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 501–600 of 1,162 claims.

  1. programming (pairing): The Killer → Steven Soderbergh. A friend of the podcast says it is Fincher and Soderbergh land: a stripped-down genre exercise.
    “it's Fincher and Sodaberg land.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer with Marie Bardi (Ad-Free) · 0:16:54 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. industry (deal comparison): The Killer → Steven Soderbergh. The Killer feels like Fincher doing what Soderbergh does with his HBO Max deal: simple, one name, small money.
    “Killer kind of feels like Fincher trying to do the same thing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer with Marie Bardi (Ad-Free) · 0:37:21 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (advice-book joke): Sidney Lumet → The Killer. The Letterboxd joke: the killer's advice is a Sidney Lumet Making Movies.
    “It's fucking Sidney Lumette's making movies.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer with Marie Bardi (Ad-Free) · 1:24:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. lineage (unmade remake): Strangers on a Train (Fincher/Flynn remake, unmade) → David Fincher. Fincher and Gillian Flynn were going to remake Strangers on a Train as a loose springboard.
    “He and Jillian Flynn were going to remake strangers on a train.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:26:02 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (unrealized idea): Heavy Metal → Love, Death & Robots. Love, Death & Robots is framed as Fincher finally doing the omnibus he wanted with Heavy Metal.
    “I mean, that sort of is him finding a way to do what he always wanted to do with heavy metal”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:28:22 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  6. unmapped (script rewrite): Jack Fincher → Eric Roth. The speaker says Roth rewrote Jack Fincher's script into the version that was made, adding nuance.
    “he came in and put a lot more nuance into it, I think.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:46:43 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  7. people (script rewritten by the director): Eric Roth → Killers of the Flower Moon. Roth's strict adaptation was torn up and rewritten by Scorsese himself, which Griffin compares to Mank.
    “It's like Scorsese Adam come in, he writes this script.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:47:31 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  8. lineage (script origin): Jack Fincher → Mank. Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later.
    “I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  9. unmapped (how Mank got made): Mank → Mindhunter. When Netflix could not afford a third Mindhunter season, Fincher pulled Mank off the shelf.
    “Netflix is kind of like we kind of can't make a 3rd season of this, it's too expensive.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:55:17 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  10. unmapped (business): Netflix → Mank. Fincher's Netflix deal and the end of the anything-you-want era are the context for Mank.
    “And this is kind of the end of the period of Netflix being like, anything you want.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:55:27 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. unmapped (behind-the-scenes drama): The Offer → Mank. The Offer, like Mank, makes the writers and directors of a classic into putzes; the gap between Mank and Kane is much closer.
    “The offer does a similar thing where it makes Coppola and Puzo both out to be putzes.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:08:00 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  12. unmapped (same story): RKO 281 → Mank. Watched back to back; RKO 281 makes Mank a pain and writing an active process, where Mank makes it passive.
    “Whereas whether correct or not, RKO 281 makes it more of an active process.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:31:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  13. people (casting approach): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Gone Girl. The speaker thinks Fincher's exhaustive casting search on Dragon Tattoo informed how he cast Amy with someone new to the audience.
    “that exhaustive casting search, which I do think informs the way he approaches Amy going into this movie as well”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:55:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  14. lineage (adaptation): Dracula (Bram Stoker's novel) → The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Demeter is based on the opening chapters of Stoker's Dracula, as its card says.
    “based on the opening chapters of Brown Stoker's Dracula.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:31:47 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  15. unmapped (look compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Rewatching the Swedish film, the speaker finds the two do not look alike despite the shot-for-shot-remake talk.
    “these things don't fucking look similar at...”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:34:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  16. lineage (remake): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Fincher film is the American remake of the Swedish original; its director says he was not worried.
    “Everyone who loves film will go see the original.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:54:19 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  17. lineage (remake analogy): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → La Femme Nikita. Oplev likens an American Dragon Tattoo to the American version of La Femme Nikita.
    “what would you want to see the French version of La Femme Nikita or the American one?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:54:21 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  18. lineage (remake analogy): Martin Scorsese → Infernal Affairs. Griffin compares Oplev's situation to Scorsese taking a crack at Infernal Affairs.
    “That's a bit of a like Scorsese Infernal Affairs thing where you're just like, look, if that guy wants to take a crack at it, who am I to stand in the way?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:54:35 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  19. theme (character setup compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Michael Clayton. Both open on a protagonist already broken by past failure.
    “It's the Michael Clayton thing I love of like, you start this movie with a character”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:25:22 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  20. unmapped (protege): David Fincher → Tim Miller. Fincher kept generating projects to boost Tim Miller from animatics and titles to filmmaker.
    “it felt like he kept on trying to generate projects for Tim Miller, and Heavy Metal was one of those to sort of boost Tim Miller”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 0:20:49 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  21. unmapped (making-of documentary): David Prior → The Social Network. David Prior directed the feature-length documentary about the making of The Social Network on the DVD.
    “David Pryor, the wonderful David Pryor directed feature-length documentary about the making of this movie that's on the DVD.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 0:38:54 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  22. unmapped (trailer vibe): The Social Network → Zodiac. A friend heard the trailer and the speaker said it looked like Breakfast Club meets Zodiac, which was Fincher's fingerprint.
    “and saying like, it looks like Breakfast Club meets Zodiac.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 1:06:23 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  23. unmapped (trailer vibe): The Social Network → The Breakfast Club. The speaker pitched The Social Network to a friend as Breakfast Club meets Zodiac.
