Loves charisma performances, movie stars at their peak, and trivia from Tarantino's circle. Champions Brad Pitt as the winner. Can't stand awards mistakes like The Artist winning, and he warns about the 'Oscars should wait five years' view. A sucker for 1960s details, driving scenes, and Boogie Nights real estate.
Stances
Brad Pitt won the movie
Oscars should be awarded five years later
Focus is underrated
Humor: Runs bits on movies he almost bought, fake research, and sports-style comparisons.
In their words
“I think Pitt won the movie.” (1:17:58)
“I think I'm the only one that likes focus.” (0:32:43)
Loves the mid-80s Eddie Murphy and the movie's cultural phenomenon, and has a clear soft spot for Lisa Eilbacher. Is a sucker for Hollywood-excess anecdotes (Simpson, cocaine, Rourke, Stallone) and for sports analogies. Has little patience for plot logic holes but loves list games and categories.
Stances
Eddie Murphy in 1984 was the biggest star in the world after Michael Jackson
Lisa Eilbacher is the Apex Mountain and the film's winner
The Eddie-Murphy-as-star what-if game (Top Gun) is a worthwhile question
Humor: Rapid-fire sports analogies (WAR, LeBron, Dion Waiters, Shawn Michaels) and mock-indignant asides.
Loves the lore of how a movie got made, the lists (casting what-ifs, recasting), and the 'unanswerable questions' category. Has little patience for Lawrence Tierney's acting or for Ebert missing on Tarantino. He remembers the 1992 Boston era of a movie that mattered and is a sucker for a heist.
Stances
Tarantino won the movie
Lawrence Tierney is bad (the 'Mike Francesa' bit)
Does not want new Reservoir Dogs content
Wants to see the heist, plays devil's advocate
Humor: Throws sports analogies, invents award names, and runs recurring bits like Roger Ebert and Felony Land.
In their words
“I love bank ice scenes.” (1:23:55)
“It's Tarantino, and I think all of those actors robbing a bank.” (1:23:22)
“Can I make the case for seeing the heist?” (1:23:18)
Loves ensemble casts and film-lineage framing, sports analogies (Dwight Gooden, Penny Hardaway), and the show's recurring awards. Wants a better soundtrack, and cannot stand the ending speech. Is a sucker for his wife and kids' opinions of the film.
Stances
Mean Girls is the best Lorne Michaels movie
Lohan's decline is like an athlete's lost career
Soundtrack and ending speech are weak
Humor: Dry, sports-and-family riffs, often teased by his co-hosts.
In their words
“that was like Dwight Gooden in 1985 on the Mets.” (0:27:59)
“I think this is the best Lauren Michaels movie.” (0:16:22)
Bill loves old-school sports myth-making, baseball nostalgia, the Natural's chill scene, and stat-nerd rabbit holes like reconstructing Roy Hobbs's season. He is picky about throwing motions and lineup logic, and is a sucker for the dugout-emptying slow-motion shot. He ranks Bull Durham/Hoosiers/Rocky near the top and finds slow hospital stretches in sports movies unbearable.
Stances
The Natural used to be the greatest sports movie but is now slower than he remembers
Every great sports movie needs a chill scene
Dislikes bad throwing motions on screen
Hospital detours in sports movies should be cut short
Roy Hobbs was a Bonds-level statistical machine, or worse
Humor: Dry, list-making sports-nerd riffs and reaching pop-culture asides (Bachelor, Harry Potter) delivered as if serious.
In their words
“My move with sports movies is like, get me out of the hospital as fast as possible.” (1:00:37)
“nothing drives me crazier than when somebody can't throw in a baseball movie.” (0:56:43)
Loves Gen X touchstones and basketball analogies; sticks up for Winona Ryder and Friends season one; mocks Troy-type guys and over-talky English majors. A sucker for half-assed internet research and awards-bit tradition.
Stances
Winona Ryder won the movie
Singles is a flawed but beloved sibling
Ben Stiller deserves credit
Humor: Rolls NBA references and mock-feuds into everything.
