Griffin Newman

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 61–80 of 96 sketches.

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 101–200 of 1,162 claims.

101. lineage (origin of project): David Lean → Empire of the Sun. Lean asked Spielberg to check on the rights, then lost interest and handed the novel to him.

     “He asks Spielberg to check in on the rights for him.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 0:57:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
102. unmapped (screenwriting): Tom Stoppard → Empire of the Sun. Stoppard became the sole credited writer and said it taught him where dialogue is unnecessary.

     “I learned a lot working on that in terms of like where you don't need dialogue.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:08:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
103. unmapped (authorship): Tom Stoppard → Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Stoppard directed the film version of his own play, which won at Venice.

     “And he directed he directed the film version of it too.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:10:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
104. people (actor comparison): Christian Bale → Adam Driver. Bale takes weird projects, even bad movies, a bit like Driver, but is more flexible.

     “He's almost like there's there's a bit of the Adam Driver thing going on with them.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:13:47 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
105. unmapped (scene reference): Empire of the Sun → Gone with the Wind. Jim stands before the Gone with the Wind poster, echoing Spielberg's remark to Alice Walker that it is one of his favorites.

     “I mean, you have that moment where he's standing in front of the giant gone with the wind poster, right?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:31:05 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
106. craft (shot design): Empire of the Sun → Jaws. Spielberg reveals Malkovich in pieces like Jaws and Indiana Jones, withholding the hero shot.

     “he introduces him both like he's Jaws and like he's Indiana Jones”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:38:17 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
107. craft (shot design): Empire of the Sun → Raiders of the Lost Ark. Same slow reveal as Indiana Jones in pieces before the hero shot.

     “which similarly has the like Spielberg taking 5 minutes to show you Indiana Jones in pieces before you really get the hero shot”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:38:17 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
108. lineage (inspiration): Empire of the Sun → Tropic Thunder. Ben Stiller, on the Empire set as a young actor, was inspired by actors playing at suffering to make Tropic Thunder two decades later.

     “Which, of course, this is one of this movie's greatest, like, lasting legacies is that this, this is what inspires Tropic Thunder.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:49:05 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
109. unmapped (psychology key): Empire of the Sun → The Fabelmans. Griffin reads Empire through The Fabelmans: Spielberg's core trauma was being pulled into the adult world, like Jim in the camp.

     “I mean, here's here's my big post-fableman's take on this movie.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:50:40 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
110. unmapped (dark twin): Empire of the Sun → E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Griffin pairs E.T. and Empire as two stabs at the same childhood material at the front and back of the 80s.

     “I do think they're like him sort of like at the front and end of the 80s taking 2 stabs at a similar thing.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 1:55:03 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
111. people (performance): Miranda Richardson → Kansas City. Griffin saw the Altman film at a repertory screening where the audience was blown away by Richardson.

     “holy shit, the Miranda Richardson performance in this.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:06:28 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
112. craft (plot structure): Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl → Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film fails to tie its Indiana-Jones-style MacGuffin to the Wallace-Gromit relationship.

     “They fail to make the, um, the plot, the sort of like Indiana Jones-S McGuffin of what they're up against directly relate to Wallace and Gromit's relationship.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:11:21 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
113. theme (quality comparison): Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl → Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Vengeance Most Fowl is better than Dawn of the Nugget.

     “it is much better than Dawn of the Nugget, which I think is basically wall-to-wall bullshit.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:12:14 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
114. unmapped (stylistic shift): Saving Private Ryan → Minority Report. Saving Private Ryan was the biggest shift in Spielberg's signature style, letting him change languages for films like Minority Report and Munich.

     “Saving Private Ryan is, in my opinion, the single biggest shift in his signature style up until that point”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:18:41 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
115. unmapped (historical context): Come See the Paradise → Empire of the Sun. A reminder that America had its own internment camps, as in Alan Parker's film.

     “America did that to you, Japanese citizen.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:24:31 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
116. unmapped (reappraisal): Fatal Attraction → Adrian Lyne. Lyne has been retroactively inserted into the pantheon; Sliver was not valued in 1993.

     “It is funny how Adrian Lyne has become kind of a like sort of retroactively inserted into the pantheon.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 2:37:06 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
117. craft (craft): Raiders of the Lost Ark → Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Last Crusade shows that silent comedy, especially Buster Keaton, is part of the DNA of these movies.

     “that's the huge part of the DNA of these movies is silent comedy and not just the adventure serials.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 1:14:01 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
118. industry (industry): Raiders of the Lost Ark → Spider-Man. The big 2002 superhero films were limited by effects budgets in action; Raiders felt like it exceeded what was possible.

     “this is more movie than you thought was previously possible.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:41:04 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
119. unmapped (experience): Raiders of the Lost Ark → Spider-Man 2. Seeing Spider-Man 2's subway chase felt to him like watching Raiders' escalating set pieces in 1981.

     “I imagine this is what it would have felt like to watch Raiders in the theater at the time, but seeing Spider-Man 2 opening nights”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis · 2:43:59 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
120. unmapped (weirdest-ever): Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 → Twin Peaks season 2 finale. Part 8 is Lynch topping his own season 2 finale as the weirdest thing ever on prime time, building something weird in relation to the template of weirdness he already set.

     “he's like, no, I need to make the thing that is weird and relation to the template of weirdness I have already set, much like the season 2 finale”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 0:07:53 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
121. lineage (alt-cut riff): Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 → Anchorman (Wake Up Ron Burgundy alt cut). Lynch's deleted-scene habit is riffed as making his own Wake Up Ron Burgundy.