    “and saying like, it looks like Breakfast Club meets Zodiac.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 1:06:23 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  24. unmapped (business partner): Douglas Urbanski → Gary Oldman. Urbanski, the Larry Summers actor, is Gary Oldman's producing partner and not an actor.
    “Okay. Who is Gary Oldman's producing partner and not an actor?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 1:48:30 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  25. unmapped (photography): Jeff Cronenweth → The Social Network. Cronenweth (transcribed Kronowith) is the DP quoted on the mime and the guerrilla lighting cart.
    “But Cronin, the DP was basically saying like, it's great that on like a $40000000 studio movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 2:43:44 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  26. unmapped (attempt at a Gump): Forrest Gump → The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The speaker says the cultural narrative is that Benjamin Button is Fincher trying to do Gump.
    “but I do think this is like the cultural narrative of this movie is he's trying to do Gump, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  27. unmapped (trailer reception): The Social Network → The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both teasers played with a tone so different that the audience went silent.
    “2 great fucking teasers that have such a different tone than everything else that was playing that the audience just went pin drop silent.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:18:21 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  28. unmapped (anti-Gump answer): Forrest Gump → The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Griffin reads Benjamin Button as a pointed answer to Gump, showing the death behind the Americana.
    “But I think it's almost like pointedly an anti-gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:22:50 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  29. contrast (contrast): Forrest Gump → The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Fincher read the similarity to Roth's earlier film as the reverse: an extraordinary man in ordinary circumstances.
    “I thought of Benjamin as an extraordinary man in ordinary circumstances”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:57:01 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  30. unmapped (reason to retire): Quentin Tarantino → Buddy Buddy. Tarantino says in interviews he is retiring so as not to make a Buddy Buddy.
    “I was like, don't want to make buddy buddy.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:04:58 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  31. unmapped (template): Into Thin Air (book) → Rendezvous with Rama (unmade). Fincher said he wanted to make Rama like Into Thin Air, with technical detail.
    “He said he wanted to do it like John Krakowers into thin air.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:37:19 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  32. what-if (what-if comparison): Gravity → Rendezvous with Rama (unmade). The speaker guesses Fincher wanted something like Gravity but harder sci-fi.
    “I think he wanted to do something similar to gravity, but even more hard sci-fi hard science, less pulpy”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:37:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  33. lineage (adaptation): Anthony Bourdain → Kitchen Confidential (Seared). Seared was an adaptation of Bourdain's book.
    “Uh, an adaptation of Anthony Bourdain's book.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:38:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  34. lineage (same project lineage): Kitchen Confidential (Seared) → Burnt. Fincher was later attached to Chef, which becomes Burnt.
    “later attached to chef, which then becomes burnt also with Bradley Cooper.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:38:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  35. unmapped (courtship): Tom Cruise → David Fincher. Cruise passed on Fincher for The Last Samurai, then offered him MI3 with a Robert Towne script.
    “Cruz considered Furdig, decided to do last samurai instead, but then was like, here's a Robert Towns script for MI3.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:39:54 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  36. unmapped (replacement): Joe Carnahan → Mission: Impossible III. Carnahan replaced Fincher on MI3, then Abrams started from scratch.
    “I say Carnahan is his replacement.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:40:19 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  37. unmapped (attached then replaced): David Fincher → The Black Dahlia. Fincher was attached and pitched a miniseries; the project became a film De Palma made.
    “that turns into a movie that De Palma makes a flawed, but interesting film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:45:21 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  38. lineage (reboot lineage): Spider-Man 4 (unmade) → The Amazing Spider-Man. Vanderbilt was hired for Spider-Man 4 or 5, which turned into The Amazing Spider-Man.
    “before it then turns into amazing Spider-Man one.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:48:48 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  39. programming (pairing): James Vanderbilt → Alvin Sargent. Hiring Vanderbilt is likened to hiring Alvin Sargent to write the Raimi films.
    “this is equivalent to them hiring Alvin Sargent to write the Rami films.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:49:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  40. lineage (adaptation): Robert Graysmith → Zodiac. The Salerno script, which Vanderbilt took over, adapted Graysmith's nonfiction book (with a speculative sequel bolted on).
    “So it's sort of like an adaptation of Graysmith's nonfiction book and a speculative sequence.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:50:39 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  41. unmapped (why Fincher was offered it): Seven → Zodiac. Seven made Fincher the first choice for any serial-killer project, Zodiac included.
    “Ever since he makes seven, if there's some serial killer movie, is getting sent it”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:51:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  42. unmapped (tonal joke): Zodiac → Charlie's Angels. Fincher thought the long phone-warrant scene was funny, like Charlie's Angels.
    “because it was kind of like Charlie's Angels”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:55:23 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  43. unmapped (overlapping shoot): Brokeback Mountain → Zodiac. Zodiac filmed through Gyllenhaal's Brokeback Mountain awards campaign.
    “This movie is filming during the broke back campaign season.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:58:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  44. people (casting): Donnie Darko → Zodiac. Fincher liked Donnie Darko and had Gyllenhaal pegged for a while.
    “unsurprisingly, Fincher liked Donny Darko”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 1:22:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  45. people (casting): Collateral → Zodiac. Fincher cast Ruffalo partly because he liked him in Collateral.
    “One, Fincher really liked him in collateral.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 1:24:06 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  46. people (casting): Rumor Has It → Zodiac. Jennifer Aniston, on Rumor Has It with Ruffalo, helped him get the role.
    “So rumor has it kind of helps him get this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 1:25:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  47. industry (box office): Zodiac → Wild Hogs. Wild Hogs beat Zodiac at the box office.
