What the corpus says about Fargo (1996)

The 48 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)

[The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:27:03 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ Fargo · programming · Jerry's salesman-of-the-month picture behind him is offered as a Fargo secret-handshake prop. · "I would love uh, Jerry's, like, salesman of the month picture that's behind Jerry in Fargo."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:10:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ⇒ Fargo (unaired NBC pilot with Edie Falco) (the host's read) · lineage · An NBC pilot directed by Kathy Bates with Edie Falco as Marge aired years later; the Coens were not involved. · "There was like an NBC pilot directed by Kathy Bates with Edie Falco playing Marge Gunderson."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:33:14 · unknown (0.50)] Barbarian ↔ Fargo · theme · Barbarian is called a scary movie that is funny with humor from the bizarreness of human behavior, as with the Coens. · "you made a scary movie that was funny."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:40:16 · David Sims (0.40)] Prelude to a Kiss ↔ Fargo · theme · Alec Baldwin treats Prelude to a Kiss as his Fargo, a perfect movie that didn't last. · "as if it was obviously his Fargo."
[The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:14:46 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50)] Fargo ↔ The Shining · theme · A carpeted-restaurant joke leads to Kubrick's carpets and a Palm Springs hotel with the same carpet as the Shining hotel. · "I was at a hotel in Palm Springs a few months ago and it has the exact same carpet as the Shining Hotel."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Domestic Disturbance’ · 0:54:57 · unknown (0.30)] Domestic Disturbance ↔ Fargo · craft · The hotel scene with the hooker and the TV plays like a direct sequel to the Fargo motel scene. · "But it feels like a direct sequel to the scene in Fargo when they take the 2 prostitutes back to the motel room and then they have that cut to them watching Jay Leno or whatever later that night."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:36:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ Fargo · craft · Showing the opening crash scene in the trailer is like showing Fargo's opening crime scene. · "it almost is like he's recreating that."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:48:39 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Blood Simple ↔ Fargo · contrast · The Coens see Blood Simple as a James M. Cain-type noir; Fargo they wanted drier and less hard-boiled. · "They consider blood simple to be more like a James M. Kane type, you know, noir thriller, right?"
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:31:34 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Fargo ↔ Blue Velvet · career · Fargo is the ultimate Coen film the way Blue Velvet is the best encapsulation of Lynch, not necessarily the favorite. · "this does feel like the ultimate Cohen's film in the same way we were saying in our blue velvet episode, like, that's not my favorite Lynch movie"
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:45:20 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ The Hudsucker Proxy · career · Fargo came after the Hudsucker flop but was not a reaction to it; the script was already being written. · "this movie was not a conscious reaction to that. They had already been writing it before they shot Hudsucker."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:07:19 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ Fargo · people · The Coens previously made the crime dramas Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing and Fargo. · "The filmmaking brothers behind such classic crime dramas as Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, and Fargo."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:14:31 · Zach Cregger (0.90)] Fargo ↔ Boogie Nights · verdict · Zach's favorite-movie coin toss is Fargo versus Boogie Nights, a year apart, from his formative film-buff years. · "It would be like a coin toss between this and boogie nights."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:49:43 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Bottle Rocket · industry · Alex Ross Perry's point: studios once kept investing in talented directors after a commercial flop like Bottle Rocket, as with the Coens. · "Wes Anderson makes bottle rocket for like $5000000 at Colombia and it bombs, but it gets good reviews."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:32:46 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Secrets & Lies · industry · At Cannes, Coppola's jury gave the Palme to Secrets and Lies and Fargo won Best Director. · "gave the palm door to secrets and lies."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:35:11 · unknown (0.30)] Fargo ↔ Jerry Maguire · industry · The Best Picture field was an indie year with Jerry Maguire the lone studio movie. · "Billy keeps joking about, that Jerry Maguire was the only studio movie."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:36:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Fargo ↔ The Birdcage · industry · On Fargo's opening weekend (March 8, 1996, 36 screens) the number one film was The Birdcage. · "It is the birdcage."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:02:35 · Zach Cregger (0.60)] Fargo ↔ The Big Lebowski · quotability · Zach says every line in Fargo is quotable the way every line in Lebowski is. · "Every line in this is a quotable line. kind of like Big Lebowski has that."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:06:21 · unknown (0.30)] Fargo ↔ A Serious Man · filmmaking precision · The Coens' obsessively precise choices make you hunt for solutions, until A Serious Man tells you to accept a mystery. · "You get to, well, eventually gets a serious man."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:09:37 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Raising Arizona · commercial track record · Raising Arizona (about $5M cost, about $30M worldwide) is argued to be the Coens' first clear hit; Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing and Hudsucker lost money. · "Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Hudsucker all made less than they cost."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:16:59 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ Barton Fink · building look · The St. George Hotel in Brooklyn looked like a Barton Fink hotel, frozen in time. · "how much it kind of looked like a Barton Fink hotel."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:33:20 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ No Country for Old Men · tonal sibling · No Country feels like a less humorous Fargo, both asking whether it is worth fighting the world's darkness. · "in an interesting way, no country feels like a less humorous version of Fargo."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:33:43 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ No Country for Old Men · mythic figures · Sugar is an evil myth figure and Marge a good mythic one. · "But sugar is this evil myth figure and Marge is kind of a good mythic figure in a weird way."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:46:01 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Blood Simple · return to roots · Fargo is the Coens' most Blood Simple-like script, contemporary and simple, going back to what they tried there with more knowledge. · "It feels like them sort of going back to what they were trying to do in that movie with the knowledge they've gained over the..."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:46:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ⇒ Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (the host's read) · false true story · Kumiko is a movie about someone who believed Fargo's 'based on a true story' card and went looking for the money. · "is a movie based on an Irvin legend about someone believing that Fargo was true and looking for the bag of money."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:48:07 · Zach Cregger (0.90)] Weapons ↔ Fargo · true-story opening · Zach says Weapons opens with a 'this is a true story' line, in the manner of Fargo's title card. · "In weapons, the 1st line of the movie is this is a true story."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:48:25 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Fargo ↔ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre · true-story claim · Fargo's true-story card is compared to Texas Chain Saw's loose Ed Gein basis. · "Texas Chainsaw Massacre says it's based on a true story, and you're like, yeah, Ed Gane killed people."

