Bill Simmons

51 sketches, 1,295 claims, and 677 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–20 of 51 sketches.

The Rewatchables: ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Loves the Friday series as a communal, rental-era memory and tells childhood stories about the ads and theaters. Likes casting what-ifs and sports analogies for everything. Skeptical of horror at Christmas and of anything that wastes the premise.

Stances

  • Friday the 13th is not the best entry but the origin story had to be told
  • Friday 2 is a leap over the original

Humor: Digressive, sports-analogy heavy, and self-teasing about his office and Rewatchables running gags.

In their words

  • “There was 2 commercials, spring, summer, 1980 that scared the fuck out of me.” (0:07:38)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan (host)

Loves Halloween and the 1970s; admires the film's craft and rewatchability, especially Leatherface's unintentional comedy. Hates Franklin, hitchhikers, and unlikely logistics. Uses sports and pop-culture analogies for everything.

Stances

  • The film is a rewatchable, not just a great movie
  • Leatherface is the hilarious favorite slasher
  • The hitchhiker is scarier than Leatherface
  • Hooper won the movie

Humor: Runs sports, NFL and podcast-world analogies and mock-outrage bits against Craig and the staff.

In their words

  • “I think it is a rewatchable, but I'm willing to hear the other side of it” (0:01:29)
  • “This guy is scarier than Leatherface.” (0:33:36)

The Rewatchables: ‘Domestic Disturbance’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Loves from-hell thrillers and movies that are fun to talk about even when they fail; a Boston guy who remembers where he saw things (Zoolander two weeks after 9/11). Can't stand a movie that wastes a good premise. A sucker for hoops details and stars' career arcs.

Stances

  • Domestic Disturbance is bad but a rewatchable good-bad movie
  • Vaughn and Travolta are mismatched to their roles
  • Cut footage and PG-13 killed the movie

Humor: Dry, trivia-heavy, with self-mockery about his own research and notes.

In their words

  • “I'm so relieved that this is how you're framing it.” (0:03:10)
  • “I saw Zoolander in the theater in Boston.” (0:11:47)

The Rewatchables: A CR Month Mailbag! (host)

Loves ranking, tallies and lists (Pantheon, Hall of Fame, Mount Rushmores), and treats the show like a sports franchise with categories as awards. Hates inauthentic, silly-looking athletics and bad stinkers, and has always disliked narration (now conceding). Sucker for Midnight Run, Almost Famous, and sports analogies for everything.

Stances

  • Concedes narration is fine when the movie is good
  • Wants to build a Rewatchables Hall of Fame with plaques
  • Wants to rewatch Midnight Run
  • Treats the cell-phone conspiracy as plausible

Humor: Self-deprecating bits about his own mispronunciations and sports-metaphor overreach.

In their words

  • “Okay, these are all actual emails from actual listeners.” (0:04:36)
  • “I think I'm just wrong.” (0:37:25)
  • “I'm gonna admit defeat.” (0:37:26)

The Rewatchables: ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Loves sports movies, tropes and underdog arcs; loves racing movies more than real racing. Can't stand people who throw cards. Sucker for Pacino speeches, Pitt as an old-school star, and hot takes about better endings.

Stances

  • F1 is the movie of the 2020s on feel
  • Sonny should have crashed and JP won
  • Brad Pitt is above Matt Damon in culture
  • Nobody should throw cards for fun

Humor: Dry listmaker who stages bits and fake categories with deadpan.

In their words

  • “This is a better movie if Sonny crashes.” (0:55:40)
  • “I don't like anybody in real life or in movies that throws cards for fun.” (1:19:45)

The Rewatchables: ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt (host)

Loves 1980s teen comedies and the Hughes run, ranking The Breakfast Club an all timer; lists teen movies by year and tracks careers and what-ifs. Rates the movie fun but is bothered by how Lisa is written and by the age gap in the kiss.

Stances

  • Weird Science is a super fun watch with weird elements you must factor in with the 80s
  • Anthony Michael Hall should have been a bigger star
  • Hottest take: Lisa sucks

Humor: Dry list-making and award names, reading research aloud like a deadpan docket.

In their words

  • “And I mentioned this because I was 15 years old when I saw this movie in the theater.” (0:03:11)
  • “They're both pantheon for me, but breakfast club's an all timer for me.” (1:23:34)
  • “Lisa sucks.” (1:15:07)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Truman Show’ With Bill Simmons, Glen Powell, and Chris Ryan (host)

Loves sprawling statistics and lists (genre-checkbox years, Carrey's run) and a good Oscars grievance. Cannot resist a bit about bars, themed restaurants and sports metaphors. A sucker for the 1990s and for movies that hold up on repeat.

Stances

  • Carrey's 94-2000 run is the best by a comedian
  • 1998 checked every genre box
  • Movies should run about 100 minutes

Humor: Rapid-fire riffs that fold sports and gambling into movie talk.

In their words

  • “Carries the star, obviously, and carries in this heater from 94 to 2000.” (0:27:23)
  • “I think 1998 is in the running for the greatest checking all the boxes movie year we've ever had.” (1:06:05)

The Rewatchables: ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Loves 80s TV that wrecks him (China Beach), cool-guy actors like Madsen, and big dumb 90s movies sold on a single premise. Teased for being a sucker for the Hollywood Hills guy's lifestyle. Dislikes Sil-adjacent logic holes less than he enjoys them.

Stances

  • Species is a great B movie that gets a pass
  • Wants Madsen and Helgenberger to have been a TV duo
  • Would be Robbie in another life

Humor: Deadpan sports-and-pop-culture analogies and self-aware sleaze.

In their words

  • “I fucking love China Beach.” (0:07:15)
  • “Bill, you see yourself as Robbie, huh?” (0:37:46)

The Rewatchables: ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey (host)

Loves 80s and 90s crowd-pleasers, Goodfellas as his favorite movie, and a good Hollywood backstory. Can't stand pot smoke and bike traffic in modern New York, Pee-wee, or Jade. A sucker for actresses who deserved better careers (Arquette, Fiorentino) and sports-brain comparisons.

Stances

  • Fiorentino and Arquette were robbed of better careers
  • 80s Scorsese is the best
  • Warriors is superior to After Hours as a night movie
  • Tom Hanks or Keaton would improve the lead

Humor: Breathless riffs, absurd hypotheticals (kill Reagan for Arquette) and sports analogies.

In their words

  • “I don't know how Linda Fiorentino was never on the Sopranos.” (1:09:50)
  • “Would you have killed Ronald Reagan for Rosanne Arquette?” (0:33:25)

The Rewatchables: ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson (host)

Loves the pop-culture web of the 80s: songs, TV, sports ads and movie stars tied together, and reads Ebert and old press clippings. Will take a bold contrarian stance (Tess may be the villain) and invents award categories. Cannot stand an unexplained plot hole or a premise that ruins itself, but forgives absurdity when the emotion works.

Stances

  • Tess might be the villain; she took Catherine's idea, boyfriend and job
  • The Pointer Sisters' 'I'm So Excited' is secretly the most important pop-culture song

Humor: Runs deadpan bits and invented awards, and teases co-hosts' obsessions.

In their words

  • “is secretly the most important pop culture song of all time.” (1:27:43)
  • “Are we sure Tess isn't the villain of this movie?” (1:59:14)

The Rewatchables: ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Loves Rocky as a cultural phenomenon he lived through in 1976, and the sports-movie recipe it created. Loves the casting what-if games and the running categories. Can't stand slow courtship scenes in 2025 terms. A sucker for Stallone and for lore.

