Reads the Wikipedia tidbits and Fincher lore, loves Madonna and Fincher's glamorous Vogue-era work, and is a Dirty Dancing evangelist. Is the Brit in the room and a soft touch for pop. Sour on Justin Timberlake as a performer.
Stances
Vogue and Freedom 90 are the top two videos
Dirty Dancing is a masterpiece
Annoyed by Timberlake's visible effort
Humor: Dry insults and bossy-Brit bits.
In their words
“I think Dirty Dancing is a masterpiece.” (0:45:37)
“I just don't want to be German, okay?” (1:55:47)
“This, to me, is peak annoying Justin Timberlake.” (2:15:04)
Fincher fan from a 16-year-old Empire-reading start in England; loves Clint Eastwood late-career oddities and reads the dossier. Thinks Panic Room is deeper than a B-programmer.
Stances
Panic Room is a great director showcase movie
Fincher's craft is the point
Humor: Dry, dropping reads and recommendations mid-riff.
In their words
“I was a big 16-year-old film Empire magazine reading film nerd.” (0:27:35)
Loves the film's ending and admires the look; finds the last hour tiring and the philosophy trite on rewatch. Loves Limp Bizkit without irony, worked in video stores, and defends Fincher's craft.
Stances
The last hour sags but the ending is great
Gen X angst reads as stupid on rewatch
Fincher's later digital coldness is not all bad
Humor: Dry, exasperated reactions and unashamed pop taste.
In their words
“I love Limp Bizkit.” (3:03:38)
“the ending of this movie is so effective” (1:07:45)
Loves The Game (watches it yearly, loves the Criterion), is a Fincher interviewer, and gets the research in hand. A sucker for Douglas movie-star energy and the Christmas Carol reading.
Stances
The Game is better than Se7en
Fincher's 'Christmas Carol' reading is the key
Douglas is America's dark id of the 90s
Humor: Dry, precise, and ready with a quote from the dossier.
In their words
“I think this is better.” (0:07:49)
“I think it fucking rules.” (1:56:37)
“I think I said he was America's dark id for the 90s.” (0:25:42)
A critic who champions Fincher and wants the series done on the show; prefers the later half of Fincher's career. Grew up partly in England, where his dad described Se7en to him.
Stances
Pitched Fincher for the show
Se7en is great but not top-tier Fincher
Interested in the Spacey career arc
Humor: Dry, brittle one-liners and film-critic digressions.
In their words
“Sims, I have a question in the in the UK cut of seven.” (0:24:36)
Admires Goldenthal's 90s scores, Henriksen, and Fincher's control; fond of the Ridley Scott sequels. Uneasy with studios that sand a director down. Attribution is inferred.
Stances
Dutton's performance is in the conversation for the best non-Ripley Alien role
Ripley's shaved head is an incredible move
Humor: Dry asides and character-actor deep cuts.
In their words
“I love his Joel Schumacher Batman scores.” (2:00:04)
“Not only just visually striking, like it gives the whole Joan of Arc thing to the movie.” (1:30:33)
Loves tight genre moves, big visual invention, and box-office trivia; skeptical of Burton's recent output and studio notes culture. A sucker for Demolition Man and the Disney Renaissance era.
Stances
Selick is a more consistent stubborn experimentalist than late Burton
This is Elfman's masterpiece
Santa Claus is right to be mad too
Humor: Dry bluster and mock-outrage, with a taste for tangents.
In their words
“Oogie Boogie is the only person who seems to get pleasure out of torturing other people.” (2:05:58)
Loves Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon and is a proud texter. Likes Sidney Pollack as an actor and wants to age into him. Can't stand the idea of the film being dismissed as hermetic.
Stances
The film is open and inviting, not closed off
Pollack's performance is the film's engine
Humor: Dry riffs on pop culture and his son Asa's texting.
In their words
“Sims prides himself on being a top tier texter.” (1:32:51)
A critic who gave Doctor Sleep a positive-but-mixed review, then reversed within two weeks and now rates it highly, in the director's cut especially. Likes Ewan McGregor and, by his own account, enjoys Stephen King but is not a deep reader of him.
