The Color of Money (1986)

Wikidata Q470916, film, IMDb tt0090863, TMDB 11873: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only film by that title; 9 more episodes agree.

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

In the store as #152, The Color of Money (1986).

The Rewatchables' awards

From ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (2021-10-19):

Most rewatchable scene

pick Vincent comes back to Chalkey's and does Werewolves of London, flipping the cue
“The, uh, the pool hall. This, I, full disclosure, this is gonna be my favorite part. The Blackpool Hall, where Newman leaves.”
Bill Simmons · 0:25:38
floated Vincent demolishing John Turturro (sledgehammer break)
“Cruise demolishing John Torturo.”
Bill Simmons · 0:24:57
floated Eddie shuts down Carmen's flirting: this is business
“I like when he shuts down Carmen's flirting.”
Bill Simmons · 0:25:14
floated Eddie and Carmen pretend to be a couple (two brothers and a stranger)
“It's short, but when Eddie and Carmen pretend to be a couple... Two brothers and a stranger. Really good.”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:06
floated The money player battle: Grady Seasons gets in Vincent's head until he snaps
“I like the money player battle when the guy is fucking with Cruz and Cruz is supposed to be dumping to him”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:16
floated Forest Whitaker's big scene as Amos
“How about Forrest Whitaker's big scene?”
Bill Simmons · 0:32:46
floated Newman's comeback montage and the nine-ball tournament leading to Newman beating Cruise
“Newman's comeback montage.”
Bill Simmons · 0:33:09
pick Eddie takes Vincent and Carmen to dinner and picks up Diane at the bar
“I really, really love when Eddie takes Vincent and Carmen to dinner.”
Chris Ryan · 0:33:43
pick The bar scene where Eddie gives Vincent the Balabushka and tells Carmen to go cold on him
“And I also have, um, when the whole scene in the bar where Eddie has given Vincent the Balabushka”
Chris Ryan · 0:34:19
floated Helen Shaver's "little prick" button on Vincent after he throws the match
“Helen Schaver's like, well, he's a little prick.”
Chris Ryan · 0:35:12
pick The Grady Seasons showdown, where Scorsese runs the blues soundtrack backwards
“So I think I'll go Grady seasons because it's almost like him breaking bad.”
Sean Fennessey · 0:36:11
runner-up Forest Whitaker's Amos showdown
“I, either Grady seasons or Forrest Whitaker.”
Sean Fennessey · 0:35:39
pick The whole Chalkey's sequence, including Eddie playing Vince for the first time, plus werewolves
“I got werewolves, but the entire Chalky sequence, including like the one where there, you know, Fat Eddie plays Vince for the 1st time”
Chris Ryan · 0:36:24
pick Werewolves of London into Newman's speech
“Oh, it's werewolves.”
unknown · 0:36:50

Ebert review · Reading Roger Ebert's review of the film.

pick The Color of Money: Ebert gave it 2.5 stars; Bill and Chris disagree, with Chris respecting his willingness to pan a friend.
“2.5 stars from Raj and Ebert writes, the color money is directed by Martin Scorsese, the most exciting American director now working.”
Bill Simmons · 0:23:17

Best That Guy (Joey Pants Award) · The best "that guy" actor in the movie.

nominee Cruise's uncle from Cocktail (bar scene) as Cruise's uncle
“Cruz's uncle from Cocktails in one of the bars.”
Bill Simmons · 0:53:17
nominee Bruce A. Young as Mozelle: Also played Jackie in Risky Business.
“Bruce A. Young. This is a candidate for best that guy.”
unknown · 0:53:32
nominee Bill Cobbs as Orvis
“And then our guy Bill Cobbs plays Orvis. Love Bill Cobbs.”
unknown · 0:53:38
winner Paul Herman as the Akron open winner in the Atlantic City bar: Paul Herman is Beansy on The Sopranos and Goodfellas helicopters guy.
“So I think I have our I have our winner.”
unknown · 0:53:55
pick Paul Herman as the Akron open winner: Would go with Herman or Cruise's uncle.
“I go with him or Cruz's uncle.”
Bill Simmons · 0:54:20

Vincent Hanna Award (best overacting) · Biggest overacting, giving it all you got.

winner Tom Cruise as Vincent: The Werewolves of London scene.
“Tom Cruise, come on down.”
Bill Simmons · 0:54:25
nominee John Turturro as Julian
“Would you go Tuturo here?”
unknown · 0:54:40
nominee Keith McCready as Grady Seasons
“Keith McCready, he's really going for it.”
unknown · 0:55:02

Dion Waiters Award · Small role, big impact.

nominee Keith McCready as Grady Seasons: Cruise modeled his game on him.
“I have him for Dion because I feel like he is who Cruz modeled his game after”
unknown · 0:55:16
nominee John Turturro as Julian: Eligible because he is only in a few scenes.
“And I think Turo is eligible because he's only in a few scenes.”
unknown · 0:55:30
winner Forest Whitaker as Amos
“But Whitaker's in one scene and just crushes it.”
unknown · 0:55:41

Casting what-ifs · Almost-castings and who they would recast.

pick Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats: They considered bringing him back; Gleason found the part an afterthought.
“They thought about Gleason, bringing back Minnesota fats.”
Bill Simmons · 0:52:04
pick Julie Christie as the Helen Shaver part
“Julie Christie.”
unknown · 0:56:46
pick Charlotte Rampling as the Helen Shaver part
“Charlotte Rampling, another.”
unknown · 0:57:50
pick Helen Mirren as the Helen Shaver part
“Why not Helen Mirren?”
unknown · 0:57:59

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

pick The costumes and style, Newman's wardrobe and mustache
“I think it's the rare 80s movie in which the style still works.”
unknown · 0:42:19
pick How the film acknowledges The Hustler as a continuation sequel
“The way that this movie acknowledges the Hustler.”
unknown · 0:44:49
pick The continuation sequel idea, bringing the band back without retreading
“It's the continuation sequel, which is a movie gimmick.”
Bill Simmons · 0:46:07
pick The Vince t-shirt
“The Vince t-shirt is iconic.”
unknown · 0:37:46
pick Robbie Robertson's score and the Clapton and Robert Palmer songs
“Robbie Robertson's score is excellent.”
unknown · 0:38:04

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

pick The arcade game Stalker
“So he's really good at the arcade video game stalker?”
unknown · 0:46:50
pick The cameos from 1980s pool stars nobody would know now
“is the cameos from 1980s pool stars. They were a bigger deal.”
unknown · 0:47:52
pick Guys waving cash at each other to bet, and a movie that doesn't work with phones
“when guys are all at a bar betting on something, they just wave cash in front of each other.”
Chris Ryan · 0:50:47
pick Warren Zevon on the Chalkey's jukebox
“Like, was Warren Zevon big at Chalkey's for real?”
unknown · 0:51:45

Apex Mountain · Whether the person or thing is at the peak.

pick Paul Newman: Not apex.
“Apex Mountain, Newman, no.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:42
pick Tom Cruise: Not apex.
“Cruise, no.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:44
pick Martin Scorsese: Not apex.
“Scorsese, no.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:45
pick Billiards: Probably a yes, since it was on ESPN.
“Billiards, I think we're probably a yes for this because it's on ESPN too.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:49
pick Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: Not apex here; her peak is the Abyss or Perfect Storm, though she is a five-alarm fire in this movie.
“So I don't think so.”
unknown · 1:03:40
pick Sweater vests: Newman killing the sweater vest game.
“I think we could all agree that it's Apex Mountain for sweater vests.”
Bill Simmons · 1:07:46

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a movie they love.