     “Lynch loves wake up Ron Burgundy.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 0:45:43 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
122. lineage (location callback): Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me → Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8. The convenience store was only seen inside, upstairs, in Fire Walk with Me; Part 8 shows its exterior and it is where nasty business happens.

     “Wait, so we've been to the convenience store and in the past?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:21:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
123. craft (structural echo): Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 → 2001: A Space Odyssey. The abstract atomic-origin sequence is likened to 2001 for television, and the speakers note 2001 also comes after two hours of conventional narrative.

     “you're like, oh, we're watching something that is 2001, a Space Odyssey for television.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:22:42 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
124. unmapped (bit): Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 → Wonka. A running gag predicts Wonka 2 will have Willy Wonka meet the Fockers.

     “My prediction is we'll find out his middle name as Nelly.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:59:01 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
125. industry (industry): Francis Ford Coppola → Ronnie Rocket. Lynch came close to making Ronnie Rocket at Zoetrope.

     “He actually comes close now because he has real clout, Zoatrope, Francis Ford Coppola's, you know, House of Madness.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:00:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
126. what-if (what-if): David Lynch → Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Lynch would have gone wild on Jabba's Palace.

     “The whole 1st 30 minutes, you're like, Lynch would go fucking hog wild on that.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:04:23 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
127. career (career): David Lynch → Red Dragon / Manhunter. Roth approached Lynch to direct Red Dragon, which Michael Mann later made as Manhunter.

     “Richard Roth approached him to direct Red Dragon, which, of course, eventually Michael Mann makes as Manhunter.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:05:31 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
128. career (career): David Lynch → Blue Velvet. Lynch pitched Blue Velvet to Roth in the same meeting.

     “That is when he pitches Roth on Blue Velvet.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:05:38 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
129. lineage (lineage): Tender Mercies → The Straight Story. Tender Mercies was a quiet drama offered to Lynch, a sensibility that foreshadows The Straight Story.

     “but somebody like the straight story speaks to him.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:05:58 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
130. career (career): David Lynch → Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cameron Crowe approached Lynch to direct Fast Times.

     “He was also approached by Cameron Crowe to direct Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:06:16 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
131. people (people): Dino De Laurentiis → Federico Fellini. Raffaella says her father thought Lynch was as good as Fellini.

     “My father loved directors and he thought David was as good as Fellini, she says.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:08:14 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
132. contrast (contrast): Eraserhead → The Elephant Man. Dino wanted Elephant Man Lynch, not Eraserhead Lynch, though they share a lot.

     “But he's sort of saying like, I want the elephant man lynch, not eraser head lynch.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:08:39 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
133. industry (industry): Dino De Laurentiis → Conan the Barbarian. Conan had already happened by the time of Dune.

     “Conan had happened at this point, Barbarellas.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:10:31 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
134. career (career): Matt Keeslar → Sour Grapes. Keeslar plays a Matt LeBlanc stand-in in Larry David's Sour Grapes.

     “Matt Keesler plays Matt LeBlanc in sour grapes.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:20:28 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
135. people (people): W.D. Richter → Late for Dinner. Late for Dinner was directed by W.D. Richter, who also did Buckaroo Banzai.

     “The film you referenced was, in fact, directed by W.D. Richter, the only other film directed by the man who did Buck Rubons.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:29:32 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
136. what-if (what-if): David Lean → Dune. David Lean was approached by the original rights holder and passed.

     “Martha P. Jacobs at one point wanted David Lean to make Dune.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:29:46 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
137. what-if (what-if): Val Kilmer → Dune. Val Kilmer was reportedly first choice for Paul and makes sense but was notoriously difficult.

     “Now, Val Kilmer, I believe, was the 1st choice to play Paulitrates, and makes so much sense.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:43:30 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
138. what-if (what-if): Tom Cruise → Dune. Tom Cruise was mentioned for Paul but feared too charismatic.

     “Obviously, Tom Cruise is also mentioned.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:44:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
139. theme (theme): Kyle MacLachlan → The Three Musketeers. MacLachlan said he preferred movies like The Three Musketeers to Eraserhead.

     “I more liked movies like The Three Musketeers.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:45:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
140. people (people): David Lynch → Kyle MacLachlan. Lynch cast MacLachlan without an audition after talk about the Northwest and red wine.

     “They talk about red wine and and Lynch is like, I like your vibe, read this script.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:45:16 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
141. career (career): Freddie Jones → The Elephant Man. Freddie Jones is the one actor carried over from Elephant Man.

     “You have Freddie Jones, of course, from Elephant Man is the one actor he does bring over from that movie.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:51:01 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
142. craft (craft): Barry Nolan → John Dykstra. Nolan's lower-budget effects shop took over the film after Dykstra's Apogee left early.

     “leaves the movie early and in comes Barry Nolan, who works at a lower budget.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:07:52 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
143. career (career): Dune → Blue Velvet. Lynch's next movie after Dune was with Dino De Laurentiis.

     “This makes it all the crazier that the next movie David Lynch makes is with Dino DeLorentis.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:10:25 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
144. craft (craft): David Lynch → The Elephant Man. Lynch planned to do the Elephant Man makeup effects himself, as he had on Eraserhead, until the production insisted on a professional.

     “Like his plan was to do the makeup effects entirely himself because he was used to working that way on Elephant Man, or not Elephant Man, Eraserhead.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:10:50 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
145. people (people): Brian Eno → Toto. The speaker likens the Eno-credited, Toto-scored split on Dune to the Danny Elfman and Alf Clausen relationship.

     “So it's like the Danny Elfman Alf Clausen relationship.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:14:38 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
146. career (career): Ed Naha → Ghostbusters II. The Making of Dune author Ed Naha also novelized Ghostbusters II.

