James Cameron

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q42574: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Avatar: The Way of Water, which The 2022 Movie Draft credits them on.

Counted as other. The films the hosts said they were tied to, which the two lists below run through too: Rocky (1976); Planet of the Apes (2001); Spider-Man (2002); Cleopatra (unmade Fincher project); Heavy Metal (unmade animated omnibus); Terminator: Dark Fate. Count them as director (14 films), writer (1 film), producer (1 film) 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.

Planet of the Apes (1968): 2 lines

  1. contrast (inversion) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they were tied to as considered directing an Apes film: Planet of the Apes ⇒ Planet of the Apes (the host's read). The remake opens on a loud, leafy backlot set while the original opens in an empty desert with no apes for a long stretch.
    “They totally invert the original movie where the original movie starts in the middle of nowhere.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:53:06 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they were tied to as considered directing an Apes film: Planet of the Apes ⇒ Planet of the Apes (the host's read). Burton's ending tries to outdo the Statue of Liberty reveal of the original.
    “Because they're trying to outdo the reveal of like the Statue of Liberty at the end.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Incredible Hulk · 0:39:14 · Griffin or David (0.30 sure it was them)

Chuck Wepner: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Chuck Wepner ⇒ Rocky (the host's read). Stallone watched Wepner take a beating from Ali for 15 rounds and was inspired to write Rocky in 3.5 days.
    “He's watching Webner Ali in 75, which was the real life version of this.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:19:58 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Darkman (1990): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Spider-Man (2002), which they were tied to as named among the auteurs wanted for it: Darkman ⇒ Spider-Man (the host's read). Raimi's Spider-Man strengths start in Darkman.
    “all the stuff that is cool about the Remy Spider-Man movies starts here”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 1:31:21 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Dogville shorts (1930s-40s live-action dog shorts): 1 line

  1. industry (studio instinct) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they were tied to as considered directing an Apes film: Dogville shorts (1930s-40s live-action dog shorts) ⇒ Planet of the Apes (the host's read). Fox just wanted apes doing human things, like the old Dogville shorts with dogs at restaurant tables.
    “And it feels like Fox just wanted to make that.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 1:12:43 · unknown (0.45 sure it was them)

Steve Ditko and Stan Lee: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Spider-Man (2002), which they were tied to as named among the auteurs wanted for it: Steve Ditko and Stan Lee ⇒ Spider-Man (the host's read). Ditko and Lee made Spider-Man a teen hero for younger readers, not yet accepted by the Avengers or Fantastic Four.
    “I mean, like it was Steve, uh, Ditco and Stanley basically making a character that appealed to younger readers.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’: One of the Best Superhero Movies Ever | Exit Survey (Ep. 108) · 0:09:39 · Micah Peters (0.80 sure it was them)

The Longest Yard: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: The Longest Yard ⇒ Rocky (the host's read). Longest Yard arguably started the big-event beats, but Rocky is what made the sports-movie recipe stick.
    “which I guess you could say longest yard started it, but once Rocky did this.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:06:09 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

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

Creed (2015): 2 lines

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Merchant says Creed repeated Rocky's trick of making you care about the character before the fighting.
    “when they rebooted it with Creed, I think they did the same thing”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:07 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Creed closely follows Rocky's structure, but opens with Creed obviously able to fight, unlike Rocky's grim opening bout.
    “in Creed, which very closely follows some of the structures of rocky.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:38:15 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Fighting with My Family (2019): 2 lines

  1. craft (craft) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says you cannot make a sports movie without watching Rocky and all its sequels.
    “make any kind of sports a movie without watching Rocky or indeed all of the Rockies”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:45:46 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant calls Rocky a template because it beds in character so you root for him before the fight, a lesson he applied.
    “a template in the sense that it really beds in character”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:00 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

(the modern sports movie): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ (the modern sports movie) (the host's read). Rocky created the sports-movie prototype and the modern underdog.
    “created the sports movie prototype, like just period.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:47 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Bear City (SNL digital short): 1 line

