Likes the Apes franchise but has only seen the first two; cares about filmography and box-office context. Hard on bloated, calculated star vehicles. Attributions to David are low confidence because the transcript is unlabeled.
Stances
The 2001 film is indefensible
Hype and release dates drove production
Studios chase sequels nobody wants
Humor: Dry, sarcastic tangents about box office and franchises.
Fact-checks on a laptop, pulling dates and biographical trivia (Kinnear's Indiana roots, box office facts); lines individually attributed to him are low-confidence.
Stances
Keeps the episode on movie facts via the computer
Doesn't wear glasses
Humor: Wry deadpan and pointed film-business commentary.
In their words
“I should just note for anyone listening, David has a computer and you're getting the dates with that.” (1:02:09)
“See, I'm not glasses wear.” (0:31:09)
Blank Check with Griffin & David: Flesh+Blood (host)
Likes this movie more in the first half and gets bored by the plague second half. Defends John Hughes, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Breakfast Club. Fond of box office trivia and the 1985 weekend. Cannot stand rambling.
Stances
Second half becomes boring chaos
Hughes's first film is gross
Verhoeven becomes an impressionist of blockbusters
Humor: Dry quips, wordplay and deadpan reactions.
In their words
“I do see, I like this movie more in the 1st half where I think it's more achieving what it wants to do.” (1:12:10)
“Uh, Plan Strans and automobiles is a masterpiece.” (1:34:21)
Loves box office history and the box office game, character acting, and a well-made Spielberg set piece. Cannot stand underwritten leads, miscast villains and nostalgia as a defense. Is a sucker for Austin Powers and a wrong-footed sequel pitch.
Stances
The sequel is dramatically inert
Jurassic Park is a one-movie concept
Nostalgia should not canonize bad films
Humor: Dry, sarcastic one-liners and exaggerated nitpicking, plus comedic fury about the Crichton island names.
In their words
“I just think it's a horrible screenplay full of bad ideas that are totally disjointed.” (0:31:15)
“I don't think there is a great Jurassic Park sequel that could possibly be made.” (0:33:30)
“We have to stop canonizing things just because we saw them when we were young.” (1:39:46)
A working film critic who respects the filmmaking craft but is unforgiving of incoherence; likes actors like Bob Balaban and Jeffrey Wright and notices careful details like casting and release data. Cannot stand a film he finds unwatchable or toxic, as with My Old Lady. A sucker for box office numbers and critic-baiting trivia.
Stances
Lady in the Water is awful and unwatchable
The scrunt looks terrible
Critic characters in movies are usually unfair
Humor: Dry, quick riffs and deadpan dismissals, plus pop-culture cross-references.
In their words
“Where you lose me is the idea that this is a watchable film.” (1:49:10)
The Atlantic film and television critic who adores RDJ's charm and will watch anything out of Oscar completism. Hates showy awards bait and the Dobkin comedy style. Fond of The Godfather, The Apostle, Sam Raimi, and spaceship movies, and says he'd take a dumb spaceship movie over a dumb adult drama.
Stances
Downey was hurt by Marvel; indies are risky for him
Duvall's nomination was a veteran's default, not a sign of quality
The Judge is worse than The Phantom Menace
Humor: Dry deadpan, quick pile-ons, and overdramatic dismissals of bad movies.
In their words
“I am a film and television critic for the Atlantic.” (0:04:50)
“I just want to say this movie is a lot worse than Star Wars episode one of the Phantom Menace.” (1:09:46)
“I'd rather take a dumb spaceship movie than a dumb adult drama.” (1:10:26)
David is an Atlantic critic and box-office nerd who has written about what Hollywood failed to learn from Avatar. He loves the movie as a sincere crowd-pleaser and compares it to Top Gun: Maverick. He is exasperated by writers' rooms and 'director bullshit' he loves.
Stances
Hollywood learned the wrong lesson from Avatar
Avatar and Way of Water should be bet on
Cameron is always right
Humor: Jokey and wry, trading gags about plagiarizing Griffin's takes.
In their words
“I lifted this right from Griffin.” (0:45:17)
“If James Cameron thinks I need 4 Avatar sequels, then I need 4 Avatars.” (1:42:09)
“I also write movie reviews of the Atlantic.” (1:49:02)
Film critic who writes for the Atlantic; likes Joel Kinnaman, For All Mankind and Michael Keaton's rhythms. He is hard on the film but follows the industry context closely. A sucker for box-office trivia and the Mets.