In their words
“I do look at her in a way, like, uh, like I look at some NBA players.” (0:32:14)
Loves sports-adjacent silliness, big broad comedy and quotable lines, and wedding toast chaos. Can't stand being wrong about movie trivia he has already litigated. A sucker for his own running categories and bits (Ebert, Joey Pants, Dion Waiters).
Stances
Roger Ebert is never to be trusted on comedies
Comedies of the era were a nice 6-7 year run
Open your movie with a wedding theory
Luke Wilson is not Harrison Ford
Humor: Deadpan rapid-fire teasing of co-hosts and mock-outrage, plus sports references.
In their words
“never to be trusted on comedies.” (0:15:17)
“This movie also nicely slots into my open your movie with a wedding theory.” (1:01:05)
Loves sports analogies, Kurt Russell and Pacino's Cruising, defends 90s movies like Fletch. Dislikes dated romance interludes like the picnic. A sucker for mustaches and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson.
Stances
Val Kilmer wins the movie
Wyatt Earp is the rival, Tombstone is more entertaining
Cruising is incredible
Cut the 12-minute theater scene
Humor: Rapid-fire sports comparisons and teasing his cohosts.
In their words
“I think this movie is the perfect microcosm of both of their careers.” (0:12:28)
“I just don't come to Tombstone for picnics” (0:29:44)
Loves old-school and 5 o'clocker action, Seagal, Stallone, Nick Cage, and movies that know exactly what they are. Can't stand over-explained worldbuilding or sequels that give the hero a known villain. A sucker for the Neeson comeback and for ranking things by era.
Stances
Taken is the perfect 5 o'clocker
Taken 2 is not better than the first
Neeson is the Apex Mountain of the movie
The first Taken works because there is no main villain
Humor: Deadpan nitpicking, escalating sports analogies, and long self-deprecating dad stories.
In their words
“I just like watching movies that know exactly what they are.” (0:32:10)
“I don't think it's a John Wick 2 situation where John Wick 2 is actually somehow better than John Wick one, or we could at least have the debate.” (0:42:12)
Loves big star-driven movies and sets the show's categories; adores the Wahlberg and Baldwin scenes, Boston flavor and the crazy cast what-ifs. Can't stand Nicholson's performance here, implausible plot points and the rat. A sucker for 'that guy' actors, Goodfellas and Boston details.
Stances
The Departed is a Hall of Famer because it is flawed and fun
Leo won the movie, Nicholson loses it
Costello should have been Pacino
Damon's Boston accent beats Wahlberg's
Scorsese's Stones fetish is funny
Humor: Deadpan nitpicking, jokes about plot holes and trivia, rapid mock-outrage.
In their words
“This is a perfect rewatchable because it is a great bad movie.” (0:12:23)
Calls Spielberg the greatest director ever but is skeptical of his late period and Munich. Loves Jaws, Raiders, and E.T. through his kids, and measures movies by whether kids can stay with them. Distrusts the calculating, career-minded side of Spielberg and Spielberg's DreamWorks hedging.
Stances
Spielberg's first 15 years are the greatest career stretch ever
His recent work is solid but not special
Spielberg is 'calculating' where Mann or Coppola are obsessive
Judges movies by whether his kids can watch them
Humor: Wry and teasing; leans on sports analogies (LeBron, Popovich) and bits like 'hit by a car in 1986'.
In their words
“if you just got hit by a car at the peak of your career, how would people remember you?” (0:51:08)
“I judge everything by my kids who have, you know, 21st century ADD with pop culture.” (1:00:09)
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.
The Rewatchables
Apex Mountain: The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits.
Who Won the Movie: The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off.
The Ebert review: Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show.
Casting what-ifs: Who was almost cast, or who should have been.
Most rewatchable scene: The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels.
Aged best / aged worst: What holds up and what does not.
Picking Nits: The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits.
Double feature: The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick.
Their claims
Showing 601–700 of 1,295 claims.
craft (craft):
Wedding Crashers → Knocked Up.
Bill says Wedding Crashers and Mean Girls became genuinely funny, which is what Apatow figured out.
