Reads the Wikipedia tidbits and Fincher lore, loves Madonna and Fincher's glamorous Vogue-era work, and is a Dirty Dancing evangelist. Is the Brit in the room and a soft touch for pop. Sour on Justin Timberlake as a performer.
Stances
Vogue and Freedom 90 are the top two videos
Dirty Dancing is a masterpiece
Annoyed by Timberlake's visible effort
Humor: Dry insults and bossy-Brit bits.
In their words
“I think Dirty Dancing is a masterpiece.” (0:45:37)
“I just don't want to be German, okay?” (1:55:47)
“This, to me, is peak annoying Justin Timberlake.” (2:15:04)
Fincher fan from a 16-year-old Empire-reading start in England; loves Clint Eastwood late-career oddities and reads the dossier. Thinks Panic Room is deeper than a B-programmer.
Stances
Panic Room is a great director showcase movie
Fincher's craft is the point
Humor: Dry, dropping reads and recommendations mid-riff.
In their words
“I was a big 16-year-old film Empire magazine reading film nerd.” (0:27:35)
Loves the film's ending and admires the look; finds the last hour tiring and the philosophy trite on rewatch. Loves Limp Bizkit without irony, worked in video stores, and defends Fincher's craft.
Stances
The last hour sags but the ending is great
Gen X angst reads as stupid on rewatch
Fincher's later digital coldness is not all bad
Humor: Dry, exasperated reactions and unashamed pop taste.
In their words
“I love Limp Bizkit.” (3:03:38)
“the ending of this movie is so effective” (1:07:45)
Loves The Game (watches it yearly, loves the Criterion), is a Fincher interviewer, and gets the research in hand. A sucker for Douglas movie-star energy and the Christmas Carol reading.
Stances
The Game is better than Se7en
Fincher's 'Christmas Carol' reading is the key
Douglas is America's dark id of the 90s
Humor: Dry, precise, and ready with a quote from the dossier.
In their words
“I think this is better.” (0:07:49)
“I think it fucking rules.” (1:56:37)
“I think I said he was America's dark id for the 90s.” (0:25:42)
A critic who champions Fincher and wants the series done on the show; prefers the later half of Fincher's career. Grew up partly in England, where his dad described Se7en to him.
Stances
Pitched Fincher for the show
Se7en is great but not top-tier Fincher
Interested in the Spacey career arc
Humor: Dry, brittle one-liners and film-critic digressions.
In their words
“Sims, I have a question in the in the UK cut of seven.” (0:24:36)
Admires Goldenthal's 90s scores, Henriksen, and Fincher's control; fond of the Ridley Scott sequels. Uneasy with studios that sand a director down. Attribution is inferred.
Stances
Dutton's performance is in the conversation for the best non-Ripley Alien role
Ripley's shaved head is an incredible move
Humor: Dry asides and character-actor deep cuts.
In their words
“I love his Joel Schumacher Batman scores.” (2:00:04)
“Not only just visually striking, like it gives the whole Joan of Arc thing to the movie.” (1:30:33)
Loves tight genre moves, big visual invention, and box-office trivia; skeptical of Burton's recent output and studio notes culture. A sucker for Demolition Man and the Disney Renaissance era.
Stances
Selick is a more consistent stubborn experimentalist than late Burton
This is Elfman's masterpiece
Santa Claus is right to be mad too
Humor: Dry bluster and mock-outrage, with a taste for tangents.
In their words
“Oogie Boogie is the only person who seems to get pleasure out of torturing other people.” (2:05:58)
Loves Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon and is a proud texter. Likes Sidney Pollack as an actor and wants to age into him. Can't stand the idea of the film being dismissed as hermetic.
Stances
The film is open and inviting, not closed off
Pollack's performance is the film's engine
Humor: Dry riffs on pop culture and his son Asa's texting.
In their words
“Sims prides himself on being a top tier texter.” (1:32:51)
A critic who gave Doctor Sleep a positive-but-mixed review, then reversed within two weeks and now rates it highly, in the director's cut especially. Likes Ewan McGregor and, by his own account, enjoys Stephen King but is not a deep reader of him.
