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
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?”
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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.”