Griffin Newman

96 sketches, 1,162 claims, and 605 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–20 of 96 sketches.

Blank Check with Griffin & David: The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie (host)

Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness.

Stances

  • Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version
  • Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus
  • Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases

Humor: Riffs and character bits on the Willem de ___ names and ongoing running gags.

In their words

  • “I find the ending so incredibly movie.” (0:19:45)
  • “This is my 1st time watching.” (0:26:27)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: The Color of Money with Chris Ryan (host)

Loves quirky or deep-cut cinema and playful franchise lore (Muppets, Species, Pink Panther sequels), and enjoys the abjectly stressful pool-hall world. Is a sucker for movie-star mannerisms and for fan trivia. Cannot stand Cars 2 or Zemeckis's Pinocchio.

Stances

  • Color of Money is a stabilizer, not a pure paycheck gig
  • Cars is bad and indefensible; Cars 2 is worse
  • Wants Lorraine Bracco redeemed via a Goodfellas episode
  • Adds stabilizer to the Blank Check lexicon

Humor: Rapid pop-culture riffing and running bits, playing unpredictably with franchise absurdities and mock-serious proposals.

In their words

  • “But stabilizer is a term we haven't used before. And you're right. Let's add it to the lexicon” (0:19:50)
  • “Cars is Doc Hollywood basically beat for beat.” (0:07:08)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: After Hours with Alison Sivitz (host)

Treats After Hours as a personal vibe movie and loves oddball details, Scorsese lore and downtown New York. Fond of Pee-wee and Griffin Dunn, plays bits about being named after Dunn. Cannot stand wasteful nostalgia and hates auto-flush toilets.

Stances

  • After Hours is a downtown, very Griffin movie
  • Modern remakes fail because phones and piled-up incident ruin it
  • Wicked 2 killed Wicked

Humor: Deadpan bits that run on, mock outrage, and wordplay about the Griffin theme.

In their words

  • “This movie also, let's just say, is very much reflective of my temperament.” (0:07:22)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Raging Bull with David Krumholtz (host)

A film completist who loves the weird 1980 corners of the box office and the Scorsese-De Niro dynamic. Cannot stand Jimmy Doyle as a date and worries about Hollywood executives. A sucker for obscure titles and good trivia and for Casavetes.

Stances

  • Raging Bull is a funny tragedy
  • Studio decisions based on metrics are ruining movies
  • Scorsese uses comedy to implicate the audience

Humor: Playful, riffing, bit-prone, with running gags like Hollywood 3.0.

In their words

  • “We've coined Hollywood 3.0 today for to describe just like the fucking nonsense that goes on day to day.” (0:13:41)
  • “The problem is those people who make the decisions now are like, it's like saber metrics.” (1:35:40)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with John Hodgman (host)

He came to the film bored at 14 (no monsters or puppets) and now respects it without it being his kind of movie; he adores Peter Weir's craft, Pirates of the Caribbean-era trivia and Oscar and career-arc analysis. He is a sucker for genre-bending Weir details and franchise history.

Stances

  • Revisited the film and understands its value though it is not innately his kind
  • Pirates of the Caribbean hurt this movie
  • Insists on playing the box office game
  • Weir is a patient director

Humor: Self-deprecating, quick riffs, bits about his own childhood tastes.

In their words

  • “It is innately not my kind of film, but I was not disengaged from it in the way I was as a 14 year old.” (0:36:16)
  • “I saw this in theaters.” (0:33:36)

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

Loves physical media, 4K steelbooks, and calling unlikely films masterpieces. Prone to over-planning and lateness. An anxious flyer who relies on Klonopin and researches crashes. Has a blind spot for studio comedies he has not seen.

Stances

  • Fearless is excellent but not a three-hour oil-drilling episode
  • movies are great again
  • Small Soldiers and Sliver defended as masterpieces by friends

Humor: Rapid-fire riffs, self-roasts, and elaborate hypothetical bits.