pick What Eddie does for a living before he meets Vincent
“What was Eddie doing before he meets Vincent?”
unknown · 1:08:16
pick Eddie's forfeit in the tournament, with no scene explaining his shift: Chris Ryan rationalizes it: the integrity of being great mattered more than the money.
“I hate the forfeit in the tournament.”
unknown · 1:08:52
pick The ambiguity of "you used us" in the final scene
“It was really just that last, like, the ambiguity of, like, you used us.”
unknown · 1:12:46

Sequel, prequel or TV · The sequel, spinoff or TV show they would make.

pick A 10 episode Netflix show: Hosts reject the idea.
“Could this be made as a 10 episode Netflix show?”
Bill Simmons · 1:12:52
pick Vince owning the White Lotus resort in season two
“What if Vince owned the resort in White Lotus for season two?”
Bill Simmons · 1:13:10
pick Another Eddie Felson movie in 1995
“I would have watched in 1995, another Eddie Felson movie, though.”
unknown · 1:13:00

Unanswerable questions · Open questions the film leaves behind.

pick Vincent's next 10 years: Answers: back to Child World, shot in the face, or an ESPN star.
“What have Vincent's next 10 years look like for you guys after this movie?”
Bill Simmons · 1:13:30
pick Who won the final match: Chris thinks Vincent wins; Sean says knowing would not improve the ending.
“I think Vincent kills him.”
Chris Ryan · 1:16:48
pick How long Vincent and Carmen stay together
“How long do you think Vincent and Carmen stay together?”
unknown · 1:17:03

Best Tom Cruise singing along to a song · The best movie moment of Tom Cruise singing along to a song.

winner Top Gun, the singalong scene with Anthony Edwards: Other candidates: Cocktail, Risky Business, Jerry Maguire Free Fallin.
“Top Gun probably wins because it's a whole scene and it's Anthony Edwards”
unknown · 1:16:00

Who won the movie · Who came out ahead in the film.

winner Paul Newman
“I think it's Newman.”
unknown · 1:17:34
winner Paul Newman
“I have Newman as well.”
unknown · 1:17:36

Who talked about it

Came from

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

The Hustler: 7 lines the host's read ×7

lineage (callback): The Hustler ⇒ The Color of Money (the host's read). The mentoring conversation Newman has with Vince and Carmen mirrors the one George C. Scott has with Newman in The Hustler; both films also go on the road.
“that's basically the George C. Scott has the same conversation with Paul Newman and the Hustler.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:44:53 · Chris Ryan (0.65 sure it was them)

After Hours: 1 line the host's read ×1

career (career bridge): After Hours ⇒ The Color of Money (the host's read). The camera moves of After Hours carry into Color of Money's pool table, tied to Ballhaus; both lead to Goodfellas.
“that same thing, that camera is flying across the pool table.”
The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:30:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Michael Ovitz: 1 line the host's read ×1

industry (packager): Michael Ovitz ⇒ The Color of Money (the host's read). Ovitz engineered the Newman-plus-Scorsese pairing, nudging Newman to write a letter and nudging Scorsese toward a commercial project.
“I know he's an artiste. He's probably not going to want to do like a commercial thing. So I'm going to try and like nudge him towards something commercial.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:55:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Paul Newman: 1 line the host's read ×1

unmapped (mentorship): Paul Newman ⇒ The Color of Money (the host's read). Cruise picked up tips on managing movie stardom from Paul Newman on The Color of Money.
“he picked up from the Paul Newmans of the world when appearing in the color of money.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:44:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Raging Bull: 1 line the host's read ×1

people (origin of collaboration): Raging Bull ⇒ The Color of Money (the host's read). Newman watched Raging Bull on Ovitz's recommendation and wanted to work with Scorsese.
“Paul Newman watches Raging Bull on, I guess Ovid's his recommendation and says, like, that's one of the best things I've ever seen.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:53:44 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Raiders of the Lost Ark: 1 line the host's read ×1

craft (camera-movement coverage): Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ The Color of Money (the host's read). Scorsese covers scenes with morphing moving master shots, like Spielberg's quick efficient coverage, to stay under schedule.
“But he's doing like all this Spielberg, like coverage with camera movement.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:21:44 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Led to

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

Doom: 1 line the host's read ×1

unmapped (cultural legacy): The Color of Money ⇒ Doom (the host's read). Cruise saying 'Doom' in the pool hall scene led a software company to name its video game Doom.
“That leads to the software company coming up with the name for their new revolutionary video game.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

The Last Temptation of Christ: 1 line the host's read ×1

career (career enabler): The Color of Money ⇒ The Last Temptation of Christ (the host's read). The paycheck-gig hit stabilizes Scorsese's career and makes Last Temptation and Goodfellas possible.
“Must admit though, it is the guarantor that allows him to immediately then make. Last temptation of Christ in Goodfellas.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:17:57 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Top Gun: Maverick: 1 line the host's read ×1

lineage (legacy-sequel heirs): The Color of Money ⇒ Top Gun: Maverick (the host's read). Gap-based legacy sequels like Top Gun Maverick, Tron Legacy and Blade Runner follow the template Color of Money invented, though in 1986 sequels were derided.
“now we get more and more like your your Tron legacies and your Top Gun Mavericks, where it's just casually... 37, 40 years later”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:07:05 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Connected to

The Hustler: 11 lines lineage ×6 unmapped ×4 theme ×1

theme (character arc): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Eddie in The Hustler is a loser and drunk with broken thumbs, an anti-hero rather than a golden god, unlike Cruise's Vincent.
“What do we know about Eddie Felson from the Hustler is he's a loser.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:08:11 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)

After Hours: 4 lines career ×3 unmapped ×1

career (career bridge): After Hours → The Color of Money. The camera moves of After Hours carry into Color of Money's pool table, tied to Ballhaus; both lead to Goodfellas.
“that same thing, that camera is flying across the pool table.”
The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:30:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

The Verdict: 4 lines industry ×2 contrast ×1 craft ×1

industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → The Verdict. Newman lost for The Verdict in a brutal year (Hoffman in Tootsie, Kingsley in Gandhi) then won in 1987 against a weaker slate.
“In 87 when they give out the 86 Oscars. You know, it's it's a much weaker slate”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:06:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

Goodfellas: 3 lines unmapped ×3

unmapped (production trivia): The Color of Money → Goodfellas. Scorsese came up with Goodfellas while filming this movie after reading a review of Wiseguy.
“Scorsese came up with Goodfellas when he was filming this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:01:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Raging Bull: 3 lines people ×2 unmapped ×1

unmapped (rewatchability): The Color of Money → Raging Bull. Chris has watched this more often than Raging Bull or The Last Temptation of Christ.
“I've watched it probably more than Raging Bull.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:17:12 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

Top Gun: Maverick: 3 lines lineage ×2 contrast ×1

lineage (legacy-sequel heirs): The Color of Money → Top Gun: Maverick. Gap-based legacy sequels like Top Gun Maverick, Tron Legacy and Blade Runner follow the template Color of Money invented, though in 1986 sequels were derided.
“now we get more and more like your your Tron legacies and your Top Gun Mavericks, where it's just casually... 37, 40 years later”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:07:05 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Absence of Malice: 2 lines unmapped ×1 career ×1

career (career context): The Color of Money → Absence of Malice. Newman's early-80s over-the-hill roles (The Verdict, Absence of Malice) led into choosing this role.
“he had already been doing over the hill parts for like 5 or 6 years.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:21:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Cocktail: 2 lines career ×1 people ×1

people (supporting actor overlap): The Color of Money → Cocktail. A bar actor here is Cruise's uncle from Cocktail, supporting the theory Cruise pulls his supporting players from film to film.
“Just that Cruz is kind of grabbing all of his supporting figures over the years.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:53:27 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Eric Clapton: 2 lines craft ×1 career ×1

career (career): Eric Clapton → The Color of Money. A host says the film's use of Clapton was about as good as his comeback got after the drug years, before MTV Unplugged.
“Clapton, comeback, Clapton, I think this is about as good as it got for him after he'd gotten through all the drug stuff.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:02:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