Stances
The film is humorless and a waste of its cast
The grounded Nolan-style reboot wave ended with this film
The suit and the lack of a physical villain are the failures
Humor: Dry asides and tangents, like his Lord of the Rings Gollum-hunt pitch.
In their words
“I wrote their obituaries.” (0:01:32)
“What if you made it about them looking for Golem when he's not around?” (1:36:15)
Fond of the Tom Cruise character-actor mode over movie-star mode; reads the film through its production history and cutting. Dislikes Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Road House. Admires the 2014 slate but ranks Edge near the top.
Stances
Edge is Cruise's unheralded fulcrum performance
The Liman-McQuarrie-Cruise triangle is why it works
Does not want a sequel
Humor: Dry, argumentative asides and cinephile one-liners.
A big Cronenberg fan and a video game kid (Game Boy Camera, Perfect Dark). Likes Villeneuve and Dune but is skeptical of Linklater and Soderbergh episodes that run thin.
Stances
Cronenberg is his Lynch
Dune and Villeneuve deserve an extended look
Skeptical of directors who just try stuff
Humor: Dry deflation and piling on Griffin's bits.
In their words
“Pronenberg is kind of my lynch.” (0:42:28)
“One of my favorite games, this is David Sims speaking” (0:23:16)
Reads the dossier and runs the box office game, with a film-historian's interest in distribution and Oscar history. Skeptical of calling things masterpieces. Has less Lynch background than Griffin and Ben, and is mostly seeing the filmography fresh.
Stances
Parent Trap is not a masterpiece
Lynch's career deserves the miniseries
The box office game gives context to a release
Humor: Dry corrections and pointing out others' mistakes, plus tangents like Grimace.
In their words
“I think a couple of the things you have as masterpiece are a stretch.” (0:09:19)
A Banderas devotee who logs everything on Letterboxd and is drawn to flops and Hollywood context. Finds this film dull and the lead miscast, but likes the idea. Sucker for 1999 box-office detail.
Stances
Banderas is miscast in a realism-minded part
The film is a middling watch
Humor: Dry sarcasm and mock outrage.
In their words
“I have never seen a performance that I feel he is phoning in because he has so much energy as a performer.” (0:47:56)
A working critic who saw the film at a guild screening with Fincher and Walker and relays the Q&A; ranks Zodiac first and Alien 3 high. He likes pulpy genre craft, Soderbergh and Hit Man comparisons, and box-office detail.
Stances
The Killer is Fincher doing a stripped-down genre exercise
Netflix business strategy hurts both Fincher films
Alien 3 is bleak and underrated
Humor: Dry, deadpan ranking-banter and tangents on the weekend box office.
In their words
“I think he said it was 5 days of shooting, but it was 5 weeks of rehearsal.” (1:18:08)
“He said it was Prometheus and Haywire, which makes sense.” (1:17:06)
Likes Mank and Fincher, calls it an airy delight, and interviewed everyone on the crew for his Atlantic story. Loves the Hearst-party scenes and the machinery of Hollywood development. Dislikes the Mank writing frame and The Offer's spirit.
Stances
Mank is more fun than its reputation
The writing frame is the least interesting part of the movie
He likes Mank but not Promising Young Woman
Humor: Sarcastic and deflating, with sudden bits like showing character posters during The Offer.
In their words
“This movie is fun.” (0:20:02)
“I interviewed everyone involved with this movie.” (0:02:09)
“I watched them both in the same night, so they're mushing together in my brain.” (2:01:06)
A working critic who loves Gone Girl as a stylish pulp thriller and keeps a running grudge about the Oscars snubbing it. Fond of craft detail (lighting, gaffers) and old-fashioned stardom talk, and a self-described soft touch on Netflix when they make something good. Wary of bad Netflix-Fincher imitations.
Stances
Gone Girl deserved cinematography, editing and score nominations
Netflix prestige now looks like a diluted Fincher
He is nice to Netflix when it makes something good
Humor: Dry, with groaners and name-mangling bits that the others pounce on.
