Loves Killer's Kiss and 1950s noir and studio-era trivia, and is happy to run the box office game from deep knowledge. Dislikes padded plotless first films, and is quick to point out what a first film is missing.
Stances
Killer's Kiss is a blast and more romantic than expected
Fear and Desire reads like a poem not a story
50s box office lists are full of forgotten programmers
Humor: Dry, British-inflected asides and fake-outraged bits.
David prefers Burton's Batman Returns and Batman Begins as his top live-action Batmans, and is more lukewarm than Griffin on Lego Batman, finding the middle stretch with other IP monotonous. He loves Lego as a kid (Ice Planet) and now covets expert-level Star Wars sets. He enjoys comedy-world gossip about Ellie Kemper and Michael Cera.
Stances
Not his favorite Batman movie because of the invading IP stuff
The middle stretch with the other villains is boring
Returns and Begins are his two favorite live-action Batmans
Humor: Dry teasing of Griffin and Ben, and self-aware dad jokes about buying Lego for his baby.
In their words
“Which have always been my 2 favorite live action Batman movies.” (0:00:55)
“So I think we just got through the stretch of the movie that I think is a little boring.” (1:14:42)
David asks the commonsense questions the film refuses to answer and loves a deadpan Occam's razor defense. He is a dad, a sports-box-office guy, and a sucker for a movie-history comparison, but he draws the line at being asked to like this.
Stances
Why would they not just skip the deal
Wants simple explanations (Occam's razor)
Calls Old Dogs a bad movie but finds it fascinating
Humor: Dry logic questions and quick film-reference comparisons.
Admires the film's production value and its comedic precision, and is the one reading box office data and quizzing. Can't stand the self-serious trend in Batman movies; a sucker for 60s epics and trivia about directors and casts.
Stances
Batman movies have raced toward self-serious credibility
Burton and Schumacher inherited the West show's tone and branding
Humor: Dry factual one-liners and pop-culture deflation.
In their words
“I think this is the the oldest film we've ever covered on this podcast.” (0:00:48)
“It's been this race to self-serious credibility.” (1:04:50)
Wanted to do Lean personally and expected Welles to win. Mild about Mel Brooks, worried about repetitiveness, but admires his cultural importance. Loves Planet of the Apes.
Stances
Fears Brooks may get repetitive
Pro-Lean
Humor: Dry and teasing with the Chip bit.
In their words
“I also would love to do lean personally.” (0:11:11)
A longtime defender who saw In the Cut at 17 and was 'well known for being the In the Cut is good person'. Loves Unfaithful, Addicted to Love and Kevin Bacon-style character work, and sweats the details of box-office history. (Speaker labels are inferred; the transcript has none.)
Stances
He has always been an In the Cut fan
2003 was a great year for commercial and art cinema alike
Humor: Rattles off box-office lists and trivia and teases Griffin about his taste.
In their words
“I was well known for being the in the cut is good person.” (0:09:26)
“Okay, fine. I love that movie.” (0:13:04)
“I was watching on Netflix out of convenience.” (0:52:44)
Likes campy, genre-aware Twilight and enjoyed New Moon for its challenges; likes old-timey vampire vs werewolf action and well-made lore. Hates inert scenes and kissing-free tension, and gets irritated by clutter/poor casting. A sucker for actors with dirtbag charisma and trivia on actors' careers. Attribution partly inferred; many lines unattributed.
Stances
New Moon is better
Casting of Riley/Victoria is the problem
Condon will lean into camp
Humor: Quick one-liners and pop-culture trivia.
In their words
“I will say, I am enjoying this old timey vampire versus werewolf action.” (0:45:48)
“Because I gotta tell you, this one, this one was a big knot.” (2:21:34)
A critic who has seen Covenant at a press screening and on 4K; likes Prometheus and Scott's ambition. Pays attention to who composed and wrote, and to the Alien franchise's lineage. Likes the film's double-Fassbender conceit and the stranger parts.
Stances
Scott hates humans and rich people
The two androids are the film's best part
Covenant is half Prometheus sequel, half studio-requested Alien
Humor: Sarcastic asides and escalating bits about David and the fake franchises.