In their words

  • “They announce they announce small soldiers 4K steel book. and I go, obviously, inarguable masterpiece.” (1:00:59)
  • “I only see masterpieces.” (2:27:21)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Fargo with Zach Cregger (host)

A heavy researcher who comes with a 'dossier' of production history, interview quotes and box-office data, and loves Coens details, McDormand and Macy's performances, and deep-cut trivia. He is a sucker for the Mike Yanagita scene and the film's tonal balance, and delights in the weekly box-office game.

Stances

  • Fargo is the best encapsulation of the Coens, the way Blue Velvet is of Lynch
  • Macy should have been nominated for lead
  • Searches for essays-worthy meaning in the editing choices
  • Defends Jurassic Park III

Humor: Dry, bit-driven, and loves a running gag about podcast mechanics and Ben.

In their words

  • “I'm going to open the dossier now” (0:40:11)
  • “directing is about tone management.” (0:32:35)
  • “Okay, now I need to sidebar here for a 2nd because David and I are both Jurassic Park 3 defenders” (1:19:12)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Look Who's Talking with Hillary Busis (host)

Loves puppet-baby and in-utero comedy, rewatching movies on Letterboxd, and weird Blu-ray ephemera. He is a Shelley Long Cheers loyalist who was cool on Kirstie Alley until this movie, and has a parent's eye on infant safety. He prefers movies that feel made by one person.

Stances

  • The in-utero Mikey is peak comedy and the infant middle is lazy
  • Authorship is the show's central criterion for a director
  • Rebecca-era Cheers was a shadow of the show

Humor: Escalating riffs and tangents (Rugrats connections, Renaissance prequel pitch) delivered in dry mock-formal register.

In their words

  • “I think this is both such a good movie star performance from him and such a great example of what I would call a movie star movie” (0:37:06)
  • “everything about this feels like it was made by one person.” (1:49:39)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri (host)

Passionate about Spielberg's autobiographical psychology and Oscar-race history; loves Lincoln, Catch Me If You Can, ensemble casts, and Malkovich as a flavor. Cannot stand Always and Spielberg's pure comedies; a sucker for deep-dive trivia and dossier research.

Stances

  • Empire is a very good movie where Spielberg starts subverting his own style
  • Fabelmans explains Spielberg's trauma
  • 1941 and Always are weak spots
  • Spielberg suffers from being compared to his own canon

Humor: Self-aware riffs, callbacks, and long absurd comparisons (sun-dried tomatoes on a sandwich), plus bits about Ben's resolutions.

In their words

  • “I think this movie's excellent.” (0:38:38)
  • “He's sun dried tomatoes on a sandwich.” (0:01:21)
  • “I do not have a single happy memory of my childhood.” (1:52:20)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis (host)

Came to Indiana Jones late, via box sets before Crystal Skull, and prefers Last Crusade for its silent-comedy streak, with reservations about Temple of Doom. Fascinated by how movies were made and by fandom history; a sucker for Spielberg staging, action craft and comics-era nostalgia.

Stances

  • Raiders is a lightning-in-a-bottle movie the sequels cannot recapture
  • Modern action imitators reverse-engineer surface elements
  • Treats Crystal Skull as half working

Humor: Does self-aware impressions and cranky-David riffs, mixes film nerd rigor with asides.

In their words

  • “Whereas I think, you know, David and I always felt like weird kids were we were paying attention to this at a time when like people were not.” (0:17:08)
  • “I'm Griffin.” (0:06:37)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff (host)

He is the first-time Return viewer on this episode, so his taste shows in reactions: he loves Lynch's plainness, simple low-tech tricks and the sense that reality is ripping apart. He wants spoiler-free viewing, the proper Criterion/box-set version, and cannot stand being told to read recaps. A sucker for bits and for a gift-worthy game of ratings guessing.

Stances

  • Wants to be unspoiled and refuses to read recaps or the behind-the-scenes documentary yet
  • Treats Part 8 as hypnotic and nearly unsummarizable until the others explain it
  • Believes in extended bits (Wonka 2, Gethard cut) over discussion

Humor: He builds long running bits and follows riffs to absurd conclusions, sometimes holding straight faces.

