What the corpus says about Dune (2021)

The 59 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 (18)

[Blank Check · Dune · 0:19:09 · unknown (0.50)] Dune ↔ Dune · lineage · The episode cannot be done without comparing Lynch's film to the Villeneuve movies. · "We can't do this episode without comparing this movie to the Villanova films"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:28:42 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Dune · theme · Blasted world with creatures the people cannot understand, and Nausicaä as a feminine Fremen-like figure who learns to coexist with the land, versus industrial nations running roughshod. · "Nausicaa is sort of like the feminine, you know, like the feminine Dunehurst sort of like they can work the land."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:33:15 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Dune · theme · The promise that you can grow plants in a place everyone says you cannot is central to Dune and to Nausicaä's ending. · "And everyone's like, you can't grow anything on Dune."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:27:43 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ The Lord of the Rings trilogy · theme · Everyone keeps comparing Dune's trilogy to Lord of the Rings. · "everyone keeps talking about it as the Lord of the Rings."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:07:14 · unknown (0.30)] Dune ↔ Who Framed Roger Rabbit · theme · Joke: Chip's co-producer was Judge Doom, so Doom/Dune won. · "my co-producer was, of course, Judge Doom."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:20:27 · unknown (0.35)] Dune ↔ Dune · craft · Villeneuve's film makes the plot easier to follow when watching Lynch's. · "it's easier for me to track what's going on in the plot of this movie because I can keep relating it back to the movie that is more narratively functional."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:28:46 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ Dune · craft · Lynch's film reaches the end of Villeneuve's Part One in about 90 minutes, then crams the rest into 45. · "Everything that he made the 2nd film is contained within 45 minutes."
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:39:15 · David Sims (0.50)] Dune ↔ Eraserhead · contrast · Lynch is credited as sound designer on Eraserhead and The Elephant Man but not on Dune. · "Not Dune."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:01:05 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ Avatar · contrast · Dune looks good on a TV and feels more tactile and realistic than Avatar's world. · "Personally, I prefer the world of Dune over the world of Avatar because it feels like more tactile and realistic"
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:20:20 · unknown (0.35)] Dune ↔ Dune · verdict · Lynch's film plays better now because Villeneuve's adaptation exists and takes the pressure off. · "There is a pressure off of this movie."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:00:14 · unknown (0.50)] Avatar ↔ Dune · verdict · Avatar is compared to Dune as a movie that rewards giving yourself over to it. · "Can I compare it to another more recent movie that I was reminded of when I watched yesterday was Dune."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:07:29 · unknown (0.30)] Chip Smith ↔ Dune · theme · Chip is called a Baron Harkonnen type; Dune won the most Oscars on a Chip-produced telecast. · "you got some like kind of baron Harkonan vibes."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:19:38 · unknown (0.40)] Javier Bardem ↔ Dune · craft · Villeneuve uses comforting faces like Bardem as shortcut casting. · "Javier Burden walks in and people are like, I get what this is."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:50:07 · John Hodgman (0.80)] Carlo Rambaldi ↔ Dune · craft · Rambaldi's Guild Navigator design is the grotesque, sexual image the speaker calls the moment the whole film began to unpack for him. · "That Carlo Rimbaldi design."
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:46:29 · John Hodgman (0.80)] Bob Ringwood ↔ Dune · craft · Ringwood's costume designs are singled out as incredible, down to the 1000 Fremen hats made for a scene that was cut. · "I think Bob Ringwood did the costume designs."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Guardians of the Galaxy · 0:41:36 · unknown (0.30)] Dave Bautista ↔ Dune · career · Bautista is cast as Beast Rabban in Dune, where they hope he is not wasted as a roaring villain. · "He's really, like, I hope that Dune treats him well."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:28:39 · unknown (0.40)] Rebecca Ferguson ↔ Dune · verdict · Ferguson deserved the Oscar for Dune Part One. · "In part one, it is undoubtedly Rebecca Ferguson"
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:08:05 · unknown (0.30)] Dune ↔ Frank Herbert · verdict · The Baron is a predatory gay villain, which the speaker finds homophobic in a modern light. · "I mean, it's kind of weird predatory, gay villain, right?"