    “It annihilated zodiac.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 2:16:30 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  48. unmapped (movie tie-in): Storybook Love (Mark Knopfler and Willie DeVille video) → The Princess Bride. The video is just the recording session with the movie playing behind it, which a host calls unambitious.
    “That concept was incredibly unambitious, which is this is the recording session.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · David Fincher Music Videos · 0:41:30 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  49. unmapped (cover): David Bowie → Heroes (Wallflowers video, Godzilla soundtrack). Griffin learned Heroes was a Bowie cover, not a Wallflowers original.
    “I didn't know Heroes was a David Bowie cover.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · David Fincher Music Videos · 2:25:55 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  50. unmapped (movie tie-in): Heroes (Wallflowers video, Godzilla soundtrack) → Godzilla soundtrack. Heroes is the Wallflowers song on the Godzilla soundtrack.
    “there's this song on the Godzilla soundtrack that is incredible.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · David Fincher Music Videos · 2:25:57 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  51. craft (shared structure): Panic Room → The Mist. A host compares the stuck-until-it-resolves dread of Panic Room to The Mist.
    “It's like, it's like, it's like the mist.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Panic Room with Eva Anderson (Ad-Free) · 1:28:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  52. theme (shared theme): Jackass → Fight Club. A speaker says the urge Fight Club is getting at reaches its peak form in Jackass.
    “I do find like the expression of what this movie is sort of getting at for me reaches its peak form in jackass.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 0:46:32 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  53. people (cast): Kevin Spacey → Seven. Spacey is the only Fincher movie lead he's in, per the host.
    “that's the only Fincher movie he's in, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:05:44 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  54. people (cast): Kevin Spacey → House of Cards (TV). Spacey was in House of Cards.
    “Oh, and then, of course, they did House of Carts.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:05:51 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  55. unmapped (sibling Fincher films): Seven → The Game. Hosts argue over whether The Game is better than, or as good as, Se7en.
    “I think this movie is not seven.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:08:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  56. theme (tonal comparison): Joel Schumacher → The Game. One host says The Game feels very Joel Schumacher.
    “Because the game feels very Joel Schumacher to me.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:40:56 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  57. contrast (contrast): The Game → The Trial. Imagines The Trial with a friendly ending, which is what The Game does.
    “What if the trial happened?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:50:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  58. unmapped (billing): The Game → Carlito's Way. Both have a legendary movie star above the title, with Penn right underneath.
    “This and Curlito's way have the same thing where it's like legendary movie star right above the title.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:59:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  59. programming (pairing): The Game → The Player. Two 90s satirical thrillers about soulless titans of industry caught in a trap of their own design.
    “In terms of like 90s, uh, sort of vaguely satirical thrillers”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:04:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  60. people (same composer): Howard Shore → David Cronenberg. Shore did the weird discordant Cronenberg and Fincher scores.
    “the guy who did the weird discordant Kronenberg and Fincher scores”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:08:55 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  61. career (career turn): Howard Shore → Peter Jackson. Shore then took on Lord of the Rings.
    “And then PJ was like, hey, you want to do like Lord of the Rings?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:09:00 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  62. craft (structure): The Game → Total Recall. The test-then-start gag is like Total Recall's malfunction.
    “It's it's the total recall thing where they tell you exactly what's going to happen right at the moment where the thing is supposed to start.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:16:12 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  63. unmapped (game-coded): The Game → Escape Room. The Escape Room films are very game coded.
    “They're very game coded”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:17:00 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  64. people (cinematographer): Harris Savides → The Game. Savides shot The Game and also appears in the bathroom.
    “Harris Cavides shot it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:27:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  65. unmapped (earlier film): Harris Savides → Phil Joanou. Savides had done one other feature, Heaven's Prisoners, with Joanou.
    “Heaven's Prisoners.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:27:45 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  66. unmapped (similar): Phil Joanou → David Fincher. Joanou was a hotshot director similar to Fincher.
    “who was similar to Fincher”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:27:45 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  67. unmapped (creative alignment): Harris Savides → David Fincher. Fincher, by the host's account, trusts Savides to light without micromanaging.
    “Harris Savita's instincts and styles are so aligned with my own”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:28:33 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  68. theme (comparison): The Game → Jury Duty (TV). Compares the game to the Jury Duty prank.
    “It's just fucking the jury duty or whatever.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 1:51:53 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  69. lineage (set-safety lineage): The Crow → Rust. Gun-safety protocols on sets exist because of The Crow, which is why the Rust shooting is so shocking.
    “they're like so crazy, like about you checking because of the crow, basically, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Se7en with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger (Ad-Free) · 2:09:43 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  70. people (shared writer): Andrew Kevin Walker → The Killer. Walker wrote Se7en and is the screenwriter of Fincher's new film The Killer.
    “Also in Andrew Kevin Walker's script, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Se7en with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger (Ad-Free) · 2:38:14 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  71. industry (opening-weekend rival): Seven → Showgirls. Showgirls opened against Se7en; the speakers joke about which has the bleaker view of humanity.
    “Which film has a bleaker view of humanity?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Se7en with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger (Ad-Free) · 2:47:19 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  72. programming (franchise pairing): Aliens → Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Both franchises are auteur-rich without one definitive director, which is why the Patreon series covered them.
    “Uh, but like Mission Impossible Aliens, perfect examples of franchises that uh, have a tours, but do not have one definitive director.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:09:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  73. theme (cut comparison): Alien 3 → Snyder Cut (Justice League). The assembly cut is viewed like the Snyder Cut: interesting for laying out the intentions, but not a functioning movie.
    “This time I viewed it more like, uh, uh, Zach, the the Snyder Cut.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:14:45 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  74. craft (design contribution): H.R. Giger → Alien 3. Giger's design work was mostly discarded; the Bambi Burster rod puppet was the main thing of his that ended up in the film.