     “Uh, novelizer of Ghostbusters 2?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:36:12 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
147. craft (craft): Eraserhead → The Elephant Man. Both films carry a sound designer credit for David Lynch.

     “It is sound designed by David Lynch. Which makes sense.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:39:02 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
148. programming (programming): Dune → Blue Velvet. Next week's episode is Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus.

     “Tune in next week for Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 3:02:27 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
149. unmapped (impression): Brian Cranston → Trumbo. Griffin's one good impression is Brian Cranston in Trumbo.

     “There's like 3 impressions I have that are good and one of them is Brian Cranston and Trumbo.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:14:43 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
150. career (unmade project): S. Craig Zahler → The Brigands of Rhine Boug (unproduced script). Park was attached to Zahler's famous blacklist western spec before Decision to Leave.

     “He got attached to a very famous blacklist script, a notorious blacklist script called The Brigands of Raffle Borg, which is written by S. Craig Zoller.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:25:38 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
151. career (career context): Decision to Leave → The Little Drummer Girl. The film was made after Park's English-language TV show, which left him homesick for a Korean film.

     “But so he's homesick.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:34:49 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
152. lineage (source song): Decision to Leave → Mist (1967 Korean hit song). Park loved the 1967 song The Mist since childhood and the movie is built around it and the lady-in-the-mist idea.

     “A Korean 1967 hit song called The Miss. Yeah. which is about a protagonist who's trying to understand the world around them.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:35:35 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
153. career (career context): Decision to Leave → Stoker. Stoker was Park's only American film and he took someone else's script; Decision to Leave is the first fully original thing after a run of adaptations.

     “This is the 1st time he's completely regenering something.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:37:05 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
154. lineage (source character): Decision to Leave → Martin Beck novels (Swedish). The anti-macho gentleman cop concept comes from Martin Beck, the Swedish police novels, falling for the lady from the mist.

     “So basically, what if Martin Beck, this Swedish police officer character falls in love with, like the lady from the Mist, sort of, right?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:37:24 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
155. unmapped (writing partner): Park Chan-wook → Chung Seo-kyung. Chung is his frequent co-writer; she initially refused a melodrama about an abused woman and he talked her into it.

     “I said no, I didn't want to write a melodrama about an abused woman.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:44:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
156. people (prior role): Park Hae-il → The Host. Park Hae-il is known from the Bong Joon-ho movie The Host and had never worked with Park Chan-wook before.

     “He's in the host, the Bunkshun Ho movie.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:46:12 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
157. unmapped (fandom link): Park Hae-il → Lust, Caution. Park Hae-il says he has loved Tang Wei since Lust, Caution, which is why he said yes.

     “I've always loved Tong Wei. Since less caution.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:47:11 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
158. lineage (influence denied): Decision to Leave → Vertigo. Park says interviewers always ask about Vertigo but it was not his conscious influence.

     “He says, I think everyone basically is interviewing him being like, is this like a vertigo thing?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:52:23 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
159. lineage (influence): Decision to Leave → Brief Encounter. Park cites David Lean's Brief Encounter as the romantic vibe he was thinking of instead of Vertigo.

     “He says, brief encounter, the David Lean film. is more what he's thinking of in terms of vibe.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:52:37 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
160. craft (visual gag comparison): Decision to Leave → RoboCop. The husband's cartoon fall off the mountain is compared to the Dick Jones stop-motion fall at the end of Robocop.

     “He does like a like a end of Robocop Dick Jones fall, basically.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 1:14:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
161. lineage (genre lineage): Decision to Leave → Insomnia. A sleepless cop is called part of the sleepy-cop canon, with Pacino's Insomnia as the reference.

     “But this movie is in the detective dormer canon of sleepy cops who can't go to sleep.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 1:20:56 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
162. unmapped (fight realism): Decision to Leave → Eastern Promises. Eastern Promises has similarly clumsy, human fight sequences where skin is actually pierced, like the knife-and-chain-mail scene.

     “That movie has some similarly, like, very, very human fight sequences”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 1:23:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
163. craft (plot structure): Decision to Leave → Strangers on a Train. The pills and Slappy-kills-the-husband arrangement is called a Strangers on a Train swap by the detective and the hosts.

     “I've seen my Hitchcock movies. This is some fucking strangers on a train ship.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 1:31:39 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
164. career (upcoming): Park Chan-wook → The Sympathizer. Park has the HBO series The Sympathizer coming, with Robert Downey Jr. in multiple roles.

     “He has an HBO series where Robert Downey Jr. plays multiple characters.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 1:51:36 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
165. unmapped (next series): David Fincher → The Killer. The next miniseries is Fincher timed to his fall release The Killer, with Brendan Hines to guest.

     “We are doing the films of David Fincher, who has a new movie coming out this fall and we want to sync up with that.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 2:10:51 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
166. people (future-stars cast): Beware of the Gonzo → Dazed and Confused. Like Dazed and Confused, the young cast included many future stars.

     “It was hour dazed and confused.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:14:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
167. unmapped (joke analog): Beware of the Gonzo → The Fabelmans. Griffin jokes that Beware of the Gonzo is the Fabelmans of its time.

     “the Fabelmans of its time.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:20:12 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
168. unmapped (action direction): Buster Keaton → James Cameron. As an action director Keaton is likened to James Cameron.

     “he's also like fucking James Cameron as an action director.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:51:04 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
169. unmapped (borrowed magic bits): Sherlock, Jr. → Houdini. The dream sequence let Keaton use vaudeville and Houdini-style magic bits in a movie grounded in reality.

