Griffin Newman

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

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 21–40 of 96 sketches.

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Miami Vice - Pilot Episode (host)

Actor-host with a deep interest in how TV pilots evolve and how Michael Mann's style bleeds into everything. Loves Thief best of Mann's work. Jokes about being unhireable and the Netflix job that vanished.

Stances

  • Thief is his top Mann film
  • Pilots that feel like complete little movies are best
  • Defends the guest Dana Stevens against Twitter critics

Humor: Self-deprecating, long bits about his own failed career and his mother's British ancestry.

In their words

  • “I think you were going to think my rankings are crazy.” (1:07:55)
  • “The Sopranos pilot is bulletproof.” (0:24:00)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Planet of the Apes with Matt Singer (host)

Loves the original Planet of the Apes franchise and Tim Burton, and was a fan of the 2001 hype as a kid. Can't stand empty studio filmmaking with no point of view. A sucker for childhood fandom and memorabilia (action figures, Lisa Marie).

Stances

  • Burton's Apes is the first time a beloved director failed him
  • The makeup is the only thing worth praising
  • The film does not have a point of view

Humor: Self-deprecating nerd-confessional anecdotes and riffs on childhood devotion.

In their words

  • “I was like, peak Griff moving nerd fanaticism.” (0:16:56)
  • “I had all the action figures before the movie came out.” (0:18:01)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: As Good as It Gets with Chris Gethard (host)

Appears to love specific film trivia and the New York of the film; teases about being downtown. Lines identified with him are low-confidence because the transcript has no speaker labels.

Stances

  • Recalls opening-weekend box office from memory
  • Lives and grew up near the film's downtown locations (inferred)

Humor: Dry bits and running gags; becomes 'Downtown Griffey Nooms' under the guest's teasing.

In their words

  • “I have a TV pair of glasses now.” (0:31:40)
  • “This is the game where I try to recall from memory the box office the weekend the movie open.” (1:57:23)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Flesh+Blood (host)

Loves Verhoeven and says RoboCop, Toy Story 2 and Rushmore rank among his favorites. Worries about the Weinstein-era toxicity in this film. Fascinated by effects-driven classicism and by the Hauer/Verhoeven split.

Stances

  • Flesh+Blood is anthropological and fascinating but joyless
  • Verhoeven is a technical classicist smuggling extreme content into Hollywood form
  • Rooted for RoboCop being a favorite

Humor: Rambling bits, tangents and character voices.

In their words

  • “I have never been more excited to talk about a film on this podcast.” (1:38:03)
  • “I like this movie a lot.” (1:12:02)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (host)

Seems to love practical Spielberg staging and sound design, character actors with great faces, and nostalgic picks like Harriet the Spy. Cannot stand lazy sequels with no story, CGI overuse and nostalgia-canonized movies. Is a sucker for merchandise history and a good Austin Powers rewatch.

Stances

  • Lost World has a plot but no story and is bottom five Spielberg
  • Spielberg fails when he directs with one arm behind his back
  • Jurassic World is far worse

Humor: Escalating riffs and running bits, including bad impressions, nicknames for the producer and self-deprecating Goldblum failure.

In their words

  • “I've never been able to get there.” (0:00:55)
  • “Spielberg, I think, always fails when he tries to direct with one arm behind his back.” (0:32:33)
  • “You had to have the JP on the leg.” (1:22:16)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Lady in the Water with Richard Lawson (host)

Loves ambitious, misguided, disastrous failures and admits a near sexual fetish for them; gravitates toward films that are naked and transparent about their director's ego. Cannot stand being unable to follow exposition but still wants to rewatch. A sucker for Shyamalan trivia, mythology worldbuilding critique, and the film-about-filmmaking read.

Stances

  • Lady in the Water is bad but fascinating and he likes it a lot
  • Watchability is not linked to quality
  • The film is Shyamalan's defensive reaction to critics after The Village
  • Shyamalan films are crisis-of-faith movies about family

Humor: Runs elaborate recurring bits and segments (Burger Report, IMDb trivia corner, rewrite station, comedy points) and self-deprecating panic-attack anecdotes.