    “that was apparently the main thing that he had an influence on that actually ended up in the film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:21:53 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  75. what-if (what-if): Neill Blomkamp → Alien 3. Blomkamp's unmade Alien film would have ignored Alien 3.
    “his thing was going to be ignoring this, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:24:53 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  76. lineage (early inspiration): David Fincher → Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. A televised making-of documentary about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid blew young Fincher's mind about how movies are made.
    “the film that inspired young Fincher most”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:42:25 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  77. lineage (sequel / genre shift): Alien → Aliens. Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's film shifted the genre, which raised expectations for any follow-up.
    “some other fucking guy is coming in and making a sequel to Ridley Scott's movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:50:21 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  78. industry (franchise expectation): Aliens → Alien 3. The Cameron film is such an obvious high point that nobody can zag from it, except into despair.
    “Where the hell are you gonna zag from that?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:50:52 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  79. unmapped (unproduced script): William Gibson → Alien 3. Gibson's famous unproduced script is mostly about Hicks and is very different from the film that got made.
    “It's a very cool script, I will say.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:51:53 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  80. unmapped (consolation job): Renny Harlin → The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. When Alien 3 fell apart for Harlin he was handed Ford Fairlane.
    “Well, Ford Fairlane is what he gets handed when this falls apart.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:52:37 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  81. lineage (origin of the prison planet): David Twohy → Alien 3. Twohy brought the prison-planet concept into the development.
    “Twowey is the one who brings in the prison planet concept, okay?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:56:20 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  82. unmapped (joke): Alien 3 → Treasure Planet. Ben once said he was disappointed the whole Treasure Planet wasn't a treasure (a chest); the wooden planet draws the same bit.
    “said I was disappointed that the entire planet wasn't a treasure?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:58:17 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  83. unmapped (Fincher's pitch): David Lean → Alien 3. Fincher says his original pitch was like a David Lean movie, much bigger and more political than what Fox allowed.
    “He says, okay, my pitch was like a David Lean movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:05:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  84. theme (character echo): Paul McGann → Prometheus. Golic, who worships the alien, is an early version of the David character in the Ridley Scott movies (the speaker says they do better versions later).
    “Like with the David character in the Ridley Scott movies.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:40:06 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  85. industry (box-office rival): Alien 3 → Lethal Weapon 3. On Alien 3's opening weekend Lethal Weapon 3 held the number one spot.
    “It's an action sequel holding on to the number one spot”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 2:01:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  86. unmapped (poster reuse): Lethal Weapon 3 → Lethal Weapon 2. The Lethal Weapon 3 poster just runs back the Lethal Weapon 2 poster, with Pesci added.
    “just run back the fucking lethal weapon 2 poster, but just Magic is back again.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 2:01:52 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  87. unmapped (critic champion): Roger Ebert → Dark City. Ebert made Dark City his number one film of the year and recorded a commentary track for it.
    “Yeah, Ever made that his number one.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 2:16:57 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  88. unmapped (critic champion): Gene Siskel → Babe: Pig in the City. Siskel's final best-of list had this film on top (transcript is garbled: 'Bay Pick in the city').
    “Siskel's final best of movie, yeah.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 2:17:05 · Griffin Newman (0.25 sure it was them)
  89. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Wizard of Oz. The film's cult growth into mainstream pop culture is compared to Oz.
    “in that sort of Wizard of Oz conversation of like movies that came out, did okay at the time and are now just like so deeply woven into the tapestry of pop culture”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:03:55 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
  90. career (career): Vincent → Tim Burton. Burton's student short Vincent has an energy not found in his last twenty years of films.
    “there is an energy and creativity there that even I can't argue consistently exists in any of his films in the last 20 years”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:19:15 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  91. career (career): Rick Heinrichs → Tim Burton. Heinrichs is Burton's right-hand cohort and his art director for years.
    “Rick Heinrich is a, yeah, his right hand cohort, right, and becomes his big sort of art director for years and years.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:25:53 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  92. career (career): Tim Burton → Frankenweenie. Disney funded live-action Frankenweenie instead of this project because it was cheaper and faster.
    “Disney basically gives him the money to make live action Frank and Weenie rather than make this because Frank and Weenie would be cheaper and faster.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:26:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  93. career (career): Frankenweenie → Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Frankenweenie became Burton's live-action reel that got him hired on Pee-wee.
    “that becomes his director's reel for live action that gets him hired on peewee”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:26:42 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  94. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Katzenberg was looking at Roger Rabbit's success as a reason to try different styles and techniques.
    “looking at the success they had with Roger Rabbit and saying, like, we should try different styles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:29:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  95. people (people): Caroline Thompson → Edward Scissorhands. Thompson, who wrote the final script, also wrote Edward Scissorhands.
    “She also wrote Edward Susan Hans, of course.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:32:01 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  96. career (career): Phil Tippett → Mad God. Tippett's Zen state came only while doing stop motion, per documentary about Mad God.
    “it took him like 50 years to realize that he was bipolar.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:37:37 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  97. lineage (lineage): Henry Selick → The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Selick cites Prince Achmed and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad as inspirations.
    “the Adventures of Prince Ahmed in the 7th Voyage of Sinbad”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:39:49 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  98. career (career): Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick left Slow Bob to make Nightmare and sees it as his fulcrum point.
    “I left Slobob to make nightmare before Christmas and I'm always, you know, I always think of this as his fulcrum point.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:47:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  99. craft (craft): Joe Ranft → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ranft is counted among the five people credited with shaping the film's story.