Stances

  • Rocky is one of the most important movies of the last 50 years
  • Rocky was a phenomenon in 1976, comparable to Jaws and Star Wars
  • Stallone wins the movie
  • All the President's Men should have won the Oscar

Humor: Drops running bits (Ebert, hot takes, categories) and teases the others about Boston and doo-wop.

In their words

  • “I saw in Dedham, Massachusetts with my dad.” (0:08:57)
  • “Roger Ebert, our guy.” (0:34:50)
  • “I'm old enough to remember this.” (0:13:11)

The Rewatchables: ‘Friday Night Lights’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin (host)

Loves football, sports movies and the long run of sports books and shows; likes nitpicks and ranking lists. Fond of Billy Bob Thornton and the TV show, with a Grantland-era sense of history. Enjoys odds, lines and fantasy-football talk.

Stances

  • Friday Night Lights is a top-six football movie, behind The Longest Yard
  • Movies where the good guys lose are great for rewatchability
  • Billy Bob should have been the TV Coach Taylor, as a career move
  • Coach Gaines is arguably a bad coach
  • Cruise is too small and not Texan, so Hanks wins

Humor: Banter, tallies and running-bit award names, plus deadpan wagers and career-strategist asides.

In their words

  • “I think Billy Bob should have played the coach in the TV show.” (1:17:08)
  • “I think longest yard is just number one.” (1:39:56)
  • “Coach Gaines, maybe just a bad coach.” (1:04:26)

The Rewatchables: ‘Pulp Fiction’ (Part 2) With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Loves the whole texture of Pulp Fiction and builds the whole show around categories and awards. Cares about specific lines, casting what-ifs, and bits that tie to sports (Paul George, Dion Waiters, NBA draft). Can't stand lazy nitpicks and the weak link of Fabienne's 12 minutes. A sucker for diners, milkshakes, and the lifestyle nostalgia of the movie.

Stances

  • Fabienne's 12 minutes is the weakest part of Pulp Fiction
  • Dump 8 of those minutes for a real Wilson vs Coolidge boxing sequence
  • Vincent Vega is completely incompetent
  • Cruise as Vincent or Butch is the Apex Mountain casting pick

Humor: Runs category gags and sports analogies, and escalates absurd 'unanswerable questions'.

In their words

  • “Well, we have some bonus categories for this one.” (0:02:34)
  • “I will say that for as awesome as this film has so many great shots.” (1:11:22)
  • “I hate to tell Tarantino what to do, who's incredible creative achievement, but if you dump 8 of the 12 minutes with Butch's girlfriend,” (1:36:04)

The Rewatchables: ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

He disliked Twister in 1996 because it felt like the start of the effects-driven blockbuster era but now loves it for the old-school feel of real danger. He is a sucker for summer-calendar history, box office numbers, and a movie you can leave on for three days. He reads casting and career arcs through NBA and NFL analogies.

Stances

  • Twister is underrated and he held it unfairly in 1996
  • Practical effects make the actors feel in actual danger
  • 1996 is the year the summer blockbuster calendar was set
  • Jonas should have had more scenes
  • Disaster movies should be natural disasters and not star the Rock

Humor: Sports analogies for everything, dry running bits, and mock-outrage over the group's picks.

In their words

  • “I watched it twice in the last week.” (0:03:10)
  • “I actually like it more than I've ever liked it in my life.” (0:03:12)
  • “I treated it this time around, like basically tried to recreate the circumstances of an old school rewatchable” (0:10:05)

The Rewatchables: ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’ With Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey (host)

Loves the 90s Myers era (Wayne's World, Axe Murderer) more than the Powers films. A sucker for Heather Graham and Garth-style sidekicks. Dislikes the rap song and the Fat Bastard sleeping bit; wants comedians to stay comedians.

Stances

  • Myers era best in Wayne's World/Axe Murderer
  • Comedians should not go serious
  • Mike Myers won the movie

Humor: Digressive trivia dropper and conspiracy-tangent jokester.

In their words

  • “We never want them to become serious actors.” (0:15:47)
  • “I'm older than you.” (0:04:02)

The Rewatchables: ‘The War of the Roses’ With Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, and Amanda Dobbins (host)

Loves 80s movie-star careers, studio and box-office lore, and Kathleen Turner as a teenage ideal. Cannot stand wasted runtime and the DeVito framing scenes. A sucker for production trivia, deleted scenes and Phil Collins-style what-ifs.

Stances

  • The DeVito framing scenes are the weak link and could be cut
  • Turner is the better performer in the Douglas/Turner combo
  • The dog should have been made into pate
  • Roses is 'hall of fame' evidence that they don't make movies like this anymore

Humor: Dry, list-making and rhetorical, with sports analogies and running-bit category names.

In their words

  • “But man, when I was growing up in the 80s.” (0:08:23)
  • “She was like my platonic ideal for like someday I hope I get to marry somebody like Kathleen Turner.” (0:08:26)
  • “The Danny DeVito scenes, even though there's good wisdom in them” (0:48:09)
  • “I think it's more important that they both actually die than that you know for sure that the dog died.” (1:05:02)

The Rewatchables: ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Bill loves Richard Gere's charisma at full power and a movie that gets more unhinged as it goes. He keeps the categories moving and loves sports analogies and long-ago junket stories. He is a sucker for a villain you end up rooting for, and he is dismissive of Bad Lieutenant for trying too hard.

Stances

  • Gere's Dennis Peck is his best performance
  • He actually wants more dirty-cop movies
  • Bad Lieutenant is not a rewatchable

Humor: Sports-flavored riffs and mock-awards, like the Rick Dalton Award, and impressions.

In their words

  • “I think this is his best performance in a movie.” (0:09:09)
  • “Little like Kenny Pickett on the Steelers.” (0:18:52)
  • “I interviewed Ron Silver at the Ali Junket in 2001.” (0:51:48)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Insider’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Bill loves Pacino's swagger and Any Given Sunday, loves Heat, and treats the Michael Mann signature as a thing he can pick at, calling out the slow-motion ending and score as dated. He is a sports guy who can't let go of the Knicks 'semifinals' line, and he has little patience for stray bad casting like Wings Hauser. He is a sucker for scenery-chewers like Bruce McGill.

Stances

  • Pacino's Any Given Sunday is his favorite Pacino performance other than The Godfather
  • The slow-motion ending is bad and tacky
  • Cigarette smoking in movies makes people look cool
  • Pacino should have smoked in this movie

Humor: Digressive and comic, uses sports analogies (LeBron, Knicks, Dion Waiters) and bits that run on.

In their words

  • “The Inch's speech is all time for me and that movie's terrible and he's carrying it like LeBron carried the 2007 caps.” (0:09:36)
  • “It's just kind of tacky.” (0:51:33)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Big Chill’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey (host)

Loves The Big Chill enough to make it his birthday movie and has seen it more than almost anything. Cares about football-movie accuracy, soundtrack craft and the 80s ensemble dramedy. Can't stand bad touch football scenes and the Oscars' snubs.

Stances

  • The Big Chill is a movie he returns to again and again
  • Touch football in movies is never done right
  • Kasdan's first five years are the greatest screenwriting run

Humor: Runs bits and riffs, jokes about the show's low bar and his own friends.

