Loves Zodiac as a masterpiece and the Fincher dossier details; the show's box-office fixer. Gets weirdly delighted by obsessive production detail (flashlight museum, typewriters). Has no patience for the studio logic of dumping films.
Stances
Zodiac is Fincher's best film and the best of a loaded 2007
Studios act irrationally against their own interests
Fincher is often called cold and later vindicated
Humor: Dry, deadpan banter and a running bit about reading the room as a podcast host.
In their words
“Okay, I'm going to read a thing while David's still in there.” (2:25:37)
“Leslie, I get some satisfaction out of the fact that I think people who listen to this show sometimes think that I'm like on my devices during this.” (2:20:30)
Loves music videos tied to movie soundtracks and the weirdly sincere Springfield video. Grew up on Disney cassettes, Hanson, and Celebrity Death Match era pop culture. Appreciates a sprawling, nonsensical video that sets up multiple characters.
Stances
Praises the Springfield Dance This World Away video as a favorite, then sours on it
Defends movie tie-in videos that interact with the film
Mocks Fincher's autopilot work on rock videos
Humor: Escalating bits and character voices, from the Beavis and Butt-Head shirt assignments to the fake Reddit thread.
In their words
“I think all 3 of these guys are me, but it's an ed ego super ego thing.” (0:22:01)
“I was in, uh, anything goes?” (1:15:38)
“Uh, no, Hanson Hanson was my favorite band at this point in time.” (2:08:42)
Obsessive movie nerd who tracked every upcoming film as a 13-year-old and has a soft spot for Kristen Stewart. Loves craft and box office lore, recoils from suspense that stresses him out.
Stances
Panic Room was built around Jodie Foster and defies logic otherwise
Fincher scaled back after the Fight Club flop
Humor: Runs bits on tangents like Studio 60, razor scooters, and Jared Leto.
In their words
“obsessively read every fucking dork website I could and thought I was ahead of the curve and knew every movie that was in the pipeline.” (0:26:32)
Is a movie-tie-in collector who grew up in Britain, did not see Fight Club until later, and was never the target of it. Loves a deep tie-in and a rights-clearing bit. Thinks the film is fine but not his formative one.
Stances
Not the film for him, but happy to talk about it
DVD and collector culture matters
Anti-ads bit as the through-line
Humor: Runs bits (no-ads fake-outs, Deadpool-cover Photoshops) and narrates posters.
In their words
“The reason I have to tap out of this is I grew up in Britain.” (0:15:19)
Loves 90s thrillers, character actors, and Fincher at his bleakest; the show's box-office quizzer. Leans toward Se7en over The Game and wishes the movie really gamed him. Bit-hungry about names, keys, and found trivia.
Stances
Admires Se7en more than The Game
Never feels gamed by the movie
Likes The Player and the Criterion disc
Humor: Fast, absurd riffing and gags built on the movie's props.
In their words
“I would argue that I, my beef with this movie is that I never feel like I am being gamed.” (0:45:08)
Loves grim, well-made thrillers and obsessive craft detail; reads the dossier and revels in production lore. Teases guests about their bits. Has a Tisch background and some gun-safety training from a film shoot.
Stances
Se7en is great and Fincher's control of a never-named city is the key choice
Fincher is a blank-check director
Pitt's need to prove himself is the performance
Humor: Driven by running bits, exact trivia, and deadpan fake interview impressions.
In their words
“You know what has happened?” (1:36:38)
“I did when I did gun safety training for Tomorrow War.” (2:08:57)
Loves a sequel that spits in the studio's eye, and the Alien 3 behind-the-scenes extras. Enjoys box-office-weekend trivia, poster taglines, and Fincher's DVD-era thoroughness. Speaker attribution in this transcript is mostly inferred, so these are low-confidence reads.
Stances
Alien 3 is a crowd-displeaser by design
On the assembly cut versus theatrical: leans theatrical, as a cleaner movie (low confidence on which host says it)
Humor: Running bits (the Santa Claus line, the wood planet, poster minutiae).
In their words
“Okay. I think the assembly cut is better while not being perfect.” (0:14:24)
“I really do have a preference here, and it is the dog” (1:21:48)
Loves Tim Burton's early work and defends late-period Burton, theme-park lore, box-office minutiae and Pixar-style craft. Can't stand studio condescension toward children and celebrity-casting logic. A sucker for sweaty, overworked names, bones, and unfashionable Disney touchstones.