    “Thompson, Joe Ramped, Elfman, Selleck, Burton, all can be given a fair amount of credit for the shaping of this film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:49:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  100. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Henry Selick. Jack's arc is read as the animators themselves trying to make commercial art.
    “how much Jack is an analog for these guys trying to figure out how to make commercial art”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:52:14 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 301–400 of 605 fun items.

  1. fun, about David Fincher: The anti-smoking ad that launched his music-video career: a fetus smoking in utero.
    “a fetus is smoking a cigarette in utero as an anti-cancer ad.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:45:25 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about David Fincher: Told by the Paramount president that nobody would give him $400,000 for a first picture, Fincher answered with a joke about a 40-minute movie.
    “Why would I do a 40 minute movie?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:49:13 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about William Gibson: His unproduced script (now an audio drama, graphic novel, and novel) is summarized as space commies in a giant mall.
    “space commies, hijacked, alien eggs, big problem in wall mall world because it's set in a giant mall.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:51:38 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Alien 3: Vincent Ward pitched a planet made of wood and monks; the studio responded by telling him to write it for $40 million.
    “Someone could walk into a studio and be like, whole planet is wood.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 0:58:03 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about David Fincher: His original Alien 3 pitch, in his own words, had multiple Lance Henriksens and 3,000 stormtroopers.
    “There were 3 Lance Henrikssons running around.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:05:30 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about David Fincher: Fincher says he tried to quit on day one; his agent said he could never work in town again.
    “Fincher says he tried to quit on day one and his agent was like, you can't.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:14:14 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Alien 3: A 93-day schedule cut to 70 days, and 50 effects shots cut to 25, meaning lots of 18-hour days.
    “Uh, supposed to be a 93 day shooting schedule.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:14:34 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Alien 3: In the assembly cut the alien gets into an ox, not the dog; the theatrical cut's dog set-up is the clearer one.
    “If you're talking about the assembly cut, it gets into an ox.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:21:38 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about Brian Glover: The warden actor was a professional wrestler (the Red Devil, then Leon Arras the man from Paris) and the crew adored him on set.
    “He was a professional wrestler.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:24:52 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Ralph Brown: '85' is the character's IQ; Fincher wanted 72, Fox wanted 97.
    “He wanted 72, Fox wanted 97.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:26:47 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Alien 3: Fox's head at the time on how little the content mattered to the opening.
    “well, first, you could have someone piss against the wall for 2 hours and call it Alien 3 and it would do 30000000 dollars.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:35:42 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about David Fincher: In a behind-the-scenes clip on the Panic Room DVD, Fincher gives notes over the previs in real time, never waiting for it to finish.
    “he is nonstop just going like, that needs to be 2 inches lower.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:54:13 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Joel Schumacher: After Fincher showed him the cut, Schumacher said aiming high means disappointment, and that caring puts you at the mercy of people who don't.
    “you put yourself in a position where they have more power than you because you care and they don't.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:56:11 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Alien 3: A pricey makeup bald cap cost about $20 grand because re-cutting Weaver's hair would have cost about $40 grand; when they needed it again, they found it in a pile.
    “So instead, they paid like 20 grand to make the world's most advanced makeup bald cap.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 1:58:25 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Lethal Weapon 3: The opening-weekend rival's poster is a recycled Lethal Weapon 2 poster with Pesci peeking in.
    “just run back the fucking lethal weapon 2 poster, but just Magic is back again.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free) · 2:01:52 · Griffin Newman (0.35 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Hot Topic reclaimed the weird Disney movie: Disney did not want it, released it under Touchstone, and now Hot Topic mostly sells Disney merchandise.
    “Disney didn't even want it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:06:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Michael McDowell: Per a Caroline Thompson interview, McDowell delivered only the Elfman lyrics reformatted as a screenplay; she said he had 'snorted his salary'.
    “She put it, quote, that he had snorted his salary”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:30:30 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Development was backwards: Burton's poem, Elfman writing songs from story beats, then Thompson writing a script to fill the gaps; animation started before a script.
    “But they are animating this movie before they have a script.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:34:44 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about Stop motion: A single stop-motion shot like Jack scratching his chin took 3.5 weeks.
    “It took 3.5 weeks to have Jack scratch his chin and gesture at the moon”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:36:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Sally: See the close-up of Sally's spoon with holes and the poison going through it: a real-time live-action shot, two free seconds.
    “The one I always think of is the close-up shot of Sally's spoon with the holes in it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:39:24 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Title card shot with candy corn letters before Burton's name was added late; Selick says he understands it and will rue it until he dies.
    “I understand it, and I will rue it until the day I die.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:53:45 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about Oogie Boogie: The four big unstitched bug shots took four months each.
    “4 big bug shots once once he's sort of unstitched and each of those shots took 4 months”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:54:59 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about Chris Sarandon: The speaking Jack may be the most enunciated performance in movie history; Elfman sings, Sarandon speaks, causing a lasting rift.
    “this like caused a rift between Selleck and Elfman that like lasted for forever.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:03:06 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  24. fun, about Vincent Price: Vincent Price was recorded as Santa but had just lost his wife and it didn't work; Don Ameche was 'insanely grouchy'; James Earl Jones shouted 'you don't know me'.
    “Vincent Price, uh, a hero of Tim Burton's”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:10:58 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  25. fun, about Zero: Santa's grumpiness is the secret weapon: exasperated like a flight diverted to Atlanta.
    “He's exasperated in the way that you would be if like your flight got diverted to Atlanta, you know?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:12:31 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  26. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Griffin's mom would not let him see it in theaters, so he got toys first; a lighting-fixture store near his school sold only lamps and Nightmare toys.