In their words

  • “Every year on my birthday, we do a movie that I love, and this year we're doing the big chill.” (0:00:58)
  • “I've never been satisfied with the movie touch football scene.” (1:34:03)

The Rewatchables: ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan (host)

Loves quotable, rewatchable movies (Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, Speed), the Sopranos, and craps and sports analogies. Hates narrators generally, but allows this one. Sucker for lists, categories, and made-up channels.

Stances

  • Lessons from the movie are the best part; 'nobody cares' wins
  • Bar-intro scene is a Goodfellas rip
  • Chazz Palminteri won the movie
  • Hasn't seen John Wick 4 yet; will wait for the perfect time

Humor: Runs the format as a bit machine, with channel pitches, rankings, and teasing his co-hosts.

In their words

  • “I hate narrators.” (1:10:32)
  • “I always wanted an all-jail movie channel called Bars, B-A-R-Z.” (1:05:05)

Their shows' recurring bits

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

The Big Picture

The Rewatchables

Their claims

Showing 501–600 of 1,295 claims.

  1. people (people): Dave Krumholtz → Superbad. Krumholtz is in all of these movies.
    “Crumholz is in all of these movies, though.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:48:56 · Bill Simmons (0.35 sure it was them)
  2. people (people): Observe and Report → Seth Rogen. Seth Rogen in Observe and Report is basically doing McBride.
    “that's like basically like Seth Rogan doing McBride in that movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:49:59 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Danny McBride → Halloween. McBride wrote or co-wrote the new Halloween movies and The Exorcist ones.
    “And McBride wrote or co-wrote the Halloween movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:50:04 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. what-if (what-if): Cameron Diaz → This Is the End. Cameron Diaz was to be a celebrity at the party; location moved to New Orleans to save money.
    “And they lost Cameron Diaz as a celebrity camera.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:51:04 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. what-if (what-if): Daniel Radcliffe → This Is the End. Radcliffe turned the film down; supposedly only if he could be in hell with Hitler.
    “They wanted Daniel Radcliffe to be in it, and he turned it down.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:51:13 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. what-if (what-if): Morgan Freeman → This Is the End. Original ending had Morgan Freeman as God in heaven; he declined.
    “They go to heaven and they're greeted by Morgan Freeman.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:51:35 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. unmapped (trivia): Emma Watson → Pineapple Express. The duffel bag Watson takes the water in is the Pineapple Express bag.
    “The bag in which Emma Watson takes the water is the same duffel bag used in Pineapple Express because they had saved some of these crops.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:55:57 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  8. programming (programming): This Is the End → Pineapple Express. Pineapple Express is the pick for best double feature with This Is the End.
    “It's gotta be pineapple.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 1:06:44 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  9. programming (programming): This Is the End → National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Best comedy sequel chat: Christmas Vacation over European Vacation.
    “Christmas vacation maybe.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘This Is the End’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck · 1:07:20 · Bill Simmons (0.35 sure it was them)
  10. unmapped (social hierarchy): The Edge → Lord of the Flies. Bill says the Edge has no new hierarchy in the wilderness, unlike Lord of the Flies.
    “It's not like Lord of the Flies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:06:13 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  11. career (career arc): Anthony Hopkins → The Silence of the Lambs. Silence made Hopkins an A-lister and a strange mainstream path followed.
    “Silence of the Lambs became an absolute cultural phenomenon.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:13:25 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  12. career (career arc): Anthony Hopkins → Hannibal. Hannibal and Red Dragon are late-60s money grabs; Hannibal didn't work for Bill because Hopkins is much older.
    “Which didn't work for me because he's so much older than he was in Silence of the Lambs, but it's a prequel.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:17:12 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
  13. theme (genre copy): Color of Night → Basic Instinct. Bruce Willis's Color of Night was another Basic Instinct era noir with a famous full-frontal moment.
    “Everyone, remember Bruce Willis did that movie where he showed his penis?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:21:57 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  14. people (same actor): Prelude to a Kiss → Malice. Bill calls Prelude to a Kiss, not Malice or Edge, the Baldwin performance where he finally works as a leading man.
    “I think it's my favorite Baldwin performance.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:22:46 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  15. people (same actor): The Edge → Malice. Baldwin's Malice persona is the other half of the Edge version of Baldwin.
    “There's like the malice, the edge version of Baldwin, but then there's like, what is he as a leading man, right?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:22:48 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  16. lineage (source book): Art Linson → The Edge. Linson, a 90s producer, wrote a book whose big section is the making of The Edge.
    “And the big part of the book is about him putting together the edge.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:25:16 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  17. what-if (casting what-if): The Edge → The Fugitive. Harrison Ford, two years after The Fugitive, was the studio's dream lead; with him it becomes a $200 million movie.
    “Like, if we get Harrison Ford, there's a $200000000 movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:25:34 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  18. what-if (casting what-if): Harrison Ford → Anthony Hopkins. If Ford had the Hopkins part the film changes because you blindly root for Ford.
    “if Harrison Ford was in the Hopkins spot. First of all, it is, this is a different movie because now I'm rooting for, it's just in, you're blind rooting for Harrison Ford in every movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:26:03 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  19. what-if (casting what-if): Bill Pullman → Alec Baldwin. Pullman was lined up to replace Baldwin when Baldwin refused to shave his beard.
    “they have Bill Pullman lined up to come in in the Alec Baldwin part last second.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:27:38 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  20. people (same actor): Bart the Bear → Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins worked with Bart twice, in Legends of the Fall and The Edge.
    “Anthony Hopkins worked with him twice. He worked with them in Legends of the Fall and in this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:32:26 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  21. theme (trope): The Edge → Halloween H2O. The rule of three, that the Black guy dies when three are left, was subverted by LL Cool J in H2O and Deep Blue Sea.
    “LL Cool J survived twice.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:41:32 · Bill Simmons (0.65 sure it was them)
  22. unmapped (famous death): Deep Blue Sea → Samuel L. Jackson. Sam Jackson's shock death was a promoted star dying, in a scene Van counts among the greats.
    “One of the great scenes of all time.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:41:37 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  23. unmapped (rescue): The Edge → Cast Away. Cast Away skipped the rescue, which wasn't its point.
    “Castaway, they kind of punted on it.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:49:48 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  24. theme (survival genre): The Edge → Lost. Bill is always in for survival stories: Lost, Castaway, Yellowjackets, this movie.
    “I'm just in.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:52:20 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  25. theme (survival genre): The Edge → Yellowjackets. Yellowjackets is now a whole show about trying to survive.
    “and then we have yellow jackets, which now is a whole show about people trying to survive”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:52:23 · Bill Simmons (0.65 sure it was them)
  26. people (same actor): Elle Macpherson → Sirens. Van name-checks Sirens for Macpherson.
    “You ever see that movie Sirens?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:54:42 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  27. unmapped (joke): Norm Macdonald → Bart the Bear. Norm's SNL joke on Bart's pay.
    “Bart the bear delivered an outstanding performance and was paid in raw meat, bear whores, and cocaine.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:59:41 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  28. craft (visual echo): The Edge → Cliffhanger. The Edge's opening helicopter wide shot reminded Bill of Cliffhanger's.
    “It reminded me of cliffhanger.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:02:21 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  29. what-if (casting what-if): Dustin Hoffman → Anthony Hopkins. Hoffman turned down the role Hopkins took.
    “So Dustin Hoffman turns down the roll.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:11:40 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  30. what-if (casting what-if): Robert De Niro → Anthony Hopkins. De Niro went far down the road for the Hopkins part, including a table read, but kept worrying about the bear.
    “They go really far down the road with De Niro.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:11:44 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  31. unmapped (fan): Jenna Fischer → The Edge. Jenna Fischer watches The Edge every year.
    “Guess who said this is one of her favorite movies ever and she watches it every year.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:16:07 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  32. unmapped (bear movie): The Edge → The Revenant. Bart the Bear versus the Revenant's bear: The Edge is the best mainstream bear movie; The Revenant is beautiful but too brutal to rewatch.
