Tim Simons

3 sketches, 24 claims, and 23 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–3 of 3 sketches.

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Fearless with Timothy Simons (guest)

Adores Bradley Whitford, Jeff Bridges, and unbridled positivity about moviegoing. Lover of old movies he has not seen yet. Can be contrarian ('movie MAGA mode') about near-consensus films and U2. Moved by performance and craft more than plot.

Stances

  • Fearless is uniformly excellent, the first 30 and last 20 minutes transcendent
  • Jeff Bridges is peak, subtle and singular
  • the Fearless ending locks all puzzle pieces
  • nitpicks consensus classics

Humor: Self-deprecating, tall-guy bits, long digressions that land.

In their words

  • “I love an unbridled positivity toward the movie going and movie watching experience.” (1:00:11)
  • “Bridge is excellent.” (0:50:44)

The Big Picture: Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons (guest)

Tim loves grimy 70s trash, Ken Russell, Zulawski, and Radiance and Kino titles. He cares about lossless sound and tangible ownership and is a sucker for hard boxes and box art. He is wary of re-coloring older films.

Stances

  • Intent in putting in a disc beats pressing play on streaming
  • Thinks the box set should come with context
  • Favors original versions over re-grades but would restore degraded prints

Humor: Deadpan overstatement about being a psychopath and thanking his Blu-rays like an awards speech.

In their words

  • “because I'm a fucking psychopath” (0:36:14)
  • “I want to thank Blu-rays for being fucking awesome.” (1:23:52)

Blank Check — Patreon: The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) (guest)

Came with notes and a laptop and loves the film; singles out Shelley Duvall and Scatman Crothers as the MVPs. Tired of the take industrial complex and prefers hearing people excited about a movie. A sucker for I Think You Should Leave comparisons and for domestic-violence readings of the film.

Stances

  • Shelley Duvall is the low-key MVP
  • The film plays differently post-pandemic
  • The film is simpler than the conspiracy readings
  • No kid actors beyond one job

Humor: Self-deprecating and tangential, with long friend anecdotes.

In their words

  • “low key MVP of this movie is Shelley Duvall.” (0:38:54)
  • “I wanted to be a good guest in your home, Ben's home.” (2:33:45)

Their shows' recurring bits

Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.

The Big Picture

Blank Check with Griffin & David

Their claims

Showing 1–24 of 24 claims.