  1. unmapped (parody) · through Planet of the Apes (2001), which they were tied to as considered directing an Apes film: Planet of the Apes ⇒ Bear City (SNL digital short) (the host's read). An SNL short riffs on Apes with bears who just wear human clothes and mimic humans, like the apes keeping the Lincoln Memorial.
    “they were riff on Plan of the Apes, where the bears got smart and they decided to kill all the humans.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 1:24:42 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Bull Durham (1988): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Bull Durham (the host's read). Bull Durham took the Rocky motto a level further in how a sports movie is written.
    “how can we take that rocky motto and actually go the next level with how we write a movie”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:51 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Cinderella Man (2005): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Cinderella Man (the host's read). Rocky set up the idea that a victory transforms the supporting cast too, as in Cinderella Man where he fights for Giamatti.
    “by the time you get to like Cinderella man, you realize that he's not just fighting for him, he's fighting for Giamatti.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:28:11 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Raging Bull (1980): 1 line

  1. theme (anti-genre) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Raging Bull (the maker said so). Scorsese shot in black and white to differentiate from Rocky-era bright red-white-and-blue boxing movies, and producer Winkler produced both.
    “Number one, I want to differentiate from the Rockies and all the other sort of boxing movies right now.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 1:08:55 · Griffin Newman or David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Rocky Balboa (2006): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ Rocky Balboa (the host's read). The little girl Marie from Rocky grows up to be the love interest in Rocky Balboa.
    “she then becomes the Rocky Balboa love interest.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:14:31 · Van Lathan (0.45 sure it was them)

The Karate Kid (1984): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they were tied to as hypothetical VFX fix: populate the empty crowd: Rocky ⇒ The Karate Kid (the host's read). Rocky is eight years before Karate Kid, which is called the 2.0 version of the same underdog story but a completely different movie in every respect.
    “We're 8 years away from karate kid, which is the next, the 2.0 version of this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:11:32 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (39) everyone in directing

Other (7) everyone in other

Writing (1) everyone in writing

Producing (1) everyone in producing

What was said about them, by kind

career (8)

  1. career (career): James Cameron → George Lucas. Blank Check got started trying to make sense of Lucas and what success did to him.
    “we realized what was really interesting to us was trying to make sense of George Lucas”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:03:56 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): James Cameron → M. Night Shyamalan. Blank Check's first three series were Shyamalan, the Wachowskis and Cameron Crowe, all with a rise and expensive follies arc.
    “And we did, the 1st 3 series we did were Shyamalan, the Wachowskis, and Cameron Crowe.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:05:04 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): James Cameron → Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick, Blank Check's current series, is most like Cameron in not missing when he gets going.
    “Who's more similar to Cameron and like when he gets going, he pretty much doesn't miss.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:06:00 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. career (career): James Cameron → Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cameron iconographed Arnold, among other leading players he elevated.
    “this is the man who portrayed Ripley and the Terminator and who increasingly iconographed Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:12:33 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  5. career (career): James Cameron → Leonardo DiCaprio. Cameron helped launch Leo.
    “he helped launch Leo.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:21:05 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. career (career): James Cameron → Sigourney Weaver. Cameron elevated Sigourney Weaver.
    “He elevated Sigourney, even.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:21:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. career (career): James Cameron → Linda Hamilton. Cameron is credited with elevating Linda Hamilton too.
    “Yeah, and Linda Hamilton.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:21:14 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  8. career (career): James Cameron → Francis Ford Coppola. Cameron's long-gestating Avatar is compared to Coppola's Megalopolis.
    “It's very similar Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola vibes”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:27:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

contrast (1)

  1. contrast (contrast): James Cameron → Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino promised early retirement; Cameron said he would never retire and was spending his prime years diving.
    “But Tarantino was talking about his long promise thing of, you know, I'll retire when I'm 50.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:28:23 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

industry (2)

