John Lithgow

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q311271: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to The Rule Of Jenny Pen, which ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Is the Most Important Movie of the Year So Far. And These Flicks Are the Best … credits them on.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984); Raising Cain (1992); Cliffhanger (1993); Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011); Killers of the Flower Moon (2023); The Rule Of Jenny Pen (2024); (unnamed Brian De Palma thrillers); Different Strokes; Fair and Balanced; Ricochet.

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.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): 5 lines

  1. lineage (sequel) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). The film has a sequel, and Clarke wrote three sequel novels.
    “Obviously, the sequel exists.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 0:11:43 · Jordan Hoffman (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). 2010 tries to answer Kubrick's questions and is more loyal to Arthur C. Clarke's ideas.
    “it's much more... As I remember loyal to Arthur C. Clark's science fiction ideas”
    The Big Picture · ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained? · 1:26:18 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. lineage (lineage) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). 2010 was made because the novel sequel existed, a movie made just because they had to.
    “Because Arthur C. Clark had come out with a 2010 novel.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:54:20 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. lineage (sequel) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). 2010 is the sequel to 2001; the speaker's reaction to the Kubrick film is the benchmark throughout.
    “And I said, oh, you know, 2010, the sequel to 2001 and they were like, the what?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:02:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. craft (borrowed music) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). The only thing 2010 borrows from 2001, apart from plotting, is the music, including the Zarathustra drop at the end.
    “Yeah, is the music.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:07:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

2010: Odyssey Two (novel) (1982): 3 lines

  1. unmapped (changes from the book) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2010: Odyssey Two (novel) ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the maker said so). Hyams demanded changes to play up US-Soviet politics, which the novel does not treat as a source of tension.
    “Two, there's changes I want to make to play up the politics of the movie because in the novel, the U.S. Soviet thing is not like a source of tension.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:21:36 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. theme (changed character nationality) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2010: Odyssey Two (novel) ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the maker said so). Dr. Chandra is Indian in the book; the film made him American, per Balaban.
    “Bob Balaban said they changed his nationalities from Indian to American because they thought it would be confusing to have another nationality who've got the Russians and the Americans up there.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:11 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. lineage (adaptation) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: 2010: Odyssey Two (novel) ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). The film exists because Clarke published the sequel novel.
    “Arthur C. Clark, of course, did publish a sequel to 2001 called 2010.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:17:20 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Goodfellas (1990): 3 lines

  1. craft (opening style) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they acted in: Goodfellas ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). The opening tracking shot echoes the Copacabana shot before the film rejects that mode.
    “It was a very long tracking shot through Leo's arrival, which is, you know, gesturing to Copacabana”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:14:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (inverts) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they acted in: Goodfellas ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). Same crimes by white men but with no romance or good life, a deliberate answer to Goodfellas' seductiveness.
    “there's a romance to Goodfellas that does not exist here.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:28:46 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (narration trick) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they acted in: Goodfellas ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). Molly's voiceover recalls Karen taking over narration in Goodfellas.
    “Goodfellas does this. There's a moment when Karen takes over the narration.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:08:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): 1 line

  1. unmapped (tip of the hat) · through 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), which they acted in: Close Encounters of the Third Kind ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read). Casting Balaban reads as a nod to Close Encounters; the speaker finds 2010 more in its shadow than 2001's.
    “And the Balaban casting feels like a real tip of the hat to that.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:28:46 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)

Titanic (1997): 1 line

  1. lineage (callback) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they acted in: Titanic ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). The car make-out scene is a funny Titanic callback.
    “I thought there was a really funny callback to Titanic when they're making out in the car.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:35:48 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

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

No line says anything drew on them or a film of theirs.

What the speakers said they did

Acting (11) everyone in acting

Other (3) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (1)

  1. career (villain career): John Lithgow → Brian De Palma. Lithgow is in the middle of his De Palma villain career at the time of 2010.
    “Lithgow is really in the middle of his, like, Brian De Palma villain career right now, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:30:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about John Lithgow: Lithgow can't be a star because of how strange he looks, yet works in every genre; hosts like him doing anything.
    “He looks like he looks like a waspy monster.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:31:18 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)