F1: 2 lines theme ×1 what-if ×1

what-if (what-if): F1 → The Color of Money. Color of Money handles the old-dog/new-dog handover best, which F1's ending does not.
“So the best version of this, to me that's ever been done in this old dog, new dog thing.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:56:48 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Martin Scorsese: 2 lines people ×2

people (auteur credit): The Color of Money → Martin Scorsese. Sean would speechify about Scorsese for 90 seconds if it were just two of them.
“I would probably speechify about Scorsese for 90 seconds”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:53:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Michael Ballhaus: 2 lines craft ×2

craft (craft): Michael Ballhaus → The Color of Money. The host's dossier notes the bounce lights Ballhaus used to light the film.
“But, you know, there's a lot of stuff here about, you know, the kind of bounce lights he used.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:21:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Raiders of the Lost Ark: 2 lines career ×1 craft ×1

career (career-arc analogue): The Color of Money → Raiders of the Lost Ark. Raiders is cited as a comeback after the flop 1941; Color of Money is instead a stabilizer rather than a comeback.
“Like Raiders of the Lost Arc as a comeback post-1941 is a pure like he bottomed out and then he struck gold as hard as you possibly could.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:20:06 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Richard Price: 2 lines people ×2

people (writer-director fusion): Richard Price → The Color of Money. Price, Scorsese and Newman each count as authors; Newman hired the director and badgered Price to keep fixing the script.
“He hired the director. He badgered Richard Price to fix stuff, make stuff better”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:19:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Robbie Robertson: 2 lines craft ×2

craft (craft): Robbie Robertson → The Color of Money. Robertson's early dub-style music work on the film is singled out as the fun part of the Werewolves of London sequence.
“Early Robbie Robertson, like, dubmaster stuff going on here where... The Robbie stuff in this is so fun.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:13:17 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Slap Shot: 2 lines theme ×1 verdict ×1

verdict (career ranking): The Color of Money → Slap Shot. Only Butch Cassidy, Cool Hand Luke, The Verdict and Slap Shot rank above this among Newman's films for the speaker.
“I think only Butch Cassidy, cool hand Luke, the verdict and slapshot would come ahead of color money for it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:14:34 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

The Last Temptation of Christ: 2 lines career ×2

career (career strategy): The Last Temptation of Christ → The Color of Money. The Color of Money was Scorsese showing he could work with stars and studios to make a hit.
“And then he makes color of money to be like, I can work with stars.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie · 0:51:14 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Tom Cruise: 2 lines craft ×2

craft (craft): Tom Cruise → The Color of Money. Cruise trained in billiards for The Color of Money like Travolta trained for the dance floor.
“he like really has trained in billiards, so he's actually good at it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Saturday Night Fever’ With Bill Simmons and Jimmy Kimmel · 0:41:20 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

Top Gun: 2 lines unmapped ×1 career ×1

career (career arc): Top Gun → The Color of Money. In the 80s and 90s Cruise paired a blockbuster with a critical film in the same year.
“Top Gun and Color Monster.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:45:12 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Warren Zevon: 2 lines unmapped ×1 craft ×1

unmapped (song choice): Warren Zevon → The Color of Money. Werewolves of London plays in the pool hall scene; Chris prefers Zevon's self-titled second album as the best rock album of the 70s.
“His 2nd album, Warren Zvon, is the greatest rock album of the 70s.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:14:52 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)

1941: 1 line career ×1

career (career-arc analogue): The Color of Money → 1941. Spielberg's lean style forged by 1941 failure is compared with Scorsese compressing his shoot to regain trust.
“That's always been a famous, uh, Spielberg thing, that he's so forged in the failure of 1941 that he adopts that style for Raiders”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:22:10 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

A Bronx Tale: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (channel idea): A Bronx Tale → The Color of Money. A gambling-movie channel idea (FanDuel TV) would air films like The Color of Money and gambling scenes.
“So like the color of money.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:04:44 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)

Apocalypse Now: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (peaks early): Apocalypse Now → The Color of Money. Apocalypse Now is the example of a film whose best sequence arrives in the middle, so the viewer stops watching around 65 minutes.
“Everyone's like, I love apocalypse now. Of course, I always stop watching about 65 minutes.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:10:52 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Cars: 1 line theme ×1

theme (thematic lesson): Cars → The Color of Money. The lesson of Cars and Color of Money is that excellence is in how you use it, not raw skill, and the hosts tie the tagline line to the film.
“And I would say the lesson of cars and the lesson of, uh, the color of money is, uh, it's in the way that you use it.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:10:27 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Clapton: 1 line craft ×1

craft (craft): Clapton → The Color of Money. Clapton plays through the pool hall PA before the film cuts to Werewolves of London.
“it's like digetic, so it's like playing through a PA system at the pool hall and they're playing Clapton.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:13:51 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Collateral: 1 line verdict ×1

verdict (ranking): Collateral → The Color of Money. Forced to pick one, the hosts keep Collateral over The Color of Money for the Hall of Fame.
“Okay, well you choose.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:31:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Cool Hand Luke: 1 line industry ×1

industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → Cool Hand Luke. Newman was nominated for Cool Hand Luke in a stacked 1968 lineup that Rod Steiger won.
“Cool Hand Luke is the most iconic, I think, of all of those parts.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:12:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Crocodile Dundee: 1 line industry ×1

industry (box office rival): The Color of Money → Crocodile Dundee. Color of Money opened number two in October 1986; Crocodile Dundee was the year's number one hit.
“Number one at the box office. is a film we've covered, one of the biggest hits of 1986.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 3:09:47 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Dawn of the Dead: 1 line lineage ×1

lineage (legacy-sequel precedent): The Color of Money → Dawn of the Dead. Another early sequel candidate that shares no characters, just a long gap and iconography.
“Dawn of the Dead kind of counts because it was a long, like, weight. between movies that like they don't have the same characters.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:20:55 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Don Henley: 1 line craft ×1

craft (craft): Don Henley → The Color of Money. A host calls the Henley song in the film cheesy post-Eagles Henley but enjoyed it.
“Cheesy post Eagles Henley, but at the same time, I enjoyed it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:39:08 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Doom: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (cultural legacy): The Color of Money → Doom. Cruise saying 'Doom' in the pool hall scene led a software company to name its video game Doom.
“That leads to the software company coming up with the name for their new revolutionary video game.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Edge of Tomorrow: 1 line contrast ×1

contrast (contrast): Edge of Tomorrow → The Color of Money. Same point: the earlier Cruise plays the guy who has the moves; Edge has him work for them.
“not this guy has all the moves.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Edge of Tomorrow · 0:20:55 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High: 1 line career ×1

career (career breakout): The Color of Money → Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In 1986 audiences knew Forest Whitaker only as the guy from Fast Times, and this was his 'I'm on the map' part.
“hey, the guy from Fast Times. That was the reaction”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:32:52 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Forest Whitaker: 1 line career ×1

career (career): Forest Whitaker → The Color of Money. Whitaker went toe to toe with Newman in The Color of Money in the mid-80s.
“going toe to toe with Newman.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:03:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Gandhi: 1 line industry ×1

industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → Gandhi. Gandhi, Chariots of Fire and Out of Africa were huge Oscar-era films that nobody discusses today.
“So was Chariots of Fire, which is another movie nobody has conversations about it anymore.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:18:32 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Gangs of New York: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (blank check scale): The Color of Money → Gangs of New York. Gangs of New York is Scorsese's true blank check, a nonfiction book about Bowery gangsters he wanted $100 million for.
“But that movie was so risky and he had tried to do it for so long, like his blank check is gangs of New York.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:18:50 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)

