Press-screening veteran who found Winter Soldier merely fine at release; likes political-thriller texture and Redford's calm, character acting. Dislikes Marvel villains who justify genocide with logic. Loves Samuel L. Jackson, spy-game lineage and the Russos' TV pilots.
Stances
Looks up facts (the computer guy)
Winter Soldier was a nonplus at release but improves on rewatch
Redford's underplaying is the movie's best asset
Regrets Civil War stops being a Captain America film
Humor: Dry deadpan asides, mock-serious pedantry and a willingness to play along with Griffin's bits.
In their words
“This is the 1st Marvel movie I started press screening.” (0:02:54)
Loves Sif, mythology, the practical-looking gold Asgard and the sibling story between Thor and Loki. Hates the first Thor and likes Dark World far more than Ragnarok. A sucker for spaceships and gap-toothed actors.
Stances
Dark World was the movie where Feige took over
Doctor Strange fails on comedy
Spaceships make any movie better
Humor: Deadpan escalation and gross-out one-liners, throwing a pillow to steer the room.
Also calls Iron Man 3 his favorite MCU film; a critic who tracks box office, awards ballots, contracts and Hollywood history. Likes character actors, Shane Black wit and clean action stakes. Sucker for ensemble casts and set-up/payoff.
Stances
Iron Man 3 is the best-structured sequel because it answers the previous film
The one flaw is the rushed Killian monologue and the sidelined Maya
Tony Stark should have ended here
Marvel's Atlanta wet-cement look is a problem
Humor: Dry, dead-pan and confidently over-informed, then deflates himself with a dumb aside.
In their words
“This is how you do a sequel.” (0:41:23)
“It's a really good 3rd movie.” (2:10:08)
“Anyone who dares criticize it, you know, is my enemy and I will meet them on the field of glory.” (0:56:30)
Treats Avengers as a model for plotted ensemble blockbusters; loves Samuel L. Jackson and Hulk, wants Marvel's cinematic conveyor belt held up to Justice League. Knows Hollywood trivia, box-office figures. Dislikes Man of Steel's destruction and Age of Ultron's continuity.
Stances
This is one of the best-structured blockbusters
The film looks cheap while being expensive
Age of Ultron can't be a sequel to this one
Jackson is undervalued
Humor: Dry, ironic, quick with box-office game-show bits and wry commentary on his own travel plans.
In their words
“I think this movie looks kind of cheap while being very expensive.” (0:03:02)
“Avengers 2 can't be a sequel to Avengers one. It has to be a sequel to 5 other moments.” (1:39:42)
He loves Marvel comics lore, the Golden and Silver Age versions of the characters, and period production design. He is a sucker for ensemble character actors like Neal McDonough and Tommy Lee Jones. He is dismissive of the movie's generic last third and of unearned endings.
Stances
The first third is perfect, the second solid, the third perfunctory
The ending teaser for Avengers cheapens the movie
The classic Bucky death was better than the film's
Humor: Dry deadpan asides and physical bits like rocking the couch for Tommy Lee Jones.
In their words
“The 1st 3rd is perfect.” (0:51:45)
“I think the 3rd 3rd is, you know, a little perfunctory.” (0:51:48)
The comics and film-history reader: knows Thor lore (Straczynski, Simonson), casting and development history, and Marvel's behind-the-scenes politics. Loves Hopkins at ease, Branagh as ham, the hammer-return sequence and the Patrick Doyle score. Dislikes chaos cinema and the Marvel pipeline's flat look.
Stances
Branagh is a hammy director he likes, but weak at action
Marvel's side-character sprawl hurts unfocused ensemble movies
Dark World is a better brother movie
Whedon over-kills characters
Humor: Deadpan fact-drops and interruptions that deflate Griffin's bits.
In their words
“I'm a big fan of Kenneth Bran as a director.” (0:18:10)
Film-history minded and well versed in studio politics (Feige, Perlmutter); likes Wes Anderson books but not Isle of Dogs. Dislikes hollow universe-building. Loves Galaxy Quest and Rickman.
Stances
Nick Fury's cameo derails the movie
Favreau lost The Avengers by making this film
Universe-building should serve story
Humor: Dry, mocking asides with pop-culture comparisons.
A Marvel and Hulk comics reader (Rick Jones, Peter David, Greg Pak) who loves Ang Lee's Hulk and trusts Tim Roth as the only good performance; hates bad CGI and generic Europa Corp action.