In their words

  • “I'm going to ask dumb questions because you guys have been thinking on these things for years, if not decades, and I'm new to all of this, right?” (1:09:38)
  • “I felt like I, as a viewer, had like lost control of my point of view watching.” (0:52:12)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Dune with John Hodgman (host)

Reads the show's research dossier aloud and loves film-history trivia, particularly how directors get hired and what the studios did to them. Identified from lines addressed to him and dossier reads; many individual attributions with David are uncertain. Enjoys the Dune film as a design and sound object.

Stances

  • Dune '84 is fascinating as the one bounce that redirected Lynch's career
  • Respects the dossier's production details over speculation

Humor: Dry riffing and callbacks, running bits with Ben and the dossier-researcher JJ.

In their words

  • “So in the dossier, David.” (1:05:21)
  • “JJ, while we were recording, texted David and I hope the Dune dossier still made sense once you reach the deeper pages, LOL.” (2:29:32)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany (host)

Loves plot-driven noir, weird procedural details (chain mail gloves, pockets, eyedrops) and Park's stranger visual gags. He prepares the director-biography research and box-office game. Is a sucker for bits that run for minutes, like the sand-beach and Wheel of Fortune riffs.

Stances

  • Park's best scenes are the quietly bizarre ones, ten per film
  • Decision to Leave works because the hero cannot see her directly
  • Likes long-running meta bits more than the ad-reads

Humor: Absurdist escalation and puns, running a single detail (chain mail, sand beach) into the ground.

In their words

  • “Okay, so yeah, let's talk about the plot of the movie. Guy falls off a mountain.” (0:54:04)
  • “Oh, can I just Shout out to she, young Kim.” (1:34:01)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak (host)

Treats Sherlock Jr. as a perfect film and loves seeing silent comedy in a theater, where he says it transformed him at CalArts. Prefers Chaplin's One A.M. to his features, and is a sucker for meta jokes about film language and for Cabin Boy-style references. He sours on The Navigator's cannibal-island finale for its racism.

Stances

  • Sherlock Jr. is one of the best movies ever made and a contender for best film covered on the show
  • Certain films must be seen in a theater with an audience
  • Short runtimes of 40 to 50 minutes suit these comedies best
  • The Navigator is Keaton in play-the-hits mode and the racist finale kills it

Humor: Riffs on running bits and pop-culture parallels, then happily trips himself up in his own jokes.

In their words

  • “which, for my money, is still the best thing Chaplain ever did, over his features.” (0:58:42)
  • “you can watch rear window at home and appreciate it.” (1:00:20)
  • “Chris Elliott and Adam Resnick's cabin boy is such a Buster Keaton setup.” (1:51:04)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Wendell & Wild (host)

Loves Selick's visual inventiveness and thinks Wendell & Wild eventually satisfies despite its density; steeped in film-business history and trivia. Defends big sci-fi blockbusters with heavy exposition like Inception and Avatar. Rankings: Nightmare 1, Coraline 2, Peach 3, Wendell & Wild 4, Monkeybone 5.

Stances

  • Wendell & Wild works in spite of itself
  • Netflix botched the release
  • Nightmare edges Coraline on the ranking
  • Monkeybone is an odd, likable bad object

Humor: Riffs on streaming-era absurdity and takes self-aware swipes at the show's own running gags.

In their words

  • “I do think it is cohesive by the end of the movie.” (1:54:06)
  • “I would say it works in spite of itself.” (1:53:03)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Star 80 with Julie Klausner (host)

Respects the craft of Fosse and defends Star 80 as powerful and aware of its own evil, while admitting it nearly unbearable. Loves the structural play of Fosse's films and Alan Ladd-era filmmaker faith. Cannot endorse or recommend Star 80, hates the soundtrack and dwells on true-crime and victim culture.