Stances
the theatrical cut was slow, the director's cut improves it
the conditions you see a film in shape your opinion
he reversed on the movie
Humor: Dry, cutting asides about celebrities and trailers, plus a weakness for a long filmography rundown.
In their words
“And my review is positive.” (0:03:21)
“I'm sort of like, I like praise the craft of it.” (0:03:28)
Film-historian type who places the film in the late-80s Vietnam cycle and the Oscar race, and reads Herr and Hasford material aloud. Likes the film's structure and its dark comic cuts.
Stances
Full Metal Jacket belongs to the late-80s Vietnam film cycle
Kubrick's humor lands in tension cutters
Humor: Dry, sets up pop-culture parallels and lets Jon escalate them.
In their words
“Well, I was just going to talk about like, it's, this is the time when Vietnam movies are suddenly everywhere.” (0:26:06)
“But it's the thing that like Woman King goes into a lot as well of like, how much you have to break your brain to survive an environment like this, right?” (0:56:40)
Rates movies by kills and gives The Shining a high grade; fond of Nicholson and Pacino performance analysis. Says he is less of a Kubrick guy than most, but this is top tier for him. Will go along with the weird bit and then defend it.
Stances
The Shining is a top-tier Kubrick film
Nicholson's performance is big but grounded
Skeletons at the end are slightly weak
Humor: Dry jabs and pop-culture trivia answers.
In their words
“I rate movies by many deaths?” (0:05:31)
“I feel like I'm less of a Cooper guy than most, but this is at the very top tier for me, even still.” (2:33:07)
Finds slow, adult, conversation-heavy pre-2000 sci-fi and mid-grade legal thrillers deeply relaxing. Holds a grudge against Don't Worry Darling and likes the movie's seriousness. A sucker for starry, grown-up casts.
Stances
2010 is a comfort-food movie
the plot is more confusing than 2001, which answers no questions
strong anti-Don't Worry Darling position
Humor: Deadpan nitpicks and fully committed rants on plot logic.
Plays the show's running Brit, leaning into a bit that he grew up in England and is the only one who can speak to the film's culture. Brings the research dossier and keeps trying to steer back to the movie. Jokes that he sympathizes with the authority figures like Mr. Deltoid. Is the target of the hip hop Sims joke.
Stances
Is wary of the long tangents and wants to keep to the movie
Sides comically with the authority figures against Alex
Reads the dossier aloud to anchor claims
Humor: Deadpan exasperation and mock-pedantry as the foil to Griffin and Alex.
Reads the film as a perfect alignment of hard sci-fi, psychedelia and Apollo timing. Respects but is cool on The Graduate, likes the box-office history, and enjoys the production design. Evidence for his lines is low confidence since the transcript has no speaker labels.
Stances
The film's design still holds up
Respects The Graduate more than loves it
Interested in how the film was marketed and received
Humor: Dry, quick riffs on the guest and cultural references.
In their words
“Like it's one of those movies I never revisited.” (0:34:25)
Reads the dossier and brings box-office lists, Oscar-year trivia and a spreadsheet of retroactive winners. Draws links to comedy lineage (the Zuckers) and to Fincher's collaborators.
Stances
Strangelove was a big influence on the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker style
Kubrick was a real collaborator at his best
Frankenheimer's 1962 to 1966 run is underrated
Humor: Plays the pedant with a straight face, running the research like a game show.
In their words
“So George C. Scott is my winner in 1964 on my beloved spreadsheet.” (0:43:30)
“I did finally have the breakthrough watching this of how much of an influence this movie must have been on the Zucker Brothers and John Abrahams.” (0:53:55)
“And it really does remind me of Fincher.” (1:07:10)
A critic's frame of reference: star systems, box-office history and old reviews. Grew up in England and is tired of the British comedy canon. Likes the Sellers work in Strangelove more than in Lolita.