     “there were magic bits that he knew from vaudeville, from Houdini and other magicians”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:53:54 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
170. verdict (best work): Charlie Chaplin → One A.M.. Griffin says Chaplin's one-man drunk-on-the-staircase short is the best thing Chaplin ever did, better than his features.

     “which, for my money, is still the best thing Chaplain ever did, over his features.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:58:42 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
171. unmapped (Keaton-esque): One A.M. → Buster Keaton. Chaplin's non-tramp drunk short plays more like a Keaton picture in its directing style.

     “it's more Keatney”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:59:13 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
172. unmapped (theater-viewing): Sherlock, Jr. → Rear Window. A CalArts teacher argued certain films, like Sherlock Jr., should be seen in a theater while Rear Window can be appreciated at home.

     “you can watch rear window at home and appreciate it.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:00:20 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
173. unmapped (coincidence gag): Sherlock, Jr. → Pulp Fiction. The wrong-man-walks-by coincidence in the pawn shop is compared to Ving Rhames walking by in Pulp Fiction.

     “much like Ving Reims and Pulp Fiction, just happens to walk by at that moment.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:16:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
174. craft (effects analysis): Sherlock, Jr. → Corridor Crew (YouTube channel). A YouTube channel was stumped by three of the film's special-effects sequences, more than by modern movies.

     “they were more stump trying to figure out the special effects of Sherlock Jr. than most modern movies.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:18:51 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
175. people (people): Sherlock, Jr. → The Navigator. The same long-term cinematographer, Elgin Leslie, shot both Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator.

     “who was named Elgin Leslie, who shot this and the navigator and the bulk of his shorts and most of his features of this era.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:22:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
176. unmapped (intrusion gag): Sherlock, Jr. → Bugs Bunny cartoons. The film rejecting Keaton's linear-time presence is like Bugs Bunny messing with Daffy.

     “It's Bugs Bunny fucking with Daffy.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:27:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
177. unmapped (vaudeville pool): Sherlock, Jr. → W. C. Fields. Vaudevillians really could play pool; W. C. Fields had an eccentric pool bit in his act.

     “WC Fields also had a bit in his act where he did eccentric pool and he does them in some films.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:29:13 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
178. unmapped (cartoon logic): Sherlock, Jr. → Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Keaton riding the handlebars without noticing the driver is gone follows Wile E. Coyote logic.

     “it's Wiley Coyote logic.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:36:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
179. unmapped (childlike innocence): Sherlock, Jr. → Dumb and Dumber. Keaton's baffled reaction to the sudden babies is compared to a childlike, non-sexual innocence like Dumb and Dumber.

     “where he has a childlike innocence, so he is not drawn towards sexual situations, if I may be permitted in comparison.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:41:03 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
180. unmapped (archetype guess): The Confidence Man → Vince Vaughn. David guesses the rogue who reforms is a Vince Vaughn type.

     “So I'm going to guess he's a Vince Vaughn type rogue.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:45:24 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
181. unmapped (archetype guess): Girl Shy → Michael Cera. Harold Lloyd's shy boy is likened to a Michael Cera type.

     “He's more of a Michael Sarah motherfucker.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:46:33 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
182. unmapped (same setup): The Navigator → Cabin Boy. A fancy lad must prove he is a tough man at sea, a setup that Cabin Boy repeats while looking like a Harryhausen movie.

     “Chris Elliott and Adam Resnick's cabin boy is such a Buster Keaton setup.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:51:04 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
183. craft (craft): Cabin Boy → Ray Harryhausen. Cabin Boy is coded visually and tonally as a Ray Harryhausen movie, with stop motion and forced-perspective giants, even as its story is a Keaton setup.

     “that movie is obviously so coded like visually and tonally as a Ray Harryhausen movie, but Chris Elliott and Adam Resnick's cabin boy is such a Buster Keaton setup”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:51:04 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
184. craft (reaction style): The Navigator → Harold Lloyd. In the ghost-painting bit Keaton panics like a Harold Lloyd character instead of staying deadpan.

     “He actually had kind of a Harold Lloyd reaction to this.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 1:58:32 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
185. craft (craft): The Navigator → Victor Herbert. A Navigator title card jokes about singing Kiss Me Again to the music of Alice, Where Art Thou; the speaker looked up that Kiss Me Again is by Victor Herbert.

     “Kiss Me Again is an up-tempo, like, waltz. That I can imagine. I can basically picture what that's written by Victor Herbert”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:01:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
186. unmapped (Rube Goldberg gag): The Navigator → Pee-wee Herman. The pulleys-and-ropes kitchen sequence is described as Pee-wee Herman and Rube Goldberg stuff.

     “they pee wee Hermann at the kitchen.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:06:26 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
187. lineage (remake): The Thief of Baghdad → The Thief of Baghdad (Korda/Powell and Pressburger version). Griffin has seen the Korda, Powell and Pressburger version, an all-time great special effects movie.

     “one of the all-time great special effects movies of the 1st half of the century.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:11:24 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
188. lineage (remake): Seven Chances → Chris O'Donnell. Seven Chances is one of the rare Keaton films that was remade, with Chris O'Donnell as the Buster Keaton of our day.

     “Yes, with the with the Buster Keaton of our day.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:19:17 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
189. lineage (joke remake): The Navigator → Captain Phillips. Griffin quips that The Navigator was remade as Captain Phillips, with fewer gags.

     “and the navigator was remade as Captain Phillips.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:19:36 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
190. industry (beat it at the Oscars): Roddy McDowall → Citizen Kane. Griffin says he used to think the Roddy McDowall film shouldn't have beaten Citizen Kane, then saw it and changed his mind.