“I think the thing Appatau figured out on wedding crashers and Mean Girls and some of these other things was, they became genuinely funny.”
contrast (contrast):
When Harry Met Sally → My Best Friend's Wedding.
Bill says Harry Met Sally is genuinely funny, unlike Pretty Woman or the Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movies; My Best Friend's Wedding is funny but not hilarious.
“My best friend's wedding is funny, but it's not like, it's not like hilarious.”
craft (craft):
Judd Apatow → The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Bill says Apatow put idiot 22-year-old men into a rom-com, a trick he also used in 40-Year-Old Virgin.
“Judd figured out how to like put them in a rom-com and make it work.”
contrast (contrast):
Knocked Up → The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Bill says the first half is idiots hanging out and the second half is more rom-com, less funny and more heartwarming; he notes 40-Year-Old Virgin was already covered.
“He did it in 40-year-old version too, which we've already done”
industry (industry):
Judd Apatow → Adam McKay.
Bill says McKay and Ferrell were doing the same improvise-and-keep-rolling thing at the same time as Apatow.
“Adam McKay and Will Ferrell and those guys are kind of doing the same thing at the same time.”
career (career):
Katherine Heigl → Grey's Anatomy (TV).
Bill says Heigl got more attention from Grey's Anatomy and was good in Knocked Up, laying seeds of a major star.
career (career):
Katherine Heigl → Julia Roberts.
Bill lines up Heigl with Reese Witherspoon, young Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts as someone you can tell 'has it'.
career (career):
Martin Starr → Silicon Valley (TV).
Bill says Martin Starr is the same guy in everything, like in Silicon Valley, but figured out his lane.
programming (programming):
Knocked Up → Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
The pee-break category is named after the Anchorman flute scene; Bill uses it to mark Knocked Up's 7.5-minute labor stretch.
“The anchorman flute. P-break Award for best time to go go pee”
what-if (what-if):
Anne Hathaway → Knocked Up.
Bill raises Anne Hathaway as originally cast as Alison and dropping out over how the birth footage would be used.
what-if (what-if):
Kate Bosworth → Knocked Up.
Bill reports alleged auditions by Jennifer Love Hewitt (transcribed 'La Feud'), Kate Bosworth and Christina Aguilera.
“Allegedly, Jennifer La Feud and Kate Bosworth auditioned.”
what-if (what-if):
Mila Kunis → Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Bill says Mila Kunis auditioned for Alison, didn't get it, but Apatow remembered her for Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
“We know Mila Kunis auditioned and didn't get it, but Jed Appatau remembered her and put her around forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
industry (industry):
Michael Cera → Knocked Up.
Bill describes a DVD special feature where Michael Cera is 'fired' and Bennett Miller co-directs, a wrestling-style work.
“Do you know about this special feature on the DVD where Michael Sarah gets fired from the film”
programming (programming):
Knocked Up → The League (TV).
Bill says Knocked Up may be the most high-profile fantasy moment in a movie, since The League is a TV show.
“It might be the most high profile fantasy moment.”
theme (theme):
Knocked Up → Big Daddy.
Bill compares Ben's money-from-nowhere set-up to Sonny in Big Daddy: it doesn't have to work because he has all the money.
“Sonny get run over by, uh, like a cab in Big Daddy.”
contrast (contrast):
Knocked Up → Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Imagining Alison's life after the movie, Bill says she might meet a better guy than Rogen and it becomes a Forgetting Sarah Marshall situation.
“and it becomes a forgetting Sarah Marshall situation where.”
unmapped (fish out of water vs showcase):
Beverly Hills Cop → Beverly Hills Cop II.
The first film has a coherent story and fish-out-of-water appeal; the sequel is a showcase of Eddie doing bits.
“The 1st movie has like a much more coherent story.”
lineage (sequel scarcity):
Beverly Hills Cop II → Police Academy 4.
Cop II was the only sequel in the 1987 domestic top 20-25; the next was Police Academy 4 at 44th.