    “this is the best mainstream bear movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:16:52 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  33. career (career peak): Harold Perrineau → Lost. Harold Perrineau's run on Oz, The Best Man and Lost is called his Apex Mountain; Lost the biggest audience.
    “I mean, you could argue lost as probably as Apex mine.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:17:21 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
  34. lineage (all-black remake): Byron Allen → Anthony Hopkins. Byron Allen is the pick to play the Hopkins billionaire in an all-black remake.
    “Byron Allen could actually play the part.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:22:50 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  35. unmapped (shark vs bear): The Edge → Deep Blue Sea. Bill and Van argue bear versus shark deaths, Van picking bear, Bill shark.
    “I'm going shark.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:30:39 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  36. programming (double feature): The Edge → Cliffhanger. Cliffhanger is the pick to pair with The Edge, being outdoors.
    “I was thinking cliffhanger.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:30:43 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  37. programming (double feature): The Edge → The Ghost and the Darkness. Ghost and the Darkness, from around the same time, is another animal-stalking pairing.
    “You could also talk me to Ghost in the Darkness because this came right around this time or they're chasing the killer lions.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:30:47 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  38. programming (double feature): The Edge → Trespass. Trespass is suggested as a double-bill pick.
    “you remember that movie Trespass?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:30:58 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  39. unmapped (dramatization): The Edge → What Just Happened. Barry Levinson's 2008 film, drawn from Art Linson's book, fictionalizes the making of The Edge, including the beard fight and De Niro.
    “They made a movie based on Art Linson's book, and a lot of it is about making this stupid movie and a big part about him not shaving the beard”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:35:23 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  40. contrast (contrast): Zachary Quinto → Penn Badgley. Debate over redemption: Quinto's and Badgley's young characters might escape, Tucci's is gone.
    “Zach Kinto feels like there's a chance.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:05:23 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  41. career (career): Demi Moore → Disclosure. Simmons calls her role the lady from Disclosure fifteen years on.
    “basically playing the lady from disclosure, 15 years later”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:11:06 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
  42. theme (genre): Margin Call → Michael Clayton. Simmons groups Margin Call with Michael Clayton, Shattered Glass and Moneyball as modern office thrillers.
    “It's like an office thriller, almost.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:23:21 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  43. industry (industry): Margin Call → Contagion. Simmons lists 2011 movies like Margin Call, Moneyball, Limitless, Contagion as the end of the pre-streaming era; today they'd be pitched as TV.
    “this was kind of the end of the pre-streaming era.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:28:21 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
  44. industry (industry): Margin Call → Limitless. Simmons thinks Limitless alone might get made today but would be a TV series, and was one.
    “limitless just would have been a TV series and eventually it was anyway.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:28:51 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  45. verdict (verdict): Margin Call → Roger Ebert. Simmons reports Ebert's 3.5-star review praising the cast making financial talk compelling.
    “Our guy Roger Ebert, 3.5 stars said excellent cast.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:34:36 · Bill Simmons (0.95 sure it was them)
  46. theme (theme): Margin Call → Up in the Air. Simmons or Koppelman note Up in the Air shares the layoff-scene quality with the Tucci layoff.
    “Oh, that's another movie that goes in the category is up in the air”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:48:21 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
  47. career (career): Penn Badgley → You (TV series). Simmons says Badgley became a massive star from You, so it's hard to unravel him from the role.
    “It's one of those roles where you almost can't unravel the real person from the roll.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:55:09 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  48. contrast (contrast): Penn Badgley → The Silence of the Lambs. Compared to Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, Simmons can't unravel Badgley from You.
    “It's like Anthony Hopkins and Silence and Lambs.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:55:16 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  49. career (career): Zachary Quinto → Star Trek. Simmons and Russillo say Margin Call lifted Quinto beyond Spock/Heroes.
    “He was Spock and Star Trek.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:55:59 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  50. industry (industry): Margin Call → The Big Short. Simmons says Big Short hurt Margin Call by swallowing its oxygen, making it less rewatchable on cable.
    “Big Short kind of swallowed up a little bit of the oxygen around this story.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:59:40 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  51. verdict (verdict): Margin Call → The Big Short. Simmons's hottest take: he likes Margin Call more than The Big Short.
    “I just like this movie more than the big short.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:04:08 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
  52. verdict (verdict): Margin Call → The Big Short. Simmons's second take: one of the 10 best movies of the last 15 years.
    “this is one of the 10 best movies of the last 15 years.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:04:33 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  53. what-if (what-if): Tom Hanks → Kevin Spacey. Simmons argues Hanks in the Spacey role would make the audience root for a man who isn't good.
    “if that's Hanks, you're processing the movie a little bit differently”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:09:02 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  54. what-if (what-if): Russell Crowe → Kevin Spacey. Simmons floats Crowe as in The Insider as Sam.
    “Russell Crowe could have played that part in the insider version of Russell Crowe”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:11:11 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  55. what-if (what-if): Margin Call → 24 (TV series). Simmons imagines a prestige-TV version in a 24 style, 13 episodes of one night.
    “do a 24 style, like keep for Sutherland, that show”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:18:38 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  56. programming (programming): Margin Call → Wall Street. Simmons chooses Wall Street as the best double feature, a fun mix that complements.
    “I would go Wall Street.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:24:10 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
  57. craft (craft): Robert De Niro → Midnight Run. Simmons calls De Niro the Michael Jordan of cigarette-smoking, citing Jimmy Conway and Jack Walsh in Midnight Run.
    “the way Jack Walsh smoked the midnight run.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:25:50 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
  58. craft (craft): Misery → William Goldman. Misery is called a perfectly executed film and Goldman wrote it.
    “Our friend Goldman wrote this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:02:09 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  59. contrast (contrast): Stephen King → John Grisham. Grisham had a King-like run for about 7 years; King had five such stretches.
    “King had 5 stretches of 7 years like that, you know?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:05:09 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  60. people (people): Carrie → Brian De Palma. First wave of King movies had big directors: De Palma does Carrie, Kubrick does The Shining.
    “the Palma does carry. Kubrick does The Shining.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:09:53 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  61. people (people): Firestarter → George C. Scott. George C. Scott's Firestarter performance is the weirdest, maybe dead or drunk.
    “which has the weirdest George C. Scott performance ever.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:10:02 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  62. theme (theme): The Dead Zone → Christopher Walken. The SNL trivial-psychic Walken bit pushed Dead Zone to another level.
    “the trivial psychic, Christopher Walken thing, pushed that to another level in SNL”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:10:13 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  63. lineage (lineage): Misery → Stand by Me. King's first adaptation he liked was Stand By Me; Reiner got Misery through that deal.
    “the 1st one of the 1st adaptation of his that he actually really liked was stand by me.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:11:08 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  64. theme (theme): Misery → Stephen King. Misery is King's book about addiction; Annie Wilkes stands for the painkillers.
    “Annie Wilkes is really, she represents that, this thing that's trying to kill him.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:11:22 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
  65. career (career): Rob Reiner → Archie Bunker. Reiner played Meathead, the foil to Archie Bunker on All in the Family.
    “he's just the foil for Archie Bunker.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:13:27 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  66. career (career): Rob Reiner → This Is Spinal Tap. After All in the Family nobody could see Reiner doing anything else, but he directed Spinal Tap.
    “he does this as Spinal Tap directs it.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:14:07 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