In their words
“I have rewatched this like once since theaters.” (1:23:01)
Knows the production history cold (Danny Boyle, Whedon, Jeunet) and loves practical effects, animatronics, big industrial sets and character actors like Brad Dourif and Ron Perlman. Has a lifelong crush on Winona Ryder. Cannot stand when a movie stops to talk, or generic villains like Michael Wincott's.
Stances
Whedon and Jeunet were a terrible match
The first hour is fun, the talky middle is weak
The newborn alien is a big swing worth admiring
All the Alien movies are worth defending
Humor: Dry film-nerd with deadpan joke elaboration, especially mock Deadline headlines.
In their words
“I mean, I guess I have such an incredible weakness for Winona Rider, as you know, Griffin.” (0:37:58)
“I think alien movies need to be gnarly.” (0:23:09)
Defends Alien 3 as moody and Fincher-flavored but admits it is unrelentingly bleak. Loves the mythos of the Weyland-Yutani company and Sigourney Weaver. Cares about box-office history.
Stances
Alien 3 makes a defensible creative choice with a prison setting
The movie is flawed by a missing thesis about the prison
A box-office run-down belongs in every episode
Humor: Dry delivery; sets up bits with straight-faced trivia and plays the straight man to Griffin.
In their words
“I love the mythos of alien.” (1:53:27)
“Uh, yeah, it fell off 65% in its 2nd weekend.” (2:09:50)
Admires Fallout and McQuarrie's craft, loves Hitchcock-style set pieces and tight villains. Dislikes bloated plot mechanics and has strong feelings about Alec Baldwin's career.
Stances
Fallout may top Rogue Nation on rewatch
Rogue Nation's opera sequence is the series high point
Humor: Dry asides, comedy-point awards and speaking about England from lived experience.
In their words
“I did grow up in Britain, and this is the place where I grew up.” (1:35:19)
A native Upper West Sider (also raised partly in England) who knows the neighborhood the film is set in. Loves Meg Ryan's weirder rom-coms (Addicted to Love, Practical Magic) and award-season history. Likes to run quizzes and box-office games.
Stances
The Upper West Side is the film's real subject
Meg Ryan has more range than Hanks
Awards-season trivia reveals how rom-coms are dismissed
Humor: Trivia ambusher; pairs deadpan facts with pop-culture gossip.
In their words
“So I grew up on 89th and Amsterdam.” (0:24:20)
“David has many times tried to sell me on the idea of doing a Griffin Dunn miniseries because he so badly wants to cover her to love.” (1:21:31)
“So can you tell me the 5 nominees for best performance by an actor in a comedy or musical at the 1998 Golden Globes?” (1:42:56)
Runs the box office quiz and tracks the stars' careers across the 1990s (Matthau, Lemmon, Kudrow, Ryan). Likes the Ephron sensibility but finds this film lacking structure; loves Pitch Black context and sci-fi bargains. Cannot stand sentimental farewells like Tuesdays with Morrie.
Stances
The film needs a romantic subplot or tighter structure
Matthau's performance is the best thing in the movie
Tuesdays with Morrie is the worst film ever made
Humor: Dry, exasperated riffs on Hollywood economics and casting; sparring with Griffin over box office guesses.
In their words
“Okay, it's the worst film ever made.” (0:44:25)
“You can't fake rich LA, right?” (1:09:10)
“Anyway, the number one movie at the box office this weekend was the whole 9 yards.” (1:18:31)
Prefers the practical, performed experience over the movie and calls the film like eating mayonnaise from the jar. A sucker for shaggy gags and ironic Oscar talk.
Stances
The experience was better than the movie
Universal's rental model will work on desperate parents
Humor: Deadpan put-downs and analogies, such as the Olive Garden review.
In their words
“I think I tapped out at a certain point.” (0:45:34)
Defends the movie's big set pieces (speeder bike chase, the Emperor and Luke scenes) while admitting the structure is sloppy; loves Akbar and Harrison Ford's career lore. Hates the Emperor's flat conception and the late sibling reveal. Likes box office trivia and games.
Stances
Jedi has the weakest finish of the three
The Emperor is uncompelling as a character
Ewoks are fine; the problem is what Han and Leia do
Was a kid who thought Jedi was the best until a rewatch
Humor: Dry, tired asides and playful teasing of Griffin and Ben, getting punchier as the beers accumulate.