Iggy Pop: 1 line people ×1

people (cameo): Iggy Pop → The Color of Money. Iggy Pop appears as the credited skinny player on the road.
“Fantastic Iggy Pop. as credited as skinny player on road.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:33:52 · David Sims (0.35 sure it was them)

Jackie Gleason: 1 line what-if ×1

what-if (casting what-if): Jackie Gleason → The Color of Money. They thought about bringing back Gleason as Minnesota Fats, but he felt the role was an afterthought.
“They thought about Gleason, bringing back Minnesota fats.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:04 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

James Brown: 1 line what-if ×1

what-if (what-if): James Brown → The Color of Money. A host says Price's script had James Brown, not Werewolves of London, as the song for Vincent's dance scene.
“Well, in the script itself, it's James Brown. Price has it as James Brown.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:31:56 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Jerry Maguire: 1 line lineage ×1

lineage (sequel idea): Jerry Maguire → The Color of Money. A hypothetical Jerry Maguire 2 would work like The Hustler/Color of Money pairing.
“If it was like the hustle and the color of money and he returns to his Eddie Felson.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:10:35 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Lorraine Bracco: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (family link): Lorraine Bracco → The Color of Money. Mastrantonio's character's sister in the dinner scene is played by Lorraine Bracco's sister (as said).
“But, um, that's Lorraine Brocko's sister.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:56:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Michael Ovitz: 1 line industry ×1

industry (packager): Michael Ovitz → The Color of Money. Ovitz engineered the Newman-plus-Scorsese pairing, nudging Newman to write a letter and nudging Scorsese toward a commercial project.
“I know he's an artiste. He's probably not going to want to do like a commercial thing. So I'm going to try and like nudge him towards something commercial.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:55:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Mona Lisa: 1 line industry ×1

industry (Oscar rival): Mona Lisa → The Color of Money. Bob Hoskins's Mona Lisa was the critical favorite and won the Globe, making Newman's Oscar win a surprise on the night.
“Huskins and Mona Lisa is the better performance, right? Taking on its own. incredibly good performance.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:58:56 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Panic Room: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (directorial constraint): The Color of Money → Panic Room. Both directors were handed a confined, mundane space and responded with showy camera flourishes.
“it reminds me a little of panic room with Fincher.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:19:18 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

Paul Newman: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (mentorship): The Color of Money → Paul Newman. Cruise picked up tips on managing movie stardom from Paul Newman on The Color of Money.
“he picked up from the Paul Newmans of the world when appearing in the color of money.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:44:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Return to Oz: 1 line lineage ×1

lineage (legacy-sequel precedent): The Color of Money → Return to Oz. Reddit consensus calls Color of Money the first legacy sequel, with Return to Oz as a debated earlier candidate dismissed as too weird.
“Uh, color money is generally agreed to on to be the 1st legacy sequel. Some people are like, does return to Oz count?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:20:34 · David Sims (0.55 sure it was them)

Robert Palmer: 1 line craft ×1

craft (craft): Robert Palmer → The Color of Money. A host is in on the two Robert Palmer songs used in the film and calls 70s Palmer underrated.
“I'm in on the 2 Robert Palmer songs used in this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:56 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Rocky II: 1 line lineage ×1

lineage (sequel script comparison): The Color of Money → Rocky II. The original Tevis-based script, a two-hander with Fats in Florida, would have been more by-the-book, like Rocky II or Creed II.
“It's more going by the book, right? It's like Rocky 2.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:06:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Rocky IV: 1 line theme ×1

theme (ending analogy): The Color of Money → Rocky IV. The private Eddie-Vince final game is likened to Rocky versus Apollo Creed in private.
“and gives Vince the money back and is like, you know, let's do, it's like Rocky versus Apollo Creed in private.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:53:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Departed: 1 line craft ×1

craft (directorial style): The Color of Money → The Departed. The fast-cutting montage with a blues soundtrack explosion in the Grady Seasons scene is a Scorsese move they also discussed on The Departed and Wolf of Wall Street.
“This like super fast cutting montage blues soundtrack explosion thing that he does”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

The Last Starfighter: 1 line theme ×1

theme (video-game movie parallel): The Color of Money → The Last Starfighter. Vincent's obsession with an arcade game that supposedly sharpens his skills is compared with the game in The Last Starfighter.
“What was the video game in Last Starfighter?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:49:00 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Untouchables: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (dismissed-at-the-time): The Color of Money → The Untouchables. Both got tepid, popcorn-fluff reviews at release despite being directed by great filmmakers.
“It feels very akin to the untouchables to me, where you read those reviews and you're like, it's more summer popcorn fluff.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 3:05:48 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Wolf of Wall Street: 1 line craft ×1

craft (directorial style): The Color of Money → The Wolf of Wall Street. Same Scorsese fast-cutting montage-with-music technique appears in both.
“We also talked about it years ago and we did Wolf of Wall Street.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Tough Guys: 1 line industry ×1

industry (box-office neighbor): The Color of Money → Tough Guys. Number five on the 1986 box office list, an old-guy gangster comedy with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.
“It's called tough guys. Tough guys. And it's Kirk Douglas. And the other one is Burt Lancaster?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 3:12:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Trading Places: 1 line craft ×1

craft (visual tone): The Color of Money → Trading Places. Men waving cash in each other's faces at a bar feels very Trading Places.
“it's like very trading places where it's just dudes waving shit in each other's faces.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:51:05 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Tron: 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (world-sharing): The Color of Money → Tron. The Tron arcade cabinet in Vincent's game room makes the film feel set in the Tron world; both Disney.
“obviously the Tron cabinet was like real and was more successful than the movie and stayed in arcades for years, but it does make it feel like this is a movie that takes place in the world of Tron.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:49:23 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Werewolves of London scene (pool hall): 1 line unmapped ×1

unmapped (scene highlight): The Color of Money → Werewolves of London scene (pool hall). The Werewolves of London sequence is called the film's Flight-of-the-Valkyries-problem peak at around minute 55, a transcendent set piece the movie cannot match afterward.
“the flight of the Valkyries problem in a movie, when it peaks to her, when you peak at minute 55.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:10:22 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Where it came up

passing in Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie, first at 0:20:36, 6 times
subject in Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan, first at 0:00:21, 60 times
passing in Blank Check with Griffin & David · After Hours with Alison Sivitz, first at 1:15:12, 2 times
passing in The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag!, first at 0:58:17, 1 time
compared in The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan, first at 0:08:41, 4 times
compared in The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey, first at 0:30:20, 4 times
passing in The Rewatchables · ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey, first at 2:40:41, 1 time
passing in The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan, first at 1:04:44, 1 time
passing in The Rewatchables · ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey, first at 1:03:01, 1 time
compared in The Rewatchables · ‘Saturday Night Fever’ With Bill Simmons and Jimmy Kimmel, first at 0:41:20, 1 time
subject in The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey, first at 0:00:59, 40 times
compared in The Rewatchables · ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan, first at 0:07:26, 1 time
passing in The Rewatchables · 'Mission: Impossible' With Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Jason Concepcion, first at 0:12:31, 2 times
recommended in The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained?, first at 1:47:06, 1 time
compared in The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame, first at 0:44:12, 10 times
compared in Blank Check — Patreon · Edge of Tomorrow, first at 0:20:52, 1 time
passing in Blank Check — Patreon · Panic Room with Eva Anderson (Ad-Free), first at 1:12:29, 2 times