Stances

  • Star 80 is great but almost unwatchable and not recommendable
  • Fosse is underrated as a filmmaker
  • Fosse hates himself and does not seek forgiveness
  • Ranks Cabaret first with All That Jazz a close second

Humor: Self-deprecating, dark and quick, with pop-culture riffs and jokes about his own podcast.

In their words

  • “I think this movie is like staring into the sun.” (0:04:19)
  • “He, I do think, is incredibly underrated as a as a filmmaker.” (0:05:55)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: An Angel at My Table with Dana Stevens (host)

Loves the film's elusive, memory-like childhood section and its refusal to explain itself; is invested in Campion's research quotes and festival lore. Can't stand the bedsheet-to-armpits sex scene and heavy-handed biopic cliches. A sucker for oddball 90s trivia like FX2 and Brian Bosworth.

Stances

  • The film should be a movie, not a three-part TV series
  • Likes biopics that focus on one slice of life
  • Wants to protect young Janet and root for her
  • Collects odd details and quotes from Campion interviews

Humor: Self-deprecating and digressive, jokes about his own obsessions and failures.

In their words

  • “I was so like moonlight pilled watching this movie” (0:20:22)
  • “I just wanted to protect her in this sort of 1st half of the movie.” (0:51:46)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Starman with Katey Rich (host)

Loves classic-Hollywood trivia, obsessive research dossiers, practical effects and the unfussy craft of Bridges' performance. Worships Dean Cundy and wishes he had shot Starman. Cannot stand overstuffed jukebox movies like the Amazon Cinderella. A sucker for Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet and Oscar-clip nostalgia.

Stances

  • Starman is a good dorky movie; the poster and home-video art are bad
  • Cundy would have made it better
  • Carpenter's unsentimental filmmaking helped it age well
  • Coppola should make Megalopolis now

Humor: Riffs on voices, absurd imagined scenes and dad jokes, then goes deep on obscure Hollywood trivia.

In their words

  • “I love a road trip movie.” (1:33:30)
  • “I'm trying to do Jeff Bridges in this movie” (0:04:43)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Ricki and the Flash with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (host)

Loves a good character-driven film with specificity and is a sucker for franchise action (Mission: Impossible) and spirited bad-movie obsessions. Can't stand Joy and Jason Reitman's tone-deaf fan-service sequels, and gets wary when a movie loses its human focus.

Stances

  • Ricki and the Flash is a good premise executed poorly
  • Defends Tully until its twist
  • Blames some Demme decisions for Ricki's flatness

Humor: Quick pop-culture riffs, fake-announcer bits and absurd puns, often at his own expense.

In their words

  • “Jason Reitman has given Ghostbusters back to the fans.” (0:02:48)
  • “I was like, we need to ban children from films forever.” (0:05:16)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind with Lulu Wang (host)

Loves practical movie-making and visible seams, and gets emotionally floored by sincere pictures like The Farewell and Spirited Away. Cannot stand dense plotting without a map, gun fetishism, and 'Western catharsis'. A sucker for John Wick, Keanu Reeves, heroic dogs, and a perfect sandwich.

Stances

  • Nausicaä is busy and he would like it better in sequence after Lupin, Cagliostro and Sky
  • John Wick: Chapter 3 is the best Wick and one of the year's best
  • Practical animation cheats are charming, not a flaw
  • Dubs are fine and he regrets not using the dub for the plot

Humor: Self-deprecating, tangential, and bit-driven, he tends to run an absurd joke (the Disney Store greeter, Galactus-sized puppeteer) until the others stop him.

In their words

  • “I love practical shit. I love the seams of movie making, you know?” (0:55:15)
  • “this movie doesn't understand that this is fucked up now.” (1:37:12)
  • “I think it's maybe the best work of Keanu's entire career.” (1:50:14)

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 1,101–1,162 of 1,162 claims.