In their words
“Griffin thought that way until he was like 27 years old.” (1:49:51)
“I think that's the other major difference.” (1:00:53)
Critic-ish and enthusiastic: Portrait of a Lady on Fire is his movie of the year; loves Ashes Is Purest White, Dark Waters, Ad Astra, Knives Out. Values movie-star performances and gets visibly fond of overlooked films like Peterloo and Triple Frontier.
Stances
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is the year's best
Dark Waters will be re-evaluated; the film is underrated
Prefers Toy Story 4 more than expected
Humor: Dry; plays straight man and throws in lines like 'Absolute 0 Popes' reactions and the Becker running joke.
In their words
“That has been the movie for me all year.” (1:09:50)
Champion of Infinity War: loves how Thanos is the real protagonist and how the movie argues for caring about every character. Hates the idea that deaths must be final to matter, and loves actors' craft and box-office trivia. Nervous flyer who loves a road trip to Toronto.
Stances
Thanos is the protagonist and the film is about every character mattering
Killing characters is uninteresting; the loss is what counts
The MCU's crossover structure is a cinematic accomplishment
Humor: Deadpan overshare and cheerful self-roast, especially about his fear of flying.
In their words
“I'm a very nervous flyer.” (0:00:52)
“I think killing characters is uninteresting and usually, like, I just don't care for it.” (2:26:40)
Loves rules, systems and well-set-up action (Infinity Stone rules, Gamora's type-A bossiness, clear action goals); a box-office and Marvel-billing obsessive who makes spreadsheets. Respects Lee Pace's operatic villain and Drax. Dislikes Marvel's post-production sheen and the 'house style' gray. Speaker attribution is inferred from the room's teasing and is uncertain.
Stances
Lee Pace's Ronan is a great, underrated Marvel villain
Marvel's color grading is bad but the art direction is good
Humor in Guardians works as a storytelling aid
Humor: Gets teased as a bossy rules-loving spreadsheet guy and plays along with deadpan.
In their words
“I like type A tightwad characters.” (0:27:52)
“I like the Infinity Stone stuff because I like rules.” (1:10:54)
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 301–400 of 1,091 claims.
people (people):
Volunteers → Tom Hanks.
Volunteers pairs Hanks with John Candy; Hanks met Rita Wilson around then.
“He'd been in a movie with Hanks the year before.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
1:31:53 ·
David Sims
(0.30 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast):
Sixteen Candles → Flesh and Blood.
Sixteen Candles is as gross as Flesh+Blood but thinks it's a whimsical teen comedy.
“that movie doesn't think it's a whimsical comedy for teenagers.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
1:34:00 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
“talking about our man JC should have won best actor for them.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David ·
Flesh+Blood ·
1:34:44 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
theme (plot parallel):
Lady in the Water → Manchester by the Sea.
A man loses his family in a past tragedy and becomes the super of a building, which the speaker notes as the same plot.
“In all caps, I wrote, this is the plot of Manchester by the Sea.”
career (career context):
Paul Giamatti → Sideways.
Lady in the Water was the first thing Giamatti booked after Sideways, his big lead after that breakthrough.
“I think this is the first thing he booked after sideways.”
unmapped (critic portrayal):
Lady in the Water → Birdman.
Birdman's film critic is called more sensitive and three-dimensional than Balaban's critic in Lady in the Water.
“Inaritu's portrayal of a film critic in Birdman is sensitive and three-dimensional compared to Bob Paliban in this, right?”
craft (shared creature designer):
Crash McCreery → Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
The monkey creatures in Lady in the Water were designed by the man who did the monster pirates (Davy Jones's crew) in Dead Man's Chest.
“These creatures were designed by Crash Macreri, who also did all the monster pirates in the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean movie.”
theme (scene echo):
Lady in the Water → The Last of the Mohicans.
Relaying the myth through third-hand translation is compared to the Last of the Mohicans scene of language relay.
“It's like the scene in the Last of the Mohicans where Daniel Day-Louis has to have the British guys speak French to the Native Americans who only speak French.”
people (critic casting irony):
Bob Balaban → M. Night Shyamalan.
A filmmaker getting back at critics casts Balaban, the actor critics love as their on-screen surrogate.