“This is the only sequel in the top 20, top 25, where it's not until Police Academy 4, which was the 44th biggest movie that year.”
career (career decline):
Eddie Murphy → The Distinguished Gentleman.
The set indulgence of 1987 Eddie leads eventually to the wheels coming off by The Distinguished Gentleman.
“at some point that leads to, you know, you're doing the distinguished gentlemen and the wheels have just gone, the wheels have come up.”
unmapped (Eddie Murphy run):
Beverly Hills Cop II → 48 Hrs..
The Rewatchables has covered 48 Hrs., Cop I, Cop II, Coming to America; only Trading Places is left; Simmons prefers 48 Hrs. personally.
unmapped (rewatchability):
Beverly Hills Cop II → Beverly Hills Cop.
Not better, but more rewatchable than the first because sleeker with no dead spots or open questions.
“I don't think it's a better movie, but I actually think it's a more rewatchable movie because it's sleeker.”
unmapped (critic grudge):
Roger Ebert → Spies Like Us.
Ebert had trashed Spies Like Us on the Tonight Show with Chevy Chase sitting next to him, showing his salt toward these comedies.
“he was on the Tonight Show with Chevy Chase and he reamed the Spies like Us movie right in front of him.”
verdict (all-time favorites):
Eddie Murphy → David Letterman.
Simmons ranks Murphy on his short list alongside Letterman and Larry Bird.
“I don't know whether he's where he ranks against Letterman and Larry Bird and, you know, the Alzheimer's for me, but he's right. He's on the short list.”
unmapped (TV appearance):
Eddie Murphy → Joe Piscopo.
Murphy appeared on a Piscopo comedy special doing a Miami Vice parody during his scarce public years.
“He was Joe Piscopo, had a comedy special that was great. where Eddie went on that and they did a Miami Vice parody.”
unmapped (modern equivalent):
Eddie Murphy → Dave Chappelle.
A modern equivalent would require combining a piece of Chappelle with five other peak performers.
“It's like a piece of Chappelle, and then you'd have to take 5 other people who are at the peak of their powers and combine them.”
unmapped (top-20 neighbors):
Beverly Hills Cop II → Dirty Dancing.
The 1987 top 20 includes Fatal Attraction, Lethal Weapon, RoboCop, Predator and others, putting Cop II as the third biggest.
“Three Men and a Baby, Fatal Attraction, Beverly Hills Cop 2.”
unmapped (Black stardom in 1987):
Eddie Murphy → Bill Cosby.
Murphy was the only Black star in the 1987 top 20 and, with Cosby, carried outsized importance.
unmapped (racetrack crosscutting):
Tony Scott → Beverly Hills Cop II.
Scott's signature crosscutting with running horses defines the racetrack robbery.
“Nobody loved crosscutting with running horses more than Tony Scott.”
unmapped (romance):
Brigitte Nielsen → Tony Scott.
Nielsen cheated on Stallone with Tony Scott during this filming, per what Simmons read, and also had a romance with Schwarzenegger.
“Mary Stallone, cheated on Stallone with Tony Scott, which broke up his marriage during this filming”
what-if (career what-if):
Brigitte Nielsen → Steven Seagal.
Nielsen should have landed in a Seagal movie like Above the Law or Marked for Death, or been the bad guy in Under Siege 3.
“I think she could have been an above the law or marked for death, any of those.”
craft (score echo):
Harold Faltermeyer → Escape from New York.
The Faltermeyer opening has hints of 48 Hrs., Escape from New York, Miami Vice, and Fletch.
people (producer power):
Don Simpson → The Presidio.
Simpson was powerful enough to have Paramount pull writer Larry Ferguson off The Presidio mid-script.
“Simpson is so powerful at this point that he had Paramount remove a writer named Larry Ferguson from the Presidio to come help with this film.”
unmapped (easter egg):
Beverly Hills Cop II → Cobra.
Rosewood has a Cobra poster in his apartment, which is funny given Scott and Nielsen's off-screen story.
“He's got the Cobra poster in his room, and meanwhile, Tony Scott is...”
career (career arc):
Judge Reinhold → Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Reinhold's rise runs from Fast Times (1982) through Ruthless People; Vice Versa was his solo breakout attempt that failed.