  1. theme (theme): Chris Evans → Paddington. Steve Rogers is rooted for because he is a scrappier Paddington who believes the best of people and only dislikes Nazis.
    “he's just like a scrappier version of Paddington.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:19:31 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Sebastian Stan → Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Griffin prefers Stan as the Winter Soldier, where his face suits the part, to the wooden Bucky of this film.
    “I prefer him as the winter soldier because he's just sort of got a good face for it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:22:59 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): John Krasinski → Captain America: The First Avenger. Krasinski was nearly cast as Cap; Marvel leaked it, fans made gym memes, and Evans was the Hail Mary.
    “The guy who was really close to getting it, John Krasinski”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:23:43 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. theme (theme): Captain America: The First Avenger → Spider-Man (Marvel character). Because it is a movie about little guys, Captain America lands for the speaker as Spider-Man in a big body.
    “He's just Spider-Man and a big old body.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:37:34 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. craft (craft): Captain America: The First Avenger → Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The film's design is only about 10 percent heightened, stopping short of Sky Captain kitsch.
    “Like, it could be Sky Captain.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:43:02 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. craft (craft): Captain America: The First Avenger → Suicide Squad. Eating on screen shows pro actors; Viola Davis's steak in Suicide Squad is the best thing in that movie.
    “You remember how well Viola Davis ate that steak in Suicide Squad?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 1:36:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. lineage (lineage): Thor → Masters of the Universe. Thor is described as essentially a remake of the live-action Masters of the Universe.
    “It's mostly just a remake of the live action masters of the universe movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:03:54 · Griffin Newman (0.65 sure it was them)
  8. lineage (lineage): Thor → Masters of the Universe. Both banish a hero from his heightened mythic world into a mundane Earth town and play it for fish-out-of-water jokes.
    “And you place the one character who belongs in this heightened sci-fi world in the middle of like, you know, the Southwest.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:04:40 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  9. career (career): Chris Hemsworth → Sean Connery. Doubts that Hemsworth is just a big stuntman echo Fleming dismissing Connery as an overblown stuntman when cast as Bond.
    “Ian Fleming publicly was like, he's not an actor.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:24:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  10. lineage (lineage): Thor → Masters of the Universe. Skeletor banishing He-Man to California mirrors Odin banishing Thor, down to the cartoon-to-film design translation and the large Coke gag.
    “They banish him to California, and then like, it's Courtney Cox and some other Californian teenager take them in.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:37:32 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. contrast (contrast): Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald → Thor. Joanna argued Grindelwald should be played with Loki's charm and magnetism rather than Depp's rat-like pallor.
    “Loki is what Grindelwelch should be.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:42:42 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  12. lineage (lineage): Thor → Masters of the Universe. Thor's coffee-mug throwing scene is likened to Gwildor failing to understand fried chicken in He-Man.
    “It's like the scene in He-Man where Gueldor doesn't get fried chicken.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:44:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  13. industry (industry): Thor → Black Panther. Thor shot on a real New Mexico location; later Marvel films like Black Panther are made in Atlanta lots for tax rebates and secrecy, hurting how they look.
    “a lot of it looks ugly because they were so committed to filming it in like a fucking Atlanta parking lot.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:45:46 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  14. contrast (contrast): Thor → Black Panther. Black Panther gives every ensemble member an inner life and a plot function; Thor's side characters like Volstagg and Sif do little.
    “every single character has their own personality, their own internal conflict, but has like a very important plot function as well.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:47:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  15. career (career): Stellan Skarsgard → Nymphomaniac. American films use Skarsgard as a goofy side dish while in Sweden and Europe he is the transgressive art-house king and Lars von Trier's regular.
    “in Sweden, he's like the most like transgressive, like penis wagging, hyper violent sexual actor.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:49:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  16. career (career): Stellan Skarsgard → Insomnia. Skarsgard plays the Pacino part in the Norwegian original of Insomnia.
    “he plays the Pacino part in the original insomnia.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:50:03 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  17. career (career): Natalie Portman → Garden State. A riff on Garden State turns into proposing Ben replace Zach Braff over the whole film as a Kuleshov-effect experiment.