Films put beside it more than once (3)

[pairs] Fargo ↔ No Country for Old Men · said 4 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Fargo ↔ Weapons · said 2 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Fargo ↔ Blood Simple · said 2 times in 1 episode

Fun items about it (1)

[The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:13:08 · Bill Simmons (0.50)] Fargo · fun · Listener notes the Fargo pod never mentioned that the restaurant is carpeted, spawning a what-age-the-most idea. · "Carpeted restaurants seem like a what's age the best, what's age, the worst, split decision?"

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (9)

[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:07:47 · Brian Raftery (0.90)] Cormac McCarthy ⇒ No Country for Old Men (the host's read) · lineage · The film adapts McCarthy's 2005 novel and the Coens refused to water it down. · "You can tell the cones were determined not to water down McCarthy's book."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 1:00:29 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Harve Presnell ↔ Blood Simple · lineage · The Coens wrote Presnell's character from Texas businessmen they met raising money for Blood Simple. · "they wrote that character, basically, when they were raising money for Blood Simple, they met lots of like Texas businessmen"
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:02:52 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Peter Stormare ↔ No Country for Old Men · theme · Gaear caring about Jerry's cruelty is compared to Tommy Lee Jones's sheriff not knowing whether he belongs in this world. · "This is like his Tommy Lee Jones in no country sort of like conundrum where he's like, I don't even know if I belong in this world."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) · 0:21:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Panic Room ↔ No Country for Old Men · theme · Rooting for a morally complicated figure (Whitaker) recalls No Country and The Godfather. · "is it really that far afield from like no country for old men or the godfather"
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:04:13 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ W. · theme · Both arrived as the Bush era wound down and prompted audiences to take stock of the 21st century. · "No country for old men in W arrived just as the Bush era was winding down, and both movies prompted audiences to take stock of the 21st century so far."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:10:17 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ No Country for Old Men · theme · It works as neo-Western, chase movie and killer-on-the-loose flick but is monumental for another reason. · "A neo Western, a chase movie, a killer on the loose flick, and it does all of those things perfectly."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Reservoir Dogs’ · 1:23:02 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Reservoir Dogs ↔ No Country for Old Men · craft · Not showing the heist works as in No Country; slowly unfurling beats showing. · "No, we've learned this from no country for old men."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:03:19 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] W. ↔ No Country for Old Men · craft · Raftery links Stone's film to the Coens' as a different take on one man in over his head setting off destruction. · "That kind of domino effect was explored in a very different movie from the year before."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:20:57 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ No Country for Old Men · craft · Its message of powerlessness fit audiences after 9/11, Katrina, Iraq and the economy. · "911, Katrina, Iraq, the economy."