In their words

  • “I admit that I have a near sexual fetish for super ambitious misguided failures.” (1:36:00)
  • “I like this movie a lot.” (1:35:51)
  • “And so watchability is a thing that I don't link to quality.” (1:49:31)

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Judging The Judge (host)

An actor and comedian who loves Robert Downey Jr. (Ally McBeal, Bowfinger) and loves cataloguing credits, billing, and who produced what. Can't stand hacky, symbolic drama like The Judge or misjudged comedies like Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus. A sucker for Shanghai Noon, Due Date, and Dax Shepard's character.

Stances

  • The Judge is treacle with a Dobkin comedy brain stuck in a prestige drama
  • Downey needs a real director like PTA or Raimi to surprise audiences
  • Duvall phoning it in beats De Niro or Pacino phoning it in

Humor: Long riffing metaphors (the bar mitzvah, the bagel), bodily-fluid gags, and self-deprecating asides about the show's tiny audience.

In their words

  • “It feels like the way that 13 year old boys have to act during their bar mitzvah” (0:56:38)
  • “Overbagled.” (0:28:55)
  • “Now you're stuck with us talking about the judge.” (0:03:31)

The Big Picture: The Top 10 Fantasy Films, The Toy Movie Hall of Fame, and ‘Masters of the Universe,’ with Griffin Newman! (guest)

A deep pop-culture archaeologist who loves He-Man (especially Orko), Henson fantasy, Toy Story, Barbie, and the Lego movies, and who voiced Orko himself. He is skeptical of masculine man-defends-his-castle fantasy and of defensive, self-embarrassed jokes. He is a sucker for the Hudsucker Proxy, odd animation like Raggedy Ann & Andy, and word-of-mouth box office oddities.

Stances

  • The film gets the metatextual framework right but only gets 60% there
  • Toy movies are mostly bad except those not driven by a product
  • He-Man himself is his least favorite part of He-Man
  • Orko was unforgivably withheld

Humor: Nerdy, rapid-fire trivia and self-aware jokes about his own obsessions and merchandise hoarding.

In their words

  • “I have way too much He-Man merchandise.” (0:37:20)
  • “He's what a child thinks they would be as a grown up if they got really buff and strong.” (0:31:53)
  • “It is a movie entirely about the hula hoop.” (1:34:41)

The Big Picture: The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims (guest)

Griffin is a long-time Cameron enthusiast and sincere blockbuster fan, someone who watches trailers on loop and gets choked up by them. He loves a clean engineered story and defends Avatar's sincerity. He dislikes meta, smirky franchise filmmaking.

Stances

  • Avatar's clunky human dialogue is deliberate
  • Franchise filmmaking is in a crisis point
  • Cameron has earned the benefit of the doubt

Humor: Affable and self-deprecating, with long enthusiastic riffs.

In their words

  • “I'm beyond excited.” (1:41:16)
  • “I truly get like emotionally choked up watching these trailers” (1:41:52)

Blank Check — Patreon: RoboCop (2014) (host)

A RoboCop devotee with posters, a bust and a bootleg toy in the office, who loves the Verhoeven original and its satire. He can't stand humorless grounded remakes that cut the jokes and the visor. A sucker for baseball giveaways at Mets games and Easter eggs done right.

Stances

  • The remake is an F and worse than Ouija
  • Satire and humor are what make the original
  • A black suit with no detail is a failure
  • Robocop should be dumb and funny, not cool

Humor: Rants and elaborate analogies, like the pizza series, delivered with escalating mock fury.

In their words

  • “I'm just gonna come out and say this is an F.” (0:55:03)
  • “Robocop one is like the best pizza you've ever had.” (1:29:28)

Blank Check — Patreon: Edge of Tomorrow (host)

Loves Edge of Tomorrow as a masterpiece and Cruise's turn toward weird, low-status roles; likes Oblivion and Looper-era Blunt; likes Liman's chaos when it works. Can't stand Liman's later films like Road House.

Stances

  • Edge is a five-star film that improves on repeat
  • This is Cruise's pivot to the McQuarrie era
  • Alien design here and in Arrival is rare in the 2010s

Humor: Rapid riffs and movie-industry gossip, often wrapping a joke around a bit of trivia.