Stances
the theatrical cut was slow, the director's cut improves it
the conditions you see a film in shape your opinion
he reversed on the movie
Humor: Dry, cutting asides about celebrities and trailers, plus a weakness for a long filmography rundown.
In their words
“And my review is positive.” (0:03:21)
“I'm sort of like, I like praise the craft of it.” (0:03:28)
Film-historian type who places the film in the late-80s Vietnam cycle and the Oscar race, and reads Herr and Hasford material aloud. Likes the film's structure and its dark comic cuts.
Stances
Full Metal Jacket belongs to the late-80s Vietnam film cycle
Kubrick's humor lands in tension cutters
Humor: Dry, sets up pop-culture parallels and lets Jon escalate them.
In their words
“Well, I was just going to talk about like, it's, this is the time when Vietnam movies are suddenly everywhere.” (0:26:06)
“But it's the thing that like Woman King goes into a lot as well of like, how much you have to break your brain to survive an environment like this, right?” (0:56:40)
Rates movies by kills and gives The Shining a high grade; fond of Nicholson and Pacino performance analysis. Says he is less of a Kubrick guy than most, but this is top tier for him. Will go along with the weird bit and then defend it.
Stances
The Shining is a top-tier Kubrick film
Nicholson's performance is big but grounded
Skeletons at the end are slightly weak
Humor: Dry jabs and pop-culture trivia answers.
In their words
“I rate movies by many deaths?” (0:05:31)
“I feel like I'm less of a Cooper guy than most, but this is at the very top tier for me, even still.” (2:33:07)
Finds slow, adult, conversation-heavy pre-2000 sci-fi and mid-grade legal thrillers deeply relaxing. Holds a grudge against Don't Worry Darling and likes the movie's seriousness. A sucker for starry, grown-up casts.
Stances
2010 is a comfort-food movie
the plot is more confusing than 2001, which answers no questions
strong anti-Don't Worry Darling position
Humor: Deadpan nitpicks and fully committed rants on plot logic.
Plays the show's running Brit, leaning into a bit that he grew up in England and is the only one who can speak to the film's culture. Brings the research dossier and keeps trying to steer back to the movie. Jokes that he sympathizes with the authority figures like Mr. Deltoid. Is the target of the hip hop Sims joke.
Stances
Is wary of the long tangents and wants to keep to the movie
Sides comically with the authority figures against Alex
Reads the dossier aloud to anchor claims
Humor: Deadpan exasperation and mock-pedantry as the foil to Griffin and Alex.
Reads the film as a perfect alignment of hard sci-fi, psychedelia and Apollo timing. Respects but is cool on The Graduate, likes the box-office history, and enjoys the production design. Evidence for his lines is low confidence since the transcript has no speaker labels.
Stances
The film's design still holds up
Respects The Graduate more than loves it
Interested in how the film was marketed and received
Humor: Dry, quick riffs on the guest and cultural references.
In their words
“Like it's one of those movies I never revisited.” (0:34:25)
Reads the dossier and brings box-office lists, Oscar-year trivia and a spreadsheet of retroactive winners. Draws links to comedy lineage (the Zuckers) and to Fincher's collaborators.
Stances
Strangelove was a big influence on the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker style
Kubrick was a real collaborator at his best
Frankenheimer's 1962 to 1966 run is underrated
Humor: Plays the pedant with a straight face, running the research like a game show.
In their words
“So George C. Scott is my winner in 1964 on my beloved spreadsheet.” (0:43:30)
“I did finally have the breakthrough watching this of how much of an influence this movie must have been on the Zucker Brothers and John Abrahams.” (0:53:55)
“And it really does remind me of Fincher.” (1:07:10)
A critic's frame of reference: star systems, box-office history and old reviews. Grew up in England and is tired of the British comedy canon. Likes the Sellers work in Strangelove more than in Lolita.
Stances
The film suffers from the Hays Code and cannot match the book
Sellers creeps him out here
Box-office trivia is part of the Lolita picture
Humor: Dry and self-aware, including deadpan wedding-speech bits.