  67. career (career): Rob Reiner → The Sure Thing. The Sure Thing is a Reiner road-trip movie and John Cusack's breakout, now unstreamable.
    “It's John Cusack's breakout role.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:14:39 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  68. programming (programming): Stand by Me → Misery. Reiner's run: Stand By Me leads to When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men.
    “It leads to, um, stand by me.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:14:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  69. career (career): The Sure Thing → Stand by Me. The Sure Thing did well and led to Stand By Me.
    “It leads to, um, stand by me.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:14:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  70. programming (programming): Misery → A Few Good Men. Misery sits in Reiner's incredible trio, all now Rewatchables.
    “But when Harry Met Ali, Misery, Few Good Men, is really the best of all of these different great actors, right?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:15:13 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  71. what-if (what-if): Misery → George Roy Hill. Hill, hired to direct, passed because he could not get past the hobbling scene.
    “George Ray Hill's like, I can't get past the scene.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:17:00 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  72. what-if (what-if): Misery → Warren Beatty. Beatty would have been unbelievable as Paul Sheldon but would not play a loser stuck in bed.
    “Warren Beatty, who would have been unbelievable in the James Con part.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:17:35 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  73. craft (craft): Misery → Rounders. Koppelman's own Rounders last-hand story echoes Goldman's you-never-know theme: he was sure, and was wrong.
    “Goldman's recurring theme and all of his books is, you never know.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:19:50 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  74. what-if (what-if): Misery → Angelica Huston. Annie Wilkes was offered to Angelica Huston and Bette Midler first.
    “they offered that role to Angelica Houston and Bette Midler.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:27:13 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  75. theme (theme): Kathy Bates → Anthony Hopkins. Unknown-actor effect: Hopkins as Lecter worked by changing his look; Bates was an unknown.
    “We knew Anthony Hopkins.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:28:17 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  76. career (career): James Caan → Sonny Corleone. Caan's Sonny Corleone manic energy argued by Goldman as the reason confinement worked.
    “he had this manic energy to him, and Sonny Corleone, and just bouncing around.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:33:18 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  77. what-if (what-if): Misery → Donald Sutherland. Sutherland would have been the best, though he might try to hit on Annie.
    “You know who would have been the best?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:37:15 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  78. industry (industry): Kathy Bates → Joanne Woodward. Bates won Best Actress over Huston, Roberts, Streep, Woodward in a strong 1990 field.
    “A rare, fantastic, best actress category.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:38:20 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  79. what-if (what-if): Misery → Richard Gere. Goldman wrote that Richard Gere was perfect for Sheldon but was so dead nobody mentioned him.
    “Richard Gere.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:39:41 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  80. career (career): Richard Gere → Pretty Woman. Gere's comeback came with Internal Affairs and Pretty Woman the same year.
    “Richard Gere had 7 straight years of terrible movies and was dead and then Internal Affairs and Pretty Women completely arrived them”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:40:12 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
  81. contrast (contrast): A Few Good Men → Misery. A Few Good Men can be rolled into anywhere; Misery cannot be started midway.
    “You could just kind of roll into a few good men, wherever it's it's a perfect rewatchable, right?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:41:52 · Bill Simmons (0.65 sure it was them)
  82. verdict (verdict): Misery → Hoosiers. Misery is a tier 2 or 3 rewatchable, not A Few Good Men or Hoosiers.
    “it's probably like a tier 2 or a tier 3 rewatchable, it's not like a few good men.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:45:10 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  83. verdict (verdict): Misery → The Ice Storm. Rewatchable lane: riveted by acting and uniqueness, like The Ice Storm.
    “it's kind of on that ice storm lane of like, I'm just so riveted by how good the acting is”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:45:23 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  84. programming (programming): Misery → The Silence of the Lambs. Annie Wilkes and Hannibal Lecter came back to back, two great thriller characters in 12 months.
    “Annie Wilkes and Hannibal Lecter, back to back ears.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:51:47 · Bill Simmons (0.65 sure it was them)
  85. craft (craft): Marc Shaiman → Misery. Praises Shaiman's score for Misery.
    “Mark Shaman does a really good job with the score.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:57:08 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  86. programming (programming): Misery → Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Dracula the Musical award is borrowed from Sarah Marshall; given to the Misery books.
    “We relate, so in, in, uh, forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:57:17 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  87. programming (programming): Misery → Pulp Fiction. Butch's Girlfriend Award for weak link of the film is borrowed from Pulp Fiction.
    “The Butch's girlfriend Award, Butch's girlfriend from Pulp Fiction.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:59:07 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  88. verdict (verdict): Kathy Bates → Fargo. Bates beats McDormand in Fargo, Berry in Monster's Ball, Stone in La La Land for best performance.
    “Francis McDormand and Fargo.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:03:44 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  89. verdict (verdict): Kathy Bates → Anthony Hopkins. Simmons feels the same way about Hopkins as Lecter: best role for the performer, seen in a theater.
    “I feel the same way about Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:04:24 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  90. what-if (what-if): Misery → Richard Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss would be believable as a writer, and expressed real regret at passing.
    “Dreyfus, I think, was the one who expressed real regret.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:05:02 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  91. what-if (what-if): Misery → Lauren Bacall. Bacall as agent felt TV-movie-ish; a recast would hit harder.
    “I feel like Lauren Bacall could have hit harder.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:06:26 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  92. theme (theme): Misery → Tommy Knockers. King put his dependency into his books; Tommy Knockers is clearly cocaine.
    “Tommy knockers is clearly cocaine.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:09:19 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  93. theme (theme): Misery → The King of Comedy. Obsessed-fan movies: King of Comedy first, then Misery's Bates at the apex.
    “Crazy obsessed fans in a movie?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:09:33 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  94. people (people): The Fan → Tony Scott. De Niro did the fan twice; The Fan is a bad Tony Scott movie.
    “It's funny because De Niro's done this twice because then he did the fan, which is terrible.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:09:41 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  95. programming (programming): Misery → Stand by Me. Simmons' double feature is Stand By Me and Misery.
    “I would do standby me in misery.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:19:39 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  96. lineage (lineage): Knocked Up → When Harry Met Sally. Bill dates the rom-com boom as starting with When Harry Met Sally and running to the mid 2000s, with Knocked Up on the other side of the shift.
    “It starts with when Harry Met Sally.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Knocked Up’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:03:12 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
  97. lineage (lineage): Mean Girls → Knocked Up. Bill thinks Mean Girls may have been the first to figure out 'more funny than romantic, but also having the romance'.
    “I feel like mean girls might have been the 1st one that figured out.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Knocked Up’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:03:37 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  98. programming (programming): Knocked Up → Mean Girls. Bill groups Knocked Up with Mean Girls, 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wedding Crashers, Sarah Marshall and Bridesmaids as the 'com-rom' cycle.
    “Mean girls, 40 year old virgin, wedding crashers, knocked up, Sarah Marshall, EZA bridesmaids.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Knocked Up’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:03:48 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
  99. people (people): Tina Fey → Mean Girls. Bill notes Tina Fey wrote Mean Girls while the group argues it is a teen movie rather than a rom-com.
    “So I was thinking, like, Tina Fey wrote that.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Knocked Up’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:05:27 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  100. lineage (lineage): Starting Over → Knocked Up. Bill offers Starting Over (Burt Reynolds, a love triangle in Boston) as an early prototype of Apatow movies.
    “It's got, it feels like a very early prototype of these Apatow movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Knocked Up’ With Bill Simmons, Juliet Litman, and Craig Horlbeck · 0:05:59 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–100 of 677 fun items.