Stances
This film is the worst early MCU entry
Marvel quality control is fast food
Unleashed is the best Europa Corp film
Humor: Blunt put-downs and long, detailed story retellings, such as the Electro origin.
In their words
“Rick, you know, man, you got to read your 60s Marvel.” (0:17:51)
“Unleashed is my favorite of the Europa.” (0:11:09)
Pro-Iron Man, loves Downey's improvisational energy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges' performances, and the Marvel comics of the 60s; dislikes Terrence Howard and generic Marvel scores. Cares about industry business details.
Stances
Iron Man is the best of the early Marvel films
Bridges is underrated as a Marvel villain
Hulk and later Marvel films feel generic
Humor: Self-deprecating New York landlord and apartment bits, deadpan Bill Maher mock-defense.
Attributions to David are low confidence because the transcript has no speaker labels. He argues about Nicholson's box office record, tracks the Oscar races of the era, and has a Transformers opinion (3 is a masterpiece, per a speaker who may be him). He is skeptical of Haunted Mansion.
Stances
Nicholson was not guaranteed money in the bank before this film (speaker uncertain)
Early-2000s Oscar races were set pieces worth remembering (speaker uncertain)
Humor: Dry corrections and numbers, plus a playful challenge to the guest's choices.
In their words
“Well, I'm going to dispute you on Jack being money in the bank.” (0:03:28)
“it did open to 16000000 and finished at 124” (1:52:03)
Box-office and awards nerd; loves Michelle Yeoh and the craft of fight choreography; is dismissive of Rush Hour as a boring sweaty cop movie and of Gladiator winning. A sucker for trivia and Oscar-night lore.
Stances
CTHD's release was a careful balancing of global audiences
Oscar race lore matters
Gladiator winning was weird
Humor: Dry, precise, and deadpan fact-bombs that undercut sillier riffs.
In their words
“Rush hour 2 is still the 4th biggest opening in August.” (0:46:50)
“Rush Hour is kind of a boring, sweaty cop movie.” (0:47:12)
Defends Hulk, owns Ice Storm on DVD and Criterion, and likes facts, production history and box-office context. Skeptical of easy characterization such as Weaver's.
Stances
Ice Storm gets cold weather as Do the Right Thing gets hot weather
Weaver's role feels easy; Lee's film is not about a craze
Reads out box-office top five in the closing game
Humor: Deadpan quiz-master and wry riffs on casting and careers.
In their words
“I think this movie gets cold weather as right as do the right thing gets hot weather.” (0:10:53)
“I mean, this podcast is just an excuse for me to buy Blu-rays.” (0:36:45)
Adores Richard Jenkins and critic-style takes; reads Blue Steel as a Bigelow B-picture that unifies her style. Loves a good box-office trivia quiz. Sucker for actor-career arcs.
Stances
Blue Steel is better than Point Break
Jenkins's entrance shifts the film into a representational register
Went in with the Spanish original in his head and thinks Vanilla Sky is essentially a remake of it with American excess added. Likes the genre-inflected last act more than the first half but rates the whole C plus. Sucker for British film magazine nostalgia.
Stances
The film is a remake of Abre los ojos with added Crowe preciousness
C plus, three out of five
Wants the sci-fi explained earlier
Humor: Dry, nitpicky, pushes catchphrase bits like 'island woman' and 'blowjob lady'.
In their words
“Yeah, C plus.” (1:55:12)
“I was a dedicated empire magazine reader.” (0:27:30)
“I think this movie's problem is it doesn't introduce it earlier enough.” (1:37:39)
Attribution is low-confidence. One host insists films should stand on their own merits, hates behind-the-scenes theorizing and complaining nerds, and is a fan of Admiral Piett. Likes the first 40 minutes at Jabba's palace; critical of Leia's handling and the Yoda deathbed scene.
Stances
Films should stand on their own merits
Don't read behind-the-scenes lore into the movie
The Jabba sequence is the best part; the Ewoks overstay
Humor: Dry deflation of the other host's rants and Empire workplace-comedy pitches.
In their words
“I think films should stand on their own merits.” (0:32:22)
“I hate nerds and they're always complaining.” (0:30:51)
Their shows' recurring bits
Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.
The Big Picture
Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.
