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 701–800 of 1,091 claims.
theme (theme):
Batman Returns → The Batman.
Villains scheming together in Batman Returns and Schumacher films echoes the 1966 team-up, but those feel forced.
industry (industry):
Batman (TV series, 1966-68) → The Simpsons.
The Radioactive Man parody mirrors the fate of old Batman actors doing car-dealership appearances in costume.
“that's the kind of thing that the Simpsons parodies, right?”
contrast (contrast):
Alan Napier → Michael Caine.
1966 Alfred is a natty gentleman, while Nolan's Caine is quietly ex-service and later Alfreds are brawlers.
“Again, I think the Nolan movies handle it perfectly”
contrast (contrast):
The Batman → The Batman.
Burton made the Penguin literally half-penguin with flipper arms, versus the original gangster in a suit.
“That's what Burton's like, no, this guy has like flipper arms, right?”
programming (programming):
Batman (franchise) → The Batman.
Reeves' film was well reviewed enough that DC may do more of it, the hosts hoping for fun elsewhere.
people (people):
Sylvester Stallone → Burgess Meredith.
Stallone reportedly called Meredith one of the all-time great stick men, a story relayed via Rapaport.
career (career):
David Slade → Hard Candy.
Slade was hired for Eclipse because of his stylized horror/action work on Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night.
“had done hard candy and 500 days of night.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Eclipse ·
0:07:34 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
career (career):
David Slade → Hannibal.
Slade's TV work after Eclipse, called his best contribution to the culture, includes the Hannibal pilot.
“his best contribution to the culture was uh, uh, the, the Hannibal episodes.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Eclipse ·
0:07:55 ·
David Sims
(0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast):
Howard Shore → Carter Burwell.
Eclipse is scored by Howard Shore, which surprises a speaker who thought Carter Burwell scored all the Twilight films.
“Oh, Howard Short did the score for this one. You know, I thought Burwell did the score for all of, but no, he comes back later, I guess.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
Eclipse ·
1:47:48 ·
David Sims
(0.30 sure it was them)
programming (programming):
Karyn Kusama → Jane Campion.
Sweet 16 matchup; Campion may have won round 1 because voters thought she had the best shot at Kusama.
“a lot of people voted for Campion over the archers because they thought she had the best chance to beat Kusama.”
programming (programming):
Richard Linklater → Ernest Dickerson.
Ben dropped Linklater from his eight for being less Ben than DeVito, Spheeris, Dickerson.
“DeVito and Sphereus, Dickerson, like all these people have to be represented by you.”
what-if (what-if):
Damon Lindelof → Alien: Covenant.
Lindelof was first going to write it, then went back to TV after audiences were angry at his screenplays.
“Lindeloff was going to write it and then I think would just sort of was like, you know what?”
what-if (what-if):
Peter Jackson → Alien Resurrection.
Peter Jackson was also asked and was not pumped; Alien 3's failure made the job a poison chalice.
what-if (what-if):
Bryan Singer → Alien Resurrection.
Brian Singer, director of The Usual Suspects, turned the job down, so Jeunet was not the top choice.
“So then they approach Brian Singer, director of the usual suspects.”
industry (industry):
Joss Whedon → Alien Resurrection.
Whedon wrote a big epic ending on Earth and the studio planned to split it into two movies with an Alien 5 on Earth.
theme (theme):
Alien Resurrection → Aliens.
Seeing Ripley cloned and cut open feels as cruel as Hicks and Newt dying off-screen at the start of the previous sequel.
“this is the moment where I feel the way people describe the anger of Hicks and Newt getting killed at the beginning of alien cube.”
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.”