Films put beside it more than once (3)

[pairs] Dune ↔ Dune · said 4 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Dune ↔ Avatar · said 2 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Dune ↔ Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · said 2 times in 1 episode

Fun items about it (1)

[Blank Check · Dune · 2:42:51 · John Hodgman (0.85)] Dune (2021) · fun · A creator friend told Hodgman not to take a Dune job: sci-fi people should make new things, not reboots. The lesson of Dune is the sleeper must awaken. · "But as people who are involved in science fiction, our job is to think of the new."

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (33)

[Blank Check · Dune · 0:22:17 · John Hodgman (0.85)] Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Dune (the host's read) · programming · Dune was positioned and released as the studio's answer to Star Wars, the next big space epic. · "Uh, this movie is released with the energy of, here you go, here's the new Star Wars."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.90)] Edgar Rice Burroughs ⇒ Avatar (the maker said so: Cameron's 1994 80-page treatment) · lineage · Cameron's Avatar treatment drew on childhood sci-fi reading, Burroughs and Haggard. · "drawing inspiration from, quote, every single science fiction book that he had read in his childhood, and also Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:11:15 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Hideaki Anno ↔ Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · lineage · The Neon Genesis Evangelion creator started on this film, animating the God Warrior waking. · "one of the big guys from Neon Jellous, Neon Genesis Evangelian. Right, starts on this, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:39 · Griffin Newman (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ Devo (the host's read) · lineage · Devo covered the Eraserhead song and played it live for a while. · "Devo covered that song?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:55:50 · unknown (0.40)] The Lord of the Rings trilogy ↔ Peter Jackson · programming · They would watch the extended cuts, with Fellowship almost essential and Return of the King the overstuffed one. · "To me, like the fellowship extended cut is almost essential"
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:50:47 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ Dune: Prophecy · programming · An HBO Max Dune series is coming, which the hosts are excited for. · "10 hours at the HBO Max series coming?"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:24 · unknown (0.40)] John Carter of Mars ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar reads like a John Carter of Mars style story. · "Yeah, it's very like John Carter of Mars or whatever."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 0:38:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Starship Troopers · theme · Early in the film it reads as Miyazaki's people-versus-bugs movie, but its ending flips the Starship Troopers propaganda by having the heroine empathize with the bugs. · "Like this is his people versus Bugs movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:45 · David Sims (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ Modest Mouse (the host's read) · lineage · Modest Mouse is named among the bands who covered the Eraserhead song. · "Modest mouse. Modest mouse."
[Blank Check · Dune · 3:02:27 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Dune ↔ Blue Velvet · programming · Next week's episode is Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus. · "Tune in next week for Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus?"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:42:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is described as a deep Wizard of Oz homage. · "In case you were wondering, this is a deep wizard of a homage, among other things."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 0:40:20 · Lulu Wang (0.85)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ The Farewell · theme · Lulu Wang felt the same make-it-now pressure on her second film as Miyazaki did on his second film. · "I felt that way about the farewell, which is my 2nd film as well."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:47 · David Sims (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ The Meteors (the host's read) · lineage · The Meteors are named among the bands who covered the Eraserhead song. · "The meteors would do it."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:22:22 · John Hodgman (0.70)] Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read) · lineage · The Dune book's messaging is credited as one of the things that inspired Star Wars. · "And not only that, the messaging of this is one of the things that inspired Star Wars."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:52:25 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · lineage · Cameron's 1995 pitch for Avatar was much closer to Aliens in tone. · "It was much closer to aliens in tone."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:33:25 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ WALL-E · theme · Both end on the image of a single green sprout as proof that things can grow again. · "This ends with the very Wally image, which is like the last frame in the end credits is the one... little sprout, the one little leak."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:53 · David Sims (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ The Pixies (the host's read) · lineage · The Pixies covered the Eraserhead song, on one of the John Peel records. · "Yeah, the pixies, it's on one of the John Peel records, I think."
