What the corpus says about The Thing (1982)
The 49 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 (8)
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:40:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Thing ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read) · lineage · The farmhouse sequence and the dog at the barn are homages to Carpenter's The Thing. · "You can see the homage to Carpenters the Thing in all this part."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:29:47 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ The Thing (the host's read) · lineage · Alien, Carpenter's The Thing and Cronenberg's work belong to a 70s-80s peak of gooey rubber and robotics that Eraserhead may have first synthesized. · "We don't exactly know, but I feel like things like alien and the carpenter film, certainly the thing."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 1:22:28 · Matt Singer (0.30)] Alien 3 ↔ The Thing · theme · The dog scene and its child autopsy carry The Thing vibes. · "It has the thing vibes as well, obviously."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Lolita · 0:27:45 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita ↔ The Thing · theme · Quilty is compared to the shapeless menace of John Carpenter's The Thing. · "No, I'm saying he's like the thing, like John Carpenter's the thing."
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:38:55 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ The Thing · craft · The little girl turns into the dog from The Thing. · "as does this girl who turns into the dog from the thing."
- [Blank Check · Starman · 0:21:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Christine ↔ The Thing · career · Carpenter's rising run ended when his big-budget check flopped, and Christine was the safe follow-up. · "his movies have been sort of going up and up and up and up until the thing when he finally gets his blank check"
- [Blank Check · Starman · 1:32:00 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Dean Cundy ↔ The Thing · career · Carpenter praised the look of his pictures from Halloween through The Thing. · "The look of my pictures from Halloween through the thing is beautiful."
- [The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ · 0:48:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Kurt Russell ↔ The Thing · career · Fennessey's Russell apex mountain: 1982-83. · "Because 82, 83 is when he was at his best."
Films put beside it more than once (1)
- [pairs] The Thing ↔ Resident Evil · said 2 times in 1 episode
One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (33)
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:21:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] Evil Dead II ⇒ Resident Evil (the maker said so: a conversation with Cregger on the show last year) · lineage · Cregger said he wanted an Evil Dead 2 style rock-em sock-em movie and got crazy with the camera. · "I'm doing it because I think this movie is going to be fucking awesome."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 1:35:21 · unknown (0.40)] Alien 3 ↔ Resident Evil · programming · Resident Evil should not be programmed next to Alien; wait for in-person sessions. · "Also, you can't put it next to Alien because Resident Evil does, well, not, that will not be good for Resident Evil."
- [Blank Check · Starman · 0:22:44 · David Sims (0.45)] Stephen King ⇒ Christine (the host's read) · lineage · Carpenter was the first pick for Christine; King later turned on adaptations. · "he was the pick to make Christine."
- [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 · Lolita · 1:20:10 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita → Dr. Strangelove · programming · Unlike Strangelove, Lolita had no prior Kubrick-Sellers connection. · "Because it's not like Strange Love where you're like, okay, there's a pre-existing connection now."
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:30:19 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ Charlie Chaplin · lineage · The design recalls Chaplin and Keaton's slip-and-fall, rooted-for ne'er-do-well. · "there's so much Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to me in the design of the movie"
- [The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:59:46 · Adam Nayman (0.85)] David Fincher ↔ Alien 3 · lineage · Alien 3 is the primal scene of Fincher's chip on his shoulder, producers treating him like a shoe salesman. · "there's the chip on the shoulder and the primal scene of alien 3, right?"
- [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 — Patreon · Lolita · 0:41:05 · unknown (0.30)] Stanley Kubrick ↔ Lolita · lineage · Kubrick (per the dossier) places Lolita in the lineage of illicit love stories like Romeo and Juliet. · "If you consider Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, the red and the black."
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:43:16 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] John Carpenter ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read) · lineage · Carpenter looms over the movie; it sits in a lineage with Romero, 28 Days Later, Alien, Cronenberg. · "It's very obvious the way that Carpenter looms over a movie like this."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:24:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Alien 3 ⇒ Alien Resurrection (the host's read) · lineage · Resurrection follows Alien 3, but its Ripley is a different character from the one who died. · "As much as she was quote unquote resurrected, obviously, that's a different character explicitly."
- [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 — Patreon · Lolita · 1:44:25 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita ↔ Lolita (Adrian Lyne version) · lineage · The Lyne version does what Kubrick's could not and is called boring and unsuccessful. · "there's the line movie that does everything he couldn't do."