     “oh, that's the movie that shouldn't have beaten Season K.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 2:20:28 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
191. unmapped (shadow): Henry Selick → Tim Burton. A host says Burton's name overshadows Selick; people hear Nightmare Before Christmas and assume it is Burton's.

     “It does really feel like the Burton thing is a shadow.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:04:02 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
192. contrast (documentary type contrast): Claydream → The Sparks Brothers. David assumed Claydream was a Sparks Brothers-style career overview but it is really about art within capitalism.

     “I assumed it was maybe more of a Sparks Brothers type.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:39:45 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
193. unmapped (takeover fallout): Will Vinton → Henry Selick. After Vinton was pushed out of Will Vinton Studios by Nike's Knight, the company (Laika) went after Selick.

     “They go after Henry Selleck, who's like the other giant stop motion, at least in America, right?”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:42:07 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
194. theme (story analogy): The Shadow King → Dumbo. The Shadow King's long fingers become a gift, like Dumbo's ears.

     “it's like Dumbo where like his terrifying, gigantic ears end up becoming this artistic gift.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:44:22 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
195. unmapped (unfinished predecessor): The Shadow King → Wendell and Wild. The Shadow King combined stop motion with shadow animation; some of that is used in Wendell & Wild.

     “And they use some of that in this film, Wendell and Wild.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:44:46 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
196. unmapped (creative conflict): John Lasseter → Henry Selick. Selick blames Lasseter's constant changes for budget creep that killed The Shadow King.

     “John Lassiter couldn't help himself.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:47:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
197. unmapped (blame): Alan Horn → The Shadow King. Selick says Alan Horn found the movie too weird to sell.

     “said the movie was too weird.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:49:57 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
198. lineage (origin of film): Jordan Peele → Wendell and Wild. Selick saw Key and Peele on Comedy Central and realized they were Wendell and Wild.

     “then it hit me, Wendell and Wild.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 0:53:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
199. unmapped (protagonist note): Monkeybone → Wendell and Wild. Selick's pattern is to choose an adult / unconventional lead (retired pitchmen, a middle-aged nun) until a producer pushes for the kid.

     “Anyway, with monkey bone, I wanted every character to be a 60s, you know, retired pitch man.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:02:01 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
200. industry (studio-notes buffer): Jordan Peele → Henry Selick. Peele was good at dealing with studio notes and calming Selick down.

     “He was really good at dealing with studio notes.”

     Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:03:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 401–500 of 605 fun items.

401. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Bar graph of Batman's happiness index versus days without crime goes straight down, an Adam West-style joke.

     “You saw that the bar graph that was Batman's happiness index versus days without crime.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:37:06 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
402. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Alfred rolls in on a spot labeled Kick Butler, a pure Adam West-style text joke.

     “the nameplate above it said Kick Butler.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:44:10 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
403. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Robin has not figured out Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person: Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic, and Batman says Bruce told him it's okay to hang out.

     “he has to be like, uh, Bruce told me it's okay for you to hang out with me.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:45:11 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
404. fun, about Chris McKay: Dan Harmon wrote a Lego Batman 2 script (Lego Super Friends) that died when Universal bought the Lego rights.

     “Dan Harmon wrote the script for Lego Batman 2, which was Lego Super Friends.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:48:27 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
405. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Animators keep the Lego limits: arms rotate and swing but never bend, though shoulders may dislocate to cross the chest.

     “but they'll let the entire arm sort of like remove from the body and turn inwards.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:54:01 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
406. fun, about Lego (company): Lego ruled the 90s by building its own mythologies each year, with Johnny Thunder as its Indiana Jones hero, before the 1999 Star Wars deal.

     “There's Johnny Thunder, who is their attempt to create like an Indiana Jones style hero”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:56:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
407. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: A listener built Lego versions of the hosts; the builder, Dave Colletta, became a top contestant on Lego Masters, which Arnett hosts.

     “And the guy who built the figures of us became like one of the best contestants on this fucking show.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:59:05 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
408. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Lego Masters contestants strategized by talking about careers the way the hosts talk about directors.

     “the way they would strategize was talking about careers and the way we talk about directors”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:59:52 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
409. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Phantom Zone includes Sauron as a talking tower, Voldemort turning people to fish, the Wicked Witch, a Gremlin crew, and a Creature from the Black Lagoon.

     “Sauron is just a talking tower.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:00:26 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
410. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Griffin argues the movie is a flawed pick for David because the IP cameos are shallow; the villains get little screen time.

     “Everyone else is truly a cameo.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:09:48 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
411. fun, about Deadpool: Robin's chimichanga comment ties to Deadpool's chimichanga bit, and Griffin finds chimichangas too heavy.

     “I just feel like chimichongas are, they're just very heavy.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:17:59 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
412. fun, about Doctor Who: Griffin explains a Dalek: it's a garbage can with a plunger because, per him, an arm went missing and a bathroom plunger replaced it.

     “they were missing an arm and they took a plunger out of the bathroom.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:32:27 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
413. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The Phantom Zone guard, Ellie Kemper, is named Phyllis, which is also an Office character not played by Kemper.

     “which also has a character called Phyllis.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:37:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
414. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The hosts get blind Lego bags from Dave Colletta: General Zod, Blight, Apache Chief, dance-party Harley Quinn.

     “Oh, that's Apache Chief from the Super Friends.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:44:31 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
415. fun, about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: The episode's outro joke: they claim the runtime is 5 hours because they put on Secrets of Dumbledore.

     “So should I throw on Secrets of Dumbledore right now?”

     Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 1:48:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
416. fun, about James Gray: Maybelline commercials fund the uncompromising artist.