What was said about it, by kind

career (13)

career (career strategy): The Last Temptation of Christ → The Color of Money. The Color of Money was Scorsese showing he could work with stars and studios to make a hit.
“And then he makes color of money to be like, I can work with stars.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie · 0:51:14 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
career (Tom Cruise career): Cocktail → The Color of Money. Cruise should do a Color of Money legacy sequel instead of Days of Thunder or more racing movies.
“Do fucking color of money with a Kaylee Spainey or some shit.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie · 2:07:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career enabler): The Color of Money → The Last Temptation of Christ. The paycheck-gig hit stabilizes Scorsese's career and makes Last Temptation and Goodfellas possible.
“Must admit though, it is the guarantor that allows him to immediately then make. Last temptation of Christ in Goodfellas.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:17:57 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career-arc analogue): The Color of Money → Raiders of the Lost Ark. Raiders is cited as a comeback after the flop 1941; Color of Money is instead a stabilizer rather than a comeback.
“Like Raiders of the Lost Arc as a comeback post-1941 is a pure like he bottomed out and then he struck gold as hard as you possibly could.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:20:06 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career pivot): The Color of Money → After Hours. After Last Temptation failed in the early 80s, Scorsese made cheap After Hours to prove he could finish something, then took Color of Money.
“Uh, it fails and so he makes after hours as a sort of pivot out of that of like, I'll just do something.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:50:35 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career-arc analogue): The Color of Money → 1941. Spielberg's lean style forged by 1941 failure is compared with Scorsese compressing his shoot to regain trust.
“That's always been a famous, uh, Spielberg thing, that he's so forged in the failure of 1941 that he adopts that style for Raiders”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:22:10 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career sequence): After Hours → The Color of Money. After this, Scorsese finally gets an unqualified hit with The Color of Money; next episode.
“After this, Martin Scorsese finally has an unqualified hit.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · After Hours with Alison Sivitz · 2:25:53 · unknown host (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career bridge): After Hours → The Color of Money. The camera moves of After Hours carry into Color of Money's pool table, tied to Ballhaus; both lead to Goodfellas.
“that same thing, that camera is flying across the pool table.”
The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:30:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career): Forest Whitaker → The Color of Money. Whitaker went toe to toe with Newman in The Color of Money in the mid-80s.
“going toe to toe with Newman.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:03:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career context): The Color of Money → Absence of Malice. Newman's early-80s over-the-hill roles (The Verdict, Absence of Malice) led into choosing this role.
“he had already been doing over the hill parts for like 5 or 6 years.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:21:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
career (career breakout): The Color of Money → Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In 1986 audiences knew Forest Whitaker only as the guy from Fast Times, and this was his 'I'm on the map' part.
“hey, the guy from Fast Times. That was the reaction”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:32:52 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Eric Clapton → The Color of Money. A host says the film's use of Clapton was about as good as his comeback got after the drug years, before MTV Unplugged.
“Clapton, comeback, Clapton, I think this is about as good as it got for him after he'd gotten through all the drug stuff.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:02:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career arc): Top Gun → The Color of Money. In the 80s and 90s Cruise paired a blockbuster with a critical film in the same year.
“Top Gun and Color Monster.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:45:12 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

contrast (3)

contrast (baton-passing contrast): Top Gun: Maverick → The Color of Money. Cruise keeps making baton-pass movies where he refuses to pass the baton; Maverick saves Teller instead of elevating him.
“Also, the fact that Cruz keeps making baton pass movies where he refuses to pass the baton.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:31:55 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (tonal contrast): The Color of Money → The Verdict. In both films Newman is battered yet hot, but pool hustler reads as cool while The Verdict makes the loser life look sad.
“In this one, it's like, you're like, air pool player, that's cool. And the verdict, you're like, wow, you you suck.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:46:17 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Edge of Tomorrow → The Color of Money. Same point: the earlier Cruise plays the guy who has the moves; Edge has him work for them.
“not this guy has all the moves.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Edge of Tomorrow · 0:20:55 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

craft (16)

craft (craft): Michael Ballhaus → The Color of Money. The host's dossier notes the bounce lights Ballhaus used to light the film.
“But, you know, there's a lot of stuff here about, you know, the kind of bounce lights he used.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:21:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Michael Ballhaus → The Color of Money. Ballhaus keeps the camera moving in roughly seven of every ten shots, which suits Scorsese.
“Like, Bauhaus is like, I think out of every, like, 7 out of every 10 shots, the camera's moving.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:21:24 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (camera-movement coverage): The Color of Money → Raiders of the Lost Ark. Scorsese covers scenes with morphing moving master shots, like Spielberg's quick efficient coverage, to stay under schedule.
“But he's doing like all this Spielberg, like coverage with camera movement.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:21:44 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (set-design / visual): The Color of Money → The Verdict. Both are ranked on the podium of burnished-wood movies.
“I call that the greatest burnished wood movie of all time. This one has a, but this is in on the podium with that.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:47:47 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Robbie Robertson → The Color of Money. Robertson's early dub-style music work on the film is singled out as the fun part of the Werewolves of London sequence.
“Early Robbie Robertson, like, dubmaster stuff going on here where... The Robbie stuff in this is so fun.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:13:17 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Clapton → The Color of Money. Clapton plays through the pool hall PA before the film cuts to Werewolves of London.
“it's like digetic, so it's like playing through a PA system at the pool hall and they're playing Clapton.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:13:51 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Tom Cruise → The Color of Money. Question for Cruise: does he still have his pool skills from The Color of Money, and the bottle flip from Cocktail.
“Is he still good at pool from color?”
The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:58:17 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Tom Cruise → The Color of Money. Cruise trained in billiards for The Color of Money like Travolta trained for the dance floor.
“he like really has trained in billiards, so he's actually good at it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Saturday Night Fever’ With Bill Simmons and Jimmy Kimmel · 0:41:20 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
craft (directorial style): The Color of Money → The Wolf of Wall Street. Same Scorsese fast-cutting montage-with-music technique appears in both.
“We also talked about it years ago and we did Wolf of Wall Street.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:52 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (directorial style): The Color of Money → The Departed. The fast-cutting montage with a blues soundtrack explosion in the Grady Seasons scene is a Scorsese move they also discussed on The Departed and Wolf of Wall Street.
“This like super fast cutting montage blues soundtrack explosion thing that he does”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Robbie Robertson → The Color of Money. A host praises Robbie Robertson's score as excellent.
“Robbie Robertson's score is excellent.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Eric Clapton → The Color of Money. A host says the Clapton song playing before Werewolves of London is great and gets the audience hyped, even if 80s Clapton has aged unevenly.
“that song is when they're playing that before werewolves of London, you're just like getting so hype.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Robert Palmer → The Color of Money. A host is in on the two Robert Palmer songs used in the film and calls 70s Palmer underrated.
“I'm in on the 2 Robert Palmer songs used in this movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:38:56 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Don Henley → The Color of Money. A host calls the Henley song in the film cheesy post-Eagles Henley but enjoyed it.
“Cheesy post Eagles Henley, but at the same time, I enjoyed it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:39:08 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
craft (visual tone): The Color of Money → Trading Places. Men waving cash in each other's faces at a bar feels very Trading Places.
“it's like very trading places where it's just dudes waving shit in each other's faces.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:51:05 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Warren Zevon → The Color of Money. A host wonders whether Warren Zevon was really big at Chalkey's and why Werewolves of London was on the jukebox.
“was Warren Zevon big at Chalkey's for real? Like, why was that on the box? Why was that on the jukebox?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:51:45 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

industry (8)