    “Can we just shoot Ben in front of a green screen and like superimpose him over Zach Raff and keep the rest of the movie the same?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 0:54:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  18. programming (programming): Thor → The Avengers. The Hawkeye cameo, with no interaction, made the speaker doubt the Avengers team-up would work.
    “The thing you want to see is how they talk and interact with each other.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:02:12 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  19. industry (industry): Justice League → The Avengers. Marvel spent five setup films; DC's Justice League tried eight characters off two movies.
    “the Justice League is like, we have like 8 characters and we did 2 movies.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:02:49 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  20. theme (theme): Thor → Ghost Rider. Marvel heroes outside Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four lack good villains; Thor has Loki, Ghost Rider's foes are Satan-adjacent like Thor's mythology ones.
    “the thing with the Ghost Rider is it like sort of uses like satanic mythology in the same way that this uses Greek mythology.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:21:53 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  21. verdict (verdict): Joss Whedon → The Avengers. Whedon kills the sweetest character to prove a point in everything, though he did it well in Avengers.
    “Whedon, who, um, loves to fucking kill the innocent to prove a dramatic point.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:24:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  22. craft (craft): Patrick Doyle → Thor. Doyle's score is judged serviceable big orchestral work but not a strong score.
    “I also think that the music, little anonymous, Patrick Doyle, but you know, Doyle will give you a serviceable sort of big orchestral stuff.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:47:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  23. craft (craft): Thor → Foo Fighters. Branagh dropped in the Foo Fighters song Walk at the last minute because its lyrics were about learning to walk again, like Thor.
    “Brana thought the lyrics were appropriate because it's about learning to walk again, much like Thor is learning to be a superhero.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:49:38 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  24. industry (industry): Rio → Newt (cancelled Pixar film). Rio's trailer revealed the same last-of-their-species-must-mate premise, causing Pixar to cancel Newt.
    “Rio caused the only Pixar movie to be canceled?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:53:14 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  25. career (career): Stellan Skarsgard → Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Skarsgard is endearingly game in the Mamma Mia movies; the sequel has an unexplained fat-suit gag.
    “He's so fun in the Mama Mia movies.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Thor · 1:54:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  26. lineage (lineage): Gary Shandling → Robocop 2. The Shandling scene of failing military machines is likened to Robocop 2's footage of machines not working.
    “Shanley is weirdly like Robocop 2, which I've just seen for the 1st time now where they show all these machines not working.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 0:18:54 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  27. what-if (what-if): Beverly Hills Cop → Mickey Rourke. After Stallone dropped out of Beverly Hills Cop, Rourke was offered the part, then Eddie Murphy came in and the film was rebuilt around his riffing.
    “Anyway, so Mickey Rourke says no.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 0:59:41 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  28. contrast (contrast): Iron Man 2 → Beverly Hills Cop II. Iron Man 1 was a straight movie subverted from within by a loose lead, like Beverly Hills Cop; the sequel was written as comedy from the start, like Beverly Hills Cop II, so nothing is subversive.
    “The problem with this movie is they tried to write it from as a comedy from the get go.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 1:01:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  29. career (career): Beverly Hills Cop III → Eddie Murphy. Murphy wanted serious roles like Denzel and Snipes, so on the Landis-directed third film he refused to tell jokes.
    “So they hire John Landis to make a funny movie. And then Eddie Murphy's like, I will not tell jokes in this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 1:02:14 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  30. lineage (lineage): Iron Man 2 → Robocop 2. Both feature an opening gag of malfunctioning machines, and a plot about the military trying to make another one.
    “this is very similar to Robocob 2 where they're like, the plot is kind of just like, how do we make another one of these?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 1:09:32 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  31. craft (craft): Rick Baker → Mickey Rourke. The speaker jokes that makeup artist Rick Baker was handed an Academy Award for Rourke's look, when Rourke simply showed up on set that way.
    “Rick Baker, an Academy Award for Mickey Rourke in this movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 2 · 2:09:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  32. craft (craft): Iron Man → AC/DC. Instead of an original hero theme, the score identity is the song Iron Man, which becomes a lot of AC/DC.