In their words
“And I think that really has turned me against all the great British comic figures” (1:50:24)
“He creeps me out in this movie.” (1:51:04)
“I think Strange Love is a masterpiece and he's so funny in it.” (1:50:57)
Reads the dossier quotes aloud and defends Spartacus as a great movie despite Kubrick's own verdict; loves epics and Gladiator. (Speaker attribution inferred; moderate confidence.)
Stances
Spartacus is a great film, whatever Stan the Man thought
The Hollywood epics are a real era worth respecting
Humor: Dry readings of dossier quotes and quick pop-culture riffs.
Film-critic host who loves a legal drama and Practical Magic, knows the production dossier and the box-office lists. More drawn to war films than Griffin; fond of character actors and trivia about old Hollywood.
Stances
Practical Magic is a fantastic movie
Paths of Glory sits very close to Strangelove
Kubrick cared about commercial success more than critics
Humor: Dry, deadpan, quick with a pop-culture analogy.
In their words
“Practical Magic is a fantastic movie.” (0:15:30)
“I can give you some context, Griff, or do we want to talk about the plot?” (0:32:05)
Film nerd with deep catalog knowledge: Sinatra rights, Oscar oddities, the 1956 box office. Fond of noirs like I Wake Up Screaming and relishes obscure trivia; not a fan of Victor Mature or The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Stances
Hollywood in 1956 is bloated by epics
Kubrick wins on lens and style but fights Ballard
The movie is a psychologically lofty B movie
Humor: Sets up trivia as a bit and plays along with the jokes about his own name in Crime Wave.
In their words
“Oh, shout out to me.” (0:17:08)
“I just, I need to film nerd correct you.” (0:14:27)
“it is like a psychologically lofty, uh, uh, B movie.” (1:21:30)
Their shows' recurring bits
Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.
The Big Picture
Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.
Blank Check with Griffin & David
The box office game: Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against.
The sung theme: "Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it.
Their claims
Showing 501–600 of 1,091 claims.
unmapped (same fetish):
You're the Worst (TV) → The Game.
The only other depiction of findom the speaker has seen is You're the Worst.
“The only time I've ever seen that depicted is you're the worst has a big findom plot.”
industry (release strategy):
Seven → Kiss the Girls.
Se7en was a September release sold as a nasty genre movie, like Kiss the Girls and later Freeman thrillers.
“in the same vein in terms of its release strategy is like, Kiss the girls.”
industry (studio hiring pattern):
Jean-Pierre Jeunet → Vincent Ward.
Fox later hired Jeunet for Resurrection the same way it hired Ward: a unique artistic vision, just have a meeting.
“which is clearly what they did with Jhene later too, where they're just sort of like, well, this guy has a unique artistic vision.”
unmapped (concept merged in):
Vincent Ward → Alien 3.
The film is built from Ward's monk concept pushed together with the prison planet; his only surviving credit is story.
“they mishing up the monks with the prison planet, they turn the monks into prisoners, but they're kind of religious.”
people (composer comparison):
Elliot Goldenthal → Danny Elfman.
In the 90s Goldenthal was becoming an unconventional blockbuster composer, Elfman style.
“becoming sort of Alfman style, an unconventional blockbuster composer”
people (composer brief):
Elliot Goldenthal → David Fincher.
Goldenthal says Fincher wanted the audience to feel completely fucked within five minutes with no hope.
“Fincher told him he wanted him, you to feel, you the audience, to feel you were completely fucked within 5 minutes and that there is no hope completely.”
career (career):
Henry Selick → Tim Burton.
Burton said Selick was the only CalArts student who moved between the experimental and character-animation camps.
“Burton said that Selleck was the only guy in his time who actually coexisted between the 2 camps.”
industry (industry):
The Fox and the Hound → Don Bluth.
Fox and the Hound is the fulcrum of American animation: Bluth's walkout and the CalArts generation's disillusion.
“that movie is the real fulcum point of American animation in its own weird way”
contrast (contrast):
Henry Selick → Richard Williams.
Selick's insistence on live-action camera moves is like Williams hand-drawing his camera movement.