“Bob Bellaman is like the ultimate film critics actor.”
unmapped (meta monologue):
Lady in the Water → Scream.
Balaban's speech about what a PG-13 movie will not show is compared to a Kevin Williamson-style monologue from Scream.
“Bob Bellman giving a Kevin Williamson style monologue.”
unmapped (intervention):
Jodie Foster → Robert Downey Jr..
On Home for the Holidays Foster confronted Downey about his behavior even though he still delivered.
“Jody Foster would come in and be like, I know that no one calls you out on this because you're still able to deliver, but I will not let you behave this way.”
career (career-detour):
Robert Downey Jr. → Ally McBeal.
Downey went from lost movie star to TV in Ally McBeal season four, won a Golden Globe, and was fired.
“Very nice job. And he's fired by the end of that season.”
career (career-turning-point):
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang → Robert Downey Jr..
As a critical hit with Downey leading, it worked as a calling card to prove he could carry a movie.
“It is a critical hit and it is, yeah, it's basically a calling card.”
career (career-pattern):
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang → Zodiac.
Roles like Good Night and Good Luck, A Scanner Darkly and Zodiac cast Downey as weathered men clinging on.
“these roles of slightly weathered guys who, like, are kind of clinging on a little bit, you know, like rather than sort of breezing through things.”
industry (box-office-context):
Dracula Untold → The Judge.
The Judge opened behind Annabelle's second weekend, mentioned beside the flop Dracula Untold.
“You know, behind the 2nd weekend of Annabelle, this movie opened.”
people (director):
Fred Claus → David Dobkin.
Dobkin's Fred Claus is a catastrophe with Vince Vaughn as Santa's brother and Ludacris's head on a filmed little person.
“Yeah, they filmed a little person and then superimposed Ludacris's head so his neck never moves properly.”
career (filmography-contrast):
David Dobkin → Wedding Crashers.
His pre-Judge filmography is ugly, misjudged comedies with regressive politics, which makes a serious drama odd.
“his filmography is mostly ugly, misjudged comedies that have regressive social politics.”
people (prior-collaboration):
The Gingerbread Man → The Judge.
Downey and Duvall had worked together before in The Gingerbread Man and Lucky You, which fed the casting.
“It was the gingerbread man. And lucky you. the Curtis Hanson poker movie.”
theme (comparison):
The Judge → Big Daddy.
The Judge's climactic testimony scene recalls Sandler's courtroom speech in Big Daddy, which works only because that film is a ribald comedy.
“the scene in Big Daddy, where Adam Sandler tells his dad how much he loved him on the stand during...”
contrast (awards-contrast):
The Judge → No Country for Old Men.
Recent Best Picture winners like The Artist, The Hurt Locker, and No Country are not like The Judge, which is the old kind of Oscar bait.
“the best picture winners of the last whatever years are like the artist and the hurt locker and like no country for all men”
industry (awards-rival):
Robert Duvall → Birdman.
Duvall's Supporting Actor nomination sat beside stronger work from Norton in Birdman, Hawke in Boyhood, Ruffalo in Foxcatcher and Simmons in Whiplash.
“he's nominated with Edward Norton for Birdman. one of his finest performances in a movie.”
career (career-comparison):
Robert Duvall → Jack Reacher.
If he deserves a nomination for The Judge he deserves one for every film of the last 20 years, since he is no better than in Jack Reacher.
“he is no better or worse in the judge than he is in Jack Reacher.”
industry (awards-theory):
Robert Downey Jr. → Rain Man.
Best case for Downey was playing Tom Cruise to Duvall's Dustin Hoffman, supporting the Oscar-bait part.
“Best case scenario, he's the Tom Cruise to the Dustin Hoffman and Rainman.”
people (snubbed-performance):
Iron Man → Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Downey deserved nominations for the magnetic performances in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man.
“Robert Downey Jr. should have been nominated for Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. He should have been nominated for Iron Man.”
industry (awards-theory):
Robert Downey Jr. → Meryl Streep.
Streep keeps getting nominated because she visibly changes things up; Downey should surprise audiences similarly.
“I'm not saying she's always good, but she is always at least changing it up.”
verdict (verdict):
Top Gun: Maverick → Jurassic World Dominion.
Trevorrow's Dominion interviews: give audiences what they expect but do it well, the Top Gun way.
