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 1–100 of 1,091 claims.
unmapped (controversy):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Kundun.
Kundun, via Chinese government anger, is offered as a rival for Scorsese's most controversial film.
“If you're going by pure numbers, I guess you could go for Kundu”
unmapped (controversy):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Benedetta.
Protest against Benedetta was six nuns, showing religious outrage has faded since Last Temptation.
“it kind of shows that they just can't be bothered anymore.”
lineage (origin of project):
Barbara Hershey → The Last Temptation of Christ.
Hershey also planted the book in Scorsese's head and told him to let her audition as Mary Magdalene.
theme (shared locations):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Ishtar.
Per Miriam Bale, it shares many Moroccan locations with Ishtar, shot around the same time.
“Yes, it shares a lot of locations with Ishtar, which was made around the same time.”
industry (business deal):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Cape Fear.
Universal's deal to make Last Temptation obliged a bigger film later, resulting in the Spielberg swap and Cape Fear.
“it gets fear is a direct result of his deal with Universal for this month.”
industry (Oscar oddity list):
The Last Temptation of Christ → Satyricon.
Collider's list of films with a lone director nomination includes Satyricon and Last Temptation.
lineage (legacy-sequel precedent):
The Color of Money → Return to Oz.
Reddit consensus calls Color of Money the first legacy sequel, with Return to Oz as a debated earlier candidate dismissed as too weird.
“Uh, color money is generally agreed to on to be the 1st legacy sequel. Some people are like, does return to Oz count?”
career (career pivot):
The Color of Money → After Hours.
After Last Temptation failed in the early 80s, Scorsese made cheap After Hours to prove he could finish something, then took Color of Money.
“Uh, it fails and so he makes after hours as a sort of pivot out of that of like, I'll just do something.”
lineage (legacy-sequel heirs):
The Color of Money → Top Gun: Maverick.
Gap-based legacy sequels like Top Gun Maverick, Tron Legacy and Blade Runner follow the template Color of Money invented, though in 1986 sequels were derided.
“now we get more and more like your your Tron legacies and your Top Gun Mavericks, where it's just casually... 37, 40 years later”
industry (box office rival):
The Color of Money → Crocodile Dundee.
Color of Money opened number two in October 1986; Crocodile Dundee was the year's number one hit.
“Number one at the box office. is a film we've covered, one of the biggest hits of 1986.”
career (career arc):
Addicted to Love → Election.
Broderick's 90s search for a new persona (Godzilla, Inspector Gadget, Addicted to Love) ends when Election cracks it.
“And then election is how he like closes out the decade where he's like, you fucking cracked it.”
verdict (rewatch-frequency / favorites):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → Jerry Maguire.
David lists Master and Commander among favorites seen many times, like Jerry Maguire (40 times), versus Late Spring, which he rates among the greatest but has seen 2-3 times.
“It's sort of like Jerry Maguire, I've seen 40 times. Master and commander have seen it many, many, many, many.”
theme (shared-motif):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → The Truman Show.
Asked how the studio sold a Weir boat movie, the hosts note the poster could not say 'from the director of The Truman Show' but both films have sailing scenes.
industry (dad-movie / theatrical-vs-streaming):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → Greyhound.
Greyhound, a naval Tom Hanks movie meant for theaters, went to Apple TV because of COVID, showing the dad audience now lives on streaming, unlike when this film got a major-studio release.
“the number one movie in the history of Apple Plus is Tom Hanks's Greyhound, which was meant to be a theatrical movie.”
verdict (teen-favorites-that-year):
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World → Elephant.
David's favorite movies at 17 in 2003 included Elephant and All the Real Girls, alongside Lord of the Rings, X2, 28 Days Later and Kill Bill; Master and Commander was liked but grew over time.
“My favorite movies of that year were elephant, which was a big movie for me then.”
lineage (marriage / origin):
Paul Bettany → Jennifer Connelly.
Bettany and Connelly met on A Beautiful Mind where his character is imaginary and shares no scenes with her; after 9/11 he called her and they married about six months later.
people (casting-ideal):
Russell Crowe → Richard Burton.
Weir's ideal Aubrey would have been Richard Burton; Crowe is the closest you get in 2000, and Hodgman says Burton lacks Crowe's humor.
“Weir says his ideal choice would have been Richard Burton. Unfortunately, he was very dead.”
unmapped (star-type):
Russell Crowe → Ben-Hur.
Quoting Lex G on Ben-Hur's Charlton Heston who could be larger than life yet steady, they say Crowe is the one modern guy who can do that.
