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 101–200 of 1,091 claims.
unmapped (song):
Up Close & Personal → Diane Warren.
The film's Oscar-nominated song was written by Diane Warren and sung by Celine Dion.
“written by Diane Warrenburg performed by Celine Dion”
career (career arc):
John Travolta → Matthew McConaughey.
Travolta was never in the wilderness; he was like pre-McConaissance McConaughey, a bankable rom-com star not respected.
“I think it is closer to pre-ma connaissance, Matthew McConaughey.”
career (career pivot):
Look Who's Talking Now → Pulp Fiction.
Now came out a year before Pulp Fiction; it is the sort of film you make before saying fine to a weird guy's script.
“Look who's talking now is the kind of movie that you make where you're like, fine, I'll be the heroin addict in that weird guy's fucking script, I guess.”
people (peak performance):
Get Shorty → John Travolta.
The speaker calls Get Shorty their favorite Travolta movie-star performance, quiet and controlled.
“I do think that is my single favorite Travolta movie star performance.”
lineage (sequel):
Look Who's Talking → Look Who's Talking Too.
The sequel keeps Willis, adds Roseanne for Joan Rivers, Damon Wayans, and Mel Brooks as Mr. Toilet.
craft (score should have won):
Hans Zimmer → The Thin Red Line.
The Thin Red Line score should have won the Oscar even though it is unusually deployed in the film.
“Hans Stimmer should have won for the thin red line, although I think that score is sort of oddly deployed in the movie.”
industry (same-year rival):
Empire of the Sun → Hope and Glory.
Hope and Glory, another child's-view war story that year, ate Empire's lunch with critics.
“is Hope and Glory not also this same year when it kind of eats this movie's lunch on this sort of or from the perspective of a child thing, at least at the time?”
unmapped (mentorship / elder filmmaker):
David Lean → Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg befriended old masters (Lean, Kubrick, Wilder) who handed him their projects.
“The sort of string of great older filmmakers who somehow, uh, collaborated with Spielberg, only for Spielberg to wind up directing their movies.”
career (career parallel):
Christian Bale → Henry Thomas.
Both were kid actors Spielberg discovered who had to escape that shadow before being safe as adult actors.
“Christian Bale had a bit of a parallel Henry Thomas arc where for a while it was like he can't come out from the shadow of him being a kid that Spielberg discovered”
unmapped (development history):
Interstellar → Steven Spielberg.
Interstellar was developed by Spielberg and Jonathan Nolan and is closer to Spielberg in its first script.
“Jonathan Nolan's script for Interstellar is interesting, but it's more Spielberg.”
what-if (Oscar what-if):
Planes, Trains and Automobiles → Wall Street.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles should have won best actor for Candy that year, over Michael Douglas in Wall Street.
“Yeah, the movie that should have won best actor this year.”
craft (craft):
George Lucas → Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Lucas directed much of the second unit, taking over a lot of the stunt-heavy truck chase work to get the movie finished.
career (career):
Clash of the Titans → Ray Harryhausen.
Clash of the Titans is described as the last work of Ray Harryhausen, a throwback where he does one last.
people (cast continuity):
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me → David Bowie.
Philip Jeffries, Bowie's character from Fire Walk with Me, is now a giant teapot directing an agency against Mr. C, since Bowie died in 2016.
“Philip Jeffries, the David Bowie character, who is now a giant teapot, is like directing an agency against Mr. C.”
“we're such a big part of Twin Peaks the return, but of course they're in Firewalk with me in this sort of kind of goofier way where they're like guys in flannel.”
unmapped (role growth):
Sheryl Lee → Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8.
Laura Palmer began as a wrapped-in-plastic day-player prom photo and became so central that Part 8 treats her as the counterweight to Bob.
“But for like the the twin peaks the return to be like, yes, Laura Palmer is the fucking Iron Man to Bob Thanos.”
unmapped (black-and-white CGI):
Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 → Mad Max: Fury Road.
Fury Road in black and white, heavy on CGI and wordless, feels like a silent film, the same illusion as Part 8's black-and-white digital effects.
“The one I find entrancing is Fury Road for that reason.”
theme (theme):
Dune → Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
Dune's Fremen/revolution material is the denser source that Star Wars abstracts; the Force is Dune without the drugs.
“the Force in Star Wars is like doom without the drugs.”
industry (peer rivalry):
Decision to Leave → Bong Joon-ho.
Park constantly goes up against his buddy Bong, who has only been submitted twice for the Oscars.
“And his buddy Bong, he's got to constantly go up against.”
career (career context):
The Handmaiden → Stoker.
Handmaiden was partly Amazon-funded, so after Stoker and Drummer Girl the Hollywood door was open for Park.
“Right, and Handmaiden is Korean film, obviously, but that was partly funded, I think, by Amazon, right?”
theme (anecdote parallel):
Steven Soderbergh → David Fincher.
Soderbergh's story of Fincher's hyper-precise color notes is used to explain a protagonist who cannot turn off noticing.