“why don't you give them what they expect and want, but do it really, really well?”
career (career):
Michael Keaton → Spotlight.
Keaton's arc runs from Need for Speed and RoboCop through the Oscar near-win to Spotlight, which cements him as an elder statesman.
“Almost wins an Oscar and then spotlight just solidifies it of like Elder Statesman”
lineage (lineage):
RoboCop → Terminator Salvation.
Non-Nolan grim-and-grounded reboots like this one end up self-serious but made by a dumb person and noted to death.
“you get Terminator salvation, you get these movies that are just like self-serious but made by a dumb person”
contrast (contrast):
RoboCop → RoboCop.
The remake's Easter eggs, like the hand and the I'd buy that for a dollar line, feel dismissive of the original.
“Like all the jokes they make feel dismissive of the original film.”
career (career):
Joel Kinnaman → RoboCop.
Kinnaman's mixed accent, English with his dad and Swedish with his mom, gives Murphy an odd rhythm that stands in for the monotone.
“that gives him a version of the kind of weird Robocop monotonous voice, you know?”
industry (industry):
John Carpenter → RoboCop.
Carpenter got better at accepting executive-producer money on remakes of his ideas, while Verhoeven gets no checks.
“I will happily be a nominal, stupid executive producer or whatever if you pay me.”
contrast (contrast):
RoboCop → RoboCop.
The original's villains were iconic and specific; this one has a gangster, corruption, and a businessman, but no physical antagonist.
industry (industry):
RoboCop → The Avengers.
The film is pre-Marvel franchise filmmaking that landed two years after The Avengers and feels out of touch with trends.
“this movie comes out 2 years after the Avengers.”
verdict (verdict):
RoboCop → Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Ranked against another 2014 one-star Patreon pick, the host likes this less than either it or Ouija.
what-if (what-if):
Ian McKellen → The Lord of the Rings.
The hosts imagine a new Lord of the Rings film about hunting for Gollum, with McKellen and Wood back and Kate Winslet leading.
lineage (lineage):
RoboCop → Total Recall.
The Wiseman remake of Total Recall is cited as an equally boring office-building finale, a remake sibling to this film.
career (career):
The Monuments Men → George Clooney.
One of Clooney's biggest financial hits, even though the hacked Sony emails showed he thought it was bad.
“Because we know in 2014, the Sony hacks revealed that even George Clooney thought this movie was bad”
career (career):
Shana Feste → Country Strong.
Endless Love's director also made The Greatest, Country Strong and Boundaries, mostly 2010s chick flicks.
“Endless love directed by Shana Feste, who made the greatest.”
career (career):
Tom Cruise → Eyes Wide Shut.
Vanilla Sky and Eyes Wide Shut dissect his persona outside the blockbuster, whereas Edge does it inside a blockbuster.
“like vanilla sky and eyes wide shut, like the ones that are kind of dissecting his persona”
people (people):
Tom Cruise → Doug Liman.
Cruise and Liman, McQuarrie and Kosinski became Cruise's guys: directors he can collaborate with rather than be pushed back by.
“Cruz did Kacinski, Lyman and Macquarie became just his guys.”
craft (craft):
Edge of Tomorrow → Ghostbusters.
The Noah Taylor briefing carries the same 'I'm not sure, it might end the world' flavor as Ghostbusters' cross the streams.
“The Ghostbusters thing of like what happens if we cross the streams.”
contrast (contrast):
Edge of Tomorrow → Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day's loop is unexplained and mystical (a witch after a bad date); Edge gives a rule-based answer, the aliens' reset ability as competitive advantage.
“the wise decision that Groundhog Day was supposed to be like a witch curses him after a bad date.”
contrast (contrast):
Edge of Tomorrow → Big.
Time-loop and magic movies like Big refuse to explain the magic (a fortune-teller machine); Edge justifies its premise.
“Usually it's better to not explain these things.”
verdict (verdict):
Edge of Tomorrow → Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Smith is a movie where you feel the Liman chaos; one host does not like it, the other finds it messy and enjoyable.
career (career):
Doug Liman → The Bourne Identity.
Bourne launched a lucrative franchise even though Liman did not make the sequels, which kept studios circling back to him.
