Press-screening veteran who found Winter Soldier merely fine at release; likes political-thriller texture and Redford's calm, character acting. Dislikes Marvel villains who justify genocide with logic. Loves Samuel L. Jackson, spy-game lineage and the Russos' TV pilots.
Stances
Looks up facts (the computer guy)
Winter Soldier was a nonplus at release but improves on rewatch
Redford's underplaying is the movie's best asset
Regrets Civil War stops being a Captain America film
Humor: Dry deadpan asides, mock-serious pedantry and a willingness to play along with Griffin's bits.
In their words
“This is the 1st Marvel movie I started press screening.” (0:02:54)
Loves Sif, mythology, the practical-looking gold Asgard and the sibling story between Thor and Loki. Hates the first Thor and likes Dark World far more than Ragnarok. A sucker for spaceships and gap-toothed actors.
Stances
Dark World was the movie where Feige took over
Doctor Strange fails on comedy
Spaceships make any movie better
Humor: Deadpan escalation and gross-out one-liners, throwing a pillow to steer the room.
Also calls Iron Man 3 his favorite MCU film; a critic who tracks box office, awards ballots, contracts and Hollywood history. Likes character actors, Shane Black wit and clean action stakes. Sucker for ensemble casts and set-up/payoff.
Stances
Iron Man 3 is the best-structured sequel because it answers the previous film
The one flaw is the rushed Killian monologue and the sidelined Maya
Tony Stark should have ended here
Marvel's Atlanta wet-cement look is a problem
Humor: Dry, dead-pan and confidently over-informed, then deflates himself with a dumb aside.
In their words
“This is how you do a sequel.” (0:41:23)
“It's a really good 3rd movie.” (2:10:08)
“Anyone who dares criticize it, you know, is my enemy and I will meet them on the field of glory.” (0:56:30)
Treats Avengers as a model for plotted ensemble blockbusters; loves Samuel L. Jackson and Hulk, wants Marvel's cinematic conveyor belt held up to Justice League. Knows Hollywood trivia, box-office figures. Dislikes Man of Steel's destruction and Age of Ultron's continuity.
Stances
This is one of the best-structured blockbusters
The film looks cheap while being expensive
Age of Ultron can't be a sequel to this one
Jackson is undervalued
Humor: Dry, ironic, quick with box-office game-show bits and wry commentary on his own travel plans.
In their words
“I think this movie looks kind of cheap while being very expensive.” (0:03:02)
“Avengers 2 can't be a sequel to Avengers one. It has to be a sequel to 5 other moments.” (1:39:42)
He loves Marvel comics lore, the Golden and Silver Age versions of the characters, and period production design. He is a sucker for ensemble character actors like Neal McDonough and Tommy Lee Jones. He is dismissive of the movie's generic last third and of unearned endings.
Stances
The first third is perfect, the second solid, the third perfunctory
The ending teaser for Avengers cheapens the movie
The classic Bucky death was better than the film's
Humor: Dry deadpan asides and physical bits like rocking the couch for Tommy Lee Jones.
In their words
“The 1st 3rd is perfect.” (0:51:45)
“I think the 3rd 3rd is, you know, a little perfunctory.” (0:51:48)
The comics and film-history reader: knows Thor lore (Straczynski, Simonson), casting and development history, and Marvel's behind-the-scenes politics. Loves Hopkins at ease, Branagh as ham, the hammer-return sequence and the Patrick Doyle score. Dislikes chaos cinema and the Marvel pipeline's flat look.
Stances
Branagh is a hammy director he likes, but weak at action
Marvel's side-character sprawl hurts unfocused ensemble movies
Dark World is a better brother movie
Whedon over-kills characters
Humor: Deadpan fact-drops and interruptions that deflate Griffin's bits.
In their words
“I'm a big fan of Kenneth Bran as a director.” (0:18:10)
Film-history minded and well versed in studio politics (Feige, Perlmutter); likes Wes Anderson books but not Isle of Dogs. Dislikes hollow universe-building. Loves Galaxy Quest and Rickman.