In their words

  • “Edge of tomorrow is 5 stars.” (0:07:20)
  • “It is truly a movie that gets better every time you watch it.” (0:07:25)

Blank Check — Patreon: 2025 March Madness Update 1 (host)

Loves cult comedy and genre curiosities such as Perfect Dark, Nirvana the Band, and weird bracket ideas like Psycho with Bates Motel. Enthusiastic about Peter Weir, Welles, and Del Toro. Dislikes long filmographies as a rule and bad Robocop sequels.

Stances

  • Wants more Peter Weir and Orson Welles
  • Votes against the long boy in every matchup
  • Grudge: RoboCop 2 should never put the mask back on

Humor: Builds committed running bits (pitmaster, Chip Smith) and doubles down until the room breaks.

In their words

  • “I went to the garbage.” (0:12:41)
  • “I was like, me, comedy.” (0:12:56)

Blank Check — Patreon: Eraserhead (Ad-Free) (host)

A Lynch fan who loves Eraserhead as a pure raw expression of an outsider and calls it a fully arrived masterpiece. Loves the bit-work of generating nicknames and sorting debut films into buckets. Can't stand eggs and gets queasy at the chicken-carving idea.

Stances

  • Eraserhead is a masterpiece debut
  • It is coherent and autobiographical, not impenetrable
  • Debut films fall into rough draft, masterpiece and a third bucket

Humor: Escalating riffs and mock-pompous bits about nicknames, with self-aware jabs at the show.

In their words

  • “And this is him just doing the pure raw expression version of basically the same idea.” (0:26:19)
  • “Holy shit, who the fuck is this guy fully arrived masterpiece.” (0:16:34)
  • “is this the key text?” (0:59:23)

Blank Check — Patreon: The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) (host)

Runs the show and the episode dossier, and loves production-disaster minutiae, alternate titles and what-if histories. A sucker for 90s studio chaos and podcast in-jokes (jelly trilogy, Forky). Frustrated by a movie that is dark and muddy and has no scary monsters.

Stances

  • Eaters of the Dead was the better title
  • The version worth making is a smaller, pulpier one

Humor: Dry running bits and escalating tangents.

In their words

  • “I'm Griffin.” (0:05:49)

Blank Check — Patreon: The Killer with Marie Bardi (Ad-Free) (host)

Defends Mank and is a Fincher-series completist who ranks Zodiac first; loves the autobiographical reading of The Killer (Fincher mocking his own control). A sucker for Tilda Swinton performances and for details like the Smiths playlist. Uncertain about the Soderbergh-style streaming deal.

Stances

  • The Killer is about filmmaking and Fincher's own process
  • Fincher's Netflix deal is a bad fit for streaming
  • Mank is a celebration of a cantankerous artist and a self-portrait

Humor: Absurdist riffs, Letterboxd one-liners, and long tangents about fast food.

In their words

  • “My letterbox type clip on the movie is a psychological horror film about David Fincher imagining a reality where he's only allowed one take.” (0:22:44)
  • “It's fucking Sidney Lumette's making movies.” (1:24:53)

Blank Check — Patreon: Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) (host)

Likes the Hearst scenes and the performances, but is less sold on the movie than David and Sean. Comes at it as a wounded theatrical-experience loser, upset he never saw it in a theater.

Stances

  • Wishes he'd seen it in a theater
  • Likes the movie less than David
  • Wants more Fincher Tuppence Middleton

Humor: Self-deprecating, tangent-prone, and loves puns like 'Mancrodosing'.

In their words

  • “I cannot stop thinking about how angry I am that I never got to see this in a theater.” (0:20:21)
  • “I'm circling the island.” (2:27:36)
  • “Mancrodosing. Five minutes of manca day.” (0:22:58)

Blank Check — Patreon: Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) (host)

Carries the Fincher-completist trivia (the unmade projects, the casting what-ifs) and is deep in the Affleck and Reese Witherspoon career talk. Likes a franchise that earns its box office, and says he is all in on the Equalizer films. Can't stand a lazy cable-movie career move, and has lost patience with TV coverage on the show.

Stances

  • Fincher's unmade projects (Star Wars, 20,000 Leagues) are as interesting as the films
  • Wants Equalizer 3 to reach $103 million
  • Mindhunter was an episode he and David did not want to cover, because TV multiplies the work

Humor: Runs dead-pan bits at length (the Quibby and Reese 'Fierce Queens' routine) and keeps count of the numbers.