Stances
Nightmare Before Christmas is a perfect movie that outlasts its ubiquity
Jack is an analog for artists trying to make commercial art
Studios underestimate children
Mrs. Doubtfire's box-office run deserves celebration
Humor: Sweaty-pun builds and deadpan escalation, riffing on bones and box-office numbers.
Obsessed with this film and calls it his favorite of the Kubrick set alongside Barry Lyndon. Loves box-office trivia and where he saw things. A sucker for the small perfect line readings and the Christmas-lights look.
Stances
Eyes Wide Shut is a masterpiece
Reputation has risen and it will climb the Sight and Sound list
Bill's journey is about the impossibility of not knowing
Humor: Escalating riffs and bits, from alternate podcast lines to sequel fantasies.
In their words
“I don't need to know what grows for you every time when you watch that scene.” (0:01:19)
Loves Doctor Sleep and the director's cut, and the idea that the sequel deepens The Shining. Treats Flanagan's patient, emotional horror as a plus and dislikes jump scares. A sucker for Rose the Hat as a villain and for the box office game.
Stances
Doctor Sleep is a great movie and rewatchable
jump scares are fake tension
legacy sequels usually just suck the steam from the original
Humor: Riffs and runs long on bits, such as the Rose the Hat biography and the Hunk Shoe sleep-train jokes.
In their words
“Now, I have to assume this is all conjecture on my part, okay?” (0:14:58)
Loves Kubrick's dark, mordant comedy and the Barry Lyndon, Shining and Eyes Wide Shut run, and tracks the casting and production legends behind Full Metal Jacket. Reads the dossier closely, likes award-season trivia and box office games.
Stances
Kubrick's humor works best when earnest performances sit at the center
Ermey was a surprising Oscar snub
ranks Strangelove low among Kubrick's funny films
Humor: Deadpan, quotes the film back at itself and lets the guests run riffs.
In their words
“I, I, I rank Strange Love lower in the pack of movies I find funny by him.” (1:36:54)
“Now, which your answer is do it to children.” (0:15:10)
Loves Kubrick trivia, research-dossier detail, and the show's long-running bits; fascinated by how Altman's company shaped Shelley Duvall. Sensitive to anyone mishandling his catchphrases. A sucker for a Draft Day story and the box office game.
Stances
Stephen King's objections were a reaction to being shown himself
Kubrick's many takes need to be separated from cruelty
Would rather talk about the movie than its cultural weight
Humor: Pedantic riffs and teasing, usually at David's or Tim's expense.
Loves Barry Lyndon as one of his favorite movies and finds the humor in Kubrick more than the austerity. Sentimental about the film's warmth and its devastating last act, especially as a parent. A sucker for the film's absurd rules (duels, class) and for production lore.
Stances
Barry Lyndon is a comedy and Kubrick's warmest film
O'Neal is perfect in the part
Barry stays mysterious without an inner monologue
Humor: Plays it dry and jokey, leaning into modern analogies and bits.
In their words
“I feel like this was the epitome of when the critical community was like, yeah, Kubrick makes like coffee table books.” (0:07:58)
Likes genre craft and unvarnished big swings; enjoys box-office-game trivia and Kubrick lore. Dislikes pretension without payoff. Hosts wallow in sequel-hubris jokes.
Stances
2010 is respectable and watchable, not a masterpiece
Hyams not aping Kubrick was the smart move
Humor: Riffs on fake headlines and extended bits, with a dry, deflating tone.
Loves Kubrick's looseness and humor and wants to demolish the cold-genius myth. Resents the mythology built around him and the attitude of Kubrick guys. Is a sucker for comedy bits, Simpsons-grade jokes, and cinema trivia like the box-office game.
Stances
Kubrick is not a humorless perfectionist; he was elastic with actors and loved improvisation
The mythology around Kubrick makes the films less interesting
Held the line that the bits should continue
Humor: Runs long, escalating bits and puns, and pins running gags like hip hop Sims for later payoff.
In their words
“the more people try to put Kubrick in this, like, alien box, the less interesting I find him.” (0:36:11)
“I don't think of myself as a Kubert guy, is because of how much I resent the mythology that's built around him” (0:43:58)
A Kubrick-series host who rewatched the films in order and found the 2001 rewatch surprisingly brisk. Loves the slow-sci-fi tradition including Star Trek The Motion Picture, and is moved by the ending's dread. A sucker for production lore from the dossier.
Stances
Reevaluating Kubrick as funny
2001 is a brisk watch despite the slowness
Likes slow sci-fi like Star Trek TMP
AI rights may never be granted
Humor: Shifts between bits and earnest observations; lands jokes about the guest and podcast logistics.