“Vice versa was his big chance to break out on his own. Didn't work, and then the wheels kind of came off after that.”
people (sequel adds cast):
Beverly Hills Cop II → Lethal Weapon.
By the mid-90s sequels learned to add stars (Pesci in Lethal Weapon, Jackson in Die Hard 3); Cop sequels just ran it back.
“You have to have Joe Pesci join Lethal Weapon, and you have to try to bring in Chris Rock. You get Sam Jackson in Die Hard 3.”
lineage (lineage):
The Player → The Larry Sanders Show.
Bill asks whether The Player is ground zero for the meta-Hollywood strain that runs through Larry Sanders and Curb.
“Larry Sanders and Curb your enthusiasm and all these different things we've had over the 30 years.”
lineage (lineage):
Robert Altman → Paul Thomas Anderson.
Bill says Altman's legacy is the filmmakers he influenced, and Boogie Nights is PTA trying to do The Player and Altman.
“He's just basically trying to do the player, right?”
lineage (lineage):
Robert Altman → Adam McKay.
Altman was one of the first directors to encourage ad-libbing, a trend followed by McKay, Apatow and PTA.
“there is this whole generation directors that follows Adam McKay, Apatow, Paul Thomas Anderson”
verdict (verdict):
The Player → The Bonfire of the Vanities.
The quoted review calls The Player the movie Bonfire of the Vanities wanted to be, and the hosts agree; Wesley followed the Bonfire saga before seeing it.
career (career):
Brion James → Striking Distance.
Bill remembers him from cable as Bruce Willis's nemesis in Striking Distance, which spins into a Rowdy Herrington week idea.
“In my house growing up, he was Bruce Willis's like arch nemesis in striking distance.”
programming (programming):
Striking Distance → Road House.
Bill pitches a Rowdy Herrington week for the show covering Road House and Striking Distance.
theme (theme):
The Player → Pretty Woman.
The recurring pitch-as-mashup joke (Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman) and the running Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis casting gag.
“How Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis get suggested for every movie is just a funny running bit.”
career (career):
Tim Robbins → The Shawshank Redemption.
The Player is a step in Robbins's run from Bull Durham to Shawshank, and two years from Dead Man Walking.
“I think Robin needed this for his Bull Durham, to the player, to Shawshank”
career (career):
Tim Robbins → Dead Man Walking.
Robbins directed Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking; the hosts trace the Scacchi/D'Onofrio/Leila George/Sean Penn six degrees.
“Tim Robbins directed Sean Penn in the movie Dead Man Walking.”
what-if (what-if):
Robert De Niro → The Player.
Bill proposes De Niro in the Fred Ward part, overqualified, as the right-era move after Goodfellas and Cape Fear.
“Could he have just played the Fred Ward part for like 4 scenes.”
what-if (what-if):
Jennifer Jason Lee → The Player.
Bill says the Bonnie part, instead of Cynthia Stevenson, has Jennifer Jason Lee written all over it; the others disagree.
“it just has Jennifer Jason Lee crying all over it.”
people (people):
The Player → Presumed Innocent.
Bill's memory of falling for Greta Scacchi in Presumed Innocent frames why he finds her Player character underwritten; Scacchi refused nudity after Presumed Innocent.
“Skocky's like, I fucking went to town on Harrison Ford and presumed innocent.”
fun, about
Beverly Hills Cop II:
Trivia: the license plate 2GAT123 is apparently the license-plate equivalent of the 555 phone number, appearing in other LA stories.
“is apparently the license plate equivalent of the 555 phone number.”
fun, about
Brigitte Nielsen:
Nielsen, who had affairs with Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Tony Scott, Mark Gastineau and Flavor Flav, is called a rainbow of romances.
fun, about
Beverly Hills Cop II:
Double-feature style pitch: Axel is brought to LA as a consultant on a cop movie and discovers it is laundering drug money. Simmons adds Don Simpson with a giant pile of cocaine.