Stances
The film suffers from the Hays Code and cannot match the book
Sellers creeps him out here
Box-office trivia is part of the Lolita picture
Humor: Dry and self-aware, including deadpan wedding-speech bits.
In their words
“And I think that really has turned me against all the great British comic figures” (1:50:24)
“He creeps me out in this movie.” (1:51:04)
“I think Strange Love is a masterpiece and he's so funny in it.” (1:50:57)
Reads the dossier quotes aloud and defends Spartacus as a great movie despite Kubrick's own verdict; loves epics and Gladiator. (Speaker attribution inferred; moderate confidence.)
Stances
Spartacus is a great film, whatever Stan the Man thought
The Hollywood epics are a real era worth respecting
Humor: Dry readings of dossier quotes and quick pop-culture riffs.
Film-critic host who loves a legal drama and Practical Magic, knows the production dossier and the box-office lists. More drawn to war films than Griffin; fond of character actors and trivia about old Hollywood.
Stances
Practical Magic is a fantastic movie
Paths of Glory sits very close to Strangelove
Kubrick cared about commercial success more than critics
Humor: Dry, deadpan, quick with a pop-culture analogy.
In their words
“Practical Magic is a fantastic movie.” (0:15:30)
“I can give you some context, Griff, or do we want to talk about the plot?” (0:32:05)
Film nerd with deep catalog knowledge: Sinatra rights, Oscar oddities, the 1956 box office. Fond of noirs like I Wake Up Screaming and relishes obscure trivia; not a fan of Victor Mature or The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Stances
Hollywood in 1956 is bloated by epics
Kubrick wins on lens and style but fights Ballard
The movie is a psychologically lofty B movie
Humor: Sets up trivia as a bit and plays along with the jokes about his own name in Crime Wave.
In their words
“Oh, shout out to me.” (0:17:08)
“I just, I need to film nerd correct you.” (0:14:27)
“it is like a psychologically lofty, uh, uh, B movie.” (1:21:30)
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 901–1,000 of 1,091 claims.
unmapped (dismissed):
Meryl Streep → The Laundromat.
Worst Putters and Murmurs: dislikes her slightly haunted older lady mode and the brown-face.
career (career):
Don Cheadle → Devil in a Blue Dress.
His late-90s emergence in Devil in a Blue Dress and Out of Sight made every appearance worth waiting for.
“he was in like devil in a blue dress and out of sight and things like that.”
contrast (contrast):
Joaquin Phoenix → Benedict Cumberbatch.
Cumberbatch is a classically trained actor who can make pretend feel real; Phoenix is an autodidact who cannot.
“classically trained theater actor who is like, I can make pretend things feel real.”
craft (craft):
Tom Hardy → Joaquin Phoenix.
Like Hardy jumping into the lobster tank, Phoenix likes surprises in front of him that a green-screen movie cannot give.
career (career):
Alan Taylor → Game of Thrones.
Taylor was hired as the Game of Thrones helmsman; the studio's note was to make the film feel more like Game of Thrones.
“We want to make this feel more like Game of Thrones.”
craft (craft):
Thor: The Dark World → Game of Thrones.
The film aims for a grounded, muddy fantasy in the Game of Thrones manner, away from Branagh's version.
“We want to make a more grounded fantasy away from the bran off.”
what-if (what-if):
Thor: The Dark World → Patty Jenkins.
Jenkins is described as the director Natalie Portman wanted, and Portman left the franchise after Jenkins was fired without her approval.
what-if (what-if):
Thor: The Dark World → Natalie Portman.
Portman had approval over director and script; the Jenkins firing is why she was done with these movies.
“She didn't have anything on the Alan Taylor thing, and she was like, I'm done with these.”
industry (industry):
Thor: The Dark World → Iron Man 3.
This and Iron Man 3 are the first Marvel films with no Paramount logo before the Avengers logo.
“this and Iron Man 3 are the 1st 2 movies fully devoid of Paramount, right?”
theme (theme):
Thor: The Dark World → Crazy Rich Asians.