In their words
“Look, if they make something good,” (0:30:56)
“And when I interviewed Michael Mann, which I just did.” (2:43:38)
“I also was deep in watching 8000000 lawyer movies for a big picture draft episode and I did not want to take on also trying to get through 2 seasons of Mindhunter.” (3:04:06)
Treats Dragon Tattoo as a comfort movie he likes more every rewatch; loves Christopher Plummer's 80s, cold murder, Fincher's craft. Dislikes hot murder and feel-bad-is-good-for-you talk. A sucker for Plummer, Muppets-era nostalgia and a rewatch-conversion story.
Stances
Best 80s of any actor
I want cold murder
Aloha now rules.
Humor: Dry, deadpan; lands the hot take then undercuts it.
In their words
“I like it more every time I rewatch it, which I think is true for a lot of people.” (2:24:32)
A critic who ranks The Social Network number one of 2010 and calls it one of the most rewatchable films of modern history. Likes tight genre craft and thinks the movie became a genre. Cool on The Big Short and the lesser Facebook-adjacent films.
Stances
The Social Network is the best film of its decade
The Big Short rips it off
The film is a harbinger of how culture works
Humor: Dry, with deadpan asides and long riffs on Hollywood business.
In their words
“I have the social network at number one of 2010.” (0:09:14)
“I mean, I think the big short, which is not a movie I love, is the most obvious movie that's ripping off the social network” (0:11:44)
Frames Zodiac against its 2007 competition and talks about its craft precisely. Coined the phrase 'a movie where the look of it makes your teeth hurt'. Treats Zodiac as a comfort-food movie despite the subject.
Stances
Zodiac is Fincher's masterpiece
Digital cinematography can be stunning
The 2007 slate was loaded
Humor: Gleeful, self-aware, quick to riff on bits (the squirrels).
In their words
“Those knives, Griffin, that I have, in my chair back there, they're covered in blood.” (0:01:03)
“This is a movie where the look of it makes your teeth hurt.” (1:10:47)
Their shows' recurring bits
Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.
The Big Picture
Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.
Blank Check with Griffin & David
The box office game: Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against.
The sung theme: "Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it.
Their claims
Showing 1–100 of 1,091 claims.
unmapped (controversy):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Kundun.
Kundun, via Chinese government anger, is offered as a rival for Scorsese's most controversial film.
“If you're going by pure numbers, I guess you could go for Kundu”
unmapped (controversy):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Benedetta.
Protest against Benedetta was six nuns, showing religious outrage has faded since Last Temptation.
“it kind of shows that they just can't be bothered anymore.”
lineage (origin of project):
Barbara Hershey → The Last Temptation of Christ.
Hershey also planted the book in Scorsese's head and told him to let her audition as Mary Magdalene.
theme (shared locations):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Ishtar.
Per Miriam Bale, it shares many Moroccan locations with Ishtar, shot around the same time.
“Yes, it shares a lot of locations with Ishtar, which was made around the same time.”
industry (business deal):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Cape Fear.
Universal's deal to make Last Temptation obliged a bigger film later, resulting in the Spielberg swap and Cape Fear.
“it gets fear is a direct result of his deal with Universal for this month.”
industry (Oscar oddity list):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Satyricon.
Collider's list of films with a lone director nomination includes Satyricon and Last Temptation.
lineage (legacy-sequel precedent):
The Color of Money → Return to Oz.
Reddit consensus calls Color of Money the first legacy sequel, with Return to Oz as a debated earlier candidate dismissed as too weird.
“Uh, color money is generally agreed to on to be the 1st legacy sequel. Some people are like, does return to Oz count?”
career (career pivot):
The Color of Money → After Hours.
After Last Temptation failed in the early 80s, Scorsese made cheap After Hours to prove he could finish something, then took Color of Money.
“Uh, it fails and so he makes after hours as a sort of pivot out of that of like, I'll just do something.”
lineage (legacy-sequel heirs):
The Color of Money → Top Gun: Maverick.
Gap-based legacy sequels like Top Gun Maverick, Tron Legacy and Blade Runner follow the template Color of Money invented, though in 1986 sequels were derided.
“now we get more and more like your your Tron legacies and your Top Gun Mavericks, where it's just casually... 37, 40 years later”
industry (box office rival):
The Color of Money → Crocodile Dundee.
