Zach Cregger

1 sketch, 9 claims, and 7 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Blank Check with Griffin & David: Fargo with Zach Cregger (guest)

Reveres Fargo as quite arguably his favorite film (coin toss with Boogie Nights), loved from his high-school years; loves the Coens' comedy-in-dread tone, their location-driven shooting, Carter Burwell's ominous score, and the Mike Yanagita scene. Can't embrace the Dark Marge theory. Likes a fucked-up cop, loved the first Hellraiser, prefers to go into movies blind without trailers.

Stances

  • Fargo is the near-perfect Coen film but the Hudsucker Proxy and The Ladykillers are the two Coens he doesn't fully connect with
  • Marge is not dark; the Yanagita scene is a masterpiece of layered tone
  • Prefers to enter a movie blind; protective of a film's 'pure' state before release
  • The criminals' stupidity is the engine of the comedy

Humor: Self-deprecating and swearing-fluent, he delights in pointing out the characters' absurd incompetence and answers praise with deflection.

In their words

  • “I wanted Fargo because this is this is quite, quite arguably my favorite movie of all time.” (0:13:04)
  • “I don't think she's dark.” (0:30:01)
  • “In weapons, the 1st line of the movie is this is a true story.” (0:48:07)
  • “you know, I like a fucked up cop.” (2:29:10)

Their shows' recurring bits

Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.

Blank Check with Griffin & David

Their claims

Showing 1–9 of 9 claims.

  1. unmapped (quotability): Fargo → The Big Lebowski. Zach says every line in Fargo is quotable the way every line in Lebowski is.
    “Every line in this is a quotable line. kind of like Big Lebowski has that.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:02:35 · Zach Cregger (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. verdict (favorite pairing): Fargo → Boogie Nights. Zach's favorite-movie coin toss is Fargo versus Boogie Nights, a year apart, from his formative film-buff years.
    “It would be like a coin toss between this and boogie nights.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:14:31 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): Carter Burwell → Fargo. Cregger says the Paul Bunyan statue shot is lit and scored like the scariest thing you have ever seen, with Burwell's score.
    “they light it and shoot it like the scariest fucking thing you've ever seen. With the fucking Carter Burwell score”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:34:16 · Zach Cregger (0.70 sure it was them)
  4. craft (craft): Carter Burwell → Fargo. Burwell's score plays the dread straight and never acknowledges the film's zaniness, its most playful moment being the break-in buildup.
    “this movie, with all of the zaniness that's definitely in here. His score never really acknowledges any of it.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:34:54 · Zach Cregger (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (true-story opening): Weapons → Fargo. Zach says Weapons opens with a 'this is a true story' line, in the manner of Fargo's title card.
    “In weapons, the 1st line of the movie is this is a true story.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:48:07 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  6. people (actor against type): William H. Macy → Jurassic Park III. In Jurassic Park III the pathetic drip was jettisoned from Macy's character.
    “they've jettisoned all pathetic drip out of, out of his character in that.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 1:19:09 · Zach Cregger (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. unmapped (voyeuristic framing): Fargo → Taxi Driver. The shot of Jerry rehearsing his phone call from the hallway is likened to Taxi Driver's payphone scene.
    “It's like the fucking taxi driver, uh, payphone scene.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 1:41:36 · Zach Cregger (0.40 sure it was them)
  8. unmapped (cops compared): Weapons → Fargo. Weapons' cop is less nice than Marge; Zach likes a fucked-up cop (cf. Bad Lieutenant).
    “you know, I like a fucked up cop.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 2:29:10 · Zach Cregger (0.80 sure it was them)
  9. lineage (sequel): Hellraiser: Bloodline → Hellraiser. Bloodline's director was fired midway; Zach loves the first Hellraiser.
    “I love the 1st one.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 2:46:24 · Zach Cregger (0.80 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–7 of 7 fun items.

  1. fun, about Fargo / transitions: Zach, who has seen Fargo a thousand times, fixated on the dissolve-and-fade into Mike Yanagita's call and wondered if the Coens hedged their bets in case the Yanagita storyline got cut. The hosts say they had the same impulse.
    “I wonder if they were hedging their bets that maybe they would cut the Mikey Anagita out?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:03:58 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Zach Cregger: Cregger and Leslye Headland both wanted Fargo; he got it and the hosts got him for the Coens miniseries (Headland had No Country offered). He calls it quite arguably his favorite movie of all time.
    “I wanted Fargo because this is this is quite, quite arguably my favorite movie of all time.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:13:04 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about St. George Hotel: Zach's freshman dorm was the Brooklyn St. George Hotel, where 90-year-old rent-controlled tenants walked through the pot smoke. A host adds the Godfather basement and Big scenes were shot there.
    “So we'd be like drinking 40s and smoking blunts in the hallway. And then a 90 year old would get off the elevator and walk sadly through the pot smoke”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:16:39 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Paul Bunyan shot: Zach says the underlit Paul Bunyan statue shot sums up the Coens: joyful object shot like the scariest thing, set to Burwell's ominous score.
    “they light it and shoot it like the scariest fucking thing you've ever seen.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:34:16 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Zach on the crooks: Zach marvels at the criminals' incompetence: Carl never swapped the plates on the stolen car, then smashes a plate-glass door louder than a gunshot with neighbors in view.
    “it's just crazy how much these guys suck at what they're here to do.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 0:37:18 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Bruce Campbell: The soap opera on TV during the kidnapping is a real Bruce Campbell soap that the production licensed, which is why it sounds authentic.
    “Did you guys notice that it's Bruce Campbell in the soap opera?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 1:34:46 · Zach Cregger (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Zach Cregger / Weapons: Cregger says Weapons matches the movie in his head, but release is like sending your kid to first day of school; he'll be shooting in Europe during release.
    “you got to like send your kid to the 1st day of school and hope no one's mean to it”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fargo with Zach Cregger · 2:50:55 · Zach Cregger (0.90 sure it was them)