[Blank Check · Dune · 1:17:01 · David Sims (0.30)] Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read) · theme · Dune's Fremen/revolution material is the denser source that Star Wars abstracts; the Force is Dune without the drugs. · "the Force in Star Wars is like doom without the drugs."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is an original story but inspired by Oz and John Ford movies. · "It's just like hugely inspired by not just the Wizard of Oz, but like lots of John Ford movies"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:10:59 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Castle in the Sky · craft · Joe Hisashi's first Miyazaki score is described as like his Castle in the Sky score: electronic and pulsating. · "That's sort of, and it's much like his castle in the Sky Score."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:01:14 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ↔ Buster Keaton · lineage · Henry is a nightmare version of a Keaton-style put-upon silent comedy hero. · "He's like a nightmare version of like a Buster Keaton character, whatever."
[Blank Check · Dune · 1:58:13 · unknown (0.35)] Jupiter Ascending ↔ Dune · theme · Jupiter Ascending shares the palace-intrigue, gilded sci-fi mode. · "I think it's a goofier movie, but Jupiter ascending has the same thing of like palace intrigue."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] John Ford ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Same line: Avatar draws on John Ford films and the history of movies. · "lots of John Ford movies and you can see like the history of movies"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:24:25 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ⇒ Warriors of the Wind (the host's read) · craft · The 95 minute American cut dropped the environmental themes, renamed Nausicaä as Princess Zandra and turned the Ohmu into plain enemies. · "the film basically turns into an action adventure movie where like the environmentalist themes are kind of gone."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:25:38 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ↔ Roy Orbison · lineage · The 50s-60s weepy ballad style, Roy Orbison type music, recurs through Lynch's work. · "Obviously, the sort of Roy Orbison type music recurs throughout his"
[Blank Check · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) · 1:25:56 · unknown (0.30)] Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 ↔ Dune · craft · The purple sea gets a joke identification as Dune, with the worm floating by. · "The worm floats by. That's the planet Dune."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:38:34 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Avatar ⇒ RoboCop (the host's read) · lineage · The robot-waking sequence is beat for beat the first act of Avatar, down to testing the new body's powers. · "It is crazy actually how much this sequence is like beat for beat, the Avatar, right?"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:28:54 · David Sims (0.40)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Mad Max · craft · The apocalypse-world energy of the film is likened to Mad Max and to Mortal Engines. · "Let's get some energy vibes."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:29:21 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ Alien (the host's read) · lineage · The gooey animatronic creature work in Alien and later films may trace back to Eraserhead. · "I mean, the thought that comes to mind is, um, alien."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:40:48 · unknown (0.30)] Dune ↔ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope · craft · Lynch's Dune looks as good as the original Star Wars films from a design standpoint. · "I think this film looks as good as any of the original Star Wars films."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:55:09 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Dances with Wolves · theme · Avatar belongs to the interloper-story family but is not like Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai. · "something like Dances with Wolves, Last Samurai, whichever one of these movies you want to throw out there. Interloper movies."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:28:57 · unknown (0.30)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Mortal Engines · craft · Mortal Engines is offered as a recent film with a similar blasted world. · "Mortal Engine."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:29:28 · David Sims (0.45)] Eraserhead ⇒ H.R. Giger (the maker said so: Giger says it was one of his big eye-opening moments) · lineage · Giger called Eraserhead one of his big eye-opening moments, and Lynch later accused him of stealing his ideas. · "H.R. Gigger, loves this movie, says it's one of his, like, you know, big eye-opening moments in his life"

Who said it, by their latest sketch (2)

[speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
[speaker] John Hodgman · latest sketch, Blank Check · Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World · A boat man and old-fashioned nerd who loves wooden schooners, nautical procedure and Moby-Dick; he adores Patrick O'Brian and the film's authenticity but admits he is not a book expert. He is a sucker for sailing terminology and for explaining knots and anchors. · stances: The film gets sailing powerlessness and control right; Sleeping on a boat with no motor noise is creepy; Loves the sound design and rope work; Offers boating facts relentlessly

The shows' running bits (2)