Who said it, by their latest sketch (6)

[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] Zach Cregger · latest sketch, Blank Check · Fargo · Reveres Fargo as quite arguably his favorite film (coin toss with Boogie Nights), loved from his high-school years; loves the Coens' comedy-in-dread tone, their location-driven shooting, Carter Burwell's ominous score, and the Mike Yanagita scene. Can't embrace the Dark Marge theory. Likes a fucked-up cop, loved the first Hellraiser, prefers to go into movies blind without trailers. · stances: Fargo is the near-perfect Coen film but the Hudsucker Proxy and The Ladykillers are the two Coens he doesn't fully connect with; Marge is not dark; the Yanagita scene is a masterpiece of layered tone; Prefers to enter a movie blind; protective of a film's 'pure' state before release; The criminals' stupidity is the engine of the comedy
[speaker] Bill Simmons · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · Loves the Friday series as a communal, rental-era memory and tells childhood stories about the ads and theaters. Likes casting what-ifs and sports analogies for everything. Skeptical of horror at Christmas and of anything that wastes the premise. · stances: Friday the 13th is not the best entry but the origin story had to be told; Friday 2 is a leap over the original
[speaker] Brian Raftery · latest sketch, The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · Loves slow-burn tension and scenes built on dialogue, naming the Ellis kitchen scene the best of the 2000s. Is drawn to films that capture their national moment. Has little patience for the word classic, and dry humor about presidents and haircuts. · stances: No Country for Old Men is about inevitability and powerlessness; Its 2007 release resonated with Bush-era anxiety; W. was undone by timing, not quality; Stone's late-2000s movies are best read through the decade's politics
[speaker] Craig Horlbeck · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · First-time viewer of the series; expected Jason and was thrown by Mrs. Voorhees. Rates the film a 4 or 5 and singled out the canoe ending as the best scene. Prefers the Chain Saw's intensity. · stances: Rug-pulled by the killer-mom reveal; The ending saves the movie
[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'

The shows' running bits (3)

[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)