Blank Check with Griffin & David
The box office game: Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against.
The sung theme: "Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it.
Their claims
Showing 601–700 of 1,091 claims.
lineage (adaptation):
Red Alert (novel) → Dr. Strangelove.
The speaker says Dr. Strangelove is based on Peter George's serious nuclear thriller Red Alert.
“so he scoops up this book called Red Alert, which is, of course, what Dr. Strangelove is based on by Peter George that is a serious nuclear thriller.”
unmapped (how Southern was brought in):
Terry Southern → Peter Sellers.
Sellers had given Kubrick a copy of The Magic Christian, which is how Terry Southern got involved.
“Sellers is the one who gets Southern involved because Sellers had given Kubrick a copy of the Magic Christian, Harry Southern.”
lineage (comedic influence):
Dr. Strangelove → Zucker Brothers.
Speaker had a breakthrough that Strangelove must have been a big influence on the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams.
“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.”
what-if (what-if casting):
Gene Kelly → Sterling Hayden.
Kubrick's first choice for Ripper was Gene Kelly; when Kelly was not available he cast Scott, who asked for Turgidson, and then brought in Hayden.
“He wanted Gene Kelly when he doesn't get Gene Kelly. He casts George C. Scott and George C. Scott then was like, I want to play Buck Turgison instead.”
people (collaborator warmth):
Stanley Kubrick → David Fincher.
Speaker says the warmth of Kubrick's collaborators reminds him of Fincher's collaborators.
theme (similar premise):
Dr. Strangelove → Seven Days in May.
Seven Days in May is a serious political thriller with a similar vibe about the military clashing with the president.
“It's another political thriller with kind of a similar vibe, but it's serious,”
lineage (adaptation):
Arthur Schnitzler → Eyes Wide Shut.
Kubrick turned Schnitzler's Dream Story into Eyes Wide Shut 30 plus years later (per the dossier).
“the Arthur Schnitzler book that he's going to turn into Eyes Wide Shut 30 plus years later.”
theme (theme):
Blackadder (TV) → Paths of Glory.
Growing up on Blackadder, the speaker finds some childlike charm in trench life and felt guilty thinking it during Paths of Glory.
“I was kind of thinking that while watching this, which immediately was a thought I felt very guilty for.”
theme (theme):
Paths of Glory → Dr. Strangelove.
Strangelove pushes the same absurdity far enough for jokes, so the two films are more closely linked than the speaker had thought.
“Like Doctor Strangelove pushes it into a level of absurdity where you can actually have jokes.”
lineage (lineage):
Paths of Glory → Dr. Strangelove.
Strangelove is the nearest thing Kubrick made to Paths of Glory afterward, both being people talking through absurdity.
“the closest thing he's made to this since this is Strangelove, because Strangelove is also people talking through absurdity by and large”
lineage (lineage):
Stanley Kubrick → Fear and Desire.
Kubrick's four explicit war movies are Strangelove, Fear and Desire, Full Metal Jacket and Paths of Glory.
“This strange love, fear and desire, and full metal jacket.”
career (career):
Kirk Douglas → The Bad and the Beautiful.
Douglas in this era is a harder-edged man out of time, as in The Bad and the Beautiful or Ace in the Hole.
“Like when you see him in things like this or the bad and the beautiful or ace in the hole or whatever, you're like, this is, there's no one like this in the 50s, right?”
career (career):
Kirk Douglas → Stanley Kubrick.
Kubrick assumed what a Kirk Douglas movie should be; Douglas wanted to use his stardom to make other kinds of movies.
“And Kirk Douglas was like, I don't want to make Kirk Douglas movies.”
contrast (contrast):
Paths of Glory → All Quiet on the Western Front.
The only plausible rival as the great World War I film; All Quiet is a pre-code, unsanitized, unjingoistic picture.
programming (programming):
Paths of Glory → The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Box office game: Kwai, the 1957 Best Picture winner, was number one the week Paths of Glory went wide.
“number one at the box office, the week, the paths of glory goes wide, is the best picture winner of 1957”
programming (programming):
The Brothers Karamazov → Yul Brynner.
Box office number two; the speaker thinks it was made because Brynner is a Russian star.
“one reason that this movie is getting made is that the star is a Russian.”
lineage (legal sequel):
The Detective → Die Hard.