“no one can hold a movie like this and sort of know how to be larger than life, but also just steady at the center.”
unmapped (only-guy-who-can):
Russell Crowe → Exodus: Gods and Kings.
When someone else, even a proven actor like Christian Bale, tries the big-epic role, audiences don't buy it; Crowe is the one who can pull it off.
“when they try to put someone else into this, even when it is a proven actor, like you get fucking Exodus gods and kings with Christian Bale is Moses and everyone's like not buying it.”
people (actor-other-work / career-trajectory):
Billy Boyd → The Lord of the Rings.
Dominic Monaghan said that while Billy Boyd was off on this ship of the line, his own career stalled after the LOTR films, then flipped.
“I have this like double act with Boyd. We make these 3 movies together. And then I couldn't book a gig for 2 years.”
people (cinematographer-return):
Russell Boyd → Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Boyd shot Picnic, Last Wave, Gallipoli and Year of Living Dangerously for Weir; he and Weir reunited by chance on an airplane for this film.
“Peter Weir made his 1st 4 films or no, 4 of his early films, though, with Russell Boyd, picnic, uh, wave, Gallipoli dangerously.”
career (career):
John Steele → Russell Boyd.
Weir used John Steele, Boyd's assistant on some of the earlier films, as his cinematographer before Boyd came back for this film.
“It's just like he started using John Steele, who was the assistant on some of the earlier stuff, and then the, you know, he went to Hollywood.”
unmapped (shared-technology):
Titanic → White Squall.
Ridley Scott made 1492 and White Squall in a Gibraltar tank, but it had fallen into disrepair, which is why Cameron's tank mattered.
“Scott had made both 1492 and White Squall, I think, in a tank in Gibraltar, but that tank was in disrepair.”
“I can tell you, according to Nathan McGillis, McGinnis from Asylum, another VFX company. There's not one piece of ocean in that storm sequence that isn't real.”
“Peter Weir, Wolfgang Peterson. Rob Reiner, Jonathan Demi, the great bad Brad Silverling, director of your favorite Casper, participate in a creative bake off”
verdict (tangent-from-review):
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home → Star Trek (franchise, generally).
Prompted by the review's Star Trek comparison, the hosts digress on Star Trek IV: Scotty talking into the Mac mouse, Chekov's 'nuclear wessels', and its box-office spike as the one entry needing no prior viewing. (No Wrath of Khan is mentioned in the episode.)
“it is fascinating to look at the box office spike on 4 because it was the one movie where they could just market it and be like, you don't need to have seen any fucking Star Trek.”
career (career guarantor):
The Year of Living Dangerously → Witness.
Year of Living Dangerously got Weir into Hollywood; Witness is the guarantor of his Hollywood run.
“I think witness is the guarantor for the next... for the Hollywood story.”
industry (awards competition):
Fearless → Schindler's List.
Fearless lost heat to that year's heavy hitters Schindler's List, The Piano and The Fugitive.
contrast (contrast):
Fearless → Flight.
Both are post-crash aftermath movies, but Fearless is in conversation with the intangible while Flight resolves into two pre-set systems (sobriety and faith).
“Whereas I'm like, this movie is spiritual because it's in conversation with the intangible.”
career (career):
Rosie Perez → In Living Color.
Perez came to acting from choreographing the Fly Girls on In Living Color; Do the Right Thing was her first movie.
“she's, of course, a Flygirl choreographer on a living color, right?”
unmapped (screen presence):
Benicio del Toro → The Usual Suspects.
In the 90s del Toro was almost too interesting, like a Philip Glass score in a movie.
“Like, you know, especially things like usual suspects is he is like a Philip Glass score in a movie where you're just like, he's almost too interesting.”
people (cinematography):
Fearless → Allen Daviau.
Daviau, fresh off Spielberg films, shot Fearless; the first American DP Blank Check covered with Weir.
“Alan Davio shot this film, who, of course, the 1st American cinematographer that we had worked with.”
craft (craft):
Peter Weir → John Seale.
Before Fearless, Weir mostly kept his Australian above-the-line crew such as John Seale; Allen Daviau was the first American cinematographer the show covered with him.
“He mostly kept his, like, above the line, Australian, John, John Seal, and guys like that.”
craft (craft):
Fearless → Allen Daviau.
The speaker praises how Fearless looks, a film about absorbing textures and the feeling in the air, tied to Daviau shooting it.
“this film looks incredible and this is a movie that needs to just look good because it's so much about like absorbing textures of things and and the space and the feeling in the air”
“They had to overdub him swearing because they didn't want it to if they wanted to be able to say he's still like he is not sullied by the swear words.”
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?”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”
Blank Check — Patreon ·
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.”