     “He does like fucking Maybelline commercials.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Marvel Nerdfest · 0:08:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
417. fun, about The Flash: Dad confused about which Batman is where.

     “I've tried to explain to him so many times”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Marvel Nerdfest · 0:12:19 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
418. fun, about X-Men '97: Disney Plus show continuing the 90s cartoon.

     “They are doing a show called X-Men 97”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Marvel Nerdfest · 0:24:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
419. fun, about Eternals: Zhao's style could not be removed; still obligated Marvel beats.

     “The one movie that was shot so specifically that they could not take her style out of it.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Marvel Nerdfest · 0:30:42 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
420. fun, about Kevin Feige: Joke: did he jot down Hacker Witch five years ago.

     “Did he jot down Hacker Witch 5 years ago?”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Marvel Nerdfest · 0:40:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
421. fun, about Old Dogs: Hosts note Becker's film is Disney live action, not Touchstone or Pixar: a Walt Disney picture by a Walt Becker.

     “It's a Walt Disney Walt Becker collab.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:10:52 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
422. fun, about Disney: Griffin's thesis: the flop ended an entire kind of Disney live-action film.

     “This movie like killed an entire, like, realm of possible films that Disney could make.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:12:13 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
423. fun, about Seth Green: Seth Green's Star Wars Detours episodes were shelved while he was in Old Dogs.

     “He produced 39 episodes of Star Wars detours, was sat on a shelf.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:23:05 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
424. fun, about Walt Becker: His directing style, per Griffin: push every actor bigger on every take.

     “Waltbecker, his style is to tell every actor to just go bigger and bigger in every take.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:31:15 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
425. fun, about John Travolta: Charlie's magic hobby is set up by the fire trick and then dropped for the rest of the film.

     “He never once chose any affinity for magic over... the rest of the running time for the film.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:44:43 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
426. fun, about John Travolta: The fire-from-the-hands moment: Griffin insists Charlie can really conjure fire, since nothing disproves it.

     “Charlie has the ability to conjure fire with his bare hands.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:45:25 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
427. fun, about Walt Becker: Becker's commentary calls Travolta and Williams one of the great comedy duos, though they had never made a movie together.

     “He says, I think Travolta and Williams and this are one of the all time great onscreen comedy duos.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:52:41 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
428. fun, about Justin Long: Unbilled Long is the one actor who knows what movie he is in.

     “I think he is the only person who knows exactly what movie he is in.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 0:58:15 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
429. fun, about Old Dogs: After Justin Long's scout troop shoots a statue's head off, they burn it down and get kicked out.

     “After shooting the head off the statue, they stayed there long enough for the sun to go down to light the whole thing on fire, and then they were kicked out.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:05:08 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
430. fun, about Old Dogs: The bereavement group scene: Lori Loughlin's beach house invite turns out to be a grief group.

     “Her grandmother died six months ago, she's been going to this bereavement group.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:09:16 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
431. fun, about Walt Becker: Alvin and the Chipmunks 4: Alvin sits next to John Waters on a plane, as Griffin's key Becker anecdote.

     “John Waters calls over a flight attendant, says, Excuse me.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:13:24 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
432. fun, about John Travolta: Travolta's Joker face after the mixed-up pills is a digital effect.

     “His Joker face is digital.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:14:49 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
433. fun, about Bernie Mac: Jimmy Lunchbox, Bernie Mac's role, is a master puppeteer with no puppets onstage.

     “Now, as I press play again, I want you to take note of, there being zero puppets on stage.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:18:04 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
434. fun, about Old Dogs: The motion-capture parenting suit has a sensor in an unfortunate spot.

     “His crotch is electrocuting because he has the sensor by his penis.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:22:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
435. fun, about Bernie Mac: Griffin warns the audience they are about to see Bernie Mac's last moments on screen.

     “You're about to see the last seconds of Bernie Mac on screen.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:23:38 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
436. fun, about Old Dogs: The Friday the 13th joke pays off: the kids watch the film in the apartment, and the host notes it's part three.

     “But this is not parts one or two because Jason doesn't wear the mask till three.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:28:25 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
437. fun, about Seth Green: A cutaway implies the gorilla and Seth Green have a thing.

     “The movie is implying at this point that the gorilla has mated with Seth.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:48:16 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
438. fun, about The Princess and the Frog: Box office game: the Disney animated film opened that weekend on two screens.

     “Princess and the Frog opens this week, number 18.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 1:54:07 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
439. 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)
440. fun, about Old Dogs: Sign-off line, and the show's running Becker joke.

     “Walt Becker's a dang ass freak.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · OLD DOGS - Blank Check LIVE! at the Bell House (May 12, 2022) · 2:00:06 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
441. fun, about Batman (TV series, 1966-68): Batman premiered and the Munsters tanked within four months; the Munsters movies came out after cancellation.

     “Right, it was like within 4 months of Batman premiering.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:03:12 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
442. fun, about Griffin Newman: Griffin's Supergirl bit: Burt Ward and other legends in the opening credits made viewers think Crisis would tie in The Tick.

     “For 5 seconds, I think people thought Crisis on Infinite Earth was gonna tie in the tick universe.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:05:04 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
443. fun, about The Batman: The opening dedication sends up lovers of the ridiculous and apologizes to any sizable group of lovers it overlooked.

     “We've overlooked any sizable groups of lovers, we apologize.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:14:32 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
444. fun, about Adam West and Frank Gorshin: The legend that West and Gorshin went to a Hollywood orgy in character and were expelled for doing too many bits.

