What the corpus says about Sherlock, Jr. (1924)

What was said about it (18)

1. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:53:06 · David Sims (0.40)] Merton of the Movies (stage play) ⇒ Sherlock, Jr. (the host's read) · lineage · Keaton had seen a satiric play that may have given him the idea of a story set around a movie theater. · "there's a satiric play apparently called Merton of the movies."
2. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:38:39 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ⇒ What's Up, Doc? (the host's read) · lineage · The Chinese-dragon bicycle chase in What's Up, Doc? is a complete homage to the stag-party sequence. · "The bicycled Chinese dragon sequence and what's up dog is complete homage to this sequence."
3. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:18:51 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Corridor Crew (YouTube channel) · craft · A YouTube channel was stumped by three of the film's special-effects sequences, more than by modern movies. · "they were more stump trying to figure out the special effects of Sherlock Jr. than most modern movies."
4. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:44:00 · James Urbaniak (0.50)] The Crowd ↔ Sherlock, Jr. · people · Naturalistic acting in The Crowd coexisted in the same era with semaphore-style silent acting, which Keaton avoided. · "There's an indicating quality where fingers are being waved in the air and that's a stream that coexisted."
5. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:22:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ The Navigator · people · The same long-term cinematographer, Elgin Leslie, shot both Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator. · "who was named Elgin Leslie, who shot this and the navigator and the bulk of his shorts and most of his features of this era."
6. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:58:18 · David Sims (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ The General · critical standing · Sherlock Jr. has supplanted The General as the critical consensus perfect Keaton movie. · "I feel like it's supplanted the general as sort of the critic consensus, perfect Keaton movie."
7. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:00:20 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Rear Window · theater-viewing · A CalArts teacher argued certain films, like Sherlock Jr., should be seen in a theater while Rear Window can be appreciated at home. · "you can watch rear window at home and appreciate it."
8. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:16:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Pulp Fiction · coincidence gag · The wrong-man-walks-by coincidence in the pawn shop is compared to Ving Rhames walking by in Pulp Fiction. · "much like Ving Reims and Pulp Fiction, just happens to walk by at that moment."
9. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:27:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Bugs Bunny cartoons · intrusion gag · The film rejecting Keaton's linear-time presence is like Bugs Bunny messing with Daffy. · "It's Bugs Bunny fucking with Daffy."
10. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:36:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Wile E. Coyote cartoons · cartoon logic · Keaton riding the handlebars without noticing the driver is gone follows Wile E. Coyote logic. · "it's Wiley Coyote logic."
11. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:41:03 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Dumb and Dumber · childlike innocence · Keaton's baffled reaction to the sudden babies is compared to a childlike, non-sexual innocence like Dumb and Dumber. · "where he has a childlike innocence, so he is not drawn towards sexual situations, if I may be permitted in comparison."
12. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:45:14 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Buster Keaton · people · The rival and his crew do stereotypical heavy silent-film acting, which makes Keaton's modern performance stand out. · "those 2 guys are absolutely doing what most people think of as silent film acting."
13. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:55:49 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle · people · Arbuckle was brought on as co-director and given the pseudonym William B. Goodrich, then edged out. · "this is the movie where he came up with uh, William B. Goodrich, which was his, like, nom de plume for directing, uh, Freddie Arbuckle."
14. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:22:31 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Elgin Leslie · people · Keaton and his long-term DP set up the black-velvet and matched-position effects together. · "Shout out to his long-term DP."
15. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:53:54 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Houdini ⇒ Sherlock, Jr. (the host's read) · borrowed magic bits · The dream sequence let Keaton use vaudeville and Houdini-style magic bits in a movie grounded in reality. · "there were magic bits that he knew from vaudeville, from Houdini and other magicians"
16. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:05:29 · David Sims (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Kumail Nanjiani · comedy opening · Nanjiani says a comedy should open with a guy spilling hot coffee, and Keaton opens with a guy under the boot. · "the opening of any comedy movie should be a guy accidentally spilling hot coffee on himself."
17. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:07:31 · David Sims (0.40)] Rudolph Valentino ⇒ Sherlock, Jr. (the host's read) · namesake · The villain is called the Sheik after Valentino. · "the sheik's so named because a la Rudolph Valentino."
18. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:29:13 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ W. C. Fields · vaudeville pool · Vaudevillians really could play pool; W. C. Fields had an eccentric pool bit in his act. · "WC Fields also had a bit in his act where he did eccentric pool and he does them in some films."

Fun items about it (6)

1. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:46:50 · James Urbaniak (0.70)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · The opening lost-dollar bit is James's favorite Keaton bit; the title card just says 'describe it' and he later repeats the rectangle callback. · "It is my single favorite Buster Keaton bit of all time."
2. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:03:07 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Seen in a theater, the 'describe it.' title card got a huge laugh and the whole audience was suddenly in. · "and then the title comes up that just says, describe it."
3. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:11:06 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · The first joke of the film is a close-up of the book How to Be a Detective, followed by the licked-thumb fingerprint. · "And then he takes the book down and he's has a picture."
4. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:13:49 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Keaton broke his neck on the water-tower gag in Sherlock Jr. and only learned years later from an X-ray that it had healed. · "someone took an x-ray of him and was like, you have broken your, like, at some point you broke your neck."
5. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:18:02 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Gillette's title card plays on razor brands (Gillette, Ever-Ready, Gem); the studio's name on screen, Veronal, was a sleeping drug. · "And Vernal was a sedative."
6. [Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:23:08 · David Sims (0.50)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Walking into the movie screen looks like a miracle: it is a second set built behind the proscenium and lit differently so it reads as a flat projected image. · "And he just steps casually into the screen, and it feels like a miracle"

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (8)

1. [The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 2:37:16 · unknown (0.00)] Pulp Fiction ↔ Black Sabbath · programming · Best double features: Black Sabbath (anthology), Saturday Night Fever, Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. · "So you get an anthology movie."
2. [The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 2:37:26 · unknown (0.00)] Pulp Fiction ↔ Inglourious Basterds · programming · Inglourious Basterds paired for its short-story structure; Once Upon a Time for bookending Tarantino's career. · "I have bastards because I feel like structurally it's it's got some the short story aspect of his very, it locks in together."
3. [The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ · 0:59:07 · Bill Simmons (0.70)] Pulp Fiction ⇒ Misery (the host's read) · programming · Butch's Girlfriend Award for weak link of the film is borrowed from Pulp Fiction. · "The Butch's girlfriend Award, Butch's girlfriend from Pulp Fiction."
4. [The Rewatchables · ‘The Ice Storm’ · 1:27:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50)] The Ice Storm ↔ Pulp Fiction · programming · Next episodes will cover two famous movies; Ryan and Simmons tease Pulp Fiction. · "I've been watching a lot of pulp fiction lately."
5. [The Rewatchables · ‘Reservoir Dogs’ · 0:03:58 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Reservoir Dogs ↔ Pulp Fiction · programming · Reservoir Dogs found much of its audience after Pulp Fiction, via rentals. · "After Pulp Fiction and then circled back and rented Reservoir Dogs."
6. [The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 0:04:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.35)] Reservoir Dogs ⇒ Pulp Fiction (the host's read) · lineage · Pulp's opening two-song credits echo the radio dial concept from Reservoir Dogs. · "Well, the radio, the concept of the radio had been in Reservoir Dogs, but I think switching the songs in the middle, because you hear him change the dial."
7. [The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 0:06:07 · Bill Simmons (0.40)] Pulp Fiction ⇒ Pulp Fiction imitators (the host's read) · lineage · The Royale-in-Paris, Amsterdam conversation is the most parodied and copied stretch of screenwriting of the last 30 years. · "Yeah. I would argue this is the most ripped off four and a half minutes of screenwriting in the past 30 years."
8. [The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 0:09:49 · Bill Simmons (0.40)] Lee Majors ⇒ Pulp Fiction (the host's read) · lineage · The setup of Vincent taking the boss's wife out echoes a Hollywood story about Lee Majors asking someone to take Farrah Fawcett out while he was away. · "Because Lee Majors is going out of town."

Who said it, by their latest sketch (3)

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] James Urbaniak · latest sketch, Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · Loves old-timey stuff, the history and styles of acting, Robert Altman, Tony Randall and the Simpsons-quoting camaraderie of fellow nerds. He admires Keaton as a non-indicating, anti-sentimental, serene and modern performer, favoring cool restraint over Chaplin's warmth. He dislikes hammy over-indication and is a sucker for the specific, throwaway behavioral bit. · stances: Keaton is modern, clean, streamlined and the ultimate non-indicator; Keaton is cool where Chaplin is warm and practical where Chaplin is showy; Silent acting streams coexisted: naturalistic and semaphore; Seeing a Spielberg shoot revealed that great directors create an environment that allows things to happen

The shows' running bits (2)

1. [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)
2. [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

You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 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 Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 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.

[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:53:06 · David Sims (0.40)] Merton of the Movies (stage play) ⇒ Sherlock, Jr. (the host's read) · lineage · Keaton had seen a satiric play that may have given him the idea of a story set around a movie theater. · "there's a satiric play apparently called Merton of the movies."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:38:39 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ⇒ What's Up, Doc? (the host's read) · lineage · The Chinese-dragon bicycle chase in What's Up, Doc? is a complete homage to the stag-party sequence. · "The bicycled Chinese dragon sequence and what's up dog is complete homage to this sequence."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:18:51 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Corridor Crew (YouTube channel) · craft · A YouTube channel was stumped by three of the film's special-effects sequences, more than by modern movies. · "they were more stump trying to figure out the special effects of Sherlock Jr. than most modern movies."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:44:00 · James Urbaniak (0.50)] The Crowd ↔ Sherlock, Jr. · people · Naturalistic acting in The Crowd coexisted in the same era with semaphore-style silent acting, which Keaton avoided. · "There's an indicating quality where fingers are being waved in the air and that's a stream that coexisted."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:22:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ The Navigator · people · The same long-term cinematographer, Elgin Leslie, shot both Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator. · "who was named Elgin Leslie, who shot this and the navigator and the bulk of his shorts and most of his features of this era."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:58:18 · David Sims (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ The General · critical standing · Sherlock Jr. has supplanted The General as the critical consensus perfect Keaton movie. · "I feel like it's supplanted the general as sort of the critic consensus, perfect Keaton movie."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:00:20 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Rear Window · theater-viewing · A CalArts teacher argued certain films, like Sherlock Jr., should be seen in a theater while Rear Window can be appreciated at home. · "you can watch rear window at home and appreciate it."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:16:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Pulp Fiction · coincidence gag · The wrong-man-walks-by coincidence in the pawn shop is compared to Ving Rhames walking by in Pulp Fiction. · "much like Ving Reims and Pulp Fiction, just happens to walk by at that moment."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:27:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Bugs Bunny cartoons · intrusion gag · The film rejecting Keaton's linear-time presence is like Bugs Bunny messing with Daffy. · "It's Bugs Bunny fucking with Daffy."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:36:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Wile E. Coyote cartoons · cartoon logic · Keaton riding the handlebars without noticing the driver is gone follows Wile E. Coyote logic. · "it's Wiley Coyote logic."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:41:03 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Dumb and Dumber · childlike innocence · Keaton's baffled reaction to the sudden babies is compared to a childlike, non-sexual innocence like Dumb and Dumber. · "where he has a childlike innocence, so he is not drawn towards sexual situations, if I may be permitted in comparison."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:45:14 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Buster Keaton · people · The rival and his crew do stereotypical heavy silent-film acting, which makes Keaton's modern performance stand out. · "those 2 guys are absolutely doing what most people think of as silent film acting."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:55:49 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle · people · Arbuckle was brought on as co-director and given the pseudonym William B. Goodrich, then edged out. · "this is the movie where he came up with uh, William B. Goodrich, which was his, like, nom de plume for directing, uh, Freddie Arbuckle."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:22:31 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Elgin Leslie · people · Keaton and his long-term DP set up the black-velvet and matched-position effects together. · "Shout out to his long-term DP."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:53:54 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Houdini ⇒ Sherlock, Jr. (the host's read) · borrowed magic bits · The dream sequence let Keaton use vaudeville and Houdini-style magic bits in a movie grounded in reality. · "there were magic bits that he knew from vaudeville, from Houdini and other magicians"
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:05:29 · David Sims (0.50)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ Kumail Nanjiani · comedy opening · Nanjiani says a comedy should open with a guy spilling hot coffee, and Keaton opens with a guy under the boot. · "the opening of any comedy movie should be a guy accidentally spilling hot coffee on himself."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:07:31 · David Sims (0.40)] Rudolph Valentino ⇒ Sherlock, Jr. (the host's read) · namesake · The villain is called the Sheik after Valentino. · "the sheik's so named because a la Rudolph Valentino."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:29:13 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock, Jr. ↔ W. C. Fields · vaudeville pool · Vaudevillians really could play pool; W. C. Fields had an eccentric pool bit in his act. · "WC Fields also had a bit in his act where he did eccentric pool and he does them in some films."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 0:46:50 · James Urbaniak (0.70)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · The opening lost-dollar bit is James's favorite Keaton bit; the title card just says 'describe it' and he later repeats the rectangle callback. · "It is my single favorite Buster Keaton bit of all time."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:03:07 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Seen in a theater, the 'describe it.' title card got a huge laugh and the whole audience was suddenly in. · "and then the title comes up that just says, describe it."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:11:06 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · The first joke of the film is a close-up of the book How to Be a Detective, followed by the licked-thumb fingerprint. · "And then he takes the book down and he's has a picture."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:13:49 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Keaton broke his neck on the water-tower gag in Sherlock Jr. and only learned years later from an X-ray that it had healed. · "someone took an x-ray of him and was like, you have broken your, like, at some point you broke your neck."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:18:02 · David Sims (0.40)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Gillette's title card plays on razor brands (Gillette, Ever-Ready, Gem); the studio's name on screen, Veronal, was a sleeping drug. · "And Vernal was a sedative."
[Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · 1:23:08 · David Sims (0.50)] Sherlock Jr. · fun · Walking into the movie screen looks like a miracle: it is a second set built behind the proscenium and lit differently so it reads as a flat projected image. · "And he just steps casually into the screen, and it feels like a miracle"
[The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 2:37:16 · unknown (0.00)] Pulp Fiction ↔ Black Sabbath · programming · Best double features: Black Sabbath (anthology), Saturday Night Fever, Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. · "So you get an anthology movie."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 2:37:26 · unknown (0.00)] Pulp Fiction ↔ Inglourious Basterds · programming · Inglourious Basterds paired for its short-story structure; Once Upon a Time for bookending Tarantino's career. · "I have bastards because I feel like structurally it's it's got some the short story aspect of his very, it locks in together."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ · 0:59:07 · Bill Simmons (0.70)] Pulp Fiction ⇒ Misery (the host's read) · programming · Butch's Girlfriend Award for weak link of the film is borrowed from Pulp Fiction. · "The Butch's girlfriend Award, Butch's girlfriend from Pulp Fiction."
[The Rewatchables · ‘The Ice Storm’ · 1:27:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50)] The Ice Storm ↔ Pulp Fiction · programming · Next episodes will cover two famous movies; Ryan and Simmons tease Pulp Fiction. · "I've been watching a lot of pulp fiction lately."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Reservoir Dogs’ · 0:03:58 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Reservoir Dogs ↔ Pulp Fiction · programming · Reservoir Dogs found much of its audience after Pulp Fiction, via rentals. · "After Pulp Fiction and then circled back and rented Reservoir Dogs."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 0:04:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.35)] Reservoir Dogs ⇒ Pulp Fiction (the host's read) · lineage · Pulp's opening two-song credits echo the radio dial concept from Reservoir Dogs. · "Well, the radio, the concept of the radio had been in Reservoir Dogs, but I think switching the songs in the middle, because you hear him change the dial."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 0:06:07 · Bill Simmons (0.40)] Pulp Fiction ⇒ Pulp Fiction imitators (the host's read) · lineage · The Royale-in-Paris, Amsterdam conversation is the most parodied and copied stretch of screenwriting of the last 30 years. · "Yeah. I would argue this is the most ripped off four and a half minutes of screenwriting in the past 30 years."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) · 0:09:49 · Bill Simmons (0.40)] Lee Majors ⇒ Pulp Fiction (the host's read) · lineage · The setup of Vincent taking the boss's wife out echoes a Hollywood story about Lee Majors asking someone to take Farrah Fawcett out while he was away. · "Because Lee Majors is going out of town."
[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] James Urbaniak · latest sketch, Blank Check · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator · Loves old-timey stuff, the history and styles of acting, Robert Altman, Tony Randall and the Simpsons-quoting camaraderie of fellow nerds. He admires Keaton as a non-indicating, anti-sentimental, serene and modern performer, favoring cool restraint over Chaplin's warmth. He dislikes hammy over-indication and is a sucker for the specific, throwaway behavioral bit. · stances: Keaton is modern, clean, streamlined and the ultimate non-indicator; Keaton is cool where Chaplin is warm and practical where Chaplin is showy; Silent acting streams coexisted: naturalistic and semaphore; Seeing a Spielberg shoot revealed that great directors create an environment that allows things to happen
[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 Sherlock, Jr. (1924); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 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.