Cate Blanchett

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q80966: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: The Aviator (2004); I'm Not There (2007); Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008); Nightmare Alley (2021); Tár (2022); Alpha Gang (2026).

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.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: 2 lines

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: F. Scott Fitzgerald ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). The film is adapted from Fitzgerald's short story, though the speakers say it shares little with it.
    “It's quite, it's, it doesn't have too much in common with the film, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:01:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (adaptation distance) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: F. Scott Fitzgerald ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). By the time Roth finished, the film resembles the story in name only.
    “By the time he's done with it, the movie has no resemblance to Benjamin Button apart from, it's called Benjamin Button.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:42:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Forrest Gump (1994): 2 lines

  1. unmapped (anti-Gump answer) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). Griffin reads Benjamin Button as a pointed answer to Gump, showing the death behind the Americana.
    “But I think it's almost like pointedly an anti-gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:22:50 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). The speaker says the cultural narrative is that Benjamin Button is Fincher trying to do Gump.
    “but I do think this is like the cultural narrative of this movie is he's trying to do Gump, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Ken Russell: 1 line

  1. lineage (spiritual forebear) · through Tár (2022), which they acted in: Ken Russell ⇒ Tár (the host's read). Russell's melodramatic operatic composer biopics like Mahler are a Tar precursor.
    “He made a lot of, um, uh, like melodramatic, stylish operatic recreations of composers lives, like Mahler.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:12:01 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Leonard Bernstein: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Tár (2022), which they acted in: Leonard Bernstein ⇒ Tár (the host's read). Tim asks whether the hosts joked that Tar was about Bernstein conducting Mahler in the church; Sean answers that it was inspired by his work.
    “Mad Tar must have been about Bernstein doing the Mahler in the church, right?”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:12:20 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)

Love Is Strong (Rolling Stones video): 1 line

  1. lineage (technique precursor) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: Love Is Strong (Rolling Stones video) ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). A host guesses the Stones' giant-scale effects helped Fincher on Benjamin Button.
    “Well, and I bet this helped for Benjamin Button eventually.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · David Fincher Music Videos · 1:59:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Mahler (1974): 1 line

  1. lineage (precursor) · through Tár (2022), which they acted in: Mahler ⇒ Tár (the host's read). Ken Russell's composer-life films like Mahler are a precursor to Tar.
    “It is kind of a tar precursor.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:12:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Nightmare Alley (1947): 1 line

  1. lineage (remake) · through Nightmare Alley (2021), which they acted in: Nightmare Alley ⇒ Nightmare Alley (the host's read). The 1947 film is a neutered version given 1940s moviemaking; the new one is bigger, bolder and better.
    “It's an interesting movie, a neutered version of the story, I would say, given the circumstances of movie making back in the 40s.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:03:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.95 sure it was them)

Orville Redenbacher commercial (Fincher, Digital Domain): 1 line

  1. unmapped (proof of concept) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: Orville Redenbacher commercial (Fincher, Digital Domain) ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the maker said so). Fincher used a Redenbacher commercial to test whether the film was makeable.
    “I'm basically stealing money from Orvell Redbocker to figure out whether this film is makeable or not.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:52:07 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973): 1 line

  1. lineage (pastiche source) · through I'm Not There (2007), which they acted in: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ⇒ I'm Not There (the host's read). Haynes styles one segment after Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and another after Pennebaker, so the film is also different period filmmaking.
    “he styles one whole segment after, you know, Pat Garrett and Noie the Kid.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 1:13:32 · Adam Nayman (0.85 sure it was them)

Ron Perlman: 1 line

  1. lineage (origin of the project) · through Nightmare Alley (2021), which they acted in: Ron Perlman ⇒ Nightmare Alley (the host's read). Perlman reportedly put the Gresham book in Del Toro's hands in the mid 90s, so he is why the film exists.
    “he's the person, I believe, who, uh, who put the book in Del Toro's hands, I think in the mid 90s.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt! · 0:39:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Schindler's List (1993): 1 line

  1. career (career) · through Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), which they acted in: Schindler's List ⇒ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (the maker said so: Spielberg's statement while making Crystal Skull). After Schindler's List Spielberg refused to do cartoon Nazis in Crystal Skull.
    “I'm not going back to doing cartoon Nazis post Schindler's list.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:58:54 · Brian Michael Bendis (0.60 sure it was them)

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987): 1 line

  1. lineage (spiritual progenitor) · through I'm Not There (2007), which they acted in: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story ⇒ I'm Not There (the host's read). Todd Haynes's first film, the Barbie-doll Karen Carpenter story, is the progenitor of I'm Not There's foregrounded cliches.
    “a movie that's kind of the spiritual progenitor if I'm not there, which is Superstar, which is the 1st thing Todd Haynes ever made”
    The Big Picture · ‘Elvis,’ ‘Walk Hard’ and Top Five Music Biopics · 1:11:55 · Adam Nayman (0.85 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

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

House of Cards (TV series): 1 line

  1. career (career step) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ⇒ House of Cards (TV series) (the host's read). Fincher moved Mahershala Ali from Button into House of Cards.
    “But I mean, look, Fincher puts him from this into House of Cards, which is one of the things that definitely levels him up.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:05:36 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013): 1 line

  1. unmapped (parody) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they acted in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ⇒ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (the host's read). The speaker says Walter Mitty parodies Benjamin Button, as if to say Button got the Gump wrong.
    “And Walter Mitty parodies Benjamin Button, almost as if to say, they fucked up.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:46 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Acting (11) everyone in acting

Other (1) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

programming (1)

  1. programming (unrealized pairing): Brad Pitt → Cate Blanchett. They were supposed to do The Fountain together, which Button realized.
    “I mean, he and Blanchard were supposed to do the fountain together.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:24:56 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Cate Blanchett: Fincher said her face is so sculpted that the de-aging mostly filled in her cheekbones.
    “her face is so sculpted that all we really did was fill in her cheekbones.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 2:00:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)