What the corpus says about The Killer (2023)

The 60 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 Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:20:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Fight Club · programming · Both are very funny first-person-narrated films about sociopaths who rationalize brutal violence as a personal mission. · "This movie would make a neat pairing with Fight Club. Two very funny films about sociopaths whose inner monologues rationalize brutal violence as expressions of a personal mission."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:17:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Gone Girl · lineage · It is the closest Fincher has come to a pure thriller since Gone Girl, maybe Dragon Tattoo. · "he hasn't made a movie quite like this, I guess, since Gone Girl, but even, I mean, you could maybe even going back further to Dragon Tattoo is maybe a little closer to this kind of a pure thriller."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:20:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] Rear Window ⇒ The Killer (the host's read) · lineage · The Paris hit sequence is a clear homage built on watching rooms across the street. · "it is a kind of rear window monkey. You know, it is like an attempt to recreate the across the street path, vision of what is happening in rooms in another building, and clear homage to that film."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:22:52 · Adam Nayman (0.70)] The Cable Guy ⇒ The Killer (the host's read) · lineage · The TV-character aliases gag was already a joke in The Cable Guy (50s characters there, 70s and 80s here). · "that was a joke of the cable guy just to give credit where it's to."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:12:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Killer (graphic novel) ⇒ The Killer (the host's read) · lineage · The film takes almost everything from the first 200-odd pages of the comic; the series ran on to 2018. · "it feels like everything from the movie is basically taken from the 1st 200 some odd pages"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:17:31 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Panic Room ↔ The Killer · lineage · Panic Room was loaded with everything; The Killer strips a genre down. · "even when he's making something like panic room that's a bit of a genre riff"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:27:27 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer (graphic novel) ⇒ The Killer (the maker said so: interviews (Fincher 'gave some interviewers')) · lineage · Fincher told interviewers he was adapting a French graphic novel about an assassin that he had always liked. · "he gave some interviewers, like, we're working on this Chinatown thing, and then he was like, I'm also playing with adapting this French graphic novel about the assassin that I've always liked."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon · 0:33:35 · David Sims (0.35)] The Killer ⇒ Jackie Brown (the host's read) · lineage · Jackie Brown has a monologue about The Killer, showing Woo's aesthetic was known to Western audiences. · "Jackie Brown has a whole monologue about the killer."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:05:56 · Adam Nayman (0.90)] The Killer ↔ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button · theme · The lonely dinner with Tilda Swinton in a hollow restaurant echoes Benjamin Button's end-of-the-world connection scene, here without sentimental shtick. · "the stuff with Tilda Swinton is very interestingly evocative of Benjamin Button, like this lonely dinner in this big hollow restaurant that feels like it's at the end of the world"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:13:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Mindhunter · theme · Mindhunter, Mank and The Killer are three works asking what it was all for, suggesting Fincher is questioning his own devotion. · "Mindhunter and Mank and this are 3 movies slash series about kind of like, what is it all for?"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:14:20 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ The Pigeon Tunnel · theme · John le Carre's remark about reaching the room and finding nothing in it fits Fincher's lockbox characters and this film. · "The room be on the room, and then when you get there, there's nothing in it."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:49:08 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Le Samouraï ↔ The Killer · theme · The speakers call The Killer a very Melvillian film, pointing at Le Samouraï. · "Very Melvillian film."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:04:09 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ John Wick · theme · The Killer is the more realistic version of John Wick. · "It's like the more realistic version of John Wick."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:16:49 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Haywire · theme · The long Florida fight is compared to the extended fight in Soderbergh's Haywire. · "And then he has to fight this guy and it's like Soder Briggs Haywire or whatever."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:18:27 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning · theme · The sloppy, accumulating-injury Florida fight evokes the sporting-goods-store fight in Day of Reckoning. · "There's that one sporting goods store fight that is so fucking good where the guy is just so huge"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:02:09 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo · craft · The speaker listened to the Dragon Tattoo score while reading the comic because The Killer score was not out. · "it's not out there, so I just listened Dragon Tattoo."