“Then we could have just had Don Simpson in the movie with a giant pile of cocaine.”
fun, about
Robert Altman:
Studio offered full financing if Altman got a bigger star than Tim Robbins; he told them off and self-financed, hence Spelling Entertainment in the credits.
“Altman was offered full studio financing of the player if he had a bigger star than Tim Robbins, and Altman said, fuck you”
fun, about
The Player cameos:
Altman got 65 celebrities to do cameos by saying only that it was about an executive who murders a screenwriter and gets away with it.
“I only told them, I'm making a film about a studio executive who murders the screenwriter and get away, gets away with it, and they all wanted to be in it.”
fun, about
The Player opening shot:
The 7:47 opening tracking shot took 15 takes and they used the 10th; it holds the Buck Henry Graduate II pitch and the meta quiet-on-the-set start.
“The opening scene, 7 minutes, 47 seconds, 15 takes were required.”
fun, about
Habeas Corpus (inside The Player):
The pitch is no stars, an unknown cast and a depressing ending; a year later it stars Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis with a happy ending.
fun, about
Sydney Pollack:
Sydney Pollack in suspenders and no shirt in Eyes Wide Shut is the text-thread photo and the energy Bill says he strives for.
fun, about
Vincent D'Onofrio and Greta Scacchi:
Six degrees: their daughter Leila George married Sean Penn, whom Tim Robbins directed in Dead Man Walking.
“They have a daughter named Leila George, who's married to Sean Penn.”
fun, about
Greta Scacchi:
Scacchi refused nudity after Presumed Innocent, so the sex scene is shot from the neck up; Cynthia Stevenson's nude hot tub scene is the counterpoint.
“Skocky said no nudity. So that was why they filmed the sex scene from the neck up.”
fun, about
Die Hard 2:
Most rewatchable scene: McClane fights two guys in a restricted baggage area, a cluttered multi-room fight setup nobody does anymore.
“John fights 2 guys in a security restricted baggage area.”
fun, about
Die Hard 2:
Most rewatchable: Carmine Lorenzo meets McClane and is unimpressed by the Nakatomi hero; the hosts joke about the Sully equivalent.
“Yeah, we're not at the Nakatomi building anymore, McQueen.”
fun, about
Die Hard 2:
The plane crash is the craziest, most horrifying scene in action movies and why the hosts hadn't done the movie; memorable, not rewatchable.
“I wouldn't call it rewatchable, more like memorable”
fun, about
Die Hard 2:
Christmas movie debate: Simmons holds firm that Die Hard and Die Hard 2 are not Christmas movies; the others say this captures holiday travel anxiety.
“In my heart of hearts, it's not a Christmas movie.”
fun, about
Will Smith:
On the Oscars: Bill says the first 2.5 hours were boring but the slap was the most must-see TV in five years; Kimmel compared it to Tyson biting Holyfield's ear.
“as soon as that happened, that was the most must see TV thing that has happened in, what, 5 years?”
fun, about
David Fincher:
Fincher's lessons from Panic Room: don't shoot 100 days in one place; he ended up two years in thinking nothing was worth it.
fun, about
Jodie Foster:
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) is one of the five craziest movies you could ever rewatch; there's a dead person in the basement.
“which is one of the 5 craziest movies you could ever rewatch.”
fun, about
Panic Room:
Nicole Kidman was first cast as Meg, hurt her knee, and Foster replaced her on a week's notice because her Flora Plum shut down; then Foster got pregnant and production stopped again, which is why it took two years.
fun, about
Panic Room:
Bill reads Roger Ebert's three-star review (Fincher a visual virtuoso, Foster spellbinding) and asks why not 3.5; the Ebert running gag.
fun, about
Panic Room:
Most rewatchable scene candidates: robbers show up, Jody finds out they're in the house, Jody gets her phone (slow-mo), Leto screws up the safe talk, the switcheroo, the propane-tank sequence.
fun, about
Panic Room:
Bearer bonds explainer: bill Googles it; bonds are owned by whoever holds them, so they're 'the original Bitcoin' and a lazy heist-movie staple.
fun, about
Forest Whitaker:
Bill calls him 'the Jeff Green of actors' because of his baffling career: Oscar winner who is also in Taken 3, ER, and a Fast Times linebacker.
fun, about
Forest Whitaker:
He passed on directing Panic Room, wanting to act in it; he was prepping First Daughter, starring Katie Holmes, which he directed.