Color of Money opened number two in October 1986; Crocodile Dundee was the year's number one hit.
“Number one at the box office. is a film we've covered, one of the biggest hits of 1986.”
career (career arc):
Addicted to Love → Election.
Broderick's 90s search for a new persona (Godzilla, Inspector Gadget, Addicted to Love) ends when Election cracks it.
“And then election is how he like closes out the decade where he's like, you fucking cracked it.”
verdict (rewatch-frequency / favorites):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → Jerry Maguire.
David lists Master and Commander among favorites seen many times, like Jerry Maguire (40 times), versus Late Spring, which he rates among the greatest but has seen 2-3 times.
“It's sort of like Jerry Maguire, I've seen 40 times. Master and commander have seen it many, many, many, many.”
theme (shared-motif):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → The Truman Show.
Asked how the studio sold a Weir boat movie, the hosts note the poster could not say 'from the director of The Truman Show' but both films have sailing scenes.
industry (dad-movie / theatrical-vs-streaming):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → Greyhound.
Greyhound, a naval Tom Hanks movie meant for theaters, went to Apple TV because of COVID, showing the dad audience now lives on streaming, unlike when this film got a major-studio release.
“the number one movie in the history of Apple Plus is Tom Hanks's Greyhound, which was meant to be a theatrical movie.”
verdict (teen-favorites-that-year):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → Elephant.
David's favorite movies at 17 in 2003 included Elephant and All the Real Girls, alongside Lord of the Rings, X2, 28 Days Later and Kill Bill; Master and Commander was liked but grew over time.
“My favorite movies of that year were elephant, which was a big movie for me then.”
lineage (marriage / origin):
Paul Bettany → Jennifer Connelly.
Bettany and Connelly met on A Beautiful Mind where his character is imaginary and shares no scenes with her; after 9/11 he called her and they married about six months later.
people (casting-ideal):
Russell Crowe → Richard Burton.
Weir's ideal Aubrey would have been Richard Burton; Crowe is the closest you get in 2000, and Hodgman says Burton lacks Crowe's humor.
“Weir says his ideal choice would have been Richard Burton. Unfortunately, he was very dead.”
unmapped (star-type):
Russell Crowe → Ben-Hur.
Quoting Lex G on Ben-Hur's Charlton Heston who could be larger than life yet steady, they say Crowe is the one modern guy who can do that.
“no one can hold a movie like this and sort of know how to be larger than life, but also just steady at the center.”
unmapped (only-guy-who-can):
Russell Crowe → Exodus: Gods and Kings.
When someone else, even a proven actor like Christian Bale, tries the big-epic role, audiences don't buy it; Crowe is the one who can pull it off.
“when they try to put someone else into this, even when it is a proven actor, like you get fucking Exodus gods and kings with Christian Bale is Moses and everyone's like not buying it.”
people (actor-other-work / career-trajectory):
Billy Boyd → The Lord of the Rings.
Dominic Monaghan said that while Billy Boyd was off on this ship of the line, his own career stalled after the LOTR films, then flipped.
“I have this like double act with Boyd. We make these 3 movies together. And then I couldn't book a gig for 2 years.”
people (cinematographer-return):
Russell Boyd → Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Boyd shot Picnic, Last Wave, Gallipoli and Year of Living Dangerously for Weir; he and Weir reunited by chance on an airplane for this film.
“Peter Weir made his 1st 4 films or no, 4 of his early films, though, with Russell Boyd, picnic, uh, wave, Gallipoli dangerously.”
career (career):
John Steele → Russell Boyd.
Weir used John Steele, Boyd's assistant on some of the earlier films, as his cinematographer before Boyd came back for this film.
“It's just like he started using John Steele, who was the assistant on some of the earlier stuff, and then the, you know, he went to Hollywood.”
unmapped (shared-technology):
Titanic → White Squall.
Ridley Scott made 1492 and White Squall in a Gibraltar tank, but it had fallen into disrepair, which is why Cameron's tank mattered.
“Scott had made both 1492 and White Squall, I think, in a tank in Gibraltar, but that tank was in disrepair.”
“I can tell you, according to Nathan McGillis, McGinnis from Asylum, another VFX company. There's not one piece of ocean in that storm sequence that isn't real.”