     “Too many bets. Too many bets.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:47:39 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
445. fun, about Ben Hosley: Ben has knocked out a wall in his apartment and is building a Batcave-style computer room.

     “Ben, to be clear, just knocked out a wall in his apartment.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:53:31 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
446. fun, about The Batman: The Riddler's lazy branding: binoculars with a single question mark.

     “I think it's a little lazy of him to just get a pair of binoculars and put one question mark on them”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 0:59:39 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
447. fun, about Nicolas Cage: Cage told a Reddit AMA his Kick-Ass performance was modeled on Adam West, who later teased him.

     “Adam West was like, I saw you try to channel me.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:00:57 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
448. fun, about Burgess Meredith: Meredith was blacklisted and then, jokes Griffin, quack-listed for years for being the Penguin.

     “He was also, unfortunately, I must mention, placed on the quack list for being the penguin.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:21:57 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
449. fun, about School Marm (hosts' villain pitch): Ben pitches a villain who assigns deadly science homework; Griffin names her The School Marm.

     “Here's the name.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:36:35 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
450. fun, about Batman's belt: All the pouches on West's utility belt are upside down.

     “all the pouches on his belt are upside down.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:49:19 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
451. fun, about Khartoum: Worst decision: applying makeup to the wrong actor (Olivier as Muhammad Ahmed).

     “Worst decision to apply makeup to the wrong actor.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 2:09:41 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
452. fun, about The Batman: The commentary ends with a tease for the next Not All Batman episode in 20 days.

     “same bat Patreon, same bat feed, RSS feed.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 2:11:42 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
453. fun, about Twilight series: Target canceled the host's Twilight steel book order the fifth time.

     “Target canceled my steel book order for the 5th time.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Eclipse · 0:10:57 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
454. fun, about Burger King tie-in: Ring with Cullen crest that takes up four knuckles and opens to a picture of Edward.

     “It is a ring that would take up all 4 knuckles in terms of real estate and it has a hinge.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Eclipse · 1:35:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
455. fun, about Burger King tie-in: Burger King Kids Club meal items: Bella's tote bag, 3 inches long, plus others.

     “Bella's tote bag is a tote bag, which is, I don't know, 3 inches long.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Eclipse · 1:36:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
456. fun, about Burger King tie-in: A hacky sack with the Cullen crest, called the Forks foot bag.

     “a hacky sack with the Cullen family crest, of course.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Eclipse · 1:36:37 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
457. fun, about Gigli: Griffin learns Ben Affleck's character is named Larry Gigli and is saving Gigli for a Brest win.

     “I literally just learned that Ben Affleck's character in Jeely is named Larry Jeely.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:07:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
458. fun, about Joe Dante: Dante has said he would appear on the show if covered.

     “I've communicated with Joe Dante himself and his team, and they had offered that he would come on the show”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:08:48 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
459. fun, about Robert Altman: Griffin's father drank with both Altman and Cassavetes on the same night, and thinks Altman would win a fight.

     “My father drank with both of them once.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:09:36 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
460. fun, about Wong Kar-wai: He is recolorizing his films for Criterion editions.

     “him doing all the special editions has like pushed him into the forefront”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:16:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
461. fun, about Mike Leigh: Fans petitioned outside the blank check sphere for Mike Leigh.

     “people are petitioning people outside of the blank check sphere”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:17:35 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
462. fun, about Danny Boyle: The Beatles-less world prompts a joke about a Yesterday episode.

     “what if the Beatles didn't exist?”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:19:52 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
463. fun, about Ernest Dickerson: Directors needing an IMDb lookup tend to underperform in March Madness.

     “If they require, you have to go to IMDb”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:21:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
464. fun, about Penelope Spheeris: Spheeris's decline: Senseless flop, Weinstein fights, called too old.

     “I got pegged with being difficult”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:28:19 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
465. fun, about Spike Jonze: Jonze ran Vice TV as artistic director, and later made a Beastie Boys documentary.

     “I'm the head programmer.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:31:57 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
466. fun, about Gore Verbinski: Lone Ranger described as one of the most cursed movies.

     “It's cursed as fuck.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:34:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
467. fun, about Jackie Chan: Jamel campaigned: hashtag Fund the Police Story.

     “hashtag Fund, the police story”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:37:57 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
468. fun, about Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2's end credits praised as a favorite of the 2010s.

     “one of your favorite movies of the 2010s, of course, is the end credits to Twilight”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:42:26 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
469. fun, about Final Destination / Vacation: Death and Chevy Chase called spiritual embodiments of darkness.

     “Death and Chevy Chase.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:44:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
470. fun, about The Mummy: Mummy episode would cover the three Fraser films plus the Cruise one.

     “we would cover the 3 Frasers and the cruise.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:45:34 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
471. fun, about Cheech and Chong: Meme: Cheech and Chong as blank check during paternity leave.

     “Dave's not here.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:48:40 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
472. fun, about Saw / Rocky: Rocky waking in a meat freezer would punch the traps.

     “He's going to start punching the traps.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:51:17 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
473. fun, about Alien: Covenant: The Franco footage cooks him alive and Griffin says the 10-second prologue would have made the film's emotional start stronger.

     “you kind of really benefit from seeing him for 10 seconds alive, you know?”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:17:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
474. fun, about Alien: Covenant: Griffin's theater memory: texters in the row ahead; he let his guard down and missed the second Fassbender swap.

     “the people in the row in front of me would not stop texting.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:20:42 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
475. fun, about Danny McBride: McBride went to film school wanting to write and direct, was cast in friends' films, never auditioned, and said Covenant was what he always wanted to do.