    “the only thing they sold aside from lamps was a nightmare before Christmas toys.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:04:26 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  27. fun, about Emma Stefansky: Canonical to the podcast: Emma said of Oogie Boogie 'I wish I was bugs'.
    “Emma Stefansky said, I wish I was bugs.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:06:57 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  28. fun, about David Sims: Sims says his review was positive but he reversed on the film within two weeks and wanted to rewatch it.
    “And within 2 weeks, you were like, is that movie better than I'm giving it credit for being?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:03:50 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  29. fun, about Mike Flanagan: Flanagan wrote the bar scene before the script and sent it to King as proof of concept; a host jokes he slipped a $20 in the pages.
    “He slipped a crisp 20 into those pages.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:17:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  30. fun, about The Shining: The tub lady gets more screen time in the director's cut, with a joke about her asking for the loofah.
    “She says, can you pass the loofah?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:27:50 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  31. fun, about Doctor Sleep (director's cut): The director's cut has chapters, and takes fifteen minutes to show Ewan McGregor on screen.
    “Director's cut takes 15 minutes before you and McGregor shows up on screen.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:29:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  32. fun, about Rose the Hat: Joke biography of Rose: Irish for thousands of years, then in the 1960s a hat and Fleetwood Mac.
    “1960s, decides to wear a hat. Becomes her thing. listens to Fleetwood Mac one time.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 0:55:15 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  33. fun, about Rebecca Ferguson: Flanagan quote: Ferguson could not talk after the first take of the Tremblay scene.
    “Rebecca Ferguson couldn't talk after the 1st take.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:01:27 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  34. fun, about Jacob Tremblay: Flanagan quote read aloud: after the harrowing scene Tremblay hopped up, high-fived his dad and got a candy bar from craft services.
    “And then Jacob just hopped up, brushed himself off, high-fived his dad, went and got a candy bar from craft services, and the rest of us couldn't even blink.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:01:31 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  35. fun, about Doctor Sleep: Warner Brothers had Flanagan start writing a Halloran prequel while they believed the film would be a four-quadrant hit.
    “they had Flanagan start writing a Halloran prequel.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:04:18 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  36. fun, about Doctor Sleep: Shot in Atlanta on a three month schedule, with no Kubrickian nonsense.
    “Three month shoot.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:11:58 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  37. fun, about Mike Flanagan: Flanagan says he hates jump scares and learned to sustain tension from Kubrick.
    “I hate jump scares.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:13:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  38. fun, about Ready Player One: Hosts imagine a future Ready Player Two visiting a Doctor Sleep verse of quiet conversations around cups of tea.
    “Well, and I hope that 30 years from now there's a Ready Player one, Ready Player 2, where they go to the Doctor Sleep Averse.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Doctor Sleep · 1:16:08 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  39. fun, about Full Metal Jacket: The 3000 open video auditions produced a viral clip of a man at a Sears with a ladder saying hello Mr. Kubrick.
    “This was an early case of letting people submit auditions through videotape, like having a pretty open audition because they needed young people and they got 3000 submissions.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 0:50:18 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  40. fun, about R. Lee Ermey: Legend: Kubrick saw a video of Ermey rattling off insults while being pelted with tennis balls and oranges, never breaking.
    “There's like this legend that there's this video of Arli Ermy that Kubrick saw of him rattling off all these like insults and scream while being like pelted with tennis balls and oranges and never and never breaking.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 1:06:37 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  41. fun, about Vincent D'Onofrio: Weight gain claimed to be a record, 10 more pounds than De Niro in Raging Bull.
    “it has long stood as like the claim of the most weight an actor has gained for a role.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 1:21:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  42. fun, about Adventures in Babysitting: A kid thinks D'Onofrio looks like Thor, and he is presented as the ultimate beefcake in the same year as Pyle.
    “the little girl in that movie is obsessed with Thor, Marvel's Thor, and she thinks he looks like Thor.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 1:22:59 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  43. fun, about Matthew Modine: Modine's joke to Kubrick: Spielberg meets a bearded man in heaven who thinks he is Kubrick but is God, and Kubrick liked it.
    “And Modine says, Stanley liked that joke.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 1:33:15 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  44. fun, about Full Metal Jacket: The battlefield was Beckton Gasworks, a huge plant scheduled for demolition, so the crew could blow it up.
    “They're shooting at what's called the Bechton Gasworks, which was the largest gas plant in the world and was basically scheduled for demolition.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 1:43:19 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  45. fun, about Draft Day: Tim Simons corrects everyone on Twitter that his coffee drop from the Draft Day trailer is not in the final film.
    “the coffee drop is not in the film”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:25:49 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  46. fun, about Jack Nicholson: Someone who worked with him reported Nicholson saying he makes classics, not movies.
    “I don't make movies. I make classics.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:32:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  47. fun, about Stanley Kubrick: Kubrick had his secretary bring him stacks of bestselling horror novels and she heard a book hit the wall every ten minutes until the day she heard nothing for two hours.
    “every 10 minutes she'd hear a book hit the wall.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:43:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  48. fun, about Stanley Kubrick: On the phone, Kubrick told King the idea of a ghost is optimistic because it presupposes an afterlife, and answered King's question about hell with a flat denial.
    “I don't believe in hell.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:45:03 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  49. fun, about Room 237: The documentary's theories get boiled down: the moon-landing reading rests on Danny wearing a moon sweater.
    “Well, the kid wears like a moon sweater and you're like, uh-huh.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 0:50:21 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  50. fun, about Scatman Crothers: Crothers on Kubrick's takes: one shot of him crossing the street from a snow cat, no dialogue, took fifty.
