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 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.”