“I cannot imagine the curse of being able to notice that.”
people (same actor):
Decision to Leave → Lust, Caution.
Tang Wei broke out in Lust, Caution, a film about a seduction that may turn real, a similar tension to this film.
“But it's a movie about, basically, she has to seduce a man as an act of political espionage and the whole movie hinges on like, is she falling in love with him?”
career (career placement):
Decision to Leave → The Handmaiden.
Handmaiden was the last Park film several of them had seen before this one; Griffin ranks it his number one.
“I haven't seen a Park John Rook film since The Handmaiden, which blew my mind.”
people (cast connection):
Tatiana Maslany → Eastern Promises.
Tatiana played the victim Tatiana in Eastern Promises, an early film credit that David had never connected.
“I had never put this together, that you are the victim in Eastern promises.”
craft (style comparison):
Decision to Leave → The Handmaiden.
Decision to Leave is more restrained than The Handmaiden but still has wild camera moves.
“I guess he means more restrained than the Handmaiden.”
unmapped (texting in film):
Steven Soderbergh → Decision to Leave.
Soderbergh is called one of the few major auteurs who head straight into the smartphone present, as Park does with texting.
“And Soderberg is one of the few guys who like head straight into it.”
people (standout performance):
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile → Javier Bardem.
The movie is garbage but Bardem is called incredible in it as a failed circus entertainer.
“Yeah, that movie sucks, but Javier Bird has incredible in it.”
contrast (sentiment contrast):
Buster Keaton → Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin can be accused of sentimentalizing and acting cute, which Keaton's understated style never does.
“you can accuse Chaplain of sentimentalizing, a chaplain of sort of acting cute.”
unmapped (canonical reference):
The Crowd → Jean-Luc Godard.
Godard reportedly said there was no need to make films about ordinary people because The Crowd already existed.
people (acting contrast within the film):
Sherlock, Jr. → Buster Keaton.
The rival and his crew do stereotypical heavy silent-film acting, which makes Keaton's modern performance stand out.
“those 2 guys are absolutely doing what most people think of as silent film acting.”
unmapped (ahead of his time):
Buster Keaton → New Hollywood acting.
Keaton acts like a talkie actor decades early, exploiting that nobody can hear the dialogue.
“he's acting like a talkie actor, but he's using the fact that you can't hear what he's saying.”
contrast (character contrast):
Buster Keaton → Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin's tramp would pocket the money or even lift the wallet, while Keaton is not a scoundrel.
“which once again, Chaplin would not only not hesitate for a moment to pocket the money, he would pull the wallet out of the back pocket of someone.”
people (co-director):
Sherlock, Jr. → Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle.
Arbuckle was brought on as co-director and given the pseudonym William B. Goodrich, then edged out.
“this is the movie where he came up with uh, William B. Goodrich, which was his, like, nom de plume for directing, uh, Freddie Arbuckle.”
unmapped (reassignment):
Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle → The Red Mill.
Keaton's memoir says he and others conspired to get Arbuckle a job on The Red Mill, though historians say the dates do not fit.
“conspired to get him a different job on a different movie called the Red Mill.”
unmapped (comedy opening):
Sherlock, Jr. → Kumail Nanjiani.
Nanjiani says a comedy should open with a guy spilling hot coffee, and Keaton opens with a guy under the boot.
“the opening of any comedy movie should be a guy accidentally spilling hot coffee on himself.”
people (cinematographer collaboration):
Sherlock, Jr. → Elgin Leslie.
Keaton and his long-term DP set up the black-velvet and matched-position effects together.
lineage (homage):
Sherlock, Jr. → What's Up, Doc?.
The Chinese-dragon bicycle chase in What's Up, Doc? is a complete homage to the stag-party sequence.
“The bicycled Chinese dragon sequence and what's up dog is complete homage to this sequence.”
unmapped (same hook):
The Navigator → The General.
Both started from Keaton getting hold of a vehicle and building the movie around it, but The General is a real movie while The Navigator is a series of bits.
“It is so similar to what the general eventually is where he's like, vehicle?”
unmapped (boat movie):
The Navigator → Steamboat Bill Jr..
Steamboat Bill Jr. is another boat-bit movie but with a real emotional spine about the father.
“is another boat bit movie, but it's a boat bit movie that's more about the father.”
unmapped (period-accuracy obsession):
The General → Stanley Kubrick.
Keaton's obsessive uniform and detail accuracy on The General was Kubrickian, a push as a director beyond comedy.
“he was so obsessed with like fucking, you brought it up, James, but like Kubrickian, every fucking uniform has to be period accurate.”
unmapped (critic's reading):
The Navigator → Dennis Schwartz.
A modern reviewer says its theme of civilized man versus the machine explains why it was a hit.
“its theme of civilized man versus the machine, seen as making life difficult for modern man because we have become so dependent on it”
people (acting credit):
Noble Johnson → The Thief of Baghdad.