“Bourne identity launched like an incredibly lucrative franchise.”
craft (craft):
Edge of Tomorrow → Mission: Impossible III.
Casting Brendan Gleeson parallels Philip Seymour Hoffman in MI3: the best foil for Cruise comes from a different acting discipline.
“like casting Philip Seymour Hoffman in Mission Impossible 3”
theme (theme):
Bill Paxton → Tom Cruise.
Paxton, who worked every position in the Corman system, shares Cruise's 'isn't this great, we're making movies' reputation.
“he had the Tom Cruise thing of like, isn't this great?”
programming (programming):
Edge of Tomorrow → X-Men: Days of Future Past.
On the opening weekend chart, Edge opened third behind Fault in Our Stars and Maleficent; X-Men DoFP was still fourth.
fun, about
The Judge:
The judge's tell is that he forgets his bailiff's name; the hosts say it is set up in the first scene and is open and shut at trial, yet they convict him anyway.
“The bailiff who he's had at his side for like 30 years.”
fun, about
Warner Bros.:
The Judge's tornado father-son fight is a Man of Steel homage, so Warner Bros. is the go-to studio for father-and-son tornado fights.
“Warner Brothers has become the go to studios for tornado fights.”
fun, about
Robert Downey Jr.:
Pitch to Downey for an Oscar: play Buster Keaton, whose voice was a gravelly surprise after MGM made him do talkies with Jimmy Durante.
fun, about
Joel Kinnaman:
Kinnaman said his dad, an American soldier, deserted during Vietnam and ended up in Sweden; he spoke English with his dad and Swedish with his mom.
“I spoke English with my dad in Swedish with my mom.”
fun, about
RoboCop (2014) - suit:
The first suit reveal got an awful response a week or two into filming, so the production panicked and had two weeks to build a second, 80s-style suit that could fit only 15 to 20 minutes of the film.
“the production panicked when the 1st photos came out and the response was so bad”
fun, about
Jackie Earle Haley:
Haley told the host while filming The Tick that he was proud of this performance because it was a different thing he doesn't usually get.
fun, about
RoboCop (2014) - ending:
The final showdown is Keaton holding the wife and son at gunpoint on a rooftop helipad to get away in a helicopter.
“The final showdown of this movie is Michael Keaton holding Alex Murphy's wife and sonic gunpoint on the rooftop helipad.”
fun, about
Samuel L. Jackson:
The film ends with Jackson saying good night; the host jokes that his favorite part of his movies is when he doesn't say motherfucker.
“It's my favorite part of his movies is when he doesn't say motherfucker.”
fun, about
RoboCop (2014) - sequel:
Neill Blomkamp was attached to a sequel and Neumeier and Miner came back with an old-man script called RoboCop Returns; it never happened.
fun, about
Six Men Getting Sick:
Lynch's first proper short is a one-minute film of casts of Jack Fisk's head throwing up; it earned him a $1000 grant.
“It's a one minute film of these like weird casts of Jack Fisk's head throwing up.”
fun, about
Eraserhead:
After rejections from Cannes' Directors' Fortnight and the New York Film Festival, a bad Variety review at Filmex led Lynch to cut about 20 minutes.
“Lynch then cuts about 20 minutes out of the movie.”
fun, about
Andrew Kevin Walker:
Fincher pitched Walker a five-chapter plan for The Killer in 2008, nothing happened for ten years, then in 2018 he recited it back word for word and said he was set up at Netflix. Walker told this at the Q&A.
“And then 2018, he goes, do you remember that killer thing?”
fun, about
Michael Fassbender:
Halfway through the shoot Fassbender told Fincher he finally got it: precision modeling, holding a head position for long takes.
fun, about
Erik Messerschmidt:
Michael Mann told the speaker he likes Messerschmidt (Gone Girl's gaffer, now DP on Ferrari) because cinematography is all lighting.
“to me, cinematography is all lighting and no one understands lighting anymore.”
fun, about
The Social Network:
The 166-page script was too long for Sony; Fincher and Sorkin read it aloud against a stopwatch and it came out at two hours.
“And Fincher was like, you and me are going to sit down and read the script.”
fun, about
Armie Hammer:
The twin effect (Hammer plus Josh Pence's body) is called one of Fincher's most impressive technical feats, though the 4K shows a little deep-fake tracking on big moves.