[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)

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 Dune (2021) 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 Dune (2021) 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 · Dune · 0:19:09 · unknown (0.50)] Dune ↔ Dune · lineage · The episode cannot be done without comparing Lynch's film to the Villeneuve movies. · "We can't do this episode without comparing this movie to the Villanova films"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:28:42 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Dune · theme · Blasted world with creatures the people cannot understand, and Nausicaä as a feminine Fremen-like figure who learns to coexist with the land, versus industrial nations running roughshod. · "Nausicaa is sort of like the feminine, you know, like the feminine Dunehurst sort of like they can work the land."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:33:15 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Dune · theme · The promise that you can grow plants in a place everyone says you cannot is central to Dune and to Nausicaä's ending. · "And everyone's like, you can't grow anything on Dune."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:27:43 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ The Lord of the Rings trilogy · theme · Everyone keeps comparing Dune's trilogy to Lord of the Rings. · "everyone keeps talking about it as the Lord of the Rings."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:07:14 · unknown (0.30)] Dune ↔ Who Framed Roger Rabbit · theme · Joke: Chip's co-producer was Judge Doom, so Doom/Dune won. · "my co-producer was, of course, Judge Doom."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:20:27 · unknown (0.35)] Dune ↔ Dune · craft · Villeneuve's film makes the plot easier to follow when watching Lynch's. · "it's easier for me to track what's going on in the plot of this movie because I can keep relating it back to the movie that is more narratively functional."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:28:46 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ Dune · craft · Lynch's film reaches the end of Villeneuve's Part One in about 90 minutes, then crams the rest into 45. · "Everything that he made the 2nd film is contained within 45 minutes."
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:39:15 · David Sims (0.50)] Dune ↔ Eraserhead · contrast · Lynch is credited as sound designer on Eraserhead and The Elephant Man but not on Dune. · "Not Dune."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:01:05 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ Avatar · contrast · Dune looks good on a TV and feels more tactile and realistic than Avatar's world. · "Personally, I prefer the world of Dune over the world of Avatar because it feels like more tactile and realistic"
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:20:20 · unknown (0.35)] Dune ↔ Dune · verdict · Lynch's film plays better now because Villeneuve's adaptation exists and takes the pressure off. · "There is a pressure off of this movie."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:00:14 · unknown (0.50)] Avatar ↔ Dune · verdict · Avatar is compared to Dune as a movie that rewards giving yourself over to it. · "Can I compare it to another more recent movie that I was reminded of when I watched yesterday was Dune."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:07:29 · unknown (0.30)] Chip Smith ↔ Dune · theme · Chip is called a Baron Harkonnen type; Dune won the most Oscars on a Chip-produced telecast. · "you got some like kind of baron Harkonan vibes."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:19:38 · unknown (0.40)] Javier Bardem ↔ Dune · craft · Villeneuve uses comforting faces like Bardem as shortcut casting. · "Javier Burden walks in and people are like, I get what this is."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:50:07 · John Hodgman (0.80)] Carlo Rambaldi ↔ Dune · craft · Rambaldi's Guild Navigator design is the grotesque, sexual image the speaker calls the moment the whole film began to unpack for him. · "That Carlo Rimbaldi design."
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:46:29 · John Hodgman (0.80)] Bob Ringwood ↔ Dune · craft · Ringwood's costume designs are singled out as incredible, down to the 1000 Fremen hats made for a scene that was cut. · "I think Bob Ringwood did the costume designs."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Guardians of the Galaxy · 0:41:36 · unknown (0.30)] Dave Bautista ↔ Dune · career · Bautista is cast as Beast Rabban in Dune, where they hope he is not wasted as a roaring villain. · "He's really, like, I hope that Dune treats him well."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:28:39 · unknown (0.40)] Rebecca Ferguson ↔ Dune · verdict · Ferguson deserved the Oscar for Dune Part One. · "In part one, it is undoubtedly Rebecca Ferguson"
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:08:05 · unknown (0.30)] Dune ↔ Frank Herbert · verdict · The Baron is a predatory gay villain, which the speaker finds homophobic in a modern light. · "I mean, it's kind of weird predatory, gay villain, right?"
[pairs] Dune ↔ Dune · said 4 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Dune ↔ Avatar · said 2 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Dune ↔ Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · said 2 times in 1 episode