    “This is not a movie with a particularly recognizable theme, partly because they decide the theme should just be the song Iron Man.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 0:47:47 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  33. what-if (what-if): Iron Man → Ghostface Killah. A Ghostface Killah song should have been the film's music, given his devotion to Iron Man.
    “It should have they should have gotten a Ghostface Killer song.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 0:47:56 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  34. contrast (contrast): Alan Silvestri → Iron Man. Silvestri's Avengers theme is the recognizable hero theme that Iron Man lacks.
    “I love Alan Sylvestri's Avengers theme.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 0:48:15 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  35. craft (craft): National Treasure: Book of Secrets → The Rock. Both end on Kennedy-assassination secrets with Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris.
    “there are 2 fucking Nick Cage, Ed Harris movies”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Something's Gotta Give with Bobby Finger (Ad-Free) · 0:13:22 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  36. industry (industry): National Treasure → The Sorcerer's Apprentice. National Treasure 3 was slowed because the studio prioritized Sorcerer's Apprentice.
    “The movie got slowed down because Sorcerer's Apprentice, which they prioritized.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Something's Gotta Give with Bobby Finger (Ad-Free) · 0:13:54 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
  37. theme (theme): Something's Gotta Give → The Grand Budapest Hotel. Like Grand Budapest, the film explains why its maker is so fussy: to build a fantasy world people can escape to.
    “the Ray Fines character explained to the audience why Wes Anderson is so fussy about these things”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Something's Gotta Give with Bobby Finger (Ad-Free) · 1:31:56 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  38. craft (craft): Nancy Meyers → National Treasure. Griffin ties Jon Voight's soufflé line about National Treasure to Meyers: light, airy films that collapse if one element is wrong.
    “I feel like Nancy is like a souffle filmmaker”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Something's Gotta Give with Bobby Finger (Ad-Free) · 1:33:22 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  39. craft (craft): It's Complicated → Suicide Squad. Meyers's many makeup tests for Steve Martin are compared to Killer Croc's makeup tests.
    “that's what they do with like killer croc and suicide squad.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Something's Gotta Give with Bobby Finger (Ad-Free) · 1:33:57 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  40. career (career): Sense and Sensibility → The Ice Storm. After the Sense and Sensibility hit, Lee made the most depressing movie ever made, which got no Oscar nominations.
    “But before he made that decision, he was like, what if I make like the most depressing movie ever made?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:19:35 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  41. unmapped (parody): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Scary Movie. Wire-work parody in pop culture (Scary Movie that year) made it hard for a young Griffin to take the genre seriously.
    “Well, there's like scary movie this year.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:24:52 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  42. people (people): Chow Yun-fat → Clint Eastwood. Li Mu Bai is the greatest warrior ever with baggage, like Clint Eastwood.
    “So he's like Clint Eastwood, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:31:59 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  43. theme (theme): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Sense and Sensibility. After 15 minutes the movie goes full Jane Austen.
    “But like 15 minutes later, when the movie goes full, Jane Austen”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:37:29 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  44. career (career): Chow Yun-fat → Daniel Day-Lewis. Li Mu Bai is in a Daniel Day-Lewis retirement mode: the best at something that no longer satisfies him.
    “I think he's in like Daniel De-Louis retirement mode.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:38:01 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  45. career (career): Tom Wilkinson → Rush Hour. Wilkinson told an interviewer Rush Hour is what made Hollywood take him seriously.
    “rush hour, like transformed his career.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:47:43 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  46. career (career): Tom Wilkinson → Michael Clayton. Without Rush Hour there is no Michael Clayton.
    “You don't get Michael Clayton.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:48:12 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  47. craft (craft): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Breakfast at Tiffany's. Jen staring at the sword is a Breakfast at Tiffany's moment.
    “A little breakfast at Tiffany's moment, just staring.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:52:07 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  48. craft (craft): Ang Lee → Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lee wrote the subtitles himself so they would be clear and carry the plot.
    “Angley wrote the subtitles because he wanted the subtitles to be clear and to like convey plot.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:53:28 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  49. people (people): Chad Stahelski → Keanu Reeves. Stahelski was Keanu Reeves's stunt double on The Matrix.