industry (packager): Michael Ovitz → The Color of Money. Ovitz engineered the Newman-plus-Scorsese pairing, nudging Newman to write a letter and nudging Scorsese toward a commercial project.
“I know he's an artiste. He's probably not going to want to do like a commercial thing. So I'm going to try and like nudge him towards something commercial.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:55:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar gold watch): The Color of Money → The Verdict. The Oscar for Color of Money is treated as a gold-watch win after the Verdict snub, awarded the year after his honorary Oscar.
“This is kind of one of the most famous gold watch Oscar wins, right? They give it to him the year after they give him the lifetime achievement award.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:57:18 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar rival): Mona Lisa → The Color of Money. Bob Hoskins's Mona Lisa was the critical favorite and won the Globe, making Newman's Oscar win a surprise on the night.
“Huskins and Mona Lisa is the better performance, right? Taking on its own. incredibly good performance.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:58:56 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (box office rival): The Color of Money → Crocodile Dundee. Color of Money opened number two in October 1986; Crocodile Dundee was the year's number one hit.
“Number one at the box office. is a film we've covered, one of the biggest hits of 1986.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 3:09:47 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (box-office neighbor): The Color of Money → Tough Guys. Number five on the 1986 box office list, an old-guy gangster comedy with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.
“It's called tough guys. Tough guys. And it's Kirk Douglas. And the other one is Burt Lancaster?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 3:12:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → The Verdict. Newman lost for The Verdict in a brutal year (Hoffman in Tootsie, Kingsley in Gandhi) then won in 1987 against a weaker slate.
“In 87 when they give out the 86 Oscars. You know, it's it's a much weaker slate”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:06:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → Cool Hand Luke. Newman was nominated for Cool Hand Luke in a stacked 1968 lineup that Rod Steiger won.
“Cool Hand Luke is the most iconic, I think, of all of those parts.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:12:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
industry (Oscar context): The Color of Money → Gandhi. Gandhi, Chariots of Fire and Out of Africa were huge Oscar-era films that nobody discusses today.
“So was Chariots of Fire, which is another movie nobody has conversations about it anymore.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:18:32 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

lineage (12)

lineage (sequel): The Color of Money → The Hustler. The Color of Money is the sequel to The Hustler, but built from a new script that keeps only the title of the Tevis sequel novel.
“Even when they start developing scripts and go, like, throw all that out, start fresh, they kept writing in parts from Minnesota fats.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:13:06 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (legacy-sequel precedent): The Color of Money → Return to Oz. Reddit consensus calls Color of Money the first legacy sequel, with Return to Oz as a debated earlier candidate dismissed as too weird.
“Uh, color money is generally agreed to on to be the 1st legacy sequel. Some people are like, does return to Oz count?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:20:34 · David Sims (0.55 sure it was them)
lineage (legacy-sequel precedent): The Color of Money → Dawn of the Dead. Another early sequel candidate that shares no characters, just a long gap and iconography.
“Dawn of the Dead kind of counts because it was a long, like, weight. between movies that like they don't have the same characters.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:20:55 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (sequel script comparison): The Color of Money → Rocky II. The original Tevis-based script, a two-hander with Fats in Florida, would have been more by-the-book, like Rocky II or Creed II.
“It's more going by the book, right? It's like Rocky 2.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:06:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (legacy-sequel heirs): The Color of Money → Top Gun: Maverick. Gap-based legacy sequels like Top Gun Maverick, Tron Legacy and Blade Runner follow the template Color of Money invented, though in 1986 sequels were derided.
“now we get more and more like your your Tron legacies and your Top Gun Mavericks, where it's just casually... 37, 40 years later”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:07:05 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (callback): The Color of Money → The Hustler. The mentoring conversation Newman has with Vince and Carmen mirrors the one George C. Scott has with Newman in The Hustler; both films also go on the road.
“that's basically the George C. Scott has the same conversation with Paul Newman and the Hustler.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:44:53 · Chris Ryan (0.65 sure it was them)
lineage (sequel/continuation): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Newman's Eddie Felson in 1986 becomes the George C. Scott hustler-mentor character of the original, and the sequel answers rather than remakes it.
“the Newman character in the color of money becomes the George C. Scott character in the Hustler.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:45:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (callback): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Newman getting drunk and hustled by Amos is the first time he plays the Jackie Gleason role of the original, drunk and overconfident.
“it's basically the 1st time he plays Jackie Gleason and the hustler where he's just like wasted and thinks he's going to win and then gets gets hustled.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:45:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (source material): The Color of Money → The Hustler. The film is theoretically based on Walter Tevis's follow-up novel to The Hustler but has almost nothing to do with it; Minnesota Fats was in the novel.
“this is theoretically based on Walter Tevis's follow-up novel to the Hustler, but the movie has almost nothing to do with the novel”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Color of Money → The Hustler. The Color of Money revisits Eddie Felson years later, with Paul Newman in his twilight and a new protege.
“Now we find Paul Newman bringing up like a new protégé.”
The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:47:28 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (sequel idea): Jerry Maguire → The Color of Money. A hypothetical Jerry Maguire 2 would work like The Hustler/Color of Money pairing.
“If it was like the hustle and the color of money and he returns to his Eddie Felson.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:10:35 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (legacy sequel): Top Gun: Maverick → The Color of Money. Top Gun: Maverick is doing the Eddie Felson-style return of an older character.
“Obviously, he's doing that with Top Gun right now.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:10:40 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

people (8)

people (origin of collaboration): Raging Bull → The Color of Money. Newman watched Raging Bull on Ovitz's recommendation and wanted to work with Scorsese.
“Paul Newman watches Raging Bull on, I guess Ovid's his recommendation and says, like, that's one of the best things I've ever seen.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:53:44 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (boxing/pool cinematography): The Color of Money → Raging Bull. Boxing is the most cinematic sport because it is contained; billiards is an even tinier version of that.
“A thing, I'm sure we've talked about extensively, on a raging bull episode, but billiards is like an even tinier version of that.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:23:06 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (script vs director choice): Richard Price → The Color of Money. The script said James Brown but Scorsese substituted Werewolves of London, showing the difference between Price and Scorsese.
“In the script, it's James Brown. So that's it's supposed to be James Brown, not Werewolves of London.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:13:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (cameo): Iggy Pop → The Color of Money. Iggy Pop appears as the credited skinny player on the road.
“Fantastic Iggy Pop. as credited as skinny player on road.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:33:52 · David Sims (0.35 sure it was them)
people (writer-director fusion): Richard Price → The Color of Money. Price, Scorsese and Newman each count as authors; Newman hired the director and badgered Price to keep fixing the script.
“He hired the director. He badgered Richard Price to fix stuff, make stuff better”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:19:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
people (supporting actor overlap): The Color of Money → Cocktail. A bar actor here is Cruise's uncle from Cocktail, supporting the theory Cruise pulls his supporting players from film to film.
“Just that Cruz is kind of grabbing all of his supporting figures over the years.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:53:27 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): The Color of Money → Martin Scorsese. Scorsese and Richard Price made the Color of Money.
“And it's just like fucking Scorsese and Richard Price.”
The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:47:32 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
people (auteur credit): The Color of Money → Martin Scorsese. Sean would speechify about Scorsese for 90 seconds if it were just two of them.
“I would probably speechify about Scorsese for 90 seconds”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:53:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

theme (6)

