Karen Allen

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q229137: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which Starman with Katey Rich credits them on.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: Animal House (1978); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Starman (1984); The Glass Menagerie (1987); Scrooged (1988); Animal Behavior (1989); King of the Hill (1993); The Perfect Storm (2000); In the Bedroom (2001); Indiana Jones 5 (upcoming).

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, 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.

James Bond films (the franchise): 3 lines

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: James Bond films (the franchise) ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the maker said so: Spielberg's account of the Hawaii conversation with Lucas). Lucas pitched Raiders to Spielberg as a better, American take on the Bond idea Spielberg had been wanting to do.
    “I have the I have the same basic idea, but better, and it's this Raiders of the Lost Ark idea.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 0:49:39 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: James Bond films (the franchise) ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). The Cairo plane fight with the burly Nazi is called a straight James Bond henchman scene.
    “that's that's a flat out James Bond jaw scene.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:50:56 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: James Bond films (the franchise) ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). Raiders borrowed the Bond villain structure: a refined man in a lair with separate gimmicky henchmen to fight.
    “that's a clear thing they lifted from James Bond very wisely, right?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:50:59 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Chuck Jones: 2 lines

  1. craft (craft) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Chuck Jones ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). Spielberg's staging has a Chuck Jones element, going back to Chuck Jones as a cartoon influence.
    “how important Chuck Jones was to Steven Spielberg at the time”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:36:15 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Chuck Jones ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). The wordless anticipation and subversion of Wile E. Coyote shows up in Indy's silent action beats.
    “the importance of anticipation, and how to visually, uh, sort of indicate to the audience, what the character thinks is going to happen”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:39:05 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

It Happened One Night (1934): 2 lines

  1. craft (genre / structure) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: It Happened One Night ⇒ Starman (the host's read). Carpenter wanted a road movie of two people in a car getting to know each other, in the mold of It Happened One Night.
    “I want to make it happens one night.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:22:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (homage) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: It Happened One Night ⇒ Starman (the host's read). The hay-bale love scene in an empty train car is called a likely conscious homage to It Happened One Night.
    “So it's a, maybe it's an homage.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:27:07 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

The Fabelmans (2022): 2 lines

  1. theme (theme) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: The Fabelmans ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). Marion's monkey scenes mirror Spielberg's mother's relationship with the monkey shown in The Fabelmans.
    “the relationship Marion has with the monkey, in that brief amount of screen time, feels so mirrored to his mother's relationship with the monkey”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:28:09 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: The Fabelmans ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). Marion is partly Spielberg's mother, which keeps her from being an idealized tough-girl fantasy.
    “it does feel like to some degree she's like his mom.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:28:40 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)

An American Werewolf in London (1981): 1 line

  1. lineage (effects lineage) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: An American Werewolf in London ⇒ Starman (the host's read). The transformation sequence is indebted to American Werewolf's practical, show-it-all body effects.
    “Yes, which is very like American werewolf in London, where the body is stretching out.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:20:41 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Catherine Hepburn: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Catherine Hepburn ⇒ Karen Allen (the host's read). Allen saw Marion as a 1930s-40s firecracker heroine type that had vanished, a Katharine Hepburn type.
    “Catherine, the very Catherine Hepburn.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:58:15 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982): 1 line

  1. industry (studio rivalry / shadow) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ⇒ Starman (the host's read). Columbia chose Starman over Night Skies, which Universal turned into E.T., so Starman carried the stigma of the one that got away and then looked like a ripoff.
    “Uh, so they let go of night skies and let Universal acquire and turnaround.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 0:24:25 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Flash Gordon (Republic serial): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Flash Gordon (Republic serial) ⇒ Raiders of the Lost Ark (the host's read). Lucas conceived Indiana Jones as a B-picture at A-picture scale, like the old Republic serials.
    “let's make a sort of B picture at an A picture scale, right?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 0:46:47 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Two for the Road (1967): 1 line