    “Chad Zahelski, Keanu Reeves' stunt double on the Matrix”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:59:30 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  50. lineage (lineage): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Last Action Hero. Jen worshipping Shu Lien and living her dreamed-of story is very Last Action Hero.
    “It's very last action hero.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:07:21 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  51. career (career): Chang Chen → A Brighter Summer Day. Chang Chen was a child star in A Brighter Summer Day.
    “He's in a brighter summer day.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:24:08 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  52. programming (programming): Edward Yang → A Brighter Summer Day. Joke pitch for a Blank Check Edward Yang miniseries.
    “When's the Edward Yang cast?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:24:11 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  53. unmapped (joke): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Phantom Thread. Jen's bar-ordering is like a Phantom Thread order.
    “She does like a fucking phantom thread order.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:32:27 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  54. career (career): Jet Li → Romeo Must Die. Li took Romeo Must Die instead of CTHD.
    “it's not just fucking Romeo must die, which Jet Lee took instead of this film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:35:41 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  55. industry (industry): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Slumdog Millionaire. CTHD spawned 'Crouching Blank, Hidden Blank' naming, as Slumdog did for 15 years.
    “In the same way that like some dog millionaire for 15 years after is just like, oh, look, it's slum dog blank over here.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:41:10 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  56. verdict (verdict): Martin Campbell → Vertical Limit. Martin Campbell is only good at making James Bond movies; Vertical Limit is a good first scene only.
    “It's a great example of Martin Campbell only being good at making masterpiece James Bond movies”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:56:30 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  57. people (people): Dungeons & Dragons → Courtney Solomon. The D&D director also made An American Haunting and Getaway.
    “He made an American haunting.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:59:53 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  58. career (career): Courtney Solomon → The Getaway. Solomon directed Dungeons & Dragons, then An American Haunting and Getaway.
    “His name is Courtney Solomon.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 2:00:47 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  59. craft (craft): The Ice Storm → Do the Right Thing. The Ice Storm gets cold weather as right as Do the Right Thing gets hot weather, trading rage for malaise.
    “I think this movie gets cold weather as right as do the right thing gets hot weather.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 0:10:53 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  60. lineage (lineage): The Ice Storm → Freaks and Geeks. Recognizing the Ice Storm as a 40-something's nostalgia piece led to the same realization with Freaks and Geeks.
    “the next thing I remember thinking that about and having that realization about was, uh, was freaks and geeks.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 0:14:22 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  61. theme (theme): The Ice Storm → Fantastic Four. The Ice Storm's families map onto the Fantastic Four, with Joan Allen as Invisible Woman and Kevin Kline as Mr. Fantastic.
    “No, yeah, no, Joan Allen is Invisible Woman, and Kevin Klein is fucking Mr. Fate Desk.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 0:38:07 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
  62. what-if (what-if): The Ice Storm → Fantastic Four. Griffin wishes Ang Lee had been able to make a sad Fantastic Four movie.
    “this movie does make me wish that he gotten the chance to make a sad, fantastic four movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 1:34:30 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 601–605 of 605 fun items.

  1. fun, about The Ice Storm: The sound design sells the cold, down to flexing frozen boots.
    “And also, this movie does not get enough credit for how good the sound is.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 0:11:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Elliott Gould: Griffin's story: Gould put a hand on his shoulder, said you're family, and later wrote him an Einstein quote.
    “He put his hand on my shoulder and he went, you're family.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 0:29:17 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about The Ice Storm: The film opens with Paul reading Fantastic Four on the stalled train.
    “Because the movie fucking opens with the Fantastic Four.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Ice Storm with Emily Yoshida (Ad-Free) · 0:36:04 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
  4. 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?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Vanilla Sky with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:31:59 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. 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.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Vanilla Sky with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:57:04 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)