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 Fargo (1996) 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 Fargo (1996) 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 Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:27:03 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ Fargo · programming · Jerry's salesman-of-the-month picture behind him is offered as a Fargo secret-handshake prop. · "I would love uh, Jerry's, like, salesman of the month picture that's behind Jerry in Fargo."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:10:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ⇒ Fargo (unaired NBC pilot with Edie Falco) (the host's read) · lineage · An NBC pilot directed by Kathy Bates with Edie Falco as Marge aired years later; the Coens were not involved. · "There was like an NBC pilot directed by Kathy Bates with Edie Falco playing Marge Gunderson."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:33:14 · unknown (0.50)] Barbarian ↔ Fargo · theme · Barbarian is called a scary movie that is funny with humor from the bizarreness of human behavior, as with the Coens. · "you made a scary movie that was funny."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:40:16 · David Sims (0.40)] Prelude to a Kiss ↔ Fargo · theme · Alec Baldwin treats Prelude to a Kiss as his Fargo, a perfect movie that didn't last. · "as if it was obviously his Fargo."
[The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:14:46 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50)] Fargo ↔ The Shining · theme · A carpeted-restaurant joke leads to Kubrick's carpets and a Palm Springs hotel with the same carpet as the Shining hotel. · "I was at a hotel in Palm Springs a few months ago and it has the exact same carpet as the Shining Hotel."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Domestic Disturbance’ · 0:54:57 · unknown (0.30)] Domestic Disturbance ↔ Fargo · craft · The hotel scene with the hooker and the TV plays like a direct sequel to the Fargo motel scene. · "But it feels like a direct sequel to the scene in Fargo when they take the 2 prostitutes back to the motel room and then they have that cut to them watching Jay Leno or whatever later that night."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:36:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ Fargo · craft · Showing the opening crash scene in the trailer is like showing Fargo's opening crime scene. · "it almost is like he's recreating that."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:48:39 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Blood Simple ↔ Fargo · contrast · The Coens see Blood Simple as a James M. Cain-type noir; Fargo they wanted drier and less hard-boiled. · "They consider blood simple to be more like a James M. Kane type, you know, noir thriller, right?"
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:31:34 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Fargo ↔ Blue Velvet · career · Fargo is the ultimate Coen film the way Blue Velvet is the best encapsulation of Lynch, not necessarily the favorite. · "this does feel like the ultimate Cohen's film in the same way we were saying in our blue velvet episode, like, that's not my favorite Lynch movie"
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:45:20 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ The Hudsucker Proxy · career · Fargo came after the Hudsucker flop but was not a reaction to it; the script was already being written. · "this movie was not a conscious reaction to that. They had already been writing it before they shot Hudsucker."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:07:19 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ Fargo · people · The Coens previously made the crime dramas Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing and Fargo. · "The filmmaking brothers behind such classic crime dramas as Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, and Fargo."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:14:31 · Zach Cregger (0.90)] Fargo ↔ Boogie Nights · verdict · Zach's favorite-movie coin toss is Fargo versus Boogie Nights, a year apart, from his formative film-buff years. · "It would be like a coin toss between this and boogie nights."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:49:43 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Bottle Rocket · industry · Alex Ross Perry's point: studios once kept investing in talented directors after a commercial flop like Bottle Rocket, as with the Coens. · "Wes Anderson makes bottle rocket for like $5000000 at Colombia and it bombs, but it gets good reviews."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:32:46 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Secrets & Lies · industry · At Cannes, Coppola's jury gave the Palme to Secrets and Lies and Fargo won Best Director. · "gave the palm door to secrets and lies."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:35:11 · unknown (0.30)] Fargo ↔ Jerry Maguire · industry · The Best Picture field was an indie year with Jerry Maguire the lone studio movie. · "Billy keeps joking about, that Jerry Maguire was the only studio movie."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:36:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Fargo ↔ The Birdcage · industry · On Fargo's opening weekend (March 8, 1996, 36 screens) the number one film was The Birdcage. · "It is the birdcage."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:02:35 · Zach Cregger (0.60)] Fargo ↔ The Big Lebowski · quotability · Zach says every line in Fargo is quotable the way every line in Lebowski is. · "Every line in this is a quotable line. kind of like Big Lebowski has that."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:06:21 · unknown (0.30)] Fargo ↔ A Serious Man · filmmaking precision · The Coens' obsessively precise choices make you hunt for solutions, until A Serious Man tells you to accept a mystery. · "You get to, well, eventually gets a serious man."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:09:37 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Raising Arizona · commercial track record · Raising Arizona (about $5M cost, about $30M worldwide) is argued to be the Coens' first clear hit; Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing and Hudsucker lost money. · "Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Hudsucker all made less than they cost."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:16:59 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ Barton Fink · building look · The St. George Hotel in Brooklyn looked like a Barton Fink hotel, frozen in time. · "how much it kind of looked like a Barton Fink hotel."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:33:20 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ No Country for Old Men · tonal sibling · No Country feels like a less humorous Fargo, both asking whether it is worth fighting the world's darkness. · "in an interesting way, no country feels like a less humorous version of Fargo."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:33:43 · unknown (0.40)] Fargo ↔ No Country for Old Men · mythic figures · Sugar is an evil myth figure and Marge a good mythic one. · "But sugar is this evil myth figure and Marge is kind of a good mythic figure in a weird way."