“much like Richard Williams being like, I'll fucking hand draw the camera movement”
contrast (contrast):
The Nightmare Before Christmas → Aladdin.
Disney princess films open with an I-want song; Jack's opening is a triumph followed by unexplained ennui.
“the Disney princess movies of this time have the big, I want song, right?”
industry (industry):
The Nightmare Before Christmas → Aardman.
Aardman is the one studio working consistently in stop motion with a different tone from Nightmare's creepiness.
“Ardaman is the only studio that's been able to work consistently at a high level and stop motion and do something totally different tonally.”
theme (King-like author character):
Mike Flanagan → The Haunting of Hill House.
Hill House has a character who becomes a paperback author very similar to King.
“one of the characters becomes like a, like, an author of, like, paperback, like, novels very similar to King.”
unmapped (Netflix hit gave Flanagan the job):
The Haunting of Hill House → Doctor Sleep.
The speakers guess the hit Netflix King adaptation and Hill House, after Oculus and Ouija, are why Flanagan got Doctor Sleep.
“And then I think it really is the Geralds game thing.”
unmapped (restored ending):
The Shining (King's novel) → Doctor Sleep.
Flanagan pitched going back to the Overlook as a means to restore the burn-down ending of King's book, which won King over.
“he said, I'm going to go back to the Overlook, but as means to an end to restore your ending.”
unmapped (King's disavowal):
Doctor Sleep (King's novel) → The Shining.
King's sequel book, speakers say, goes out of its way to say Kubrick's movie did not happen.
“it feels like he's even, you know, trying in the book to be like, and that movie didn't happen, FYI”
craft (visual echo):
Doctor Sleep → The Shining.
The hospice office is composed like the Overlook interview scene, reversed so the boss helps instead of dooms.
“It's composed like the exact same way as that 1st interview sequence in the original film.”
lineage (legacy sequel (contrast)):
Ghostbusters: Afterlife → Doctor Sleep.
Afterlife is eager to relive the first movie for no reason; Doctor Sleep avoids the original for as long as it can, so its return is earned.
“Ghostbusters Afterlife is a perfect example of the movie is so eager to relive the 1st movie”
lineage (ripoff):
Black Adam → Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The Black Adam kid is called a straight John Connor ripoff, down to the skateboard and the catchphrase coaching.
unmapped (subversion):
Full Metal Jacket → Major Payne.
The answer to how to subvert the drill-sergeant movie is to do it with children, as in Major Payne.
career (unmade project taken up):
Stanley Kubrick → Steven Spielberg.
Kubrick could not make A.I. because technology was not ready; Spielberg eventually did.
“which obviously Steven Spielberg eventually makes.”
people (co-writer carried over):
Michael Herr → Full Metal Jacket.
Kubrick kept Herr, the writer from one piece of material, to help adapt a different one.
“Yeah, so he sort of absorbs the writer from one piece of material to help them adapt a different piece of material.”
programming (thematic pairing):
The Woman King → Full Metal Jacket.
Both films are about how much you have to break your brain to survive training for war.
“But it's the thing that like Woman King goes into a lot as well of like, how much you have to break your brain to survive an environment like this, right?”
theme (same location instruction):
Stanley Kubrick → Ken Adam.
Kubrick told Ken Adam to find every location within 20 miles of his home, as on Barry Lyndon.
“Which was basically the same thing he told him for Barry Lyndon”
industry (Oscar attention):
A Clockwork Orange → Full Metal Jacket.
Clockwork Orange got Oscar attention, but The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut were ignored.
“obviously, the shining full metal jacket and eyes wide shut are all basically ignored by the Oscars.”
people (same actor, opposite bodies):
Full Metal Jacket → Adventures in Babysitting.
D'Onofrio is Pyle and a Thor-lookalike beefcake in two films opening the same summer.
“Dino Frio is on, you know, different screens in your multiplex in completely different bodies.”
people (unrealized collaboration):
Paddy Chayefsky → Stanley Kubrick.
Kubrick was one of only three people who met to direct Network, but he and Chayefsky never clicked.
“Kubrick was like one of only 3 people who even met to direct that movie.”
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.