“Peter Weir, Wolfgang Peterson. Rob Reiner, Jonathan Demi, the great bad Brad Silverling, director of your favorite Casper, participate in a creative bake off”
verdict (tangent-from-review):
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home → Star Trek (franchise, generally).
Prompted by the review's Star Trek comparison, the hosts digress on Star Trek IV: Scotty talking into the Mac mouse, Chekov's 'nuclear wessels', and its box-office spike as the one entry needing no prior viewing. (No Wrath of Khan is mentioned in the episode.)
“it is fascinating to look at the box office spike on 4 because it was the one movie where they could just market it and be like, you don't need to have seen any fucking Star Trek.”
career (career guarantor):
The Year of Living Dangerously → Witness.
Year of Living Dangerously got Weir into Hollywood; Witness is the guarantor of his Hollywood run.
“I think witness is the guarantor for the next... for the Hollywood story.”
industry (awards competition):
Fearless → Schindler's List.
Fearless lost heat to that year's heavy hitters Schindler's List, The Piano and The Fugitive.
contrast (contrast):
Fearless → Flight.
Both are post-crash aftermath movies, but Fearless is in conversation with the intangible while Flight resolves into two pre-set systems (sobriety and faith).
“Whereas I'm like, this movie is spiritual because it's in conversation with the intangible.”
career (career):
Rosie Perez → In Living Color.
Perez came to acting from choreographing the Fly Girls on In Living Color; Do the Right Thing was her first movie.
“she's, of course, a Flygirl choreographer on a living color, right?”
unmapped (screen presence):
Benicio del Toro → The Usual Suspects.
In the 90s del Toro was almost too interesting, like a Philip Glass score in a movie.
“Like, you know, especially things like usual suspects is he is like a Philip Glass score in a movie where you're just like, he's almost too interesting.”
people (cinematography):
Fearless → Allen Daviau.
Daviau, fresh off Spielberg films, shot Fearless; the first American DP Blank Check covered with Weir.
“Alan Davio shot this film, who, of course, the 1st American cinematographer that we had worked with.”
craft (craft):
Peter Weir → John Seale.
Before Fearless, Weir mostly kept his Australian above-the-line crew such as John Seale; Allen Daviau was the first American cinematographer the show covered with him.
“He mostly kept his, like, above the line, Australian, John, John Seal, and guys like that.”
craft (craft):
Fearless → Allen Daviau.
The speaker praises how Fearless looks, a film about absorbing textures and the feeling in the air, tied to Daviau shooting it.
“this film looks incredible and this is a movie that needs to just look good because it's so much about like absorbing textures of things and and the space and the feeling in the air”
“They had to overdub him swearing because they didn't want it to if they wanted to be able to say he's still like he is not sullied by the swear words.”
fun, about
Force Awakens press screening:
David missed the Force Awakens critics' screening while at the Atlantic Wire, after a year of weekly Star Wars podcasting.
“I didn't get in to that screening, I was still working at the Atlantic Wire.”
fun, about
Rebecca Ferguson in Doctor Sleep:
Plays the most evil force in the world like a middle-aged woman at the Litchfield Jazz Fest, Tanglewooding out of control.
“Her decision to play the most evil force in the world, like a middle-aged woman at the Litchfield Jazz Fest.”
fun, about
Richard Schiff and Joe Pantoliano:
'The 2 benchmarks I'm setting for the next 30 years of my career': Schiff in Clemency and Pantoliano in Bad Boys for Life; Pantoliano has a 'guess the horse' scene.
“Those are the 2 benchmarks I'm setting for the next 30 years of my career.”
fun, about
Avengers: Infinity War:
Look at the chip shop in the Edinburgh scene: a sign says they will deep fry your kebab, which leads to Scottish deep-frying and a prank-call album bit.
“there's just a sign in the chip shop that just says, we will deep fry your kebab”
fun, about
Avengers: Infinity War:
Kevin Smith screamed 'no' at the press screening the second Tony was stabbed, and posted a tearful selfie; later he cried again at Cap shaving his beard in Endgame.
“And that person was Kevin Smith, who was in our audience”
fun, about
Thor: The Dark World:
The climactic portal fight, set up as a gimmick for forty-five minutes: characters zap between Greenwich, Vanaheim and Frostland; a Frost Beast turns up; Thor throws a car at Malekith.
fun, about
Max Landis:
The sun-sets-multiple-times 'one day' fight: host argues Christmas is a season.