  1. unmapped (anecdote): The Peanut Butter Falcon → Tim Simons. The film's writer-director goes to Tim's gym.
    “I didn't see a peanut butter falcon, but the guy that wrote and directed it used to go to my gym.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:47:30 · Tim Simons (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. theme (premise): Fearless → Unbreakable. Both are about a man recovering from an accident that left him untouched; Bruce Willis would have fit, but was not ready.
    “sort of a similar idea of a guy who's kind of like, fucking nothing happened to me, like, and who is recovering from an accident.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:50:16 · Tim Simons (0.45 sure it was them)
  3. craft (visual reference): Fearless → Tron: Legacy. The 1993 Bridges look was the reference for the de-aged CGI Bridges in Tron: Legacy.
    “I believe that this was the main visual reference for creepy CGI Jeff Bridges and Tron Legacy.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:52:17 · Tim Simons (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. craft (music): Fearless → U2. Using U2's Where the Streets Have No Name in an unhinged crash context opened up the band for the speaker.
    “using U2 in an unhinged context, it really like opened that band up in that that music for me in a new way.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 2:34:42 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. people (people): Lindsay Klingman → Richard Pearce. Tim says the editor Lindsay Klingman is married to the director Richard (Dick) Pearce.
    “I met her and her husband, uh, Dick Pierce, he's a director.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:27:50 · Tim Simons (0.85 sure it was them)
  6. craft (edited): Lindsay Klingman → Hearts and Minds. Klingman started out editing Hearts and Minds, where she met Richard Pearce, then went to Cuckoo's Nest.
    “She, like, she started out by editing that Vietnam documentary, Hearts and Mind.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:28:24 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  7. unmapped (fired from): Lindsay Klingman → Ali. Klingman was fired off Ali by Michael Mann.
    “She was fired off of Ali by Michael Mann.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:28:50 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  8. unmapped (watch list): Cinema Speculation → Joe. The speaker's chapter-head viewing project began with Joe, which neither friend had seen.
    “we were watching the chapter head movies in order.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:29:59 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  9. theme (echo): Rolling Thunder → Coming Home in a Body Bag. Rolling Thunder is a borderline exploitation movie, like the real Coming Home in a Body Bag from True Romance.
    “it's like the real coming home in a body bag, like from true romance”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:32:07 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  10. unmapped (same story): Con Air → Rolling Thunder. Con Air is the same story as Rolling Thunder: a disrespected veteran who ends up in prison and needs vindication and reunion with family.
    “It's about a veteran who doesn't is not respected in a public setting and gets into a physical altercation and goes to prison”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:32:39 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. unmapped (bad 4K grade): Miller's Crossing → The Abyss. Miller's Crossing (Criterion) looks too green, as the James Cameron 4Ks (True Lies, The Abyss) look wrong to many.
    “which is very green in the print, and looks wrong.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:34:17 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  12. 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)
  13. craft (re-edit): Star Wars (original trilogy / special editions) → George Lucas. Lucas re-edited and added CGI; a fan's de-specialized version feels better and was burned to Blu-ray.
    “put them in the original color corrections and I like, it feels better.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:36:02 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  14. unmapped (color fix): Sorcerer → William Friedkin. If Friedkin were alive and the technology could restore the red-shifted print to the other reels' look, the speaker would be fine with it.
    “I think I would be okay with that because if it is like, oh, this is because of the degradation”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:41:33 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  15. unmapped (extended cut): Napoleon → Napoleon. The speaker will be stoked for the 4.5-hour cut of Napoleon.
    “whenever that 4.5 hour cut of Napoleon comes out, I'm like, I'm gonna watch it”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:44:32 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  16. people (cast): The Devils → Vanessa Redgrave. Vanessa Redgrave appears in The Devils, prompting a shouted Kobe-style Redgrave.
    “when Vanessa Redgrave showed up, he shouted Redgrave in the Kobe voice.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:46:40 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  17. people (cast): Possession → Sam Neill. Possession is the 1981 Sam Neill movie.
    “possession, like 1981 possession, like that Sam Neal movie.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:46:52 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  18. unmapped (portal): The Devils → Ken Russell. The Devils is a portal to Russell's other 70s and 80s films, each with Russellian insanity.
    “Like the devil's is a portal to other Ken Russell movies”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:49:33 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  19. unmapped (Criterion route): Killers of the Flower Moon → The Irishman. Hope Killers gets a Criterion partnership like The Irishman did; Apple films otherwise have no physical release.
    “At some point there will be like a criterion partnership like they did with the Irishman.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:03:00 · Tim Simons (0.45 sure it was them)
  20. lineage (lineage): Leonard Bernstein → Tár. 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)
  21. unmapped (more challenging than): The Boy and the Heron → Spirited Away. Spirited Away is a classic linear movie; Boy and the Heron is harder to follow for kids.
    “I don't think it made as much sense to them as spirited away, a classic linear movie.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:18:45 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  22. theme (comparison): Jack Nicholson → Tim Robinson. Nicholson's second bar scene is half a percent from an I Think You Should Leave performance.
    “is about one half of a percent away from an I think you should leave Tim Robinson performance.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:37:13 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  23. unmapped (much copied): Casablanca → The Shining. Casablanca and The Shining are both so copied that first-time viewers find them corny.
    “like every movie copied it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:13:58 · Tim Simons (0.45 sure it was them)
  24. unmapped (many takes): David Fincher → Stanley Kubrick. Fincher describes his many takes as getting preconceptions out of the actors, as speakers compare to Kubrick.
    “That's the way Fincher talks about it”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:12:09 · Tim Simons (0.40 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–23 of 23 fun items.