Sinatra's rights deal on The Detective gave him first refusal on follow-ups, so Die Hard had to be offered to him.
“something in the deal for when Sinatra had bought the rights to the detective, gave him right of 1st refusal on any of the follow-ups”
craft (documentary style):
The Killing → Day of the Fight.
The racetrack footage reminds the speaker of Day of the Fight and Kubrick's Look magazine work.
“It reminds me of, you know, a lot of Kubrick stuff like Day of the Fight”
people (collaboration conflict):
Stanley Kubrick → Lucien Ballard.
Kubrick and Ballard fought over lenses and the racetrack footage; Kubrick won the wide lens fight.
“so much of the stuff from the set of this movie is him fighting with Lucien Ballard over lens sizes”
verdict (verdict):
The Lego Batman Movie → Batman Returns.
David's two favorite live-action Batman films are Returns and Begins; Griffin calls Lego Batman the best Batman movie period.
“Which have always been my 2 favorite live action Batman movies.”
lineage (lineage):
The Lego Batman Movie → The Lego Movie.
The Lego Movie is where the earnest-Batman bit started, and the hosts doubted it could sustain a whole movie.
“It's the thing that the Lego movie lashes onto, but you felt unsustainable for a whole movie.”
craft (craft):
The Batman → The Lego Batman Movie.
Pattinson's eye treatment is the smartest live-action answer to the expressive-mask problem the Lego movie solves.
“No, the thing they do with Patinson is probably the smartest.”
craft (craft):
The Lego Batman Movie → Birds of Prey.
The Joker's funhouse set, color palette, bright lights and self-aware humor recall Birds of Prey.
“I even think, like, the color palette and the use of, like, bright lights and shit.”
career (career):
Ellie Kemper → Bridesmaids.
Kemper should have gotten a vehicle after Bridesmaids; she is a casualty of the mid-budget comedy collapse.
“for me, a perfect example of the bottom falling out on, uh, mid-budget comedy films, where it's like she should have been the next person to get a vehicle after bridesmaids”
theme (theme):
The Lego Batman Movie → Batman Begins.
The pit-and-rope lesson in Batman Begins is the one other time Batman learns anything about himself.
career (career):
Jason Reitman → Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Reitman, who always said he was different from his father, ended up running a franchise with a PowerPoint press conference.
“now not only did he have to do the franchise that he always said he didn't want to do”
lineage (lineage):
Wes Anderson → Francois Truffaut.
Speaker lists Truffaut among the director's (transcribed Western's) biggest influences while joking about Moonrise Kingdom.
verdict (verdict):
Old Dogs → Room.
A speaker finds Old Dogs more fascinating than The Room, Neil Breen movies or Manos because it was made by seasoned professionals.
“I find this movie more fascinating than like the room or any Neil Breen movie or like Manos the Hands of Fire. Because everyone's been doing this for decades.”
career (career):
Lorenzo Semple Jr. → The Parallax View.
Semple wrote Batman and later serious 70s thrillers like Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor.
“He wrote a lot of, you know, good 70s thrillers and stuff, but he's the main guy here.”
lineage (lineage):
The Batman → Batman (1943 serial).
A New York screening of the 1943 Lewis Wilson serial caused bat fever and led Fox to greenlight the movie.
“someone screened that in New York City and it was such a phenomenon.”
programming (programming):
The Batman → Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
The humor peaks with the first film and declines across the series; Phantasm and Lego Batman are partial exceptions.
“humor peaks with the 1st one, just decline, basically.”
lineage (lineage):
The Batman → The Dark Knight Rises.
The ocean bomb-disposal sequence is thought to be directly referenced in the final act of Dark Knight Rises.
“this sequence, a lot of people think, is directly referenced by the final act of Dark Knight Rises.”
verdict (verdict):
The Lego Batman Movie → The Batman.
One movie has the best Robin and the only real angle on the Batman-Robin relationship (probably Lego Batman; title not said).
“Because it also is the one movie that I think actually has an angle on what is this relationship?”
lineage (lineage):
The Batman → Zucker Brothers.
The film's stacked visual gags (a joke in the foreground and another behind) are the Zucker Brothers style.
“And very Zucker Brothers, the like, Drebin can be saying something, but there's an additional gag behind him.”
fun, about
Doctor Sleep (title):
The title comes from Danny's humane way of easing people dying in a hospice, a minor thread; some say it should have been Shining 2.