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:42:51 · John Hodgman (0.85)] Dune (2021) · fun · A creator friend told Hodgman not to take a Dune job: sci-fi people should make new things, not reboots. The lesson of Dune is the sleeper must awaken. · "But as people who are involved in science fiction, our job is to think of the new."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:22:17 · John Hodgman (0.85)] Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Dune (the host's read) · programming · Dune was positioned and released as the studio's answer to Star Wars, the next big space epic. · "Uh, this movie is released with the energy of, here you go, here's the new Star Wars."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.90)] Edgar Rice Burroughs ⇒ Avatar (the maker said so: Cameron's 1994 80-page treatment) · lineage · Cameron's Avatar treatment drew on childhood sci-fi reading, Burroughs and Haggard. · "drawing inspiration from, quote, every single science fiction book that he had read in his childhood, and also Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:11:15 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Hideaki Anno ↔ Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · lineage · The Neon Genesis Evangelion creator started on this film, animating the God Warrior waking. · "one of the big guys from Neon Jellous, Neon Genesis Evangelian. Right, starts on this, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:39 · Griffin Newman (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ Devo (the host's read) · lineage · Devo covered the Eraserhead song and played it live for a while. · "Devo covered that song?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:55:50 · unknown (0.40)] The Lord of the Rings trilogy ↔ Peter Jackson · programming · They would watch the extended cuts, with Fellowship almost essential and Return of the King the overstuffed one. · "To me, like the fellowship extended cut is almost essential"
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:50:47 · unknown (0.40)] Dune ↔ Dune: Prophecy · programming · An HBO Max Dune series is coming, which the hosts are excited for. · "10 hours at the HBO Max series coming?"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:24 · unknown (0.40)] John Carter of Mars ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar reads like a John Carter of Mars style story. · "Yeah, it's very like John Carter of Mars or whatever."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 0:38:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Starship Troopers · theme · Early in the film it reads as Miyazaki's people-versus-bugs movie, but its ending flips the Starship Troopers propaganda by having the heroine empathize with the bugs. · "Like this is his people versus Bugs movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:45 · David Sims (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ Modest Mouse (the host's read) · lineage · Modest Mouse is named among the bands who covered the Eraserhead song. · "Modest mouse. Modest mouse."
[Blank Check · Dune · 3:02:27 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Dune ↔ Blue Velvet · programming · Next week's episode is Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus. · "Tune in next week for Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus?"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:42:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is described as a deep Wizard of Oz homage. · "In case you were wondering, this is a deep wizard of a homage, among other things."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 0:40:20 · Lulu Wang (0.85)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ The Farewell · theme · Lulu Wang felt the same make-it-now pressure on her second film as Miyazaki did on his second film. · "I felt that way about the farewell, which is my 2nd film as well."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:47 · David Sims (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ The Meteors (the host's read) · lineage · The Meteors are named among the bands who covered the Eraserhead song. · "The meteors would do it."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:22:22 · John Hodgman (0.70)] Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read) · lineage · The Dune book's messaging is credited as one of the things that inspired Star Wars. · "And not only that, the messaging of this is one of the things that inspired Star Wars."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:52:25 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · lineage · Cameron's 1995 pitch for Avatar was much closer to Aliens in tone. · "It was much closer to aliens in tone."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:33:25 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ WALL-E · theme · Both end on the image of a single green sprout as proof that things can grow again. · "This ends with the very Wally image, which is like the last frame in the end credits is the one... little sprout, the one little leak."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 0:02:53 · David Sims (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ The Pixies (the host's read) · lineage · The Pixies covered the Eraserhead song, on one of the John Peel records. · "Yeah, the pixies, it's on one of the John Peel records, I think."