“This was the movie I got in the fight with Max Landis.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Iron Man 3 ·
2:13:18 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
The Avengers:
Paramount still has its logo on a film Disney bought; they joke Paramount staked its territory and Disney got the last laugh by earning more.
“Paramount made so much money for selling these movies, but Disney got the last laugh because they made even more money buying these movies.”
fun, about
The Avengers:
Whedon's addition that was not in the Penn draft: the heroes must fight each other first; see the Thor/Iron Man/Cap forest fight at 0:47-0:50 and Cap's shield versus Mjolnir.
fun, about
Jeremy Renner:
Renner's defense of Hawkeye: he's there to tranquilize the Hulk; they find that depressing. Also Renner complained about being brainwashed for ~1:50.
“he's got the arrow so they can tranquilize Hulk.”
fun, about
Harry Dean Stanton:
See the scene (1:32) where Harry Dean Stanton talks Banner round: shot as a nine-page conversation, trimmed hard; the full version is on the DVD.
“So there's like a very long version of this on the DVD”
fun, about
Robert Downey Jr.:
Downey asked to pick the magnetic bracelets in the final suit-up and ad-libbed the Gallagher-at-the-computer riff that became a real shot.
fun, about
Grand Central / New York:
They scanned every building from 34th to 45th Street for the battle and 'make sure it doesn't get bigger than this' keeps the geography clear; the worm goes through Grand Central at 1:58.
“they scanned every fucking building in this area and just rebuilt like a perfect, like, grid of like 34th to like 45th.”
fun, about
Ashley Johnson:
Cap's original introduction was a cafe scene with a waitress (Johnson) flirting; the cut payoff is her looking up at the Avengers.
“So it's supposed to be payoff for that, but it still works”
fun, about
Marvel studio:
The Chitauri were minor aliens invented for this movie; Thanos reveal in the credits left a Paris friend asking who the purple guy was.
fun, about
The Avengers:
Opening weekend box office: $207 million (May 4), then Think Like a Man, The Hunger Games, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, The Lucky One in the top five.
“Avengers breaks the box office record makes 207.”
fun, about
Bucky death:
The classic comic Bucky death is on a rocket Cap can't disarm; the film instead has Bucky fall from the train. David calls the movie's version lamer.
“The classic Bucky death is so good, which they're on the rocket.”
fun, about
Dum Dum Dugan:
See the scene where Neal McDonough walks on in a bowler hat and mutton chops; the hosts cheered because the film embraced the silly comic look rather than toning it down.
fun, about
Bucky (comics maxim):
Old comics maxim: Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, Jesus and Bucky are the characters who would never be brought back; Bucky stayed dead about 64 years.
“Spider-Man's Uncle Ben. Spider-Man's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. And Jesus. And Bucky.”
fun, about
Peggy Carter red dress:
At the Times Square opening night, when Peggy walks in wearing the red dress amid drab fatigues, the whole audience yelled holy shit in unison.
“she comes in with this burst of color and the whole audience went, holy shit.”
fun, about
Captain America (title):
Marvel feared the name Captain America would hurt overseas in 2011 and retitled the film The First Avenger; almost every territory passed on that and only about one country released it under the alternate title.
“Captain America won't be in the title, and almost every territory passed on that.”
fun, about
Thor:
The hosts open on how every cut in the lab scene swings the camera 45 degrees the opposite way, a literal seesaw; Branagh's one idea is the tilted world, and they keep returning to the Dutch angles throughout.
“Isn't this crazy, though, that every time they cut, the camera is 45 degrees in the opposite angle of the previous...”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
0:03:17 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Chris Hemsworth:
Casting lore: Hemsworth beat Hiddleston, who thought he was ripped but looked narrower beside him, because he absorbed muscle better and looked broader on camera.
“Hemsworth is just broader shoulder.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
0:11:50 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Hemsworth's dyed eyebrows in Thor are Kevin Feige's biggest regret in the whole MCU; watch Thor in Asgard where he almost looks to have none.