  1. fun, about Friday the 13th: Bill's mother and stepfather-to-be saw it in a Stamford theater; when Jason rose from the lake a man screamed 'get the fuck out' and ran up the aisle.
    “this guy in front of them, stood up, screamed, get the fuck out, and started running out of the theater.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:26 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Dinner scene shoot: John Dugan refused to redo 5-hour grandpa makeup, so they shot it all in 30 hours, 100 degrees, rotting food, blackout curtains, cast puking outside. Edwin Neal called it worse than Vietnam.
    “filming that scene was the worst time of my life, and I had been in Vietnam with people trying to kill me.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:25:46 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Hot take from Bill: the hitchhiker is scarier than Leatherface, because everyone has met someone fully gone in a bar who wants to show them a knife.
    “This guy is scarier than Leatherface.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:33:36 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Most 1974 thing: the hitchhiker's Polaroid with flashbulb, 'chain saw' as two words, 'old lady' for a girlfriend, and hitchhikers themselves.
    “And then, uh, I think the winner is just hitchhikers.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:46:09 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The We Slaughter Barbecue sign and the gas station aged best; the real gas station is now a horror-themed barbecue restaurant and motel in Texas.
    “Oh, we slaughter barbecue sign?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:50:07 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Facts: 83 minutes, 868 edits, one chainsaw, one outfit, a $60,000 shoot (later $125K budget with promotion); it made $31 million; Ebert gave it 2 stars.
    “There are 868 edits and an 83 minute movie, which apparently is a lot.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:51:34 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Franklin: Bill's 'who we hate' pick: nobody is a worse hang than Franklin; Texas Monthly called him one of the most despicable handicapped people in film, the only one who almost deserves his death.
    “I absolutely hate Franklin.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:56:56 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Only one chainsaw death in the whole movie (Franklin), prompting the joke that it should be Texas Hammer Massacre.
    “I mean, in some ways, Texas Hammer Massacre didn't go really the same.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:00:45 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Bill's hottest take: Leatherface was the victim, just defending his property in his own house with a hobby of taxidermy.
    “Leatherface was the victim.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:06:04 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Craig's life lesson: the real lesson is don't pick up hitchhikers and always have a full tank; Bill notes the lesson from Miyagi is get gas when you need it.
    “don't drop below a half tank.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:07:10 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Casting what-ifs: Bill's 1974 big-cast version has Jeff Bridges, Rob Reiner (wheelchair), Ron Howard, Penny Marshall and Goldie Hawn as the final girl. The real unknown actors are what makes it work. Cruise or Hanks gag in the van.
    “Jeff Bridges, Rob Reiner and Ron Howard, maybe Rob Reiners in the wheelchair.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:08:29 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Gunnar Hansen: Hansen admitted in his book Chainsaw Confidential that after failed attempts he secretly removed the protective tape from the knife and cut Burns's finger for real; Bill calls it an OSHA violation.
    “he secretly removed the protected tape from the knife and cut Marilyn Burns's finger for real.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:10:24 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Money story: financed by mob-linked money (the Deep Throat producers), cast kept signing away shares, company went bankrupt, New Line bought the stuff and belatedly paid; nobody went on to a career.
    “They ended up getting financing from basically the mob.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:11:42 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Hans Gruber villain scale: Leatherface is a 10 out of 10, shattering the ceiling.
    “I have Leatherface has to be a 10 out of 10.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:18:26 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Gunnar Hansen: Body Odor Award to Leatherface: he had one dyed shirt for four weeks and by the end of the shoot no one would stand near him.
    “by the end of the shoot, no one would stand near him.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:18:52 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Who won the movie: Tobe Hooper, who got the best career out of it, at the Universal lot with Spielberg, directing Poltergeist.
    “Hooper? Yeah, I think so.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 1:31:26 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Domestic Disturbance: Cut story: planned for late 2001, 9/11 moved Zoolander up, and Paramount chopped 22 minutes and went PG-13.
    “So they push this movie up to like October and they decided it needs to be shorter and they just chopped 22 minutes from it.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Domestic Disturbance’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:11:57 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Domestic Disturbance: Ebert quote: the audience critics saw the wrong last reel. He had to watch the movie twice in a week.
    “the final confrontation so badly choreographed that I was not the least bit surprised when the studio called to say the Chicago critics had, quote, seen the wrong last reel.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Domestic Disturbance’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:37:00 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about Podcast: The mailbag will be quarterly from now on because they get too many emails.
    “We have, we've only been doing the mailbags once a year, and we decided that's, it's got to be quarterly from now on.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:02:11 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Anti-apex: Anti-apex list of listener's: Travolta in Look Who's Talking, Mike Myers in Love Guru, Brando in Dr. Moreau, Cliffhanger for a rock-climbing date.
    “Cliffhanger as anti-apex for a rock climbing date.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:08:13 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about Fight Club: Listener pictures Ed Norton's narrator looking at Bill praising new top boy Craig.
    “I feel like destroying something beautiful.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:12:18 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about Fargo: Listener notes the Fargo pod never mentioned that the restaurant is carpeted, spawning a what-age-the-most idea.
    “Carpeted restaurants seem like a what's age the best, what's age, the worst, split decision?”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:13:08 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about Midnight Run: Midnight Run ends up a list of accessories the movie needed; Bill wants to do it again.
    “This question made me want to do midnight run again, because we did it, I think, 1st year.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:29:24 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  24. fun, about Sicario: Craig suggests Alejandro killed the cartel leader too fast; listener jokes he is a future true crime subject.
    “I'd like to suggest the Bangkok Coralback tip off award for is Craig actually a serial killer who will one day have his own Netflix true crime documentary?”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:33:40 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  25. fun, about Goodfellas: Listener calls Forrest Gump the best premature ejaculation movie in a narrated list.
    “Best premature ejaculation movie, Forrest Gump.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:36:49 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  26. fun, about Doc Holliday: Doc Holliday is a no-organ-donation pick: you'd get TB.
    “Doc Holiday, you would get sicker getting Doc Holiday's organs.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:43:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  27. fun, about Hall of Fame: Hall of Fame will have plaques and a special pod.
    “I think we should just make, we should actually really put more time into this and then like announce it on some special pod and have like plaques and stuff.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 1:08:33 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  28. fun, about Almost Famous: Bill's family watched the bootleg cut and decided which 35 minutes of deleted scenes deserved to stay.
    “I would say there's probably 3 scenes that they could have added.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 1:21:05 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  29. fun, about Serial killers: A New Yorker theory: leaded gasoline created a generation of serial killers, powering Netflix.
    “did lead poisoning create a generation of serial killers in the 70s.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 1:22:38 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  30. fun, about F1: Simmons opens by calling F1 the number-one movie of the 2020s on feel; the production looked like a bust for two years.
    “I cant believe this actually worked out movie of the 2020s CR.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:02:42 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  31. fun, about F1: Seeing it in IMAX at the Grove, the whole family left exhilarated and nobody touched a phone.
    “nobody was on their phone the whole time.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:04:37 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  32. fun, about F1: The trope list of the show: the best that never was, old versus new, the spark-needing team, the climactic race.
    “The best that never was.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:12:20 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  33. fun, about Brad Pitt: Pitt got $30 million for F1, and the hosts credit him for people taking it seriously.