Stances
Nick Fury's cameo derails the movie
Favreau lost The Avengers by making this film
Universe-building should serve story
Humor: Dry, mocking asides with pop-culture comparisons.
A Marvel and Hulk comics reader (Rick Jones, Peter David, Greg Pak) who loves Ang Lee's Hulk and trusts Tim Roth as the only good performance; hates bad CGI and generic Europa Corp action.
Stances
This film is the worst early MCU entry
Marvel quality control is fast food
Unleashed is the best Europa Corp film
Humor: Blunt put-downs and long, detailed story retellings, such as the Electro origin.
In their words
“Rick, you know, man, you got to read your 60s Marvel.” (0:17:51)
“Unleashed is my favorite of the Europa.” (0:11:09)
Pro-Iron Man, loves Downey's improvisational energy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges' performances, and the Marvel comics of the 60s; dislikes Terrence Howard and generic Marvel scores. Cares about industry business details.
Stances
Iron Man is the best of the early Marvel films
Bridges is underrated as a Marvel villain
Hulk and later Marvel films feel generic
Humor: Self-deprecating New York landlord and apartment bits, deadpan Bill Maher mock-defense.
Attributions to David are low confidence because the transcript has no speaker labels. He argues about Nicholson's box office record, tracks the Oscar races of the era, and has a Transformers opinion (3 is a masterpiece, per a speaker who may be him). He is skeptical of Haunted Mansion.
Stances
Nicholson was not guaranteed money in the bank before this film (speaker uncertain)
Early-2000s Oscar races were set pieces worth remembering (speaker uncertain)
Humor: Dry corrections and numbers, plus a playful challenge to the guest's choices.
In their words
“Well, I'm going to dispute you on Jack being money in the bank.” (0:03:28)
“it did open to 16000000 and finished at 124” (1:52:03)
Box-office and awards nerd; loves Michelle Yeoh and the craft of fight choreography; is dismissive of Rush Hour as a boring sweaty cop movie and of Gladiator winning. A sucker for trivia and Oscar-night lore.
Stances
CTHD's release was a careful balancing of global audiences
Oscar race lore matters
Gladiator winning was weird
Humor: Dry, precise, and deadpan fact-bombs that undercut sillier riffs.
In their words
“Rush hour 2 is still the 4th biggest opening in August.” (0:46:50)
“Rush Hour is kind of a boring, sweaty cop movie.” (0:47:12)
Defends Hulk, owns Ice Storm on DVD and Criterion, and likes facts, production history and box-office context. Skeptical of easy characterization such as Weaver's.
Stances
Ice Storm gets cold weather as Do the Right Thing gets hot weather
Weaver's role feels easy; Lee's film is not about a craze
Reads out box-office top five in the closing game
Humor: Deadpan quiz-master and wry riffs on casting and careers.
In their words
“I think this movie gets cold weather as right as do the right thing gets hot weather.” (0:10:53)
“I mean, this podcast is just an excuse for me to buy Blu-rays.” (0:36:45)
Adores Richard Jenkins and critic-style takes; reads Blue Steel as a Bigelow B-picture that unifies her style. Loves a good box-office trivia quiz. Sucker for actor-career arcs.
Stances
Blue Steel is better than Point Break
Jenkins's entrance shifts the film into a representational register
Went in with the Spanish original in his head and thinks Vanilla Sky is essentially a remake of it with American excess added. Likes the genre-inflected last act more than the first half but rates the whole C plus. Sucker for British film magazine nostalgia.
Stances
The film is a remake of Abre los ojos with added Crowe preciousness
C plus, three out of five
Wants the sci-fi explained earlier
Humor: Dry, nitpicky, pushes catchphrase bits like 'island woman' and 'blowjob lady'.
In their words
“Yeah, C plus.” (1:55:12)
“I was a dedicated empire magazine reader.” (0:27:30)
“I think this movie's problem is it doesn't introduce it earlier enough.” (1:37:39)
Attribution is low-confidence. One host insists films should stand on their own merits, hates behind-the-scenes theorizing and complaining nerds, and is a fan of Admiral Piett. Likes the first 40 minutes at Jabba's palace; critical of Leia's handling and the Yoda deathbed scene.
