Griffin Newman

Speaks on the shows. Their sketches and lines as a speaker.

Wikidata Q34344863: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as other. The films the hosts said they were tied to, which the two lists below run through too: Empire of the Sun (1987); Blank Check (1994); none. Count them as actor (3 films) instead.

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.

David Lean: 1 line

  1. lineage (origin of project) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: David Lean ⇒ Empire of the Sun (the host's read). Lean asked Spielberg to check on the rights, then lost interest and handed the novel to him.
    “He asks Spielberg to check in on the rights for him.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 0:57:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Gone with the Wind (1939): 1 line

  1. unmapped (scene reference) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: Gone with the Wind ⇒ Empire of the Sun (the host's read). Jim stands before the Gone with the Wind poster, echoing Spielberg's remark to Alice Walker that it is one of his favorites.
    “I mean, you have that moment where he's standing in front of the giant gone with the wind poster, right?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:31:05 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

J.G. Ballard: 1 line

  1. lineage (source) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: J.G. Ballard ⇒ Empire of the Sun (the host's read). The novel is darker than the film, which sanitized it and condensed characters.
    “There is definitely a lot of sanitizing happening and a lot of kind of condensing of characters and turning them into more of a more of a Hollywoody plot element.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:01:53 · Bilge Ebiri (0.75 sure it was them)

Jaws (1975): 1 line

  1. craft (shot design) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: Jaws ⇒ Empire of the Sun (the host's read). Spielberg reveals Malkovich in pieces like Jaws and Indiana Jones, withholding the hero shot.
    “he introduces him both like he's Jaws and like he's Indiana Jones”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:38:17 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): 1 line

  1. craft (shot design) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: 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)

Drawn on by

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

Schindler's List (1993): 2 lines

  1. contrast (method contrast) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: Empire of the Sun ⇒ Schindler's List (the host's read). On Schindler Spielberg refused to storyboard, almost as a reaction to criticism of the puppet-show control in Empire.
    “Schindler, the infamous thing, is that he was like, I won't storyboard this.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 0:31:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (dry run) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: Empire of the Sun ⇒ Schindler's List (the host's read). Schindler's List is the more successful grown-up film that erased Empire of the Sun from memory; it was seen as the dry run.
    “Look back as this was the dry run before he totally cracked it on Shell.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 0:30:35 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Tropic Thunder (2008): 1 line

  1. lineage (inspiration) · through Empire of the Sun (1987), which they were tied to as host: Empire of the Sun ⇒ Tropic Thunder (the host's read). Ben Stiller, on the Empire set as a young actor, was inspired by actors playing at suffering to make Tropic Thunder two decades later.
    “Which, of course, this is one of this movie's greatest, like, lasting legacies is that this, this is what inspires Tropic Thunder.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:49:05 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Acting (3) everyone in acting

Other (3) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (1)

  1. career (career): Griffin Newman → The Tick (TV). Hodgman notes that Griffin was number two on the call sheet.
    “you were number 2 on the call sheet”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War with John Hodgman · 0:23:10 · John Hodgman (0.55 sure it was them)

contrast (1)

  1. contrast (contrast): Amélie → Griffin Newman. Griffin loved Amélie at 12 or 13; David thought it twee at 15.
    “I was 12 or 13 and I was like, 100%.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:06:44 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (people): Winona Ryder → Griffin Newman. David has a lifelong weakness for Winona Ryder and she is his number one crush.
    “I guess I have such an incredible weakness for Winona Rider, as you know, Griffin.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:37:58 · David Sims (0.70 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Griffin Newman: Newman's parents had incompatible name lists (Gaelic names vs Rufus and Tyrone); Griffin was the compromise, and they'd tell people he was named for Griffin Dunn.
    “My parents would joke that I was named after Griffin Dunn.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · After Hours with Alison Sivitz · 0:18:54 · Griffin Newman (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Griffin Newman: At sleepaway camp he taped newspaper Apes ads to his bunk wall, then learned from counselors the night before his dad signed him out that it was awful.
    “Every day I would confiscate the newspapers from the counselors and cut out the ads for Plan of the Apes and tape them to my bunk wall.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:17:34 · Griffin Newman (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Griffin Newman: Counselors who saw it the night before acted hungover; one said it was ridiculous, with an ape smoking a hookah.
    “There's like an ape smoking a hookah.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:25:20 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Griffin Newman: Blank Check co-host Griffin Newman and Severance's Zach Cherry play scientists in the final lab; podcasters get extra pixie dust from the scene.
    “there's a little bit of extra pixie dust on this sequence”
    The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 1:04:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Griffin Newman: The pitmaster bit at the Airbnb in Austin and his rollerblading-camp backstory.
    “I pulled off the tarp and I immediately threw some brisket on that fucking bad boy.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:11:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Griffin Newman: Origin story of his comedy: after rollerblade camp bullying, he Photoshopped meme flyers and posted them in the locker room.
    “I was like, me, comedy.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:12:56 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Griffin Newman: Griffin's Supergirl bit: Burt Ward and other legends in the opening credits made viewers think Crisis would tie in The Tick.
    “For 5 seconds, I think people thought Crisis on Infinite Earth was gonna tie in the tick universe.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:05:04 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Griffin Newman: Griffin was a 90-pound mono-recovering actor who ate four cheeseburgers and a milkshake at the Disney store lunch break to gain mass and wondered why he didn't get the part.
    “I would buy 4 cheeseburgers in a milkshake, and I would down it in 20 minutes”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:17:57 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)