    “He got $30000000 for this movie”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:18:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  34. fun, about Brad Pitt: Pitt's seven longest-tail movies: Seven, Fight Club, Ocean's 11, Basterds, Moneyball, Once Upon a Time, F1.
    “Seven, Fight Club, Ocean's 11, Bastards, Moneyball, once upon a time, an F1.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:24:42 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  35. fun, about Movie athletes by decade: Simmons's list: North Dallas 40, Drago, Willie Beaman or Rod Tidwell, Tim Riggins, Adonis Creed, then JP.
    “2020s, Josh Pierce, an F1.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:31:14 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
  36. fun, about Josh Pearce / JP: JP's social-media persona is called the best 2020s version of a movie athlete.
    “It's the best I've seen in a movie this decade, I think, for where we are in the 2020s with social media.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:31:28 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  37. fun, about Joseph Kosinski: He directed the Gears of War 'Mad World' commercial.
    “It's called Mad World, the Gears of War commercial.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:41:34 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  38. fun, about Roger Ebert: The running joke: Ebert is dead, so they guess his star ratings: Rush 4, Days of Thunder 2, Top Gun 2.5.
    “Roger Ebert did not review this movie because he's been dead for like 10 years.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:44:31 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  39. fun, about F1: Hottest take: the movie is better if Sonny crashes and JP wins, even if it ends up bad for the movie industry.
    “This is a better movie if Sonny crashes.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:55:40 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  40. fun, about F1: F1 is the new soccer: a sport you must pretend to care about as a cosmopolitan fan.
    “So to me, F1 is the new soccer.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:01:38 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  41. fun, about F1: Pitt's trailer: no one lives in a trailer better than Pitt in a movie.
    “I don't know if anyone's ever lived in a trailer better than him in a movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:04:07 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  42. fun, about F1: Nitpick: Sonny is far too old; the oldest winner of a Grand Prix was 53 in 1951.
    “Sonny is way too fucking old to be an F1 driver.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:11:47 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  43. fun, about F1: Working title was Apex; both title options are criticized.
    “In 2023, ESPN reported that the film was titled Apex.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:12:44 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  44. fun, about Old guy schooling young guy: Top five: Lean on Me, Rocky vs Tommy Gunn, Above the Rim, Star Wars splits, Good Will Hunting.
    “This is the top 5 scenes of old guys schooling young guys in movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:16:08 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  45. fun, about Card throwing: Hottest take: do not trust people who throw cards for fun, with Gambit the one exception.
    “I don't like anybody in real life or in movies that throws cards for fun.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:19:45 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  46. fun, about Casting what-ifs: Simone Ashley was cut from the final film as Josh's love interest.
    “Simone Ashley, we do know that she did promotional tour interviews is in the movie as his love interest and then just got cut out.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:22:40 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  47. fun, about F1: Research: the crash that ended Sonny's career was based on Martin Donnelly's at the Spanish Grand Prix.
    “The crash that ended, Sonny's career was based on the actual crash of Martin Donnelly”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:25:28 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  48. fun, about F1: Bernie Collins, a former F1 strategy engineer, inspired the Kate character.
    “provided the inspiration for the Carrie Conan character.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:25:47 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  49. fun, about F1: Brand sponsorships brought at least $4 million, one reason the budget was disputed.
    “sponsorships from Bears Brands in this movie brought in at least 4000000 bucks.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:26:14 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  50. fun, about Kelly LeBrock: LeBrock described her Weird Science role as Mary Poppins with breasts, from a Hughes documentary; she is the best part because the character is made to improve the boys.
    “she plays Mary Poppins with Brest, which I thought was a good way to describe the character.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 0:29:25 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  51. fun, about Bill Paxton: Chet is in only three scenes, takes an hour off, and yet is the best Weird Science.
    “but I think the best weird science is when he's on screen.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 0:42:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  52. fun, about Oingo Boingo: Elfman is dismissive of the title song and video; Beavis and Butt-Head's reaction became the best thing that happened to it.
    “Butthead's like, why didn't they let this guy back in Duran Duran, and Beavis goes, because he sucks.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 0:45:47 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  53. fun, about David Lee Roth: There was an 18-month window where David Lee Roth made sense in your movie.
    “There's an 18 month window where it made sense to have David Lee Roth in your movie”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 0:46:27 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
  54. fun, about Lisa: The hottest take: Lisa sucks, she pulls a gun on Gary's dad and wipes his memory.
    “Lisa sucks.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 1:15:07 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
  55. fun, about Bill Paxton: Paxton showed up in the party scene in sunglasses and a trench coat just to be around the set; cast calls him the nicest person.
    “Apparently he dresses up in his sunglasses in a trench coat, trench coat, and he's in the party scene.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 1:21:36 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  56. fun, about Losing It: Cruise reportedly bought every copy of Losing It; it cannot be found, along with Soul Man.
    “And then he went and bought every copy that was left.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 1:26:17 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
  57. fun, about Kelly LeBrock: LeBrock wore a jacket sold to a pawn shop in Beverly Hills for $25,000.
    “I just want to point out the jacket, worn by Kelly LeBrock in this film, was sold to a pawn shop in Beverly Hills for 25,000.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 1:38:30 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  58. fun, about Weird Science: Craig's reaction on learning LeBrock married Seagal is called the favorite moment of the pod.
    “Craig, if we could rewind this pod, the part where you had a natural reaction to Kelly LeBrock, we married to Steven Seagal was my favorite moment.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Weird Science’ With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt · 1:44:36 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  59. fun, about The Truman Show: Bill rewatched it for a week on pay-per-view reruns using an illegal cable box in Boston in the late 90s.
    “I had an illegal cable box in Boston in the late 90s”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ With Bill Simmons, Glen Powell, and Chris Ryan · 0:11:11 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  60. fun, about Jim Carrey: Siskel and Ebert gave an on-air apology to Carrey after saying he'd never have a film career following Ace Ventura.
    “And on-air apology to Jim Carrey.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ With Bill Simmons, Glen Powell, and Chris Ryan · 0:36:05 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  61. fun, about The Truman Show: Cats absent in Sea Haven; Powell notes Sofia is overrun with dogs and Plovdiv with cats; Mallory Rubin will be furious.
    “I'm only saying this for Mallory Rubin because she works with us”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ With Bill Simmons, Glen Powell, and Chris Ryan · 0:46:56 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  62. fun, about The Truman Show: Screenplay beats land every ten minutes: boat, Lauren, set, wedding photo, name, dad.
    “20 minutes we meet Lauren.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ With Bill Simmons, Glen Powell, and Chris Ryan · 0:49:24 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  63. fun, about Jim Carrey: Took a pay cut to 12 million from a 20 million asking, and said it was the fastest he'd accepted a role.
    “And he said it was the fastest he'd ever accepted a role.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Truman Show’ With Bill Simmons, Glen Powell, and Chris Ryan · 1:11:25 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  64. fun, about Species: Meta category: Michael Madsen is the reason this film was picked after his death; Bill wanted Donnie Brasco, but Chris said Species.
    “Michael Matson passed away and we had to do a Michael Matson movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:02:41 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  65. fun, about Ben Kingsley: New award coined: The Ben Kingsley in Species Award for it doesn't seem like you really want to be here.
    “The Ben Kingsley and Species Award for it doesn't seem like you really want to be here.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:16:50 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  66. fun, about Species: Read before the Ebert review: a $35 million budget and a gross garbled in the transcript as $13.3 million (later someone says it made over $100 million).