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:46:01 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ↔ Blood Simple · return to roots · Fargo is the Coens' most Blood Simple-like script, contemporary and simple, going back to what they tried there with more knowledge. · "It feels like them sort of going back to what they were trying to do in that movie with the knowledge they've gained over the..."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:46:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Fargo ⇒ Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (the host's read) · false true story · Kumiko is a movie about someone who believed Fargo's 'based on a true story' card and went looking for the money. · "is a movie based on an Irvin legend about someone believing that Fargo was true and looking for the bag of money."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:48:07 · Zach Cregger (0.90)] Weapons ↔ Fargo · true-story opening · Zach says Weapons opens with a 'this is a true story' line, in the manner of Fargo's title card. · "In weapons, the 1st line of the movie is this is a true story."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 0:48:25 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Fargo ↔ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre · true-story claim · Fargo's true-story card is compared to Texas Chain Saw's loose Ed Gein basis. · "Texas Chainsaw Massacre says it's based on a true story, and you're like, yeah, Ed Gane killed people."
[pairs] Fargo ↔ No Country for Old Men · said 4 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Fargo ↔ Weapons · said 2 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Fargo ↔ Blood Simple · said 2 times in 1 episode
[The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:13:08 · Bill Simmons (0.50)] Fargo · fun · Listener notes the Fargo pod never mentioned that the restaurant is carpeted, spawning a what-age-the-most idea. · "Carpeted restaurants seem like a what's age the best, what's age, the worst, split decision?"
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:07:47 · Brian Raftery (0.90)] Cormac McCarthy ⇒ No Country for Old Men (the host's read) · lineage · The film adapts McCarthy's 2005 novel and the Coens refused to water it down. · "You can tell the cones were determined not to water down McCarthy's book."
[Blank Check · Fargo · 1:00:29 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Harve Presnell ↔ Blood Simple · lineage · The Coens wrote Presnell's character from Texas businessmen they met raising money for Blood Simple. · "they wrote that character, basically, when they were raising money for Blood Simple, they met lots of like Texas businessmen"
[Blank Check · Fargo · 2:02:52 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Peter Stormare ↔ No Country for Old Men · theme · Gaear caring about Jerry's cruelty is compared to Tommy Lee Jones's sheriff not knowing whether he belongs in this world. · "This is like his Tommy Lee Jones in no country sort of like conundrum where he's like, I don't even know if I belong in this world."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) · 0:21:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Panic Room ↔ No Country for Old Men · theme · Rooting for a morally complicated figure (Whitaker) recalls No Country and The Godfather. · "is it really that far afield from like no country for old men or the godfather"
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:04:13 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ W. · theme · Both arrived as the Bush era wound down and prompted audiences to take stock of the 21st century. · "No country for old men in W arrived just as the Bush era was winding down, and both movies prompted audiences to take stock of the 21st century so far."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:10:17 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ No Country for Old Men · theme · It works as neo-Western, chase movie and killer-on-the-loose flick but is monumental for another reason. · "A neo Western, a chase movie, a killer on the loose flick, and it does all of those things perfectly."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Reservoir Dogs’ · 1:23:02 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Reservoir Dogs ↔ No Country for Old Men · craft · Not showing the heist works as in No Country; slowly unfurling beats showing. · "No, we've learned this from no country for old men."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:03:19 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] W. ↔ No Country for Old Men · craft · Raftery links Stone's film to the Coens' as a different take on one man in over his head setting off destruction. · "That kind of domino effect was explored in a very different movie from the year before."
[The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:20:57 · Brian Raftery (0.95)] No Country for Old Men ↔ No Country for Old Men · craft · Its message of powerlessness fit audiences after 9/11, Katrina, Iraq and the economy. · "911, Katrina, Iraq, the economy."
[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] Zach Cregger · latest sketch, Blank Check · Fargo · Reveres Fargo as quite arguably his favorite film (coin toss with Boogie Nights), loved from his high-school years; loves the Coens' comedy-in-dread tone, their location-driven shooting, Carter Burwell's ominous score, and the Mike Yanagita scene. Can't embrace the Dark Marge theory. Likes a fucked-up cop, loved the first Hellraiser, prefers to go into movies blind without trailers. · stances: Fargo is the near-perfect Coen film but the Hudsucker Proxy and The Ladykillers are the two Coens he doesn't fully connect with; Marge is not dark; the Yanagita scene is a masterpiece of layered tone; Prefers to enter a movie blind; protective of a film's 'pure' state before release; The criminals' stupidity is the engine of the comedy
[speaker] Bill Simmons · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · Loves the Friday series as a communal, rental-era memory and tells childhood stories about the ads and theaters. Likes casting what-ifs and sports analogies for everything. Skeptical of horror at Christmas and of anything that wastes the premise. · stances: Friday the 13th is not the best entry but the origin story had to be told; Friday 2 is a leap over the original
[speaker] Brian Raftery · latest sketch, The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · Loves slow-burn tension and scenes built on dialogue, naming the Ellis kitchen scene the best of the 2000s. Is drawn to films that capture their national moment. Has little patience for the word classic, and dry humor about presidents and haircuts. · stances: No Country for Old Men is about inevitability and powerlessness; Its 2007 release resonated with Bush-era anxiety; W. was undone by timing, not quality; Stone's late-2000s movies are best read through the decade's politics
[speaker] Craig Horlbeck · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · First-time viewer of the series; expected Jason and was thrown by Mrs. Voorhees. Rates the film a 4 or 5 and singled out the canoe ending as the best scene. Prefers the Chain Saw's intensity. · stances: Rug-pulled by the killer-mom reveal; The ending saves the movie
[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'
[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 Fargo (1996); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Fargo (1996) 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.