In their words
“I found it a surprisingly brisk watch.” (0:36:31)
“I love the slowness of motion picture.” (0:44:04)
“My question is, do we ever grant them rights?” (0:48:01)
Loves Strangelove's dry delivery and Peter Sellers' underplayed Mandrake, and watched it as a comedy-obsessed kid through the AFI 100 Laughs list. Skeptical of Adam McKay's recent satire and of Don't Look Up's tag. A sucker for movie lists, titles and bits like podcast series names.
Stances
Mandrake may be the funniest of the three Sellers roles
The film's seriousness is what makes every joke funnier
Don't Look Up's ending works but its tag undercuts it
Podswide Cast was first pitch, best pitch
Humor: Escalates a bit with mock-grandiose confidence and wounded-pride deadpan.
In their words
“Podswide cast, it was like 1st pitch, best pitch, I just said we're fucking going with this.” (0:07:42)
“Mandrake talking about being captured by the Japanese is the funniest part of this whole movie.” (0:11:32)
“I watched this because AFI in the year 2000 did their 100 years, 100 laughs” (0:28:13)
Reread the book and finds it brilliantly written; an enthusiast of Kubrick on a big screen and of Sellers in Strangelove. Compares movies to a wide pop-culture range (Nope, Hail, Caesar!, The Lobster). Believes the Lolita poster beats the film.
Stances
The poster and tagline are better than the movie
The film's tone is wildly inconsistent but absorbing
Kubrick's films are best seen in a theater
Humor: Rapid-fire riffs, mock-pomposity and long tangents.
In their words
“I stand by it.” (1:38:12)
“Poster eats this movie's lunch.” (1:33:57)
“I hate watching his Kubrick movies at home.” (0:45:39)
Leans on the dossier and the Kubrick-era history; loves tidy business-and-career stories and the Blank Check 'guarantor' framing. Likes bits about stars and their careers. (Speaker attribution within the transcript is inferred; confidence is moderate.)
Stances
Spartacus is Kubrick's guarantor: the hit that gave him the blank check
Kubrick was a pain but the work stands out
Humor: Rapid riffs and impressions on the episode's running bits.
In their words
“Today we are covering Spartacus, which is what we like to call a guarantor.” (0:26:58)
“This is the film that gives them the blank check that they run off of for the rest of their career.” (0:27:03)
Admires well-made war films but finds them panic-inducing; prefers Full Metal Jacket to David. Likes the Coens (Hudsucker Proxy) and the box-office game ritual inherited from his father. Responds to Kirk Douglas as a star who used clout for challenging pictures.
Stances
War movies stress him out even when they are good
Paths of Glory is short in a way that is a blessing
Won't rewatch Saving Private Ryan despite loving it
Humor: Gallows-humor riffs and running bits that escalate the absurd (e.g. trench humor, reenactments as a Patreon goal).
In their words
“I get very stressed out watching war films even when I think they're good.” (0:02:01)
“I like full metal jacket more than you, David” (0:55:08)
“I buy it on fucking steel book.” (1:19:43)
Their shows' recurring bits
Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.
The Big Picture
Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.
Blank Check with Griffin & David
The box office game: Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against.
The sung theme: "Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it.
Their claims
Showing 901–1,000 of 1,162 claims.
career (career):
Brad Dourif → Deadwood (TV).
Dourif was Emmy-nominated on Deadwood and had a recurring Star Trek Voyager part.
career (career):
Ron Perlman → Guillermo del Toro.
Perlman says his American career was saved by Jeunet and Del Toro, who cast him in Cronos and City of Lost Children.
“my American career was entirely saved by Gene and Del Toro.”
contrast (contrast):
Alien Resurrection → Terminator: Dark Fate.
Studios kept trying to make Terminator something different, unlike Alien's willingness to hire dark people.
“Versus, I feel like 3 Terminator movies in a row where they were like, I don't know, can we make it into something different?”
career (career):
Sigourney Weaver → Political Animals (TV).
Weaver played a Hillary Clinton-like figure on the miniseries Political Animals, which Griffin was on.
what-if (what-if):
Alien → Neill Blomkamp.
A Neill Blomkamp-type director might some day talk the studio into an Earth-set Alien sequel; Disney will do something.
“I live in fear of the sort of Neil Blonde camp-esque director”
industry (industry):
Alien Resurrection → The Jackal.
Number five was The Jackal, a remake of The Day of the Jackal with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere.
unmapped (merchandise):
Aliens (toy line) → Alien 3.
The animal-aliens toy line sold under the Aliens brand around Alien 3, and the idea of multiple infected animals was once a story premise.