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:43:23 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ 28 Days Later · lineage · Listed among strands to pull from: Romero zombies, 28 Days Later, Alien, Cronenberg body horror. · "You could pull the Romero zombie movies."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:30:17 · Matt Singer (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 follows Aliens; watched back to back, Aliens ends on a new family that Alien 3 then kills. · "you watch aliens and that has this ending of, you know, this new family that has been created."
- [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 — Patreon · Lolita · 1:47:47 · unknown (0.30)] Lolita (1955 novel) ⇒ Lolita (the host's read) · lineage · The 1962 film is adapted from Nabokov's novel; the speaker reads Crowther's review saying the film keeps the names and a resemblance of plot. · "They made a movie from a script in which the characters have the same name as the characters in the book, and the plot bears a resemblance to the original"
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:54:00 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Resident Evil ↔ George A. Romero · lineage · The skyscraper stage recalls later Romero films where a whole city is overrun. · "the more elevated later Romero movies where it feels like an entire city has been taken over."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:56:20 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] David Twohy ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Twohy brought the prison-planet concept into the development. · "Twowey is the one who brings in the prison planet concept, okay?"
- [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 — Patreon · Gone Girl · 2:18:15 · unknown (0.30)] Lolita ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so: In the commentary) · theme · On the commentary Fincher says he wanted a Claire Quilty type for Desi and found it in Neil Patrick Harris. · "Fincher said he wanted a Claire quilty type and he's like, what's a modern Claire quilty type?"
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 1:00:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Die Hard ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read) · lineage · The shoes-melting beat is called a Die Hard nod (walking on broken glass). · "You have that wonderful diehard nod where his shoes are starting to melt and he has to take his shoes off."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 1:18:07 · Matt Singer (0.35)] Psycho ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Charles Dance's shower-curtain death is read as Fincher's own 'Hitchcock moment', after a cast member said Fincher called it that; the Psycho identification is the speaker's. · "Fincher would talk to him about his influence and be like, well, this is my Hitchcock moment."
- [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 — Patreon · Lolita · 0:51:25 · Fran Hoepfner (0.60)] Lolita ↔ The Lobster · theme · The code-dodging dialogue gave the speaker the feel of The Lobster, a movie with a weirdly agreed-upon reality. · "The more I started to see it as like, oh, this feels like the lobster."
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 1:20:44 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Resident Evil ↔ The Last of Us · lineage · Chris sees it as a breakthrough for video-game films, like The Last of Us for TV. · "I see this movie as, it is the last of us 4 movies"
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:45 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Alien 3 · lineage · Alien 3 had convicts. · "Alien 3 convicts."
- [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 — Patreon · Lolita · 1:25:20 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita ↔ Universal Monster movies · theme · Mason's confessional scenes feel like a Universal monster monologuing about his curse. · "Those Mason scenes feel like Universal Monster shit where it's like the guy monologuing about his affliction"
- [The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:29:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Resident Evil ↔ Die Hard · theme · Abrams's Brian reminded the speaker of John McClane, with humor built from the experience; the elevator shoe-melting is a Die Hard nod. · "He's not as cool and he's not as accomplished with a gun, but he kind of reminded me a little John McClain at times."
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:21:41 · unknown (0.50)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 opens by wiping out the status quo that ended Aliens. · "Seconds of this movie, it literally just burns the status quo established at the end of the last one."
- [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"
- [Blank Check — Patreon · Lolita · 1:10:44 · unknown (0.30)] Lolita (1955 novel) ↔ Lolita · craft · Kubrick's stated reason for restructuring: the novel's narrative interest drops once Humbert gets Lolita into bed. · "Kubrick's take, says, the main problem with the book is, and even with the film is the main narrative interest initially boils down to Will Humbrick, get Lolita into bed."