Johnson plays the Prince of the Indies in The Thief of Baghdad, another indigenous potentate in his long list of credits.
career (comeback context):
Monkeybone → Brendan Fraser.
Monkeybone is the film being skipped in the Brendan Fraser comeback conversation.
“It truly feels like the one that is being skipped.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
0:04:59 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (viewing schedule):
Wendell and Wild → The Whale.
David planned to see The Whale right after Wendell & Wild at TIFF but skipped it after the Airbnb ordeal.
“I was supposed to see the whale next.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
0:28:36 ·
David Sims
(0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (Netflix algorithm):
Wendell and Wild → Wednesday.
Typing 'Wen' brings Wendell & Wild up because of Wednesday's popularity, though JD Amato says Netflix never recommended it.
“Surely the algorithm's like, hey, you know, you might like Wendell and Wild.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
0:36:43 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
industry (parallel Disney deals):
Guillermo del Toro → Henry Selick.
Disney gave del Toro a spooky-movie imprint and Selick his own animation studio, investing in artists to form new Pixars.
“And there was that Gimbla Toro Disney double dare you where they were like, we're giving you your own imprint to make spooky movies.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
0:45:17 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (story note):
Jordan Peele → Wendell and Wild.
Peele pushed to make teen Kat the protagonist instead of the nun, to make the movie accessible to kids.
“And Jordan Peele was like, cat should be the protagonist.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:01:45 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
industry (studio-notes buffer):
Tim Burton → Henry Selick.
Burton played the calming intermediary on Nightmare and, less so, James and the Giant Peach; Monkeybone had no such figure.
“Burton doing that for him to a far lesser degree on the 2nd movie.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:03:28 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (absent protector):
Bill Mechanic → Monkeybone.
Mechanic, who shielded Selick, was gone by Monkeybone, so it was chaos.
“He had Bill Mechanic and the Bill Mechanic was gone.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:03:32 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (freedom made best film):
Coraline → Henry Selick.
Coraline was made with Laika hands-off, and it is his best film, so maybe studio notes are not needed.
“It does seem like he was pretty unfettered, and that is his best film.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:03:53 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (Pixar brain-trust meddling):
The Shadow King → Brave.
Both were cases of the Pixar brain trust pressing a filmmaker's personal story into Pixar principles.
“which this is the same time that the brave thing goes down.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:04:06 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
people (caricature casting):
Wendell and Wild → The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
Making the characters caricatures of Key and Peele is likened to the Mr. Limpet trick of putting the star's face on the animated character.
“Like we have to make the characters caricatures of them, almost like it's the incredible Mr. Limpet or something”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:14:59 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (design lineage):
Lou Romano → The Incredibles.
Romano's Incredibles work has a similar 2D/3D look, which made him right for Wendell & Wild.
“Right, particularly because of the Incredibles, which has that similar kind of like 2D 3D thing.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:15:54 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
craft (tone and structure):
Wendell and Wild → Beetlejuice.
Wendell and Wild are Beetlejuice-like in that the story is really about the human teen (Lydia/Kat) and they are the colorful characters.
“They're Beetlejuicy in the movie in that it's like, well, it's really about Lydia.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:16:53 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (same dynamic):
Keegan-Michael Key → Toy Story 4.
Toy Story 4 gives Key and Peele the same high-strung idea man / good-natured stoner dynamic as Wendell and Wild.
“Toy Story 4 gives them basically the exact same dynamic where the one guy's the motor mouth”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:21:20 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
craft (tone):
Wendell and Wild → Coraline.
The kindness shown to Kat, with quiet sadness, is likened to the boredom sequences in Coraline.
“it's it's similar to the sort of the boredom sequences and core line where, uh, Everyone's kind to cat.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:28:33 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast of setup):
Wendell and Wild → The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Imagines Nightmare's Halloween Town opening as ten minutes of dialogue introducing each denizen as a plot function, to describe how Wendell & Wild feels.
“It feels like if in the opening, this is Halloween sequence of nightmare before Christmas.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:31:00 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
“We don't ask these same questions of someone like Oogie Boogie.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:36:33 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (accept the lore):
Wendell and Wild → Kingdom Hearts (game series).
The hellmaiden rules are like Kingdom Hearts lore: you just accept them because those are the rules.
“Those are the rules because those are the rules.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:42:42 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
industry (oscar ballot):
Wendell and Wild → Mad God.
A host voted Mad God first and Wendell & Wild second on the Critics Circle animation ballot.
“I voted for Mad God of the Critics Circle because I was like, well, that's the thing I really think.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
1:59:08 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
industry (box-office rivalry):
Smile → Halloween Ends.
Smile, headed straight to Paramount+, outgrossed Halloween Ends, which was day-and-date on Peacock.
“Got crushed by smile.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
2:06:51 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
Their fun items
Showing 201–300 of 378 fun items.
fun, about
The Addams Family 2:
The oddest trailer tagline: next year things return to normal, in a 2020 trailer.
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.”