“But there was a point where the premise was that you were going to have multiple face huggers infecting different animals”
career (career):
Greg Kinnear → As Good as It Gets.
Ephron and Delia wanted the actor after his As Good as It Gets notices and he was about to blow up.
“Uh, it's Delia Nora Efron, go see as good as it gets.”
industry (industry):
Greg Kinnear → You've Got Mail.
Kinnear agreed to take the part on condition that his character's exit be the softer restaurant scene.
“Kinnear said, I'll do the movie if this is how my character line ends.”
industry (industry):
Nora Ephron → Amy Pascal.
Ephron's films usually began with a powerful woman producer or executive: Pascal, Obst, here Schuler Donner.
“So like so much of her career is like Amy Pascal and Linda Opst, and this one is Lauren Schuler Donner.”
lineage (lineage):
You've Got Mail → The Shop Around the Corner.
Warner Brothers inherited the Turner library and the producer picked The Shop Around the Corner to remake.
“Lauren Schuler Donner looks at the library and goes, huh, shop around the corner.”
contrast (contrast):
You've Got Mail → The Shop Around the Corner.
In every earlier version the rivals are coworkers whose jobs are at stake; here they run rival businesses and she is not poor.
“So so much of the rivalry between the 2 characters is they're fighting for who becomes the most valuable employee of this store because if one of them nudges out the other, their entire life might be ruined.”
lineage (lineage):
You've Got Mail → Ninotchka.
Ephron borrowed the idea of rivals who are two sides of one coin from a Lubitsch picture.
“I mean she's pulling from like a different Lubich movie, which is here are 2 people who are opposite sides of the coin, don't realize they get along that way.”
craft (craft):
You've Got Mail → The Shop Around the Corner.
Three scenes appear almost verbatim in all three screen versions, including the friend's line about her coloring.
“3 scenes that exist almost verbatim in all 3 movie versions, which are the scene with the friend, the Dave Chappelle scene where he takes a look at her.”
what-if (what-if):
Nicolas Cage → Michael.
Swap Cage and Travolta: Cage in Michael, Travolta in City of Angels, since Cage is weirder and Travolta the better romantic lead.
“I think Nicholas Cage should have played Michael and John Travolta should have been in City of Angels with Meg Ryan.”
theme (theme):
Hanging Up → Mixed Nuts.
Like a movie a guest watched alone as a child, Hanging Up is a household movie in the speaker's sibling relationship.
“movies that are like, this is a household movie.”
craft (craft):
Diane Keaton → Hanging Up.
Keaton says she leaves actors alone, yet the film's big choices came in the editing room with gauzy crossfades.
“her biggest decisions are being made in the editing room at this movie.”
craft (craft):
Hanging Up → Elizabeth.
The score comes from the composer of Elizabeth and Shine and is more conventional or weighty than expected.
“the score from this movie is done by the man who did the score, his 2 previous, like, big scores before this, his 2 Oscar nominations were Elizabeth, and Shine.”
industry (industry):
Tracee Ellis Ross → Hanging Up.
Tracee Ellis Ross in a thankless assistant role is offered as an example of women of color in service roles in 90s rom-coms.
“you see a lot of like women of color showing up in thankless roles either as like service workers or personal assistants”
contrast (contrast):
Hanging Up → Sleepless in Seattle.
Ephron made chemistry between leads who never share a room in Sleepless; Hanging Up's phone-separated sisters lack it.
“Nora Efron made a fucking movie, Sleepless in Seattle, where your 2 leads have chemistry together, despite not actually speaking until the last 10 minutes of the movie.”
industry (industry):
Hanging Up → Funny People.
Rich-person movies cost more because the locations must be rented and filled, as Apatow said of Funny People.
“it costs a lot of money to make a movie about a rich person.”
contrast (contrast):
Hanging Up → You've Got Mail.
You've Got Mail still holds up because it understood email's psychology; Hanging Up's phone premise has aged out.
“you've got mail and you're like, they understood the psychological and sociological impact of email, even if the technology changed.”
programming (programming):
The Tigger Movie → Walt Disney Company.
Disney was releasing Pooh movies meant for direct-to-video in theaters outside its summer and holiday windows.
“the only movies they weren't dropping in summer or holiday season were those poo movies”
people (people):
Terry Windell → The Tick.
Griffin says Windell was special effects supervisor on every episode of The Tick and mourns his sudden death after wrapping.
“he was the special effects supervisor on every episode of the tech.”
contrast (contrast):
Chris Gethard → Shane Gillis.