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:22:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Killer ↔ Fight Club · contrast · Fight Club is about societal and male-psyche breakdown; The Killer is about a functioning guy who messed up at work. · "Fight Club is about the breakdown of society and the male psyche. The killer is about a guy who's like, shit, I fucked up at work"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:19:23 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Grosse Pointe Blank · contrast · Unlike hitman movies where the killer has a crisis (Grosse Pointe Blank), this one never admits he is struggling. · "But I think of movies like point gross point blank, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:45:21 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Hit Man ↔ The Killer · contrast · Linklater's film deflates the whole idea of a hitman, which plays better at festivals. · "the premise of the Linklater movie is deflating the entire notion of a hitman"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:59:26 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] The Killer ↔ Marriage Story · career · Baumbach used Netflix to elevate his status, whereas Fincher and Scorsese use it to brand-manage their legacies. · "he's somebody who used the system to elevate his status in some way, whereas Fincher and Scorsese in a handful of these other people are almost like facilitating and kind of brand managing their legacies"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:15:34 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Killers of the Flower Moon · people · 2023 was defined by films that force conversation about the filmmakers (Gerwig, Scorsese, Nolan, Fincher) and their pasts. · "this year has really been defined by these movies with by filmmakers who have such towering personas."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:14:21 · David Sims (0.55)] Seven ↔ The Killer · people · Andrew Kevin Walker had no proper screenwriting credit on a Fincher film since Se7en. · "he had not gotten a proper screenwriting credit on any of his films since seven."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:31:01 · David Sims (0.55)] Prometheus ⇒ The Killer (the maker said so: the Q and A at the screening) · people · Fincher said at the Q&A that seeing Prometheus made him note Fassbender as a good sociopath for later. · "I go to see Prometheus and I go, hmm, sociopath."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:56:18 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Mank · people · Arliss Howard is brought back from Mank. · "Bringing back Carlos Howard from Manck."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:59:42 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Mank · people · Messerschmidt shot both. · "Eric Master Schmidt shot the movie, same guy who shot Mink."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:59:49 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Ferrari · people · Messerschmidt also shot Ferrari this year. · "and he shot Ferrari this year."

Films put beside it more than once (6)

[pairs] The Killer ↔ Mank · said 5 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Gone Girl · said 4 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Seven · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ The Killer (graphic novel) · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Killers of the Flower Moon · said 3 times in 1 episode
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Fight Club · said 3 times in 1 episode

Fun items about it (6)

[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:21:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] The Killer · fun · Opening hit: the killer needs heart rate below 60, kills a woman instead of the target, then flees by rented scooter to change in a dirty tire-shop bathroom. · "He fires and he misses."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:23:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Killer · fun · The killer's work playlist is only The Smiths, on an iPod nano; others include a yoga playlist. He listens to Girlfriend in a Coma while buying a trash bucket at Home Depot to put a body in. · "he is listening to girlfriend in a coma when he goes to a Home Depot to buy a trash bucket to put a dead body in."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:24:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Killer · fun · Each Smiths song title puns on the scene it plays under. · "Each song title is literally punning on the scene."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:24:40 · Chris Ryan (0.70)] The Killer · fun · Scene to look for: the first hit scored to How Soon Is Now. Sound design flips between full stereo song and the song in the killer's headphones, pulling it away right at the Johnny Marr crescendo, refusing the viewer the cool-song kill. · "I was waiting my entire life to see someone get killed to how soon is now."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:27:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] The Killer · fun · The killer's disguise is inspired by a German tourist: bucket hat and khaki jumpsuit, which is basically what Fincher wore to the Q&A. · "he wears a bucket hat in a kind of khaki jumpsuit, which is basically what David Fincher wore to the Q and A after the film."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:29:42 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70)] The Killer · fun · Hotel trick to look for: he balances a glass on the door handle with the room-service tray underneath so a jiggled handle smashes it, then sleeps in a chair for three and a half hours. · "if anybody jiggles the handle, the glass will smash and make a noise and wake him up"

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (14)

[The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:54:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] The Trial of the Chicago 7 ↔ Mank · programming · Chicago 7 is a big fat fastball for the Oscars alongside Mank, Nomadland and Hillbilly Elegy. · "this is a big fat, fastball right down the middle."