    “One scene, I get out of a snow cat and I walk across the street with no dialogue, 50 takes.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:21:51 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  51. fun, about Scatman Crothers: After months of Kubrick, Crothers cried when Clint Eastwood shot one take on Bronco Billy and moved on.
    “Scatman says, like, he started crying because he was like, yeah, that was good.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:23:30 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  52. fun, about Shelley Duvall: Duvall was discovered doing makeup demonstrations at a mall and sent to Robert Altman, who put her in Brewster McCloud.
    “She's discovered for Brewster McLeod as like a makeup tester at a mall.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:24:30 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  53. fun, about Shelley Duvall: Duvall describes the cost of crying for a year and a half: the body rebels and the thought of crying makes her cry.
    “But after a while, your body rebels.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:51:36 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  54. fun, about Jack Nicholson: On set, Nicholson broke down the door with the axe faster than the crew could replace it; he was once a fireman.
    “He famously like broke the door down more than they could.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:57:08 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  55. fun, about Jack Nicholson: On A Few Good Men, Nicholson gave full energy off camera for every other actor's coverage.
    “He did off camera for everyone's, like, fucking takes and he did full energy every time.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:57:27 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  56. fun, about The Shining: Kubrick called the Steadicam a magic carpet; the camera follows Danny's Big Wheel across carpet and wood.
    “And he calls it like a magic carpet, which is really cool.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:04:06 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  57. fun, about The Shining: Look for the typed manuscript pages: the PAs typed every page by hand, because Kubrick would not allow Xeroxes.
    “Oh, um, yeah, I wanted to say the poor fucking PAs.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:10:52 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  58. fun, about The Shining: In the gold room blood scene, one chair moves between shots, a rare slip in a controlled film.
    “it's funny that the chair moves.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:18:43 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  59. fun, about The Shining: The UK cut: Kubrick himself trimmed 30 minutes after the film played badly there.
    “in the UK, the movie was not playing well, and Kubrick himself cut 30 minutes.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:25:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  60. fun, about The Shining: An Entertainment Weekly quote from Diane Johnson on the final photo: Jack had been the hotel's creature through reincarnation.
    “The idea that Jack was always at the hotel in some earlier incarnation.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:32:14 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  61. fun, about A Clockwork Orange: It opened at number nine at the box office in January 1972; Diamonds Are Forever was number one.
    “And it's opening on number nine.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 2:54:36 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  62. fun, about 2001: A Space Odyssey: Nolan's IMAX re-release was deliberately demastered to look yellowed and imperfect, how he remembered seeing it as a child.
    “He didn't want it to be like perfectly smooth.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 0:17:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  63. fun, about Leon Vitali: Vitali had to dodge whether the 4K Blu-ray would look like the Nolan version without stepping on Nolan's toes.
    “And he like couldn't say, good heavens, no.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 0:18:17 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  64. fun, about Stanley Kubrick: Kubrick's daughter says her father wanted to be a short-order cook, which fits his chaotic hosted dinners.
    “I think my father always had this secret dream of being like a short order cook.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 1:03:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  65. fun, about Stanley Kubrick: Kubrick on why he did not want drugs to be the source of the film, as read from the dossier.
    “I think that the illusion of oneness with the universe and absorption with the significance of every object in your environment and the pervasive aura of peace and contentment is not the ideal state for an artist.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 1:16:29 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  66. fun, about 2001: A Space Odyssey: Kubrick's premiere reaction was misery after 240 walkouts; he cut about 12 minutes.
    “apparently 240 people walked out.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 2:14:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  67. fun, about Douglas Trumbull: Kubrick got the film's only Oscar, for effects, while Trumbull got no statue.
    “The Oscars weirdly given to Kubrick and not to Trumbull.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jordan Hoffman (Ad-Free) · 2:15:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  68. fun, about Dr. Strangelove: Mandrake's story about being captured by the Japanese is called the funniest part of the movie.
    “Mandrake talking about being captured by the Japanese is the funniest part of this whole movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Dr. Strangelove... with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:11:32 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
  69. fun, about Dr. Strangelove: AFI's 100 Years 100 Laughs ranked Strangelove third, behind Tootsie and Some Like It Hot, and Blockbuster displayed the tapes together.
    “I watched this because AFI in the year 2000 did their 100 years, 100 laughs”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Dr. Strangelove... with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:28:13 · Griffin Newman (0.65 sure it was them)
  70. fun, about Kirk Douglas: Douglas griped that Kubrick left their five-picture deal and made only six films after.
    “half of his remaining filmography would have been under my contract.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:30:22 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  71. fun, about Tony Curtis: Curtis's quote on why he and Kubrick got along: they only wanted to talk about two things.
    “we got along because we were only interested in talking about 2 things.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:50:59 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  72. fun, about Stanley Kubrick: The research dossier's theory: the endless takes were waiting to be surprised, not to see what was in his head.
    “It sounded so much more that the thing he was waiting for was for something to surprise him.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:29:16 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  73. fun, about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Cardassian-law episode gets confused with the Kardashians over Zoom.
    “Both times you said it, I thought you said Kardashians.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:26:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  74. fun, about Saving Private Ryan: Griffin avoided it his whole life, took six hours to finish for the podcast, loved it, owns it on steelbook, will never rewatch.
    “It took me 6 hours to finish watching it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 1:19:37 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
  75. fun, about The Killing: A working title for the film was Bed of Fear, which sets Patton off on his Deathbed routine.