Stances
Films should stand on their own merits
Don't read behind-the-scenes lore into the movie
The Jabba sequence is the best part; the Ewoks overstay
Humor: Dry deflation of the other host's rants and Empire workplace-comedy pitches.
In their words
“I think films should stand on their own merits.” (0:32:22)
“I hate nerds and they're always complaining.” (0:30:51)
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 201–300 of 1,091 claims.
industry (oscar competition):
Wendell and Wild → Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro).
Netflix has two stop-motion films in one category; Pinocchio has the Oscar heat and likely cannibalized Wendell & Wild.
“I get them not wanting to cannibalize against Pinocchio, that they have like 2 movies in this one category in the same medium”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
2:10:31 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
unmapped (makeup detail):
Brendan Fraser → Monkeybone.
In Monkeybone's end sequence Fraser is styled to look more monkey-like while fighting Chris Kattan holding balloon strings.
“they start styling Frasier to look more like a monkey.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Wendell & Wild ·
2:14:27 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
theme (scene echo):
Star 80 → Boogie Nights.
Star 80 produces the same turn-it-off discomfort as the firecracker scene in Boogie Nights.
“Combined with the firework, the firecracker scene in boogie nights.”
unmapped (advocacy):
Eric Roberts → Mickey Rourke.
Rourke repeatedly urged Hollywood to give Roberts another chance in awards speeches, which got Stallone to hire him.
“Mickey Rourke, when he was winning all his fucking wrestler awards, kept on being like, do you remember this in all of his speeches”
career (career pivot):
Mariel Hemingway → Personal Best.
After Star 80 and Manhattan she pivoted to roles outside male obsession, becoming an LGBT icon via Personal Best.
“it's like one of the 1st Hollywood movies to have a lesbian relationship in it.”
people (collaborator parallel):
Bob Fosse → Polly Platt.
Young 70s film geniuses (Bogdanovich/Platt, Lucas/Marcia) lost their creative edge after divorce as with Fosse and Verdon.
“Get divorced and never fucking get back in the groove again, ever again.”
unmapped (sister films):
An Angel at My Table → Bright Star.
Both are Campion biopics about writers made many years apart; Dana nearly picked Bright Star for the episode.
craft (structure):
An Angel at My Table → Moonlight.
Three-actor, three-part handoff with continuity of performance; Moonlight also made on a compressed schedule.
“there's a similar sort of handoff quality to it and a continuity of performance”
career (career sequencing):
An Angel at My Table → Sweetie.
Frame approved the adaptation before Sweetie was made; Campion used early festival heat for a weird small comedy first.
“she gets the approval from frame to make this before sweetie's been made.”
people (returning actor):
Kerry Fox → Bright Star.
Fox, the lead here, returns in Bright Star as Fanny's mother, which feels deliberate and twins the two films.
“it does feel like she brought Carrie Fox back in that for a reason.”
what-if (body-swap lineage):
Switch → All of Me.
Body-swap comedies were a recurring well: All of Me, 17 Again, Vice Versa, Like Father Like Son, Big, Freaky Friday.
what-if (body-swap lineage):
Switch → Freaky Friday.
Freaky Friday (70s, a 90s TV version, and 2003 Lohan) is cited as evidence the genre always returns.
unmapped (competing script):
Starman → Night Skies.
Columbia ran focus groups on the two friendly-alien scripts at script stage and Starman won hands down.
industry (studio rivalry / shadow):
Starman → E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Columbia chose Starman over Night Skies, which Universal turned into E.T., so Starman carried the stigma of the one that got away and then looked like a ripoff.
“Uh, so they let go of night skies and let Universal acquire and turnaround.”
people (permanent producer credit):
Michael Douglas → Face/Off.
Douglas keeps a producer credit on Face/Off because he was once going to do it with Harrison Ford.
craft (tone / structure):
Starman → Something Wild.