[The Rewatchables · ‘The War of the Roses’ · 1:37:30 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50)] The War of the Roses ↔ Gone Girl · lineage · Roses is described as a prequel to Gone Girl; it could have pivoted to Turner killing Douglas and going on the run. · "This movie's kind of a prequel to Gone Girl."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club · 2:08:56 · Alex Ross Perry (0.40)] The Sixth Sense ↔ Fight Club · programming · Two big twist movies, ten weeks apart, with the same fake-person reveal. · "That's the same twist twice, 10 weeks apart."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:51:17 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Hit Man ↔ Out of Sight · theme · Hit Man scratched the Out of Sight itch for the speaker. · "it scratched the out of sight itch for me, which is a really good itch."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:18:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40)] Killers of the Flower Moon ↔ Silence · programming · Amanda watched Silence the day before and went straight to Killers. · "I watched silence yesterday and immediately went to sit down with you to watch Killers of the Flower Moon"
[The Big Picture · Emergency Mailbag: The Oscars Are Streaming and Hollywood Is Fighting Over Trolls | The Big Picture · 0:58:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the host's read) · lineage · Mank is partly inspired by Pauline Kael's essay on who truly authored Citizen Kane. · "it's in part inspired by that very famous Pauline Kale, story raising Kane, about the true authorship of Citizen Kane"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl · 0:20:39 · unknown (0.30)] Reese Witherspoon ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read) · lineage · Witherspoon took the book and had the idea of bringing Fincher on board. · "takes this book, has the smart idea, bring Fincher on board."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club · 2:43:02 · unknown (0.35)] A Clockwork Orange ↔ Fight Club · programming · Fight Club is called the Clockwork Orange of another generation, an Edge Lord pick. · "This is kind of the clockwork Orange for another generation."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:35:48 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Titanic ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read) · lineage · The car make-out scene is a funny Titanic callback. · "I thought there was a really funny callback to Titanic when they're making out in the car."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Mank · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Jack Fincher ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: Fincher's own account as read from the dossier (outlet not named)) · lineage · Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later. · "I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl · 0:34:23 · Esther Zuckerman (0.70)] Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel) ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read) · lineage · The film adapts Flynn's novel, and the first-person diary trickery was the open question about how it would work on screen. · "Because it is such like a little fun piece of 1st person narration trickery."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club · 2:57:12 · Alex Ross Perry (0.45)] Slacker ↔ Fight Club · programming · Klosterman, as read, names Slacker or Fight Club as the decade's most generationally defining film. · "either slacker or fight club, could justifiably be called the decade's most generationally defining."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:00:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Killers of the Flower Moon ↔ Kundun · lineage · An American version of the desolate landscapes and haunting spirituality of Kundun, Silence, Last Temptation. · "it is him doing an American version in some ways of what he did in Kundun, in silence, and last temptation of Christ"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Mank · 1:13:08 · David Sims (0.80)] Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: David's interview with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt) · lineage · Messerschmidt told the interviewer he wanted low, deep-focus photography evoking Citizen Kane, not noir. · "He's like, no, I want to do it low to the ground, lots of deep focus, evoking citizen Kane."