Like Crazy Rich Asians, the real romance is the lead and the mother figure; Thor's love is figurehead-level.
“Crazy Rich Asians is really the romance between her and the mother”
industry (industry):
Thor: The Dark World → Thor.
Dark World opened to 85 million, up from 65 for the first Thor, but is the lowest grossing sequel in the MCU.
“It's also the lowest grossing sequel in the MCU.”
what-if (what-if):
Thor: The Dark World → Thor: Ragnarok.
Thor: Ragnarok also loses Sif and Natalie Portman's Jane; the speakers wish Sif had returned for Endgame.
craft (craft):
Thor: The Dark World → Kramer Morgenthau.
After naming the cinematographer, the speaker says the film has its own look, palette and cinematic language, distinct from Iron Man 3.
contrast (contrast):
Thor: The Dark World → Guardians of the Galaxy.
The next film, Guardians, becomes candy colored, which is what that film needs, versus this serious look.
“you get to like Guardians next and it like becomes like candy colored”
contrast (contrast):
Thor: The Dark World → Iron Man 3.
Each Phase 2 film has its own look: this one is serious, Iron Man 3 resembles a 90s action film, Winter Soldier approximates a Sydney Pollack movie, Guardians is candy colored.
contrast (contrast):
Thor: The Dark World → Thor: Ragnarok.
The Dark World's palette feels like watercolor fantasy illustration; Ragnarok is full Kirby comic book.
“closer to like watercolor illustrations in a fantasy novel.”
industry (industry):
Thor: The Dark World → Avengers: Infinity War.
The ether is the second Infinity Gem; the speakers tally the stones across Mind, Space, Power, Reality, Time and Soul films.
craft (craft):
Thor → Thor: Ragnarok.
The first Thor looks too clean; Ragnarok overcorrects to cartoony comic splash page; the Dark World's polished gold sits between.
career (career):
Anthony Hopkins → Red Dragon.
After Hannibal money, Hopkins appeared in Red Dragon, which is a remake of Manhunter but worse, ruining the franchise per his son.
industry (industry):
Bohemian Rhapsody → Bryan Singer.
The speakers say Bohemian Rhapsody's critics are partly about its director, and joke about Singer becoming president.
theme (theme):
Thor: The Dark World → While You Were Sleeping.
Jane's fake-out (it was all a dream) is likened to While You Were Sleeping with Peter Gallagher and Bill Pullman.
theme (theme):
Thor: The Dark World → Alita: Battle Angel.
Griffin's line from his Alita review frames this film: he is defenseless before silly sci-fi epics that dump lore through a simple hero's journey, like Jupiter Ascending, Valerian, Aquaman.
“Think of films like Jupe, ascending, Valerian, Aquaman, colorful mega budget, nonsense splash into a grand canvas.”
programming (programming):
Thor: The Dark World → Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Collector mid-credits scene already shows the Guardians' comic space weirdness; the speaker thinks James Gunn directed it.
lineage (lineage):
Thor: The Dark World → Doctor Who.
Marvel in general is indebted to Doctor Who's tone of lightness, comedy, hope and teamwork, especially the Russell T Davies era.
“I think Marvel in general is very kind of indebted to Doctor Who with the same tone of like lightness and comedy and hope and team teamwork.”
craft (craft):
Joss Whedon → Serenity.
Answers the 'TV guy' worry about the Avengers trailers by pointing at Serenity as proof Whedon can direct with visual panache.
“Serenity is an incredibly well-directed movie with a lot of visual panache.”
people (people):
Tom Hiddleston → Thor.
Notes Loki's first-film look/context; Ben hasn't seen Thor or Cap in the lineup, which is why they watched them today.
“We've recorded these 3 episodes, Thor, America, and Avengers.”
industry (industry):
Jeremy Renner → Iron Man 2.
Hawkeye is set up here in Thor and Avengers rather than earlier; Renner is brainwashed for most of the film and complained about it.
