Robert Zemeckis

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q187364: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as director. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988); Back to the Future Part II (1989); Forrest Gump (1994); The Polar Express (2004); A Christmas Carol (2009); Death Becomes Her; Zemeckis filmography.

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.

Starman (1984): 1 line

  1. people (performance lineage) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they directed: Starman ⇒ Forrest Gump (the host's read). Bridges' hat, check shirt, strange speech and not-quite-a-person quality read as a proto-Forrest Gump.
    “there's like a proto-Forrest Gump vibe in this performance in the hat and in the check shirt”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:57:23 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

earlier Vietnam films: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they directed: earlier Vietnam films ⇒ Forrest Gump (the host's read). Gump's Vietnam section riffs on the earlier Vietnam films: music, combat, drill instructor.
    “A journey that riffs on all the Vietnam films that came before.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:44:07 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

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

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): 2 lines

  1. unmapped (anti-Gump answer) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they directed: 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 Forrest Gump (1994), which they directed: 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)

Alien: Covenant (2017): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through Back to the Future Part II (1989), which they directed: Back to the Future Part II ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read). The double-Fassbender effect is an old trick established by Zemeckis in Back to the Future II.
    “once again, shit established by Zameckis and back to the future too.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:09:38 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Big Fish (2003): 1 line

  1. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they directed: Forrest Gump ⇒ Big Fish (the host's read). Studios kept trying to replicate Gump; Big Fish was one attempt.
    “And Big Fish is an attempt at a gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Robert Zemeckis ⇒ Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie (the host's read). The film is an homage to Zemeckis at a very granular level (transcribed 'Roberts and Mechis').
    “the whole movie is like an homage to Roberts and Mechis.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:19:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

The Game (1997): 1 line

  1. unmapped (template) · through A Christmas Carol (2009), which they directed: A Christmas Carol ⇒ The Game (the maker said so: reading Fincher's quotes in the dossier JJ put together). Fincher's own framing, as quoted in the dossier, is that The Game is A Christmas Carol and Nick is Scrooge.
    “it's a Christmas carol.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:47:52 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · through Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), which they directed: Who Framed Roger Rabbit ⇒ The Nightmare Before Christmas (the host's read). Katzenberg was looking at Roger Rabbit's success as a reason to try different styles and techniques.
    “looking at the success they had with Roger Rabbit and saying, like, we should try different styles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:29:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

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

  1. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they directed: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (the host's read). Walter Mitty is another attempt at a Gump a couple of years after Button.
    “A couple years after this, Walter Middy's an attempt at a gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (9) everyone in directing

Other (4) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

industry (1)

  1. industry (industry): Robert Zemeckis → Lawrence Kasdan. Grouped with Ron Howard as post-Lucas/Spielberg directors whose later movies became optimistic as they got wealthy; Kasdan fits the arc.
    “Robert Zamechis comes to mind.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Big Chill’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:15:03 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

lineage (2)

  1. lineage (lineage): Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie → Robert Zemeckis. The film is an homage to Zemeckis at a very granular level (transcribed 'Roberts and Mechis').
    “the whole movie is like an homage to Roberts and Mechis.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:19:34 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): Oliver Stone → Robert Zemeckis. Alex Ross Perry views Stone as the only real successor to Zemeckis in bracket terms.
    “who I view as the only real successor to Demi and Zameckis.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:34:34 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)

people (2)

  1. people (people): Who Framed Roger Rabbit → Robert Zemeckis. Roger Rabbit is Zemeckis's early-90s film.
    “of course, Robert Zamekis's movie from the early 90s”
    The Big Picture · ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’: One of the Best Superhero Movies Ever | Exit Survey (Ep. 108) · 0:19:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. people (people): A Christmas Carol → Robert Zemeckis. The box office quiz answer, a 2009 holiday film in a director miniseries, is Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol.
    “Zameck is a Christmas Carol.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:55:01 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

programming (1)

  1. programming (programming): Robert Zemeckis → Nancy Meyers. Eclectic careers (Zemeckis) tend to help in March Madness, while Meyers is more consistent.
    “I think people vote for a weird eclectic career to a certain degree”
    Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:19:04 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)

theme (1)

  1. theme (theme): Oliver Stone → Robert Zemeckis. Stone's reclamation might be coming like Zemeckis's late-career surge, but too early.
    “Stone might be due for a reclamation at some point”
    Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:36:55 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

unmapped (1)

  1. unmapped (technology spectacle): David Fincher → Robert Zemeckis. Button was Fincher's version of a Zemeckis project, going back to the Gump comparison.
    “But this was his kind of Zamecasi going back to the Forrest Gump thing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:52:24 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Robert Zemeckis: Box office game: Marie's guess the 2009 holiday answer is Polar Express is wrong, it is A Christmas Carol.
    “Zameck is a Christmas Carol.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:55:01 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)