Who said it, by their latest sketch (6)

[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] Amanda Dobbins · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Mamma Mia!’ Meets ‘The Strangers'! It’s a Movie Swap! · Loves The Strangers' withholding craft and a good tense horror film without gore, but likes fun, communal movies like Mamma Mia. She dislikes supernatural or gory horror, which irritates her more than it scares her. She is a sucker for stars and for Googling a movie mid-recording. · stances: The Strangers is scary because of what it doesn't show or explain; Ending explanation weakens it; no answer would be better; Prefers 'withholding' filmmaking; Defends Mamma Mia as joyful and intentional
[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] Adam Nayman · latest sketch, The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ · Self-described slasher fan who likes a movie that plays with tropes intelligently; admires Miasma's playfulness and sincerity but dislikes its showbiz satire. Soft spot for Texas Chain Saw, wrestling and Toronto sports. Wary of the idea that references alone make a movie smart. · stances: Miasma is academic but playfully so; Better filmmakers deserve less intention-guessing; Don't need to love slashers to love Miasma
[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] 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

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] 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 Killer (2023) 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 Killer (2023) 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 · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:20:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Fight Club · programming · Both are very funny first-person-narrated films about sociopaths who rationalize brutal violence as a personal mission. · "This movie would make a neat pairing with Fight Club. Two very funny films about sociopaths whose inner monologues rationalize brutal violence as expressions of a personal mission."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:17:53 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Gone Girl · lineage · It is the closest Fincher has come to a pure thriller since Gone Girl, maybe Dragon Tattoo. · "he hasn't made a movie quite like this, I guess, since Gone Girl, but even, I mean, you could maybe even going back further to Dragon Tattoo is maybe a little closer to this kind of a pure thriller."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:20:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.70)] Rear Window ⇒ The Killer (the host's read) · lineage · The Paris hit sequence is a clear homage built on watching rooms across the street. · "it is a kind of rear window monkey. You know, it is like an attempt to recreate the across the street path, vision of what is happening in rooms in another building, and clear homage to that film."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:22:52 · Adam Nayman (0.70)] The Cable Guy ⇒ The Killer (the host's read) · lineage · The TV-character aliases gag was already a joke in The Cable Guy (50s characters there, 70s and 80s here). · "that was a joke of the cable guy just to give credit where it's to."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:12:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] The Killer (graphic novel) ⇒ The Killer (the host's read) · lineage · The film takes almost everything from the first 200-odd pages of the comic; the series ran on to 2018. · "it feels like everything from the movie is basically taken from the 1st 200 some odd pages"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:17:31 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Panic Room ↔ The Killer · lineage · Panic Room was loaded with everything; The Killer strips a genre down. · "even when he's making something like panic room that's a bit of a genre riff"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:27:27 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer (graphic novel) ⇒ The Killer (the maker said so: interviews (Fincher 'gave some interviewers')) · lineage · Fincher told interviewers he was adapting a French graphic novel about an assassin that he had always liked. · "he gave some interviewers, like, we're working on this Chinatown thing, and then he was like, I'm also playing with adapting this French graphic novel about the assassin that I've always liked."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon · 0:33:35 · David Sims (0.35)] The Killer ⇒ Jackie Brown (the host's read) · lineage · Jackie Brown has a monologue about The Killer, showing Woo's aesthetic was known to Western audiences. · "Jackie Brown has a whole monologue about the killer."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:05:56 · Adam Nayman (0.90)] The Killer ↔ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button · theme · The lonely dinner with Tilda Swinton in a hollow restaurant echoes Benjamin Button's end-of-the-world connection scene, here without sentimental shtick. · "the stuff with Tilda Swinton is very interestingly evocative of Benjamin Button, like this lonely dinner in this big hollow restaurant that feels like it's at the end of the world"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:13:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Mindhunter · theme · Mindhunter, Mank and The Killer are three works asking what it was all for, suggesting Fincher is questioning his own devotion. · "Mindhunter and Mank and this are 3 movies slash series about kind of like, what is it all for?"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:14:20 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ The Pigeon Tunnel · theme · John le Carre's remark about reaching the room and finding nothing in it fits Fincher's lockbox characters and this film. · "The room be on the room, and then when you get there, there's nothing in it."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:49:08 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Le Samouraï ↔ The Killer · theme · The speakers call The Killer a very Melvillian film, pointing at Le Samouraï. · "Very Melvillian film."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:04:09 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ John Wick · theme · The Killer is the more realistic version of John Wick. · "It's like the more realistic version of John Wick."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:16:49 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Haywire · theme · The long Florida fight is compared to the extended fight in Soderbergh's Haywire. · "And then he has to fight this guy and it's like Soder Briggs Haywire or whatever."