“It's funny that the title of the movie comes from like his very humane way of helping people be at ease before they die, a very sort of minor plot thread.”
fun, about
A Clockwork Orange:
Kubrick pulled the film from Britain a year after release and it stayed out until his death; it was banned in Ireland until 1999.
fun, about
A Clockwork Orange:
McDowell scratched his cornea during the eyedrop scenes and the numbing wore off in the car; a speed bump felt like a razor blade.
fun, about
Dr. Strangelove:
The release was delayed by the Kennedy assassination; a speaker also notes the President is the last reasonable president in an American satire, because Kennedy was in office.
“this movie was delayed because of the assassination of Kennedy.”
fun, about
Terry Southern:
Sellers gave Kubrick The Magic Christian, which brought Southern in; the dossier read is that Kubrick wrote it, George inspired it, and Southern made it funny.
“JJ's read on the screenplay, though, is that it's Dubrick wrote it.”
fun, about
Dr. Strangelove:
The first page of the screenplay says the story will be played for realistic comedy and the acting will never be so-called comedy acting.
“The 1st page of the screenplay says, the story will be played for realistic comedy”
fun, about
Gene Kelly:
The original plan for Jack D. Ripper was Gene Kelly. Kubrick then cast George C. Scott, who asked to play Turgidson instead, and brought in Sterling Hayden.
“You know who the original plan was to cast for Jack D. Ripper, the Sterling Hayden Row?”
fun, about
James Earl Jones:
Jones had a big role questioning the mission; Kubrick decided he did not want the protesting crew member to be a Black actor and cut it. Jones told him he took the part for the cut material.
“eventually Kubrick decided he didn't want the guy protesting to be a black guy and cuts everything out.”
fun, about
Dr. Strangelove:
Kubrick wrote down about thirty alternate titles, including Wonderful Bomb, Dr. Doomsday, and Dr. Strangelove's Secret Uses of Uranus.
“The weird one is Dr. Strangelove's secret uses of Uranus.”
fun, about
Kirk Douglas:
In Munich the rewritten script had a happy ending; Douglas threatened to walk. Kubrick calmly said he wanted a commercial hit.
fun, about
Kola Kwariani (Nick the Wrestler):
A former wrestler Kubrick met through chess circles, he died at 77 after fighting five teenagers outside his chess club.
“He was 76 years old and he was leaving his regular chess club where he played and he was jumped by 5 teenagers”
fun, about
Fear and Desire:
The poster sells a 'half animal girl' with an illustration of a kissed neck, making the war movie look supernatural.
“An illustration of, uh, Paul Mizurski kissing her neck that makes it look consensual, and says, fear and desire, trapped for desperate man, and a strange half animal girl.”
fun, about
Alien: Covenant:
Originally titled Alien: Paradise Lost; Damon Lindelof was going to write it before bailing, then John Logan, with a first script by the Transcendence writer and a Michael Green rewrite.
“Initially, it was going to be called Alien Paradise Lost.”
fun, about
Ridley Scott:
Scott gave interviews saying there would be no aliens or xenomorphs, then reversed; the hosts wonder if it was him or the studio telling him to put aliens in.
“initially Scott was giving these interviews where he was like, there won't be aliens”
fun, about
Alien: Covenant:
The online prologue with James Franco and Noomi Rapace is not in the film; the initial cut ran about 2.5 hours and Scott trimmed the franchise stuff.
“it was this thing with James Franco, who is not in this movie, although you see him in like photos.”
fun, about
Ron Perlman:
The basketball shot: Weaver actually sank it over her shoulder on a quick take and Perlman's reaction is real; no visual effects.
fun, about
Sigourney Weaver:
Weaver would not let toys be made with guns for years; Resurrection was the only time, and no collector figure for 15 years after.
“one of the key reasons was because she didn't want her action figures coming with guns.”
fun, about
You've Got Mail:
The box office for December 18, 1998: You've Got Mail at number one, ahead of Prince of Egypt, A Bug's Life, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Jack Frost.
“So number one, though, it's you've got mail, $18 million.”
fun, about
Jack Frost:
The animatronic Jack Frost snowman was built from the likeness of George Clooney, who dropped out late; Michael Keaton replaced him.
“But they built it off of the likeness of the actor who was supposed to play the title role who dropped out very late.”