Recurring joke: Gethard doesn't like Shane Gillis; the original Blankies host plan fell through when Gillis got in trouble.
contrast (contrast):
Florence Pugh → Candice Bergen.
Griffin dubs Pugh the new Candice Bergen, who is the new LeBron James, because all three 'get buckets' and are great on Instagram.
“Because Florence Pugh is the new Candace Bergen, who is the new LeBron James because she gets fucking buckets.”
contrast (contrast):
Doctor Sleep → Roman J. Israel, Esq..
A film Griffin half-liked whose director's cut may turn out to be amazing, like Roman J. Israel (named as a past analog).
“That's the Roman J Israel this year where I'm like, that movie that I kind of liked but had problems with might be amazing.”
verdict (verdict):
Judi Dench → Cats.
Fifth supporting-actress nominee: Dench's pure presence and commitment to something ridiculous is the hardest, most impressive performance of the year.
“that is the hardest and most impressive performance of the year.”
contrast (contrast):
Judi Dench → Ian McKellen.
Everyone praises McKellen in Cats, but Dench's performance is mostly others talking about how important she is while it cuts back to her.
“And so much of Judy's performance is literally just other people talking about how she's the most important creature in the world and them cutting back to her.”
career (career):
Annette Bening → 20th Century Women.
The 20th Century Women snub was 'about as bad as the election of Donald Trump'; Bening snubbed twice running.
“Well, the 20th century woman snub is about as bad as like the election of Donald Trump.”
verdict (verdict):
Jamie Bell → Rocketman.
Bell is the heart of Rocketman; his David Oyelowo award for the hardest job, playing a decent, uncomplicated person.
“It is my David Oyello award for the thing that's toughest to do, which is just to play a decent on complicated person.”
contrast (contrast):
Sophie Okonedo → Ricky and the Flash.
Like the Audra McDonald scene in Ricky and the Flash, Okonedo's role has layers from racial dynamics that make it unclear whether script or casting supplied them.
“That the Audra McDonald scene, where there are all these interesting layers added because of the racial dynamics of it”
verdict (verdict):
Sophie Okonedo → Wild Rose.
Late shout-out: Okonedo plays the nuance of a 'white savior'-sounding story with flipped dynamics in every moment.
“Sophie Akinado plays the sort of nuance of that in every moment, is incredibly compelling and impressive to me.”
contrast (contrast):
Toy Story 4 → Frozen 2.
Toy Story 4 is lumped with Frozen 2 and Rise of Skywalker as films that threw out the entire screenplay and started over.
“Toy Story 4 falls into this weird thing of like Frozen 2 and Rise of Skywalker”
industry (industry):
Stephanie Folsom → Toy Story 4.
Final credit is Folsom and Stanton; earlier drafts from other writers over many failed attempts were 'insulting and disastrous'.
“The final credit is Stephanie Folsom and Andrew Stanton.”
verdict (verdict):
Antonio Banderas → Pain and Glory.
Banderas is Griffin's best actor winner; he saw an early screening and cats trailer dropped the same day.
“Banderas, I will always have close to my heart because I saw pain and glory.”
unmapped (anecdote):
Pain and Glory → Cats.
Griffin first saw the Cats trailer on his phone in the hallway outside the Pain and Glory screening, so the two are wrapped together in his head.
“And so like that and pain and glory have been like wrapped up in my head.”
verdict (verdict):
K Callan → Knives Out.
Putters and Murmurs shout-out; who played 'Mock Kent' on Lewis and Clark: the Adventures of Superman (as transcribed).
“But K. Callan, who played Mock Kent on Lewis and Clark the Adventures of Superman.”
verdict (verdict):
Robert De Niro → The Irishman.
De Niro wins the 'Mark Wahlberg Award': will a movie into existence, produce it, play the lead well, and let everyone else get nominated.
“De Niro wins the Mark Wahlberg Award for the year”
contrast (contrast):
Robert De Niro → Mark Wahlberg.
De Niro wins the 'Mark Wahlberg Award' of the year, like Wahlberg's The Fighter: a quiet-hero producer-star who gets only a picture nomination.
fun, about
Vanilla Sky:
Griffin's casting story: a casting director warned him not to joke about 'can you hear me now?' when the Verizon actor wrote and directed a film.
“the writer and director of this film, who's going to be in the audition is the can you hear me now, guy?”
fun, about
Vanilla Sky:
The recording was spread over years because the hosts kept leaving the country, so references to a breakup will be five weeks stale on release.
“Having to re-listen to me make references to how sad I am right now 5 weeks from now when this episode's released.”