  1. craft (genre / structure) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: Two for the Road ⇒ Starman (the host's read). Carpenter reportedly wanted to make something like Two for the Road.
    “I want to make like 2 for the road.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:22:06 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): 2 lines

  1. contrast (contrast) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (the host's read). Willie Scott was built as the anti-Marion, which means doing the opposite of what works.
    “the anti-Marian means you're doing the opposite of what works.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:53:35 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (the host's read). Temple of Doom was a prequel partly to avoid doing the Nazis again.
    “part of the calculation of making a Temple of Doom, a prequel was that he didn't want to just do the Nazis again.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:59:23 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Old School (2003): 2 lines

  1. lineage (genre lineage) · through Animal House (1978), which they acted in: Animal House ⇒ Old School (the host's read). Animal House started the habit of a winnable conflict set-piece that comedies copied for ten years, and Old School revived it.
    “I think Animal House started it and then the next 10 years of comedy is ripped off”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Old School’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:34:48 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (genre lineage) · through Animal House (1978), which they acted in: Animal House ⇒ Old School (the host's read). Old School is the latest in a frat-movie cycle that returns every 10 to 15 years, starting with Animal House.
    “It is in keeping with the kind of every 10 to 15 years frat movie that we now get.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Old School’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:05:23 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)

Chris Pratt: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ Chris Pratt (the host's read). The wrong lessons from Indiana Jones were taken by later action heroes like Pratt.
    “the lessons that we took from that character that like Chris Pratt took maybe from that character are not the ones that I think we should have been taking”
    The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan | The Big Picture (Ep. 57) · 0:09:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Empire of the Sun (1987): 1 line

  1. craft (shot design) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ Empire of the Sun (the host's read). Same slow reveal as Indiana Jones in pieces before the hero shot.
    “which similarly has the like Spielberg taking 5 minutes to show you Indiana Jones in pieces before you really get the hero shot”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:38:17 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Forrest Gump (1994): 1 line

  1. people (performance lineage) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: Starman ⇒ Forrest Gump (the host's read). Bridges' hat, check shirt, strange speech and not-quite-a-person quality read as a proto-Forrest Gump.
    “there's like a proto-Forrest Gump vibe in this performance in the hat and in the check shirt”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:57:23 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Hollywood Nights: 1 line

  1. unmapped (knockoff) · through Animal House (1978), which they acted in: Animal House ⇒ Hollywood Nights (the host's read). Hollywood Nights is called an Animal House runoff set in the past.
    “That was like an animal house runoff”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:41:00 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

John from Cincinnati (2007): 1 line

  1. theme (premise) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: Starman ⇒ John from Cincinnati (the host's read). A mysterious odd visitor who solves everyone's problems and parrots dialogue; John from Cincinnati owes a lot to Starman.
    “He comes and visits, and he's mysterious, and he's weird, and he solves everybody's problem.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:11:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Midnight Special (2016): 1 line

  1. verdict (same story, better version) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: Starman ⇒ Midnight Special (the host's read). Midnight Special is called Spielbergian but really Starman-like; its Adam Driver agent does the benevolent-government-agent role better than Starman's.
    “I'm like, God, that's so Starman.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:02:29 · Katey Rich (0.45 sure it was them)

Sean Levy: 1 line

  1. lineage (remake plan) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: Starman ⇒ Sean Levy (the host's read). Levy announced a 2016 remake with Michael Douglas on board.
    “I learned from Wikipedia that in 2016, Sean Levy was planning to direct and produce a remake of Starman.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:13:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Soderbergh's silent Raiders remix: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ Soderbergh's silent Raiders remix (the host's read). Soderbergh re-cut Raiders silent, black and white, over The Social Network score.
    “It's basically his silent film remix of Raiders, black and white film with the social network score playing over it”
    The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan | The Big Picture (Ep. 57) · 0:10:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Starman (1986): 1 line

  1. lineage (sequel / spin-off) · through Starman (1984), which they acted in: Starman ⇒ Starman (the host's read). The 1986 show is set 15 years later, about his son, with a recast Starman.
    “is set 15 years in the future because it's about his son.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:08:52 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