  1. fun, about Bradley Whitford: Tim and Whitford sat under a Joy of Dance sign at foxtrot rehearsals, Tim grinning, Whitford miserable.
    “underneath this sign that says the joy of dance.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:19:03 · Tim Simons (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Jeff Bridges: His Oscar speech line was 'what a groovy profession, man', remembered as proof of his working-actor spirit.
    “he gets up there and just says, what a groovy profession, man.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:44:19 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Jeff Bridges' look: Tim wants the glasses and the sports jacket: the best head of hair, loose slacks, an early-90s dream outfit.
    “And also the best head of hair I've ever seen.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:50:51 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Fearless ending: The finale, with the strawberries and Rossellini resuscitating him, snaps every piece of the puzzle together, then cuts to credits.
    “It was like it was like there were just puzzle pieces spread out over the table.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 2:31:05 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Fearless shadow shot: When Bridges first sees Perez, his shadow from the doorway swallows her in the frame, a visual-storytelling moment in studio fare.
    “of Jeff Bridges standing in the doorway, and it is slightly overtaking her”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 2:33:31 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about IKEA Billy shelves: Billy shelves fit four VHS tapes across, which pulls Blu-rays flush to the front.
    “but it fits 4 VHS tapes perfectly.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:22:53 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about First Reformed: Found a used copy of First Reformed at CD Trader in Tarzana for about six bucks (transcribed 599).
    “I found a copy of 1st reformed there for like 599.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:24:08 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Mean Streets: Found a copy of Mean Streets for $4 at a pawn shop on a vacation in Maine.
    “I found a copy of Mean Streets for $4.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:24:40 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about Hearts and Minds: Editor Lindsay Klingman went from Hearts and Minds straight to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; watching her filmography as an editor's-eye project.
    “And she went from hearts and minds.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:28:44 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Cinema Speculation: Chapter-head movie project: watching Tarantino's book's chapter films in order, starting with Joe, then Hardcore and Rolling Thunder.
    “so we started a thing where we were watching the chapter head movies in order.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:29:59 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Miller's Crossing: Criterion 4K of Miller's Crossing looks very green and wrong compared to what the speaker grew up with.
    “which is very green in the print, and looks wrong.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:34:17 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope: Burned a fan de-specialized version of the originals onto a Blu-ray and shelved it, and hid VHS triple box behind Blu-rays on IKEA Billy shelves.
    “I burnt them onto a Blu-ray and put them on the shelf because I'm a fucking psychopath.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:36:14 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Sorcerer: Saw Sorcerer four or five times in a year, one a red-shifted print at the New Beverly.
    “4 or 5 times this past year”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:40:33 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Miami Vice: Prefers the theatrical cut because it throws you into the club with no context; Blu-ray version adds scenes before.
    “Like, he's just like, oh, we're just in the club.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:42:03 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about The Devils: Went in expecting trash, paused five minutes in to ask if it was the best movie ever; now streams on the Criterion Channel.
    “I paused it to be like, is this the best movie I've ever seen?”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:45:48 · Tim Simons (0.60 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Possession: Only on Shudder; the speaker wants a physical copy so it stays around.
    “It was like, oh, it's only shutter.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 0:47:21 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Killers of the Flower Moon: Rewatching on Apple TV the speaker found himself watching a car detailing reel mid-film, the case for putting in a disc.
    “I had somehow started watching a car detailing Instagram reel during killers of the flower moon.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:01:56 · Tim Simons (0.55 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Killers of the Flower Moon: Underappreciated DiCaprio performance, plays smooth while pretending not to know about the murders.
    “I think it's an underappreciated performance in Killers of the Flower Moon.”
    The Big Picture · Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons · 1:20:53 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about Draft Day: Frank Langella wore sunglasses on and off camera for the whole shoot and removed them theatrically at wrap.
    “And he wore the sunglasses on offset in between takes, lunch, trailer, whatever, 100% of the time.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:27:24 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Danny Lloyd: Danny Lloyd was shielded from knowing he was in a horror movie, was never pushed into acting, and became a happy school teacher.
    “He was very adamant that like this kid did not know he was in a horror movie?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:01:05 · Tim Simons (0.45 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about The Shining: The Big Wheel scenes: the game of how much carpet is left before the sound changes to wood.
    “How much carpet do I have left before I hit wood and how different does the wood sound than the carpet?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:05:56 · Tim Simons (0.45 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about The Shining: Costume note: Wendy's yellow chore coat with embroidery over denim and moccasins is a standout look.
    “like a yellow chore coat with like this beautiful embroidery on it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:07:39 · Tim Simons (0.40 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about The Shining: See the scene with Danny and the bedroom mirror, where Jack sees himself only through his son.
    “only by looking at his son, does he realize who he is and who he's becoming”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:09:46 · Tim Simons (0.50 sure it was them)