    “$35000000 budget, man, $13.3 million.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:25:02 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  67. fun, about Roger Ebert: The two-star Ebert review is read; the panel's response is settle down and have some fun.
    “Settle down, Rush.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:25:35 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  68. fun, about Species: Opening: no preamble, Michelle Williams in a cage, B movie that starts right away. Most rewatchable scene pick.
    “Michelle Williams in a cage.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:27:21 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  69. fun, about Species: Palisades guy: the nicest man in the movie, who gets killed 30 seconds after his big swing.
    “Was there a bigger swing for a human being in 30 seconds than that guy's night?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:34:56 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  70. fun, about Species: The Hollywood Hills guy, Robbie, looks like Nick Wright; the club murder and the Long Island iced tea section is Bill's favorite part.
    “I love the Hollywood Hills, that whole scene.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:37:37 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  71. fun, about Species: Best character name: Preston Lennox and Xavier Fitch.
    “Preston Lennox is good though.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:54:42 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  72. fun, about Ben Kingsley: Casting what-if: Brosnan's part, Kingsley found out and was like fuck this.
    “I think Kingsley found out and was like, fuck this.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:08:40 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  73. fun, about Species: Why it matters: pre-internet, pre-online porn; people had to go to theaters, and a naked horny alien was how you got them there.
    “It's pre-internet.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:31:00 · Bill Simmons (0.30 sure it was them)
  74. fun, about Rosanna Arquette: Bill's category: she is the movie's best-kept secret; Toto wrote a song because she walked into a room.
    “Toto was like, what's right, Rosanna, about Rosanna Arquette, because she walked into the room and we fucking had to write a song about it.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:35:44 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  75. fun, about Griffin Dunn / After Hours: Scorsese told Dunn not to have sex for the first 8 weeks to keep desire in Paul Hackett's eyes. Dunn lasted until the massage scene weekend, had an 'accident', and Scorsese stopped the take and guessed instantly.
    “You ruined this whole scene.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:55:14 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  76. fun, about Catherine O'Hara and John Heard: Best-aged detail: a glimpse of the future Home Alone parents through a window, before they were movie parents.
    “soon they will be 2 of the most famous parents in movie history.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:56:07 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  77. fun, about Cheech and Chong: Chong's remark that it was their own movie inside a Scorsese movie; hosts joke they'd be the Mr. Beast of their time.
    “we were in our own Cheech and Chong movie within a Scorsese movie”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 0:58:35 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  78. fun, about After Hours: Best character name goes to Horst; second place Kiki Bridges; Marcy is a lost name.
    “Nobody names their kid Marcy anymore.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:03:47 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  79. fun, about Paul Hackett: Bill's what-aged-worst: the name reminds him of Jets OC Paul Hackett and later Nathaniel Hackett and Aaron Rodgers.
    “I can't I don't want to hear that name out loud.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:07:29 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  80. fun, about Linda Fiorentino: Bill's long riff: why wasn't she ever on The Sopranos; he proposes a one-episode arc where she messes with Tony and he kills her.
    “She could have done a one episode arc where she's just fucking with Tony and then Tony kills her.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:11:11 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  81. fun, about After Hours: Best double-casting what-if: Tim Burton was attached, withdrew for Scorsese, and made Pee-wee's Big Adventure the same year.
    “I will never stand in the way of Martin Scorsese wants to make a movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:13:46 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  82. fun, about Linda Fiorentino / Anthony Pellicano: Sean's research: Fiorentino dated a former FBI agent who pulled files for Pellicano's case, and he pleaded guilty; Bill: that's a movie.
    “That's a movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:27:42 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
  83. fun, about Samuel L. Jackson: Casting what-if: 1980s crazy Sam Jackson for two minutes as a barfly or vigilante mob member; 'Jules Winfield would be great.'
    “I'd love to have Jules just in this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:36:23 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  84. fun, about After Hours: Category 'best life lesson' verdict: nothing good happens after 2 AM; 'don't chase the night.'
    “Nothing good happens after 2 AM.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey · 1:40:03 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  85. fun, about Melanie Griffith: Her ex Don Johnson, Miami Vice, ponytail year: she got back with him after rehab, three weeks after filming.
    “So she went in rehab 3 weeks after filming and then, um, got back together with Don Johnson, my guy.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:21:00 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  86. fun, about Kevin Spacey: New award invented: Kevin Spacey doing cocaine and harassing Tess in the limo wins craziest foreshadowing of a real-life event.
    “craziest foreshadowing of a real life event.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:52:26 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  87. fun, about Melanie Griffith: She told a 2017 interview she repeatedly made passes at Alec Baldwin, who said no thanks.
    “repeatedly made passes at Alec Baldwin and he said, no thanks”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 1:35:39 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  88. fun, about Working Girl: Is Tess the villain? Bill argues she stole Catherine's idea, boyfriend and job; the rest of the table disagrees.
    “Are we sure Tess isn't the villain of this movie?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 1:59:14 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  89. fun, about Rocky: Bill saw Rocky in 1976 in Dedham with his dad and left confused whether Rocky won, because they announced only one scorecard.
    “But leaving, my big memory was being confused whether he won the fight or not and asking my dad like, but what was the scorecard?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:09:24 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  90. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: He sold the script to ABC; Henry Winkler had to get it back, and Stallone insisted on writing and starring for far less money.
    “Stallone betting on himself is a chapter.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:45 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  91. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: This is the 11th Stallone Rewatchable, moving him into the top five with Denzel.
    “By the way, we've done, this is our 11th Stallone rewatchable.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:34 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  92. fun, about Rocky: Hot take: the 1976 Oscars; Stallone lost to Peter Finch and Network; the hosts relitigate best actor and best picture.
    “But the important part here is it's not Rocky.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:33:12 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  93. fun, about Roger Ebert: Bill reads Ebert's four-star review, the week after Crash, the running Ebert gag.
    “A description of it would sound like a cliche from beginning to end, but Rocky isn't about a story.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:35:00 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  94. fun, about Rocky: The first 45 minutes of Rocky are too slow for kids who prefer Rocky 3 and 4 today.
    “My kids wanted to watch Rocky 3 and Rocky 4”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:35:47 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  95. fun, about Rocky: Most rewatchable: the Spider Rico fight and the $70.20 / $40 payoffs before the credits, which sets expectations.
    “I love the beginning with the Spider Rico fight.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:35:55 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  96. fun, about Rocky: Most rewatchable: Gonna Fly Now training; the stairs, and the 5 AM first-day training that sets them up.
    “Honestly, I think this is one of the best sports movie scenes of all time.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:43:35 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  97. fun, about Rocky: Most rewatchable: the 14th round, 'cut me, Mick' and Apollo's shoulder slump.
    “Cut me, Mick is great too.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:47:19 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  98. fun, about Rocky: The turtles from the movie were reported alive as of 2021 and Stallone kept them.
    “Still alive as of 2021, which...”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:53:12 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  99. fun, about Rocky: Stallone's real dog Butkus was sold for $50 while he was broke writing the script; he bought it back after selling the script.
    “Stallone's real dog, that Stallone sold for $50 because he was so broke when he was writing this movie”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:02:36 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  100. fun, about Rocky: Original script was darker: Rocky threw the fight and Mickey was a racist; those were softened.
    “It had Rocky throw in the fight.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:17:00 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)