“for like the 1st one hour and 50 minutes he's brainwashed and he's just as like, yes, Loki, whatever you say.”
craft (craft):
Joss Whedon → Iron Man 2.
Whedon told Marvel that Black Widow had not really been set up in Iron Man 2 and the character foundations were shaky.
“I took a look at that Iron Man 2 picture. you had, didn't notice a lot of character work.”
contrast (contrast):
The Avengers → Olympus Has Fallen.
The opening tunnel car chase is dismissed as Olympus-Has-Fallen-level dull, though later Marvel films do it more elaborately and no better.
industry (industry):
The Avengers → The Incredible Hulk.
Pre-Avengers grosses (Iron Man ~300, Hulk ~150, Cap ~170) suggested a glass ceiling; the unaccounted factor was the movie being very good.
“And then the X factor I wasn't considering was, what if movie very good?”
what-if (what-if):
Mark Ruffalo → Joaquin Phoenix.
Ruffalo and Phoenix were the short list to replace Norton; Feige keeps courting Phoenix (Doctor Strange too) and Phoenix only did Joker because it was twisted.
“Kevin Feige is always trying to get Joaquin Phoenix to do one of these movies.”
career (career):
Scarlett Johansson → Iron Man 2.
The Avengers uses Johansson (and Black Widow's Russian-scene vulnerability-as-weapon) better than anything since 2003, and better than Iron Man 2's secretary-spy version.
“This is the better version of that where he's like, she has been trained in a weird Russian program to be able to manipulate anybody.”
programming (programming):
Captain Marvel → The Avengers.
Captain Marvel is a 1990s prequel in which Fury still has both eyes, bringing back Coulson/Fury; they predict nineties-reference gags.
industry (industry):
Harry Dean Stanton → The Avengers.
The cameo was written as a nine-page Hulk conversation, shot in full, cut to a beat; the long version is on the DVD.
“there should be like a 9 page dialogue scene with the Hulk talks with an old security man about the nature of humanity and they shot all of it”
programming (programming):
The Avengers → Guardians of the Galaxy.
Thanos' Chitauri subcontracting sets up the cosmic films; Guardians is next on their Marvel list.
contrast (contrast):
The Avengers → Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Age of Ultron opens with the team already together and Fury in hiding, so it is a sequel to five films rather than to Avengers.
“Avengers 2 can't be a sequel to Avengers one. It has to be a sequel to 5 other moments.”
contrast (contrast):
The Avengers → Man of Steel.
Man of Steel's similar downtown destruction finale feels unreal with random civilians; Avengers grounds it in the street.
industry (industry):
Joss Whedon → Justice League.
Warner brought Whedon in after filming to retroactively make it more like Avengers, with reshoots adding jokes and replicated family cutaways.
“they bring in Joss Whedon after they've filmed the entire movie and go like, can you retroactively make it into more like Avengers?”
craft (craft):
Captain America: The First Avenger → Thor.
Both Marvel origin films avoid dropping the audience straight into a stylized world and open on a grounded genre set-up.
“This is the exact same structural thing as Thor, where it's like, let's not drop people into crazy stylized world.”
craft (craft):
Hugo Weaving → Werner Herzog.
Weaving built his Red Skull on a Herzog impression, with the same merciless anthropological view of humanity.
lineage (lineage):
Captain America: The First Avenger → Iron Man 2.
The Stark Expo of the 1940s is the origin of the Expo seen in Iron Man 2, now as the full World's Fair version.
“Like what we see in Iron Man 2, but now it's like the full like 40s World Fair version.”
fun, about
Doctor Sleep (title):
The title comes from Danny's humane way of easing people dying in a hospice, a minor thread; some say it should have been Shining 2.
“It's funny that the title of the movie comes from like his very humane way of helping people be at ease before they die, a very sort of minor plot thread.”
fun, about
A Clockwork Orange:
Kubrick pulled the film from Britain a year after release and it stayed out until his death; it was banned in Ireland until 1999.
fun, about
A Clockwork Orange:
McDowell scratched his cornea during the eyedrop scenes and the numbing wore off in the car; a speed bump felt like a razor blade.
fun, about
Dr. Strangelove:
The release was delayed by the Kennedy assassination; a speaker also notes the President is the last reasonable president in an American satire, because Kennedy was in office.