Who said it, by their latest sketch (4)
- [speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
- [speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
- [speaker] Chris Ryan · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · A franchise and genre scholar who likes Jason, the early sequels, and Manhattan; attention to trivia, tropes and critic reception. Treats slashers as a canon with tiers. · stances: Parts 1, 2, 4 and Manhattan are the good ones; The series finds its legs at 4
- [speaker] Matt Singer · latest sketch, Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · Author of Opposable Thumbs, a book about Siskel and Ebert; has seen both cuts of Alien 3 and owns the Quadrilogy box set. Loves Siskel and Ebert as a gateway to movies; likes the show more than the movies as a kid. Attribution is inferred. · stances: He watched both cuts of Alien 3 for the episode; Praises the Siskel and Ebert show as a form of film discussion
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 The Thing (1982) 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 The Thing (1982) and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:40:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Thing ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read) · lineage · The farmhouse sequence and the dog at the barn are homages to Carpenter's The Thing. · "You can see the homage to Carpenters the Thing in all this part."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead · 1:29:47 · unknown (0.30)] Eraserhead ⇒ The Thing (the host's read) · lineage · Alien, Carpenter's The Thing and Cronenberg's work belong to a 70s-80s peak of gooey rubber and robotics that Eraserhead may have first synthesized. · "We don't exactly know, but I feel like things like alien and the carpenter film, certainly the thing."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 1:22:28 · Matt Singer (0.30)] Alien 3 ↔ The Thing · theme · The dog scene and its child autopsy carry The Thing vibes. · "It has the thing vibes as well, obviously."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Lolita · 0:27:45 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita ↔ The Thing · theme · Quilty is compared to the shapeless menace of John Carpenter's The Thing. · "No, I'm saying he's like the thing, like John Carpenter's the thing."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:38:55 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ The Thing · craft · The little girl turns into the dog from The Thing. · "as does this girl who turns into the dog from the thing."
[Blank Check · Starman · 0:21:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Christine ↔ The Thing · career · Carpenter's rising run ended when his big-budget check flopped, and Christine was the safe follow-up. · "his movies have been sort of going up and up and up and up until the thing when he finally gets his blank check"
[Blank Check · Starman · 1:32:00 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Dean Cundy ↔ The Thing · career · Carpenter praised the look of his pictures from Halloween through The Thing. · "The look of my pictures from Halloween through the thing is beautiful."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ · 0:48:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Kurt Russell ↔ The Thing · career · Fennessey's Russell apex mountain: 1982-83. · "Because 82, 83 is when he was at his best."
[pairs] The Thing ↔ Resident Evil · said 2 times in 1 episode
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:21:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] Evil Dead II ⇒ Resident Evil (the maker said so: a conversation with Cregger on the show last year) · lineage · Cregger said he wanted an Evil Dead 2 style rock-em sock-em movie and got crazy with the camera. · "I'm doing it because I think this movie is going to be fucking awesome."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 1:35:21 · unknown (0.40)] Alien 3 ↔ Resident Evil · programming · Resident Evil should not be programmed next to Alien; wait for in-person sessions. · "Also, you can't put it next to Alien because Resident Evil does, well, not, that will not be good for Resident Evil."
[Blank Check · Starman · 0:22:44 · David Sims (0.45)] Stephen King ⇒ Christine (the host's read) · lineage · Carpenter was the first pick for Christine; King later turned on adaptations. · "he was the pick to make Christine."
[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 · Lolita · 1:20:10 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita → Dr. Strangelove · programming · Unlike Strangelove, Lolita had no prior Kubrick-Sellers connection. · "Because it's not like Strange Love where you're like, okay, there's a pre-existing connection now."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:30:19 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ Charlie Chaplin · lineage · The design recalls Chaplin and Keaton's slip-and-fall, rooted-for ne'er-do-well. · "there's so much Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to me in the design of the movie"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:59:46 · Adam Nayman (0.85)] David Fincher ↔ Alien 3 · lineage · Alien 3 is the primal scene of Fincher's chip on his shoulder, producers treating him like a shoe salesman. · "there's the chip on the shoulder and the primal scene of alien 3, right?"
[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 — Patreon · Lolita · 0:41:05 · unknown (0.30)] Stanley Kubrick ↔ Lolita · lineage · Kubrick (per the dossier) places Lolita in the lineage of illicit love stories like Romeo and Juliet. · "If you consider Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, the red and the black."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:43:16 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] John Carpenter ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read) · lineage · Carpenter looms over the movie; it sits in a lineage with Romero, 28 Days Later, Alien, Cronenberg. · "It's very obvious the way that Carpenter looms over a movie like this."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:24:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Alien 3 ⇒ Alien Resurrection (the host's read) · lineage · Resurrection follows Alien 3, but its Ripley is a different character from the one who died. · "As much as she was quote unquote resurrected, obviously, that's a different character explicitly."
[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 — Patreon · Lolita · 1:44:25 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita ↔ Lolita (Adrian Lyne version) · lineage · The Lyne version does what Kubrick's could not and is called boring and unsuccessful. · "there's the line movie that does everything he couldn't do."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:43:23 · Chris Ryan (0.60)] Resident Evil ↔ 28 Days Later · lineage · Listed among strands to pull from: Romero zombies, 28 Days Later, Alien, Cronenberg body horror. · "You could pull the Romero zombie movies."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:30:17 · Matt Singer (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 follows Aliens; watched back to back, Aliens ends on a new family that Alien 3 then kills. · "you watch aliens and that has this ending of, you know, this new family that has been created."
