Adam McKay

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q350405: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to The Big Short, which The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 11 - 'The Wolf of Wall Street’ credits them on.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004); Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006); Step Brothers (2008); The Other Guys (2010); The Big Short (2015); Vice (2018); Don't Look Up (2021). Count them as writer (5 films), actor (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.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004): 1 line, within their own work

  1. unmapped (title formula) · through Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), which they directed: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy ⇒ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (the host's read). The Ballad of Ricky Bobby echoes the Legend of Ron Burgundy naming pattern of the 2006 era.
    “Honestly, that's a 2006 thing is titling movies like this.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 1:02:38 · Craig Horlbeck (0.40 sure it was them)

Days of Thunder (1990): 1 line

  1. unmapped (parody target) · through Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), which they directed: Days of Thunder ⇒ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (the host's read). The film is not a direct parody but spoofs movies like Days of Thunder; Reilly was in both.
    “I don't think this movie is like a direct parody of that, but it is parodying movies like Days of Thunder.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 1:05:52 · Craig Horlbeck (0.50 sure it was them)

Dr. Strangelove (1964): 1 line

  1. unmapped (aspirational template) · them, directly: Dr. Strangelove ⇒ Adam McKay (the host's read). Speaker says Strangelove is probably McKay's north star, the thing he strives toward.
    “But I think you're right, though, that McKay is this is probably his north star, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Dr. Strangelove... with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:05:00 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Happy Gilmore (1996): 1 line

  1. unmapped (shared gag) · through Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), which they directed: Happy Gilmore ⇒ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (the host's read). Ricky Bobby signing a woman's chest echoes Happy Gilmore.
    “there's a scene when Ricky Bobby signs a woman's chest and it's exactly like Happy Gilmore when he signs the woman.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 1:15:11 · Craig Horlbeck (0.70 sure it was them)

Robert Altman: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Robert Altman ⇒ Adam McKay (the host's read). Altman was one of the first directors to encourage ad-libbing, a trend followed by McKay, Apatow and PTA.
    “there is this whole generation directors that follows Adam McKay, Apatow, Paul Thomas Anderson”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:31:43 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

The Social Network (2010): 1 line

  1. lineage (ripped off) · through The Big Short (2015), which they directed: The Social Network ⇒ The Big Short (the host's read). David says The Big Short is the most obvious movie ripping off The Social Network, and that people do not make the connection enough.
    “I think the big short, which is not a movie I love, is the most obvious movie that's ripping off the social network, even though people maybe don't make that connection enough.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 0:11:44 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

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

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013): 1 line

  1. unmapped (repeated joke) · through Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), which they directed: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ⇒ Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (the host's read). Anchorman 2 recycled the pretending-to-be-blind gag from Talladega's paralyzed scene.
    “And like, that's just the Talladega paralyzed scene.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 0:21:14 · Danny Heifetz (0.40 sure it was them)

Jay-Z: 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · through Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), which they directed: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ⇒ Jay-Z (the host's read). A host theorizes the Jay-Z and Beyonce song "Apeshit" (video shot in the Louvre) only exists because this film made "ape shit" a thing.
    “I do not think that Beyonce and Jay-Z make a song called Apeshit without this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 0:33:15 · Danny Heifetz (0.40 sure it was them)

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006): 1 line, within their own work

  1. unmapped (title formula) · through Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), which they directed: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy ⇒ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (the host's read). The Ballad of Ricky Bobby echoes the Legend of Ron Burgundy naming pattern of the 2006 era.
    “Honestly, that's a 2006 thing is titling movies like this.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 1:02:38 · Craig Horlbeck (0.40 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (11) everyone in directing

Writing (5) everyone in writing

Other (4) everyone in other

Acting (1) everyone in acting

What was said about them, by kind

contrast (1)

  1. contrast (contrast of technique): 24 Hour Party People → Adam McKay. Fourth-wall breaking is now often dire (Adam McKay) and hard to do well; Winterbottom does it lightly.
    “this 4th wall breaking is now quite dire. I mean, this is like what happens with Adam McKay stuff and it's like, it's hard to do that well.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 0:53:08 · Adam Nayman (0.80 sure it was them)

industry (1)

  1. industry (industry): Judd Apatow → Adam McKay. Bill says McKay and Ferrell were doing the same improvise-and-keep-rolling thing at the same time as Apatow.
    “Adam McKay and Will Ferrell and those guys are kind of doing the same thing at the same time.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Knocked Up’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:10:25 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

lineage (1)

  1. lineage (lineage): Robert Altman → Adam McKay. Altman was one of the first directors to encourage ad-libbing, a trend followed by McKay, Apatow and PTA.
    “there is this whole generation directors that follows Adam McKay, Apatow, Paul Thomas Anderson”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:31:43 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

people (3)

  1. people (collaborators): Will Ferrell → Adam McKay. They made only four films together as director and star.
    “Those are the only movies that McKay directed that Farrell acted in.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 0:06:31 · Danny Heifetz (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. people (director's early work): The Big Short → Adam McKay. McKay's first few sociopolitical comedies are good despite the turn on him.
    “those couple of 1st few like, um, sociopolitical comedies that he made are really good.”
    The Big Picture · The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 11 - 'The Wolf of Wall Street’ · 0:44:02 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. people (people): Vice → Adam McKay. Vice stars previous Oscar winners and is directed by the guy who made The Big Short.
    “directed by the guy who made the big short.”
    The Big Picture · The Oscars Schedule Changes, and Andrew Garfield On ‘Under the Silver Lake’ | Interview · 0:23:38 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)

unmapped (3)

  1. unmapped (creative team): Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby → Adam McKay. Written by Ferrell and McKay, directed by McKay, produced by Judd Apatow.
    “directed by Adam McKay. Written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell, produced by Judd Appatow, made a bunch of money.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 0:01:13 · Craig Horlbeck (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (split): Will Ferrell → Adam McKay. They fell out when McKay passed over Ferrell for the Jerry Buss role in Winning Time and cast John C. Reilly.
    “McKay didn't want Farrell and picked John C. Riley.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 0:07:51 · Danny Heifetz (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (aspirational template): Dr. Strangelove → Adam McKay. Speaker says Strangelove is probably McKay's north star, the thing he strives toward.
    “But I think you're right, though, that McKay is this is probably his north star, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Dr. Strangelove... with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:05:00 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Adam McKay: McKay as Terry Chevaux, the race driver who keeps stopping for a burger and a phone call, was the Dion Waiters candidate and a surprise cameo.
    “Terry Chevaux, is Adam McCann?”
    The Rewatchables · 'Talladega Nights' With Craig Horlbeck, Danny Heifetz, and Danny Kelly · 1:31:55 · Danny Kelly (0.30 sure it was them)