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:18:27 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning · theme · The sloppy, accumulating-injury Florida fight evokes the sporting-goods-store fight in Day of Reckoning. · "There's that one sporting goods store fight that is so fucking good where the guy is just so huge"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:02:09 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo · craft · The speaker listened to the Dragon Tattoo score while reading the comic because The Killer score was not out. · "it's not out there, so I just listened Dragon Tattoo."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 1:22:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Killer ↔ Fight Club · contrast · Fight Club is about societal and male-psyche breakdown; The Killer is about a functioning guy who messed up at work. · "Fight Club is about the breakdown of society and the male psyche. The killer is about a guy who's like, shit, I fucked up at work"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:19:23 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Grosse Pointe Blank · contrast · Unlike hitman movies where the killer has a crisis (Grosse Pointe Blank), this one never admits he is struggling. · "But I think of movies like point gross point blank, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 1:45:21 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Hit Man ↔ The Killer · contrast · Linklater's film deflates the whole idea of a hitman, which plays better at festivals. · "the premise of the Linklater movie is deflating the entire notion of a hitman"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:59:26 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] The Killer ↔ Marriage Story · career · Baumbach used Netflix to elevate his status, whereas Fincher and Scorsese use it to brand-manage their legacies. · "he's somebody who used the system to elevate his status in some way, whereas Fincher and Scorsese in a handful of these other people are almost like facilitating and kind of brand managing their legacies"
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:15:34 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60)] The Killer ↔ Killers of the Flower Moon · people · 2023 was defined by films that force conversation about the filmmakers (Gerwig, Scorsese, Nolan, Fincher) and their pasts. · "this year has really been defined by these movies with by filmmakers who have such towering personas."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:14:21 · David Sims (0.55)] Seven ↔ The Killer · people · Andrew Kevin Walker had no proper screenwriting credit on a Fincher film since Se7en. · "he had not gotten a proper screenwriting credit on any of his films since seven."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:31:01 · David Sims (0.55)] Prometheus ⇒ The Killer (the maker said so: the Q and A at the screening) · people · Fincher said at the Q&A that seeing Prometheus made him note Fassbender as a good sociopath for later. · "I go to see Prometheus and I go, hmm, sociopath."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:56:18 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Mank · people · Arliss Howard is brought back from Mank. · "Bringing back Carlos Howard from Manck."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:59:42 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Mank · people · Messerschmidt shot both. · "Eric Master Schmidt shot the movie, same guy who shot Mink."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:59:49 · unknown (host) (0.30)] The Killer ↔ Ferrari · people · Messerschmidt also shot Ferrari this year. · "and he shot Ferrari this year."
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Mank · said 5 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Gone Girl · said 4 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Seven · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ The Killer (graphic novel) · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Killers of the Flower Moon · said 3 times in 1 episode
[pairs] The Killer ↔ Fight Club · said 3 times in 1 episode
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:21:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] The Killer · fun · Opening hit: the killer needs heart rate below 60, kills a woman instead of the target, then flees by rented scooter to change in a dirty tire-shop bathroom. · "He fires and he misses."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:23:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Killer · fun · The killer's work playlist is only The Smiths, on an iPod nano; others include a yoga playlist. He listens to Girlfriend in a Coma while buying a trash bucket at Home Depot to put a body in. · "he is listening to girlfriend in a coma when he goes to a Home Depot to buy a trash bucket to put a dead body in."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:24:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Killer · fun · Each Smiths song title puns on the scene it plays under. · "Each song title is literally punning on the scene."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:24:40 · Chris Ryan (0.70)] The Killer · fun · Scene to look for: the first hit scored to How Soon Is Now. Sound design flips between full stereo song and the song in the killer's headphones, pulling it away right at the Johnny Marr crescendo, refusing the viewer the cool-song kill. · "I was waiting my entire life to see someone get killed to how soon is now."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:27:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.60)] The Killer · fun · The killer's disguise is inspired by a German tourist: bucket hat and khaki jumpsuit, which is basically what Fincher wore to the Q&A. · "he wears a bucket hat in a kind of khaki jumpsuit, which is basically what David Fincher wore to the Q and A after the film."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:29:42 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70)] The Killer · fun · Hotel trick to look for: he balances a glass on the door handle with the room-service tray underneath so a jiggled handle smashes it, then sleeps in a chair for three and a half hours. · "if anybody jiggles the handle, the glass will smash and make a noise and wake him up"
[The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:54:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] The Trial of the Chicago 7 ↔ Mank · programming · Chicago 7 is a big fat fastball for the Oscars alongside Mank, Nomadland and Hillbilly Elegy. · "this is a big fat, fastball right down the middle."
[The Rewatchables · ‘The War of the Roses’ · 1:37:30 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50)] The War of the Roses ↔ Gone Girl · lineage · Roses is described as a prequel to Gone Girl; it could have pivoted to Turner killing Douglas and going on the run. · "This movie's kind of a prequel to Gone Girl."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club · 2:08:56 · Alex Ross Perry (0.40)] The Sixth Sense ↔ Fight Club · programming · Two big twist movies, ten weeks apart, with the same fake-person reveal. · "That's the same twist twice, 10 weeks apart."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer · 0:51:17 · unknown (host) (0.30)] Hit Man ↔ Out of Sight · theme · Hit Man scratched the Out of Sight itch for the speaker. · "it scratched the out of sight itch for me, which is a really good itch."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:18:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40)] Killers of the Flower Moon ↔ Silence · programming · Amanda watched Silence the day before and went straight to Killers. · "I watched silence yesterday and immediately went to sit down with you to watch Killers of the Flower Moon"
[The Big Picture · Emergency Mailbag: The Oscars Are Streaming and Hollywood Is Fighting Over Trolls | The Big Picture · 0:58:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the host's read) · lineage · Mank is partly inspired by Pauline Kael's essay on who truly authored Citizen Kane. · "it's in part inspired by that very famous Pauline Kale, story raising Kane, about the true authorship of Citizen Kane"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl · 0:20:39 · unknown (0.30)] Reese Witherspoon ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read) · lineage · Witherspoon took the book and had the idea of bringing Fincher on board. · "takes this book, has the smart idea, bring Fincher on board."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club · 2:43:02 · unknown (0.35)] A Clockwork Orange ↔ Fight Club · programming · Fight Club is called the Clockwork Orange of another generation, an Edge Lord pick. · "This is kind of the clockwork Orange for another generation."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:35:48 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Titanic ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read) · lineage · The car make-out scene is a funny Titanic callback. · "I thought there was a really funny callback to Titanic when they're making out in the car."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Mank · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60)] Jack Fincher ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: Fincher's own account as read from the dossier (outlet not named)) · lineage · Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later. · "I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl · 0:34:23 · Esther Zuckerman (0.70)] Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel) ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read) · lineage · The film adapts Flynn's novel, and the first-person diary trickery was the open question about how it would work on screen. · "Because it is such like a little fun piece of 1st person narration trickery."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club · 2:57:12 · Alex Ross Perry (0.45)] Slacker ↔ Fight Club · programming · Klosterman, as read, names Slacker or Fight Club as the decade's most generationally defining film. · "either slacker or fight club, could justifiably be called the decade's most generationally defining."
[The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:00:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Killers of the Flower Moon ↔ Kundun · lineage · An American version of the desolate landscapes and haunting spirituality of Kundun, Silence, Last Temptation. · "it is him doing an American version in some ways of what he did in Kundun, in silence, and last temptation of Christ"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Mank · 1:13:08 · David Sims (0.80)] Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: David's interview with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt) · lineage · Messerschmidt told the interviewer he wanted low, deep-focus photography evoking Citizen Kane, not noir. · "He's like, no, I want to do it low to the ground, lots of deep focus, evoking citizen Kane."
[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] Amanda Dobbins · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Mamma Mia!’ Meets ‘The Strangers'! It’s a Movie Swap! · Loves The Strangers' withholding craft and a good tense horror film without gore, but likes fun, communal movies like Mamma Mia. She dislikes supernatural or gory horror, which irritates her more than it scares her. She is a sucker for stars and for Googling a movie mid-recording. · stances: The Strangers is scary because of what it doesn't show or explain; Ending explanation weakens it; no answer would be better; Prefers 'withholding' filmmaking; Defends Mamma Mia as joyful and intentional
[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] Adam Nayman · latest sketch, The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ · Self-described slasher fan who likes a movie that plays with tropes intelligently; admires Miasma's playfulness and sincerity but dislikes its showbiz satire. Soft spot for Texas Chain Saw, wrestling and Toronto sports. Wary of the idea that references alone make a movie smart. · stances: Miasma is academic but playfully so; Better filmmakers deserve less intention-guessing; Don't need to love slashers to love Miasma
[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] 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
[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] 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 Killer (2023); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend The Killer (2023) 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.