The people met along the road each get a world of their own, as in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild.
“I, the thing about it happened when Eddie was thinking about some Jonathan Demi. Something wild? Yes.”
people (performance lineage):
Starman → Forrest Gump.
Bridges' hat, check shirt, strange speech and not-quite-a-person quality read as a proto-Forrest Gump.
“there's like a proto-Forrest Gump vibe in this performance in the hat and in the check shirt”
unmapped (tentpole hope):
Dune → Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
Dune was meant to be the new Star Wars franchise, Lynch writing the sequel, coloring books on shelves.
craft (craft):
David Bowie → Starman.
A host half-expected Bowie's song 'Starman' to play over the film's credits, though it is not that kind of movie.
“Part of me was waiting for it, like, the Starman song to be in the credits.”
lineage (sequel ownership):
Jason Reitman → Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Sarcastically, Reitman gives Ghostbusters back to the fans with a sequel set apart from the 2016 film.
“And look at the larger political issue, which is that Jason Reitman has given Ghostbusters back to the fans.”
unmapped (mediocre entry):
Stephen Frears → Florence Foster Jenkins.
Frears occasionally makes an Oscar-nominated piece of mediocrity like Florence Foster Jenkins.
craft (craft):
Declan Quinn → Ricki and the Flash.
The host, after naming Quinn as cinematographer, finds the photography of Ricki weirdly flat and shiny, a disservice to hiring Demme.
“this movie is weirdly flat and I don't know what's up with the photography at all.”
industry (studio interference):
Tom Rothman → Ricki and the Flash.
Rothman's micromanaging explains the too-big sets and too-bright scenes that smother Demme.
“Tom Rothman, who is notoriously very controlling at Fox, very domineering and sort of micromanaging of everything, even just to the visual scheme of the movie.”
career (career stepping stone):
Christopher Nolan → Insomnia.
Insomnia proved Nolan was a professional who could handle personalities, earning Warner's trust to make Batman.
“Not because insomnia is like Batman, but because I think within Warner Brothers, they were like, this seems like a pretty solid bet”
unmapped (real-world analog):
Britney Spears → Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
Britney, AOC, Rihanna and Natalie Portman are offered as modern Nausicaä figures, saviors onto whom culture projects hopes.
“I mean, in many ways, she is like our heroine, Nausicaa.”
career (career sequence):
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind → The Castle of Cagliostro.
Cagliostro was poorly received by fans of the series, then Miyazaki struggled to get another film made, which led to the manga and then this film.
“which is not well received, despite being a fucking awesome movie, because the fans thought it was too much of a departure from the series.”
industry (franchise backlash):
The Castle of Cagliostro → Lupin III.
Making an unpopular entry in a popular franchise is compared to The Last Jedi, which split Lupin III fans.
“where like some people were like, this is a masterpiece and other people were like, no, my lupin.”
contrast (inversion):
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind → Starship Troopers.
Starship Troopers ends with bug-hatred propaganda, whereas Nausicaä realizes the bugs are just trying to survive and approaches them with empathy.
“reading the mind of the bug and cheering the fact that they're afraid because it's all about propaganda.”
unmapped (ending):
The Farewell → Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
Both reject Western catharsis; the hero is someone who comes to accept and understand a situation rather than fix it.
“stories of people learning to accept what has been the case.”
craft (mutilated edit):
Warriors of the Wind → Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
The 95 minute American cut dropped the environmental themes, renamed Nausicaä as Princess Zandra and turned the Ohmu into plain enemies.
“the film basically turns into an action adventure movie where like the environmentalist themes are kind of gone.”
what-if (dub/recut contrast):
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind → Princess Mononoke.
Unlike Nausicaä, Mononoke has no real villain, so it is hard to strip the Miyazaki out; Nausicaä can be recut into heroes versus villains.
“his other films, it's harder to strip the Miyazaki out of it.”
theme (thematic):
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind → Dune.