theme (thematic lesson): Cars → The Color of Money. The lesson of Cars and Color of Money is that excellence is in how you use it, not raw skill, and the hosts tie the tagline line to the film.
“And I would say the lesson of cars and the lesson of, uh, the color of money is, uh, it's in the way that you use it.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:10:27 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (video-game movie parallel): The Color of Money → The Last Starfighter. Vincent's obsession with an arcade game that supposedly sharpens his skills is compared with the game in The Last Starfighter.
“What was the video game in Last Starfighter?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:49:00 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (ending/aging parallel): The Color of Money → Slap Shot. Both films play Newman's age as a strength, battered but still the hottest thing, and end with a nonconventional, self-satisfying triumph rather than a big win.
“not unlike Slapshot, where the movie's culmination is, I'm going to take all my clothes off and skate around in circles.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:43:46 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (ending analogy): The Color of Money → Rocky IV. The private Eddie-Vince final game is likened to Rocky versus Apollo Creed in private.
“and gives Vince the money back and is like, you know, let's do, it's like Rocky versus Apollo Creed in private.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:53:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (theme): F1 → The Color of Money. Color of Money shows billiards as the most exciting cinematic thing; so racing movies work better than racing.
“if you watch Color of Money, you're like, Billiards is the most exciting cinematic thing”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:56 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (character arc): The Color of Money → The Hustler. Eddie in The Hustler is a loser and drunk with broken thumbs, an anti-hero rather than a golden god, unlike Cruise's Vincent.
“What do we know about Eddie Felson from the Hustler is he's a loser.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:08:11 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)

unmapped (22)

unmapped (early old-Newman voice): The Color of Money → Absence of Malice. Absence of Malice marks the earliest time Newman plays an old man in the grave voice, with Color of Money as the later full version.
“Absence of malice feels to me like the earliest I can identify. He is playing old man.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:01:48 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (continuing tragedy): The Hustler → The Color of Money. The Color of Money carries the original film's tragedy as backstory without explaining it in a monologue.
“And that's all the backstory for this movie, which is so interesting that he doesn't give the big monologue explaining what happened in the 1st film.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:12:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (blank check scale): The Color of Money → Gangs of New York. Gangs of New York is Scorsese's true blank check, a nonfiction book about Bowery gangsters he wanted $100 million for.
“But that movie was so risky and he had tried to do it for so long, like his blank check is gangs of New York.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:18:50 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
unmapped (shared coke energy): After Hours → The Color of Money. Both films feel like the sense memory of cocaine, from a director saying goodbye to it.
“That is also another movie, which is somehow not made on cocaine. Yeah. where it's just, but it is, it is the sense memory of cocaine.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:51:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (cocaine arc): Goodfellas → The Color of Money. Scorsese's cocaine-obsessed run culminates in Goodfellas and its helicopters; Color of Money is part of that goodbye.
“Yeah, it really culminates with the helicopters above Henry. Right. And then it's like goodbye to cocaine.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:51:44 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (production overlap): The Color of Money → Top Gun. Cruise shot Top Gun first, then this, then did Top Gun reshoots (shower scene, shadowy love scene) because his hair had grown out.
“he shoots Top Gun first, then shoots this, and then has to go back and do reshoots for Top Gun.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:15:47 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
unmapped (world-sharing): The Color of Money → Tron. The Tron arcade cabinet in Vincent's game room makes the film feel set in the Tron world; both Disney.
“obviously the Tron cabinet was like real and was more successful than the movie and stayed in arcades for years, but it does make it feel like this is a movie that takes place in the world of Tron.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:49:23 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (manager/partner dynamic): The Hustler → The Color of Money. The original is about the partnership he lost and the flashier partner who destroyed him; Eddie's interest in Vincent and Carmen echoes it.
“the sort of tragedy of him fucking up the partner he had who he valued and felt safe with and then getting fucked by the new flashier partner who like destroys his life”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:52:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (long opening set piece): The Hustler → The Color of Money. Both films open with a transfixing, sustained 20-30 minute chunk in one space.
“All of that is basically a sustained like 20 minute chunk of the movie, much like the hustler, where you're just really staying in this space and the dynamics of all of it.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:53:41 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (family link): Lorraine Bracco → The Color of Money. Mastrantonio's character's sister in the dinner scene is played by Lorraine Bracco's sister (as said).
“But, um, that's Lorraine Brocko's sister.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:56:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (scene highlight): The Color of Money → Werewolves of London scene (pool hall). The Werewolves of London sequence is called the film's Flight-of-the-Valkyries-problem peak at around minute 55, a transcendent set piece the movie cannot match afterward.
“the flight of the Valkyries problem in a movie, when it peaks to her, when you peak at minute 55.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:10:22 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (peaks early): Apocalypse Now → The Color of Money. Apocalypse Now is the example of a film whose best sequence arrives in the middle, so the viewer stops watching around 65 minutes.
“Everyone's like, I love apocalypse now. Of course, I always stop watching about 65 minutes.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:10:52 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (multiple transcendent scenes): Goodfellas → The Color of Money. Goodfellas has several transcendent scenes (like the Copacabana and the shine box) so it stays satisfying, unlike Color of Money's single peak.
“Goodfellas is an interesting comparison point because it has like 4 of these.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:12:22 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (song choice): Warren Zevon → The Color of Money. Werewolves of London plays in the pool hall scene; Chris prefers Zevon's self-titled second album as the best rock album of the 70s.
“His 2nd album, Warren Zvon, is the greatest rock album of the 70s.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:14:52 · Chris Ryan (0.55 sure it was them)
unmapped (the loser mentality): The Hustler → The Color of Money. George C. Scott calls Eddie a loser in The Hustler; Whitaker's hustle in Color of Money undoes the same insecurity.
“That's what undoes him when the Forrest Whitaker character in color of money beats him is he's like basically like, I've uncovered the old wound”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:19:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (dismissed-at-the-time): The Color of Money → The Untouchables. Both got tepid, popcorn-fluff reviews at release despite being directed by great filmmakers.
“It feels very akin to the untouchables to me, where you read those reviews and you're like, it's more summer popcorn fluff.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 3:05:48 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (channel idea): A Bronx Tale → The Color of Money. A gambling-movie channel idea (FanDuel TV) would air films like The Color of Money and gambling scenes.
“So like the color of money.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:04:44 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (rewatchability): The Color of Money → Raging Bull. Chris has watched this more often than Raging Bull or The Last Temptation of Christ.
“I've watched it probably more than Raging Bull.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:17:12 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (directorial constraint): The Color of Money → Panic Room. Both directors were handed a confined, mundane space and responded with showy camera flourishes.
“it reminds me a little of panic room with Fincher.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:19:18 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (cultural legacy): The Color of Money → Doom. Cruise saying 'Doom' in the pool hall scene led a software company to name its video game Doom.
“That leads to the software company coming up with the name for their new revolutionary video game.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (production trivia): The Color of Money → Goodfellas. Scorsese came up with Goodfellas while filming this movie after reading a review of Wiseguy.
“Scorsese came up with Goodfellas when he was filming this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 1:01:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (mentorship): The Color of Money → Paul Newman. Cruise picked up tips on managing movie stardom from Paul Newman on The Color of Money.
“he picked up from the Paul Newmans of the world when appearing in the color of money.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 0:44:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

verdict (2)

verdict (career ranking): The Color of Money → Slap Shot. Only Butch Cassidy, Cool Hand Luke, The Verdict and Slap Shot rank above this among Newman's films for the speaker.
“I think only Butch Cassidy, cool hand Luke, the verdict and slapshot would come ahead of color money for it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:14:34 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (ranking): Collateral → The Color of Money. Forced to pick one, the hosts keep Collateral over The Color of Money for the Hall of Fame.
“Okay, well you choose.”
The Big Picture · The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame · 1:31:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

what-if (3)

what-if (what-if): F1 → The Color of Money. Color of Money handles the old-dog/new-dog handover best, which F1's ending does not.
“So the best version of this, to me that's ever been done in this old dog, new dog thing.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:56:48 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): James Brown → The Color of Money. A host says Price's script had James Brown, not Werewolves of London, as the song for Vincent's dance scene.
“Well, in the script itself, it's James Brown. Price has it as James Brown.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:31:56 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Jackie Gleason → The Color of Money. They thought about bringing back Gleason as Minnesota Fats, but he felt the role was an afterthought.
“They thought about Gleason, bringing back Minnesota fats.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:04 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