“He also directed 1st daughter starring Katie Holmes.”
fun, about
Dwight Yoakam:
Casting what-if: Maynard from Tool was first choice for Raoul, the greatest what-if in Rewatchables history; Yoakam was number two.
fun, about
Panic Room:
Kristen Stewart grew more than three inches during shooting, towering over Foster; Bill wants a database of child actors who grew mid-production.
“Kristen Stewart grew more than 3 inches during the filming.”
fun, about
Panic Room:
Craig asks about SOS flashlight signaling; leads to Kitty Genovese and the bystander effect and the Halloween neighbor who won't help Jamie Lee.
fun, about
Miracle:
Simmons listened to the Sweden game on a clock radio; the broadcast was tape delayed and he overheard the score in a grocery store.
“I swear to God, in my room, in Brooklyn, Massachusetts, I listened to us tie the Sweden game on my clock radio.”
fun, about
Al Michaels:
Michaels re-recorded his narration so the third act is narrated by him; his real last ten seconds call is higher and more excited.
fun, about
Bill Simmons:
Simmons's 2004 ESPN The Magazine column was rewritten by editors because Disney owned both; the new ending was 'by the way, I'm seeing it on Friday.'
“You can't, like, trash the idea of the movie in your column.”
fun, about
Father of the Bride (most rewatchable scene):
Annie announces she is getting married at the first family dinner. It sets up all the dynamics, and Steve Martin's expressions and Diane Keaton's welling-up are the payoff.
“it's got to be that 1st family dinner scene because it sets up all of the dynamics of the movie and everybody's very funny in it.”
fun, about
Kieran Culkin:
Best 'what ages the best': a child Kieran Culkin in the dinner scene whose face already looks like Roman Roy. Simmons and wife waited for the 8-year-old equivalent of a dick pic scene.
“It is so fucking hilarious to watch this and think that kid's going to be Roman Roy.”
fun, about
San Marino:
Both hosts give San Marino, the film's suburb, a best-aged vote; Simmons says it is a secret like Fight Club, with old-school drugstores with ice cream sundaes. The house exteriors are actually in Pasadena.
fun, about
Father of the Bride (basketball scene):
The kid montage into the father-daughter basketball scene set to a Darlene Love song. Simmons grades it an eight against Teen Wolf's one, and notes dads do not play one-on-one with a 5-foot-2 daughter.
“So if that's a one, this is like an eight, I would say.”
fun, about
Phoebe Cates:
Casting what-if: Phoebe Cates was offered Annie Banks but was pregnant. Simmons says she and Demi Moore would have split the Demi Moore parts.
“Phoebe Cates. Offered the role of Annie Banks. had to turn it down because she was pregnant.”
fun, about
George Newbern:
Best That Guy (Joey Pants Award) debate: Brian the son-in-law is George Newbern, who has hundreds of credits and over 350 audiobook credits on Audible as of September 2020. Simmons gives him the award over B.D. Wong.
“As of September 2020, over 350 credits on Audible.”
fun, about
George Clooney:
Recast-and-catch: George Clooney as the son-in-law, in 1991 Facts of Life mode, which Simmons says would make him a bit more of a threat and make a fun wrinkle.
“I can't believe George Clooney was the son-in-law, just would have been a fun wrinkle.”
fun, about
Tom Irish:
Trivia: an actor debuted in the 1950 Father of the Bride and made his last film appearance in the 1991 remake, playing Ben Banks in both.
fun, about
Father of the Bride (the house):
The house exterior is in Pasadena and the rest is sets or another house; the reception house sold for $1.998 million in August 2016. Fans take photos like at the Michael Myers house.
“It's like the like the Michael Myers house and a bunch of other ones.”