“honestly, maybe one of the most impressive things Fincher has ever done technically.”
fun, about
Rick Springfield:
Springfield owns one of the great Star Wars action figure collections, though by his own admission he is more a figure fan than a movie fan; the hosts tie it to Fincher's Return of the Jedi credit.
“Rick Springfield has one of the greatest Star Wars action figure collections in the world.”
fun, about
David Fincher:
A host says Fincher thinks the death of the music video cost a generation of visually distinctive filmmakers their training ground.
“the death of the music video has really been at the expense of a new generation of visually distinctive filmmakers coming up.”
fun, about
Nicole Kidman:
If Fincher had shut the film down after Kidman's injury, the insurance would have paid out a profit.
“They basically, I mean, the numbers I saw, there was some sort of calculation of like, if they had shut the movie down and just never started filming again, they would have made $3000000 off the insurance.”
fun, about
The Game:
Fincher on Douglas, as read from the dossier: the story is a little prurient and sadistic because you enjoy the central character's suffering, and nobody embraces that as eagerly as Douglas.
“You want to see him learn a lesson, and nobody embraces that quite as eagerly as Michael Douglas.”
fun, about
The Sky Is Falling (unmade):
Fincher's post-Se7en idea: two clerics on a dig find proof that God is dead and are hunted by a terminally ill hitman.
“Two clerics on an archaeological dig, discover proof that God is actually dead.”
fun, about
The Game:
Fincher wanted the audience to have nothing to hold on to; he calls it a movie about movies, where the protagonist doesn't know how to act like a movie star.
fun, about
Jodie Foster:
She wanted to play the waitress; Fincher said she was too famous; she suggested sister, then daughter, then Douglas refused to play her father; she was written out and sued.
“She then filed a huge lawsuit saying she was supposed to be in it.”
fun, about
The Game:
Not in print for a long time (a Polygram issue, per a host); the Criterion Blu-ray in 2012 carried features shot during production for Criterion.
“This is a movie that was like not in print for a very long time.”
fun, about
The Full Monty:
At 5 weeks in 387 theaters it was on its way to a best picture nomination; one host picked it down the ballot at an Oscar party against Titanic.
fun, about
Panic Room:
The three-disc Panic Room DVD is called the most comprehensive special-feature package for any movie ever, and the movie is not on Blu-ray.
“peak DVD Fincher being like every single 2nd of this will be documented.”
fun, about
Jordan Cronenweth:
The first cinematographer was diagnosed with Parkinson's weeks in, barely shot anything, but set the look; Alex Thomson took over, and the son later became Fincher's DP.
“He barely shot anything, but he set the look that then was continued.”
fun, about
Henry Selick:
Selick on Burton: five set visits in two years, 8 to 10 hours total; 'it was like me adapting a book that was never actually written.'
“it was like me adapting a book that was never actually written.”
fun, about
Tim Burton:
Burton and Selick fought over the Oogie ending (Scooby-Doo reveal that he's Finkelstein); the fight reportedly ruined an editing bay.
“Selleck wanted the ending to be that Oogie Boogie was actually Dr. Finkelstein in disguise.”
fun, about
Henry Selick:
1994 Sight and Sound quote read to close: audiences are more open than Hollywood imagines; the stranger the imagery, the straighter the story.
“But the audience is more open than Hollywood imagines.”
fun, about
Henry Thomas / Doctor Sleep:
Henry Thomas, Elliott from E.T., plays Jack Torrance in the bar scene, shot in profile with his chin down; the host did not recognize him until the credits.
“And then somehow the moment he comes on screen and the entire scene, extended scene is all done from profile.”
fun, about
Ewan McGregor / The Island:
A studio exec threw The Island under the bus: the mistake was hiring the stars of tomorrow rather than the stars of today.
“the mistake we made was hiring the stars of tomorrow rather than the stars of today.”
fun, about
Rebecca Ferguson:
A host notices her Irish accent slips in on purpose, since Rose has lived thousands of years and the roots are nearly gone.
“She is choosing to have an Irish accent slip in sometime, because the point is this character has been alive for 1000s of years.”
fun, about
Doctor Sleep:
In the baseball scene a sideline parent is the actor who played Danny in The Shining, now a school teacher who was excited to do it.