[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 — Patreon · Lolita · 1:47:47 · unknown (0.30)] Lolita (1955 novel) ⇒ Lolita (the host's read) · lineage · The 1962 film is adapted from Nabokov's novel; the speaker reads Crowther's review saying the film keeps the names and a resemblance of plot. · "They made a movie from a script in which the characters have the same name as the characters in the book, and the plot bears a resemblance to the original"
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:54:00 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Resident Evil ↔ George A. Romero · lineage · The skyscraper stage recalls later Romero films where a whole city is overrun. · "the more elevated later Romero movies where it feels like an entire city has been taken over."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:56:20 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] David Twohy ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Twohy brought the prison-planet concept into the development. · "Twowey is the one who brings in the prison planet concept, okay?"
[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 — Patreon · Gone Girl · 2:18:15 · unknown (0.30)] Lolita ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so: In the commentary) · theme · On the commentary Fincher says he wanted a Claire Quilty type for Desi and found it in Neil Patrick Harris. · "Fincher said he wanted a Claire quilty type and he's like, what's a modern Claire quilty type?"
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 1:00:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Die Hard ⇒ Resident Evil (the host's read) · lineage · The shoes-melting beat is called a Die Hard nod (walking on broken glass). · "You have that wonderful diehard nod where his shoes are starting to melt and he has to take his shoes off."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 1:18:07 · Matt Singer (0.35)] Psycho ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Charles Dance's shower-curtain death is read as Fincher's own 'Hitchcock moment', after a cast member said Fincher called it that; the Psycho identification is the speaker's. · "Fincher would talk to him about his influence and be like, well, this is my Hitchcock moment."
[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 — Patreon · Lolita · 0:51:25 · Fran Hoepfner (0.60)] Lolita ↔ The Lobster · theme · The code-dodging dialogue gave the speaker the feel of The Lobster, a movie with a weirdly agreed-upon reality. · "The more I started to see it as like, oh, this feels like the lobster."
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 1:20:44 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] Resident Evil ↔ The Last of Us · lineage · Chris sees it as a breakthrough for video-game films, like The Last of Us for TV. · "I see this movie as, it is the last of us 4 movies"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:45 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Alien 3 · lineage · Alien 3 had convicts. · "Alien 3 convicts."
[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 — Patreon · Lolita · 1:25:20 · unknown (0.00)] Lolita ↔ Universal Monster movies · theme · Mason's confessional scenes feel like a Universal monster monologuing about his curse. · "Those Mason scenes feel like Universal Monster shit where it's like the guy monologuing about his affliction"
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:29:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Resident Evil ↔ Die Hard · theme · Abrams's Brian reminded the speaker of John McClane, with humor built from the experience; the elevator shoe-melting is a Die Hard nod. · "He's not as cool and he's not as accomplished with a gun, but he kind of reminded me a little John McClain at times."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:21:41 · unknown (0.50)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 opens by wiping out the status quo that ended Aliens. · "Seconds of this movie, it literally just burns the status quo established at the end of the last one."
[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"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Lolita · 1:10:44 · unknown (0.30)] Lolita (1955 novel) ↔ Lolita · craft · Kubrick's stated reason for restructuring: the novel's narrative interest drops once Humbert gets Lolita into bed. · "Kubrick's take, says, the main problem with the book is, and even with the film is the main narrative interest initially boils down to Will Humbrick, get Lolita into bed."
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
[speaker] Chris Ryan · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · A franchise and genre scholar who likes Jason, the early sequels, and Manhattan; attention to trivia, tropes and critic reception. Treats slashers as a canon with tiers. · stances: Parts 1, 2, 4 and Manhattan are the good ones; The series finds its legs at 4
[speaker] Matt Singer · latest sketch, Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · Author of Opposable Thumbs, a book about Siskel and Ebert; has seen both cuts of Alien 3 and owns the Quadrilogy box set. Loves Siskel and Ebert as a gateway to movies; likes the show more than the movies as a kid. Attribution is inferred. · stances: He watched both cuts of Alien 3 for the episode; Praises the Siskel and Ebert show as a form of film discussion
[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 The Thing (1982); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend The Thing (1982) 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.