[Blank Check · Dune · 1:17:01 · David Sims (0.30)] Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read) · theme · Dune's Fremen/revolution material is the denser source that Star Wars abstracts; the Force is Dune without the drugs. · "the Force in Star Wars is like doom without the drugs."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is an original story but inspired by Oz and John Ford movies. · "It's just like hugely inspired by not just the Wizard of Oz, but like lots of John Ford movies"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:10:59 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Castle in the Sky · craft · Joe Hisashi's first Miyazaki score is described as like his Castle in the Sky score: electronic and pulsating. · "That's sort of, and it's much like his castle in the Sky Score."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:01:14 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ↔ Buster Keaton · lineage · Henry is a nightmare version of a Keaton-style put-upon silent comedy hero. · "He's like a nightmare version of like a Buster Keaton character, whatever."
[Blank Check · Dune · 1:58:13 · unknown (0.35)] Jupiter Ascending ↔ Dune · theme · Jupiter Ascending shares the palace-intrigue, gilded sci-fi mode. · "I think it's a goofier movie, but Jupiter ascending has the same thing of like palace intrigue."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] John Ford ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Same line: Avatar draws on John Ford films and the history of movies. · "lots of John Ford movies and you can see like the history of movies"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:24:25 · David Sims (0.50)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ⇒ Warriors of the Wind (the host's read) · craft · The 95 minute American cut dropped the environmental themes, renamed Nausicaä as Princess Zandra and turned the Ohmu into plain enemies. · "the film basically turns into an action adventure movie where like the environmentalist themes are kind of gone."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:25:38 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ↔ Roy Orbison · lineage · The 50s-60s weepy ballad style, Roy Orbison type music, recurs through Lynch's work. · "Obviously, the sort of Roy Orbison type music recurs throughout his"
[Blank Check · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) · 1:25:56 · unknown (0.30)] Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 ↔ Dune · craft · The purple sea gets a joke identification as Dune, with the worm floating by. · "The worm floats by. That's the planet Dune."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:38:34 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Avatar ⇒ RoboCop (the host's read) · lineage · The robot-waking sequence is beat for beat the first act of Avatar, down to testing the new body's powers. · "It is crazy actually how much this sequence is like beat for beat, the Avatar, right?"
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:28:54 · David Sims (0.40)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Mad Max · craft · The apocalypse-world energy of the film is likened to Mad Max and to Mortal Engines. · "Let's get some energy vibes."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:29:21 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ Alien (the host's read) · lineage · The gooey animatronic creature work in Alien and later films may trace back to Eraserhead. · "I mean, the thought that comes to mind is, um, alien."
[Blank Check · Dune · 0:40:48 · unknown (0.30)] Dune ↔ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope · craft · Lynch's Dune looks as good as the original Star Wars films from a design standpoint. · "I think this film looks as good as any of the original Star Wars films."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:55:09 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Dances with Wolves · theme · Avatar belongs to the interloper-story family but is not like Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai. · "something like Dances with Wolves, Last Samurai, whichever one of these movies you want to throw out there. Interloper movies."
[Blank Check · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind · 1:28:57 · unknown (0.30)] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ↔ Mortal Engines · craft · Mortal Engines is offered as a recent film with a similar blasted world. · "Mortal Engine."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:29:28 · David Sims (0.45)] Eraserhead ⇒ H.R. Giger (the maker said so: Giger says it was one of his big eye-opening moments) · lineage · Giger called Eraserhead one of his big eye-opening moments, and Lynch later accused him of stealing his ideas. · "H.R. Gigger, loves this movie, says it's one of his, like, you know, big eye-opening moments in his life"
[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] John Hodgman · latest sketch, Blank Check · Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World · A boat man and old-fashioned nerd who loves wooden schooners, nautical procedure and Moby-Dick; he adores Patrick O'Brian and the film's authenticity but admits he is not a book expert. He is a sucker for sailing terminology and for explaining knots and anchors. · stances: The film gets sailing powerlessness and control right; Sleeping on a boat with no motor noise is creepy; Loves the sound design and rope work; Offers boating facts relentlessly
[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)

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 Dune (2021); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Dune (2021) 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.