“this movie was delayed because of the assassination of Kennedy.”
fun, about
Terry Southern:
Sellers gave Kubrick The Magic Christian, which brought Southern in; the dossier read is that Kubrick wrote it, George inspired it, and Southern made it funny.
“JJ's read on the screenplay, though, is that it's Dubrick wrote it.”
fun, about
Dr. Strangelove:
The first page of the screenplay says the story will be played for realistic comedy and the acting will never be so-called comedy acting.
“The 1st page of the screenplay says, the story will be played for realistic comedy”
fun, about
Gene Kelly:
The original plan for Jack D. Ripper was Gene Kelly. Kubrick then cast George C. Scott, who asked to play Turgidson instead, and brought in Sterling Hayden.
“You know who the original plan was to cast for Jack D. Ripper, the Sterling Hayden Row?”
fun, about
James Earl Jones:
Jones had a big role questioning the mission; Kubrick decided he did not want the protesting crew member to be a Black actor and cut it. Jones told him he took the part for the cut material.
“eventually Kubrick decided he didn't want the guy protesting to be a black guy and cuts everything out.”
fun, about
Dr. Strangelove:
Kubrick wrote down about thirty alternate titles, including Wonderful Bomb, Dr. Doomsday, and Dr. Strangelove's Secret Uses of Uranus.
“The weird one is Dr. Strangelove's secret uses of Uranus.”
fun, about
Kirk Douglas:
In Munich the rewritten script had a happy ending; Douglas threatened to walk. Kubrick calmly said he wanted a commercial hit.
fun, about
Kola Kwariani (Nick the Wrestler):
A former wrestler Kubrick met through chess circles, he died at 77 after fighting five teenagers outside his chess club.
“He was 76 years old and he was leaving his regular chess club where he played and he was jumped by 5 teenagers”
fun, about
Fear and Desire:
The poster sells a 'half animal girl' with an illustration of a kissed neck, making the war movie look supernatural.
“An illustration of, uh, Paul Mizurski kissing her neck that makes it look consensual, and says, fear and desire, trapped for desperate man, and a strange half animal girl.”
fun, about
Alien: Covenant:
Originally titled Alien: Paradise Lost; Damon Lindelof was going to write it before bailing, then John Logan, with a first script by the Transcendence writer and a Michael Green rewrite.
“Initially, it was going to be called Alien Paradise Lost.”
fun, about
Ridley Scott:
Scott gave interviews saying there would be no aliens or xenomorphs, then reversed; the hosts wonder if it was him or the studio telling him to put aliens in.
“initially Scott was giving these interviews where he was like, there won't be aliens”
fun, about
Alien: Covenant:
The online prologue with James Franco and Noomi Rapace is not in the film; the initial cut ran about 2.5 hours and Scott trimmed the franchise stuff.
“it was this thing with James Franco, who is not in this movie, although you see him in like photos.”
fun, about
Ron Perlman:
The basketball shot: Weaver actually sank it over her shoulder on a quick take and Perlman's reaction is real; no visual effects.
fun, about
Sigourney Weaver:
Weaver would not let toys be made with guns for years; Resurrection was the only time, and no collector figure for 15 years after.
“one of the key reasons was because she didn't want her action figures coming with guns.”
fun, about
You've Got Mail:
The box office for December 18, 1998: You've Got Mail at number one, ahead of Prince of Egypt, A Bug's Life, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Jack Frost.
“So number one, though, it's you've got mail, $18 million.”
fun, about
Jack Frost:
The animatronic Jack Frost snowman was built from the likeness of George Clooney, who dropped out late; Michael Keaton replaced him.
“But they built it off of the likeness of the actor who was supposed to play the title role who dropped out very late.”