Blasted world with creatures the people cannot understand, and Nausicaä as a feminine Fremen-like figure who learns to coexist with the land, versus industrial nations running roughshod.
“Nausicaa is sort of like the feminine, you know, like the feminine Dunehurst sort of like they can work the land.”
theme (plot motif):
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind → Dune.
The promise that you can grow plants in a place everyone says you cannot is central to Dune and to Nausicaä's ending.
“And everyone's like, you can't grow anything on Dune.”
theme (creepy-press analogy):
Frozen → The Incredibles.
Asking Frozen's director about Elsa's appearance is compared to Anthony Lane's creepiness about Mrs. Incredible.
“Anthony Lane wouldn't stop talking about his boners for Mrs. Incredible.”
industry (box office peer):
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum → The Farewell.
Both are named as the only films that did not underperform in 2019, with John Wick as the highest-grossing non-Disney release.
“one of the only films to not underperform at the box office, along with the farewell.”
lineage (remake):
The Hustle → Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
The Hustle is a gender-flipped remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that barely admits it in its advertising.
“we've remade Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with women, but we're not really going to talk about that in their advertising.”
contrast (contrast):
Miami Vice - Pilot (Brother's Keeper) → Miami Vice.
The pilot did what Mann's film could have done for it, but the film drops viewers into the middle of the partnership instead of an origin story.
“Instead of doing an origin story kind of like, here's how these 2 cops get together.”
craft (craft):
Hieronymus Bosch → Paul Verhoeven.
Bosch's paintings are the classical-art version of Verhoeven's maximalist cinema.
“they kind of are the like classical art version of what Verhoeven is doing in cinema.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:16:25 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
career (career):
RoboCop → Total Recall.
RoboCop, Total Recall and Basic Instinct let him have cake and eat it: deconstructions that also work as straight entertainment.
“What I've called before, movies where he gets to have his cake needed too.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:19:25 ·
David Sims
(0.45 sure it was them)
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:25:45 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry):
Paul Verhoeven → Von Trier.
Auteur-and-star pairs like Verhoeven/Hauer, von Trier/Skarsgard and Almodovar/Banderas often split once both get big.
“Sure, but I think in a similar way to like Von Trier and Scarsgard.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:36:00 ·
David Sims
(0.50 sure it was them)
people (people):
Almodovar → Antonio Banderas.
Another auteur-star pair that got big on different tracks.
“Almodovar and Fanderas.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:36:27 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
people (people):
Kinski → Herzog.
Kinski and Herzog could bottle their tension, unlike Hauer and Verhoeven.
“Kinski and fucking Herzog were able to like bottle that that tension.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:38:37 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
career (career):
Rutger Hauer → Blade Runner.
Hauer's Blade Runner villain made him fear typecasting.
“I love him in Blade Runner so much.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:39:09 ·
David Sims
(0.45 sure it was them)
“The movie that this is aesthetically most similar to weirdly is Monty Python, the Holy Grail.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:44:18 ·
David Sims
(0.45 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast):
Flesh and Blood → Lincoln.
Flesh+Blood's opening is a swooping tracking shot, unlike Lincoln's quick-cut mud-fight opening.
“you compare this to the opening of Lincoln, which is like, here are these men in the mud and you see them stomping each other”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:45:11 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
people (people):
Fat City → Susan Tyrrell.
Tyrrell was Oscar-nominated in Fat City, playing a modern-day version of her Flesh+Blood role.
“Susan Terrell is fucking amazing in it playing like the modern day version of this character.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:46:09 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast):
Flesh and Blood → The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Speaker says the movie is like Texas Chainsaw in having no one to root for, though someone corrects that you root for someone there.
“it's like the fucking Texas Chainsaw Massacre or something.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
0:49:45 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast):
Flesh and Blood → Straw Dogs.
Unlike Straw Dogs, the assault scene implies the woman is taking power, not enjoying it.
“Something like Straw Dogs, where you're seeing an assault, and then he is sort of inferring that she's enjoying it, is very different than something like this”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
1:04:11 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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”
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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.”
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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.”