↔ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. · programming · Coulson was brought back for the TV show but kept out of the movies, signaling the TV show is only loosely connected. · "you can be in the TV show, like, because we need, you know, a star for the show"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 0:12:08 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man 2 ↔ The Avengers · programming · Feige pushed more cinematic-universe setup after the first film, but held most back; the Fury scene and shield joke are the result. · "Let's build shield outlets, like give them, you know, a little more of what they want."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · 0:14:14 · unknown (0.35)] Captain America: The Winter Soldier ↔ Thor: The Dark World · programming · Dark World is the high-fantasy entry in the same one-genre-per-film scheme. · "Dark World is like high fantasy."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 0:25:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] Black Panther ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Griffin loved Black Panther just before, then felt Infinity War was one Marvel movie too big. · "Having, you know, loved Black Panther, which came out right before this."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 1:29:32 · David Sims (0.40)] Captain Marvel ↔ The Avengers · programming · Captain Marvel is a 1990s prequel in which Fury still has both eyes, bringing back Coulson/Fury; they predict nineties-reference gags. · "So in that one, Nick Fury has 2 eyes."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:18:06 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Iron Man 2 · programming · Griffin has a point about Paltrow in Iron Man 2 and promises a separate Iron Man 2 commentary. · "We're going to do an Iron Man 2 commentary so we can talk about the movie I want to talk about there."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Thor: The Dark World · 0:50:31 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] The Nutcracker and the Four Realms ↔ Thor: The Dark World · programming · Joking that a 'four realms' film from the director of Captain America should have had nine realms. · "He won't settle for four."
[The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:17:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.85)] Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ↔ Black Panther · lineage · The first film's theme was isolation versus justice (Killmonger vs. T'Challa); the sequel has a real-world theme too, about allyship between Latinx and Black communities, but is not done as well. · "his movies always have a big dynamic real world theme in them in a way that I don't think many Marvel movies do."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Avengers · 1:34:57 · David Sims (0.40)] The Avengers ⇒ Guardians of the Galaxy (the host's read) · programming · Thanos' Chitauri subcontracting sets up the cosmic films; Guardians is next on their Marvel list. · "We're gonna we're gonna cover Peter movie soon."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation · 1:01:43 · unknown (0.30)] Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ↔ Iron Man 2 · lineage · The thigh-grab move is traced back to Iron Man 2 by one speaker. · "I mean, I always think of Iron Man 2."
[speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
[speaker] Ben Hosley · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Producer who occasionally talks; admits no religious background, has a Catholic mother's family, and cannot see the Bible as part of culture. · stances: Left out of Bible culture; Wants a clear demarcation between a bed and a deathbed
[speaker] Jason Concepcion · latest sketch, The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · Loves a musical, Donnie Yen action, and the 1998 Mulan with its Eddie Murphy humor. Finds the remake kind of boring and wants a grounded, historical version. Sucker for political and economic framing of film controversy. · stances: The remake is fine in a vacuum, a disappointment as a Mulan; Wants a more historical, less magical take; Sees the Mulan controversy as a symptom of the West-China economic experiment; Missing music means missing storytelling
[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
[bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
[bits] The Rewatchables: 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)

Recommend three to six films, and only films that appear in these lines. A series, a TV film, or a franchise counts too when a line recommends it or pairs it with Thor (2011); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Thor (2011) itself. For each one, give one short reason in your own words and say whose reason it is: the show, named exactly as the brackets name it, and the speaker when the line names one (an "unknown" speaker is just the show). If the lines are thin, say so plainly rather than stretching them.

Keep a contrast a contrast. When a line sets two films apart, the reason is how they differ; never turn it into a way they're alike. A line with ⇒ puts the source first and what drew on it second, and one marked "the maker said so" is still the host reporting it: say who said it, and never state an influence as fact.

You know only what's on these lines. Add no fact they don't state: not who directed a film, not what kind of film it is, not when it came out, unless a line says so. Say nothing about the store or how anything rents here.

Talk the way a clerk talks to a customer at the counter: plain text, titles written plainly with no asterisks or other markup, no headings, no lists of more than six, no JSON.