     “McBride was pursuing a career as a filmmaker.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:32:23 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
476. fun, about The Tick: Griffin recounts his hardest technical acting scene: Dr. Karamazov shrunk, shot against tennis balls on sticks then redone from his own recorded dialogue.

     “the single most challenging thing I've ever had to do as an actor on a technical level is”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:39:04 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
477. fun, about Alien: Covenant: Merchandise for the movie showed an earlier, practical-looking xenomorph design before the creature was redone in CGI late in production.

     “All of the merchandise for this movie had an incorrect xenomorph design.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:41:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
478. fun, about Alien Quadrilogy: The 2003 DVD box set that David calls a word hardly used outside that box; Resurrection got a special edition about seven minutes longer.

     “Quadrilogy, a word that has rarely been used outside of that one box.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:08:11 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
479. fun, about Alien Resurrection: The Fox logo at the start is clearly from the film print, grain and all, not an HD transfer.

     “clearly the logo from the film print from this movie.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:17:42 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
480. fun, about Brad Dourif: Dourif's perfect career: Alien, Lord of the Rings, Chucky, a secret Oscar nomination, unrecognized.

     “Brad Dorff, another example of a guy where I look at him and I go, that's a perfect career.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:21:00 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
481. fun, about Sigourney Weaver: Ripley 8's reptilian, T-Rex-armed performance is compared to Bowser.

     “Yes, she's doing like T-Rex arms.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:24:20 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
482. fun, about Alien Resurrection: Golden age of animatronics: the aliens can stay in bright close-ups for ten seconds without cutting away.

     “This is the peak of animatronic technology before the entire art form is largely thrown in the toilet.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:44:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
483. fun, about Ron Perlman: Perlman has a thermos canteen that turns into a gun; the more scars they add the better.

     “He's got a thermos gun.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:51:38 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
484. fun, about Brad Dourif: The pitch: killed early, only four weeks on set.

     “You only have to be on set for 4 weeks.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:54:22 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
485. fun, about Dan Hedaya: His shoulder hair is the subject of a long bit.

     “There are like Dungeons and Dragons adventures happening in his body hair, like as we speak.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:54:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
486. fun, about Dominique Pinon: The Santa Claus line reading, with the emphasis in the wrong place, is the movie's famous unnatural English line.

     “That's just such a clear, I don't understand the words I'm saying.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 1:07:18 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
487. fun, about Sigourney Weaver: Griffin met Weaver on Political Animals: she introduced herself at lunch and was impossibly tall and gracious.

     “Like she does look like a Greek god.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 1:23:53 · Griffin Newman (0.90 sure it was them)
488. fun, about Tuba: Griffin's hot take that the tuba is the funniest of all instruments.

     “I think the tuba is the funniest of all instruments.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:08:31 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
489. fun, about Scream (franchise): Griffin's Scream 4 audition: Wes Craven gave only silence and a shrug.

     “I auditioned like 5 times for screen four, including 4 Wes Craven”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation · 2:22:37 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
490. fun, about Greg Kinnear: Kinnear's pitch gave the restaurant breakup scene its soft ending.

     “Kinnear said, I'll do the movie if this is how my character line ends.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 0:32:47 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
491. fun, about You've Got Mail: The fall leaves in the movie are CGI because they shot in the summer, per the commentary track by Ephron and Schuler Donner.

     “They're like, all of the fall stuff is CGI, baby.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 0:46:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
492. fun, about Dave Chappelle: Chappelle delivers the odd line 'she has the same coloring as' that was written for an older Eastern European actor in the original.

     “if you look up the actor who played the best friend role and shop around the corner, it's like an older Eastern European man with a mustache.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 0:58:04 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
493. fun, about You've Got Mail: The Zabar's scene was shot overnight from 10 PM to 5 AM; Hanks used the store PA to keep the extras happy.

     “So they filmed the entire thing from like 10 PM until 5 AM.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:12:45 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
494. fun, about Tom Hanks: Hanks's PA announcement at Zabar's, quoted by Ephron.

     “ladies and gentlemen, shoppers at Zabars, want to announce that Meg Ryan is appetizing.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:13:07 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
495. fun, about Nicolas Cage: Griffin's pitch: Cage and Travolta swap roles so Cage is Michael and Travolta is in City of Angels.

     “Nicholas Cage should have played Michael and John Travolta should have been in City of Angels with Meg Ryan.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:24:12 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
496. fun, about Tom Hanks: Hanks called the Cafe Lalo scene, a 12-page, four-night shoot, the hardest of his career.

     “It was a 4 night shoot.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:39:22 · Griffin Newman (0.65 sure it was them)
497. fun, about Nora Ephron: Ephron rehearsed her casts for weeks in a taped-out black-box theater with fake props.

     “tape out the sets and give them fake props and run every scene with full blocking weeks in advance”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:39:31 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
498. fun, about Tom Hanks: Hanks's own line on the Lalo scene.

     “I think it is the most sophisticated scene I have ever seen in a movie that is not supposed to be viewed as sophisticated.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:40:13 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
499. fun, about Tom Hanks: The script supervisor fixed Hanks's block on the Lalo scene: he stays because he is trying to build the courage to say it is him.

     “Your motivation, this scene, is you think if you stay longer, you'll finally build the courage to say it.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · You've Got Mail with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber (Ad-Free) · 1:42:15 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
500. fun, about Hanging Up: IMDb carrot-costume quote: Maddie's demand to fight, answered by "fine" in unison.

     “Ever since I was 7 years old for Halloween, I dressed up as a carrot and you 2 snuck off without me.”

     Blank Check — Patreon · Hanging Up with Sonia Sarayia · 0:02:59 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)