The Color of Money (1986): 1 line

  1. craft (camera-movement coverage) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: 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)

The Horizon Experiment (comic): 1 line

  1. contrast (contrast) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ The Horizon Experiment (comic) (the host's read). A current comic flips Indiana Jones into someone taking things out of museums back to adventure.
    “a comic book out right now called the Horizon experiment by the guys that did the good Asian”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:24:12 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.80 sure it was them)

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024): 1 line

  1. craft (plot structure) · through Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which they acted in: Raiders of the Lost Ark ⇒ Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (the host's read). The film fails to tie its Indiana-Jones-style MacGuffin to the Wallace-Gromit relationship.
    “They fail to make the, um, the plot, the sort of like Indiana Jones-S McGuffin of what they're up against directly relate to Wallace and Gromit's relationship.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:11:21 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Acting (14) everyone in acting

Other (1) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (2)

  1. career (career): Karen Allen → Animal House. Spielberg noticed Karen Allen in Animal House.
    “Spielberg had noticed her in Animal House”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:57:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Karen Allen → Animal House. Her first film was Animal House, followed shortly by Raiders.
    “her 1st movie is Animal House, right?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:01:51 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

lineage (1)

  1. lineage (lineage): Karen Allen → Catherine Hepburn. Allen saw Marion as a 1930s-40s firecracker heroine type that had vanished, a Katharine Hepburn type.
    “Catherine, the very Catherine Hepburn.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:58:15 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (people): Adrienne King → Karen Allen. King's Alice reads as a Karen Allen type.
    “She has a little Karen Allen tour.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:22:50 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

programming (1)

  1. programming (recommendation): Karen Allen → The Perfect Storm. Allen is great in The Perfect Storm and King of the Hill.
    “She's great in The Perfect Storm, which I loved.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:08:36 · David Sims (0.35 sure it was them)

unmapped (4)

  1. unmapped (stage work): Karen Allen → The Glass Menagerie. Allen played Laura in Paul Newman's Glass Menagerie with Woodward and Malkovich.
    “With John Malkovich as Tom, that's that's wild.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:04:15 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (also in): Karen Allen → In the Bedroom. Allen appears in In the Bedroom, where Sissy Spacek famously throws dishes.
    “Hell, she's in in the bedroom”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:04:53 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (archetype): Karen Allen → Raiders of the Lost Ark. Marion Ravenwood became the ideal everyone emulated; Allen felt overshadowed and said this role was as good.
    “everyone was like, oh, Marion Ravenwood is now the ideal.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:05:57 · Katey Rich (0.45 sure it was them)
  4. unmapped (comedy): Karen Allen → Scrooged. Allen did no comedies until Scrooged and Animal Behavior.
    “Until Scrooge and animal behavior, which is right.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:06:47 · Katey Rich (0.35 sure it was them)

verdict (2)

  1. verdict (verdict): Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull → Karen Allen. Marion's return in Crystal Skull is the winning element; Allen is joyfully back.
    “And a winning thing for Bristol Skull for me is when she comes back into it.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:04:27 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. verdict (verdict): Karen Allen → Starman. They have said Karen Allen should have won the Oscar that year for Starman.
    “I think we both said that we think she should have won the Oscar that year and she wasn't even nominated”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 3:08:07 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

what-if (1)

  1. what-if (what-if): Adrienne King → Karen Allen. Annie, killed in the first ten minutes, could have been the series' Lori Strode if kept as the hero.
    “They had Annie, who's basically Karen Allen 2.0.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:08:53 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Karen Allen: The Marion-Belloc drinking scene was improvised by Karen Allen and Paul Freeman off to the side and given to Spielberg, who adopted it.
    “the scene between her and Belloc, you know, drinking each other under the table was improv.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:54:11 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Karen Allen: Allen turned down the offer at first: a human actor playing an alien, no chemistry for 75 percent of the film; they talked her in.
    “pointedly has to spend 75% of the running time having no chemistry with the only person she shares scenes with.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:03:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)