“Do you know that Kevin Feige said his, what his number one biggest regret in the entire Marvel cinematic universe is?”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
0:14:42 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Loki's hand turns blue on touching the Frost Giant king's forearm in the Jotunheim fight; the hosts note the film forgets it and later reveals he is a Frost Giant.
“one of the blue guys, the king, touched Loki's forearm, and then Loki's hand turned blue, and they don't know why.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
0:24:56 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Thor's development hell: Raimi, a UPN TV show, Sony and Goyer, Paramount, Vaughn, del Toro, DJ Caruso, Daniel Craig offered it before Hemsworth took it.
“Then, as we all know, DJ Caruso is hired.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
0:26:36 ·
David Sims
(0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Mjolnir is cast as Excalibur: the lifting-the-sword-from-the-stone scene is the hammer in the New Mexico crater that nobody is worthy to move.
“So, you know, the hammer becomes like Excalibur.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
0:37:54 ·
David Sims
(0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor: The Dark World:
After the nudity-search tangent, they recall Skarsgard is naked in Dark World but the film blurs it out.
“I forgot he's naked in Dark World, but they blur it out.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
1:06:47 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
See the scene where Thor finally gets Mjolnir back: the hosts shout over the Patrick Doyle score and say the transformation is the film's biggest success.
“I will say, I think that is the biggest success of this movie is they do sell you on the importance of the hammer.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
1:29:29 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
See the scene where Thor flies by holding on to the thrown hammer; the speaker loves that the hammer does the flying and Thor grabs on.
“I like how Thor flies with his... The hammer is what's flying.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
1:34:42 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Loki's illusion trick works in the Frost Giants fight; the hosts see the fake Loki, praise it, and grumble it plays worse in green screen CGI goopland.
“I think that type of effect doesn't play as well when they're in just like green screen CGI Goopland.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
1:39:38 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Thor smashes the Bifrost to cut off the Frost Giants; the hosts say the comics have a literal rainbow while the film makes a prismatic Tron light-cycle runway.
“they just try to make it like a weird, like, sort of glassy Tron light cycle runway that's a little prismatic”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
1:41:33 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Thor:
Watch the end-credits stinger: Selvig with Fury and the Tesseract, a scene Whedon wrote and directed; Branagh reportedly claimed not to have seen it.
“Right, because Bran was like, I haven't seen this scene.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Thor ·
1:55:57 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about
Ang Lee:
Grosses compared: this grossed 128 domestic vs Hulk 132 and Life of Pi 124; worldwide Life of Pi 609, this 213, Hulk 245.
fun, about
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
The four leads speak different accents on camera; Yeoh learned her Mandarin lines phonetically and took a year of no other work.
“Right. One of them is one of them is essentially speaking lines phonetically.”
fun, about
Michelle Yeoh:
Debilitating knee surgery at the start of filming; she flew back and forth for surgery, action pushed to the end.
“Right. And she had to keep on flying back to the States for surgery and then she'd fly back to set, do dialogue scenes while she was recovering, fly back to the States for further surgery.”
fun, about
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
Bar fight trivia: the stuntman who falls off the banister is the same man later holding an abacus because he broke his arm.
“how the guy who does that immortal fall off the banister is the same guy who has the abacus”
fun, about
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
Nominations: Gladiator got 12, CTHD 10; CTHD won score, art direction, cinematography, foreign language film.
“Best art direction, best cinematography, and foreign language film.”
fun, about
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker realized they'd crossed $100M when two kids at a mall raved about the cool subtitles.
“they were like, man, the fucking subtitles were so cool.”
fun, about
How the Grinch Stole Christmas:
The number one movie the weekend CTHD opened; top five: Grinch, Vertical Limit, Proof of Life, Unbreakable, Dungeons & Dragons.
“It's the number one movie of 2000, and it is called Dr. Seuss is How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
fun, about
Kevin Kline:
Kline's story: he saw Joan Allen intensely preparing on location and went to the craft service table.
“Kevin Klein tells this story on like one of the retrospective criterion documentaries where he walked by Joan Allen and she was sitting somewhere around location”
fun, about
Blue Steel:
Opened number five with 2.8 million dollars and made 8.2 on a roughly 16 million budget; debuted at Sundance and came out through MGM after Vestron went bankrupt.
“It opens number five at the box office with 2.8 million dollars.”