  1. industry (industry): Avatar: The Way of Water → James Cameron. Doubters were wrong about Cameron with Titanic and Avatar, so don't count him out.
    “But underestimate James Cameron at your peril, because this is what happened with Titanic, and this is what happened with Avatar.”
    The Big Picture · The Future of ‘Star Wars,’ Marvel, Pixar, and Disney’s Movie Monopoly. Plus: Our Summer Movie Awards and Paul Downs Colaizzo on ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ | The Big Picture · 0:09:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. industry (industry): Stanley Kubrick → James Cameron. Kubrick, like Cameron, would rather lose a film than lose control of how he makes it.
    “It's it's sort of the Cameron thing of like, what's a worse fate for him than not being able to make a movie is not being able to make a movie the way he wants to.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:44:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

lineage (3)

  1. lineage (lineage): James Cameron → George Lucas. Cameron, like Lucas, conceived a new way to make movies and took years doing it.
    “and not unlike Lucas, another lodestar for your show.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:27:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): James Cameron → Cecil B. DeMille. Cameron is called a domineering DeMille-style filmmaker yet made an anti-imperialist movie.
    “a classical, domineering, Cecil B. DeMille style megalomaniacal filmmaker.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 1:14:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. lineage (parallel origin story): James Cameron → David Fincher. Both lost control of a first film and reacted by vowing never to lose again; Cameron became a tyrant, Fincher says he will quit.
    “He like, I'm never fucking losing an argument ever again.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:28:14 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (producer): Alita: Battle Angel → James Cameron. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, yet it is the least-discussed successful film of 2019.
    “It's a movie directed by Robert Rodriguez produced by James Cameron.”
    The Big Picture · Our Alternative Academy Awards | The Oscars Show · 0:39:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

unmapped (5)

  1. unmapped (action direction): Buster Keaton → James Cameron. As an action director Keaton is likened to James Cameron.
    “he's also like fucking James Cameron as an action director.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:51:04 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (development timing): James Cameron → Titanic. Cameron considered Apes before Titanic and lost interest when Titanic succeeded.
    “But it was one of those things where, like, Cameron was thinking about doing it before Titanic than when he thought Titanic was going to bomb.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer · 0:47:37 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (4K controversy): True Lies → James Cameron. The new Cameron 4Ks frustrate people; True Lies and The Abyss look off.
    “the bigger controversy around this is the 4K, all the James Cameron movies.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:34:32 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. unmapped (time and resources): James Cameron → Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Van says Cameron spends 13 years on one franchise, so his film will look better than a Marvel release.
    “one movie, this guy's working 13 years on it.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:49:41 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (hiring pattern): Jean-Pierre Jeunet → James Cameron. Jeunet was the Cameron-style pick of a director fresh off a breakout, unlike Scott or Fincher.
    “Janae is like the Cameron pick of like someone who just had a major breakout movie”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:49:24 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

  1. verdict (verdict): James Cameron → M. Night Shyamalan. Avatar is a cilantro movie like late-period Shyamalan: you either get it or cannot stand it.
    “where it's like he's kind of become a cilantro filmmaker”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:24:06 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

what-if (1)

  1. what-if (what-if): James Cameron → Rocky. A joke that James Cameron could stop making Avatar movies and populate Rocky's crowd.
    “Maybe James Cameron could stop making Avatar movies and instead single-handedly populate the story.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:13:36 · Chris Ryan (0.35 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about James Cameron: Chris Ryan nicknamed Cameron Big Jim; the sea is dope.
    “As Chris once said, he thinks the sea is dope.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:28:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about James Cameron: Cameron said his gap was his prime deep-sea years and he will never retire.
    “I plan to die making films.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:28:38 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about James Cameron: Cameron got $10 million from Fox in 2005 to run R&D on Avatar and could have walked away.
    “Give me a year to just do R&D.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:29:40 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about James Cameron: Speaker calls Cameron the ultimate con artist whose con is real.
    “Like, he is the ultimate, like, con artist whose con is real.”
    The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:30:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about James Cameron: Told as a parallel: during Titanic, Cameron reportedly refused studio cuts.
    “the only way to change my movie is to fire me and the only way to fire me is to kill me.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:42:51 · Sarah Marshall (0.50 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about James Cameron: Cameron required Avatar actors to hold their breath for five-minute takes.
    “I want to do 5 minute unbroken takes for things that are going to be entirely digital anyway because he's a lunatic.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation · 1:12:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)