Fun items about it

fun, about The Color of Money: Chris says the hosts' concept for a rep series: movies where you want to live the objectively stressful low life of the people in them.
“movies where you want to live the objectively, like, stressful low life of the people involved. Like you watch it and you're like, what's cooler than being a pool hustler who lives at bars?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 0:10:58 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Cruise went turbo on prep, trying a jump-ball shot that would take days; the hosts speculate it's what he regrets, and Cruise has dinner with Scorsese's parents nightly.
“Uh, Cruz like has dinner with them every night. You know, he really loves Marty.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:18:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Production trivia: Scorsese's one film that came in under schedule and budget ($13M under $14.5M) to prove a point; shot 10 weeks, locations in Chicago after New York pool halls were gone and Toronto was too clean.
“It's the only time he did that in his career and it felt like he needed to do that to prove a point.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:19:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: The opening is a Scorsese voiceover about cigarette imagery; the hosts say it makes them want to drink and smoke and become a hustler.
“The most grotesque and also the most beautiful image of a cigarette. where you're like, I gotta have that.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:38:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: The spectator pool-hall chair, an elevated wooden throne also called a shoeshine or lifeguard chair, which one host asked for in the studio.
“Elevated wooden throne that overlooks so that you get like a good angle on the action. It's technically known as a spectator.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 1:43:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: The film turns into an advertisement for optometry once Eddie gets glasses and his problems clear.
“And then this movie turns into a sort of an advertisement for optometry because it turns out that a lot of his problems were just that he needed a prescription glass.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:42:36 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: The original title was As Good as It Gets; the ending is praised as haunted rather than resolved.
“and the original title for this movie was as good as a guest.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Color of Money with Chris Ryan · 2:55:24 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: In the 1986 Quigley poll of most marketable stars, Cruise was number one and Newman tenth, his last appearance; Newman made it 13 times before 1986. The narrative was Cruise taking the torch.
“Cruz was number one in 1986 when this movie came out. Newman was 10th. It was his last appearance.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:02:14 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Newman was hands-on: he effectively cast it, hired the director, and badgered Richard Price. It's Scorsese's only film to come in under schedule and under budget.
“Scorsese's only film he has directed that came under schedule and under budget because Newman was a maniac about it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:22:51 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 stars, saying it wasn't an exciting film even though Scorsese was a friend; the hosts disagree but respect his integrity.
“And it's not an exciting film. It doesn't have the electricity, the wound up tension of his best work.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:23:28 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: In the script, the song Vince dances to is James Brown, not Warren Zevon.
“Well, in the script itself, it's James Brown.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:31:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Streetlights pass Newman's windshield in time to Werewolves of London as he drives to Chalkey's; also no camera is visible in the final scene's room of mirrors.
“the fucking street lights go past in the windshield, like in time to the music.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:39:42 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: What ages worst: the fictional video game Stalker and the 1980s pool-star cameos (Steve Mizerak, Keith McCready) that were a big deal then.
“I knew who Steve Mahalik was and some of these other dudes”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:47:58 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Bill's theory on why pool left TV: the best players were the people you least wanted to hang out with, like Phil Hellmuth in poker.
“the people who were the best at pool were people you just didn't want to hang out with when you were watching TV”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:49:16 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Helen Shaver's character was added late before filming because they worried Eddie's fascination with Vincent could be misread; that's why she's in only a few scenes.
“they got worried that Eddie's relationship slash fascination with Vincent might be misinterpreted”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:52:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Color of Money: Cruise's 'Doom' in the pool hall scene is where the video game Doom got its name.
“They named it after that scene.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:59:53 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Who the speakers said made it

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

Tom Cruise: actor (Vincent Lauria) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Tom Cruise: star (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie)
Tom Cruise: actor (Vincent) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Tom Cruise: actor (The Rewatchables, A CR Month Mailbag!)
Tom Cruise: actor (The Rewatchables, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ With Bill Simmons and Jimmy Kimmel)
Martin Scorsese: director (The Big Picture, The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame)
Martin Scorsese: director (Blank Check with Griffin & David, After Hours with Alison Sivitz)
Martin Scorsese: director (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Martin Scorsese: director (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie)
Martin Scorsese: director (The Rewatchables, ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey)
Martin Scorsese: director (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Martin Scorsese: director (The Big Picture, ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained?)
Robbie Robertson: music/score supervisor and editing collaborator (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Robbie Robertson: composer (score) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Roger Ebert: critic (2.5 stars) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Roger Ebert: critic (reviewed 2.5 stars) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Paul Newman: actor (The Big Picture, The Tom Cruise Hall of Fame)
Paul Newman: actor (Fast Eddie Felson) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Paul Newman: actor, at the screening (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie)
Paul Newman: actor (Fast Eddie Felson; won Best Actor) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Paul Newman: actor (The Rewatchables, ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan)
Paul Newman: actor (Eddie Felson) (The Big Picture, ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained?)
Paul Newman: star (Eddie Felson) (The Rewatchables, ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan)
Paul Newman: star (Blank Check — Patreon, Panic Room with Eva Anderson (Ad-Free))
Michael Ballhaus: cinematographer (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Michael Ballhaus: cinematographer (The Rewatchables, ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey)
Pauline Kael: critic (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Harvey Keitel: actor (The Rewatchables, ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Richard Price: screenwriter (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Richard Price: screenwriter (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Richard Price: writer (The Big Picture, ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained?)
Walter Tevis: novelist (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Walter Tevis: novelist (The Color of Money sequel novel) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Walter Tevis: screenwriter (wrote a first draft of the screenplay) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Michael Ovitz: agent/CAA co-founder; packaged (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: actor (Carmen) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: actor (Carmen; Oscar-nominated) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
John Turturro: actor (Julian) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
John Turturro: actor (Julian) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Forest Whitaker: actor (Amos) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Forest Whitaker: actor (Amos) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Forest Whitaker: actor (The Rewatchables, ‘Panic Room’ (Plus a Mini Will Smith–Oscars Recap) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Forest Whitaker: great scene (Blank Check — Patreon, Panic Room with Eva Anderson (Ad-Free))
Helen Shaver: actor (Janelle) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Helen Shaver: actor (Janelle) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Bill Cobb: actor (owner of the house of houses) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Kevin McCready: real-life hustler (Earthquake), actor (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Iggy Pop: actor (skinny player on road) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Paul Herman: actor (Atlantic City bettor) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Paul Herman: actor (Atlantic City bar guy) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Warren Zevon: musician (Werewolves of London) (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Warren Zevon: song (Werewolves of London) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Disney: studio; Touchstone distributor (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
Keith McCready: actor/pool player (Grady Seasons) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Bruce A. Young: actor (Moselle) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Bill Cobbs: actor (Orvis) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Vito D'Ambrosio: actor (Lou, Child World) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Steve Mizerak: pool star cameo (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Joanne Woodward: actor / Newman's wife (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Robert Palmer: songs used (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Eric Clapton: songs used (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Don Henley: song used (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Touchstone Pictures: studio (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)
Clapton: music playing diegetically through the pool hall PA before the cut to Werewolves of London (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
James Brown: song named in Richard Price's script, replaced by Scorsese with Werewolves of London (Blank Check with Griffin & David, The Color of Money with Chris Ryan)
James Brown: song in Price's script for the Werewolves of London scene (not used) (The Rewatchables, ‘The Color of Money’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey)