The Player (1992)

Sign in with Plex to see what you can watch and keep a watchlist.

Wikidata Q1551573, film, IMDb tt0105151, TMDB 10403: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by episode credits Bruce Willis as cameo (as himself) (‘Die Hard 2’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey); 1 more episode agrees.

What a model would be handed about it, for corpus:ask.

In the store as #520, The Player (1992).

The Rewatchables' awards

From 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris (2022-04-12):

Most rewatchable scene

  1. pick The opening tracking-shot scene: the studio lot, the pitches (Buck Henry's The Graduate Part II, the out-of-Africa-meets-Pretty-Woman riffs), Fred Ward on foreign films.
    “The opening scene, 7 minutes, 47 seconds, 15 takes were required.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:34:18
  2. pick The big party scene where we meet Sydney Pollack's character, Altman's crowd choreography with quick one-liners.
    “Next rewatchable scene, the big party scene, when we meet Sidney Park's character, but just in general, like, Altman's so good at those big ass scenes with lots of things going and quick one liners and different people”
    Bill Simmons · 0:43:19
  3. pick The Burt Reynolds scene, where the camera moves away and comes back and he is still in the middle of his story.
    “The Burt Reynolds scene we mentioned.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:44:12
  4. pick Griffin hunts down the writer at the old movie theater showing Bicycle Thieves, ending in the first murder.
    “Griffin Huntsdown, Vincent DiNaprio's character at the old movie theater, um, bicycle thieves, which I'm sure Sean owns on Blu-ray.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:44:15
  5. pick The hotel pool pitch meeting where Griffin is pitched Habeas Corpus, no stars and a depressing ending.
    “Next one is the hotel pool pitch meeting when he thinks he's going to meet the postcard guy and runs it to the other 2 guys and they pitch him habeas corpus, which has no stars and an depressing ending.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:45:13
  6. pick Tim Robbins's black-tie gala speech about the art of motion pictures.
    “I love the black tie function when Robbins gives the speech about art.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:46:14
  7. pick The ending: the finished Habeas Corpus with Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis, then Griffin getting the pitch for The Player and driving home to his pregnant wife.
    “And then the ending in Sean said, Griffin gets the pitch for the player and is Rolls Royce is he's driving home and his pregnant wife and the house that has the most flowers I've ever seen, the end.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:47:12
  8. pick Griffin arrested by the Pasadena police and interrogated by Lyle Lovett and Whoopi Goldberg, the tampon bit.
    “Well, when he gets arrested by the Pasadena police, and he's brought into the station and he's being interrogated simultaneously by Lyle Lovin and Whoopi Goldberg and like an all-time Whoopi Goldberg performance.”
    Sean Fennessey · 0:47:32

Ebert review · The reading of Roger Ebert's review of the film.

  1. pick The Player: Four stars; the review calls it smart and funny, and the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities wanted to be.
    “Our guy, Raj, 4 stars, not surprising.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:32:11

What's aged the best · What about the movie has held up best after 30 years.

  1. pick Early-1990s pre-internet LA, as the movies and books showed it: He likes that version of LA, known only through books and movies.
    “Yeah. Um, I just like this version of LA where it's like pre-internet.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:51:19
  2. pick The idea of a movie with no stars: The studio people are flabbergasted by the concept.
    “The concept of a movie with no stars when they're like, no stars?”
    Bill Simmons · 0:51:39
  3. pick Jeremy Piven: Before the toupee, full comb-over, about 31.
    “How about, uh, pre-toupaid Jeremy Piven?”
    unknown · 0:51:46
  4. pick Griffin meeting Anjelica Huston and John Cusack, who do not like him: His favorite cameo.
    “Griffin, seeing Angelica Houston and John Cusack, who just do not like him.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:52:06
  5. pick Randall Batinkoff as the banker's son from Boston: Once the odds-on favorite to be the biggest star of his group; this was peak Batinkoff, and the character is hilarious.
    “I have, um, I have Randall Battenkoff as a witsage, the best.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:52:29
  6. pick Being tormented by a mystery person who knows the secret: A device he has never seen fail in a movie.
    “Being tormented by a mystery person, who knows the secret.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:54:22
  7. pick Brion James as the studio head: One of the great that guys; the speakers then trade Brion James roles from 48 Hrs. and Striking Distance.
    “How about Brian James?”
    unknown · 0:54:36
  8. pick Larry Levy going to AA meetings to make deals
    “Larry Leavy going to AA meetings to make deals.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:56:33
  9. pick Malcolm McDowell: His cameo.
    “Malcolm McDowell's cameo is great.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:56:40
  10. pick Sydney Pollack: As an actor; the role starts a run of acting parts after a drought since Tootsie, ending in Eyes Wide Shut.
    “Sydney Pollock, the actor?”
    Bill Simmons · 0:56:42
  11. pick Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis suggested for every movie: A funny running bit.
    “How Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis get suggested for every movie is just a funny running bit.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:57:57
  12. pick The joke about Julia Roberts, when she had been famous barely two years
    “This is what was so amazing about that joke in the player, which was that she had only been famous that she'd only been the Julia Roberts at that point for for not even two years.”
    unknown · 0:58:37
  13. pick The throwaway line that Pasadena is as good a place to die as anywhere
    “Come to think of it, Pasadena is as good a place to die as anywhere is just iconic.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:59:50
  14. pick Griffin being served a different brand of bottled water everywhere he goes
    “And then, uh, apparently every time Griffin Mill enters a bar restaurant or party, he orders or is served a different brand of bottled water.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:59:59

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

  1. pick Spelling Entertainment in the opening credits: Funny that the company was simultaneously making 90210, Melrose Place and this.
    “Spelling entertainment being at the opening credits of this is so fucking funny to me that they're simultaneously working on 902 and 0 Melrose Place, Model Zinc, and the player.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:03:04
  2. pick Fax machines and giant mobile phones in the cars
    “Fax machines in the car.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:04:12
  3. pick June Gudmundsdottir: He does not understand where the long name came from.
    “I, uh, I don't know how they came up with June Goodmanstadter.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:04:20
  4. pick Greta Scacchi as June Gudmundsdottir: He does not think she is that good in it and does not understand the character's motives; Sean disagrees and Wesley reads the character as a noir femme fatale echo.
    “The player, I don't think she's that good in the player.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:06:07
  5. pick The clothes (oversized double-breasted suits)
    “Um, the clothes.”
    unknown · 1:13:26
  6. pick The Range Rover as the vehicle of power
    “I feel like the Range Rover as like the the vehicle of power is a really funny one.”
    unknown · 1:13:35

Casting what-ifs · Almost-castings and recasts.

  1. pick Chevy Chase as Griffin Mill: He wanted the part; Warner Brothers passed.
    “Chevy Chase wanted to play Griffin Mill.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:13:46
  2. pick John Travolta as Griffin Mill: Allegedly considered by Altman; the hosts are glad it did not happen because of Pulp Fiction.
    “Allegedly, Robert Altman was considering John Travolta for the lead at one point.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:13:51
  3. pick Robert De Niro as the Fred Ward part: Four scenes, popping in and out; the others doubt his process fits an Altman set.
    “Could he have just played the Fred Ward part for like 4 scenes.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:19:11
  4. pick Jennifer Jason Lee as Bonnie: Over Cynthia Stevenson; others float Joan Cusack, Glenne Headly, Lisa Kudrow, Holly Hunter and more, each rejected.
    “All due respect to Cynthia Stevenson, but this, it just has Jennifer Jason Lee crying all over it.”
    unknown · 1:19:53

Best that guy (the Joey Pants Award) · The best that-guy performance in the movie.

  1. nominee Richard E. Grant as Tom Oakley: Runner-up for his manic pitch of Habeas Corpus.
    “Our runner-up is going to be Richard E. Grant, who plays Tom Oakley, the pitcher of habeas corpus.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:15:25
  2. winner Leah Ayres: Van Damme's love interest in Bloodsport, the first person seen in the movie, working at the studio; nobody could name her.
    “Von Dom's love interest in Bloodsport, Le Ayres, is one of the people that works for the studio.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:16:04

Best former that guy · A new category for movies 30 or more years old: actors who were once that guy and later became a known name.

  1. pick Fred Ward: He was that guy until around 1990 or 91, when he became Fred Ward.
    “I think Fred Ward and Brian James were both former that guys.”
    unknown · 1:17:09
  2. pick Brion James: Arguably still a that guy.
    “Brian James, you could argue, is still a that guy”
    unknown · 1:17:09

Vincent Hanna Award · Best overacting.

  1. winner Cynthia Stevenson as Bonnie: Bonnie's last scene, where the wheels come off the casting a little.
    “That's where Bonnie, the wheels come off a little bit for the Cynthia Stevenson casting, which we'll get to in a second.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:18:06

Dion Waiters Award · Small role, big impact.

  1. nominee Vincent D'Onofrio
    “Apologies to Vincent DiNofrio.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:18:14
  2. nominee Richard E. Grant
    “Apologies to Richard E. Grant who's really fantastic.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:18:18
  3. winner Whoopi Goldberg: Three scenes; the hosts agree, and Richard E. Grant is said to wonder what more he could have done.
    “No, this has to be Whoopi, right?”
    unknown · 1:18:22
  4. nominee Dean Stockwell as Andy Civella
    “I wouldn't sleep on Dean Stockwell, honestly.”
    unknown · 1:18:36

Apex Mountain · Where this movie sits on a star's or filmmaker's career mountain.

  1. pick Whoopi Goldberg: Her apex-mountain moment: dropped in for a few scenes and stealing the movie, right after Ghost.
    “This is definitely the Apex Mountain of the era of Whoopi Goldberg coming in hot for a few scenes and just stealing.”
    Bill Simmons · 0:49:41
  2. pick Tim Robbins: Not his apex.
    “Tim Robbins, no.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:25:30
  3. pick Vincent D'Onofrio: Not his apex; asks what his apex was.
    “Vincent DiNofrio, no, that does raise a good question of what his Apex Mountain was.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:25:33
  4. pick Vincent D'Onofrio: Answer: probably the Law and Order seasons.
    “Um, probably Law and Order, right?”
    unknown · 1:25:40
  5. pick Robert Altman: Nashville is his apex, in his view.
    “It's Nashville, it's got to be Nashville, right?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:25:56
  6. pick Robert Altman: Argues for his post-MASH run (Brewster McCloud) as the peak of pure power.
    “I mean, peak of his powers is post-mash, I think.”
    unknown · 1:26:00
  7. pick Cynthia Stevenson
    “Syntony Stevenson, yes.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:26:20
  8. pick Peter Gallagher: Not his apex, but he calls him wildly underrated.
    “Peter Gallagher, no.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:30:07
  9. pick Oversized, double-breasted suits: The apex of the era's fashion, which the hosts hate; Wesley calls it his least favorite era.
    “Oversized, double breasted suits.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:30:45
  10. pick Lisa Gibbons: Her cameo as an Entertainment Tonight host.
    “Lisa Gibbons, I'm going to say yes.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:31:21
  11. pick Whoopi Goldberg: Unsure; the others say Ghost or Sister Act was higher, and 1992 was a great year for her.
    “Whoopi Goldberg, no.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:31:34
  12. pick Greta Scacchi: Her apex was Presumed Innocent.
    “I think it's presumed innocent for her.”
    unknown · 1:32:24
  13. pick Randall Batinkoff: It never got better: School Ties, Buffy and The Player.
    “Randall Batcock. It never got better.”
    Bill Simmons · 1:32:42

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a film they love.

  1. pick Greta not seeing Griffin through the window while on the phone with him
    “How does Greta not see Griffin through the window as she's talking to him and he's like 5 feet away?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:32:58
  2. pick How the studio-insider writer knew so much about Griffin's studio: The answer offered: he reads the trades.
    “How would DiNofrio know this much about the inner workings of Tim Robbins' studio in the Hollywood situation during an era when there was no internet or anything else?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:33:44
  3. pick The police and press having suspects and evidence by the next morning
    “How did they get so much information about the David Kehane?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:34:04
  4. pick The postcard guys stopping their harassment for a year
    “Why did postcard guys stop messing with Griffin for like a year?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:35:00
  5. pick The movie not having enough cocaine: Sean says Richard E. Grant and Dean Stockwell are pretty coked up, though no powder is shown.
    “Should this movie have had more cocaine, Sean?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:35:17
  6. pick What the postcard-sending screenwriter actually wants: A follow-up reading treats the harassment as cosmic justice.
    “Um, I guess, like, what does the screenwriter want?”
    unknown · 1:36:08

What if it were made today · Whether and how the movie would be remade now.

  1. pick The Player: A 10-episode Netflix series updated with the internet; the others worry it would be like Super Pumped and say a remake would work better from the book.
    “Could this be remade as a 10 episode Netflix show?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:37:17

Unanswerable questions · Questions the movie leaves open.

  1. pick Did Altman see the future of movies?: The hosts answer yes: the gala speech and the death-of-stars talk look prophetic.
    “Did Altman see the future movies?”
    Bill Simmons · 1:39:01

Memorabilia · A piece of memorabilia they would want from the movie.

  1. pick The M poster (the Fritz Lang movie) from the office
    “I mean, the M poster, the Fritz Long movie, I think, is probably like the, that's the movie I like the most that is featured.”
    Sean Fennessey · 1:44:02
  2. pick One of the double-breasted suits: Said to be what Wesley would want.
    “Wesley would want one of the double breasted suits.”
    unknown · 1:44:19
  3. pick Whoopi Goldberg's clogs
    “clogs is what I want.”
    unknown · 1:44:27
  4. pick More theaters like the Rialto: Would trade the memorabilia for theaters like the ones in these movies.
    “I would sacrifice the memorabilia to have more movies like the Rialto, because I say those movies like that in these, or theaters like that in these movies.”
    unknown · 1:44:37

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

  1. winner Robert Altman: His fourth comeback.
    “It's got to be Altman.”
    unknown · 1:44:50

Who talked about it

Blank Check — Patreon

The Rewatchables

Came from

What the speakers say it drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Alfred Hitchcock: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. craft (craft): Alfred Hitchcock ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley notes the Hitchcock-like touches in the rattlesnake and police station scenes.
    “Little Hitchcock homage, I feel like.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Nashville: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. craft (craft): Nashville ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley says the tricks Altman uses in The Player, like famous people dropping into a space, are ones he used in Nashville.
    “a lot of the tricks that he's using in the player, I mean, he uses in Nashville, right?”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:17:32 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)

Singin' in the Rain: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): Singin' in the Rain ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Sean says movies about movies go back long before The Player, e.g. Singin' in the Rain, but this one is far more inside the joke.
    “Going back to singing in the rain.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

The Long Goodbye: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): The Long Goodbye ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley reads Greta Scacchi's character as an echo of Nina van Pallandt's ice queen in The Long Goodbye, itself a riff on noir femmes fatales.
    “that character is a an echo of another Altman character, the Nina Van Palant character in the longabai”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:07:08 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

Touch of Evil: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. craft (craft): Touch of Evil ⇒ The Player (the host's read). The Player's opening nods to Touch of Evil's tracking shot by having Fred Ward's character talk about it, then reveal he never watches foreign films.
    “Fred Ward talking about the tracking shot and touch of evil, but then revealing that he never watches foreign films.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:35:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Led to

What the speakers say drew on it, marked the same way.

The Larry Sanders Show: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): The Player ⇒ The Larry Sanders Show (the host's read). Bill asks whether The Player is ground zero for the meta-Hollywood strain that runs through Larry Sanders and Curb.
    “Larry Sanders and Curb your enthusiasm and all these different things we've had over the 30 years.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:03:46 · Bill Simmons (0.95 sure it was them)

Connected to

Presumed Innocent: 2 lines contrast ×1 people ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Player → Presumed Innocent. Bill finds Greta Scacchi much more compelling in Presumed Innocent than in The Player.
    “The player, I don't think she's that good in the player.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:06:07 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)

The Larry Sanders Show: 2 lines lineage ×1 theme ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): The Player → The Larry Sanders Show. Bill asks whether The Player is ground zero for the meta-Hollywood strain that runs through Larry Sanders and Curb.
    “Larry Sanders and Curb your enthusiasm and all these different things we've had over the 30 years.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:03:46 · Bill Simmons (0.95 sure it was them)

Alfred Hitchcock: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Alfred Hitchcock. Wesley notes the Hitchcock-like touches in the rattlesnake and police station scenes.
    “Little Hitchcock homage, I feel like.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Bicycle Thieves: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Bicycle Thieves. Griffin and the screenwriter end up at a screening of Bicycle Thieves, where the murder is set up.
    “Griffin Huntsdown, Vincent DiNaprio's character at the old movie theater, um, bicycle thieves”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:44:15 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Brian De Palma: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Brian De Palma. The through-the-window phone call scene is called an Altman dunk on De Palma.
    “It's it's like, it's a, it's a total dunk on diploma.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:33:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Bruce Willis: 1 line people ×1

  1. people (self-aware cameo): Bruce Willis → The Player. He played himself in The Player 30 years before Ocean's 12.
    “he did the same thing 30 years before that in the player.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Die Hard 2’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:08:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)

Chevy Chase: 1 line what-if ×1

  1. what-if (what-if): Chevy Chase → The Player. Chevy Chase wanted the Griffin Mill part but Warner Brothers said no.
    “Chevy Chase wanted to play Griffin Mill.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:13:46 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Freaks: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Freaks. Wesley notes Griffin knows his movies, citing him talking Freaks with Lyle Lovett's detective.
    “he's like conversant in freaks enough to like, you know, talk to Freaky Lyle Lovett.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:37:01 · Wesley Morris (0.60 sure it was them)

Greta Scacchi: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): Greta Scacchi → The Player. Wesley says the 'quirky artist' love-interest type in The Player is a cliche that will soon be replaced by teachers and gallerists.
    “But that character is soon going to be like in movies.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:10:45 · Wesley Morris (0.70 sure it was them)

Jean-Luc Godard: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): The Player → Jean-Luc Godard. Wesley says withholding the nudity you paid to see is a Godardian frustration of the male gaze.
    “it's very Godartian, that, that kind of frustration of the, of, I mean, let's just go there for 12nd.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:24:23 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

Jennifer Jason Lee: 1 line what-if ×1

  1. what-if (what-if): Jennifer Jason Lee → The Player. Bill says the Bonnie part, instead of Cynthia Stevenson, has Jennifer Jason Lee written all over it; the others disagree.
    “it just has Jennifer Jason Lee crying all over it.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Nashville: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Nashville. Wesley says the tricks Altman uses in The Player, like famous people dropping into a space, are ones he used in Nashville.
    “a lot of the tricks that he's using in the player, I mean, he uses in Nashville, right?”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:17:32 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)

Network: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): The Player → Network. In the meta-Hollywood movies discussion, Network, Argo, Tropic Thunder and Bamboozled are floated as the nearest cousins, none as acidic.
    “But you have never seen a movie this acidic about, you know, the, and also involving the, the level of fit.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:27:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Pretty Woman: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): The Player → Pretty Woman. The recurring pitch-as-mashup joke (Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman) and the running Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis casting gag.
    “How Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis get suggested for every movie is just a funny running bit.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:57:57 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

Robert De Niro: 1 line what-if ×1

  1. what-if (what-if): Robert De Niro → The Player. Bill proposes De Niro in the Fred Ward part, overqualified, as the right-era move after Goodfellas and Cape Fear.
    “Could he have just played the Fred Ward part for like 4 scenes.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:11 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Short Cuts: 1 line career ×1

  1. career (career): The Player → Short Cuts. The Player put Altman back among world-class directors: a best director nomination here and another the next year for Short Cuts.
    “he gets nominated for best director here and then gets nominated the following year for his next film, Shortcuts”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:09:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)

Singin' in the Rain: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): The Player → Singin' in the Rain. Sean says movies about movies go back long before The Player, e.g. Singin' in the Rain, but this one is far more inside the joke.
    “Going back to singing in the rain.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

Super Pumped: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Player → Super Pumped. Bill jokes a ten-episode Netflix Player would be Super Pumped; the others say the mystery element makes binging work.
    “But isn't this just called super pumped.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:37:49 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

The Bonfire of the Vanities: 1 line verdict ×1

  1. verdict (verdict): The Player → The Bonfire of the Vanities. The quoted review calls The Player the movie Bonfire of the Vanities wanted to be, and the hosts agree; Wesley followed the Bonfire saga before seeing it.
    “The bonfire of the vanities wanted to be.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:32:24 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

The Game: 1 line programming ×1

  1. programming (pairing): The Game → The Player. Two 90s satirical thrillers about soulless titans of industry caught in a trap of their own design.
    “In terms of like 90s, uh, sort of vaguely satirical thrillers”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:04:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

The Long Goodbye: 1 line lineage ×1

  1. lineage (lineage): The Player → The Long Goodbye. Wesley reads Greta Scacchi's character as an echo of Nina van Pallandt's ice queen in The Long Goodbye, itself a riff on noir femmes fatales.
    “that character is a an echo of another Altman character, the Nina Van Palant character in the longabai”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:07:08 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

Touch of Evil: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Touch of Evil. The Player's opening nods to Touch of Evil's tracking shot by having Fred Ward's character talk about it, then reveal he never watches foreign films.
    “Fred Ward talking about the tracking shot and touch of evil, but then revealing that he never watches foreign films.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:35:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Wayne's World: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Player → Wayne's World. Wesley pairs the two 1992 releases as opposite poles of fourth-wall-breaking commentary on the thing you are watching.
    “this is the same year that Wayne's world came out.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:48 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)

Where it came up

What was said about it, by kind

career (1)

  1. career (career): The Player → Short Cuts. The Player put Altman back among world-class directors: a best director nomination here and another the next year for Short Cuts.
    “he gets nominated for best director here and then gets nominated the following year for his next film, Shortcuts”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:09:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)

contrast (3)

  1. contrast (contrast): The Player → Wayne's World. Wesley pairs the two 1992 releases as opposite poles of fourth-wall-breaking commentary on the thing you are watching.
    “this is the same year that Wayne's world came out.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:48 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast): The Player → Presumed Innocent. Bill finds Greta Scacchi much more compelling in Presumed Innocent than in The Player.
    “The player, I don't think she's that good in the player.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:06:07 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. contrast (contrast): The Player → Super Pumped. Bill jokes a ten-episode Netflix Player would be Super Pumped; the others say the mystery element makes binging work.
    “But isn't this just called super pumped.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:37:49 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

craft (6)

  1. craft (craft): The Player → Nashville. Wesley says the tricks Altman uses in The Player, like famous people dropping into a space, are ones he used in Nashville.
    “a lot of the tricks that he's using in the player, I mean, he uses in Nashville, right?”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:17:32 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): The Player → Touch of Evil. The Player's opening nods to Touch of Evil's tracking shot by having Fred Ward's character talk about it, then reveal he never watches foreign films.
    “Fred Ward talking about the tracking shot and touch of evil, but then revealing that he never watches foreign films.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:35:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): The Player → Freaks. Wesley notes Griffin knows his movies, citing him talking Freaks with Lyle Lovett's detective.
    “he's like conversant in freaks enough to like, you know, talk to Freaky Lyle Lovett.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:37:01 · Wesley Morris (0.60 sure it was them)
  4. craft (craft): The Player → Bicycle Thieves. Griffin and the screenwriter end up at a screening of Bicycle Thieves, where the murder is set up.
    “Griffin Huntsdown, Vincent DiNaprio's character at the old movie theater, um, bicycle thieves”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:44:15 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  5. craft (craft): The Player → Alfred Hitchcock. Wesley notes the Hitchcock-like touches in the rattlesnake and police station scenes.
    “Little Hitchcock homage, I feel like.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. craft (craft): The Player → Brian De Palma. The through-the-window phone call scene is called an Altman dunk on De Palma.
    “It's it's like, it's a, it's a total dunk on diploma.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:33:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

lineage (4)

  1. lineage (lineage): The Player → The Larry Sanders Show. Bill asks whether The Player is ground zero for the meta-Hollywood strain that runs through Larry Sanders and Curb.
    “Larry Sanders and Curb your enthusiasm and all these different things we've had over the 30 years.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:03:46 · Bill Simmons (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): The Player → Singin' in the Rain. Sean says movies about movies go back long before The Player, e.g. Singin' in the Rain, but this one is far more inside the joke.
    “Going back to singing in the rain.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  3. lineage (lineage): The Player → The Long Goodbye. Wesley reads Greta Scacchi's character as an echo of Nina van Pallandt's ice queen in The Long Goodbye, itself a riff on noir femmes fatales.
    “that character is a an echo of another Altman character, the Nina Van Palant character in the longabai”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:07:08 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)
  4. lineage (lineage): The Player → Network. In the meta-Hollywood movies discussion, Network, Argo, Tropic Thunder and Bamboozled are floated as the nearest cousins, none as acidic.
    “But you have never seen a movie this acidic about, you know, the, and also involving the, the level of fit.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:27:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

people (2)

  1. people (people): The Player → Presumed Innocent. Bill's memory of falling for Greta Scacchi in Presumed Innocent frames why he finds her Player character underwritten; Scacchi refused nudity after Presumed Innocent.
    “Skocky's like, I fucking went to town on Harrison Ford and presumed innocent.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:22:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. people (self-aware cameo): Bruce Willis → The Player. He played himself in The Player 30 years before Ocean's 12.
    “he did the same thing 30 years before that in the player.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Die Hard 2’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:08:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)

programming (1)

  1. programming (pairing): The Game → The Player. Two 90s satirical thrillers about soulless titans of industry caught in a trap of their own design.
    “In terms of like 90s, uh, sort of vaguely satirical thrillers”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:04:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

theme (4)

  1. theme (theme): The Player → The Larry Sanders Show. Both treat agents and executives as the villains; Odenkirk's Larry Sanders finale line calls back to Griffin's wish to eliminate the writer and actors.
    “So then in Larry Sanders, in the last episode, Bob Odenkirk, who plays, um, Sander's agent”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:39:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme): The Player → Pretty Woman. The recurring pitch-as-mashup joke (Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman) and the running Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis casting gag.
    “How Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis get suggested for every movie is just a funny running bit.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:57:57 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  3. theme (theme): Greta Scacchi → The Player. Wesley says the 'quirky artist' love-interest type in The Player is a cliche that will soon be replaced by teachers and gallerists.
    “But that character is soon going to be like in movies.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:10:45 · Wesley Morris (0.70 sure it was them)
  4. theme (theme): The Player → Jean-Luc Godard. Wesley says withholding the nudity you paid to see is a Godardian frustration of the male gaze.
    “it's very Godartian, that, that kind of frustration of the, of, I mean, let's just go there for 12nd.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:24:23 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

  1. verdict (verdict): The Player → The Bonfire of the Vanities. The quoted review calls The Player the movie Bonfire of the Vanities wanted to be, and the hosts agree; Wesley followed the Bonfire saga before seeing it.
    “The bonfire of the vanities wanted to be.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:32:24 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

what-if (3)

  1. what-if (what-if): Chevy Chase → The Player. Chevy Chase wanted the Griffin Mill part but Warner Brothers said no.
    “Chevy Chase wanted to play Griffin Mill.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:13:46 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): Robert De Niro → The Player. Bill proposes De Niro in the Fred Ward part, overqualified, as the right-era move after Goodfellas and Cape Fear.
    “Could he have just played the Fred Ward part for like 4 scenes.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:11 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): Jennifer Jason Lee → The Player. Bill says the Bonnie part, instead of Cynthia Stevenson, has Jennifer Jason Lee written all over it; the others disagree.
    “it just has Jennifer Jason Lee crying all over it.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Fun items about it

  1. fun, about The Player: The throwaway Pasadena line is called iconic.
    “Come to think of it, Pasadena is as good a place to die as anywhere is just iconic.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:59:50 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about The Player: Every time Griffin Mill enters a bar, restaurant or party he is served a different brand of bottled water.
    “every time Griffin Mill enters a bar restaurant or party, he orders or is served a different brand of bottled water.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:59:59 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about The Player: Nitpick: the LA Times has suspects and evidence of the Kahane murder by morning, only hours later; Even Tokyo Vice does not work that fast.
    “Even Tokyo Vice doesn't work this fast.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:34:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Who the speakers said made it

As said on the shows, not checked against the real credits.