In their words

  • “Star Wars, episode seven.” (0:25:36)
  • “The Equalizer one made $101 million domestically.” (2:53:28)
  • “Dave and I really didn't want to do this episode.” (3:03:23)

Blank Check — Patreon: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) (host)

Loves Fincher, comfort rewatches, commentary tracks and the research dossier; admires Rooney Mara and the film's gentleness at the margins. Can't stand the Swedish films' flatness or the Spider's Web reboot. A sucker for a good casting story and a recurring bit.

Stances

  • Dismisses the Swedish films as mid
  • calls this a movie that improves on rewatch
  • defends Fincher's reshoots as worth it.

Humor: Runs bits to exhaustion (string cheese, Clint Eastwood railroading, strangling-each-other energy) and teases Ben.

In their words

  • “I saw it Christmas time, 2011.” (0:25:28)
  • “I've been trying to watch most of these movies with commentaries.” (1:10:15)
  • “I just remember when the trailer for this came out” (0:34:01)

Blank Check — Patreon: The Social Network (Ad-Free) (host)

Loves Sorkin's dialogue and Fincher's rigor, and is the host with an actor's view of auditions and sets. Dismissive of Facebook as an experience now. A sucker for behind-the-scenes lore and the Blu-ray extras.

Stances

  • The script's pace is the movie
  • Fincher's many takes freed the actors

Humor: Rambling, self-aware riffs and character-voice bits.

In their words

  • “I pointedly remember that the they sent the script out, but for the auditions, it was just other Sorkin scenes.” (0:52:46)
  • “So this script hits and like every single person on set is like, I'm just trying to get any fucking part in the sofa work.” (0:51:41)

Blank Check — Patreon: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) (host)

Became a Fincher believer at Zodiac and was all in for Button on the strength of that and the teaser. Reads Button as a deliberate anti-Gump about death rather than a failed weepy. Likes the film's passivity and its refusal to give catharsis.

Stances

  • Button is pointedly an anti-Gump
  • the film is more Fincher than its reputation allows
  • the hospital framing is the real film

Humor: Rapid-fire impressions and callback bits, including the running seven-but-looks-older line.

In their words

  • “But I think it's almost like pointedly an anti-gump.” (0:22:50)
  • “Whatever this guy's next movie is, this is now I'm most anticipated movie.” (0:17:37)

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 101–200 of 1,162 claims.

  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. 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)
  4. 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)
  5. 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)
  6. 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)
  7. 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)
  8. 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)
  9. 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)
  10. 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)
  11. 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)
  12. 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)
  13. 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)
  14. 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)
  15. 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)
  16. 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)
  17. 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)
  18. 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)
  19. 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)
  20. 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)
  21. 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)
  22. 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)
  23. 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)
  24. 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)
  25. 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)
  26. 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)
  27. 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)
  28. 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)
  29. 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)
  30. 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)
  31. 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)
  32. 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)
  33. 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)
  34. 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)
  35. 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)
  36. 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)
  37. 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)
  38. 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)
  39. 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)
  40. 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)
  41. 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)
  42. 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)
  43. 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)
  44. 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)
  45. 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)
  46. 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)
  47. 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)
  48. 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)
  49. 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)
  50. 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)
  51. 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)
  52. 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)
  53. 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)
  54. 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)
  55. 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)
  56. 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)
  57. 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)
  58. 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)
  59. 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)
  60. 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)
  61. 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)
  62. 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)
  63. 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)
  64. 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)
  65. 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)
  66. 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)
  67. 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)
  68. 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)
  69. 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)
  70. 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)
  71. 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)
  72. 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)
  73. 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)
  74. 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)
  75. 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)
  76. 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)
  77. 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)
  78. 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)
  79. 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)
  80. 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)
  81. 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)
  82. 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)
  83. 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)
  84. 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)
  85. 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)
  86. 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)
  87. 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)
  88. 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)
  89. 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)
  90. 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)
  91. 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)
  92. 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)
  93. 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)
  94. 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)
  95. 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)
  96. 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)
  97. 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)
  98. 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)
  99. 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)
  100. 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 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)