    “But one of the titles, one of the working titles that apparently was close to happening for this movie, I don't know if you know this, was bed of fear.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:05:48 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  76. fun, about Die Hard: Sinatra's Detective rights gave him first refusal on follow-ups, so Fox had to offer Die Hard to him first; the speaker pictures the call.
    “I just like imagining whoever the Fox exec was who was like, hey, Frank, I'm just calling so you can tell me to fuck off.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:15:04 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  77. fun, about Harvey Keitel: Keitel supposedly told Kubrick to go fuck himself on Eyes Wide Shut after 27 takes of walking through a door.
    “Kubrick made him walk through a door 27 times”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:25:20 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  78. fun, about Timothy Carey: His performance clenches the jaw like a living corpse; the speakers love how strange and huge he is on screen.
    “I'm already dead, and I'm going to play this with a rictus because I'm going to die.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:35:07 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  79. fun, about Timothy Carey: His image from The Killing turns up on the Sgt. Pepper outtake photos behind George Harrison, though the speaker concedes it may not be the final cover.
    “Sag had no cause projection, but apparently he's also in his image from the killing is on the Sergeant Pepper cover behind George Harrison.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:36:24 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  80. fun, about The Taking of Pelham 123: Why Matthau works: the original's one man who can handle it is hung over, ill-fitting suit, stale hot dog.
    “he's hung over in an ill-fitting suit eating a stale hot dog”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:42:32 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  81. fun, about Sterling Hayden: Stated line on his character: not smart enough to pull it off, too smart to be happy if he did.
    “he's he's not smart enough to pull off a con of this size, but he's too smart to ever be happy if he were to pull it off”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:43:52 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  82. fun, about The Killing: Audiences hated the studio-demanded chronological cut even more, so the jumbled timeline went back in.
    “They test screen it and the audiences hate it even more when it's in the right order.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:52:47 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  83. fun, about The Killing: UA's Max Youngstein ranked Kubrick and Harris 'not far from the bottom' of their producer-filmmaker teams.
    “And Max said, not far from the bottom.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 1:05:01 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)
  84. fun, about The Killing: Time predicted it would 'make a killing at the cash booth'; Wikipedia's next line is a loss of $130,000.
    “going to make a killing at the cash booth”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 1:06:30 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  85. fun, about Goodfellas: Powell's letter to Scorsese: a stunning script, a wonderful film and a priceless social document.
    “dear Marty, it is a stunning script and we'll make a wonderful film and a priceless social document.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 1:14:41 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  86. fun, about Goodfellas: The wig-shop commercial in Goodfellas was shot and cut by the real wig shop owner.
    “That is shot, that footage was shot and cut by the guy who owned that wig shot.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 1:15:25 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  87. fun, about The Killing: Ben texts that if he were in a heist movie where people fuck it up, he would have pulled it off and ended on a tropical island.
    “Anytime Ben watches a heist movie in which people fuck it up.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 1:29:59 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  88. fun, about Fear and Desire: The streaming copies are public-domain colorized versions that look like cheap AI, with color that will not stay on faces.
    “It looks like it was done by some very rudimentary $5 AI, but it's this thing where the color like can't stick to their faces.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Fear & Desire / Killer's Kiss (Ad-Free) · 0:01:36 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  89. fun, about Fear and Desire: Eerie shot: a dead woman's POV as a hand waves over her eyes, then a pulse check.
    “They cut to a POV shot. I know. Of him waving his hand in front of her eyes.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Fear & Desire / Killer's Kiss (Ad-Free) · 1:10:45 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  90. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Griffin's thesis: the best narrative ever built around Batman, with the most complete understanding of him as a character.
    “I think this is the best narrative that has ever been constructed around Batman”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:01:16 · Griffin Newman (0.80 sure it was them)
  91. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The villains list: Conan O'Brien as the Riddler, Mantzoukas as Scarecrow, Garfunkel and Oats as Poison Ivy and Clayface, Doug Benson as Bane.
    “Conan O'Brien plays the Riddler.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:07:04 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  92. fun, about Billy Dee Williams: Voices Two-Face as little Lego Billy Dee, finishing the arc of never playing him for Burton.
    “It's his voice and they make it look like him.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:08:20 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  93. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: The whole movie takes place on a table, and the kid's threat is pulling two pushed-together tables apart.
    “So this is setting up the, like, without cutting out the real world from the 1st movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:09:53 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  94. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Mariah Carey is the mayor for no stated reason.
    “Mariah Carey, inexplicably the mayor.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:10:18 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  95. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Watch the scene where Batman microwaves lobster Thermidor, types 20 minutes, and corrects himself; the hosts also like the lighting of the microwave.
    “And then he types 20 and then he goes, not 20 minutes stupid.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:19:12 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  96. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Lego film rule: animators scanned in every real Lego piece and had to build everything so it could physically exist.
    “So they essentially like scanned in every Lego block shape or piece type that exists.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:19:41 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  97. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Popcorn is made of big white balls because they could not make new pieces and had to find the closest existing one.
    “So they like weren't allowed to make new pieces.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:21:06 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)
  98. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Batman has a wall of dead parents, a Crime Alley photo, and only drops his guard talking to the pictures.
    “This wall of dead parents.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:21:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  99. fun, about Michael Cera: Allegra Frank's interview with Cera, who said his best compliment is when someone enjoys his dinner.
    “To me, the best compliment I could ever get in the world is when I make dinner for someone and they enjoy it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:30:19 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  100. fun, about The Lego Batman Movie: Lego hair pieces swap for a wind-blown version when a megaphone hits a character in the face.
    “they switch the hairpiece to a hairpiece that looks wind blown.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Lego Batman Movie · 0:34:51 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)